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Operation Manual
Operation Manual by Ludvig Carlson, Anders Nordmark, Roger Wiklander
VST System Link chapter by Rodney Orpheus
Quality Control: C.Bachmann, H. Bischoff, S. Pfeifer, C. Schomburg
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not rep-
resent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies AG. 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 AG.
All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Mac
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tered trademarks.
© Steinberg Media Technologies AG, 2002.
All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
CUBASE SX/SL
4 Table of Contents
9 Playback and the
Transport panel
10 Background
13 Operations
15 Options and Settings
19 Recording
20 Background
21 Basic recording methods
25 Audio recording specifics
37 MIDI Recording Specifics
47 Options and Settings
51 The Project Window
52 Background
54 Window Overview
62 Operations
97 Options
101 Folder tracks
102 About folder tracks
103 Using folders
109 Using Markers
110 About markers
111 The Marker Window
114 Using the Marker track
121 Fades and Crossfades
122 Creating Fades
125 The Fade Dialogs
128 Creating Crossfades
130 The Crossfade Dialog
133 Auto Fades and Crossfades
135 The Mixer
136 About this chapter
137 Overview
146 The audio channel strips
148 The MIDI channel strips
149 The Common panel
150 The Master section
151 The VST Outputs window
152 Basic mixing procedures
156 Audio specific procedures
169 MIDI specific procedures
171 Utilities
177 Audio effects
178 Background
180 Using effects
196 The included effects
197 Installing and managing
effect plug-ins
205 VST Instruments
206 Introduction
207 Activating and using VST
instruments
211 A1 Synthesizer
225 VB-1 Bass Synth
227 LM-7 Drum Machine
231 Surround sound
(Cubase SX only)
232 Background
234 Window overview
237 Operations
CUBASE SX/SL
Table of Contents 5
249 Automation
250 Background
253 Automation subtrack
operations
258 Using Write/Read
automation
261 Working with automation
curves
268 Tips and common methods
269 Options and Settings
271 Remote Controlling
the Mixer
272 Background
272 Operations
276 Remote control device
specifics
293 Audio processing and
functions
294 Background
295 Audio processing
314 Applying plug-ins
(Cubase SX only)
317 The Offline Process History
dialog
320 Detect Silence
323 The Spectrum Analyzer
(Cubase SX only)
326 Statistics (Cubase SX only)
329 The Sample Editor
330 Background
330 Opening the Sample Editor
331 Window overview
336 Operations
348 Options and settings
351 The Audio Part Editor
352 Background
352 Opening the Audio Part
Editor
353 Window overview
356 Operations
358 Common methods
360 Options and Settings
361 Working with hitpoints
and slices
362 Background
363 Using Hitpoints
366 Editing hitpoints
375 Creating slices
376 Creating Groove Quantize
maps
377 Divide audio events
377 Using the Close Gaps func-
tion
379 The Pool
380 Background
382 Window Overview
386 Operations
405 Options and Settings
407 MIDI devices and
patches
408 About program change and
bank select
409 Opening the MIDI Device
Manager
410 Installing a MIDI Device
413 Selecting a patch for an
installed device
414 Renaming patches in a
device
CUBASE SX/SL
6 Table of Contents
415 Defining a new device
419 Exporting and importing
device setups
421 MIDI realtime param-
eters and effects
422 Introduction
423 The Inspector – General
handling
424 Basic track settings
426 Track parameters
430 MIDI effects
433 The available effects
460 Managing plug-ins
461 The Channel section
462 Merge MIDI in Loop
465 MIDI processing and
quantizing
466 Introduction
467 Quantizing
477 Other MIDI menu functions
483 Dissolve Part
485 The MIDI Editors
486 About editing MIDI
487 Opening a MIDI editor
488 The Key Editor – Overview
493 Key Editor operations
515 The Drum Editor – Overview
518 Drum Editor operations
521 Working with drum maps
530 Using drum name lists
532 The List Editor – Overview
534 List Editor operations
540 The Score Editor –
Overview (Cubase SL only)
543 Score Editor operations
(Cubase SL only)
559 Common MIDI editor op-
tions and settings
561 The Logical Editor,
Transformer and In-
put Transformer
562 Introduction
564 Opening the Logical Editor
564 Window overview
565 Selecting a preset
566 Setting up filter conditions
577 Selecting a function
579 Specifying actions
583 Performing the Logical
editing
584 Working with presets
585 The Input Transformer
589 The Tempo Track
Editor
590 Background
590 Opening the Tempo Track
Editor
591 Window overview
594 Operations
599 Options and settings
600 The Beat Calculator
603 The Project Browser
604 Background
604 Opening the Project
Browser
604 Window Overview
605 Navigating in the Browser
607 Customizing the View
607 About the Sync Selection
option
608 Editing audio tracks
610 Editing MIDI tracks
CUBASE SX/SL
Table of Contents 7
613 Editing Automation tracks
614 Editing the Video track
615 Editing the Marker track
616 Editing the Tempo track
616 Editing Time Signatures
617 Working with System
Exclusive messages
618 Introduction
618 Bulk dumps
621 Recording System Exclusive
parameter changes
622 Editing System Exclusive
messages
625 Export Audio Mixdown
626 Background
627 Mixing down to an audio file
629 File Format Specifics
641 Synchronization
642 Background
649 Window Overview
650 Operations
658 Options
661 VST System Link
662 Introduction
663 Preparations
671 Activating VST System Link
678 Application examples
681 Video
682 Background
683 Operations
686 Options
687 ReWire
688 Introduction
689 Launching and quitting
690 Activating ReWire channels
691 Using the transport and
tempo controls
692 How ReWire channels are
handled in Cubase SX/SL
693 Routing MIDI via ReWire2
694 Considerations and limita-
tions
695 File Handling
696 File Operations
711 Options and Settings
715 Key Commands
716 Background
717 The Key Commands dialog
724 Setting up tool modifier keys
725 Troubleshooting/FAQ
726 Frequently Asked Questions
729 Menu reference
730 About this chapter
730 Cubase SX/SL menu
(Mac OS X only)
731 File menu
736 Edit menu
743 Project menu
745 Audio menu
750 MIDI menu
756 Scores menu
(Cubase SX only)
756 Pool menu
760 Transport menu
763 Devices menu
765 Window menu
766 Help menu
767 Index
CUBASE SX/SL
8 Table of Contents
1
Playback and the Transport
panel
CUBASE SX/SL
1 – 10 Playback and the Transport panel
Background
This chapter describes the various methods available for controlling
Playback and Transport functions in Cubase SX/SL.
The Transport panel
Below you can find a brief description of each item on the Transport
panel.
Right locator: punch out
point and end of Cycle
Activates punch outActivates punch in
Cycle on/off
Left locator: record start point, punch
in point and beginning of Cycle
Preroll setting
Postroll setting
Activates Auto Quantize
Position display
Position slider
Record
Play
Fast forwardRewind Stop
Display format
pop-up
Go to project end
Nudge position right
Go to project start
Nudge position left
Synchronization on/off
Tempo follows Tempo
track on/off
The tempo and time signature display
Metronome click on/off
CUBASE SX/SL
Playback and the Transport panel 1 – 11
• The main Transport functions (Play/Stop/Cycle/Record) are also
available on the toolbar.
In addition, various play options are available on the Transport menu.
Hiding and showing
The Transport panel is shown by default when you launch a new
project. To hide or show it, select the “Transport Panel” item from the
Transport menu (or use the corresponding key command, by default
[F2]).
About Preroll and Postroll
These items are described in the Recording chapter – see page 48.
Resizing
You can change the size of the Transport panel by deciding which
parts of it you wish to be visible. If you right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click
(Mac) anywhere within the Transport panel area, a pop-up menu will
appear. On this menu, you can check or uncheck elements of the
Transport panel as desired.
CUBASE SX/SL
1 – 12 Playback and the Transport panel
The numeric keypad
In the default Key Command settings, the numeric keypad on the
computer keyboard is assigned various Transport panel operations
The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers:
PC:
Mac:
Num
Lock
x —
7 8 9
4 5 6+
1 2 3
0
,
Enter
Stop
Return to Zero
Play
Fast Forward On/Off
Rewind On/Off
Cycle On/Off
Record
Go to right
locator
Go to left
locator
Go to Marker
number 3-9
num
lock
= / *
7 8 9 –
4 5 6 +
1 2 3
0
,
enter
Stop
Return to Zero
Play
Fast Forward On/Off
Rewind On/Off
Cycle On/Off
Record
Go to right
locator
Go to left
locator
Go to Marker
number 3-9
CUBASE SX/SL
Playback and the Transport panel 1 – 13
Operations
Setting the Project cursor position
There are several methods you can use to move the project cursor po-
sition:
• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.
• By dragging the project cursor.
• By clicking in the ruler.
Double clicking in the ruler will start or stop playback, moving the cursor at the same
time.
• If the option “Locate When Clicked in Empty Space” is activated in the Pref-
erences (Transport page) you can click anywhere in an empty section of the
Project window to move the cursor position.
• By changing the value in the position display.
• By using the position slider.
The range of the slider relates to the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog. Hence,
moving the slider all the way to the right will take you to the end of the project.
• By using the nudge position buttons (see page 14).
• By using markers (see page 110).
• By using playback options (see page 16).
• By using functions on the Transport menu.
The following functions are available:
❐
If Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is
taken into account. This can be helpful for finding exact positions quickly.
Function Description
Locate Selection Moves the project cursor to the beginning of the current se-
lection. For this to be available, you must have selected one
or more events or parts, or made a selection range.
Locate Next/Previous
Marker
This moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right
or left (see page 110).
Locate Next/Previous
Event
This moves the project cursor forwards or backwards respec-
tively, to the closest beginning or end of any event on the se-
lected track(s).
CUBASE SX/SL
1 – 14 Playback and the Transport panel
About the Transport panel display format
The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit
shown in the Transport panel. This means that you can display time-
code in the transport position display and bars and beats in the ruler,
for example. The following rules apply:
• If you change the display format from the Transport panel, this will ap-
ply “globally” in the project.
This is the same as changing the display format in the Project Setup. Thus, to have dif-
ferent display formats in the ruler and the Transport panel, you should change the for-
mat in the ruler.
• The Transport panel display format is set on the pop-up menu to the
right in the position display.
• The setting here also determines the time format displayed for the left
and right locators.
Using the nudge position buttons
The + and – buttons to the left of the Position slider allows you to
nudge the project cursor position to the right or left, respectively. The
increments depend on the display format selected on the Transport
panel:
• If the Seconds format is selected, the position will be nudged by whole sec-
onds.
• If any frame-based format is selected, the position will be nudged by frames.
• If Bars+Beats is selected, the position will be nudged by ticks. There are 480
ticks per beat.
• If the Samples format is selected, the position will be nudged by samples.
CUBASE SX/SL
Playback and the Transport panel 1 – 15
Options and Settings
The “Return to Start Position on Stop” preference
You have the option to set the behavior of the project cursor when you
press Stop. This is done in the Preferences dialog on the Transport
page:
1. Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu (on the Mac, the
Preferences are located on the Cubase SX/SL menu) and select the
Transport page.
2. Activate or deactivate the “Return to Start Position on Stop” item.
• If activated (ticked), the project cursor will automatically return to the
position where recording or playback last was activated from, when
you press Stop.
• If deactivated, the project cursor will remain at the position where you
hit Stop.
Pressing Stop again will return the project cursor to the position where recording or
playback last was activated from.
3. Click OK to close the Preferences dialog and apply the changes.
About track disable/enable
For audio tracks, the track context menu contains an item named “Dis-
able Track”. This shuts down all disk activity for the track, as opposed
to using Mute, which merely turns down the output volume for a track.
If you often record “alternative takes”, you can easily build up a large
number of takes that are actually still “playing back” from the hard disk
during playback, although the tracks may be muted. This puts an un-
necessary load on your disk system, so using “Disable Track” is rec-
ommended for such situations.
• Select “Disable Track” when you have recorded many alternative
takes of a performance on separate tracks, that you want to keep for
later evaluation and/or editing.
Select “Enable Track” from the track context menu to re-enable disabled tracks.
CUBASE SX/SL
1 – 16 Playback and the Transport panel
Playback functions
Apart from the standard transport controls on the Transport panel, you
can also find a number of functions that can be used to control play-
back on the Transport menu. The items have the following functionality:
❐
The functions listed above (except “Play to Next Marker”) are only avail-
able if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.
Option Description
Play from Selection Start This activates playback from the beginning of the currently
selected range.
Play from Selection End This activates playback from the end of the currently se-
lected range.
Play until Selection Start This activates playback two seconds before the start of the
currently selected range and stops at the selection start.
Play until Selection End This activates playback two seconds before the end of the
selected range and stops at the selection end.
Play until Next Marker This activates playback from the project cursor and stops at
the next marker.
Play Selection Range This activates playback from the start of the selected range
and stops at the selection end.
Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the selected range
and continuously starts over again upon reaching the selec-
tion end.
CUBASE SX/SL
Playback and the Transport panel 1 – 17
About Chase
Chase is basically a function that makes sure your MIDI instruments
sound as they should when you locate to a new position and start
playback. This is accomplished by having the program transmitting a
number of MIDI messages to your instruments each time you move to
a new position in the project, making sure all MIDI devices are set up
correctly with regard to Program Change, controller messages (such
as MIDI Volume) etc.
For example, let’s say you have a MIDI track with a Program Change
event inserted at the beginning. This event makes a synth switch to a
piano sound.
In the beginning of the first chorus you have another Program Change
event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound.
You now play back the song. It begins with the piano sound and then
switches to the string sound. In the middle of the chorus you stop and
rewind to some point between the beginning and the second Program
Change. The synth will now still play the string sound although in this
section it really should be a piano!
The Chase function takes care of that. If Program Change events are
set to be chased, Cubase SX/SL will track the music back to the be-
ginning, find the first Program Change and send this out, so that the
synth is set to the right sound.
The same thing can apply to other event types as well. The Chase
Events Filter settings in the Preferences dialog (MIDI-Chase Events
Filter page) determine which event types will be chased when you lo-
cate to a new position and start playback.
• Event types for which the checkbox is activated in this dialog will not be
chased.
CUBASE SX/SL
1 – 18 Playback and the Transport panel
2
Recording
CUBASE SX/SL
2 – 20 Recording
Background
This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can
use in Cubase SX/SL. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI
tracks in Cubase SX/SL, both of these recording methods are cov-
ered in this chapter.
Before you start
This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain ba-
sic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have
been made:
• You have properly set up, connected and calibrated your audio hard-
ware.
This is described in the Getting Started book.
• You have opened a project and set the project setup parameters to
your specifications.
Project Setup parameters determine the record format, sample rate, project length etc.
that affect the resulting audio recordings you make during the course of the project.
See page 62.
• If you plan to record MIDI, your MIDI equipment should be set up and
connected correctly.
See the Getting Started book.
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