STEINBERG Cubase SE 3 User Manual

Operation Manual

Original Manual: Synkron Revision and Quality Control: C. Bachmann, H. Bischoff, S. Pfeifer, C. Schomburg

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.

Table of Contents

9 About this manual

10 Welcome!

13 VST Connections:

Setting up input and output busses

14 About this chapter 14 Setting up busses 18 Using the busses

132 Using the Marker track 136 Marker key commands

137 Fades, crossfades

and envelopes

138 Creating fades 142 The Fade dialogs 145 Creating crossfades 147 The Crossfade dialog 150 Auto Fades and Crossfades

21 Playback and the

Transport panel

22 Background 26 Operations 29 Options and Settings

33 Recording

34 Background 35 Basic recording methods 40 Audio recording specifics 50 MIDI Recording Specifics 62 Options and Settings

67 The Project window

68 Background 70 Window Overview 81 Operations 113 Options

119 Folder tracks

120 About folder tracks 121 Handling folder tracks 123 Working with folder parts

127 Using markers

128 About markers 128 The Marker window

153 The mixer

154 About this chapter 155 Overview 157 Configuring the mixer 160 The audio channel strips 161 The MIDI channel strips 162 The common panel 163 The output channels 164 Basic mixing procedures 168 Audio specific procedures 180 MIDI specific procedures 181 Utilities

187 Audio effects

188 About this chapter 188 Overview 190 Insert effects 195 Send effects 204 Making settings for the ef-

fects

206 Installing and managing ef-

fect plug-ins

213 VST Instruments

214 Introduction 214 Activating and using

VST Instruments

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4 Table of Contents

221 Automation

222 Background 225 Automation track operations 231 Using Write/Read

automation

235 Working with automation

curves

240 Tips and common methods 241 Options and Settings

243 Remote controlling

the mixer

244 About this chapter 244 Setting Up 246 Operations 248 Remote control device spe-

cifics

250 The Generic Remote device

255 Audio processing and

functions

256 Background 257 Audio processing 274 Freeze Edits

275 The Sample Editor

276 Background 276 Opening the Sample Editor 277 Window overview 282 Operations 290 Options and settings

293 The Audio Part Editor

294 Background 294 Opening the

Audio Part Editor

295 Window overview 298 Operations

301 Common methods 303 Options and Settings

305 Working with hitpoints

and slices

306 Background 307 Using hitpoints 311 Editing hitpoints 317 About Q-points 318 Using the Audio Tempo

Definition tool

322 Creating slices 323 Other hitpoint functions

327 The Pool

328 Background 330 Window Overview 333 Operations 350 Options and Settings

351 MIDI realtime para-

meters and effects

352 Introduction 353 The Inspector – General

handling

354 Basic track settings 357 Track parameters 362 MIDI effects 367 Managing plug-ins 368 Merge MIDI in Loop

371 MIDI processing and

quantizing

372 Introduction 373 Quantizing 384 Other MIDI menu functions 390 Dissolve Part

Table of Contents 5

CUBASE SE

393 The MIDI editors

503 VST System Link

394 About editing MIDI 395 Opening a MIDI editor 398 The Key Editor – Overview 404 Key Editor operations 427 The Drum Editor – Overview 430 Drum Editor operations 433 Working with drum maps 441 Using drum name lists 442 The List Editor – Overview 443 List Editor operations 450 The Score Editor – Overview 453 Score Editor operations 468 Common MIDI editor options

and settings

471 Working with the

Tempo track

472 Background 473 The Tempo Track Editor –

overview

476 Operations 481 Options and settings 482 The Beat Calculator 484 Merge Tempo From Tapping

485 Export Audio

Mixdown

486 Introduction 487 Mixing down to an audio file 489 File format specifics

497 Synchronization

498 Background 500 Window Overview 502 Options

504 Introduction 505 Preparations 511 Activating VST System Link 518 Application examples

521 Video

522 Background 523 Operations 528 Options

529 ReWire

530 Introduction 531 Launching and quitting 532 Activating ReWire channels 533 Using the transport and

tempo controls

534 How the ReWire channels

are handled in Cubase SE

535 Routing MIDI via ReWire2 536 Considerations and

limitations

537 File handling

538 File Operations 555 Options and Settings

557 Customizing

558 Background 559 Customizing the Transport

panel

561 Customizing the toolbars 563 Appearance 563 Applying track and event

colors

566 Where are the settings

stored?

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6 Table of Contents

569 Key commands

570 Background 571 Setting up Key Commands 579 Setting up tool modifier keys

581 Index

Table of Contents 7

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8 Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Cubase SE 3. Here you will find detailed information about virtually all features and functions in the program.

How to use the manuals and the Help

When it comes to manuals, different users look for information in different ways, depending on their previous knowledge and personal preferences. You may be looking for a complete description of a procedure, you may just be trying to find a certain function in the program, you may have found a function in the program and want it explained – or you may simply want to learn it all!

Therefore, there are several ways to enter the documentation and get help:

•

Use the Table of Contents to browse the manual or the Help and find the section you need to know more about.

You can click directly on a chapter or section to go there.

•

Use the Index to look up specific features and functions.

Again, you can click directly on the page number for an index entry to go to there. The help also allows you to perform a free search of any term.

•

In the program you will find Help buttons in most dialogs – click to get information about that specific dialog.

Similarly, you can press [F1] to get information about the current window.

•

If you want information about a specific menu item, use the Menu Reference section in the Help.

All main menu items in Cubase SE are listed and explained there.

•

Finally, you could read the manuals from start to end if you like.

See below for a description of all parts of the Cubase SE documentation package.

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1 – 10 About this manual

About this chapter

As described in the Getting Started book, Cubase SE 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 SE. That’s the reason why you find this chapter in the beginning of the Operation Manual – once you understand the bus system and set up the busses properly, it will be easy to go on with recording, playing back and mixing.

Setting up busses

Strategies

You can create any number of busses in Cubase SE in mono or stereo.

• 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 page 541).

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 could either create several different templates or store your configurations as presets (see page 17). The templates can of course also contain other settings that you regularly use – sample rate, record format, a basic track layout, etc.

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2 – 14 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

You can add the following busses:

Input busses

• Most likely you need at least one stereo input bus assigned to an analog input pair. This would let you record stereo material. If you want to be able to record in stereo from other analog input pairs as well, you could add stereo input busses for these too.

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

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 15

The VST Connections window

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

There are two tabs in the window: the Input and Output tab for viewing input busses or output busses, respectively.

For the time being we shall focus on how to set up input and output busses.

Depending on which tab you have selected, Input or Output, 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 them by clicking

on them in this column.

Speakers Indicates the speaker configuration (mono, stereo) of each bus.

Audio Device This shows the currently selected Master ASIO driver.

Device Port When you have “opened” a bus (by clicking its + button in the Bus

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2 – 16 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

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

Adding a bus

Click the Inputs or Outputs tab depending on which you want to add.

Click the Add Bus button.

A dialog appears.

Select the desired (channel) configuration.

The pop-up menu contains Mono and Stereo options.

•

Alternatively you can right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) 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.

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

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

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 (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) and select “Remove Bus” from the pop-up menu.

•

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.

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 17

Using the busses

This section describes briefly how to use the input and output busses you have created. This is described in more detail in the chapters “Re-

cording” and “The mixer”.

Routing

When you play back an audio track (or any other audio channel in the mixer – VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, etc.), you route it to an output bus. In the same way, when you record on an audio track you select from which input bus the audio should be sent.

•

You can select input and output busses in the Inspector, using the “In” and “Out” pop-up menus.

For channel types other than audio tracks (VST Instrument channels, FX channels, etc.), only the “Out” pop-up menu is available. To access the “Out” pop-up menu for such a channel in the Inspector, select one of its automation subtracks in the Track list.

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:

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

• Stereo tracks can be routed to stereo busses.

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2 – 18 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Viewing the busses in the mixer

Only the output busses are visible in the mixer! You cannot make any specific mixer settings for the input busses.

Output channels

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

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

• Add effects or EQ.

These will affect the whole bus. Examples of effects you may want to add here include compressors or limiters. See page 193.

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 19

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2 – 20 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Playback and the Transport

panel

Background

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

The Transport panel

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

• You can customize the look of the Transport panel, hiding unneeded controls and moving controls as desired – see page 559.

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.

Left locator: record start point, punch

Record mode pop-upCycle Record

mode pop-up

in point and beginning of Cycle

Preroll setting and on/off switch

Postroll setting and on/off switch

CPU load and Disk Cache meters

Primary Time Display and format pop-up

Nudge position right/left

Position slider

Go to previous marker or project start

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3 – 22 Playback and the Transport panel

Rewind Stop

Activates Auto Quantize

Fast forward

Go to next marker or project end

Right locator: punch out point and end of Cycle

Exchange time formats

Cycle on/off

Secondary Time Display and format pop-up

Record

Play

Metronome click on/off

)

Tempo track on/off

Synchronization on/off The tempo and time signature display

MIDI In (left meter)/ MIDI Out activity

Precount on/off

Level Control (Output bus 1

Audio activity (Output bus 1)Audio input activity (Input bus 1)

Show Markers (opens Marker window)

Jump to Marker

• The main Transport functions (Cycle/Stop/Play/Record) can also be shown on the toolbar.

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

Hiding and showing

The Transport panel 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 page 62.

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 23

Customizing the Transport panel

You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by rightclicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) anywhere on the panel and making selections on the pop-up menu that appears.

• On the upper half of the pop-up menu you can hide or show elements on the panel by activating or deactivating the corresponding menu items.

• Selecting the Show All item displays all sections of the Transport panel.

• Selecting Default shows all sections in their default positions on the panel.

• The items in the lower half of the pop-up menu are preset configurations for the Transport panel. You will find all your own stored presets here, for quick selection.

• Selecting Setup brings up a dialog where you can set show/hide status for the separate sections, configure where the sections should be placed on the panel and store different Transport panel layouts as presets for instant recall.

For more about customizing the Transport panel, see page 559.

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3 – 24 Playback and the Transport panel

The numeric keypad

In the default Key Command settings, the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard is assigned various Transport panel operations:

Numeric Key Function

[Enter] Play

[+] Fast Forward

[–] Rewind

[*] Record

[÷] (Win) or [/] (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

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 25

Operations

Setting the project cursor position

There are several ways to move the project cursor position:

• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.

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

• By clicking in the ruler.

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

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

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

• By using the position slider above the transport buttons.

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 page 128).

• By using playback options (see page 30).

• 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 page 128).

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

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

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3 – 26 Playback and the Transport panel

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

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

About the Transport panel display formats

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

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

The following rules apply:

• If you change the time format from the primary time display on the Transport panel, this will apply to the ruler 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 main time display you should change the format in the ruler.

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

• The setting here also determines the time format displayed for the left and right locators.

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

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

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 27

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.

• 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 page 563). Note that if the right locator is before the left locator the area will be red in the ruler to indicate this.

• 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 page 132).

• 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.

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3 – 28 Playback and the Transport panel

• 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 dialog (found on the File menu under Windows, on the Cubase SE 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.

• 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.

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 29

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 stops at the

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

Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current selection

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.

next marker.

and stops at the selection end.

and keeps starting over again when reaching the selection end.

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

About Chase

Chase is basically 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 having 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.

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

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3 – 30 Playback and the Transport panel

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

The Chase function takes care of that. If program change events are set to be chased, Cubase SE will track the music back to the beginning, find the first program change and send this out, so that the synth is set to the right sound.

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

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

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 31

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3 – 32 Playback and the Transport panel

Recording

Background

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

This is described in the Getting Started book.

• 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 page 81.

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

See the Getting Started book.

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4 – 34 Recording

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 page 40 and page 50).

Record enabling a track

Cubase SE 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.

• If the option “Enable Record on Selected Track” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing page), tracks are automatically record enabled when you select them in the Track list.

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

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Recording 4 – 35

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 from Stop mode (from the current cursor position or from the left locator) or during playback:

• If you activate recording from 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 page 62).

• If you activate recording from 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 SE will immediately enter Record mode and start recording at the current project cursor position.

This is known as “manual punch in”.

Activating recording in Sync mode

If you are synchronizing the Cubase SE 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 page 498 for more information about synchronization.

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4 – 36 Recording

Automatically activating recording

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

1. Set the left locator to the position where you want recording to start.

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

Punch In activated.

3. Activate playback from some position before the left locator.

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

Stopping recording

Again, this can be done automatically or manually:

• If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or use the corresponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), recording is deactivated and Cubase SE 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”.

• 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 page 62.

Punch In and Out activated.

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Recording 4 – 37

Cycle recording

Cubase SE 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, from 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 page 48) and MIDI (see page 56).

Audio pre-record

This feature allows you to capture up to 10 minutes of any incoming audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is possible because Cubase SE can capture audio input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Pull down the File menu and open the Preferences dialog.

2. In the list to the left, select “Record” to open the Record page.

3. Specify a time (up to 600 seconds) in the Audio Pre-Record Seconds

field.

This activates the buffering of audio input, making Pre-Record possible.

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4 – 38 Recording

4. Make sure an audio track is record enabled and receives audio from the signal source.

5. When you have played some audio material you want to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), click the Record button.

6. After a few seconds stop the recording (unless you wish to continue recording).

An audio event is created, starting at where the cursor position was when you activated recording. This means that if you were in stop mode, and the cursor was at the beginning of the project, you may have to move the event to the right in the next step. If you were playing along to a project you should leave the event where it is.

7. Select the Arrow tool and place the cursor on the bottom left edge of the event so that a double arrow appears, then click and drag to the left.

Now the event is extended and the audio you played before activating record is inserted – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.

The recording was activated at the start of bar 9. This is indicated by a blue line in the audio event.

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Audio recording specifics

Selecting a recording file format

The format of 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 the most common file for-

mat on the PC platform.

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

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

Record format (bit depth)

The available options are 16 bit and 24 bit. The following applies:

• 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.

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Setting up the track

Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration

Audio tracks can be configured as mono or stereo tracks. This allows you to record or import a stereo file and treat it as one entity, with no need to split it up into mono files etc. The signal path for an audio track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus.

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

1. Select Add Audio Track from the Track list context menu or the Project menu (or 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. Note that 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 page 14). Before you record you need to specify from which input bus the track should record. You do this in the Inspector:

• Select an input bus on the “in” pop-up menu in the top section.

As described on page 71, the Inspector shows the settings for the selected track. You show or hide the Inspector using the Inspector icon on the Project window toolbar.

Click here to show/hide the Inspector.

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

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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.

Proceed as follows:

In Cubase SE, you check the input 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.

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

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

See the documentation of the audio hardware for details.

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Monitoring

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

Monitoring via Cubase SE

If you monitor via Cubase SE, 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.

The disadvantage of monitoring via Cubase SE 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 SE requires an audio hardware configuration with a low latency value (see the Getting Started book). You can check the latency of your hardware in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audiobay page).

• If you are using plug-in effects with large inherent delays, the automatic delay compensation function in Cubase SE will increase the latency.

If this is a problem you can use the Constrain Delay Compensation function while recording - see page 217.

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

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• 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 SE) 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 SE, 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.

• If you want to use external monitoring, you need to make sure that monitoring via Cubase SE isn’t activated as well.

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

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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 SE. This means that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automatically by Cubase SE, 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 Audiobay 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 select a monitoring mode in the Preferences dialog (VST page), as when monitoring via Cubase SE (see page 43).

• Depending on the audio hardware, it may also be possible 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 SE.

• 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.

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Recording

Recording is done using any of the general recording methods (see

page 35). After you finish recording, an audio file has been 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.

• If the option “Create Audio Images During Record” is activated in the Preferences dialog (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 Pool menu.

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’s already events on the track) depends on the Linear Record Mode setting on the Transport panel:

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• 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 page 54).

• 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.

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 page 98) are useful for managing overlapping events, as is the “To Front” function (see below).

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Recording audio in cycle mode

If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the result depends on the following factor:

• 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, but the differences between two of the modes only apply to MIDI recording. 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.

Recording audio in cycle mode

The following will happen when you record audio in cycle mode:

• One continuous audio file is created during the entire recording process.

• For each recorded lap of the cycle, one audio event is created.

The events will have the name of the audio file plus the text “Take *”, where “*” indicates the number of the take.

• The last take (the last recorded lap) will be on top (and will thus be the one you hear when you activate playback).

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To select another take for playback, proceed a follows:

1. Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the event and select “To Front” from the pop-up menu that appears.

A submenu appears, listing all the other (obscured) events.

2. Select the desired take.

The corresponding event is brought to front.

This method allows you to quickly combine the best parts of each take, in the following way:

1. Use the Scissors tool to split the events in several sections, one for each part of the take.

For example, if you recorded four lines of vocals (in each take), you can split the events so that each line gets a separate event.

The events after splitting. Note that since the original take events overlap each other, clicking with the Scissors tool will split all takes at the same position.

2. For each section of the take, use the “To Front” function to bring the best take to the front.

This way, you can quickly combine the best sections of each take, using the first vocal line from one take, the second line from another take and so on.

You can also compile a “perfect” take in the Audio Part Editor, as described on page 301.

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MIDI Recording Specifics

Activating MIDI Thru

As described in the Getting Started book, the normal way to work with MIDI is to have MIDI Thru activated in Cubase SE, 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 dialog (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.

Record Enable button. Monitor button.

• 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.

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.

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Naming MIDI ports in Cubase SE

MIDI inputs and outputs can often be shown with unnecessarily long and complicated names. If you wish, you can rename your MIDI ports to more descriptive names:

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

2. Select the Windows MIDI or DirectMusic (Win) or MIDI System (Mac)

device 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 Device column and type in a new name.

After closing the dialog, the new names will appear on the MIDI “in:” and “out:” pop-ups.

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 page 71).

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3. Click the track headline in the Inspector to make sure the topmost section is shown.

4. Pull down the “in” 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 page 75).

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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 SE. Channel and output can be selected in the Track list or in the Inspector. The procedure below describes how to make the settings in the Inspector, but it can be done in largely the same manner in the Track list as well.

1. To select the track(s) and show the settings in the Inspector, proceed as when selecting a MIDI input (see above).

2. Pull down the “out:” 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 (see page 75).

3. Use the “chn” pop-up menu to select a MIDI channel for the track.

• If you set the track to MIDI channel “Any”, each MIDI event on the

track will be sent out on the channel stored in the event itself.

In other words, the MIDI material will be played back on the channel(s) used by the MIDI input device (the MIDI instrument you play during recording).

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Selecting a sound

You can select sounds from within Cubase SE, by instructing the program to send Program Change and Bank Select messages to your MIDI device. This is done using the “prg” and “bnk” value fields in the Inspector or Track list.

Program Change messages give access to 128 different program locations. If your MIDI instruments have more than 128 programs, Bank Select messages (set in the “bnk” value field) allow you to select different banks, each containing 128 programs.

• Bank Select messages are recognized differently by different MIDI instruments. Also, the structure and numbering of banks and programs may vary. Consult the documentation of your MIDI instruments for details.

• Note that it is also possible to select sounds by name. For descriptions of how to set this up, see the “MIDI Devices” chapter in the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices and Features”.

Recording

Recording MIDI is done according to the basic recording methods (see page 35). When you finish recording, a part containing MIDI events is created in the Project window.

About overlap and the Rec Mode setting

MIDI tracks are different from audio tracks when it comes to overlapping parts:

• 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.

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When recording overlapping parts, the result depends on the Rec Mode setting on the Transport panel:

• If Rec 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 Rec Mode is set to “Merge”, the overdubbed events are added to the existing part.

• If Rec 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 page 58).

About the Auto 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 page 373.

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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 Rec 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 Rec 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, you wait until bar seven and start playing.

This way you will overwrite the last two bars only.

5. Make sure you stop playing before the next lap begins – otherwise you will overwrite the entire take.

Cycle Rec mode: Keep Last

Each completed lap replaces the previously recorded lap. Note:

• The cycle lap must be completed – if you deactivate recording or press Stop before the cursor reaches the right locator, the previous take will be kept.

• If you don’t play or input any MIDI during a lap, nothing happens (the previous take will be kept).

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Recording different types of MIDI messages

You can decide exactly which event types should be recorded by using the MIDI filters – see page 61.

Notes

With MIDI, 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. This means that you activate 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.

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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. Every major MIDI manufacturer has its own SysEx identity code and these are part of practically all SysEx messages. 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 System Exclusive messages” in the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices and Features”.

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 SE can also automatically perform a MIDI reset during playback (after each part) and/or on stop.

You turn these functions on or off in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page).

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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 SE can capture MIDI input in buffer memory, even when not recording.

Proceed as follows:

1. Enable the Retrospective Record function in the Preferences dialog (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 contents 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 dialog (Record page) determines how much data can be captured.

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MIDI Preferences

The following options and settings in the Preferences dialog affect MIDI recording and playback:

MIDI page

• Length Adjustment

Adjusts the length of notes so that there always is a short time between the end of one note and the start of another (of the same pitch and on the same MIDI channel). You set the time in ticks. By default there are 120 ticks per 1/16 note, but you can adjust this with the MIDI Display Resolution setting on the same page.

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.

• 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 SE will catch the events played just before the recording start point, eliminating this problem.

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Filtering MIDI

The MIDI–MIDI Filter page in the Preferences dialog 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 message from

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

Thru Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI message from

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

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

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

Controller Allows you to prevent certain MIDI controller types from 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”.

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Options and Settings

Recording-related Preferences

A couple of settings in the Preferences dialog (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 SE to “roll back” a short section whenever playback is activated.

This applies whenever you start playback, but is perhaps most relevant when recording from the left locator (punch in activated on the Transport panel) as described below.

• By setting a postroll value, you instruct Cubase SE 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 Punchout” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Transport page).

• To turn pre- 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.

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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 Punchout” in the Preferences

dialog (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 pre- 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 will 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 page 476).

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 select “Metronome On” from 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 select “Precount On” from the Transport menu or set up a key command for this.

Click on/off Precount on/off

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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 can be made in the dialog:

Metronome Options Description

Metronome in Record / Play

Use Count Base If this option is activated, a field appears to the right where you

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

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.

Precount Options Description

Precount Bars Sets the number of bars the metronome will count in before it

starts recording if precount is activated on the Transport panel.

Use Time Signature at Project Time

Use Signature Lets you set a time signature for the precount. In this mode,

MIDI Click Description

Activate MIDI Click Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via MIDI.

MIDI Port/Channel This is where you select a MIDI output and channel for the met-

Hi Note/Velocity Sets the MIDI note number and velocity value for the “high note”

Lo Note/Velocity Sets the MIDI note number and velocity for the “low notes” (the

Audio Click Description

Activate Audio Click Selects whether or not the metronome will sound via the audio

Audio Click Volume Sets the volume of the audio click.

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.

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

ronome click.

(the first beat in a bar).

other beats).

hardware. Use the Audio Click Volume slider to adjust the level of the audio click.

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The Project window

Background

The Project window is the main window in Cubase SE. 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 parts. Each audio

track has a corresponding audio channel in the mixer. An audio track can have one automation “subtrack” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert effect settings etc.

Folder Folder tracks function as containers for other tracks, making it easier to or-

ganize and manage the track structure. They also allow you to edit several tracks at the same time. See page 119.

FX Channel FX channel tracks are used for adding send effects. Each 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 page 195 for more about FX Channel tracks and send effects. An FX channel can also have an automation subtrack 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.

Group Channel

MIDI For recording and playing back MIDI parts. Each MIDI track has a corre-

By routing several audio channels to a Group channel, you can submix them, apply the same effects to them, etc. (see page 177). 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.

sponding MIDI channel strip in the mixer. A MIDI track can have an automation “subtrack” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert and send effect settings etc.

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Track type Description

Marker The Marker track displays markers, and allows you to move and rename

them directly in the Project window (see page 132). There can only be one Marker track in the project.

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

About parts and events

Events are the basic building blocks in Cubase SE. 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 page 394).

• 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.

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Window Overview

The Inspector.

Track list with various track types.

The toolbar.The info line.

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

The ruler.

The Track list

The Track list is the area to the left in the Project window. It contains name fields and various 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 page 85):

• The Track list area for an audio track:

Mute & Solo

Track name

Show/hide automation

Edit channel settings

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

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Record Enable

Monitoring on/off

Automation Read/ Write buttons

Output activity indicator

Lock track button

• The Track list area for an automation subtrack (revealed by clicking the + button on a track):

Expand automation track (show more parameters)

Mute Lock track button

Automation Read/Write buttons

Automation parameter (click to select parameter)

• The Track list area for a MIDI track:

Record Enable

Track name

Mute & Solo

MIDI channel

Edit channel settings

MIDI Output Bank Program

Read/Write buttons

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

Drum map assign Lock trackMonitoring on/off

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 page 90), 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.

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• 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 headlines.

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

• It’s also possible to use key commands for showing different Inspector settings.

These are set up under the Inspector heading in the Key Commands dialog.

• Folding a section does not affect the functionality but merely hides the section from view.

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 fold the Inspector section.

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

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Sections

In general, the Inspector contains the same controls as the Track list, but there are also some additional buttons and parameters. Below is a list of all common, possible settings and sections, their controls and usage, followed by descriptions of which sections are actually available for each type of track:

Parameter Description

Auto Fades Settings button

Edit button Opens the Channel Settings window for the track, allowing you to

Volume Use this to adjust the level for the track. Changing this setting will move

Opens a dialog in which you can make separate Auto Fade settings for the track. See page 151.

view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc. See page 168.

the track’s fader in the mixer window, and vice versa. See page 164 to learn more about setting levels.

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

this corresponds to the Pan setting in the mixer.

Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the audio track. Positive values de-

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

In This lets you specify which Input bus or MIDI input the track should

use (see page 14 for information about Input busses).

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Parameter Description

Out Here you decide to which output the track should be routed. For au-

dio tracks you select an output bus (see page 14) or Group channel, for MIDI tracks you select a MIDI output.

Inserts section Allows you to add insert effects to the track, see page 190. The Edit

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

Equalizers section

Equalizer Curve section

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

Channel section Shows a duplicate of the corresponding mixer channel strip. The

Lets you adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands of EQ for each track, see page 170.

Lets you adjust the EQs for the track graphically, by clicking and dragging points in a curve display.

eight), see page 195. For MIDI tracks, this is where you assign MIDI send effects. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the control panel for the first effect in each FX channel.

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

Audio tracks

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

MIDI tracks

When a MIDI track is selected, the Inspector contains a number of additional sections and parameters, affecting the MIDI events in real time (e.g. on playback). Which sections are available for MIDI tracks is described in the “MIDI Devices and Features” pdf document.

Marker tracks

When the marker track is selected, the Inspector shows the marker list. See page 128.

Video tracks

When a Video track is selected, the Inspector contains a lock button for locking the track (see page 106) and a mute button.

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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.

• 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.

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

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.

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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.

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The toolbar

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

Constrain delay compensation (see page 217)

Active project indicator

Show/hide Inspector

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

Snap on/off

Autoscroll on/off

Show/hide info line

Open Pool

Grid pop-up menu

Snap mode

Open Mixer

Project window tools

Color pop-up menu

Quantize value

• In addition, the toolbar can contain a number of other tools and shortcuts, not visible by default. How to set up the toolbar and specify which tools should be displayed or hidden is described on page 561.

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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 in the info line using regular value editing. Length and position values are displayed in the format currently selected for the ruler (see page 79).

• To hide or show the info line, click this icon 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.

• If you edit a value on the info line, the value change is applied to all selected elements, relatively to the current values.

An example: You have two audio events selected. 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 dialog (Editing-Tool Modifiers page, under the Info Line category).

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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.

Getting on-the-fly info with the Arrow tool

If the option “Select Tool: Show Extra Info” is activated in the Preferences (Editing page), a tool tip will be shown for the Arrow tool, displaying various info depending on where you point it. For example, in the Project window’s 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 page 81), 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 (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) anywhere in the ruler).

Option Positions and lengths displayed as

Bars+Beats Bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks. By default there are 120

ticks per sixteenth note.

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Option Positions and lengths displayed as

Seconds Hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds.

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

number of frames per second (fps) is set in the Project Setup dialog (see page 81). You can choose from 24, 25, 29.97 and 30 fps or 29.97 and 30 dfps (“drop frame”).

Samples Samples.

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

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

Bars+Beats Linear When this is selected, the ruler will be linear relative to meter po-

sition – bars and beats. This means that if there are tempo changes on the Tempo track, there will still be the same distance between bars in Bars+Beats mode. If the ruler is set to a timebased mode, the distance between seconds will vary depending on the tempo changes.

• The selection you make here affects the ruler, the info line and tool tip position values (appear when you drag an event in the Project window).

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

• To set the display format globally (for all windows), use the primary display format pop-up on the Transport panel, or hold down [Ctrl]/ [Command] and select a display format in any ruler.

• If you use the “Timecode” option and the option “Show Timecode Subframes” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Transport page), the frames will also display subframes.

There are 80 subframes per frame.

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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 page 541).

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.

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The following settings are available in the Project Setup dialog:

Setting Description

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

another time than zero. 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.

Length The length of the project.

Frame Rate Used when synchronizing Cubase SE with external equipment. If

Cubase SE is the master, this determines the frame rate of the sent sync signal. See page 502.

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

plays 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 page 79.

Display Offset Offsets the time positions displayed in the ruler etc., allowing you to

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

Sample Rate The sample rate at which Cubase SE records and plays audio.

Record Format / File Type

Stereo Pan Law Decides whether panning should use power compensation or not.

When you record audio in Cubase SE, the files that are created will be of this resolution and file type. See page 40.

This is explained on page 167.

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.

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Zoom and view options

Zooming in the Project window is done according to the standard zoom procedures (see the Getting Started book), 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 dialog.

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 project”

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

Zoom to Selection Zooms in horizontally and vertically so that the current selection

fills the screen.

Zoom to Selection (Horiz)

Zoom to Event This option is available only in the Sample Editor (see page 282).

Zoom In Vertical Zooms in one step vertically.

Zoom Out Vertical Zooms out one step vertically.

Zoom In Tracks Zooms in selected track(s) one step vertically.

Zoom Out Tracks Zooms out selected track(s) one step vertically.

Zoom Selected Tracks

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

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

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

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

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

This can be useful to better view 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 Preferences (Editing page),

the contents of parts and events will not be continuously redrawn when you zoom manually.

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

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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.

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

• 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 pop-up you can manually set the number of tracks to fit in the current Project window.

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Zoom presets and Cycle markers

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

The upper part of the menu lists the zoom presets:

• To store the current zoom setting as a preset, select Add from the pop-up menu.

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

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

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

out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole project” means the timeline from the project start to the length set in the Project Setup dialog (see page 81).

• 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.

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• 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 page 134).

• You cannot edit the cycle markers in this pop-up menu. For information on editing markers, see page 128.

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

Adjusting how parts and events are shown

The Preferences dialog on the File menu (the Cubase SE 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 Determines whether the names of parts and events should be

Transparent Events When this is activated, events and parts will be transparent,

Show Data on Small Track Heights

Determines whether the backgrounds or “contents” (waveforms, etc.) of parts and events will be colorized. See page 90.

shown in the Project window.

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.

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

Option Description

Interpolate Audio Images

Wave Image Style Determines whether audio waveforms should be displayed as

Show Event Volume Curves Always

Show Waveforms Determines whether audio waveforms should be shown at all.

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”.

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

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

When this 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.

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

Option Description

Default Edit Action 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 Drummap is assigned” (see below) is activated.

Part Data Mode 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.

Show Controllers Governs whether non-note events (controllers, etc.) should be

shown in MIDI parts in the Project window.

Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned

Note Name Style Determines how MIDI note names (pitches) should be displayed

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).

in editors, etc.

The Event Display–Markers page contains settings for marker events:

Option Description

Show Marker Names When this is activated, the names of the Markers are shown.

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

Option Description

Show Video Thumbnails

Video Cache Size This determines how much memory is available for video thumb-

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

nails. 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.

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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 (Win)/[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) in the Track list.

• There is an additional option at the bottom of the Add Track submenu, called “Multiple...”. Selecting this brings up a dialog allowing you to add more than one track in one operation.

The number of tracks to add is entered in the “Count” value field. You can set whether audio, MIDI or group tracks should be created by selecting from the Track pop-up in the dialog. For audio and group tracks, the channel configuration – mono or stereo – can be set in the Configuration pop-up.

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.

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• 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 (Win)/[Ctrl]-click (Mac) in the Track list and select “Duplicate track” from the context menu.

The duplicated track will appear above 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 at the top of the Inspector. This color will be used for all events on the track and will also be shown in the Mixer. If you like, you can override the default track color for individual events and parts by using the Color tool or the Color Selector pop-up menu. This is described in detail in the Getting Started manual.

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 (Win)/[Ctrl]-click (Mac) on it in the Track list and select “Remove Track” from the context menu that appears.

You can also remove multiple selected tracks, by selecting “Remove Selected Tracks” either from the Project menu or from the context menu. Furthermore, you can remove all tracks not containing any events by selecting “Remove Empty Tracks” from the Project menu.

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Disabling tracks

Tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the Track list context menu. Disabling a track in a way is the same as Muting it (see page 107), 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 page 29 for more information.

Adding events to a track

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

• By recording (see page 35).

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 added to 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 page 544).

• By grabbing audio CD tracks and converting them to audio files (see page 550).

• 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 page 94).

• 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.

• A Library (A Pool file that is not attached to a project).

• 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.

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• The “Find media” dialog.

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 page 334.

Audio file import options

When you are importing audio files you can specify how the files should be treated by Cubase SE:

• You can choose to copy the file into the project’s audio folder 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, if any, 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 have the imported files automatically converted if necessary, i.e. if the sample rate is different than the project’s or the resolution is lower than the project setting.

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• Use Settings.

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

Option Description

Copy Files to Working Directory

Convert and Copy to Project If Needed

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

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

Creating parts

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

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

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

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

To add events to a MIDI part, you use the tools and functions in a MIDI editor (see page 398). Adding events to audio parts is done in the Au- dio Part Editor (see page 295) 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.

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Auditioning audio parts and events

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

1. Select the Play tool.

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

2. Click at the desired position and keep the mouse button 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 depends on how fast you move the pointer.

You can adjust the responsiveness of the Scrub function in the Preferences dialog (VST page).

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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.

• 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 dialog on the Editing –Tool Modifiers page (see page 579).

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 the left

and right locator.

From Start to Cursor Selects all events that begin to the left of the project cursor.

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

All on Selected Tracks Selects all events on the selected track.

Select Event This is available in the Sample Editor (see page 277).

Left/Right Selection Side to Cursor

These two functions are only used for range selection editing (see page 109).

Note that these functions work differently when the Range Selection tool is selected (see page 109).

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• 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 keyboard, 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 activated in the Preferences dialog (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 page 109).

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 page 113). 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 dialog (Editing page).

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

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• 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.

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

tions at which they were originally recorded.

Move to Front, Move to Back

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. Note that it is also possible to use the “To Front” function on the event context menu for this (although this works in a different way, see page 48).

• 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 page 81) 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 page 111).

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

You can decide which items should be visible by right-clicking (Windows) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac OS X) in the toolbar and checking them in the pop-up menu that appears. See

page 561 for more information.

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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

page 113).

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 pressing [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.

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

Note:

• When you duplicate audio events, the copies are always shared. This means that shared copies of audio events always refer to the same audio clip (see

page 257).

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

• Selecting “Duplicate” from the Edit menu creates a copy of the selected event and places it directly after the original.

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

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• Selecting “Repeat...” from the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to create a number of copies (regular or shared) of the selected event(s).

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

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

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

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

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

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 page 113 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).

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STEINBERG Cubase SE 3 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

About this manual

Welcome!

About this chapter

Setting up busses

Using the busses

Background

Operations

Options and Settings

Recording

Background

Basic recording methods

Audio recording specifics

MIDI Recording Specifics

Options and Settings

The Project window

Background

Window Overview

Operations