The right effect can reproduce the sound of a guitar amp.
Steinberg's Cubase SX 3 digital audio workstation provides all the tools you need to compose, arrange and produce music on your computer. The program's full support for the VST standard means you can add any of thousands of VST effects to your music. Cubase SX 3 also includes a full set of built-in audio effects.
Reverb Effects
Reverb adds an echo effect to an audio track. A reverb plug-in can simulate a realistic recording environment; you can also use it creatively to alter the sound. Cubase SX 3 includes two reverb effects: Reverb A and Reverb B, which requires less processing power to run. It also includes RoomWorks, which allows you to simulate specific recording environments.
Distortion Effects
Distortion plug-ins overdrive the volume of certain harmonic parts of a sound's frequency. Cubase SX includes DaTube, which emulates a tube-based guitar amplifier, and OverDrive, which emulates a solid-state amp. The QuadraFuzz effect allows you to specify the amount of distortion it applies to different frequency bands; this gives you a high degree of control over the final sound.
Delay Effects
A delay effect, as the name implies, delays a portion of the audio signal. With the proper settings, this can help the music sound much fuller. Cubase includes the ModDelay plug-in, which has one delay effect, and DoubleDelay, which has two.
Filters and EQs
Filter and equalization effects raise or lower certain parts of an audio signal while leaving other unchanged. This allows you to enhance the desirable parts of a track and remove unharmonic parts. Cubase SX 3's Q plugin functions as both a four-band EQ and a simple filter. The Analog Modeling Filter plug-in provides much more control over the filter settings, while StepFilter lets you automate the filter settings using a piano-roll interface.
Compressors and Gates
Compressors and gates both affect the volume level of an audio signal. A compressor raises the volume if the signal falls below a certain level, while a gate mutes the signal when its volume goes below a certain level. Cubase's Dynamics plug-in combines both of these functions into one effect unit. The MultiBand Compressor allows you to apply compression only to certain frequency ranges, while the MIDI Gate allows you to control the gate on an audio track with a MIDI track or keyboard.
Other Effects
Cubase SX 3 also contains chorus, phaser, flanger, modulation and stereo enhancement plugins. Although it's possible to create these effects using the basic set of plug-ins, they can be a convenient way to add an effect to a track. Cubase's Bitcrusher, Chopper and Vocoder plug-ins allow you to creatively mangle sounds, and the Surround series of effects lets you mix tracks in a simulated 3-D environment.
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