Steinberg Cubase Essential - 5.0 Operation Manual

Operation Manual

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling 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 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.

7 About this manual

8 Welcome!

9 VST Connections: Setting up input and

output busses

10 About this chapter 10 Setting up busses 12 Using the busses 13 About monitoring

14 The Project window

15 Background 17 Window Overview 21 Operations 40 Options

43 Playback and the Transport panel

44 Background 45 Operations 47 Options and Settings 48 The Virtual Keyboard

50 Recording

51 Background 51 Basic recording methods 53 Audio recording specifics 57 MIDI recording specifics 62 Options and Settings 64 Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

65 Fades, crossfades and envelopes

66 Creating fades 68 The Fade dialogs 69 Creating crossfades 70 The Crossfade dialog 71 Auto Fades and Crossfades

72 The Arranger track

73 Introduction 73 Setting up the Arranger track 74 Working with Arranger events 76 Flattening the Arranger chain 77 Live mode 78 Arranging your music to video

79 The Mixer

80 About this chapter 80 Overview 81 Configuring the Mixer 83 The audio-related channel strips 83 The MIDI channel strips 84 The output channels 84 Basic mixing procedures 86 Audio-specific procedures 91 MIDI-specific procedures 92 Utilities

95 Audio effects

96 About this chapter 96 Overview 97 Insert effects 101 Send effects 104 Editing effects 105 Effect presets 107 Installing and managing effect plug-ins

110 VST instruments and instrument tracks

111 Introduction 111 VST instrument channels vs. instrument tracks 111 VST instrument channels 113 Instrument tracks 115 What do I need? Instrument channel or instrument

track?

115 Instrument Freeze 116 VST instruments and processor load 116 Using presets for VSTi configuration 119 About latency

121 Automation

122 Introduction 122 Enabling and disabling the writing of automation

data

123 What can be automated? 124 Hints and further options 124 Automation track operations 127 Working with automation curves 129 MIDI part data vs. track automation

130 Audio processing and functions

131 Background 131 Audio processing 136 The Offline Process History dialog 137 Freeze Edits

Table of Contents

138 The Sample Editor

139 Background 140 Window overview 142 General Operations 146 Options and settings 147 AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio 148 Working with hitpoints and slices

152 The Audio Part Editor

153 Background 153 Opening the Audio Part Editor 153 Window overview 155 Operations 156 Common methods 156 Options and Settings

157 The Pool

158 Background 158 Window overview 160 Operations

169 The MediaBay

170 Introduction 172 Window overview 172 Browsing for media files 175 Finding files in the Viewer section 177 Previewing files in the Scope section

180 Working with track presets

181 Introduction 181 Types of track presets 182 Applying track presets 184 Creating a track preset 184 Creating tracks from track presets or VST presets 185 Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets

independently of tracks

186 Remote controlling Cubase Essential

187 Introduction 187 Setting Up 188 Operations 189 The Generic Remote device 191 Apple Remote (Macintosh only)

192 MIDI realtime parameters and effects

193 Introduction 193 The Inspector – General handling 193 The Inspector sections 197 MIDI effects 199 Managing plug-ins

200 MIDI processing and quantizing

201 Introduction 201 The Quantizing functions 205 Permanent settings with Freeze MIDI Modifiers 206 Dissolve Part 207 Other MIDI functions

210 The MIDI editors

211 Introduction 211 Opening a MIDI editor 213 The Key Editor – Overview 215 Key Editor operations 228 The Drum Editor – Overview 229 Drum Editor operations 231 Working with drum maps 234 Using drum name lists 235 The List Editor – Overview 236 List Editor operations 239 Working with System Exclusive messages 240 Recording System Exclusive parameter changes 241 Editing System Exclusive messages 242 The Score Editor – Overview 243 Score Editor operations

250 Editing tempo and signature

251 Background 251 Tempo and signature display 252 Editing tempo and signature 254 The Beat Calculator

255 Export Audio Mixdown

256 Introduction 256 Mixing down to audio files 257 The available file formats

Table of Contents

262 Synchronization

263 Background 263 Synchronization signals 264 Synchronizing the transport vs. synchronizing

audio

265 Making basic settings and connections 266 Synchronization settings 270 Sync Options 270 Working with VST System Link 270 Preparations 273 Activating VST System Link 276 Application examples

278 Video

279 Background 279 Before you start 281 Operations

283 ReWire

284 Introduction 284 Launching and quitting 285 Activating ReWire channels 285 Using the transport and tempo controls 286 How the ReWire channels are handled in Cubase

Essential

286 Routing MIDI via ReWire2 286 Considerations and limitations

287 File handling

288 Working with Projects 291 Importing audio 294 Exporting and importing standard MIDI files 295 Cleanup

297 Customizing

298 Background 298 Using the Setup options 299 Customizing track controls 301 Appearance 301 Applying track and event colors 303 Where are the settings stored?

304 Key commands

305 Introduction 305 Setting up key commands 308 Setting up tool modifier keys 309 The default key commands

312 Index

Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

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

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. 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 of Cubase Essential.

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]

under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”.

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

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

About this manual

VST Connections: Setting up input and

output busses

About this chapter

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

• Input busses let you route audio from the inputs on your audio

hardware into the program. This means that when you record audio, you will always do this through one or several input busses.

• Output busses let you route audio from the program to the

outputs on your audio hardware. When you play back audio, you will always do this through one or several output busses.

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

Setting up busses

Strategies

In Cubase Essential, you can create up to 16 stereo busses or up to 32 mono busses.

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

late” on page 289).

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

operations” on page 12). The templates can of course also contain other

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

Input busses

• Most likely you need at least one stereo input bus assigned to

an analog input pair. This would let you record stereo material. If you want to be able to record in stereo from other analog input pairs as well, you add stereo input busses for these, too.

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

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

Output busses

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

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

Preparations

Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware.

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

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

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

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

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

3. Select your audio card in the list.

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

4. To rename a port, click its name in the “Show as” col-

umn and enter a new name.

• If needed, you can also disable ports by deactivating

them in the “Visible” column.

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

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

5. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.

Ö If you open a project created on another computer and the port names do not match (or the port configuration is not the same), the Missing Ports dialog will appear.

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

Mac OS X only: Retrieving channel names

For some audio cards, you can automatically retrieve the ASIO channel names for the ports of your audio hardware:

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

2. On the VST Audio System page, select your audio

card on the “ASIO driver” pop up menu.

3. In the Devices list to the left, select your audio card.

The available settings are displayed.

4. In the settings section to the right, click the Control Panel button.

This opens the control panel for your audio hardware.

5. Activate the “Use CoreAudio Channel Names” option.

6. When you now open the VST Connections window to

set up the busses in your system, you will find that the port names in the Device Port column correspond to the names that are used by the CoreAudio driver.

Ö If you want to use the project later on with an earlier version of Cubase Essential, you will have to re-assign the port connections in the VST Connections window (see below).

The VST Connections window

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

This window contains the Inputs and Output tabs for viewing input busses and output busses.

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

Column Description

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

Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo) of

Audio Device This shows the currently selected ASIO driver. Device Port When you have “opened” a bus (by clicking its + button

Click You can route the click to a specific output bus.

them by clicking on them in this column.

each bus.

in the Bus Name column) this column shows which physical inputs/outputs on your audio hardware are used by the bus.

Mac OS X only: Port selection and activation

On the settings page for your audio card (opened via the Device Setup dialog, see above), you can specify which input and which output port should be active. This allows you, for example, to use the Microphone input instead of the Line input or even to deactivate the audio card input or output completely, if required.

Ö This function is only available for Built-In Audio, standard USB audio devices and a certain number of other audio cards (e.g. Pinnacle CineWave).

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Adding a bus

1. Click the Inputs or Outputs tab depending on which

you want to add.

2. Click the Add Bus button.

A dialog appears.

3. Select the desired (channel) configuration.

You can add stereo and mono busses.

• Alternatively you can right-click in the VST Connections

window and add a bus in the desired format directly from the context menu.

The new bus appears with the ports visible.

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

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

Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output bus)

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

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

Setting the default output bus in the VST Connections window.

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

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

Presets

On the Inputs and Outputs tabs, you will find a Presets menu. Here you can find three different types of presets:

• A number of standard bus configurations.

• Automatically created presets tailored to your specific

hardware configuration.

On each startup, Cubase Essential will analyze the physical inputs and outputs provided by your audio hardware and create a number of hardware-dependent presets with the following possible configurations:

• one stereo bus

• various combinations of stereo and mono busses

• a number of mono busses

• You can also save your own setups as presets.

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

Other bus operations

• To change the port assignment for a bus, you proceed

as when you added it: Make sure the channels are visible (by clicking the “+” button next to the bus, or by clicking the “+ All” button at the top of the window) and click in the Device Port column to select ports.

• To remove a bus you do not need, select it in the list,

right-click and select “Remove Bus” from the pop-up menu, or press [Backspace].

Using the busses

This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses you have created. For details refer to the chapters “Recording” on page 50 and “The Mixer” on page 79.

Routing

When you play back an audio track (or any other audio-related channel in the Mixer), you route it to an output bus. In the same way, when you record on an audio track you select from which input bus the audio should be sent.

• You can select input and output busses in the Inspector,

using the Input and Output Routing pop-up menus.

Ö For audio-related channel types other than audio track channels (i.e. VST instrument channels, ReWire channels, Group channels and FX channels), only the Output Routing pop-up menu is available.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

When selecting an input bus for a track you can only select

Hide Output Channels

busses that correspond to the track’s channel configuration. Here are the details for input busses:

• Mono tracks can be routed to mono input busses or individual channels within a stereo input bus.

• Stereo tracks can be routed to mono or stereo input busses.

For output busses any assignment is possible.

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

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

Output channels

Viewing the busses in the Mixer

Ö Note that only the output busses are available in the Mixer – not the input busses.

The available output busses are represented as output channel strips in the Mixer (shown in a separate pane to the right). You can show or hide output channels by clicking the corresponding button in the Mixer common panel:

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

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

• Open the Channel Settings window to add effects or EQ.

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

effects” on page 95.

About monitoring

The Main Mix bus (the default output bus) is used for monitoring (see “Setting the Main Mix bus (the default output

bus)” on page 12).

You can adjust the monitoring level in the Mixer.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

The Project window

Background

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

About tracks

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

Track type Description

Audio For recording and playing back audio events and audio

Folder Folder tracks function as containers for other tracks, mak-

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

Group Channel

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

MIDI For recording and playing back MIDI parts. Each MIDI

parts. Each audio track has a corresponding audio channel in the Mixer. An audio track can have an automation track for automating mixer channel parameters, effect settings, etc.

ing it easier to organize and manage the track structure. They also allow you to edit several tracks at the same time, see “Folder tracks” on page 37.

FX channel can contain up to eight effect processors – by routing effect sends from an audio channel to an FX channel, you send audio from the audio channel to the effect(s) on the FX channel. Each FX channel has a corresponding channel strip in the Mixer – in essence an effect return channel, see the chapter “Audio effects” on page 95. All FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special FX channel folder in the Track list, for easy management. An FX channel can also have an automation track for automating mixer channel parameters, effect settings, etc.

By routing several audio channels to a Group channel, you can submix them, apply the same effects to them, etc. (see “Using group channels” on page 90). A Group channel track contains no events as such, but displays settings and automation curves for the corresponding Group channel. Each Group channel track has a corresponding channel strip in the Mixer. In the Project window, Group channels are organized as tracks in a special Group Tracks folder.

ment, making e.g. VST instrument handling easier and more intuitive. Instrument tracks have a corresponding channel strip in the Mixer. Each instrument track can have an automation track in the Project window. However, Volume and Pan are automated from within the Mixer. For more information on instrument tracks, see the chapter

“VST instruments and instrument tracks” on page 110.

track has a corresponding MIDI channel strip in the Mixer. A MIDI track can have an automation track for automating mixer channel parameters, insert and send effect settings, etc.

Track type Description

Marker The Marker track displays markers which can be moved

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

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

and renamed directly in the Project window (see “Mark-

ers” on page 38). A project can have only one marker

track.

marking out sections in the project and determining in which order they should be played back. See the chapter

“The Arranger track” on page 72 for details.

one video track.

About parts and events

The tracks in the Project window contain parts and/or events. Events are the basic building blocks in Cubase Essential. Different event types are handled differently in the Project window:

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

• MIDI events can always be found in MIDI parts, which are containers for one or more MIDI events. MIDI parts are rearranged and manipulated in the Project window. To edit the individual MIDI events in a part, you have to open the part in a MIDI editor (see “The MIDI editors” on page 210).

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

An audio event and an audio part

The Project window

Audio handling

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

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

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

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

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

The Project window

Window Overview

Inspector

Ruler

Info line

Toolbar

The Track list with various track types

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

Mute & Solo

Record Enable & Monitor

Track name

Show/hide automation

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

Lock track button

Automation Read/Write

Track activity indicator

Edit channel settings

Freeze Audio Track

Automation Read/Write

Automation parameter (click to select parameter)

Mute Lock track

Record Enable & Monitor

Track name

MIDI Output

Bank Patch

MIDI channel

Drum map and Lock track buttons

Automation Read/Write

Edit channel settings

Mute & Solo

Effect sends/insert effects indicators and bypass

Track activity indicator

The Track list

The Track list displays all the tracks used in a project. It contains name fields and settings for the tracks. Different track types have different controls in the Track list. To see all the controls you may have to resize the track in the Track list (see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 23).

• The Track list area for an audio track:

• The Track list area for an automation track (opened by

clicking the Show/Hide Automation button on a track):

• The Track list area for a MIDI track:

The Project window

The Inspector

The area to the left of the Track list is called the Inspector. This shows additional controls and parameters for the track you have selected in the Track list. If several tracks are selected (see “Handling tracks” on page 26), the Inspector shows the setting for the first (topmost) selected track.

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

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

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

The Inspector icon

• For most track classes, the Inspector is divided into a number of sections, each containing different controls for the track. You can hide or show sections by clicking on their names.

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

• You can also use key commands to show different Inspector sections.

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

mands” on page 305.

Ö Hiding a section does not affect its functionality.

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

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

The Inspector Setup context menu

Inspector sections

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

Parameter Description

Auto Fades Settings button

Edit Channel settings

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

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

Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Positive

Input Routing

Output Routing

Opens a dialog in which you can make separate Auto Fade settings for the audio track, see “Making Auto Fade

settings for a separate track” on page 71.

Opens the Channel Settings window for the track, allowing you to view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc., see “Using Channel Settings” on page 86.

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

page 84 to learn more about setting levels.

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

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

This lets you specify which Input bus or MIDI input the track should use. See “Setting up busses” on page 10 for information about Input busses.

Here you decide to which output the track should be routed. For audio tracks you select an output bus (see

“Setting up busses” on page 10) or Group channel, for

MIDI tracks you select a MIDI output and for instrument tracks, you select the instrument to which it is routed.

The Project window

Parameter Description

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

Equalizers section

Equalizer Curve section

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

Channel section

chapters “Audio effects” on page 95 and “MIDI realtime

parameters and effects” on page 192. The Edit button at

the top of the section opens the control panels for the added insert effects.

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

tings” on page 87. The Edit button at the top of the sec-

tion opens the Channel Settings window for the track. Lets you adjust the EQs for the track graphically, by click-

ing and dragging points in a curve display.

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

page 95. For MIDI tracks, this is where you assign MIDI

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

Shows a duplicate of the corresponding Mixer channel strip. The channel overview strip to the left lets you activate and deactivate insert effects, EQs and sends.

Audio tracks

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

Instrument tracks

As explained in the chapter “VST instruments and instru-

ment tracks” on page 110, the Inspector for an instrument

track shows some of the sections you would find for VST instrument channels and MIDI tracks.

MIDI tracks

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

“MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 192.

Arranger track

For the Arranger track, the Inspector displays the lists of available Arranger chains and Arranger events. See “The

Arranger track” on page 72 for details.

Folder tracks

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

Ö You can click one of the tracks shown under the folder in the Inspector to have the Inspector show the settings for that track. This way, you don’t have to “open” a folder track to make settings for tracks within it.

FX channel tracks

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

• Edit button

• Volume control

•Pan control

• Output Routing pop-up menu

• Inserts section

• Equalizers section

• Equalizer Curve section

• Sends section

• Channel section

FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special folder, for easier management. When this folder track is selected, the Inspector shows the folder and the FX channels it contains. You can click one of the FX channels shown in the folder to have the Inspector show the settings for that FX channel – this way you don’t have to “open” a folder track to access the settings for the FX channels in it.

Group channel tracks

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

• Edit button

• Volume control

•Pan control

• Output Routing pop-up menu

• Inserts section

• Equalizers section

• Equalizer Curve section

• Sends section

• Channel section

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

The Project window

Marker tracks

Active project indicator

Show/hide Inspector

Show/hide info line

Open Mixer

Open Pool

Constrain Delay Compensation

Project window tools

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

Snap on/off

Snap Type

Grid Type pop-up menu

Quantize Type

Color pop-up menu

Snap to Zero Crossing

Autoscroll and Suspend Autoscroll when Editing

When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. For more information, see the section “Markers” on page 38.

Video tracks

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

page 34) and a Mute button for interrupting video playback.

The toolbar

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

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

Setup options” on page 298.

The info line

The info line shows information about the currently selected event or part in the Project window. You can edit almost all values on the info line using regular value editing. Length and position values are displayed in the format currently selected for the ruler (see “The ruler” on page 21).

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

Line button on the toolbar. The following elements can be selected for display and

editing on the info line:

• Audio events

•Audio parts

• MIDI parts

• Video events

•Markers

• Automation curve points

• Arranger events

When several elements are selected

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Project window

Editing Transpose and Velocity for MIDI parts

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

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

Note that this transposition doesn’t change the actual notes in the part – it’s just a “play parameter”, affecting the notes on playback. The transposition you specify for a part on the info line is added to the transposition set for the whole track.

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

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

Getting on-the-fly info with the Arrow tool

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

The ruler

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

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

Bars+Beats Linear

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• If you use the “Timecode” option and the option “Show

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

There are 80 subframes per frame.

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

Project Setup dialog” on page 22), as do all other rulers

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

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

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

Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds. Timecode This format displays hours, minutes, seconds and frames.

are 120 ticks per sixteenth note.

The number of frames per second (fps) is set in the Project Setup dialog (see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 22). You can choose between 24, 25, 29.97 and 30fps or

29.97 and 30dfps (“drop frame”).

The Project window

Operations

Creating a new project

You create a new project in the following way:

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

A dialog appears, listing a number of project templates, including any custom templates you may have created (see “Save as Template” on

page 289).

2. Select a template (or “Empty”) and click OK.

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

3. Select an existing folder or create a new one. Then

click OK.

A Project window opens. If you selected a template, the new project will be based on this template, and include the corresponding tracks, events and settings.

The Project Setup dialog

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

Ö If the “Run Setup on Create New Project” option is activated in the Preferences dialog (General page), the Project Setup dialog will open automatically when you create a new project.

The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog:

Setting Description

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

Length The length of the project. Frame Rate Used when synchronizing Cubase Essential with external

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

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

Essential for external sync to timecode” on page 267).

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

equipment. If Cubase Essential is slave, this value is automatically set to the frame rate of the incoming sync signal. If Cubase Essential is the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent sync signal, see “Setting the Frame

Rate” on page 265.

position displays in the program. However, you can make independent display format selections for the individual rulers and displays if you like. For descriptions of the different display format options, see “The ruler” on page 21.

Setting Description

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

Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase Essential records and

Record Format/ File Type

Stereo Pan Law

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

plays audio. When you record audio in Cubase Essential, the files that

are created will be of this resolution and file type, see

“Selecting a recording file format” on page 53.

Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not, see “About the “Stereo Pan Law” setting (au-

dio channels only)” on page 86.

While most Project Setup settings can be changed at any time, you must select a sample rate once and for all when starting with a new project! All audio files must be of this sample rate to play back correctly.

Zoom and view options

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

• When you are using the Zoom tool (magnifying glass),

the result depends on the option “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: Horizontal Zooming Only” in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page).

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

• When using the vertical zoom sliders, the tracks are

scaled relatively.

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

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

Option Description

Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the project cursor. Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the project cursor. Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The

Zoom to Selection

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

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

The Project window

Option Description

Zoom to Selection (Horiz)

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

Zoom In Vertically Zooms in one step vertically. Zoom Out

Vertically Zoom In Tracks Zooms in on the selected track(s) one step vertically. Zoom Out Tracks Zooms out the selected track(s) one step vertically. Zoom Selected

Tracks

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

“Zooming” on page 142).

Zooms out one step vertically.

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

• If the option “Zoom while Locating in Time Scale” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page), you can also zoom by clicking in the main ruler and dragging up or down with the mouse button pressed.

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

• You can zoom the contents of parts and events vertically, using the waveform zoom slider in the top right corner of the event display.

This is useful when viewing quiet audio passages.

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

• If you activate the option Quick Zoom in the Preferences (Editing page), the contents of parts and events will not be continuously redrawn when you zoom manually.

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

Resizing tracks in the Track list

• You can change the height of an individual track by

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

tomizing track controls” on page 299).

• You can decide for each track type which controls

should be shown in the Track list – see “Customizing

track controls” on page 299.

• You can use the Track scale pop-up (opened by clicking

the arrow button above the vertical zoom control) to set the number of tracks to view in the current Project window.

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

The Project window

The Enlarge Selected Track option

Click here…

…to open the context menu.

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

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

Proceed as follows:

1. Move the mouse pointer over the lower border of the (unselected) track you want to resize.

The mouse pointer turns into a divider symbol.

2. Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the lower border of the track until it reaches the desired height.

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

Zoom presets and Cycle markers

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

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:

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

Add from the pop-up menu.

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

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

menu.

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

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

“The Project Setup dialog” on page 22).

• If you want to delete a preset, select “Organize…” from

the pop-up menu.

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

• If you want to rename a preset, select “Organize…”

from the pop-up menu.

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

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

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

• If you select a cycle marker from this menu, the event

display is zoomed in to encompass the marker area (see

“Markers” on page 38).

The Project window

• You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu.

For information on editing markers, see “Editing markers in

the Marker window” on page 39.

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

Adjusting how parts and events are shown

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

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

Option Description

Colorize Event Background

Show Event Names

Transparent Events

Show Data on Small Track Heights

Determines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (waveforms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized, see “Handling tracks” on page 26.

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

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

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

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

Option Description

Interpolate Audio Images

Wave Image Style

Show Event Volume Curves Always

Fade Handles always on top

Thick Fade Lines

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

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

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

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

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

Option Description

Show Waveforms

Background Color Modulation

Determines whether audio waveforms should be shown at all.

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

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

Option Description

Default Edit Action

Part Data Mode

Show Controllers

Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned

Note Name Style

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

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

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

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

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

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

Option Description

Show Video Thumbnails

Video Cache Size

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

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

The Project window

Handling tracks

This track is selected.

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

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

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

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

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

• For audio and group channel tracks, the channel configuration – mono or stereo – can be set in the Configuration pop-up.

• The Browse Sounds option in the Add Track dialog is described in the chapter “Working with track presets” on

page 180.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

• To duplicate a track, complete with all contents and

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

The duplicated track will appear below the original track.

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

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

“Applying track and event colors” on page 301.

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

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

select “Remove Selected Tracks” from the context menu.

You can also remove multiple selected tracks, by selecting “Remove Selected Tracks” either from the context menu or from the Project menu.

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

on its lower border in the Track list and drag up or down, see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 23.

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

page 24.

The Project window

Disabling audio tracks

Audio tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the Track list context menu. Disabling a track is similar to muting it (see “Muting events” on page 34), since a disabled track will not be played back. However, disabling a track not only “zeroes” the output volume from the track, but actually shuts down all disk activity for it. See “About

track disable/enable” on page 47 for more information.

Adding events to a track

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

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

51).

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

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

•The desktop

• The MediaBay and its related windows (see the chapter “The

MediaBay” on page 169)

•The Pool

• The “Find media” dialog

• The Project window of another open project

• The Audio Part Editor of any open project

• The Sample Editor – press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag to create an event of the current selection.

While you drag the clip in the Project window, its position will be indicated by a marker line and a numerical position box (see also “Using

drag and drop” on page 161).

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

Import submenu on the File menu.

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

MIDI files” on page 294).

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

dio files (see “Importing audio CD tracks” on page 291).

• By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.

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

• By drawing.

Some types of events (markers and automation events) can be drawn directly into the Project window. For audio and MIDI tracks, you can draw parts (see “Creating parts” on page 28).

Audio file import options

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

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

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

The Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page) contains a setting that lets you decide which options to use. Select one of the following options on the “On Import Audio Files” pop-up menu:

• Open Options Dialog

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

The Project window

• Use Settings

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

Option Description

Copy Files to Working Directory

Convert and Copy to Project If Needed

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

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

Creating parts

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

There are two ways to do this:

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

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

• Double-click with the Arrow tool on a MIDI or audio track, between the left and right locator.

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

page 213). Adding events to audio parts is done in the

Audio Part Editor (see “Window overview” on page 153) by pasting or by using drag and drop.

• You can also gather existing audio events into a part, by using the “Events to Part” function on the Audio menu.

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

Auditioning audio parts and events

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

When auditioning, the Main Mix bus is used.

1. Select the Play tool.

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

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

mouse button pressed.

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

3. Release the mouse button to stop playback.

Scrubbing

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

1. Select the Scrub tool.

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

2. Click at the desired position and keep the mouse but-

ton pressed.

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

3. Drag to the left or right.

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

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

• Note that scrubbing can be quite a burden on your sys-

tem. To avoid playback problems, you will find the “CPU Saving Scrub Mode” option in the Preferences (Transport– Scrub page).

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

The Project window

Editing parts and events

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

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

On the following pages, the default modifier keys are described – you can customize these in the Preferences (Editing–Tool Modifiers page), see “Setting up tool modifier keys” on page 308.

Selecting events

Selecting events is done using any of the following methods:

• Use the Arrow tool.

The standard selection techniques apply.

• Use the Select submenu on the Edit menu.

The options are:

Option Description

All Selects all events in the Project window. None Deselects all events. In Loop Selects all events that are partly or wholly between

From Start to Cursor

From Cursor to End

All on Selected Tracks

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

Left/Right Selection Side to Cursor

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

selection range” on page 35).

• Select all events on a track by right-clicking on it in the Track list and selecting “Select All Events” from the context menu.

the left and right locator. Selects all events that begin to the left of the project

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

cursor. Selects all events on the selected track.

overview” on page 140).

These two functions are only used for range selection editing (see “Creating a selection range” on page 35).

• You can also use the arrow keys on the computer key-

board to select the closest event to the left, right, above or below.

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

• If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is acti-

vated in the Preferences (Editing page), all events on the selected track(s) that are “touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.

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

• It is also possible to select ranges, regardless of the

event and track boundaries.

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

page 35).

• Note that in the Preferences (Editing page), you can

find the option “Use Up/Down Navigation Commands for selecting Tracks only”.

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

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

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

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

The Project window

• Also in the Preferences (Editing–Tools page), you can

find the Cross Hair Cursor options section.

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

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

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

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

Moving events

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

• Click and drag to a new position.

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

function” on page 40).

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

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

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

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

The following options are available:

Option Description

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

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

Option Description

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

Front/Back This function doesn’t actually change the position of the

the positions at which they were originally recorded.

events, but moves the selected events to the front or back, respectively. This is useful if you have overlapping events, and want to see one that is partially obscured. For audio events, this is an extra important feature, since only the visible sections of events will be played back. Moving an obscured audio event to front (or moving the obscuring event to back) will allow you to hear the whole event on playback (see also “Overlapping events” on

page 154).

Note that it is also possible to use the “To Front” function on the event context menu for this.

• Use the Nudge buttons in the toolbar.

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

alog” on page 22) and the value set on the Grid pop-up menu.

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

duplicating” on page 36).

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

You can decide which items should be visible by right-clicking in the toolbar and activating the corresponding option on the context menu. See “The setup context menus” on page 298 for more information.

Duplicating events

Events can be duplicated in the following ways:

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

If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see “The Snap function” on page 40).

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

The Project window

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note:

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

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

processing” on page 131).

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

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

• Selecting “Duplicate” from the Edit menu creates a

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

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

• Selecting “Repeat…” from the Edit menu opens a dia-

log, allowing you to create a number of copies (regular or shared) of the selected event(s).

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

• You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging:

Select the event(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the handle in the lower right corner of the last selected event and drag to the right.

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

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

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

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

If the selected track is of the wrong type, the event will be inserted on its original track. See “The Snap function” on page 40 for information about the snap point.

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

Renaming events

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

• You can also give all events on a track the same name as the track by changing the track name, holding down a modifier key and pressing [Return].

See “Handling tracks” on page 26.

Splitting events

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

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

If Snap is activated, this determines the exact split position (see “The

Snap function” on page 40). You can also split events by pressing [Alt]/

[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.

The Project window

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

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

• Select “Split Loop” from the Edit menu.

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

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

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

Gluing events together

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

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

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

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

• You can select several events on the same track and

click on one of them with the Glue Tube tool.

A single part is created.

• When you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while clicking on an

event with the Glue Tube tool, this event will be glued together with all following events on this track.

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

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

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

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

Snap function” on page 40).

Normal sizing

Resizing events

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

Resizing type Description

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

Sizing Moves Contents

Sizing Applies Time Stretch

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

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

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

time stretch” on page 33).

The Project window

Sizing moves contents.

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

• You can also resize events with the Scrub tool.

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

• It is also possible to resize events by using the Trim but-

tons (located in the Nudge palette) on the toolbar.

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

Ö Note that the Nudge palette is not visible in the toolbar by default. See “The setup context menus” on page 298 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Ö When resizing events, any automation data will not be taken into account.

Resizing events using time stretch

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

1. Click the Arrow icon on the toolbar and select the “Siz-

ing Applies Time Stretch” option from the pop-up menu.

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

stretch.

3. Click and drag left or right.

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

4. Release the mouse button.

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

• For MIDI parts, this means that the note events are stretched (moved and resized).

Controller data will be moved.

• For audio parts, this means that the events are moved, and that the referenced audio files are time stretched to fit the new length.

A dialog shows the progress of the time stretch operation.

Sliding the contents of an event or part

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

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

Grouping Events

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

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

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

Group editing operations include:

• Selecting events.

• Moving and duplicating events.

• Resizing events.

The Project window

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

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

ing fades” on page 66).

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

• Locking events.

• Muting events (see below).

• Deleting events.

Locking events

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

Lock Options Description

Position If this is locked, the event cannot be moved. Size If this is locked, the event cannot be resized. Other If this is locked, all other editing of the event is disabled.

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

• To specify which of these properties should be affected

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

• To lock events, select them and select “Lock…” from

the Edit menu.

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

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

This disables all editing of all events on the track.

Muting events

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

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

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

All selected events will be muted.

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

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

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

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

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

• You can adjust the lock options for a locked event by

selecting it and selecting “Lock…” from the Edit menu again.

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

• To unlock an event (turn off all lock options), select it

and select “Unlock” from the Edit menu.

The Project window

Muted events are “grayed out”.

• You can also mute whole tracks by clicking the Mute (“M”) button in the Track list, the Inspector or the Mixer.

Clicking the Solo (“S”) button for a track mutes all other tracks. Note that there are two modes for the track solo function: If the option “Enable Solo on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page) and you have soloed a track, select-

ing another track in the Track list will automatically solo that track instead – the solo state “moves” with the track selection. If the option isn’t activated, the track you solo stays soloed, regardless of the selection.

Removing events

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

• Click on the event with the Erase tool.

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

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

“Delete” from the Edit menu.

Creating new files from events

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

1. Select one or several audio events.

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

line or using the volume handle) as desired.

These settings will be applied to the new file. For details on fades and event volume, see “Creating fades” on page 66.

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

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

• If you click “Replace”, a new file is created, containing

only the audio in the original event. A clip for the new file is added to the Pool, and the original event is replaced by a new event playing the new clip.

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

new file is added to the Pool.

The original event is not replaced.

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

Range editing

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

Creating a selection range

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

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

Option Description

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

None Removes the current selection range. In Loop Makes a selection between the left and right locator, on

From Start to Cursor

From Cursor to End

All on Selected Tracks

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

Left Selection Side to Cursor

Right Selection Side to Cursor

• Double-clicking on an event with the Range Selection tool creates a selection range encompassing the event.

If you hold down [Shift] you can double-click several events in a row, and the selection range will expand to encompass them all. Double-clicking a second time on an event opens it for editing in the Sample Editor.

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

all tracks. Makes a selection on all tracks, from the start of the

project to the project cursor. Makes a selection on all tracks, from the project cursor

to the end of the project. Only used for event selection (see “Selecting events” on

page 29).

Select menu” on page 144).

Moves the left side of the current selection range to the project cursor position.

Moves the right side of the current selection range to the project cursor position.

The Project window

Adjusting the size of the selection range

You can adjust the size of a selection range in the following ways:

• By dragging its edges.

The pointer takes the shape of a double arrow when you move it over an edge of the selection range.

• By holding down [Shift] and clicking.

The closest selection range edge will be moved to the position at which you clicked.

• By adjusting the selection range start or end position on

the info line.

• By using the Trim buttons on the toolbar.

The left Trim buttons will move the start of the selection range and the right buttons will move the end. The edges will be moved by the amount specified on the Grid pop-up.

Clicking this Trim button…

…will move the start of the selection range to the right by 1beat.

• By using the Nudge buttons on the toolbar.

These will move the whole selection range to the left or the right. The amount of movement depends on the selected display format (see “The

Project Setup dialog” on page 22) and the value specified on the Grid

pop-up menu.

Note that the contents of the selection are not moved – using the Nudge buttons is the same as adjusting the start and end of the selection range at the same time, by the same amount.

Ö The Trim buttons and the Nudge buttons are located in the Nudge palette, which is not visible in the toolbar by default.

See “The setup context menus” on page 298 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Making selection ranges for several non-contiguous tracks

You can create selection ranges that cover several tracks by pressing [Alt]/[Option]-[Shift]. However, it is also possible to exclude tracks from a selection range:

1. Create a selection range from the first to the last desired track.

2. Press [Alt]/[Option] and click in the selection range on the tracks you want to exclude from the selection.

3. In the same manner, you can add a track to the selection range by [Alt]/[Option]-clicking in the selection range area on the track.

Moving and duplicating

• To move a selection range, click and drag it to a new position.

This will move the contents of the selection range to the new position. If the range intersected events or parts, these will be split before moving, so that only the sections within the selection range are affected.

• To duplicate a selection range, hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag.

You can also use the Duplicate, Repeat and Fill Loop functions, just as when duplicating events (see “Duplicating events” on page 30).

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

When working with selection ranges, you can either use Cut, Copy and Paste on the Edit menu, or use the functions “Cut Time” and “Paste Time” on the Range submenu on the Edit menu. These work differently to their related functions on the Edit menu:

Function Description

Cut Cuts out the data in the selection range and moves it to

Copy Copies the data in the selection range to the clipboard.

the clipboard. The selection range is replaced by empty track space in the Project window, meaning that events to the right of the range keep their positions.

The Project window

Function Description

A folder track

Tracks in the folder

Paste Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track

Paste at Origin

Cut Time Cuts out the selection range and moves it to the clip-

Paste Time Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track

Paste Time at Origin

of the current selection. Existing events are not moved to make room for the pasted data.

Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Existing events are not moved to make room for the pasted data.

board. Events to the right of the removed range are moved to the left to fill out the gap.

of the current selection. Existing events are moved to make room for the pasted data.

Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Existing events are moved to make room for the pasted data.

Deleting selection ranges

Again, you can either use “regular” Delete or “Delete Time”:

• If you use the Delete function on the Edit menu (or press

[Backspace]), the data within the selection range is replaced by empty track space.

Events to the right of the range keep their position.

• If you use “Delete Time” on the Edit menu’s Range sub-

menu, the selection range is removed and events to the right are moved to the left to close up the gap.

Other functions

On the Range submenu on the Edit menu, you will find three more range editing functions:

Function Description

Split Splits any events or parts that are intersected by the selec-

Crop All events or parts that are partially within the selection

Insert Silence

tion range, at the positions of the selection range edges.

range are cropped, that is, sections outside the selection range are removed. Events that are fully inside or outside the selection range are not affected.

Inserts empty track space from the start of the selection range. The length of the silence equals the length of the selection range. Events to the right of the selection range start are moved to the right to “make room”. Events that are intersected by the selection range start are split, and the right section is moved to the right.

The Preferences dialog

When you open the File menu (the Cubase Essential menu on a Mac) and select “Preferences…”, the Preferences dialog is opened. This dialog provides a large number of options and settings that control the global behavior of Cubase Essential.

The dialog has a number of pages, each containing options and settings belonging to a particular topic.

• In the list on the left, click on one of the entries to open the corresponding page.

• You can find detailed descriptions of all Preferences options in the dialog help, opened by clicking the Help button at the bottom left of the dialog.

Folder tracks

Moving tracks into a folder is a way to structure and organize tracks in the Project window. By grouping tracks in folder tracks, you can solo and mute them in a quicker and easier way and perform editing on several tracks as one entity. Folder tracks can contain any type of track including other folder tracks.

The Project window

Handling folder tracks

• Creating a folder track

Select “Add Track” from the Project menu and select “Folder” from the submenu that appears, or right-click in the Track list and select “Add Folder Track” from the context menu to create a folder track.

• Moving tracks into a folder

In the Track list, click on a track that you want to move into a folder and drag it onto a folder track. A green arrow pointing to a folder appears when you drag the track onto the folder track in the list. The track is placed in the folder track, and all parts and events on the track will be represented by a corresponding folder part (see below). You can also create sub-folders by moving one folder track into another. For example, you could have a folder containing all the vocals in a project, and each vocal part could have a folder containing all the takes for easier handling etc.

• Removing tracks from a folder

Drag a track out of the folder and release it in the Track list to remove it from the folder.

• Hiding/showing tracks in a folder

Click on the “Expand/Collapse Folder” button (the folder icon) to hide or show the tracks located in a folder. Hidden tracks are played back as usual.

• Muting and soloing folder tracks

Click the Mute or Solo button on the folder track to mute or solo all tracks in the folder as one unit.

Working with folder parts

A folder part is a graphic representation of events and parts on the tracks in the folder. Folder parts indicate the position and length of the events and parts, as well as on which track they are (their vertical position). If part colors are used, these are also shown in the folder part.

Any Project window editing you perform to a folder part affects all the events and parts it contains. You can select several folder parts if you like – this allows you to handle and edit them together. The editing you can perform includes:

• Moving a folder part. This will move its contained events and parts (possibly resulting in other folder parts, depending on how the parts overlap).

• Using cut, copy and paste.

• Deleting a folder part. This will delete its contained events and parts.

• Splitting a folder part with the Scissors tool.

• Gluing folder parts together with the Glue tube tool. This will only work if the adjacent folder parts contain events or parts on the same track.

• Resizing a folder part resizes the contained events and parts according to the selected resizing method, see “Resizing

events” on page 32.

• Muting a folder part. This will mute its contained events and parts.

Tracks inside a folder can be edited as one entity by performing the editing directly on the folder part containing the tracks. You can also edit individual tracks within the folder by showing the contained tracks, selecting parts and opening editors as usual.

Double-clicking a folder part opens the editors for the corresponding track classes present in the folder. The following applies:

• All MIDI parts located on the tracks within the folder are

displayed as if they were on the same track, just like when opening the Key Editor with several MIDI parts selected.

To be able to easily discern the different tracks in the editor, give each track a different color in the Project window and use the “Part Colors” option in the editor (see “Coloring notes and events” on page 217).

• If the folder contains tracks with audio events and/or au-

dio parts, the Sample and/or Audio Part Editors are opened with each audio event and audio part in a separate window.

Markers

Markers are used to locate certain positions quickly. If you often find yourself jumping to a specific position within a project, you should insert a marker at this position. There are two types of markers:

• Cycle markers allow you to store the start and end posi-

tions of a range.

On the Marker track they are shown as two markers bridged by a horizontal line. They are ideal for setting sections of a song, for example “Intro”, “Verse”, and “Chorus”, this enables you to quickly navigate to the song sections, and also to optionally repeat the section (by activating Cycle on the Transport panel). Cycle markers can freely overlap.

• Standard markers store a specific position.

The Project window

Ö The left and right locators are handled separately –

Cycle markerMarkers

Locators

Add Marker/Add Cycle Marker buttons

see “The left and right locators” on page 46.

Editing markers in the Marker window

The Marker window lists the markers in the order in which they occur in the project. To open the Marker window, select “Markers” from the Project menu, click the “Show” button in the Marker section on the Transport panel or use the key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[M]).

The Marker window is divided into six columns:

Column Description

Locate (leftmost column)

ID In this column you can edit marker ID numbers. Each time

Position In this column you can view and edit the markers’ time

End In this column you can view and edit the end positions of

Length In this column you can view and edit the length of cycle

Description Here you can enter names or descriptions for markers.

If you click in this column the project cursor will be moved to the corresponding marker position. A blue arrow indicates the marker at the project cursor position (or the closest marker before the project cursor).

you add a marker, it is automatically and sequentially assigned an ID number, starting from ID 1. IDs for cycle markers are shown in brackets and start from [1]. The nine first markers (1 to 9) can be recalled by using key commands (by default [Shift]-[1] to [9] on the typewriter part of the keyboard).

positions (or start positions for cycle markers).

cycle markers.

markers.

Click on a column heading to sort the marker list by that column. The Marker columns can also be reordered by dragging and dropping the column headers.

The following actions can be performed in the Marker window:

• Adding markers

Click the Add button or press [Ins] (Windows only) on the computer keyboard to add position markers at the current project cursor position. Select “Cycle Markers” from the Show pop-up menu and click the Add button to add a cycle marker between the left and right locator.

• Removing markers

Select a marker and click the Remove button to remove it.

• Moving marker positions

Set the project cursor to the position to which you want to move (or reprogram) a marker, select the marker that you want to change in the Marker window and click the Move button. If a cycle marker is selected, the Move operation affects the cycle marker start position, the length of the range is not affected. You can also move markers by editing their position numerically in the Position column.

Editing markers on the Marker track

The Marker track is used for viewing and editing markers. Any changes made on the Marker track are reflected in the Marker window and vice versa. Standard position markers are shown as vertical lines with the marker name (if assigned) and number beside it. If you select the Marker track, all markers are shown in the Inspector.

To add the Marker track to the Project, select “Marker” from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu (or right-click in the Track list and select “Add Marker Track”). You can only have one Marker track in a project.

The following editing functions can be performed directly on the Marker track:

• Adding markers

Press the [Insert] key (Win) or the “Add Marker” button in the Track list, to add a position marker at the current cursor position during playback. Click the “Add Cycle Marker” button in the Track list, to add a cycle marker at the left and right locator positions.

The Project window

• Selecting markers

Use the standard techniques.

• Drawing markers

Use the Pencil tool (or press [Alt]/[Option] and use the Arrow tool) to draw position markers. Snap is taken into account. Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] while using the Pencil or the Arrow tool to draw cycle markers. Snap is taken into account.

• Resizing

Select and drag a cycle marker by the handles that appear at the bottom of the start and end events to resize it. This can also be done numerically on the info line.

• Moving

Click and drag, or edit the positions on the info line to move a marker. Snap is taken into account if activated.

• Removing

Select a position marker and press [Delete] or use the Erase tool to remove it. Click with the Erase tool to delete a cycle marker. If you hold down [Alt]/ [Option] when you click, all consecutive markers will also be deleted.

• Naming

Select a marker and enter a name on the info line.

• Moving the left and right locators

Double-click on a cycle marker or select it from the Cycle pop-up menu in the Track list, to move the left and right locators to encompass the cycle marker. Use the numeric pad keys [1] and [2] to move the project cursor position to the start or the end of the cycle marker. You can also use key commands for this – see “Editing markers using key commands” on page 40.

• Zooming

Select a cycle marker on the Zoom pop-up menu, to zoom in the event display to encompass the selected range only (see the section “Zoom

presets and Cycle markers” on page 24).

You can also do this by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and double-clicking on the cycle marker in the event display.

• Making range selections in the Project window

Double-click with the Range Selection tool between any two markers to create a selection range between the markers, spanning all tracks in the project. This is a quick way to move or copy (hold down [Alt]/[Option]) complete sections of the project (on all tracks).

Options

The Snap function

The Snap function helps you to find exact positions when editing in the Project window. It does this by restricting horizontal movement and positioning to certain positions. Operations affected by Snap include moving, copying, drawing, sizing, splitting, range selection, etc.

• You turn Snap on or off by clicking the Snap icon in the

toolbar.

Snap activated.

When you are moving audio events with Snap activated, it isn’t necessarily the beginning of the event that is used as Snap position reference. Instead, each audio event has a snap point, which you can set to a relevant position in the audio (such as a downbeat, etc.).

The snap point is preferably set in the Sample Editor since it allows for a higher degree of precision (see “Adjusting

the snap point” on page 143). You can however also set

the snap point directly in the Project window, in the following way:

1. Select an event.

2. Place the project cursor at the desired position within

the selected audio event.

3. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Snap Point To

Cursor”.

The snap point is set at the cursor position.

The snap point for an event is displayed as a blue line in the Project window.

Editing markers using key commands

You can use key commands for marker operations, see

“Transport category” on page 311.

The Project window

Exactly how Snap works depends on which mode is se-

12345

52431

Dragging event 2 past event 4…

…changes the order of events 2, 3 and 4.

lected on the Snap mode pop-up menu.

The following sections describe the different Snap modes:

Grid

In this mode, the Snap positions are set with the Grid Type pop-up menu to the right. The options depend on the display format selected for the ruler. For example, if the ruler is set to show bars and beats, the grid can be set to bars, beats or the quantize value set with the next pop-up menu to the right. If a time or frame-based ruler format is selected, the Grid Type pop-up menu contains time or frame-based grid options, etc.

Events

In this mode, the start and end positions of other events and parts become “magnetic”. This means that if you drag an event to a position near the start or end of another event, it is automatically aligned with the start or end of the other event. For audio events, the position of the snap point is also magnetic (see “Adjusting the snap point” on

page 143).

• Note that this includes marker events on the marker

track.

This allows you to snap events to marker positions, and vice versa.

Shuffle

Shuffle mode is useful when you want to change the order of adjacent events. If you have two adjacent events and drag the first one to the right, past the second event, the two events will change places.

When Seconds is selected as ruler format, the Grid Type pop-up menu contains time-based grid options.

Grid Relative

When you move events and parts in this mode they will not be “magnetic” to the grid. Rather, the grid determines the step size for moving the events. This means that a moved event will keep its original position relative to the grid.

For example, if an event starts at the position 3.04.01 (one beat before bar 4), Snap is set to Grid Relative and the Grid 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. The event will keep its relative position to the grid, i.e. stay one beat before the bar lines.

• This only applies when dragging existing events or parts – when you create new events or parts this mode works like the Grid mode.

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

Magnetic Cursor

When this mode is selected, the project cursor becomes “magnetic”. Dragging an event near the cursor causes the event to be aligned with the cursor position.

The Project window

Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Events + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Events” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Events + Grid + Cursor

This is a combination of the “Events”, “Grid” and “Magnetic Cursor” modes.

Snap to Zero Crossing

When this option is activated on the toolbar or in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page), splitting and sizing of audio events is done at zero crossings (positions in the audio where the amplitude is zero). This helps you avoid pops and clicks which might otherwise be caused by sudden amplitude changes.

Autoscroll

“Autoscroll” and “Suspend Autoscroll when Editing” are activated

When the Autoscroll option is activated, the waveform display will scroll during playback, keeping the project cursor visible in the window. You can find the Autoscroll button in the toolbars of the Project window and all editors.

• If the option “Stationary Cursors” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page), the project cursor will be positioned in the middle of the screen (if possible).

Proceed as follows:

1. Open a project that contains audio or MIDI parts/events.

2. Enable both the “Autoscroll” and the “Suspend Auto-

scroll when Editing” buttons (both buttons turn blue).

3. Start playback.

4. Edit an audio or MIDI part/event of your project (e.g.

click and drag it to a different location on its track).

The Autoscroll button will turn orange.

Autoscrolling is now suspended, i.e. when the project cursor moves to the right edge of the Project window, the display will not follow to keep the cursor visible.

As soon as playback stops, or when you click the Autoscroll button again (so it turns blue), Cubase Essential will return to the normal Autoscroll behavior.

Suspending autoscroll

When editing parts or events during playback with Autoscroll enabled, you may suddenly “loose sight” of the edited material as the display follows the project cursor.

If you don’t want the Project window display to change when editing during playback, you can activate the “Suspend Autoscroll when Editing” button. You will find this button right next to the Autoscroll button. When this option is enabled, autoscrolling is suspended as soon as you click anywhere in the event display during playback.

The Project window

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

Octave Offset

Note Velocity Level

Change Virtual Keyboard Display Type

Activates Auto Quantize

Record mode pop-up menu

Cycle Record mode pop-up menu

CPU load and Disk Cache meters

Right locator

Punch In

Left locator

Postroll: value and on/off

Preroll: value and on/off

Punch Out

Primary Time Display

Position slider

Record

Play

Fast forward

Go to next marker/ project end

Nudge position right/left

Go to previous marker/ project start

Secondary Time Display

Exchange time formats

Cycle on/off

Stop

Rewind

Active Arranger chain

Activate Arranger Mode

First/Last repeat of current Arranger event

Previous/Next Arranger event

Arranger Selector

Current Arranger event

Tempo track on/off

Synchronization on/off

The tempo and time signature display

Metronome click on/off

Show Markers (opens Marker window)

Jump to Marker

Precount on/off

MIDI In/Out activity (left/right)

Output Level Control

Clipping indicators

Audio input/output activity

This chapter describes the various methods available for controlling Playback and Transport functions in Cubase Essential.

The Transport panel

Below you can find a brief description of each item on the Transport panel.

The pictures below show the Transport panel with all controls visible. The Transport panel is divided into the following sections, from left to right.

Ö Note that the Output Activity and Clipping indicator as well as the Output Level Control refer to the Main Mix Output bus as defined on the Outputs tab in the VST Connections window.

• The main Transport functions (Cycle/Stop/Play/Record)

can also be shown on the toolbar.

In addition, various play options are available on the Transport menu.

Hiding and showing the Transport Panel

The Transport panel is shown automatically when you launch a new project. To hide or show it, select “Transport Panel” on the Transport menu (or use a key command – by default [F2]).

About Pre-roll and Post-roll

These items are described in the chapter “Recording”, see “About Pre-roll and Post-roll” on page 62.

Playback and the Transport panel

Changing the Transport panel setup

You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by right-clicking anywhere on the panel and selecting/deselecting the corresponding options on the context menu.

This is described in detail in the section “The setup con-

text menus” on page 298.

The numeric keypad

In the default Key Command settings, various Transport panel operations are assigned to the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard. The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers:

Numeric Key Function

[Enter] Play [+] Fast Forward [-] Rewind [*] Record [÷] (Win)/[/] (Mac) Cycle On/Off [,] Return to Zero [0] Stop [1] Go to Left Locator [2] Go to Right Locator [3-9] Go to marker 3 to 9

• By using the position slider above the transport buttons

in the Transport panel.

The range of the slider relates to the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog. Hence, moving the slider all the way to the right will take you to the end of the project.

• By using markers (see “Markers” on page 38).

• By using playback options (see “Playback functions” on

page 47).

• By using the Arranger function (see “The Arranger

track” on page 72).

• By using functions on the Transport menu.

The following functions are available:

Function Description

Locate Selection/Locate Selection End

Locate Next/ Previous Marker

Locate Next/ Previous Event

Moves the project cursor to the beginning or end of the current selection. For this to be available, you must have selected one or more events or parts, or made a selection range.

This moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right or left (see “Marker tracks” on page 20).

This moves the project cursor forwards or backwards respectively, to the closest beginning or end of any event on the selected track(s).

Ö If Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is taken into account. This is helpful for finding exact positions quickly.

Operations

Setting the project cursor position

There are several ways to move the project cursor position:

• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.

• By dragging the project cursor in the lower part of the

ruler.

• By clicking in the ruler.

Double-clicking in the ruler moves the cursor and starts/stops playback.

• If the option “Locate when Clicked in Empty Space” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page) you can click anywhere in an empty section of the Project window to move the cursor position.

• By changing the value in any of the position displays.

Playback and the Transport panel

Ö There are also numerous key commands available for moving the project cursor (in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog).

For example, you can assign key commands to the “Step Bar” and “Step Back Bar” functions, allowing you to move the project cursor in steps of one bar, backwards and forwards.

About the Transport panel display format

Primary time display (left) and secondary time display (right)

The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit shown in the main time display on the Transport panel. This means that you can display timecode in the transport position display and bars and beats in the ruler, for example. In addition, there is a secondary time display to the right of the primary time display which is also independent, giving you three different time units shown at the same time.

The following rules apply:

• If you change the time format of the primary time display on the Transport panel, the time format of the ruler will be changed as well.

This is the same as changing the display format in the Project Setup. Therefore, to have different display formats in the ruler and the time display you should change the format in the ruler.

• The primary time display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the main position display.

• This setting also determines the time format displayed for the left and right locators on the Transport panel.

• The secondary time display is completely independent, and the display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the secondary time display.

• You can swap time formats between the primary and secondary time displays by clicking the double arrow symbol between them.

The left and right locators

The left and right locators are a pair of position markers used for specifying punch-in and punch-out positions during recording, and as boundaries for cycle playback and recording.

Ö When cycle mode is activated on the Transport panel, the area between the left and right locator will be repeated (cycled) on playback.

However, if the right locator is positioned before the left, this will work as a “jump” or “skip mode” – when the project cursor reaches the right locator it will immediately jump to the left locator position and continue playback from there.

There are several ways to set locator positions:

• To set the left locator, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click

at the desired position in the ruler.

Similarly, pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the ruler sets the right locator. You can also drag the locator “handles” directly in the ruler.

The locators are indicated by the “flags” in the ruler. The area between the locators is highlighted in the ruler and in the Project window (see

“Appearance” on page 301). Note that if the right locator is before the

left locator, the color of the ruler between the locators will change (from blue to red).

• Click and drag in the upper half of the ruler to “draw” a

locator range.

If you click on an existing locator range, you can drag to move it.

• Pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and pressing [1] or [2] on

the numeric keypad sets the left or right locator to the project cursor position.

Similarly, you can press [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad (without [Ctrl]/ [Command]) to set the project cursor position to the left or right locator position. Note that these are default key commands – you can change these if you like.

• By creating cycle markers you can store any number of

left and right locator positions, which can be recalled by simply double-clicking on the corresponding marker (see

“Editing markers on the Marker track” on page 39).

• The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu

(default key command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection.

This is available if you have selected one or several events or made a selection range.

• You can also adjust the locators numerically on the

Transport panel.

Clicking the L/R buttons in the locator section on the Transport panel will move the project cursor to the respective locator. If you press [Alt]/[Option] and click the L or R button, the corresponding locator will be set to the current project cursor position.

Playback and the Transport panel

Options and Settings

The “Return to Start Position on Stop” preference

This setting is found on the Transport page in the Preferences (found on the File menu under Windows, or on the Cubase Essential menu under Mac OS X).

• If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is activated when you stop playback, the project cursor will automatically return to the position where recording or playback last started.

• If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is deactivated, the project cursor will remain at the position where you stop playback.

Pressing Stop again will return the project cursor to the position where recording or playback last started.

Playback functions

Apart from the standard transport controls on the Transport panel, you can also find a number of functions on the Transport menu that can be used to control playback. The items have the following functionality:

Option Description

Play from Selection Start/End

Play until Selection Start/End

Play until Next Marker

Play Selection Range

Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current

Activates playback from the beginning or end of the current selection.

Activates playback two seconds before the start or end of the current selection and stops at the selection start or end, respectively.

This activates playback from the project cursor and stops at the next marker.

This activates playback from the start of the current selection and stops at the selection end.

selection and keeps starting over again when reaching the selection end.

About track disable/enable

For audio tracks, the track context menu contains an item named “Disable Track”. This shuts down all disk activity for the track, as opposed to using Mute, which merely turns down the output volume for a track. For example, if you often record “alternative takes” you can easily build up a large number of takes on different tracks. Even though these tracks are muted, they are actually still “playing back” from the hard disk during playback. This puts an unnecessary load on your disk system, so using “Disable Track” is recommended for such situations.

• Select “Disable Track” for tracks that you want to keep in the project for later use but do not want to play back now.

The track color changes to indicate that the track is disabled.

• Select “Enable Track” from the track context menu to re-enable disabled tracks.

The functions listed above (except “Play until Next Marker”) are only available if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.

Ö In the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page) you will find the option “Treat Muted Audio Events like Deleted”. When you activate this option, any events overlapped by a muted event will become audible.

About Chase

Chase is a function that makes sure your MIDI instruments sound as they should when you locate to a new position and start playback. This is accomplished by the program transmitting a number of MIDI messages to your instruments each time you move to a new position in the project, making sure all MIDI devices are set up correctly with regard to program change, controller messages (such as MIDI Volume), etc.

For example, let’s say you have a MIDI track with a program change event inserted at the beginning. This event makes a synth switch to a piano sound.

At the beginning of the first chorus you have another program change event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound.

Playback and the Transport panel

You now play back the song. It begins with the piano sound

and then switches to the string sound. In the middle of the chorus you stop and rewind to some point between the beginning and the second program change. The synth will now still play the string sound although in this section it really should be a piano!

The Chase function takes care of that. If program change events are set to be chased, Cubase Essential will track the music back to the beginning, find the first program change and transmit it to your synth, setting it to the correct sound.

The same thing can apply to other event types as well. The Chase Events settings in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page) determine which event types will be chased when you locate to a new position and start playback.

Ö Event types for which the checkbox is activated here will be chased.

• In this section of the Preferences dialog, you will also find the option “Chase not limited to Part Boundaries”.

When you activate this option, MIDI controllers are also chased outside the part boundaries, i.e. the Chase will be performed on the part touched by the cursor as well as on all the parts to the left of it. Please note that this option should be deactivated for very large projects, as it considerably slows down operations such as positioning and soloing. When you deactivate this option, the MIDI controllers are only chased within the parts under the position cursor.

The Virtual Keyboard

The Virtual Keyboard can be displayed in the Transport panel. It allows you to play and record MIDI notes by using your computer keyboard or mouse. This is useful if you have no external MIDI instrument at hand and you do not want to draw in notes with the Pencil tool. The Virtual Keyboard can perform all functions that can be controlled by external MIDI keyboards, e.g. playing and recording MIDI notes.

When the Virtual Keyboard is displayed, the usual key commands are blocked because they are reserved for the Virtual Keyboard. The only exceptions are: [Ctrl]/ [Command]-[S] (Save), Num [*] (Start/Stop Record), [Space] (Start/Stop Playback), Num [1] (Jump to left locator), [Delete] or [Backspace] (Delete), Num [/] (Cycle on/off), [F2] (Show/Hide Transport panel), and [Alt]/[Option]-[K] (Show/Hide Virtual Keyboard).

• You can choose between two different keyboard dis-

play modes: computer keyboard and piano keyboard. To switch between these two modes, click the “Change Virtual Keyboard Display Type” button or use the [Tab] key.

The Virtual Keyboard in computer keyboard display mode

The Virtual Keyboard in piano keyboard display mode

To record MIDI using the Virtual Keyboard, proceed as follows:

1. Create or choose a MIDI or an instrument track and

activate the “Record Enable” button for it.

2. Open the Virtual Keyboard by selecting “Virtual Key-

board” on the Devices menu or by pressing [Alt]/[Option][K]. You can also open the Virtual Keyboard by right-clicking on the Transport panel and selecting “Virtual Keyboard” on the context menu.

The Virtual Keyboard is displayed in the Transport panel.

3. Activate the Record button and press a key on your

computer keyboard to enter a note.

You can also click on the keys of the Virtual Keyboard to enter notes.

Playback and the Transport panel

• You can also press several keys simultaneously to enter polyphonic parts. The maximum number of notes that can be played at one time varies between the different operating systems and hardware configurations.

4. Use the fader “Note velocity level” to the right of the virtual keyboard to adjust the volume.

You can also use the up and down arrow keys for this.

5. Enter the desired notes this way.

6. When you are done, hit the Stop button and close the

Virtual Keyboard.

When the Virtual Keyboard is hidden, all key commands are available again.

Options and settings

• In piano keyboard mode, you have a wider range of keys at your disposal, allowing you to enter two voices simultaneously, for example bass and lead voice or bass drums and HiHats.

In computer keyboard mode, you can use the two rows of keys that are displayed on the Virtual Keyboard to enter notes. In piano keyboard mode, you can also use the two rows of keys below these.

• You have seven full octaves at your disposal. Use the “Octave Offset” buttons at the bottom of the virtual keyboard to offset the octave range of the keyboard.

You can also use the left and right arrow keys to switch the keyboard range to a lower or higher octave, respectively.

• In piano keyboard mode, you can use the two sliders to the left of the keyboard to introduce pitchbend (left slider) or modulation (right slider).

You can also click on a key, hold the mouse button pressed until the mouse pointer becomes a crosshair tool and drag upwards/downward to introduce modulation or left/right to create pitchbend.

Playback and the Transport panel

Recording

Background

This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can use in Cubase Essential. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI tracks, both recording methods are covered in this chapter.

Before you start

This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain basic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have been made:

• You have properly set up, connected and calibrated your audio hardware.

• You have opened a project and set the project setup parameters to your specifications.

Project setup parameters determine the record format, sample rate, project length etc. that affect the audio recordings you make during the course of the project, see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 22.

• If you plan to record MIDI, your MIDI equipment should be set up and connected correctly.

Basic recording methods

This section describes the general methods used for recording. However, there are additional preparations and procedures that are specific to audio and MIDI recording respectively. Make sure to read these sections before you start recording (see “Audio recording specifics” on page

53 and “MIDI recording specifics” on page 57).

Record Enable in the Inspector, Track list and Mixer

Ö If the option “Enable Record on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), tracks are automatically record-enabled when you select them in the Track list.

Ö You can set up key commands to record-enable all audio tracks simultaneously and to deactivate Record Enable for all audio tracks (Arm/Disarm all Audio Tracks). You will find these commands in the Key Commands dialog, in the Mixer category (see “Setting up key commands” on page 305).

Ö The exact number of audio tracks you can record simultaneously depends on your computer CPU and hard disk performance.

In the Preferences (VST page), you can find the option “Warn on Processing Overloads”. When this is activated, a warning message will be displayed as soon as the CPU clip indicator (on the Transport panel) lights up during recording.

Record-enabling tracks

Cubase Essential can record on a single track or on several tracks (audio and/or MIDI) simultaneously. To make a track ready for recording, click the Record Enable button for the track in the Track list, in the Inspector or in the Mixer. When activated, the buttons turn red, indicating record ready mode.

Recording

Manually activating recording

You activate recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport panel or toolbar or by using the corresponding key command (by default [*] on the numeric keypad).

Recording can be activated in Stop mode (from the current cursor position or from the left locator) or during playback:

• If you activate recording in Stop mode, and the option

“Start Record at Left Locator” is activated on the Transport menu, recording will start from the left locator.

The pre-roll setting or the metronome count-in will be applied (see

“About Pre-roll and Post-roll” on page 62).

• If you activate recording in Stop mode, and “Start Record

at Left Locator” is deactivated, recording will start from the current project cursor position.

• If you activate recording during playback, Cubase Essential will immediately enter Record mode and start recording from the current project cursor position.

This is known as “manual punch in”.

Activating recording in Sync mode

If you are synchronizing the Cubase Essential transport to external equipment (Sync is activated on the Transport panel) and you activate recording, the program will go into “record ready” mode (the record button on the Transport panel will light up). In this case, recording will start when a valid timecode signal is received (or when you click the Play button). See the chapter “Synchronization” on page 262 for more information.

Automatically activating recording

Cubase Essential can automatically switch from playback to recording at a given position. This is known as “automatic punch in”. A typical use for this would be if you need to replace a section of a recording, and want to listen to what is already recorded, up to the recording start position.

1. Set the left locator to the position where you want recording to start.

2. Activate the Punch In button on the Transport panel.

Punch In activated

3. Activate playback from some position before the left locator.

When the project cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated.

Stopping recording

Again, this can be done automatically or manually:

• If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or use the corresponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), recording is deactivated and Cubase Essential goes into Stop mode.

• If you click the Record button (or use the key command for recording, by default [*]), recording is deactivated but playback continues.

This is known as “manual punch out”.

• If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport

panel, recording will be deactivated when the project cursor reaches the right locator.

This is known as “automatic punch out”. By combining this with automatic punch in, you can set up a specific section to record – again very useful if you want to replace a certain part of a recording (see also “Stop after Au-

tomatic Punch Out” on page 62).

Punch In and Out activated

Cycle recording

Cubase Essential can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left and right locators. When the cycle is active, the selected section is seamlessly repeated until you hit Stop or deactivate cycle mode.

• To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the

Transport panel.

Cycle activated

• To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from

the left locator, from before the locators or from within the cycle, in Stop mode or during playback.

As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back to the left locator and continue recording a new lap.

• The results of cycle recording depend on the selected

cycle record mode and are different for audio (see “Recor-

ding audio in cycle mode” on page 57) and MIDI (see “Recording MIDI in cycle mode” on page 59).

Recording

Audio pre-record

This feature allows you to capture up to 1 minute of any incoming audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is possible because Cubase Essential can capture audio input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Preferences (Record–Audio page).

2. Specify a time (up to 60 seconds) in the “Audio Pre-

Record Seconds” field.

This activates the buffering of audio input, making Pre-Record possible.

3. Make sure an audio track is record-enabled and receives audio from the signal source.

4. When you have played some audio material you want to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), click the Record button.

5. After a few seconds stop the recording.

An audio event is created, starting at where the cursor position was when you activated recording. This means that if you were in stop mode, and the cursor was at the beginning of the project, you may have to move the event to the right in the next step. If you were playing along to a project you should leave the event where it is.

6. Select the Arrow tool and place the cursor on the bottom left edge of the event so that a double arrow appears, then click and drag to the left.

Now the event is extended and the audio you played before activating record is inserted – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

Audio recording specifics

Selecting a recording file format

The format for recorded files is set in the Project Setup dialog on the Project menu. There are three settings: sample rate, record format (bit depth) and record file type. While the sample rate is set once and for all when you start working on a new project, the bit depth and file type can be changed at any time.

Record file type

The Record File Type setting determines which type of files will be created when you record:

File type Description

Wave File Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are a common

AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Ap-

Record format (bit depth)

The available options are 16 bit and 24 bit. Use the following guidelines:

• Normally, select the record format according to the bit

depth delivered by your audio hardware.

For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs), you may want to record at 24 bit resolution to capture the full bit depth. On the other hand, if your hardware has 16 bit inputs, it is pointless to record with a higher bit depth – this will only make the audio files larger, with no difference in audio quality.

• The higher the bit depth, the larger the files and the

more strain is put on the disk system.

If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting.

file format on the PC platform.

ple Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used on most computer platforms. AIFF files can contain embedded text strings (see below).

The recording was activated at the start of bar 9. This is indicated by a blue line in the audio event.

For further information on the options in the Project Setup dialog, see “The Project Setup dialog” on

page 22.

Recording

Setting up the track

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

Click here to show/hide the Inspector.

Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration

Audio tracks can be configured as mono or stereo tracks. This allows you to record or import a file containing multiple channels and treat it as one entity, with no need to split it up into several mono files etc. The signal path for an audio track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus.

You specify the channel configuration for a track when you create it:

1. Select “Add Audio Track” from the Track list context menu or the Project menu (or, if an audio track is already selected, double-click in an empty area of the Track list).

A dialog appears with a channel configuration pop-up menu.

2. Select the desired format from the pop-up menu.

You can choose between mono and stereo.

• The Browse item in this dialog allows you to browse your disk(s) for created track presets, which can be used as a basis (or template) for tracks.

This is described in detail in the chapter “Working with track presets” on

page 180.

3. Click OK.

A track appears, set to the specified channel configuration. In the Mixer, a corresponding channel strip appears. You cannot change the channel configuration for a track.

Selecting an input bus for a track

Here we assume that you have added and set up the required input busses (see “Setting up busses” on page

10). Before you record, you need to specify from which in-

put bus the track should record. You can do this in the Inspector.

• Select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu in the top section.

As described in the section “The Inspector” on page 18, the Inspector shows the settings for the selected track. You show or hide the Inspector by clicking the “Show/Hide Inspector” button on the Project window toolbar.

Setting input levels

When recording digital sound, it is important to set the input levels correctly – loud enough to ensure low noise and high audio quality, but not so loud that clipping (digital distortion) occurs.

Clipping typically occurs in the audio hardware when a too loud analog signal is converted to digital in the hardware’s A/D converters.

You need to check the level at the channel strip for the track on which you are recording:

1. Locate the channel strip for the track you’re about to

record on.

2. Activate monitoring for the channel by clicking the

speaker button next to the fader.

When monitoring is activated, the meter shows the level of the incoming audio signal.

3. Play the audio source that you want to record and

check the level meter for the channel.

4. Adjust the output level of your audio source so that the

meters go reasonably high without reaching 0.0dB.

Check the numerical peak level indicator below the meter in the bus channel strip. To reset the peak level indicator, click on it.

Ö You must adjust the output level of the audio source – you cannot use the faders in Cubase Essential to adjust the input level!

Ö An alternative way of checking the input levels would be to use the control panel for your audio hardware (if it features input level meters). It may also be possible to adjust the input level in the control panel.

See the documentation of your audio hardware for details.

Recording

Monitoring

In this context, “monitoring” means listening to the input signal during recording. There are three fundamentally different ways to do this: via Cubase Essential, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Cubase Essential), or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination of both other methods – see below).

Monitoring via Cubase Essential

If you monitor via Cubase Essential, the input signal is mixed in with the audio playback. The advantage of this is that you can adjust the monitoring level and panning in the Mixer, and add effects and EQ to the monitor signal just as during playback (using the track’s channel strip – not the input bus!).

The disadvantage of monitoring via Cubase Essential is that the monitored signal will be delayed according to the latency value (which depends on your audio hardware and drivers). Therefore, monitoring via Cubase Essential requires an audio hardware configuration with a low latency value. You can check the latency of your hardware in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audio System page).

Ö If you are using plug-in effects with large inherent delays, the automatic delay compensation function in Cubase Essential will increase the latency.

If this is a problem, you can use the Constrain Delay Compensation function while recording, see “Constrain Delay Compensation” on page 120.

When monitoring via Cubase Essential, you can select one of four Auto Monitoring modes in the Preferences (VST page):

• Manual

This option allows you to turn input monitoring on or off by clicking the Monitor button in the Inspector, the Track list or in the Mixer.

• While Record Enabled

With this option, you will hear the audio source connected to the channel input whenever the track is record enabled.

• While Record Running

This option switches to input monitoring only during recording.

• Tapemachine Style

This option emulates standard tapemachine behavior: input monitoring in Stop mode and during recording, but not during playback.

External monitoring

External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it goes into Cubase Essential) requires some sort of external mixer for mixing the audio playback with the input signal. This can be a stand-alone physical mixer or a mixer application for your audio hardware, if this has a mode in which the input audio is sent back out again (usually called “Thru”, “Direct Thru” or similar).

When using external monitoring, you cannot control the level of the monitor signal from within Cubase Essential or add VST effects or EQ to the monitor signal. The latency value of the audio hardware configuration does not affect the monitor signal in this mode.

Ö If you want to use external monitoring, you need to make sure that monitoring via Cubase Essential is not activated as well.

Select the “Manual” monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page) and do not activate the Monitor buttons.

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, just as when using internal monitoring.

Recording

• To activate ASIO Direct Monitoring, open the Device Setup dialog on the Devices menu and activate the Direct Monitoring checkbox on the page for your audio hardware.

If the checkbox is grayed out, your audio hardware (or its driver) does not support ASIO Direct Monitoring. Consult the audio hardware manufacturer for details.

• When ASIO Direct Monitoring is activated, you can select a monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page), as when monitoring via Cubase Essential (see “Monitoring via

Cubase Essential” on page 55).

• Depending on the audio hardware, it may also be possible to adjust the monitoring level and panning from the Mixer by adjusting the volume faders, and the input gain controls.

Consult the documentation of the audio hardware if in doubt.

• VST effects and EQ cannot be applied to the monitor signal in this mode, since the monitor signal does not pass through Cubase Essential.

• Depending on the audio hardware, there may be special restrictions as to which audio outputs can be used for direct monitoring.

For details on the routing of the audio hardware, see its documentation.

The latency value of the audio hardware configuration does not affect the monitor signal when using ASIO Direct Monitoring.

When using Steinberg hardware (MR816 series) in combination with ASIO Direct Monitoring, monitoring will be virtually latency-free.

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.

Ö If the option “Create Audio Images During Record” is activated in the Preferences (Record–Audio page), the waveform image will be calculated and displayed during the actual recording process.

This realtime calculation uses some processing power – if your processor is slow or you are working on a CPU-intensive project, you should consider turning this option off.

Undoing recording

If you decide that you do not like what you just recorded, you can delete it by selecting Undo from the Edit menu. The following will happen:

• The event(s) you just created will be removed from the Project window.

• The audio clip(s) in the Pool will be moved to the Trash folder.

• The recorded audio file(s) will not be removed from the hard disk.

However, since their corresponding clips are moved to the Trash folder, you can delete the files by opening the Pool and selecting “Empty Trash” from the Media menu, see “Deleting from the hard disk” on page 161.

Recording overlapping events

The basic rule for audio tracks is that each track can play back a single audio event at a time. This means that if two or more events are overlapping, only one of them will be heard at any given time.

What happens when you record overlapping events (record in an area where there are already events on the track) depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

Recording

Recording is done using any of the general recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 51). When you finish recording, an audio file is created in the Audio folder within the project folder. In the Pool, an audio clip is created for the audio file, and an audio event that plays the whole clip appears on the recording track. Finally, a waveform image is calculated for the audio event. If the recording was very long, this may take a while.

Recording

• In “Normal” or “Merge” mode, recording where some-

thing has already been recorded creates a new audio event that overlaps the previous one(s).

When you record audio, there is no difference between “Normal” and “Merge” mode – the difference only applies to MIDI recording (see

“About overlap and the Record Mode setting” on page 59).

• In “Replace” mode, existing events (or portions of events)

Record Enable button

Monitor button

that are overlapped by the new recording will be removed.

This means that if you record a section in the middle of a longer existing recording, the original event will be cut into two events with a gap for the new event.

Which event will be heard?

If two or more events are overlapping, you will only hear the events (or portions of events) that are actually visible. Overlapped (hidden) events or sections are not played back.

• The functions “Move to Front” and “Move to Back” on the Edit menu (Move submenu, see “Moving events” on

page 30) are useful for managing overlapping events, as is

the “To Front” function (see below).

Ö If you just want to use the Thru function for a MIDI track without recording, activate the monitor button for the track instead.

This is useful, for instance, if you want to try out different sounds or play a VST instrument in realtime without recording your playing.

Setting MIDI channel, input and output

Setting the MIDI channel in the instrument

Most MIDI synthesizers can play several sounds at the same time, each on a different MIDI channel. This is the key to playing back several sounds (bass, piano etc.) from the same instrument. Some devices (such as General MIDI compatible sound modules) always receive on all 16 MIDI channels. If you have such an instrument, there is no specific setting you need to make in the instrument. On other instruments, you will have to use the front panel controls to set up a number of “Parts”, “Timbres” or similar so that they receive on one MIDI channel each. See the manual that came with your instrument for more information.

Recording audio in cycle mode

If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the last complete “take” (the last completely recorded lap) is kept as an audio event.

MIDI recording specifics

Activating MIDI Thru

Normally, when working with MIDI, you will have MIDI Thru activated in Cubase Essential, and Local Off selected in your MIDI instrument(s). In this mode, everything you play during recording will be “echoed” back out again on the MIDI output and channel selected for the recording track.

1. Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated in the Preferences (MIDI page).

2. Record enable the track(s) on which you want to record.

Now, incoming MIDI is “echoed” back out again for all record-enabled MIDI tracks.

Naming MIDI ports in Cubase Essential

MIDI inputs and outputs are often displayed with unnecessarily long and complicated names. However, you can rename your MIDI ports to more descriptive names:

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

2. Select the MIDI Port Setup item in the Device list.

The available MIDI inputs and outputs are listed. Under Windows, which device to choose depends on your system.

3. To change the name of a MIDI port, click in the “Show

As” column and type in a new name.

After closing the dialog, the new name will appear on the MIDI Input and Output Routing pop-up menus.

Setting the MIDI input in the Inspector

You select MIDI inputs for tracks in the Inspector (the area to the left of the Track list in the Project window):

1. If the Inspector is hidden, click the Show Inspector

button on the toolbar.

2. Select the track(s) by clicking in the Track list.

To select multiple tracks, press [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] and click. The Inspector shows the settings for the first selected track (for details, see

“The Inspector” on page 18).

Recording

3. Click the track name in the Inspector to make sure the topmost section is shown.

4. Pull down the Input Routing pop-up menu and select an input.

The available MIDI inputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on the type of MIDI interface you are using, etc.

• If you select the “All MIDI Inputs” option, the track will receive MIDI data from all available MIDI inputs.

• If you hold down [Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI input, this will be used for all selected MIDI tracks.

Setting the MIDI channel and output

The MIDI channel and output settings determine where the recorded MIDI is routed during playback, but are also relevant for MIDI Thru in Cubase Essential. Channel and output can be selected in the Track list or in the Inspector. The procedure below describes how to make the settings in the Inspector, but it can be done in largely the same manner in the Track list as well.

1. To select the track(s) and show the settings in the Inspector, proceed as when selecting a MIDI input (see above).

2. Pull down the Output Routing pop-up menu and select an output.

The available MIDI outputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on what type of MIDI interface you are using etc.

• If you hold down [Shift]-[Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI

output, this is selected for all selected MIDI tracks.

3. Use the Channel pop-up menu to select a MIDI channel

for the track.

• If you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, each MIDI

event on the track will be sent out on the channel stored in the event itself.

In other words, the MIDI material will be played back on the channel(s) used by the MIDI input device (the MIDI instrument you play during recording).

Selecting a sound

You can select sounds from within Cubase Essential by instructing the program to send Program Change and Bank Select messages to your MIDI device. This is done using the “Patch Selector” and “Bank Selector” fields in the Inspector or Track list.

Program Change messages give access to 128 different program locations. If your MIDI instruments have more than 128 programs, Bank Select messages (set in the “Bank Selector” field) allow you to select different banks, each containing 128 programs.

Ö Bank Select messages are recognized differently by different MIDI instruments. The structure and numbering of banks and programs may also vary. Consult the documentation of your MIDI instruments for details.

Recording

Recording MIDI is done according to the basic recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 51). When you finish recording, a part containing MIDI events is created in the Project window.

About overlap and the Record Mode setting

MIDI tracks are different from audio tracks when it comes to overlapping parts:

Ö All events in overlapping parts are always played back.

If you record several parts at the same locations (or move parts so that they overlap), you will hear the events in all parts on playback, even though some of the parts are obscured in the Project window.

When recording overlapping parts, the result depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

• If the record mode is set to “Normal”, overdub recording works as with audio tracks, i.e. if you record again where something has already been recorded, you get a new part that overlaps the previous one(s).

• If the record mode is set to “Merge”, the overdubbed events are added to the existing part.

• If the record mode is set to “Replace”, the new recording replaces any existing events in the area on that track.

About punch in and out on MIDI tracks

Performing and setting up manual and automatic punch in/out recording for MIDI tracks is done in exactly the same way as for audio tracks. There is one thing to note, however:

• Punching in and out on recordings with Pitchbend or

controller data (modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) may lead to strange effects (apparently hanging notes, constant vibrato etc.).

If this happens, you may need to use the Reset item on the MIDI menu (see “The Reset function” on page 60).

About the Automatic MIDI Record Quantize function

If Auto Quantize is activated on the Transport panel (the “Auto Q” button), the notes you record are automatically quantized according to the current Quantize settings. For more information about quantizing, see “The Quantizing

functions” on page 201.

Recording MIDI in cycle mode

When you record MIDI in cycle mode, the result depends on which Cycle Record mode is selected on the Transport panel:

Cycle Record mode: Mix (MIDI)

For each completed lap, everything you record is added to what was previously recorded in the same part. This is useful for building up rhythm patterns, for example. Record a hi-hat part on the first lap, the bass drum part on the second lap etc.

Cycle Record mode: Overwrite (MIDI)

As soon as you play a MIDI note (or send any MIDI message), all MIDI you have recorded on previous laps is overwritten from that point on in the part. An example:

1. You start recording in an eight bar cycle.

2. The first take was not good enough – you start directly

with a new take on the next cycle lap and overwrite the first take.

3. After recording the second take you let the recording roll on and listen, without playing anything.

You find that the take was good up until bar seven, for example.

4. On the next lap, you wait until bar seven and start playing.

This way you will overwrite the last two bars only.

5. Make sure you stop playing before the next lap begins – otherwise you will overwrite the entire take.

Cycle Record mode: Keep Last

Each completed lap replaces the previously recorded lap. Note the following:

• The cycle lap must be completed – if you deactivate recording or press Stop before the cursor reaches the right locator, the previous take will be kept.

• If you do not play or input any MIDI during a lap, nothing happens (the previous take will be kept).

Recording

Recording different types of MIDI messages

You can decide exactly which event types should be recorded by using the MIDI filters – see “Filtering

MIDI” on page 61.

Notes

When you press and release a key on your synth or other MIDI keyboard, a Note On (key down) and a Note Off (key up) message are sent out. The MIDI note message also contains the information which MIDI channel was used. Normally, this information is overridden by the MIDI channel setting for the track, but if you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, the notes will be played back on their original channels.

Continuous messages

Pitchbend, aftertouch and controllers (like modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) are considered as MIDI continuous events (as opposed to the momentary key down and key up messages). If you move the Pitchbend wheel on your synthesizer while recording, this movement is recorded together with the key (Note On and Note Off messages), just as you’d expect. But the continuous messages can also be recorded after the notes have been recorded (or even before). They can also be recorded on their own tracks, separately from the notes to which they belong.

Say, for instance, that you record one or several bass parts on track 2. If you now set another track, like track 55, to the same output and MIDI channel as track 2, you can make a separate recording of just pitchbends for the bass parts on track 55. This means that you activate recording as usual and only move the pitchbend wheel during the take. As long as the two tracks are set to the same output and MIDI channel, it will appear to the MIDI instrument as if the two recordings were made at the same time.

Program Change messages

Normally, when you switch from one program to another on your keyboard (or whatever you use to record), a number corresponding to that program is sent out via MIDI as a Program Change message. These can be recorded on the fly with the music, recorded afterwards on a separate track, or manually entered in the Key or List Editors.

System Exclusive messages

System Exclusive (SysEx) is a special type of MIDI message used to send data that only makes sense to a unit of a certain make and type. SysEx can be used to transmit a list of the numbers that make up the settings of one or more sounds in a synth. For details about viewing and editing SysEx messages, see the section “Working with Sys-

tem Exclusive messages” on page 239.

The Reset function

The Reset function on the MIDI menu sends out note-off messages and resets controllers on all MIDI channels. This is sometimes necessary if you experience hanging notes, constant vibrato, etc.

There are two other options to perform a reset:

• Cubase Essential can automatically perform a MIDI reset on stop.

You can turn this function on or off in the Preferences (MIDI page).

• Cubase Essential can automatically insert a reset event at the end of a recorded part.

Open the Preferences (MIDI page) and activate the option “Insert Reset Events after Record”. The inserted Reset event will reset controller data such as Sustain, Aftertouch, Pitchbend, Modulation, Breath Control, etc. This is useful if a MIDI part is recorded and the Sustain pedal is still held after stopping recording. Usually, this would cause all following parts to be played with Sustain, as the Pedal Off command was not recorded. This can be prevented by activating “Insert Reset Events after Record”.

Retrospective Record

This feature allows you to capture any MIDI notes you play in Stop mode or during playback and turn them into a MIDI part “after the fact”. This is possible due to the fact that Cubase Essential can capture MIDI input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Enable the Retrospective Record option in the Preferences (Record–MIDI page).

This activates the buffering of MIDI input, making Retrospective Record possible.

2. Make sure a MIDI track is record-enabled.

3. When you have played some MIDI material you want

to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), select Retrospective Record from the Transport menu (or use the key command, by default [Shift]-Num[*]).

Recording

The content of the MIDI buffer (i.e. what you just played) is turned into a MIDI part on the record enabled track. The part will appear where the project cursor was when you started playing – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

• The Retrospective Record Buffer Size setting in the

Preferences (Record–MIDI page) determines how much data can be captured.

MIDI Preferences

There are several other options and settings in the Preferences that affect MIDI recording and playback:

MIDI page

• Length Adjustment

Adjusts the length of notes so that there is always a short time between the end of one note and the start of another (of the same pitch and on the same MIDI channel). The time is set in ticks. By default there are 120 ticks per 1/16 note.

Record–MIDI page

• Snap MIDI Parts to Bars

When this is activated, recorded MIDI parts will automatically be lengthened to start and end at whole bar positions. If you are working in a Bars+Beats-based context, this can make editing (moving, duplicating, repeating, etc.) easier.

• Solo Record in MIDI Editors

If this is activated and you open a part for editing in a MIDI editor, its track is automatically record-enabled. Furthermore, Record Enable is deactivated for all other MIDI tracks until you close the editor again. This makes it easier to record MIDI data when you’re editing a part – you will always be sure the recorded data ends up in the edited part and not on any other track.

• MIDI Record Catch Range in ms

When you record starting at the left locator, this setting helps you make sure the very start of the recording is included. A very annoying scenario is when you have recorded a perfect MIDI take, only to find out that the very first note was not included – because you started playing a little bit too early! If you raise the Record Catch Range, Cubase Essential will catch the events played just before the recording start point, eliminating this problem.

For a description of the other options, click the Help button in the Preferences.

Filtering MIDI

The MIDI–MIDI Filter page in the Preferences allows you to prevent certain MIDI messages from being recorded and/or “thruput” (echoed by the MIDI Thru function).

The dialog is divided into four sections:

Section Description

Record Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI

Thru Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI

Channels If you activate a channel button, no MIDI messages on

Controller Allows you to prevent certain MIDI controller types from

message from being recorded. It can, however, be thruput, and if already recorded, it will play back normally.

message from being thruput. It can, however, be recorded and played back normally.

that MIDI channel will be recorded or thruput. Already recorded messages will, however, be played back normally.

being recorded or thruput. To filter out a controller type, select it from the list at the top of the Controller section and click “Add”. It will appear on the list below. To remove a controller type from the list (allow it to be recorded and thruput), select it in the lower list and click “Remove”.

Recording

Options and Settings

Post-roll value field and on/off switch.

Pre-roll value field and on/off switch.

Click on/off

Precount on/off

Recording-related Transport Preferences

A couple of settings in the Preferences (Transport page) are relevant for recording. Set these according to your preferred method of work:

Deactivate Punch In on Stop

If this is activated, punch in on the Transport panel is automatically deactivated whenever you enter Stop mode.

Stop after Automatic Punch Out

If this is activated, playback will automatically stop after automatic punch out (when the project cursor reaches the right locator and punch out is activated on the Transport panel). If the post-roll value on the Transport panel is set to a value other than zero, playback will continue for the set time before stopping (see below).

About Pre-roll and Post-roll

The pre-roll and post-roll value fields (below the left/right locator fields) on the Transport panel have the following functionality:

• By setting a pre-roll value, you instruct Cubase Essential

to “roll back” a short section whenever playback is activated.

This applies whenever you start playback, but is perhaps most relevant when recording from the left locator (punch in activated on the Transport panel) as described below.

• By setting a post-roll value, you instruct Cubase Essen-

tial to play back a short section after automatic punch out before stopping.

This is only relevant when punch out is activated on the Transport panel and “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page).

• To turn pre-roll or post-roll on or off, click the corre-

sponding button on the Transport panel (next to the pre/ post-roll value) or use the “Use Pre-roll” and “Use Postroll” options on the Transport menu.

An example:

1. Set the locators to where you want to start and end recording.

2. Activate Punch in and Punch out on the Transport panel.

3. Activate the option “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” in the Preferences (Transport page).

4. Set suitable pre-roll and post-roll times by clicking in the corresponding fields on the Transport panel and typing in time values.

5. Activate pre-roll and post-roll by clicking the buttons next to the pre-roll and post-roll times so that they light up.

6. Activate recording.

The project cursor “rolls back” by the time specified in the pre-roll field and playback starts. When the cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated. When the cursor reaches the right locator, recording is deactivated, but playback continues for the time set in the post-roll field before stopping.

Using the metronome

The metronome can output a click that can be used as a timing reference. The two parameters that govern the timing of the metronome are tempo and time signature, as set in the Tempo Track Editor (see “Editing the tempo curve” on page 252).

You can use the metronome for a click during recording and/or playback or for a precount (count-in) that will be heard when you start recording from Stop mode. Click and precount are activated separately:

• To activate the metronome, click the Click button on the Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Metronome On” option on the Transport menu or use the corresponding key command (by default [C]).

• To activate the precount, click the Precount button on the Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Precount On” option on the Transport menu or set up a key command for this.

Recording

Metronome settings

You make settings for the metronome in the Metronome Setup dialog, opened from the Transport menu.

Precount Options

Use Time Signature at Project Time

Use Signature This lets you set a time signature for the precount. In this

MIDI Click Description

Activate MIDI Click

MIDI Port/ Channel

Hi Note/ Velocity

Lo Note/ Velocity

Description

When this is activated, the precount will be in the time signature set on the tempo track. Furthermore, any tempo changes on the tempo track during the precount will be applied.

mode, tempo changes on the tempo track will not affect the precount.

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via MIDI.

This is where you select a MIDI output and channel for the metronome click. Note that you can select a VST instrument previously set up in the VST Instruments window from this menu, allowing you to use a VST Instrument sound for the Metronome click.

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity value for the “high note” (the first beat in a bar).

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity for the “low notes” (the other beats).

The metronome can use either an audio click played back via the audio hardware, send MIDI data to a connected device which will play back the click or do both.

The following metronome settings can be made in the dialog:

Metronome Options

Metronome in Record / Play

Use Count Base

Precount Options

Precount Bars

Use Time Signature at Record Start Time

Description

Allows you to specify whether the metronome should be heard during playback, recording or both (when Click is activated on the Transport panel).

If this option is activated, a field appears to the right where you specify the “rhythm” of the metronome. Normally, the metronome plays one click per beat, but setting this to e.g. “1/8” gives you eighth notes – two clicks per beat. It is also possible to create unusual metronome rhythms such as triplets etc.

Description

Sets the number of bars the metronome will count in before it starts recording if precount is activated on the Transport panel.

When this is activated, the precount will automatically use the time signature and tempo set at the position where you start recording.

Audio Click Description

Activate Audio Click

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via the audio hardware. You can set the level of the click with the slider.

Lock and Unlock Record

During recording it can happen that you accidentally deactivate the record mode, e.g. by pressing [Space]. In order to prevent this, you can set up a key command for this in the Key Commands dialog. If you use the Lock Record key command, the Record button will turn gray and the record mode is locked until you use the Unlock Record key command or enter Stop mode.

• If Lock Record is activated and you want to enter Stop mode (by clicking Stop or pressing [Space]), you will see a dialog in which you need to confirm that you want to stop recording. You can also use the Unlock Record key command first and then enter Stop mode as usual.

• By default, no key commands are assigned to these functions. In the Key Commands dialog, you will find the corresponding key command entries in the Transport category (see the chapter “Key commands” on page 304 for more information on how to set up key commands).

Recording

Ö These key commands are especially useful when com-

bined with other commands (e.g. with Record/Stop) using the macro functions. That way you will receive powerful macros that can greatly enhance your workflow.

Ö Note that an automatic punch-out at the right locator position that you may have set on the transport panel, will be ignored in Lock Record mode.

Remaining Record Time Display

The Remaining Record Time Display lets you see how much time you have left for recording. The available time depends on the current setup, for example, on the amount of tracks that are record-enabled, your project setup (e.g. the sample rate), and the amount of hard disk space available.

You can show and hide the display by using the Remaining Record Time Display option on the Devices menu.

Ö The remaining record time is also shown in the status bar below the Track list.

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Normally, when a computer crashes, all changes made to your current project since you last saved it will be lost. Usually, there is no quick and easy way to recover your work.

With Cubase Essential, when your system crashes while you are recording (because of a power cut or other mishap), you will find that your recording is still available, from the moment when you started recording to the time when your computer crashed.

When you experience a computer crash during a recording, simply relaunch the system and check the project record folder (by default this is the Audio subfolder inside the project folder). It should contain the audio file you were recording at the time of the crash.

Please do not try to actively bring about this kind of situation to test this feature. Although the internal program processes have been improved to cope with such situations, Steinberg cannot guarantee that other parts of the computer are not damaged as a consequence.

This feature does not constitute an “overall” guarantee by Steinberg. While the program itself was improved in such a way that audio recordings can be recovered after a system failure, it is always possible that a computer crash, power cut, etc. might have damaged another component of the computer, making it impossible to save or recover any of the data.

Recording

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating fades

There are two main types of fade-ins and fade-outs in audio events in Cubase Essential: fades created by using the fade handles (see below) and fades created by processing (see “Fades created by processing” on page 67).

Fades created by using the fade handles

Selected audio events have blue handles in the upper left and right corners. These can be dragged to create a fadein or fade-out respectively.

Creating a fade-in. The fade is automatically reflected in the shape of the event’s waveform, giving you a visual feedback of the result when you drag the fade handle.

Fades created with the handles are not applied to the audio clip as such but calculated in realtime during playback. This means that several events referring to the same audio clip can have different fade curves. It also means that having a huge number of fades may demand a lot of processor power.

• If you select multiple events and drag the fade handles

on one of them, the same fade will be applied to all selected events.

• A fade can be edited in the Fade dialog, as described

on the following pages.

You open the dialog by double-clicking in the area above the fade curve, or by selecting the event and selecting “Open Fade Editor(s)” from the Audio menu (note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and fade-out curves). If you adjust the shape of the fade curve in the Fade dialog, this shape will be maintained when you later adjust the length of a fade.

• You can make the fade longer or shorter at any time, by

dragging the handle.

You can actually do this even without selecting the event first, i. e. without visible handles. Just move the mouse pointer along the fade curve until the cursor turns into a bidirectional arrow, then click and drag.

• If the option “Fade Handles always on Top” is activated

in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), the fade handles stay at the top of the event, and vertical help lines indicate the exact end or start points of fades.

This is useful in situations where you want the event volume to be very low, as this option allows you to still see the fade handles.

• If the option “Show Event Volume Curves Always” is activated in the Preferences (Event Display–Audio page), the fade curves will be shown in all events, regardless of whether they are selected or not.

If the option is deactivated, the fade curves are shown in selected events only.

• If the option “Thick Fade Lines” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), the fade lines and volume curve are thicker, increasing their visibility.

Fade handles on top of the event and thicker fade and volume lines allow you to edit and view fades even in situations where event volume is very low.

• When the option “Use Mouse Wheel for Event volume and Fades” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page), you can use the mouse wheel to move the volume curve up or down. When you hold down [Shift] while moving the mouse wheel, this will change the fade curves. This is useful in situations where the fade handles are not visible (e.g. because of a very high zoom factor).

When you position the mouse pointer somewhere in the left half of the event, the fade in end point is moved. When the mouse pointer is in the right half of the event, the fade out start point will move.

Ö You can set up key commands for changing the event volume curve and any fade curves, if you do not want to use the mouse for this.

You will find these commands in the Key Commands dialog, in the Audio category, see “Key commands” on page 304.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection

Drag the Volume handle up or down to change the volume of the event.

The volume change is displayed numerically on the info line.

The event waveform reflects the volume change.

tool

“Handle-type” fades can also be created and adjusted with the Range Selection tool, in the following way:

1. Select a section of the audio event with the Range

Selection tool.

The result depends on your selection:

• If you select a range from the beginning of the event, a fade-in will be created within the range.

• If you select a range that reaches the end of an event, a fadeout will be created in the range.

• If you select a range encompassing a middle section of the event, but not reaching neither the start nor the end, both a fade-in and a fade-out will be created outside of the selected range. In other words, the fade-in will cover the area from the beginning of the event to the beginning of the selected range, and the fade-out will cover the area from the end of the selected range to the end of the event.

2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Adjust Fades to

Range”.

The fade areas are adjusted according to the selection range.

You can select multiple audio events on separate tracks with the Range Selection tool, and apply the fade to all of them simultaneously.

About the volume handle

A selected audio event also has a blue handle in the top middle. This is the volume handle, and it provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event, directly in the Project window. It is linked directly to the volume setting on the info line, that is, dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.

Removing fades

To remove the fades for an event, select the event and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

You can also use the Range Selection tool to remove fades and crossfades within the selected range this way.

Fades created by processing

If you have selected an audio event or a section of an audio event (using the Range Selection tool), you can apply a fade-in or fade-out to the selection by using the “Fade In” or “Fade Out” functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. These functions open the corresponding Fade dialog, allowing you to specify a fade curve.

Note that the length of the fade area is determined by your selection. In other words, you specify the length of the fade before you enter the Fade dialog.

Also note that you can select multiple events and apply the same processing to all of them simultaneously.

Fades created this way are applied to the audio clip rather than to the event. Please note the following:

• If you later create new events that refer to the same clip, these will have the same fades.

• You can remove or modify the fades at any time using the Offline Process History (see “The Offline Process History dialog” on page 136).

If other events refer to the same audio clip, you will be asked whether you want the processing to be applied to these events or not.

• Continue will apply the processing to all events that refer to the audio clip.

• New Version will create a separate, new version of the audio clip for the selected event.

• You can also activate the option “Do not show this mes-

sage again”. Regardless of whether you then choose “Continue” or “New Version”, any further processing will conform to the option you select.

You can change this setting at any time in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page), under “On Processing Shared Clips”.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

The Fade dialogs

The Fade dialogs appear when you edit an existing fade or use the Fade In/Fade Out functions on the Process submenu on the Audio menu. The picture below shows the Fade In dialog; the Fade Out dialog has identical settings and features.

• If you open the Fade dialog(s) with several events selected, you can adjust the fade curves for all these events at the same time.

This is useful if you want to apply the same type of fade-in to more than one event, etc.

Curve Kind

These buttons determine whether the fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Fade display

The Fade display shows the shape of the fade curve. The resulting waveform shape is shown in dark gray, with the current waveform shape in light gray.

You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Restore button

The Restore button (to the right above the fade display) is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you have made since opening the dialog.

As Default button

The “As Default” button is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to store the current settings as the default fade. This shape will be used whenever you create new fades.

Fade Length Value

The Fade Length Value is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. It can be used to enter fade lengths numerically. The format of values displayed here are determined by the primary Time Display in the Transport Panel.

When you activate the “Apply Length” option, the value entered in the Fade Length value field will be used when clicking “Apply” or “OK”. This setting is deactivated by default.

When you set the current Fade as the Default fade, the length value is included as part of the default settings.

Presets

If you have set up a fade in or fade out curve that you may want to apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

• To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.

• To rename the selected preset, double-click on the

name and type a new one.

• To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu and click Remove.

Stored fade in presets will only appear in the Fade In dialog, and fade out presets will only appear in the Fade Out dialog.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Preview, Apply and Process

The Edit Fade dialog The Process Fade dialog

Overlapping section

Audio clips

Audio events

The buttons in the bottom row are different depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying a fade using processing:

The Edit Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

OK Applies the set fade curve to the event, and closes the dialog. Cancel Closes the dialog. Apply Applies the set fade curve to the event, without closing the

dialog.

• If the events do not overlap but are directly consecutive

(lined up end-to-start, with no gap) it is still possible to crossfade them – provided that their respective audio clips overlap! In this case, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a crossfade of the default length and shape is applied.

The default crossfade length and shape are set in the Crossfade dialog (see “Default buttons” on page 71).

An example:

The Process Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

Preview Plays back the fade area. Playback will repeat until you click

Process Applies the set fade curve to the clip, and closes the dialog. Cancel Closes the dialog without applying any fade.

the button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during playback).

Creating crossfades

Overlapping audio material on the same track can be crossfaded, for smooth transitions or special effects. You create a crossfade by selecting two consecutive audio events and selecting the Crossfade command on the Audio menu (or by using the corresponding key command, by default [X]). The result depends on whether the two events overlap or not:

• If the events overlap, a crossfade is created in the overlapping area.

The crossfade will be of the default shape – initially a linear, symmetric crossfade, but you can change this as described below.

The events themselves do not overlap, but their clips do. Therefore, the events can be resized so that they overlap, which is required for a crossfade to be created.

When you select the Crossfade function, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a default crossfade is created in the overlapping section.

• If the events do not overlap, and cannot be resized

enough to overlap, a crossfade cannot be created.

• Once you have created a crossfade, you can edit it by

selecting one or both crossfaded events, and selecting “Crossfade” from the Audio menu again (or by doubleclicking in the crossfade zone).

This opens the Crossfade dialog, see below.

Removing crossfades

To remove a crossfade, proceed as follows:

• Select the events and select “Remove Fades” from the

Audio menu.

You can also use the Range Selection tool: drag the Range Selection tool so that the selection encloses all the fades and crossfades you wish to remove, and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

• You can also remove a crossfade by clicking and drag-

ging it outside the track.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

The Crossfade dialog

Play buttons

• The “Play Fade Out” and “Play Fade In” buttons allow

you to audition the fade-out or fade-in part only, without the crossfade.

• The “Play Crossfade” button plays back the whole

crossfade. You can also use the Transport panel controls to play back

the crossfaded audio events. However, that method will play back all unmuted audio events on other tracks as well.

The Crossfade dialog contains separate, but identical, sections for the fade-in and fade-out curve settings in the crossfade on the left, and common settings on the right.

Fade Displays

Shows the shape of the fade-out and fade-in curve, respectively. You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve kind buttons

These buttons determine whether the corresponding fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Equal Power and Gain

• If you activate the “Equal Gain” checkbox, the fade curves are adjusted so that the summed fade-in and fadeout amplitudes will be the same all along the crossfade region. This is often suitable for short crossfades.

• If you activate the “Equal Power” checkbox, the fade curves are adjusted, so that the energy (power) of the crossfade will be constant all along the crossfade region.

Equal Power curves have only one editable curve point. You cannot use the Curve kind buttons or the presets when this mode is selected.

Pre-roll and Post-roll

When auditioning with the Play buttons, you can choose to activate pre-roll and/or post-roll. Pre-roll lets you start playback before the fade area, and post-roll lets you stop playback after the fade area. This can be useful for auditioning the fade in a context.

• To specify how long the pre-roll and post-roll should be,

click in the time fields and enter the desired time (in seconds and milliseconds).

• To activate pre-roll and post-roll, click the respective

button. To deactivate it, click the button again.

Length settings

You can adjust the length of the crossfade area numerically in the “Length” field. If possible, the length change will be applied equally to “both sides” of the crossfade (i.e. Cubase Essential tries to “center” the crossfade).

To be able to resize a crossfade this way, it must be possible to resize the corresponding event. For example, if the left crossfaded event already plays its audio clip to the end, its endpoint cannot be moved any further to the right.

Presets

If you have set up a crossfade shape that you may want to apply to other events, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

• To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.

• To rename the selected preset, double-click on the

name and type in a new one.

• To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu and click Remove.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Default buttons

• Clicking the “As Default” button stores all of the current settings as the default crossfade. These settings will then be used whenever you create new crossfades.

• The Crossfade Length setting is included in the Default settings. However, it is only applied if the events to be crossfaded do not overlap, otherwise the crossfade will be in the overlap area (see “Creating crossfades” on page 69).

• Clicking the “Recall Default” button copies the curves and settings of the Default crossfade to the Crossfade dialog.

Auto Fades and Crossfades

Cubase Essential features an Auto Fade function that can be set both globally, i.e. for the entire project, and separately for each audio track. The idea behind the Auto Fade function is to create smoother transitions between events by applying short (1–500ms) fade-ins and fade-outs.

As mentioned earlier, fades are calculated in realtime during playback. This means that the larger the number of audio tracks with Auto Fades activated in a project, the higher the demands on the processor.

Note that auto fades are not indicated by the fade lines!

Making global Auto Fade settings

1. To make Auto Fades settings globally for the project, select “Auto Fades Settings…” from the Project menu.

This opens the Auto Fades dialog for the project.

2. Use the checkboxes in the upper right corner to acti-

vate or deactivate Auto Fade In, Auto Fade Out and Auto Crossfades, respectively.

3. Use the Length value field to specify the length of the

Auto Fade or Crossfade (1–500ms).

4. To adjust the shapes of Auto Fade In and Auto Fade

Out, select the “Fades” tab and make settings as in the regular Fade dialogs.

5. To adjust the shape of the Auto Crossfade, select the

“Crossfades” tab and make settings as in the regular Crossfade dialog.

6. If you want to use the settings you have made in future

projects, click the “As Default” button.

The next time you create a new project, it will use these settings by default.

7. Click OK to close the dialog.

Making Auto Fade settings for a separate track

By default, all audio tracks will use the settings you have made in the project’s Auto Fades dialog. However, since Auto Fades use computing power, a better approach may be to turn Auto Fades off globally and activate them for individual tracks, as needed:

1. Right-click the track in the Track list and select “Auto

Fades Settings…” from the context menu (or select the track and click the “Auto Fades Settings” button in the Inspector).

The Auto Fades dialog for the track opens. This is identical to the project’s Auto Fades dialog, with the addition of a “Use Project Settings” option.

2. Deactivate the “Use Project Settings” option.

Now, any settings you make will be applied to the track only.

3. Set up the Auto Fades as desired and close the dialog.

Reverting to project settings

If you want a track to use the global Auto Fade settings, open the Auto Fades dialog for the track and activate the “Use Project Settings” checkbox.

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

The Arranger track

Introduction

The Arranger track allows you to work with sections of your project in a non-linear fashion, to simplify arranging to the maximum extent. Instead of moving, copying and pasting events in the Project window to create a linear project, you can define how different sections are to be played back, like a playlist.

For this, you can define Arranger events, order them in a list, and add repeats as desired. This offers a different and more pattern-oriented way of working, which complements the usual linear editing methods in the Project window.

You can create several Arranger chains, making it possible to store different versions of a song within the project without sacrificing the original version. When you have created an Arranger chain that you like, you have the option of “flattening” the list, which creates a normal linear project based on the Arranger chain.

You can also use the Arranger track for live performances on the stage, in clubs or at parties.

Setting up the Arranger track

Let’s say you have prepared a number of audio files that form the base of a typical pop song, with introduction, verse, chorus and bridge. Now you want to arrange these files.

The first step is to create an Arranger track. On the Arranger track, you define specific sections of the project by creating Arranger events. These can be of any length, may overlap and are not bound to the start or end of existing events and parts. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the project for which you want to create Arranger events.

2. Open the Project menu and select Arranger from the Add Track submenu (or right-click in the Track list and select Add Arranger Track).

An Arranger track is added. There can be only one Arranger track in a project, but you can set up more than one Arranger chain for this track, see “Managing Arranger chains” on page 75.

3. On the Project window toolbar, make sure that Snap

is activated, and that the Snap Type is set to a mode that allows your Arranger events to snap to appropriate positions in the project.

Snap to events is activated, i.e. when drawing in the Project window, new events will snap to existing events.

4. On the Arranger track, use the Pencil tool to draw an

event of the desired length.

An Arranger event is added, called “A” by default. Any following events will be named in alphabetical order.

• You can rename an Arranger event by selecting it and

changing its name in the Project window info line or by holding down [Alt]/[Option], double-clicking on the name in the Arranger chain (see below) and entering a new name.

You may want to name your Arranger events according to the structure of your project, e.g. Verse, Chorus etc.

5. Create as many events as you need for your project.

In this example, Arranger events have been created that correspond to a classic pop song structure. Note how there is no real time line in the project: the music sequence is determined by the Arranger events.

Events can be moved, resized and deleted using the standard techniques. Please note:

• If you want to change the length of an event, select the

Arrow tool and click and drag the lower corners of the event in the desired direction.

• If you copy an Arranger event (by [Alt]/[Option]-drag-

ging or by using copy/paste), a new event will be created with the same name as the original.

However, this new event will be totally independent from the original event.

• Double-clicking on an Arranger event adds it to the cur-

rent Arranger chain.

The Arranger track

Working with Arranger events

Click the “e” button…

…to open the Arranger Editor.

You now have a number of Arranger events that form the basic building blocks for your arrangement. The next step is to arrange these events using the functions of the Arranger Editor.

Creating an Arranger chain

You can set up an Arranger chain in the Arranger Editor or in the Inspector for the Arranger track. The Arranger Editor is opened by clicking the “e” button in the Inspector or in the Track list.

• By dragging and dropping Arranger events from the list

on the right to the Arranger chain on the left.

A blue insertion line shows you where the dragged event will end up.

An event is dragged into the Arranger chain.

• By dragging Arranger events from the Project window

into the Arranger chain. If you followed our example, you should now have Arranger

events arranged in a very basic pop song pattern. However, we have used audio files that are only a few bars long – to turn our pattern into a “song” (or at least into a basic sketch of the song structure), these files must be looped. This is where the Repeats function comes in.

If you want an event to repeat several times, proceed as follows:

• Click in the Repeats field for an event, type in the de-

sired number of repeats and press [Enter].

When playing back the Arranger chain, the Counter column indicates which repeat of this event is currently playing.

On the right in the Arranger Editor, the available Arranger events are listed, in the order they appear on the time line. To the left you find the actual Arranger chain, which shows in which order the events will be played back, from top to bottom, and how many times they should be repeated.

Initially the Arranger chain is empty – you set it up by adding events from the list to the chain. There are several ways to add events to the Arranger chain:

• By double-clicking on the name of an event in the window section on the right (or in the Project window).

When an event is selected in the Arranger chain on the left, this will add the event above the selected event. When no events are selected in the Arranger chain, the event will be added at the end of the list.

• By selecting one or more events in the list, right-clicking and selecting “Append Selected In Arranger Chain”.

This will add the selected events at the end of the list.

• Click in the Mode field for an event and select the de-

sired repeat mode.

Option Button Description

Normal In this mode, the Arranger chain will be played

Repeat forever

Pause after Repeats

The Arranger track

back as you set it up.

In this mode, the current Arranger event will be repeated in a loop until you either click on another event in the Arranger Editor or press play once again.

In this mode, the playback of the Arranger chain will be stopped after having played back all repeats of the current Arranger event.

When you now play back the Arranger chain, you will hear

First repeat of current chain stepPrevious chain step

Next chain step Last repeat of current chain step

the complete arrangement. Proceed as follows:

1. Make sure that Arranger mode is activated.

In Arranger mode the project will be played back using the Arranger settings.

2. Position the Arranger Editor window so that you can see the Arranger track in the Project window, and click in the arrow column for the event at the top of the list so that the arrow becomes blue.

You should see the project cursor jump to the beginning of the first event specified in the Arranger chain.

3. Activate playback, either from the Arranger Editor or on the Transport panel.

The events are played back in the specified order.

Editing the Arranger chain

In the Arranger chain on the left, you can do the following:

• Select multiple events by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking or [Shift]-clicking as usual.

• Drag events to move them in the list.

• Drag events holding [Alt]/[Option] to create copies of

the selected items.

The insert location for both move and copy operations is indicated by a blue or red line in the list. A blue line indicates that the move or copy is possible; a red line indicates that moving or copying events to the current position is not allowed.

• Use the Repeats column to specify how many times each event should be repeated.

• Click the arrow to the left of an event in the Arranger chain to move the playback position to the start of that event.

• To remove an event from the list, right-click on it and select “Remove Touched” from the context menu. To remove several events, select them, right-click and select “Remove Selected”.

Navigating

To navigate between Arranger events, you use the Arranger transport buttons:

These controls are available in the Arranger Editor, on the Project window toolbar, and on the Transport panel.

In the Arranger Editor, the event that is currently played back is indicated by an arrow in the leftmost column, and the indicators in the Counter column.

Managing Arranger chains

You can create several Arranger chains. This way, you can create alternative versions for playback. In the Arranger Editor, the toolbar buttons on the right are used for this:

Button Description

Click this to rename the current Arranger chain.

Creates a new, empty Arranger chain.

Creates a duplicate of the current Arranger chain, containing the same events.

Removes the currently selected Arranger chain. Only available if you have created more than one Arranger chain.

• In the Inspector, these functions are accessed from the

Arranger pop-up menu (opened by clicking on the Arranger name field).

The Arranger chains you create will be listed on the Name pop-up menu, found in the Arranger Editor to the left of the buttons, at the top of the Arranger track Inspector, and in the Track list. Please note that to be able to select another Arranger chain from the pop-up menu, the Arranger mode must be activated.

The Arranger track

Flattening the Arranger chain

When you have found an Arranger chain that suits your purposes, you can “flatten” it, i.e. convert the list into a linear project. Proceed as follows:

1. Click the Flatten button (or select Flatten Chain from the pop-up menu in the Inspector for the Arranger track).

The events and parts in the project are reordered, repeated, resized, moved and/or deleted (if these are not within the boundaries of any used Arranger event), so that they correspond exactly to the Arranger chain.

The Flatten button

2. Activate Playback.

The project will now play back exactly as in Arranger mode, but you can view it and work with it as usual.

Flattening the Arranger chain may remove events and parts from the project. Only use the Flatten function when you know you do not want to edit the Arranger track/chain any more. If in doubt, save a copy of the project before flattening the Arranger chain.

In the Source section you can specify which Arranger chains are flattened. The available options are:

Option Description

Current Chain If you activate this option, only the current chain will be

Checked Chains…

All Chains If you activate this option, all Arranger chains of the

flattened. If you activate this option, you can select the Arranger

chains you want to flatten in the list to the left.

current project will be flattened.

The Destination section allows you to choose where the result of the flattening is saved. The available options are:

Option Description

Current Project

New Project

This is only available if you have selected “Current Chain” as Source. If you activate this option, the result of the flattening of the current chain will be saved in the current project.

If you activate this option, you can flatten one or several chains in a new project. In this case it might be useful to use naming options. If you activate “Append Chain Name”, the Chain Names will be appended in brackets to the project name. If you activate “Use Chain Name”, the new projects will have the name of the current Arranger chains. If you activate “Add Number”, the new projects will be named like the old ones and a number will be appended in brackets.

Flattening options

Sometimes it might be useful to keep the original Arranger events even after flattening the Arranger track. By using flattening options you can define which chain is flattened, where it is stored and how it is named together with other options.

1. Click the Flattening options button.

2. In the window that appears, select the desired options.

The Arranger track

In the Options section you can make further settings. The available options are:

Option Description

Keep Arranger Track

Make Real Event Copies

Don’t Split Events

Open New Projects

If you activate this option, the Arranger track will be kept when flattening the Arranger chain. Activate “Rename Arranger Events” to append a number to the events, according to their use. For example, if you use Arranger event “A” two times, the first occurrence will be renamed “A 1” and the second “A 2”.

Normally, you will get shared copies when flattening the Arranger track. If you activate this option, real copies will be created instead.

If this option is activated, MIDI notes that start before or are longer than the Arranger event will not be included. Only MIDI notes that begin and end inside the Arranger event boundaries will be taken into account.

If you activate this option, a new project will be created for every flattened Arranger chain. If you activate the option “Cascade New Projects” the opened projects will be cascaded.

3. You can now flatten the Arranger track by clicking the

Flatten button.

If you realize that you want to do further arrangements, you can click the “Go Back” button and make your adjustments. Your Flattening settings will be kept.

4. Click the “Go Back” button to go back to the Arranger Editor or close the window by clicking its Close button.

Live mode

If you have set up an Arranger track and play it back, you have also the possibility to influence the playback order “live”. Note that the Arranger mode has to be activated to be able to use the Live mode.

1. Add an Arranger track by selecting “Arranger” from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu.

2. Create the desired Arranger events by drawing with the Pencil tool on the Arranger track.

3. Set up an Arranger chain in the Inspector for the Arranger track or in the Arranger Editor, activate the Arranger mode and play back your project.

Now you can use your Arranger events listed in the lower section of the Inspector to play back your project in Live mode:

4. Switch into Live mode by clicking on the little arrow in the lower list of the Inspector to the left of the Arranger event you want to trigger.

The Arranger event will be looped endlessly, until you click on another Arranger event. This might be useful, for example, if you want to loop a guitar solo with a flexible length.

• You can stop Live mode by clicking the Stop button or go back to “normal” playback in Arranger mode by clicking on any Arranger event in the upper list.

In the latter case, playback will be continued from the Arranger event where you clicked. The Jump Mode pop-up menu will always be taken into account. If the grid is set to “1 Bar”, for example, and you click the Stop button, playback will be stopped after the next bar.

The active Arranger event will be played back as long as defined before jumping to the next.

Option Description

None Jumps to the next section immediately. 4 bars,

2 bars

1 bar Jumps to the next section at the next bar line. 1 beat Jumps to the next section at the next beat. End Plays the current section to the end, then jumps to the next sec-

When one of these modes is selected, a grid of 4 or 2 bars (depending on the setting) will be placed on the active Arranger event. Whenever the respective grid line is reached, playback will jump to the next Arranger event. An example: Let’s say you have an Arranger event which is 8 bars long and the grid is set to 4 bars. When the cursor is anywhere within the first 4 bars of the Arranger event when you hit the next Arranger event, playback will jump to the next event when the end of the fourth bar of the Arranger event is reached. When the cursor is anywhere within the last 4 bars of the Arranger event, playback will jump to the next event at the end of the event. When an event is shorter than 4 (or 2) bars and this mode is selected, playback will jump to the next section at the event end.

tion.

The Arranger track

Arranging your music to video

The relative time of your Arranger track can be taken as a reference instead of the project time. This is useful, if you want to use the Arranger track to compose music for video and fill e.g. a specific video section with music, by repeating the corresponding number of Arranger events.

If you position your external sync master device to a position that does not match the Project Start time, Cubase Essential will jump automatically to the right position in the Arranger track and will start playback from there, i.e. the correct relative position and not the absolute project time will be found. The reference for the external timecode can be MIDI or any other timecode that can be interpreted/ read by Cubase Essential.

An example:

1. Set up a project with a MIDI track and three MIDI parts. The first should start at position 00:00:00:00 and end at position 00:01:00:00, the second should start at position 00:01:00:00 and end at position 00:02:00:00 and the third should start at position 00:02:00:00 and end at position 00:03:00:00.

2. Activate the Sync button on the Transport panel.

3. Add an Arranger track and create Arranger events that

match the MIDI parts.

4. Set up the Arranger chain “A-A-B-B-C-C”, activate the Arranger mode and play back your project.

5. Start external timecode at position 00:00:10:00 (within the range of “A”).

In your project, the position 00:00:10:00 will be located and you will hear “A” playing. Nothing special!

Now, let’s see what happens if your external sync master device starts at a position that does not match the Project Start time:

6. Start at 00:01:10:00 (within the range of what originally was “B”).

In your project, the position 00:01:10:00 will be located and you will hear “A” playing, because it plays twice in the Arranger track.

7. Start external timecode at position 00:02:10:00

(within the range of what originally was “C”).

In your project, the position 00:02:10:00 will be located and you will hear “B” playing, because it plays “later” in the Arranger track.

Ö If the Arranger mode is not activated or no Arranger track exists, Cubase Essential will work as usual.

The Arranger track

The Mixer

About this chapter

This chapter contains detailed information about the elements used when mixing audio and MIDI, and the various ways you can configure the Mixer.

Some mixer-related features are not described in this chapter. These are the following:

• Setting up and using audio effects.

See the chapter “Audio effects” on page 95.

• Setting up and using MIDI effects.

See the chapter “MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 192.

• Automation of all mixer parameters.

See the chapter “Automation” on page 121.

• How to mix down several audio tracks (complete with automation and effects if you wish) to a single audio file.

See the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 255.

Overview

The Mixer offers a common environment for controlling levels, pan, solo/mute status etc. for both audio and MIDI channels.

Opening the Mixer

The Mixer can be opened in several ways:

• By selecting Mixer from the Devices menu.

• By clicking the Mixer icon on the toolbar.

• By clicking the Mixer button in the Devices panel.

You open the Devices panel by selecting Show Panel from the Devices menu.

What channel types can be shown in the Mixer?

The following track-based channel types are shown in the Mixer:

•Audio

•MIDI

• Effect return channels (referred to as FX channels in the Project window)

• Group channels

• Instrument track channels

The order of audio, MIDI, instrument, group and effect return channel strips (from left to right) in the Mixer corresponds to the Project window Track list (from the top down). If you reorder tracks of these types in the Track list, this will be mirrored in the Mixer.

In addition to the above, the following channel types are also shown in the Mixer:

• Activated ReWire channels (see the chapter “ReWire” on

page 283).

• VST instrument channels (see the chapter “VST instruments

and instrument tracks” on page 110).

ReWire channels cannot be reordered and always appear to the right of other channels in the main Mixer pane (see below). VST instrument (VSTi) channels can be reordered in the Track list which will in turn be mirrored in the Mixer.

The other track types are not shown in the Mixer.

Output busses in the Mixer

Output busses are represented by output channels in the Mixer. They appear in a separate “pane” separated by a movable divider and with its own horizontal scrollbar, see

“The output channels” on page 84.

• By using a key command (by default [F3]).

The Mixer

Configuring the Mixer

Global automation Read/ Write buttons

Store/Remove View set buttons (+/-) and Select View set pop-up, see

“Channel view sets” on page 82.

With these indicator buttons you can select which channel types are shown in the Mixer (see “Selec-

ting what channel types to show/hide” on page 81)

and/or will be affected by commands (see “About

the Command Target” on page 82).

Toggle channel strips in the Mixer between “All Targets Wide” and “All Targets Narrow”.

Opens the VST Connections window, see “The

VST Connections window” on page 11.

Reset Mixer/ Reset Channels

Channel settings copy/ paste, see “Copying set-

tings between audio channels” on page 89.

Global Mute and Solo buttons

Audio Channels

Group Channels

ReWire Channels

MIDI Channels

VST Instrument Channels

FX Channels

Output Channels

“Can Hide” options – see below

Reveal all channels

“Command Target” options – see “About the Command

Target” on page 82.

The Mixer window can be configured in various ways to suit your needs and to save screen space. Here follows a run through of the various view options (the following descriptions assume that you have an active project containing some tracks).

The Mixer shows the channel faders for the various tracks of your project. On the right of the fader panel you find the output channel fader. On the left is the common panel which allows for global settings affecting all channels.

The common panel

The common panel appears to the left in the Mixer window and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of the Mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.

• To hide or show a channel type, click the corresponding

indicator.

If an indicator is dark, the corresponding channel type will be shown in the Mixer. If it is orange, the corresponding channel type will be hidden.

Showing/hiding individual channels (the “Can Hide” setting)

You can also show/hide individual channels of any type in the Mixer. For this, you can assign channels a “Can Hide” status, which allows you to hide these channels collectively. Proceed as follows:

1. [Alt]/[Option]-click in the top middle section of the

channel strip activate the “Can Hide” option.

The “/” icon is shown if “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip.

Selecting what channel types to show/hide

You can specify what channel types to show or hide in the Mixer. In the lower part of the common panel you find a vertical strip with different indicator buttons. Each indicator represents a channel type to show or hide in the Mixer:

2. Repeat this for all channels you want to hide.

3. Click the button “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” on

the common panel.

This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the button again or click the “Reveal All Channels” button at the bottom of the common panel.

Below the “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” button, there are three additional buttons.

The Mixer

These have the following functionality:

Option Description

Set Target Channels to ‘Can Hide’

Remove ‘Can Hide’ from Target Channels

Remove ‘Can Hide’ from All Channels

This activates “Can Hide” for all Channels you specified as “Command Targets”, see below.

This deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels you specified as “Command Targets”, see below.

This deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels in the Mixer.

4. Click OK to store the current Mixer view set.

• You can now return to this stored configuration at any

time, by clicking the “Select Channel View Set” button (the down arrow to the left of the “Store View Set” button) and selecting it from the pop-up menu.

About the Command Target

Command targets let you specify which channels should be affected by the “commands” (basically all the functions that can be assigned key commands) when working with the Mixer, e.g. the width setting of the channel strips. You can set command targets using the Mixer common panel or the context menu.

The Command Target Controls on the common panel

The following options are available:

• All Channels – Select this if you want your commands to affect all channels.

• Selected Only – Select this if you want your commands to affect the selected channels only.

• Exclude Outputs – Select this if you do not want your commands to affect the output channels.

Channel view sets

Channel view sets are saved configurations of the Mixer window, allowing you to quickly switch between different layouts for the Mixer. Proceed as follows:

1. Set up the Mixer the way you wish to store it as a view

set.

The following settings will be stored:

• Settings for individual channel strips (e.g. narrow or wide mode and whether the channel strip is (or can be) hidden or not).

• The hide/show status for channel types.

2. Click the “Store View Set” button (the plus sign) at the

bottom of the common panel.

3. A dialog appears, allowing you to enter a name for the

view set.

• To remove a stored channel view set, select it and click the “Remove View Set” button (the minus sign).

Some remote control devices (such as Steinberg’s Houston) feature this function, which means that you can use the remote device to switch between the channel view sets.

Setting the width of channel strips

Each channel strip can be set to either “Wide” or “Narrow” mode by using the Channel Narrow/Wide button on the left above the fader strip.

The Channel Narrow/Wide button

• Narrow channel strips contain a narrow fader, miniature buttons, and the View options pop-up.

Wide and narrow channel strips

• When selecting “All targets narrow” or “All targets wide” on the common panel, all channel strips selected as command targets (see “About the Command Target” on

page 82) are affected.

The Mixer

The audio-related channel strips

The common panel (see “The

common panel”

on page 81)

Channel automation controls

Record Enable and Monitor buttons

Opens the control panel for the VST instrument

Level meter

Level fader

Edit button (opens the Channel Settings window)

Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons (see below)

Channel name

The Can Hide State for the channel

Narrow/Wide button

Pan control

Level fader (MIDI volume)

Level (velocity) meter

Channel automation controls

Pan control

Monitor and Record Enable buttons

Edit button

Mute and Solo

Insert/Send indicators and Bypass buttons

Channel Narrow/Wide button

Can Hide State

All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, output channels, group, effect return, VST instrument and ReWire) basically have the same channel strip layout, with the following differences:

• Only audio and instrument track channels have a Monitor and Record Enable button.

• Output channels do not have sends.

• Instrument track and VST instrument channels have an additional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.

• Output channels have clipping indicators.

About the Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons

The three indicator buttons in each audio channel strip have the following functionality:

• If an Insert or Send effect or an EQ module is activated

for a channel, the corresponding button is lit.

The effect indicators will be blue, the EQ indicator will be green.

The MIDI channel strips allow you to control volume and pan in your MIDI instrument (provided that they are set up to

• If you click these buttons when lit, the corresponding EQ or effects section will be bypassed.

Bypass is indicated by yellow buttons. Clicking the button again deactivates bypass.

The MIDI channel strips

receive the corresponding MIDI messages). The settings here are also available in the Inspector for MIDI tracks.

The Mixer

The output channels

Bus level meter

Read/Write Automation

Clipping indicator, see

“Setting input levels”

on page 54.

Edit button

Inserts and EQ indicators and Bypass buttons

Pan control

Mute and Solo buttons

Bus volume fader

Basic mixing procedures

The output busses you set up in the VST Connections window are represented by output channels in the Mixer. They are shown in a separate “pane” (to the right of the regular channel strips), with its own divider and horizontal scrollbar. The output channel strip is very similar to other audio channels.

• For information on how to set up input and output bus-

ses, see the chapter “VST Connections: Setting up input

and output busses” on page 9.

• How to route audio channels to busses is described in

the section “The output channels” on page 84.

• The Main Mix (the default output) bus is used for moni-

toring. For information about Monitoring, see “About moni-

toring” on page 13.

Setting volume in the Mixer

In the Mixer, each channel strip has a volume fader.

• For audio channels, the faders control the volume of the channels before they are routed (directly or via a group) channel to an output bus.

• An output channel fader determines the master output level of all audio channels routed to that output bus.

• MIDI channels handle fader volume changes in the Mixer by sending out MIDI volume messages to the connected instrument(s).

Connected instruments must be set to respond to MIDI messages (such as MIDI volume in this case) for this to function properly.

• The fader settings are displayed numerically below the faders, in dB for audio channels and in the MIDI volume 0 to 127 value range for MIDI channels.

You can click in the fader value fields and enter a volume setting by typing.

• To make fine volume adjustments, hold down [Shift] when you move the faders.

• If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on a fader, it will be reset to its default value, i.e. 0.0dB for audio channels, or MIDI volume 100 for MIDI channels.

This reset to default values works for most mixer parameters.

You can use the faders to set up a volume balance between the audio and MIDI channels and perform a manual mix by moving the faders and other controls while playing back. By using the Write function (see “Enabling and

disabling the writing of automation data” on page 122),

you can automate the levels and most Mixer actions.

It is also possible to make static volume settings for an event on the info line or with the volume handle (see “About the volume handle” on page 67).

The Mixer

About the level meters for audio channels

A muted channel in the Mixer.

A lit Global Mute indicator on the common panel shows that one or more channels are muted.

[Alt]/[Option]-click a Solo button…

…to activate Solo Defeat for that channel.

When playing back audio in Cubase Essential, the level meters in the Mixer show the level of each audio channel.

• Directly below the level meter is a small level readout –

this shows the highest registered level in the signal.

Click this to reset the peak levels.

If the peak level of the audio goes above 0dB, the numerical level indicator will show a positive value (i.e. a value above 0dB).

MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel and output

If you have several MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel (and routed to the same MIDI output), making volume and pan settings for one of these MIDI tracks/mixer channels will also affect all other mixer channels set to the same MIDI channel/output combination.

Using Solo and Mute

Ö Cubase Essential uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way beyond 0dB without clipping. Having higher levels than 0dB for individual audio channels is therefore not a problem in itself. The audio quality will not be degraded by this.

However, when many high level signals are mixed in an output bus, this may require that you lower the output channel level a lot (see below). Therefore it is good practice to keep the maximum levels for individual audio channels roughly around 0dB.

About the level meters for output channels

For the output channels, things are different. These channels have clipping indicators.

• When you are recording, clipping can occur when the

analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware.

It is also possible to get clipping in the signal being recorded to disk. For more information, see “Setting input levels” on page 54.

• In the output busses, the floating point audio is converted

to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the integer audio domain, the maximum level is 0dB – higher levels will cause the clipping indicator for each bus to light up.

If the clipping indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – digital distortion which should always be avoided.

If the clipping indicator lights up for an output channel, reset the indicator by clicking on it, and lower the level until the indicator does not light up.

The Mute and Solo buttons

You can use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or several channels. The following applies:

• The Mute button silences the selected channel.

Clicking the Mute button again unmutes the channel. Several channels can be muted simultaneously. Muting Group channels can have two different results depending on how the Preferences are set (see “Settings

for group channels” on page 90). A muted channel is indicated by a lit

Mute button and also by the lit Global Mute indicator on the common panel.

• Clicking the Solo button for a channel mutes all other channels.

A soloed channel is indicated by a lit Solo button, and also by the lit Global Solo indicator on the common panel. Click the Solo button again to turn off Solo.

• Several channels can be soloed at the same time.

However, if you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click the Solo button for a channel, any other soloed channels will automatically be un-soloed (i.e. this Solo mode is exclusive).

• [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo Defeat” for that channel.

In this mode the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel. To turn off Solo Defeat, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again.

Level meters for MIDI channels

The level meters for MIDI channels do not show actual volume levels. Instead, they indicate the velocity values of the notes played back on MIDI tracks.

• You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the Mute or Solo indicator on the common panel.

The Mixer

Setting pan in the Mixer

Audio-specific procedures

This section describes the options and basic procedures regarding audio channels in the Mixer.

The pan control

The pan controls in the Mixer are used to position a channel between the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. By default for stereo audio channels, pan controls the balance between the left and right channels. You can change this in the Preferences. By selecting one of the other pan modes (see below), you can set pan independently for the left and right channel.

• To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when

you move the pan control.

• To select the (default) center pan position, hold down

[Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the pan control.

• For MIDI channels, the pan control sends out MIDI pan

messages.

The result depends on how your MIDI instrument is set to respond to pan – check your documentation for details.

About the “Stereo Pan Law” setting (audio channels only)

In the Project Setup dialog there is a pop-up menu named “Stereo Pan Law”, on which you can select one of several pan modes. This is related to the fact that without power compensation, the power of the sum of the left and right side will be higher (louder) if a channel is panned center than if it is panned left or right.

To remedy this, the Stereo Pan Law setting allows you to attenuate signals panned center, by -6, -4.5 or -3dB (default). Selecting the 0dB option effectively turns off constant-power panning. Experiment with the modes to see which fits best in a given situation. You can also select “Equal Power” on this pop-up menu, which means that the power of the signal will remain the same regardless of the pan setting.

Using Channel Settings

For each audio channel strip in the Mixer and in the Inspector and Track list for each audio track, there is an Edit button (“e”).

Clicking this opens the VST Audio Channel Settings window. By default, this window contains:

• A section with eight insert effect slots (see “Audio effects” on

page 95).

• Four EQ modules and an associated EQ curve display (see

“Making EQ settings” on page 87).

• A section with eight sends (see “Audio effects” on page 95).

• A duplicate of the Mixer channel strip

You can customize the Channel Settings window, by showing/hiding the different panels and/or by changing their order:

• To specify which panels should be shown/hidden, right-click in the Channel settings window, and activate/deactivate the respective options on the Customize View submenu on the context menu.

• To change the order of the panels, select “Setup…” on the Customize View pop-up menu and use the “Move up” and “Move Down” buttons.

Ö For further information, see the chapter “Customizing” on page 297.

The Mixer

Every channel has its own channel settings window (al-

Click the Edit button to open the Channel Settings window.

though you can view each in the same window if you like – see below).

The Channel Settings window is used for the following operations:

• Apply equalization, see “Making EQ settings” on page 87.

• Apply send effects, see “Audio effects” on page 95.

• Apply insert effects, see “Audio effects” on page 95.

• Copy channel settings and apply them to another channel, see

“Copying settings between audio channels” on page 89.

You can also select a channel manually (thereby changing what is shown in the open Channel Settings window). Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Channel Settings window for any channel.

2. Open the Choose Edit Channel pop-up menu by

clicking the arrow button to the left of the channel number at the top of the Fader view.

3. Select a channel from the pop-up to show the settings for that channel in the open Channel Settings window.

• Alternatively, you can select a channel in the Mixer by clicking its channel strip (make sure not to click on a control as this will change the respective parameter setting instead).

This selects the channel, and the Channel Settings window is updated.

• To open several Channel Settings windows at the same time, press [Alt]/[Option] and click the Edit buttons for the respective channels.

All channel settings are applied to both sides of a stereo channel.

Making EQ settings

Each audio channel in Cubase Essential has a built-in

Changing channels in the Channel Settings window

You can view any channel’s settings from a single window. If the option “Sync Project and Mixer Selection” is acti-

vated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), this can be done “automatically”:

• Open the Channel Settings window for a track and po-

sition it so that you can see both the Project window and the Channel Settings window.

Selecting a track in the Project window automatically selects the corresponding channel in the Mixer (and vice versa). If a Channel Settings window is open, this will immediately switch to show the settings for the selected channel. This allows you to have a single Channel Settings window open in a convenient position on the screen, and use it for all your EQ and channel effect settings.

parametric equalizer with up to four bands. There are several ways to view and adjust the EQs:

• By selecting the “Equalizers” or “Equalizer Curve” tab in the Inspector.

The “Equalizers” section is similar to the “Equalizers” section in the Channel Settings window, while the “Equalizer Curve” section shows a display in which you can “draw” an EQ curve. Setting EQ in the Inspector is only possible for track-based audio channels.

Ö Note that by default, only the Equalizers tab is shown. To display the Equalizer Curve tab, right-click on an Inspector tab (not in the empty area below the Inspector) and activate the “Equalizer Curve” option.

• By using the Channel Settings window.

This offers both parameter sliders and a clickable curve display (the Equalizer + Curve pane) and also lets you store and recall EQ presets.

The Mixer

Below we describe how to set up EQ in the Channel Settings window, but the parameters are the same in the Mixer.

The Equalizers + Curve pane in the Channel Settings window consists of four EQ modules with parameter sliders, an EQ curve display and some additional functions at the top.

Using the parameter controls

1. Activate an EQ module by clicking its on/off button.

Although the modules have different default frequency values and different Q names, they all have the same frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz). The only difference between the modules is that you can specify different filter types for each individual module (see below).

2. Set the amount of cut or boost with the gain control –

the upper slider.

The range is ± 24dB.

3. Set the desired frequency with the frequency slider.

This is the center frequency of the frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz) to be cut or boosted.

4. Click on the lower slider (to the left) to open the filter

type pop-up menu and select the desired filter type.

The “eq1” and “eq4” bands can act as parametric, shelving or high/lowpass filters, while “eq2” and “eq3” will always be parametric filters.

5. Set the Q value with the lower slider (to the right).

This determines the width of the affected frequency range. Higher values give narrower frequency ranges.

6. If needed, you can activate and make settings for up to

four modules.

• Note that you can edit the values numerically as well, by clicking in a value field and entering the desired gain, frequency or Q value.

Using the curve display

When you activate EQ modules and make settings, you will see that your settings are automatically reflected in the curve display above. You can also make settings directly in the curve (or combine the two methods any way you like):

1. To activate an EQ module, click in the curve display.

This adds a curve point and one of the modules below are activated.

2. Make EQ settings by dragging the curve point in the display.

This allows you to adjust gain (drag up or down) and frequency (drag left or right).

3. To set the Q parameter, press [Shift] and drag the curve point up or down.

You will see the EQ curve become wider or narrower as you drag.

• You can also restrict the editing by pressing [Ctrl]/ [Command] (sets gain only) or [Alt]/[Option] (sets frequency only) while you drag the curve point.

4. To activate another EQ module, click somewhere else in the display and proceed as above.

5. To turn off an EQ module, double-click its curve point or drag it outside the display.

6. To mirror (“inverse”) the eq curve on the x axis, click the button to the right of the curve display.

The Inverse Equalizers button

The Mixer

EQ bypass

Whenever one or several EQ modules are activated for a channel, the EQ button will light up in green in the Mixer channel strip, Inspector (Equalizer and Channel sections), Track list and Channel Settings window (top right corner of the EQ section).

You can also bypass all EQ modules. This is useful, as it allows you to compare the sound with and without EQ. Proceed as follows:

• In the Mixer, the Track list and in the Channel section in

the Inspector, click the EQs state button so that it turns yellow.

To deactivate EQ Bypass, click the button again, so that it turns green again.

• In the Inspector (Equalizers tab) and in the Channel

Settings window, click the Bypass button (next to the EQ button) so that it turns yellow.

Click again to deactivate EQ Bypass mode.

• To delete the selected preset, select “Remove Preset” on the pop-up menu.

Ö You can also apply EQ (and Inserts) settings from track presets, see “Applying Inserts and EQ settings from

track presets” on page 183.

EQ in the channel overview

If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector, you will get an overview of which EQ modules, insert effects and sends are activated for the channel.

By clicking the respective indicator (1 to 4), you can turn the corresponding EQ module on or off.

EQ bypass in the Mixer, the Channel Settings window and the Inspector

EQ reset

On the Presets pop-up menu in the Channel Settings window and in the Inspector, you will find the Reset command. Select this to turn off all EQ modules and reset all EQ parameters to their default values.

Using EQ presets

Some useful basic presets are included with the program. You can use them as they are, or as a starting point for further “tweaking”.

• To call up a preset, pull down the presets pop-up menu

in the Channel Settings window or in the Inspector and select one of the available presets.

• To store the current EQ settings as a preset, select

“Store Preset” on the presets pop-up menu and enter the desired name for the preset in the dialog that appears.

• To rename the selected preset, select “Rename Preset”

on the pop-up menu and enter a new name.

The channel overview in the Inspector

Copying settings between audio channels

It is possible to copy all channel settings for an audio channel and paste them to one or several other channels. This applies to all audio-based channel types. For example, you can copy EQ settings from an audio track and apply these to a group or VST instrument channel, if you want them to have the same sound.

Proceed as follows:

1. In the Mixer, select the channel you want to copy settings from.

2. Click the “Copy First Selected Channel’s Settings” button on the common panel.

The Mixer

3. Select the channel(s) you want to copy the settings to

and click the “Paste Settings to Selected Channels” button (below the “Copy First Selected Channel Settings” button).

The settings are applied to the selected channel(s).

You can copy channel settings between different types of channels, but only those channels will be used for which corresponding settings are available in the target channel:

• For example, since output channels do not have send effects, copying from them will leave the Sends settings in the target channel unaffected.

Initialize Channel and Reset Mixer

The Initialize Channel button can be found in the lower part of the Control Strip section in the Channel Settings window (if this section is not shown in the Channel Settings window, open the context menu and select “Control Strip” on the Customize View submenu). Initialize Channel resets the selected channel to the default settings.

Similarly, the Mixer common panel holds a Reset Mixer/ Reset Channels button – when you click this, you will be asked whether you want to reset all channels or just the selected channels.

The default settings are:

• All EQ, Insert and Send effect settings are deactivated and reset.

• Solo/Mute is deactivated.

• The fader is set to 0dB.

• Pan is set to center position.

Using group channels

You can route the outputs from multiple audio channels to a group. This enables you to control the channel levels using one fader, apply the same effects and equalization to all of them etc. To create a group channel, proceed as follows:

1. Select Add Track from the Project menu and select

“Group Channel” from the submenu that appears.

2. Select the desired channel configuration and click OK.

A group channel track is added to the Track list and a corresponding group channel strip is added to the Mixer. By default the first group channel strip is labeled “Group 1”, but you can rename it just like any channel in the Mixer.

3. Pull down the Output Routing pop-up for a channel you want to route to the group channel, and select the group channel.

The output of the audio channel is now redirected to the selected group.

4. Do the same for the other channels you wish to route to the group.

Settings for group channels

The group channel strips are (almost) identical to audio channel strips in the Mixer. The descriptions of the Mixer features earlier in this chapter apply to group channels as well. Some things to note:

• You can route the output of a group to an output bus or to another group.

You cannot route a group to itself. Routing is done with the Output Routing pop-up menu in the Inspector (select the subtrack for the Group in the Track list).

• There are no Input Routing pop-ups, Monitor buttons or Record Enable buttons for group channels.

This is because inputs are never connected directly to a group.

• Solo functionality is automatically linked for channels routed to a group and the group channel itself.

This means that if you solo a group channel, all channels routed to the group are automatically soloed as well. Similarly, soloing a channel routed to a group will automatically solo the group channel.

• Mute functionality depends on the setting “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” in the Preferences (VST page).

By default, when you mute a group channel no audio will pass through the group. However, other channels that are routed directly to that group channel will remain unmuted. If any of those channels have aux sends routed to other group channels, FX channels or output busses, those will still be heard. If the option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” is activated in the Preferences (VST page), muting a group channel will cause all other channels directly routed to it to be muted as well. Pressing mute again will unmute the group channel and all other channels directly routed to it. Channels that were muted prior to the group channel being muted will not remember their mute status and will be unmuted when the group channel is unmuted.

The Mixer

The option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” does not affect how mute automation is written. Writing mute automation on a group channel only affects the group channel and not channels routed to it. When writing the automation, you will see the other channels being muted when this option is activated. However, upon playback, only the group channel will respond to the automation.

One application of group channels is to use them as “effect racks” – see the chapter “Audio effects” on page 95.

About output busses

Cubase Essential uses a system of input and output busses which are set up using the VST Connections dialog. This is described in the chapter “VST Connections: Set-

ting up input and output busses” on page 9.

Output busses let you route audio from the program to the outputs on your audio hardware.

Viewing the output busses in the Mixer

Output busses are shown as output channels in a separate pane to the right in the Mixer. You show or hide this pane by clicking the Hide Output Channels button in the Mixer’s common panel.

MIDI-specific procedures

This section describes basic procedures for MIDI channels in the Mixer.

Using Channel Settings

For each MIDI channel strip in the Mixer (and MIDI track in the Track list or the Inspector), there is an Edit (“e”) button.

Clicking this opens the MIDI Channel Settings window. By default, this window contains a duplicate of the Mixer channel strip, a section with four MIDI inserts and a section with four MIDI send effects.

You can customize the Channel Settings window, by showing/hiding the different panels and/or by changing their order:

• To specify, which panels should be shown/hidden, right-click in the Channel settings window, and activate/deactivate the respective options on the Customize View submenu on the context menu.

• To change the order of the panels, select “Setup” on the Customize View pop-up menu and use the “Move up” and “Move Down” buttons in the dialog that opens.

Every MIDI channel has its own channel settings window.

Each output channel resembles a regular audio channel strip. Here you can do the following:

• Adjust master levels for all configured output busses using the level faders.

• Add effects or EQ to the output channels (see the chapter

“Audio effects” on page 95).

The MIDI Channel Settings window

The Mixer

Utilities

Link/Unlink channels

This function is used to “link” selected channels in the Mixer so that any change applied to one channel will be mirrored by all channels in that group. You can link as many channels as you like, and you can also create as many groups of linked channels as you like. To link channels in the Mixer, proceed as follows:

1. Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on all the channels

you want to link.

[Shift]-clicking allows you to select a continuous range of channels.

2. Right-click somewhere on the gray Mixer panel.

The Mixer context menu appears.

3. Select “Link Channels” from the context menu.

• To unlink channels, select one of the linked channels and

select “Unlink Channels” from the Mixer context menu.

The channels are unlinked. Note that you do not have to select all the channels that are linked, only one of them.

• Any individual channel settings you have made before linking will remain until you alter the same setting for any of the linked channels.

For example, if you link three channels, and one of them was muted at the time you applied the Link Channel function, this channel will remain muted after linking. However, if you mute another channel all linked channels will be muted. Thus, the individual setting for one channel is lost as soon as you change the same parameter setting for any of the linked channels.

• Fader levels will be “ganged”.

The relative level offset between channels will be kept if you move a linked channel fader.

The three channels shown are linked. Pulling down one fader changes the levels for all three channels, but keeps the relative level mix.

• By pressing [Alt]/[Option], you can make individual settings and changes for channels that are linked.

Ö Linked channels have individual automation tracks. These are completely independent, and are not affected by the Link function.

Ö It is not possible to remove individual channels from Link status.

To make individual settings to a linked channel, press [Alt]/[Option] when changing the setting.

What will be linked?

The following rules apply for linked channels:

• Only level, mute, solo, select, monitor and record enable

will be linked between channels.

Effect/EQ/pan/input and output routing settings are not linked.

The Mixer

Saving mixer settings

It is possible to save complete mixer settings for all or all selected audio-related channels in the Mixer. These can later be loaded into any project. Channel settings are saved as mixer settings files. These have the file extension “.vmx”.

Right-clicking somewhere in the Mixer panel or in the Channel Settings window brings up the context menu where the following Save options can be found:

• “Save Selected Channels” will save all channel settings

for the selected channels.

• “Save All Mixer Settings” saves all channel settings for

all channels. When you select any of the above options, a standard file

dialog opens where you can select a name and storage location on your disk for the file.

Saving mixer settings does not apply to MIDI channels in the Mixer – only audio-related channels (group, audio, instrument, effect return, VSTi and ReWire) are saved with this function!

Loading mixer settings

• Mixer settings will be applied in the same order as they were in the Mixer.

Thus, if you save settings from channels 4, 6 and 8 and apply these settings to channels 1, 2 and 3, the settings saved for channel 4 would be applied to channel 1, the settings saved for channel 6 to channel 2 and so on.

2. Right-click the Mixer panel to open the context menu, and select “Load Selected Channels”.

A standard file dialog appears, where you can locate the saved file.

3. Select the file and click “Open”.

The channel settings are applied to the selected channels.

Loading mixer settings does not apply to MIDI channels in the Mixer – only audio-related channels (group, audio, instrument, effect return, VSTi and ReWire) are saved and can be loaded with this function!

If you choose to apply mixer settings to fewer channels than you saved, the order of the saved channels in the Mixer applies – i.e. the saved channels that are “left over” and not applied will be the channels with the highest channel numbers (or furthest to the right in the Mixer).

Loading All Mixer Settings

Selecting “Load All Mixer Settings” from the context menu allows you to open a saved mixer settings file, and have the stored settings applied to all channels for which there is information included in the file. All channels, output settings, VST instruments, sends and “master” effects will be affected.

Ö Please note that if the saved mixer settings were for 24 channels, for example, and the Mixer you apply it to currently contains 16 channels, only the settings for channels 1 to 16 will be applied – this function will not automatically add channels.

Loading Selected Channels

To load mixer settings saved for selected channels, proceed as follows:

1. Select the same number of channels in the new project

to match the number of channels you saved settings for in the previous project.

For example, if you saved settings for six channels, select six channels in the Mixer.

The Mixer

About the VST Performance window

The VST Performance window is opened from the Devices menu. The window shows two meter displays: The ASIO meter, which indicates CPU load, and the Disk meter, which shows the hard disk transfer rate. It is recommended that you check this from time to time, or keep it always open. Even if you have been able to activate a number of audio channels in the project without getting any warning, you may run into performance problems when adding EQ or effects.

• The ASIO meter (at the top) shows the ASIO time usage,

i.e. the time required to complete the current processing tasks. The more tracks, effects, EQ etc. you use in your project, the longer processing will take, and the longer the ASIO meter will show activity.

If the red Overload indicator lights up, you need to decrease the number of EQ modules, active effects and/or audio channels playing back simultaneously.

• The lower bar graph shows the hard disk transfer load.

If the red overload indicator lights up, the hard disk is not supplying data fast enough to the computer. You may need to reduce the number of tracks playing back by using the Disable Track function (see “About track disable/

enable” on page 47). If this does not help, you need a faster hard disk.

Note that the overload indicator may occasionally blink, e.g. when you locate during playback. This does not indicate a problem, but happens because the program needs a moment for all channels to load data for the new playback position.

Ö The ASIO and Disk load meters can also be shown on the Transport panel (as “Performance”) and on the Project window toolbar (as “Performance Meter”).

There they are shown as two miniature vertical meters (by default at the left side of the panel/toolbar).

The Mixer

Audio effects

About this chapter

An effect compatible with a previous VST version

A VST 3 effect

Cubase Essential comes with a number of effect plug-ins included. This chapter contains general details about how to assign, use and organize effect plug-ins. The effects and their parameters are described in the separate manual “Plug-in Reference”.

This chapter describes audio effects, i.e. effects that are used to process audio, group, VST instrument and ReWire channels.

Overview

VST preset management

From a user perspective, the main difference between VST 2 and VST 3 is in the effect preset management. The “.fxp/ .fxb” files used in VST 2 have been replaced by VST 3 Presets (extension “.vstpreset”). Using the preset management features, you can assign various attributes to your effect presets to help you quickly find the right patch. You can also preview effect presets before you load them. A large number of presets for effects are included with the program. If you have any previous VST plug-ins installed on your computer, you can still use them, and you can also convert their programs to VST 3 presets, see “Effect pre-

sets” on page 105.

There are two ways to use audio effects in Cubase Essential:

• As insert effects.

An insert effect is inserted into the signal chain of an audio channel, which means that the whole channel signal passes through the effect. This makes inserts suitable for effects for which you do not need to mix dry and wet sound, e.g. distortion, filters or other effects that change the tonal or dynamic characteristics of the sound. You can have up to eight different insert effects per channel (and the same is true for output busses – for recording with “master effects”).

• As send effects.

Each audio channel has eight sends, each of which can be freely routed to an effect (or to a chain of effects). Send effects are practical for two reasons: you can control the balance between the dry (direct) and wet (processed) sound individually for each channel using the sends, and several different audio channels can use the same send effect. In Cubase Essential, send effects are handled by means of FX channel tracks.

About VST 3

The new VST 3 plug-in standard offers many improvements over the previous VST 2 standard, yet retains full backwards compatibility, i.e. you will still be able to use your previous VST effects and presets.

In the program, effects compatible with previous VST versions will be easily recognized:

Smart plug-in processing

Another feature of the VST3 standard is “smart” plug-in processing. Previously, any loaded plug-in was processing continuously, regardless of whether a signal was present or not. In VST3, processing by a plug-in can be disengaged if there is no signal present. This can greatly reduce the CPU load, thus allowing for more effects to be used.

This is achieved by activating the option “Suspend VST3 plug-in processing when no audio signals are received” in the Preferences dialog (VST–Plug-ins page).

When this is activated, VST 3 plug-ins will not consume CPU power on silent passages, i.e. when no audio data runs through them.

Be aware, however, that this can lead to a situation where you added more plug-ins on “transport stop” than the system can handle on playback. Therefore, you should always find the passage with the largest number of events playing simultaneously to make sure that your system offers the required performance.

Ö Activating this option can increase your system performance a lot in certain projects, but it also makes it more unpredictable whether the project can play back fine on any timecode position of the project.

Audio effects

About plug-in delay compensation

Input gain

Insert effect 1

Insert effect 2

Insert effect 3

Insert effect 6

Volume (fader)

Insert effect 7

Insert effect 8

Insert effect 4

Insert effect 5

A plug-in effect may have some inherent delay or latency. This means that it takes a brief time for the plug-in to process the audio fed into it – as a result, the output audio will be slightly delayed. This especially applies to dynamics processors featuring “look-ahead” functionality.

Cubase Essential provides full plug-in delay compensation throughout the entire audio path. All plug-in delays are compensated for, maintaining the sync and timing of all audio channels.

Normally, you do not have to make any settings for this. However, VST3 dynamics plug-ins with look-ahead functionality have a “Live” button, allowing you to disengage the look-ahead to minimize latency, if they are to be used during realtime recording (see the separate manual “Plugin Reference”).

You can also constrain the delay compensation, which is useful to avoid latency when recording audio or playing a VST instrument in real time, see “Constrain Delay Com-

pensation” on page 120.

About tempo sync

Plug-ins can receive timing and tempo information from the host application (in this case, Cubase Essential). Typically, this is used to synchronize certain plug-in parameters (such as modulation rates or delay times) to the project tempo.

• This information is automatically provided to any VST

plug-in (2.0 or later) that “requests it”.

You do not have to make any special settings for this.

• You set up tempo sync by specifying a base note value.

You can use straight, triplet or dotted note values (1/1 to 1/32).

Please refer to the separate manual “Plug-in Reference” for details about the included effects.

Insert effects

Background

As the name implies, insert effects are inserted into the audio signal path – this means that the audio channel data will be routed through the effect. You can add up to eight different insert effects independently for each audio-related channel (audio track, group channel track, FX channel track, VST instrument channel or ReWire channel) or output bus. The signal passes through the effects in series from the top downwards, with the signal path shown below:

As you can see, the last two insert slots (for any channel) are post-EQ and post-fader. Post-fader slots are best suited for insert effects where you do not want the level to be changed after the effect, such as dithering (see “Dithe-

ring” on page 99) and maximizers – both typically used as

insert effects for output busses.

Ö Applying several effects on several channels may be too much for your CPU to handle!

If you want to use the same effect with the same settings on several channels, it may be more efficient to set up a group channel and to apply your effect only once, as a single insert for this group. You can use the VST Performance window to keep an eye on the CPU load.

Audio effects

Routing an audio channel or bus through

This effect is activated, and its control panel is open.

This insert effect is bypassed.

insert effects

Insert effect settings are available in the Channel Settings window and the Inspector. The examples below show the Channel Settings window, but the procedures are the same for all the inserts sections:

1. Bring up the Channel Settings window.

By default, the inserts are located to the far left.

2. Pull down the effect type pop-up for one of the insert

slots, and select an effect.

The effect is loaded and automatically activated and its control panel opens. You can open or close the control panel for an effect by clicking the “e” button for the insert slot.

• If the effect has a dry/wet Mix parameter, you can use

this to adjust the balance between the dry signal and the effect signal.

See “Editing effects” on page 104 for details about editing effects.

• To remove an effect, pull down the effect type pop-up

menu and select “No Effect”.

You should do this for all effects that you do not intend to use, to reduce the CPU load.

• You can add up to 8 insert effects per channel this way.

• You can reorder the effects by clicking in the area above

the name field and dragging the effect onto another slot.

• You can copy an effect into another effect slot (for the

same channel or between channels) by holding down [Ctrl]/ [Command] and dragging it onto another effect slot.

Deactivating vs. bypassing

If you want to listen to the track without having it processed by a particular effect, but do not want to remove this effect completely from the insert slot, you can either deactivate or bypass it.

Deactivating means to terminate all processing, whereas bypassing means to play back only the unprocessed original signal – a bypassed effect is still processing in the background. Bypassing allows for crackle-free comparison of the original (“dry”) and the processed (“wet”) signal.

• To deactivate an effect, click the blue button on the left above the insert slot.

• To bypass an effect, click its Bypass button (the middle button above the insert slot).

When an effect is bypassed, this button is yellow.

• To bypass all inserts for a track, click the global bypass button.

This button can be found at the top of the Inserts section in the Inspector or the Channel Settings window. It lights up in yellow to indicate that the inserts of this track are bypassed. In the Track list and the channel strip in the Mixer, the Inserts State button will also light up in yellow.

Audio effects

Insert effects in the channel overview

The blue color of inserts 1 and 2 and the blue Inserts State button in the channel strip indicate that this track has active inserts.

If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector, you will get an overview of which insert effects, EQ modules and effect sends are activated for the channel.

You can activate or deactivate individual insert effect slots by clicking the corresponding number (in the top part of the overview).

The channel overview in the Inspector

Adding insert effects to output busses

All output busses have eight insert slots, just like regular audio channels. The procedures for adding insert effects are the same.

• Insert effects added to an output bus will affect all audio

routed to that bus, like a “master insert effect”.

Typically you would add compressors, limiters, EQ or other plug-ins to tailor the dynamics and sound of the final mix. Dithering is a special case, as described below.

Ö Please note that the output busses only appear as tracks in the Track list, when their automation W(rite) buttons have been activated once. Therefore you can only use the Inspector section to make Inserts settings for the busses if you have activated Write automation for the respective bus beforehand.

However, you can always make Inserts settings in the Channel Settings window.

Dithering

Dithering is a method for controlling the noise produced by quantization errors in digital recordings. The theory behind this is that during low level passages, only a few bits are used to represent the signal, which leads to quantization errors and hence distortion.

For example, when “truncating bits”, as a result of moving from 24 to 16 bit resolution, quantization errors are added to an otherwise immaculate recording. By adding a special kind of noise at an extremely low level, the effect of these errors is minimized. The added noise could be perceived as a very low-level hiss under exacting listening conditions. However, this is hardly noticeable and much preferred to the distortion that otherwise occurs.

When should I use dithering?

• Consider dithering when you mix down to a lower resolution, either in realtime (during playback) or with the Export Audio Mixdown function.

A typical example is when you mix down a project to a 16-bit stereo audio file for audio CD burning.

What is a “lower resolution” then? Well, Cubase Essential uses 32-bit float resolution internally, which means that all integer resolutions (16 bit, 24 bit, etc.) are lower. The negative effects of truncation (no dithering) are most noticeable when mixing down to 8 bit, 16 bit and 20 bit format; whether to dither when mixing down to 24 bits is a matter of taste.

Applying dithering

1. Open the VST Output Channel Settings window by clicking the “e” button for the Output channel in the Mixer.

2. Open the Inserts pop-up menu for slot 7 or 8.

The two last Insert effect slots (for all channels) are post-fader, which is crucial for a dithering plug-in. The reason is that any master gain change applied after dithering would bring the signal back to the internal 32 bit float domain, rendering the dithering settings useless.

3. Select the included UV22HR dithering plug-in from the pop-up menu.

The included dithering plug-ins and their parameters are described in the separate manual “Plug-in Reference”. If you have installed another dithering plug-in that you prefer, you can of course select this instead.

Audio effects

4. Make sure the plug-in is set to dither to the correct

resolution.

This would be the resolution of your audio hardware (on playback) or the desired resolution for the mixdown file you want to create (as set in the Export Audio Mixdown dialog, see the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 255).

5. Use the other parameters in the control panel to set up

the dithering to your liking.

Using group channels for insert effects

Like all other channels, group channels can have up to eight insert effects. This is useful if you have several audio tracks that you want to process through the same effect (e.g. different vocal tracks that all should be processed by the same compressor).

Another special use for group channels and effects is the following:

If you have a mono audio track and want to process this through a stereo insert effect (e.g. a stereo chorus or an auto panner device), you cannot just insert the effect as usual. This is because the audio track is in mono – the output of the insert effect will be in mono as well, and the stereo information from the effect will be lost.

One solution would be to route a send from the mono track to a stereo FX channel track, set the send to pre-fader mode and lower the fader completely for the mono audio track. However, this makes mixing the track cumbersome, since you cannot use the fader.

Here’s another solution:

1. Create a group channel track in stereo and route it to

the desired output bus.

2. Add the desired effect to the group channel as an insert

effect.

3. Route the mono audio track to the group channel.

Now the signal from the mono audio track is sent directly to the group, where it passes through the insert effect, in stereo.

Freezing (rendering) insert effects for a track

Effect plug-ins can sometimes require a lot of processor power. If you are using a large number of insert effects for a track, you may reach a point where the computer cannot play back the track properly (the CPU overload indicator in the VST Performance window lights up, you get crackling sounds, etc.).

To remedy this, you can freeze the track, by clicking the Freeze button in the Inspector.

• The Freeze Channel Options dialog is opened, allowing you to set a “Tail” time in seconds.

This adds time at the end of the rendered file to allow reverb and delay tails to fully fade out.

• The program now renders the output of the track, including all pre-fader insert effects, to an audio file.

This file is placed in the “Freeze” folder within the Project folder (Windows). On the Mac, the Freeze folder is stored under “User/Documents”.

• The frozen audio track is locked for editing in the Project window.

The frozen insert effects cannot be edited or removed and you cannot add new insert effects for the track (except post-fader effects).

• On playback, the rendered audio file is played back. You can still adjust the level and panning in the Mixer, make EQ settings and adjust the effect sends.

In the Mixer, the channel strip for a frozen track is indicated by a “snow flake” symbol on the volume fader handle.

After freezing the Inserts for a track, you hear the track play back as before but the insert effects do not have to be calculated in real time, easing the load on the computer processor. Typically, you would freeze a track when it is finished and you do not need to edit it anymore.

• You can only freeze audio tracks this way, not group channel tracks or FX channel tracks.

• The last two insert effects will not be frozen. This is because these are post-fader insert slots.

• You can also freeze VST instruments and their insert effects – see the chapter “VST instruments and instrument

tracks” on page 110.

100

Audio effects

Steinberg Cubase Essential - 5.0 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

About this chapter

Setting up busses

Using the busses

About monitoring

The Project window

Background

Window Overview

Operations

Options

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

Operations

Options and Settings

The Virtual Keyboard

Recording

Background

Basic recording methods

Audio recording specifics

MIDI recording specifics

Options and Settings

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Fades, crossfades and envelopes

Creating fades

The Fade dialogs

Creating crossfades

The Crossfade dialog

Auto Fades and Crossfades

The Arranger track

Introduction

Setting up the Arranger track

Working with Arranger events

Flattening the Arranger chain

Live mode

Arranging your music to video

The Mixer

About this chapter

Overview

Configuring the Mixer

The audio-related channel strips

The MIDI channel strips

The output channels

Basic mixing procedures

Audio-specific procedures

MIDI-specific procedures

Utilities

Audio effects

About this chapter

Overview

Insert effects