STEINBERG Cubase LE 4 User Manual

Operation Manual

Revision for Cubase LE and Quality Control: Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Sabine Pfeifer

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

All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. 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 16 Window Overview 21 Operations 37 Options

39 Playback and the Transport panel

40 Background 41 Operations 42 Options and Settings

44 Recording

45 Background 45 Basic recording methods 47 Audio recording specifics 50 MIDI recording specifics 55 Options and Settings 57 Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

58 Fades and crossfades

59 Creating fades 60 The Fade dialogs 62 Creating crossfades 63 The Crossfade dialog 64 Auto Fades and Crossfades

66 Folder tracks

67 About folder tracks 67 Handling folder tracks 68 Working with folder parts

70 Using markers

71 About markers 71 The Marker window 72 Using the Marker track 74 Marker key commands

75 The mixer

76 About this chapter 76 Overview 76 Configuring the mixer 79 The audio-related channel strips 80 The MIDI channel strips 80 The common panel 80 The output channels 80 Basic mixing procedures 83 Audio specific procedures 87 MIDI specific procedures 88 Utilities

90 Automation

91 Background 91 What can be automated? 92 Automation track operations 94 Using Write/Read automation 96 Working with automation curves 98 Tips and common methods 99 Options and Settings

100 Audio processing and functions

101 Background 101 Audio processing 105 Freeze Edits

106 The Sample Editor

107 Background 107 Opening the Sample Editor 107 Window overview 109 Operations 112 Options and settings

113 The Audio Part Editor

114 Background 114 Opening the Audio Part Editor 114 Window overview 116 Operations 117 Common methods 117 Options and Settings

118 Audio warp realtime processing

119 Background 119 Determining the tempo of an audio loop and

activating Musical mode

121 Realtime pitch shifting of audio events 121 Freezing the realtime processing

Table of Contents

122 Working with hitpoints and slices

123 Background 123 Using hitpoints 124 Editing hitpoints 127 About Q-points 127 Creating slices 128 Other hitpoint functions

129 The Pool

130 Background 130 Window Overview 132 Operations

141 VST Instruments and Instrument

tracks

142 Introduction 142 Activating and using VST Instruments 143 Editing an instrument track/channel 143 Using VST presets 145 Exporting Instrument tracks 145 About latency 145 Constrain Delay Compensation 145 Automating a VST Instrument

146 MIDI realtime parameters and effects

147 Introduction 147 The Inspector – General handling 147 Basic track settings 148 MIDI Modifiers 150 The MIDI Device Manager

154 MIDI processing and quantizing

155 Introduction 155 The Quantizing functions 160 Permanent settings with Freeze MIDI Modifiers 160 Dissolve Part 161 Other MIDI functions

165 The MIDI editors

166 About editing MIDI 166 Opening a MIDI editor 168 The Key Editor – Overview 170 Key Editor operations 182 The Drum Editor – Overview 183 Drum Editor operations 185 Working with drum maps 188 Using drum name lists 189 The List Editor – Overview 190 List Editor operations 193 The Score Editor – Overview 194 Score Editor operations

201 Working with System Exclusive

messages

202 Introduction 202 Bulk dumps 203 Recording System Exclusive parameter changes 203 Editing System Exclusive messages

205 Working with the Tempo track

206 Background 206 The Tempo Track Editor – Overview 207 Operations 210 Options and settings

211 Export Audio Mixdown

212 Introduction 212 Mixing down to an audio file 213 The available file formats

216 Synchronization

217 Background 217 Synchronization signals 218 Synchronizing the transport vs. synchronizing

audio

219 Making basic settings and connections 220 Synchronization settings 223 Application options 224 Working with VST System Link 224 Preparations 227 Activating VST System Link 230 Application examples

Table of Contents

231 Video

232 Background 232 Before you start 233 Operations

236 File handling

237 Working with Projects 239 Startup Options 240 Revert 240 Importing audio 241 Exporting and importing MIDI files

243 Customizing

244 Background 244 The Setup dialogs 245 Appearance 245 Applying track and event colors 248 Where are the settings stored?

249 Key commands

250 Background 250 Setting up key commands 253 Setting up tool modifier keys 253 The default key commands

257 Index

Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Cubase LE 4. 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 described in the documentation are specific to one of the platforms, Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. In other words:

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

The screenshots are taken from the Windows version.

Key command conventions

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

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

[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]+[key]

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

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

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

About this manual

VST Connections: Setting up input and

output busses

About this chapter

Cubase LE 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 LE. This is why you find this chapter at the beginning of the Operation Manual – once you understand the bus system and set up the busses properly, it will be easy to go on with recording, playing back and mixing.

Setting up busses

Strategies

In Cubase LE, you can create up to 8 stereo busses or up to 16 mono busses, respectively.

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

as Template” on page 238).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 or output busses, respectively.

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 VST output bus.

them by clicking on them in this column.

each bus.

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

Adding a bus

1. Open 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 that appears.

The new bus appears with the ports visible.

4. Click in the Device Port column to select an input/out-

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

Setting the default output bus in the VST Connections window.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

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 speaker icon next to its name in the VST Connections window.

Other bus operations

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

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

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

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

Using the busses

This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses you have created. For details refer to the chapters “Recording” on page 44 and “The mixer” on page 75.

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

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

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

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

For output busses any assignment is possible.

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:

Routing

When you play back an audio track (or any other audio based 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.

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

The output channel strips

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 or limiters. See the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual.

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 11).

Setting the monitoring level

You can adjust the monitoring level in the Mixer.

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

VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

The Project window

Background

The Project window is the main window in Cubase LE. 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

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

Folder Folder tracks function as containers for other tracks,

Group Channel By routing several audio channels to a 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 has an automation track for automating mixer channel parameters, insert effect settings etc.

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” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual. An FX channel also has an automation track for automating mixer channel parameters, effect settings etc. All FX channel tracks are automatically placed in a special FX channel folder in the Track list, for easy management.

making it easier to organize and manage the track structure. They also allow you to edit several tracks at the same time. See “Folder tracks” on page 66.

you can submix them, apply the same effects to them, etc. (see “Using group channels” on page 86). A Group channel track contains no events as such, but displays settings and automation curves for the corresponding Group channel. Each Group channel track has a corresponding channel strip in the mixer. In the Project window, Group channels are organized as subtracks in a special Group Tracks folder.

ment. Instrument tracks have a corresponding channel strip in the mixer. Each instrument track also has an automation track in the Project window. However, Volume and Pan are automated from within the mixer. For more information on instrument tracks, see “VST Instruments

and Instrument tracks” on page 141.

track has a corresponding MIDI channel strip in the mixer. A MIDI track has 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

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

and renamed directly in the Project window (see “Using

the Marker track” on page 72). A project can have only

one marker track.

one video track.

About parts and events

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

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

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

“About editing MIDI” on page 166).

• 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.

An audio event and an audio part.

The Project window

Window Overview

The rulerThe info line The toolbar

The Inspector

The Track list with various track types

The Track list

The Track list displays all the tracks used in a project. It contains name fields and settings for the tracks. Different track types have different controls in the Track list. To see all the controls you may have to resize the track in the Track list (see “Resizing tracks in the Track list” on page 22).

• The Track list area for an audio track:

Edit channel settings

Track

Mute & Solo

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

name

Record Enable & Monitor buttons

Lane Display TypeShow/hide automation

Automation Read/ Write buttons

Track activity indicator

The Project window

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

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

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

Mute Automation

Automation Read/ Write buttons

Automation parameter (click to select parameter)

• The Track list area for a MIDI track:

MIDI channel

MIDI OutputBank Patch

Read/Write buttons

Edit channel settings

Lane display type

Track activity indicator

Track name

Mute & Solo

Drum Map

Record Enable & Monitor buttons

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 25), the Inspector shows the setting for the first (topmost) selected track.

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

The Inspector icon.

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

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

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

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

The Inspector Setup context menu.

Sections

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

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

mands” on page 250.

Ö Hiding a section does not affect its functionality.

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

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

The Project window

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

Parameter Description

Edit Channel settings

Auto Fades Settings button

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

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 83.

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

tings for a separate track” on page 65.

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

80 to learn more about setting levels.

Parameter Description

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

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

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

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

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

Equalizers section

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

Channel section Shows a duplicate of the corresponding mixer channel

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

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

track should use (see “Setting up busses” on page 10 for information about Input busses).

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.

chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual. 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 84. The Edit button at the top of the sec-

tion opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

channels (up to eight), see the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the control panel for the first effect in each FX channel.

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

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.

Audio tracks

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

MIDI tracks

When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a number of different sections and parameters, affecting the MIDI events in real time (e.g. on playback).

Marker tracks

When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. See “The Marker window” on page 71.

Video tracks

When a video track is selected, the Inspector contains a Mute button for interrupting video playback.

The Project window

Here, an audio track within the folder is selected.

FX channel tracks

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

• Edit button.

• Volume control.

•Pan control.

• Output routing pop-up menu.

• Inserts section.

• Equalizers section.

• Channel section.

FX channel folder tracks

Proj

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.

• Sends section.

• Channel section.

Group channel folder tracks

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

The toolbar

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

Constrain delay compensation (see “Constrain Delay

Compensation” on page 145).

Show/hide info line

Active project indicator

Open Pool

Show/hide Inspector

Open Mixer

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

ect window tools

Nudge palette

Snap on/off

Autoscroll on/off

Grid pop-up menu

Snap mode

Quantize value

Color pop-up menu

Snap to Zero Crossings

Ö How to set up the toolbar and specify which tools should be displayed or hidden is described in the section

“The Setup dialogs” on page 244.

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 20).

• 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.

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.

The Project window

• 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).

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 with the Transpose track parameter in the Inspector.

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

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

Audio events can also be transposed – see “Real-

time pitch shifting of audio events” on page 121.

Getting on-the-fly info with the Arrow tool

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

The ruler

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

Project Setup dialog” on page 21), as do all other rulers

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

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks. There are 120

Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.

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

Samples Samples.

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

Bars+Beats Linear

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

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

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

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

the time 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.

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 21). You can choose between 24, 25, 29.97 and

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

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 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 238).

2. Select a template and click OK.

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

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

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

The Project Setup dialog

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

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 LE with external

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

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

Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase LE records and plays

Record Format/ File Type

Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensa-

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

ternal sync to timecode” on page 221). 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 LE is slave, this value is automatically set to the frame rate of the incoming sync signal. If Cubase LE is the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent sync signal. See “Setting the Frame Rate” on

page 219.

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 20.

lowing you to compensate for the Start position setting. Typically, if you synchronize Cubase LE 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 LE to start at zero, set the Display Offset to the same value too.

audio.

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

lecting a recording file format” on page 47.

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

(audio channels only)” on page 82).

The Project window

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

Zoom and view options

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

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

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

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

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

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

Option Description

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

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

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

Zoom to Selection

Zoom to Selection (Horiz)

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

Zoom In Vertical

Zoom Out Vertical

Zoom In Tracks

Zoom Out Tracks

Zoom Selected Tracks

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

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

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

“Zooming” on page 109).

Zooms in one step vertically.

Zooms out one step vertically.

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

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

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

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

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

This can be useful when viewing quiet audio passages.

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

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

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

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

Resizing tracks in the Track list

• You can change the height of an individual track by

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

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

Note that 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.

• 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 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.

The Project window

• 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.

• Tracks can also be divided vertically in lanes – see

“Editing in Lane Display mode” on page 34.

The Enlarge Selected Track option

When this option is activated on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences dialog, 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.

Click here… … to open the context menu

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:

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

Add from the pop-up menu.

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

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

menu.

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

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

“The Project Setup dialog” on page 21).

The Project window

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Zooming to cycle markers” on page 73).

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

dow” on page 71.

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 LE 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 25.

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

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

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

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

Option Description

Show Video Thumbnails

Video Cache Size

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

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

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

Option Description

Interpolate Audio Images

Wave Image Style

Show Event Volume Curves Always

Show Waveforms

Background Color Modulation

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.

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

Determines which editor should be opened when you double-click a MIDI part or select it and press [Ctrl]/ [Command]-[E]: the Key, Drum, List 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 lines, as score notes or as drum notes. 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.

The Project window

Option Description

Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned

Note Name Style

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.

Handling tracks

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

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

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

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

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

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

• 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 grey color in the Track list.

This track is selected.

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

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

• To duplicate a track, complete with all contents and

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

The duplicated track will appear below the original track.

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

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

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

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

select “Remove Track” from the context menu.

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

• 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 22.

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

page 23.

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 33), 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 42 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

45).

This is possible for audio and MIDI tracks.

• By selecting “Audio File...” or “Video File...” from the Import submenu on the File menu.

This opens a file dialog, allowing you to locate the file you wish to import. When you import a file this way, a clip is created for the file and an event that plays the whole clip is inserted on the selected track, at the position of the project cursor. You can also import MIDI files by using the Import submenu, but this works in a slightly different way (see “Exporting and importing MIDI files” on page 241).

• By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.

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

• By drawing.

Some types of events (markers and automation events) can be drawn directly into the Project window. For audio and MIDI tracks, you can draw parts (see “Creating parts” on page 27).

• 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 Pool.

• The “Find media” dialog.

• The Project window of another open project.

• The Audio Part Editor of any open project.

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

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

drag and drop” on page 133.

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 LE:

• 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 the desired option on the “On Import Audio Files” pop-up:

• Open Options Dialog.

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

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.

Auditioning audio parts and events

Audio parts and events can be auditioned in the Project window with the Speaker 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 that appears.

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 that appears.

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

page 168). Adding events to audio parts is done in the

Audio Part Editor (see “Window overview” on page 114) 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.

The Project window

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 (VST–Scrub page).

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

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 253.

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

Select Controllers in Note Range

All on Selected Tracks

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

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.

This is available in the MIDI Editors (see “Selecting

controllers within the note range” on page 174).

Selects all events on the selected track.

overview” on page 107).

Option Description

Left/Right Selection Side to Cursor

Note that these functions work differently when the

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

Range Selection tool is selected (see “Creating a

selection range” on page 35).

• Select all events on a track by right-clicking in its Track

list and selecting “Select All Events” from the pop-up menu that appears.

• You can also use the arrow keys on the computer 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”.

The Project window

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

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

find the Cross Hair Cursor options section.

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

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

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

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

Moving events

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

• Click and drag to a new position.

All selected events will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. You can only drag events to tracks of the same type. If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the events (see “Snap” on page 37). Note also that you can restrict movement to be either horizontal or vertical only, by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging.

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

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

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

The following functions are available:

Function Description

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

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.

Function Description

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

Move to Front, Move to Back

the positions at which they were originally recorded.

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

• 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 21) and the value set on the Grid pop-up menu.

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

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

duplicating” on page 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 checking them in the pop-up menu that appears. See “The

Setup dialogs” on page 244 for more information.

The Project window

Duplicating events

Events can be duplicated in the following ways:

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

position.

If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see “Snap” on page 37).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shared copies are indicated by 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 101).

• 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.

• 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.

The Project window

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

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

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

If the selected track is of the wrong type, the event will be inserted on its original track. See “Snap” on page 37 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 25.

Splitting events

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

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

split.

If Snap is activated, this determines the exact split position (see “Snap” on page 37). You can also split events by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.

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

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

• Select “Split Loop” from the Edit menu.

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

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

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

Gluing events together

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

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

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

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

• You can select several events on the same track and

click on one of them with the Glue Tube tool.

A single part is created.

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

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

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

Resizing events

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

Resizing type Description

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

Sizing Moves Contents

Sizing Applies Time Stretch

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

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

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

using time stretch” on page 32).

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

“Snap” on page 37).

Normal sizing.

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).

Resizing events using time stretch

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

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

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

3. Click and drag left or right.

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

4. Release the mouse button.

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

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

Controller data will be moved.

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

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

Ö Note that the Nudge palette is not visible in the toolbar by default. See “The Setup dialogs” on page 244 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

The Project window

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 [Ctrl]/[Command]+[Alt]/[Option], 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.

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.

Removing events

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

• Click on the event with the Eraser tool.

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

• Select the event(s) and press [Backspace], or select “Delete” from the Edit menu.

• To mute or unmute several events, select them – either

by using the standard selection techniques, or by using one of the options on the Select submenu on the Edit menu – and click on one of the selected events with the Mute tool.

All selected events will be muted.

• You can also click in an empty area with the Mute tool

and drag a selection rectangle around several events you want to mute or unmute, and then click on one of them with the Mute tool.

• You can mute events by selecting them and selecting

“Mute” from the Edit menu.

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

• You can also change the mute status of selected events

on the info line.

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

Muted events are “greyed out”.

• You can also mute whole tracks by clicking the Mute

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

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

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 59.

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.

The Project window

Editing in Lane Display mode

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

Audio tracks

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

track, click the Lane Display Type button and select “Lanes Fixed” from the pop-up menu.

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

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

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

MIDI tracks

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

3. After rearranging the overlapping events so that you

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Project window

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 Se-

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 28).

lect submenu” on page 111).

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.

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 1 Beat.

• 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 21) 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.

The Project window

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

See “The Setup dialogs” on page 244 for instructions on how to show and hide items in the toolbar.

Making selection ranges for several non-contiguous tracks

As described above, selection ranges can cover several tracks. However, it is also possible to exclude tracks from a selection range:

1. Create a selection range from the first to the last de-

sired track.

2. Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click in the selection range

on the tracks you want to exclude from the selection.

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.

Paste Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track

Paste at Origin Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Ex-

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

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

Paste Time at Origin

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

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

isting events are not moved to make room for the pasted data.

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

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

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

3. In the same manner, you can add a track to the selec-

tion range by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking in the selection range area on the track.

The Project window

Deleting selection ranges

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

• If you use the Delete function on the Edit menu (or press [Backspace]), the data within the selection range is replaced by empty track space.

Events to the right of the range keep their position.

• If you use “Delete Time” on the Edit menu’s Range submenu, the selection range is removed and events to the right are moved to the left to close up the gap.

Other functions

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

Function Description

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

Crop All events or parts that are partially within the selection

Insert Silence Inserts empty track space from the start of the selection

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

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

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

Options

Snap

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

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

toolbar.

Exactly how Snap works depends on which mode is selected 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 pop-up menu to the right. The options depend on the display format selected for the ruler. For example, if the ruler is set to show bars and beats, the grid can be set to bars, beats or the quantize value set with the next pop-up menu to the right. If a time or frame-based ruler format is selected, the grid pop-up menu will contain time or framebased grid options, etc.

Snap activated.

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

The snap point is set in the Sample Editor since it allows for a higher degree of precision (see “Adjusting the snap point” on page 110).

The Project window

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

Grid Relative

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

For example, if an event starts at the position 3.04.01 (one beat before bar 4), Snap is set to Grid Relative and the Grid pop-up is set to “Bar”, you can move the event in steps of one bar – to the positions 4.04.01, 5.04.01 and so on. The event will keep its relative position to the grid, i.e. stay one beat before the bar lines.

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

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 110).

• Note that this includes marker events on the marker

track.

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

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.

Shuffle

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

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

12345

Dragging event 2 past event 4...

52431

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

Snap to Zero Crossing

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

This setting affects all windows in all open projects – with the exception of the Sample Editor (which has its own Snap to Zero Crossing button).

Autoscroll

Autoscroll activated.

When this option is activated, the waveform display will scroll during playback, keeping the project cursor visible in the window.

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

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

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

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

The Transport panel

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

The pictures below show the Transport panel with all controls visible and in their default position. The Transport panel is divided into sections, from left to right.

CPU load and Disk Cache meters

Activates Auto Quantize

Left locator: record start point, punch in point and beginning of Cycle

Activates punch in

Activates punch out

Record mode pop-up menu

Cycle Record mode pop-up menu

Preroll setting and on/off switch

Metronome click on/off Show Markers (opens

Tempo track on/off

Synchronization on/off

MIDI In Activity (left meter)/ MIDI Out activity

Audio input activity and Clipping indicator (Default Input channel)

Precount on/off

The tempo and time signature display

Marker window)

Jump to Marker

Output Level Control

Audio output activity and Clipping indicator (top)

Ö Note that the Output Activity and Clipping indicator as well as the Output Level Control refer to the 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.

Right locator: punch out point and end of Cycle

Nudge position

Position slider

Go to previous marker or project start

right/left

Fast forwardRewind

Postroll setting and on/off switch

Time Display and format pop-up

Go to next marker or project end

Play

Stop

Cycle on/off

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

Hiding and showing the Transport Panel

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

About Preroll and Postroll

These items are described in the chapter “Recording”, see “About Preroll and Postroll” on page 55.

Record

Changing the Transport panel setup

You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by right-clicking anywhere on the panel and making selections on the pop-up menu that appears.

Playback and the Transport panel

This is explained in detail in the section “Customizing via

the setup context menus” on page 244.

The numeric keypad

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

Numeric Key Function

[Enter] Play

[+] Fast Forward

[-] Rewind

[*] Record

[÷] (Win)/[/] (Mac) Cycle On/Off

[,] Return to Zero

[0] Stop

[1] Go to Left Locator

[2] Go to Right Locator

[3-9] Go to marker 3 to 9

Operations

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

page 43).

• By using functions on the Transport menu.

The following functions are available:

Function Description

Locate Selection/ Locate Selection End

Locate Next/ Previous Marker

Locate Next/ Previous Event

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

This moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right or left (see “About markers” on page 71).

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.

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.

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 the position display.

• By using the position slider above the transport buttons

in the Transport panel.

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

• By using markers (see “About markers” on page 71).

Playback and the Transport panel

About the Transport panel display format

The time display in the transport panel

The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit shown in the 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.

The following rules apply:

• If you change the time format of the 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 time display format is set on the pop-up menu to

the right in the position display.

• This setting also determines the time format displayed

for the left and right locators on the Transport panel.

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 245). Note that if the right locator is before the

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

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

locator range.

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

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

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

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

• By creating cycle markers you can store any number of left and right locator positions, which can be recalled by simply double-clicking on the corresponding marker (see

“About cycle markers” on page 72).

• 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 in 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.

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 LE menu under Mac OS X).

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

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

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

About track disable/enable

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

Playback and the Transport panel

• Select “Disable Track” for tracks that you want to keep in

the project for later use (but don’t want to play back now).

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

Playback functions

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

Option Description

Play from Selection Start/End

Play until Selection Start/End

Play until Next Marker This activates playback from the project cursor and

Play Selection Range This activates playback from the start of the current

Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current

The functions listed above (except “Play until Next

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.

stops at the next marker.

selection and stops at the selection end.

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

Marker”) are only available if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.

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.

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 LE will track the music back to the beginning, find the first program change and transmit it to your synth, setting it to the correct sound.

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

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

• In the Chase Events section of the Preferences (MIDI page), you will find the option “Chase not limited to Part Boundaries”.

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

Playback and the Transport panel

Recording

Background

This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can use in Cubase LE. 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 21.

• 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

47 and “MIDI recording specifics” on page 50).

Record-enabling a track

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

Record Enable in the Inspector, Track list and mixer.

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

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

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

Manually activating recording

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

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

• If you activate recording in Stop mode, and the option “Start Record at Left Locator” is activated on the Transport menu, recording will start from the left locator.

The preroll setting or the metronome count-in will be applied (see “About

Preroll and Postroll” on page 55).

• 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 LE will immediately enter Record mode and start recording from the current project cursor position.

This is known as “manual punch in”.

Recording

Activating recording in Sync mode

If you are synchronizing the Cubase LE transport to external equipment (Sync is activated on the Transport panel) and you activate recording, the program will go into “record ready” mode (the record button on the Transport panel will light up). Recording then starts when a valid timecode signal is received (or when you manually click the Play button). See the chapter “Synchronization” on

page 216 for more information.

• If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport panel, recording will be deactivated when the project cursor reaches the right locator.

This is known as “automatic punch out”. By combining this with automatic punch in, you can set up a specific section to record – again very useful if you want to replace a certain part of a recording. See also “Stop

after Automatic Punch Out” on page 55.

Automatically activating recording

Cubase LE can automatically switch from playback to recording at a given position. This is known as “automatic punch in”. A typical use for this would be if you need to replace a section of a recording, and want to listen to what is already recorded, up to the recording start position.

1. Set the left locator to the position where you want re-

cording to start.

2. Activate the Punch In button on the Transport panel.

Punch In activated.

3. Activate playback from some position before the left

locator.

When the project cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated.

Stopping recording

Again, this can be done automatically or manually:

• If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or

use the corresponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), recording is deactivated and Cubase LE goes to Stop mode.

• If you click the Record button (or use the key command

for recording, by default [*]), recording is deactivated but playback continues.

This is known as “manual punch out”.

Punch In and Out activated.

Cycle recording

Cubase LE can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left and right locators. When the cycle is active, the selected section is seamlessly repeated until you hit Stop or deactivate cycle mode.

• To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the Transport panel.

If you now start playback, the section between the left and right locator is repeated indefinitely until you stop.

Cycle activated

• To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from the left locator, from before the locators or from within the cycle, in Stop mode or during playback.

As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back to the left locator and continue recording a new lap.

• The results of cycle recording depend on the selected cycle record mode and are different for audio (see “Re-

cording audio in cycle mode” on page 50) and MIDI (see “Recording MIDI in cycle mode” on page 53).

Recording

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 file

AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Apple

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’s 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.

format on the PC platform.

Computer Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used on most computer platforms. Like Broadcast Wave files, AIFF files can contain embedded text strings (see below).

track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus.

You specify the channel configuration for a track when you create it:

1. Select “Add Audio Track” from the Track list context menu or the Project menu (or double-click in an empty area of the Track list when an audio track is selected – when a MIDI track is selected, double-clicking in the Track list creates a new MIDI track).

A dialog appears with a channel configuration pop-up menu.

2. Select the desired format from the pop-up menu.

You can choose between mono and stereo.

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:

• In the Inspector, you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu in the top section.

As described in the section “The Inspector” on page 17, the Inspector shows the settings for the selected track. You show or hide the Inspector clicking the “Show Inspector” button on the Project window toolbar.

Click here to show/hide the Inspector.

For further information on the Project Setup dialog, see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 21.

Setting up the track

Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration

Audio tracks can be configured as mono or stereo. 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

Recording

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

Setting input levels

When recording digital sound, it’s important to set the input levels correctly – loud enough to ensure low noise and high audio quality, but not so loud that clipping (digital distortion) occurs.

Clipping typically occurs in the audio hardware when a too loud analog signal is converted to digital in the hardware’s A/D converters.

You need to check the level at the channel strip for the track on which you are recording:

1. Locate the channel strip for the track you’re about to

record on.

2. Activate monitoring for the channel by clicking the

speaker button next to the fader.

When monitoring is activated, the meter shows the level of the incoming audio signal.

3. Play the audio source that you want to record and

check the level meter for the channel.

4. Adjust the output level of your audio source so that the

meters go reasonably high without reaching 0.0 dB.

Check the numerical peak level indicator below the meter in the bus channel strip. To reset the peak level indicator, click on it.

Ö You must adjust the output level of the audio source – you cannot use the faders in Cubase LE to adjust the input level!

Monitoring via Cubase LE

If you monitor via Cubase LE, 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 LE 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 LE 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 LE 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 145.

When monitoring via Cubase LE, you can select one of four Auto Monitoring modes in the Preferences (VST page):

Ö An alternative way of checking the input levels would be to use the control panel for your audio hardware (if it features input level meters). It may also be possible to adjust the input level in the control panel.

See the documentation of your audio hardware for details.

Monitoring

In this context, “monitoring” means listening to the input signal during recording. There are three fundamentally different ways to do this: via Cubase LE, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Cubase LE), or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination of both other methods – see below).

Recording

• 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 LE) 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 LE 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 LE isn’t activated as well.

Select the “Manual” monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page) and don’t activate the Monitor buttons.

ASIO Direct Monitoring

If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO Direct Monitoring. In this mode, the actual monitoring is done in the audio hardware by sending the input signal back out again. However, monitoring is controlled from Cubase LE. This means that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automatically by Cubase LE, just as when using internal monitoring.

• To activate ASIO Direct Monitoring, open the Device

Setup dialog on the Devices menu and check the Direct Monitoring checkbox on the VST Audio System page.

If the checkbox is greyed out, your audio hardware (or its driver) doesn’t support ASIO Direct Monitoring. Consult the audio hardware manufacturer for details.

• When ASIO Direct Monitoring is activated, you can se-

lect a monitoring mode in the Preferences (VST page), as when monitoring via Cubase LE (see “Monitoring via Cu-

base LE” on page 48).

• Depending on the audio hardware, it may also be possi-

ble to adjust monitoring level and panning from the mixer.

Consult the documentation of the audio hardware if in doubt.

• VST effects and EQ cannot be applied to the monitor

signal in this mode, since the monitor signal doesn’t pass through Cubase LE.

• 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.

Recording

Recording is done using any of the general recording methods (see “Basic recording methods” on page 45). When you finish recording, an audio file is created in the Audio folder within the project folder. In the Pool, an audio clip is created for the audio file, and an audio event that plays the whole clip appears on the recording track. Finally, a waveform image is calculated for the audio event. If the recording was very long, this may take a while.

Ö If the option “Create Audio Images During Record” is activated in the Preferences (Record page), the waveform image will be calculated and displayed during the actual recording process.

This real-time calculation uses some processing power – if your processor is slow or you are working on a CPU-intensive project, you should consider turning this option off.

Undoing recording

If you decide that you don’t like what you just recorded, you can delete it by selecting Undo from the Edit menu. The following will happen:

• The event(s) you just created will be removed from the Project window.

• The audio clip(s) in the Pool will be moved to the Trash folder.

• The recorded audio file(s) will not be removed from the hard disk.

However, since their corresponding clips are moved to the Trash folder, you can delete the files by opening the Pool and selecting “Empty Trash” from the Media menu, see “Deleting from the hard disk” on page 133.

Recording

Recording overlapping events

The basic rule for audio tracks is that each track can play back a single audio event at a time. This means that if two or more events are overlapping, only one of them will be heard at any given time.

What happens when you record overlapping events (record in an area where there are already events on the track) depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

• In “Normal” or “Merge” mode, recording where something has already been recorded creates a new audio event that overlaps the previous one(s).

When you record audio, there is no difference between “Normal” and “Merge” mode – the difference only applies to MIDI recording (see

“About overlap and the Record Mode setting” on page 52).

• In “Replace” mode, existing events (or portions of events) that are overlapped by the new recording will be removed.

This means that if you record a section in the middle of a longer existing recording, that original event will be cut into two events with a gap for the new event.

Recording audio in cycle mode

If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the result depends on the “Cycle Record Mode” setting on the Transport panel:

Cycle Record Modes on the Transport panel

There are three different modes on the Transport panel. For audio cycle recording, the following applies:

• If “Keep Last” is selected, the last complete “take” (the

last completely recorded lap) is kept as an audio event.

MIDI recording specifics

Activating MIDI Thru

Normally, when working with MIDI, you will have MIDI Thru activated in Cubase LE, 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.

Which event will be heard?

If two or more events are overlapping, you will only hear the events (or portions of events) that are actually visible. Overlapped (hidden) events or sections are not played back.

• The functions “Move to Front” and “Move to Back” on the Edit menu (see “Moving events” on page 29) are useful for managing overlapping events, as is the “To Front” function (see below).

Record Enable button. Monitor button.

Ö If you just want to use the Thru function for a MIDI track without recording, activate the monitor button for the track instead.

This is useful e.g. if you want to try out different sounds or play a VST instrument in real time without recording your playing.

Recording

Setting MIDI channel, input and output

Setting the MIDI channel in the instrument

Most MIDI synthesizers can play several sounds at the same time, each on a different MIDI channel. This is the key to playing back several sounds (bass, piano etc.) from the same instrument. Some devices (such as General MIDI compatible sound modules) always receive on all 16 MIDI channels. If you have such an instrument, there’s no specific setting you need to make in the instrument. On other instruments, you will have to use the front panel controls to set up a number of “Parts”, “Timbres” or similar so that they receive on one MIDI channel each. See the manual that came with your instrument for more information.

Naming MIDI ports in Cubase LE

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 17).

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 [Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI input, this is selected for all MIDI tracks.

• If you hold down [Shift] and select a MIDI input, this is selected for all selected MIDI tracks.

• If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select a MIDI input, this is selected for all MIDI tracks within the same folder track (see “Folder tracks” on page 18).

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 LE. 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).

Recording

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 [Alt]/[Option] and select a MIDI output, this is selected for all MIDI tracks.

• If you hold down [Shift] and select a MIDI output, this is selected for all selected MIDI tracks.

• If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and select a MIDI output, this is selected for all MIDI tracks within the same folder track

“Folder tracks”

(see

on page 18).

3. Use the channel pop-up menu to select a MIDI chan-

nel for the track.

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 45). 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:

• 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 LE 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.

Recording

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 Linear 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 Linear Record Mode is set to “Merge”, the overdubbed events are added to the existing part.

• If Linear Record Mode is set to “Replace”, the new recording replaces any existing events in the area on that track.

About punch in and out on MIDI tracks

Performing and setting up manual and automatic punch in/out recording for MIDI tracks is done in exactly the same way as for audio tracks. There is one thing to note, however:

• Punching in and out on recordings with Pitch Bend or controller data (modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) may lead to strange effects (apparently hanging notes, constant vibrato etc.).

If this happens, you may need to use the Reset item on the MIDI menu (see “The Reset function” on page 54).

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 155.

Recording MIDI in cycle mode

When you record MIDI in cycle mode, the result depends on which Cycle Record mode is selected on the Transport panel:

Cycle Record mode: Mix (MIDI)

For each completed lap, everything you record is added to what was previously recorded in the same part. This is useful for building up rhythm patterns, for example. Record a hi-hat part on the first lap, the bass drum part on the second lap etc.

Cycle Record mode: Overwrite (MIDI)

As soon as you play a MIDI note (or send any MIDI message), all MIDI you have recorded on previous laps is overwritten from that point on in the part. An example:

1. You start recording in an eight bar cycle.

2. The first take wasn’t good enough – you start directly

with a new take on the next cycle lap and overwrite the first take.

3. After recording the second take you let the recording roll on and listen, without playing anything.

You find that the take was good up until bar seven, for example.

4. On the next lap, wait until bar seven, then start playing.

This way you will overwrite the last two bars only.

5. Make sure you stop playing before the next lap begins

– otherwise you will overwrite the entire take.

Cycle Record mode: Keep Last

Each completed lap replaces the previously recorded lap. Note:

• The cycle lap must be completed – if you deactivate re-

cording or press Stop before the cursor reaches the right locator, the previous take will be kept.

• If you don’t play or input any MIDI during a lap, nothing

happens (the previous take will be kept).

Recording 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 55.

Notes

When you press and release a key on your synth or other MIDI keyboard, a Note On (key down) and a Note Off (key up) message are sent out. The MIDI note message also contains the information which MIDI channel was used. Normally, this information is overridden by the MIDI channel setting for the track, but if you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, the notes will be played back on their original channels.

Continuous messages

Pitch bend, aftertouch and controllers (like modulation wheel, sustain pedal, volume etc.) are considered as MIDI continuous events (as opposed to the momentary key down and key up messages). If you move the Pitch bend wheel on your synthesizer while recording, this movement is recorded together with the key (Note On and Note Off messages), just as you’d expect. But the continuous messages can also be recorded after the notes have been recorded (or even before). They can also be recorded on their own tracks, separately from the notes to which they belong.

Say, for instance, that you record one or several bass parts on track 2. If you now set another track, like track 55, to the same output and MIDI channel as track 2, you can make a separate recording of just pitch bends for the bass parts on track 55. This means that you activate recording

Recording

as usual and only move the pitch bend wheel during the take. As long as the two tracks are set to the same output and MIDI channel, it will appear to the MIDI instrument as if the two recordings were made at the same time.

Program Change messages

Normally, when you switch from one program to another on your keyboard (or whatever you use to record), a number corresponding to that program is sent out via MIDI as a Program Change message. These can be recorded on the fly with the music, recorded afterwards on a separate track, or manually entered in the Key or List Editors.

System Exclusive messages

System Exclusive (SysEx) is a special type of MIDI message used to send data that only makes sense to a unit of a certain make and type. SysEx can be used to transmit a list of the numbers that make up the settings of one or more sounds in a synth. For more about viewing and editing SysEx messages, see the chapter “Working with Sys-

tem Exclusive messages” on page 201.

Proceed as follows:

1. Enable the Retrospective Record function in the Pref-

erences (Record page).

This activates the buffering of MIDI input, making Retrospective Record possible.

2. Make sure a MIDI track is record-enabled.

3. When you have played some MIDI material you want

to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), select Retrospective Record from the Transport menu (or use the key command, by default [Shift]+[Pad*]).

The content of the MIDI buffer (i.e. what you just played) is turned into a MIDI part on the record enabled track. The part will appear where the project cursor was when you started playing – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

• The Retrospective Record Buffer Size setting in the

Preferences (Record page) determines how much data can be captured.

The Reset function

The Reset function on the MIDI menu sends out note-off messages and resets controllers on all MIDI channels. This is sometimes necessary if you experience hanging notes, constant vibrato, etc.

• Cubase LE can also automatically perform a MIDI reset on stop.

You can turn this function on or off in the Preferences (MIDI page).

• Also in the Preferences (MIDI page), you can find the option “Insert Reset Events after Record”.

This is a very handy function for MIDI recording. At the end of each recorded part, a Reset event will be inserted, resetting controller data such as Sustain, Aftertouch, Pitchbend, Modulation, Breath Control, etc. This is useful if a MIDI part is recorded and e.g. the Sustain pedal is still held after stopping recording. Usually, this would cause all following parts to be played with Sustain, as the Pedal Off command was not recorded. This can be prevented by activating “Insert Reset Events after Record”.

Retrospective Record

This feature allows you to capture any MIDI notes you play in Stop mode or during playback and turn them into a MIDI part “after the fact”. This is possible due to the fact that Cubase LE can capture MIDI input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

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 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.

Recording

• MIDI Record Catch Range in ms

When you record starting at the left locator, this setting helps you make sure the very start of the recording is included. A very annoying scenario is when you have recorded a perfect MIDI take, only to find out that the very first note wasn’t included – because you started playing a little bit too early! If you raise the Record Catch Range, Cubase LE 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

message from being recorded. It will, however, be thruput, and if already recorded, it will play back normally.

message from being thruput. It will, however, be recorded and played back normally.

Section Description

Channels If you activate a channel button, no MIDI messages on

Controller Allows you to prevent certain MIDI controller types from

that MIDI channel will be recorded or thruput. Already recorded messages will, however, be played back normally.

being recorded or thruput. To filter out a controller type, select it from the list at the top of the Controller section and click “Add”. It will appear on the list below. To remove a controller type from the list (allow it to be recorded and thruput), select it in the lower list and click “Remove”.

Options and Settings

Recording-related Transport Preferences

A couple of settings in the Preferences (Transport page) are relevant for recording. Set these according to your preferred method of work:

Deactivate Punch In on Stop

If this is activated, punch in on the Transport panel is automatically deactivated whenever you enter Stop mode.

Stop after Automatic Punch Out

If this is activated, playback will automatically stop after automatic punch out (when the project cursor reaches the right locator and punch out is activated on the Transport panel). If the postroll value on the Transport panel is set to a value other than zero, playback will continue for the set time before stopping (see below).

About Preroll and Postroll

Preroll value field and on/ off switch.

Postroll value field and on/off switch.

The preroll and postroll value fields (below the left/right locator fields) on the Transport panel have the following functionality:

• By setting a preroll value, you instruct Cubase LE 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.

Recording

• By setting a postroll value, you instruct Cubase LE to play back a short section after automatic punch out before stopping.

This is only relevant when punch out is activated on the Transport panel and “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page).

• To turn preroll or postroll on or off, click the corresponding button on the Transport panel (next to the pre/postroll value) or use the “Use Preroll” and “Use Postroll” options on the Transport menu.

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 preroll and postroll times by clicking in the corresponding fields on the Transport panel and typing in time values.

5. Activate preroll and postroll by clicking the buttons next to the preroll and postroll times so that they light up.

6. Activate recording.

The project cursor “rolls back” by the time specified in the preroll field and playback starts. When the cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated. When the cursor reaches the right locator, recording is deactivated, but playback continues for the time set in the postroll field before stopping.

Using the metronome

The metronome can output a click that can be used as a timing reference. The two parameters that govern the timing of the metronome are tempo and time signature, and these are edited in the Tempo Track window (see “Editing

the tempo curve” on page 208).

You can use the metronome for a click during recording and/or playback or for a precount (count-in) that will be heard when you start recording from Stop mode. Click and precount are activated separately:

• To activate the metronome, click the Click button on the Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Metronome On” option on the Transport menu or use the corresponding key command (by default [C]).

• To activate the precount, click the Precount button on

the Transport panel.

You can also activate the “Precount On” option on the Transport menu or set up a key command for this.

Click on/off Precount on/off

Metronome settings

You make settings for the metronome in the Metronome Setup dialog, opened from the Transport menu.

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 are available in the dialog:

Metronome Options

Metronome in Record / Play

Use Count Base

Description

Allows you to specify whether the metronome should be heard during playback, recording or both (when Click is activated on the Transport panel).

If this option is activated, a field appears to the right where you specify the “rhythm” of the metronome. Normally, the metronome plays one click per beat, but setting this to e.g. “1/8” gives you eighth notes – two clicks per beat. It’s also possible to create unusual metronome rhythms such as triplets etc.

Recording

Precount Options

Precount Bars Sets the number of bars the metronome will count in be-

Use Time Signature at Record Start Time

Use Time Signature at Project Time

Use Signature… This lets you set a time signature for the precount. In this

MIDI Click Description

Activate MIDI Click

MIDI Port/ Channel

Hi Note/ Velocity

Lo Note/ Velocity

Audio Click Description

Activate Audio Click

Description

fore it starts recording if precount is activated on the Transport panel.

When this is activated, the precount will automatically use the time signature and tempo set at the position where you start recording.

When this is activated, the precount will be in the time signature set in the Tempo track. Furthermore, any tempo changes in the Tempo track during the precount will be applied.

mode, tempo changes in the Tempo track won’t affect the precount.

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via MIDI.

This is where you select a MIDI output and channel for the metronome click.

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity value for the “high note” (the first beat in a bar).

Sets the MIDI note number and velocity for the “low notes” (the other beats).

Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via the audio hardware. Use the Audio Click Volume slider to set the level of the click.

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Normally, when a computer crashes, all changes made to your current project since you last saved it will be lost. Usually, there is no quick and easy way to recover your work.

With Cubase LE, when your system crashes while you are recording (because of a power cut or other mishap), you will find that your recording is still available, from the moment when you started recording to the time when your computer crashed.

When you experience a computer crash during a recording, simply relaunch the system and check the project record folder (by default this is the Audio subfolder inside the project folder). It should contain the audio file you were recording at the time of the crash.

Please note: This feature does not constitute an “overall” guarantee by Steinberg. While the program itself was improved in such a way that audio recordings can be recovered after a system failure, it is always possible that a computer crash, power cut, etc. might have damaged another component of the computer, making it impossible to save or recover any of the data.

Warning: Please do not try to actively bring about this kind of situation to test this feature. Although the internal program processes have been improved to cope with such situations, Steinberg cannot guarantee that other parts of the computer are not damaged as a consequence.

Recording

Fades and crossfades

Creating fades

There are two main types of fade-ins and fade-outs in audio events in Cubase LE: fades created by using the fade handles (see below) and fades created by processing (see “Fades created by processing” on page 60).

Fades created by using the fade handles

Selected audio events have blue handles in the upper left and right corners. These can be dragged to create a fadein or fade-out respectively.

Creating a fade-in. The fade is automatically reflected in the shape of the event’s waveform, giving you a visual feedback of the result when you drag the fade handle.

Fades created with the handles are not applied to the audio clip as such but calculated in real time during playback. This means that several events referring to the same audio clip can have different fade curves. It also means that having a huge number of fades may demand a lot of processor power.

• If you select multiple events and drag the fade handles on one of them, the same fade will be applied to all selected events.

• A fade can be edited in the Fade dialog, as described on the following pages.

You open the dialog by double-clicking in the area above the fade curve, or by selecting the event and selecting “Open Fade Editor(s)” from the Audio menu (note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and fade-out curves). If you adjust the shape of the fade curve in the Fade dialog, this shape will be maintained when you later adjust the length of a fade.

• You can make the fade longer or shorter at any time, by dragging the handle.

You can actually do this even without selecting the event first, i.e. without visible handles. Just move the mouse pointer along the fade curve until the cursor turns into a bidirectional arrow, then click and drag.

• If the option “Show Event Volume Curves Always” is ac-

tivated 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.

Creating and adjusting fades with the Range Selection tool

“Handle-type” fades can also be created and adjusted with the Range Selection tool, in the following way:

1. Select a section of the audio event with the Range Se-

lection tool.

The result depends on your selection, in the following way:

• If you select a range from the beginning of the event, a fade-in will be created within the range.

• If you select a range that reaches the end of an event, a fadeout will be created in the range.

• If you select a range encompassing a middle section of the event, but not reaching neither the start nor the end, both a fade-in and a fade-out will be created outside of the selected range. In other words, the fade-in will cover the area from the beginning of the event to the beginning of the selected range, and the fade-out will cover the area from the end of the selected range to the end of the event.

2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Adjust Fades to

Range”.

The fade areas are adjusted according to the selection range.

You can select multiple audio events on separate tracks with the Range Selection tool, and apply the fade to all of them simultaneously.

Fades and crossfades

About the volume handle

A selected audio event also has a blue handle in the top middle. This is the volume handle, and it provides a quick way of changing the volume of an event, directly in the Project window. It is linked directly to the volume setting on the info line, that is, dragging the volume handle also changes the value on the info line.

The volume change is displayed numerically on the info line.

The event waveform reflects the volume change.

Drag the Volume handle up or down to change the volume of the event.

Removing fades

To remove the fades for an event, select the event and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

You can also use the Range Selection tool to remove fades and crossfades within the selected range:

1. Drag the Range Selection tool in the Project window, so that the selection encloses all of the fades and crossfades you wish to remove.

2. Select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

Fades created 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.

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 re-

fer to the audio clip.

• New Version will create a separate, new version of the

audio clip for the selected event.

• You can also activate “Do not show this message

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”.

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.

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 and crossfades

• If you open the Fade dialog(s) with several events se-

lected, you can adjust the fade curves for all these events at the same time.

This is useful if you want to apply the same type of fade-in to more than one event, etc.

Curve Kind

These determine whether the fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Fade display

Shows the shape of the fade curve. The resulting waveform shape is shown in dark grey, with the current waveform shape in light grey.

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

Presets

If you have set up a fade-in or fade-out curve that you may want to apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset by clicking the Store button.

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

menu.

• To rename the selected preset, double-click on the

name and type a new one.

• To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up

menu and click Remove.

Stored fade-in presets will only appear in the Fade In dialog, and fade-out presets will only appear in the Fade Out dialog.

Preview, Apply and Process

The buttons in the bottom row are different depending on whether you are editing a fade made with the fade handles or applying a fade using processing:

The Restore button (to the right above the fade display) is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to cancel any changes you have made since opening the dialog.

As Default button

The “As Default” button is only available when editing fades made by dragging the fade handles. Click this to store the current settings as the default fade. This shape will be used whenever you create new fades.

Fade Length Value

The Fade Length Value can be used to enter fade lengths numerically. The format of values displayed here are determined by the 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.

Fades and crossfades

The Edit Fade dialog.

The Process Fade dialog.

The Edit Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

OK Applies the set fade curve to the event, and closes the di-

Cancel Closes the dialog.

Apply Applies the set fade curve to the event, without closing

alog.

the dialog.

The Process Fade dialogs have the following buttons:

Button Function

Preview Plays back the fade area. Playback will repeat until you

Process Applies the set fade curve to the clip, and closes the dia-

Cancel Closes the dialog without applying any fade.

click the button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during playback).

log.

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.

An example:

Audio events

Audio clips

The events in themselves do not overlap, but their clips do. Therefore, the events can be resized so that they overlap, which is required for a crossfade to be created.

Overlapping section

• If the events don’t overlap but are directly consecutive (lined up end-to-start, with no gap), it’s still possible to crossfade them – provided that their respective audio clips overlap! In this case, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a crossfade of the default length and shape is applied.

The default crossfade length and shape are set in the Crossfade dialog (see “Default buttons” on page 64).

When you select the Crossfade function, the two events are resized so that they overlap, and a default crossfade is created in the overlapping section.

• If the events don’t overlap, and cannot be resized

enough to overlap, a crossfade cannot be created.

• Once you have created a crossfade, you can edit it by

selecting one or both crossfaded events, and selecting “Crossfade” from the Audio menu again (or by doubleclicking in the crossfade zone).

This opens the Crossfade dialog, see below.

Removing crossfades

To remove a crossfade, select the events and select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu, or use the Range Selection tool:

1. Drag the Range Selection tool in the Project window,

so that the selection encloses all of the fades and crossfades you wish to remove.

2. Select “Remove Fades” from the Audio menu.

• You can also remove a crossfade by clicking and drag-

ging it outside the track.

Fades and crossfades

The Crossfade dialog

The Crossfade dialog contains separate, but identical, sections for the fade-in and fade-out curve settings in the crossfade on the left, and common settings on the right.

Fade Displays

Shows the shape of the fade-out and fade-in curve, respectively. You can click on the curve to add points, and click and drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it outside the display.

Curve kind buttons

These buttons determine whether the corresponding fade curve should consist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).

Curve shape buttons

These buttons give you quick access to some common curve shapes.

Equal Power and Gain

• If you activate the “Equal Gain” checkbox, the fade curves are adjusted so that the summed fade-in and fadeout amplitudes will be the same all along the crossfade region. This is often suitable for short crossfades.

• If you activate the “Equal Power” checkbox, the fade

curves are adjusted, so that the energy (power) of the crossfade will be constant all along the crossfade region.

Equal Power curves have only one editable curve point. You cannot use the Curve kind buttons or the presets when this mode is selected.

Play buttons

• The “Play Fade Out” and “Play Fade In” buttons allow

you to audition the fade-out or fade-in part only, without the crossfade.

• The “Play Crossfade” button plays back the whole

crossfade.

You can also use the Transport play controls to play back the crossfaded audio events. However, that method will play back all unmuted audio events on other tracks as well.

Pre-roll and Post-roll

When auditioning with the Play buttons, you can choose to activate pre-roll and/or post-roll. Pre-roll lets you start playback before the fade area, and post-roll lets you stop playback after the fade area. This can be useful for auditioning the fade in a context.

• To specify how long the pre- and post-rolls should be,

click in the time fields and enter the desired time (in seconds and milliseconds).

• To activate pre- and post-roll, click the respective but-

ton. To deactivate, click the button again.

Fades and crossfades

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 LE 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.

Auto Fades and Crossfades

Cubase LE features an Auto Fade function that can be set both globally, i.e. for the entire project, and separately for each audio track. The idea behind the Auto Fade function is to create smoother transitions between events by applying short (1–500 ms) fade-ins and fade-outs.

As mentioned earlier, fades are calculated in real time during playback. This means that the larger the number of audio tracks with Auto Fades activated in a project, the higher the demands on the processor.

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.

Default buttons

• Clicking the “As Default” button stores all of the current settings as the default crossfade. These settings will then be used whenever you create new crossfades.

• The Crossfade Length setting is included in the Default settings. However, it is only applied if the events to be crossfaded don’t overlap – otherwise the crossfade will be in the overlap area (see “Creating crossfades” on page 62).

• Clicking the “Recall Default” button copies the curves and settings of the Default crossfade to the Crossfade dialog.

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 (1-500 ms).

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.

Fades and crossfades

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 and crossfades

Folder tracks

About folder tracks

A folder track

Tracks in the folder

Just as the name implies, a folder track is a folder that contains other tracks. Moving tracks into a folder is a way to structure and organize tracks in the Project window. For example, grouping several tracks in a folder track makes it possible for you to “hide” tracks (thus giving you more working space on the screen). You can solo and mute several tracks 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.

2. Release the mouse button.

The track is now placed in the folder track, and all parts and events on the track will be represented by a corresponding folder part (see “Wor-

king with folder parts” on page 68), which is a graphical representation

of all parts and events in the folder.

Since you can move any type of track into a folder track, it is possible to create sub-folders by moving one folder track into another. This is called “nesting”. For example, you could have a folder containing all the vocals in a project, and each vocal part could have a nested folder containing all the takes for easier handling etc.

Handling folder tracks

Creating a folder track

Folder tracks are created just like any other 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.

Moving tracks into a folder

You can move any type of track into a folder by using drag and drop:

1. 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.

Removing tracks from a folder

To remove a track from a folder, simply drag it out of the folder and release it in the Track list.

Hiding/showing tracks in a folder

You can hide or show the tracks located in a folder by clicking on the “Expand/Collapse Folder” button (the folder icon). Hidden tracks are still played back as usual.

When a folder is “closed” this way, the folder part(s) still give you a graphic representation of the parts and events within the folder.

Muting and soloing folder tracks

One of the main advantages of using folder tracks is that they provide you with a way to mute and solo several tracks as one unit. Muting and soloing a folder track affects all tracks in the folder. You can also solo or mute individual tracks in the folder.

Folder tracks

Muting a folder track

You can mute a folder track (and thereby mute all tracks within it) the same way you mute other tracks by clicking in the Mute (“M”) button in the Track list.

Soloing a folder track

You can solo a folder track (and thereby mute all tracks outside the folder, except those already set to Solo) the same way you solo other tracks, by selecting it and clicking the Solo button.

Soloing or muting tracks within a folder

This can be done by showing the tracks in the folder and using the Mute and Solo buttons in the Track list as usual for any tracks inside the folder.

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.

Folder parts are created automatically when there are parts or events on the tracks within the folder. The following rules apply:

• If there is a gap between parts/events on the tracks, there will be two separate folder parts.

• Parts or events that overlap within the folder may be

represented by the same folder part or by two different folder parts – depending on how much they overlap.

If a part/event overlaps by half its length or less, it will be placed in a new folder part.

The “LeadGuit” event overlaps the “Bassline” event by more than half its length, which means it is included in the same folder part.

The “SoloGuit” event does not overlap with any of the other events. This means a new folder part is created.

Handling and editing folder parts

Most of the editing you can do in the Project window applies to folder parts as well.

Any Project window editing you perform to a folder part affects all the events and parts it contains (those elements on the track within the folder that are represented by the folder part). 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 (see the example below).

• 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. This is set by clicking the Arrow tool icon on the toolbar and selecting “Normal Sizing”, “Sizing Moves Contents” or “Sizing Applies Time Stretch” from the pop-up menu – see “Resizing events” on

page 31. Note that if you select “Sizing Applies Time Stretch”,

any automation data is not taken into account.

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

Folder tracks

An example

Splitting the folder part with the Scissors tool...

...will split all contained parts or events present at that position.

Editing tracks within folder parts

Tracks inside a folder can be edited as one entity by performing the editing directly on the folder part containing the tracks as explained above. 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 171).

• If the folder contains tracks with audio events and/or audio parts, the Sample and/or Audio Part Editors are opened with each audio event and audio part in a separate window.

Folder tracks

Using markers

About markers

Markers are used to quickly locate certain positions. 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 that allow you to store the start and end positions of a range.

• Standard markers that store a specific position.

Markers can be created and edited in several ways:

• By using the Marker window (see below).

• By using the Marker track (see “Using the Marker track” on

page 72).

• By using key commands (see “Marker key commands” on

page 74).

Ö The left and right locators are handled separately – see “The left and right locators” on page 42.

The Marker window

In the Marker window, you can perform most editing operations concerning markers. The markers are listed in the Marker window in the order in which they occur in the project. Most functions in the Marker window are also available in the Inspector when the Marker track is selected.

To open the Marker window, you can:

• Select “Markers” from the Project menu

• Click the “Show” button in the Marker section on the Transport panel

• Use the key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[M]).

The Marker window columns

The Marker window is divided into six columns which are used for performing the following operations:

• The leftmost column is the Locate column.

Clicking in this column will move the project cursor to the corresponding marker position. A blue arrow indicates the marker at the project cursor position (or the closest marker before the project cursor).

• The ID column is used to edit marker ID numbers.

See “About marker ID numbers” on page 72.

• The Position column displays the markers’ time positions (or start positions for cycle markers).

The marker positions can be edited directly in this column.

• The End and Length columns display the end positions and length of cycle markers – see “About cycle markers” on page 72.

These values can also be edited directly in the respective column.

• The Description column lets you enter names or descriptions for 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.

Adding and removing markers in the Marker window

• You add position markers (in Stop mode, during playback or during recording) by clicking the Add button or by pressing [Insert] (Windows only) on the computer keyboard. Markers are always added at the current project cursor position.

• To add a cycle marker, select “Cycle Markers” from the Show pop-up menu and click the Add button.

This adds a cycle marker between the left and right locator. You can also draw cycle markers on the Marker track (see “Editing markers on the

Marker track” on page 73).

• To remove a marker, select it and click the Remove button.

Ö Note that you can assign key commands to various marker commands in the Key Commands dialog (see

“Marker key commands” on page 74).

Using markers

Moving marker positions in the Marker window

The Move button in the Marker window can be used to “reprogram” marker positions. Proceed as follows:

1. Set the project cursor to the position to which you

want to move (or re-program) a marker.

2. Select the marker that you want to change in the

Marker window.

Do not select the marker by clicking in the leftmost column, as this will move the project cursor to this marker.

• If a cycle marker is selected, the Move operation affects

the cycle marker start position.

The length of the range is not affected.

3. Click the Move button.

You can also move markers by editing their position numerically in the Position column.

About marker ID numbers

Each time you add a marker, it is automatically and sequentially assigned an ID number, starting from ID 1. ID numbers can be changed at any time – this allows you to assign specific markers to key commands (see below).

IDs for cycle markers are shown in brackets and start from [1]. These may also be changed.

Assigning markers to key commands

As explained above, marker ID numbers are assigned automatically and sequentially each time you add a marker. The nine first markers (1 to 9) can be recalled by using key commands – by default these are [Shift]+[1] to [9] on the typewriter part of the keyboard.

Ö If you have more than nine markers, you cannot use key commands to navigate to markers numbered 10 or higher.

If you want to keep all current markers, but want to specify which markers should be accessed via key commands, the solution is to reassign the marker ID numbers. Proceed as follows:

1. First decide which of the current markers with an ID

between 1 and 9 you want to reassign to a new ID number, and thus remove its key command assignment.

Memorize the ID number.

2. Enter this ID number in the ID column of the marker you want to access with a key command and press [Enter].

The two marker ID numbers are switched, and the key command now locates to the marker selected in this step.

3. Repeat as necessary for other markers.

• You can also simply remove a marker with an ID number

between 1 to 9 to free up a key – see “Adding and remo-

ving markers in the Marker window” on page 71.

• For more about marker key commands, see “Marker key

commands” on page 74.

Using the Marker track

Markers

The Marker track is used for viewing and editing markers. Markers shown on the Marker track are exactly the same as shown in the Marker window, and any changes made on the Marker track are reflected in the Marker window and vice versa. Standard position markers in the Marker track are shown as marker events: 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, much like in the Marker window.

About cycle markers

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

In addition, Cycle markers appear on the horizontal Zoom pop-up menu in the Project window (see below).

Adding the Marker track

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.

Cycle marker Locators

Using markers

Editing markers on the Marker track

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

• Adding position markers “on the fly”.

Use the [Insert] key (Win) or the “Add Marker” button in the Track list for the Marker track to add position markers at the current cursor position during playback.

Add Marker/Add Cycle Marker buttons

• Adding a cycle marker at the left and right locator posi-

tions.

Clicking the “Add Cycle Marker” button in the Track list for the Marker track adds a cycle marker spanning the area between the left and right locator.

• Selecting markers.

You can use standard selection techniques like dragging to make a selection rectangle, or use [Shift] to select separate markers.

• Drawing position markers.

By using the Pencil tool (or pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Arrow tool), you can create or “draw” position marker events at any position on the track. If snap is activated on the toolbar, this determines at which positions you can draw markers.

• Drawing cycle markers.

To draw a cycle marker range, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and use the Pencil tool or the Arrow tool. Snap settings are applied if activated.

Ö Cycle markers can freely overlap.

• Resizing a cycle marker.

Select a cycle marker by clicking on it. Two handles appear at the bottom of the start and end events. If you click and hold one of the handles you can drag the event left or right to resize the cycle marker. This can also be done numerically on the info line.

• Removing markers.

This is done exactly the same way as for other events, i.e. by selecting them and pressing [Delete], using the Erase tool etc.

• Naming markers.

A selected marker’s name can be edited on the info line.

Navigating using cycle markers

Cycle markers represent ranges rather than single positions. Therefore you don’t use them for moving the project cursor, but for moving the left and right locators:

• If you double-click on a cycle marker or select it from the Cycle pop-up menu in the Track list, the left and right locators are moved to encompass the cycle marker.

To move the project cursor position to the start or the end of the cycle marker, move it to the corresponding locator (e.g. by using the numeric pad keys [1] and [2]).

• You can also use key commands for this – see “Marker

key commands” on page 74.

Zooming to cycle markers

• By selecting a cycle marker on the Zoom pop-up menu, the event display is zoomed in to encompass the selected range only (see the section “Zoom presets and Cycle mar-

kers” on page 23).

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

Editing cycle markers using tools

Cycle markers can be edited on the Marker track using the following tools (Snap applies as usual):

Tool Use

Pencil Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and use the Pencil tool to create

Eraser Click with the Eraser tool to delete a cycle marker. If you

Selection Range

The other tools cannot be used with cycle markers.

new cycle markers (as described above).

hold down [Alt]/[Option] when you click, all consecutive markers will also be deleted.

This is described in the following section.

• Moving markers.

Click and drag to move the selected markers or edit marker positions on the info line. As usual, snap is taken into account if activated.

Using markers

Using markers to make range selections in the Project window

Besides enabling you to quickly move the project cursor and the locators, markers can be used in conjunction with the Range Selection tool to make range selections in the Project window. This is useful if you quickly want to make a selection that spans all tracks in the project.

• Double-click with the Range Selection tool between any

two markers – this creates a selection range between the markers, spanning all tracks in the project (just as if you had used the Range Selection tool to draw a rectangle).

Any functions or processing you perform now will affect the selection only.

Moving and copying sections

This is a quick way to move or copy complete sections of the project (on all tracks):

1. Set markers at the start and end of the section you

want to move or copy.

2. Select the Range Selection tool and double-click on

the Marker track between the markers.

Everything in the project within the cycle marker boundaries is selected.

3. Click on the Marker track in the selected range and

drag the range to a new position.

The selection in the Project window is moved to the same position.

• If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while you drag the range,

the selection in the Project window is copied instead.

Marker key commands

You can use key commands for the following marker operations:

Operation Description Default key

Insert Marker Creates a new marker at the current

Locate Next Marker

Locate Previous Marker

To Marker 1-9 Moves the project cursor to the speci-

Set Marker 1-9 Moves the specified marker (number 1

Recall Cycle Marker 1-9

project cursor position.

Moves the project cursor to the right to the next marker position (if any).

Moves the project cursor to the left to the previous marker position (if any).

fied marker (number 1 to 9).

to 9) to the current project cursor position.

Moves the left and right locators to encompass the specified cycle marker (1 to 9).

If you need to check or change any key command assignments, the marker commands can be found in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog.

Ö For the [Shift]+[Pad1] to [Pad9] commands to work, Num Lock must be deactivated on the computer keyboard!

[Insert] (Windows only)

[Shift]+[N]

[Shift]+[B]

[Shift]+[1] to [9]

[Ctrl]+[1] to [9]

[Shift]+[Pad1] to [Pad9]

Using markers

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” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual.

• Automation of all mixer parameters.

See the chapter “Automation” on page 90.

• 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 211.

Overview

• By using a key command (by default [F3]).

• 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 tracks

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.

Folder, Marker, Video and Automation tracks 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 80.

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

Configuring the mixer

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 mixer

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 and miniature buttons.

Selecting what channel types to show/hide

You can specify what channel types to show or hide in the mixer. In the right 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:

“Command Target” options – see “About

the Command Target” on page 78.

“Can Hide” options – see below.

Audio Channels

Group Channels

MIDI Channels

Instrument Channels

Effect Return Channels

Output Channels

Reveals all channel strips

• 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.

Narrow and wide 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 78) are affected.

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 the / icon (visible when moving the

mouse pointer to the top middle of a channel strip) for the channel you want to hide to activate the “Can Hide” option.

If “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip, the corresponding icon (/) will be visible in the top middle section of the channel strip.

2. Repeat this for all channels you want to hide.

The mixer

3. Click the top “hide button” (Hide Channels set to “Can Hide”) in the common panel.

This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the Hide button again or click the button at the bottom in the common panel (“Reveal All Channels”).

Below the top hide button, there are three additional “Can Hide” buttons.

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”. For more information, see “About the Command Target” on page 78.

This deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels you specified as “Command Targets”. For more information, see “About the Command Target” on page 78

This deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels in the Mixer.

Channel view sets

Channel view sets are saved configurations of the mixer windows, 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.

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.

• 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.

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, etc. You can set command targets using the Mixer common panel or the context menu.

The Command Target Controls on the common panel

The Command Target submenu in the Mixer context menu

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 don’t want your commands to affect the output channels.

The mixer

The audio-related channel strips

Narrow/Wide button

The common panel (see “The

common panel”

on page 80)

Record Enable and Monitor buttons

Channel automation controls

The mixer showing (from left to right): the common panel, a stereo audio channel, a group channel, an instrument channel and an effect return channel plus the output channel.

Pan control

Opens the control panel for the VST Instrument

All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, output channels, group, effect return) 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 tracks have an additional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.

• Output channels have clip indicators.

The Can Hide State for the channel

Level fader

Level meter

Edit button (opens the Channel Settings window)

Channel name

Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons (see below)

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.

• 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 mixer

The MIDI channel strips

The output channels

Can Hide State

Channel Narrow/ Wide button

Mute and Solo

Channel automation controls

Edit button

Monitor and Record Enable buttons

Pan control

Level (velocity) meter

Level fader (MIDI volume)

The MIDI channel strips allow you to control volume and pan in your MIDI instrument (provided that they are set up to receive the corresponding MIDI messages). The settings here are also available in the Inspector for MIDI tracks.

The common panel

The common panel appears to the left in the mixer windows and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of the mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.

Toggles “All Wide” (left

Global Mute and Solo buttons

Global automation Read/Write buttons

Resets the settings to default (for all or selected channels).

Channel settings copy/ paste, see “Copying

settings between audio channels” on page 85.

Opens the VST Connections window, see

“The VST Connections window” on page 11.

arrows) or “All Narrow” channel strips in the mixer.

Command Target settings, see “About the Command

Target” on page 78.

“Can Hide” settings, see

“Showing/hiding individual channels (the “Can Hide” setting)” on page 77.

These indicator buttons select what channel types are shown/ hidden in the mixer.

Store/Remove View set buttons (+/-) and Select View set pop-up, see

“Channel view sets” on page 78.

The output bus you set up in the VST Connections window is represented by an output channel in the mixer. It is 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 similar to other audio channels.

Pan control

Mute and Solo buttons

Read/Write Automation

Inserts and EQ indicators and Bypass buttons

Bus volume fader

Bus level meter

Edit button

Clip indicator, see

“Setting input levels” on page 48.

• For information on how to set up input and output busses, see “VST Connections: Setting up input and output

busses” on page 9.

• How to route audio channels to busses is described in the section “About output busses” on page 87.

• The Main Mix (the default output) bus is used for monitoring. For information about Monitoring, see “About moni-

toring” on page 13.

Basic mixing procedures

Setting volume in the mixer

In the mixer, each channel strip has a fader for volume control.

• 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.

The mixer

• 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 also click in the fader value fields and type in the volume value.

• 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. 0.0 dB 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 “Using Write/Read

automation” on page 94), 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 60).

About the level meters for audio channels

When playing back audio in Cubase LE, 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 peak 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).

Cubase LE uses 32 bit floating point processing internally, so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can go way beyond 0dB without clipping. Therefore:

Ö Having higher levels than 0dB for individual audio channels is 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’s good practice to keep the max levels for individual audio channels roughly around 0dB.

About the level meters for output channels

For the output channel, things are different. The output channel has a clip indicator.

• When you are recording, clipping can occur when the analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware.

It’s also possible to get clipping in the signal being recorded to disk. For more about checking and setting input levels, see “Setting input levels” on page 48.

• 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 clip indicator for each bus to light up.

If the clip indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – digital distortion which should always be avoided.

If the clip indicator lights up for an output channel, reset the clip indicator by clicking on it, and lower the level until the indicator doesn’t light up.

About 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.

About 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

The Mute (top) and Solo buttons.

You can use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or several channels. The following applies:

The mixer

• The Mute button silences the selected channel.

Clicking the Mute button again un-mutes the channel. Several channels can be muted simultaneously. A muted channel is indicated by a lit Mute button and also by the lit Global Mute indicator on the common panel.

A muted channel in the mixer.

A lit Global Mute indicator on the common panel shows that one or more channels are muted.

• 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.

• [Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo De-

feat” 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.

• 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” Preference (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.

[Alt]/[Option]-click a Solo button…

…to activate Solo Defeat for that channel.

• You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the

Mute or Solo indicator on the common panel.

Setting pan 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.

The mixer

Audio specific procedures

This section describes the options and basic procedures regarding audio channels in the mixer.

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 the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual).

• Four EQ modules and an associated EQ curve display (see

“Making EQ settings” on page 84).

• A section with eight effect sends (see the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual).

• A duplicate of the mixer channel strip (showing the input and output settings).

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.

For further information, see the chapter “Customizing” on

page 243.

Every channel has its own channel settings (although you can view each in the same window if you like – see below).

Click the Edit button to open the Channel Settings window:

The Channel Settings window is used for the following operations:

• Apply equalization, see “Making EQ settings” on page 84.

• Apply send effects, see the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual.

• Apply insert effects, see the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual.

• Copy channel settings and apply them to another channel, see

“Copying settings between audio channels” on page 85.

All channel settings are applied to both sides of a stereo channel.

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 activated 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.

The mixer

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.

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.

Making EQ settings

Each audio channel in Cubase LE has a built-in parametric equalizer with up to four bands. There are several ways to view and adjust the EQs:

• By selecting the “Equalizers” tab in the Inspector.

Setting EQ in the Inspector is only possible for track-based audio channels.

• 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.

Below we describe how to set up EQ in the Channel Settings window, but the parameters are the same in the Inspector.

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 power 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 the “eq1” and “eq4” bands can act as shelving or high/low-pass filters (see below).

2. Set the amount of cut or boost with the gain control –

the upper slider.

The range is ± 24 dB.

3. Set the desired frequency with the frequency slider.

This is the center frequency of the frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) 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.

Note that EQ 2 and EQ 3 can only act as bandpass 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.

The mixer

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 is 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.

• 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.

EQ bypass in the mixer, the Channel Settings window and in the Inspector.

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 effect 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

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.

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 Instrument track, if you want them to have the same sound.

The mixer

Proceed as follows:

1. In the mixer, select the channel you want to copy settings from.

You can also select channels with the Channel Select pop-up menu – see “Changing channels in the Channel Settings window” on page 83.

2. Click the “Copy First Selected Channel’s Settings” button in the common panel.

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’s Settings” button).

The settings are applied to the selected channel(s).

Initialize Channel and Reset Mixer

The Initialize Channel button can be found at the bottom in the Control Strip section of 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 with a higher number.

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

The mixer

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 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” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual.

About output busses

Cubase LE 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: Setting 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 to the left:

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 and the fader control strip.

You can customize the Channel Settings window by rightclicking the window and activating/deactivating the options on the Customize View submenu.

• 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.

Every MIDI channel has its own channel settings.

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” in the separate Plug-in Reference manual).

The MIDI Channel Settings window.

The mixer

Utilities

Saving mixer settings

Saving/Loading mixer settings does not apply to MIDI channels in the mixer – only audio-related channels (group, audio, instrument, effect return) are saved with this function!

It is possible to save complete mixer settings for selected or all audio channels in the mixer. These can later be loaded into any project. Channel settings are saved as mixer settings files. These have the Windows file extension “.vmx”.

Right-clicking somewhere in the mixer panel or in the Channel Settings window brings up the Mixer context menu where the following Save options can be found:

• “Save Selected Channels” will save all channel settings

for the selected channels.

Input/output routings are not saved.

• “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.

Loading mixer settings

Load 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.

• 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.

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).

Load 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, master 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.

The mixer

About the VST Performance window

The VST Performance window is opened by selecting it from the Devices menu. It indicates the current load on the CPU and the hard disk transfer rate. It is recommended that you check this from time to time, or keep it always open. Even though 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 upper bar graph shows the CPU (processor) load.

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 42). If this doesn’t 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 CPU 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

Automation

Background

Cubase LE provides very comprehensive automation features. Virtually every mixer and effect parameter can be automated.

There are two main methods you can use to automate parameter settings:

• By manually drawing curves on automation tracks in the

Project window.

See “Editing automation events” on page 97.

• By using the Write/Read buttons and adjusting para-

meters in the mixer.

See “Using Write/Read automation” on page 94.

About automation tracks

Audio tracks, group channel tracks and FX channel tracks all have automation tracks. These allow you to view and edit the automation of all mixer settings for the track, including settings for the track’s insert effects. There is one automation “subtrack” for each track, on which the different automation parameters can be displayed.

Similarly, MIDI tracks have an automation track for automating mixer settings and MIDI Modifiers.

For Instrument tracks, as a combination of a MIDI track and a VST Instrument, the automation track provides automation parameters for the VST Instrument itself, for the VST Instrument channel and the respective MIDI automation parameters.

Finally, for output channels, automation tracks are automatically added as soon as you activate automation (the Write button) in the corresponding mixer channel strip or in the Channel Settings window.

What can be automated?

Mixing in Cubase LE can be completely automated. The following parameter settings can be recorded automatically – or manually drawn in – on automation tracks:

The methods are not different in terms of how the automation data is applied – they only differ in the way the automation events are created; manually drawing them or recording them. Any applied automation data will be reflected both in the mixer (a fader will move for example) and in a corresponding automation track curve (although this may be hidden).

Automation

For each audio or group track

•Volume

•Mute

•Pan

• 8 x insert effect parameters (if inserts are used)

• 8 x effect send settings (on/off, level, pan)

• Settings for 4 EQ modules (Master Bypass, on/off, Type, Gain, Freq., Quality)

For each FX channel track and output bus

•Volume

•Mute

•Pan

• 8 x insert effect parameters (if inserts are used)

• Settings for 4 EQ modules (Master Bypass, on/off, Type, Gain, Freq., Quality)

For each MIDI track

•Volume

•Pan

•Mute

• MIDI Modifiers on/off switch

•Transpose

•Vel. shift

• Random 1-2 min/max/target

• Range 1-2 min/max/target

For each Instrument track

The automation track for instrument tracks features all parameters that are available for MIDI tracks (see the respective sections above) except MIDI Volume, Pan and Mute, because the parameters Volume, Pan and Mute are controlled directly via the Instrument Return channel in the Mixer. Additionally it features the following parameters for VST instruments:

• VST Instrument plug-in parameters plus:

•Volume

•Mute

•Pan

• 8 x insert effect parameters (if inserts are used)

• 8 x effect send settings (on/off, level, pan)

• Settings for 4 EQ modules (Master Bypass, on/off, Type, Gain, Freq., Quality)

Automation track operations

Opening automation tracks

Every track/channel has an automation track.

For audio, Instrument, group channel, MIDI and FX channel tracks, there are two ways you can open the automation track:

• By right-clicking the track in the Track list and selecting “Show Automation” from the context menu.

• By clicking on the left border of the track in the Track list. (When you position the mouse pointer over the lower left corner of the track, the respective arrow icon (“Show/ Hide Automation”) appears.)

An automation track opens in the Track list, and a straight black horizontal line is shown as well as a greyed out mirror image of the audio events’ waveform (or MIDI events for MIDI tracks) in the event display. By default, the volume parameter is assigned to the automation track.

Click here to open the automation track.

For output busses, automation tracks are automatically created when the Write automation button (see “Using Write/

Read automation” on page 94) is activated in either:

• The corresponding channel strip in the mixer.

• The corresponding Channel Settings window.

• The mixer common panel (“All Automation to Write Status”).

• The area above the Track list (“All Automation to Write Status”).

Automation

Assigning a parameter to an automation track

To make settings for an automation parameter, you have to select it from the pop-up menu.

1. Open the automation track for the desired track in the

Track list, as described above.

2. Click in the parameter display for the automation track.

A pop-up menu opens, containing some of the automation parameters plus the item “More...” at the bottom of the list. The contents of the list depend on the track type (audio, MIDI, etc.).

• If the parameter you wish to automate is on the pop-up

menu, you can select it directly.

The parameter will replace the current parameter in the automation track.

• If you wish to add a parameter not available on the pop-

up menu or want to view all parameters that can be automated, go on to the next step.

3. Select “More...”.

The Add Parameter dialog appears. This dialog shows a list with all parameters that can be automated for the selected channel (sorted into different categories), including the parameters for any assigned insert effects. See “What can be automated?” on page 91 for a list of the available parameters according to channel type. To view the parameters in each category click the “+” sign for the category folder.

The Add Parameter dialog for an audio track.

4. Select a parameter from the list and click OK.

The parameter will replace the current parameter in the automation track.

Ö Note that the “replacing” of the parameter displayed in the automation track is completely non-destructive.

If the track contained any automation data for the parameter you just replaced, this data will still be there, although it will not be visible after you replaced the parameter. If you click in the parameter display you can switch back to the replaced parameter. All automated parameters are indicated by an asterisk (*) after the parameter name on the pop-up menu.

Volume and Mute are automated.

Automation

Removing automation

To remove all automation for the selected parameter, click the parameter name and select “Remove Parameter” from the pop-up menu. This will delete any automation events on the track, and the automation track will be closed.

Hiding automation tracks

To hide a single automation track, you have two possibilities:

• Position the pointer over the top left border of the automation track in the Track list and click the “Hide Automation Track” button (the minus sign).

• Right-click the track for which you wish to hide the automation track, and select “Hide Automation” from the context menu.

To hide the automation tracks for all tracks in the Track list, right-click any track and select “Hide All Automation” from the context menu.

Hiding unused automation tracks

vate Read mode for all automated parameters of the track. Using the Mute button allows you to turn off automation for a single parameter.

The “Automation follows Events” setting

If you activate “Automation follows Events” on the Edit menu (or in the Preferences dialog–Editing page), automation events will automatically follow when you move an event or part on the track.

This makes it easy to set up automation related to a specific event or part, rather than to a specific position in the project. For example, you can automate the panning of a sound effect event (having the sound pan from left to right, etc.) – if you need to move the event, the automation will automatically follow! The rules are:

• All automation events for the track between the start and end of the event or part will be moved.

If there are automation events in the new position (to which you move the part or event), these will be overwritten.

• If you copy an event or part (using Copy/Paste, or [Alt]/ [Option]-dragging, or using the Duplicate or Repeat functions), the automation events will be duplicated as well.

Using Write/Read automation

To hide all empty automation tracks (i.e. automation tracks that were opened but do not contain any automation data), proceed as follows:

• Right-click any track in the Track list and select “Show

All Used Automation” from the pop-up menu.

This will close all automation tracks not containing any automation events. For tracks that have automated parameters, the automation track is shown for the first (topmost) parameter in the Parameter list.

Muting automation

You can mute individual automation parameters by clicking the Mute button on the automation track. Clicking the Read (R) button (see “Using Write/Read automation” on

page 94) for an automation track will activate or deacti-

Automation

All track types except folder, marker and video tracks feature Write (W) and Read (R) buttons in the mixer, in the Track list and in the Channel Settings window. Furthermore, the control panels for all plug-in effects and VST Instruments also feature Write and Read buttons.

The Write and Read buttons for a channel in the mixer and for an automation track in the Track list.

• If you activate Write for a channel, all mixer parameters you adjust during playback for that specific channel will be recorded as automation events.

• If you activate Read for a channel, all your recorded mixer actions for that channel will be performed during playback, just like you performed them in Write mode.

• The W and R buttons for a track in the Track list are mir-

rors of the W and R buttons in the corresponding channel strip in the mixer.

There are also global Read and Write buttons in the common panel of the mixer and at the top of the Track list:

The global Write and Read buttons in the mixer, and in the Track list.

• When global Read (“All Automation to Read Status”) is

activated, all your recorded mixer actions for all channels will be performed during playback.

• When global Write (“All Automation to Write Status”) is

activated, all mixer actions you perform during playback (for all channels) will be recorded as automation events.

MIDI Controller Input to Automation Tracks

If you have set up a remote device to control parameters and settings in the program, you can record automation with that remote device – just activate Write as usual. However, if you are recording a MIDI track and want to record automation at the same time, the controller data sent by the remote device will be recorded “twice” – as automation and as MIDI controller data on the MIDI track.

To avoid this, activate “MIDI Controller Input to Automation Tracks” in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page). When this is activated, the controllers will be recorded as automation only, not as MIDI controller data on the recorded MIDI track.

Recording your actions – an example

If the settings in your current project are crucial, you may not want to “experiment” with automation until you know more about it. If so, create a new project for the following example. It doesn’t even have to contain audio events, just a few audio tracks. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the Mixer window.

2. Click the global Write button (“All Automation to Write

Status”) in the mixer common panel.

Cubase LE is now in global Write mode.

3. Start playback and adjust some volume faders and/or other parameter settings in the mixer or perhaps in a Channel Settings window.

Stop playback when you are done, and return to the position where you started playback.

4. Deactivate Write mode and click the global Read button (“All Automation to Read Status”) in the mixer common panel.

Cubase LE is now in global Read mode.

5. Start playback, and watch the Mixer window.

All your actions performed during the previous playback will be reproduced exactly.

6. If you wish to redo anything that was recorded, activate Write mode again and start playback from the same position.

• You can have Write and Read activated simultaneously, if you want to watch and listen to your recorded mixer actions while you’re recording fader movements for another mixer channel, etc.

Recording plug-in automation

Every parameter for every assigned effect or VST Instrument can be automated in much the same manner as described above.

The following example assumes that you have assigned an insert effect to an FX channel track (see the chapter “Audio effects” in the separate pdf document “Plug-in Reference”), and describes how to record automation for the effect:

1. Select the FX channel track in the Track list and open its Inserts section in the Inspector.

If the Inspector is hidden, click the “Show Inspector” button in the Project window 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 to click on an Inspector tab and not on the empty area below the Inspector, as this will open the Quick context menu instead.

2. Open the control panel for the effect by clicking the Edit button (“e”) above the insert effect slot in the Inspector.

Automation

3. Click the Write button in the control panel to activate

Write mode.

All effects and VST Instruments have Write/Read buttons on their control panels. These work exactly like the corresponding buttons in the mixer or in the Track list. In the previous example, we used global Write mode, in which mixer and parameter changes are recorded on all tracks, but in this example we’ll use Write mode for one track only.

4. Start playback and adjust some effect parameters in

the control panel.

When you are finished, stop playback and return to the position where you started playback.

5. Deactivate Write and instead click the Read button on

the control panel.

6. Start playback and watch the control panel.

All actions you performed during the previous playback will be reproduced exactly.

Assigning an automated parameter to an automation track

To select which parameter is currently shown in the automation track for the FX channel, proceed as follows:

1. Click on the parameter name for the FX channel auto-

mation track.

The parameter name pop-up list is shown containing the automation parameters for the plug-in. The parameter(s) you previously automated are indicated by an asterisk after the parameter name in the list.

The parameters for the WahWah effect.

2. Select the parameter you wish to view from the para-

meter pop-up.

The automation curve for the parameter you selected is displayed on the automation track.

Working with automation curves

About automation curves

There are two kinds of automation curves, “ramp” and “jump”:

• Jump curves are created for any parameter that only has on/off values, like a Mute button, for example.

• Ramp curves are created for any parameter that generates continuous multiple values, such as fader or dial movements etc.

A ramp automation curve

A jump automation curve

About the static value line

When you first open an automation track for a parameter, it doesn’t contain any automation events (unless you have previously adjusted that parameter with write automation activated), and this is reflected in the event display as a straight horizontal black line, the “static value” line. This line represents the current parameter setting.

• If you have manually added any automation events or used write automation for the corresponding parameter, and then deactivate Read mode, the automation curve will be greyed-out in the automation track event display and the static value will be used instead.

As soon as Read mode is activated, the automation curve will become available.

Automation

Editing automation events

Drawing automation events

By using write automation in the mixer, you generate automation events by moving parameter dials and faders in the mixer. You can also add them manually by drawing automation curves on an automation track. Proceed as follows:

1. Open the automation track by clicking on the left edge

of the track in the Track list.

The static value line is shown in the event display for the automation track.

2. Select the Pencil tool.

You can also use the various modes of the Line tool for drawing curves, see below.

3. If you click on the static value line, an automation event

is added, Read automation mode is automatically activated, and the static value line changes to a blue automation curve.

6. If you now activate playback, the volume will change with the automation curve.

In the mixer, the corresponding fader moves accordingly.

7. Simply redo the operation if you are not happy with the result.

If you draw over existing events, a new curve is created.

• If the automation track is in Read mode already, you can also add automation events by clicking with the Arrow tool.

If you are trying to add a point between two existing points and the new point doesn’t deviate from the existing curve, it will be removed by reduction as soon as you release the mouse button (see “About the Automa-

tion Reduction Level preference” on page 99).

Using the various modes of the Line tool to draw automation curves

The Line tool can be very useful for drawing automation curves. The various modes are accessed by selecting the Line tool on the toolbar, clicking on it a second time and selecting from the pop-up menu that appears.

• Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode shows a line in the automation track and creates automation events aligned with this line.

This is a quick way to create linear fades, etc.

4. If you click and hold, you can draw a curve by adding a

multitude of single automation events.

5. When you release the mouse button, the number of

automation events is reduced to a few events, but the basic shape of the curve still remains the same.

This “thinning out” of events is governed by the Automation Reduction Level setting in the Preferences, see “About the Automation Reduction

Level preference” on page 99.

Automation

• The Line tool in Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns the automation events with a parabolic curve instead, resulting in more “natural” curves and fades.

Note that the result depends on the direction in which you draw the parabolic curve.

• The Sine, Triangle and Square Line tool modes create automation events aligned with continuous curves.

If Snap is activated and set to Grid, the period of the curve (the length of one curve “cycle”) is determined by the grid setting. If you press [Shift] and drag, you can set the period length manually, in multiples of the grid value.

Selecting automation events

• To select a single automation curve point, click on it

with the Arrow tool.

The point turns red, and you can drag it in any horizontal or vertical direction between two points.

• To select multiple curve points, you can either [Shift]-

click or drag a selection rectangle with the Arrow tool.

All events inside the selection rectangle will become selected.

Drawing a selection rectangle around some points to select them.

When selected, the points can be moved in all directions as “one”, i.e. the curve shape formed by the selected events remains intact.

• To select all automation events on an automation track,

right-click the automation track in the Track list and choose “Select All Events” from the context menu.

Removing automation events

There are several ways to remove automation events:

• By selecting points and pressing [Backspace] or [De-

lete] or selecting Delete from the Edit menu.

• By clicking on an event with the Eraser tool.

• By selecting a range (with the Range Selection tool),

and pressing [Backspace] or [Delete] or selecting Delete from the Edit menu.

• By opening the parameter pop-up menu for an automa-

tion track and selecting “Remove Parameter”.

This will remove all automation events from the track, and the track will be closed.

Editing automation events

Automation events can be edited much like other events. You can use cut, copy and paste, you can nudge events etc. There are, however, four items on the Edit menu that are not applicable to automation events. These are:

• Split at Cursor

• Split Loop

• Move to Front

•Move to Back

Tips and common methods

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to describing which automation method you should use. You can for example never even open an automation track, and stick with write automation throughout a project. Or you can stick to drawing automation curves to automate settings in a project. Both methods have their advantages, but it is of course up to you to decide what to use and when.

• Editing curves on automation tracks offers a graphical overview in relation to the track contents and the time position.

This makes it easy to quickly change parameter values at specific points, without having to activate playback. For example, this method gives you a good overview if you have a voice-over or a dialog on one track and a music bed on another track, the level of which needs to be lowered with a specific amount every time the dialog occurs.

• By using write automation in the mixer you don’t have to manually select parameters from the Add Parameter list.

You can work much like you would using a “real” physical mixer. Every action you perform is automatically recorded on automation tracks which you can later open for viewing and editing of the parameters you changed.

These are just two examples of advantages for each method. Generally, editing curves and using write automation are two methods that complement each other, and depending on the nature of your projects you will probably work out what method works best for a given situation.

Automation

Options and Settings

About the Automation Reduction Level preference

This item can be found on the Editing page in the Preferences dialog. Automation reduction reduces the number of automation events after you have used write automation or added automation events manually. When you write automation events or draw them in with the Pencil tool, these are added as a continuous stream of densely packed events. This is necessary because the program cannot “guess” what you will be doing next. However, when you are done, the reduction function will remove all superfluous automation curve points and the automation curve now contains only the events necessary to reproduce your actions.

For example, all events that lie between two other points, but do not deviate from the curve, will be automatically removed by reduction.

If you try to add an event that doesn’t deviate from the existing curve between two existing points...

...it will be removed when the mouse is released. If you move the selected event by any amount so that the resulting curve isn’t a straight line, the event will be added.

• If you feel you need a lower (or higher) reduction level of

events than the default setting, you can change it, but normally the default setting works well.

• A minimum reduction level setting is not recommended

as this will retain a lot of unnecessary events.

Automation

STEINBERG Cubase LE 4 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

About this chapter

Setting up busses

Using the busses

About monitoring

The Project window

Background

Window Overview

Operations

Options

Playback and the Transport panel

Background

Operations

Options and Settings

Recording

Background

Basic recording methods

Audio recording specifics

MIDI recording specifics

Options and Settings

Recovery of audio recordings after system failure

Fades and crossfades

Creating fades

The Fade dialogs

Creating crossfades

The Crossfade dialog

Auto Fades and Crossfades

Folder tracks

About folder tracks

Handling folder tracks

Working with folder parts

Using markers

About markers

The Marker window

Using the Marker track

Marker key commands

The mixer

About this chapter

Overview

Configuring the mixer

The audio-related channel strips

The MIDI channel strips

The output channels

The common panel

Basic mixing procedures

Audio specific procedures

MIDI specific procedures

Utilities

Automation

Background

What can be automated?

Automation track operations

Using Write/Read automation

Working with automation curves

Tips and common methods

Options and Settings

Audio processing and functions