Click Track in Cubase: Metronome, Count-In, a Rendered Click and the Split File
· 6 min read
Cubase goes further than most DAWs with the click. It has a full metronome with a count-in, it can render that metronome into an audio track you can export, and Cubase Pro can read the tempo of a recording and build a tempo track from it. For a backing track with a click in it, the file a drummer plays to on stage, that covers most of the job. If the term is new, what a click track is is the short version. This page walks the route from Steinberg's Cubase Pro operation manual, version 15.
If the song is on your computer, hear CountIn put a click on every beat of it. Listening is free and needs no account.
The metronome and the count-in
| Control | Where | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Activate Metronome Click | Transport panel, or Transport > Activate Metronome (key C) | Plays the click |
| Activate Count-in | Transport Bar, Click & Count-in & Click Pattern section | Plays the metronome during the count-in |
| Number of Bars in Count-In | Transport > Metronome Setup, General tab | How many bars it counts before recording starts |
| Click patterns | Metronome Setup | Accent levels per beat; the default first click is high, the others low |
| Click sounds | Metronome Setup, Click Sounds tab | The pitch of beat one and of the other beats, or your own audio files |
The manual describes the default pattern this way: "The click level of the first click is high, while the level of the other beats is low." Beat one is audible without any setup. The count-in can follow the time signature at the record start, at the project position, or one you set yourself.
A click you can export: Render Audio Click
Most DAWs make you build the click by hand as a separate track. Cubase has a command for it. Set the left and right locators around the song, then choose Project > Signature Track > Render Audio Click between Locators. The manual says it "adds an audio track to your project and creates an audio event that contains the click pattern between the left and right locator", at the level set on the Click Sounds tab. The same menu has Render MIDI Click between Locators if you would rather trigger your own sound from a MIDI track.
The click is now ordinary audio, so it goes into Export Audio Mixdown like any other track. The manual does not say whether the live metronome is part of a mixdown, so rely on the rendered track rather than on the metronome button.
For a count-in inside the file, put the left locator one or two bars before the song and move the song's audio so that its first beat lands on a click. If you do not know the tempo yet, the free BPM finder reads it from the file.
Click left, music right
A click through the whole song only works where the audience cannot hear it, so the file bands use has the click on the left channel and the song on the right. In Cubase:
- Pan the click track fully left with its pan control. Double-click the control to type a value.
- On the song's track, open the context menu of the pan control and choose Stereo Combined Panner. The manual explains that "to sum two channels, set them to the same pan position (mono)", so set both to fully right. The whole song, guitars and keys from both sides, now plays in mono on the right channel. The manual notes that summing raises the level, so check the meter.
- Choose File > Export > Audio Mixdown, pick Wave or MPEG 1 Layer 3, export as an interleaved stereo file, and render.
How the split file works and how to wire it has the diagram.
A song that was not recorded to a click
This is where Cubase Pro is ahead. Select the song's audio event and choose Project > Tempo Track > Tempo Detection, then click Analyze. According to the manual, a tempo track is added with tempo events "based on the analysis for the selected audio event", along with a signature track and the Time Warp tool. The clip must be at least 7 seconds long and not in Musical Mode, which is what you want for a backing track anyway, so the song plays exactly as recorded.
The manual is honest about the result: depending on the material "the analysis may instantly lead to a perfect result", and sections in a different tempo have to be corrected by hand with the Tempo Detection Panel and the Time Warp tool. Play it back with the metronome on and listen. Once the tempo track follows the song, Render Audio Click between Locators renders a click that follows it too. We measured how far famous records move: Stairway to Heaven goes from 71 to about 102 BPM, Honky Tonk Women from 113 to 126, so a song like that is the case to check bar by bar.
If you do not have Cubase Pro at hand, or need the file in a minute rather than an evening, the click track maker reads every beat from the recording in the browser, puts a click on each one with beat one tuned higher, adds the count-in and exports click left, music right. Step by step: how to add a click track to any backing track.
Other DAWs
The same job in MainStage, FL Studio, Logic Pro, GarageBand, REAPER, Ableton Live, Pro Tools and Audacity.
Frequently asked questions
How do I turn on the metronome in Cubase?
Activate Activate Metronome Click on the Transport panel, choose Transport > Activate Metronome, or press C. Sounds, accents and the count-in length are in Transport > Metronome Setup.
Can Cubase export the click track?
Yes, by rendering it first. Project > Signature Track > Render Audio Click between Locators creates an audio track with the click, and that track exports with File > Export > Audio Mixdown like any other.
How long can the count-in be in Cubase?
You set it in Metronome Setup, General tab, under Number of Bars in Count-In. For a count-in inside the exported file, start the rendered click one or two bars before the song.
Can Cubase make a click follow a song that changes tempo?
Cubase Pro can: Tempo Detection builds a tempo track from the recording, and a click rendered afterwards follows it. Sections with a different tempo still need manual correction, so check the result with the metronome before you render.
If the song is on your computer, hear CountIn put a click on every beat of it. Listening is free and needs no account.
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