Getting Started
Manual by Ludvig Carlson, Anders Nordmark, Roger Wiklander
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 2000 and Windows XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Mac
logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered
trademarks.
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2003.
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
7 Introduction
8 Welcome!
10 About the manuals and the
Help
15 How you can reach us
17 Installation and
Requirements for
Windows
18 About this chapter
18 Requirements
22 Hardware installation
25 Installing Nuendo
29 Installation and
Requirements for
Mac OS X
30 About this chapter
30 Requirements
33 Hardware installation
34 Installing Nuendo
37 Setting up your system
38 Setting up audio
49 Setting up MIDI
53 Connecting a synchronizer
54 Setting up video
55 Optimizing audio
performance
59 Guided Tour
60 The main windows in
Nuendo
71 Tutorial 1:
Recording and
playing back audio
72 About this tutorial
73 Creating a new project
75 Preparing to record
83 Recording
83 Playing back what you just
recorded
84 Recording more events
85 Playing back in a cycle
87 Tutorial 2: Recording
and playing back MIDI
88 About this tutorial
89 Setting up for recording
MIDI
92 Recording MIDI
92 Playing back what you just
recorded
93 Playing back in a cycle
94 Transposing the MIDI track
97 Tutorial 3: Mixing
98 About this tutorial
98 Preparations
100 Setting levels
101 Setting pan
102 Using Mute and Solo
103 Adding EQ to an audio
channel
107 Audio effects
112 Automation
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4 Table of Contents
115 Tutorial 4: Creating a
surround mix
155 Tutorial 7:
Editing audio
116 About this tutorial
116 Preparations
116 Creating a Project
120 Creating a surround bus
122 Setting up a surround mix
128 Exporting to a surround
audio file
131 Tutorial 5: Editing in
the Project window
132 About this tutorial
132 Preparations
133 Overview
134 Moving and copying events
136 Muting and erasing events
137 Splitting and resizing events
139 Adding a fade
141 Tutorial 6: Using
VST Instruments
142 About this tutorial
142 Preparations
143 Activating a VST Instrument
145 Routing
146 Playing back
147 Adding another instrument
149 Playing a VST Instrument in
real time
151 Recording
152 Making parameter settings
154 Automating the changes
156 About this tutorial
156 The Sample Editor
159 Processing audio
160 Applying an effect plug-in
161 Using the Offline Process
History dialog
163 Tutorial 8:
Editing MIDI
164 About this tutorial
164 Opening the Key Editor
165 Drawing events in the
Key Editor
166 Selecting and moving
events
167 About quantize
169 Editing velocity in the
controller display
171 Tutorial 9:
Customizing
172 About this tutorial
173 Hiding menu items
175 Setting preferences
178 Setting up Key Commands
182 Changing the look of the
Transport panel
184 Creating a template
188 Setting up Zoom presets
190 Creating window layouts
Table of Contents 5
NUENDO
193 Basic Nuendo
concepts
194 About this chapter
194 The project
196 Audio terminology
198 MIDI terminology
198 Video terminology
199 Basic Methods
200 About this chapter
200 Using menus
202 Using tools
203 Changing values
208 Selecting objects
209 Zoom and view techniques
212 Window handling
215 Undo
219 Shortcuts &
key commands
220 About this chapter
220 The default key commands
229 Index
NUENDO
6 Table of Contents
1
Introduction
Welcome!
Thank you for choosing Steinberg´s Nuendo! Nuendo has been around
a mere three years – and already it is being used in studios all over the
world. Audio engineers and editors, producers and artists from the fields
of film, television, radio, multimedia and music are choosing Nuendo today as their preferred tool for recording, editing and mixing.
With Nuendo 2.0, the Steinberg programming team has again managed to implement a large set of new features that offer even more
possibilities than ever before. Support for even more new file formats,
a completely redesigned mixer with all channels and busses with up to
12 channels, the time-saving Inspector in the Project Window giving
instant access to all track parameters and a batch processing function
– to name just a few. Nuendo 2 also includes the possibility for network collaboration, allowing multiple users on various Nuendo stations
to work on the same project in parallel, each committing their work to
the group via TCP/IP and receiving updates from others if desired.
MIDI functionality has been drastically extended in Nuendo 2. Not only
have new editors found their way into the program but also new MIDI
processing functionalities, MIDI plug-ins and the MIDI Device Manager
are included. And as you will discover there is more – a lot more; all in
all, no less than 200 new features have been implemented for this new
version of the Nuendo Media Production System.
Despite the massive set of features that Nuendo now offers, we still
managed to guarantee a quick workflow and intuitive handling. You can
now fully customize Nuendo. You might have seen this on other computer workstations but nowhere ever to the extent that Nuendo offers
now. First of all, the complete menu structure of Nuendo 2 can be configured to your liking. This means that if you know you are never going to
use certain functionality, you can easily remove it from all menus. Or you
can configure Nuendo differently depending on your project. If you do
not require the extensive new MIDI sound and editing features for a certain project, you simply remove this entire section from all menus. And
isn’t it good to know it is still there waiting for you in the background in
case you need it later? Nuendo also displays only what you need on the
Transport panel, the toolbar and the tracks in the project. Almost every
NUENDO
1 – 8 Introduction
button or display can be hidden or moved to a less central spot to create an interface which is just as complex as you want it to be. This way
Nuendo 2 gives you everything you need for your work. No more and of
course no less.
The Nuendo team is very grateful for the input we have received from
Nuendo users in the past. In fact most of the new features implemented
were user requests from the worldwide Nuendo community. Due to this
direct communication and because of the encouraging feedback from
the people actually using Nuendo in their professional working lives we
at Steinberg have committed ourselves to continue with the current
concept of the Nuendo Media Production System:
No matter whether you are working for film, television, radio broadcast
or if you are involved in music, game sound, multimedia or innovative
surround production, Nuendo will continue to deliver the right tool for
any kind of audio production.
Please continue to visit www.nuendo.com and give us your feedback
and suggestions.
See you there!
Your Steinberg Nuendo team.
NUENDO
Introduction 1 – 9
About the manuals and the Help
The Nuendo documentation is divided into several sections:
Printed books
Getting Started
This is the book you are reading now. The Getting Started book covers
the following areas:
• Computer requirements.
• Installation issues.
• Setting up your system for audio, MIDI and/or video work.
• A guided tour of the main Nuendo windows.
• Tutorials describing the most common procedures for recording, playing
back, mixing and editing in Nuendo.
• Basic concepts and terminology.
• A description of the general methods used when working in Nuendo.
In other words, this book does not go into detail on any Nuendo windows, functions or procedures.
The Operation Manual
The Operation Manual is the main Nuendo reference documentation,
with detailed descriptions of Nuendo operations, parameters, functions
and techniques. You should be familiar with the concepts and methods
described in the Getting Started book before moving on to the Operation Manual.
❐
Both the Getting Started book and the Operation Manual are available as
Acrobat pdf documents as well – see below.
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1 – 10 Introduction
Acrobat pdf documents
Parts of the documentation are included as documents in the Adobe
Acrobat format (extension “.pdf”), accessed in the following ways:
• You can open the pdf documents from the Help menu in the program.
• Under Windows you can also open these documents from the Nuendo Documentation subfolder on the Windows Start menu.
• Under Mac OS X the pdf documents are located in the folder /Library/Documentation/Nuendo/.
• To read the pdf documents you need to have the Acrobat Reader application installed on your computer.
An Acrobat installer is provided on the program CD.
The following documents are included in pdf format:
Getting Started
This is the same document as the Getting Started book with cross references and index entries as clickable hyperlinks.
Operation Manual
This is the same document as the printed Operation Manual with
cross references and index entries as clickable hyperlinks.
MIDI Devices and Features
Contains descriptions of the included MIDI effect plug-ins, how to
manage MIDI devices, how to work with MIDI System Exclusive messages and how to use the Logical Editor.
Audio Effects and VST Instruments
Describes the features and parameters of the included VST plug-ins
(real-time audio effects and VST instruments).
Networking
This pdf document describes how you can use Nuendo’s project sharing and networking features to collaborate with other users of Nuendo
(version 2.0 or later) in a TCP/IP based peer-to-peer network.
NUENDO
Introduction 1 – 11
Remote Control Devices
This pdf document lists the supported MIDI remote control devices
and describes how to set up and use them with Nuendo.
Score Layout and Printing
Describes the score editing features in Nuendo.
Using Nuendo with DSP Factory (Windows only)
Describes how to set up and use a Yamaha DSP Factory audio card
with Nuendo.
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1 – 12 Introduction
The Help System
Nuendo comes with a detailed help system, making it easy to look up
procedures and descriptions from within the program. The contents of
the help basically mirror the complete Operation Manual text. The help
systems are slightly different depending on which operating system
you use, Windows or Mac OS X:
HTML Help (Windows)
You use the HTML Help in the following way:
• To open the HTML Help for browsing, select “HTML Help” from the Help
menu in the program.
This brings up the HTML Help browser in which you can browse the help table of contents, search the index or perform a free text search.
• To get information about the active window or a dialog, press [F1] on the
computer keyboard or click the Help button in the actual dialog.
Within a topic, related topics are sometimes directly accessible via clickable links.
Apple Help (Mac OS X)
You use the Apple Help in the following way:
• To open the Apple Help for browsing, select “Nuendo Help” from the Help
menu in the program.
This brings up the Apple Help Viewer window. There, you can either browse the help
table of contents, use the index or type any words into the Search field at the top of the
window.
• To get information about the active window or a dialog, press [F1] on the
computer keyboard or click the Help button in the actual dialog.
Within a topic, related topics are sometimes directly accessible via clickable links.
Please note that you can open the Nuendo Help even when the program isn’t running:
1.
Select “Mac Help” from the Help menu in the Finder.
2.
In the Apple Help Viewer, bring up the “Help Center”.
3.
Click the “Nuendo Help” link in the Help Center.
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Introduction 1 – 13
About the program versions
The documentation covers two different operating systems or “platforms”; Windows and Mac OS X.
Some features and settings are specific to one of the platforms, Windows or Mac OS X. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases.
In other words:
• If nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid both under Windows and Mac OS X.
The screenshots are taken from the Windows version.
Key command conventions
Many of the default key commands in Nuendo use modifier keys,
some of which are different depending on the operating system. For
example, the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Command]-[Z] under Mac OS X.
When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual,
they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following
form:
[Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key]
For example,
[Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z]
means “press [Ctrl] under Win-
dows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”.
Similarly,
[Alt]/[Option]-[X]
means “press [Alt] under Windows or
[Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.
NUENDO
1 – 14 Introduction
How you can reach us
On the Help menu in Nuendo, you will find items for getting additional
information and help:
•
On the “Steinberg on the Web” submenu you can find links to various
Steinberg websites. Selecting one will automatically launch your
browser application and open the page.
You can find support and compatibility information, answers to frequently asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, etc. This requires that you have a web
browser application installed on your computer, and a working Internet connection.
NUENDO
Introduction 1 – 15
NUENDO
1 – 16 Introduction
2
Installation and Requirements
for Windows
About this chapter
This chapter describes the system requirements and installation procedures for Nuendo for Windows. Installing Nuendo for Mac OS X is
described on page 30.
Requirements
To use Nuendo, you need the following:
•
A PC with either Windows XP or Windows 2000 installed.
A USB Port is also required.
For more details about the computer requirements, see below.
•
Compatible audio hardware.
By audio hardware we mean a card capable of recording and playing back digital audio
using your hard disk as a storage medium. It must also have an appropriate ASIO
driver, see page 20, or be Windows Multimedia compatible. Also, to take full advantage
of Nuendo’s multi-channel i/o bus architecture and surround features, you need audio
hardware with multiple inputs and outputs.
For MIDI
•
At least one MIDI interface.
•
At least one MIDI instrument.
•
Any audio equipment necessary to listen to the sound from your MIDI
devices.
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2 – 18 Installation and Requirements for Windows
Computer requirements
Hardware – PC
The absolute minimum requirements for running Nuendo on a PC are
as follows:
• A 650 MHz Pentium processor or Athlon processor.
• 256 MB of RAM.
• Monitor and video hardware supporting 1024 x 768 resolution.
For optimum performance we recommend the following:
• Pentium or Athlon processor at 1.4 GHz or faster
• 512 MB of RAM.
• 1152 x 864 screen resolution or higher.
RAM
Audio work requires a lot of RAM! In fact, there is a direct relation between the amount of available RAM and the number of audio channels
that you can have running. As specified earlier, 256 MB is the minimum
requirement, but as a general rule “the more the better” applies.
Hard disk size
•
The size of the hard disk determines how many minutes of audio you
will be able to record.
Recording one minute of stereo CD quality audio, requires 10 MB of hard disk space.
That is, eight stereo tracks in Nuendo use up at least 80 MB of disk space per recording minute.
Hard disk speed
The speed of the hard drive also determines the number of audio tracks
you can run. That is the quantity of information that the disk can read,
usually expressed as “sustained transfer rate”. Again, “the more the
better” applies.
Wheel mouse
Although a regular mouse will work fine with Nuendo, we recommend
that you use a wheel mouse, as this will speed up value editing and
scrolling considerably. See page 204 and page 209.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 19
Audio hardware
Nuendo will run with audio hardware that meets the following basic
specifications:
• Stereo.
• 16 bit.
• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.
• Is supplied with a special ASIO driver, or a DirectX or Windows Multimedia
compatible driver as described below.
About drivers
A driver is a piece of software that allows a program to communicate
with a certain piece of hardware. In this case, the driver allows Nuendo
to use the audio hardware. For audio hardware, there are three different
cases, each requiring different driver configurations:
If the audio hardware has a specific ASIO driver
Professional audio cards often come with an ASIO driver written especially for the card. This allows for communication directly between
Nuendo and the audio card. As a result, audio cards with specific
ASIO drivers can provide lower latency (input-output delay), which is
crucial when monitoring audio via Nuendo or using VST Instruments.
The ASIO driver may also provide special support for multiple inputs
and outputs, routing, synchronization, etc.
Audio card-specific ASIO drivers are provided by the card manufacturers. Make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest
driver versions.
❐
If your audio hardware comes with a specific ASIO driver we strongly
recommend that you use this.
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2 – 20 Installation and Requirements for Windows
If the audio card communicates via DirectX
DirectX is a Microsoft “package” for handling various types of Multimedia under Windows. Nuendo supports DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectSound, which is a part of DirectX used for playing back
and recording audio. This requires two types of drivers:
• A DirectX driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate with DirectX. If
the audio card supports DirectX, this driver should be supplied by the audio
card manufacturer. If it isn’t installed with the audio card, please check the
manufacturer’s web site for more information.
• The ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver, allowing Nuendo to communicate with
DirectX. This driver is included with Nuendo, and does not require any special
installation.
If the audio card communicates via Windows Multimedia system
If the card is Windows compatible, it can be used in Nuendo. The card
then communicates with Windows Multimedia system, which in turn
communicates with Nuendo. This requires two types of drivers:
• A Windows Multimedia driver for the audio card, allowing it to communicate
with the Windows Multimedia system. This driver should be supplied by the
audio card manufacturer, and is normally installed when you install the audio
card.
• The ASIO Multimedia driver, allowing Nuendo to communicate with the Windows Multimedia system. This driver is included with Nuendo, and does not
require any special installation.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 21
Hardware installation
Installing the copy protection key – please read!
Included with the Nuendo package, you will find a hardware key (sometimes referred to as a “dongle”) that is part of the Nuendo copy protection scheme. Nuendo will not run if this key isn’t installed properly.
• The copy protection key should be plugged into the computer’s USB
port after installing Nuendo and restarting the computer!
When the copy protection key is plugged into the USB port, Windows will automatically register it as a new hardware device and will attempt to find drivers for it – these
necessary drivers won’t be there until Nuendo has been installed and the computer restarted.
Installing the audio hardware and its driver
1. Install the audio card and related equipment in the computer, as de-
scribed in the card’s documentation.
2. Install the driver for the card.
There are three types of drivers that could apply: card-specific ASIO drivers, DirectX
drivers and Windows Multimedia drivers:
Specific ASIO driver
If your audio card has a specific ASIO driver it may be included with
the audio card, but you should always make sure to check the audio
card manufacturer’s web site for the most recent drivers. For details
on how to install the driver, refer to the manufacturer’s instructions.
DirectX driver
If your audio card is DirectX compatible, its DirectX drivers will most
likely be installed when you install the card (as with the Windows Multimedia driver). If you have downloaded special DirectX drivers for the audio card, you should follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
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2 – 22 Installation and Requirements for Windows
Windows Multimedia driver
These drivers are normally included with all types of regular PC audio
cards. Some are even included with Windows itself. Depending on
whether the audio card is “Plug’n’Play compatible” or not, the installation of the card is done differently:
• If the card is “Plug’n’Play compatible”, Windows will detect the
card once it is plugged in, and ask for the necessary driver disks.
• If not, you need to use the “Add New Hardware” feature in the Control
Panel to install the card and its drivers.
Refer to the documentation that comes with the card.
❐
Should you have an audio card but no driver, please check the manufacturer’s web site, or ask your music or computer dealer for help.
Testing the card
To make sure the audio card will work as expected, perform the following two tests:
• Use any software included with the audio card to make sure you can
record and play back audio without problems.
• If the card is accessed via a standard Windows driver, use the Media
Player application (included with Windows) to play back audio.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 23
Installing a MIDI interface/synthesizer card
Installation instructions for a MIDI interface should be included with
the product. However, here’s an outline of the necessary steps:
1. Install the interface (or MIDI synthesizer card) inside your computer or
connect it to a “port” (connector) on the computer.
Which is right for you depends on which type of interface you have.
2. If the interface has a power supply and/or a power switch, turn it on.
3. Install the driver for the interface, as described in the documentation
that comes with the interface.
It is likely that you will need a CD ROM or floppy disk supplied by the manufacturer of
the MIDI interface. You should also make sure to check the manufacturer’s web site for
the latest driver updates.
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2 – 24 Installation and Requirements for Windows
Installing Nuendo
Defragment the hard disk
If you plan to record audio on a hard disk where you have already
stored other files, now is the time to defragment it. Defragmentation
reorganizes the physical allocation of space on the hard disk in order
to optimize its performance. It is done with a special defragmentation
program. In Windows XP, for example, you might look for the “Disk
Defragmenter” utility.
❐
It is crucial to the audio recording performance that your hard disk is optimized (defragmented). You should make sure to defragment regularly.
Installing the files from the CD-ROM
The installation procedure puts all files in the right places, automatically.
1. Insert the Nuendo CD-ROM.
2. A pop-up dialog appears automatically, containing three items for in-
stalling, browsing the CD and exiting.
If this dialog doesn’t appear, open the CD-ROM on the desktop, and double click the
“Autorun.EXE”.
3. To start the installation process, select “Install”.
Now the Nuendo installation procedure starts. A number of dialogs will appear, allowing you to select in which folder on your hard disk you want to install the program, etc.
To advance to the next “page” in the installation procedure, click the “Next” button. The
“Previous” button takes you back to the previous page.
• In one dialog you will need to fill in your name and the serial number of
your Nuendo copy, and click OK.
You will find the serial number on the registration card that comes with the Nuendo
package. Check the name and number in the confirmation dialog and click “Yes” if they
are correct. Clicking “No” brings back the previous dialog.
• You will be asked to read and confirm the licence agreement (shown
on screen).
This is required for the installation to proceed.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 25
• At one point you will be asked whether Nuendo should be available to
all users of the computer or just to you.
Choose the option that suits you best.
• You will also be asked whether you want to install audio effect plug-
ins from earlier Nuendo versions.
This is primarily intended to ensure compatibility with songs created with earlier versions,
but will of course also give you a wider palette of plug-ins to choose from. You can either
just select to install or to ignore all previous plug-ins and instruments (by activating/deactivating the checkbox), or click the Details button to select from a list where you can decide which plug-ins to install.
4. Finally, a dialog box informs you that the installation was successful
and recommends that you restart your computer.
5. After restarting the computer, plug in the hardware protection key into
the USB port.
If you are unsure over which port this is, consult the computer’s documentation.
6. The first time the copy protection device is plugged in, it will be regis-
tered as a new hardware device, and a dialog will appear asking you
whether you would like to find drivers for the device manually or automatically. You should select to find drivers automatically.
The dialog closes.
7. You are now ready to launch Nuendo!
Remove the CD-ROM and store it in a safe place.
This completes the installation of your Nuendo program!
❐
For information about product updates, you should check the Steinberg
website regularly. Open the “Steinberg on the Web” submenu on the
Help menu and select “Product Updates”. The website that opens contains a list with the recent updates.
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2 – 26 Installation and Requirements for Windows
The items on the start menu
If you open the Windows Start menu, you will find a Nuendo group on
the “Programs” submenu. This contains the following items:
• Documentation.
On this submenu you can access the various Nuendo documentation files in the Acrobat pdf format. These documents are also available on the Help menu from within the
program.
• ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup.
This is where you make settings if your audio hardware uses DirectX for audio playback and recording.
• ASIO Multimedia Setup.
This opens a dialog with settings for the ASIO (Audio Stream Input Output) system,
which handles audio recording and playback in Nuendo, if you are using the ASIO
MME driver. This dialog can also be opened from within Nuendo. See the chapter
“Setting up your system” in this book.
• Nuendo.
This launches the actual program.
On the “Programs” submenu you will also find an item called Syncrosoft
(License Control Center). This item shows all Syncrosoft protection devices and valid licences currently installed.
There may also be additional items (such as Readme files) available on
the Start menu. Please read all such files before launching Nuendo,
since they may contain late information not included in the manuals.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Windows 2 – 27
NUENDO
2 – 28 Installation and Requirements for Windows
3
Installation and Requirements
for Mac OS X
About this chapter
This chapter describes the system requirements and installation procedures for Nuendo for Mac OS X. Installing Nuendo for Windows is
described on page 18.
Requirements
To use Nuendo, you need the following:
• A Macintosh computer running Mac OS X.
A USB Port is also required.
For more details about the computer requirements, see below.
• Mac OS X compatible audio hardware.
While the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh may be adequate for basic audio
playback, we strongly recommend audio hardware that is specifically designed for audio
recording and music applications. Also, to take full advantage of Nuendo’s multi-channel
i/o bus architecture and surround features, audio hardware with multiple inputs and outputs is required.
For MIDI
• At least one MIDI interface.
• At least one MIDI instrument.
• Any audio equipment necessary to listen to the sound from your MIDI
devices.
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3 – 30 Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X
Computer requirements
Hardware – Mac
The absolute minimum requirements for running Nuendo on a Macintosh are as follows:
• Macintosh with a G4 processor, 256 MB RAM and OS X.
We recommend a G4 733 MHz or faster, 512 MB RAM or more and OS X 10.2.
RAM
Audio work requires a lot of RAM! In fact, there is a direct relation between the amount of available RAM and the number of audio channels
that you can have running. As specified earlier, 256 MB is the minimum
requirement, but as a general rule “the more the better” applies.
Hard disk size
• The size of the hard disk determines how many minutes of audio you
will be able to record.
Recording one minute of stereo CD quality audio, requires 10 MB of hard disk space.
That is, eight stereo tracks in Nuendo use up at least 80 MB of disk space per recording minute.
Hard disk speed
The speed of the hard drive also determines the number of audio
tracks you can run. That is the quantity of information that the disk can
read, usually expressed as “sustained transfer rate”. Again, “the more
the better” applies.
Mouse
Although a regular mouse will work fine with Nuendo, we recommend
that you use a wheel mouse with two mouse buttons.
• Having a wheel mouse will speed up value editing and scrolling considerably.
• If your mouse has two mouse buttons you should program the right mouse
button to generate a [Ctrl]-click (this is typically the default behaviour of the
right mouse button).
This will allow you to bring up context menus by right clicking (see page 201).
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X 3 – 31
Audio hardware
Nuendo will run with audio hardware that meets the following basic
specifications:
• Stereo.
• 16 bit.
• Support of at least the 44.1kHz sampling rate.
• Is supplied with proper Mac OS X (Core Audio) drivers.
A basic rule of thumb is: if the hardware works under Mac OS X, you
can use it in Nuendo.
• Nuendo also supports audio hardware with Mac OS X compliant ASIO
drivers.
ASIO drivers may provide special support for routing, monitoring, synchronization, etc.
Note that the ASIO drivers must be written specifically for Mac OS X – Mac 9.X ASIO
drivers cannot be used.
Using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh
Although Nuendo is designed with multi-channel input and output in
mind, it’s of course possible to use the program with “basic” stereo inputs and outputs. As of this writing, all current Macintosh models have
built-in 16 bit stereo audio hardware. Depending on your preferences
and requirements, this may be sufficient for use with Nuendo. The
built-in audio hardware is always available for selection in Nuendo –
you don’t need to install any additional drivers.
❐
Some Macintosh models have audio outputs but no inputs. This means
that you can only play back audio – recording is not possible without additional audio hardware.
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3 – 32 Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X
Hardware installation
About the copy protection key – please read!
Included with the Nuendo package, you will find a hardware key (sometimes referred to as a “dongle”) that is part of the Nuendo copy protection scheme. Nuendo will not run if this key isn’t installed properly.
• You should first install the program (and any necessary hardware, see
below), then insert the copy protection key and finally launch the
program.
This is because the necessary drivers for the key are installed when you install the
program.
Installing the audio hardware and its driver
1. Make sure you have the latest Mac OS X drivers for the audio hardware!
Please check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest versions.
2. Install the driver(s) for the audio hardware.
This is usually done by running an installer application.
3. Install or connect the audio interface, as described in the card’s
documentation.
Installing a MIDI interface
1. Make sure you have the latest Mac OS X drivers for the MIDI interface!
Please check the manufacturer’s web site for the latest versions.
2. Install the driver(s) for the interface.
This is usually done by running an installer application.
3. Connect the MIDI interface to the computer, as described in the inter-
face documentation.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X 3 – 33
Installing Nuendo
Defragment the hard disk
If you plan to record audio on a hard disk where you have already
stored other files, now is the time to defragment it. Defragmentation
reorganizes the physical allocation of space on the hard disk in order
to optimize its performance. It is done with a special defragmentation
program.
❐
It is crucial to the audio recording performance that your hard disk is optimized (defragmented). You should make sure to defragment regularly.
Installing the files from the CD-ROM
The installation procedure puts all files in the right places, automatically.
1. Insert the Nuendo CD-ROM.
2. Open and read the file “Read Me First” before continuing.
This may contain late breaking news pertinent to the installation.
3. Locate the Nuendo installer and run it.
The installation procedure starts. This will create a Nuendo folder in your Applications
folder and add various required files to your system.
• At one point during the installation you will need to fill in your name
and the serial number of your Nuendo copy.
You will find the serial number on the registration card that comes with the Nuendo
package.
• You will be asked to read and confirm the licence agreement (shown
on screen).
This is required for the installation to proceed.
• You will also be asked whether you want to install plug-ins and instruments from earlier Nuendo versions.
This is primarily intended to ensure compatibility with songs created with earlier versions,
but will of course also give you a wider palette of plug-ins to choose from.
Finally, a dialog box informs you that the installation was successful.
NUENDO
3 – 34 Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X
4. Plug in the hardware protection key into a free USB port.
If you are unsure over which port this is, consult the computers documentation.
5. You are now ready to launch Nuendo!
Remove the CD-ROM and store it in a safe place.
This completes the installation of your Nuendo program!
❐
For information about product updates, you should check the Steinberg
website regularly. Open the “Steinberg on the Web” submenu on the Help
menu and select “Product Updates”. The website that opens contains a
list with the recent updates.
NUENDO
Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X 3 – 35
NUENDO
3 – 36 Installation and Requirements for Mac OS X
4
Setting up your system
Setting up audio
❐
Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!
Connecting audio
Exactly how to set up your system is a very personal matter, the following connection diagrams should be taken as examples.
The audio connections below may be digital or analog, it doesn’t matter.
Stereo input and output – the simplest connection
If you only use a stereo input and output from Nuendo, you might connect your audio hardware directly to the input source, a mixer for example, and the outputs to a power amplifier and speaker.
Audio card outputs
LR
Audio card inputs
LR
A simple stereo audio setup.
NUENDO
4 – 38 Setting up your system
Source to be recorded
Amplifier and speakers
Multi-channel input and output
Most likely however, you will have other audio equipment that you
want to integrate with Nuendo. This will require a mixer, preferably one
with a group or bus system that can be used for feeding inputs on the
audio hardware.
In the example below, four buses are used for feeding signals to the
sound hardware’s inputs. The four outputs are connected back to the
mixer for monitoring and playback. Remaining mixer inputs can be used
for connecting audio sources like microphones, instruments, etc.
Audio card outputs
Audio card inputs
Inputs
1 to 4
A multi-channel audio setup.
Bus
1 to 4
LR
Amplifier and speakersMixer
• When connecting an input source (like a mixer) to the audio hardware,
you should use output buses, sends or similar that are separate from the
mixer’s master output to avoid recording what you are playing back.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 39
Connecting for surround sound
If you plan to mix for surround sound, you could connect the audio
outputs to a multi-channel power amplifier, driving a set of surround
channels.
Audio card outputs
Audio card inputs
LR
Source to be recorded
A surround sound playback configuration.
LFE
Ls/S
Amplifier and speakers
RCL
Rs/S
Nuendo supports a number of surround formats. The example connection above will work for mixing both LRCS (ProLogic for example) and
5.1, in which case the two surround speakers will be playing the same
material (from the single surround channel). The difference between
the two formats is the LFE channel, which is not used with LRCS.
Recording from a CD player
Most computers come with a CD-ROM drive that can also be used as
a regular CD player. In some cases the CD player is internally connected to the audio hardware so that you can record the output of the
CD player directly into Nuendo (consult the audio hardware documentation if you are uncertain).
• All routing and level adjustments for recording from a CD (if available) are
done in the audio hardware setup application (see page 42).
• You can also grab audio tracks directly from a CD in Nuendo (see the Operation Manual).
NUENDO
4 – 40 Setting up your system
Word Clock connections
If you are using a digital audio connection you may also need a word
clock connection between the audio hardware and external devices.
Please refer to the documentation that came with the audio hardware
for details.
❐
It is very important that word clock synchronization is done correctly or
there might be clicks and crackles in recordings that you make!
About recording levels and inputs
When you connect your equipment, you should make sure that the impedance and levels of the audio sources and inputs are matched.
Typically, different inputs may be designed for use with microphones,
consumer line level (-10 dBV) or professional line level (+4 dBV), or
you may be able to adjust input characteristics on the audio interface
or in its control panel. Please check the audio hardware documentation for details.
Using the correct types of input is important to avoid distortion or
noisy recordings. For more information about checking input levels,
see page 78.
❐
Nuendo does not provide any input level adjustments for the signals
coming in to your audio hardware, since these are done differently for
each card. Adjusting input levels is either done in a special application included with the hardware or possibly from its control panel (see below).
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 41
Making settings for the audio hardware
Most audio cards come with one or more small applications that allow
you to configure the inputs of the hardware to your liking.
This includes:
• Selecting which inputs/outputs are active.
• Setting up word clock synchronization (if available).
• Turning monitoring via the hardware on/off (see page 48).
• Setting levels for each input. This is very important!
• Setting levels for the outputs, so that they match the equipment you use for
monitoring.
• Selecting digital input and output formats.
• Making settings for the audio buffers.
In many cases all available settings for the audio hardware are gathered in a control panel, which can be opened from within Nuendo as
described below (or opened separately, when Nuendo isn’t running).
In some cases there may be several different applications and panels –
please refer to the audio hardware documentation for details.
NUENDO
4 – 42 Setting up your system
Selecting a driver and making audio settings in Nuendo
The first thing you need to do is select the correct driver in Nuendo to
make sure that the program can communicate with the audio hardware:
1. Launch Nuendo, select Device Setup from the Devices menu and click
on VST Multitrack in the list.
Make sure the “Setup” tab is selected.
The VST Multitrack panel in the Device Setup dialog.
2. Select your audio hardware from the ASIO Driver menu.
There may be several options here that all refer to the same audio hardware:
❐
Under Windows we strongly recommend that you access your hardware
via an ASIO driver written specifically for the hardware, if available. If no
ASIO driver is installed we recommend that you check with your audio
hardware manufacturer if they have an ASIO driver available, for example for download via the Internet.
3. Bring up the control panel for the audio hardware and adjust the set-
tings as recommended by the audio hardware manufacturer.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 43
• Under Windows, you can open the control panel by clicking the Control Panel button in the VST Multitrack panel.
The control panel that appears when you click this button is provided by the audio
hardware manufacturer and not Nuendo (unless you use DirectX or MME, see below).
Hence it will be different for each audio card brand and model.
The Control panels for the ASIO Multimedia and ASIO DirectX drivers are an exception, as they are provided by Steinberg. They are described in the HTML Help, opened
by clicking the Help button in the respective dialog. See also the notes below.
• Under Mac OS X, you will find the control panel for your audio hardware in the System Preferences (“Other” section), opened from the
Apple menu or from the Dock.
If you are using the built-in audio hardware of the Macintosh, you use the “Sound” control panel in the System Preferences to set levels, balance, etc.
If you are using ASIO audio hardware, you can click the Control Panel button to bring
up its panel.
4. If you plan to use several audio applications simultaneously, you may
want to activate the option “Release ASIO Driver in Background”.
This will allow another application to play back via your audio hardware even though Nuendo is running.
The application that is currently active (i.e. the “top window” on the desktop), will get
access to the audio hardware. Make sure that any other audio application accessing
the audio hardware is also set to release the ASIO (or Mac OS X) driver so Nuendo
can use it when becoming the active application again.
5. If your audio hardware and its driver support ASIO Direct Monitoring,
you may want to activate the Direct Monitoring checkbox.
Read more about monitoring later in this chapter and in the Recording chapter in the
Operation Manual.
6. Click Apply and then OK to close the dialog.
NUENDO
4 – 44 Setting up your system
If you are using audio hardware with a DirectX driver (Windows only)
❐
If your Windows audio hardware doesn’t have a specific ASIO driver, a
DirectX driver is the next best option.
There are two ASIO DirectX drivers available with Nuendo:
• ASIO DirectX.
This driver allows audio output only, not audio input (in other words, playback only, not
recording). It is therefore not a suitable choice if you want to record audio in Nuendo
(but it can be used for mixing and playback).
• ASIO DirectX Full Duplex.
This driver allows both audio recording and playback. However:
• To be able to take full advantage of DirectX Full Duplex, the audio hardware must support WDM (Windows Driver Model) in combination with
DirectX version 8.1 or higher.
In all other cases, the audio inputs will be emulated by DirectX (see the HTML Help for
the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex Setup dialog for details about how this is reported).
Since using emulated inputs will result in higher latency, you may want to use the ASIO
Multimedia driver instead, as this gives you more possibilities to fine-tune the settings.
• In most cases, DirectX will already be installed on your computer.
If not (or if your DirectX version is older than 8.1) you find a DirectX 8.1 installer on the
Nuendo program CD.
When the ASIO DirectX Full Duplex driver is selected in the Device
Setup dialog, you can open the ASIO Control Panel and adjust the
following settings (for more details, click the Help button in the control
panel):
• Direct Sound Output and Input Ports
In the list to the left in the window, all available Direct Sound Output and Input Ports
are listed. In many cases, there will only be one Port in each list. To activate or deactivate a Port in the list, click the checkbox in the left column.If the checkbox is ticked, the
port is activated.
• You can edit the Buffer Size and Offset settings in this list if necessary, by
double clicking on the value and typing in a new value.
In most cases the default settings will work fine. Audio buffers are used when audio
data is transferred between Nuendo and the audio card. While larger buffers ensure
that playback will occur without glitches, the latency (the time between the moment
Nuendo sends out the data and when it actually reaches the output) will be higher.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 45
• Offset
If a constant offset is audible during playback of Audio and MIDI recordings, you can
adjust the output or input latency time using this value.
If you are using audio hardware with a Windows Multimedia (MME) driver
When you select the ASIO Multimedia Driver for the first time, the system will ask you whether you want to test the configuration. We strongly
recommend that you perform this test. If it fails, or if you for other reasons need to make adjustments to your ASIO Multimedia configuration,
click the Control Panel button to open the ASIO Multimedia Setup control panel included with Nuendo. This control panel comes with an
HTML Help describing the features and procedures.
Setting up the input and output ports
Once you have selected the driver and made the settings as described above, you need to specify which inputs and outputs should
be used and name these:
1. In the Device Setup dialog, select VST Outputs in the list to the left.
Make sure the Setup tab is selected.
All output ports on the audio hardware are listed.
NUENDO
4 – 46 Setting up your system
2. To hide an output port, click in the “Visible” column for the port (so
that it says “No”).
Ports that aren’t visible cannot be selected in the VST Connections window where you
set up your input and output busses – see page 75.
❐
If you attempt to hide a port that is already used by a bus you will be
asked whether this is really what you want – note that this will disable
the output port!
3. To rename a port, click on its name in the list and type in a new name.
• It is a good idea to give your ports generic names that are related to the
channel configuration (rather than to the actual hardware model)!
For example, if you are using a 5.1 surround audio setup, you could name the six ports
Left, Right, Center, Lfe, Left Surround and Right Surround. This makes it easier to transfer your projects between different computers, e.g. in different studios – if the same port
names are used on both computers, Nuendo will automatically handle the bus connections properly when you open the project on the other computer.
4. Select VST Inputs in the list to the left and set up the input ports in the
same way.
5. Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog and apply your changes.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 47
About monitoring
In Nuendo, monitoring means listening to the signal being recorded
while preparing to record or while recording. There are basically three
ways to monitor:
External monitoring
External monitoring (listening to the input signal before it goes into
Nuendo) requires an external mixer for mixing the audio playback with
the input signal. This mixer could 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).
Via Nuendo
In this case, the audio passes from the input into Nuendo, possibly
through Nuendo effects and EQ and then back to the output. You
then control monitoring via settings in Nuendo.
This allows you to control the monitoring level from Nuendo and add
effects to the monitored signal only.
• To avoid noticeable delay in the monitor signal, you need audio hardware with low latency (see page 55).
ASIO Direct Monitoring
If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO
Direct Monitoring (this feature may also be available for audio hardware with Mac OS X drivers). In this mode, the actual monitoring is
done in the audio hardware, by sending the input signal back out
again. However, monitoring is controlled from Nuendo. This means
that the audio hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on
or off automatically by Nuendo.
Monitoring is described in detail in the Recording chapter in the Operation Manual. However, when setting up, there’s one thing to note:
• If you want to use the external monitoring via your audio hardware,
make sure the corresponding functions are activated in the card’s
mixer application.
NUENDO
4 – 48 Setting up your system
Setting up MIDI
❐
Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!
This section describes how to connect and set up MIDI equipment. If
you have no MIDI equipment you can skip this section.
Connecting the MIDI equipment
Below follows a description of a typical but small setup example. You
might need or want to hook things up differently!
In this example we assume that you have a MIDI keyboard and an external MIDI sound module. The keyboard is used both for feeding the
computer with MIDI messages for recording and for playing back MIDI
tracks. The sound module is used for playback only. Using Nuendo’s
MIDI Thru feature (described later) you will be able to hear the correct
sound from the sound module while playing the keyboard or recording.
MIDI
Interface
MIDI
MIDI
A typical MIDI Setup.
Out
OutIn
In
Thru
MIDI In
MIDI Sound Module
MIDI Keyboard
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 49
You might want to use even more instruments for playback. If you do,
simply connect MIDI Thru on the sound module to MIDI In on the next
instrument, and so on. In this hook-up, you will always play the first
keyboard when recording. But, you can still use all your devices for
providing sounds on playback.
❐
If you plan to use more than three sound sources we recommend that
you either use an interface with more than one output, or a separate
MIDI Thru box instead of the Thru jacks on each unit.
Setting MIDI Thru and Local On/Off
In the “MIDI” section in the Preferences dialog (located on the File menu
under Windows and on the Nuendo menu under Mac OS X), you will
find a setting called “MIDI Thru Active” which can be enabled or not. This
is related to a setting in your instrument called “Local On/Off” or “Local
Control On/Off”.
• If you use a MIDI keyboard instrument, as described earlier in this chapter,
MIDI Thru should be activated and that instrument should be set to Local Off
(sometimes called Local Control Off – see the instrument’s operation manual
for details). This will let the MIDI signal from the keyboard get recorded into
Nuendo and at the same time re-routed back to the instrument so that you
hear what you are playing, without the keyboard “triggering” its own sounds.
NUENDO
4 – 50 Setting up your system
MIDI
MIDI
Interface
OutIn
When “MIDI Thru” is active in Nuendo, MIDI
data received is immediately “echoed” back
out.
MIDI data coming in to the instrument
is played by the “Synth” inside it.
MIDI In
MIDI
When you press a key, it is sent
out via MIDI to Nuendo.
Out
In
Thru
MIDI Sound Module
“Synth”
MIDI Keyboard
When Local Control is turned on in the instrument, the keys you press will be played by the
“Synth” inside the Instrument.
When Local Control is turned off, this connection
is cut off.
• If you use a separate MIDI keyboard – one that does not produce any sounds
itself – MIDI Thru in Nuendo should also be activated, but you don’t need to
look for any Local On/Off setting in your instruments.
• The only case where MIDI Thru should be deactivated is if you use Nuendo with
only one keyboard instrument and that instrument cannot be set to Local Off
mode.
• Note that MIDI Thru will only be active for MIDI tracks that are record enabled
and/or have the monitor button activated. See the Recording chapter in the
Operation Manual for more information.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 51
Setting up MIDI ports in Nuendo
The Device Setup dialog lets you set up your MIDI system in the following ways:
• Note: After changing a setting in the Device Setup dialog, you should
click Apply and then click OK to close the dialog.
Showing or hiding MIDI Ports
Under Windows, the MIDI ports are listed in the Device Setup dialog
on the DirectMusic page and/or the Windows MIDI page (depending
on your system). By clicking in the “Show” column for a MIDI input or
output, you can specify whether or not it should be listed on the MIDI
pop-up menus in the program.
Under Mac OS X, you can hide or show MIDI ports on the MIDI System page in the Device Setup dialog.
• Hiding a MIDI port from view does not turn it off if it’s already selected for
a track or a MIDI device.
Setting up the “All MIDI Inputs” option
When you record MIDI in Nuendo, you can specify which MIDI input
each recording MIDI track should use. However, you can also select
the “All MIDI Inputs” option, which causes any MIDI data from any
MIDI input to be recorded.
The All MIDI Inputs page in the Device Setup dialog allows you to specify which inputs should be included when you select All MIDI Inputs for
a MIDI track. This can be especially useful if your system provides several instances of the same physical MIDI input – by deactivating the duplicates you make sure only the desired MIDI data is recorded.
• If you have a MIDI remote control unit connected you should also make
sure to deactivate that MIDI input on the All MIDI Inputs page.
This is to avoid accidentally recording the data from the remote control when the “All
MIDI Inputs” option is selected as input for a MIDI track.
NUENDO
4 – 52 Setting up your system
Setting up a default MIDI input and output
The Default MIDI Ports page in the Device Setup dialog allows you to
select which MIDI ports should be selected by default when you create
a new MIDI track. In other words, newly created tracks will always use
the input and output specified on this page. However, you can later
change this setting for each individual track in the Project window.
Connecting a synchronizer
❐
Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!
When using Nuendo with external tape transports you will most likely
need to add a synchronizer to your system. All connections and setup
procedures for synchronization are described in the Synchronization
chapter in the Operation Manual.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 53
Setting up video
❐
Always make all connections with all equipment turned off!
Nuendo plays back video films in AVI, Quicktime or MPEG formats.
Under Windows, video playback can be done using one of three playback engines: Video for Windows, DirectShow or Quicktime. This ensures compatibility with as wide a range of video files as possible.
Under Mac OS X, Quicktime is always used as playback engine.
Generally there are two ways to play back video:
• Without any special hardware at all, using the computer CPU.
In this case, the “codec” is in software. While this will be fine in many situations it does
put a limit on the size of the video window as well as the quality of the image.
• Using video hardware that for example connects to an external monitor.
Mac OS X: Using a FireWire port, you can play back video on an external monitor using
a DV-to-analog converter or a DV camera (see also the Video chapter in the Operation
Manual).
This is valid for DV video and QuickTime is used for playback.
❐
Hardware solutions for playing back a video on an external monitor and
further information can be found on www.steinberg.net.
If you plan to use special video hardware, install it and set it up as
recommended by the manufacturer.
Before you use the video hardware with Nuendo, we recommend that
you test the hardware installation with the utility applications that came
with the hardware and/or the Windows Media Player or Quicktime
Player (Mac OS X) applications.
NUENDO
4 – 54 Setting up your system
Optimizing audio performance
This section gives you some hints and tips on how to get the most out
of your Nuendo system, performance-wise. Some of this text refers to
hardware properties and can be used as a guide when upgrading your
system. This text is very brief. Look for details and current information
on the Nuendo web site (see page 15)!
Two aspects of performance
There are two distinct aspects of performance in respect to Nuendo:
Tracks and effects
Simply put: the faster your computer, the more tracks, effects and EQ
you will be able to play. Exactly what constitutes a “fast computer” is almost a science in itself, but some hints are given below.
Short response times (latency)
Another aspect of performance is response times. Latency is a phenomenon based on the fact that in a computer, audio has to be “buffered”
(stored) in small chunks during various steps of the recording and playback process. The more and larger those chunks, the higher the latency.
High latency is most troublesome when playing VST Instruments and
when monitoring through the computer, that is when listening to a live
audio source via the Nuendo Mixer and effects. However, very long
latency times (several hundred milliseconds) can hamper other processes like mixing, since e.g. a fader movement will affect the audio
noticeably late.
While Direct Monitoring and other techniques reduce the problems
associated with very long latency times, a system that responds fast
will always be more convenient to work with.
• Depending on your audio hardware, it may be possible to “trim” your
latency times, usually by lowering the size and number of buffers.
For details, refer to the audio hardware documentation, or, if you are using a DirectX or
MME driver under Windows, the HTML Help.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 55
System factors that affect performance
CPU and processor cache
It goes without saying that the faster the computer processor, the better. But there are a number of factors that affect the apparent speed of
a computer: the bus speed and type (PCI is strongly recommended),
the processor cache size and of course, the processor type and brand.
Nuendo relies heavily on floating point calculations. When shopping
for a processor, please make sure you get one that is powerful in calculating floating point arithmetics.
Note also that Nuendo features full support for multi-processor systems.
So if you own a computer system with more than one processor, Nuendo
can take advantage of the total capacity and evenly distribute the processing load to all the available processors. See page 57 for more details.
Hard disk and controller
The number of hard disk tracks you can record and play back at the
same time also depends on the speed of your hard disk and hard disk
controller. If you use E-IDE disks and controllers, make sure that the
transfer mode is DMA Busmaster. Under Windows, you can check the
current mode by launching the Windows Device Manager and looking
for properties of the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controller’s primary and secondary channel. DMA transfer mode is enabled by default, but may be
turned off by the system should hardware problems occur.
Audio hardware and driver
The hardware and its driver can have some effect on regular performance. A badly written driver can reduce the performance of your computer. But where the hardware driver design makes the most difference
is with latency.
❐
Again, we strongly recommend that you use audio hardware for which
there is a specific ASIO driver!
This is especially true when using Nuendo for Windows:
• Under Windows, ASIO drivers written specifically for the hardware are more
efficient than MME or DirectX and normally produce shorter latency times.
NUENDO
4 – 56 Setting up your system
• Under Mac OS X however, audio hardware with properly written Mac OS X
(Core Audio) drivers can be very efficient and produce very low latency times.
Still, there are additional features currently only available with ASIO drivers, such as
the ASIO Positioning Protocol.
Making settings that affect performance
Choosing a driver for your audio hardware
As described on page 43, it is recommended to install and use a standard ASIO driver if available for your specific hardware. Check the
manufacturers web site for the latest drivers etc.
Making audio buffer settings
Audio buffers affect how audio is sent to and from the audio hardware.
The size of the audio buffers affect both the latency and the audio performance. Generally, the smaller the buffer size, the lower the latency.
On the other hand, working with small buffers can be demanding for
the computer. If the audio buffers are too small, you may get clicks,
pops or other audio playback problems.
• Under Mac OS X, you can adjust the size of the buffers on the VST Multitrack
page in the Device Setup dialog.
You may also find buffer settings in the control panel for the audio hardware.
• Under Windows, you adjust the buffer size settings in the control panel for the
audio hardware (opened by clicking the Control Panel button on the VST Multitrack page in the Device Setup dialog).
The Expert settings
In the VST Multitrack panel you will find a button called “Expert…”.
This opens a dialog with advanced settings for the VST Engine, including a Multi Processing switch. When this is activated (default setting if
you have a hyper-threading or multiple-CPU system – in a single-CPU
system, this option is greyed out) and there is more than one CPU in
your system, the processing load is distributed evenly to all available
CPUs, allowing Nuendo to make full use of the combined power of the
multiple processors. See the Online Help for details.
Activating the “Lower Latency” option, will basically disable the CPU
overload protection, but allow for lower latencies. See the Online Help
for details.
NUENDO
Setting up your system 4 – 57
Optimizing processor scheduling (Windows only)
To get the lowest possible latencies when using ASIO under Windows
2000 or XP (on a single CPU system), the 'system performance' has to
be optimized for background tasks:
Windows 2000
1. Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and select System.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Performance Options button.
3. In the dialog that appears, select “Optimize performance for: Back-
ground services”.
4. Click OK to close the dialogs.
Windows XP
1. Open the Control Panel from the Start menu and select System.
2. Select the Advanced tab and click the Settings button in the Perfor-
mance section.
The Performance Options dialog appears.
3. Select the Advanced tab.
4. In the Processor Scheduling section, select “Adjust for best perfor-
mance of: Background services”
5. Click OK to close the dialogs.
Related Information (Windows only)
ACPI vs. Standard PC mode
Windows 2000/XP users should consider the important information relating to audio performance as presented on the Steinberg Knowledge
Base. If you have a working internet connection, select “Steinberg on
the Web” and then “Knowledge Base” in the Nuendo Help menu. In
the knowledge base, do a search for “ACPI” and click the article with
the subject “Optimization of Windows 2000/XP: ACPI kills audio performance”.
NUENDO
4 – 58 Setting up your system
5
Guided Tour
The main windows in Nuendo
The Project window
The Project window is the main window in Nuendo. This provides you
with a graphic overview of the project, allowing you to navigate and
perform large scale editing. The Project window is divided vertically
into tracks and has a time line going from left to right. Each project has
one Project window.
The project cursor.
The area with various track
settings to the left is called the
Inspector.
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The Track list with
various track types.
The area to the right in the Project window is called the event display. This is
where you view and edit audio and MIDI
events, automation curves, etc.
The Project Browser
The Project Browser provides a list based representation of the project.
This allows you to view and edit all events on all tracks by using regular
value editing in a list.
The Transport panel
The Transport panel features transport controls, much like those
found on a conventional tape recorder. It can also be used for locating
Marker positions, setting tempo and time signature, etc.
CPU/Disk meter
Jog/shuttle controls
Recording
modes and
auto quantize
Position displays
The left and right locators
define where to start and
end recording and what
section to cycle.
Tempo display and
metronome settings
Transport controls
Sync display
Marker
section
Audio
Input/output
activity meters
MIDI
Input/Output
activity meters
• Note that you can customize the appearance of the Transport panel!
You can remove controls that you don’t need to use or even change the positions of
the different sections on the panel. This is described in the Customizing chapter in the
Operation Manual.
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The Pool
All files, audio or video, that belong to a project are listed in the Pool.
There is a separate Pool for every project. In the Pool you can organize, convert and audition clips, amongst many other things.
Audio folder
Trash folder Video folder
Audio clips
Waveform image
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The Sample Editor
In the Sample Editor you can view and manipulate audio, by cutting
and pasting, removing or drawing audio data. By using the Offline
Process History, you can undo changes or revert to the original versions at any point.
Thumbnail overview
Waveform view
A selected range
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The MIDI editors
Editing MIDI data is done using the MIDI editors. The following editors
are available:
Key Editor
The Key Editor shows the contents of one or several MIDI parts. The
MIDI notes are represented by “boxes”, whose vertical position corresponds to their pitch.
This box represents a MIDI note.
This section is called the controller display. It shows “continuous” MIDI
events (such as controllers) or as in this figure, the velocity values of notes.
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Score Editor
The Score Editor shows MIDI notes as a musical score and comes
with advanced tools and functions for notation, layout and printing.
❐
Full Score editing is described in the separate document “Score Layout
and Printing”. This can be accessed via the Help menu in the program.
List Editor
The List Editor shows all events in a MIDI part as a list, allowing you to
view and edit their properties numerically.
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Drum Editor
The Drum Editor is similar to the Key Editor, but takes advantage of
the fact that with drum parts, each key corresponds to a separate
drum sound.
Tempo Track Editor
For each audio and MIDI track, you can specify whether it should use a
musical or linear Time base. Tempo based tracks follow a tempo, which
can either be fixed through the whole project or follow the Tempo Track.
In the Tempo Track Editor you can draw curves that determine how the
tempo will change over time.
Time signature events
The tempo curve
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The Mixer
The Mixer is where you mix your audio and MIDI channels, that is, adjust
the levels (volume), panning, effect sends, EQ, etc. Input and output
busses are also shown in the mixer.
• There are 4 different mixer windows that can be configured to show
different views of the mixer.
This allows you to e.g. control all audio channels in one window and all VST Instrument
channels in another.
• Each audio channel in the mixer can carry up to 12 speaker channels.
Surround sound is fully supported in Nuendo; from the input busses via audio mixer
channels to the output busses.
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Channel Settings
The Channel Settings window is used for adding effects and EQ to individual channels. Each mixer channel has its own VST Channel Settings window.
Inserts section Equalizer section Sends section
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VST Connections
This is where you set up input and output busses – the audio connections between Nuendo and the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware.
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6
Tutorial 1: Recording and
playing back audio
About this tutorial
This chapter contains a step-by-step description of how to make a simple audio recording and play it back. The purpose is for you to try out
some of the most common recording and playback features. However,
you should make sure to read the Recording chapter in the Operation
Manual before doing any “serious” recording, as there are a lot of settings, options and methods that are not mentioned here.
Before you start
This chapter assumes that:
• You have installed and set up your audio hardware.
• Your audio source (a mixer or tape recorder, for example) is properly
connected to the inputs of the audio hardware.
• The outputs of the audio hardware are connected to some sort of lis-
tening equipment, allowing you to listen to the recorded audio during
playback.
• You are monitoring your audio source through Nuendo.
This means that when you are recording, the audio source is sent into Nuendo and then
back out again to your monitoring equipment. This way of monitoring allows you to adjust monitoring levels from within the program, add effects to the monitor signal, etc.
However, it also requires audio hardware with low latency – otherwise the monitored
signal will be noticeably delayed.
Even if you find that the latency is too high for monitoring through Nuendo – please bear
with us through this tutorial! In the Operation Manual you will find other methods for
monitoring that may suit you better.
• You have launched Nuendo.
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Creating a new project
Before you can start recording, you need a working environment – a
project:
1. Pull down the File menu and select “New Project”.
A dialog appears, listing a number of project templates for various purposes.
2. Make sure the “Empty” item in the list is selected and click OK.
A file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location for the project folder. This will
contain all files related to the project.
3. Navigate to the desired location of the project folder, and select it by
clicking OK, or click “Create” to create and name a new folder.
The project folder is created on disk, and an empty Project window appears.
At this point, you can make various settings for the project, such as
sample rate, resolution, etc. However, to keep things simple we will
use the default settings for now.
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The next step is to create an audio track to record on:
4. Pull down the Project menu and select “Add Track”.
A submenu appears, listing the various types of tracks available in Nuendo.
5. Select “Audio”.
In the dialog that appears you can select the channel configuration for the track –
mono, stereo or one of several different surround configurations.
6. In this example, set the track to stereo by selecting Stereo from the
pop-up menu and clicking “OK”.
An empty audio track appears in the Project window.
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Preparing to record
Before you can start recording, there are some preparations to make:
Setting up input and output busses
When you record in Nuendo, the signal passes from the inputs on
your audio hardware to an input bus in the program. This is where you
check levels and adjust the sound to be recorded. From the input bus
the signal is written to an audio file on your hard disk, and sent to the
track’s channel in the mixer for monitoring etc.
Sound to be
recorded
Audio Hardware
Input bus in Nuendo Mixer channel for
the audio track
Audio file on hard disk
You can have as many input busses as you like, but for this example
we only need a stereo input bus:
1. Pull down the Devices menu and select “VST Connections”.
The VST Connections window appears. This is where you view, add and set up inputand output busses.
2. Select the “Inputs” tab by clicking on it.
By default, there is a stereo bus called “Stereo In” – if there wasn’t you could easily
add one by clicking the Add Bus button.
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3. Click the “+” button to the left so that the individual inputs in the bus
are shown.
The ASIO Device Port column shows the physical inputs on your audio hardware that
are used by the bus.
4. Click in the ASIO Device Port column for the “Left” channel.
A pop-up menu appears, listing all inputs on your audio hardware.
5. Select the input you want to use for the left channel in the stereo bus.
6. Select the input for the right channel in the same way.
7. Click the “Outputs” tab and set up a stereo output bus in the same
way.
This is strictly not required for recording – but you need it for monitoring and for playing back the recording afterwards.
8. Close the VST Connections window and open the Mixer from the
Devices menu.
This is Nuendo’s Mixer window, used for setting levels, etc. The mixer contains channel
strips for all tracks in the project and all input and output busses.
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• Right now the mixer should contain one input bus, one stereo audio
channel and one output bus – just like the picture above.
If not, check the Hide buttons to the left. If any of these is lit (red), click on it so that it
goes grey.
When this button is red, the input busses are hidden.
9. At the very top of the channel strip for the audio track, you find an Input Routing pop-up menu. Click this and make sure your stereo input
bus is selected.
The input bus is now routed to the audio track.
Leave the Mixer window open for now.
Tutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio 6 – 77
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Checking the input level
When you record digitally, it’s important to set the input level correctly.
Above all, you don’t want the signal to be too loud, as this will cause
clipping, digital distortion.
Clipping can occur in two places:
• In the audio hardware.
This would be the case if the analog signal is too loud – clipping occurs when the signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware’s A/D converters.
• When the signal from the input bus is written to a file on your hard disk.
This would only happen if you made the signal louder in the input bus (by raising the
bus level, adding effects or EQ, etc.).
To check the input level, proceed as follows:
1. Locate your stereo input bus to the left in the mixer.
The input bus.
2. Right-click (Windows) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) somewhere in the Mixer
window.
The Mixer context menu appears.
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3. Select the VU-Meter Settings submenu and make sure “Input VU” is
activated.
Now the input bus meter displays the signal level coming in to your hardware – note
that this level cannot be adjusted from within Nuendo!
4. Play the audio source that you want to record and check the level
meter for the input bus.
The signal should be as loud as possible without exceeding 0 dB (the Clipping indicator for the input bus shouldn’t light up).
Clipping indicator
Numerical peak level indicator
5. Adjust the output level of your audio source so that the meters go as
high as possible without going up to 0.0 dB.
Check the numerical peak level indicator below the meter in the bus channel strip. To
reset the Clipping indicator and the peak level indicator, click on either one.
Now you’ve made sure there’s no clipping in the audio hardware.
6. Bring up the Mixer context menu again and select “Post-Fader VU”
from the VU-Meter Settings submenu.
This is the “normal” metering mode which shows levels after the channel faders.
7. If you now play back the audio source you can check the output level
of the input bus – the signal that is to be recorded on your hard disk.
Since we haven’t made any adjustments in the input bus there should be no risk of clipping here. If you had made level adjustments in the input bus and the Clipping indicator
lit up at this point, you would simply lower the input bus fader, reset the indicators and
try again.
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Making the track ready for recording
1. Click the “Record Enable” button next to the fader on the mixer chan-
nel strip, so that it lights up in red.
2. Make sure the Transport panel is visible.
If not, pull down the Transport menu and select the “Transport Panel” item at the top.
The Transport panel
3. The Transport panel contains a lot of options that affect how record-
ing is done – in this example we want most of them to be turned off.
Check that the following buttons are off (grey or unlit):
Click and Precount deactivated.
Punch In and Punch Out deactivated. Cycle deactivated.
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Sync deactivated.
4. Click in the ruler (the time scale area above the track in the Project
window), at the position where you want to start recording.
When you click, the project cursor (the black vertical line) is automatically moved to
the click position. In our example, recording will start from the project cursor position.
Setting the project cursor position in the ruler.
5. To set recording to start at the cursor position, pull down the Transport menu and make sure the item “Start Record at Left Locator” is
deactivated (unticked).
Setting up monitoring
When you are monitoring through Nuendo, you can choose to activate
monitoring manually or automatically, in several different ways. In this
example we choose the “Tapemachine Style” monitoring, in which the
input signal is automatically monitored in Stop mode and during recording – but not during playback. This is convenient since it allows you to
play back and listen to your recording without having to turn off monitoring first.
1. Pull down the File menu (Windows) or Nuendo menu (Mac OS X) and
select “Preferences…”.
2. In the Preferences dialog, click the VST item to the left.
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3. Pull down the Auto Monitoring pop-up menu and make sure “Tapema-
chine Style” is selected.
4. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog.
5. Bring up the Mixer and locate the channel strip for the audio track.
Since the track is record enabled (the red button is lit) and Nuendo is in Stop mode,
monitoring should now be activated.
6. Check the monitoring by playing back your audio source and listening
to your monitoring equipment.
You should see the meters move in the channel strip for the audio track and in the output bus to the right.
7. If you like you can adjust the monitoring level with the fader for the au-
dio track.
This will not affect the level in the recorded audio file.
You are ready to record!
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Recording
1. Start recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport panel.
The project cursor will start moving.
2. Play your instrument, etc.
During recording, a rectangle with an audio waveform will appear, covering the recorded area. This is the recorded audio event.
3. When you are done, click the Stop button on the Transport panel.
Recording stops and you can see the resulting audio event on the track.
4. If you are done recording, click the Record Enable button in the area
to the left of the track, so that it goes dark.
Playing back what you just recorded
1. Move the project cursor to the beginning of the recorded audio event.
This could either be done by clicking in the ruler, or by using the Rewind button on the
Transport panel.
2. Click the Play button on the Transport panel.
Your recording will be played back.
3. When you are done, stop playback by clicking the Stop button on the
Transport panel.
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Recording more events
At this point, you may want to continue recording audio, on the same
track or on a new track.
Recording more on the same track
To record more audio on the same track, move the project cursor to a
new start position and proceed as when you recorded the first time.
❐
It is possible to record audio events that overlap each other, but only the
visible events (the events at the top) will be heard when you play back.
Recording a new audio track
This example shows how to record a new audio track, while listening
to the first recording.
1. Create a new audio track by using the “Add Track” submenu on the
Project menu.
2. Decide whether you want the new track to be stereo or mono in the
dialog that appears.
3. Pull down the Devices menu and open the Mixer.
As you can see, a new channel strip has been added to the mixer.
4. Use the Input pop-up menu at the top of the channel strip to make
sure that the same stereo input bus is selected for the new track.
If the audio source is another than the one you first recorded, you need to check the
input level again – see page 78.
5. Record enable the new track by clicking the red Record Enable button
in its mixer channel strip.
Make sure that the Record Enable button for the first track is disabled – otherwise you
will be recording on both tracks at the same time.
6. Move the project cursor to the desired start position.
7. Activate recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport panel.
While you are recording, the first audio track is played back.
8. When you are done, click the Stop button on the Transport panel.
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Playing back in a cycle
You could continue starting and stopping playback this way, moving
the project cursor manually each time. However, if you want to try out
some mixing features (see the chapter “Tutorial 3: Mixing”), it is more
practical to have Nuendo play back your recorded audio repeatedly,
over and over again:
1. Click on the recorded audio event to make sure it is selected.
A selected audio event has a red border and red and blue handles at its beginning and
end.
2. Pull down the Transport menu and select “Locators to Selection”.
This moves the left and right locator (two special Nuendo markers) to the beginning
and end of the selected audio event, respectively. In the ruler, the area between the left
and right locator is indicated by a light blue highlight.
3. Click the Cycle button on the Transport panel so that it lights up.
4. Move the project cursor to the beginning of the recording and click
Play.
Playback starts. When the project cursor reaches the end of the recording (the right
locator), it will immediately jump back to the left locator and continue playback. When
you’re done, click the Stop button on the Transport panel.
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7
Tutorial 2: Recording and
playing back MIDI
About this tutorial
This chapter describes the basic operations for recording and playing
back MIDI. For a full description of MIDI recording please see the
chapter “Recording” in the Operation Manual.
Before you start
This chapter assumes that you have correctly connected your MIDI
equipment according to the instructions in the chapter “Setting up
your system” in this book.
This tutorial connects to the previous chapter, so if you followed the
instructions there, you should now have recorded two audio tracks.
About MIDI Thru
The normal way to work with MIDI is to have MIDI Thru activated in
Nuendo, 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. Open the Preferences dialog and select the MIDI page.
The Preferences dialog is located on the File menu under Windows and on the
Nuendo menu under Mac OS X.
2. Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated, and follow the
steps below.
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Setting up for recording MIDI
Creating a MIDI track
To create a MIDI track, proceed as follows:
1. Pull down the Project menu, and select “Add Track”.
A submenu appears.
2. Select MIDI from the submenu.
A MIDI track is added to the Track list.
Setting the MIDI input
1. Make sure the Inspector is shown to the left in the Project window.
The Inspector shows settings for the selected track. You show or hide it with the Show
Inspector button on the toolbar.
Click here to show the Inspector.
2. To set the MIDI input for a track, pull down the “in:” pop-up in the
Inspector 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. You can set the MIDI input independently for each track.
Click here to set the MIDI input.
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3. Record enable the MIDI track by clicking the red button in the Track
list.
MIDI Thru is automatically activated when the track is record enabled.
Record enabling the track in the Track list. This can also be done in the Inspector
area to the left or in the mixer.
4. Play a few notes on your MIDI instrument, and check the level meter in
the Track list to make sure that the MIDI signal is received.
If not, check that you have correctly set up your MIDI system, as described on page 49.
Setting the MIDI output and channel
1. To set the MIDI output for a track, pull down the “out:” pop-up in the
Inspector and select the output to which you have connected your
MIDI device.
The available MIDI outputs are shown. The items on the menu depend on what type of
MIDI interface you are using etc.
Click here to set the MIDI output.
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2. To set the MIDI channel for a track, use the MIDI “chn:” pop-up in the
Inspector.
If you set the track to MIDI channel “ANY”, it will transmit MIDI on the channel(s) used
by the MIDI input device (the MIDI instrument you play during recording).
Click here to set the MIDI channel.
Selecting a sound
• To select different sounds, you can send Program Change messages
to your MIDI device using the “prg:” value field in the Inspector.
Click here to select a Program number.
Program Change messages give access to 128 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 a number of programs.
• Play a few notes on your MIDI instrument to check that the selected
sound program is correct.
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Recording MIDI
1. Make sure the track is record enabled and correctly set up, as de-
scribed in the previous section.
2. Make sure that Cycle and Punch In/Out are deactivated on the Trans-
port panel.
3. To set recording to start at the cursor position, pull down the Trans-
port menu and make sure the item “Start Record at Left Locator” is
deactivated (unticked).
4. Place the project cursor at the position where you wish to begin re-
cording.
For example, you could try recording a MIDI part together with the audio tracks that
you recorded in the previous tutorial.
5. Activate Record on the Transport panel, and play a few notes on your
MIDI instrument.
When you finish recording,
Project window.
6. If you are done recording, click the record enable button in the area to
the left of the track so it goes dark.
a MIDI part containing MIDI events is created in the
Playing back what you just recorded
1. Move the project cursor to the beginning of the recorded MIDI part.
This could either be done by clicking in the ruler, or by using the Rewind button on the
Transport panel.
2. Click the Play button on the Transport panel.
Your recording will be played back.
3. When you are done, stop playback by clicking the Stop button on the
Transport panel.
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Playing back in a cycle
You could continue starting and stopping playback this way, moving
the project cursor manually each time. However, it is more practical to
have Nuendo play back your recorded parts and events repeatedly,
over and over again:
1. Click on the recorded MIDI part to make sure it is selected.
A selected MIDI part has a red border and red handles at its beginning and end.
2. Pull down the Transport menu and select “Locators to Selection”.
This moves the left and right locator to the beginning and end of the selected MIDI
part, respectively. In the ruler, the area between the left and right locator is indicated by
a blue line.
3. Click the Cycle button on the Transport panel so that it lights up.
4. Move the project cursor to the beginning of the recorded part and
click Play.
Playback starts. When the project cursor reaches the end of the recording (the right
locator), it will immediately jump back to the left locator and continue playback. When
you’re done, click the Stop button on the Transport panel.
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Transposing the MIDI track
Let’s try transposing the MIDI track, using the Track Parameters tab in
the Inspector:
1. Make sure that the Inspector button on the toolbar is lit.
2. Select the MIDI track by clicking on it in the Track list.
The parameters for the MIDI track are now shown in the Inspector area to the left.
3. Click on the Track Parameters tab in the Inspector.
…to open the Track Parameter
Click here…
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settings in the Inspector.
4. Click on the blue value line in the Transpose field in the Inspector.
A fader appears, allowing you to transpose the MIDI part up or down in semitones. You
can also use the up/down arrows to the right in the value field to set transpose values.
Click here…
…to set a transpose value for the MIDI part.
5. Start playback to hear the transposed MIDI part.
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8
Tutorial 3: Mixing
About this tutorial
This tutorial shows how to do some basic mixing. You will set levels and
pan, add effects and EQ and finally try automating a mixer parameter. The
purpose of the tutorial is to give you some basic knowledge about the
Nuendo Mixer – for complete descriptions of the mixing features please
refer to the chapters “The Mixer”, “Audio Effects” and “Automation” in the
Operation Manual.
• In this tutorial we will mix in stereo – for a quick tutorial on how to do a
surround mix, see page 115.
We recommend that you are familiar with the procedures in this chapter before moving
on to the surround tutorial.
Preparations
This tutorial is based on a file included on the Nuendo CD. Proceed
as follows:
1. Insert the Nuendo CD and open it for browsing.
2. On the CD, open the “Demo Projects” folder and locate the folder
“Nuendo Tutorial”.
3. Copy this folder to the computer’s hard disk (for example in the “My
Documents” folder under Windows).
4. Open the Nuendo Tutorial folder on your hard disk and double click
on the file “Tutorial 3.npr”.
Whether file extensions are shown or not depends on the settings for your operating
system.
The “Tutorial 3” project opens in Nuendo. This is a simple 16-bar “song”
containing four audio tracks.
• Since this project doesn’t contain any MIDI tracks, we will only mix au-
dio in this tutorial.
If you have MIDI tracks in a project, these will also show in the mixer. Many procedures
(setting levels, pan, mute, etc.) are the same for MIDI mixer channels – see the Operation Manual.
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The Tutorial 3 project.
• If you had another project open, make sure the new project is in the
foreground and click the Activate button in the upper left corner of the
Project window so that it is lit (blue).
This button indicates which project is active when you have several projects open.
5. Click Play to play back the project.
As you hear, this is a low-tempo, medium-funky piece consisting of a drum track, a
bass track, some electric piano and strings. Cycle is activated on the Transport panel,
which means the 16 bars of music will play back repeatedly. The balance, pan and
general sound isn’t the best – that’s what we will try to change on the following pages.
• If you don’t hear all four tracks, make sure you have a stereo output bus
(in the VST Connections window – see page 75) and that all four tracks
are routed to this bus in the mixer.
All four tracks routed to the Stereo Out bus.
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Setting levels
If you listen to the project, you will find that the level balance is fairly
OK until the strings start in bar 9. The strings are way too loud, tending
to drown the other tracks. Proceed as follows:
1. Open the Mixer by selecting it from the Devices menu (or by using the
key command for this – by default [F3]).
The Mixer window opens with channel strips for the four audio tracks. Had the
project contained any other tracks (MIDI tracks, effect tracks, etc.) or VST
instruments, there would have been channel strips here for these as well.
2. Start playback and locate the channel strip for the Strings track.
The names of the tracks are shown at the bottom of each channel strip.
3. Click the level fader handle in the channel strip and lower the fader
until you feel the level of the Strings track is OK.
As you can see, the level meters reflect the signal level of each track – the meter for
the Strings track will reflect the level change you make.
• If you need to reset a level fader to ±0.00, press [Ctrl]/[Command]
and click on it.
You can use this method to reset most parameters to their default values.
4. If you like, you can adjust the levels of the other tracks as well.
If you like, you can leave the project playing for the next steps in the
tutorial.
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