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

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