STEINBERG Cubase Essential 4, Cubase Essential - 4.0 Prise en Main [fr]
Getting Started
Einführung
Prise en Main
Tutorials by Steve Kostrey
Revision and Quality Control:
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part
of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement
and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission
by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of
Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is either a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the
United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh
are registered trademarks.
Release Date: April 02, 2008
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2008.
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
5 Introduction
6 Welcome
6 About the manuals and the help
7 About the program versions
7 Key command conventions
7 How you can reach us
8 System requirements and installation
9 About this chapter
9 Minimum requirements
10 Hardware installation
12 Installing Cubase Essential
12 Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only)
12 Register your software
13 Setting up your system
14 Setting up audio
18 Setting up MIDI
20 Connecting a synchronizer
20 Setting up video
21 Optimizing audio performance
23 Tutorial 1: Recording audio
24 Creating a new project
25 Setting up the VST Connections
26 Level settings and recording
29 Playback
30 Recording modes with cycle off
30 Cycle recording
48 Tutorial 4: Working with loops
49 Loop Browser
49 Adding loops
50 Making copies
50 Insert into Project
51 Tutorial 5: Mixing and effects
52 Introduction
52 Setting levels
53 Setting pan
53 Mute and solo
54 Adding EQ
56 Audio effects
57 About automation
58 Exporting
60 Tutorial 6: Media management
61 Background
61 MediaBay, Loop Browser and Sound Browser
62 Scanning with the browser
64 Searching for media
65 Auditioning media with the Scope
66 Tagging
67 Index
32 Tutorial 2: Editing audio
33 Event operations
38 Event envelopes
38 Processing audio
40 Tutorial 3: Recording and editing MIDI
41 Introduction
41 Creating an Instrument Track
42 Browsing sounds
42 MIDI recording
43 MIDI playback
44 Recording modes with cycle off
44 Cycle recording
45 The Key Editor
47 The Controller lane
Table of Contents
4
1
Introduction
Welcome
About the manuals and the help
Congratulations and welcome to the world of Cubase.
You have now become a member of the world’s largest
community of music production software users. Looking
back at more than 20 years of innovation in computerbased music production, Steinberg has always been the
driving force behind software technology and Cubase is
the benchmark for this development. With Cubase Essential 4, you have purchased the most powerful personal
music production system Steinberg has ever made.
Whether you’re already a user of some computer-based
music production software or this is your first hands-on experience with a software-based sequencer/digital audio
workstation: this version gives you full access to the Cubase workflow and provides you with a powerful yet easyto-use music production system. Cubase Essential 4 features the same professional audio engine as used in Steinberg’s flagship version of Cubase – Cubase 4. It also uses
the same powerful editing and mixing features as Cubase 4
and works with a wide range of I/O hardware of your choice
and includes a brand-new set of great-sounding VST3
plug-ins and new instrument tracks. It features the ability to
change the tempo of audio loops in realtime. In addition,
Cubase Essential 4 features great-sounding guitar amp
and speaker simulation, as well as HALionOne, a virtual instrument with samples from Yamaha’s acclaimed Motif synthesizer.
Take some time to find your way around in this new version
of Cubase. If you are a first-time user, you will find a lot of
help in the tutorial section, which is included in this manual.
It comes with matching Cubase Essential project files and
even short training videos, which you will find on your program DVD. Even if you are already familiar with Cubase, it
makes sense to study these tutorials in order to learn about
some of the new features, and how they are integrated.
Last but not least, by registering your software you will
have access to Steinberg's personal user area on the
Steinberg website! It gives you access to special offers
from Steinberg and ensures that you are always up-todate on the latest news about tips and tricks, updates or
special events. Finally, you are also invited to join our Cubase user forum at www.steinberg.net, which is the best
way to communicate directly with us and other Cubase
users around the world.
See you around! The Steinberg Cubase Essential Team
The Cubase Essential documentation is divided into several sections, as listed below. Some of the documents are
in Adobe Acrobat format (extension “.pdf”) – these can be
accessed in the following ways:
• You can open the pdf documents from the Documentation
submenu on the Help menu in the program.
• Under Windows you can also open these documents from the
Cubase Essential Documentation subfolder on the Windows
Start menu.
• Under Mac OS X the pdf documents are located in the folder
“/Library/Documentation/Steinberg/Cubase Essential 4”.
Ö To read the pdf documents, you need to have a suitable pdf reader application installed on your computer.
An installer for Adobe Reader is provided on the program DVD.
The Getting Started manual
This is the manual you are reading now. It covers the following areas:
• Computer requirements.
• Installation issues.
• Setting up your system for audio, MIDI and/or video work.
• Tutorials describing the most common procedures for recording, playing back, mixing and editing in Cubase Essential.
In other words, this manual does not go into detail on any
Cubase Essential windows, functions or procedures.
The Operation Manual
The Operation Manual is the main Cubase Essential reference documentation, with detailed descriptions of Cubase Essential operations, parameters, functions and
techniques. You should be familiar with the concepts and
methods described in the Getting Started manual before
moving on to the Operation Manual.
Plug-in Reference
This manual describes the features and parameters of the
included VST plug-ins, real-time audio effects, the VST Instrument HALionOne and the MIDI effects.
Remote Control Devices
This pdf document lists the supported MIDI remote control
devices and describes how to set them up and use them
with Cubase Essential.
6
Introduction
Mackie Control
This pdf document describes the supported features for
the Mackie Control remote device.
Menu Reference
This pdf document provides a list of all menus and their
options with a brief description, for quick reference.
The dialog help
To get information about the active dialog, click its Help
button.
About the program versions
The documentation covers two different operating systems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X.
Some features and settings are specific to one of the platforms, Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated in the
applicable cases. In other words:
Ö If nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures
in the documentation are valid for both Windows and Mac
OS X.
The screenshots are taken from the Windows version.
How you can reach us
On the Help menu in Cubase Essential you will find items
for getting additional information and help:
• On the “Credits and Copyright” submenu, you can find
a link to the Steinberg web site. Selecting it will automatically launch your browser application and open the page.
You can find support and compatibility information, answers to frequently
asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, etc. This requires
that you have a web browser application installed on your computer, and
a working Internet connection.
Key command conventions
Many of the default key commands in Cubase Essential
use modifier keys, some of which are different depending
on the operating system. For example, the default key
command for Undo is [Ctrl]+[Z] under Windows and
[Command]+[Z] under Mac OS X.
When key commands with modifier keys are described in
this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier
key first, in the following way:
[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]+[key]
For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Z] means “press [Ctrl] un-
der Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press
[Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]+[X] means “press [Alt] under
Windows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.
Ö Please note that this manual often refers to “rightclicking”, e.g. to open context menus, etc. If you are using
a Macintosh computer with a single-button mouse, hold
down [Ctrl] and click.
Introduction
7
2
System requirements and installation
About this chapter
!
This chapter describes the requirements and installation
procedures for the Windows version and the Mac version
of Cubase Essential.
Minimum requirements
To use Cubase Essential, your computer must meet the
following minimum requirements:
Windows
• Windows XP (Home or Professional),
or Windows Vista (32-bit)
• Intel Pentium or AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz processor
•512 MB RAM
• Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware;
ASIO compatible audio hardware recommended for low
latency performance.
• Display resolution of 1024x768 pixels
• Steinberg Key and USB component connector
• DVD ROM drive required for installation
• Internet connection required for license activation
• Hard disk size – The size of the hard disk determines
how many minutes of audio you will be able to record.
Recording one minute of stereo CD quality audio requires 10 MB of hard
disk space. That is, eight stereo tracks in Cubase Essential use up at
least 80 MB of disk space per recording minute.
• Hard disk speed – The speed of the hard drive also determines the number of audio tracks you can run.
That is the quantity of information that the disk can read, usually expressed
as “sustained transfer rate”. Again, “the more the better” applies.
• Wheel mouse – Although a regular mouse will work fine
with Cubase Essential, we recommend that you use a
wheel mouse.
This will speed up value editing and scrolling considerably.
MIDI requirements
If you intend to use the MIDI features of Cubase Essential,
you need the following:
• A MIDI interface to connect external MIDI equipment to your
computer.
•A MIDI instrument.
• Any audio equipment required to listen to the sound from your
MIDI devices.
Macintosh
• Mac OS X 10.4 or 10.5
• Power Mac G4 1 GHz or Core Solo 1.5 GHz
•512 MB RAM
• Display resolution of 1024x768 pixels
• CoreAudio compatible audio hardware
• Steinberg Key and USB component connector
• DVD ROM drive required for installation
• Internet connection required for license activation
General notes on how to set up your system
On the Steinberg web site, under “Support–DAW
Components”, you can find detailed information on
what to consider when setting up a computer system
dedicated to audio work.
• RAM – There is a direct relation between the amount of
available RAM and the number of audio channels that you
can have running.
The amount of RAM specified above is the minimum requirement, but as
a general rule “the more the better” applies.
System requirements and installation
Audio hardware
Cubase Essential will run with audio hardware that meets
the following specifications:
•Stereo.
•16 bit.
• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.
• Windows – The audio hardware must be supplied with a special ASIO driver, or a DirectX compatible driver, see below.
• Mac – The audio hardware must be supplied with Mac OS Xcompatible drivers (CoreAudio or ASIO).
Using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh
(Mac only)
Although Cubase Essential is designed with multi-channel
input and output in mind, it’s of course possible to use the
program with “basic” stereo inputs and outputs. As of this
writing, all current Macintosh models provide at least builtin 16 bit stereo audio hardware. For detailed information,
refer to the documentation describing your computer.
9
Depending on your preferences and requirements, using
!
!
!
the built-in audio hardware may be sufficient for use with
Cubase Essential. It is always available for selection in
Cubase Essential – you don’t need to install any additional
drivers.
Some Macintosh models have audio outputs but no
inputs. This means that you can only play back audio
– recording is not possible without additional audio
hardware.
• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate
with DirectX. If the audio card supports DirectX, this driver
should be supplied by the audio card manufacturer. If it isn’t
installed with the audio card, please check the manufacturer’s
web site for more information.
• The ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver, allowing Cubase Essential to communicate with DirectX. This driver is included with
Cubase Essential, and does not require any special installation.
About drivers
A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to
communicate with a certain piece of hardware. In this
case, the driver allows Cubase Essential to use the audio
hardware. For audio hardware, there are two different
cases, requiring different driver configurations:
If the audio hardware has a specific ASIO driver
Professional audio cards often come with an ASIO driver
written especially for the card. This allows for communication directly between Cubase Essential and the audio
card. As a result, audio cards with specific ASIO drivers
can provide lower latency (input-output delay), which is
crucial when monitoring audio via Cubase Essential or using VST Instruments. The ASIO driver may also provide
special support for multiple inputs and outputs, routing,
synchronization, etc.
Audio card-specific ASIO drivers are provided by the card
manufacturers. Make sure to check the manufacturer’s
web site for the latest driver versions.
If your audio hardware comes with a specific ASIO
driver we strongly recommend that you use this.
If the audio card communicates via DirectX (Windows
only)
DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various
types of multimedia data under Windows. Cubase Essential supports DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectSound,
which is a part of DirectX used for playing back and recording audio. This requires two types of drivers:
Hardware installation
The Steinberg Key
Please read the following section before installing
the Cubase Essential software.
Included with the Cubase Essential package, you will find
the Steinberg Key (also referred to as a “dongle” or “eLicenser”), a hardware copy protection device that is part of
the Cubase Essential copy protection scheme. Cubase
Essential will not run if there is no Steinberg Key.
The Steinberg Key
The Steinberg Key is, in fact, a little computer on which
your Steinberg software licenses are stored. All hardwareprotected Steinberg products use the same type of key,
and you can store more than one license on one key. Also,
licenses can (within certain limits) be transferred between
keys – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell a piece of
software.
The Syncrosoft License Control Center (which can be
found in the Start/Programs menu under Windows or the
Applications folder on a Mac) is the place where you can
check the licenses installed on your Steinberg Key.
10
System requirements and installation
• If you are using other copy-protected Steinberg products, you may want to transfer all licenses for your applications to only one Steinberg Key, thus using only one USB
port of your computer. To transfer licenses between keys,
launch the License Transfer wizard of the Syncrosoft License Control Center and follow the instructions.
• Steinberg software products always come with a license
activation code, but not always with a Steinberg Key – if
you want to activate a license for such a Steinberg software
(e.g. a VSTi) on the Steinberg Key you received with Cubase Essential, launch the License Download wizard of the
Syncrosoft License Control Center and follow the instructions.
More information on the transfer or activation of licenses
can be found in the help for the Syncrosoft License Control Center.
Installing the audio hardware and its driver
1. Install the audio card and related equipment in the
computer, as described in the card’s documentation.
2. Install the driver for the card.
Depending on the operating system of your computer, there are different
types of drivers that could apply: card-specific ASIO drivers, DirectX
drivers (Windows) or Mac OS X (Mac) drivers:
Specific ASIO driver
If your audio card has a specific ASIO driver, it may be included with the audio card, but you should always make
sure to check the audio card manufacturer’s web site for
the most recent drivers. For details on how to install the
driver, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Testing the card
To make sure the audio card will work as expected, perform
the following two tests:
• Use any software included with the audio card to make
sure you can record and play back audio without problems.
• If the card is accessed via a standard operating system
driver, try playing back audio using the computer’s standard
audio application (e.g. Windows Media Player or Apple
iTunes).
Installing a MIDI interface/synthesizer card
Installation instructions for a MIDI interface should be included with the product. However, here’s an outline of the
necessary steps:
1. Install the interface (or MIDI synthesizer card) inside
your computer or connect it to a “port” (connector) on the
computer.
Which is right for you depends on which type of interface you have.
2. If the interface has a power supply and/or a power
switch, turn it on.
3. Install the driver for the interface, as described in the
documentation that comes with the interface.
You should also make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for the
latest driver updates.
DirectX driver (Windows only)
If your audio card is DirectX compatible, its DirectX drivers
will most likely be installed when you install the card. If you
have downloaded special DirectX drivers for the audio
card, you should follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
Mac OS X drivers (Mac only)
If you are using a Macintosh computer, make sure you are
using the latest Mac OS X drivers for your audio hardware.
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions to install the driver.
System requirements and installation
11
Installing Cubase Essential
!
Register your software
The installation procedure puts all files in the right places,
automatically.
Windows
1. Double-click the file called “CubaseEssential4.msi”.
2. Follow the instructions on screen.
Macintosh
1. Double-click the file called “Cubase Essential 4.mpkg”.
2. Follow the instructions on screen.
About the tutorials
The program DVD also contains several tutorial project
files and videos. These are not installed during the installation, but can be added manually from the DVD.
The tutorial chapters in this manual all refer to these tutorial projects. So, to be able to follow the instructions in this
manual, you have to drag the files to your computer.
You find the Tutorial Projects in the folder “Additional
Content”.
Defragmenting the hard disk (Windows only)
We encourage you to register your software! By doing so
you are entitled to technical support and kept aware of updates and other news regarding Cubase Essential.
There are two ways to register:
• In Cubase Essential, open the Help menu and select
the Registration option.
This option is an Internet link that will open the Registration page of the
Steinberg web site. To register, simply follow the instructions on screen.
When you launch Cubase Essential, you will also be prompted to launch
the registration process.
• Included on the Cubase Essential installation DVD, you
can find a registration form in pdf format. To register, print
out the form, enter all required information and send it to
Steinberg.
If you plan to record audio on a hard disk where you have
already stored other files, now is the time to defragment it.
Defragmentation reorganizes the physical allocation of
space on the hard disk in order to optimize its performance. It is done with a special defragmentation program.
It is crucial to the audio recording performance that
your hard disk is optimized (defragmented). You
should make sure to defragment regularly.
12
System requirements and installation
3
Setting up your system
Setting up audio
!
Make sure that all equipment is turned off before
making any connections!
Connecting audio
Exactly how to set up your system depends on many different factors, e.g. the kind of project you wish to create,
the external equipment you want to use, the computer
hardware available to you, etc. Therefore, the following
sections can only serve as examples.
How you connect your equipment, i.e. whether you use
digital or analog connections, also depends on your individual setup.
Stereo input and output – the simplest connection
If you only use a stereo input and output from Cubase Essential, you can connect your audio hardware, e.g. the inputs of your audio card or your audio interface, directly to
the input source and the outputs to a power amplifier and
speaker.
• External mixing means having a hardware mixing device
with a group or bus system that can be used for feeding
inputs on your audio hardware.
In the example below, four busses are used for feeding signals to the audio hardware’s inputs. The four outputs are connected back to the mixer
for monitoring and playback. Remaining mixer inputs can be used for
connecting audio sources like microphones, instruments, etc.
A multi-channel audio setup using an external mixer.
Ö When connecting an input source (like a mixer) to the
audio hardware, you should use output busses, sends or
similar that are separate from the mixer’s master output to
avoid recording what you are playing back. You may also
have mixing hardware that can be connected via FireWire.
• When using the Mixer inside Cubase Essential, you can
use the inputs on your audio hardware to connect microphones and/or external devices. Use the outputs to connect your monitoring equipment.
A simple stereo audio setup.
This is probably the simplest of all setups – once you have
set up the internal input and output busses, you can connect your audio source, e.g. a microphone, to your audio
interface and start recording.
Multi-channel input and output
Mixing inside Cubase Essential
Most likely however, you will have other audio equipment
that you want to integrate with Cubase Essential, using
several input and output channels. Depending on the
equipment available to you, there are two ways to go: either mixing using an external mixing desk, or mixing using
the mixer inside Cubase Essential.
14
Setting up your system
Recording from a CD player
!
!
Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also
be used as a regular CD player. In some cases the CD
player is internally connected to the audio hardware so
that you can record the output of the CD player directly
into Cubase Essential (consult the audio hardware documentation if you are uncertain).
• All routing and level adjustments for recording from a CD (if
available) are done in the audio hardware setup application
(see “Making settings for the audio hardware” on page 15).
• You can also grab audio tracks directly from a CD in Cubase
Essential (see the chapter “File Handling” in the Operation
Manual).
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. Please refer to the documentation that came with the audio hardware for details.
It is very important that word clock synchronization is
done correctly or there might be clicks and crackles
in recordings that you make!
About recording levels and inputs
When you connect your equipment, you should make sure
that the impedance and levels of the audio sources and inputs are matched. Typically, different inputs may be designed for use with microphones, consumer line level
(-10dBV) or professional line level (+4dBV), or you may be
able to adjust input characteristics on the audio interface or
in its control panel. Please check the audio hardware documentation for details.
Using the correct types of input is important to avoid distortion or noisy recordings.
Making settings for the audio hardware
Most audio cards come with one or more small applications that allow you to configure the inputs of the hardware to your liking.
This includes:
• Selecting which inputs/outputs are active.
• Setting up word clock synchronization (if available).
• Turning monitoring via the hardware on/off (see “About moni-
toring” on page 18).
• Setting levels for each input. This is very important!
• Setting levels for the outputs, so that they match the equipment you use for monitoring.
• Selecting digital input and output formats.
• Making settings for the audio buffers.
In many cases all available settings for the audio hardware
are gathered in a control panel, which can be opened from
within Cubase Essential as described below (or opened
separately, when Cubase Essential isn’t running). In some
cases, there may be several different applications and
panels – please refer to the audio hardware documentation for details.
Cubase Essential does not provide any input level
adjustments for the signals coming in to your audio
hardware, since these are handled differently for
each card. Adjusting input levels is either done in a
special application included with the hardware or
from its control panel (see below).
15
Setting up your system
Selecting a driver and making audio settings
!
in Cubase Essential
The first thing you need to do is select the correct driver in
Cubase Essential to make sure that the program can communicate with the audio hardware:
1. Launch Cubase Essential, select Device Setup from
the Devices menu and click on VST Audio System in the
Devices list to the left.
The VST Audio System page in the Device Setup dialog
2. Select your audio hardware driver from the ASIO
Driver menu.
There may be several options here that all refer to the same audio hardware. When you have selected a driver, it is added to the Devices list.
Under Windows, we strongly recommend that you
access your hardware via an ASIO driver written
specifically for the hardware, if available. If no ASIO
driver is installed, we recommend that you check
with your audio hardware manufacturer if they have
an ASIO driver available, for example for download
via the Internet.
3. Select the driver in the Devices list to open the Driver
settings for your audio hardware.
4. Bring up the control panel for the audio hardware and
adjust the settings as recommended by the audio hardware manufacturer.
• Under Windows, you open the control panel by clicking
the Control Panel button.
The control panel that appears when you click this button is provided by
the audio hardware manufacturer and not Cubase Essential (unless you
use DirectX, see below). Hence it will be different for each audio card
brand and model.
The Control panel for the ASIO DirectX driver is an exception, as it is
provided by Steinberg, and is described in the dialog help, opened by
clicking the Help button in the dialog. See also the notes below.
• Under Mac OS X, you will find the control panel for your
audio hardware in the System Preferences (“Other” section), opened from the Apple menu or from the Dock.
If you are using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh, you use the
“Sound” control panel in the System Preferences to set levels, balance, etc.
If you are using ASIO audio hardware, you can click the Control Panel button to bring up its panel.
5. If you plan to use several audio applications simulta-
neously, you may want to activate the option “Release
Driver when Application is in Background” on the VST
Audio System page. This will allow another application to
play back via your audio hardware even though Cubase
Essential is running.
The application that is currently active (i.e. the “top window” on the desktop) will get access to the audio hardware. Make sure that any other audio application accessing the audio hardware is also set to release the
ASIO (or Mac OS X) driver so Cubase Essential can use it when it becomes the active application again.
6. If your audio hardware and its driver support ASIO Di-
rect Monitoring, you may want to activate the Direct Monitoring checkbox on the page for the driver.
Read more about monitoring later in this chapter and in the chapter “Recording” in the Operation Manual.
7. Click Apply and then OK to close the dialog.
16
Setting up your system
If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver
!
!
(Windows only)
If your Windows audio hardware does not have a
specific ASIO driver, a DirectX driver is the next best
option.
Cubase Essential comes with a driver called ASIO DirectX Full Duplex, available for selection on the ASIO
Driver pop-up menu (VST Audio System page).
Ö To be able to take full advantage of DirectX Full Duplex, the audio hardware must support WDM (Windows
Driver Model) in combination with DirectX version 8.1 or
higher.
In all other cases, the audio inputs will be emulated by DirectX (see the
dialog help for the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup dialog for details
about how this is reported).
Ö During the installation of Cubase Essential, the latest
DirectX will be installed on your computer.
When the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver is selected in
the Device Setup dialog, you can open the ASIO Control
Panel and adjust the following settings (for more details,
click the Help button in the control panel):
• Direct Sound Output and Input Ports
In the list to the left in the window, all available Direct Sound output and
input ports are listed. In many cases, there will be only one port in each
list. To activate or deactivate a port in the list, click the checkbox in the
left column. If the checkbox is ticked, the port is activated.
• You can edit the Buffer Size and Offset settings in this
list if necessary, by double-clicking on the value and typing in a new value.
In most cases, the default settings will work fine. Audio buffers are used
when audio data is transferred between Cubase Essential and the audio
card. While larger buffers ensure that playback will occur without glitches,
the latency (the time between the moment Cubase Essential sends out
the data and when it actually reaches the output) will be higher.
• Offset
If a constant offset is audible during playback of Audio and MIDI recordings, you can adjust the output or input latency time using this value.
Setting up the input and output ports
Once you have selected the driver and made the settings
as described above, you need to specify which inputs and
outputs should be used and name these:
1. In the Device Setup dialog, select your driver in the De-
vices list on the left to display the Driver settings for your
audio hardware.
All input and output ports on the audio hardware are listed.
2. To hide a port, click in the “Visible” column for the port
(deselecting the checkbox).
Ports that aren’t visible cannot be selected in the VST Connections window where you set up your input and output busses – see “Setting up
the VST Connections” on page 25 and the chapter “VST Connections:
setting up input and output busses” in the Operation Manual.
If you attempt to hide a port that is already used by a
bus you will be asked whether this is really what you
want – note that this will disable the port!
3. To rename a port, click on its name in the “Show as”
column and type in a new name.
Ö It is a good idea to give your ports names that are related to the channel configuration (rather than to the actual hardware model)!
4. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog and apply
your changes.
17
Setting up your system
About monitoring
!
In Cubase Essential, monitoring means listening to the input signal while preparing to record or while recording.
There are three ways to monitor:
External monitoring
External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it
goes into Cubase Essential) requires an external mixer for
mixing the audio playback with the input signal. This can
be a classic mixing desk or a mixer application for your audio hardware, if this has a mode in which the input audio is
sent back out again (usually called “Thru”, “Direct Thru” or
similar).
Via Cubase Essential
In this case, the audio passes from the input into Cubase
Essential, possibly through Cubase Essential effects and
EQ and then back to the output. You control monitoring
via settings in Cubase Essential.
This allows you to control the monitoring level from Cubase Essential and add effects to the monitored signal
only.
ASIO Direct Monitoring
If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO Direct Monitoring (this feature may also be available for audio hardware with Mac OS X drivers). In this
mode, the actual monitoring is done in the audio hardware,
by sending the input signal back out again. However, monitoring is controlled from Cubase Essential. This means that
the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be
turned on or off automatically by Cubase Essential.
Monitoring is described in detail in the chapter “Recording” in the Operation Manual. However, when setting up,
there’s one thing to note:
• If you want to use the external monitoring via your audio
hardware, make sure the corresponding functions are activated in the card’s mixer application.
Setting up MIDI
Make sure that all equipment is turned off before
making any connections!
This section describes how to connect and set up MIDI
equipment. If you have no MIDI equipment, you can skip
this section. Note that this is only an example – you might
need or want to hook things up differently!
Connecting the MIDI equipment
In this example we assume that you have a MIDI keyboard
and an external MIDI sound module. The keyboard is used
both for feeding the computer with MIDI messages for recording and for playing back MIDI tracks. The sound module is used for playback only. Using Cubase Essential’s
MIDI Thru feature (described later) you will be able to hear
the correct sound from the sound module while playing
the keyboard or recording.
A typical MIDI Setup
Ö If you are using RME Audio Hammerfall DSP audio
hardware, make sure that the pan law is set to -3dB in the
card’s preferences.
18
Setting up your system
You might want to use even more instruments for playback.
!
When “MIDI Thru” is active
in Cubase Essential, MIDI
data received is immediately “echoed” back out.
When you press a key, it is sent out
via MIDI to Cubase Essential.
MIDI data coming in to
the instrument is played
by the “Synth” inside it.
When Local Control is turned on in the instrument, the keys
you press will be played by the “Synth” inside the Instrument.
When Local Control is turned off, this connection is cut off.
MIDI data coming in to
the instrument is played
by the “Synth” inside it.
“Synth”
If you do, simply connect MIDI Thru on the sound module to
MIDI In on the next instrument, and so on. In this hook-up,
you will always play the first keyboard when recording. But
you can still use all your devices for providing sounds on
playback.
If you plan to use more than three sound sources, we
recommend that you either use an interface with
more than one output, or a separate MIDI Thru box
instead of the Thru jacks on each unit.
Setting MIDI Thru and Local On/Off
In the “MIDI” section in the Preferences dialog (located on
the File menu under Windows and on the Cubase Essential menu under Mac OS X), you will find a setting called
“MIDI Thru Active”. This is related to a setting in your instrument called “Local On/Off” or “Local Control On/Off”.
• If you use a MIDI keyboard instrument, as described earlier in
this chapter, MIDI Thru should be activated and that instrument should be set to Local Off (sometimes called Local Control Off – see the instrument’s operation manual for details).
The MIDI signal from the keyboard will be recorded in Cubase
Essential and at the same time be re-routed back to the instrument so that you hear what you are playing, without the keyboard “triggering” its own sounds.
• If you use a separate MIDI keyboard – one that does not produce any sounds itself – MIDI Thru in Cubase Essential
should also be activated, but you don’t need to look for any
Local On/Off setting in your instruments.
• The only case where MIDI Thru should be deactivated is if you
use Cubase Essential with only one keyboard instrument and
that instrument cannot be set to Local Off mode.
• Note that MIDI Thru will be active only for those MIDI tracks
that are record enabled and/or have the Monitor button activated. See the chapter “Recording” in the Operation Manual
for more information.
19
Setting up your system
Setting up MIDI ports in Cubase Essential
!
!
The Device Setup dialog lets you set up your MIDI system
in the following ways:
Ö Note: When you change MIDI port settings in the Device Setup dialog, these are automatically applied in the
program.
Showing or hiding MIDI Ports
The MIDI ports are listed in the Device Setup dialog on the
MIDI Port Setup page. By clicking in the “Visible” column
for a MIDI input or output, you can specify whether or not it
should be listed on the MIDI pop-up menus in the program.
If you are trying to hide a MIDI port which is already selected for a track or a MIDI device, a warning message will
appear, allowing you to hide – and disconnect – the port
or to cancel the operation and keep the MIDI port visible.
Setting up the “All MIDI Inputs” option
When you record MIDI in Cubase Essential, you can specify which MIDI input each recording MIDI track should use.
However, you can also select the “In All Inputs” option for
an input port, which causes any MIDI data from any MIDI
input to be recorded.
The “In All Inputs” option on the MIDI Port Setup page allows you to specify which inputs should be included when
you select All MIDI Inputs for a MIDI track. This can be especially useful if your system provides several instances of
the same physical MIDI input – by deactivating the duplicates you make sure only the desired MIDI data is recorded.
Ö If you have a MIDI remote control unit connected, you
should also make sure to deactivate the “In All Inputs” option for that MIDI input.
This will avoid accidentally recording the data from the remote control
when the “All MIDI Inputs” option is selected as input for a MIDI track.
Connecting a synchronizer
Make sure that all equipment is turned off before
making any connections!
When using Cubase Essential with external tape transports, you will most likely need to add a synchronizer to
your system. All connections and setup procedures for
chapter
synchronization are described in the
“Synchroniza-
tion” in the Operation Manual.
Setting up video
Always make all connections with all equipment
turned off!
Cubase Essential plays back video films in AVI, Quicktime
or MPEG formats. Under Windows, video can be played
back using one of the following playback engines: Video
for Windows, DirectShow or Quicktime. This ensures
compatibility with as wide a range of video files as possible. Under Mac OS X, Quicktime is always used as playback engine.
Generally there are two ways to play back video:
• Without any special hardware at all, using the computer
CPU.
In this case, the “codec” is in software. While this will be fine in many situations it does put a limit on the size of the video window as well as the
quality of the image.
• Using video hardware that for example connects to an
external monitor.
Mac OS X: Using a FireWire port, you can play back video on an external
monitor using a DV-to-analog converter or a DV camera (see also the
chapter “Video” in the Operation Manual).
This is valid for DV video and QuickTime is used for playback.
Windows: Multi-head graphics cards which support overlay functionality
can be used to display the video picture on an external monitor. The following manufacturers have working (and tested) solutions available:
nVIDIA and Matrox.
If you plan to use special video hardware, install it and set
it up as recommended by the manufacturer.
Before you use the video hardware with Cubase Essential,
we recommend that you test the hardware installation with
the utility applications that came with the hardware and/or
the Windows Media Player or Quicktime Player (Mac
OS X) applications.
20
Setting up your system
Optimizing audio performance
!
This section gives you some hints and tips on how to get
the most out of your Cubase Essential system, performance-wise. Some of this text refers to hardware properties and can be used as a guide when upgrading your
system. This text is very brief. Look for details and current
information on the Cubase Essential web site (see “How
you can reach us” on page 7)!
Two aspects of performance
There are two distinct aspects of performance in respect
to Cubase Essential:
Tracks and effects
Simply put: the faster your computer, the more tracks, effects and EQ you will be able to play. Exactly what constitutes a “fast computer” is almost a science in itself, but
some hints are given below.
Short response times (latency)
Another aspect of performance is response time. The term
“latency” refers to the “buffering”, i.e. the temporary storing, of small chunks of audio data during various steps of
the recording and playback process on a computer. The
more and larger those chunks, the higher the latency.
High latency is most irritating when playing VST Instruments and when monitoring through the computer, i.e.
when listening to a live audio source via the Cubase Essential mixer and effects. However, very long latency times
(several hundred milliseconds) can also affect other processes like mixing, e.g. when the effect of a fader movement is heard only after a noticeable delay.
While Direct Monitoring and other techniques reduce the
problems associated with very long latency times, a system that responds fast will always be more convenient to
work with.
• Depending on your audio hardware, it may be possible
to “trim” your latency times, usually by lowering the size
and the number of buffers.
For details, refer to the audio hardware documentation, or, if you are using a DirectX driver under Windows, the dialog help.
System factors that affect performance
CPU and processor cache
It goes without saying that the faster the computer processor, the better. But there are a number of factors that
affect the apparent speed of a computer: the bus speed
and type (PCI is strongly recommended), the processor
cache size and of course, the processor type and brand.
Cubase Essential relies heavily on floating point calculations. When shopping for a processor, please make sure
you get one that is powerful in calculating floating point
arithmetics.
Note also that Cubase Essential features full support for
multi-processor systems. So, if you own a computer system
with more than one processor, Cubase Essential can take
advantage of the total capacity and evenly distribute the
processing load to all available processors. See “The ad-
vanced options” on page 22.
Hard disk and controller
The number of hard disk tracks you can record and play
back at the same time also depends on the speed of your
hard disk and hard disk controller. If you use E-IDE disks
and controllers, make sure that the transfer mode is DMA
Busmaster. Under Windows, you can check the current
mode by launching the Windows Device Manager and
looking for properties of the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller’s
primary and secondary channel. DMA transfer mode is enabled by default, but may be turned off by the system
should hardware problems occur.
Audio hardware and driver
The hardware and its driver can have some effect on regular performance. A badly written driver can reduce the
performance of your computer. But where the hardware
driver design makes the most difference is with latency.
Again, we strongly recommend that you use audio
hardware for which there is a specific ASIO driver!
This is especially true when using Cubase Essential for
Windows:
• Under Windows, ASIO drivers written specifically for
the hardware are more efficient than a DirectX driver and
produce shorter latency times.
21
Setting up your system
• Under Mac OS X, audio hardware with properly written
Mac OS X (Core Audio) drivers can be very efficient and
produce very low latency times.
However, there are additional features currently only available with ASIO
drivers, such as the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
Making settings that affect performance
Choosing a driver for your audio hardware
As described in the section “Selecting a driver and making
audio settings in Cubase Essential” on page 16, it is rec-
ommended to install and use a standard ASIO driver if
available for your specific hardware. Check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest drivers, etc.
Making audio buffer settings
Audio buffers affect how audio is sent to and from the audio
hardware. The size of the audio buffers affects both the latency and the audio performance. Generally, the smaller the
buffer size, the lower the latency. On the other hand, working with small buffers can be demanding for the computer.
If the audio buffers are too small, you may get clicks, pops
or other audio playback problems.
• Under Mac OS X, you can adjust the size of the buffers
on the VST Audio System page in the Device Setup dialog.
You may also find buffer settings in the control panel for the audio hardware.
• Under Windows, you adjust the buffer size settings in
the control panel for the audio hardware (opened by clicking the Control Panel button on the driver page in the Device Setup dialog).
Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows
only)
To get the lowest possible latencies when using ASIO under Windows XP (on a single-CPU system), the “system
performance” has to be optimized for background tasks:
1. Open the Windows Control Panel from the Start menu
and select System.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Settings button
in the Performance section.
The Performance Options dialog appears.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. In the Processor Scheduling section, select “Adjust
for best performance of: Background services”.
5. Click OK to close the dialogs.
The advanced options
On the VST Audio System page you will find the “Advanced
options” section. Here you find advanced settings for the
VST Engine, including a Multi Processing option. When this
is activated (default setting if you have a hyper-threading or
multiple-CPU system) and there is more than one CPU in
your system, the processing load is distributed evenly to all
available CPUs, allowing Cubase Essential to make full use
of the combined power of the multiple processors. See the
dialog help for details.
Setting up your system
22
4
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
Creating a new project
!
The name of the project
In this section we are going to explain how to create a new
project, save a project and open a saved project.
When you first open Cubase Essential an empty screen
appears before you. You need to either create a new
project or open an existing one.
To create a new project
1. Let’s create a new project by selecting “New Project”
from the “File” Menu.
2. The Templates dialog box will open up.
Templates are discussed in the “File Handling” section of the Operation
Manual.
3. Choose “Empty”.
This will create a new project with nothing in it.
4. Click “OK”.
5. Cubase Essential now wants to create a folder on the
hard drive so that your Cubase Essential project file and
all of its related files are stored in one safe place.
It is important that every project gets stored in its own folder. Having many
different projects stored in the same folder only leads to confusion later on.
6. Navigate to where you would like this project to be
created.
NOTE: You are not saving the project at this point! You are creating a
folder on the hard drive that your project will get saved into later. This will
be explained very shortly.
7. Click “Create” on the PC or “New Folder” on the Mac
to create a new folder for your project.
8. Give your new folder a name.
If your are going to name your project “My First Project” then you could
call this folder “My First Project” or “First Project”. What’s important here
is that you are creating a folder on the hard drive to store your project
into it. This folder should have a unique name that is different than any
other Cubase Essential project you have created before.
9. Click “OK” on the PC or “Create” on the Mac.
Your project folder is now created on the hard drive!
10. Now click “OK” on the PC or “Choose” on the Mac.
11. You should be looking at your very first project in Cu-
base Essential now, Congratulations!
If you look at the top of the window in Cubase Essential (called the Project
window) you’ll see the name of this project is “Untitled1”. Proceed further
to learn how to save your first project.
You’re not done yet!
So far we’ve created a blank Cubase Essential
project. We have a folder sitting on the hard drive but
we haven’t saved the actual Cubase Essential
project yet.
24
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
To save a project
!
1. Select “Save As…” from the File menu.
The difference between Save and Save As are discussed in the chapter
“File Handling” in the Operation Manual.
2. You will notice that Cubase Essential is in the “My
First Project” folder that you created earlier. This is where
you want to save your project. Type in a name for your
Project – you can use “My First Cubase Essential Project”
for example.
3. Click “Save” – and that’s it!
Setting up the VST Connections
The VST Connections window allows you to set up the input and output signals of Cubase Essential to your audio
card. Cubase Essential calls these “busses”. This section
will show you how to set the busses up so that you can
get playback and recording working.
Make sure you read the chapters “System requirements
and installation” on page 8 and “Setting up your system”
on page 13, so that your audio hardware is properly setup
before proceeding.
To close a project
1. Make sure the Project window is selected.
The Project window is the main window that you work in. See the chapter “The Project window” in the Operation Manual.
2. Select “Close” from the “File” Menu.
If you have made any changes to the project since you last saved it, you
will be prompted to “Save”, “Don’t Save” or “Cancel”. Click “Save” if you
want your changes saved.
To open a project
Now that we have saved and closed your project, let’s
show you how to open it.
Open a project using the “Open” command
1. Select “Open” from the “File” Menu.
Here you can navigate to the folder that has the project you wish to open.
2. Once you have found the project click “Open” and the
project will load.
Open a project using the “Recent Projects” submenu
Cubase Essential remembers recently open projects and
lists them in the “Recent Projects” submenu under the
“File” menu.
1. Select “Recent Projects” from the “File” Menu.
2. Choose the project you wish to open by clicking once
on it.
Load the project called “VST Connections” found in
the “Tutorial 1” folder.
Ö Note that the Tutorial projects are not installed by default during the installation of Cubase Essential. You will
find the Tutorial Projects on the program DVD, in the folder
“Additional Content”.
Adding outputs
1. Open the “Devices” menu and choose “VST Connec-
tions”.
The default key command for this is [F4].
• You’ll see several tabs at the top of the window. We’re
only going to cover Input and Output right now. See the
chapter “VST Connections” in the Operation Manual for
more details.
2. Let’s choose “Output” first. We want to start from
scratch and remove anything that is currently there, just in
case it’s set up incorrectly. If you see anything in the “Bus
Name” column, right-click with the mouse and choose
“Remove Bus”.
25
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
3. Now click the “Add Bus” button. Choose “Stereo” for
!
configuration and “1” for count and click OK.
This has now added a new stereo bus (Left and Right) allowing us to
have audio in Cubase Essential route to our audio hardware.
4. Since we mainly listen to our music as a stereo mix, all
we need is a stereo output.
5. Depending on your audio hardware, your outputs
should be setup now. You can however select the outputs
of your choice from the “Device Port” pull down menu.
Normally you’ll want to choose “Out 1” and “Out 2” or “Left 1” and “Right
2” as these are the main stereo outputs of your audio card. More sophisticated setups may require you to choose different outputs and even add
more busses.
2. Next, click in the “Device Port” column to select the
audio inputs of your audio card for the stereo and mono
inputs.
In our case we have the MI4 interface so we are selecting “MI4 Channel
A” and “MI4 Channel B” for our inputs.
That’s it! You should now be ready to record audio in Cubase Essential and then play it back.
Level settings and recording
Adding Inputs
Now let’s open the “Input” tab and set up the inputs we
are going to use for recording into Cubase Essential.
1. Do the same as mentioned above for the outputs.
Right-click and select “Remove Bus”.
2. Click the “Add Bus” button. Choose “Stereo” for configuration and “1” for count and click “OK”.
This has now added a new stereo bus (Left and Right) allowing us to
have audio from our audio card’s input route to Cubase Essential for recording.
• Having a stereo input is useful for recording audio with
two channels. An example of this is recording a keyboard
with a left and right audio channel. If we wanted to record
in mono or with one channel we can make separate busses. Let’s do this now.
1. Click the “Add Bus” button. Choose “Mono” for configuration and “2” for count and click “OK”.
This has now added two new mono busses allowing us to have audio
from our audio card’s input route to Cubase Essential for recording.
For this section, we are going to record a bass guitar in
mono from the input “Mono In”. Make sure you have your
audio card set up and you have read through the section
“Setting up the VST Connections” on page 25.
Load the project called “Recording” found in the
“Tutorial 1” folder.
Adding a mono track
1. Now let’s add an audio track to record to. Open the
Project menu and choose “Audio” from the “Add Track”
submenu.
2. Choose “Mono” for Configuration and “1” for Count.
Click “OK”.
This adds a mono audio track to our Project window.
26
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
3. Click on the new track you’ve created and make sure
The Inspector
Click to open the Inspector
Audio coming into this track
the Inspector is shown.
The Inspector allows us to see and manipulate a lot of information for the
selected track.
4. Make sure that “Mono In” is selected for the audio
track’s input and that “Stereo Out” is selected for the audio tracks output.
You may have different inputs and outputs based on your audio hardware.
See the chapter “VST Connections” in the Operation Manual for more detailed information. By setting “Mono In”, we will be able to record the audio
from the left input of our audio card into a track in Cubase Essential. Setting the output to “Stereo Out” allows us to hear what we are recording.
Turning on the metronome click
We’ll want to have a click or metronome play in the background as we record the bass guitar so that what we
record aligns with the bars and beats in Cubase Essential.
1. Activate the “Metronome/Click” button on the Trans-
port panel.
2. If you would like a two bar count in before you record,
also activate the “Precount/Click” button.
3. We now need to set the speed or the tempo of our
project. This will directly affect how fast the click plays.
You can set the tempo just below the click.
In this picture, we have a setting of 125, which means 125bpm (beats
per minute).
Setting levels
We have a bass guitar playing through an amplifier with a
microphone in front of the amplifier’s speaker. This microphone is plugged directly into the Steinberg MI|4 microphone input. We have set the level on the MI|4 so that we
have enough volume without clipping.
1. Clicking the Monitor button will allow us to hear the
bass guitar.
You should see and hear the audio coming in to the right of the track.
27
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
2. Now click the “Record Enable” button on the track.
Click here to display
the channel fader.
Do not allow the audio
level to go past this line!
This is the safe area
for recording
Setting the track to Record Enable lets Cubase Essential know that you
want to record on this track and no other one. You can have many tracks
Record Enabled at a time.
3. In the Inspector, open the “Channel” tab.
This will display the channel fader for the selected track.
• Do the best you can to send the maximum amount of
volume to the audio inputs of your audio card before you
hear any distortion. Most audio cards show some kind of
level or volume indication. If yours doesn’t, don’t worry, we
can change the amount here.
4. Move the fader up or down so that the volume is loud
enough without going into the red on the channel meter. If
you go into the red you may cause clipping or distortion.
You will see a line near the top of the channel meter –
make sure the level does not go over this line!
• Once the level is set, you are ready to record!
Recording bass guitar
1. Position the cursor at the beginning of the project.
This will make sure we start recording on bar 1.
2. Click the Record button to record the bass guitar.
Since the “Precount/Click” button is activated, we’ll hear two bars of
click before recording begins.
3. Click “Stop” when you are finished.
4. Turn off the Monitor and Record Enable buttons on the
track so that we don’t hear the input or record on the track
any more.
Congratulations! You have just recorded your first piece of
audio in Cubase Essential. Move ahead to the next section
to learn how to play back audio.
28
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
Playback
!
Double-click in
the lower half of
the ruler…
… to start
playback
!
!
The left locator set to “1”.
The right locator set to “5”.
Cycle activated.
We are going to learn how to play back audio in Cubase
Essential. You might think this is very simple – just hit
“Play”. It is actually this simple but there are a few tricks to
learn so that you’ll be playing back what you want with
precision.
Load the project called “Playback” found in the
“Tutorial 1” folder.
To start playback
There are a few ways you can play back in Cubase Essential.
• Click the “Start” button on the Transport panel.
• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard.
This toggles between start and stop.
• Press the [Enter] key of the numerical computer keypad.
• Double-click in the lower half of the ruler.
• Select the audio event called “Audio 01_01” and
choose “Loop Selection” from the Transport menu.
The default key command for this is [Shift]+[G]. This
is the quickest way to loop an audio event and start
playback!
To stop playback
• Click the “Stop” button on the Transport panel.
• Clicking the “Stop” button twice moves the cursor to
the position in the project where you started playback.
• Press the space bar on your computer keyboard.
This toggles between stop and start.
• Press the “0” key of the numerical computer keypad.
Cycle playback
Cubase Essential has the ability to loop or cycle a section
of your project. To set the cycle location you need to use
the left and right locator.
1. On the Transport panel, set the left locator to “1” and
the right locator to “5”.
This tells Cubase Essential that we want to loop or cycle between bars 1
and 5. Meaning we will have a 4 bar loop since the end of bar 4 is the beginning of bar 5.
2. Make sure that the “Cycle” button is activated.
3. Click the Start button on the Transport panel and Cu-
base Essential will play looping over and over until you
click “Stop”.
Don’t forget – you can set the locators to encompass the selected event, turn on “Cycle” and begin
playback all by the key command [Shift]+[G].
29
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
Recording modes with cycle off
!
There are three different modes for recording when the
cycle is turned off. This is called linear recording. The
three modes are:
• Normal
• Merge
• Replace
When recording audio, “Normal” and “Merge” are the
same. Selecting either of these will allow you to record
over the top of another audio event and it will appear as an
overlap. You can then select between the overlapping
events and determine which one will play. This is discussed in the section “Cycle recording” on page 30.
“Replace” mode when used will not overlap the audio if
there is already some on the track. It will split or cut the
audio where the recording takes place replacing what was
there previously. Keep in mind though that the audio being
replaced is not permanently deleted. It is only cut or
trimmed away allowing you to recover it later.
Cycle recording
You can record audio while “cycle” is on.
Load the project called “Cycle Recording” found in
the “Tutorial 1” folder.
So far we’ve shown you how to add tracks, record and
playback. Now we are going to add an electric guitar to
our bass guitar using cycle recording. Recording with cycle on allows us to make multiple passes of our recording
and then pick the best take.
If you haven’t reviewed the previous sections in this tutorial, please do as we are going to move a little faster now.
Recording electric guitar
1. Let’s add another “Mono” audio track.
2. You can see now that we have a track called “Audio
01” and “Audio 02”. Up to now we haven’t been concerned about naming the tracks but let’s do this now.
3. Double-click on “Audio 01” and re-name it “Bass”.
4. Double-click on “Audio 02” and re-name it “Elec Gui-
tar”. That looks a lot better now.
• It’s always good to name your tracks before you start to
record. This way the audio event will take the name of the
track. Since “Audio 01” was the name of our first track the
audio event is named “Audio 01_01”. The suffix “_01” being the first event recorded on the “Audio 01” track. We’ll
show you how to re-name your audio files in the chapter
“Tutorial 2: Editing audio” on page 32.
30
Tutorial 1: Recording audio
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