Editing Metal Guitars In Cubase: A No-BS Guide

You’ve tracked what you thought was the tightest guitar take of your life, you drag the DI into your DAW, and… it sounds like a mess. There’s all this weird clicking, high-pitched squealing between chugs, and a general layer of slop you could swear wasn’t there in the room.

What gives?

Before you blame your interface or start searching for a new noise gate plugin, you need to understand the real source of the problem. A huge amount of the noise that plagues metal guitar tracks doesn’t come from gear—it comes from the player’s hands.

Specifically, it comes down to pick attack. And learning how to surgically clean up these performance artifacts in Cubase is one of the biggest things that separates an amateur mix from a pro-level production. Let’s get into it.

The Real Enemy: Bad Pick Attack (And Why It Wrecks Your Tone)

Even great guitarists have moments of inconsistency, and the high-gain amps and processing we use in metal will amplify every tiny flaw. Two major culprits related to picking technique are responsible for about 90% of the garbage you’re trying to edit out.

The "Lateral Scrape": The Sound of Annoyance

Some players have a habit of scraping their pick across the string in a lateral motion, instead of a clean, perpendicular up-and-down stroke. Think of it as dragging the pick sideways as it strikes.

This creates a nasty, scratchy sound right before the note even rings out. On its own, it’s a tiny "click" or "zip." But when you stack four tracks of rhythm guitars doing this on every chug, you get a flammy, messy attack that clouds the transient and just sounds unprofessional. I’m not talking about a cool pick slide effect; I’m talking about a consistent, unintentional scratching sound that kills the punch of your riffs.

The "Pick Rest Squeal": The Unwanted Harmonic

This one is even more common, especially in fast, palm-muted riffs. The "pick rest squeal" happens in the micro-second between notes.

Here’s the sequence:

1. You strike the string. It vibrates.
2. To play the next note, you bring the pick back to the string.
3. For a split second, your pick rests on the already-vibrating string before you pluck it again.

That brief touch acts like a finger lightly touching a string to create a harmonic. Because your pick is touching the string somewhere between the bridge and the fret, it creates an artificial harmonic—that high-pitched squeal or chirp that you hear between notes. It’s the sonic equivalent of nails on a chalkboard in a heavy mix, and it’s a dead giveaway of an unedited performance.

The Cubase Editing Workflow: From Sloppy DI to Tight Rhythm

Okay, so we know the enemy. Now, how do we kill it? Cubase has all the tools you need for this kind of surgical work. Forget just slapping a gate on it and calling it a day. We’re going to do this the right way.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Session for Surgical Editing

A clean workspace is a fast workspace. Before you even start chopping, get your session organized.

• Folder Tracks: This is non-negotiable. Create a Folder Track for your rhythm guitars. Put your quad-tracked DIs inside (e.g., RHY L1, RHY L2, RHY R1, RHY R2). This lets you solo, mute, and edit them as a group.
• Color-Code Everything: Make your rhythm guitars one color, your leads another. It seems simple, but it saves a ton of time when you’re navigating a 100-track session.
• Set Your Grid: Make sure your project grid is active (# on the key commands). For most metal, setting the grid to 16th notes is a good starting point. This helps you see if your transients are lining up with the drums.

Step 2: Identifying and Isolating the Noise

This is where you become a detective. Zoom in on your DI waveforms. That "lateral scrape" will look like a small, messy burst of audio right before the big, clean transient of the actual note. The "pick rest squeal" will be a smaller, often symmetrical-looking waveform in the silent space between chugs.

Your best friends for this job in Cubase are the Range Selection tool (press 2 on your number pad) and the Split tool.

1. Use the Range Selection tool to highlight the exact piece of noise you want to remove.
2. Hit Delete. Cubase will automatically remove the selection and close the gap.
3. For more complex edits, use the Split tool (the scissors, or Alt + X) to place cuts on either side of the noise. This isolates it as its own audio event, giving you more control.

Step 3: Killing the Noise Without Killing the Vibe

Once you’ve isolated the noise, you have a few ways to get rid of it.

The Simple Fade-In/Fade-Out

This is your workhorse technique. After you’ve used the Split tool to separate your notes, you’ll see little white triangles in the top corners of each audio event. These are your fade handles.

• To clean the noise before a note: Grab the fade-in handle (top left) and drag it right, just until it passes the unwanted scrape. This creates a super-fast fade-in that silences the noise but keeps the transient of the note sharp.
• To clean the noise after a note: Grab the fade-out handle (top right) and drag it left. This is perfect for getting rid of string noise and pick squeals in the gaps between palm mutes.

You can get incredibly fast at this, just tabbing between transients and applying quick fades.

The Surgical Volume Automation

Sometimes, a noise is so close to the transient that a fade will soften the attack too much. This is where you bring out the big guns: Volume Automation.

1. Right-click the track and select Show/Hide Automation. Make sure the Volume lane is visible.
2. Grab the Pencil tool and draw a sharp, V-shaped dip right over the offending noise. You can literally silence a millisecond-long click without touching the actual note.
3. This gives you pin-point control and is the most transparent way to clean up DIs. It takes longer, but the results are flawless.

The Gate (Use With Extreme Caution)

Can’t you just use a noise gate? Yes, but be careful. A gate like Cubase’s built-in Gate or a more advanced one like the FabFilter Pro-G can work for cleaning up general hiss. However, they can be clumsy for this kind of surgical work. If the threshold isn't set perfectly, a gate can chop off the natural decay of your notes or fail to open fast enough, softening your attack. Manual editing is almost always superior for getting that polished, professional sound.

Beyond Editing: Polishing Your Tight Guitars

Once your DIs are surgically clean, the fun begins. Now you can apply processing without fear of amplifying all that nasty noise.

Sculpting with EQ

With the scrapes and squeals gone, you can now boost your top-end for that aggressive bite and "clank" without making things harsh. A clean DI allows for much more aggressive EQ moves. This is where you can start carving out your signature tone with high-pass filters to remove mud and that classic mid-scoop to make room for vocals.

If you want to dive deeper into surgical EQ for metal, these techniques are fundamental. We’ve put together a complete guide to help you master them. Check out our hub on EQ strategies for mixing modern metal.

Adding Punch with Compression

With your timing and noise floor now locked in, compression can work its magic. A compressor like a classic VCA model (think SSL G-Comp) can help glue your quad-tracked guitars together and give them a consistent, punchy attack that sits perfectly in the mix.

Getting compression right on heavy guitars is a whole art form in itself. We've got you covered with our guide on metal compression secrets.

The NTM Difference: See How The Pros Do It

Mastering the editing workflow in Cubase is a game-changer. Cleaning up pick attack and tightening performances manually is a core skill that will instantly elevate your productions.

But what if you could watch a producer like Will Putney or Joey Sturgis do this on an actual session from a band like The Ghost Inside or Gojira?

That’s what Nail The Mix is all about. We give you the raw, unedited multitracks from massive metal songs and let you watch the original producer mix it from scratch, explaining every single decision—from surgical DI editing to final mastering.

Ready to take the next step? We’ve put together a free workshop, Unlock Your Sound: Mixing Modern Metal Beyond Presets, to show you more pro techniques that you can apply to your mixes today.

And for those who are serious about leveling up, over 1,500 more tutorials like this are available as part of URM Enhanced. Stop guessing and start learning from the best in the business.