Steinberg Cubase SL - 3.0 Operation Manual

Operation Manual

Manual by Anders Nordmark 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 21 Using the busses 25 Setting up Groups and FX

channels

26 About the Audition bus

(Cubase SX only)

29 Playback and the

Transport panel

30 Background 34 Operations 38 Options and Settings

41 Recording

42 Background 43 Basic recording methods 48 Audio recording specifics 69 MIDI Recording Specifics 82 Options and Settings

87 The Project window

88 Background 90 Window Overview 105 Operations 147 Options

151 The play order track

152 Introduction 153 Setting up the play order

track

154 Creating a play order

157 Playing back the play order 158 Flattening the play order

159 Folder tracks

160 About folder tracks 161 Handling folder tracks 163 Working with folder parts

167 Using markers

168 About markers 168 The Marker window 172 Using the Marker track 177 Marker key commands 178 Editing markers in the

Project Browser

179 Fades, crossfades

and envelopes

180 Creating fades 184 The Fade dialogs 187 Creating crossfades 190 The Crossfade dialog 193 Auto Fades and Crossfades 195 Event Envelopes

197 The mixer

198 About this chapter 199 Overview 204 Configuring the mixer 212 The audio channel strips 214 The MIDI channel strips 215 The common panel 216 The input & output channels 218 Basic mixing procedures 226 Audio specific procedures 241 MIDI specific procedures 243 Utilities

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4 Table of Contents

249 Audio effects

250 About this chapter 250 Overview 252 Insert effects 263 Send effects 274 Using external effects

(Cubase SX only)

278 Making settings for the

effects

281 Installing and managing

effect plug-ins

289 VST Instruments

290 Introduction 291 Activating and using

VST Instruments

296 The Instrument Freeze

function

299 Surround sound

(Cubase SX only)

300 Background 303 Window overview 305 Operations

317 Automation

318 Background 321 Automation track operations 328 Using Write/Read automa-

tion

335 Working with automation

curves

341 Tips and common methods 342 Options and Settings

343 Remote controlling

the mixer

344 About this chapter 344 Setting Up 346 Operations 348 The Generic Remote device

353 Audio processing and

functions

354 Background 355 Audio processing 374 Applying plug-ins

(Cubase SX only)

377 The Offline Process History

dialog

379 Freeze Edits 380 Detect Silence 383 The Spectrum Analyzer

(Cubase SX only)

386 Statistics (Cubase SX only)

387 The Sample Editor

388 Background 388 Opening the Sample Editor 389 Window overview 394 Operations 406 Options and settings

409 The Audio Part Editor

410 Background 410 Opening the Audio Part

Editor

411 Window overview 414 Operations 418 Common methods 420 Options and Settings

Table of Contents 5

CUBASE SX/SL

421 Audio warp realtime

processing

422 Background 423 Using the Audio Tempo

Definition tool

430 Warp tabs and the Warp

Samples tool

437 Quantizing audio 439 Realtime pitch shifting of

audio events

440 Freezing the realtime

processing

443 Working with

hitpoints and slices

444 Background 445 Using hitpoints 449 Editing hitpoints 456 About Q-points 457 Creating slices 458 Creating groove quantize

maps

459 Other hitpoint functions

463 The Pool

464 Background 466 Window Overview 470 Operations 489 Options and Settings

502 MIDI effects 507 Managing plug-ins 508 Merge MIDI in Loop

511 MIDI processing and

quantizing

512 Introduction 513 Quantizing 524 Other MIDI menu functions 530 Dissolve Part

533 The MIDI editors

534 About editing MIDI 535 Opening a MIDI editor 537 The Key Editor – Overview 543 Key Editor operations 568 Edit In-Place

(Cubase SX only)

570 The Drum Editor – Overview 573 Drum Editor operations 576 Working with drum maps 585 Using drum name lists 586 The List Editor – Overview 587 List Editor operations 594 The Score Editor – Over-

view (Cubase SL only)

597 Score Editor operations

(Cubase SL only)

612 Common MIDI editor

options and settings

491 MIDI realtime para-

meters and effects

492 Introduction 493 The Inspector – General

handling

494 Basic track settings 497 Track parameters

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6 Table of Contents

615 Working with the

Tempo track

616 Background 617 The Tempo Track Editor –

overview

620 Operations 626 Process Tempo

(Cubase SX only)

627 Options and settings 628 The Beat Calculator 630 Merge Tempo From Tapping 631 The Time Warp tool

643 The Project Browser

644 Background 644 Opening the Project

Browser

644 Window Overview 645 Navigating in the Browser 646 Customizing the View 646 About the Sync Selection

option

647 Editing audio tracks 650 Editing MIDI tracks 653 Editing Automation tracks 653 Editing the Video track 654 Editing the Marker track 655 Editing the Tempo track 655 Editing Time Signatures 656 Deleting Events

715 Video

716 Background 717 Operations 723 Options

725 ReWire

726 Introduction 727 Launching and quitting 728 Activating ReWire channels 729 Using the transport and

tempo controls

730 How the ReWire

channels are handled in

Cubase SX/SL

731 Routing MIDI via ReWire2 732 Considerations and

limitations

733 File handling

734 File Operations 756 Options and Settings

657 Export Audio

Mixdown

658 Introduction 659 Mixing down to an audio file 662 File format specifics

677 Synchronization

678 Background 685 Window Overview 686 Operations 694 Options

697 VST System Link

698 Introduction 699 Preparations 705 Activating VST System Link 712 Application examples

759 Customizing

760 Background 761 Workspaces 765 Customizing the Transport

panel

767 Customizing the toolbars 769 Customizing track controls 773 About preference presets

(Cubase SX only)

775 Appearance 775 Applying track and event

colors

777 Where are the settings

stored?

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Table of Contents 7

779 Key commands

780 Background 781 Setting up Key Commands 789 Setting up tool modifier keys

791 Index

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8 Table of Contents

About this manual

Welcome!

This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Cubase SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL documentation package.

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1 – 10 About this manual

About this chapter

As described in the Getting Started book, Cubase SX/SL 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 SX/SL. 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, mixing and doing surround work (Cubase SX only).

Setting up busses

Strategies

You can create any number of busses in Cubase SX/SL. In Cubase SL, busses are in mono or stereo while Cubase SX also supports a number of surround formats.

• 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 737).

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 20). 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

So, which type of busses do you need? This depends on your audio hardware, your general audio setup (e.g. surround speaker setup) and what kind of projects you work with. Here’s an example:

Let’s say you are using audio hardware with eight analog inputs and outputs and digital stereo connections (10 inputs and outputs all in all). Furthermore, you work with a surround setup in 5.1 format (relevant for Cubase SX only). Here’s a list of busses you may wish to add:

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 preamp 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.

• If you want to transfer surround material directly to a surround track, e.g. from surround-configured location recording equipment, you need an input bus in that surround format (here, this would be a 5.1 input bus) – Cubase SX only.

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.

• You need a surround bus in the format of your speaker configuration (here,

5.1) assigned to the correct outputs (which in turn are connected to the correct speakers). Again, this is available in Cubase SX only.

• You may want additional surround busses if you tend to work in different surround formats.

Different busses can use the same inputs/outputs on the audio hardware! You may for example want a stereo output bus assigned to the same outputs as the front stereo channels in your surround bus – this makes it easy to listen to stereo mixes without having to reconnect.

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

Preparations

Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware. For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround speaker setup, you should name the outputs according to which speaker they are connected to (Left, Right, Center and so on).

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

You name your inputs and outputs in the Device Setup dialog:

Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.

Select the VST Outputs device in the list to the left.

The available output ports on your audio hardware are listed.

To rename a port, click its name in the list and type a new name.

•

If needed, you can also disable ports by clicking in the “Visible” column (so that it says “No”).

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

Select the VST Inputs and name them in the same way.

Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.

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

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

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

The VST Connections window

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

There are five tabs in the window:

• The Input and Output tabs are for viewing input busses or output busses, respectively.

• The Group/FX tab allows you to create Group and FX channels/tracks and to make output assignments for these. See page 25.

• The External FX tab (Cubase SX only) allows you to create effect send/return busses for connecting external effects which can then be selected via the effect pop-up menus from inside the program. See page 274 for a description of how to use external effects.

• The Studio tab (Cubase SX only) is for the Audition bus, which is a dedicated output bus for auditioning in the Sample editor, when importing, etc. See

page 26.

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

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

Depending on which tab you have selected, Input or Output, the window lists the current input or output busses, with the following three 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, surround formats)

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

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.

3. Select the desired (channel) configuration.

The pop-up menu contains Mono and Stereo options as well as the most common surround formats (Cubase SX only). To select another surround format, use the “More…” submenu.

• 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.

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

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

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

Adding a child bus (Cubase SX only)

A surround bus is essentially a set of mono channels – 6 channels in the case of 5.1 format. If you have a mono track in the project, you can route it to a separate speaker channel in the bus (or route it to the whole surround bus and use the surround panner to position it in the surround image). But what if you have a stereo track that you simply want to route to a stereo channel pair within the bus (Left and Right or Left Surround and Right Surround for example)? For this you need to create a child bus:

1. Select the surround bus in the list and right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) it.

A pop-up menu appears.

2. Select a channel configuration from the “Add Child Bus” submenu.

As you can see, you can create stereo child busses (routed to various speaker channel pairs in the surround bus) or other surround bus formats (with fewer channels than the “parent bus”).

The child bus you created will be available for direct routing in the mixer. It’s a part of the parent surround bus, which means there will be no separate channel strip for it.

Although child busses are probably most useful in output busses, you could also create child busses within a surround input bus – for example if you want to record a stereo channel pair (e.g. front left-right) in the surround bus to a separate stereo track.

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

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

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.

• You can also select busses in the Input and Output Settings panel at the top of each channel strip in the mixer.

Again, for VST Instrument channels, ReWire channels, Group channels and FX channels you will only be able to select output busses.

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 21

• Cubase SX: If you press [Alt]/[Option] and select an input or output bus, it will be chosen for all selected channels.

This makes it easy to quickly set several channels to use the same input or output. Similarly, if you press [Shift] and select a bus, the following selected channels will be set to use incrementing busses - the second selected channel will use the second bus, the third will use the third bus and so on.

• If the Input and Output Settings panel isn’t shown, click the Show Input and Output Settings field in the common panel to the left in the mixer (Cubase SX only) or click the respective plus sign in the Common Panel of the Mixer.

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 or surround bus (input or output). You can also route a mono track to the “whole” stereo or surround output bus, in which case a pan control (stereo pan or surround panner) will be used to position the sound.

• Stereo tracks can be routed to stereo busses or stereo child busses within a surround bus (input or output).

• Surround tracks can be routed to busses with the same number of speaker channels as the track (or to corresponding child busses within a “larger” surround bus).

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2 – 22 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Viewing the busses in the mixer

In the Cubase SX mixer, busses are represented by input and output channels (shown in separate panes to the left and right in the window). You can show or hide these independently by clicking the buttons Hide Input Channels and Hide Output Channels in the mixer’s common panel to the left:

Hide Input Channels

Hide Output Channels

• In Cubase SL, only the output busses are visible in the mixer!

The input busses you have created in the VST Connections window are available for selection on the input routing pop-up menus, but you cannot make any specific mixer settings for the input busses.

Input channels (shown in Cubase SX only)

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 23

The input channels are shown to the left in the mixer. As you can see, each input channel resembles a regular mixer channel strip. Here you can do the following:

• Check and adjust the recording level using the Input Gain knobs and/or the level fader.

See page 52.

• Change the phase of the input signal.

This is done by clicking the Input Phase button next to the Input Gain control.

• Add effects or EQ to the input bus.

See page 66 for an example of how to add effects to your recording at the input bus stage.

The settings you make in the input channel strip will be a permanent part of the recorded audio file!

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, limiters and dithering. See page 259.

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2 – 24 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Setting up Groups and FX channels

The Group/FX tab in the VST Connections window shows all Group channels and FX channels in your project. You can create new Group or FX channels by clicking the corresponding Add button. This is the same as creating Group channel tracks or FX channel tracks in the Project window (see page 238 and page 264 for details).

However, the VST Connections window also allows you to create child busses for Groups and FX Channels (Cubase SX only). This is useful e.g. if you have Groups or FX Channels in surround format and want to route stereo channels to specific channel pairs in these.

To create a child bus for a Group channel or FX channel, proceed as follows:

1. Open the VST Connection window and select the Groups/FX tab.

2. Select the Group or FX channel in the list and right-click (Win) or

[Ctrl]-click (Mac) it.

3. Select a channel configuration from the “Add Child Bus” submenu.

The child bus you created will be available for direct routing in the mixer. It’s a part of the parent Group or FX channel, which means there will be no separate channel strip for it.

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 25

About the Audition bus (Cubase SX only)

The Audition bus provides a “direct” and dedicated output for auditioning - in the Project window and audio editors, when you import audio files, when you export audio with the “Real-Time Export” option activated, etc.

You set up the Audition bus output from the “Studio” tab in the VST Connections window, using the same methods as for other output busses. It can use any available Device Port outputs, e.g. the outputs you are using for monitoring your stereo mix, or other ports perhaps connected to separate monitors. Being able to use separate audio outputs for auditioning is particularly useful if you are working with surround mixes as you probably don’t want to monitor via surround speakers when editing audio.

• The Audition bus cannot be removed. However, you can change its channel configuration by right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) the bus and selecting the desired configuration from the “Change Bus” submenu.

Having an Audition bus in surround format could be useful if you are working with audio files in interleaved surround format (e.g. 5.1 files).

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2 – 26 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses

Setting the Audition bus level

In the Mixer, the Audition bus is represented by a channel strip in the output section, to the right of the regular output channels. The Audition bus channel strip only has a mute button and a level fader.

When auditioning or scrubbing in the Sample editor, you can also set the output level of the Audition bus using the small fader on the Sample editor toolbar.

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VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 2 – 27

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2 – 28 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 SX/SL.

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 765.

The pictures below show the Transport panel with all controls visible and in their default position (note that the Jog/Shuttle control is available in Cubase SX only). The Transport panel is divided into sections, from left to right.

Record mode pop-up

Cycle Record mode pop-up

CPU load and Disk Cache meters

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

Activates punch in

Activates punch out

Right locator: punch out point and end of Cycle

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 – 30 Playback and the Transport panel

Rewind Stop

Fast forward

Go to next marker or project end

Activates Auto Quantize

Preroll setting and on/off switch

Nudge +/- 1 Frame

Jog Wheel (project scrubbing)

Shuttle speed

Postroll setting and on/off switch

Exchange time formats

Cycle on/off

Secondary Time Display and format pop-up

Record

Play

Metronome click on/off Show Markers (opens

)

Tempo track on/off

Precount on/off

Marker window)

Jump to Marker

Play Order controls

MIDI In (left meter)/ MIDI Out activity

Synchronization on/off The tempo and time signature display

Level Control (Output bus 1

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

• 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 83.

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Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 31

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 also find 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 765.

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3 – 32 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 The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers:

PC:

Cycle On/Off

Go to Marker number 3-9

Go to right locator

Go to left locator

Stop

Mac:

Cycle On/Off

Go to Marker number 3-9

Num Lock

x —

7 8 9

4 5 6+

1 2 3

num lock

= / *

Enter

7 8 9 –

Record

Rewind

Fast Forward

Play

Return to Zero

Record

Rewind

Fast Forward

Go to right locator

Go to left locator

Stop

4 5 6 +

1 2 3

enter

Playback and the Transport panel 3 – 33

Play

Return to Zero

CUBASE SX/SL

Operations

Setting the project cursor position

There are several ways to move the project cursor position:

• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.

• By using the Jog/Shuttle/Nudge control on the Transport panel (Cubase SX only – see page 37).

• 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 168).

• By using playback options (see page 39).

• By using the play order function (see page 152).

• 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 168).

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.

• 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.

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3 – 34 Playback and the Transport panel

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 (in the Project window, you can also create additional ruler tracks – see page 103).

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 in the secondary time display.

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

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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 775). 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 172).

• The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu (default key command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection.

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

• You can also adjust the locators numerically in the Transport panel.

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

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The Shuttle Speed control (Cubase SX only)

The shuttle speed control (the outer wheel on the Transport panel) allows you to play the project at any playback speed, forwards or backwards. This provides a quick way to locate or “cue” to any position in the project.

• Turn the shuttle speed wheel to the right to start playback.

The further to the right you move the wheel, the faster the playback speed.

• If you turn the wheel to the left instead, the project will play backwards.

Similarly, the playback speed depends on how far to the left you turn the wheel.

Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel (Cubase SX only)

The middle wheel on the Transport panel serves as a jog wheel. By clicking and dragging it to the right or left you will move the playback position manually forwards or backwards – much like scrubbing on a tape deck. This helps you pinpoint exact locations in the project.

• Note that the jog wheel is an “endless dial” – you can turn it as many times as needed to move to the desired location.

The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the playback speed.

• If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically stop.

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The nudge position buttons (Cubase SX only)

The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog Wheel allows you to nudge the project cursor position to the right or left, respectively. Each time you click a nudge button, the project cursor is moved by one frame.

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 SX/SL 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 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

Postroll from Selection Start/End

Preroll to Selection Start/ End

Play from Selection Start/ End

Play until Selection Start/ End

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

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

Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current selec-

Starts playback from the beginning or end of the currently selected range and stops after the time set in the Postroll field on the Transport panel.

Starts playback from a position before the start or end of the currently selected range and stops at the selection start or end, respectively. The playback start position is set in the Preroll field on the Transport panel.

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.

the next marker.

tion and stops at the selection end.

tion 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.

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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.

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 SX/SL 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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Recording

Background

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

105.

• 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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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 48 and page 69).

Record enabling a track

Cubase SX/SL 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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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 83).

• 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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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 678 for more information about synchronization.

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Automatically activating recording

Cubase SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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 82.

Punch In and Out activated.

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Cycle recording

Cubase SX/SL 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 60) and MIDI (see page 75).

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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 SX/SL 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.

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.

Wave 64 File (Cubase SX only)

Broadcast Wave File

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

Wave64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. Audiowise it is identical to the Wave format, but the internal file structure makes much larger file sizes possible. This is useful e.g. for long live recordings in surround format, where the audio files could become huge.

In terms of audio content, the same as regular Wave files, but with embedded text strings for supplying additional information about the file (see below).

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

• If you select Broadcast Wave File or AIFF format, you can specify Author, Description and Reference text strings that will be embedded in the recorded file.

This is done on the Record–Broadcast Wave page in the Preferences dialog.

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Record format (bit depth)

The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit and 32 bit float. Use the following guidelines:

• Normally, select the record format according to the bit depth delivered by your audio hardware.

For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs), you may want to record at 24 bit resolution, to capture the full bit depth. On the other hand, if your hardware has 16 bit inputs, it’s pointless to record with a higher bit depth – this will only make the audio files larger, with no difference in audio quality. The exception is if you record with effects – see page 66 for an example of this.

• 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.

Setting up the track

Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration

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

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

1. Select Add Audio Track from the Track list context menu or the Project menu (or 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.

In Cubase SL you choose between mono and stereo; in Cubase SX the most common formats are listed directly on the pop-up menu with the remaining surround formats listed on the “More…” submenu. For a list of the available surround formats, see page

305.

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.

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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 can do this in the Inspector or in the mixer:

• In the Inspector you select an input bus on the “in” pop-up menu in the top section.

As described on page 92, 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.

• In the mixer you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu at the top of the track’s channel strip.

If this pop-up menu isn’t shown, you need to click the Show Input and Output Settings field in the common panel to the left. See page 199 for more about the mixer.

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Click here to show or hide the input and output settings.

Click here to select an input bus for the track.

Selecting a folder for the recorded audio files (Cubase SX only)

As described in the Getting Started book, each Cubase SX/SL project has a project folder containing (among other things) an “Audio” folder. By default, this is where recorded audio files are stored. However, in Cubase SX you can select record folders independently for each audio track if needed:

1. To select the same record folder for several audio tracks, you need to select them by [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking in the Track list.

2. Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) in the Track list for one of the tracks to bring up the track context menu.

3. Select “Set Record Folder”.

4. Use the file dialog that appears to navigate to the desired folder (or

create a new folder with the Create button).

Tip: if you want to have separate folders for different types of material (speech, ambient sounds, music, etc.) you can create subfolders within the Project’s “Audio” folder and assign different tracks to different subfolders. This way, all audio files will still reside within the project folder which will make managing the Project easier.

• It’s fully possible to have different tracks record to totally different locations, on different disks if you like. However, if you need to move or archive the Project, there is a risk of missing some files. The solution is to use the Prepare Archive function in the Pool to gather all external files into the project folder first – see page 486.

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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.

• If you are using Cubase SX it is also possible to get clipping when the signal from the input bus is written to a file on your hard disk.

This is because in Cubase SX you can make settings for the input bus, adding EQ, effects, etc. to the signal as its being recorded. This may raise the level of the signal, causing clipping in the recorded audio file.

The procedure for checking the signal level coming into the audio hardware is slightly different depending on whether you are using Cubase SX or Cubase SL:

Cubase SX

In Cubase SX you check the input level at the input channel.

To check the level of the “unprocessed” signal coming into the audio hardware you need to switch the level meters to “Meter Input”. In this mode the input channel level meters will show the level of the signal at the input of the bus, before any adjustments such as input gain, EQ, effects, level or pan:

1. Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) in the Mixer window.

The Mixer context menu appears.

2. Select the Global Meter Settings submenu and make sure “Meter Input” is activated.

3. Play back the audio and check the level meter for the input channel.

The signal should be as loud as possible without exceeding 0 dB (the Clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up).

The Clipping indicator.

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4. If necessary, adjust the input level in one of the following ways:

• Adjust the output level of the sound source or external mixer.

• Use the audio hardware’s own application program to set the input

levels, if this possibility is provided.

See the documentation for the audio hardware.

• If your audio hardware supports the ASIO Control Panel function, it may be possible to make input level settings.

To open the ASIO control panel, open the Device Setup dialog on the Devices menu and click the Control Panel button on the VST Audiobay subpage with the name of your hardware device.

The next step is to check the level of the audio being written to a file on your hard disk. This is only necessary if you have made any adjustments to the input channel (level settings, EQ, insert effects, etc.). Note also:

• If you record in 32 bit float format the bit depth will not be reduced – which means there’s no risk of clipping at this stage.

Also, this preserves the signal quality perfectly. Therefore, you should consider using 32 bit float format when you are recording with effects (see page 66).

• If you record in 16 or 24 bit format the available headroom is lower which means clipping can occur if the signal is too loud.

To avoid this, set the signal level in the following way:

1. Bring up the mixer context menu and select “Meter Post-Fader” from the Global Meter Settings submenu.

2. Set up the input channel, adding EQ and/or effects as desired.

With some effects you may want to adjust the level of the signal going into the effect – use the Input Gain knob for this. Note that you need to press [Shift] or [Alt]/[Option] to adjust the Input Gain.

3. Play back the audio and check the level meter of the input channel.

The signal should be reasonably loud but should not reach 0 dB (the Clipping indicator for the input bus should not light up).

4. If necessary, use the input channel fader to adjust the signal level.

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Cubase SL

In Cubase SL, the input channels are not shown in the mixer. Instead, you need to check the level at the channel strip for the track on which you are recording:

1. Right-click (Windows) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) somewhere in the Mixer window to bring up the Mixer context menu.

2. Select the Global Meter Settings submenu and make sure “Meter Input” is activated.

In this mode, the level meters show the levels “pre-fader” – that is, unaffected by level fader changes, EQ, insert effects, etc.

3. Locate the channel strip for the track you’re about to record on.

4. 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.

5. Play the audio source that you want to record and check the level meter for the channel.

6. 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 SL 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 SX/SL, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Cubase SX/SL) or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination of both of the other methods – see page 57).

Monitoring via Cubase SX/SL

If you monitor via Cubase SX/SL, the input signal is mixed in with the audio playback. The advantage of this is that you can adjust the monitoring level and panning in the mixer, and add effects and EQ to the monitor signal just as during playback (using the track’s channel strip – not the input bus!).

The disadvantage of monitoring via Cubase SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL will increase the latency.

If this is a problem you can use the Constrain Delay Compensation function while recording - see page 294.

When monitoring via Cubase SX/SL, 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 SX/SL) 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 SX/SL, 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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL. This means that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automatically by Cubase SX/SL, 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 SX/SL (see page 55).

• 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 SX/SL.

• 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 43). 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.

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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:

• 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 74).

• 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 128) 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 two factors:

• The Cycle Record Mode setting on the Transport panel.

• The “Audio Cycle Record Mode” setting in the Preferences dialog

(Record page).

Cycle Record Modes on the Transport panel

There are five 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.

In reality, all laps you recorded are saved in one audio file divided into regions – one region for each take. You can easily select a previous take for playback – this is done as when recording in “Create Regions” mode (see page 62).

• If “Stacked” is selected, each take will appear as an event on a separate “lane” on the track.

This is useful when you want to view and edit the different takes and eventually combine them to one recording. In this mode, the Audio Cycle Record Mode preference doesn’t matter. Stacked 2 (No Mute) is the same as Stacked, except that all the takes will be audible. See page 64.

• If any of the other cycle recording modes is selected, the result depends entirely on the Audio Cycle Record Mode setting in the Preferences.

These options are described below.

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Create Events mode (Preferences)

When Audio Cycle Record Mode (Preferences–Record page) is set to “Create Events”, 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).

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.

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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 418.

Create Regions mode (Preferences)

When Audio Cycle Record Mode (Preferences–Record page) is set to “Create Regions”, the following will happen when you record audio in cycle mode:

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

• The audio event in the Project window shows the name of the audio file plus the text “Take *” (with “*” being the number of the last completed cycle lap).

• If you play back the recorded event, you will only hear what was recorded during the last lap of the cycle recording.

The previous “takes” recorded in the cycle are still available, however.

• The audio clip is divided into regions (called takes), one for each lap of the cycle that was recorded.

If you locate the audio file you just recorded in the Pool, and click on the plus sign beside it, you can see the regions that have been created, one for each lap of the cycle that was completed during recording.

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“Take” regions in the Pool window.

To play back the different “takes”, proceed as follows:

1. In the Project window, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the event that was created during cycle recording.

The Quick menu appears.

2. Select the “Set To Region” menu item.

A submenu appears with the takes you recorded during cycle record.

3. Now you can freely select any of the takes from the submenu and it will replace the previous take event in the Project window.

Use this method to listen through the various takes. Select the best single take, or compile a “perfect” take by cutting out the best bits from each take and putting them together (see page 418).

Create Events + Regions mode (Preferences)

In this mode, both events and regions are created. If you work with the takes as events in this mode, you can edit the events freely (e.g. splitting them as described on page 61). However, in case you want to go back to the original takes, they are still available as regions (on the “Set To Region” submenu, in the Pool or in the Sample Editor).

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Recording audio in Stacked mode

When you record audio in cycle mode and the “Stacked” Cycle Record Mode is selected on the Transport panel, the following happens:

• Each complete recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate audio event.

• The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap.

• The events are stacked above each other, each on a different lane.

This makes it easy to create a “perfect take” by combining the best parts from the different cycle laps:

1. Zoom in so you can work comfortably with the stacked events.

If you play back the recorded section, only the lowest (last) take will be heard.

2. To audition another take, either mute the lower take(s) with the Mute tool or move the takes between the lanes.

This can be done by dragging or by using the functions Move to Next Lane/Previous Lane on the Quick menu or Edit menu.

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3. Edit the takes so that only the parts you want to keep can be heard.

You can cut events with the Scissors tool, resize them, mute them or delete them.

The sections that will be heard are indicated in green.

4. When you are satisfied with the result, select all events on all lanes and select “Delete Overlaps” from the Advanced submenu on the Audio menu.

This puts all events back on a single lane and resizes events so that overlapped sections are removed.

5. To turn off the lane display mode for the track, click the Lane Display Type button in the track list and select “Lanes Off”.

If the button is hidden, you can bring it to view in the Track Controls Settings dialog – see page 769.

The Lane Display Type button.

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Recording with effects (Cubase SX only)

Normally you record the audio signals “dry” and add effects non-destructively during playback as described in the chapter “Audio effects”. However, Cubase SX also allows you to add effects (and/or EQ) directly while you are recording. This is done by adding insert effects and/or making EQ settings for the input channel in the mixer. Note:

• This will make the effects become part of the audio file itself – you cannot change the effect settings after recording.

About the record format

When you record with effects you should consider setting the record format (bit depth) to 32 Bit Float. This is done in the Project Setup dialog on the Project menu. Note that this isn’t required in any way – you can record with effects in 24 or 16 Bit format should you so like. However, there are two advantages to 32 Bit Float format:

• With 32 Bit Float recording you don’t risk clipping (digital distortion) in the recorded files.

This can of course be avoided with 24 or 16 Bit recording as well, but requires more care with the levels.

• Cubase SX processes audio internally in 32 Bit Float format – recording in the same format means the audio quality will be kept absolutely pristine.

The reason is that the effect processing in the input channel (as well as any level or EQ settings you make there) is done in 32 Bit Float format. If you record at 16 or 24 Bit, the audio will be converted to this lower resolution when it’s written to file – with possible signal degradation as a result.

Note also that it doesn’t matter at which actual resolution your audio hardware works. Even if the signal from the audio hardware is in 16 Bit resolution, the signal will be 32 Bit Float after the effects are added in the input channel.

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An example

This example shows how to apply the “Datube” effect while recording. Datube emulates the soft clipping distortion produced by valve amplifiers, and adds “warmth” to the recording. Note that this is only an example, you could use any effect (or any combination of effects), the principle is the same.

1. Set up an audio track for recording and select the desired input bus.

Also, for best results you should activate monitoring as this allows you to hear and try out your settings before actually recording. See page 55 for a description of monitoring via Cubase SX.

2. Open the Mixer and make sure the full extended view is shown.

Click here to show the extended panel.

3. Locate the input channel (bus) from which you record.

If the input channels are hidden, click on the Show/Hide Input Channels button to the left.

4. Check the input level (of the signal coming into the audio hardware) as described on page 52 and adjust the level of the source audio if necessary.

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5. Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for the input channel and select “Inserts”.

The View Options pop-up menu is opened by clicking the arrow button between the fader panel and the extended panel.

Now the extended panel for the input channel shows the insert slots.

6. Click on an insert slot and select an effect from the pop-up menu that appears.

As you see, the included effects are sorted into submenus – you will find the Datube effect on the “Distortion” submenu.

The effect is loaded and activated and its control panel is automatically opened.

7. Adjust the Drive (the pre-gain of the “amplifier” – higher settings will produce more distortion) and Balance (controls the balance between the unprocessed (dry) signal and the effect output) parameters to your liking.

8. When the effect is set up as desired, you can check the level of the input channel by setting the Meters to post-fader (see page 53).

Use the input channel fader to adjust the level if needed.

9. Activate recording.

10.When you’re finished you can play back the recorded audio track.

As you can hear, the effect you applied is now a part of the actual audio file.

11.If you don’t want to record more with the same plug-in, you should deactivate it by clicking in the insert slot and selecting “No Effect”.

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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 SX/SL, 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.

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Setting MIDI channel, input and output

Setting the MIDI channel in the instrument

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

Naming MIDI ports in Cubase SX/SL

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:” popups.

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.

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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 92).

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 97).

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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 SX/SL. 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 97).

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 SX/SL, 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”.

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Recording

Recording MIDI is done according to the basic recording methods (see page 43). 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.

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 78).

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 513.

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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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Cycle Rec mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute)

In this mode, the following happens:

• Each recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate MIDI part.

• The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap.

• The parts are stacked above each other, each on a different lane.

• All takes but the last one are muted (Stacked).

• If Stacked 2 is selected, no muting takes place.

This makes it easy to create a “perfect take” by combining the best parts from the different cycle laps. You can edit the parts in the Project window (by cutting, resizing and deleting) or you can use a MIDI editor as in the following example:

1. Unmute the muted takes by clicking the parts with the Mute tool.

2. Select all takes (parts) and open them in the Key Editor for example.

3. Use the part list pop-up menu on the toolbar to select which part to

edit.

See page 536.

4. Remove or edit notes as desired.

5. When you are happy with the result, close the editor.

6. To turn it all into a single MIDI part (containing your “perfect take”), se-

lect all parts and select Merge MIDI in Loop from the MIDI menu.

7. In the dialog that appears, activate the Erase Destination option and click OK.

The remaining events in the parts are merged together into a single part.

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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 81.

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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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).

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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 SX/SL 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 SX/SL 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.

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.

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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 620).

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 / PlayAllows you to specify whether the metronome should be

heard during playback, recording or both (when Click is activated on the Transport panel).

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

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

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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 Time 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

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

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

Audio Click Description

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

Beeps When this is selected, the audio click will be beeps gener-

Sounds When this is selected, you can click in the “Sound” fields

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.

metronome click.

note” (the first beat in a bar).

(the other beats).

audio hardware.

ated by the program. Adjust the pitch and level of the beeps for the “Hi” (first) beat and “Lo” (other) beats using the sliders below.

below to load any audio files for use as the “Hi” and “Lo” metronome sounds. The sliders set the level of the click.

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The Project window

Background

The Project window is the main window in Cubase SX/SL. 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 any number of automation “subtracks” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert effect settings etc.

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

organize and manage the track structure. They also allow you to edit several tracks at the same time. See page 159.

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

263 for more about FX Channel tracks and send effects.

An FX channel can also have any number of automation subtracks 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

By routing several audio channels to a Group channel, you can submix them, apply the same effects to them, etc. (see page 238). 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.

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Track type Description

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

sponding MIDI channel strip in the mixer. If you are using Cubase SX, it’s possible to edit MIDI tracks directly in the Project window, using the Edit In-Place function (see page 568). A MIDI track can have any number of automation “subtracks” for automating mixer channel parameters, insert and send effect settings etc.

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

them directly in the Project window (see page 172). There can only be one Marker track in the project.

Play Order Allows you to mark out sections in the project and set in which order

they should be played back. See the chapter “The play order track”.

Ruler (SX only)

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

Ruler tracks contain additional rulers, displaying the timeline from left to right. In Cubase SX you can use any number of ruler tracks, each with a different display format if you wish. See page 102 for more information about the ruler and the display formats.

About parts and events

Events are the basic building blocks in Cubase SX/SL. 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 534).

• 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.

Project overview

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.

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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 109):

• 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.

Record Enable

Monitoring on/off

Musical/Linear time base (see page 120)

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

Edit channel settings

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

Drum map assign Lock trackMonitoring on/off

MIDI Output Bank Program

MIDI channel

Read/Write buttons

Edit In-Place button Lane display type

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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 116), the Inspec- tor shows the setting for the first (topmost) selected track.

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

The Inspector icon.

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

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• 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.

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

Opens a dialog in which you can make separate Auto Fade settings for the track. See page 194.

view and adjust effect and EQ settings, etc. See page 228.

move the track’s fader in the mixer window, and vice versa. See page

218 to learn more about setting levels.

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Parameter Description

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

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

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

delay 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).

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

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 252. 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

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

Notepad section This is a standard text notepad, allowing you to jot down notes about

User Panel Here you can display MIDI device panels. For information on how to

Lets you adjust the EQs for the track. You can have up to four bands of EQ for each track, see page 230. The Edit button at the top of the section opens the Channel Settings window for the track.

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

to eight), see page 263. 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.

the track. If you have entered any notes about a track, the icon next to the “Notepad” heading will light up to indicate this. Moving the pointer over the icon will display the Notepad text in a tool tip.

create or import MIDI device setups, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices and Features”.

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Audio tracks

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

• User Panels for audio tracks can display panels for channel controls (such as input phase or the linked panner option) or for VST effects currently inserted in the channel.

• User Panels for audio tracks are accessed by [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking on the Edit Channel button in the Inspector. This opens up a menu listing all the device panels available for the audio track. If panels have not yet been created, you will see “Setup” panels in the menu. Doubleclicking on one of these will open the Device window for that audio track. Here you will be able to create User panels for any parameter of the audio track, including VST effects that have been inserted. For more information on how to create Device and User panels, see the separate PDF document “MIDI devices and features”.

The Device Panel Browser.

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Once panels have been created, they are available from the User Panel section of the Inspector. Click on the small arrow at the top right of the User Panels section to view the choices.

The User Panel menu in the Inspector

In order to have User Panels available in the Inspector, you must create Inspector-sized panels. Panels of bigger sizes (e.g. General) will not be available in the Inspector.

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 168.

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Video tracks

When a Video track is selected, the Inspector contains a lock button for locking the track (see page 136) and two settings for how the video thumbnails are shown: Show Frame Numbers and Snap Thumbnails (see page 719).

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.

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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.

• Notepad 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.

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.

• Notepad section.

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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.

Ruler tracks (Cubase SX only)

For ruler tracks, the Inspector isn’t used.

The toolbar

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

Constrain delay compensation (see page 294)

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

Show/hide Overview

Snap mode

Open Pool

Project window tools

Grid pop-up menu

Automation mode (Cubase SX only)

Open Mixer

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 767.

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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 102).

• 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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Steinberg Cubase SL - 3.0 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

About this manual

Welcome!

About this chapter

Setting up busses

Using the busses

Setting up Groups and FX channels

About the Audition bus (Cubase SX only)

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