Steinberg Cubase AI - 10.0 Operation Manual

Operation Manual

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Lillie Harris, Christina Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Matthias Obrecht, Sabine Pfeifer, Benjamin Schütte, Marita Sladek

This PDF provides improved access for vision-impaired users. Please note that due to the complexity and number of images in this document, it is not possible to include text descriptions of images.

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 specically 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. Registered licensees of the product described herein may print one copy of this document for their personal use.

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. For more information, please visit www.steinberg.net/trademarks.

Cubase_10.0.0_en-US_2018-11-14

7 Introduction

7 Platform-Independent Documentation 7 PDF Documents and Online Documentation 8 Conventions 8 Key Commands

10 Setting up Your System

10 Setting up Audio 17 Setting up MIDI 19 Synchronizers

21 Audio Connections

21 Audio Connections Window 22 Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs 23 Adding Input and Output Busses 24 Presets for Input and Output Busses 24 Monitoring Bus 25 Bus Congurations

27 Project Window

28 Showing/Hiding Zones 28 Project Zone 39 Left Zone 44 Lower Zone 49 Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) 54 Keyboard Focus in the Project Window 55 Zooming in the Project Window 58 Snap Function 61 Cross-Hair Cursor 61 Edit History Dialog 63 Color Handling

67 Project Handling

67 Creating New Projects 67 Hub 69 Project Assistant Dialog 69 Project Files 70 Template Files 71 Project Setup Dialog 74 Opening Project Files 75 Saving Project Files 76 Reverting to the Last Saved Version 76 Choosing a Project Location 77 Self-Contained Projects

79 Tracks

79 Track Inspector Settings Dialog 80 Track Control Settings Dialog 82 Audio Tracks 88 Instrument Tracks 93 Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only) 98 MIDI Tracks 104 FX Channel Tracks

109 Group Channel Tracks 114 Ruler Track 115 Folder Tracks 117 Other Tracks

124 Track Handling

124 Adding Tracks via the Add Track Dialog 124 Adding Other Tracks 124 Adding Tracks Using Track Presets 125 Adding Tracks by Dragging Files from the

MediaBay

126 Exporting MIDI Tracks as Standard MIDI Files 128 Removing Selected Tracks 128 Removing Empty Tracks 128 Moving Tracks in the Track List 128 Renaming Tracks 128 Automatically Assigning Colors to New Tracks 129 Showing Track Pictures 130 Setting the Track Height 131 Selecting Tracks 132 Deselecting Tracks 132 Duplicating Tracks 132 Disabling Tracks (Cubase Elements only) 133 Organizing Tracks in Folder Tracks 133 Handling Overlapping Audio 134 Events Display on Folder Tracks 134 Modifying Event Display on Folder Tracks 134 Track Presets

140 Parts and Events

140 Events 144 Parts 145 Editing Techniques for Parts and Events

157 Range Editing

157 Creating a Selection Range 158 Editing Selection Ranges

162 Playback and Transport

162 Transport Panel 166 Transport Menu 170 Transport Bar 174 Transport Pop-Up Window 175 Time Display Window 176 Left and Right Locators 178 Setting the Project Cursor Position 178 Auto-Scroll Settings Menu 179 Time Formats 180 Pre-Roll and Post-Roll 181 Punch In and Punch Out 181 Metronome Click 186 Chase

Table of Contents

187 On-Screen Keyboard

187 Recording MIDI With the On-Screen Keyboard 187 On-Screen Keyboard Options

189 Recording

189 Basic Recording Methods 192 Monitoring 195 Audio Recording Specics 199 MIDI Recording Specics 204 Remaining Record Time 205 Lock Record

206 Importing Audio and MIDI Files

206 Audio File Import 212 MIDI File Import

215 Quantizing MIDI and Audio

215 Quantize Functions 216 Quantizing MIDI Event Starts 216 Quantizing MIDI Event Lengths 217 Quantizing MIDI Event Ends 217 Quantizing Audio Event Starts 218 Quantize Panel

224 Fades and Crossfades

224 Event-Based Fades 228 Creating Clip-Based Fades 229 Crossfades 231 Auto Fades and Crossfades

235 Arranger Track (Cubase Elements only)

235 Adding Arranger Events on the Arranger Track 236 Arranger Editor 239 Setting up an Arranger Chain and Adding

Events

241 Jump Mode 243 Arranging Music to Video

244 Markers

244 Position Markers 244 Cycle Markers 245 Markers Window 248 Marker Track 250 Importing and Exporting Markers

251 MixConsole

251 MixConsole in Lower Zone 252 MixConsole Window

296 Audio Effects

296 Insert Effects and Send Effects 298 Insert Effects 303 VST Effect Selector 303 Send Effects 308 Dither Effects (Cubase Elements only) 308 Effect Control Panel 310 Effect Presets 315 System Component Information Window

317 Direct Oine Processing

318 Direct Oine Processing Workow 318 Direct Oine Processing Window 322 Built-In Audio Processes 327 Direct Oine Processing Key Commands

329 Time Stretch Algorithms

329 Standard 330 Limitations

331 Audio Functions

331 Detect Silence Dialog 334 Spectrum Analyzer Window 336 Statistics Window

338 Sample Editor

340 Sample Editor Toolbar 344 Info Line 344 Overview Line 345 Sample Editor Inspector 346 Ruler 346 Waveform Display 348 Range Editing 350 Regions List 352 Snap Point

355 Hitpoints

355 Calculating Hitpoints 358 Locating to Hitpoints in the Project Window 358 Slices 360 Creating a Groove Quantize Map 361 Creating Markers 361 Creating Regions 361 Creating Events 362 Creating MIDI Notes

364 Tempo Matching Audio

364 Algorithm Presets 364 Stretching Audio Events to the Project Tempo 365 Musical Mode

366 Audio Part Editor

367 Audio Part Editor Toolbar 371 Info Line 372 Ruler 372 Lanes 372 Operations

376 Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

376 Loading Audio Samples into Sampler Control 377 Loading MIDI Parts into Sampler Control 377 Creating Sampler Tracks 378 Sampler Control 387 Sample Editing and Playback Functions 389 Transferring Samples from Sampler Control to

VST Instruments

390 Pool

390 Pool Window 395 Working with the Pool

408 MediaBay and Media Rack

408 Media Rack in Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) 418 MediaBay Window 436 Working with Volume Databases 438 MediaBay Settings

439 Automation

439 Recording your Actions 439 Automation Curves 440 Static Value Line 440 Write/Read Automation 440 MIDI Part Data vs. Track Automation 441 Writing Automation Data 443 Editing Automation Events 447 Automation Tracks

449 VST Instruments

449 Adding VST Instruments (not in Cubase LE)

Table of Contents

449 VST Instrument Control Panel (not in Cubase

LE)

451 VST Instrument Selector 452 Creating Instrument Tracks 452 VST Instruments in the Right Zone (not in

Cubase LE)

453 VST Instruments Window (not in Cubase LE) 453 VST Instruments Window Toolbar (not in

Cubase LE)

454 VST Instrument Controls (not in Cubase LE) 455 Presets for Instruments 458 Playing Back VST Instruments 459 Latency 460 Import and Export Options 462 VST Quick Controls (not in Cubase LE)

464 Installing and Managing VST Plug-ins

464 Plug-ins and Collections 467 Adding New Plug-in Collections 468 Hiding Plug-ins 468 Reactivating Plug-ins from the Blacklist

470 Remote Controlling Cubase

470 Connecting Remote Devices 470 Removing the Remote Input from All MIDI

Inputs

471 Setting up Remote Devices 473 Remote Devices and Automation 473 Assigning Commands to Remote Devices 474 Generic Remote Page 479 Remote Control Editor (Cubase Elements only) 483 Apple Remote (macOS only) 484 VST Quick Controls (not in Cubase LE)

485 MIDI Realtime Parameters

485 MIDI Track Parameters 485 MIDI Modiers 490 Transpose and Velocity on the Info Line

491 Using MIDI Devices

491 Program Change Messages and Bank Select

Messages

492 Patch Banks 492 MIDI Device Manager

498 MIDI Functions

498 Transpose Setup Dialog 499 Merging MIDI Events into a New Part 500 Dissolve Part Dialog 502 Repeating MIDI Events of Independent Track

Loops

502 Extending MIDI Notes 503 Fixing MIDI Note Lengths 503 Fixing MIDI Note Velocities 503 Rendering Sustain Pedal Data to Note Lengths 504 Deleting Overlaps 504 Editing Velocity 505 Deleting Double Notes 505 Deleting Controller Data 505 Deleting Continuous Controller Data 506 Restricting Polyphonic Voices 506 Thinning Out Controller Data 506 Extracting MIDI Automation 507 Reversing the Playback Order of MIDI Events 507 Inverting the Order of Selected MIDI Events

508 MIDI Editors

508 Common MIDI Editor Functions 522 Key Editor 533 Key Editor Operations 541 Score Editor 548 Score Editor Operations 554 Drum Editor 567 Drum Editor Operations 570 Drum Maps

575 Chord Functions

575 Chord Track 576 Chord Events 580 Scale Events 581 Voicings 583 Converting Chord Events to MIDI 584 Controlling MIDI Playback Using the Chord

Track

587 Assigning Voices to Notes 587 Extracting Chord Events from MIDI 588 Recording Chord Events with a MIDI Keyboard

589 Chord Pads

589 Chord Pads Zone 592 Functions Menu 593 Chord Assistant 594 Chord Assignment 596 Swapping Chord Assignments 597 Copying Chord Assignments 597 Playing Back and Recording Chords 600 Player Setup 603 Chord Pads Setup Dialog 608 Chord Pads Presets 608 Creating Chord Events from Chord Pads 609 Creating MIDI Parts from Chord Pads

610 Editing Tempo and Time Signature

610 Project Tempo Modes 610 Tempo Track Editor 613 Tempo Changes for Projects 614 Setting up a Fixed Project Tempo 616 Beat Calculator 617 Set Denition from Tempo Dialog 618 Time Signature Events

619 Export Audio Mixdown

619 Export Audio Mixdown Dialog 624 Mixing Down to Audio Files 624 File Formats

632 Synchronization

632 Master and Slave 633 Timecode Formats 634 Clock Sources 635 Project Synchronization Setup Dialog 640 External Synchronization

641 VST System Link

641 Setting up VST System Link 645 Activating VST System Link 648 Application Examples

651 Video

651 Video File Compatibility 652 Frame Rates 652 Video Output Devices 653 Preparations for Creating Video Projects 654 Preparations for Video Playback

Table of Contents

657 Editing Video

658 ReWire (not in Cubase LE)

658 Introduction 658 Enabling ReWire Applications 659 Launching and quitting 660 Activating ReWire channels 660 Using the transport and tempo controls 661 How the ReWire channels are handled 661 Routing MIDI via ReWire 662 Considerations and limitations

663 Key Commands

663 Adding Key Commands 664 Searching for Key Commands 664 Removing Key Commands 664 Saving Key Commands Presets 665 Loading Key Command Presets 665 Importing Key Command Settings 665 Resetting Key Commands 666 Default Key Commands 676 Setting up Tool Modier Keys

678 Customizing

678 Setup Options 680 Where are the Settings Stored?

682 Optimizing

682 Optimizing Audio Performance

686 Preferences

686 Preferences Dialog 687 Editing 692 Editors 692 Event Display 695 General 696 MIDI 700 MediaBay 700 Metering 701 Record 703 Transport 704 User Interface 704 VST 706 Video

707 Index

Introduction

The documentation covers the following Steinberg products: Cubase Elements, Cubase AI, and Cubase LE.

Functions that are only available in Cubase Elements and not in Cubase AI or Cubase LE are clearly indicated. The screenshots are taken from

Platform-Independent Documentation

The documentation applies to the operating systems Windows and macOS.

Features and settings that are specic to one of these platforms are clearly indicated. In all other cases, the descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for

Some points to consider:

●

The screenshots are taken from Windows.

●

Some functions that are available on the File menu on Windows can be found in the program name menu on macOS.

Cubase Elements.

Windows and macOS.

PDF Documents and Online Documentation

The documentation consists of several documents. You can read them online or download them from steinberg.help. To visit steinberg.help, do one of the following:

●

Enter www.steinberg.help in the address bar of your web browser.

● In the program, select Help > Cubase Help.

Operation Manual

The main Cubase reference documentation, with detailed descriptions of operations, parameters, functions, and techniques.

Remote Control Devices

Lists the supported MIDI remote control devices.

Plug-in Reference

Describes the features and parameters of the included VST plug-ins and VST instruments.

Steinberg Library Manager

Describes how you can register and manage your VST Sound libraries.

HALion Sonic SE

Describes the features and parameters of the included VST instrument HALion Sonic SE.

Groove Agent SE

Describes the features and parameters of the included VST instrument Groove Agent SE.

Introduction Conventions

Conventions

In our documentation, we use typographical and markup elements to structure information.

Typographical Elements

The following typographical elements mark the following purposes.

Prerequisite

Requires you to complete an action or to fulll a condition before starting a procedure.

Procedure

Lists the steps that you must take to achieve a specic result.

Important

Informs you about issues that might affect the system, the connected hardware, or that might bring a risk of data loss.

Note

Informs you about issues that you should consider.

Markup

Example

Provides you with an example.

Result

Shows the result of the procedure.

After Completing This Task

Informs you about actions or tasks that you can perform after completing the procedure.

Key Commands

Many of the default key commands, also known as keyboard shortcuts, use modier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system.

When key commands with modier keys are described in this manual, they are indicated with the Windows modier key rst, followed by the macOS modier key and the key.

Introduction Key Commands

EXAMPLE

Ctrl/Cmd-Z means: press Ctrl on Windows or Cmd on macOS, then press Z.

Setting up Your System

To use Cubase, you must set up your audio, and if required, your MIDI system.

Setting up Audio

IMPORTANT

Make sure that all equipment is turned off before making any connections.

Simple Stereo Input and Output Setup

If you only use a stereo input and output from Cubase, you can connect your audio hardware, for example, the inputs of your audio card or your audio interface, directly to the input source and the outputs to a power

amplier and speaker.

Audio Connections

Your system setup depends on many different factors, for example, on the kind of project that you want to create, on the external equipment that you want to use, or on the computer hardware that is available to you. Therefore, the following sections can only serve as examples.

How to connect your equipment, that is, whether to use digital or analog connections also depends on your setup.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

Recording Levels and Inputs

When you connect your equipment, make sure that the impedance and levels of the audio sources and inputs are matched. Using the correct type of input is important to avoid distortion or noisy recordings. For example, different inputs can be used, such as consumer line level (-10 dBV) or professional line level (+4 dBu).

Sometimes, you can adjust input characteristics on the audio interface or on its control panel. For details, refer to the documentation that came with the audio hardware.

IMPORTANT

Cubase does not provide any input level adjustments for the signals that are coming into your audio hardware, since these are handled differently for each card. Adjusting input levels is either done in a special application that is included with the hardware or its control panel.

Word Clock Connections

If you are using a digital audio connection, you may also need a word clock connection between the audio hardware and external devices. For details, refer to the documentation that came with the audio hardware.

IMPORTANT

Set up word clock synchronization correctly, or you may experience clicks and crackles in your recordings.

Selecting an Audio Driver

By selecting an audio driver, you allow Cubase to communicate with the audio hardware. Normally, when you start Cubase, a dialog opens that prompts you to select a driver, but you can also select your audio hardware driver as described below.

NOTE

On Windows operating systems, we recommend that you access your hardware via an ASIO driver developed specically for the hardware. If no ASIO driver is installed, contact the manufacturer of your audio hardware for information on available ASIO drivers. If no specic ASIO driver is available, you can use the Generic Low Latency ASIO driver.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select VST Audio System.

3. Open the ASIO Driver pop-up menu and select your audio hardware driver.

4. Click OK.

Setting up Audio Hardware

PREREQUISITE

You have selected a driver for your audio hardware.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

3. Do one of the following to open the control panel for your audio hardware:

● On Windows, click Control Panel.

● On macOS, click Open Cong App.

This button is available only for some hardware products. If it is not available in your setup, refer to the documentation of your audio hardware.

NOTE

The control panel is provided by the manufacturer of your audio hardware and is different for each audio interface brand and model. However, control panels for the Generic Low Latency ASIO Driver

4. Set up your audio hardware as recommended by the manufacturer.

VST Audio System Page

On the VST Audio System page you can select an ASIO driver for your audio hardware.

● To open the VST Audio System page, select Studio > Studio Setup and select VST Audio System in the Devices list.

(Windows only) are provided by Steinberg.

The following options are available:

ASIO Driver

Allows you to select a driver.

Release Driver when Application is in Background

Releases the driver and allows other applications to play back via your audio hardware even though Cubase is running.

Input Latency

Shows the input latency of the audio hardware.

Output Latency

Shows the output latency of the audio hardware.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

ASIO-Guard Latency

HW Sample Rate

HW Pull Up/Down

Set to Defaults

Processing Precision

Shows the ASIO-Guard latency.

Shows the sample rate of your audio hardware.

Shows the pull up/down status of the audio hardware.

Allows you to restore the default settings.

Allows you to set the audio processing precision to 32 bit oat or 64 bit oat. Depending on this setting, all channels are processed and mixed in 32-bit oating- point or 64-bit oating-point format.

NOTE

A processing precision of 64 bit oat can increase CPU load and memory consumption.

To show all plug-ins that support 64-bit oat processing, open the VST Plug-in

Manager and activate Show Plug-ins That Support 64-Bit Float Processing in the Display Options pop-up menu.

NOTE

VST 2 plug-ins and instruments are always processed with 32-bit precision.

Activate Multi Processing

Allows you to distribute the processing load evenly to all available CPUs. This way, Cubase can make full use of the combined power of multiple processors.

Activate ASIO-Guard

Activates the ASIO-Guard. This is only available if Activate Multi Processing is activated.

ASIO-Guard Level

Allows you to set the ASIO-Guard level. The higher the level, the higher the processing stability and audio processing performance. However, higher levels also lead to an increased ASIO-Guard latency and memory usage.

Audio Priority (Windows only)

This setting should be set to Normal if you work with audio and MIDI. If you do not use MIDI at all, you can set this to Boost.

Activate Steinberg Audio Power Scheme

If this option is activated, all power safe modes that have an impact on real time processing are deactivated. Note that this is only effective for very low latencies, and that it increases the power consumption.

Disk Preload

Allows you to specify how many seconds of audio are preloaded into RAM prior to starting playback. This allows for smooth playback.

Adjust for Record Latency

If this is activated, the plug-in latencies are taken into account during recording.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

Record Shift

Allows you to shift the recordings by the specied value.

RELATED LINKS

VST Plug-in Manager Window on page 465

ASIO Driver Setup Page

This page allows you to set up your ASIO driver.

● To open the page where you can set up the ASIO driver, select Studio > Studio Setup and select the audio driver in the Devices list.

The following options are available:

Control Panel

Opens the control panel for the audio hardware.

Input Latency

Shows the input latency of the audio driver.

Output Latency

Shows the output latency of the audio driver.

Clock Source

Allows you to select a clock source.

Externally Clocked

Activate this option if you use an external clock source.

Direct Monitoring

Activate this option to monitor via your audio hardware and to control it from Cubase.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

Ports Reset

Allows you to reset all port names and visibilities.

I/O

The port input/output status.

Port System Name

The system name of the port.

Show As

Allows you to rename the port. This name is used in the Input Routing and Output Routing pop-up menus.

Visible

Allows you to activate/deactivate audio ports.

State

The state of the audio port.

Using External Clock Sources

If you are using an external clock source, Cubase must be notied that it receives external clock signals and derives its speed from that source.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

3. Activate Externally Clocked.

RESULT

Cubase now derives its speed from the external source.

NOTE

For proper audio playback and recording, you must set the sample rate of the project to the sample rate of the incoming clock signals.

When a sample rate mismatch occurs, the Record Format eld on the Project window status line is highlighted in a different color. Cubase accepts a sample rate mismatch, and playback is therefore faster or slower.

Using Several Audio Applications Simultaneously

You can allow other applications to play back via your audio hardware even though Cubase is running.

PREREQUISITE

Other audio applications accessing the audio hardware are set to release the audio driver.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select VST Audio System.

3. Activate Release Driver when Application is in Background.

Setting up Your System Setting up Audio

RESULT

The application that has the focus gets access to the audio hardware.

Audio Hardware Conguration

Most audio cards provide one or more small applications that allow you to customize your hardware.

The settings are normally gathered on a control panel that can be opened from within Cubase or separately, when Cubase is not running. For details, refer to the audio hardware documentation.

Settings include:

●

Selecting which inputs/outputs are active.

●

Setting up word clock synchronization.

●

Turning on/off monitoring via the hardware.

●

Setting levels for each input.

●

Setting levels for the outputs so that they match the equipment that you use for monitoring.

●

Selecting digital input and output formats.

● Making settings for the audio buffers.

Setting up Input and Output Ports

Once you have selected the driver for your audio hardware and have set it up, you must specify which inputs and outputs to use.

PREREQUISITE

You have selected a driver for your audio hardware.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

3. Make your settings.

4. Click OK.

RELATED LINKS

ASIO Driver Setup Page on page 14

Audio Bus Setup

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 of your audio hardware into Cubase. This

● means that audio is always recorded through one or several input busses.

Output busses let you route audio from Cubase to the outputs of your audio hardware.

● This means that audio is always played back through one or several output busses.

Once you have set up the internal input and output busses, you can connect your audio source, for example, a microphone, to your audio interface and start recording, playing back, and mixing.

Setting up Your System Setting up MIDI

RELATED LINKS

Audio Connections on page 21

Monitoring

In Cubase, monitoring means listening to the input signal while recording.

The following ways of monitoring are available:

Externally by listening to the signal before it reaches Cubase.

●

● Via Cubase.

●

By using ASIO Direct Monitoring.

This is a combination of the other methods.

RELATED LINKS

External Monitoring on page 193 Monitoring via Cubase on page 193 ASIO Direct Monitoring on page 193

Setting up MIDI

IMPORTANT

Turn off all equipment before making any connections.

PROCEDURE

1. Connect your MIDI equipment (keyboard, MIDI interface, etc.) to your computer.

2. Install the drivers for your MIDI equipment.

RESULT

You can use your MIDI equipment in Cubase.

MIDI Connections

To play back and record MIDI data from your MIDI device, for example, a MIDI keyboard, you need to connect the MIDI ports.

Connect the MIDI output port of your MIDI device to the MIDI input port of your audio hardware. This way, the MIDI device sends MIDI data to be played back or recorded inside your computer.

Connect the MIDI input port of your MIDI device to the MIDI output port of your audio hardware. This way, you can send MIDI data from Cubase to the MIDI device. For example, you can record your own playing, edit the MIDI data in Cubase, and then play it back on the keyboard and record the audio that is coming out of the keyboard for a better edited performance.

Showing or Hiding MIDI Ports

You can specify if a MIDI port is listed on the MIDI pop-up menus in the program.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select MIDI Port Setup.

3. To hide a MIDI port, deactivate its Visible column.

Setting up Your System Setting up MIDI

4. Click OK.

Setting up All MIDI Inputs

When you record MIDI, you can specify which MIDI input each recording MIDI track should use. However, you can also record any MIDI data from any MIDI input. You can specify which inputs are included when you select

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select MIDI Port Setup.

3. Activate In ‘All MIDI Inputs’ for a port.

NOTE

If you have a MIDI remote control unit connected, make sure to deactivate the In ‘All MIDI Inputs’ option for that MIDI input. This avoids accidental recording of data from the remote control when

4. Click OK.

All MIDI Inputs for a MIDI track.

All MIDI Inputs is selected as input for a MIDI track.

RESULT

When you select All MIDI Inputs on the Input Routing menu of a MIDI track in the Inspector, the MIDI track uses all MIDI inputs that you specied in the MIDI Port Setup.

MIDI Port Setup Page

The MIDI Port Setup page in the Studio Setup dialog displays the connected MIDI devices and allows you to set up their ports.

● To open the MIDI Port Setup page, select Studio > Studio Setup and activate MIDI Port Setup in the Devices list.

Setting up Your System Synchronizers

The following columns are displayed:

Device

I/O

Port System Name

Show As

Visible

State

In 'All MIDI Inputs'

The connected MIDI devices.

The port input/output status.

The system name of the port.

Allows you to rename the port. This name is used in the Input Routing and Output Routing pop-up menus.

Allows you to activate/deactivate MIDI ports.

The state of the MIDI port.

Allows you to record MIDI data from all MIDI inputs.

NOTE

Deactivate this option if you use remote control devices.

The following options are available:

Use System Timestamp for 'Windows MIDI' Inputs

Activate this option if you have persistent timing problems such as shifted notes. If this is activated, the system timestamp is used as a time reference.

Use Device 'DirectMusic'

If you do not use a device with a DirectMusic device driver, you can leave this option deactivated. This enhances the system performance.

Use System Timestamp for 'DirectMusic' Inputs

Activate this option if you have persistent timing problems such as shifted notes. If this is activated, the system timestamp is used as a time reference.

Plug and Play Support for USB MIDI Devices

Cubase supports plug and play of USB MIDI devices. These devices can be plugged in and switched on while the application is running.

Synchronizers

When using Cubase with external tape transports, you most likely must add a synchronizer to your system.

IMPORTANT

Make sure that all equipment is turned off before making any connections.

For information on how to connect and set up your synchronizer, refer to the documentation of your synchronizer.

Setting up Your System Synchronizers

RELATED LINKS

Synchronization on page 632

Audio Connections

To play back and record in Cubase, you must set up input and output busses in the Audio Connections window.

The bus types that you need depend on your audio hardware, on your general audio setup, and on the projects that you use.

Audio Connections Window

The Audio Connections window allows you to set up input and output busses.

● To open the Audio Connections window, select Studio > Audio Connections.

Inputs/Outputs Tab

The Inputs and Outputs tabs allow you to set up and congure input and output busses.

The following options are available above the bus list:

+- All

Expands/Collapses all busses in the bus list.

Add Bus

Opens the Add Input Bus dialog, where you can create a new bus conguration.

Presets

Opens the Presets menu, where you can select bus conguration presets. Store allows you to save a bus conguration as preset. Delete deletes the selected preset.

The following columns are available for the bus list:

Bus Name

Lists the busses. Click the name of a bus to select or rename it.

Speakers

Indicates the speaker conguration (mono, stereo) of each bus.

Audio Device

Shows the selected ASIO driver.

Audio Connections Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs

Device Port

Shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bus. Expand the bus entry to show all speaker channels. If the bus entry is collapsed, only

rst port that is used by this bus is visible.

the

The Device Port pop-up menu displays how many busses are connected to a given port. The busses are shown in square brackets next to the port name.

Up to 3 bus assignments can be displayed in this way. If more connections have been made, this is indicated by a number at the end of the port name.

For example, “Adat 1 [Stereo1] [Stereo2] [Stereo3] (+2)” means that the Adat1 port is already assigned to 3 stereo busses plus 2 additional busses.

Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs

Before you set up busses, you should rename the default inputs and outputs of your audio hardware. This allows transferring 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 you and the other studio owner have agreed on identical names for your inputs and outputs,

Cubase corrects inputs and outputs for your busses.

NOTE

If you open a project that was created on another computer and the port names do not match or the port conguration is not the same, the Missing Ports dialog appears. This allows you to manually re-route ports that are used in the project to ports that are available on your computer.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select VST Audio System.

3. Open the ASIO Driver pop-up menu and select your audio hardware driver.

4. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

5. In the Show As column, click on a port name and enter a new name.

6. Repeat the previous step until you have renamed all required ports.

7. Click OK.

RELATED LINKS

Re-Routing Missing Ports on page 75

Hiding Ports

You can hide ports that you are not using. Hidden ports are not displayed in the Audio Connections window.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

3. In the Visible column, deactivate the ports that you want to hide.

4. Click OK.

Audio Connections Adding Input and Output Busses

Activating and Deactivating Ports (macOS only)

On macOS you can specify which input and output ports are active. This allows you to use the microphone input instead of the line input or to deactivate the audio card input or output.

NOTE

This function is only available for built-in audio, standard USB audio devices, and a certain number of other audio cards.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Studio Setup.

2. In the Devices list, select your audio hardware driver.

3. Click Control Panel.

4. Activate/Deactivate ports.

5. Click OK.

Adding Input and Output Busses

PROCEDURE

1. In the Audio Connections dialog, click the Inputs or Outputs tab.

2. Click Add Bus.

3. In the Add Input Bus dialog, congure the bus.

4. Optional: Enter a name for the bus.

If you do not specify a name, the bus is named according to the channel conguration.

5. Click Add Bus.

The new bus is added to the bus list.

6. For each of the speaker channels in the bus, click in the Device Port column and select a port of your audio hardware.

Setting the Default Output Bus (Main Mix)

The Main Mix is the default output bus to which each new audio, group, or FX channel is automatically routed. If only one bus is available, this bus is automatically used as the default output bus.

PREREQUISITE

Add an output bus.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Audio Connections dialog, right-click the output bus that you want to use as default output bus.

2. Select Set <bus name> as Main Mix.

RESULT

The selected bus is used as default bus. The Main Mix is indicated by a speaker icon next to its name.

Audio Connections Presets for Input and Output Busses

RELATED LINKS

Inputs/Outputs Tab on page 21

Presets for Input and Output Busses

For input and output bus congurations, you can use different kinds of presets.

● A number of standard bus congurations.

Automatically created presets tailored to your specic hardware conguration.

●

On startup, Cubase analyzes the physical inputs and outputs that are provided by your audio hardware and creates a number of hardware-dependent presets.

●

Your own presets.

NOTE

You can create default presets for input and output bus congurations. If you create a new empty project, these default presets are applied. To create default presets, save your preferred input and output bus congurations under the name Default. If you have not dened default presets, the last used input and output bus conguration is applied when creating a new empty project.

Saving a Bus Conguration Preset

You can save your own input and output bus conguration as presets.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Audio Connections.

2. Set up your bus conguration.

3. Click Store.

4. In the Type in Preset Name dialog, enter a name.

5. Click OK.

RESULT

The preset is available in the Presets menu.

Deleting a Bus Conguration Preset

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Audio Connections.

2. From the Presets menu, select the preset that you want to delete.

3. Click Delete.

RESULT

The preset is deleted.

Monitoring Bus

The default output bus (Main Mix) is used for monitoring. You can adjust the monitoring level in the MixConsole.

Audio Connections Bus Congurations

RELATED LINKS

Setting the Default Output Bus (Main Mix) on page 23

Bus Congurations

After you have set up all the required busses for a project you can edit the names and change port assignments. The bus conguration is saved with the project.

Removing Busses

PROCEDURE

● In the Audio Connections window, right-click a bus in the list and select Remove Bus.

You can also select the bus and press Backspace.

Changing Port Assignments

You can change the port assignment of busses.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Audio Connections.

2. Do one of the following:

● To change the assignment of a single bus, open the Device Port pop-up menu, and

select a new port.

● To assign subsequent busses to several selected busses, open the Device Port pop-

up menu for the rst selected entry, press Shift, and select a device port.

● To assign the same port to several selected busses, open the Device Port pop-up

menu for the rst selected entry, press Shift-Alt, and select a device port.

Renaming Multiple Busses

You can rename all the selected busses at once using incrementing numbers or letters.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Studio > Audio Connections.

2. Select the busses that you want to rename.

3. Do one of the following:

● Enter a new name for one of the busses, followed by a number.

Enter a new name for one of the busses, followed by a space and a capital letter.

●

4. Press Return.

RESULT

The busses are renamed automatically using either incrementing numbers or letters.

NOTE

The renaming starts from the bus where you edit the name until the bottom, and then continues from the top until all selected busses have been renamed.

Audio Connections Bus Congurations

Exclusive Port Assignments

For certain channel types, the port assignment is exclusive.

Once a port has been assigned to such a bus or channel, it must not be assigned to another bus, otherwise the connection to the rst bus will be broken.

The corresponding ports are marked in the Audio Connections window on the Device Port popup menu.

Project Window

The Project window provides an overview of the project, and allows you to navigate and perform large scale editing.

Each project has one Project window. The Project window is displayed whenever you open or create a new project.

● To open a project, select File > Open.

● To create a new project, select File > New Project.

The

Project window is divided into several zones:

1 Left Zone

The left zone shows the Track Inspector for the selected track or the Editor Inspector for the editor in the lower zone.

2 Project Zone

The project zone shows the toolbar, the track list with the tracks, the event display with the parts and events of the project, and the Project window ruler.

On the toolbar, you can activate/deactivate the status line, the info line, the overview line, and the Transport Bar.

Project Window Showing/Hiding Zones

3 Lower Zone

The lower zone shows the Chord Pads, the Editor, the Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only), and the MixConsole.

4 Right Zone

The right zone shows the VST Instruments rack, and the Media rack (not in Cubase LE).

RELATED LINKS

Project Zone on page 28 Left Zone on page 39 Lower Zone on page 44 Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 49 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Showing/Hiding Zones

You can show/hide the zones in the Project window according to your needs.

PROCEDURE

● Do one of the following:

● To show/hide the left zone, click Show/Hide Left Zone on the Project window

toolbar.

● To show/hide the lower zone, click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window

toolbar.

● To show/hide the right zone, click Show/Hide Right Zone on the Project window

toolbar.

RELATED LINKS

Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Project Zone

The project zone is the heart of the Project window and cannot be hidden.

The project zone features the track list and the event display with the ruler. Furthermore, you can activate/deactivate the status line, the info line, the overview line, and the Transport Bar for the project zone.

NOTE

The project zone is always shown.

Project Window Project Zone

RELATED LINKS

Track List on page 35 Event Display on page 36 Ruler on page 36 Status Line on page 37 Info Line on page 38 Overview Line on page 38 Transport Bar on page 39

Project Window Toolbar

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

● To show/hide tools, open the toolbar context menu by right-clicking in an empty area of the toolbar and activate the tools that you want to display. To show all tools, select Show All.

NOTE

The number of elements that are shown also depends on the size of the Project window and the screen resolution.

The following options are available:

Activate Project

NOTE

Only available if more than one project is open.

Activates a project.

Project History

Undo/Redo

Undoes/Redoes actions in the Project window.

Project Window Project Zone

Constrain Delay Compensation

Minimizes the latency effects of the delay compensation.

Left Divider

Tools that are placed to the left of the divider are always shown.

Media & MixConsole Windows

Open MediaBay

Opens/Closes the MediaBay.

Open Pool Window

Opens/Closes the Pool window.

Open MixConsole

Opens/Closes the MixConsole.

State Buttons

Deactivate All Mute States

Deactivates all mute states.

Deactivate All Solo States

Deactivates all solo states.

Activate/Deactivate Read for All Tracks

Activates/Deactivates read automation for all tracks.

Activate/Deactivate Write for All Tracks

Activates/Deactivates write automation for all tracks.

Auto-Scroll

Keeps the project cursor visible during playback.

Select Auto-Scroll Settings

Allows you to activate Page Scroll or Stationary Cursor and to activate Suspend Auto-Scroll When Editing.

Project Window Project Zone

Transport Controls

Go to Previous Marker/Zero

Moves the project cursor to the previous marker/zero position on the timeline.

Go to Next Marker/Project End

Moves the project cursor to the next marker/project end.

Rewind

Moves backward.

Forward

Moves forward.

Activate Cycle

Activates/Deactivates cycle mode.

Stop

Stops playback.

Start

Starts playback.

Transport Record

Activates/Deactivates record mode.

Tool Buttons

Object Selection

Selects events and parts.

Range Selection

Selects ranges.

Draw

Erase

Split

Draws events.

Erases events.

Project Window Project Zone

Splits events.

Glue

Glues events together.

Mute

Mutes events.

Zoom

Zooms in. Hold Alt and click to zoom out.

Line

Creates a series of contiguous events.

Play

Allows you to play back events.

Color Menu

Colorize Selected Tracks or Events

Opens the Colorize pane that allows you to colorize the selected tracks or events.

Nudge Palette

Trim Start Left

Increases the length of the selected event by moving its start to the left.

Trim Start Right

Decreases the length of the selected event by moving its start to the right.

Move Left

Moves the selected event to the left.

Move Right

Moves the selected event to the right.

Trim End Left

Decreases the length of the selected event by moving its end to the left.

Trim End Right

Increases the length of the selected event by moving its end to the right.

Project Window Project Zone

Snap

Snap to Zero Crossing

Restricts editing to zero crossings, that is, positions where the amplitude is zero.

Snap On/Off

Restricts horizontal movement and positioning to the positions specied by the Snap Type.

Snap Type

Allows you to specify to what positions you want events to snap.

Grid

Grid Type

Allows you to specify a grid type for the Snap function. This setting only has effect if Snap Type is set to one of the grid options.

Quantize

Iterative Quantize On/Off

Activates/Deactivates iterative quantize.

Quantize Presets

Allows you to select a quantize preset.

Apply Quantize

Applies the quantize settings.

Open Quantize Panel

Opens the Quantize Panel.

System Performance Meter

Shows the meters for average audio processing load and the disk cache load.

Right Divider

Tools that are placed to the right of the divider are always shown.

Project Window Project Zone

Window Zone Controls

Show/Hide Left Zone

Shows/Hides the left zone of the window.

Show/Hide Lower Zone

Shows/Hides the lower zone of the window.

Show/Hide Right Zone

Shows/Hides the right zone of the window.

Set up Window Layout

Allows you to set up the window layout.

Set up Toolbar

Opens a pop-up menu where you can set up which toolbar elements are visible.

RELATED LINKS

Left/Right Toolbar Divider on page 34 Snap Types Menu on page 59 Markers on page 244 Automation on page 439 Synchronization on page 632

Left/Right Toolbar Divider

The left and right toolbar dividers allow you to lock the position of specic tools at the left or at the right side of the toolbar, so that they are always shown.

All other items are shown in the center of the toolbar. When you reduce the width of the Project window, these toolbar items are hidden successively. When you increase the width, they are shown again.

Toolbox

The toolbox makes the editing tools from the toolbar available at the mouse pointer position. It can be opened instead of the standard context menus in the event display and editors.

To activate the toolbox function, activate Pop-up Toolbox on Right-Click in the

● Preferences dialog (Editing—Tools page).

To open the toolbox, right-click in the event display or editor.

●

If Pop-up Toolbox on Right-Click is deactivated, the context menu opens.

To open the context menu instead of the toolbox, press any modier key and right-click in

● the event display or editor.

If Pop-up Toolbox on Right-Click is deactivated, press any modier key to open the toolbox instead of the context menu.

Project Window Project Zone

Track List

The track list shows the tracks that are used in the project. When a track is added and selected, it contains name

● To decide which controls are visible for each track type, right-click the track list and open the

Track Controls Settings dialog.

RELATED LINKS

Track Control Settings Dialog on page 80

Dividing the Track List

You can divide the track list into an upper track list and a lower track list. These track lists can have independent zoom and scroll controls. Dividing the track list is useful if you are working with a video track and multi-track audio, for example. It allows you to place the video track in the upper track list and to scroll the audio tracks separately in the lower track list, so that they can be arranged with the video.

elds and settings for this track.

PROCEDURE

● Do one of the following:

● Select Project > Divide Track List.

● Click Divide Track List in the top right corner of the Project window below the

ruler.

RESULT

The track list is divided and video, marker, or arranger tracks are automatically moved to the upper track list. All other track types are moved to the lower track list.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

● To move any type of track from the lower track list to the upper and vice versa, right-click it in the track list and select

● To resize the upper part of the track list, click and drag the divider between the track list sections.

● To revert to a single track list, click Divide Track List again.

Toggle Track List from the context menu.

Project Window Project Zone

Event Display

The event display shows the parts and events that are used in the project. They are positioned along the timeline.

Ruler

The ruler shows the timeline and the display format of the project.

Initially, the Project window ruler uses the display format that is specied in the Project Setup dialog.

● To select an independent display format for the ruler, click the arrow button to the right of the ruler and select an option from the pop-up menu.

● To set the display format globally for all windows, use Select Primary Display Format pop-up menu on the Transport panel, or hold down Ctrl/Cmd and select a display format in any ruler.

RELATED LINKS

Project Setup Dialog on page 71

Ruler Display Format Menu

You can select a display format for the ruler.

● To show the ruler display formats, click the arrow button to the right of the ruler.

The selection that you make affects the time display formats in the following areas:

● Ruler

Project Window Project Zone

● Info line

● Tooltip position values

The following options are available:

Bars+Beats

Sets the ruler to display bars, beats, sixteenth notes, and ticks. By default, there are 120 ticks per sixteenth note. To change this, adjust the MIDI Display Resolution setting in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Seconds

Sets the ruler to display hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds.

Timecode

Sets the ruler to display hours, minutes, seconds, and frames. The number of frames per second (fps) is set in the Project Setup dialog with the Project Frame Rate popup menu. To display subframes, activate

Preferences dialog (Transport page).

Samples

Sets the ruler to display samples.

Time Linear

Sets the ruler linear to time.

Show Timecode Subframes in the

Status Line

Bars+Beats Linear

Sets the ruler linear to bars and beats.

The status line shows the most important project settings.

● To activate the status line, click Set up Window Layout on the toolbar and activate Status Line.

The following information is shown on the status line:

Audio Inputs/Audio Outputs

These elds are shown if the audio device ports are not connected. Click to open the

Audio Connections dialog and connect the ports.

Max. Record Time

Displays the remaining time for recording, depending on your project settings and the available hard disk space. Click in this eld to display the remaining record time in a separate window.

Record Format

Displays the sample rate and the bit depth used for recording. Click in this eld to open the

Project Setup dialog.

Project Frame Rate

Displays the frame rate used in the project. Click in this eld to open the Project Setup dialog.

Project Pan Law

Displays the current pan law setting. Click in this eld to open the Project Setup dialog.

Project Window Project Zone

RELATED LINKS

Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Info Line

The info line shows information about the event or part that you selected in the project zone.

To activate the info line, click Set up Window Layout on the toolbar and activate Info Line.

RELATED LINKS

Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Value Editing Rules on the Info Line

You can edit almost all event or part data on the info line using regular value editing.

If you select several events or parts, the info line is shown in another color and only the information about the

rst item in the selection is displayed. The following rules apply:

●

● Value changes are applied absolutely to the current values if you press Ctrl/Cmd while

Overview Line

The overview line allows you to zoom and navigate to other sections in the project.

To activate the overview line, click Set up Window Layout on the toolbar and activate Overview.

In the overview line, events and parts are displayed as boxes. A rectangle indicates the section of the project that is displayed in the event display.

●

Value changes are applied to all selected elements, relative to the current values.

For example, you have selected two audio events. The rst event has a length of 1 bar, the second of 2 bars. If you change the info line value to 3, the rst event is resized to 3 bars and the second event to 4 bars.

modifying the value on the info line.

In the example above, both events are resized to 3 bars.

NOTE

To change the modier, select a new modier in the Info Line category of the Preferences dialog (Editing—Tool Modiers page).

To zoom the event display in or out horizontally, resize the rectangle by dragging the edges.

To navigate to another section of the event display, drag the rectangle to the left or right, or click in the upper part of the overview.

RELATED LINKS

Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Project Window Left Zone

Transport Bar

The Transport Bar allows displaying the transport functions in an integrated and xed zone of

Project window.

the

● To activate the Transport Bar, click Set up Window Layout on the Project window toolbar

● To show/hide tools, open the Transport Bar context menu by right-clicking in an empty

RELATED LINKS

Common Record Modes Menu on page 192 Audio Record Modes on page 197 MIDI Record Modes on page 203 Left/Right Toolbar Divider on page 34 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Left Zone

and activate Transport Bar.

area of the Transport Bar and activate the tools that you want to display. To show all tools, select Show All.

The left zone of the Project window allows you to display the Inspector.

To show/hide the left zone, click Show/Hide Left Zone on the Project window toolbar.

● Inspector

RELATED LINKS

Inspector on page 40 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Project Window Left Zone

Inspector

The Inspector allows you to show controls and parameters for either the selected track in the track list or the event or part that is shown in the editor in the lower zone.

The bottom of the left zone features two tabs: Track and Editor.

● Click the Track tab to open the Track Inspector for the selected track.

● Click the Editor tab to open the Editor Inspector for the event or part that is shown in the editor in the lower zone.

RELATED LINKS

Opening the Track Inspector on page 40 Opening the Editor Inspector on page 41 Opening the Editor in the Lower Zone on page 47

Opening the Track Inspector

The Track Inspector shows controls and parameters for the selected track in the track list.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Left Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the Left Zone.

2. At the bottom of the left zone, click the Track tab.

Project Window Left Zone

RESULT

The Track Inspector for the selected track in the track list is opened. If more than one track is selected, the controls and parameters for the topmost selected track are shown.

Opening the Editor Inspector

The Editor Inspector shows controls and parameters for the event or part that is shown in the editor in the lower zone.

PREREQUISITE

The Sample Editor, the Key Editor, the Drum Editor or the Score Editor is shown in the lower zone.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Left Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the Left Zone.

2. At the bottom of the left zone, click the Editor tab.

Project Window Left Zone

RESULT

The Editor Inspector for the event or part that is shown in the editor in the lower zone is opened.

NOTE

The Editor Inspector only contains information if the lower zone shows an editor. Otherwise, it is empty.

RELATED LINKS

Opening the Editor in the Lower Zone on page 47

Inspector Sections

The Track Inspector and the Editor Inspector are divided into a number of sections that each contain different controls for the track, event or part.

Not all Inspector sections are shown by default. The available sections depend on the type of the selected track, event, or part, and on the settings in the setup dialog for the Track Inspector/ Editor Inspector.

To open/close sections, click their names.

●

Opening one section closes the other sections.

To open a section without closing the other sections, Ctrl/Cmd-click the section name.

●

RELATED LINKS

Inspector Settings Dialogs on page 43 Audio Track Inspector on page 84 Instrument Track Inspector on page 89 MIDI Track Inspector on page 99 Sampler Track Inspector on page 95

Project Window Left Zone

Arranger Track Inspector on page 118 Marker Track Inspector on page 122 Video Track Inspector on page 123 Key Editor Inspector on page 531 Drum Editor Inspector on page 563 Sample Editor Inspector on page 345

Inspector Settings Dialogs

The Inspector settings dialogs allow you to set up the sections that are available in the Track Inspector and the Editor Inspector.

● To open the Setup dialog for the Track Inspector settings, click Setup Inspector in the Track Inspector, and from the pop-up menu select Setup.

● To open the Setup dialog for the Editor Inspector settings, click Setup Inspector in the Editor Inspector, and from the pop-up menu select Setup.

NOTE

This is only available for the Key Editor, the Drum Editor and the Score Editor.

Project Window Lower Zone

Hidden Items

Displays sections that are hidden in the Inspector.

Visible Items

Displays sections that are visible in the Inspector.

If you activate Pin by clicking the column for a section the open/close status of the selected

Add

Allows you to move an item selected in the hidden sections list to the list of visible sections.

Remove

Allows you to move an item selected in the visible sections list to the list of hidden sections.

Move Up/Move Down

Allows you to change the position of an item in the list of visible sections.

Presets

Allows you to save Inspector settings as presets.

Inspector section is pinned.

Reset All

Lower Zone

The lower zone of the Project window allows you to display specic windows and editors in an integrated and xed zone of the Project window. This is useful if you work on single screen systems and notebooks, for example.

To show/hide the lower zone, click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window toolbar.

The lower zone features the following tabs: Chord Pads, MixConsole, Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only), and Editor.

Allows you to restore the default Inspector settings.

To close the lower zone, click Close Lower Zone to the left of the tabs.

RELATED LINKS

Opening Chord Pads on page 45

Project Window Lower Zone

Opening the MixConsole in the Lower Zone on page 46 Opening Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only) on page 46 Opening the Editor in the Lower Zone on page 47 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Setting up the Lower Zone

In the lower zone, the MixConsole, Editor, Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only), and Chord Pads tabs are shown. You can change their order, and you can hide tabs that you do not need.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Set up Lower Zone in the bottom right of the lower zone.

2. Do one of the following:

● Activate/Deactivate the options in the pop-up menu to show/hide tabs in the lower

zone.

● Select Setup to open a dialog where you can activate/deactivate the tabs and

change their position.

NOTE

In the Presets section of this dialog you can also save a preset of your

conguration.

RESULT

The tabs in the lower zone are shown according to your conguration.

RELATED LINKS

Setup Dialogs on page 679

Opening Chord Pads

Chord Pads allow you to play with chords, and to change their voicings and tensions.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the lower zone.

2. At the bottom of the lower zone, click the Chord Pads tab.

RESULT

The Chord Pads are opened.

RELATED LINKS

Chord Pads on page 589 Setting up the Lower Zone on page 45 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Project Window Lower Zone

Opening the MixConsole in the Lower Zone

The MixConsole in the lower zone allows you to perform all basic mixing procedures from within the lower zone of the events.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the lower zone.

2. At the bottom of the lower zone, click the MixConsole tab.

Project window, and at the same time to see the context of your tracks and

RESULT

The MixConsole is opened in the lower zone.

RELATED LINKS

MixConsole in Lower Zone on page 251 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Opening Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only)

Sampler Control allows you to display and edit the waveform of an audio sample on a sampler

track.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the lower zone.

2. At the bottom of the lower zone, click the Sampler Control tab.

Project Window Lower Zone

RESULT

Sampler Control is opened.

RELATED LINKS

Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only) on page 376 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Opening the Editor in the Lower Zone

The Editor in the lower zone allows you to perform event editing procedures from within the lower zone of the Project window, and at the same time to see the context of your tracks and events.

NOTE

By default, double-clicking an audio event/part or a MIDI part in the event display or selecting it and pressing Return opens the corresponding editor in the lower zone of the Project window. Using a menu command opens a separate editor window. You can change this in the Preferences dialog (Editors page).

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Lower Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the lower zone.

2. At the bottom of the lower zone, click the Editor tab.

3. In the event display, do one of the following:

Select a MIDI part.

●

Select an audio event.

●

Select an audio part.

●

Project Window Lower Zone

RESULT

Depending on your event or part selection, the lower zone shows either the Audio Part Editor, the Sample Editor, or one of the MIDI editors.

NOTE

To change the default MIDI editor, select MIDI > Set up Editor Preferences, and select an option from the Default MIDI Editor pop-up menu.

NOTE

If you open the editor and no event or part is selected, the editor in the lower zone is empty.

RELATED LINKS

Selecting a different MIDI Editor on page 48 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Selecting a different MIDI Editor

You can display the MIDI part that is opened in the editor in the lower zone in a different MIDI editor. You can do this without changing the default MIDI editor.

PROCEDURE

1. On the Editor tab in the editor in the lower zone, click Select MIDI Editor.

2. Select an editor from the pop-up menu.

Project Window Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

RESULT

The MIDI part is displayed in the selected editor.

NOTE

This selection is temporary. Next time you open the MIDI part, the default MIDI editor is used.

Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

The right zone of the Project window allows you to display the VSTi rack and the Media rack (not in Cubase LE).

To show/hide the right zone, click Show/Hide Right Zone on the Project window toolbar.

The top of the right zone features the following tabs: VSTi and Media.

Project Window Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

NOTE

You can show/hide specic tabs in the right zone by right-clicking a tab and activating/ deactivating the options in the context menu.

RELATED LINKS

VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 50 Media Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 53 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Opening the VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

You can show the VSTi rack in the right zone of the Project window. This allows you to add and edit VST instruments, and at the same time to see the context of your tracks and events.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Right Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the Right Zone.

2. At the top of the right zone, click the VSTi tab.

RESULT

The VSTi rack is opened in the right zone of the Project window.

RELATED LINKS

VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 50 VST Instruments on page 449 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

The VSTi rack in the right zone of the Project window allows you to add and edit VST instruments in the context of the Project window.

The following sections are available:

● Track

Shows the associated VST instrument for an instrument track.

● Rack

Shows a VST instrument.

The following controls are available:

Project Window Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

Add Track Instrument

Opens the Add Track dialog that allows you to select an instrument and add an instrument track that is associated to this instrument.

Find Instruments

Opens a selector that allows you to nd a loaded instrument.

Set Remote-Control Focus for VST Quick Controls to Previous Instrument

Allows you to set the remote-control focus to the previous instrument.

Set Remote-Control Focus for VST Quick Controls to Next Instrument

Allows you to set the remote-control focus to the next instrument.

Show/Hide all VST Quick Controls

Shows/Hides the default quick controls for all loaded instruments.

Settings

Opens the Settings menu where you can activate/deactivate the following modes:

● Show VST Quick Controls for One Slot Only shows the VST Quick Controls

exclusively for the selected instrument.

● MIDI Channel follows track selection ensures that the Channel selector

follows the MIDI track selection in the Project window. Use this mode if you work with multitimbral instruments.

● Remote-Control Focus for VST Quick Controls follows track selection

ensures that the VST Quick Controls remote-control focus follows the track selection.

RELATED LINKS

VST Instruments Window (not in Cubase LE) on page 453

Opening the Media Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

You can show the Media rack in the right zone of the Project window. This allows you to see the context of your tracks and events when you drag audio events, MIDI parts, presets, or instruments into the Project window.

PROCEDURE

1. Click Show/Hide Right Zone on the Project window toolbar to activate the Right Zone.

2. At the top of the right zone, click the Media tab.

Project Window Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

RESULT

The Media rack is opened in the right zone of the Project window.

RELATED LINKS

Media Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 53 MediaBay and Media Rack on page 408 Project Window Toolbar on page 29

Project Window Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

Media Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

The Media rack in the right zone of the Project window allows you to drag audio events, MIDI parts, or instrument presets into the event display. It lists Steinberg factory content and any installed Steinberg content sets.

The Media rack Home tab shows the following tiles:

VST Instruments

Shows all included VST instruments.

VST Effects

Shows all included VST effects.

Loops & Samples

Shows audio loops, MIDI loops, or instrument sounds ordered by content set.

Presets

Shows the track presets, strip presets, FX chain presets, and VST FX presets.

User Presets

Shows track presets, strip presets, pattern banks, FX chain presets, VST FX presets, and instrument presets that are listed in the User folder.

Shows the track presets, strip presets, FX chain presets, and VST FX presets.

Favorites

Shows your favorite folders and allows you to add new favorites. The folder content is automatically added to the MediaBay database.

File Browser

Shows your le system and the pre-dened folders Favorites, This Computer, VST Sound, Factory Content, and User Content where you can search for media les

and access them immediately.

Project Window Keyboard Focus in the Project Window

RELATED LINKS

Media Rack in Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 408 MediaBay and Media Rack on page 408

Keyboard Focus in the Project Window

The different zones in the Project window can be controlled by using key commands. To make sure that a key command has effect on a specic zone, you must make sure that this zone has the keyboard focus.

The following Project window zones can have the keyboard focus:

●

Project zone

●

Left zone

●

Lower zone

●

Right zone

If a zone has the keyboard focus, the border that surrounds it is highlighted in a specic color.

NOTE

You can change the focus color in the Preferences dialog (User Interface—Custom Colors page).

RELATED LINKS

Project Zone on page 28 Left Zone on page 39 Lower Zone on page 44 Right Zone (not in Cubase LE) on page 49 Project Window on page 27

Activating Keyboard Focus for a Zone

You can activate the keyboard focus for a zone by clicking with the mouse and by using key commands.

PROCEDURE

● Do one of the following:

● To activate any zone, click in it.

● To activate the next zone, press Tab. This allows you to cycle forward through the

zones.

To activate the previous zone, press Shift-Tab.

●

NOTE

The editor in the lower zone automatically gets the keyboard focus if you double-click an event or part in the event display, if you select an event or part and press Return, or if you use key commands to open the zone.

RESULT

The keyboard focus is activated for this zone and the border of the zone is highlighted.

Project Window Zooming in the Project Window

NOTE

The project zone and the lower zone have separate toolbars and info lines. If you use the toolbar or the info line for one of these zones, the corresponding zone automatically gets the focus.

Zooming in the Project Window

You can zoom in the Project window according to the standard zoom techniques.

NOTE

If screen redraws are slow on your system, consider activating Quick Zoom in the Preferences dialog (Editing page).

Zooming Horizontally

● Select the Zoom tool and click in the event display to zoom in. To zoom out, hold down Alt and click.

● Use the horizontal zoom sliders to zoom in and out.

● Click the lower half of the ruler and drag down to zoom in horizontally. Click the lower half of the ruler and drag up to zoom out horizontally.

● Click H to zoom in horizontally. Click G to zoom out horizontally.

NOTE

If the Grid Type in the Project window toolbar is set to Adapt to Zoom, the horizontal zoom level affects the grid and snap resolution in the event display.

Zooming Vertically

● Select the Zoom tool, click in the event display, and drag a selection rectangle to zoom in vertically and horizontally.

NOTE

For this to work, you must deactivate the Zoom Tool Standard Mode: Horizontal Zooming Only option in the Preferences dialog (Editing—Tools page).

● Use the vertical zoom sliders to zoom in and out. If you have made any individual track height adjustments, the relative height differences are maintained.

● Click Shift-H to zoom in vertically. Click Shift-G to zoom out vertically.

RELATED LINKS

Zoom Submenu on page 56 Zoom Presets on page 56 Zooming in on Cycle Markers on page 57 Zoom History on page 58 Grid Type Menu on page 60

Zooming in on Audio Contents

You can zoom in vertically on the contents of audio parts and events. This is useful when viewing quiet audio passages.

PROCEDURE

● Click the waveform zoom slider in the top right corner of the event display and drag up.

Project Window Zooming in the Project Window

RESULT

The contents of audio parts and events in your project are zoomed in vertically.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

To get an approximate reading on the level of the audio events by viewing the waveforms, zoom out by dragging the slider all the way down again. Otherwise, zoomed waveforms may be mistaken for clipped audio.

Zoom Submenu

The Zoom submenu contains options for zooming in the Project window.

● To open the Zoom submenu, select Edit > Zoom.

The following options are available:

Zoom In/Zoom Out

Zooms in/out one step, centering on the project cursor.

Zoom Full

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.

Zoom to Selection

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

Zoom to Selection (Horiz.)

Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection lls the screen.

Zoom to Event

Zooms in to show the currently selected event. This option is available in the Sample Editor and in some MIDI editors.

Zoom In Vertically/Zoom Out Vertically

Zooms in/out one step vertically.

Zoom In Tracks/Zoom Out Tracks

Zooms the selected tracks in/out one step vertically.

Zoom Selected Tracks

Zooms in vertically on the selected tracks and minimizes the height of all other tracks.

Undo Zoom/Redo Zoom

RELATED LINKS

Zoom Submenu on page 347

Zoom Presets

You can create zoom presets that allow you to set up different zoom settings. For example, one where the whole project is displayed in the Project window and another with a high zoom factor

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

Project Window Zooming in the Project Window

for detailed editing. The Zoom Presets pop-up menu allows you to select, create, and organize zoom presets.

● To open the Zoom Presets pop-up menu, click the button to the left of the horizontal zoom control.

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets.

● To save the current zoom setting as a preset, open the Zoom Presets pop-up menu and select Add. In the Type In Preset Name dialog that opens, type in a name for the preset and click

● To select and apply a preset, select it from the Zoom Presets pop-up menu.

● To zoom out so that the whole project is visible, open the Zoom Presets pop-up menu and select Zoom Full.

This displays the project from the Project Start Time to the Project Length that is set in the

● To delete a preset, open the Zoom Presets pop-up menu and select Organize. In the dialog that opens, select the preset in the list and click Delete.

● To rename a preset, open the Zoom Presets pop-up menu and select Organize. In the dialog that opens, select a preset in the list and click type in a new name for the preset. Click OK to close the dialogs.

IMPORTANT

Zoom presets are global for all projects. They are available in all projects that you open or create.

OK.

Project Setup dialog.

Zooming in on Cycle Markers

You can zoom in on the area between cycle markers in the project.

PREREQUISITE

You created at least one cycle marker for the project.

Rename. In the dialog that opens,

PROCEDURE

● Click the button to the left of the horizontal zoom control to open the Zoom Presets popup menu, and select a cycle marker.

Project Window Snap Function

RESULT

The event display is zoomed in to encompass the marker area.

RELATED LINKS

Markers Window on page 245

Zoom History

You can 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.

The middle part of the pop-up menu lists any cycle markers that you have added to the project.

You can undo and redo zoom operations in the following ways:

● To undo zoom, select Edit > Zoom > Undo Zoom or double-click with the zoom tool.

● To redo zoom, select Edit > Zoom > Redo Zoom or press Alt and double-click with the zoom tool.

Snap Function

The Snap function helps you to nd 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.

● To activate/deactivate Snap, activate/deactivate Snap on the toolbar.

Setting the Snap Point (Cubase Elements only)

You can set the snap point at any position of the audio event.

PROCEDURE

1. Select an event.

2. Place the project cursor at a position within the selected audio event.

3. Select Audio > Snap Point to Cursor.

RESULT

The snap point is set at the cursor position. The snap point for an event is displayed as a vertical line in the Project window.

NOTE

You can also set the snap point in the Sample Editor.

Project Window Snap Function

RELATED LINKS

Adjusting the Snap Point on page 353

Snap to Zero Crossing

When splitting and sizing audio events, sudden amplitude changes can cause pops and clicks. To avoid this, you can activate

To activate Snap to Zero Crossing, activate Snap to Zero Crossing on the toolbar.

●

Snap Types Menu

You can select between different snap types to determine the snap point.

● To open the Snap Type pop-up menu, click Snap Type on the toolbar.

The following snap types are available:

Grid

If this option is activated, the snap points are set with the Grid Type pop-up menu. The options depend on the display format that is selected for the ruler.

If you select Seconds as ruler format, time-based grid options are available.

If you select Bars+Beats as ruler format, musical grid options are available.

Snap to Zero Crossing to snap to points where the amplitude is zero.

Grid Relative

If this option is activated, events and parts are not magnetic to the grid. Rather, the grid determines the step size for moving the events. This means that a moved event keeps its original position relative to the grid.

For example, if an event starts at the position 3.04.01, Snap is set to Grid Relative, and the Grid Type pop-up menu 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.

NOTE

This only applies when dragging existing events or parts. When you create new events or parts, this Snap Type works like Grid.

Events

If this option is activated, 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. This includes marker events on the marker track.

Shue

Shue is useful when you want to change the order of adjacent events. If you have two adjacent events and drag the rst one to the right, past the second event, the two events change places.

The same principle works when changing the order of more than two events.

Project Window Snap Function

Cursor

This grid type lets the project cursor become magnetic. Dragging an event near the cursor causes the event to be aligned with the cursor position.

Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of Grid and Cursor.

Events + Cursor

This is a combination of Events and Cursor.

Events + Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of Events, Grid, and Cursor.

Grid Type Menu

Allows you to specify a grid type that determines the grid and snap resolution in the event display.

NOTE

This setting only has an effect if Snap Type is set to one of the grid options.

● To open the Grid Type pop-up menu, click Grid Type on the toolbar.

If you select Bars+Beats as ruler format, the following grid types are available:

Bar

Sets the grid and snap resolution to bars.

Beat

Sets the grid and snap resolution to beats.

Use Quantize

Sets the grid and snap resolution to the value that is activated in the Quantize Presets pop-up menu.

Adapt to Zoom

Sets the grid and snap resolution to the horizontal zoom level. The more you zoom in on the event display, the ner the resolution. High zoom levels allow you to snap to 64th notes, low zoom levels allow you to snap to bars.

NOTE

Adapt to Zoom is only available if Bars+Beats is set as ruler display format.

If you activate Time Linear in the ruler context menu, the distances between the grid lines are still constant but based on musical values such as bars and beats.

If you select Seconds as ruler format, the following grid types are available:

1 ms

Sets the grid and snap resolution to 1 ms.

10 ms

Sets the grid and snap resolution to 10 ms.

100 ms

Sets the grid and snap resolution to 100 ms.

Project Window Cross-Hair Cursor

1000 ms

Sets the grid and snap resolution to 1000 ms.

RELATED LINKS

Snap Types Menu on page 59 Zooming in the Project Window on page 55 Ruler Display Format Menu on page 36

Cross-Hair Cursor

The cross-hair cursor is displayed when working in the Project window and in the editors, facilitating navigation and editing, especially when arranging large projects.

●

You can set up the cross-hair cursor in the Preferences dialog (Editing—Tools page).

You can set up the colors for the line and the mask of the cross-hair cursor, and dene its width.

The cross-hair cursor works as follows:

●

When the Object 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.

Cross-hair cursor when moving an event.

● When the Object Selection tool, the Cut 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.

Edit History Dialog

The Edit History dialog contains a list of all your edits. This allows you to undo all actions in the Project window as well as in the editors.

● To open the Edit History dialog, select Edit > History.

Project Window Edit History Dialog

Action

Time

Shows the name of the action.

Shows the time when this action was performed.

State

Shows the state of the action.

Details

Shows further details, and allows you to enter new text.

Separator

Move the separator upwards to undo your actions. To redo an action again, move the separator down.

NOTE

● You can also undo applied audio processes. However, we recommend to modify or delete these using the

RELATED LINKS

Direct Oine Processing on page 317

Direct Oine Processing window.

Setting the Number of Maximum Undo Steps

You can limit the number of maximum undo steps. This is useful if you run out of memory, for example.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Preferences dialog, select General.

2. Set the number in the Maximum Undo Steps eld.

Project Window Color Handling

Color Handling

You can colorize events and tracks in Cubase.

Colorizing Single Tracks

You can colorize single selected tracks.

PROCEDURE

1. Select the track that you want to colorize.

2. In the Inspector, click Colorize Selected Track.

3. In the Choose Track Color pane, click one of the color elds.

RESULT

The selected track is colorized.

RELATED LINKS

Automatically Assigning Colors to New Tracks on page 128

Colorizing Selected Events or Tracks

You can apply colors to selected tracks and events/parts for an easier overview in the Project window.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Project window, do one of the following:

● Select the event or part that you want to colorize.

● Select the track that you want to colorize, and deselect all events or parts in the

Project window.

2. On the Project window toolbar, click Colorize Selected Tracks or Events.

3. In the Colorize pane, click one of the color elds.

RESULT

The selected events or tracks are colorized. If you colorize a track, its events and parts get the same color.

NOTE

If you assign a different color to individual parts or events, they no longer follow color changes of the track.

Automatically Assigning Colors to New Tracks

You can automatically assign colors to newly added tracks.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Preferences dialog, select Event Display > Tracks.

2. Open the Auto Track Color Mode pop-up menu and select one of the options.

3. Click OK.

4. Do one of the following to add new tracks:

Project Window Color Handling

● Use Add Track or Add Other Track or Use Track Preset in the global track

controls area of the track list to add a track.

● Drag some les from the Media rack to the event display.

RESULT

The new tracks are automatically colorized according to your settings.

RELATED LINKS

Event Display - Tracks on page 695

Resetting the Default Color

You can reset the color of a track, part, or event to the default color.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Project window, select the track, event or part that you want to reset to the default color.

2. Select Project > Colorize Selected Tracks or Events.

3. In the Colorize pane click Use Default Color.

RESULT

The default color is assigned to the selected track, part, or event.

NOTE

If you select a part or event whose color differs from its track, and you click Use Default Color, this part or event is set back to the track color.

Project Colors Dialog

The Project Colors dialog allows you to set up a different set of colors for the tracks, events or parts.

● To open the Project Colors dialog, click Colorize Selected Tracks or Events on the Project window toolbar, and select Set up Colors from the menu.

Project Window Color Handling

Color elds

Click a eld to open the Color Picker that allows you to specify a new color.

The following options are available in the Options pop-up menu:

Append New Color

Adds a new color button at the bottom of the color list.

Insert New Color before Selection

Adds a new color button above the selected color button.

Remove Selected Color

Removes the selected color button.

Reset Selected Color

Resets the selected color to the factory settings.

Increase/Reduce Intensity of all Colors

Increases/Reduces the intensity of all colors.

Increase/Reduce Brightness of all Colors

Increases/Reduces the brightness of all colors.

Save Current Set as Program Defaults

Saves the current set of colors as default.

Load Program Defaults to Current Set

Applies the default set of colors.

Reset Current Set to Factory Settings

Returns to the standard color palette.

RELATED LINKS

Color Picker on page 66

Project Window Color Handling

Adding and Editing Individual Colors

You can add new colors to the Project Colors dialog. This allows you to apply custom colors for events, tracks, and channels.

PROCEDURE

1. On the Project window toolbar, click Colorize Selected Tracks or Events.

2. In the Colorize pane, click Set up Colors.

3. In the Project Colors dialog, click Options and select Append New Color.

4. Click the newly created color eld to open the Color Picker.

5. Pick a color and click OK.

RESULT

The color is applied to the selected color eld.

RELATED LINKS

Color Picker on page 66

Color Picker

The Color Picker allows you to dene new custom colors.

To open the Color Picker, do one of the following:

● Click Colorize Selected Tracks or Events on the Project window toolbar, click Set up

● Select Edit > Preferences, select one of the User Interface entries, and click a color eld.

Color selectors

Context menu

Current Color/New Color

Hue/Saturation/Value

Red/Green/Blue

Colors, and in the Project Colors dialog, click a color eld.

This allows you to dene custom project colors.

This allows you to dene custom user interface colors.

Allow you to select a color.

Allows you to copy, paste or reset colors.

Shows the current color and the new color.

Allows you to edit the colors numerically.

Conrms the color changes.

NOTE

You must restart the application for some changes to take effect.

Project Handling

In Cubase, projects are the central documents. You must create and set up a project to work with the program.

Creating New Projects

You can create empty projects or projects that are based on a template.

PROCEDURE

1. Select File > New Project.

Depending on your settings, either the Hub or the Project Assistant dialog opens.

2. In the location options section, select where to store the new project.

●

To use the default location, select Use default location.

●

To choose another location, select Prompt for project location.

3. Do one of the following:

●

To create an empty new project, click Create Empty.

●

To create a new project from a template, select a template and click Create.

Hub

RESULT

A new, untitled project is created. If you selected a template, the new project is based on this template and includes the corresponding tracks, events, and settings.

NOTE

If you create an empty project, your default presets for the input and output bus congurations are applied. If you have not dened default presets, the last used congurations are applied.

RELATED LINKS

Presets for Input and Output Busses on page 24

Hub keeps you up to date with the latest information and assists you with organizing your projects.

To open the Hub, do one of the following:

● Select Hub > Open Hub.

● Select File > New Project.

Project Handling Hub

News and Tutorials Section

The News and Tutorials section displays Steinberg news, tutorial videos as well as links to the user forum, downloads, and the Help Center.

NOTE

Ensure that you have an active Internet connection to access this material.

Projects Section

The Projects section lets you create new projects, which can either be empty or based on a template. It lets you specify where to save the projects. It also allows you to access recently opened projects or projects that are stored in other locations. This section offers the same functionality as the Project Assistant dialog.

Category bar

In this section, the available factory templates are sorted into the predened categories Recording, Scoring, Production, and Mastering.

The Recent category contains a list of the recently opened projects.

The More category contains the default project template and all templates that are not assigned to any of the other categories.

Template list

When you click on one of the category items, the list below the category bar shows the available templates for this category. Any new templates that you create are added at the top of the corresponding list.

Location options

This section allows you to specify where the project is stored.

Open Other

This button allows you to open any project le on your system. This is identical to using the Open command on the File menu.

RELATED LINKS

Project Assistant Dialog on page 69

Project Handling Project Assistant Dialog

Deactivating the Hub

To start Cubase or to create new projects without the Hub, you can deactivate it.

PROCEDURE

1. In the Preferences dialog, select General.

2. Deactivate Use Hub.

RESULT

Cubase starts without opening a project and opens the Project Assistant dialog when you create a new project using the File menu. However, you can still open the Hub through the Hub menu.

Project Assistant Dialog

The Project Assistant dialog assists you with organizing your projects.

● To open the Project Assistant dialog, deactivate Use Hub in the Preferences dialog (General page), and select File > New Project.

Category bar

In this section, the available factory templates are sorted into the predened categories Recording, Production, Scoring, and Mastering.

The Recent category contains a list of the recently opened projects.

The More category contains the default project template and all templates that are not assigned to any of the other categories.

Template list

Location options

Open Other

Project Files

A project le (extension *.cpr) is the central document in Cubase. A project le contains references to media data that can be saved in the project folder.

NOTE

We recommend to save les only in the project folder, even though you can save them in any other location to which you have access.

The project folder contains the project le and the following folders that Cubase automatically creates when necessary:

When you click on one of the category items, the list below the category bar shows the available factory templates for this category. Any new templates that you create are added at the top of the corresponding list.

This section allows you to specify where the project is stored.

This button allows you to open any project le on your system. This is identical to using the Open command from the File menu.

●

Audio

Edits

Images

Track Pictures

Project Handling Template Files

Template Files

Templates can be a good starting point for new projects. Templates are projects where you can save all settings that you regularly use, such as bus congurations, sample rates, record formats, basic track layouts, VSTi setups, drum map setups, etc.

The following template types are available from within the Hub:

● Factory templates for specic scenarios. These are listed in the Recording, Scoring, Production, or Mastering categories.

The default template. This is listed in the More category.

●

Any new user templates that you create and save. These are listed in the More category.

Template projects are not saved in project folders and therefore contain no subfolders and no media les.

●

To open the location of a specic template, right-click a template in the template list and select

Show in Explorer (Windows only) or Reveal in Finder (macOS only).

Saving a Project Template File

You can save the current project as a template. When you create a new project, you can select this template as a starting point for your new project.

PREREQUISITE

Remove all clips from the Pool before you save the project as a template. This ensures that references to media data from the original project folder are deleted.

PROCEDURE

1. Set up a project.

2. Select File > Save as Template.

3. In the New Preset section of the Save as Template dialog, enter a name for the new

project template.

4. In the Attribute Inspector section, double-click the Value eld of the Content Summary attribute to enter a description for the template.

5. Click the Value eld of the Template Category attribute and select a template category from the pop-up menu.

Project Handling Project Setup Dialog

If you do not select a category, the new template will be listed in the Hub in the More category.

6. Click OK to save the template.

Renaming Templates

PROCEDURE

1. In the Hub or the Project Assistant, right-click a template and select Rename.

2. In the Rename dialog, enter a new name and click OK.

Project Setup Dialog

You can perform general settings for your project in the Project Setup dialog.

● To open the Project Setup dialog, select Project > Project Setup.

● To open the Project Setup dialog automatically when you create a new project, activate the Run Setup on Create New Project option in the Preferences dialog (General page).

IMPORTANT

While most Project Setup settings can be changed at any time, you must set the sample rate directly after creating a new project. If you change the sample rate at a later stage, you must convert all audio les in the project to the new sample rate to make them play back properly.

In the Project Duration section, the following options are available:

Project Start Time

Allows you to specify the start time of the project in timecode format. This also determines the sync start position when synchronizing to external devices.

Project Handling Project Setup Dialog

Project Length

Project Frame Rate

In the Project Frame Rate section, the following options are available:

Project Frame Rate

Get Frame Rate From Video

Project Time Displays

In the Project Time Displays section, the following options are available:

Display Format

Allows you to specify the length of the project.

Allows you to specify the timecode standard and frame rate for the project. When synchronizing to an external device, this setting must correspond to the frame rate of any incoming timecode.

Allows you to set the project frame rate to the frame rate of an imported video le.

Allows you to specify the global display format that is used for all rulers and position displays in the program, except the ruler tracks. However, you can make independent display format selections for the individual rulers and displays.

Display Time Offset

Allows you to specify an offset for the time positions that are displayed in the rulers and position displays to compensate for the

Display Bar Offset

This setting is only used if you select the Bars+Beats display format. Allows you to specify an offset for the time positions that are displayed in the rulers and position displays to compensate for the

Project Start Time setting.

Record File Format

In the Record File Format section, the following options are available:

Sample Rate

Allows you to specify the sample rate at which Cubase records and plays back audio.

● If your audio hardware generates the sample rate internally and you select a

non-supported sample rate, this is indicated by a different color. In this case, you must set a different sample rate to make your audio les play back properly.

● If you select a sample rate that your audio hardware supports, but that differs

from its current sample rate setting, it is automatically changed to the project sample rate.

● If your audio hardware is externally clocked and receives external clock

signals, sample rate mismatches are accepted.

Bit Depth

Allows you to specify the bit depth of the audio les that you record in Cubase. Select the record format according to the bit depth that is delivered by your audio hardware. The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit, 32 bit, 32 bit

NOTE

● If your audio interface supports a bit depth of 32 bit, and you want to maintain

this precision in your recordings, you must select a Processing Precision of 64 bit oat in the Studio Setup dialog.

oat, and 64 bit oat.

Project Handling Project Setup Dialog

Record File Type

● When you record with effects, consider setting the bit depth to 32 bit oat or

64 bit oat. This prevents clipping (digital distortion) in the recorded les and keeps the audio quality very high. Effect processing and level or EQ changes in the input channel are done in 32-bit the Processing Precision setting in the Studio Setup dialog. If you record at 16 bit or 24 bit, the audio will be converted to this lower bit depth when it is written to a actual bit depth of your audio hardware. Even if the signal from the audio hardware has a bit depth of 16 bit, the signal will be 32 bit oat or 64 bit oat after the effects are added to the input channel.

● The higher the bit depth value, the larger the les and the more strain is put

on the disk system. If this is an issue, you can lower the record format setting.

Allows you to specify the le type of the audio les that you record in Cubase.

NOTE

● For wave le recordings larger than 4 GB, the EBU RIFF standard is used. If a

FAT 32 disk is used (not recommended), audio the Preferences dialog, you can specify what happens if your recorded Wave le is larger than 4 GB.

● You can set up embedded strings in the Preferences dialog.

le. As a result, the signal may degrade. This is independent of the

oat or 64-bit oat format, depending on

les are split automatically. In

Project Ownership

In the Project Ownership section, the following options are available:

Author

Allows you to specify a project author that is written into the le, when you export audio les and activate the Insert iXML chunk option. You can specify a default author in the Default Author Name eld in the Preferences dialog (General—

Personalization page).

Company

Allows you to specify a company name that is written into the le, when you export audio les and activate the Insert iXML chunk option. You can specify a default company in the Default Company Name eld in the Preferences dialog (General—

Personalization page).

Other Project Settings

In the Other Project Settings section, the following options are available:

Stereo Pan Law

If you pan a channel left or right, the sum of the left and right side is higher (louder), than if this channel is panned center. These modes allow you to attenuate signals panned center. 0 dB turns off constant-power panning. Equal Power means that the power of the signal remains the same regardless of the pan setting.

Volume Max

Allows you to specify the maximum fader level. By default, this is set to +12 dB. If you load projects that were created with Cubase versions older than 5.5, this value is set to the old default value of +6 dB.

Hermode Tuning

In the Hermode Tuning section, the following options are available:

Project Handling Opening Project Files

HMT Type (MIDI only) (Cubase Elements only)

Allows you to specify a mode for Hermode tuning of MIDI notes.

HMT Depth (MIDI only) (Cubase Elements only)

Allows you to specify the overall degree of retuning.

RELATED LINKS

VST Audio System Page on page 12 Record - Audio on page 701

Opening Project Files

You can open one or several saved project les at the same time.

IMPORTANT

If you open a project saved with a different program version that contains data for functions that are not available in your version, this data may be lost when you save the project with your version.

NOTE

● If you open an external project, the last used view that was saved on your computer is used.

● External projects are automatically connected to the input and output busses. If you open a project that was created on a computer with an ASIO port conguration different from the conguration of your computer, this can result in unwanted audio connections. You can deactivate the automatic connection of input and output busses in the dialog (VST page).

PROCEDURE

1. Select File > Open.

2. In the le dialog that opens, select the project that you want to open and click Open.

3. If there already is an open project, you are asked if you want to activate the new project.

Do one of the following:

● To activate the project, click Activate.

● To open the project without activating it, click No.

This reduces load times for projects.

RELATED LINKS

Activating Projects on page 74

Preferences

Activating Projects

If you have several projects opened at the same time in Cubase, only one project can be active. The active project is indicated by the lit Activate Project button in the upper left corner of the Project window. If you want to work on another project, you have to activate the other project.

PROCEDURE

● To activate a project, click Activate Project .

Project Handling Saving Project Files

Opening Recent Projects

You can open recent projects directly from the recent projects list.

PROCEDURE

● Do one of the following:

In the category bar of the Hub or the Project Assistant dialog, click Recent, select a

●

project from the projects list, and click Open.

● Select File > Recent Projects and select a recently opened project.

Re-Routing Missing Ports

If you open a Cubase project that was created on a different system with other audio hardware, Cubase tries to nd matching audio inputs and outputs for the input/output busses. If Cubase cannot resolve all audio/MIDI inputs and outputs that are used in the project, the Missing Ports dialog opens.

This allows you to manually re-route any ports specied in the project to ports that are available in your system.

NOTE

To improve the search for matching audio inputs and outputs for the input/output busses, you should use descriptive, generic names for your input and output ports.

RELATED LINKS

Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs on page 22

Saving Project Files

You can save the active project as a project le. To keep your projects as manageable as possible, make sure that you save project les and all related les in the respective project folders.

● To save the project and specify a le name and location, open the File menu and select Save As.

● To save the project with its current name and location, open the File menu and select

Save.

Auto Save

Cubase can automatically save backup copies of all open project les with unsaved changes.

NOTE

Only the project les are backed up. If you want to include the les from the Pool and save your project in a different location, you must use the Back up Project function.

Cubase can automatically save backup copies of all open projects with unsaved changes. To set this up, activate the Auto Save option in the Preferences dialog (General page). The backup copies are named “<project name>-xx.bak” where xx is an incremental number. Unsaved projects are backed up in a similar way as “UntitledX-xx.bak”, with X being the incremental number for unsaved projects. All backup

To specify the time intervals in which a backup copy is created, use the Auto Save Interval

● setting.

les are saved in the project folder.

Project Handling Reverting to the Last Saved Version

● To specify how many backup les are created with the Auto Save function, use the Maximum Backup Files option. When the maximum number of backup les is reached, the existing les are overwritten, starting with the oldest le.

Saving Project Files As a New Version

You can create and activate a new version of an active project le. This is useful if you are experimenting with edits and arrangements and want to be able to go back to a previous version at any time.

PROCEDURE

● Do one of the following:

●

Select File > Save New Version.

●

Press Ctrl/Cmd-Alt-S.

RESULT

The new le is saved with the same name as the original project and an attached incremental number. For example, if your project is called “My Project”, new versions are called “My Project-01”, “My Project-02”, and so on.

Reverting to the Last Saved Version

You can return to the last saved version and discard all changes that have been introduced.

PROCEDURE

1. Select File > Revert.

2. In the warning message, click Revert.

If you have recorded or created new audio les since the last version was saved, you are prompted to delete or keep the les.

Choosing a Project Location

You can specify a project location for saving projects in the Hub and in the Project Assistant.

PROCEDURE

1. Do one of the following:

● Select Use default location to create a project in the default project location, and in

the Project folder eld, specify a name for the project folder. If you do not specify a project folder here, the project is saved in a folder named Untitled.

Click in the path eld to change the default project location, and specify the new

●

default location in the le dialog that opens.

Activate Prompt for project location to open a le dialog where you can specify the

●

project folder location.

2. Do one of the following:

Click Create Empty to create a new empty project.

●

Project Handling Self-Contained Projects

● Select one of the template projects and click Create to create a project based on a

template.

RESULT

The project is created and saved in the specied location.

Self-Contained Projects

If you want to share your work or transfer it to another computer, your project must be selfcontained.

The following functions facilitate this task:

●

Select Media > Prepare Archive to verify that every clip that is referenced in the project is located in the project folder, and to take actions if that is not the case.

●

Select File > Back up Project to create a new project folder where you can save the project le and the necessary work data. The original project remains unchanged.

RELATED LINKS

Preparing Archives on page 77 Backing up Projects on page 77

Preparing Archives

The Prepare Archive function allows you to gather all les that are referenced by your project to ensure that these are in the project folder. This is useful if you want to move or archive your project.

PROCEDURE

1. Select Media > Prepare Archive.

If your project references external les, you are prompted if you want to copy them to your working directory. If any processing has been applied, you must decide if you want to atten edits.

2. Click Proceed.

RESULT

Your project is ready to be archived. You can move or copy the project folder to another location.

AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK

You must copy audio les that reside within the project folder to the Audio folder or save them separately. You must also move your video clips manually, as videos are only referenced and not saved in the project folder.

Backing up Projects

You can create a backup copy of your project. Backups only contain the necessary work data. All media les except the les from VST Sound archives are included as a copy.

PROCEDURE

1. Select File > Back up Project.

2. Select an empty folder or create a new one.

3. Make your settings in the Back up Project Options dialog and click OK.

Project Handling Self-Contained Projects

RESULT

A copy of the project is saved in the new folder. The original project remains unaffected.

NOTE

VST Sound content provided by Steinberg is copy-protected and is not included in the backup project. If you want to use a backup copy that uses VST Sound content on a different computer, make sure that the corresponding content is also available on that computer.

Back up Project Options Dialog

This dialog allows you to create a backup copy of your project.

● To open the Back up Project Options dialog, select File > Back up Project.

Project Name

Allows you to change the name of the backed up project.

Keep Current Project Active

Allows you to keep the current project active after clicking OK.

Minimize Audio Files

Allows you to include only the audio le portions that are actually used in the project. This can signicantly reduce the size of the project folder if you are using small sections of large if you continue working with the project in its new folder.

les. It also means that you cannot use other parts of the audio les

Make Direct Oine Processing Permanent

Allows you to atten all edits and make all processing and applied effects permanent to each clip in the Pool.

Remove Unused Files

Allows you to remove unused les and to back up only the les that are actually used.

Do Not Back up Video

Allows you to exclude video clips on the video track or in the Pool of the current project.

Tracks

Tracks are the building blocks of your project. They allow you to import, add, record, and edit parts and events. Tracks are listed from top to bottom in the track list and extend horizontally across the Project window. Each track is assigned to a particular channel strip in the MixConsole.

If you select a track in the Project window, the controls, settings, and parameters displayed in the Inspector and the track list allow you to control the track.

Track Inspector Settings Dialog

For each track type, you can congure which Inspector sections are shown. You can also specify the order of the sections.

● To open the Track Inspector Settings dialog, click Set up Inspector, and select Setup from the pop-up menu.

Tracks Track Control Settings Dialog

Hidden Items

Displays sections that are hidden in the Inspector.

Visible Items

Displays sections that are visible in the Inspector.

If you activate Pin by clicking the column for a section the open/close status of the selected Inspector section is pinned.

Add

Allows you to move an item selected in the hidden sections list to the list of visible sections.

Remove

Allows you to move an item selected in the visible sections list to the list of hidden sections.

Move Up/Move Down

Allows you to change the position of an item in the list of visible sections.

Presets

Allows you to save Inspector settings as presets.

Reset All

Allows you to restore the default Inspector settings.

Track Control Settings Dialog

For each track type, you can congure which track controls are shown in the track list. You can also specify the order of controls and group controls so that they are always shown adjacent to each other.

● To open the Track Controls Settings dialog, right-click a track in the track list and select

Track Controls Settings from the context menu, or click Open Track Controls Settings Dialog in the bottom right corner of the track list.

Tracks Track Control Settings Dialog

Track Type

Allows you to select the track type to which your settings are applied.

Hidden Controls

Displays controls that are hidden in the track list.

Visible Controls

Displays controls that are visible in the track list.

Width

If you click in this column, you can set the maximum length for the track name.

Group

Displays the group number.

Add

Allows you to move an item selected in the hidden controls list to the list of visible controls.

Remove

Allows you to move an item selected in the visible controls list to the list of hidden controls. All controls can be removed except Mute and Solo.

Move Up/Move Down

Allows you to change the order of an item in the list of visible controls.

Group

Allows you to group two or more controls selected in the visible controls list that are adjacent to each other. This ensures that they are always positioned side by side in the track list.

Tracks Audio Tracks

Ungroup

Allows you to ungroup grouped controls in the visible controls list. To remove an entire group, select the rst (topmost) element belonging to this group and click

Ungroup.

Reset

Allows you to restore all default track controls settings for the selected track type.

Controls Area Preview

Shows a preview of the customized track controls.

Controls Area Width

Allows you to determine the width of the track controls area for the selected track type. In the Controls Area Preview, this area is shown with a frame.

Presets

Allows you to save track controls settings as presets. To recall a preset, click Switch Presets in the bottom right corner of the track list. The name of the selected preset

is shown in the left corner.

Track Name Width (global)

Allows you to determine the global name width for all track types.

Apply

Applies your settings.

Reset All

Allows you to restore all default track controls settings for all track types.

Audio Tracks

You can use audio tracks for recording and playing back audio events and audio parts. Each audio track has a corresponding audio channel in the MixConsole. An audio track can have any number of automation tracks for automating channel parameters, effect settings, etc.

You can add audio tracks via the Add Track dialog.

RELATED LINKS

Add Track Dialog – Audio on page 82

Add Track Dialog – Audio

The Audio page of the Add Track dialog allows you to set up and add audio tracks.

To open the Audio page of the Add Track dialog, do one of the following:

● Click Add Track in the global track controls area of the track list, and click Audio.

● Right-click in an empty area of the track list, and select Add Audio Track.

● Select Project > Add Track > Audio.

Tracks Audio Tracks

The following settings are available:

Audio Inputs

Opens a window where you can select an input of your connected audio hardware.

If you have added an input bus in the Audio Connections window, you can connect to that input bus.

The Open Audio Connections button opens the Audio Connections window.

Conguration

Allows you to set the channel conguration. Audio-related tracks can be congured as mono or stereo tracks.

Audio Outputs

Allows you to set the output routing.

Name

Allows you to specify a track name.

Count

Allows you to enter the number of tracks that you want to add.

Keep Dialog Open

Activate this to keep the dialog open after clicking Add Track. This allows you to click the page of another track type to set up and add more tracks.

Add Track

Adds one or more tracks, according to the track type and settings of the active page, and closes the dialog.

RELATED LINKS

Audio Connections Window on page 21

Tracks Audio Tracks

Audio Track Inspector

The Inspector for audio tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to edit your audio track.

The top section of the audio track Inspector contains the following basic track settings:

Track name

Click once to show/hide the basic track settings section. Double-click to rename the track.

Colorize Selected Track

Allows you to colorize the selected track.

Edit Channel Settings

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

Auto Fades Settings

Opens a dialog where you can make separate fade settings for the track.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Routes incoming signals to the selected output.

Tracks Audio Tracks

Freeze Audio Channel

Allows you to freeze the audio channel.

Volume

Allows you to adjust the level of the track.

Pan

Allows you to adjust the panning of the track.

Delay

Allows you to adjust the playback timing of the track.

Load/Save/Reload Track Preset

Loads or saves a track preset or reverts the default presets.

Input Routing

Allows you to specify the input bus for the track.

Output Routing

Allows you to specify the output bus for the track.

Audio Track Inspector sections

Apart from the basic track settings that are always shown, audio tracks also provide other

Inspector sections that depend on the specic track type.

Equalizers

Allows you to adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands of EQs for each track.

Tracks Audio Tracks

Inserts

Allows you to add insert effects to the track.

Sends

Allows you to route the track to one or several FX channels.

Fader

Shows a duplicate of the corresponding MixConsole channel.

Notepad

Allows you to enter notes about the track.

Tracks Audio Tracks

Strip

Allows you to set up the channel strip modules.

Quick Controls

Allows you to congure quick controls to use remote devices, for example.

Audio Track Controls

The track list for audio tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to edit your audio track.

Track name

Double-click to rename the track.

Edit Channel Settings

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

Tracks Instrument Tracks

Record Enable

Monitor

Bypass Inserts

Bypass EQs

Bypass Sends

Channel Conguration

Activates the track for recording.

Routes incoming signals to the selected output.

Bypasses the inserts for the track.

Bypasses the equalizers for the track.

Bypasses the sends for the track.

Shows the channel conguration of the track.

Freeze Channel

Opens a dialog that allows you to set the Tail Size time in seconds.

Instrument Tracks

You can use instrument tracks for dedicated VST instruments. Each instrument track has a corresponding instrument channel in the MixConsole. An instrument track can have any number of automation tracks.

You can add instrument tracks via the Add Track dialog.

RELATED LINKS

Add Track Dialog – Instrument on page 88

Add Track Dialog – Instrument

The Instrument page of the Add Track dialog allows you to set up and add instrument tracks.

To open the Instrument page of the Add Track dialog, do one of the following:

● Click Add Track in the global track controls area of the track list, and click Instrument.

● Right-click in an empty area of the track list, and select Add Instrument Track.

● Select Project > Add Track > Instrument.

Tracks Instrument Tracks

The following settings are available:

Instrument

Allows you to select an instrument.

Audio Outputs

Allows you to set the output routing.

Count

Allows you to enter the number of tracks that you want to add.

Keep Dialog Open

Activate this to keep the dialog open after clicking Add Track. This allows you to click the page of another track type to set up and add more tracks.

Add Track

Adds one or more tracks, according to the track type and settings of the active page, and closes the dialog.

Instrument Track Inspector

The Inspector for instrument tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to control your instrument track. It shows some of the sections from VST instrument channels and MIDI tracks.

The top section of the instrument track Inspector contains the following basic track settings:

Tracks Instrument Tracks

Track name

Colorize Selected Track

Edit Channel Settings

Mute

Solo

Click once to show/hide the basic track settings section. Double-click to rename the track.

Allows you to colorize the selected track.

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Mutes the track.

Solos the track.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Routes incoming MIDI to the selected MIDI output. For this to work, activate MIDI Thru Active in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Freeze Instrument Channel

Allows you to freeze the instrument.

Volume

Allows you to adjust the level of the track.

Pan

Allows you to adjust the panning of the track.

Delay

Allows you to adjust the playback timing of the track.

Load/Save/Reload Track Preset

Loads or saves a track preset or reverts the default presets.

Tracks Instrument Tracks

Input Routing

Activate Outputs

Edit Instrument

Programs

Drum Maps

Allows you to specify the input bus for the track.

This control is only available if the instrument provides more than one output. It allows you to activate one or more outputs for the instrument.

Allows you to open the instrument panel.

Allows you to select a program.

Allows you to select a drum map for the track.

Instrument Track Inspector Sections

Apart from the basic track settings that are always shown, instrument tracks also provide other

Inspector sections.

Chords

Allows you to specify how the track follows the chord track.

MIDI Modiers

Tracks Instrument Tracks

Allows you to transpose or adjust the velocity of the MIDI track events in real time during playback.

Instrument Section

Shows the audio-related controls for the instrument.

Notepad

Allows you to enter notes about the track.

Instrument Track Controls

The track list for instrument tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to edit your instrument track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Track name

Double-click to rename the track.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Allows you to route incoming MIDI signals to the selected MIDI output. For this to work, activate MIDI Thru Active in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Edit Channel Settings

Tracks Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Edit Instrument

Allows you to open the instrument panel.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

ASIO Latency Compensation

Moves all recorded events on the track by the current latency.

Programs

Allows you to select a program.

Bypass Inserts

Bypasses the inserts for the track.

Bypass EQs

Bypasses the equalizers for the track.

Bypass Sends

Bypasses the sends for the track.

Instrument

Allows you to select an instrument.

Channel Conguration

Shows the channel conguration of the track.

Drum Map

Allows you to select a drum map for the track.

Freeze Channel

Opens a dialog that allows you to set the Tail Size time in seconds.

Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

You can use sampler tracks for controlling the playback of audio samples via MIDI. Each sampler track has a corresponding channel in the MixConsole. A sampler track can have any number of automation tracks.

You can add sampler tracks via the Add Track dialog.

Tracks Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

RELATED LINKS

Add Track Dialog – Sampler on page 94 Creating Sampler Tracks on page 377 Sampler Control on page 378

Add Track Dialog – Sampler

The Sampler page of the Add Track dialog allows you to set up and add sampler tracks.

To open the Sampler page of the Add Track dialog, do one of the following:

● Click Add Track in the global track controls area of the track list, and click Sampler.

● Right-click in an empty area of the track list, and select Add Sampler Track.

● Select Project > Add Track > Sampler.

The following settings are available:

Name

Allows you to specify a track name.

Count

Allows you to enter the number of tracks that you want to add.

Keep Dialog Open

Activate this to keep the dialog open after clicking Add Track. This allows you to click the page of another track type to set up and add more tracks.

Add Track

Adds one or more tracks, according to the track type and settings of the active page, and closes the dialog.

Tracks Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

Sampler Track Inspector

The Inspector for sampler tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to edit your sampler track.

The top section of the sampler track Inspector contains the following basic track settings:

Track name

Click once to show/hide the basic track settings section. Double-click to rename the track.

Colorize Selected Track

Allows you to colorize the selected track.

Edit Channel Settings

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Routes incoming MIDI to the selected MIDI output. For this to work, activate MIDI Thru Active in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Freeze Sampler Channel

Allows you to freeze the sampler track.

Tracks Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

Volume

Allows you to adjust the level of the track.

Pan

Allows you to adjust the panning of the track.

Delay

Allows you to adjust the playback timing of the track.

Load/Save/Reload Track Preset

Loads or saves a track preset or reverts the default presets.

Input Routing

Allows you to specify the input bus for the track.

Sampler Track Inspector Sections

Apart from the basic track settings that are always shown, sampler tracks also provide other

Inspector sections.

Chords

Allows you to specify how the track follows the chord track.

MIDI Modiers

Allows you to transpose or adjust the velocity of the MIDI track events in real time during playback.

Tracks Sampler Tracks (Cubase Elements only)

Instrument Section

Shows the audio-related controls for the sampler track.

Notepad

Allows you to enter notes about the track.

Sampler Track Controls

The track list for sampler tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to edit your sampler track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Track name

Double-click to rename the track.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Allows you to route incoming MIDI signals to the selected MIDI output. For this to work, activate MIDI Thru Active in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Edit Channel Settings

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Open/Close Sampler

Opens/Closes the Sampler Control in the lower zone.

Tracks MIDI Tracks

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

ASIO Latency Compensation

Moves all recorded events on the track by the current latency.

Bypass Inserts

Bypasses the inserts for the track.

Bypass EQs

Bypasses the equalizers for the track.

Bypass Sends

Bypasses the sends for the track.

Freeze Channel

Opens a dialog that allows you to set the Tail Size time in seconds.

MIDI Tracks

You can use MIDI tracks for recording and playing back MIDI parts. Each MIDI track has a corresponding MIDI channel in the MixConsole. A MIDI track can have any number of automation tracks.

You can add MIDI tracks via the Add Track dialog.

RELATED LINKS

Add Track Dialog – MIDI on page 98

Add Track Dialog – MIDI

The MIDI page of the Add Track dialog allows you to set up and add MIDI tracks.

To open the MIDI page of the Add Track dialog, do one of the following:

● Click Add Track in the global track controls area of the track list, and click MIDI.

● Right-click in an empty area of the track list, and select Add MIDI Track.

● Select Project > Add Track > MIDI.

Tracks MIDI Tracks

The following settings are available:

Name

Allows you to specify a track name.

Count

Allows you to enter the number of tracks that you want to add.

Keep Dialog Open

Activate this to keep the dialog open after clicking Add Track. This allows you to click the page of another track type to set up and add more tracks.

Add Track

Adds one or more tracks, according to the track type and settings of the active page, and closes the dialog.

MIDI Track Inspector

The Inspector for MIDI tracks contains controls and parameters that allow you to control your MIDI track. These affect MIDI events in real time, on playback, for example.

The top section of the MIDI track Inspector contains the following basic track settings:

Track name

Tracks MIDI Tracks

Click once to show/hide the basic track settings section. Double-click to rename the track.

Colorize Selected Track

Allows you to colorize the selected track.

Edit Channel Settings

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

Mute

Mutes the track.

Solo

Solos the track.

Read Automation

Allows you to read track automation.

Write Automation

Allows you to write track automation.

Record Enable

Activates the track for recording.

Monitor

Routes incoming MIDI to the selected MIDI output. For this to work, activate MIDI Thru Active in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

Volume

Allows you to adjust the level of the track.

MIDI Pan

Allows you to adjust the MIDI panning of the track.

Delay

Allows you to adjust the playback timing of the track.

Load/Save/Reload Track Preset

Loads or saves a track preset or reverts the default presets.

Input Routing

Allows you to specify the input bus for the track.

Output Routing

100

Steinberg Cubase AI - 10.0 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

Introduction

Platform-Independent Documentation

PDF Documents and Online Documentation

Conventions

Typographical Elements

Markup

Key Commands

Setting up Your System

Setting up Audio

Simple Stereo Input and Output Setup

Audio Connections

Recording Levels and Inputs

Word Clock Connections

Selecting an Audio Driver

Setting up Audio Hardware

VST Audio System Page

ASIO Driver Setup Page

Using External Clock Sources

Using Several Audio Applications Simultaneously

Setting up Input and Output Ports

Audio Bus Setup

Monitoring

Setting up MIDI

MIDI Connections

Showing or Hiding MIDI Ports

Setting up All MIDI Inputs

MIDI Port Setup Page

Plug and Play Support for USB MIDI Devices

Synchronizers

Audio Connections

Audio Connections Window

Renaming the Hardware Inputs and Outputs

Hiding Ports

Activating and Deactivating Ports (macOS only)

Adding Input and Output Busses

Setting the Default Output Bus (Main Mix)

Presets for Input and Output Busses

Monitoring Bus

Removing Busses

Changing Port Assignments

Renaming Multiple Busses

Exclusive Port Assignments

Project Window

Showing/Hiding Zones

Project Zone

Project Window Toolbar

Left/Right Toolbar Divider

Toolbox

Track List

Dividing the Track List

Event Display

Ruler

Ruler Display Format Menu

Status Line

Info Line

Value Editing Rules on the Info Line

Overview Line

Transport Bar

Left Zone

Inspector

Opening the Track Inspector

Opening the Editor Inspector

Inspector Sections

Inspector Settings Dialogs

Lower Zone

Setting up the Lower Zone

Opening Chord Pads

Opening the MixConsole in the Lower Zone

Opening Sampler Control (Cubase Elements only)

Opening the Editor in the Lower Zone

Selecting a different MIDI Editor

Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

Opening the VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

VSTi Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)

Opening the Media Rack in the Right Zone (not in Cubase LE)