Serato Sample offers 32 colored Cues, which can be mapped across the visual pads in the central area of the plug-in. You can then playback different parts of the source track via the Cues, to create new arrangements and productions.
Creating Cues
You can create Cues in one of three ways:
- Using the Autoset feature
- Clicking a pad using your mouse
- Triggering a MIDI note associated with the respective pad
Cues created by triggering a pad (either via mouse or via MIDI note), will be set determined by the position of the current playhead position.
Current playhead position indicated by the white marker, ready to set a Cue
Empty pads are shown to have a ‘dark grey’ color, and set pads (with a Cue loaded) will change color, to represent the position of that Cue in the waveform.
5 of the 6 pads have been populated with Cues (indicated by their respective colors), while the dark grey pad is empty and ready to be set
Cue position and length
The start point of a Cue is illustrated by the small triangle (called the Cue handle) near the top of the Cue, and the end point, by a Cue handle near the bottom of the Cue.
Click on, and drag the start Cue handle to change the position of the Cue, and do the same to the end Cue handle, to change the Cue length.
The area between the two Cue handles is known as the Cue region, and is further distinguished by an opaque shade covering the area, which matches the selected Cue color. The Cue region will only be shown when the Cue has a set length.
The green Cue shows a specified set length, with start and end Cue handles clearly shown,
and the Cue region between them
Cues are shown on both the main waveform, and the waveform overview, the former has the currently selected Cue and playhead in view, and the latter shows the entire source track waveform, with Cues and the playhead clearly indicated.
Deleting Cues
Cues can be easily deleted, by selecting the Cue you wish to delete, and pressing the Delete button or holding shift whilst clicking on a Cue (note: this will also delete a 'favorited' Cue):
The corresponding pad will turn a dark grey color to indicate the pad is now empty and ready for another Cue to be assigned.
You can also quickly clear all pads of their respective Cues using the Select All button before using the Delete button:
SEE CUE PARAMETERS FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CUE FAVORITES
Cue playback
Cues can be triggered by using your mouse to click the respective Cues’ pad, or the respective MIDI note for that pad. When triggering a Cue, the corresponding pad will light up, and the source track playhead will jump to the cue location, and begin playing.
Two different Cue Play modes are available, and can easily be changed in via the Cue Play mode toggle. The currently selected Cue Play mode will be highlighted to indicate it has been selected:
Hold mode: This is the default playback mode, whereby triggered Cues will continue to play, while the ‘trigger’ is being held down, and will cease to playback if the trigger is released.
- When hold mode is enabled, release time begins after Cue trigger is released.
- When hold mode is enabled, and the release time ends, the playhead will jump to the start of the Cue.
- When hold mode is enabled, and the playhead reaches end of a Cue with set length, it will pause and remain stationary until the Cue trigger is released, where it will then return to start of cue.
Trigger mode: Trigger mode means Cues will continue to play until the end of the Cue length, or the end of the source track if no Cue length is set - regardless of how long the Cue trigger is held down for.
- When trigger mode is enabled, release time begins after the attack time of the Cue Parameter has elapsed.
- When trigger mode is enabled, and release time ends or the playhead reaches the end of the Cue length, playhead will pause and remain stationary until further action.
Two additional modes are also available, to allow for more creative Cue playback possibilities.
Keyboard mode: Keyboard mode allows for the playback of a single Cue across a standard piano keyboard, with each key applying a relative shift of pitch to the Cue in addition to playback. Click on the Keyboard mode button to enable keyboard mode, for the currently selected Cue:
Voice mode: Voice mode allows for 32 voices (or Cues) to be played back simultaneously.
Click on the Voice mode button to enable POLY mode, and click it again to enable MONO mode:
Cue selection
Triggering a Cue will highlight that Cue, allowing you to adjust Cue parameters or change the Cue position and length.
Adjusting Cue parameters on several different Cues simultaneously can be achieved by selecting multiple Cues. Hold down the Control / Command key while clicking multiple Cues, and repeat the action to deselect highlighted Cues.
The Select All button can also be used to quickly select all Cues.
- When a single Cue is selected, Cue parameters change to match the color of the Cues and when
multiple Cues are selected, Cue parameters change white.
White-colored Cue parameters indicate that changing one Cue parameter, changes them for ALL
selected Cues. - If multiple Cues are selected, Cue parameters show the default value, except when all selected Cues share the same value.
Renaming Cues
Cue Pads can be renamed by right-clicking on a pad and selecting Rename.
Moving & Copying Cues
Cues can be moved by clicking and dragging them onto other pads. A white outline will appear around the new pad destination, to help illustrate where the Cue will be moved to when the mouse button is released. Dropping a Cue onto an already occupied pad will cause the Cues to swap pads.
Cues can also be copied across different pads, by holding Alt / Option key while clicking and dragging a Cue, onto an empty pad - to duplicate Cue parameters quickly. If the pad already has a Cue assigned to it, the copied Cue will overwrite the parameters and color of the existing Cue.
NOTE: Any Cue Output routing assigned to that Cue, will move with the respective Cue,
to the new destination pad.
Options
Click the Options button to reveal information about the currently selected Cue/Pad and adjust Cue Output settings.
Cues can be output to different destinations inside your chosen Host DAW.
This enables you to process and affect individual Cues within a single instance of Serato Sample.
Click on the arrows above the Output section to adjust the selected channel.
Currently selected Cue with Channel 3 selected as the Output destination
After assigning channels for Cues inside the plugin, you need to set up your DAW to receive those outputs. This is different per supported DAW, click the links below, to find out how: