I’ve provided two audio files to demonstrate techniques discussed in the Cubase workshop article in SOS magazine’s May 2026 issue:
www.soundonsound.com/techniques/cubase-15-hyping-your-drum-bus-ultrashaper
Cubase 15 UltraShaper For Drums Audio Example 01.wav
This example uses a four-bar acoustic drum loop. For reference, this is part of the same drum performance used in the audio examples from the SOS January 2026 workshop that used a more conventional approach to drum dynamics processing.
Cubase 15 UltraShaper For Drums Audio Example 02.wav
This example is based on a four-bar electronic drum loop. The specific dynamic nature of electronic drum sounds can be different from those of acoustic drums but, for the sake of comparison, I’ve used the same approach and UltraShaper settings here.
In both examples, you hear the same four-bar drum loop repeated a number of times, and each file demonstrates a workflow in which UltraShaper’s control options are combined to gradually move the processing to more extreme, ’hyped’ levels, as described in more detail below. If you download the two audio files (rather than just streaming them in your browser), you can also use your metering tools and inspect the waveforms to get a visual sense of what UltraShaper’s processing is doing to the audio.
1) The original stereo drum bus mix with UltraShaper bypassed.
2) UltraShaper now applied with a modest Ratio (3:1) and Threshold lowered to generate peak gain reduction of around 6dB using the soft knee mode. Attack and Release are set to 10ms and 30ms respectively and the Auto Gain has been adjusted to level match with the unprocessed signal. No other UltraShaper features are activated. The result is a fairly conventional – and quite gentle - compression treatment.
3) As above but with both the Threshold and Ratio (now 6:1) controls pushed to more extreme values to increase the amount of compression applied for a more aggressive sound. I had to adjust the Auto Gain slightly downwards to maintain the level matching when the plugin was bypassed. The result is a much more compression (higher peak gain reduction), and a more aggressive and obviously processed sound.
4) As above, but with the Attack and Release times set more slowly (30ms and 100ms respectively and the FAST button enabled for both. The difference is subtle but, for example, in the acoustic drum example, the snare transients seem a little more prominent despite the amount of overall compression being applied.
5) As above but with the Transient function enabled. The Transient Gain is set to +8dB and the Time control to 75ms. The result is a further emphasis placed upon of the initial kick and snare transients that can be controlled by the amount of Gain applied.
6) As above but with UltraShaper’s clip function now engaged and set to 100% Soft mode. Some 8dB of clip Gain has been applied to drive the clipping harder and I’ve reduced the main Output control (post the clipping) to get back to a level matched signal simply to make comparison easier. It sounds louder but the peak levels on the Output meter remain similar.
7) As above but using 12dB of clipping Gain and 100% Hard clipping mode for a little extra grit to the sound.
8) As for (6) but, just for fun, I’ve reset the main Output level to 0dB (so you get loud and proud) and then used the Side-Chain filters to focus the compressor circuit on the frequency range around 125Hz and applied a little ‘tilt EQ’ to brighten the overall tonal balance. Drums now hyped.
9) And, as a quick reminder, UltraShaper is bypassed to get us back to the unprocessed signal. How far you stray from this into the options demonstrated above is, of course, a matter of personal taste and musical context.