STEINBERG Cubase 4 User Manual

Operation Manual

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered trademarks.

Release Date: October 19, 2007

10 Part I: Getting into the details

11 About this manual

12 Welcome!

13 VST Connections: Setting up input and

output busses

14 About this chapter 14 Setting up busses 17 Using the busses 20 Setting up Groups and FX channels 20 About monitoring 20 External instruments/effects (Cubase only)

25 The Project window

26 Background 28 Window Overview 35 Operations 56 Options

59 Playback and the Transport panel

60 Background 61 Operations 63 Options and Settings

65 Recording

66 Background 66 Basic recording methods 68 Audio recording specifics 79 MIDI recording specifics 84 Options and Settings 86 Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

87 Fades, crossfades and envelopes

88 Creating fades 90 The Fade dialogs 91 Creating crossfades 92 The Crossfade dialog 93 Auto Fades and Crossfades 94 Event Envelopes

102 Folder tracks

103 About folder tracks 103 Handling folder tracks 104 Working with folder parts

106 Using markers

107 About markers 107 The Marker window 108 Using the Marker track 110 Marker key commands 110 Editing markers in the Project Browser

111 The Transpose functions

112 Introduction 112 Transposing your music 115 Other functions

118 The mixer

119 About this chapter 120 Overview 122 Configuring the mixer 126 The audio-related channel strips 127 The MIDI channel strips 127 The common panel 128 The input and output channels 128 Basic mixing procedures 132 Audio specific procedures 139 MIDI specific procedures 140 Utilities 143 VST Mixer Diagrams

146 Control Room (Cubase only)

147 Background 148 Configuring the Control Room 151 The Control Room Overview 151 The Control Room Mixer 153 Control Room operations 158 Studios and Studio Sends 161 Direct Monitoring and latency

95 The Arranger track

96 Introduction 96 Setting up the Arranger track 97 Working with arranger events 99 Flattening the Arranger chain 100 Live Mode 101 Arranging your music to video

Table of Contents

162 Audio effects

163 About this chapter 163 Overview 164 Insert effects 169 Send effects 170 Setting up send effects 174 Using the Side-Chain input 175 Using external effects (Cubase only) 176 Making settings for the effects 176 Effect presets 179 Installing and managing effect plug-ins

233 The Sample Editor

234 Background 235 Window overview 240 General Operations 245 Options and settings 246 Audio Warp realtime processing/Tempo matching

audio to the project tempo

252 Working with hitpoints and slices 259 Free Warp 262 Realtime pitch-shifting of audio events 262 Flattening the realtime processing

182 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks

183 Introduction 183 VST Instrument channels vs. instrument tracks 183 VST Instrument channels 185 Instrument tracks 187 Comparison 187 Automation considerations 188 What do I need? Instrument channel or Instrument

track?

188 Instrument Freeze 189 VST instruments and processor load 190 Using presets for VSTi configuration 193 About latency 194 External instruments (Cubase only)

195 Surround sound (Cubase only)

196 Background 198 Operations

203 Automation

204 Background 205 What can be automated? 206 Automation track operations 209 Using Write/Read automation 212 Working with automation curves 215 Tips and common methods 215 Options and Settings

216 Audio processing and functions

217 Background 217 Audio processing 226 Applying plug-ins (Cubase only) 227 The Offline Process History dialog 228 Freeze Edits 229 Detect Silence 230 The Spectrum Analyzer (Cubase only) 231 Statistics (Cubase only)

264 The Audio Part Editor

265 Background 265 Opening the Audio Part Editor 265 Window overview 267 Operations 268 Common methods 269 Options and Settings

270 The Pool

271 Background 271 Window overview 274 Operations

284 SoundFrame

285 Introduction

287 The MediaBay

288 Introduction 289 Window overview 289 Browsing for media files 292 Finding files in the Viewer section 295 Previewing files in the Scope section 296 The Tag Editor (Cubase only) 298 Media management

300 Track Presets

301 Introduction 301 Types of track presets 303 VST presets 304 Browsing for presets 306 Creating a track preset 306 Creating tracks from track presets or VST presets 307 Applying track presets 309 Previewing track and VST presets 310 Inserts and EQ settings from track presets

Table of Contents

311 Track Quick Controls

312 Introduction 312 Setting up the Quick Controls tab 313 Options and settings 314 Setting up quick controls on an external remote

controller

315 MIDI realtime parameters and effects

316 Introduction 316 The Inspector – General handling 317 Basic track settings 319 MIDI Modifiers 321 MIDI effects 323 Managing plug-ins

324 MIDI processing and quantizing

325 Introduction 325 The Quantizing functions 330 Making your settings permanent 332 Dissolve Part 333 O-Note Conversion 333 Repeat Loop 333 Other MIDI functions

336 The MIDI editors

337 About editing MIDI 337 Opening a MIDI editor 339 The Key Editor – Overview 341 Key Editor operations 354 Edit In-Place 356 The Drum Editor – Overview 357 Drum Editor operations 359 Working with drum maps 362 Using drum name lists 363 The List Editor – Overview 364 List Editor operations

367 The Logical Editor, Transformer and

Input Transformer

368 Introduction 368 Opening the Logical Editor 369 Window overview 369 Selecting a preset 369 Setting up filter conditions 374 Selecting a function 375 Specifying actions

377 Applying the defined actions 377 Working with presets 377 The Input Transformer

379 The Project Logical Editor

380 Introduction 380 Opening the Project Logical Editor 380 Window overview 381 Selecting a preset 381 Setting up filter conditions 387 Selecting a function 387 Specifying actions 388 Applying the defined actions 389 Working with presets

390 Working with System Exclusive

messages

391 Introduction 391 Bulk dumps 392 Recording System Exclusive parameter changes 393 Editing System Exclusive messages

394 Working with the Tempo track

395 Background 395 The Tempo Track Editor – Overview 397 Operations 399 Process Tempo (Cubase only) 400 The Process Bars dialog

(Cubase only)

401 Options and settings 401 The Beat Calculator 402 Merge Tempo From Tapping 402 The Time Warp tool

407 The Project Browser

408 Window Overview 409 Editing tracks

413 Export Audio Mixdown

414 Introduction 414 Mixing down to an audio file 415 The available file formats

Table of Contents

421 Synchronization

422 Background 422 Synchronization signals 423 Synchronizing the transport vs. synchronizing audio 424 Making basic settings and connections 425 Synchronization settings 429 Machine Control 431 Sync Options 431 Working with VST System Link 431 Preparations 434 Activating VST System Link 437 Application examples

439 Video

440 Background 440 Before you start 441 Operations

445 ReWire

446 Introduction 446 Launching and quitting 447 Activating ReWire channels 447 Using the transport and tempo controls 448 How the ReWire channels are handled in Cubase 448 Routing MIDI via ReWire2 448 Considerations and limitations

449 File handling

450 Working with Projects 452 Startup Options 453 Working with libraries (Cubase only) 453 Revert 454 Importing audio 457 Exporting and importing OMF files (Cubase only) 458 Exporting and importing standard MIDI files 460 Exporting and importing MIDI loops 460 Exporting and importing tracks (Cubase only) 461 Other Import/Export functions 461 Cleanup

463 Customizing

464 Background 464 Workspaces 466 The Setup dialogs 467 Customizing track controls 468 About preference presets (Cubase only) 469 Appearance 470 Applying track and event colors 473 Where are the settings stored?

475 Key commands

476 Introduction 476 Setting up key commands 480 Setting up tool modifier keys 480 The default key commands

484 Part II: Score layout and printing

485 How the Score Editor works

486 About this chapter 486 Welcome! 486 How the Score Editor operates 486 MIDI notes vs. score notes 487 Display quantize 489 Entering notes by hand vs. recording notes

490 The basics

491 About this chapter 491 Preparations 491 Opening the Score Editor 491 The project cursor 492 Page Mode 493 Changing the Zoom factor 493 The active staff 493 Making page setup settings 494 Designing your work space 496 About the Score Editor context menus 496 About dialogs in the Score Editor 496 Setting key, clef and time signature 500 Transposing instruments 501 Working order 501 Force update

502 Transcribing MIDI recordings

503 About this chapter 503 About transcription 503 Getting the parts ready 503 Strategies: Preparing parts for score printout 504 Staff settings 504 The Main tab 507 The Options tab 508 The Polyphonic tab 508 The Tablature tab 508 Situations which require additional techniques 509 Inserting display quantize changes 510 Strategies: Adding display quantize changes 510 The Explode function 511 Using “Scores Notes To MIDI”

Table of Contents

512 Entering and editing notes

513 About this chapter 513 Score settings 514 Note values and positions 515 Adding and editing notes 517 Selecting notes 518 Moving notes 520 Duplicating notes 520 Cut, copy and paste 520 Editing pitches of individual notes 521 Changing the length of notes 522 Splitting a note in two 522 Working with the Display Quantize tool 523 Split (piano) staves 523 Strategies: Multiple staves 524 Inserting and editing clefs, keys or time signatures 525 Deleting notes

526 Staff settings

527 About this chapter 527 Staff settings 527 Making settings 527 Working with staff presets 528 Staff names 528 Key and clef 529 Display quantize and interpretation options 529 Display transpose 530 The Options tab 530 The Polyphonic and Tablature tabs

531 Polyphonic voicing

532 About this chapter 532 Background: Polyphonic voicing 533 Setting up the voices 535 Strategies: How many voices do I need? 535 Entering notes into voices 535 Checking which voice a note belongs to 536 Moving notes between voices 537 Handling rests 537 Voices and display quantize 538 Creating crossed voicings 539 Automatic polyphonic voicing – Merge All Staves 540 Converting voices to tracks – Extract Voices

541 Additional note and rest formatting

542 About this chapter 542 Background: Note stems 542 Setting stem direction 543 Stem length 544 Accidentals and enharmonic shift 545 Changing the note head shape 545 Other note details 546 Coloring notes 547 Copying settings between notes 547 Handling beaming 551 About tied notes 552 Graphic moving of notes 553 Cue notes 553 Grace notes 554 Tuplets

556 Working with symbols

557 About this chapter 557 Background: The different layers 558 The symbol Inspector 562 Important! – Symbols, staves and voices 562 Adding symbols to the score 568 Selecting symbols 569 Moving and duplicating symbols 572 Changing length, size and shape 573 Deleting symbols 573 Copy and paste 573 Alignment 574 Symbol details

580 Working with chords

581 About this chapter 581 Inserting Chord symbols 583 Global chord settings

584 Working with text

585 About this chapter 585 Adding and editing text symbols 587 Different types of text 591 Text functions

Table of Contents

594 Working with layouts

595 About this chapter 595 Background: Layouts 595 Creating a layout 595 Opening a layout 595 Layout operations 596 Using layouts – an example 597 Marker Track to Form

598 Working with MusicXML

599 Introduction 600 Importing and exporting MusicXML files

602 Designing your score: additional

techniques

603 About this chapter 603 Layout settings 604 Staff size 604 Hiding/showing objects 605 Coloring notes 606 Multiple rests 606 Editing bar lines 607 Creating upbeats 608 Setting the number of bars across the page 609 Moving bar lines 610 Dragging staves 611 Adding brackets and braces 612 Auto Layout 613 Reset Layout 614 Breaking bar lines

623 The score and MIDI playback

624 About this chapter 624 Scores and the Arranger mode 624 The MIDI Meaning function 625 Dynamic crescendo symbols

626 Printing and exporting pages

627 Printing 627 Exporting pages as image files

628 Frequently asked questions

629 How to use this chapter 629 Adding and editing notes 630 Symbols and layout

631 Tips and Tricks

632 Useful editing techniques 633 If you wish you had a faster computer

634 Index

615 Scoring for drums

616 About this chapter 616 Background: Drum maps in the Score Editor 616 Setting up the drum map 618 Setting up a staff for drum scoring 618 Entering and editing notes 618 Using “Single Line Drum Staff”

619 Creating tablature

620 About this chapter 620 Creating tablature automatically 621 Creating tablature manually 621 Tablature number appearance 622 Editing 622 Note head shape

Table of Contents

Part I:

Getting into the details

About this manual

Welcome!

This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Cubase. Here you will find detailed information about all the features and functions in the program.

About the program versions

The documentation covers two program versions; Cubase and Cubase Studio, for two different operating systems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X.

Some features described in the documentation are only applicable to the Cubase version. Whenever this is the case this will be clearly indicated in the heading of the related subject.

Similarly, some features and settings are specific to one of the platforms, Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. In other words:

Ö If nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for both Cubase and Cubase Studio, under Windows and Mac OS X.

The screenshots are taken from the Windows version of Cubase.

Key command conventions

Many of the default key commands in Cubase use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Command]-[Z] under Mac OS X.

When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way:

[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key]

For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”.

Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] under Windows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.

Ö Please note that this manual often refers to right-clicking, e.g. to open context menus, etc. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click.

About this manual

VST Connections: Setting up input and

output busses

About this chapter

Cubase uses a system of input and output busses to transfer audio between the program and the audio hardware.

• Input busses let you route audio from the inputs on your audio hardware into the program. This means that when you record audio, you will always do this through one or several input busses.

• Output busses let you route audio from the program to the outputs on your audio hardware. When you play back audio, you will always do this through one or several output busses.

As you can see, the input and output busses are vital when you work with Cubase. This is why you find this chapter in the beginning of the Operation Manual – once you understand the bus system and set up the busses properly, it will be easy to go on with recording, playing back, mixing and doing surround work (Cubase only).

Setting up busses

Strategies

In Cubase, you can create any number of busses. A number of surround formats are supported (Cubase only). In Cubase Studio, busses are in mono or stereo.

Ö The bus configuration is saved with the projects – therefore it’s a good idea to add and set up the busses you need and save these in a template project (see “Save

as Template” on page 451).

When you start working on new projects, you start from this template. That way you get your standard bus configuration without having to make new bus settings for each new project. If you need to work with different bus configurations in different projects, you can either create several different templates or store your configurations as presets (see “Other bus

operations” on page 17). The templates can of course also contain other

settings that you regularly use – sample rate, record format, a basic track layout, etc.

So, which type of busses do you need? This depends on your audio hardware, your general audio setup (e.g. surround speaker setup) and what kind of projects you work with.

Here’s an example:

Let’s say you are using audio hardware with eight analog inputs and outputs and digital stereo connections (10 inputs and outputs all in all). Furthermore, you work with a surround setup in 5.1 format (Cubase only). Here’s a list of busses you may wish to add:

Input busses

• Most likely you need at least one stereo input bus assigned to an analog input pair. This would let you record stereo material. If you want to be able to record in stereo from other analog input pairs as well, you could add stereo input busses for these too.

• Although you can record mono tracks from one side of a stereo input, it may be a good idea to add a dedicated mono input bus. This could be assigned to an analog input to which you have connected a dedicated microphone pre-amp for example. Again, you can have several different mono busses.

• You probably want a dedicated stereo input bus assigned to the digital stereo input, for digital transfers.

• If you want to transfer surround material directly to a surround track, e.g. from surround-configured location recording equipment, you need an input bus in that surround format (Cubase only) – in this example, this would be a 5.1 input bus.

Output busses

• You probably want one or several stereo output busses for monitoring and listening to stereo mixes .

• For digital transfers, you need a stereo bus assigned to the digital stereo output as well.

• You need a surround bus in the format of your speaker configuration (in this example, 5.1) assigned to the correct outputs (which in turn are connected to the correct speakers). Again, this is available in Cubase only.

• You may want additional surround busses if you tend to work in different surround formats.

Different busses can use the same inputs/outputs on the audio hardware! For example, you may want a stereo output bus assigned to the same outputs as the front stereo channels in your surround bus – this makes it easy to listen to stereo mixes without having to reconnect your speakers.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Preparations

Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware. For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround speaker setup, you should name the outputs according to which speaker they are connected to (Left, Right, Center and so on).

The reason for this is compatibility – it makes it easier to transfer projects between different computers and setups. For example, if you move your project to another studio, the audio hardware may be of a different model. But if both you and the other studio owner have given your inputs and outputs names according to the surround setup (rather than names based on the audio hardware model), Cubase will automatically find the correct inputs and outputs for your busses and you will be able to play and record without having to change the settings.

Use the Device Setup dialog to assign names to the inputs and outputs of your audio hardware:

1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.

2. Make sure that the correct driver for your audio hard-

ware is selected on the VST Audio System page, so that the audio card is listed in the Devices list.

3. Select your audio card in the list.

The available input and output ports on your audio hardware are listed on the right.

4. To rename a port, click its name in the “Show as” column and enter a new name.

• If needed, you can also disable ports by deactivating them in the “Visible” column.

Disabled ports won’t show up in the VST Connections window when you are making bus settings. If you attempt to disable a port that is used by a bus, you will be asked whether this is really what you want – note that this will remove the port from the bus!

5. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.

The VST Connections window

You add and set up busses in the VST Connections window, opened from the Devices menu.

This window contains the following tabs:

• The Inputs and Outputs tabs are for viewing input busses or output busses, respectively.

• The Group/FX tab allows you to create Group and FX channels/tracks and to make output assignments for these. See

“Setting up Groups and FX channels” on page 20.

• The External FX tab (Cubase only) allows you to create effect send/return busses for connecting external effects which can then be selected via the effect pop-up menus from inside the program. See “External instruments/effects (Cubase only)” on

page 20 and “Using external effects (Cubase only)” on page 175 for further information.

• The External Instruments tab (Cubase only) allows you to create input/output busses for connecting external instruments. See “External instruments/effects (Cubase only)” on page 20 and the chapter “VST Instruments and Instrument tracks” on

page 182 for further information.

• The Studio tab (Cubase only) is where you enable and configure the Control Room. See the chapter “Control Room (Cu-

base only)” on page 146.

For the time being, we shall focus on how to set up input and output busses.

Ö If you open a project created on another computer and the port names don’t match (or the port configuration isn’t the same – e.g. the project is created on a system with multi-channel i/o and you open it on a stereo in/out system), the Pending Connections dialog will appear.

This allows you to manually re-route ports used in the project to ports available in your system.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Depending on which tab you have selected, Inputs or Outputs, the window lists the current input or output busses, with the following columns:

Column Description

Bus Name Lists the busses. You can select busses and rename

Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo, sur-

Audio Device This shows the currently selected ASIO driver.

Device Port When you have “opened” a bus (by clicking its + button in

Click You can route the click to a specific output bus, regard-

them by clicking on them in this column.

round formats) of each bus.

the Bus Name column) this column shows which physical input/output on your audio hardware is used by the bus.

less of the actual Control Room output, or indeed when the Control Room is disabled.

Adding a bus

1. Click the Inputs or Outputs tab depending on which you want to add.

2. Click the Add Bus button.

A dialog appears.

Adding a child bus (Cubase only)

A surround bus is essentially a set of mono channels – 6 channels in the case of 5.1 format. If you have a mono track in the project, you can route it to a separate speaker channel in the bus (or route it to the whole surround bus and use the surround panner to position it in the surround image). But what if you have a stereo track that you simply want to route to a stereo channel pair within the bus (Left and Right or Left Surround and Right Surround for example)? For this you need to create a child bus.

1. Select the surround bus in the list and right-click on it.

A pop-up menu appears.

3. Select the desired (channel) configuration.

The pop-up menu contains Mono and Stereo options as well as several surround formats (Cubase only). To select another surround format, use the “More…” submenu.

• Alternatively you can right-click in the VST Connections window and add a bus in the desired format directly from the context menu that appears.

The new bus appears with the ports visible.

4. Click in the Device Port column to select an input/output port for a channel in the bus.

The pop-up menu that appears lists the ports with the names you have assigned in the Device Setup dialog. Repeat this for all channels in the bus.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

2. Select a channel configuration from the “Add Child

Bus” submenu.

As you can see, you can create stereo child busses (routed to various speaker channel pairs in the surround bus) or other surround bus formats (with fewer channels than the “parent bus”).

The child bus you created will be available for direct routing in the mixer. It’s a part of the parent surround bus, which means there will be no separate channel strip for it.

Although child busses are probably most useful in output busses, you can also create child busses within a surround input bus – for example if you want to record a stereo channel pair (e.g. front left-right) in the surround bus to a separate stereo track.

Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output bus)

The Main Mix is the output bus that each new channel in the mixer will be assigned to when it is created.

Any one of the output busses in the VST Connections window can be the default output bus. By right-clicking on the name of an output bus, you can set this bus as the Main Mix bus.

Setting the default output bus in the VST Connections window.

When creating new audio, group or FX channels in the mixer, they will automatically be routed to the default bus.

The default bus is indicated by an orange colored speaker icon next to its name in the VST Connections window.

Other bus operations

• To change the port assignment for a bus, you proceed as when you added it – make sure the channels are visible (by clicking the “+” button next to the bus, or by clicking the “+ All” button at the top of the window) and click in the Device Port column to select ports.

• To remove a bus you don’t need, select it in the list, right-click and select “Remove Bus” from the pop-up menu, or press [Backspace].

• You can store and recall bus presets with the pop-up menu at the top of the window.

To store the current configuration as a preset, click the Store “+” button and enter a name for the preset. You can then select the stored configuration directly from the Presets pop-up menu at any time. To remove a stored preset, select it and click the “-” button.

Using the busses

This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses you have created. For details refer to the chapters “Recording” on page 65 and “The mixer” on page 118.

Routing

When you play back an audio track (or any other audio channel in the mixer – VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, etc.), you route it to an output bus. In the same way, when you record on an audio track you select from which input bus the audio should be sent.

• You can select input and output busses in the Inspec-

tor, using the Input and Output Routing pop-up menus.

For audio-related channel types other than audio track channels (i.e. VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, Group channels and FX channels), only the Output Routing pop-up menu is available. Select one of its subtracks in the Track list to open it.

• You can also select busses in the Routing panel at the

top of each channel strip in the mixer.

Again, for VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, Group channels and FX channels you will only be able to select output busses.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

• Cubase only: If you press [Alt]/[Option] and select an input or output bus in the Mixer Routing View, it will be chosen for all selected channels.

This makes it easy to quickly set several channels to use the same input or output. Similarly, if you press [Shift] and select a bus, the following selected channels will be set to use incrementing busses – the second selected channel will use the second bus, the third will use the third bus and so on.

Ö If the Routing panel isn’t shown, click the Show Routing button in the extended common panel or open the Mixer context menu and select “Show Routing View” from the Window submenu.

The “Show Routing” button in the extended common panel of the Mixer.

When selecting an input bus for a track you can only select busses that correspond to the track’s channel configuration. Here are the details for input busses:

• Mono tracks can be routed to mono input busses or individual channels within a stereo or surround input bus (Cubase only).

• Mono tracks can be routed to External Inputs that are configured in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. These can be mono or individual channels within a stereo or surround input bus (Cubase only). They can also be routed to the Talkback input.

• Mono tracks can also be routed to mono output busses, mono group output busses or mono fx channel output busses, provided that these will not lead to feedback.

• Stereo tracks can be routed to mono input busses, stereo input busses or stereo child busses within a surround bus (Cubase only).

• Stereo tracks can be routed to External Inputs that are configured in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window. These can be mono input busses or stereo input busses. They can also be routed to the Talkback input.

• Stereo tracks can also be routed to mono or stereo output busses, mono or stereo group output busses and mono or stereo fx channel output busses, provided that these will not lead to feedback.

• Surround tracks can be routed to surround input busses (Cubase only).

• Surround tracks can be routed to External Inputs that are configured in the Studio tab of the VST Connections window, provided that these have the same input configuration.

• Surround tracks can also be routed to output busses, provided that these have the same input configuration or will not lead to feedback.

For output busses any assignment is possible.

Assignments that will lead to feedback are not available in the pop-up menu. This is also indicated by a one-way symbol.

To disconnect input or output busses, select “No Bus” from the corresponding pop-up menu.

Viewing the busses in the mixer

In the mixer (Cubase only), busses are represented by input and output channels (shown in separate panes to the left and right in the window). You can show or hide these independently by clicking the Hide Input Channels and Hide Output Channels buttons in the common panel:

Hide Input Channels

Hide Output Channels

Ö In Cubase Studio, only the output busses are visible in the mixer!

The input busses you have created in the VST Connections window are available for selection on the input routing pop-up menus, but you will not be able to make any specific mixer settings for the input busses.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Input channels (Cubase only)

Output channels

The input channels are shown to the left in the mixer. As you can see, each input channel resembles a regular mixer channel strip. Here you can do the following:

• Check and adjust the recording level using the Input Gain knobs and/or the level fader.

See “Setting input levels” on page 70.

• Change the phase of the input signal.

This is done by clicking the Input Phase button next to the Input Gain control.

• Add effects or EQ to the input bus.

See “Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 77 for an example of how to add effects to your recording at the input bus stage.

The settings you make in the input channel strip will be a permanent part of the recorded audio file!

The output channels are shown to the right in the mixer. Here you can do the following:

• Adjust the output level for the busses with the faders.

• Add effects or EQ.

These will affect the whole bus. Examples of effects you may want to add here include compressors, limiters and dithering. See the chapter “Audio

effects” on page 162.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Setting up Groups and FX channels

About monitoring

The Group/FX tab in the VST Connections window shows all Group channels and FX channels in your project. You can create new Group or FX channels by clicking the corresponding Add button. This is the same as creating Group channel tracks or FX channel tracks in the Project window (see “Using group channels” on page 138 and the chapter “Audio effects” on page 162).

However, the VST Connections window also allows you to create child busses for Groups and FX Channels (Cubase only). This is useful e.g. if you have Groups or FX Channels in surround format and want to route stereo channels to specific channel pairs in these.

To create a child bus for a Group channel or FX channel in surround format, proceed as follows:

1. Open the VST Connection window and select the Groups/FX tab.

2. Select the Group or FX channel in the list and rightclick it.

3. Select a channel configuration from the “Add Child Bus” submenu.

The child bus you created will be available for direct routing in the mixer. It’s a part of the parent Group or FX channel, which means there will be no separate channel strip for it.

By default, monitoring is done via the Control Room (see the chapter “Control Room (Cubase only)” on page 146). When the Control Room is disabled on the Studio tab of the VST Connections window, the Main Mix bus (see

“Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output bus)” on page 17) will be used for monitoring.

Ö In Cubase Studio, the Main Mix bus is always used for monitoring.

Setting the monitoring level

When you are using the Control Room for monitoring, this is set in the Control Room Mixer, see the chapter “Control

Room (Cubase only)” on page 146. When you are moni-

toring via the Main Mix bus, you can adjust the monitoring level in the regular Project Mixer.

When auditioning or scrubbing in the Sample Editor, you can also set the monitoring level using the small fader on the Sample editor toolbar.

External instruments/effects (Cubase only)

Cubase supports the integration of external effect devices and external instruments, e.g. hardware synthesizers, into the sequencer signal flow.

You can use the External Instruments tab and the External FX tab in the VST Connections window to define the necessary send and return ports and access the instruments/effects through the VST Instruments window.

External Instruments and effects are indicated by an “x” icon in the list next to their names in the respective pop-up menus.

Requirements

• To use external effects, you need audio hardware with

multiple inputs and outputs. To use external instruments, a MIDI interface must be connected to your computer.

An external effect will require at least one input and one output (or input/ output pairs for stereo effects) – in addition to the input/output ports you use for recording and monitoring.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

• As always, audio hardware with low-latency drivers is a good thing to have.

Cubase will compensate for the input/output latency and ensure that the audio processed through external effects isn’t shifted in time.

Connecting the external effect/instrument

To set up an external effect or instrument, proceed as follows:

1. Connect an unused output pair on your audio hardware to the input pair on your external hardware device.

In this example, we assume that the hardware device has stereo inputs and outputs.

2. Connect an unused input pair on your audio hardware to the output pair on your hardware device.

Please note that it is possible to select input/output ports for external effects/instruments that are already used (i.e. that have been selected as inputs/outputs in the VST Connections window). If you select a used port for an external effect/instrument, the existing port assignment will be broken. Note that you will not get a warning message!

Once the external device is connected to the audio hardware of your computer, you have to set up the input/output busses in Cubase.

Setting up external effects

1. Open the VST Connections window from the Devices menu.

2. Open the External FX tab and click “Add External FX”.

3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the exter-

nal effect and specify the Send and Return configurations. If you want to set up a MIDI device corresponding to the external effect, click the “Associate MIDI Device” button.

Depending on the type of effect, you can specify mono, stereo or surround configurations. When clicking “Associate MIDI Device”, you can use the MIDI Device Manager functions to create a new MIDI device for the effect. Note that delay compensation will only be applied for the effect when you use MIDI devices. For information about the MIDI Device Manager and user device panels see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.

4. Click OK. This adds a new External FX bus.

5. Click in the Device Port column for the Send Bus

“Left” and “Right” ports and select the outputs on your audio hardware that you connected in step 1 above.

6. Click in the Device Port column for the Return Bus

“Left” and “Right” ports and select the inputs on your audio hardware that you connected in step 2 above.

7. If you like, make additional settings for the bus.

These are found in the columns to the right. Note however that you can adjust these while actually using the external effect – which may be easier as you can hear the result. You have the following options:

Setting Description

Delay If your hardware effect device has an inherent delay (la-

Send Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal being sent to

Return Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal coming in from

MIDI Device When you click in this column, a pop-up menu opens

Used Whenever you insert an external effect into an audio

tency), you should enter this value here, as it allows Cubase to compensate for that delay during playback. You can also let the delay value be determined by the program by right-clicking in the Delay column for the effect and selecting “Check User Delay”. Note that you don’t have to take the latency of the audio hardware into account – this is handled automatically by the program.

the external effect.

the external effect. Note however that excessive output levels from an external effect device may cause clipping in the audio hardware. The Return gain setting cannot be used to compensate for this – you have to lower the output level on the effect device instead.

where you can either disconnect the effect from the associated MIDI device, select a MIDI device, create a new device or open the MIDI Device Manager in Cubase to edit the MIDI device. When Studio Manager 2 is installed, you may also select an OPT editor to access your external effect.

track, this column shows a check mark (“x”) to indicate that the effect is being used.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

8. When you are done, close the VST Connections window.

Ö Note that external device ports are exclusive, see

“Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 21.

How to use the external effect

If you now click an insert effect slot for any channel and look at the effect pop-up menu, you will find the new external FX bus listed on the “External Plug-ins” submenu.

When you select it, the following happens:

• The external FX bus is loaded into the effect slot just like a regular effect plug-in.

• The audio signal from the channel will be sent to the outputs on the audio hardware, through your external effect device and back to the program via the inputs on the audio hardware.

• A parameter window appears, showing the Delay, Send Gain and Return Gain settings for the external FX bus. You can adjust these as necessary while playing back. The parameter window also provides the “Measure Effect’s Loop Delay for Delay Compensation” button. This is the same function as the “Check User Delay” option in the VST Connections window. It provides Cubase with a Delay value to be used for delay compensation. When you have defined a MIDI device for the effect, the corresponding Device window will be opened. When Studio Manager 2 is installed, and you have set up a corresponding OPT editor, this OPT editor will be displayed.

The default parameter window for an external effect

Like any effect, you can use the external FX bus as an insert effect or as a send effect (an insert effect on an FX channel track). You can deactivate or bypass the external effect with the usual controls.

Setting up external instruments

1. Open the VST Connections window from the Devices menu.

2. Open the External Instrument tab and click “Add External Instrument”.

3. In the dialog that appears, enter a name for the external instrument and specify the number of required mono and/or stereo returns. If you want to set up a MIDI device corresponding to the external instrument, click the Associate MIDI Device button.

Depending on the type of instrument, a specific number of mono and/or stereo return channels is required. When clicking “Associate MIDI Device”, you can use the MIDI Device Manager functions to create a new MIDI device. For information about the MIDI Device Manager and user device panels see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.

4. Click OK. This adds a new external instrument bus.

5. Click in the Device Port column for the Return Bus

“Left” and “Right” ports and select the inputs on your audio hardware to which you connected the external instrument.

6. If you like, make additional settings for the bus.

These are found in the columns to the right. Note however that you can adjust these while actually using the external instrument – which may be easier as you can hear the result. You have the following options:

Setting Description

Delay If your hardware device has an inherent delay (latency),

Return Gain Allows you to adjust the level of the signal coming in from

you should enter this value here. This allows Cubase to compensate for that delay during playback. Note that you don’t have to take the latency of the audio hardware into account – this is handled automatically by the program.

the external instrument. Note however that excessive output levels from an external device may cause clipping in the audio hardware. The Return gain setting cannot be used to compensate for this – you have to lower the output level on the device instead.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Setting Description

MIDI Device When you click in this column, a pop-up menu opens

Used Whenever you insert the external instrument into a VST

where you can either disconnect the instrument from the associated MIDI device, select a MIDI device, create a new device or open the MIDI Device Manager in Cubase to edit the MIDI device. When Studio Manager 2 is installed, you may also select an OPT editor to access your external instrument.

Instrument slot, this column shows a chicanery (“x”) to indicate that the instrument is being used.

• To send MIDI notes to the external instrument, open the output pop-up menu in the Inspector for the corresponding MIDI track and select the MIDI device to which the external instrument is connected. This ensures use of delay compensation. The instrument will now play any MIDI notes it receives from this track and return them to Cubase through the return channel(s) you have set up.

The external instrument will behave like any other VST Instrument in Cubase.

7. When you are done, close the VST Connections window.

Ö Note that external device ports are exclusive, see

“Connecting the external effect/instrument” on page 21.

How to use the external instrument

Once you have set up the external instrument in the VST Connections window, you can use it as a VST Instrument. Open the VST Instruments window and click on an empty instrument slot. In the instrument pop-up menu, your external instrument is listed on the External Instruments submenu:

When you select the external instrument in the VST Instruments window, the following happens:

• A parameter window for the external device is opened automatically. This may either be the Device window, allowing you to create a generic device panel, an OPT editor window or a default editor. For information about the Device window, the MIDI Device Manager and User device panels, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.

About the Favorites buttons

In the VST Connections window, both the External FX tab and the External Instruments tab feature a Favorites button.

The Favorites button on the External FX tab

Favorites are device configurations that you can recall at any time, like a library of external devices that are not constantly connected to your computer. They also allow you to save different configurations for the same device, e.g. a multi-effect board or an effect that provides both a mono and a stereo mode.

To save a device configuration as a favorite, proceed as follows:

• When you have added a new device in the VST Connections window, select it in the Bus Name column and click the Favorites button.

A context menu is displayed showing an option to add the selected effect or instrument to the Favorites.

• You can recall the stored configuration at any time by clicking the Favorites button and selecting the device name from the context menu.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

About the “plug-in could not be found” message

When you open a project that uses an external effect/instrument, you may get a “plug-in could not be found” message. This will happen when you remove an external device from the VST Connections window although it is used in a saved project, or when transferring a project to another computer on which the external device is not defined. You may also see this message when opening a project last saved with version 3.0 of Cubase.

In the VST Connections window, the broken connection to the external device is indicated by an icon in the Bus Name column.

To reestablish the broken connection to the external device, simply right-click the entry for the device in the Bus Name column and select “Connect External Effect”. The icon is removed, and you can use the external device within your project as before.

Note that busses set up for external effects or external instruments are saved “globally”, i.e. for your particular computer setup.

Freezing external effects/instruments

Just as when working with regular VST instruments and effects, you can also choose to freeze external effects and instruments. The general procedure is described in detail in the chapters “Audio effects” on page 162 and “VST In-

struments and Instrument tracks” on page 182.

• Use the arrow buttons next to the Tail Size value field to set the desired Tail length, i.e. the range after the part boundary that should also be included for the freeze. You can also click directly in the value field and enter the desired value manually (the maximum value being 60 s).

• When the Tail Size is set to 0s (default), the freezing will only take into account the data within the Part boundaries.

Note that you have to perform Freeze in realtime. Otherwise external effects will not be taken into account.

When freezing external instruments or effects, you can adjust the corresponding tail value in the Freeze Channel Options dialog:

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

The Project window

Background

The Project window is the main window in Cubase. This provides you with an overview of the project, allowing you to navigate and perform large scale editing. Each project has one Project window.

About tracks

The Project window is divided vertically into tracks, with a timeline running horizontally from left to right. The following track types are available:

Track type Description

Audio For recording and playing back audio events and audio

Folder Folder tracks function as containers for other tracks,

FX Channel FX channel tracks are used for adding send effects. Each

Group Channel By routing several audio channels to a Group channel,

Instrument This allows you to create a track for a dedicated instru-

parts. Each audio track has a corresponding audio channel in the mixer. An audio track can have any number of automation “subtracks” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert effect settings etc.

making it easier to organize and manage the track structure. They also allow you to edit several tracks at the same time. See “Folder tracks” on page 102.

FX channel can contain up to eight effect processors – by routing effect sends from an audio channel to an FX channel, you send audio from the audio channel to the effect(s) on the FX channel. Each FX channel has a corresponding channel strip in the mixer – in essence an effect return channel. See the chapter “Audio effects” on page

162.

An FX channel can also have any number of automation subtracks for automating mixer channel parameters, effect settings etc. All FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special FX channel folder in the Track list, for easy management.

you can submix them, apply the same effects to them, etc. (see “Using group channels” on page 138). A Group channel track contains no events as such, but displays settings and automation curves for the corresponding Group channel. Each Group channel track has a corresponding channel strip in the mixer. In the Project window, Group channels are organized as subtracks in a special Group Tracks folder.

ment, making e.g. VST instrument handling easier and more intuitive. Instrument tracks have a corresponding channel strip in the mixer. Each instrument track can have any number of automation subtracks in the Project window. However, Volume and Pan are automated from within the mixer. It is possible to edit Instrument tracks directly in the Project window, using the Edit In-Place function (see “Edit In-Place” on page 354). For more information on instrument tracks, see “VST Instruments

and Instrument tracks” on page 182.

Track type Description

MIDI For recording and playing back MIDI parts. Each MIDI

Marker The Marker track displays markers which can be moved

Arranger The Arranger track is used for arranging your project, by

Ruler (Cubase only)

Transpose The Transpose track allows you to set global key

Video For playing back video events. A project can only have

track has a corresponding MIDI channel strip in the mixer. It’s possible to edit MIDI tracks directly in the Project window, using the Edit In-Place function (see “Edit In-Place” on page 354). A MIDI track can have any number of automation “subtracks” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert and send effect settings etc.

and renamed directly in the Project window (see “Using

the Marker track” on page 108). A project can have only

one marker track.

marking out sections in the project and determining in which order they should be played back. See “The Arran-

ger track” on page 95.

Ruler tracks contain additional rulers, displaying the timeline from left to right. You can use any number of ruler tracks, each with a different display format if you wish. See “The ruler” on page 34 for more information about the ruler and the display formats.

changes. A project can only have one transpose track. See “The Transpose functions” on page 111.

one video track.

About parts and events

Events are the basic building blocks in Cubase. Different event types are handled differently in the Project window:

• Video events and automation events (curve points) are always viewed and rearranged directly in the Project window.

• MIDI events are always gathered in MIDI parts, containers for one or more MIDI events. MIDI parts are rearranged and manipulated in the Project window. To edit the individual MIDI events in a part, you have to open the part in a MIDI editor (see

“About editing MIDI” on page 337).

• Audio events can be displayed and edited directly in the Project window, but you can also work with audio parts containing several events. This is useful if you have a number of events which you want to treat as one unit in the project. Audio parts also contain information about the time position in the project.

An audio event and an audio part.

The Project window

Audio handling

When you work with audio files, it is crucial to understand how audio is handled in Cubase:

When you edit or process audio in the project window, you always work with an audio clip that is automatically created on import or when you record audio. This audio clip refers to the audio file on the hard disk that remains untouched. This means, that audio editing and processing is “non-destructive”, in the sense that you can always undo changes or revert to the original versions.

The audio clip does not necessarily refer to just one original audio file! If you apply e.g. some processing to a section of an audio clip, this will actually create a new audio file that contains only the section in question. The processing will then be applied to the new audio file only, leaving the original audio file unchanged. Finally, the audio clip is automatically adjusted, so that it refers both to the original file and to the new, processed file. During playback, the program will switch between the original file and the processed file at the correct positions. You will hear this as a single recording, with processing applied to one section only. This feature makes it possible to undo processing at a later stage, and to apply different processing to different audio clips that refer to the same original file.

The audio event is the object that you place on a time position in Cubase. If you make copies of an audio event and move them to different positions in the project, they will still all refer to the same audio clip. Furthermore, each audio event has an Offset value and a Length value. These determine at which positions in the clip the event will start and end, i.e. which section of the audio clip will be played back by the audio event. For example, if you resize the audio event, you will just change its start and/or end position in the audio clip – the clip itself will not be affected.

An audio region is a section within a clip with a length value, a start time, and a snap point. Audio regions are shown in the pool and are best created and edited in the Sample Editor.

Ö If you want to use one audio file in different contexts, or if you want to create several loops from one audio file, you should convert the corresponding regions of the audio clip to events and bounce them into separate audio files. This is necessary since different events that refer to the same clip access the same clip information.

The Project window

Window Overview

The Project overview

The Inspector

The Track list with various track types

The Track list

The Track list displays all the tracks used in a project. It contains name fields and settings for the tracks. Different track types have different controls in the Track list. To see all the controls you may have to resize the track in the Track list (see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 37).

The rulerThe info line The toolbar

The event display, showing audio parts and events, MIDI parts, automation, markers, etc.

• The Track list area for an audio track:

Automation Read/Write buttons

Mute & Solo

Track name

Record Enable Monitor buttons

Freeze Audio Track

Track activity indicator

Show/hide automation

Indicates whether effect sends, EQ or insert effects are activated for the track. Click to bypass.

The Project window

Musical/Linear time base

Lock track button

Edit channel settings

Lane Display Type

• The Track list area for an automation subtrack (opened by clicking the Show/Hide Automation button on a track):

Append automation track

Mute Lock track

Automation Read/Write buttons

button

Automation parameter (click to select parameter)

• The Track list area for a MIDI track:

• For most track classes, the Inspector is divided into a

number of sections, each containing different controls for the track. You can hide or show sections by clicking on their respective names.

Clicking the name for a hidden section brings it into view and hides the other sections. [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the section name allows you to hide or show a section without affecting the other sections. Finally, [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a section name shows or hides all sections in the Inspector.

Drum map, Lock track and Lane display type

Track name

Mute & Solo

Record Enable & Monitor buttons

Edit channel settings

Effect sends and insert effects indicators and bypass

Read/Write buttons

Edit In-Place

MIDI OutputBank Patch MIDI channel

Track activity indicator

The Inspector

The area to the left of the Track list is called the Inspector. This shows additional controls and parameters for the track you have selected in the Track list. If several tracks are selected (see “Handling tracks” on page 40), the Inspector shows the setting for the first (topmost) selected track.

To hide or show the Inspector, click the Inspector icon in the toolbar.

The Inspector icon.

• You can also use key commands to show different In-

spector sections.

These are set up in the Key Commands dialog, see “Setting up key com-

mands” on page 476.

Ö Hiding a section does not affect its functionality.

In other words, if you have set up a track parameter or activated an effect for example, your settings will still be active even if you hide the respective Inspector section.

Which sections are available in the Inspector depends on the selected track.

The Project window

Ö Please note that not all Inspector tabs are shown by default. You can show/hide Inspector sections by rightclicking on an Inspector tab and activating/deactivating the desired option(s).

Make sure you right-click on an inspector tab and not on the empty area below the Inspector, as this will open the Quick context menu instead.

The Inspector Setup context menu.

Sections

The Inspector contains the controls that can be found on the Track list, plus some additional buttons and parameters. In the table below, these additional settings and the available sections are listed. Which sections are available for which track type is described in the following sections.

Parameter Description

Auto Fades Settings button

Opens a dialog in which you can make separate Auto Fade settings for the track. See “Making Auto Fade set-

tings for a separate track” on page 94.

Parameter Description

Edit Channel settings

Volume Use this to adjust the level for the track. Changing this

Pan Use this to adjust the panning of the track. As with the

Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Posi-

Input Routing This lets you specify which Input bus or MIDI input the

Output Routing Here you decide to which output the track should be

Inserts section Allows you to add insert effects to the track, see the

Equalizers section

Equalizer Curve section

Sends section Allows you to route an audio track to one or several FX

Studio Sends (Cubase only)

Surround Pan (Cubase only)

Channel section Shows a duplicate of the corresponding mixer channel

Notepad section This is a standard text notepad, allowing you to jot down

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track, allowing you to view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc. See “Using Channel Settings” on page 133.

setting will move the track’s fader in the mixer window, and vice versa. See “Setting volume in the mixer” on page

128 to learn more about setting levels.

Volume setting, this corresponds to the Pan setting in the mixer.

tive values delay the playback while negative values cause the track to play earlier. The values are set in milliseconds.

track should use (see “Setting up busses” on page 14 for information about Input busses).

routed. For audio tracks you select an output bus (see

“Setting up busses” on page 14) or Group channel, for

MIDI tracks you select a MIDI output.

chapter “Audio effects” on page 162. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the control panels for the added insert effects.

Lets you adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands of EQ for each track, see “Making EQ set-

tings” on page 134. The Edit button at the top of the sec-

tion opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Lets you adjust the EQs for the track graphically, by clicking and dragging points in a curve display.

channels (up to eight), see the chapter “Audio effects” on

page 162. For MIDI tracks, this is where you assign MIDI

send effects. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the control panel for the first effect in each FX channel.

The Studio Sends are used to route cue mixes to Control Room Studios. For a detailed description of Studios and Studio Sends, see the chapter “Control Room (Cubase

only)” on page 146.

When the Surround Panner is used for a track, this is also available in the Inspector. For further information, see

“Using the Surround Panner” on page 199.

strip. The channel overview strip to the left lets you activate and deactivate insert effects, EQs and sends.

notes about the track. If you have entered any notes about a track, the icon next to the “Notepad” heading will light up to indicate this. Moving the pointer over the icon will display the Notepad text in a tool tip.

The Project window

Parameter Description

User Panel (Cubase only)

Quick Controls Here you can configure quick controls, e.g. to use remote

Here you can display device panels, e.g. for external MIDI devices, audio track panels or VST insert effect panels. For information on how to create or import MIDI device setups, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.

devices. See the chapter “Track Quick Controls” on

page 311.

Audio tracks

For audio tracks, all settings and sections listed above are available.

• User Panels for audio tracks (Cubase only) can display panels for channel controls (such as input phase or the linked panner option) or for VST effects currently inserted in the channel.

• User Panels for audio tracks (Cubase only) are accessed by clicking the Open Device Panels button (found in the topmost Inspector section, next to the Read/Write buttons).

This opens up a menu listing all the device panels available for the audio track. If panels have not been created yet, you will see “Setup” panels in the menu. Double-clicking on one of these will open the Device window for that audio track. Here you will be able to create user panels for any parameter of the audio track, including VST effects that have been inserted. For more information on how to create device and user panels, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.

Once panels have been created, they are available from the User Panel section of the Inspector. Click on the arrow button at the top right of the User Panel section to view the available panels.

The User Panel menu in the Inspector

The Inspector can only display inspector sized user panels. Panels of larger sizes will not be available in the Inspector.

MIDI tracks

When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a number of additional sections and parameters, affecting the MIDI events in real time (e.g. on playback). Which sections are available for MIDI tracks is described in the chapter

“MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 315.

The device panel browser.

Marker tracks

When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. See “The Marker window” on page 107.

Video tracks

When a video track is selected, the Inspector contains a lock button for locking the track (see “Locking events” on

page 51), a Mute button for interrupting video playback

and two settings for how the video thumbnails are shown: Show Frame Numbers and Snap Thumbnails (see

“Playing back a video file” on page 443).

Video tracks make use of the Notepad Inspector tab.

The Project window

Folder tracks

When a folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and its underlying tracks, much like a folder structure in the Windows Explorer or Mac OS X Finder.

Ö You can click one of the tracks shown under the folder in the Inspector to have the Inspector show the settings for that track.

This way, you don’t have to “open” a folder track to make settings for tracks within it.

Here, an audio track within the folder is selected.

FX channel tracks

When an FX channel track is selected, the following controls and sections are available:

• Edit button.

• Volume control.

• Pan control.

• Output routing pop-up menu.

• Inserts section.

• Equalizers section.

• Equalizer Curve section.

• Sends section.

• Studio Sends section (Cubase only).

• Surround Pan section (Cubase only).

• Channel section.

• Notepad section.

FX channel folder tracks

FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special folder, for easier management. When this folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and the FX channels it contains. You can click one of the FX channels

shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings for that FX channel – this way you don’t have to “open” a folder track to access the settings for the FX channels in it.

Group channel tracks

When a Group channel track is selected, the following controls and sections are available:

• Edit button.

• Volume control.

•Pan control.

• Output routing pop-up menu.

• Inserts section.

• Equalizers section.

• Equalizer Curve section.

• Sends section.

• Studio Sends section (Cubase only).

• Surround Pan section (Cubase only).

• Channel section.

• Notepad section.

Group channel folder tracks

Just like FX channel tracks, all Group channel tracks are placed in a separate folder – when this is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and the Group channels it contains. You can click one of the Group channels shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings for that Group channel – this way, you don’t have to “open” a folder track to access the settings for the Group channels in it.

Ruler tracks (Cubase only)

For ruler tracks, the Inspector isn’t used.

Transpose track

When the transpose track is selected, the following controls and sections are available:

• Mute button.

• Keep Transpose in Octave range.

• Toggle Timebase button.

• Lock button.

• Notepad section.

The Transpose track controls are described in detail in the chapter “The Transpose functions” on page 111.

The Project window

The toolbar

The toolbar contains tools and shortcuts for opening other windows and various project settings and functions:

The info line

Constrain delay compensation (see the chapter “VST

Instruments and Instrument tracks” on page 182).

Show/hide info line

Active project indicator

Transport controls (Previous/Next Marker, Cycle, Stop, Play, and Record)

Project Root key

Show/hide Inspector

Snap on/off

Autoscroll on/off

Show/hide Overview

Open Mixer

Open Pool

Project window tools

Grid popup menu

Snap mode

Automation mode (Cubase only)

Automation Return time

Quantize value

Snap to Zero Crossings

Color popup menu

Ö In addition to these, the toolbar can contain a number of other tools and shortcuts, not visible by default. How to set up the toolbar and specify which tools should be displayed or hidden is described in the section “The Setup

dialogs” on page 466.

The info line shows information about the currently selected event or part in the Project window. You can edit almost all values on the info line using regular value editing. Length and position values are displayed in the format currently selected for the ruler (see “The ruler” on page 34).

• To hide or show the info line, click the Show Event Info-

line button on the toolbar.

The following elements can be selected for display and editing on the info line:

• Audio events.

•Audio parts.

• MIDI parts.

• Video events.

•Markers.

• Automation curve points.

• Transpose events.

• Arranger events.

When several elements are selected

• If you have several elements selected, the info line will

show information about the first item in the selection. The values will be shown in yellow to indicate that several elements are selected.

• If you edit a value on the info line, the value change is

applied to all selected elements, relatively to the current values.

If you have two audio events selected and the first is one bar long and the other two bars long, the info line shows the length of the first event (one bar). If you now edit this value to 3 bars in the info line, the other event will be resized by the same amount – and will thus be 4 bars long.

• If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and edit on the info line,

the values will be absolute instead. In our example above, both events would be resized to 3 bars. Note that [Ctrl]/ [Command] is the default modifier key for this – you can change this in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page, under the Info Line category).

The Project window

Editing Transpose and Velocity for MIDI parts

When one or several MIDI parts are selected, the info line contains Transpose and Velocity fields.

• Adjusting the Transpose field transposes the selected parts in semitone steps.

Note that this transposition doesn’t change the actual notes in the part – it’s just a “play parameter”, affecting the notes on playback. The transposition you specify for a part on the info line is added to the transposition set for the whole track. For more information on transposing, see the chapter “The Transpose functions” on page 111.

• Adjusting the Velocity field shifts the velocity for the selected parts – the value you specify is added to the velocities of the notes in the parts.

Again, this velocity shift only affects the notes on playback, and again, the value you specify is added to the Vel.Shift. value set for the whole MIDI track in the Inspector.

Audio events can also be transposed – see “Real-

time pitch-shifting of audio events” on page 262.

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.

Timecode This format displays hours, minutes, seconds and frames.

Samples Samples.

User Hours, minutes, seconds and frames, with a user defin-

Time Linear When this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to

Bars+Beats Linear

The number of frames per second (fps) is set in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on

page 35). You can choose between 24, 25, 29.97 and

30 fps or 29.97 and 30 dfps (“drop frame”).

able number of frames per second. You set the desired number of fps in the Preferences (Transport page).

time. This means that if there are tempo changes on the Tempo track, the distance between the bars will vary in Bars+Beats mode.

When this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to the meter position – bars and beats. This means that if there are tempo changes on the Tempo track, there still will be the same distance between bars in Bars+Beats mode. If the ruler is set to a time-based mode, the distance between seconds will vary depending on the tempo changes.

Getting on-the-fly info with the Arrow tool

If the option “Select Tool: Show Extra Info” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page), a tool tip will be shown for the Arrow tool, displaying information depending on where you point it. For example, in the Project window event display, the tool will show the current pointer position and the name of the track and event you’re pointing at.

The ruler

The ruler at the top of the event display shows the timeline. Initially, the Project window ruler uses the display format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The

Project Setup dialog” on page 35), as do all other rulers

and position displays in the project. However, you can select an independent display format for the ruler by clicking the arrow button to the right of it and selecting an option from the pop-up menu that appears (you can also bring up this pop-up menu by right-clicking anywhere in the ruler).

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks. By default there

are 120 ticks per sixteenth note but you can adjust this with the “MIDI Display Resolution” setting in the Preferences (MIDI page).

• The selection you make here affects the ruler, the info

line and tool tip position values (which appear when you drag an event in the Project window).

You can also select independent formats for other rulers and position displays.

• To set the display format globally (for all windows), use

the primary display format pop-up on the Transport panel, or hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select a display format in any ruler.

• If you use the “Timecode” or “User” options and the op-

tion “Show Timecode Subframes” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page), the frames will also display subframes.

There are 80 subframes per frame.

Using multiple rulers – ruler tracks (Cubase only)

As described above, the Cubase Project window contains a main ruler at the top of the event display, displaying the timeline from left to right.

If needed, you can have several rulers in the Project window, by adding ruler tracks to the project. Each ruler track contains an additional ruler.

The Project window

• To add a ruler track, select “Add Track” from the Project menu and from the submenu that appears, select “Ruler”.

A ruler track showing an additional ruler is added to the Track list.

A ruler track set to the display format “Seconds”.

You can add any number of ruler tracks to a project, and position them as needed by dragging them up or down in the list. Each of the rulers can show a separate display format:

• To select a display format for a ruler track, click on its name in the track list and select an option from the pop-up menu.

The different display formats are described above.

Note that ruler tracks are completely independent from the main event display ruler, as well as rulers and position displays in other windows. This means that:

• Ruler tracks can all have independent display formats.

• Ruler tracks are not affected by the display format setting in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on

page 35).

• Ruler tracks are not affected if you set the display format globally with the primary time display in the Transport panel.

Operations

Creating a new project

You create a new project in the following way:

1. Select “New Project” from the File menu.

A dialog appears, including any custom templates you may have created (see “Save as Template” on page 451).

2. Select a template and click OK.

A file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location for the project folder. This will contain all files related to the project.

3. Select an existing folder or type the name of a new one. Click OK.

A Project window appears. The new project will be based on the selected template, and include tracks, events and settings from the template.

The Project Setup dialog

General settings for the project are made in the Project Setup dialog. This is opened by selecting “Project Setup…” from the Project menu.

Ö Ruler tracks are affected by the option “Show Timecode Subframes” in the Preferences (see above).

The Project window

The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog:

Setting Description

Start The start time of the project. Allows you to have the

Length The length of the project.

Frame Rate Used when synchronizing Cubase with external equip-

Display Format This is the global display format used for all rulers and

Display Offset Offsets the time positions displayed in the ruler etc., al-

Bar Offset This works just like “Display Offset” described above, in

Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase records and plays audio.

Record Format/ File Type

Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensa-

While most Project Setup settings can be changed at

project start at another time than zero. Also used for setting the sync start position when synchronizing Cubase to external devices (see “Setting up Cubase for external

sync to timecode” on page 426). When you change this

setting you will be asked whether you want to keep the project content at its timecode positions. “Yes” means that all events will stay at their original timecode positions – i.e. they will be moved in relation to the start of the project. “No” means that all events keep their position relative to the project start.

ment. If Cubase is slave, this value is automatically set to the frame rate of the incoming sync signal. If Cubase is the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent sync signal. See “Setting the Frame Rate” on page 424.

position displays in the program, except ruler tracks (Cubase only, see “Ruler tracks (Cubase only)” on page 32). However, you can make independent display format selections for the individual rulers and displays if you like. For descriptions of the different display format options, see “The ruler” on page 34.

lowing you to compensate for the Start position setting. Typically, if you synchronize Cubase to an external source starting at a frame other than zero, you set the Start position to this value. However, if you still want the display in Cubase to start at zero, set the Display Offset to the same value too.

that it offsets the time positions in the ruler by a number of bars, allowing you to compensate for the Start position setting. The difference is that Bar Offset is only used when the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected (see

“The ruler” on page 34).

When you record audio in Cubase, the files that are created will be of this resolution and file type. See “Selecting

a recording file format” on page 68.

tion or not (see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” Preference

(audio channels only)” on page 132).

any time, you should select a sample rate once and for all when starting with a new project! All audio files must be of this sample rate to play back correctly.

Zoom and view options

Zooming in the Project window is done according to the standard zoom techniques, with the following special notes:

• When you are using the Zoom tool (magnifying glass), the result depends on the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: Horizontal Zooming Only” in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page).

If this is activated and you drag a selection rectangle with the Zoom tool, the window will only be zoomed horizontally (track height will not change). If the option is off, the window will be zoomed both horizontally and vertically.

• When using the vertical zoom sliders, the tracks are scaled relatively.

In other words, if you have made any individual track height adjustments (see below), the relative height differences are maintained.

You find the following options are available on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu:

Option Description

Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the project cursor.

Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the project cursor.

Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole

Zoom to Selection

Zoom to Selection (Horiz)

Zoom to Event This option is available only in the Sample Editor (see

Zoom In Vertical

Zoom Out Vertical

Zoom In Tracks

Zoom Out Tracks

Zoom Selected Tracks

Undo/Redo Zoom

project” means the timeline from the project start to the length set in the Project Setup dialog (see above).

Zooms in horizontally and vertically so that the current selection fills the screen.

Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection fills the screen.

“Zooming” on page 240).

Zooms in one step vertically.

Zooms out one step vertically.

Zooms in on the selected track(s) one step vertically.

Zooms out the selected track(s) one step vertically.

This zooms in vertically on the selected track(s) and minimizes the height of all other tracks.

These options allow you to undo/redo the last zoom operation.

The Project window

• If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is ac-

tivated in the Preferences (Transport page), you can also zoom by clicking in the main ruler and dragging up or down with the mouse button pressed.

Drag up to zoom out; drag down to zoom in.

• You can zoom the contents of parts and events verti-

cally, using the waveform zoom slider in the top right corner of the event display.

This is useful when viewing quiet audio passages.

To get an approximate reading on the level of the audio events by viewing the waveforms, make sure this slider is all the way down. Otherwise, zoomed waveforms may be mistaken for clipped audio.

• If you activate the option Quick Zoom in the Prefer-

ences (Editing page), the contents of parts and events will not be continuously redrawn when you zoom manually.

Instead, the contents are redrawn once you have stopped changing the zoom – activate this if screen redraws are slow on your system.

Resizing tracks in the Track list

• You can change the height of an individual track by

clicking on its lower border in the Track list and dragging up or down.

To change the height of all tracks simultaneously, hold down [Ctrl]/ [Command] and resize one of the tracks in this way. If “Snap Track Heights” is activated on the Track scale pop-up (see below), the track height will change in fixed increments when you resize it.

This behavior is different when “Enlarge Selected Track” is activated on the Edit menu (see below).

• You can also change the width of the Track list area, by

dragging the border between the Track list and the event display.

• By default, the controls shown for tracks in the Track list

will adapt to the track size. This means that when resizing a track’s height or width the controls will be placed where they best “fit in”.

If you prefer to have the controls in fixed positions, you can deactivate the option “Wrap Controls” in the Track Controls settings dialog (see “Cus-

tomizing track controls” on page 467).

• You can decide for each track type what controls should be shown in the Track list – see “Customizing

track controls” on page 467.

• You can use the Track scale pop-up (opened by clicking the arrow button above the vertical zoom control) to set the number of tracks to view in the current Project window.

The track height will be adjusted to show only the number of tracks specified on the pop-up menu. By selecting “Zoom N Tracks” from the pop-up you can manually set the number of tracks to fit in the current Project window.

• Tracks can also be divided vertically in lanes – see

“Editing in Lane Display mode” on page 52.

The Enlarge Selected Track option

When this option is activated on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences, Editing–Project & Mixer page), the selected track is enlarged automatically. This is useful if you are stepping through the tracks in the track list, to check or edit the settings. The tracks will revert to the size they had before when they are deselected. You can adjust the size directly in the Track list if the default enlargement factor does not suit you.

While this is the program behavior you will want in most cases, it may be a disadvantage when changing the track height you started out with for one or more tracks (i.e. their “original” height, before “Enlarge Selected Track” was activated). As soon as you try to resize a track, it is selected and automatically enlarged. Instead of turning off “Enlarge Selected Track”, resizing the desired track(s) and the activating “Enlarge Selected Track” again, you can resize a track in the Track list without selecting it.

The Project window

1. Move the mouse pointer over the lower border of the

(unselected) track you want to resize.

The mouse pointer turns into a divider symbol.

2. Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the lower border of

the track until it reaches the desired height.

Now, when you select this track, (and “Enlarge Selected Track” is activated), it will be enlarged. It will revert to the changed size, when you select a different track.

Zoom presets and Cycle markers

The pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal zoom control allows you to select, create and organize zoom presets. These are useful if you want to toggle between different zoom settings (e.g. one where the whole project is displayed in the project window and another with a high zoom factor for detailed editing). With this pop-up menu, you can also zoom in on the area between cycle markers in the project.

Click here…

…to open the context menu.

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:

• To store the current zoom setting as a preset, select

Add from the pop-up menu.

A dialog appears, allowing you to type in a name for the preset.

• To select and apply a preset, select it from the pop-up

menu.

• The “Zoom Full” preset is always available. Selecting

this option zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole project” means the timeline from the project start to the length set in the Project Setup dialog (see

“The Project Setup dialog” on page 35).

• If you want to delete a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up menu.

In the dialog that appears, select the preset in the list and click the Delete button. The preset is removed from the list.

• If you want to rename a preset, select “Organize…” from the pop-up menu.

In the dialog that appears, select the desired preset in the list and click the Rename button. A second dialog opens, allowing you to type in a new name for the preset. Click OK to close the dialogs.

Zoom presets are global for all projects, i.e. they are available in all projects you open or create.

The middle part of the pop-up lists any cycle markers you have added in the project:

• If you select a cycle marker from this menu, the event display is zoomed in to encompass the marker area (see

“Zooming to cycle markers” on page 109).

• You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. For information on editing markers, see “The Marker win-

dow” on page 107.

Only the cycle markers you create in the current project are available on the menu.

The Zoom history

Cubase maintains a history of recent zoom stages, allowing you to undo and redo zoom operations. This way you can zoom in several steps and then easily go back to the zoom stage at which you started.

There are two ways to invoke Undo Zoom and Redo Zoom:

• Use the items on the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu.

You can also assign key commands for these.

• Double-click with the Zoom tool (magnifying glass) to Undo Zoom.

Press [Alt]/[Option] and double-click to Redo Zoom.

The Project window

Adjusting how parts and events are shown

The Preferences on the File menu (the Cubase menu, under Mac OS X) contains several settings for customizing the display in the Project window.

The Event Display page contains common settings for all track types:

Option Description

Colorize Event Background

Show Event Names

Transparent Events

Show Data on Small Track Heights

Determines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (waveforms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See

“Handling tracks” on page 40.

Determines whether the names of parts and events should be shown in the Project window.

When this is activated, events and parts will be transparent, showing the waveforms and MIDI events only.

If this is activated, the contents of events and parts will be shown, even if the height of a track is very small.

The Event Display–Video page contains settings for video events:

Option Description

Show Video Thumbnails

Video Cache Size

When this is activated, thumbnail frames of the video contents are shown on the Video track.

This determines how much memory is available for video thumbnails. If you have long video clips and/or work with a large zoom factor (so that a lot of frames are shown in the thumbnails), you may have to raise this value.

The Event Display–Audio page contains settings for audio events:

Option Description

Interpolate Audio Images

Wave Image Style

Show Event Volume Curves Always

Fade Handles always on top

If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If the option is activated they are interpolated to form “curves”.

Determines whether audio waveforms should be displayed as solid images, frames or “inverted” images (solid+frame). This selection affects all waveform images in the Project window, Sample Editor and Audio Part Editor. Note that the “Framed” and “Solid and Framed” styles are more demanding for the computer. If the system feels slower in these modes, please switch back to “Solid” wave image style.

If this is activated the “volume curves” created with the volume and fade handles are always shown – if not, the curves are only shown for selected events.

When this option is activated, the fade handles stay at the top of the event, and vertical help lines indicate the exact end or start points of fades.

Option Description

Thick Fade Lines

Show Waveforms

Background Color Modulation

If this option is activated, the fade lines and volume curves are thicker, increasing their visibility.

Determines whether audio waveforms should be shown at all.

When this is activated, the backgrounds of audio waveforms are displayed in a different way, reflecting the waveform dynamics. This is especially useful to get an overview when working with small track heights.

The Event Display–MIDI page contains settings for MIDI parts:

Option Description

Default Edit Action

Part Data Mode

Show Controllers

Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned

Note Name Style

Determines which editor should be opened when you double-click a MIDI part or select it and press [Ctrl]/ [Command]-[E]: the Key, List, Drum or Score editor. Note that this setting is overridden for tracks with drum maps if the option “Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned” (see below) is activated.

Determines if and how events in MIDI parts should be shown in the Project window: as score notes, as drum notes or as lines. If “No Data” is selected, events will not be shown at all. Note that this setting is overridden for tracks with drum maps if the option “Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned” (see below) is activated.

Governs whether non-note events (controllers, etc.) should be shown in MIDI parts in the Project window.

If this is activated, parts on MIDI tracks with drum maps assigned will be shown with drum note symbols in the Project window. Also, the parts will automatically open in the Drum editor when double-clicked (overriding the Default Edit Action setting above).

Determines how MIDI note names (pitches) should be displayed in editors, etc.

The Project window

Zooming and navigating in the overview line

By clicking the Show Overview button on the toolbar, an extra pane appears under the toolbar; the project overview line.

Show Overview button

In the overview line, events and parts on all tracks are displayed as boxes. You can use the overview line to zoom in or out, and for navigating to other sections of the project. This is done by moving and resizing the track view rectangle in the overview line:

The track view rectangle

• The track view rectangle indicates the section of the

project currently displayed in the event display.

• You zoom in or out horizontally by resizing the rectangle.

Resize it by dragging the edges of the rectangle.

• You can drag the track view rectangle to view other

sections of the project.

This can also be done by clicking anywhere in the upper part of the overview – the track view rectangle will be moved to where you clicked. The number of tracks shown will not change.

Handling tracks

To add a track to the project, select “Add Track” from the Project menu and select a track type from the submenu that appears. The new track is added below the currently selected track in the Track list.

• The items on the “Add Track” submenu are also available on the Quick menu.

This is accessed by right-clicking in the Track list.

• If you select Audio, MIDI, Group Channel or Instrument from the Add Track submenu, a dialog opens, allowing you to insert several tracks in one go.

Just enter the desired number of tracks in the value field.

• For audio and group channel tracks, the channel configuration – mono, stereo or a surround configuration (Cubase only) – can be set in the Configuration pop-up.

• The Browse Sounds option in the Add Track dialog is described in the chapter “Track Presets” on page 300.

• In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page, you can find the option “Auto Track Color Mode”.

This offers you several options for automatically assigning colors to tracks that are added to the project.

Once you have created tracks, you can manipulate and rearrange them in various ways:

• To rename a track, double-click in the name field and type in a new name.

If you hold down any modifier key when pressing [Return] to close the name field, all events on the track will get the name you entered.

The Project window

• To select a track, click on it in the Track list.

A selected track is indicated by a light gray color in the Track list.

This track is selected.

It is possible to select several tracks, by pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and clicking them. To select a continuous range of tracks, use [Shift]-clicking.

• To move a track, click and drag it up or down in the list.

• To duplicate a track, complete with all contents and

channel settings, right-click in the Track list and select “Duplicate tracks” from the context menu, or select “Duplicate tracks” from the Project menu.

The duplicated track will appear below the original track.

• You can select a default color for a track by activating

“Show Track Colors” above the Track list and selecting a color from the Color pop-up menu on the toolbar. This color will be used for all events on the track and will also be shown in the Mixer. You can override the default track color for individual events and parts by using the Color tool or the Color Selector pop-up menu.

The option “Colorize Event Background” in the Preferences dialog (Event Display page) determines whether the backgrounds or waveforms of events will be colorized.

• To remove a track, right-click on it in the Track list and

select “Remove Selected Tracks” from the context menu.

You can also remove multiple selected tracks, by selecting “Remove Selected Tracks” either from the Project menu or from the context menu. Furthermore, you can remove all tracks not containing any events by selecting “Remove Empty Tracks” from the Project menu.

• To change the track height of an individual track, click

on its lower border in the Track list and drag up or down, see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 37.

Ö Note that you can also automatically enlarge the selected track, see “The Enlarge Selected Track option” on

page 37.

Disabling tracks

Tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the Track list context menu. Disabling a track is similar to muting it (see “Muting events” on page 51), since a disabled track will not be played back. However, disabling a track not only “zeroes” the output volume from the track, but actually shuts down all disk activity for it. See “About

track disable/enable” on page 63 for more information.

Track folding

On the Project menu you will find the Track Folding submenu, allowing you to quickly show, hide or invert what is displayed in the Project window event display. This enables you for example to divide the project into several parts (by creating several folder tracks for the different project elements) and showing/hiding their contents by selecting a menu function (or using a key command). You can also fold in automation subtracks this way. The following options are available:

• Toggle Selected Track

When you select this menu option, the fold state of the selected track is reversed, i.e. if the track was folded in (its elements (subtracks) were hidden), it is now unfolded (all subtracks displayed) and vice versa.

• Fold Tracks

Select this menu option to fold in all open folder tracks in the Project window. Please note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences, see below.

• Unfold Tracks

Select this menu option to unfold all folder tracks in the Project window. Please note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences, see below.

• Flip Fold States

Select this menu option to flip the fold states of the tracks in the Project window. This means that all tracks that were folded in will be unfolded and all unfolded tracks will be folded in, respectively.

Ö You can assign key commands for these menu options in the Key Commands dialog (Project category).

In the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), you can find the following option affecting the track folding behavior:

• Deep Track Folding

When this is activated, any folding settings you make in the Track Folding submenu of the Project menu also affect the sub-elements of the tracks, i.e. if you fold in a folder track which contains 10 audio tracks 5 of which have several automation subtracks open, all these audio tracks within the folder track will be folded in as well.

The Project window

Dividing the Track list (Cubase only)

It is possible to divide the Track list into two parts. Both sections will have independent zoom and scroll controls (if needed), but resizing the window vertically will affect the lower section only (if possible). This is useful if you’re working with a video track along with multi-track audio for example. This way, you can place the video track in the upper Track list, letting you scroll the audio tracks separately in the lower Track list, referencing them against the video track.

• To divide the Track list, click the “Divide Track List” but-

ton in the top right corner of the Track list.

The “Divide Track List” button.

• To revert to a single Track list, click the button again.

When the Track list is divided into two parts, the following applies:

• If you add tracks from the Add Track submenu of the

Project menu, Video tracks, Marker tracks and Arranger tracks will automatically be placed in the upper part of the Track list.

If the Track list already contains tracks of the type Video, Marker or Arranger, these will automatically be moved to the upper part when you divide the Track list. All other types of tracks will be placed in the lower part.

• If you add tracks from the context menu invoked by

right-clicking in the Track list, tracks will be added to the part of the Track list in which you click.

• You can move any type of track from the lower Track list

to the upper and vice versa by right-clicking it in the Track list and selecting “Toggle Track List” from the context menu.

• You can resize the upper part by clicking and dragging the divider between the Track lists.

Switching between musical and linear time base

Tracks can be either musical (tempo) or linear (time) based.

• On a track using linear time base, the events will be positioned on specific time positions – changing the playback tempo will not affect the time position of events.

• On a track using musical time base, the positions of events are represented as meter values (bars, beats, 1/16th notes and ticks, with 120 ticks per 1/16th note). If you change the playback tempo, the events will play back at an earlier or later time.

• In the Preferences (Editing page), you can find the option “Default Track Time Type” (Cubase only).

This allows you to specify the default track time type for new tracks (Audio, Group/FX, MIDI and Marker tracks). When you change this setting, all new tracks will use the selected time type. You can choose between “Musical”, “Time Linear” and “Follow Transport Main Display”. Selecting “Musical” will cause all added tracks to be set to musical time type. When you select “Time Linear”, all new tracks will use linear time base. The third option uses the primary time format setting on the Transport panel. When this is set to “Bars+Beats”, tracks with musical time base will be added. When this is set to any of the other options (Seconds, Timecode, Samples, etc.), all new tracks will use linear time base.

The Project window

Whether to use musical or linear time base depends on the type of project and recording situation. You can always change this setting individually for each track, by clicking the musical/linear time base button in the Inspector or Track list. Musical time base is indicated by a note symbol, while linear time base is indicated by a clock symbol.

Linear time base selected

Musical time base selected

Internally, events on musical time based tracks use the same high precision for positioning (64 bit floating point values) as linear time based events. However, switching between linear and musical time base results in a very small loss of precision (introduced by the mathematical operations used for scaling values in the two different formats). Therefore you should avoid switching repeatedly between the two modes.

For more information about tempo changes, see “Back-

ground” on page 395.

Adding events to a track

There are a number of ways to add events to a track:

• By recording (see “Basic recording methods” on page

66).

This is possible for audio and MIDI tracks.

• By selecting “Audio File…” or “Video File…” from the

Import submenu on the File menu.

This opens a file dialog, allowing you to locate the file you wish to import. When you import a file this way, a clip is created for the file and an event that plays the whole clip is inserted on the selected track, at the position of the project cursor. You can also import MIDI files by using the Import submenu, but this works in a slightly different way (see “Exporting and importing standard

MIDI files” on page 458).

• By grabbing audio CD tracks and converting them to au-

dio files (see “Importing audio CD tracks” on page 454).

• By importing only the audio portion of a video file and

converting it to an audio file (see “Extracting audio from a

video file” on page 443).

• By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.

This allows you to copy all kinds of events between projects. You can also copy events within the project, from the Audio Part Editor or Sample Editor.

• By drawing.

Some types of events (markers and automation events) can be drawn directly into the Project window. For audio and MIDI tracks, you can draw parts (see “Creating parts” on page 44).

• By dragging files and dropping them on the track at the desired position.

You can create events by dragging and dropping from the following locations:

• The desktop.

• The MediaBay.

• The Pool.

• A library (a Pool file that is not attached to a project).

• The “Find media” dialog.

• The Project window of another open project.

• The Audio Part Editor of any open project.

• The Sample Editor of any open project – press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag to create an event of the current selection, or click in the left column of the region list and drag to create an event from a region.

While you drag the clip in the Project window, its position will be indicated by a marker line and a numerical position box. See also “By using

drag and drop” on page 274.

Audio file import options

When you are importing audio files there are a number of options concerning how the files should be treated by Cubase:

• You can choose to copy the file into the audio folder of the project and have the project make reference to the copied file rather than the original file. This helps you keep your project “self-contained”.

• You can choose to split stereo and multi-channel files into a number of mono files.

• Furthermore, you may want all files in the project to have the same sample rate and sample size (resolution).

The Project window

The Preferences (Editing–Audio page) contains a setting that lets you decide which options, if any, to use. Select the desired option on the “On Import Audio Files” pop-up:

There are two ways to do this:

• Draw a part on a MIDI or audio track with the Pencil tool.

You can also draw parts by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Arrow tool.

• Double-click with the Arrow tool on a MIDI or audio

track, between the left and right locator.

• Open Options Dialog.

An Options dialog appears when you import, allowing you to select whether you want to copy the files to the Audio folder and/or convert them to the project settings. Note: – When importing a single file of a format other than the project settings, you can specify which properties (sample rate and/or resolution) should be changed. – When importing multiple files at the same time, you can select to convert the imported files automatically if necessary, i.e. if the sample rate is different than the project’s or the resolution is lower than the project setting.

• Use Settings.

No Options dialog will appear when you import. Instead, you can choose to make any of the options below the pop-up the standard action(s). Activate any number of the following options to have them performed automatically each time you import audio files:

Option Description

Copy Files to Working Directory

Convert and Copy to Project If Needed

Split multi channel files

If files are not already in the project’s audio folder they are copied there before being imported.

If files are not already in the project’s audio folder they are copied there before being imported. Furthermore, if the files have a different sample rate or a lower resolution than the project settings, they are automatically converted.

If you import a multi-channel audio file (including twochannel stereo files), it will be split into a number of mono files – one for each channel – which are placed on separate, automatically created mono tracks.

Creating parts

Parts are containers for MIDI or audio events. If you record MIDI, a MIDI part is automatically created, containing the recorded events. You can also create empty audio or MIDI parts and later add events to them.

To add events to a MIDI part, you use the tools and functions in a MIDI editor (see “The Key Editor – Overview” on

page 339). Adding events to audio parts is done in the

Audio Part Editor (see “Window overview” on page 265) by pasting or by using drag and drop.

• You can also gather existing audio events into a part, by

using the “Events to Part” function on the Audio menu.

This creates an audio part containing all selected audio events on the same track. To remove the part and make the events appear as independent objects on the track again, select the part and use the “Dissolve Part” function on the Audio menu.

Auditioning audio parts and events

Audio parts and events can be auditioned in the Project window with the Speaker tool:

When auditioning, audio will be routed directly to the Control Room (Cubase only), if the Control Room is activated. When the Control Room is deactivated, the audio will be routed to the default output bus, bypassing the audio channel’s settings, effects and EQs. In Cubase Studio, the Main Mix bus is always used for monitoring.

1. Select the Play tool.

Note that the Play tool and the Scrub tool share the same tool button. If the tool icon on the toolbar doesn’t show a speaker symbol, first click on the icon to select it, then click again and select “Play” from the pop-up menu that appears.

The Project window

2. Click where you want playback to start, and keep the mouse button pressed.

Only the track on which you click is played back, starting at the click position.

3. Release the mouse button to stop playback.

Editing parts and events

This section describes techniques for editing in the Project window. If not explicitly stated, all descriptions apply to both events and parts, even though we use the term “event” for convenience.

Scrubbing

The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio by playing back, forwards or backwards, at any speed:

1. Select the Scrub tool.

Note that the Play tool and the Scrub tool share the same tool button. If the tool icon on the toolbar doesn’t show a “scrub symbol”, first click on the icon to select it, then click again and select “Scrub” from the pop-up menu that appears.

2. Click at the desired position and keep the mouse button pressed.

The project cursor is moved to the position at which you click.

3. Drag to the left or right.

The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played back. The speed and pitch of the playback depend on how fast you move the pointer.

You can adjust the responsiveness of the Scrub function in the Preferences (Transport–Scrub page).

Ö It is also possible to “scrub” the whole project with the Jog wheel on the Transport panel (Cubase only).

See “Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel (Cubase only)” on page 63.

• Note that scrubbing can be quite a burden on your system. To avoid playback problems, you will find the “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” option in the Preferences (Transport–Scrub page).

When you activate this option, scrubbing will be less demanding on the processor. This can be very useful when scrubbing in a large project, where the “normal” scrub behavior leads to processing overloads. When “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” is activated, the effects are disabled for scrubbing and the resampling quality is lower.

Ö When you are using the tools for editing, you can in many cases get additional functions by pressing modifier keys (e.g. pressing [Alt]/[Option] and dragging with the Arrow tool creates a copy of the dragged event).

On the following pages, the default modifier keys are described – you can customize these in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page), see “Setting up tool modifier keys” on page 480.

Selecting events

Selecting events is done using any of the following methods:

• Use the Arrow tool.

The standard selection techniques apply.

• Use the Select submenu on the Edit menu.

The options are:

Option Description

All Selects all events in the Project window.

None Deselects all events.

Invert Inverts the selection – all selected events are dese-

In Loop Selects all events that are partly or wholly between

From Start to Cursor

From Cursor to End

Equal Pitch These are available in the MIDI Editors (see “Selec-

Select Controllers in Note Range

All on Selected Tracks

Select Event This is available in the Sample Editor (see “Window

Left/Right Selection Side to Cursor

lected and all events that were not selected are selected instead.

the left and right locator.

Selects all events that begin to the left of the project cursor.

Selects all events that end to the right of the project cursor.

ting notes” on page 345).

This is available in the MIDI Editors (see “Selecting

controllers within the note range” on page 345).

Selects all events on the selected track.

overview” on page 235).

These two functions are only used for range selection editing (see “Creating a selection range” on page 53).

The Project window

Note that these functions work differently when the Range Selection tool is selected (see “Creating a

selection range” on page 53).

• Select all events on a track by right-clicking in its Track list and selecting “Select All Events” from the pop-up menu that appears.

• You can also use the arrow keys on the computer keyboard to select the closest event to the left, right, above or below.

If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, allowing you to select several events.

• If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is activated in the Preferences (Editing page), all events on the selected track(s) that are “touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.

This can be helpful when rearranging your project, since it allows you to select whole sections (on all tracks) by selecting all tracks and moving the project cursor.

• It is also possible to select ranges, regardless of the event and track boundaries.

This is done using the Range Selection tool (see “Range editing” on page

53).

• Note that in the Preferences (Editing page), you can find the option “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”.

By default, tracks are selected with the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard. However, these are also used for selecting events (see above) which can lead to confusing results in some cases. Since track selection is a most vital operation in both editing and mixing, you have the option to use the navigation controls for track selection only. The following applies:

• When this option is deactivated and no event/part is selected in the Project window, the up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard are used to step through the tracks in the Track list – just as you would expect this to work.

• When this option is deactivated and an event/part is selected in the Project window, the up/down arrow keys still step through the tracks in the Track list – but on the currently selected track, the first event/part will automatically be selected as well. If this is not the desired behavior, you have to activate “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”.

• When this option is activated, the up/down arrow keys are only used to change the track selection – the current event/ part selection in the Project window will not be altered.

• Also in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page), you can find the Cross Hair Cursor options section.

This allows you to display a cross hair cursor when working in the Project window and editors, facilitating navigation and editing, especially when arranging in large projects. You can set up the colors for the line and the mask of the cross hair cursor, and define its width. The cross hair cursor works as follows:

• When the Selection tool (or one of its subtools) is selected, the cross hair cursor appears when you start moving/copying a part/event, or when using the event trim handles.

• When the Pencil tool, the Scissors tool or any other tool that makes use of this function is selected, the cross hair cursor appears as soon as you move the mouse over the event display.

• The cross hair cursor is only available for tools where such a function is of any use. The Mute tool for example does not use a cross hair cursor, as you have to click directly on an event to mute it.

Moving events

To move events in the Project window, use the following methods:

• Click and drag to a new position.

All selected events will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. You can only drag events to tracks of the same type. If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the events (see “Snap” on

page 56).

Note also that you can restrict movement to be either horizontal or vertical only, by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging.

You will note that there is a slightly delayed response when you move an event by dragging. This helps you avoid accidentally moving events when you click on them in the Project window. You can adjust this delay with the Drag Delay setting in the Preferences (Editing page).

• Select the event and edit the Start position in the info line.

• Use the “Move to” functions on the Edit menu.

The following functions are available:

Function Description

Move to Cursor Moves the selected event to the project cursor position. If

Move to Origin Moves the selected events to their original positions, i.e.

there are several selected events on the same track, the first event will start at the cursor, and the following will be lined up end-to-start after the first one.

the positions at which they were originally recorded.

The Project window

Function Description

Move to Front, Move to Back

This function doesn’t actually change the position of the events, but moves the selected events to the front or back, respectively. This is useful if you have overlapping events, and want to see one that is partially obscured. For audio events, this is an extra important feature, since only the visible sections of events will be played back. Moving an obscured audio event to front (or moving the obscuring event to back) will allow you to hear the whole event on playback (see also “Overlapping events” on

page 266).

Note that it is also possible to use the “To Front” function on the event context menu for this (although this works in a different way, see “Create Events mode (Preferences)” on page 75).

• Use the Nudge buttons in the toolbar.

These move the selected events to the left or right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The Project Setup di-

alog” on page 35) and the value set on the Grid pop-up menu.

Here, clicking this button will move the event 2 frames to the right.

When the Range Selection tool is used, the Nudge buttons move the selection range (see “Moving and

duplicating” on page 55).

Ö The Nudge buttons are not visible in the toolbar by default.

You can decide which items should be visible by right-clicking in the toolbar and checking them in the pop-up menu that appears. See “The

Setup dialogs” on page 466 for more information.

Duplicating events

Events can be duplicated in the following ways:

• Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the event to a new

position.

If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see “Snap” on page 56).

If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] as well, movement direction is restricted to either horizontal or vertical. That means if you drag an event vertically it can not be moved horizontally at the same time.

• Audio and MIDI parts can also be duplicated by press-

ing [Alt]/[Option] + [Shift] and dragging.

This creates a shared copy of the part. If you edit the contents of a shared copy, all other shared copies of the same part are automatically edited in the same way.

Shared copies are indicated by showing the name in italic text and an icon in the right corner of the part.

Note:

• When you duplicate audio events, the copies are al-

ways shared. This means that shared copies of audio events always refer to the same audio clip (see “Audio

processing” on page 217).

• You can convert a shared copy to a real copy by select-

ing “Convert to Real Copy” from the Edit menu. This creates a new version of the clip (that can be edited independently) and adds this to the Pool. Note that no new files are created by this operation – for that you need to use the “Bounce Selection” function from the Audio menu (see

“Exporting regions as audio files” on page 280).

• Selecting “Duplicate” from the Edit menu creates a

copy of the selected event and places it directly after the original.

If several events are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, maintaining the relative distance between the events.

The Project window

• Selecting “Repeat…” from the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to create a number of copies (regular or shared) of the selected event(s).

This works just like the Duplicate function, but you can specify the number of copies.

• You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: Select the event(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the handle in the lower right corner of the last selected event and drag to the right.

The longer to the right you drag, the more copies are created (as shown by the tooltip).

• Selecting “Fill Loop” from the Edit menu creates a number of copies starting at the left locator and ending at the right locator.

The last copy is automatically shortened to end at the right locator position.

Renaming events

By default, audio events show the name of their clip, but you can enter a separate descriptive name for separate events if you like. This is done by selecting the event and typing in a new name in the “Description” field in the info line.

• You can also give all events on a track the same name

as the track by changing the track name, holding down a modifier key and pressing [Return].

See “Handling tracks” on page 40.

Splitting events

You can split events in the Project window in the following ways:

• Click with the Scissors tool on the event you want to

split.

If Snap is activated, this determines the exact split position (see “Snap” on page 56). You can also split events by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.

• Select “Split at Cursor” from the Edit menu.

This splits the selected events at the position of the project cursor. If no events are selected, all events (on all tracks) that are intersected by the project cursor will be split.

• Select “Split Loop” from the Edit menu.

This splits events on all tracks at the left and right locator positions.

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

You can cut or copy selected events, and paste them in again, using the functions on the Edit menu.

• When you paste an event it is inserted on the selected track, positioned so that its snap point is aligned with the cursor position.

If the selected track is of the wrong type, the event will be inserted on its original track. See “Snap” on page 56 for information about the snap point.

• If you use the “Paste at Origin” function, the event is pasted at its original position (the position from which you cut or copied it).

The Project window

Ö If you split a MIDI part so that the split position intersects one or several MIDI notes, the result depends on the option “Split MIDI Events” in the Preferences (Editing– MIDI page).

If the option is activated, the intersected notes will be split (creating new notes at the beginning of the second part). If it is deactivated, the notes will remain in the first part, but “stick out” after the end of the part.

Gluing events together

You can glue events together using the Glue Tube tool. There are three possibilities:

• Clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool glues it to-

gether with the next event on the track. The events do not have to touch one another.

The result is a part containing the two events, with one exception: If you first split an event and then glue the two sections together again (without moving or editing them first), they become a single event again.

• You can select several events on the same track and

click on one of them with the Glue Tube tool.

A single part is created.

• When you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool, this event will be glued together with all following events on this track.

You can change the default key command for this in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).

Resizing events

Resizing events means to move their start or end positions individually. In Cubase, there are three types of resizing:

Resizing type Description

Normal Sizing The contents of the event stay fixed, and the start or end

Sizing Moves Contents

Sizing Applies Time Stretch

point of the event is moved to “reveal” more or less of the contents.

The contents follow the moved start or end of the event (see the figure below).

The contents will be time stretched to fit the new event length (see the separate description on “Resizing events

using time stretch” on page 50).

To select one of the resizing modes, select the Arrow tool and then click again on the Arrow tool icon on the toolbar. This opens a pop-up menu from which you can select one of the resizing mode options.

The actual resizing is done by clicking and dragging the lower left or right corner of the event. If Snap is activated, the Snap value determines the resulting length (see

“Snap” on page 56).

Normal sizing.

The icon on the toolbar will change, indicating the selected resizing mode.

The Project window

Sizing moves contents.

• If several events are selected, all will be resized in the

same way.

• You can also resize events with the Scrub tool.

This works just the same as when resizing with the Arrow tool, but the audio under the pointer is played back (scrubbed) while you drag.

• It is also possible to resize events by using the Trim buttons (located in the Nudge palette) on the toolbar.

This will move the start or end position of the selected Event(s) by the amount set on the Grid pop-up menu. The sizing type currently selected applies to this method too, with the exception of “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” which is not possible with this method. You can also use key commands for this (by default, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and use the left and right arrow key).

Ö Note that the Nudge palette is not visible in the toolbar by default. See “The Setup dialogs” on page 466 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Resizing events using time stretch

If you want to resize a part and make its contents “fit” the new size, you should use this option. Proceed as follows:

1. Click the Arrow icon on the toolbar and select the “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” option from the pop-up menu.

2. Point close to the end point of the part you want to stretch.

3. Click and drag left or right.

When you move the mouse, a tooltip shows the current mouse position and length of the part. Note that the snap value applies, as with any part operation.

4. Release the mouse button.

The part is “stretched” or “compressed” to fit the new length.

• For MIDI parts, this means that the note events are

stretched (moved and resized).

Controller data will be moved.

• For audio parts, this means that the events are moved,

and that the referenced audio files are time stretched to fit the new length.

A dialog box shows the progress of the time stretch operation.

Ö You can adjust which algorithm should be used for the time stretch algorithm in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page).

For more information about time stretch, see “Time Stretch” on page 225.

Sliding the contents of an event or part

You can move the contents of an event or part without changing its position in the Project window. By default, this is done by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift], clicking in the event or part and dragging to the left or right.

When sliding the contents of an audio event, you cannot slide past the start or end of the actual audio clip. If the event plays the whole clip, you cannot slide the audio at all.

Grouping Events

Sometimes it is useful to treat several events as one unit. This can be done by grouping them: Select the events (on the same or different Tracks) and select “Group” from the Edit menu.

Grouped events are indicated by a group icon in the right corner.

The Project window

If you edit one of the grouped events in the Project window, all other events in the same group are affected too (if applicable).

Group editing operations include:

• Selecting events.

• Moving and duplicating events.

• Resizing events.

• Adjusting fade-in and fade-out (audio events only, see “Cre-

ating fades” on page 88).

• Splitting events (splitting one event will automatically split any other grouped events that are intersected by the split position).

• Locking events.

• Muting events (see below).

• Deleting events.

Locking events

If you want to make sure you don’t edit or move an event by accident, you can lock it. Locking can affect one (or any combination) of the following properties:

Lock Options Description

Position If this is locked, the event cannot be moved.

Size If this is locked, the event cannot be resized.

Other If this is locked, all other editing of the event is disabled.

This includes adjusting the fades and event volume, processing, etc.

• To lock events, select them and select “Lock…” from the Edit menu.

The events will be locked according to the options specified in the Preferences.

The padlock symbol indicates that one or more of the lock options are activated for the event.

• You can adjust the lock options for a locked event by selecting it and selecting “Lock…” from the Edit menu again.

This opens a dialog in which you can activate or deactivate the desired lock options.

• To unlock an event (turn off all lock options), select it and select “Unlock” from the Edit menu.

• It is also possible to lock a whole track, by clicking the padlock symbol in the Track list or in the Inspector.

This disables all editing of all events on the track.

Muting events

To mute individual events in the Project window, proceed as follows:

• To mute or unmute a single event, click on it with the Mute tool.

• To specify which of these properties should be affected

by the Lock function, use the “Lock Event Attributes” popup menu in the Preferences (Editing page).

The Project window

• To mute or unmute several events, select them – either by using the standard selection techniques, or by using one of the options on the Select submenu on the Edit menu – and click on one of the selected events with the Mute tool.

All selected events will be muted.

• You can also click in an empty area with the Mute tool and drag a selection rectangle around several events you want to mute or unmute, and then click on one of them with the Mute tool.

• You can mute events by selecting them and selecting “Mute” from the Edit menu.

Similarly, you can unmute the selected events by selecting “Unmute” from the Edit menu.

• You can also change the mute status of selected events on the info line.

Muted events can be edited as usual (with the exception of adjusting fades), but are not played back.

Muted events are “grayed out”.

• You can also mute whole tracks by clicking the Mute

(“M”) button in the Track list, the Inspector or the mixer.

Clicking the Solo (“S”) button for a track mutes all other tracks. Note that there are two modes for the track solo function: If the option “Enable Solo on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page) and you have soloed a track, selecting another track in the track list will automatically solo that track instead – the solo state “moves” with the track selection. If the option isn’t activated, the track you solo stays soloed, regardless of the selection.

Removing events

To remove an event from the Project window, use any of the following methods:

• Click on the event with the Eraser tool.

Note that if you press [Alt]/[Option] while you click, all following events on the same track will be deleted, but not the event you clicked and all events before it.

• Select the event(s) and press [Backspace], or select

“Delete” from the Edit menu.

Creating new files from events

An audio event plays a section of an audio clip, which in turn refers to one or more audio files on the hard disk. However, in some situations you may want to create a new file that consists only of the section played by the event. This is done with the function “Bounce Selection” on the Audio menu:

1. Select one or several audio events.

2. Set up fade in, fade out and event volume (on the info

line or using the volume handle) as desired.

These settings will be applied to the new file. For details on fades and event volume, see “Creating fades” on page 88.

3. Select “Bounce Selection” from the Audio menu.

You are asked whether you want to replace the selected event or not.

• If you click “Replace”, a new file is created, containing only the audio in the original event. A clip for the new file is added to the Pool, and the original event is replaced by a new event playing the new clip.

• If you click “No”, a new file is created and a clip for the new file is added to the Pool.

The original event is not replaced.

You can also apply the Bounce Selection function to an audio part. In that case, the audio from all events in the part will be combined into a single audio file. If you choose “Replace” when asked, the part will be replaced with a single audio event playing a clip of the new file.

Editing in Lane Display mode

When you are recording in Stacked cycle recording mode, each take ends up on a separate lane on the track, see “Recording audio in Stacked mode” on page 77 and

“Cycle Record mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute)” on page 82. However, you can also select this lane mode

manually for individual tracks, and use it when editing in the Project window. This makes it easier to view and handle overlapping events and parts.

Audio tracks

1. In the Track list or in the Inspector for the selected track, click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Fixed” from the pop-up menu.

The audio track is divided vertically into two lanes. By default, all audio events end up in the first (top) lane.

The Project window

2. Now you can move events or parts between lanes, ei-

ther by dragging or by using the “Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane” commands on the Edit menu or Quick menu.

Note that if there are overlapping audio events, the audio on the lowest lane has playback priority – moving events between lanes affects what will be heard!

If the vertical zoom factor is sufficiently high, the sections that will be heard on playback are indicated in green.

• Note that there will always be an extra, empty lane at the

bottom of the track – moving an event there always will add another lane.

Depending on the number of lanes used, you may want to adjust the vertical zoom for the track – simply drag the track edges in the track list.

3. After rearranging the overlapping events so that you

hear what you want, you can select all events and select “Delete Overlaps” from the Advanced submenu on the Audio menu.

This puts all events in the top lane and resizes events so that overlapping sections are removed.

4. To turn off Lanes mode, select “Lanes Off” from the

Lane Display Type pop-up menu.

If you do this without using the “Delete Overlaps” function, all overlapping sections will be kept. However, the sections that were green will now be the sections visible (“on top”) and thus the sections that will be heard.

MIDI tracks

1. In the Track list or in the Inspector for the selected

track, click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Auto” or “Lanes Fixed”.

• In Lanes Auto mode, extra lanes will automatically be added where necessary – if two MIDI parts overlap, they will automatically be put on separate lanes.

• In Lanes Fixed mode, you have to move MIDI parts between lanes manually (by dragging them or by using the “Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane” commands on the Edit menu or Quick menu).

In this mode, there will always be an extra, empty lane at the bottom of the track – if you move a part there, another lane will be added and so on.

3. You can edit the overlapping parts as usual – by cutting, deleting or muting sections in the Project window or by opening them in a MIDI editor.

In an editor, parts on different lanes will be treated just like parts on different tracks – you can use the part list pop-up menu to select an active part for editing, etc. Note that there is no playback priority between lanes on a MIDI track – all unmuted parts will be heard during playback.

4. To merge all overlapping parts into one, make sure the MIDI track is selected, position the left and right locator around the parts and select “Merge MIDI in Loop” from the MIDI menu.

In the dialog that appears, activate the Erase Destination option and click OK. This merges all unmuted MIDI between the locators to a single part.

5. To turn off Lanes mode, select “Lanes Off” from the Lane Display Type pop-up menu.

Range editing

Editing in the Project window isn’t necessarily restricted to handling whole events and parts. You can also work with selection ranges, which are independent from the event/part and track boundaries.

Creating a selection range

To make a selection range, drag with the Range Selection tool.

2. Click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes

Auto” or “Lanes Fixed”.

The Project window

When the Range Selection tool is selected, the Select submenu on the Edit menu has the following items for making selection ranges:

Option Description

All Makes a selection that covers all tracks, from the start of

None Removes the current selection range.

Invert Only used for event selection (see “Selecting events” on

In Loop Makes a selection between the left and right locator, on

From Start to Cursor

From Cursor to End

All on Selected Tracks

Select Event This is available in the Sample Editor (see “Using the Se-

Left Selection Side to Cursor

Right Selection Side to Cursor

the project to the end (as defined by the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog).

page 45).

all tracks.

Makes a selection on all tracks, from the start of the project to the project cursor.

Makes a selection on all tracks, from the project cursor to the end of the project.

Only used for event selection (see “Selecting events” on

page 45).

lect menu” on page 242).

Moves the left side of the current selection range to the project cursor position.

Moves the right side of the current selection range to the project cursor position.

• Double-clicking on an event with the Range Selection

tool creates a selection range encompassing the event.

If you hold down [Shift] you can double-click several events in a row, and the selection range will expand to encompass them all. Double-clicking a second time on an event opens it for editing in the Sample Editor.

Adjusting the size of the selection range

You can adjust the size of a selection range in the following ways:

• By dragging its edges.

The pointer takes the shape of a double arrow when you move it over an edge of the selection range.

• By holding down [Shift] and clicking.

The closest selection range edge will be moved to the position at which you clicked.

• By adjusting the selection range start or end position on

the info line.

• By using the Trim buttons on the toolbar.

The left Trim buttons will move the start of the selection range and the right buttons will move the end. The edges will be moved by the amount specified on the Grid pop-up.

Clicking this Trim button…

…will move the start of the selection range to the right by 1beat.

• By using the Nudge buttons on the toolbar.

These will move the whole selection range to the left or the right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The

Project Setup dialog” on page 35) and the value specified on the Grid

pop-up menu.

Note that the contents of the selection are not moved – using the Nudge buttons is the same as adjusting the start and end of the selection range at the same time, by the same amount.

Ö The Trim buttons and the Nudge buttons are located in the Nudge palette, which is not visible in the toolbar by default.

See “The Setup dialogs” on page 466 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

The Project window

Making selection ranges for several non-contiguous tracks

You can create selection ranges that cover several tracks by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift]. However, it is also possible to exclude tracks from a selection range:

1. Create a selection range from the first to the last de-

sired track.

2. Press [Alt]/[Option] and click in the selection range on

the tracks you want to exclude from the selection.

3. In the same manner, you can add a track to the selec-

tion range by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking in the selection range area on the track.

Moving and duplicating

• To move a selection range, click and drag it to a new

position.

This will move the contents of the selection range to the new position. If the range intersected events or parts, these will be split before moving, so that only the sections within the selection range are affected.

• To duplicate a selection range, hold down [Alt]/[Option]

and drag.

You can also use the Duplicate, Repeat and Fill Loop functions, just as when duplicating events.

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

When working with selection ranges, you can either use Cut, Copy and Paste on the Edit menu, or use the functions “Cut Time” and “Paste Time” on the Range submenu on the Edit menu. These work differently to their related functions on the Edit menu:

Function Description

Cut Cuts out the data in the selection range and moves it to

Copy Copies the data in the selection range to the clipboard.

Paste Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track

Paste at Origin Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Ex-

Cut Time Cuts out the selection range and moves it to the clip-

Paste Time Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track

Paste Time at Origin

the clipboard. The selection range is replaced by empty track space in the Project window, meaning that events to the right of the range keep their positions.

of the current selection. Existing events are not moved to make room for the pasted data.

isting events are not moved to make room for the pasted data.

board. Events to the right of the removed range are moved to the left to fill out the gap.

of the current selection. Existing events are moved to make room for the pasted data.

Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Existing events are moved to make room for the pasted data.

Deleting selection ranges

Again, you can either use “regular” Delete or “Delete Time”:

• If you use the Delete function on the Edit menu (or press [Backspace]), the data within the selection range is replaced by empty track space.

Events to the right of the range keep their position.

• If you use “Delete Time” on the Edit menu’s Range submenu, the selection range is removed and events to the right are moved to the left to close up the gap.

The Project window

Other functions

On the Range submenu on the Edit menu, you will find three more range editing functions:

Function Description

Split Splits any events or parts that are intersected by the selec-

Crop All events or parts that are partially within the selection

Insert Silence Inserts empty track space from the start of the selection

tion range, at the positions of the selection range edges.

range are cropped, that is, sections outside the selection range are removed. Events that are fully inside or outside the selection range are not affected.

range. The length of the silence equals the length of the selection range. Events to the right of the selection range start are moved to the right to “make room”. Events that are intersected by the selection range start are split, and the right section is moved to the right.

Region operations

Regions are sections within a clip, with various uses. While regions are perhaps best created and edited in the Sample Editor (see “Working with regions” on page 244), the following region functions are available in the Advanced submenu of the Audio menu:

Function Description

Event or Range as Region

Events from Regions

This function is available when one or several audio events or selection ranges are selected. It creates a region in the corresponding clip, with the start and end position of the region determined by the start and end position of the event or selection range within the clip.

This function is available if you have selected an audio event whose clip contains regions within the boundaries of the event. The function will remove the original event and replace it with event(s) positioned and sized according to the Region(s).

Options

Snap

The Snap function helps you to find exact positions when editing in the Project window. It does this by restricting horizontal movement and positioning to certain positions. Operations affected by Snap include moving, copying, drawing, sizing, splitting, range selection, etc.

• You turn Snap on or off by clicking the Snap icon in the toolbar.

Snap activated.

Ö When you are moving audio events with Snap activated, it isn’t necessarily the beginning of the event that is used as Snap position reference. Instead, each audio event has a snap point, which you can set to a relevant position in the audio (such as a downbeat, etc.).

The snap point is preferably set in the Sample Editor since it allows for a higher degree of precision (see “Adjusting the snap point” on page 241). You can however also set the snap point directly in the Project window, in the following way:

1. Select an event.

2. Place the project cursor at the desired position within

the selected audio event.

3. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Snap Point To Cursor”.

The snap point is set at the cursor position.

The snap point for an event is displayed as a blue line in the Project window.

The Project window

Exactly how Snap works depends on which mode is selected on the Snap mode pop-up menu.

Events

In this mode, the start and end positions of other events and parts become “magnetic”. This means that if you drag an event to a position near the start or end of another event, it is automatically aligned with the start or end of the other event. For audio events, the position of the snap point is also magnetic (see “Adjusting the snap point” on

page 241).

• Note that this includes marker events on the marker track.

This allows you to snap events to marker positions, and vice versa.

The following sections describe the different Snap modes:

Grid

In this mode, the Snap positions are set with the Grid pop-up menu to the right. The options depend on the display format selected for the ruler. For example, if the ruler is set to show bars and beats, the grid can be set to bars, beats or the quantize value set with the next pop-up menu to the right. If a time or frame-based ruler format is selected, the grid pop-up menu will contain time or framebased grid options, etc.

When Seconds is selected as ruler format, the grid pop-up menu contains time-based grid options.

Grid Relative

When you move events and parts in this mode they will not be “magnetic” to the grid. Rather, the grid determines the step size for moving the events. This means that a moved event will keep its original position relative to the grid.

For example, if an event starts at the position 3.04.01 (one beat before bar 4), Snap is set to Grid Relative and the Grid pop-up is set to “Bar”, you can move the event in steps of one bar – to the positions 4.04.01, 5.04.01 and so on. The event will keep its relative position to the grid, i.e. stay one beat before the bar lines.

• This only applies when dragging existing events or parts

– when you create new events or parts this mode works like the Grid mode.

Shuffle

Shuffle mode is useful when you want to change the order of adjacent events. If you have two adjacent events and drag the first one to the right, past the second event, the two events will change places.

The same principle works when changing the order of more than two events:

12345

Dragging event 2 past event 4…

52431

…changes the order of events 2, 3 and 4.

Magnetic Cursor

When this mode is selected, the project cursor becomes “magnetic”. Dragging an event near the cursor causes the event to be aligned with the cursor position.

The Project window

Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Events + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Events” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Events + Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Events”, “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Snap to Zero Crossing

When this option is activated in the Preferences (Editing– Audio page), splitting and sizing of audio events is done at zero crossings (positions in the audio where the amplitude is zero). This helps you avoid pops and clicks which might otherwise be caused by sudden amplitude changes.

This setting affects all windows in all open projects – with the exception of the Sample Editor (which has its own “Use Snap” button for this).

Autoscroll

Autoscroll activated.

When this option is activated, the waveform display will scroll during playback, keeping the project cursor visible in the window.

• If the option “Stationary Cursors” is activated in the

Preferences (Transport page), the project cursor will be positioned in the middle of the screen (if possible).

The Project window

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

This chapter describes the various methods available for controlling Playback and Transport functions in Cubase.

The Transport panel

Below you can find a brief description of each item on the Transport panel.

The pictures below show the Transport panel with all controls visible and in their default position (note that the Jog/ Shuttle control is available in Cubase only). The Transport panel is divided into sections, from left to right.

CPU load and Disk Cache meters

Activates Auto Quantize

Preroll setting and on/off switch

Left locator: record start point, punch in point and beginning of Cycle

Activates punch in

Activates punch out

Right locator: punch out point and end of Cycle

Nudge position right/left

Position slider

Postroll setting and on/off switch

Primary Time Display and format pop-up

Record mode pop-up menu

Nudge +/- 1 Frame

Jog Wheel (project scrubbing)

Exchange time formats

Secondary Time Display and format pop-up

Cycle Record mode pop-up menu

Shuttle speed

Active Arranger chain

Current Arranger item

Previous/Next Arranger items

First/Last repeat of current Arranger item

Metronome click on/off Show Markers (opens

Tempo track on/off

Synchronization on/off

Output Level Control (for the Control Room channel, if the Control Room is enabled, or for the Main Mix output bus, see below).

MIDI In Activity (left meter)/ MIDI Out activity

Audio input activity and Clipping indicator (Default Input channel)

Precount on/off

The tempo and time signature display

Arranger Selector

Activate Arranger Mode

Marker window)

Jump to Marker

Audio output activity and Clipping indicator (top)

Ö Note that the Output Activity and Clipping indicator as well as the Output Level Control refer to the Control Room channel (Cubase only) if the Control Room is activated. If the Control Room is disabled, these controls refer to the Main Mix Output bus as defined on the Outputs tab in the VST Connections window. For information on the Control Room, see the chapter “Control Room (Cubase

only)” on page 146. In Cubase Studio, the Main Mix bus is

always used for monitoring.

• The main Transport functions (Cycle/Stop/Play/Record) can also be shown on the toolbar.

Go to previous marker or project start

Fast forwardRewind

Go to next marker or project end

Play

Stop

Cycle on/off

Record

In addition, various play options are available on the Transport menu.

Playback and the Transport panel

Hiding and showing the Transport Panel

The Transport panel is shown by default when you launch a new project. To hide or show it, select “Transport Panel” on the Transport menu (or use a key command – by default [F2]).

About Preroll and Postroll

These items are described in the chapter “Recording”, see “About Preroll and Postroll” on page 84.

Changing the Transport panel setup

You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by right-clicking anywhere on the panel and selecting/deselecting the desired options on the pop-up menu that appears.

This is described in detail in the section “Customizing via

the setup context menus” on page 466.

The numeric keypad

In the default Key Command settings, various Transport panel operations are assigned to the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard. The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers:

Numeric Key Function

[Enter] Play

[+] Fast Forward

[-] Rewind

[*] Record

[÷] (Win)/[/] (Mac) Cycle On/Off

[,] Return to Zero

[0] Stop

[1] Go to Left Locator

[2] Go to Right Locator

[3-9] Go to marker 3 to 9

Operations

Setting the project cursor position

There are several ways to move the project cursor position:

• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.

• By using the Jog/Shuttle/Nudge control on the Trans-

port panel (Cubase only – see “The Shuttle Speed control

(Cubase only)” on page 63).

• By dragging the project cursor in the lower part of the ruler.

• By clicking in the ruler.

Double-clicking in the ruler moves the cursor and starts/stops playback.

• If the option “Locate when Clicked in Empty Space” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page) you can click anywhere in an empty section of the Project window to move the cursor position.

• By changing the value in any of the position displays.

• By using the position slider above the transport buttons

in the Transport panel.

The range of the slider relates to the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog. Hence, moving the slider all the way to the right will take you to the end of the project.

• By using markers (see “About markers” on page 107).

• By using playback options (see “Playback functions” on

page 64).

• By using the Arranger function (see “The Arranger

track” on page 95).

• By using functions on the Transport menu.

The following functions are available:

Function Description

Locate Selection/ Locate Selection End

Locate Next/ Previous Marker

Locate Next/ Previous Event

Moves the project cursor to the beginning or end of the current selection. For this to be available, you must have selected one or more events or parts, or made a selection range.

This moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right or left (see “About markers” on page 107).

This moves the project cursor forwards or backwards respectively, to the closest beginning or end of any event on the selected track(s).

Playback and the Transport panel

Ö If Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is taken into account. This is helpful for finding exact positions quickly.

• You can swap time formats between the primary and secondary time displays by clicking the double arrow symbol between them.

Ö There are also numerous key commands available for moving the project cursor (in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog).

For example, you can assign key commands to the “Step Bar” and “Step Back Bar” functions, allowing you to move the project cursor in steps of one bar, backwards and forwards.

About the Transport panel display formats

Primary time display (left) and secondary time display (right).

The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit shown in the main time display on the Transport panel. This means that you can display timecode in the transport position display and bars and beats in the ruler, for example. In addition, there is a secondary time display to the right of the primary time display which is also independent, giving you three different time units shown at the same time (in the Project window, you can also create additional ruler tracks – see “Using multiple

rulers – ruler tracks (Cubase only)” on page 34).

The following rules apply:

• If you change the time format of the primary time display

on the Transport panel, the time format of the ruler will be changed as well.

This is the same as changing the display format in the Project Setup. Therefore, to have different display formats in the ruler and the main time display you should change the format in the ruler.

• The primary time display format is set on the pop-up

menu to the right in the main position display.

• This setting also determines the time format displayed

for the left and right locators on the Transport panel.

• The secondary time display is completely independent,

and the display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the secondary time display.

The left and right locators

The left and right locators are a pair of position markers used for specifying punch-in and punch-out positions during recording, and as boundaries for cycle playback and recording.

Ö When cycle mode is activated on the Transport panel, the area between the left and right locator will be repeated (cycled) on playback.

However, if the right locator is positioned before the left, this will work as a “jump” or “skip mode” – when the project cursor reaches the right locator it will immediately jump to the left locator position and continue playback from there.

There are several ways to set locator positions:

• To set the left locator, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click at the desired position in the ruler.

Similarly, pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the ruler sets the right locator. You can also drag the locator “handles” directly in the ruler.

The locators are indicated by the “flags” in the ruler. The area between the locators is highlighted in the ruler and in the Project window (see

“Appearance” on page 469). Note that if the right locator is before the

left locator, the color of the ruler between the locators will change (from blue to red).

• Click and drag in the upper half of the ruler to “draw” a locator range.

If you click on an existing locator range, you can drag to move it.

• Pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and pressing [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad sets the left or right locator to the project cursor position.

Similarly, you can press [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad (without [Ctrl]/ [Command]) to set the project cursor position to the left or right locator position. Note that these are default key commands – you can change these if you like.

• By creating cycle markers you can store any number of left and right locator positions, which can be recalled by simply double-clicking on the corresponding marker (see

“About cycle markers” on page 108).

Playback and the Transport panel

• The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu

(default key command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection.

This is available if you have selected one or several events or made a selection range.

• You can also adjust the locators numerically on the

Transport panel.

Clicking the L/R buttons in the locator section on the Transport panel will move the project cursor to the respective locator. If you press [Alt]/[Option] and click the L or R button, the corresponding locator will be set to the current project cursor position.

• If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically stop.

The nudge position buttons (Cubase only)

The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog section allow you to nudge the project cursor position to the right or left, respectively. Each time you click a nudge button, the project cursor is moved by one frame.

Options and Settings

The Shuttle Speed control (Cubase only)

The shuttle speed control (the outer wheel on the Transport panel) allows you to play the project at any playback speed, forwards or backwards. This provides a quick way to locate or “cue” to any position in the project.

• Turn the shuttle speed wheel to the right to start play-

back.

The further to the right you move the wheel, the faster the playback speed.

• If you turn the wheel to the left instead, the project will

play backwards.

Similarly, the playback speed depends on how far to the left you turn the wheel.

Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel (Cubase only)

The middle wheel on the Transport panel serves as a jog wheel. By clicking and dragging it to the right or left you will move the playback position manually forwards or backwards – much like scrubbing on a tape deck. This helps you pinpoint exact locations in the project.

• Note that the jog wheel is an “endless dial” – you can

turn it as many times as needed to move to the desired location.

The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the playback speed.

The “Return to Start Position on Stop” preference

This setting is found on the Transport page in the Preferences (found on the File menu under Windows, or on the Cubase menu under Mac OS X).

• If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is activated when you stop playback, the project cursor will automatically return to the position where recording or playback last started.

• If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is deactivated, the project cursor will remain at the position where you stop playback.

Pressing Stop again will return the project cursor to the position where recording or playback last started.

About track disable/enable

For audio tracks, the track context menu contains an item named “Disable Track”. This shuts down all disk activity for the track, as opposed to using Mute, which merely turns down the output volume for a track. For example, if you often record “alternative takes” you can easily build up a large number of takes on different tracks. Even though these tracks are muted, they are actually still “playing back” from the hard disk during playback. This puts an unnecessary load on your disk system, so using “Disable Track” is recommended for such situations.

• Select “Disable Track” for tracks that you want to keep i n the project for later use (but don’t want to play back now).

Select “Enable Track” from the track context menu to re-enable disabled tracks.

Playback and the Transport panel

Playback functions

Apart from the standard transport controls on the Transport panel, you can also find a number of functions that can be used to control playback on the Transport menu. The items have the following functionality:

Option Description

Postroll from Selection Start/End

Preroll to Selection Start/End

Play from Selection Start/End

Play until Selection Start/End

Play until Next Marker

Play Selection Range

Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current

The functions listed above (except “Play until Next Marker”) are only available if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.

Starts playback from the beginning or end of the currently selected range and stops after the time set in the Postroll field on the Transport panel.

Starts playback from a position before the start or end of the currently selected range and stops at the selection start or end, respectively. The playback start position is set in the Preroll field on the Transport panel.

Activates playback from the beginning or end of the current selection.

Activates playback two seconds before the start or end of the current selection and stops at the selection start or end, respectively.

This activates playback from the project cursor and stops at the next marker.

This activates playback from the start of the current selection and stops at the selection end.

selection and keeps starting over again when reaching the selection end.

At the beginning of the first chorus you have another program change event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound.

You now play back the song. It begins with the piano sound and then switches to the string sound. In the middle of the chorus you stop and rewind to some point between the beginning and the second program change. The synth will now still play the string sound although in this section it really should be a piano!

The Chase function takes care of that. If program change events are set to be chased, Cubase will track the music back to the beginning, find the first program change and transmit it to your synth, setting it to the correct sound.

The same thing can apply to other event types as well. The Chase Events settings in the Preferences (MIDI page) determine which event types will be chased when you locate to a new position and start playback.

Ö In the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page) you will find the option “Treat Muted Audio Events like Deleted”. When you activate this option, any events overlapped by a muted event will become audible.

About Chase

Chase is a function that makes sure your MIDI instruments sound as they should when you locate to a new position and start playback. This is accomplished by the program transmitting a number of MIDI messages to your instruments each time you move to a new position in the project, making sure all MIDI devices are set up correctly with regard to program change, controller messages (such as MIDI Volume), etc.

For example, let’s say you have a MIDI track with a program change event inserted at the beginning. This event makes a synth switch to a piano sound.

Playback and the Transport panel

Ö Event types for which the checkbox is activated here will be chased.

• In the Chase Events section of the Preferences (MIDI page), you will find the option “Chase not limited to Part Boundaries”.

When you activate this option, MIDI controllers are also chased outside the part boundaries, i.e. the Chase will be performed on the part touched by the cursor as well as on all the parts to the left of it. Please note that this option should be deactivated for very large projects, as it considerably slows down operations such as positioning and soloing. When you deactivate this option, the MIDI controllers are only chased within the parts under the position cursor.

Recording

Background

This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can use in Cubase. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI tracks, both recording methods are covered in this chapter.

Before you start

This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain basic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have been made:

• You have properly set up, connected and calibrated

your audio hardware.

• You have opened a project and set the project setup

parameters to your specifications.

Project setup parameters determine the record format, sample rate, project length etc. that affect the audio recordings you make during the course of the project. See “The Project Setup dialog” on page 35.

• If you plan to record MIDI, your MIDI equipment should

be set up and connected correctly.

Basic recording methods

This section describes the general methods used for recording. However, there are additional preparations and procedures that are specific to audio and MIDI recording respectively. Make sure to read these sections before you start recording (see “Audio recording specifics” on page

68 and “MIDI recording specifics” on page 79).

Record-enabling a track

Cubase can record on a single track or on several tracks (audio and/or MIDI) simultaneously. To make a track ready for recording, click the Record Enable button for the track in the Track list, in the Inspector or in the mixer. When activated, the button(s) turn red, indicating record ready mode.

Record Enable in the Inspector, Track list and mixer.

Ö If the option “Enable Record on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), tracks are automatically record-enabled when you select them in the Track list.

Ö The exact number of audio tracks you can record simultaneously depends on your computer CPU and hard disk performance.

In the Preferences (VST page), you can find the option “Warn on Processing Overloads”. When this is activated, a warning message will be displayed as soon as the CPU clip indicator (on the Transport panel) lights up during recording.

Manually activating recording

You activate recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport panel or toolbar or by using the corresponding key command (by default [*] on the numeric keypad).

Recording can be activated in Stop mode (from the current cursor position or from the left locator) or during playback:

• If you activate recording in Stop mode, and the option “Start Record at Left Locator” is activated on the Transport menu, recording will start from the left locator.

The preroll setting or the metronome count-in will be applied (see “About

Preroll and Postroll” on page 84).

• If you activate recording in Stop mode, and “Start Record at Left Locator” is deactivated, recording will start from the current project cursor position.

• If you activate recording during playback, Cubase will immediately enter Record mode and start recording from the current project cursor position.

This is known as “manual punch in”.

Recording

Activating recording in Sync mode

If you are synchronizing the Cubase transport to external equipment (Sync is activated on the Transport panel) and you activate recording, the program will go into “record ready” mode (the record button on the Transport panel will light up). Recording then starts when a valid timecode signal is received (or when you click the Play button). See the chapter “Synchronization” on page 421 for more information.

• If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport panel, recording will be deactivated when the project cursor reaches the right locator.

This is known as “automatic punch out”. By combining this with automatic punch in, you can set up a specific section to record – again very useful if you want to replace a certain part of a recording. See also “Stop

after Automatic Punch Out” on page 84.

Automatically activating recording

Cubase can automatically switch from playback to recording at a given position. This is known as “automatic punch in”. A typical use for this would be if you need to replace a section of a recording, and want to listen to what is already recorded, up to the recording start position.

1. Set the left locator to the position where you want re-

cording to start.

2. Activate the Punch In button on the Transport panel.

Punch In activated.

3. Activate playback from some position before the left

locator.

When the project cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated.

Stopping recording

Again, this can be done automatically or manually:

• If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or

use the corresponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), recording is deactivated and Cubase goes into Stop mode.

• If you click the Record button (or use the key command

for recording, by default [*]), recording is deactivated but playback continues.

This is known as “manual punch out”.

Punch In and Out activated.

Cycle recording

Cubase can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left and right locators. When the cycle is active, the selected section is seamlessly repeated until you hit Stop or deactivate cycle mode.

• To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the Transport panel.

If you now start playback, the section between the left and right locator is repeated indefinitely until you stop.

Cycle activated

• To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from the left locator, from before the locators or from within the cycle, in Stop mode or during playback.

As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back to the left locator and continue recording a new lap.

• The results of cycle recording depend on the selected cycle record mode and are different for audio (see “Re-

cording audio in cycle mode” on page 75) and MIDI (see “Recording MIDI in cycle mode” on page 81).

Recording

Audio pre-record

This feature allows you to capture up to 1 minute of any incoming audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is possible because Cubase can capture audio input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Preferences (Record-Audio page).

2. Specify a time (up to 60 seconds) in the “Audio Pre-

Record Seconds” field.

This activates the buffering of audio input, making Pre-Record possible.

3. Make sure an audio track is record-enabled and re-

ceives audio from the signal source.

4. When you have played some audio material you want

to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), click the Record button.

5. After a few seconds stop the recording.

An audio event is created, starting at where the cursor position was when you activated recording. This means that if you were in stop mode, and the cursor was at the beginning of the project, you may have to move the event to the right in the next step. If you were playing along to a project you should leave the event where it is.

6. Select the Arrow tool and place the cursor on the bot-

tom left edge of the event so that a double arrow appears, then click and drag to the left.

Now the event is extended and the audio you played before activating record is inserted – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

Audio recording specifics

Selecting a recording file format

The format for recorded files is set in the Project Setup dialog on the Project menu. There are three settings: sample rate, record format (bit depth) and record file type. While the sample rate is set once and for all when you start working on a new project, the bit depth and file type can be changed at any time.

Record file type

The Record File Type setting determines which type of files will be created when you record:

File type Description

Wave File Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are a common

Wave 64 File (Cubase only)

Broadcast Wave File

AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Ap-

• If you select Broadcast Wave File or AIFF format, you can specify Author, Description and Reference text strings that will be embedded in the recorded file.

This is done on the Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave page in the Preferences.

file format on the PC platform.

Wave64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. Audio-wise it is identical to the Wave format, but the internal file structure makes much larger file sizes possible. This is useful e.g. for long live recordings in surround format, where the audio files can become huge.

In terms of audio content, the same as regular Wave files, but with embedded text strings for supplying additional information about the file (see below).

ple Computer Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used on most computer platforms. Like Broadcast Wave files, AIFF files can contain embedded text strings (see below).

The recording was activated at the start of bar 9. This is indicated by a blue line in the audio event.

Recording

Record format (bit depth)

The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit and 32 bit float. Use the following guidelines:

• Normally, select the record format according to the bit depth delivered by your audio hardware.

For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs), you may want to record at 24 bit resolution to capture the full bit depth. On the other hand, if your hardware has 16 bit inputs, it’s pointless to record with a higher bit depth – this will only make the audio files larger, with no difference in audio quality. The exception is if you record with effects – see “Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 77.

• The higher the bit depth, the larger the files and the

more strain is put on the disk system.

If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting.

For further information on the options in the Project Setup dialog, see “The Project Setup dialog” on

page 35.

Setting up the track

Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration

Audio tracks can be configured as mono, stereo or surround tracks (Cubase only). This allows you to record or import a file containing multiple channels and treat it as one entity, with no need to split it up into several mono files etc. The signal path for an audio track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus.

You specify the channel configuration for a track when you create it:

1. Select “Add Audio Track” from the Track list context

menu or the Project menu (or double-click in an empty area of the Track list when an audio track is selected – when a MIDI track is selected, double-clicking in the Track list creates a new MIDI track).

A dialog appears with a channel configuration pop-up menu.

2. Select the desired format from the pop-up menu.

In Cubase Studio, you choose between mono and stereo. In Cubase, the most common formats are listed directly on the pop-up menu, with the remaining surround formats listed on the “More…” submenu. For a list of the available surround formats, see “Output bus configuration” on page 198.

• The Browse item in this dialog allows you to browse

your disk(s) for created Track Presets, which can be used as a basis (or template) for tracks.

This is described in detail in the chapter “Track Presets” on page 300.

3. Click OK.

A track appears, set to the specified channel configuration. In the mixer, a corresponding channel strip appears. You cannot change the channel configuration for a track.

Selecting an input bus for a track

Here we assume that you have added and set up the required input busses (see “Setting up busses” on page 14). Before you record, you need to specify from which input bus the track should record. You can do this in the Inspector or in the mixer:

• In the Inspector, you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu in the top section.

As described in the section “The Inspector” on page 29, the Inspector by shows the settings for the selected track. You show or hide the Inspector clicking the “Show/Hide Inspector” button on the Project window toolbar.

Click here to show/hide the Inspector.

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

Recording

• In the mixer, you select an input bus on the Input Routing

pop-up menu at the top of the track’s channel strip.

If this pop-up menu isn’t shown, you need to open the Mixer Routing View by clicking the “Show Routing” button in the extended Mixer common panel or by selecting “Show Routing View” from the Window submenu on the Mixer context menu. See “Configuring the mixer” on page 122 for more information about the mixer.

Click here to show or hide the input and output settings.

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

Recording from busses

You can also select an output bus, a group bus or an FX channel bus as an Input for your recording.

Let’s assume you want to create a downmix of separate tracks, e.g. bass drum, hihats, snare etc.

Proceed as follows:

1. Set up your separate tracks as desired and add a

group track.

2. For each of the drum tracks, open the Output Routing

pop-up menu and select the Group track as output.

3. Create a new audio track, open the Output Routing

pop-up menu for it and select the Group track as input for this audio track.

4. Record enable this audio track and start recording.

Now, the output of the group track will be recorded on the new track and you will get a mix of your separate tracks.

Note that you can also select an FX channel as recording source. In this case, only the output of the FX channel will be recorded.

For more information about the routing possibilities, see

“Routing” on page 17.

Selecting a folder for the recorded audio files (Cubase only)

Each Cubase project has a project folder containing (among other things) an “Audio” folder. By default, this is where recorded audio files are stored. However, you can select record folders independently for each audio track if needed:

1. To select the same record folder for several audio tracks, select them by pressing [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] and clicking on them in the Track list.

2. Right-click in the Track list for one of the tracks to bring up the track context menu.

3. Select “Set Record Folder”.

4. Use the file dialog that appears to navigate to the de-

sired folder (or create a new folder with the Create button).

Tip: if you want to have separate folders for different types of material (speech, ambient sounds, music, etc.), you can create subfolders within the Project’s “Audio” folder and assign different tracks to different subfolders. This way, all audio files will still reside within the project folder, which will make managing the Project easier.

• It’s possible to have different tracks record to totally different locations, even on different disks. However, if you need to move or archive the project, there is a risk of missing some files. The solution is to use the “Prepare Archive” function in the Pool to gather all external files into the project folder first, see “Prepare Archive” on page 282.

Setting input levels

When recording digital sound, it’s important to set the input levels correctly – loud enough to ensure low noise and high audio quality, but not so loud that clipping (digital distortion) occurs.

Clipping typically occurs in the audio hardware when a too loud analog signal is converted to digital in the hardware’s A/D converters.

• If you are using Cubase, it is also possible to get clipping when the signal from the input bus is written to a file on your hard disk.

This is because in Cubase, you can make settings for the input bus, adding EQ, effects, etc. to the signal as it is being recorded. This may raise the level of the signal, causing clipping in the recorded audio file.

Recording

The procedure for checking the signal level coming into the audio hardware is slightly different depending on whether you are using Cubase or Cubase Studio:

Cubase

In Cubase, you check the input level at the input channel.

To check the level of the “unprocessed” signal coming into the audio hardware, you need to switch the level meters to “Meter Input”. In this mode, the input channel level meters will show the level of the signal at the input of the bus, before any adjustments such as input gain, EQ, effects, level or pan:

1. Right-click in the Mixer window.

The Mixer context menu appears.

2. Select the Global Meter Settings submenu and make

sure “Meter Input” is activated.

3. Play back the audio and check the level meter for the

input channel.

The signal should be as loud as possible without exceeding 0 dB (the Clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up).

The next step is to check the level of the audio being written to a file on your hard disk. This is only necessary if you have made any adjustments to the input channel (level settings, EQ, insert effects, etc.). Note also:

• If you record in 32 bit float format, the bit depth will not be reduced – which means there’s no risk of clipping at this stage.

Also, this preserves the signal quality perfectly. Therefore, you should consider using 32 bit float format when you are recording with effects (see “Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 77).

• If you record in 16 or 24 bit format, the available headroom is lower, which means clipping can occur if the signal is too loud. To avoid this, set the signal level in the following way:

1. Bring up the mixer context menu and select “Meter Post-Fader” from the Global Meter Settings submenu.

2. Set up the input channel, by adding EQ and/or effects as desired.

With some effects you may want to adjust the level of the signal going into the effect – use the Input Gain knob for this. Note that you need to press [Shift] or [Alt]/[Option] to adjust the Input Gain.

The Clipping indicator.

4. If necessary, adjust the input level in one of the follow-

ing ways:

• Adjust the output level of the sound source or external

mixer.

• Use the audio hardware’s own application program to

set the input levels (if possible).

See the documentation for the audio hardware.

• If your audio hardware supports the ASIO Control Panel

function, it may be possible to make input level settings.

To open the ASIO control panel, open the Device Setup dialog via the Devices menu and, in the list to the left (below “VST Audio System”), select your audio card. When this is selected, you can open the Control Panel by clicking on the Control Panel button in the settings section to the right.

Recording

3. Play back the audio and check the level meter of the input channel.

The signal should be reasonably loud but should not reach 0 dB (the Clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up).

4. If necessary, use the input channel fader to adjust the signal level.

Cubase Studio

In Cubase Studio, the input channels are not shown in the mixer. Instead, you need to check the level at the channel strip for the track on which you are recording:

1. Locate the channel strip for the track you’re about to

record on.

2. Activate monitoring for the channel by clicking the

speaker button next to the fader.

When monitoring is activated, the meter shows the level of the incoming audio signal.

3. Play the audio source that you want to record and

check the level meter for the channel.

4. Adjust the output level of your audio source so that the

meters go reasonably high without reaching 0.0 dB.

Check the numerical peak level indicator below the meter in the bus channel strip. To reset the peak level indicator, click on it.

Ö You must adjust the output level of the audio source – you cannot use the faders in Cubase Studio to adjust the input level!

Ö An alternative way of checking the input levels would be to use the control panel for your audio hardware (if it features input level meters). It may also be possible to adjust the input level in the control panel.

See the documentation of your audio hardware for details.

Monitoring

In this context, “monitoring” means listening to the input signal during recording. There are three fundamentally different ways to do this: via Cubase, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Cubase), or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination of both other methods – see below).

Monitoring via Cubase

If you monitor via Cubase, the input signal is mixed in with the audio playback. The advantage of this is that you can adjust the monitoring level and panning in the mixer, and add effects and EQ to the monitor signal just as during playback (using the track’s channel strip – not the input bus!).

The disadvantage of monitoring via Cubase is that the monitored signal will be delayed according to the latency value (which depends on your audio hardware and drivers). Therefore, monitoring via Cubase requires an audio hardware configuration with a low latency value. You can check the latency of your hardware in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audio System page).

Ö If you are using plug-in effects with large inherent delays, the automatic delay compensation function in Cubase will increase the latency.

If this is a problem, you can use the Constrain Delay Compensation function while recording, see “VST Instruments and Instrument tracks” on

page 182.

When monitoring via Cubase, you can select one of four Auto Monitoring modes in the Preferences (VST page):

• Manual.

This option allows you to turn input monitoring on or off by clicking the Monitor button in the Inspector, the Track list or in the mixer.

• While Record Enabled.

With this option, you will hear the audio source connected to the channel input whenever the track is record enabled.

• While Record Running.

This option switches to input monitoring only during recording.

Recording

• Tapemachine Style.

This option emulates standard tapemachine behavior: input monitoring in Stop mode and during recording, but not during playback.

• Cubase only: In the Preferences (VST–Metering page)

you can find the option “Map Input Bus Metering to Audio Track (in Direct Monitoring)”.

When Direct Monitoring is activated in the Device Setup dialog, this option allows you to map the input bus metering to monitor-enabled audio tracks. This gives you the opportunity to watch the input levels of your audio tracks when working in the Project window.

When Direct Monitoring is activated in the Device Setup dialog, this function works as follows:

• When “Map Input Bus Metering to Audio Track (in Direct Monitoring)” is activated, audio tracks show the metering signal from the input bus they are routed to as soon as the track is record-enabled. Note that the tracks are mirroring the input bus signal, i.e. you will see the same signal in both places. When using mapped metering, any functions (e.g. trimming) you apply to the audio track are not reflected in its meters.

• When “Map Input Bus Metering to Audio Track (in Direct Monitoring)” is not activated, metering works as usual.

• In Cubase Studio, the audio tracks always show the in-

put bus metering, see “Cubase Studio” on page 72.

External monitoring

External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it goes into Cubase) requires some sort of external mixer for mixing the audio playback with the input signal. This can be a stand-alone physical mixer or a mixer application for your audio hardware, if this has a mode in which the input audio is sent back out again (usually called “Thru”, “Direct Thru” or similar).

When using external monitoring, you cannot control the level of the monitor signal from within Cubase or add VST effects or EQ to the monitor signal. The latency value of the audio hardware configuration does not affect the monitor signal in this mode.

ASIO Direct Monitoring

If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO Direct Monitoring. In this mode, the actual monitoring is done in the audio hardware by sending the input signal back out again. However, monitoring is controlled from Cubase. This means that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automatically by Cubase, just as when using internal monitoring.

Ö If you are using RME Audio Hammerfall DSP audio hardware, make sure that the pan law is set to -3dB in the card’s preferences.

• To activate ASIO Direct Monitoring, open the Device Setup dialog on the Devices menu and activate the Direct Monitoring checkbox on the page for your audio hardware.

If the checkbox is grayed out, your audio hardware (or its driver) doesn’t support ASIO Direct Monitoring. Consult the audio hardware manufacturer for details.

• When ASIO Direct Monitoring is activated, you can select a monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page), as when monitoring via Cubase (see “Monitoring via Cubase” on page 72).

• Depending on the audio hardware, it may also be possible to adjust monitoring level and panning from the mixer.

Consult the documentation of the audio hardware if in doubt.

• VST effects and EQ cannot be applied to the monitor signal in this mode, since the monitor signal doesn’t pass through Cubase.

• Depending on the audio hardware, there may be special restrictions as to which audio outputs can be used for direct monitoring.

For details on the routing of the audio hardware, see its documentation.

• The latency value of the audio hardware configuration does not affect the monitor signal when using ASIO Direct Monitoring.

Ö If you want to use external monitoring, you need to make sure that monitoring via Cubase isn’t activated as well.

Select the “Manual” monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page) and don’t activate the Monitor buttons.

Recording

Recording is done using any of the general recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 66). When you finish recording, an audio file is created in the Audio folder within the project folder. In the Pool, an audio clip is created for the audio file, and an audio event that plays the whole clip appears on the recording track. Finally, a waveform image is calculated for the audio event. If the recording was very long, this may take a while.

Ö If the option “Create Audio Images During Record” is activated in the Preferences (Record-Audio page), the waveform image will be calculated and displayed during the actual recording process.

This real-time calculation uses some processing power – if your processor is slow or you are working on a CPU-intensive project, you should consider turning this option off.

Undoing recording

If you decide that you don’t like what you just recorded, you can delete it by selecting Undo from the Edit menu. The following will happen:

• The event(s) you just created will be removed from the Project window.

• The audio clip(s) in the Pool will be moved to the Trash folder.

• The recorded audio file(s) will not be removed from the hard disk.

However, since their corresponding clips are moved to the Trash folder, you can delete the files by opening the Pool and selecting “Empty Trash” from the Media menu, see “Deleting from the hard disk” on page 275.

Recording overlapping events

The basic rule for audio tracks is that each track can play back a single audio event at a time. This means that if two or more events are overlapping, only one of them will be heard at any given time.

What happens when you record overlapping events (record in an area where there are already events on the track) depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

• In “Normal” or “Merge” mode, recording where something has already been recorded creates a new audio event that overlaps the previous one(s).

When you record audio, there is no difference between “Normal” and “Merge” mode – the difference only applies to MIDI recording (see

“About overlap and the Record Mode setting” on page 81).

• In “Replace” mode, existing events (or portions of events) that are overlapped by the new recording will be removed.

This means that if you record a section in the middle of a longer existing recording, that original event will be cut into two events with a gap for the new event.

Which event will be heard?

If two or more events are overlapping, you will only hear the events (or portions of events) that are actually visible. Overlapped (hidden) events or sections are not played back.

• The functions “Move to Front” and “Move to Back” on the Edit menu (see “Moving events” on page 46) are useful for managing overlapping events, as is the “To Front” function (see below).

Recording

Recording audio in cycle mode

If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the result depends on two factors:

• The “Cycle Record Mode” setting on the Transport panel.

• The “Audio Cycle Record Mode” setting in the Prefer-

ences (Record-Audio page).

Cycle Record Modes on the Transport panel

There are five different modes on the Transport panel, but the first two modes only apply to MIDI recording. For audio cycle recording, the following applies:

• If “Keep Last” is selected, the last complete “take” (the

last completely recorded lap) is kept as an audio event.

In reality, all laps you recorded are saved in one audio file divided into regions – one region for each take. You can easily select a previous take for playback – this is done as when recording in “Create Regions” mode (see “Create Regions mode (Preferences)” on page 76).

• If “Stacked” is selected, each take will appear as an

event on a separate “lane” on the track.

This is useful when you want to view and edit the different takes and eventually combine them to one recording. In this mode, the Audio Cycle Record Mode preference doesn’t matter. Stacked 2 (No Mute) is the same as Stacked, except that all the takes will be audible. See “Recor-

ding audio in Stacked mode” on page 77.

• If any of the other cycle recording modes is selected,

the result depends entirely on the “Audio Cycle Record Mode” setting in the Preferences (Record-Audio page).

These options are described below.

Create Events mode (Preferences)

When “Audio Cycle Record Mode” is set to “Create Events” in the Preferences (Record-Audio page), the following will happen when you record audio in cycle mode:

• One continuous audio file is created during the entire recording process.

• For each recorded lap of the cycle, one audio event is created.

The events will have the name of the audio file plus the text “Take *”, where “*” indicates the number of the take.

• The last take (the last recorded lap) will be on top (and will thus be the one you hear when you activate playback).

To select another take for playback, proceed a follows:

1. Right-click the event and select “To Front” from the pop-up menu that appears.

A submenu appears, listing all the other (obscured) events.

2. Select the desired take.

The corresponding event is brought to front.

Recording

This method allows you to quickly combine the best parts of each take, in the following way:

1. Use the Scissors tool to split the events in several sec-

tions, one for each part of the take.

For example, if you recorded four lines of vocals (in each take), you can split the events so that each line gets a separate event.

The events after splitting. Note that since the original take events overlap each other, clicking with the Scissors tool will split all takes at the same position.

2. For each section of the take, use the “To Front” func-

tion to bring the best take to the front.

This way, you can quickly combine the best sections of each take, using the first vocal line from one take, the second line from another take and so on.

You can also compile a “perfect” take in the Audio Part Editor, see “Assembling a “perfect take”” on page 268.

Create Regions mode (Preferences)

When Audio Cycle Record Mode is set to “Create Regions” in the Preferences (Record-Audio page), the following will happen when you record audio in cycle mode:

• One continuous audio file is created during the entire

recording process.

• The audio event in the Project window shows the name

of the audio file plus the text “Take *” (with “*” being the number of the last completed cycle lap).

• If you play back the recorded event, you will only hear

what was recorded during the last lap of the cycle recording.

The previous “takes” recorded in the cycle are still available, however.

• The audio clip is divided into regions (called takes), one

for each lap of the cycle that was recorded.

If you locate the audio file you just recorded in the Pool, and click on the plus sign beside it, you can see the regions that have been created, one for each lap of the cycle that was completed during recording.

“Take” regions in the Pool window.

To play back the different “takes”, proceed as follows:

1. In the Project window, right-click the event that was created during cycle recording.

The Quick menu appears.

2. Select the “Set To Region” menu item.

A submenu appears with the takes you recorded during cycle record.

3. Now you can select any of the takes from the submenu and it will replace the previous take event in the Project window.

Use this method to listen through the various takes. Select the best single take, or compile a “perfect” take by cutting out the best bits from each take and putting them together (see “Assembling a “perfect take”” on page 268).

Create Events + Regions mode (Preferences)

In this mode, both events and regions are created. If you work with the takes as events in this mode, you can edit the events freely (e.g. splitting them), see “Create Events

mode (Preferences)” on page 75. However, in case you

want to go back to the original takes, they are still available as regions (on the “Set To Region” submenu, in the Pool or in the Sample Editor).

Recording

Recording audio in Stacked mode

When you record audio in cycle mode and the “Stacked” Cycle Record Mode is selected on the Transport panel, the following happens:

• Each complete recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate audio event.

• The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap.

• The events are stacked above each other, each on a different lane.

This makes it easy to create a “perfect take” by combining the best parts from the different cycle laps:

1. Zoom in so you can work comfortably with the stacked

events.

If you play back the recorded section, only the lowest (last) take will be heard.

2. To audition another take, either mute the lower take(s)

with the Mute tool or move the takes between the lanes.

This can be done by dragging or by using the functions Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane on the Quick menu or the Edit menu.

3. Edit the takes so that only the parts you want to keep

can be heard.

You can cut events with the Scissors tool, resize them, mute them or delete them.

4. When you are satisfied with the result, select all events on all lanes and select “Delete Overlaps” from the Advanced submenu on the Audio menu.

This puts all events back on a single lane and resizes events so that overlapped sections are removed.

5. To turn off the lane display mode for the track, click the Lane Display Type button in the track list and select “Lanes Off”.

If the button is hidden, you can bring it to view in the Track Controls Settings dialog – see “Customizing track controls” on page 467.

The Lane Display Type button.

Recording with effects (Cubase only)

Normally you record the audio signals “dry” and add effects non-destructively during playback as described in the chapter “Audio effects” on page 162. However, Cubase also allows you to add effects (and/or EQ) directly while recording. This is done by adding insert effects and/ or making EQ settings for the input channel in the mixer. Note:

Ö This will make the effects become part of the audio file itself – you cannot change the effect settings after recording.

The sections that will be heard are indicated in green.

About the record format

When you record with effects, you should consider setting the record format (bit depth) to 32 Bit Float. This is done in the Project Setup dialog on the Project menu. Note that this isn’t required in any way – you can also record with effects in 24 or 16 Bit format.

Recording

However, there are two advantages to 32 Bit Float format:

• With 32 Bit Float recording, you don’t risk clipping (dig-

ital distortion) in the recorded files.

This can of course be avoided with 24 or 16 Bit recording as well, but requires more care with the levels.

• Cubase processes audio internally in 32 Bit Float for-

mat – recording in the same format means the audio quality will be kept absolutely pristine.

The reason is that the effect processing in the input channel (as well as any level or EQ settings you make there) is done in 32 Bit Float format. If you record at 16 or 24 Bit, the audio will be converted to this lower resolution when it’s written to file – with possible signal degradation as a result.

Note also that it doesn’t matter at which actual resolution your audio hardware works. Even if the signal from the audio hardware is in 16 Bit resolution, the signal will be 32 Bit Float after the effects are added in the input channel.

An example

This example shows how to apply the “SoftClipper” effect while recording. Note that this is only an example. The principle is the same for all effects (or combinations of effects).

1. Set up an audio track for recording and select the de-

sired input bus.

For best results, you should also activate monitoring as this allows you to hear and try out your settings before actually recording. See “Monitoring

via Cubase” on page 72 for a description of monitoring via Cubase.

2. Open the Mixer and make sure the full extended view

is shown.

To show the extended mixer view, either click the arrow icon (“Show Extended Mixer”) in the Common Panel, select “Show Extended View” from the Window submenu on the Mixer context menu or use a key command (this can be set in the Key Commands dialog, see “Setting up key com-

mands” on page 476).

3. Locate the input channel (bus) from which you record.

If the input channels are hidden, click on the Show/Hide Input Channels button to the left.

4. Check the input level (of the signal coming into the audio hardware) as described in the section “Setting input

levels” on page 70 and adjust the level of the source audio

if necessary.

5. Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for the input channel and select “Inserts”.

The View Options pop-up menu is opened by clicking the arrow button between the fader panel and the extended panel.

Now the extended panel for the input channel shows the insert slots.

6. Click on an insert slot and select an effect from the pop-up menu that appears.

As you see, the included effects are sorted into submenus – you will find the SoftClipper effect on the “Distortion” submenu.

The effect is loaded and activated and its control panel is automatically opened.

7. Adjust the effect parameters to your liking.

For detailed information on the Effect parameters, see the separate manual “Plug-in Reference”.

8. When the effect is set up as desired, you can check the level of the input channel by setting the Meters to post-fader (see “Setting input levels” on page 70).

Use the input channel fader to adjust the level if needed.

9. Activate recording.

10. When you’re finished, you can play back the recorded

audio track.

As you can hear, the effect you applied is now a part of the actual audio file.

11. If you don’t want to record more with the same plug-in, you should deactivate it by clicking in the insert slot and selecting “No Effect”.

Recording

MIDI recording specifics

Activating MIDI Thru

Normally, when working with MIDI, you will have MIDI Thru activated in Cubase, and Local Off selected in your MIDI Instrument(s). In this mode, everything you play during recording will be “echoed” back out again on the MIDI output and channel selected for the recording track.

1. Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated in

the Preferences (MIDI page).

2. Record enable the track(s) on which you want to

record.

Now, incoming MIDI is “echoed” back out again for all record-enabled MIDI tracks.

Record Enable button

Ö If you just want to use the Thru function for a MIDI track without recording, activate the monitor button for the track instead.

This is useful e.g. if you want to try out different sounds or play a VST instrument in real time without recording your playing.

Setting MIDI channel, input and output

Setting the MIDI channel in the instrument

Most MIDI synthesizers can play several sounds at the same time, each on a different MIDI channel. This is the key to playing back several sounds (bass, piano etc.) from the same instrument. Some devices (such as General MIDI compatible sound modules) always receive on all 16 MIDI channels. If you have such an instrument, there’s no specific setting you need to make in the instrument. On other instruments, you will have to use the front panel controls to set up a number of “Parts”, “Timbres” or similar so that they receive on one MIDI channel each. See the manual that came with your instrument for more information.

Monitor button

Naming MIDI ports in Cubase

MIDI inputs and outputs are often displayed with unnecessarily long and complicated names. However, you can rename your MIDI ports to more descriptive names:

1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.

2. Select the MIDI Port Setup item in the Device list.

The available MIDI inputs and outputs are listed. Under Windows, which device to choose depends on your system.

3. To change the name of a MIDI port, click in the “Show As” column and type in a new name.

After closing the dialog, the new name will appear on the MIDI Input and Output Routing pop-up menus.

Setting the MIDI input in the Inspector

You select MIDI inputs for tracks in the Inspector (the area to the left of the Track list in the Project window):

1. If the Inspector is hidden, click the Show Inspector button on the toolbar.

2. Select the track(s) by clicking in the Track list.

To select multiple tracks, press [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] and click. The Inspector shows the settings for the first selected track (for details, see

“The Inspector” on page 29).

3. Click the track name in the Inspector to make sure the topmost section is shown.

Recording

4. Pull down the Input Routing pop-up menu and select

an input.

The available MIDI inputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on the type of MIDI interface you are using, etc.

3. Use the channel pop-up menu to select a MIDI channel for the track.

• If you select the “All MIDI Inputs” option, the track will receive MIDI data from all available MIDI inputs.

• If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI input, this is selected for all selected MIDI tracks.

Setting the MIDI channel and output

The MIDI channel and output settings determine where the recorded MIDI is routed during playback, but are also relevant for MIDI Thru in Cubase. Channel and output can be selected in the Track list or in the Inspector. The procedure below describes how to make the settings in the Inspector, but it can be done in largely the same manner in the Track list as well.

1. To select the track(s) and show the settings in the

Inspector, proceed as when selecting a MIDI input (see above).

2. Pull down the Output routing pop-up menu and select

an output.

The available MIDI outputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on what type of MIDI interface you are using etc.

• If you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, each MIDI event on the track will be sent out on the channel stored in the event itself.

In other words, the MIDI material will be played back on the channel(s) used by the MIDI input device (the MIDI instrument you play during recording).

Selecting a sound

You can select sounds from within Cubase by instructing the program to send Program Change and Bank Select messages to your MIDI device. This is done using the “Patch Selector” and “Bank Selector” fields in the Inspector or Track list.

Program Change messages give access to 128 different program locations. If your MIDI instruments have more than 128 programs, Bank Select messages (set in the “Bank Selector” field) allow you to select different banks, each containing 128 programs.

• If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI output, this is selected for all selected MIDI tracks.

Recording

Ö Bank Select messages are recognized differently by different MIDI instruments. The structure and numbering of banks and programs may also vary. Consult the documentation of your MIDI instruments for details.

Ö Note that it is also possible to select sounds by name. For descriptions of how to set this up, see the separate “MIDI Devices” PDF document.

Recording

Recording MIDI is done according to the basic recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 66). When you finish recording, a part containing MIDI events is created in the Project window.

About overlap and the Record Mode setting

MIDI tracks are different from audio tracks when it comes to overlapping parts:

Ö All events in overlapping parts are always played back.

If you record several parts at the same locations (or move parts so that they overlap), you will hear the events in all parts on playback, even though some of the parts are obscured in the Project window.

When recording overlapping parts, the result depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

• If the record mode is set to “Normal”, overdub recording works as with audio tracks, i.e. if you record again where something has already been recorded, you get a new part that overlaps the previous one(s).

• If the record mode is set to “Merge”, the overdubbed events are added to the existing part.

• If the record mode is set to “Replace”, the new recording replaces any existing events in the area on that track.

About punch in and out on MIDI tracks

Performing and setting up manual and automatic punch in/out recording for MIDI tracks is done in exactly the same way as for audio tracks. There is one thing to note, however:

• Punching in and out on recordings with Pitch Bend or

controller data (modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) may lead to strange effects (apparently hanging notes, constant vibrato etc.).

If this happens, you may need to use the Reset item on the MIDI menu (see “The Reset function” on page 83).

About the Automatic MIDI Record Quantize function

If Auto Quantize is activated on the Transport panel (the “Auto Q” button), the notes you record are automatically quantized according to the current Quantize settings. For more information about quantizing, see “The Quantizing

functions” on page 325.

Recording MIDI in cycle mode

When you record MIDI in cycle mode, the result depends on which Cycle Record mode is selected on the Transport panel:

Cycle Record mode: Mix (MIDI)

For each completed lap, everything you record is added to what was previously recorded in the same part. This is useful for building up rhythm patterns, for example. Record a hi-hat part on the first lap, the bass drum part on the second lap etc.

Cycle Record mode: Overwrite (MIDI)

As soon as you play a MIDI note (or send any MIDI message), all MIDI you have recorded on previous laps is overwritten from that point on in the part. An example:

1. You start recording in an eight bar cycle.

2. The first take wasn’t good enough – you start directly

with a new take on the next cycle lap and overwrite the first take.

3. After recording the second take you let the recording roll on and listen, without playing anything.

You find that the take was good up until bar seven, for example.

4. On the next lap, you wait until bar seven and start playing.

This way you will overwrite the last two bars only.

5. Make sure you stop playing before the next lap begins – otherwise you will overwrite the entire take.

Cycle Record mode: Keep Last

Each completed lap replaces the previously recorded lap. Note:

• The cycle lap must be completed – if you deactivate recording or press Stop before the cursor reaches the right locator, the previous take will be kept.

• If you don’t play or input any MIDI during a lap, nothing happens (the previous take will be kept).

Recording

Cycle Record mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute)

In this mode, the following happens:

• Each recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate MIDI part.

• The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap.

• The parts are stacked above each other, each on a different lane.

• All takes but the last one are muted (Stacked).

• If Stacked 2 is selected, no muting takes place.

This makes it easy to create a “perfect take” by combining the best parts from the different cycle laps. You can edit the parts in the Project window (by cutting, resizing and deleting) or you can use a MIDI editor as in the following example:

1. Unmute the muted takes by clicking the parts with the

Mute tool.

2. Select all takes (parts) and open them in the Key Edi-

tor for example.

3. Use the part list pop-up menu on the toolbar to select

which part to edit.

See “Handling several parts” on page 338.

4. Remove or edit notes as desired.

5. When you are happy with the result, close the editor.

6. To turn it all into a single MIDI part (containing your

“perfect take”), select all parts and select “Merge MIDI in Loop” from the MIDI menu.

7. In the dialog that appears, activate the Erase Destina-

tion option and click OK.

The remaining events in the parts are merged together into a single part.

Recording different types of MIDI messages

You can decide exactly which event types should be recorded by using the MIDI filters – see “Filtering

MIDI” on page 84.

Notes

When you press and release a key on your synth or other MIDI keyboard, a Note On (key down) and a Note Off (key up) message are sent out. The MIDI note message also contains the information which MIDI channel was used. Normally, this information is overridden by the MIDI channel setting for the track, but if you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, the notes will be played back on their original channels.

Continuous messages

Pitch bend, aftertouch and controllers (like modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) are considered as MIDI continuous events (as opposed to the momentary key down and key up messages). If you move the Pitch bend wheel on your synthesizer while recording, this movement is recorded together with the key (Note On and Note Off messages), just as you’d expect. But the continuous messages can also be recorded after the notes have been recorded (or even before). They can also be recorded on their own tracks, separately from the notes to which they belong.

Say, for instance, that you record one or several bass parts on track 2. If you now set another track, like track 55, to the same output and MIDI channel as track 2, you can make a separate recording of just pitch bends for the bass parts on track 55. This means that you activate recording as usual and only move the pitch bend wheel during the take. As long as the two tracks are set to the same output and MIDI channel, it will appear to the MIDI instrument as if the two recordings were made at the same time.

Program Change messages

Normally, when you switch from one program to another on your keyboard (or whatever you use to record), a number corresponding to that program is sent out via MIDI as a Program Change message. These can be recorded on the fly with the music, recorded afterwards on a separate track, or manually entered in the Key or List Editors.

Recording

System Exclusive messages

System Exclusive (SysEx) is a special type of MIDI message used to send data that only makes sense to a unit of a certain make and type. SysEx can be used to transmit a list of the numbers that make up the settings of one or more sounds in a synth. For more about viewing and editing SysEx messages, see the chapter “Working with Sys-

tem Exclusive messages” on page 390.

The Reset function

The Reset function on the MIDI menu sends out note-off messages and resets controllers on all MIDI channels. This is sometimes necessary if you experience hanging notes, constant vibrato, etc.

• Cubase can also automatically perform a MIDI reset on

stop.

You can turn this function on or off in the Preferences (MIDI page).

• Also in the Preferences (MIDI page), you can find the

option “Insert Reset Events after Record”.

This is a very handy function for MIDI recording. At the end of each recorded part, a Reset event will be inserted, resetting controller data such as Sustain, Aftertouch, Pitchbend, Modulation, Breath Control, etc. This is useful if a MIDI part is recorded and e.g. the Sustain pedal is still held after stopping recording. Usually, this would cause all following parts to be played with Sustain, as the Pedal Off command was not recorded. This can be prevented by activating “Insert Reset Events after Record”.

Retrospective Record

This feature allows you to capture any MIDI notes you play in Stop mode or during playback and turn them into a MIDI part “after the fact”. This is possible due to the fact that Cubase can capture MIDI input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Enable the Retrospective Record option in the Prefer-

ences (Record-MIDI page).

This activates the buffering of MIDI input, making Retrospective Record possible.

2. Make sure a MIDI track is record-enabled.

3. When you have played some MIDI material you want

to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), select Retrospective Record from the Transport menu (or use the key command, by default [Shift]-[Pad*]).

The content of the MIDI buffer (i.e. what you just played) is turned into a MIDI part on the record enabled track. The part will appear where the project cursor was when you started playing – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

• The Retrospective Record Buffer Size setting in the Preferences (Record-MIDI page) determines how much data can be captured.

MIDI Preferences

There are several other options and settings in the Preferences that affect MIDI recording and playback:

MIDI page

• Length Adjustment

Adjusts the length of notes so that there is always a short time between the end of one note and the start of another (of the same pitch and on the same MIDI channel). The time is set in ticks. By default there are 120 ticks per 1/16 note, but you can adjust this with the MIDI Display Resolution setting on the same page.

Record-MIDI page

• Snap MIDI Parts to Bars

When this is activated, recorded MIDI parts will automatically be lengthened to start and end at whole bar positions. If you are working in a Bars+Beats-based context, this can make editing (moving, duplicating, repeating, etc.) easier.

• Solo Record in MIDI Editors

If this is activated and you open a part for editing in a MIDI editor, its track is automatically record-enabled. Furthermore, Record Enable is deactivated for all other MIDI tracks until you close the editor again. This makes it easier to record MIDI data when you’re editing a part – you will always be sure the recorded data ends up in the edited part and not on any other track.

• MIDI Record Catch Range in ms

When you record starting at the left locator, this setting helps you make sure the very start of the recording is included. A very annoying scenario is when you have recorded a perfect MIDI take, only to find out that the very first note wasn’t included – because you started playing a little bit too early! If you raise the Record Catch Range, Cubase will catch the events played just before the recording start point, eliminating this problem.

For a description of the other options, click the Help button in the Preferences.

Recording

Filtering MIDI

The MIDI–MIDI Filter page in the Preferences allows you to prevent certain MIDI messages from being recorded and/or “thruput” (echoed by the MIDI Thru function).

The dialog is divided into four sections:

Section Description

Record Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI

Thru Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI

Channels If you activate a channel button, no MIDI messages on

Controller Allows you to prevent certain MIDI controller types from

message from being recorded. It will, however, be thruput, and if already recorded, it will play back normally.

message from being thruput. It will, however, be recorded and played back normally.

that MIDI channel will be recorded or thruput. Already recorded messages will, however, be played back normally.

being recorded or thruput. To filter out a controller type, select it from the list at the top of the Controller section and click “Add”. It will appear on the list below. To remove a controller type from the list (allow it to be recorded and thruput), select it in the lower list and click “Remove”.

Options and Settings

Recording-related Transport Preferences

A couple of settings in the Preferences (Transport page) are relevant for recording. Set these according to your preferred method of work:

Deactivate Punch In on Stop

If this is activated, punch in on the Transport panel is automatically deactivated whenever you enter Stop mode.

Stop after Automatic Punch Out

If this is activated, playback will automatically stop after automatic punch out (when the project cursor reaches the right locator and punch out is activated on the Transport panel). If the postroll value on the Transport panel is set to a value other than zero, playback will continue for the set time before stopping (see below).

About Preroll and Postroll

Preroll value field and on/off switch.

Postroll value field and on/off switch.

The preroll and postroll value fields (below the left/right locator fields) on the Transport panel have the following functionality:

• By setting a preroll value, you instruct Cubase to “roll back” a short section whenever playback is activated.

This applies whenever you start playback, but is perhaps most relevant when recording from the left locator (punch in activated on the Transport panel) as described below.

• By setting a postroll value, you instruct Cubase to play back a short section after automatic punch out before stopping.

This is only relevant when punch out is activated on the Transport panel and “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page).

• To turn preroll or postroll on or off, click the corresponding button on the Transport panel (next to the pre/postroll value) or use the “Use Preroll” and “Use Postroll” options on the Transport menu.

Recording

An example:

1. Set the locators to where you want to start and end re-

cording.

2. Activate Punch in and Punch out on the Transport

panel.

3. Activate the option “Stop after Automatic Punch Out”

in the Preferences (Transport page).

4. Set suitable preroll and postroll times by clicking in the

corresponding fields on the Transport panel and typing in time values.

5. Activate preroll and postroll by clicking the buttons

next to the preroll and postroll times so that they light up.

6. Activate recording.

The project cursor “rolls back” by the time specified in the preroll field and playback starts. When the cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated. When the cursor reaches the right locator, recording is deactivated, but playback continues for the time set in the postroll field before stopping.

Metronome settings

You make settings for the metronome in the Metronome Setup dialog, opened from the Transport menu.

Using the metronome

The metronome can output a click that can be used as a timing reference. The two parameters that govern the timing of the metronome are tempo and time signature, and these are edited in the Tempo Track window (see “Editing

the tempo curve” on page 397).

You can use the metronome for a click during recording and/or playback or for a precount (count-in) that will be heard when you start recording from Stop mode. Click and precount are activated separately:

• To activate the metronome, click the Click button on the

Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Metronome On” option on the Transport menu or use the corresponding key command (by default [C]).

• To activate the precount, click the Precount button on

the Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Precount On” option on the Transport menu or set up a key command for this.

Click on/off Precount on/off

The metronome can use either an audio click played back via the audio hardware, send MIDI data to a connected device which will play back the click or do both.

The following metronome settings can be made in the dialog:

Metronome Options

Metronome in Record / Play

Use Count Base

Precount Options

Precount Bars Sets the number of bars the metronome will count in be-

Use Time Signature at Record Start Time

Description

Allows you to specify whether the metronome should be heard during playback, recording or both (when Click is activated on the Transport panel).

If this option is activated, a field appears to the right where you specify the “rhythm” of the metronome. Normally, the metronome plays one click per beat, but setting this to e.g. “1/8” gives you eighth notes – two clicks per beat. It’s also possible to create unusual metronome rhythms such as triplets etc.

Description

fore it starts recording if precount is activated on the Transport panel.

When this is activated, the precount will automatically use the time signature and tempo set at the position where you start recording.

Recording

Precount Options

Use Time Signature at Project Time

Use Signature… This lets you set a time signature for the precount. In this

MIDI Click Description

Activate MIDI Click

MIDI Port/ Channel

Hi Note/ Velocity

Lo Note/ Velocity

Audio Click Description

Activate Audio Click

Beeps When this is selected, the audio clicks will be beeps gen-

Sounds When this is selected, you can click in the “Sound” fields

Description

When this is activated, the precount will be in the time signature set in the Tempo track. Furthermore, any tempo changes in the Tempo track during the precount will be applied.

mode, tempo changes in the Tempo track won’t affect the precount.

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via MIDI.

This is where you select a MIDI output and channel for the metronome click.

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity value for the “high note” (the first beat in a bar).

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity for the “low notes” (the other beats).

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via the audio hardware.

erated by the program. Adjust the pitch and level of the beeps for the “Hi” (first) beat and “Lo” (other) beats using the sliders below.

below to load any audio files for use as the “Hi” and “Lo” metronome sounds. The sliders set the level of the click.

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Normally, when a computer crashes, all changes made to your current project since you last saved it will be lost. Usually, there is no quick and easy way to recover your work.

With Cubase, when your system crashes while you are recording (because of a power cut or other mishap), you will find that your recording is still available, from the moment when you started recording to the time when your computer crashed.

When you experience a computer crash during a recording, simply relaunch the system and check the project record folder (by default this is the Audio subfolder inside the project folder). It should contain the audio file you were recording at the time of the crash.

Please note: This feature does not constitute an “overall” guarantee by Steinberg. While the program itself was improved in such a way that audio recordings can be recovered after a system failure, it is always possible that a computer crash, power cut, etc. might have damaged another component of the computer, making it impossible to save or recover any of the data.

Warning: Please do not try to actively bring about this kind of situation to test this feature. Although the internal program processes have been improved to cope with such situations, Steinberg cannot guarantee that other parts of the computer are not damaged as a consequence.

Recording

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating fades

There are two main types of fade-ins and fade-outs in audio events in Cubase: fades created by using the fade handles (see below) and fades created by processing (see “Fades created by processing” on page 89).

Fades created by using the fade handles

Selected audio events have blue handles in the upper left and right corners. These can be dragged to create a fadein or fade-out respectively.

Creating a fade-in. The fade is automatically reflected in the shape of the event’s waveform, giving you a visual feedback of the result when you drag the fade handle.

Fades created with the handles are not applied to the audio clip as such but calculated in real time during playback. This means that several events referring to the same audio clip can have different fade curves. It also means that having a huge number of fades may demand a lot of processor power.

• If you select multiple events and drag the fade handles

on one of them, the same fade will be applied to all selected events.

• A fade can be edited in the Fade dialog, as described

on the following pages.

You open the dialog by double-clicking in the area above the fade curve, or by selecting the event and selecting “Open Fade Editor(s)” from the Audio menu (note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and fade-out curves). If you adjust the shape of the fade curve in the Fade dialog, this shape will be maintained when you later adjust the length of a fade.

• You can make the fade longer or shorter at any time, by

dragging the handle.

You can actually do this even without selecting the event first, i.e. without visible handles. Just move the mouse pointer along the fade curve until the cursor turns into a bidirectional arrow, then click and drag.

• If the option “Fade Handles always on Top” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display-Audio page), the fade handles stay at the top of the event, and vertical help lines indicate the exact end or start points of fades.

This is useful in situations where you want the event volume to be very low, as this option allows you to still see the fade handles.

• If the option “Show Event Volume Curves Always” is activated in the Preferences (Event Display–Audio page), the fade curves will be shown in all events, regardless of whether they are selected or not.

If the option is deactivated, the fade curves are shown in selected events only.

• If the option “Thick Fade Lines” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display-Audio page), the fade lines and volume curve are thicker, increasing their visibility.

Fade handles on top of the event and thicker fade and volume lines allow you to edit and view fades even in situations where event volume is very low.

• When the option “Use Mouse Wheel for Event volume and Fades” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page), you can use the mouse wheel to move the volume curve up or down. When you hold down [Shift] while moving the mouse wheel, this will change the fade curves. This is useful in situations where the fade handles are not visible (e.g. because of a very high zoom factor).

When you position the mouse pointer somewhere in the left half of the event, the fade in end point is moved. When the mouse pointer is in the right half of the event, the fade out start point will move.

Ö You can set up key commands for changing the event volume curve and any fade curves, if you don’t want to use the mouse for this.

You will find these commands in the Key Commands dialog, in the Audio category. See “Key commands” on page 475.

Ö As an alternative to dragging the fade handles, you can use the items “Fade In to Cursor” and “Fade Out to Cursor” on the Audio menu to create fades (Cubase only).

Position the project cursor on an audio event where you want a fade in to end or a fade out to begin, and select the appropriate option from the Audio menu. A fade will then be created, ranging from the event’s start or end to the position of the cursor.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection tool

“Handle-type” fades can also be created and adjusted with the Range Selection tool, in the following way:

1. Select a section of the audio event with the Range Se-

lection tool.

The result depends on your selection, in the following way:

• If you select a range from the beginning of the event, a fade-in will be created within the range.

• If you select a range that reaches the end of an event, a fadeout will be created in the range.

• If you select a range encompassing a middle section of the event, but not reaching neither the start nor the end, both a fade-in and a fade-out will be created outside of the selected range. In other words, the fade-in will cover the area from the beginning of the event to the beginning of the selected range, and the fade-out will cover the area from the end of the selected range to the end of the event.

2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Adjust Fades to

Range”.

The fade areas are adjusted according to the selection range.

You can select multiple audio events on separate tracks with the Range Selection tool, and apply the fade to all of them simultaneously.

About the volume handle

A selected audio event also has a blue handle in the top middle. This is the volume handle, and it provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event, directly in the Project window. It is linked directly to the volume setting on the info line, that is, dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.

The volume change is displayed numerically on the info line.

The event waveform reflects the volume change.

Drag the Volume handle up or down to change the volume of the event.

Removing fades

To remove the fades for an event, select the event and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

You can also use the Range Selection tool to remove fades and crossfades within the selected range:

1. Drag the Range Selection tool in the Project window, so that the selection encloses all of the fades and crossfades you wish to remove.

2. Select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

Fades created by processing

If you have selected an audio event or a section of an audio event (using the Range Selection tool), you can apply a fade-in or fade-out to the selection by using the “Fade In” or “Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. These functions open the corresponding Fade dialog, allowing you to specify a fade curve.

Note that the length of the fade area is determined by your selection. In other words, you specify the length of the fade before you enter the Fade dialog.

Also note that you can select multiple events and apply the same processing to all of them simultaneously.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Fades created this way are applied to the audio clip rather than to the event. Please note the following:

• If you later create new events that refer to the same clip, these will have the same fades.

• You can remove or modify the fades at any time using the Offline Process History (see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 227).

If other events refer to the same audio clip, you will be asked whether you want the processing to be applied to these events or not.

• Continue will apply the processing to all events that refer to the audio clip.

• New Version will create a separate, new version of the audio clip for the selected event.

• You can also choose to put a checkmark in the “Do not show this message again” box. Regardless of whether you then choose “Continue” or “New Version”, any further processing will conform to the option you select.

You can change this setting at any time in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page), under “On Processing Shared Clips”.

The Fade dialogs

The Fade dialogs appear when you edit an existing fade or use the “Fade In”/“Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. The picture below shows the Fade In dialog; the Fade Out dialog has identical settings and features.

• If you open the Fade dialog(s) with several events selected, you can adjust the fade curves for all these events at the same time.

This is useful if you want to apply the same type of fade-in to more than one event, etc.

Curve Kind

These determine whether the fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Fade display

Shows the shape of the fade curve. The resulting waveform shape is shown in dark gray, with the current waveform shape in light gray.

You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Restore button

The Restore button (to the right above the fade display) is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you have made since opening the dialog.

As Default button

The “As Default” button is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to store the current settings as the default fade. This shape will be used whenever you create new fades.

Fade Length Value

The Fade Length Value can be used to enter fade lengths numerically. The format of values displayed here are determined by the Primary Time Display in the Transport Panel.

When you activate the “Apply Length” option, the value entered in the Fade Length value field will be used when clicking “Apply” or “OK”. This setting is deactivated by default.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

When you set the current Fade as the Default fade, the length value is included as part of the default settings.

Presets

If you have set up a fade-in or fade-out curve that you may want to apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

• To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu.

• To rename the selected preset, double-click on the

name and type a new one.

• To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu and click Remove.

Stored fade-in presets will only appear in the Fade In dialog, and fade-out presets will only appear in the Fade Out dialog.

Preview, Apply and Process

The buttons in the bottom row are different depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying a fade using processing:

The Process Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

Preview Plays back the fade area. Playback will repeat until you click

Process Applies the set fade curve to the clip, and closes the dialog.

Cancel Closes the dialog without applying any fade.

the button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during playback).

Creating crossfades

Overlapping audio material on the same track can be crossfaded, for smooth transitions or special effects. You create a crossfade by selecting two consecutive audio events and selecting the Crossfade command on the Audio menu (or by using the corresponding key command, by default [X]). The result depends on whether the two events overlap or not:

• If the events overlap, a crossfade is created in the overlapping area.

The crossfade will be of the default shape – initially a linear, symmetric crossfade, but you can change this as described below.

The Edit Fade dialog.

The Process Fade dialog.

The Edit Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

OK Applies the set fade curve to the event, and closes the dialog.

Cancel Closes the dialog.

Apply Applies the set fade curve to the event, without closing the

dialog.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Overlapping section

• If the events don’t overlap but are directly consecutive (lined up end-to-start, with no gap) it’s still possible to crossfade them – provided that their respective audio clips overlap! In this case, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a crossfade of the default length and shape is applied.

The default crossfade length and shape are set in the Crossfade dialog (see “Default buttons” on page 93).

An example:

Audio events.

Audio clips.

The events in themselves do not overlap, but their clips do. Therefore, the events can be resized so that they overlap, which is required for a crossfade to be created.

When you select the Crossfade function, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a default crossfade is created in the overlapping section.

• If the events don’t overlap, and cannot be resized

enough to overlap, a crossfade cannot be created.

• Cubase only: You can specify the length of the cross-

fade using the Range Selection tool: make a selection range covering the desired crossfade area and use the Crossfade command.

The crossfade is applied in the selected range (provided that the events or their clips overlap, as above). You can also make a selection range after creating the crossfade and use the function “Adjust fades to Range” on the Audio menu.

• Once you have created a crossfade, you can edit it by

selecting one or both crossfaded events, and selecting “Crossfade” from the Audio menu again (or by doubleclicking in the crossfade zone).

This opens the Crossfade dialog, see below.

Removing crossfades

To remove a crossfade, select the events and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu, or use the Range Selection tool:

1. Drag the Range Selection tool in the Project window,

so that the selection encloses all of the fades and crossfades you wish to remove.

2. Select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

• You can also remove a crossfade by clicking and drag-

ging it outside the track.

The Crossfade dialog

The Crossfade dialog contains separate, but identical, sections for the fade-in and fade-out curve settings in the crossfade on the left, and common settings on the right.

Fade Displays

Shows the shape of the fade-out and fade-in curve, respectively. You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve kind buttons

These buttons determine whether the corresponding fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Equal Power and Gain

• If you activate the “Equal Gain” checkbox, the fade curves are adjusted so that the summed fade-in and fadeout amplitudes will be the same all along the crossfade region. This is often suitable for short crossfades.

• If you activate the “Equal Power” checkbox, the fade curves are adjusted, so that the energy (power) of the crossfade will be constant all along the crossfade region.

Equal Power curves have only one editable curve point. You cannot use the Curve kind buttons or the presets when this mode is selected.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Play buttons

• The “Play Fade Out” and “Play Fade In” buttons allow

you to audition the fade-out or fade-in part only, without the crossfade.

• The “Play Crossfade” button plays back the whole

crossfade.

You can also use the Transport play controls to play back the crossfaded audio events. However, that method will play back all unmuted audio events on other tracks as well.

Pre-roll and Post-roll

When auditioning with the Play buttons, you can choose to activate pre-roll and/or post-roll. Pre-roll lets you start playback before the fade area, and post-roll lets you stop playback after the fade area. This can be useful for auditioning the fade in a context.

• To specify how long the pre- and post-rolls should be,

click in the time fields and enter the desired time (in seconds and milliseconds).

• To activate pre- and post-roll, click the respective but-

ton. To deactivate, click the button again.

Length settings

You can adjust the length of the crossfade area numerically in the “Length” field. If possible, the length change will be applied equally to “both sides” of the crossfade (i.e. Cubase tries to “center” the crossfade).

To be able to resize a crossfade this way, it must be possible to resize the corresponding event. For example, if the left crossfaded event already plays its audio clip to the end, its endpoint cannot be moved any further to the right.

Default buttons

• Clicking the “As Default” button stores all of the current settings as the default crossfade. These settings will then be used whenever you create new crossfades.

• The Crossfade Length setting is included in the Default settings. However, it is only applied if the events to be crossfaded don’t overlap – otherwise the crossfade will be in the overlap area (see “Creating crossfades” on page 91).

• Clicking the “Recall Default” button copies the curves and settings of the Default crossfade to the Crossfade dialog.

Auto Fades and Crossfades

Cubase features an Auto Fade function that can be set both globally, i.e. for the entire project, and separately for each audio track. The idea behind the Auto Fade function is to create smoother transitions between events by applying short (1–500 ms) fade-ins and fade-outs.

As mentioned earlier, fades are calculated in real time during playback. This means that the larger the number of audio tracks with Auto Fades activated in a project, the higher the demands on the processor.

Note that auto fades are not indicated by the fade lines!

Making global Auto Fade settings

1. To make Auto Fades settings globally for the project, select “Auto Fades Settings...” from the Project menu.

This opens the Auto Fades dialog for the project.

Presets

If you have set up a crossfade shape that you may want to apply to other events, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

• To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.

• To rename the selected preset, double-click on the

name and type in a new one.

• To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu and click Remove.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

2. Use the checkboxes in the upper right corner to acti-

vate or deactivate Auto Fade In, Auto Fade Out and Auto Crossfades, respectively.

3. Use the Length value field to specify the length of the

Auto Fade or Crossfade (1-500ms).

4. To adjust the shapes of Auto Fade In and Auto Fade

Out, select the “Fades” tab and make settings as in the regular Fade dialogs.

5. To adjust the shape of the Auto Crossfade, select the

“Crossfades” tab and make settings as in the regular Crossfade dialog.

6. If you want to use the settings you have made in future

projects, click the “As Default” button.

The next time you create a new project, it will use these settings by default.

7. Click OK to close the dialog.

Making Auto Fade settings for a separate track

By default, all audio tracks will use the settings you have made in the project’s Auto Fades dialog. However, since Auto Fades use computing power, a better approach may be to turn Auto Fades off globally and activate them for individual tracks, as needed:

1. Right-click the track in the Track list and select “Auto

Fades Settings...” from the context menu (or select the track and click the “Auto Fades Settings” button in the Inspector).

The Auto Fades dialog for the track opens. This is identical to the project’s Auto Fades dialog, with the addition of a “Use Project Settings” option.

2. Deactivate the “Use Project Settings” option.

Now, any settings you make will be applied to the track only.

3. Set up the Auto Fades as desired and close the dialog.

Reverting to project settings

If you want a track to use the global Auto Fade settings, open the Auto Fades dialog for the track and activate the “Use Project Settings” checkbox.

Event Envelopes

An envelope is a volume curve for an audio event. It is similar to the real-time fades, but allows you to create volume changes within the event, not only at the start or end. To create an envelope for an audio event, proceed as follows:

1. Zoom in on the event so that you can view its waveform properly.

2. Select the Pencil tool.

When you move the Pencil tool over an audio event, a small volume curve symbol is shown next to the tool.

3. To add an envelope point, click in the event with the Pencil tool.

A blue envelope curve and a curve point appear.

4. Drag the curve point to adjust the envelope shape.

The waveform image reflects the volume curve.

• You can add as many curve points as you like.

• To remove a curve point from the envelope, click on it

and drag it outside the event.

• The envelope curve is a part of the audio event – it will follow when you move or copy the event.

After copying an event with an envelope, you can make independent adjustments to the envelopes in the original event and the copy.

Ö It is also possible to apply an envelope to the audio clip using the Envelope function on the Process submenu on the Audio menu.

See “Envelope” on page 218.

Ö To remove an event envelope curve from a selected event, open the Audio menu and select the Remove Volume Curve option.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

The Arranger track

Introduction

The Arranger track allows you to work with sections of your project in a non-linear fashion, to simplify arranging to the maximum extent. Instead of moving, copying and pasting events in the Project window event display to create a linear project, you can define how different sections are to be played back, like a playlist.

For this, you can define arranger events, order them in a list, and add repeats as desired. This offers a different and more pattern-oriented way of working, which complements the usual linear editing methods in the Project window.

You can create several Arranger chains, making it possible to store different versions of a song within the project without sacrificing the original version. When you have created an Arranger chain that you like, you have the option of “flattening” the list, which creates a normal linear project based on the Arranger chain. You can chose to keep the Arranger track or to remove it.

You can also use the Arranger track for live performances on the stage, in clubs or at parties.

Setting up the Arranger track

Let’s say you have prepared a number of audio files that form the base of a typical pop song, with introduction, verse, chorus and bridge. Now you want to arrange these files.

The first step is to create an Arranger track. On the Arranger track, you define specific sections of the project by creating arranger events. These can be of any length, may overlap and are not bound to the start or end of existing events and parts. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the project for which you want to create arranger

events.

2. Open the Project menu and select “Arranger” from the

Add Track submenu (or right-click in the Track list and select Add Arranger track).

An Arranger track is added. There can be only one Arranger track in a project, but you can set up more than one Arranger chain for this track, see “Managing Arranger chains” on page 99.

3. On the Project window toolbar, make sure that Snap is activated, and that the Grid resolution is set to a mode that allows your arranger events to snap to appropriate positions in the project.

Snap to events is activated, i.e. when drawing in the Project window, new events will snap to existing events.

4. On the Arranger track, use the Pencil tool to draw an event of the desired length.

An Arranger event is added, called “A” by default. Any following events will be named in alphabetical order.

• You can rename an Arranger event by selecting it and changing its name in the Project window info line or by holding down [Alt]/[Option], double-clicking on the name in the Arranger chain (see below) and entering a new name.

You may want to name your arranger events according to the structure of your project, e.g. Verse, Chorus etc.

5. Create as many events as you need for your project.

In this example, arranger events have been created that correspond to a classic pop song structure. Note how there is no real time line in the project: the music sequence is determined by the arranger events.

Events can be moved, resized and deleted using the standard techniques. Please note:

• If you want to change the length of a event, select the Arrow tool and click and drag the bottom corners of the event in the desired direction.

• If you copy an Arranger event (by [Alt]/[Option]-dragging or by using copy/paste), a new event will be created with the same name as the original.

However, this new event will be totally independent from the original event.

• Double-clicking on an arranger event adds it to the current Arranger chain.

The Arranger track

Working with arranger events

You now have a number of arranger events that form the basic building blocks for your arrangement. The next step is to arrange these events using the functions of the Arranger Editor.

Creating an Arranger chain

You can set up an Arranger chain in the Arranger Editor or in the Inspector for the Arranger track. The Arranger Editor is opened by clicking the “e” button in the Inspector or in the Arranger track.

Click in the Inspector…

…or the Track list…

…to open the Arranger Editor.

To the right in the Arranger Editor, the available arranger events are listed, in the order they appear on the time line. To the left you find the actual Arranger chain, which shows in which order the events will be played back, from top to bottom, and how many times they should be repeated.

Initially the Arranger chain will be empty – you set up the Arranger chain by adding events from the right list to the Arranger chain. There are several ways to add events to the Arranger chain.

• Double-clicking on the name of an event in the window section on the right (or in the project window).

When an event is selected in the Arranger chain on the left will add the event above the selected event. When no events are selected in the Arranger chain on the left will add the event to the end of the list.

• By selecting one or more events in the right list, rightclicking and selecting “Append Selected In Arranger Chain”.

This will add the selected events at the end of the list.

• By dragging and dropping arranger events from the right list to the left list.

A blue insertion line shows you where the dragged event will end up in the list.

Here, the Verse event is dragged into the Arranger chain and placed after the first chorus.

• By dragging arranger events from the Project window and dropping them in the Arranger chain.

If you followed our example, you should now have arranger events arranged in a very basic pop song pattern. However, we have used audio files that are only a few bars long – to turn our pattern into a “song” (or at least into a basic sketch of the song structure), these files must be looped. This is where the Repeats function comes in.

If you want an event to repeat several times, proceed as follows:

• Click in the Repeats field for an event, type in the desired number of repeats and press [Enter].

When playing back the Arranger chain, the Counter column indicates which repeat of this event is currently playing.

The Arranger track

• Click in the Mode field for an event and select the de-

sired repeat mode.

Option Button Description

Normal In this mode, your Arranger chain will be played

Repeat forever

Pause after Repeats

back normally, just as you set it up.

In this mode, the current Arranger event will be repeated in a loop until you either click on another event in the Arranger Editor or press play once again.

In this mode, the playback of the Arranger chain will be stopped after having played back all repeats of the current Arranger event.

When you now play back the Arranger chain, you will hear the complete arrangement. Proceed as follows:

1. Make sure that Arranger mode is activated.

When Arranger mode is activated, the project will be played back using the Arranger settings.

The Arranger mode button must be activated.

2. Position the Arranger Editor window so that you can

see the Arranger track in the Project window, and click in the arrow column for the event at the top of the list so that the arrow becomes blue.

You should see the project cursor jump to the beginning of the first event specified in the Arranger chain.

3. Activate playback, either from the Arranger Editor or

on the Transport panel.

The events are played back in the specified order.

Editing the Arranger chain

In the Arranger chain to the left, you can do the following:

• Select multiple events by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking or [Shift]-clicking as usual.

• Drag events to move them in the list.

• Drag events while holding [Alt]/[Option] to create cop-

ies of the selected items.

The insert location for both move and copy operations is indicated by a blue or red line in the list. A blue line indicates that the move or copy is possible; a red line indicates that if the current position were to be used, a move or copy is not allowed.

• Use the Repeats column to specify how many times each event should be repeated.

• Click the arrow to the left of an event in the Arranger chain to move the playback position to the start of that event.

• To remove an event from the list, right-click on it and select “Remove Touched” from the pop-up menu that appears. To remove several events, select them, right-click and select “Remove Selected”.

Navigating

To navigate between arranger events, you use the Arranger transport buttons:

Previous chain step

Next chain step

First repeat of current chain step

Last repeat of current chain step

These controls are available in the Arranger Editor, the Project window toolbar, and the Transport panel.

In the Arranger Editor, the event that is currently played back is indicated by an arrow in the leftmost column, and the indicators in the Counter column.

The Arranger track

Managing Arranger chains

You can create several Arranger chains. This way, you can create alternative versions for playback. In the Arranger Editor, the toolbar buttons on the right are used for this:

Button Description

Click this to rename the current Arranger chain.

Creates a new, empty Arranger chain.

Creates a duplicate of the current Arranger chain, containing the same events.

Removes the currently selected Arranger chain. Only available if you have created more than one Arranger chain.

• In the Inspector, these functions are accessed from the

Arranger pop-up menu (opened by clicking on the Arranger name field).

The Arranger chains you create will be listed on the Name pop-up menu, found in the Arranger Editor to the left of the buttons, at the top of the Arranger track Inspector, and in the Track list. Please note that to be able to select another Arranger chain from the pop-up menu, Arranger mode must be activated.

2. Activate Playback.

The project will now play back exactly as in Arranger mode, but you can view it and work with it as usual.

Flattening the Arranger chain may remove events and parts from the project. Only use the Flatten function when you know you don’t want to edit the Arranger track/chain any more. If in doubt, save a copy of the project before flattening the Arranger chain.

Flattening options

Sometimes it might be useful to keep the original Arranger events even after flattening the Arranger track. By using flattening options you can define which chain should be flattened (Source section), where it should be stored and how it should be named (Destination section) together with other options (Options section).

1. Click the Flattening options button.

2. In the window that appears, select the desired options.

Flattening the Arranger chain

When you have found an Arranger chain that suits your purposes, you can “flatten” it, i.e. convert the list into a linear project. Proceed as follows:

1. Click the Flatten button (or select Flatten Chain from

the pop-up menu in the Inspector for the Arranger track).

The events and parts in the project are reordered, repeated, resized, moved and/or deleted (if these are not within the boundaries of any used Arranger event), so that they correspond exactly to the Arranger chain.

The Flatten button

The Arranger track

In the Source section you can specify, which Arranger chain should be flattened. The available options are:

Option Description

Current Chain If you activate this option, only the current chain will be

flattened.

Checked Chains… If you activate this option, you can select the arranger

chains you want to flatten in the list to the left.

All Chains If you activate this option, all arranger chains of the

current project will be flattened.

The Destination section allows you to choose where the result of the flattening should be saved. The available options are:

Option Description

Current Project This option is only available, if you have selected “Current

New Project If you activate this option, you can flatten one or several

Chain” as Source. If you activate this option, the result of the flattening of the current chain will be saved in the current project.

chains in a new project. In this case it might be useful to use naming options. If you activate “Append Chain Name”, the Chain Name(s) will be appended in brackets to the project name. If you activate “Use Chain Name”, the new project(s) will have the name of the current Arranger chain(s). If you activate “Add Number”, the new project(s) will be named like the old ones and a number will be appended in brackets.

In the Options section you can make further settings. The available options are:

Option Description

Keep Arranger Track

Make Real Event Copies

Don’t Split Events

Open New Projects

If you activate this option, the Arranger Track will be kept when flattening the Arranger chain. If you activate the option “Rename Arranger Events” a number will be appended to the events according to their use. If e.g. you use Arranger event “A” two times, the first occurrence will be renamed “A 1” and the second “A 2”.

Normally, you will get shared copies when flattening the Arranger track. If you activate this option, real copies will be created instead.

If the option is activated, MIDI notes that start before or are longer than the Arranger event will not be included. Only MIDI notes that begin and end inside the Arranger event boundaries will be taken into account.

If you activate this option, a new project will be created for every flattened Arranger chain. If you activate the option “Cascade New Projects” the opened projects will be cascaded.

Live Mode

If you have set up an Arranger track and play it back, you have also the possibility to influence the playback order “live”. Note that the Arranger mode has to be activated to be able to use the Live mode.

1. Add an Arranger track by selecting “Arranger” from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu.

2. Create the desired Arranger events by drawing with the Pencil tool on Arranger track.

3. Set up an Arranger chain in the Inspector for the Arranger track or in the Arranger Editor, activate the Arranger mode and play back your project.

Now you can use your Arranger events listed in the lower section of the Arranger track Inspector to play back your project in Live Mode:

4. Switch into Live mode by clicking on the little arrow in the lower list of the Arranger track Inspector to the left of the Arranger event you want to trigger.

The Arranger event will be looped endlessly, until you click on another Arranger event. This might be useful, if you want to loop e.g. a guitar solo with a flexible length.

• You can stop Live mode by clicking the Stop button or go back to “normal” playback in Arranger mode by clicking on any arranger event in the upper list.

In the latter case, playback will be continued from the arranger event where you clicked. The “Select grid” pop-up menu will always be taken into account. When the grid is set to “1 Bar” and you click the STOP button e.g., playback will be stopped after the next bar.

3. You can now flatten the Arranger track by clicking the

Flatten button.

If you realize that you want to do further arrangements, you can also click the “Go Back” button and make your adjustments. Your Flattening settings will be kept.

4. Click the “Go Back” button to go back to the Arranger

Editor or close the window by clicking its Close button.

The Arranger track

100

STEINBERG Cubase 4 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

About this chapter

Setting up busses

Using the busses

Setting up Groups and FX channels

About monitoring

External instruments/effects (Cubase only)

The Project window

Background

Window Overview

Operations

Options

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

Operations

Options and Settings

Recording

Background

Basic recording methods

Audio recording specifics

MIDI recording specifics

Options and Settings

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating fades

The Fade dialogs

Creating crossfades

The Crossfade dialog

Auto Fades and Crossfades

Event Envelopes

The Arranger track

Introduction

Setting up the Arranger track

Working with arranger events

Flattening the Arranger chain

Live Mode