E S A B CU VST for Windows Getting into the Details -1-
Operation Manual by Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Ludvig Carlson Documentation Quality Control: Dave Nicholson, Anja Kramer, Andrea Menke The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Soft- und Hardware 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.
Table of Contents 1 -3-
10 11 11 13 14 16 16 17 18 18 19 20 21 24 26 32 How Cubase VST handles audio and MIDI Why you should read this Chapter Audio Channels vs Tracks Audio Files Audio Segments and Events - NonDestructive Editing MIDI Inputs MIDI Outputs How Cubase VST records MIDI Channel data Rechannelizing – The MIDI Channel setting for the Track Rechannelizing also works on Thruput! Turning off Rechannelization – MIDI Channel “Any” Stereo, Multi Channel and Multi Track Recording Stereo audio recording Multi Channel Recording
119 Key Edit 163 Logical Edit 120 About this “Chapter” 164 164 165 167 167 167 167 168 169 173 174 178 179 121 Drum Edit and Drum Tracks 122 123 125 126 128 128 129 About Drum Tracks and Drum Parts About Drum Maps About Output and MIDI Channel Setting up a Drum Map Loading a Drum Map Saving your Drum Map Editing Drum Parts in the Drum Editor 133 Editing MIDI Parts in Drum Edit 134 Converting between MIDI and Drum Parts 135 List Edit 136 140 141 142 143 144 145 147 147 The Columns in the List Creating
207 The Audio Pool 228 The Audio Editor 208 208 209 210 211 212 229 229 229 233 234 236 240 240 213 216 217 218 220 222 223 225 227 Introduction Overview of the Window Displaying Segments The Headings and Columns Customizing the View Finding Out how a Segment is used in the Song File Operations Handling “Missing Files” Creating Wave Images and Keeping them up to date Segment Operations Deleting Unused Portions of Audio Files (Erase Unused) Importing Audio Files into the Pool Dragging Segments into Othe
283 The Wave editor 342 Working with ReCycle files 284 What is the Wave Editor? 284 Precautions 284 About the Wave Editor Preference setting 285 Opening Wave Editor Windows 286 Adjusting the View 289 Playing Back 290 Selecting 291 Working with segments 292 Turning the Selection into a File 293 Cutting and Pasting Audio 293 Applying Processing Functions 343 About ReCycle 344 Using ReCycle files in VST 346 About tempo changes and the last Segment(s) 346 Importing into “Any” Tracks Polyphonic playback 348 E
384 The Master Track 431 Matching Audio and Tempo 385 386 387 388 388 389 390 432 Introduction 432 Opening the Audio/Tempo Match Editor 433 Adding and Editing Match Points in the Editor 436 Making the Playback Tempo follow the Audio 441 Making the Audio Follow the Tempo 446 Creating a Groove template 447 Using Snip at M-points 391 392 392 393 394 396 398 399 400 401 401 401 401 402 402 403 403 404 406 409 What is the Master Track? Opening the Graphic Editor The Window Sections About the Tempo Display A
471 Customizing Cubase VST 472 473 475 475 Why Customize? Examples of things to customize Saving the Startup Song Starting from other Song documents –Templates 476 Keyboard Commands 477 What This Chapter Contains 477 Numeric Keypad 478 Typewriter Keyboard 485 Index -9-
1 How Cubase VST handles audio and MIDI 2 - 10 -
Why you should read this Chapter This chapter contains some details and background theory about how Cubase VST handles audio and MIDI, as well as some terminology used throughout this manual and in the program. Please take the time to read this, as it will aid you in using the program in the most effective way (when working with audio, you should also read the chapter “Optimizing Audio Performance” for best results).
Mono/Stereo A stereo recording occupies two consecutive channels. If you for example make a stereo recording on channels “3+4”, this single recording uses up both channels 3 and 4. It’s your decision when to record in mono and when to record in stereo. Since the number of channels is limited, some care should be taken so that the stereo facility is only used when actually needed. More about stereo recording on page 21. Channel “Any” A Track can also be set to Channel “Any”.
This situation extends to stereo recordings. If one Track records in stereo, on for example channels 3+4, both these channels are occupied when this Track plays back. You can’t overlap either mono or stereo recordings that use either of these channels. Audio Files When you record, your audio card digitizes the audio signal coming from the microphone (or other sources) and stores the digital data as files on your hard disk. One File per Channel One file is always created for each single recording you make.
Audio Segments and Events - Non-Destructive Editing Cubase VST is a random access based, non-destructive audio recording system – and even if that sounds like gibberish, you should be happy about it, as you will soon find out. Non-destructive editing Let’s say you have recorded a couple of minutes of guitar. During the first verse, there happens to be a brilliant section that you would like to use again in all the other verses.
Audio Events To actually play back a segment in your Song, you need to place an Audio Event in the Song. Each Audio Event plays a certain segment. Audio Events and segments are of course automatically created as you record, but you can also manually create events and segments when you are editing or assembling recorded material. In many cases, you will not “feel” any difference between handling Audio Events and segments, but there is one.
MIDI Inputs Cubase VST records from all active MIDI Inputs at the same time. In essence, this means you don’t have to care about selecting or activating MIDI Inputs. However, if you have multiple interfaces and want to deactivate an input for some reason, you can do this in the MIDI Setup dialog. MIDI Outputs Each MIDI Track has a MIDI Output setting. This routes the data on the Track to a physical MIDI Output on one of your MIDI Interfaces.
How Cubase VST records MIDI Channel data Each MIDI Event that Cubase VST records has a MIDI Channel number. If for example you set your MIDI keyboard to transmit on MIDI Channel 5, all the notes, Pitch Bend data, program change or whatever you transmit from it, will have the MIDI Channel number 5. 5 5 5 5 5 This keyboard transmits on MIDI Channel 5. Some MIDI devices can transmit on more than one MIDI Channel. In this case the MIDI input data coming in to Cubase VST will contain mixed channel numbers.
Rechannelizing – The MIDI Channel setting for the Track When you play back a recording, you want it to be routed to a certain sound in one of your synthesizers. Let’s say you have a synthesizer that plays a bass sound on MIDI Channel 3. To route a Track to that sound you set it to MIDI Channel 3. This Track is set to play back on MIDI Channel 3.
Turning off Rechannelization – MIDI Channel “Any” There’s one situation where you might not want rechannelizing and that’s when you have a Track that contains Events on multiple MIDI Channels. You might for example have: • Recorded with a keyboard that can be “split” so that it transmits on two MIDI Channels. • A guitar synthesizer where each string can transmit on a different MIDI Channel. • Recorded the output of another MIDI sequencer onto a Track in Cubase VST.
2 Stereo, Multi Channel and Multi Track Recording 3 - 20 -
Stereo audio recording Stereo recording only applies to audio Tracks and has no relevance for MIDI data. Setting a Track to stereo This is done in the Inspector, by clicking the Mono/Stereo button until it shows stereo. The mono/stereo button in the Inspector. Which Tracks can be set to stereo? The mono/stereo button indicates if a track can be set to stereo or not (it is bright when this is possible and dark when it is not).
• The Channel pop-up (reached from the Inspector and the Chn column in the Track list) lists the two channels as a stereo pair. From this point on they can only be used together, as a pair. In this example, all Tracks (in a 16 channel system) are set to stereo. • The Chn column in the Track List also indicates the use of two channels by adding a star [*] after the channel number. For example, “1*” means that channels 1 and 2 are used.
The Mixer and Stereo Channel Pairs As described above, a stereo channel pair is indicated in the Monitor Mixer window by a “banner” at the top. In addition to this, many controls for the channels are “ganged”, which means that when you change one of them, they are both affected. For example, if you adjust the level of one channel in a stereo pair, the other channel is also adjusted, automatically. This makes it easy to set up the two channels in a stereo pair so that they sound identical.
Multi Channel Recording - Channel “Any” ● Multi channel recording can be used on any system but is most useful to those with cards with more than two inputs. Why record on an Any Track? A single “Any” Track can contain recordings on multiple channels. In fact one Track can contain mono recordings on as many channels as the system supports.
4. For the two channels you plan to record on, click the corresponding Record Enable button in the Inspector. The Record Enable buttons will change color to indicate their status, as described below. 5. Activate recording in any way you like, as described in the previous chapter. All audio channels will now be recorded on the single Track. When you later open the Audio Editor you might want to Group the recordings together. More on this on page 262.
Multi Track Recording What can I do with Multi Track Recording? • Multi Track Recording allows you to record several players at the same time and have their performances appear on one Track each. • If audio channels you are about to record are not directly related, but you still want to record them at the same time, you might prefer to record them on one Track each.
Recording Audio 1. If you are only recording Audio, select Multi Record Merge mode. 2. Create as many Audio Tracks as desired and set them all to different channels. The number of Tracks you can record on is limited by the number of inputs you have access to. If you only have two audio inputs, you can only record two different audio sources. 3. Click in the “R” column for each Track, to set them up for recording. 4. Enable recording for each Track by clicking the Record Enable button in the Inspector. 5.
4. Click in the “R” column for the first Track you want to record on. A popup appears from which you can select one of five alternatives The Multi Rec pop-up when “Channel Split Mode” is selected. In the “R” column, the first Channel of the four that the Track records, is displayed. The Multi Recording pop-up when “Channel Split Mode” is selected. • The first option (Off) deactivates recording for this Track.
4. Click in the “R” column for the first Track you want to record on. A popup appears from which you can select one of five alternatives (please refer to the table on the next page): The Multi Rec pop-up when “Input Split Mode” is selected. Menu Option MIDI Input used Off None (No recording on this Track) In 1 The first MIDI Input in your system. In 2 The second MIDI Input in your system. In 3 The third MIDI Input in your system. In 4 The fourth MIDI Input in your system.
Using Multi Track Recording to layer sounds In Layer Mode you record the same information onto several Tracks (up to four). If each of the Tracks you record on is set to transmit on a different MIDI Channel and Output in you are able to play and record with up to four different sounds at the same time. 1. Set up the Tracks you plan to record on so that they transmit on the desired MIDI Channels and Outputs. 2.
Options related to Multi Track Recording Using the Mixdown feature on the Structure menu you can merge a Multi Track recording into one Track set to channel “Any”. This can also be a handy way to assemble several separate recordings (e.g. the different voices in a backing vocal arrangement) into one easily handled unit in the Arrange window. See page 52 for more information.
3 The Arrangement - More on what you can do with Parts and Tracks 4 - 32 -
Creating Parts Parts are normally created in one of three ways: • by recording (applies to Audio Parts, MIDI Parts and Drum Parts only, see the Getting Started book). • by direct creation of an empty Part. • or by duplication of existing Parts (see Getting Started). How Parts appear when you record When you record on one Track the following rules apply: • Recording from one point to another creates a Part that spans between these two points.
Direct Creation of Parts There are four ways to create an empty Part: • By double clicking in any empty (white) area between the Left and Right Locator, in the Arrange window. The new Part winds up between the Locators, on the Track you clicked on. • By selecting Create Part from the Structure menu. • By pressing [Control]-[P] on the computer keyboard. In these two cases, the new (empty) Part winds up on the active Track beginning at the Left Locator and ending at the Right Locator.
Selecting overlapping Parts To display overlapped Parts in an Arrangement, use the Select Overlap item in the Edit menu. This will select all Parts that are partially obscured by other Parts. The Select Overlap item... ...selects all overlapped Parts. Part Info • To Get information about a Part, select it and select Get Info from the Edit menu or press [Control]-[I] on the computer keyboard. If several Parts are selected, the window will show the first one.
Merging Parts Merging one Part with another adds all Events in the first Part to the second. It is done like this: 1. Hold down [Alt]+[Control] on the computer keyboard. 2. Drag the first Part and release it on top of the other Part. The result of this depends on the Snap Setting and the Record Mode: • Overdub Mode gives a regular merge, that is the contents of the second Part are kept, together with the inserted Events from the first Part.
About Cut, Copy & Paste You can use Cut, Copy and Paste ([Control]-[X], [Control]-[C] and [Control]-[V]) to rearrange your Parts within the Arrangement, or to move Parts between different Arrange windows. Cut, Copy and Paste works according to standard Windows principles. There are however a few things to note: • The Parts are always Pasted in beginning at the current Song Position. Before Pasting, move the Song Position to where you want the beginning of the first Part.
Part Operations using the Toolbox Resizing Parts You can change the length of a Part using the Pencil tool. There are two ways of doing this: • Position the pointer close to the end point, and drag to the left (shorten) or to the right (lengthen). This changes the length of the Part (without changing its start position). • Position the pointer close to the beginning, and drag to the left.
Deleting Parts This is done with the Eraser tool. Select the Eraser and click on the Parts you want to delete. If you hold down [Alt] while doing this, the Part you click on and all consecutive Parts on the Track will be erased. There are of course several other ways of deleting Parts. These are described in Getting Started.
Splitting into several Parts 1. Hold down [Alt]. 2. Split the Part as described above. The Part will be split up into many Parts, all with the length of the cut you indicated. If you for example have a six bar Part and cut it after the two first bars while pressing [Alt]... ...it will be cut into three two bar Parts. About Splitting Audio Parts • When you Split a Part in two you also split the Events at that position and therefore create new segments.
Joining several Parts If you hold down [Alt] and click on a Part with the Join tool... ...all consecutive Parts on that Track will be glued to the Part you clicked on. Monitoring Parts You can listen to the contents of a Part with the Magnifying glass tool. 1. Select the magnifying glass from the Toolbox. 2. Hold down the mouse button. 3. Click on the Part or drag the mouse over the Part you want to hear.
Match Quantizing Why Match Quantize? Match Quantizing allows you to match the feel of one Part with the feel of another. If you for instance have made up a great "live" bass drum Part and wish to pass the timing of it on to a hi-hat you should use Match Quantize. This type of Quantizing takes the positions of the notes in one Part as a reference. It uses them to move some or all notes in another Part to similar positions.
2. Select the Match Quantize (Q) tool. 3. Drag the Part with the desired feel, to the Part you want to Quantize. 4. Release the mouse button. A dialog box pops up, asking you if you want to “Include Accents?” 5. Select one of the options in the dialog (See below). Option Description No No velocities are copied from the Source Part to the Destination Part.
Using Match Quantize with Audio Parts This is described in the chapter “The Audio Editor”. Using Match Quantize with Chord Parts The Match Quantize tool can also be used to “Scale-Map” MIDI Parts, using the chords and the Scale Events in a Chord Part to determine transposition: 1. Select the Match Quantize tool. 2. Drag a Part from a Chord Track onto a Part on a MIDI Track. For the Scale-Map to work, the “Compute Scale”-function must have been performed for the Chord Track. 3. Release the Mouse button.
Ghost Parts A Ghost Part is a linked copy of an existing Part. This means that even though the original and the copy share contents (notes and other MIDI data) they may play back on different MIDI Channels and Outputs and with different settings of the Part parameters (see the chapter “The Track Columns and the Inspector” in Getting Started). Creating a Ghost Part 1. Hold down the [Control] key. 2. Drag the Part you want to copy to a new position. 3. Release the mouse button.
Using the “Repeat” function This function lets you repeat one or several Parts, on the same or different Tracks: 1. Select the Part(s) you want to repeat. 2. Select the “Repeat...“ item on the Structure menu... ...or press [Control]-[K] on the computer keyboard. 3. Enter the desired number of copies in the dialog box that appears. Here you can also decide if the copies are to be Real Parts or Ghost Parts. 4. Click “Do It”.
Cut Events This command makes sure that all Events in a Part end where the Part ends and no later. It only applies to Events which have a length. With MIDI, this means notes only. About Cut Events Cubase VST works differently from MIDI when it comes to handling notes. Where MIDI regards Note Ons and Note Offs as separate entities, Cubase VST stores notes, their position and length.
Global Insert Global Insert is the opposite of Global Cut; an empty area is inserted between the Locator Positions (on all Tracks): 1. Set the Left Locator to where you want the inserted area to start. 2. Set the Right Locator to where you want the inserted area to end. 3. Select Global Insert from the Structure menu. All Parts to the right of the Left Locator are moved to the Right Locator.
Copy Range This command is used to copy a section of the music, on several Tracks, to some other position in the Arrangement: 1. Set the Left and Right Locator to the beginning and end of the section you want to copy. 2. Mute Tracks containing Parts in the range that you don’t want to copy. Just as with Global Cut, Insert and Split, muted Tracks are excluded from the operation. 3. Set the Song Position to the point where you want the copied section to be placed. 4. Select Copy Range from the Structure menu.
Remix Track This command works differently for different Track Classes: With MIDI Tracks If you have one or several MIDI Parts containing Events on several MIDI Channels, these Parts can be split up into new Parts, one for each MIDI Channel. You may get a MIDI Part with Events on several different MIDI Channels if you for example record music from another sequencer into Cubase VST, or record using a split keyboard that sends on two MIDI Channels.
Using Remix with Drum Tracks Remix Track splits up the Drum Track into several new Tracks, one per used Sound in the Drum Track. The new Tracks that are created are MIDI Tracks, with notes on only one Sound per Track. If you want some of the Sounds back into composite Parts, you can always Merge or Mix Down the Parts (see page 36 and below). The Drum Part is split into new Parts on one Track per Sound.
Mix Down Mix down allows you to merge all Parts on some (or all) MIDI, Audio or Drum Tracks into one composite Part. With MIDI and Drum Tracks When you Mix down, the MIDI Channels that the Parts or Tracks are set to will be stored as a permanent part of their MIDI data. That is, the MIDI Channel set for each Part replaces the MIDI Channel originally recorded.
4. Select Mix Down from the Structure Menu. A new Part, named Mixdown, is created on the selected Track. 5. Set the new Track to “Any” and Mute the Parts you have Mixed down, to get the correct sounds and avoid double notes. • Drum Tracks are mixed down after the O-Note setting in the Drum Map (see page 123). • Tracks that are included in the mixdown can be set to MIDI Channel "Any" themselves, so that their original MIDI Channels values will be preserved in the Mixdown Part.
4 Instruments 5 - 54 -
About Instruments In Cubase VST, you can define a combination of a certain MIDI Output and a certain MIDI Channel as an “Instrument”. Instruments can be defined for MIDI Tracks and Drum Tracks. Defining a “palette” containing the Instruments you use, can be very practical since you won’t have to think of the exact Output and Channel settings. Instead, you can hide the Output and Channel columns in the Track list by moving them to the right and dragging the Divider to the left.
Selecting an Instrument already defined There are two ways to select an Instrument for a Track: • Press the mouse button with the pointer in the Instrument Track column. The instrument pop-up in the Track list. • Pull down the Instrument pop-up in the Inspector. This way you can also select Instruments for Parts. Deleting an Instrument 1. Double click on its name. The name dialog box opens up. 2. Press [Backspace] to clear the line. 3. Press [Return]. The Instrument is deleted.
5 Inspector Real Time Parameters - 57 - 6
What can I do with the Inspector? ● This chapter applies to MIDI Tracks and Parts only. For Audio Tracks, the Inspector is mainly used for enabling recording, monitoring, etc (see the Getting Started book). Using the parameters in the Inspector you can: • Change one or several aspects in the playback of your recorded music (like volume, velocity, pitch, selected sound, etc). These changes are easily reversible as they are made to what is played back, not to what has actually been recorded.
The Parameters Volume MIDI contains a number of different "Controllers", that is messages for continuously changing aspects of a sound or an instrument. One of the most important Controllers is MIDI Volume. In the Volume field in the Inspector, you can specify a volume value (0 – 127) for a MIDI or Drum Track or for the selected Part(s). This value will be sent out at the start point of the Track/Part and then changes the overall volume for the sound.
Velocity This value is used to change the dynamics of a MIDI or Drum Part. The value in this field is added to the velocity of each note message that is sent out from the Part. A positive value means that the resulting volume is raised and a negative that it is lowered. The range is –127 to +127 and 0 is of course no change. • You may enter a Velocity value directly from the computer keyboard, by typing [Shift]-[V] and entering a value. ● Not all instruments handle the velocity range identically.
Compression This parameter acts on MIDI and Drum Parts and can be made to compress or expand the dynamic range of MIDI notes. It does this by adjusting velocity values (make sure that your sounds are velocity sensitive!) It can be set to Off and 25% to 200% (where 25% means that all velocity values are divided by four, and 200% that they are doubled). The point is, that this will also affect the difference in velocity between the notes.
6 Program Changes and MIDI Volume 7 - 62 -
Why you should read this Chapter When you arrange in Cubase VST you will find yourself spending some time selecting Programs and setting Volumes for each instrument. This will be significantly easier if you understand exactly how and where Program and Volume Changes can be inserted and the advantage that the different methods have. Program Change Program Change messages are used to switch between sounds in your instruments.
Later in the Song, this Part sends out Program Change 52 to make the device switch to another Program. ● As described in the “Track columns and the Inspector” chapter in the Getting Started book, the Prg field in the Inspector will show a GM Program name instead of a number, if GM, GS or XG Mode are activated in the GM/GS/XG Editor.
Program Change and Delay Many devices shut off their sound momentarily when they switch to a new Program. Other devices don’t, but still might need some time from the moment the Program Change messages is received until the Program is “loaded and ready”. This will be apparent since the device will “choke” on the first notes after the Program Change message, or not play them at all.
Selecting Programs in the GM/GS/XG Editor As stated in the Getting Started book, you can also use the GM/GS/XG Editor to send Program Change messages to your instruments. However, there are a couple of things to note: • Program Change settings in the GM/GS/XG Editor are sent out when you open the Song and when you make the actual settings. They are not updated, “chased” or sent out automatically during playback.
Finding Program Change messages in Parts If you are unsure of if a Part contains Program Change messages there are two easy ways to find out: Method 1 1. Pull down the Options menu. 2. Switch Part Appearance to “Show Events”. 3. Use the lower half of the Part Appearance menu to deactivate all options except “Program Change”. The Arrange window now shows Program Change messages as vertical lines in the Parts. If you select Show Events... ...and the only Event type activated is Program Change...
Now only Program Change messages are shown in the List. The F-button reveals the filters Program Change unchecked Which should I choose? Well it’s of course up to you. The only advice we’d like to give is not to mix the two methods unless you are absolutely sure of what you’re doing. For more help in your decision, please check the table below: Method Advantages Disadvantages Inspector • Can be viewed and changed in real time from the Arrangement, while the music is playing.
About Bank Select With Program Change messages, you are able to select between 128 different programs in your MIDI device. However, many MIDI instruments contain a larger number of program locations. To make these available from within Cubase VST, you need to use Bank Select messages, a system in which the programs in a MIDI instrument are divided into Banks, each Bank containing 128 programs.
MIDI Volume MIDI Volume is a MIDI Controller message, Controller 7 to be exact. When a device receives MIDI Volume messages it is supposed to adjust its volume for that MIDI Channel, just as if you had changed the it directly from the front panel.
Which should I choose? Again – it’s your choice, but the table might give some advice: Method Advantages Disadvantages Inspector • Visible directly from the Arrange window. • Can only be used for “direct changes” not for fades. • Can be changed in real time • Always appear at the beginfrom the Arrangement, while the ning of the Part. music is playing. Recording or entering into an editor • Can be entered anywhere in a • Not visible from the Arrange Part. window.
7 Programming and Recording Mutes and Solo 8 - 72 -
Pre-programming Mutes You can define and store up to ten Track Mute settings. These can be used for instant recall of any combination of muted Tracks. 1. Mute the Tracks you want Muted. You can use either the Mute function or the Solo function, as described earlier. 2. Hold down [Shift]+[Alt]+[Control] and press one of the function keys [F2] to [F11]. The Mute setting is now stored under that key. 3. To recall a setting: Hold down [Alt]+[Control] and press the corresponding function key ([F2] to [F11]) .
2. Select a MIDI Track to record the Mutes on. You should not select a MIDI Track onto which you have recorded music. We strongly recommend you to use a separate Track for recording Mutes, to avoid confusion (see later in this chapter). You can then record all the different mute settings for any and all other Tracks on this single Track. 3. Activate recording at some point.
About editing recorded Mutes If you need to edit or delete your recorded Mute Events, this is done in List Edit. The Mute Events are shown just like any other Events, and are handled in the same way. Value 1 indicates the number of the muted Track. Value 2 indicates if the Event is a Mute (1) or an Un-Mute Event (0). The mute Events that get recorded are of two types: Mute Events and Un-mute Events. When one of these Events is played back, the Track changes to the status of that Event.
8 Groups 9 - 76 -
About Groups ● Audio Parts cannot be Grouped. Groups Group Parts on a Group Track Parts that belong to Groups The Group List Defining a Group is a way to make Cubase VST look at several Parts as one entity. This allows you to handle a set of Parts as one section, making it easier for you to experiment with the structure of your song. To play back Groups, you need to place them as Group Parts on a special Track called a Group Track.
How to use Groups - the basic steps Using Groups can be broken down into the following steps: 1. Use the “Build Group” command to assemble Parts into one or several Groups. This determines which Parts should be in each Group. The created Group is placed in the Group List (see page 81). 2. Create a Group Track. This is necessary to be able to play back the Groups (see page 82). 3. Select Groups from the Group list, and place them on the Group Track as Group Parts.
Adding Parts to a Group If you already have created a Group, but want to add one or more Parts to it, proceed as follows: 1. If the Group List is hidden, display it by selecting the “Show Groups” item on the Structure menu (or by pressing [Control]-[J]. Displaying the Group List. 2. From the Group List, select the Group you want to add to. How to scroll, show/hide and generally handle the Group List is described on page 81. 3. Select the Parts you want to add. 4.
Replacing all Parts in a Group with new Parts This function is used when you already have created a Group with a certain name, and want to keep it but completely change its contents: 1. From the Group List, select the Group you want to replace. The Group List is described on page 81. 2. Select all the Parts you want the Group to include. 3. Select “Build Group” from the Structure menu or press [Control]-[U]. The Build Group dialog appears. 4. Click on “Replace”.
Using Groups The Group List On the right side of the Arrange window a special column can be made to appear, containing all the Groups. This list, called the Group List, is used as a “palette” when placing the Groups on Group Tracks (see page 83). Showing and Hiding the Group List The list is first displayed when you create the first Group. To hide the list, select “Hide Groups” from the Structure menu, or press [Control]-[J] on the computer keyboard.
Deleting a Group from the Group List • Drag the Group past the top or bottom of the Group List. This deletes the whole Group. The individual Parts that have made up the Group are of course not affected. Deleting a Part that is in a Group If you delete a Part from the Arrange window it is also deleted from the Group. How Groups are saved The Group List and all the Groups in it are part of the Song. When you Save or Open a Song, all the Groups are saved/opened with it.
Placing Groups on Group Tracks As explained earlier, you need at least one Group Track to place the Groups on. You also need to have the Group List displayed to do this. 1. Drag a Group from the Group List. An outline is shown to help you position the Group. 2. Place the outline at the desired position on a Group Track and release the mouse button. A Group Part is created. This has the name of the Group, and is as long as the Parts the Group is made up of.
About Parts and Group Parts • A Part can be used as it is, even though you have put it into a Group. Therefore, you might have to Mute a Track if the Parts on it are used in a Group and the Group is played back at the same time as the Parts in it. Otherwise you will get double notes that might give you an increase in volume, reduced polyphony or strange flanger effects. • You can decide if Parts on muted Tracks should be muted when played back from the Group or not.
Placing Groups on a Group Track during playback It is possible to actually build the Group Track in real-time, while the music is playing: 1. Start playback. 2. Hold down [Control]. 3. Click on a Group in the Group List. The Group is inserted on the active Group Track, at the beginning of the next bar. ● If you have already made up the basics of your Arrangement and wish to experiment with adding Group Parts this way, create a separate Group Track for the Group Parts you are adding in real-time.
Performing the Unpacking 1. Select the Group Part (on the Group Track) that is to be Unpacked. 2. Select Unpack Group from the Structure menu. One of two things happens: • If the Group was created in the same Arrange window as it is used, Ghost Parts are created on the original Tracks at the same Positions as the Group Part. • If the Group was created in another Arrange window, real Parts are created at the same Position as the Group Part.
9 The MIDI Editors - General Information - 87 - 10
About this Chapter This chapter is similar to the chapter “An Introduction to the MIDI Editors” in the Getting Started book, but contains more detailed information. Please read the “An Introduction...” chapter first to get used to the basic concepts and procedures. It is also a good idea to have the Getting Started book at hand, since this Chapter refers to the “An Introduction...” chapter now and then.
Opening an Editor If you double click on a Part, if appropriate, a default editor is opened. Exactly which editor opens, is determined by the Track Class of the Part’s Track and by the settings in the Preferences dialog in the File menu, according to this table: Track Class Default editor opened MIDI Track Key Edit, Score Edit or List Edit, depending on the “Double Click Opens” setting in the Preferences dialog (found on the File menu). Audio Track Audio Edit. Drum Track Drum Edit.
Opening several editors at once Normally you will want to use one editor at a time for a Part or a selection of Parts. If you for example have Key Edit up on the screen and open List Edit from the Edit menu, Key Edit will disappear and be replaced by List Edit. However, two (or more) editors can be open at the same time: 1. Open an editor as usual. 2. Press [Control] and [Shift] on the computer keyboard. 3. While holding down [Control] and [Shift], open a second (or third, or fourth) editor.
Closing an Editor As described in the Getting Started book, when closing an editor, you can choose between keeping the changes you made, and cancelling (undoing) all changes. To close the editor and keep the changes: • Press [Return]. or • Close the edit window by clicking on its close box. or • Press [Control]-[W] on the computer keyboard.
Editing music during playback To make changes to the music while you are actually listening to it, is probably the most practical way to work. There are some features included just for these occasions: Edit Solo Using this function you can mute playback for all Parts that make up your Arrangment except for those currently edited in the open editor. To activate/de-activate Edit Solo click on its button in the upper left corner of the Status Bar in any of the editors, or press [A] on the computer keyboard.
Turning the Loop on or off • Turn the Loop on/off by clicking on its button or by pressing [Alt]+[Control]-[O]. For this to work, you have to define the Loop first, as explained above. When the Loop is active, the Parts within the Loop in the Edit window loop almost independently of the rest of the music. We say "almost", because the Loop is still dependant on the Cycle. Every time the Cycle starts over again, so does the Loop. The Loop is also used to direct editing to the Events inside the Loop.
How Events are displayed in the Editors This is where the various editors differ most. The different representations of Events are described in the chapter “An Introduction to MIDI Editing” in the Getting Started book, but there are some common properties worth pointing out: Active and Inactive Parts In Key, Drum and Score Edit, several Parts on different Tracks can be displayed at the same time. However, only one at a time is active. The active and inactive Parts are separated graphically.
Coloring notes in the editors In Key, List and Drum Edit, you can use the Color menu on the Status Bar to add color to the notes. ● If you run Cubase on a black and white monitor, the color symbols are not shown. 1. Pull down the color pop-up menu. 2. Select one of the five options on the pop-up menu. The options are described below. ● Score Edit has a different color palette, which lets you choose colors individually for each note, much like you color Parts in the Arrange window.
Editing Color If you have selected Channel, Pitch or Velocity colors, an extra item appears at the bottom of the pop-up menu. This is used to set which colors should be used: 1. Select the option at the bottom of the color pop-up menu (named “Channel colors...”, “Pitch colors...” or “Velocity colors...” depending on what is selected). A color dialog is opened. Channel, Pitch and Velocity have separate color dialogs, allowing you to set different color schemes for each color option. The Pitch color dialog.
Moving around and the Goto pop-up menu You can move directly to certain useful positions in an editor by selecting from the Goto menu on the Function Bar. These options will scroll your view to show the Events at the chosen position. ● The Goto commands don't affect selection in any way. They only change the view as if the scroll bars were used. Song Position Takes you to the Song Position. First Event Takes you to the first Event in the active Part.
Monitoring Events in the Editors As already mentioned, you can have playback running while you are editing. And, you can also use the cue function (see the Getting Started chapter “Playback, Tempo and the Transport Bar”) in the Edit windows. But there are two more ways to listen to your music in the editors: The Magnifying Glass The Magnifying Glass tool is common to all MIDI editors. When you click on an Event using this tool, the Event is played back.
Selecting Events from different Parts You can select Events from both an active and an inactive Part: 1. Select the Events you want in the active Part, using any method described above. 2. Hold down [Shift]. 3. Select one Event from an inactive Part by clicking on it. This Part now becomes active. 4. While keeping [Shift] pressed, use any method to select more Events from the now active Part.
The Do pop-up menu This pop-up menu is found on the Status Bar, next to the Goto pop-up. It contains some special functions to make editing and creating Events easier. The items common to all editors are described below (the Do Pop-up in Score Edit Window in score printing versions of Cubase VST have even more options, described in the “Score Layout and Printing” documentation). ● Use the commands in the To menu to first define a selection of notes you want to edit.
Repeat This function is used to repeat a section of the Part until the end of the Part. You define the "repeat cycle" by setting the Loop or the Cycle. From there on there are two options: • The To menu is set to "Looped Selected Events" or "Cycled Selected Events": The selected Events (notes and other) inside the Loop/Cycle are repeated until the Part is filled. The created Events are added to the existing.
An Example This example shows one way to use the To and Do pop-ups in conjunction. Let’s say you want one and a half bars of short, staccato-like 16th notes. Instead of drawing or playing them from your instrument, you can proceed like this: 1. Set up the Loop to the range you want filled with notes. The Loop does not have to be active. 2. Set Snap to 16. 3. Set Quantize to 64. This should give the notes the desired, short length. 4. Pull down the To menu and select “Looped Events”. 5.
The Info Line The Info Line is the area directly above the main display in the Key, Drum and Score editors.You use the Info Line for precise, numerical editing. Editing on the Info Line 1. To show/hide the Info Line, click on the i-button on the Status Bar or press [Alt]+[Control]-[I] on the computer keyboard. 2. Select a single Event. Its values are shown on the Info Line. If no Event or several Events are selected, the Info Line shows "– – – " for all values. 3.
Quantize and Snap Values The Quantize and Snap values work exactly like in the Arrange Window (see the Getting Started book). However, there are a couple of things worth pointing out: • Each editor has separate settings for Quantize and Snap values. This means that the settings you make in the Key Edit window will not automatically be transferred to Score Edit. This is practical, due to the different work methods you will employ in the different editors.
Creating Note Events You can paint new notes into the active Part using different Toolbox tools. Which tools are available depends on what editor you are using: Using the Pencil tool You can use the Pencil (or Drumstick, in Drum Edit) to draw new notes one at a time. This is described in detail in the Getting Started book, but here are a few rules-of-thumb (the Quantize and Snap values apply as described on the previous pages): • Click once with the Pencil to create a single note.
Velocity and MIDI Channel values for Created Notes When you draw or paint notes, you can give them one of four fixed velocity values by holding down keys on the computer keyboard while you are painting. Key Velocity value None 127 [Shift] 96 [Control] 64 [Shift]+[Control] 32 • Drum Edit has a special function for assigning velocity values to created notes, see page 131. • The Note-Off velocity for notes will always be set to 64.
Editing Notes To edit the values of a note in detail, select it and edit on the Info Line (as described on page 103 in this chapter) or make the changes in List Edit. However, there are quicker and more intuitive ways to edit notes in the Graphical editors: Using the Tools Moving Notes with the Arrow tool You can move notes by dragging them around using the Arrow tool (also see the chapter “An Introduction to the MIDI Editors” in the Getting Started book).
● It might be hard to determine whether you have the pointer inside a note or not. To avoid painting in new Events, hold down [Alt] on the computer keyboard. This disables creation of new Events. 3. Position the pointer at the length you want the note to have, and release the mouse button. The note gets resized, taking the set snap value into account. Editing Notes via MIDI You can change the properties of notes via MIDI.
Deleting Events Events can be deleted in several ways: • Select them and select Delete Events from the Edit menu. or • Use the Delete command on the Do pop-up menu (see page 101). or • Select them and press [Backspace] on the computer keyboard. or • Click on them with the Eraser tool.
Creating and Editing Continuous Data In Key and Drum Edit, there are special displays for graphical editing of Events other than notes. These include Modulation, Main Volume and Pitch Bend Events, but also Poly Pressure and Velocity values (which are not really Events of their own but rather properties of notes). Continuous Data can also be edited in List Edit, using the List, the Event display and/or the special “Value 2 display”, which lets you edit the data in a bar graph form (see page 143).
Selecting Non-standard Controller Types The data type pop-up menu lists only the most common Continuous Controllers. If you want to view and edit other Controllers, you can use the two custom data types at the bottom of the pop-up menu. Proceed as follows: 1. Double click on the data type icon. This opens a small dialog box with the Controller number settings for the two custom data types. 2. Select Controller numbers for the two custom data types, using regular value editing, and press Exit. 3.
Selecting Non-Note Events Click with the Arrow tool to select Events in the Controller Display. To select several Events, you may hold down the [Shift] key on the computer keyboard and click, or enclose the Events in a frame, just like when selecting notes. Creating and Editing Non-note Events The Pencil and Line tools can be used to create and edit non-note Events in the Controller Display. • You edit existing Events by drawing with the pen or making a ramp with the Line tool.
10 Step Recording 11 - 113 -
Introduction Step Input is when you enter notes one at a time (or one chord at a time). This is useful when you know the part you want to record but are not able to play it exactly as you want it. Preparations 1. Create an empty Part, as a container for the notes you are about to Step Record. You can of course also use an exisiting Part. 2. Open the Part in a MIDI editor of your choice. In the pictures below we will use Key Edit, but it doesn’t matter which you select. 3. Click on the Step button.
Setting the Position for the first note To set the position where you want the first note to appear, adjust the regular Song Position (for example on the Transport Bar) and the Step Position is automatically set to the same value. Selecting a Track for input If you are editing several Tracks at the same time, you must decide which Track to enter notes into by making a Part/Track active (see page 94). Entering notes and chords 1. Play one key or a chord.
Adding Rests To move one step without entering any notes, press the [Tab] key on the computer keyboard. Changing note values and positions as you go along • If you want to enter notes of another length, simply change the Quantize value at any point. • If you want to input notes with a different “spacing” simply adjust the Snap value. • If you want to move to a completely new position, change the Song Position or use Fast Forward or Rewind. If you change the Song Position... ...
If you make a mistake If for example you entered a note with the wrong pitch or made a mistake when playing a chord, press [Backspace]. This deletes the last note/chord you entered, and moves the Step Position one step backwards. You can press this key repeatedly to “delete backwards”. If you have this, and press [Backspace]... ... the last entered note gets deleted and the Step Position moves back one step. You can also use the tools and menu for editing (deleting, moving etc).
Using the Insert button The Insert button. If the Insert button on the Status Bar is activated, the notes are inserted rather than added. That is, any existing notes are moved to a later position to make room for the new notes. With Insert on, and the Step Position here... ...the new note is inserted, and the following notes are “pushed forward”. Playing back You can activate playback at any time and from any position, to hear what you have done.
11 Key Edit 12 - 119 -
About this “Chapter” You do not find any additional information here because Key Edit is a very straightforward editor. We have therefore used it as an example in the chapters “An Introduction to the MIDI Editors” (in the Getting Started book) and “The MIDI Editors - General Information” (in this document). If you have read these two chapters, you do know everything there is to know about Key Edit.
12 Drum Edit and Drum Tracks - 121 - 13
About Drum Tracks and Drum Parts In MIDI instruments, drum sounds most often are separated by being placed on different keys, i.e. assigned to different MIDI note numbers. This means that when you use a keyboard to record a drum part in a sequencer, you usually use one key for bass drum, one for snare and so on. On many instruments used to play back drum sounds (drum machines, samplers and some synths) you can re-arrange the order in which the sounds of the single instruments are assigned to the keys.
About Drum Maps A Drum Map consists of settings for 64 drum sounds, from now on called Sounds. For each Sound you may define the following values: Parameter Description Sound The name of the Sound. I-note When this MIDI note is sent into Cubase VST, (i.e. played by you), the particular Sound is “triggered” (played). O-note When the Sound is triggered (either by you playing it, or by the program playing back a Drum Part), this is the MIDI note number that is sent out.
● Since you use the Drum Map in Cubase VST to redirect certain note numbers (the ones that you play, the I-notes) to other note numbers (the ones that are sent back into your MIDI Instrument, the O-notes), this assumes that you use Cubase VST’s Thru-mode (and your instrument is in Local Off-mode). See the Getting Started book for details. How Cubase VST looks at the Drum Map “Inside” the program, the 64 Sounds each have a note number.
About Output and MIDI Channel You can set separate Outputs and MIDI Channel for each Sound in the Drum Map. This allows you to use sounds from several different MIDI instruments or sound modules in the same Drum Map. There are a few things to note: Selecting a MIDI Output for the Drum Sound This is done in the Output column in the Drum Map (see page 123 in this chapter). The Output setting for the Sound always overrides the setting for the Track in the Track list.
Setting up a Drum Map Opening the Drum Editor Drum Maps are created and edited in the Drum Edit window. Open the editor like this: 1. Select a Drum Part. You may have to create a Drum Track and a Drum Part if you haven’t got any already. This is done just as with a MIDI Track, except you set the Track Class to Drum Track (see the Getting Started book for info on Track Classes). 2. Double click on the Part, select Edit from the Edit menu, or press [Control]-[E] on the computer keyboard.
3. Choose an unused Sound and change its O-Note value until you find a sound you want to include in your Drum Map. Each time you change the O-Note value, the new note is output. 4. Double-click in the Drum Name column and type in a suitable name for the Sound. 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you have all the sounds you want in your Drum Map.
Making parameter settings via MIDI The I-Note, O-Note and Lev.1–4 parameters can be set using your MIDI controller, which often is a lot easier: 1. Click on the MIDI connector symbol on the Status Bar to activate it. 2. Select the Sound you want to edit by clicking on its name in the Sound list. 3. Select the parameter you want to change by clicking on its name, at the top of its column. The name gets highlighted to show that the parameter is selected. 4. Play a note on your MIDI controller.
Editing Drum Parts in the Drum Editor Inputting Notes with the Drum Stick The Drum Stick tool is Drum Edit’s equivalent of the Pencil tool in Key and List Edit. There is however one difference: If you click in the Event display using the Drum Stick... ...a new note is created. If you click on the created note again... ...the note is erased! This makes it easy to try out rhythmic variations; adding and removing notes without having to switch tools.
● Note that the Quant value only applies when you create notes. When you Quantize notes, the regular Quantize value on the Status Bar applies (usually - see page 132), and when you move a note, the Snap value (on the Status Bar) determines its exact position. The Len Value You don’t change the length of created notes with the Drumstick (as you can with the Pencil tool in Key Edit). Instead, you can predefine a length value for each Sound, that created notes automatically get.
Velocity Values You can give the notes one of four “levels” (velocity values), by holding down keys on the computer keyboard while you are drawing. The created notes are shown in the display as diamonds. If “White” is selected as the color option, a different pattern is used for different levels: Modifier key Level [Shift]+[Control] Lev. 1 [Control] Lev. 2 [Shift] Lev. 3 None Lev.
Quantizing Quantizing Events in the Drum editor works just like quantizing in any other editor, with one exception: • If the To menu is set to Selected Events, Looped Selected Events or Cycled Selected Events, and no Events are actually selected, then the selected Sound will be Quantized after its individual Quant value. In all other cases, quantizing works “as usual”, that is: All Events set to be affected will be Quantized after the Quantize value on the Status Bar.
Editing MIDI Parts in Drum Edit You may also edit regular MIDI Parts in Drum Edit, by selecting the Part(s) and selecting Drum Edit from the Edit menu or by pressing [Control]-[D] on the computer keyboard. When you do this, a simplified Drum Map is used where there is no O-note or Instrument settings: If you open a MIDI Part in Drum Edit, each note will be displayed on the “line” (Sound) whose I-note setting is the same as the note’s actual note number.
Converting between MIDI and Drum Parts You may at any time change a MIDI Track to a Drum Track and vice versa. When you change the Track class, a dialog box appears, asking you if you wish to transform the Parts on the Track. These options are slightly different depending on “which way” you are converting. From MIDI to Drum Track • “No” cancels the conversion of the Track. • “Yes” will convert all Parts on the MIDI Track to Drum Parts.
13 List Edit 14 - 135 -
The Columns in the List In List Edit, you can view and edit most of the various Event Types in all of Cubase VST’s different Track Classes. The columns in the List represent different values depending on the Track Class and Event Types: Audio Tracks If you open an Audio Part or Track in List Edit you get a list of the Audio Events. This is useful when you want to find and keep track of Events, since no Events ever obscure and hide each other as they can do in Audio Edit.
MIDI and Drum Tracks Common to the various Event types, are the Start Position, Length and Chn parameters. As you expected, these show where an Event starts (as a meter or time position value, see page 147 in this chapter), its length in ticks and its MIDI Channel value, respectively.
Editing System Exclusive Messages A complete package of System Exclusive data is shown as one Event in the List. The first part of the message is shown in the Comment column, and the Event Type Status column will show the manufacturers ID code, if known. To view and edit the complete message: 1. Click in the Comment column. A long name box is opened, showing the complete Sys Ex message in hexadecimal code. ● If the message is very long, you will not be able to see all of it. 2. Enter and edit Sys Ex text.
Special Events These, like Mixer Events, are not really MIDI Events, but rather Events used internally in Cubase VST. Therefore they have no MIDI Channel value. Event Type Val 1 Val 2 Val 3 Comment Track Mute 1: Mute, 0: UnMute Not used Track Name Track Number Stop Event No values are used. Stop Events just make Cubase VST stop, just as if you had clicked the Stop button yourself. Text Event Text Events let you enter comments in the list. Click in the Comments column to enter and edit text.
Creating Events 1. Use the Insert pop-up menu to decide what type of Event to Insert. 2. Set the Snap value to the smallest position you want to enter a note at. 3. If you are entering notes, set their length with the Quantize value. From here there are three ways to go: • Select the Pencil or the Paint Brush and draw the Event in the Event display. The Event appears both in the display and in the List to the left. • Activate Step Input by clicking on the foot symbol on the Status Bar.
Editing in the List The positions and values of Events can be edited in the List, using the regular procedures. There are some things to note: • If you hold down the [Alt] key on the computer keyboard while you’re changing a value, all Events of the same Event type will be edited. The setting on the To pop-up menu is also taken into account, allowing you to for example edit all Control Change Events within the Cycle, etc (see page 99). If you wish to edit only a certain type of Control Change Events, e.g.
Editing in the Event Display Moving Events You can use the Arrow tool to move Events in the Event Display, much like in Key or Drum Edit.However, there is one big difference. This is how you should look at the horizontal and vertical positions: • The horizontal position of an Event in the Event Display is directly related to the Events Start Position in the Song (just like in Key or Drum Edit). • The vertical position of an Event is just related to the order of the Events, like in the List.
Changing the Lengths of Notes You can click inside a Note Event and drag it to the desired length, using the Pencil tool. The new length is shown in the Length column in the List. Editing in the “Value 2” Display The graphical display to the right shows Value 2 for the Events in the List (where applicable) as horizontal bars. You may use this to change values, create ramps etc. For note Events, the bars are black, for SysEx Events, they are white, and for other Event types they are grey.
Hiding Events You might not want to see all types of Events in the list. If you for example are only interested in editing Program Change, then all other Events are just in the way. Use the Display Filters to determine which Event types should be shown: 1. Click on the “F”-button on the Status Bar. This opens a line with checkboxes for the different Event Types. 2. Check the checkboxes for the Event Types you want to Hide. These types disappear from the List.
Using Mask You can Mask Out certain Events in List Edit. This goes beyond the Display Filters in two ways: • Masking really hides Events from any type of editing like Quantizing, Deleting, etc. • Masking makes it possible to hide Events not only of a certain Type, but also with certain values. Masking out all Events of a certain type To make List Edit only show Events of a certain Type (notes, Controllers, Aftertouch etc), proceed as follows 1. Select an Event in the List. Let’s say that you select a note.
2. Pull down the Mask menu and select “Mask It”. In our case, only notes with the pitch C3 will be shown and affected by editing. Unmasking Events • To make all Events visible and possible to change, pull down the Mask menu and select “No Mask”. An Example: Let us say that you have been using a MIDI Instrument with a Breath Controller, and therefore have a lot of Breath Controller Events (Continuous Controller 2). Now you want to transform these Events to Modulation Events (Continuous Controller 1).
About Quantizing and Functions In List Edit, you can use all the Functions on the main Functions menu, but many of them, like quantizing, only work on notes. Switching to Time Positions The default way for Cubase VST to show a note’s position in the List, is by showing its Start Position (as Meter position) and Length (in ticks). A note can also be shown as Time position, with Start and End Time shown in hours:minutes:seconds:frames.
14 Score Edit 15 - 148 -
About this Chapter This is a brief description of some of the editing features specific to Score Edit. We will not deal with score printing or the finer aspects of working with scores here. If you want to use the extensive Score layout features of Cubase VST, you should read the “Score Layout and Printing” document, included with the Score and Audio versions of the program.
Overview Score Edit displays your music as regular notation. Below you will find a description of some of Score Edit’s main features: The mouse position is shown both in the mouse box and as a note name in the box below. When you move a note, the lower box shows the amount of transposition in semitones. If you are editing Parts on several Tracks at the same time, the striped double bar line at the beginning of the score indicates the Active Track. The “inverted” notes are selected.
Getting the Score displayed correctly Time Signature Score Edit always uses the Time Signatures specified in the Master Track. Staff Settings When you open Score Edit for a Part played in real-time, the score may not look as legible as you would first expect. The Score editor can ignore the minor time variances in performance and make a neater score almost instantly. To achieve this, there are a number of settings in a Staff Settings dialog box that determine how the program displays the music.
Key and Clef The correct Key and Clef are set using the two scroll bars in the Key & Clef section. If you check the “Auto Clef” checkbox, the program attempts to guess the correct clef, judging from the pitch of the music. Staff Mode This pop-up determines how the staff should be shown: • When set to “Single”, all notes in the Part are shown in the same staff. • When set to “Split”, the Part is split on the screen into a bass and treble clef, as in a piano score.
Display Quantize Notes are not an absolute language, and you must give the program a few hints on how the score should be displayed. This is done using the Display Quantize section of the Staff Settings dialog. ● These are only display values used for the graphics in the Score Editor. They do not affect the actual recording in any way. Here is a description of the functions: Parameter Description Notes The smallest note value to be displayed.
Flags These provide additional options for how the score should be displayed: Parameter Description Clean Lengths When this is activated, notes that are considered to be chords will be shown with identical lengths. This is done by showing the longer notes as shorter than they are. When Clean Lengths is turned on, notes with very short overlaps are also cut off; a bit as with No Overlap (see below), but with a more subtle effect.
Closing the Dialog • When you are done with the settings, close the dialog, by clicking the OK button. This applies the settings to the active Staff/Track. If you are editing several Tracks at once (see next page), you can apply the Staff Settings to all these Tracks at once, by holding down the [Alt] key when you click OK. ● Remember that the Staff settings are done independently for each Track. Editing several Tracks You may edit several Tracks simultaneously in Score Edit.
The Active Staff Just as in the other editors, all MIDI input (as when recording from your instrument) is directed to one of the Tracks, here called the Active Staff. The Active Staff is indicated by a black rectangle in the left part of the first visible bar. The Active Staff rectangle. To change Active Staff: • Click anywhere in the Staff you want to activate. or • Step to the Staff you want to activate, using the [↑] and [↓] keys on the computer keyboard.
Manipulating Notes There are a few special features for manipulating notes: Moving Notes • Use the two mouse boxes to determine where to place notes. The upper box shows the position of the moved note (as bars, beats and ticks). The lower box shows the pitch when inputting notes, and the transposition value when moving notes. When you move several notes, the upper mouse box shows the position of the note you clicked on when starting to drag.
When you change Quantize value, or click on a note button on the Toolbar, the shapes of the Note and Rest tools are changed. Joining Notes The Glue Tube allows you to join two or more notes of the same pitch. • Click on a note with the Glue Tube tool. The note is joined to the next note with the same pitch.
Flip Stems By selecting this item from the pop-up Do menu or by pressing [Alt]+[Control]-[X] on the computer keyboard, you change the stem direction of the selected note(s). Chord Symbols You can add Chord symbols to your score. These are normally put in above the notes. Adding Chords 1. Select the Chord Tool. The Chord Tool. 2. Click in the score, at the position where you want to insert a chord symbol.
3. When you have set up the chord, click OK. A chord symbol appears at the position where you clicked. Editing chords Once a chord is in place, you can edit it by double clicking it.The same dialog box appears as when you created the chord. Change the settings and click OK. Adding Text ● This procedure applies to the “regular” Cubase VST only. If you have Cubase Score VST or Cubase Audio VST, please refer to the chapter “Working with Text” in the “Score Layout and Printing” document. Adding Text 1.
● On your font menu you will also find the Cubase font. This is not intended for text, but for the non-text symbols used in the score. Cutting and Pasting Text Using the keyboard short-cuts (not the menus) you can Cut and Paste text.Select some text, press [Control]-[X] or [Control]-[C] to Cut or Copy. Click for a new insertion point, and press [Control]-[V] to Paste.
Printing ● If you have Cubase Score VST or Cubase Audio VST, you should also refer to the chapter “Printing and Exporting Pages” in the “Score Layout and Printing” document. To print your score, proceed as follows: 1. Make settings for the Text, Title, Comment and Copyright elements, as described on the previous pages. 2. Pull down the File menu and select Print & Page Setup. A dialog with printer settings opens. 3. Select the preferred printer, paper size, orientation, etc. 4.
15 Logical Edit 16 - 163 -
Why Should I Use Logical Edit? Most of the time you will probably perform your MIDI editing graphically, from one of the main graphic editors. But there are times when you want more of a “search and replace” function on MIDI data, and that’s where Logical Edit comes in. It allows you to find certain MIDI Events, based on criteria that you set up. Once those Events are found, you might want to delete them, change them in one way or another, or to move them to another Track for example.
Working with Presets In the lower left corner is the Preset section of Logical Edit. A Preset includes all the settings in Logical Edit. For example, one Preset might find all your Modulation wheel Events and convert them into Breath Controller Events. Another Preset might find all very short notes and delete them. Logical Presets in the Song appear both on the Main Functions menu (see below), and in the Logical editor (see next page).
Applying Ready-made Presets To apply a Preset from Logical Edit, proceed as follows: 1. Select a Preset from the pop-up menu. The Logical Presets in the Logical Edit dialog box. 2. Click “Do it”. Presets can also be accessed from the Functions menu directly, without displaying the Logical Edit window. See the online Help. Making up your own Presets If you make settings of your own and wish to save them as a Preset, proceed as follows: 1. Set up all the fields and values as desired. 2.
Undo This undoes the last Function you “applied”. Selecting Easy or Expert Mode Logical Edit can be switched between two modes, Easy and Expert. The Expert mode has more possibilities than Easy (see page 179), but is also harder to grasp. Most of the “normal” logical editing like deleting certain types of Events etc, can be performed in Easy mode. Click to switch to the mode labelled on the button. Initializing the Settings The “Init” button returns all settings to “normal” default values.
Functions, Quantize and Do It In the bottom section of the dialog is a pop-up menu where you select what type of functions to actually perform. The Functions pop-up. Most of the functions, like Quantize and Delete, only need the Filters to perform their trick. But Transform and Insert also use the Processing settings. The Quantize setting is for deciding what note value to Quantize to, in Quantizing operations. The “Do it” button, finally, is used to actually perform the Function.
Setting up Filters In Easy mode, there are four columns in the Filter area of the dialog box. Event Type Condition pop-up Event Type pop-up The first column is called Event Type. This is for setting what type of Event the Filters should operate on. • The upper field is used to set up a condition for the Event type selected in the pop-up above, as described in table on the next page. • The lower field lists all types of MIDI Events.
About the Following three columns (Easy Mode) For each of the next three columns in the Filter section there is one condition popup and two value fields. Here is an explanation of each column: Value 1 Condition pop-up Value fields The second column in the Filter section is used for the same part of the MIDI messages as the “Val1” column in the List editor displays.
Value Fields You use these to specify value(s) for the condition. The exact meaning of the values is different for each Event type: Event Type Meaning of Value 1 Notes The Note Number/Pitch. The pitch is shown to the right of the number (like F#3, C2 and so on). Poly Pressure The key that was pressed, also easily found by looking at the letters showing the pitch. Control Change The type of Controller, displayed as a number.
Channel This is the MIDI Channel stored with the Event, not the one set for the Part. See page 17 for a detailed explanation. Condition This is exactly the same as for Value 1, see above. Value Fields This is simply the MIDI Channel number (1 to 16). Example The filter below allows you to find notes with the pitch C3 and a velocity range between 23 and 85. These settings limit the “search” to notes only. This pinpoints the filter to one pitch (C3).
Applying a Filter Just setting up the filters is enough for some very complex Logical Editing. Proceed as follows: 1. Open Logical Edit from the Arrange window or from the editors, depending on what you want to process. See page 164 in this chapter for details. 2. Set up the Filters to “find” the desired Events. 3. Select one of the Functions from the pop-up menu. The Function pop-up. See the table below for details. 4. If you have selected “Quantize”, set the Quantize value as desired. 5. Click “Do it”.
Setting Up for Processing If you decide to Process Events (Transform existing or Insert new Events) you must decide how the Events that pass through the Filters should be processed. This is done using an Operator and one or two Values for each column. The Operators are found on pop-up menus in the Processing section of the dialog box. The Values are displayed below each operator.
Value 1 For the Value 1 Column you have a number of different Operators: Operator Description Keep The value is not affected in any way. You don't set any number in the value fields. Plus A number is added to the existing. You use the upper value field to set how much should be added. Minus A number is subtracted from the existing. You use the upper value field to set how much should be subtracted. Multiply The existing value is multiplied by a number.
Channel You can also process the MIDI Channel of the Event. The Channel Operator menu only has five options, identical to the same items on the Value 1 and Value 2 menus: Operator Description Keep The Channel is not affected in any way. Plus A number is added to the existing Channel. Minus A number is subtracted from the existing Channel number. Fix The existing Channel number is simple replaced by the number you specify.
The next example converts Aftertouch into Modulation wheel Events. Only Aftertouch Events will be affected. The Event type is changed to Control Change. This setting “moves” the Aftertouch amount (stored in Val 1) to the Controller amount (stored in Val 2). Transform is chosen since Events are to be converted. Modulation wheel is Controller 1, therefore a fixed value of 1 is entered here.
Processing Functions To use the Processing functions, proceed as follows: 1. Open Logical Edit from the Arrange window or from the editors, depending on what you want to process. See page 164 for details. 2. Set up the Filters to “find” the Events that you want processed. 3. Set up the Processing. 4. Select Transform or Insert from the pop-up menu. The Function pop-up. See the table below for details. 5. Click “Do it”. The processing is performed.
Expert Mode When you switch Logical Edit to Expert Mode (by clicking the “Expert” button) you get two more columns in the Filter and Processing sections, plus a graphic Bar Range setting in the Filter section. The pop-ups in the Processing section are also extended with additional functions. Additional Filter Columns Column Description Length This allows you to select notes depending on their length. This value is displayed in ticks.
Bar Range Example Check out the settings above. If you have a snare drum playing on the key C#1, this setting will allow you to pin-point all snare drum beats that lie around the fourth quarter in each bar and transpose them up two octaves to C#3. This is useful if you want to double up the second snare drum in each bar in a basic rock beat, with some other Sound. Since this example uses Copy, it assumes that you entered Logical Edit from an Arrange window.
Additional Processing Columns The Processing section also gets two new columns in Expert mode. Column Description Length By using processing on this value, you can manipulate notes' lengths. The Operations for it are Keep, Plus, Minus, Multiply, Divide, Fix. Position Processing position will affect the Events' position values so that you are able to move Events and create Events at new positions. The Operations for it are Keep, Plus, Minus, Multiply and Divide.
16 Filtering and Mapping MIDI Data 17 - 182 -
Introduction Cubase VST has a number of real time features for filtering out MIDI data and for converting one type of MIDI data into another. These are called “real time” functions because they work “in the background” while the program is recording or playing back. It is these features that are described in this chapter. In addition, Cubase VST has a number of filtering and mapping (transformation) editing features, in List Edit, Logical Edit and on the Functions menu.
By MIDI Channel You might also want to filter out all Events that are coming in on a certain MIDI Channel. If you for example are transmitting data from another sequencer, this will allow you to record only a selection of the MIDI Channels it is transmitting. 1. Open the MIDI Filter dialog from the Options menu. 2. In the “Channel” section, activate buttons for the MIDI Channels you don’t want to record. In this example, data coming in on MIDI Channels 9 and 16 will not get recorded. 3.
Thru Filters There might be situations where you want to have MIDI Thru active (see the Getting Started book), but still don’t want one certain type of MIDI message to be sent “Thru” Cubase VST. For example, System Exclusive that you send out from a MIDI Instrument to record into Cubase VST, should most probably not be immediately sent back to the instrument, since this might lead to serious confusion. 1. Open the MIDI Filter dialog from the Options menu. 2.
Mapping Controller Messages There might be situations where you want one Control Change message to “masquerade” for another. For example, you might have a unit that reacts to Breath Controller messages, but nothing to generate them with. You might then set up Cubase VST to convert for example Modulation Wheel Events to Breath Controllers, before recording them. Proceed as follows: 1. Open the MIDI Setup dialog from the Options menu. 2. Locate the Controller Map section. 3.
The Input Transformer This function (reached from the Options menu) is used to selectively filter out and change data that is coming in to Cubase VST, before it is recorded. To use the Input Transformer you should be reasonably acquainted with Logical Edit, since the two are very similar. Here are some of the things the Input Transformer allows you to do: • Use four different filters/transforms at the same time. • Make up split keyboard combinations for recording left and right hands separately.
Selecting and Activating The buttons labelled 1-4 at the bottom of the window are used to decide which of the four transformers should be displayed. The check boxes just below these are for turning each of these four transformers on and off. Input Transformer 1 selected for editing. Input Transformer 1 and 2 activated. Initializing If you want to reset any of the transformers to its initial setting (everything turned off), select it and click the Init button.
“Preset” Description: 2. Fix Velocity This Transformation makes all notes have velocity 100, regardless of how you play. It is easy to change the output velocity value in the dialog box, if you need to. 3. Modulation Transformed into Aftertouch This Transformation takes incoming Modulation wheel Events and turns them into Aftertouch. Many rack synthesizers can receive Aftertouch, but not all keyboards send it.
17 GM/GS/XG Edit - 190 - 18
About this chapter The GM/GS/XG Editor is thoroughly described in the Getting Started book. Therefore, this chapter contains only brief reference descriptions of the editor controls. The Controls The Mixer section Mute buttons (GS/XG only) Volume faders Pan controls Reverb level Chorus level Program name popups This is the main section of the window, where you perform the actual mixing.
Control: Description: Program name This item opens a hierarchical pop-up menu with the 128 GM sounds divided into instrument type groups on sub-menus. To select a sound, pull down the pop-up, move the pointer to one of the instrument groups and select the sound from the sub-menu that appears. Mute switch (GS/XG only) In GS/XG Mode (see below), the channel number fields above the faders can be used as Channel Mute buttons. You can mute/unmute each channel individually by clicking on the respective button.
The Effects section (GS/XG only) The third section is not shown at all in GM mode. It contains the following global settings for the reverb and chorus effects that are included in all GS/XG instruments: Control: Description: Reverb pop-up Lets you select one of eight reverb types. The available reverb types are different in GS and XG instruments. In XG mode, selecting “No Effect” allows you to easily turn off the reverb completely. Reverb time Lets you change the overall reverb time.
18 The Input/Output Bus System - 194 - 19
Introduction The bus system in Cubase VST allows you to take full advantage of audio cards with multiple inputs and outputs, by providing a complete routing system, very similar to that on a fully-fledged mixing console with a busing system. For this to be useful, you need an audio card with several inputs and/or outputs. The audio card also needs to be supported by VST, i.e.
If you do not have an audio card with several ins and outs Even if you are using Cubase VST with a standard Windows audio card, the new bus system affects you in a couple of areas: • Input Assign. You can freely select an input for any audio channel, in the Monitor window or in the Inspector (see page 198). It is also possible to deactivate the audio inputs completely, thereby saving some processor power, for example when you’re doing the final mixdown (see page 196). • Channel FX Sends.
The active Inputs will appear on the Input popup, for example in the Inspector. 3. Activate the Inputs you need, by clicking on their buttons in the middle column. The buttons lights up, indicating that the Inputs are active. Note that all Inputs are activated in stereo pairs. ● Make sure not to activate more Inputs than necessary, to conserve processor power.
Recording from an Input When you record audio in Cubase VST, you need to decide from which input you want to record. This can be done in the Inspector, in the following way: 1. Select an Audio Track to record on. 2. Open the Inspector for the Track. The Input button in the Inspector. ● This example assumes the Audio Track is set to a single audio channel. If channel “Any” is selected for the Track, you have to select Inputs for the audio channels in the Monitor window instead. 3.
6. Open the Monitor mixer window. Note that the Input button/popup in the Inspector is duplicated for each audio channel in the Monitor window. Changing the setting or turning monitoring on/off in the Inspector will automatically affect the setting in the Monitor window, and vice versa. The Input selection for an audio channel will always be the same in the Inspector and the Monitor window. 7. Click the “In” button at the top of the level meter for the selected recording channel.
Activating and routing Buses As with Inputs, you need to activate the Buses you want to use, and assign each Bus to an output pair on your audio card. This is done in the Master window: 1. Pull down the Audio Menu and select Master. Aside from the regular Master panel, the window will contain a number of additional “subgroups”, one for each Bus: ● The total number of Buses (including the Master Bus) is equal to the number of stereo output pairs on the audio card.
3. Use the popup menus at the bottom of the window to route each active Bus to an output pair on your audio card. ● Two Buses cannot be connected to the same output pair. 4. To rename a Bus, click on its label (above the Active button) and type in a new name. 5. Set the output levels for each active Bus, in the same way as with the MasterBus. Dragging one of the faders for a Bus will automatically move the other fader as well.
Sends and Effects The four effect sends for each audio channel can now either be routed to any of the built-in VST effects, or directly to one of the Buses, for use with external effects, etc. Proceed as follows: 1. Open the Monitor window. 2. Click the FX button for a channel to open its EQ and FX Send window. 3. Activate an effect send by clicking its On button. Remember to check that the DRY button is not activated.
4. Click on the button below the Send Level knob to pull down the Send Routing popup menu. This popup menu contains the eight VST effects, all activated Buses and each side (left/right) of the eight Groups. 5. Select one of the effects, Groups or Buses on the popup menus to route the send there. Since the sends are in mono, you can select each side of an output Bus independently. 6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 for the other sends as desired.
Routing the Effect Outputs to Buses The stereo outputs of the Mixer Effects can now be routed independently to any of the output Buses: 1. Open the Effects window. 2. Select an Effect for one of the units, and activate it. 3. Click on the button next to the File button in the effect unit to pull down a Bus popup menu. This popup menu is similar to the ones in the Monitor window, containing all the active Buses. The Master Bus will always be available. 4.
An example setup In this example, we will set up an Audio Track for playback, route one of the effect sends to an individual output, connected to an external (mono) effect, and record the output of this effect on another Audio Track. During recording, this Track will be monitored, and some built-in VST reverb will be added to the monitored sound: Audio: Played back audio channel Monitor Mixer: Output Buses: Pre-fader send Bus 2 External FX.
9. Go back to the Monitor window and click on the Mute button for the played back audio channel. Since “Pre” is activated for the effect send, this will not affect the signal to the external effect. Setting up the audio channel for recording 1. Pull down the Audio menu and select Inputs. The Input window appears. 2. Activate the Input to which you connected the external effect device. Leave the other Inputs deactivated. 3. Close the Input window and return to the Arrange window. 4.
19 The Audio Pool 20 - 207 -
Introduction Just as you can use the Windows 95 Explorer to manage your files and folders, you use the Pool to manage your audio segments and files. The Pool is opened by selecting “Pool...” from the Audio menu or by pressing [Control]-[F]. Overview of the Window File name Segment name Headings Segment Audition button The Pool lists all the audio files in the Song. Please note that this means it shows the files for all Arrange windows that belong to the Song.
Displaying Segments For one File To display/hide the segments belonging to one file, click on the triangle preceding the file. For all Files • To Show all segments for all files, select Expand from the pop-up View menu. • To Hide all segments for all files, select Collapse from the same menu. • To toggle between showing and hiding all segments for all files, hold down [Alt] and click on one of the triangles preceding the files.
The Headings and Columns For each file/segment you have a number of information and setting fields. The names for these are displayed in two rows of headings at the top of the window. On the following pages you find brief descriptions of each entry in the headers. Many of these are used in various operations described later in this chapter. File Headings File Heading Explanation File Name The name of the file, on disk. Disk The Disk the file resides on.
Customizing the View Hiding Headings If you don’t need the Headings at the top of the window you can hide them using the “Hide/Show” item on the pop-up View menu. Turning on and off Information If you don’t need all the information fields for the files and segments, you can deactivate these by selecting Show/Hide Info from the View pop-up. Among other things this allows you to get a more detailed overview of the waveforms.
● Please remember that if you have meter position format selected, the End Inset and Length values are tempo dependent. That is, if you change the tempo, these values will change as well. Setting File and Segment Order File Order On the View menu, you can determine in which order the files should be displayed: Option Description By Name Files are shown alphabetically. By Date Files are shown chronologically according to the time they were created, with the newest file on top.
File Operations Renaming a File To rename a file, proceed as follows: 1. Double click on the existing name, or select the file and press [Alt]-[Ctrl]-[N]. 2. Enter a new name or edit the existing one. 3. Click outside the box or press [Return]. ● Renaming a file this way is much preferred to renaming it in the Explorer. This way, Cubase “knows” about the change and will not lose track of the file the next time you open the Song. See page 216 for details about lost files.
Deleting Files Removing from Pool If you want to remove one or more files from the Pool without actually deleting them from the hard disk, proceed as follows: 1. Select the file(s). Selecting more than one is done just as with any other object in Cubase, by clicking in combination with the [Shift] key. 2. Select “Delete” from the Edit menu or press [Backspace]. • If you try to delete a file that is used by one or more Parts, the program will ask you if you also want to delete those Parts.
Replacing a File in the Pool There are situations when you may want to replace an audio file in the Pool with another, but keep all segments that are in use. As an example, consider the following situation: You have used an external Wave Editor (see the chapter “Using an External Wave Editor”) to perform some dynamic or spectral editing on an audio file. To be on the safe side, you save the edited audio file under another name than the original.
Handling “Missing Files” When you open a Song, you may get a warning that one or more files are “missing”. If you click Ignore, the Song will open anyway, without the missing files. In the Pool you can check which files are considered missing. This is indicated by three question marks in the Disk column.
Creating Wave Images and Keeping them up to date With each audio file goes an image, a picture of the waveform for display in various places in Cubase. The wave images are very useful, especially in the Audio editor when you are editing your files. A wave image is stored in a separate file with the same name as the audio file, but with the extension “OVW”. Wave images are created after you have completed recording, in a process that may take a few seconds.
Segment Operations The Pool allows you to create new segments, slightly or drastically different from those you already have in your Song, and drag and drop these in the Audio editor, the Wave editor or the Arrange window. Auditioning a Segment From the Beginning To audition a segment from its beginning, press and hold the mouse button with the pointer over the speaker icon to the left of the segment name.
Deleting segments Deleting one or several segments from the Pool 1. Select the segment(s). Selecting more than one segment is done just as with any other object in Cubase VST, by clicking in combination with the [Shift] key. 2. Select Delete from the Edit menu or press [Delete] or [Backspace]. • If you try to delete a segment that is used by one or more Parts, the program will ask you if you also want to delete those Parts. Cancelling this operation means that neither the segments nor the Parts are deleted.
Deleting Unused Portions of Audio Files (Erase Unused) “Erase Unused” allows you to “trim” down your Audio files so that they only contain the sections actually referenced by that file’s segment. This helps you maintain as much free space on the hard disk(s) as possible. The idea behind this is that hard disk space is most often precious, and recorded silence (for example) takes up as much hard disk space as recorded “noise”.
2. Select the “Erase Unused” command from the pop-up menu. A dialog box will display how much of the original audio file will be kept, and ask you if you want to go on. 3. Click Compact. First the unused Segments are deleted. Then the unused sections of the file are deleted and the remaining parts “joined together” with only a short section of silence in between. The segments are adjusted accordingly.
Importing Audio Files into the Pool From the Pool you can import files created by other programs, or files you have created in another Cubase VST Song. File Formats Files in the following formats can be imported: • Uncompressed 16 bit Wave (WAV) or Audio IFF (AIFF). • Mono or Stereo. • The Sample Rate currently used in your Song. ● If you import files with another sample rate than the one used in the Song, they may most probably play back at the wrong speed and pitch, depending on your audio hardware.
Dragging Segments into Other Windows Introduction To move segments into other windows, Cubase uses drag and drop techniques. You can do the following: • Drag a segment into the Arrange window for use on any audio Track. • Drag a segment into the Audio editor for detailed positioning on a Track. • Drag a segment into the Wave Editor for further processing. General Procedure 1.
Dragging into the Arrange Window When you drag into the Arrange window, you must release the segment on an Audio Track. When you do this, you get the following: • A new Part, beginning at the position you pointed at when you released the mouse button. The Snap value applies as with all editing in the Arrange window. • Inside this Part is one Audio Event which plays the segment. For more information on Audio Events and their relation to segments, see page 14.
Preparing File Archives and “Masters” Prepare Archive This function on the Pool File pop-up menu takes all the audio files used in the Song (or, if you wish, all the audio files in the Pool, regardless of whether they are used or not) and puts them in a new folder that you specify. This folder can then easily be backed up to another disk or other media, using the Finder's copy commands or any backup utility program. 1. Select Prepare Archive from the Pool’s File pop-up menu.
Using Prepare Master Proceed as follows: 1. Make sure your Song is saved. After the operation, the Song is altered, so this is an important step if you also want to save the Song as it is now. 2. Select “Prepare Master” from the Pool’s pop-up File menu. A dialog box appears, telling you that this operation is not undoable. 3. A new dialog box appears informing you that you need to create a new folder. Use the file selector that appears after this, to do so. 4.
Saving and Loading the Pool The Pool is automatically saved with the Song. However, by using the Load and Save Pool commands on the pop-up File menu, you can freely save Pools and load them into Songs. Saving 1. Select Save Pool from the File Pop-up menu. 2. In the dialog box that appears, specify if you want to save all files and segments, or just the selected ones. 3. In the standard dialog box that appears, specify a name and a location for the file.
20 The Audio Editor - 228 - 21
Introduction The Audio editor is your main environment for editing, trimming and assembling audio recordings into finished Tracks. Many of the techniques described below are common to the Arrange window and the MIDI editors (mainly Key Edit). Examples of such operations are moving, duplicating, using Tools etc. Therefore this chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with such basic operations and does not always describe all the details involved.
Lanes When you first open the Audio editor you will note that it is divided horizontally into something we call “Lanes”. Lanes bear some resemblance to Tracks in the Arrange window. On each Lane you can have as many Audio Events as you like. You might think of your Audio Events as “hangers” for the recordings you have made. In this analogy, the Lanes would be the “rails” on which the hangers are positioned.
When Editing a Stereo Track • Stereo recordings occupy two lanes. These two lanes use one audio channel each. Otherwise editing stereo Tracks is not much different from editing mono Tracks. • Volume and Pan is common to both audio channels. That is, any change you make will affect both channels equally. The left and right sides in a Stereo event. Changing one of the Event Volume curves will automatically affect the other.
When Editing Several Tracks If you open several Parts on different Tracks at the same time in the Audio editor you will also get Lanes with multiple audio channels. How many different channels and exactly which ones, depends on what audio channels the Tracks are set to. Editing Parts on three Tracks with different audio channels.
Finding Out How Events compete for Audio Channels In case there is one recording that doesn’t play back as intended, you may want to check whether several Events “compete” for an audio channel. Proceed as follows: 1. Select all the Parts you think might compete for audio channels. This may very well mean selecting Parts on several Tracks. 2. Open the Audio editor, displaying the selected Parts. 3. Select “By Output” from the View pop-up menu in the Audio editor.
About Zero Crossings If you are familiar with audio editing from other digital systems you will know that splicing two audio files together might create a “click” just at the split point. This is because the two signals happen to have a different amplitude (level) at this point which creates a transient (a sudden and dramatic change in signal level). One way to avoid this is to always make all edits at “zero crossings”. Zero crossings An analog waveform is a voltage rising and falling around a center axis.
Zero Crossing Example Here, an Event has been split in two places, with Snap to Zero off. When the two sections are moved together... ...the result will be a transient, probably causing a “click” or other undesired sound. Here, an Event has been split in two places, with Snap to Zero activated. When the two sections are moved together... ...a fairly seamless splice is created.
Customizing the View There are a number of features you can use to tailor the Audio editor view to your liking: The View Menu The View pop-up menu allows you to select what will be displayed in the Events and on the Lanes: Waveforms This turns the display of waveforms on and off in the editor. Deactivating this speeds up screen redraws. Names This turns the display of Segment names in the Events on and off.
Dynamic Events If this item is activated, the lower half of each Event displays one of these three alternatives: • The Volume curve for the Event. • The Pan curve for the Event (see page 274 for descriptions on how to edit Volume and Pan). • The M-Points (Match Points) for the Event (see page 249). A Volume curve. A Pan curve. Match Points. You determine which of these three Event types that is shown, by using the pop-up to the right of the Edit Solo button.
Time/Meter Scale and Ruler and Position Formats Time/Meter Scale By clicking the Meter Scale button you can decide if the display and the ruler should show time or meter linearly: • In a time linear display, each “second” on the screen occupies equal amount of space, horizontally. This is convenient if you are working with time related material, such as for example narration or sound effects to be matched to video.
Using Color in the Audio Editor The Events in the Audio editor can be displayed in color to help you distinguish between audio channels, etc. This is done by using the color palette pop-up menu. There are three options on this menu: No Color Select this option if you don’t want any color for the Events. Colorize by Channels If you select Colorize by Channels, Events on different audio channels will get different colors.
Recording in the Audio editor Recording from within the Audio editor is no different from recording in the Arrange window. If you are editing several Tracks at the same time, you will be recording into the “active Track”. • The active Track is indicated by the inverted number in the Lane Info field. To activate another Track, click in the Lane Info field for that Track. The active Track.
Importing Audio Files You can import files created by other programs. You can also import files you have created in another Cubase VST Song. File Formats Files in the following formats can be imported: • Uncompressed 16 bit Wave (WAV) or Audio IFF (AIFF). • The Sample Rate currently used in your Song (if you import files with another sample rate, they will play back at the wrong speed and pitch). • Mono or Stereo. Importing the File 1. Set the Snap value as desired.
Auditioning and Scrubbing There are a number of techniques for monitoring Events, to aid you in finding positions for editing operations: Auditioning This allows you to play back an Event from any position, at its “normal speed”: 1. Deactivate the Scrub icon on the Status Bar. Auditioning mode. 2. Select the Magnifying Glass from the Toolbox. 3. Click on an Event. The Event is played back from that point as long as you hold the mouse button down.
To set the desired length of the played section, proceed like this: 1. Hold down [Control] on the computer keyboard. 2. Click on the Speaker icon. A small pop-up menu appears. 3. Select one of the options on the menu. Editing on the Info Line Like other editors, Audio Edit has an Info Line. 1. Make sure the “I” button on the Status Bar is activated. 2. Select one, and only one, Event. 3. Adjust the values as described in the table below: Heading: Description: Start Start Position.
Changing Start and End Insets Each Event has a Start and End Inset which represent the Segment start point in the audio file, and its length. Handles for adjusting these are visible in the upper and the lower corners (respectively) of the Events if Handles is ticked on the pop-up View menu.
About the Inset settings • The Inset value is in ticks. There are 384 ticks for each beat (quarter note) which means that when you change the Insets this is the resolution you are using for the position value. However, if you need sample accurate editing of Segment Insets, you can perform this in the Pool, see page 218. • The Insets do not “snap” to the closest snap value. Changing the Start Inset The Start Inset is adjusted by dragging in the “upper left corner” of the waveform part of the Segment.
Changing the End Inset This is done just as changing the Start Inset, only you click or drag in the “lower right corner” of the waveform. Changing the End Inset adjusts the Length of the Event; that is, it hides more or less of the end of the file. The End Inset can also be set numerically on the Info Line. Changing the Insets with a single click If you click somewhere along the very top edge of the segment (though not on the segment name) the Start Inset will immediately be set to that position.
Working with Q-Points Introduction Why Q-points? Each Event has a Q-point that is used for snapping the Event to musical positions. The concept behind this is that with audio, as opposed to MIDI, the beginning of the Event might not occur at a musical position at all, there might for example be a significant amount of silence at the beginning of the recording. This means that snapping the beginning of the Event to a musical position normally doesn’t make much sense. Hence Q-points.
Automatically For newly created Events the Q-point is set automatically as follows: When you do this: The Q-point is set at: Record with Prerecord turned on (see the Basic MIDI Recording chapter in the Getting Started book). Exactly the point you specified for the recording to start at. However, the actual recording starts slightly early to preserve the attack (in case the performer started slightly early). See the Online Help for details about Prerecord. Record with Prerecord off.
Adding and Editing Match Points What are Match Points? Match points, or M-Points, are “markers” within an Audio Event, used to indicate significant positions in your Audio file. Furthermore, they contain information about the “velocity” of the audio at the positions they indicate. Match Points are used for comparing and combining the timing of recorded audio with the timing of recorded MIDI material in various ways. Therefore, the goal is most often to get MPoints on all “beats” in the recorded audio.
Adding M-Points Automatically Cubase VST can automatically analyse the Audio Event for you, find the “important” positions and create M-Points: 1. Select the Event. 2. Pull down the Do pop-up menu and select Get M-Points. A dialog box appears, where you can make various settings for how the Match Points should be calculated (described on page 433). For now, click on the Default button. This will make the program use default settings, which quite often work well. 3. Click Process.
Editing M-Points Sometimes you may want to move Match Points to make them better coincide with the beats in the audio. It may for example happen that the automatic Match Point detection positions an M-Point too early, due to “double” drum hits, diffuse sounds etc. If that is the case, you can easily move the Match Points: • If you want to move an existing Match Point or change the vertical position of the black square (i.e. the velocity value), click on it with the Pencil and drag it up/down or sideways.
Moving Audio Events By Dragging Audio Events are moved just like other objects in Cubase: 1. Select the Arrow Tool. 2. Select all Events you want to move. 3. Press and hold the mouse with the arrow pointer over one of the selected Events (not in the handles) and move the mouse. The mouse box shows you where the Q-point of the first selected and dragged Event will wind up when you release the button. 4. If you want to restrict movement to horizontal or vertical only, hold down [Shift] while dragging. 5.
Moving By “Kicking” You can “Kick” an Event one Snap value at a time, forward or backwards in time. 1. Select the hand from the Toolbox. 2. Set the Snap value to the distance you want to move the Event, with each “kick”. 3. Position the pointer over the Event you want to move. 4. To move the Event forward, click on its first half. To move the Event backwards, click on the second half.
Creating Ghost Copies (No new Segments) 1. Select the Event(s) you want to duplicate. 2. Hold down [Control] and drag to the new position. Everything else is as when moving, see above. The fact that the new Event is a “ghost” copy, is indicated by a dotted outline. Please note that the original Event also gets a dotted outline, once a ghost copy is made. The original Event Ghost copy “normal” copy About Editing Ghost Events • All ghost copies that are playing the same Segment have dotted outlines.
Repeating Any Section of Audio By combining a few commands in the Audio editor, you can repeat any section of audio: 1. Set up the Loop so that it plays the section to be repeated. 2. Use Snip Loop (on the pop-up Do menu) so that the Events that fall inside the Loop are split at the Loop Start and End points. 3. Select the Events to be repeated (those inside the Loop). 4. If you want to delete the snippets of audio outside the loop, select Keep from the pop-up Do menu. Only the selected Events are kept. 5.
Quantizing Audio Events Quantizing Audio Parts allows you to adjust the positions of your events, just like you adjust the positions of MIDI notes. Event Position Quantizing vs “True” Audio Quantize There are two type of audio quantize. • The first type moves the events to desired positions, without affecting the actual audio file. This is described below. • The second type processes and changes the audio recording permanently. .
Over Quantize (without processing) This moves the Events in the selected Parts, so that their Q-points line up with the selected Quantize value. See page 233. Over Quantizing an Audio Part with a Quantize value of 8. Groove Quantize This moves the Events so that the Q-points line up with the “timing map” in the selected Groove. For basic information about Groove Quantize, see the Getting Started book. Match Quantize This allows you to: • Apply the timing of a MIDI Part to an audio Part.
2. In the Arrange Window, select the Match Quantize tool. 3. Drag the Audio Part and release it on top of the MIDI Part. A dialog appears, asking if you want to include the accents (Match Points velocity values). The options are the same as when you Match Quantize with MIDI Parts (see the main Cubase manual). 4. Select one of the options in the dialog box. The Events in the MIDI Part are quantized to the positions of the Match Points in the Audio Events. Using a MIDI Part to Quantize an Audio Part 1.
Using an Audio Part to Quantize another Audio Part This is a combination of the two above procedures: 1. Create Match Points for the Events in both Audio Parts, as described on page 249. 2. For each Event in the Part you want to Quantize, pull down the Do popup menu and select Snip at M-Points. The Audio Events are split at the positions of the M-Points. 3. In the Arrange Window, select the Match Quantize tool. 4. Drag the “source” Audio Part and release it on top of the “destination” Audio Part.
3. With the Event selected, pull down the Do pop-up menu and select “Quantize at M-Points”. This instructs the program to move each M-Point in the Audio Event to the closest Quantize position, and timestretch the material in between. The program works through the audio file, and each section of the file is time processed to fit between the corresponding Match Points. Depending on the length of the audio file, the processing may take a while, during which a progress box is shown. 4.
Deleting Events Audio Events are deleted just as Parts in the Arrange window or Events in a MIDI Editor. ● Deleting an Event does not delete its Segment from the Audio Pool. Using the Eraser to Delete Events Clicking on an Event with the Eraser tool will delete it. Using Keep to Delete Events To delete all Events but the ones selected, proceed as follows: 1. Select the Events you want to keep. As in the MIDI editors, the To pop-up menu determines which Events will be affected.
Working with Grouped Events If two Events are grouped, a number of operations that you carry out on one of them are applied equally to all. Examples of such operations are moving, duplicating, adjusting Insets etc. Grouping Events 1. Select the Events that should make up the Group. 2. Select “Group” from the Audio editor’s Do pop-up menu. Ungrouping 1. Select the grouped Event. 2. Select “Ungroup” from the Audio editor Do pop-up menu.
• If you move, duplicate or Quantize, the Q-point of the top (or first) Event is used for determining where the Event should wind up. Changing Q-Points and Start and End Insets • If the grouped Events start at the same position, the Start Inset and QPoints will be set identically for all Events in the Group, when you adjust it for one of them. • Likewise, if the Events end at the same position, the End Inset is adjusted simultaneously for all.
Muting Events The Mute Tool Using the Mute Tool Using the Mute tool in the Toolbox you can mute an Event. This silences it until you unmute it again. A Muted Event Erase Muted This function, found on the Do pop-up menu permanently deletes all the Events that are currently muted. This is a quick way of “cleaning up” a Part after editing. ● Deleting Muted Events does not delete Segments. Neither does it erase any files from your hard disk.
Splitting Events Using the Scissors Tool To split one Event up into more, proceed as follows: 1. Decide if you want the split to happen on a zero crossing or not by checking or unchecking “Snap to Zero” on the Audio menu. See page 234 for details. 2. Set the Snap value as desired. As always, this determines the “smallest” note value where you can apply the split. 3. Select the Scissors from the Toolbox. 4. Click on the Event. The Event is split into two.
Creating Crossfades, Fade Ins and Fade Outs The Crossfade function allows you to create a smooth fade between two sections of audio. It also allows you to add a fade-in or out to only one Event. It does so by creating one or more new files which contain a new portion of audio – the actual (cross)fade. Events which play these crossfade files are then inserted into the Audio editor at the correct position.
Creating a Crossfade The two Events you crossfade between must play on the same audio channel(s). They should probably either be positioned edge to edge or overlap. ● It is possible to crossfade between Events with a gap between them, but it might not create the desired result. If the program can’t make anything sensible out of the selection of Events you have made, it will tell you so. 1. Select the Crossfade tool from the toolbox. 2.
6. Drag the upper set of arrows to set the start and end points for the fade of the second file. If you want the fade to end later than you indicated when dragging with the Crossfade tool, you can numerically change the value in the XFade End Pos value box. You will not be able to go past the start/end points of the entire Event. 7. Use the mouse to draw the shape of the fade in and fade out curves. Drawing in the overlapping area only affects the start segment (the fade out).
Creating Fade Ins and Outs A method very similar to the one above can be used to create a fade-in or out from only one file: 1. Select the Crossfade tool. 2. Position the pointer in the Event you want to fade, at approximately the position where you want the fade-in/out to start. You cannot start or end a fade outside of the start/end-points of the actual Event. 3. Click and keep the mouse button pressed while you drag to the right. A dotted line appears, indicating the fade area. 4.
Using Cycled Recording for assembling a “perfect” take When you record several laps in a Cycle, only one Audio file is created. However, this is split up into a number of Segments (one for each lap) which are “stacked” in the Audio Editor. Since the Segments are all on the same Track, this normally means that only one of them will play back (the top one). However, you can use this feature to assemble a “perfect” take from all the different Segments.
7. Use the Masking, Splitting, Muting and Delete functions to assemble one single take out of all the ones you originally had. The same recording, after having split the Audio Events at appropriate places and deleted the unused sections. • To view the reassembled recording as it is played back, pull down the View pop-up menu and select By Output. This will show all Events on the same lane.
Fitting Audio Events to the Loop You may have an audio file with an inherent tempo that doesn’t fit the current Arrangement. Cubase VST then allows you to adapt either the audio file to the Arrangement (by applying time correction) or the Arrangement to the audio file (by adjusting the tempo). Proceed as follows: 1. Import the file into the Arrangement. 2.
7. Click either, depending on your preference. The event now fits the Arrangement. The same event, after applying time correction.
Changing the Volume and Panning of an Event About this Section - What Volume/Pan am I changing? In this section we deal with the “mechanics” of adding the Volume/Pan changes. You will learn how to change the volume and panning of individual Events and how to create dynamic changes of the same parameters.The relation between the volume you put in for an Event, the volume control in the Mixer window and the volume control in the Monitor window is described in detail on page 322.
To change the volume/panning, proceed as follows: 1. Select the Pencil from the Toolbox. 2. If you want to make fine adjustments, press and hold [Shift]. 3. Click on a Volume/Pan handle (the small breakpoint squares) and drag up/down. A value label appears, indicating the Volume (in dB) or Pan position (again, if you haven’t yet edited the Pan curve for the Event, you have to create a new Pan curve first - see below). ● The volume curve ranges from 0.0 dB down to –infinity.
Applying the same Curve to all Grouped Events If you have a number of Grouped events, you might want to give them all the same curve: 1. Select the Pencil from the Toolbox. 2. Hold down [Control]. You might also want to hold down [Alt] (to create new breakpoints) and/or [Shift] (to restrict movement to vertical), as described above. 3. Edit a breakpoint or input a new to one of the Events. The entire curve is now copied to all the Events in the Group.
Making an Event Play another Segment You can set which Segment an Event plays. Use this to make an already positioned Event play back another sound. Please note that you are restricted to selecting segments from within the same file as the Event now plays. With any type of Event To make any one Event play another segment, proceed as follows: 1. Hold down [Control] and [Alt] and click on an Event.
21 Processing Audio Files - 278 - 22
Introduction A number of processing functions specifically for audio are included in the program. These can be applied in a number of ways: • On one or more selected Parts in the Arrange window. This will process all files in the Part(s) by equal amounts. • On one or more selected Events in the Audio Editor This will process those segments of the audio files that the Events play back. • On one or more files or segments in the Pool • A selection, segment or file in the Wave editor.
The Functions Reverse This turns a recording backwards, just as when you turn a tape on a reel-to-reel recorder backwards. Silence This replaces the audio with absolute silence. Fade In This creates a linear fade in. Fade Out This creates a linear fade out. Quieten This lowers the amplitude of the recording to about half the level. Invert (Phase) This can be used with for example a stereo recording where one channel has accidentally been recorded out of phase with the other.
In this example, the loudest signal in the resulting file will have a level 3 dB below maximum. 3. When you click OK, the file gets processed. ● Please note that the level of any background noise is raised just as much as the rest of the signal. If you have the option to re-record the file with correct level settings, this is in many cases a better option than using Normalize.
4. If you are pitch shifting vocal material, or other recordings with prominent resonant character, activate Formant Mode. 5. If you want Time Correction, you can either specify a new audio file length (in SMPTE format; hours:minutes:seconds:frames) or define a new tempo: • The program displays the current file length in the “Source File” SMPTE field, as a guideline. If you know what you want the new length of the file to be, enter this value in the “Destination File” SMPTE Field.
22 The Wave editor - 283 - 23
What is the Wave Editor? The Wave editor allows you to perform edits on your audio files. This includes Cutting and Pasting real audio data and applying DSP (Digital Signal Processing) functions. In other words, it provides more direct control over the audio files than the Audio editor does. The Wave editor also provides additional tools for creating and modifying segments.
Opening Wave Editor Windows From the Audio editor To open the Wave editor, displaying the segment and file played by an Event in the Audio editor, proceed as follows: • Double click on the Event in the Audio editor. The Wave editor opens, displaying the file, with the relevant segment indicated in black and the rest of the waveform in grey. From the Pool To open the Wave editor displaying a certain segment and its file, do one of the following: • Double click on a segment in the Pool.
Making a Window Display another File It is possible to make any of the open Wave editor windows display any of the files in the Pool: 1. Pull down the pop-up File menu. The Wave editor’s File menu holds a list of the files in the Pool. 2. Select the desired file. Adjusting the View Ruler The rulers in the Wave editor are always in Real Time format (Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds). Thumbnail View The thumbnail is a miniature view of the file.
Segment Display In the waveform area, the currently selected segment is indicated in black with Inset arrows (see the Audio editor). We call this the active segment. All audio data outside the active segment is displayed in grey. You can make any of the segments in the file active, see page 291. The active segment is displayed in black, while the rest of the file is grey. Scrolling Using the Scroll Bars As in all editors, you can use the scroll bars to move through the displayed data.
Using the Thumbnail • By dragging the black rectangle in the Thumbnail, you can scroll to any position. Dragging in the Thumbnail. Setting Magnification There are two ways to set the Magnification: • Use the slider at the end of the scroll bar. • Hold down the [Control] key and drag inside the Thumbnail view. When you release the mouse button, the selected part of the waveform will be shown in the waveform display. [Control]]-dragging in the Thumbnail view will select a part of the file for display.
Playing Back The Play and Loop buttons. From any Position 1. Firstly, make sure no audio is selected, by clicking somewhere in the waveform display. If some audio is selected, only this will play, see below. 2. If necessary, click in the ruler to set a new Song Position to play back from. 3. Press the Play button. Playback continues as long as you hold the mouse button down, or until the end of the file. Playing a certain section 1. Select the audio you want to play, for example by dragging over it.
Selecting A number of operations can be performed on the selected portion of the audio file. Making a selection in the Wave editor is very similar to selecting in other windows. The selected part of the waveform is displayed in inverse video. Using the Mouse To select from one point to another, proceed as follows: • Click, hold down [Shift] and click again, or... • Drag to create a selection rectangle. The area between the two points will be selected.
Working with segments Making a segment Active As described on page 287, one of the segments in the file is indicated in a special way. This is called the active segment. You can display any of the file’s segments in this way: 1. Pull down the Segment pop-up menu. The Wave editor’s segment menu holds a list of the File’s segments. 2. Select the desired segment.
Moving the segment within the file You can also adjust the segment’s start and end points simultaneously, that is, essentially “move” the segment within the file. 1. Select the Hand tool from the Toolbox. 2. Position the pointer somewhere within the segment, press the mouse button and drag left/right. Moving the segment with the Hand tool. Turning the Selection into a File If you want to make the selection into a totally separate file, proceed as follows: 1.
Cutting and Pasting Audio Caution! ● Cut and Paste in the Wave editor performs permanent changes to your audio files. If you need to make sure you don’t inadvertently change your recordings, use the Duplicate File function in the Pool to make a copy of the file first. Performing the Cut/Copy and Paste For basic information on how to Copy and Paste, see the Getting Started book. The description below outlines the details specific to the Wave editor. 1. Select the Audio you want to Cut or Copy. 2.
23 Using an External Wave Editor - 294 - 24
Why use an external Wave Editor? Cubase VST has a built in Wave Editor. However, you might have a more advanced editor (such as Steinberg WaveLab) that you would prefer to use instead. This chapter describes how you can make Cubase VST launch another program instead of the built in Wave Editor when you edit a wave file or segment. Precautions • Many Wave Editors allow you to Undo your last action.
Setting which Wave Editor to use To select which program to use for Wave editor, proceed like this: 1. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Preferences...”. A dialog opens. 2. Make sure “Use internal Wave Editor” is unchecked. 3. Click on the Browse button. A regular file dialog opens. Find and select the Wave editor file you want to use, and click OK. The path and name of the selected Wave editor file is displayed in the dialog, together with its program icon. 4.
Editing in the selected Wave Editor Once you have selected a Wave editor using the procedure described on the previous pages, you can access it from inside the Pool or the Audio Editor. ● Remember that any processing you perform on this audio file will be reflected in all its segments throughout the Song. If you don’t want this, use the Duplicate File command in the Pool to create a copy of the audio file to edit instead. Opening the Wave Editor from the Audio Editor 1. Open the Audio Editor. 2.
Opening the Wave Editor from the Pool 1. Select the segment or audio file you want to edit. 2. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Edit Audio”. The set Wave Editor opens. 3. Perform the editing and return to Cubase VST as described above. ● If you use the “Save As...
24 Mixing and using Effects - 299 - 25
Introduction This chapter describes the general procedures of handling levels, pan, EQ and effects to create a final, fully automated (if you like), stereo mix. What this chapter doesn’t contain, is detailed descriptions of how to handle each part of Cubase VST that is involved in the Mixing process. For details, see the chapters describing the respective windows. Also, the signal routing system and buses are described separately in the chapter “The Input/Output Bus System”.
Volume On mixdown as well as during recording, the output level of each audio channel is controlled in two ways: with the faders in the Monitor Mixer and with the Dynamic Volume Events in the Audio Editor. Monitor Mixer In the Monitor Mixer, each audio channel has a fader for volume control. You can also use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or several audio channels. The faders in the Master window determine the final output level of the stereo mix.
Panning Just as with Volume, the pan (stereo position) of each audio channel can be controlled in two ways: with the Pan controls in the Monitor Mixer and with the Dynamic Pan Events in the Audio Editor. Monitor Mixer The Pan controls in the Monitor mixer pans the sound between the left and right side of the assigned stereo output bus (see page 201). If your mix contains stereo recordings, you will probably want to pan each stereo pair hard left/right.
EQ Cubase VST is equipped with a powerful equalizer. Depending on your computer, you can have up to 4 bands of full parametric EQ per audio channel! About the Hi Quality mode For each audio channel you can select whether you want to use Hi Quality EQ or not. When Hi Quality mode is selected, the EQ bands have a greater gain range (±24 dB as opposed to ±12 dB), and generally improved audio quality. However, Hi Quality mode will also consume more CPU power.
2. Use the arrow buttons in the top right corner to set the number of visible EQ modules. This helps you avoid “screen cluttering” by hiding unused modules. 3. Click on the “Hi Quality” button to activate or deactivate Hi Quality mode. This setting affects all EQ modules for the channel. 4. Activate as many EQ modules as you need (up to four) by clicking on their “Enable” buttons. As soon as any of the EQs are activated, the “EQ” button indicator in the channel strip is lit. 5.
● The maximum total number of EQ modules (for all channels together) is governed by your computer. If you activate more EQ modules than your system can handle, you will note that the “Over” indicator in the Audio Performance window lights red, and the audio playback stutters. Keep an eye on the Performance bar graphs and deactivate a number of EQ modules or Effects, until the computer load seems normal. 6. Close the EQ window by clicking on its close box in the upper right corner.
Effects About the difference between the three Effect types In addition to the EQ, Cubase VST provide effects in three flavours: • Send effects Up to four send effects can be used. When you use send effects, audio is routed through the effect processors via independent Effect Sends for each channel in the Monitor, just like on a “real” physical mixer. The output from each effect processor is then routed to one of the buses or the master faders, where it can be mixed with the “dry” signal, if desired.
Routing an Audio Channel through the Send Effects 1. Open the Monitor window. 2. Click on the EQ button for the audio channel you want to add effect to. The EQ window opens, as described on the previous pages. The section between the channel fader and the EQ modules contains the effect sends. Dry Button (affects all four sends) Pre-fader Send switch Send On/Off Send level Effect routing popup 3.
Selecting Effects and making settings You select effect types and programs in the Effects window: 1. Pull down the Audio menu and select Effects. The Send Effects window opens. This window resembles an effect rack, with eight separate “processors” arranged on top of each other. There are three different effect processor “fronts”: Standard (slots nr 1, 3 and 4 from the top in the picture above), Rack Xpander (slots 2 and 5 from the top ) and “No Effect” (the three slots at the bottom).
4. Pull down the pop-up menu in the processor’s upper right corner and select an effect type. Exactly which effect types are available depends on which Effect plug-ins are included with the program when you purchase it, and which DirectX plug-ins are installed on your computer (see page 334). There may also be additional Effect PlugIns separately available - contact your Steinberg dealer for more information. 5. Click on the Prog. button, to put the processor in Program mode. 6.
The three effect categories On the Effect pop-up menus, the effects are organized in three categories: Effect type Description: No Effect If you select this, an “empty” panel will be displayed and no effect will be used. Select No Effect for the effect processors you don’t need! This will prevent them from using up memory and processor power. VST-Native These are effect plug-ins in VST:s “own” format, and can only be used with Steinberg programs such as Cubase VST and WaveLab.
About Cubase VST’s Implementation of Insert Effects Inserts are serial You can apply up to four effects per channel. The signal passes through the effects in series from the top downwards. Each Channel has its own Insert Effect Rack Each channel has its own rack of four effects which are totally independent of the other channels.
Routing an Audio Channel through Insert Effects 1. Open the Monitor window. 2. Locate the audio channel you want to add insert effects to, and click on its Insert button. ● For stereo Tracks, there will only be one Insert button, for the left channel in the audio channel pair. However, both channels in the pair are routed through the Insert effect (provided it’s a stereo-input effect - see above). The Insert Effects window opens.
Selecting and activating Master Effects 1. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Master Effects”. The Master Effect rack appears. You could also click the Master FX button in the Master window to open the Master Effects window. 2. Pull down the Effect type pop-up and select the plug-in. ● There may be two versions of the plug-in on the menu. If this is the case, you should select the stereo version (the mono version is used as a Send Effect). 3. Activate “Power”.
Editing Effects If any of the preprogrammed effects suits you as it is, that is great. But you can also edit the effect parameters in each program. This is done differently for effects with the Standard VST interface and effects with the Rack XPander interface: Editing Standard Effects: 1. Click on the Para. button, to put the processor in Parameter mode. In the display, up to three parameters are shown at a time. The parameter currently selected for editing has a border around it.
Editing Rack XPander Effects Effects shown with the Rack XPander panel front have custom windows for making settings. You open these parameter windows by clicking on the Edit button in the Rack XPander panel. After having set up the effect as desired, you can close the parameter window and name and save the effect if you like (see below). Naming Effects You can freely edit the effect parameters as described on the previous pages, and even name your edited effects: 1.
2. In the file dialog that appears, select a name and location for the file. It might be a good idea to prepare a special folder for your effects. 3. Click Save. Loading Effects You can load effects from disk for use in the selected effect processor: 1. Pull down the File pop-up menu. • If you want to load a single Program only, select “Load Effect”. • If you want to load a complete Program Bank, select “Load Bank”. 2. In the file dialog that appears, find and select the file you want to load. 3.
The Group Mixer The Group Mixer is a separate mixer, with eight Groups (stereo channel pairs). You can route several audio channels to the same Group, to mix them with a single set of controls and add the same EQ or effects to all of them. This section describes the Group Mixer and how to use it. Routing an Audio Channel to a Group 1. Open the Monitor Mixer. 2. Locate the audio channel you want to route, and pull down the pop-up menu at the bottom of its channel strip.
Routing an Effect Send to a Group 1. Open the EQ/FX Send window for an audio channel, by clicking on its EQ button in the Monitor Mixer or the Inspector. 2. Activate a Send. 3. Pull down the Send Routing pop-up below the Send level knob and select one of the Groups on the list. Note that the Send is routed to one side of a Group. 4. Adjust the volume with the Send level knob.
Opening the Group Mixer There are two ways to display the Group Mixer: • Pull down the Audio menu and select “Group Mixer”, or • Open the Monitor Mixer and scroll it to the right. The Groups are displayed to the right of the regular audio channel strips. The Group channel strips are displayed in blue, to distinguish them from the regular channel strips. The Group Mixer as a separate window... ...and as a part of the Monitor Mixer window.
Settings in the Group Mixer The channel strips in the Group mixer are identical to the strips in the Monitor Mixer. The descriptions of the Monitor Mixer features apply to the Group Mixer as well. Some things to note: • The Groups are always in stereo. As with stereo channel pairs in the Monitor Mixer, all controls are “ganged” dragging one fader will automatically move the other as well. If you want to make independent settings for a channel “side”, hold down [Alt].
2. For each of the four audio channels, pull down the pop-up menu at the bottom of the channel strip, and select “Grp 1”. This routes the output of the audio channels to the Group Mixer instead of to an Output Bus. 3. Pull down the Audio menu and select “Group Mixer”, or scroll the Monitor Mixer to the right until you see the Group channel strips. 4. Locate Group 1 and make sure that its channel strips are panned fully left and right. 5.
Volume and Pan Automation – Dynamic Events or Monitor Mixer Cubase VST offers two ways of automating volume and pan: the Dynamic Events set in the Audio Editor and the Write function in the Monitor Mixer. The two methods have their specific properties and uses, as described below: Dynamic Events The Dynamic events allow you to control the volume and panning individually for each segment. This allows you to create fade-ins, fade-outs and auto-pan effects, which are then integral parts of each segment.
Do not hesitate to combine the two methods of automation, simultaneously or during different parts of the Song. The settings you make in the Monitor window are relative to the volume value delivered by the Dynamic Events automation. For example, if the Dynamic Event volume has a value of -2.0 dB, and you set the Monitor window fader to -0.4 dB, the resulting volume will be -2.4 dB.
Automating the Monitor mixer Your actions in the Monitor mixer window can be automated in a very straightforward way: by “writing” them into a special Audiomix Part. When played back, this Part will repeat your fader movements and button presses just like you performed them. You will even see the faders and buttons move on the screen, like on a physical mixer with motorized controls.
Recording your actions 1. Open the Monitor window. If you want to record Group mixer actions, you can do this in the Monitor window or in the separate Group mixer window (which contains duplicates of the Read and Write buttons in the Monitor window). 2. Click on the Write button in the upper left corner to activate recording. While this button is “lit” (activated), every volume, pan, mute or solo movement you make will be recorded. 3. Start playback. 4.
Recording Mixer settings in Stop mode The Write function works in Stop mode as well as during playback. If you activate Write when Cubase VST is stopped, all changes you make to your mixer parameters are recorded at the current Song Position. This feature can be used creatively if you need initial mixer settings, abrupt changes, etc. Undoing your recording If you select Undo from the Edit menu, all actions recorded since you last activated Write will be undone.
Moving and Muting the Audiomix Part The Audiomix Part can be handled as any Mixer Part: • If you want to turn off Monitor mixer automation from the Arrange window, you can mute the Audiomix Part or Track. • You can copy recorded mixer actions to several places in your Arrangement by cutting out the relevant section of the Audiomix Part with the Scissors tool and duplicating it, placing the copies wherever you want them.
Editing the Audiomix Part The Audiomix Part contains Mixer Events, which can be edited in List Edit: 1. Select the Audiomix Part in the Arrange Window. 2. Open List Edit. 3. Pull the divider to the right so that you can see the Comment column. This column shows which Mixer parameter (volume, pan etc) and audio channel each Event controls. ● Switch parameters (parameters with on/off values) are handled in a special way.
7. Use the Pencil tool to redraw the curve, or the Eraser tool to delete Events. You can of course edit the values in the Value 2 column in the actual list. Use this feature if for example you want to set a fader to a specific value at a certain position. ● The value 101 for a fader corresponds to 0 dB (unity gain). 8. When you’re done, pull down the Mask pop-up menu, select “No Mask” and press [Return] to leave List Edit.
Switch Name “On” value “Off” value Effect send 6 PRE switch 85 21 Effect send 7 PRE switch 86 22 Effect send 8 PRE switch 87 23 EQ module 1 Enable switch 76 12 EQ module 2 Enable switch 77 13 EQ module 3 Enable switch 78 14 EQ module 4 Enable switch 79 15 Combining manual Mixing and/or two kinds of Automation Even if you automate the volume or pan for an audio channel, you can still make a manual adjustment by dragging the fader/pan control in the Monitor window.
25 Installing and using external effect plug-ins 26 - 331 -
About this chapter This chapter describes how to install new effect plug-ins, for use as mixer effects or master effects. There are two basic kinds of plug-ins: • VST-native Plug-ins. These are effect plug-ins in VST:s “own” format, and can only be used with Steinberg programs such as Cubase VST and WaveLab. • DirectX Plug-ins. Microsoft DirectX is a set of standards and routines for handling various kinds of multimedia under Windows95 and Windows NT.
Using and Editing the Effects As described on page 308, plug-in effects are selected from the Effect pop-up menu in one of the three Effect windows (Send, Insert or Master Effect). VST-native plug-ins are always shown in the middle section of the Effect pop-up menu. ● If you cannot find your installed plug-in on the Effect pop-up menu, it may be that you are in the wrong Effect window.
DirectX Plug-ins Installation To be able to use DirectX plug-ins, you must first have DirectX installed on your computer. Therefore, DirectX 5 is included with Cubase VST and installed automatically when you install the program. Refer to the Microsoft web site for information about updates, etc. DirectX plug-ins should not be placed in the VST folder! Rather, you should follow the installation instructions included with each plug-in.
● Please note that a plug-in may be in use even if it isn’t “activated” in the left column! You might for example have opened a Song containing effects that currently are “deactivated” on the menu. The left column purely determines whether or not the plug-in will be visible in the FX pop-up menus. Using and Editing the Effects Once enabled, DirectX plug-in effects can be selected from the Effect pop-up menu in one of the three Effect windows (Send, Insert or Master Effect).
26 Importing and Exporting Audio - 336 - 27
Importing audio files into the Arrangement By using the Import Audio function on the File menu, you can quickly import audio into your Arrangement without having to open the Pool: 1. Select the Audio Track to which you want to import an audio file. Note that you can only import stereo files to stereo Tracks and vice versa. 2. Move the Left Locator to where you want the audio file to start. 3. Pull down the File menu and select “Import Audio...”. A file dialog opens. 4.
Mixing down to an audio file The Export Audio feature in Cubase VST allows you to mix down any number of audio tracks, complete with effects and mixer automation, to a new audio file, in one of several file formats, mono or stereo. ● Please note that MIDI Tracks are not included in this type of mixdown. To make a complete mixdown containing both MIDI and audio, follow the instructions on page 341. 1. Set up the left and right locator to encompass the area that you want to mix down. 2.
5. Decide whether you want to include automation and/or effects, by using the “Include” checkboxes. You can independently include the automation from the Monitor window, the Mixer Effects and the Master Effects. 6. If you want to automatically import the resulting audio file back into Cubase VST, activate the “Import to” checkboxes. If you activate the “Pool” checkbox, the file will appear in the Pool.
8. Select mono or stereo with the “Channels” radio buttons. You have three choices here: • You can make a mono file, in which case the left and right channels are mixed (as when using the mono switch in the Master window). • You can select the Stereo Split option, in which case two mono files (one for each stereo side) will be created. If you have activated the “Import to Audio Track” options in step 6 above, the two files are grouped and placed on an “Any” channel audio Track, using channel 1 and 2.
About imported files and Audio Tracks If you choose to automatically import the audio file into the Arrangement, using the “Import to Audio Track” checkbox, the segment(s) and Track will have the following properties: • If an Audio Track is selected when you select Export Audio, the imported audio is placed in a Part on the selected Track.
27 Working with ReCycle files - 342 - 28
About ReCycle Steinberg ReCycle is a program specifically designed for working with sampled loops. Using ReCycle you can "slice" a loop and make separate samples of each beat. Among other things, this makes it possible to change the tempo of loops without affecting the pitch, and edit the loop as if it was built from individual sounds. ● At the time of writing, the currently available version of ReCycle for Windows does not allow export of "REX" files for use in Cubase VST.
Using ReCycle files in VST To ReCycle a file for use in Cubase VST, proceed as follows: 1. Locate the file on disk and open it in ReCycle. This can either be a file recorded in Cubase, or a file of any other origin. 2. Set up the slices, bar length, time signature and sampler options as desired. A typical application would be “slicing for tempo changes”, see the application examples in the ReCycle manual for details. 3. Select “Export to ReCycle! REX file”, from the ReCycle File menu. 4.
• If you need to re-import the file into the Arrangement, drag the file item from the Pool to the Arrangement, as with any other file. A new Part is then created. ● Please note that the new file will sound very strange if played back in its entirety. It should only be triggered from the Part which has been created in the Arrangement. Also note that if you ReCycle a file already used in the Arrangement, you will have two copies of it, one regular and one ReCycled.
About tempo changes and the last Segment(s) Sometimes you may import a ReCycle file into an Arrangement with a faster tempo than that of the original loop. In this case the slices (Segments) will overlap, and the last segment will continue past the end of the Part. An audio event in Cubase should never play past the end of the Part otherwise you will hear audio in the Arrangement that you can't actually "see".
4. Import the ReCycle file from disk. 5. In the dialog that appears, the program suggests an appropriate number of channels to ensure that no overlap occurs. This can be changed if necessary. 6. Using the same dialog you can specify which channel to use first. For example if you want the file to use channels 1, 2 and 3, specify “1” as the start channel and “3” as the number of channels to use. 7. Click OK. 8. Open the Part that appears, and examine it in the Audio Editor.
Editing Tips and Tricks • You can completely re-assemble your drum patterns by editing slices in the audio editor for example creating variations and fills by duplicating and moving events. • To replace the sounds in the loop, while maintaining the timing integrity of the playing, you can use the “segment pop-up” feature to make the events play other segments than they originally did. Hold down [Control] and [Alt], click on an event and select the desired segment from the menu that appears.
28 Making the Most of the Event/ Segment Relationship - 349 - 29
What is an Event really? An Audio Event is an item in Cubase VST that contains three pieces of information: • A reference to a segment. • A start point, relative to the Part the Event resides in. • A Q-Point (see page 233). Everything else that you see when you edit an Event in the Audio Editor, is really in the segment! What is a Segment really? A segment is an item that contains the following information: • A reference to an audio file on your hard disk.
Copying Audio Events There are two principal ways of copying Audio Events in Cubase VST: “normal” copying and Ghost copying. These two methods are fundamentally different, which is important to understand. Making “Normal” Copies of Audio Events When you copy Events in any “normal” way, new segments are automatically created. This means that if you edit the segment in a copied Event, the original segment is unaffected.
When are Ghost Events created? Ghost Events are created when you perform the following operations: • When you ghost copy an Event in the Audio editor. This is done by holding down [Control] and dragging the Event to a new position in the Part. • When you drag a segment from the Pool into the Audio editor or the Arrange window, and that segment is already played by another Event. As soon as two or more Events play the same segment, the Events are Ghost Events. • When you make a Ghost Copy of an Audio Part.
Converting a Ghost Event to a “normal” Event If you find that you want to edit one Event without affecting its Ghost Copies, you have to convert it to a “normal” Event first: 1. Open the Pool and select the segment that the Event plays. 2. Pull down the Do pop-up menu and select Duplicate Segment. A new segment with the same name is created. If you want to, you may change the name of the new segment to avoid confusion. 3. Return to the Audio Editor and select the Event in question. 4.
29 Optimizing Audio Performance - 354 - 30
Introduction This chapter contains several different sections: • Information about the components in your computer system and how they affect audio performance. This is mainly intended as background information and as a help for when you plan to update your system. • Information about the System dialog and Driver settings. This is important information for all Cubase VST users. • Some tips for optimizing audio performance. • Hard disk maintenance tips.
About Audio Cards Which cards will work? Cubase VST works with any audio card that meets the following requirements: • • • • 16 bit audio recording and playback capability. Windows Multimedia compatible, or... DirectX compatible (playback only, see page 379), or... Comes with an ASIO driver. Sample rates Cubase VST can record and play back at the sample rates your card supports. The choice of sample rate is made in the System dialog as described on page 362. Most audio cards support 11, 22 and 44.1kHz.
Outputs – Stereo and Multi Output Cards Stereo Only cards Standard PC Audio cards, accessed via the ASIO Multimedia or DirectX driver, normally only allow for one stereo output. With such a card you may be able to play a large number of channels in Cubase VST, but the output is still only a mixed stereo signal. Multi Output Cards There are three ways Cubase VST can access a card with more than one set of stereo outputs: • Via a Windows Multimedia (or DirectX) driver that caters for multi channel operation.
Using the DirectX driver Cubase VST supports DirectX, or to be more precise, DirectX, which is a part of the Microsoft DirectX Foundation package. This means that if your audio card comes with a native DirectX driver, you can use this instead of the Windows Multimedia system to play back audio. This has some benefits (mainly lower latency times and the ability to play back audio from several applications simultaneously) but also some restrictions (mainly audio output only - no input).
Computer Performance and Audio Channels The number of audio channels you get from your system depends on a number of factors. These factors are all related to the amount of data that has to be transferred within the system. When you record, data is collected by the audio card and transferred via the computer’s processor to the hard disk. When you play back, this process is reversed. On the way there are a number of bottlenecks to pass, which we will try to outline on the following pages.
Disk Controller Card The controller card for the hard disk is the next possible bottleneck: ● We recommend that you use a controller card connected to your computer's PCI bus rather than to the ISA bus. A PCI card can transfer data considerably faster than an ISA card. Hard Disk Performance The performance of the hard disk is probably the biggest limiting factor. One unit of measure for a hard disk’s speed is the Average Access Time.
Other hard disk considerations • Make sure the hard disk does not have automatic “thermal recalibration”. Or, at least use a hard disk that only performs thermal recalibration when the hard disk is not in operation. Some manufacturers sell special “A/V” (Audio/ Video) drives, claimed to be specifically suitable for hard disk recording. This usually means (among other things) that the drive doesn't have automatic thermal recalibration. • Try to get as large a disk as you can. We recommend 1GByte and up.
Audio System Settings Cubase allows you to set the number of audio channels you want to use to in the program. The maximum number of audio channels is 64 (96 if you are using the Cubase VST/24 version), but most systems will be restricted to a smaller number, due to limited processor power, RAM, etc. The settings are made in the System Setup dialog (reached from the Audio menu) and involves several parameters: Audio Performance section • Number of Channels.
As you can see, there is a quite involved relation between these three parameters. To ensure the best HD/audio performance, you would raise the Disk Block Buffer Size, but this automatically increases the Memory per Channel which in turn limits the possible Number of Channels. This means you will have to experiment with different settings to find the performance/memory/channel balance best suited for your system. The Apply button Clicking the Apply button applies the settings you have made.
ASIO Control Panel If the driver supports it, this button brings up a window with settings specific to the audio card. • For the ASIO Multimedia driver, see page 369 for more info. • For the ASIO DirectX driver, see page 379 for more info. • For other ASIO drivers, see the documentation that came with the card/driver. Latency indication Depending on the audio hardware and drivers, there will be different latencies (delays) involved when recording and playing back audio.
File Cache Scheme Virtual Tape Recorder/Audio Sequencer This pop-up allows you to select one of three methods for audio playback file caching. Here’s the background: When the computer reads data from the hard disk, this data is first transferred to an intermediate RAM storage area, called a cache. If things are set up cleverly, using a file cache can improve computer performance.
MIDI Sync Reference This determines what clock source MIDI playback will use. • If Time Code is selected, the MIDI playback will always be in time with any external time code coming in. However, there is a risk that MIDI playback will not be in perfect sync with the audio. This happens because the audio card is not aware of fluctuations in the incoming time code and therefore can not adjust to them. • Audio Clock is the preferred option when you are not using any external synchronization.
Enable Audio only during Play Normally, after Cubase VST has established connection to the audio hardware, it starts sending a continuous stream of audio blocks to the audio hardware - even if audio playback isn’t activated. However, some audio drivers cannot handle hours and hours of continuous audio streams. The results are occasional audio glitches, “hiccups”, etc. To remedy this problem, there is a checkbox called “Enable Audio only during Play”, in the System dialog on the Audio menu.
Save your System settings! Some of the settings in the System Setup dialog are saved automatically in the Cubase VST preferences, while others are saved with the Song, according to the table below. To make sure that you always start out with the audio settings you know work well on your system, tailor your System settings once and for all, and save your Song as the def.all Song.
The ASIO Multimedia Setup dialog When the ASIO Multimedia driver is selected (see page 363), you can use the ASIO Multimedia Setup dialog to make settings for the audio cards in your system, to optimize the performance and take full advantage of the card’s features. Actually, there are two dialogs, once basic setup dialog (described below) and one with advanced options (described on page 370).
• If you are using a single audio card, and the pop-up list contains a Preset for it, you should select this. There may be several Presets for a single audio card type. For example, you may be able to select a “half duplex” or a “full duplex” setup. “Full duplex” means that the card has the ability to record and play back at the same time, which is a great benefit. If your audio card supports this feature (see the audio card documentation), make sure to select the “full duplex” Preset.
Below, you will find a general working procedure followed by descriptions of all parameters and controls in the dialog. Changing the settings in the Advanced Options dialog When you open the dialog, you will either have a Preset or the Custom option selected, depending on what was selected in the basic ASIO Multimedia Setup dialog. • As soon as you change any value, the Custom option is selected and set to the current values in the window.
Output and Input Port lists Here, all available Input and Output Ports are listed, together with a number of settings. To change a setting, double click on it and enter a new value with the computer keyboard. The columns in the lists are described in the table below: Column: Description: Checkbox Click here to activate or deactivate a Port. Only active Ports (shown with a checked box) will be available for audio input and output. Device Name The name of the Port.
About Audio Buffers and Buffer Size When Cubase VST receives or sends out data to an audio card, it passes via a buffer, a temporary storage area. Furthermore, to be able to send data continuously, just having one buffer isn’t enough; you need several buffers that the system can switch between. Having many and large buffers ensures that playback will occur without glitches.
Sync Reference pop-up This setting is used to select a method of “synchronizing” the MIDI playback to the audio. There are two different methods: • Sample Position This is the preferred setting if your card supports it. In this mode the number of samples played are reported from the card to Cubase VST and this number is used for synchronizing the MIDI playback. This is equivalent to synchronizing to a sample accurate external clock. Unfortunately, not all audio cards support this method.
Card Options This pop-up menu contains four additional settings: Full duplex When this switch is activated, Cubase VST will play back audio Tracks while recording new ones. It is of course a great benefit to have this ability, since it allows you to hear previously recorded audio Tracks whilst recording overdubs. However, not all audio cards support this feature. Activate this switch if: • You know you have a card that supports this feature. • You use two separate cards for recording and playback.
Presets As in the basic ASIO Multimedia Setup dialog, you can select a Preset from this pop-up menu. However, in the Advanced dialog, you can also store your own Presets, or delete Presets you don’t need (factory Presets excluded). To create and store a Preset, proceed as follows: 1. Make the desired settings. This may include using the functions “Check Buffers and Sync” and “Detect Buffer Size” (see below).
The Check Buffers and Sync dialog This dialog is opened by clicking the “Check Buffers and Sync” button in the Advanced Options dialog. In a situation when you have to manually change your Buffer and/or Sync Reference settings, it helps you check if your settings are OK. This is how to use it: 1. In the Port list, select the Port you want to test.
6. Click “Start”. The test begins. The duration of the test is indicated by the progress bar below the Test Period slider. • If the “Sync lost” value (in the upper left corner) builds up, this indicates that MIDI to Audio synchronization is unstable. • If the “Buffer lost” value (below the “Sync lost” value) builds up, this indicates audio dropouts. 7. Wait until the test is completed or, if the Sync/Buffer lost values are building up, click the “Stop” button to stop the test.
Using the ASIO DirectX Driver Microsoft DirectX is a set of standards and routines for handling various kinds of multimedia under Windows95 and Windows NT, including audio playback. DirectX version 5 is automatically installed when you install Cubase VST. If you have an audio card with a DirectX driver, you can use DirectX instead of the ASIO Multimedia driver when playing back audio in Cubase VST. Using the DirectX driver has the following benefits: • Lower latency (see page 364).
Installing a DirectX driver for your audio card At this point, there are three possibilities: • A driver for you audio card may be included in the Microsoft DirectX package. In this case, you don’t have to do anything; the DirectX driver for the card was installed automatically with DirectX. If you are not sure, see Microsofts website (www.microsoft.com) for a list of supported audio cards. • A DirectX driver was included with your audio card when you purchased and installed it the first time.
Conclusion: When should I use the DirectX driver? Since both the DirectX and Multimedia drivers have limitations, you may want to combine these during the same session, for example recording with the Multimedia driver and switching to DirectX for mixdown. Use the following guidelines to determine when to select which driver: Select the ASIO DirectX driver if: • You only need to play back audio, not record. • You do not have or need several audio outputs.
Methods of Optimizing Performance Using Stereo/Mono and Sample Rate settings to gain more channels If your computer system limits the number of channels, you should try recording with a lower sample rate and/or mono recording. This will considerably reduce the amount of data that needs to be transferred from the hard disk to the audio card.
Maintaining the Hard Disk Defragment! Always make sure your hard disk is defragmented. Fragmentation affects the performance of any hard disk severely. A defragmentation utility is included with later versions of DOS and Windows 95. See your computer manuals for details. Delete Unused Files! Cubase VST requires a lot of disk space and fast disks. If you don’t delete unused files, your hard disk will soon fill up.
30 The Master Track - 384 - 31
What is the Master Track? Cubase VST has a Master Track, a special "hidden" Track that contains all the tempo and time signature changes. There is one Master Track for each Arrangement. The Master Track does not have Parts, you always edit the entire length of the Song. ● For the tempo changes to have any affect on the Arrangement whatsoever, you must have the Master button on the Transport Bar activated! The Time Signatures in the Master Track, however, are always used.
Opening the Graphic Editor You can open the graphic Master Track editor in two ways: • By selecting Mastertrack Graphic from the Edit menu. • By pressing [Control]-[M] on the computer keyboard.
The Window Sections The central display in the Graphic editor is divided into six sections. Some of these can be hidden using the group of buttons on the Function bar. Here are the graphic editor’s areas, from top to bottom: Info Line (turned on/off using the Info button). Meter Ruler (always visible). Time Signature Strip (turned on/off using the Time Sig button). Meter Hitpoint Strip (turned on/off using the Hitpoint button). Tempo display (always visible).
About the Tempo Display The Tempo Display behaves very much like the Continuous Data Display in for example Key Edit. For a basic introduction to Cubase VST's way of handling continuous data (tempo belongs to this type of data), see the chapters about the MIDI Editors. The First Tempo/Time Signature Event When you first open the Master Track editor, for a new song, it will only contain one tempo, displayed as a grey or colored box continuing for ever to the right.
About Rulers and Positions The Master Track editor has two rulers, one above and one below the Tempo Display. The upper ruler shows meter (bars, beats etc.). The lower ruler – which can be turned on/off using the Time button, see page 387 in this chapter – shows time in one of a number of formats. To select a time format for this ruler, use the pop-up Options menu.
Switching between Meter and Time based Display Normally, the meter ruler will be linear, that is, there will be equal distance between all bars on the screen. If there are tempo changes, the time ruler will be non-linear to match. If you watch the accelerando below you will see that the meter ruler is linear but the tick marks on the timing ruler get more and spread apart as the tempo increases.
Moving around and setting Song Position Since the Master Track is basically an editor like any other, moving around and setting Song position is basically identical to using any editor. Here are two minor differences: • To Position the Song Pointer, simply click on either Position Ruler. • The Goto menu has slightly fewer options than the other editors.
About Hitpoints The Master Track editor also adds “Hitpoints” to Cubase VST. These are used to match time positions to meter positions, for example to make a certain musical cue fit a scene in a film or video. Hitpoints come in two flavors, meter and time based. "Meter Hits" are shown on the upper Hitpoint strip and "Time Hits" are shown on the lower. You can hide all Hitpoints by using the Hitpoint button on the Status Bar, see page 387 in this chapter.
Activate Master! ● For the Tempo and Time Signature changes to have any effect on playback, you must turn on the Master button on the Transport Bar.
Recording Tempo Changes Recording Tempo Changes in the Graphic Editor To record tempo changes using the mouse, proceed as follows: 1. Select a Snap value (using the Snap pop-up on the Function bar) to decide for a spacing between the Events. Do not use a higher value than needed, since this will make it harder to perform detailed editing on the recording afterwards. Often quarter notes will suffice, but experiment to find a value that suits you. 2. Activate playback from any position in the Song. 3.
● The recording you make overwrites any earlier recordings at the same positions (The Master Track editor always records in “Replace Mode”). Recording Tempo Changes from the Arrange Window It is possible to record changes in tempo without entering the Master Track editor(s). There are two major uses for this: • You get a better view over the actual position in the Song, since you can watch the Part display while you are changing the tempo.
Selecting Tempo Events Selecting in the tempo graph is done as everywhere else in Cubase VST: • Clicking on one Event selects it. • If you hold down [Shift], you can select more Events. • If you press the mouse button somewhere in a free (white) area and drag, a rectangle appears. This rectangle should stretch over the beginning of all the Events you wish to select. With a rectangle like this... ... you select these two Events, since they both begin within the range.
Time Signature Events and Hitpoints Selecting Time Signature Events (and "Hitpoints", see the next chapter) is done in exactly the same way as with Tempo Events, see above. Selecting Events of Different Types at the Same Time The Master Track editor displays data of several different types: Tempo Events, Time Signature Events and Hitpoint Events.
Editing on the Info Line When you select one and only one Event its settings appear on the Info Line. • All types of Events have a Time and a Meter position. You can edit either to move the Event. • The Time Position is always edited in time code (SMPTE) format; as hours:minutes:seconds:frames:subframes. • Tempo Events can also be edited on the Info Line. If you have the display switched to the Time based mode (see page 390), the curve will get "compacted" or "expanded" as you change the tempo.
Redrawing the Tempo Curve If you select the Pencil from the Toolbox and drag over an existing tempo curve, you will change the values of the tempo Events you pass over. A box on the status bar, just to the left of the Quant value, will show you exactly which tempo the current mouse position represents, see page 391 in this chapter.
Drawing new Events Tempo Events Drawing one Event 1. Set the Snap value. You can only input Events at the closest Snap position. 2. Select the Pencil 3. Hold down [Alt], position the pointer (watch the tempo indicator on the Status Bar), and click once. Drawing a Curve 1. Set the Snap value. Don’t draw Tempo Events with a tight spacing than you need, it’ll “eat up” memory and make the screen redraw slowly. 2. Select the Pencil 3.
Moving Events Using the Mouse If you have one or more Events selected (even of different types) you can move them using the mouse, just as with any object in Cubase VST (select the arrow pointer from the Toolbox). Only horizontal movement matters. If you are only moving one tempo Event, its position is indicated by a vertical line. If the selection contains several tempo Events, a rectangle encompassing the area from the start of the first selected Event to the start of the last selected Event guides you.
● When you delete a Tempo or Time Signature Event, you actually remove a change in Tempo/Time Signature. Since you remove the change, the previous Tempo or Time Signature will remain, until the next Event. You can not delete the first Tempo or Time Signature Event. Repeating Events The Repeat function on the pop-up Do menu can be used to block-duplicate a number of Events one or more times. It operates on all Events, Tempo changes, Time Signature changes and Hitpoints at the same time. 1.
Reducing the number of Tempo Events As a result of a tempo recording you may have an overly dense tempo curve, which might make the screen redraw sluggishly and the tempo curve hard to edit. Reduce, found on the pop-up Do menu thins the data at its densest points, making the spacing more even. Applying it repeatedly will make the data consecutively "thinner". Reduce only works on the selected Events. Select a section of the tempo Curve and use the Reduce function.
Numerical processing of Tempo Events The Tempo Processor dialog, located on the pop-up Do menu, is the equivalent of a fit time calculator. It is used to numerically change a set of tempi by a specific amount or to fit a certain cue. Since this function uses numbers, it might feel complicated when you first try it. We will try to guide you through it.
Here are the details: 1. To use this function, select one or more tempi that make up a range of bars, but do not include the last tempo in the Song! (if the last tempo is selected, Process Tempo will be greyed out on the menu). All the tempi within the selected range will get processed, whether they are all selected or not. This selection will Process all Tempi between bar 11 and 14. 2. Select Process Tempo from the pop-up Do menu. A dialog box appears. 3.
The Master Track List Editor Cubase VST also features a list editor for Tempi, Time Signatures and Hitpoints. You can use this instead of the Graphic editor, or as a complement. The List window is very straightforward to use. If you are familiar with the Graphic editor and Cubase VST’s List Edit for MIDI data, using this editor will be easy. Opening the List Editor You open the list editor by selecting Mastertrack List from the Edit menu or by pressing [Shift]+[Control]-[M].
Selecting a Time Format and Hiding Event Types Using the upper part of the pop-up Options menu at the top of the window, you can select a format for the Time Positions of the Events (as described on page 389 in this chapter). Using the lower part of the same menu, you can hide/show any of the four possible Event types. Creating Events If you want to create a new Event, proceed as follows: 1. Select an Event type from the pop-up menu above the Option pop-up. 2.
● You can not move the first Tempo and Time Signature Event. Deleting Events 1. Select the Event(s) you want to delete. You can use [Shift] to select several Events at the same time. 2. Press [Backspace]. ● You can not delete the first Tempo/Time Signature Event. Cut, Copy and Paste Events that you have selected can be Cut, Copied or Pasted. When you Paste they will get inserted as a block, starting at the Song Position.
Moving Master Track data between Arrangements As you know, you can have several Arrangements open at the same time. Each Arrangement has its own Master Track, for which the Master Track editor is an editor. To move Tempo Events, Time Signatures and Hitpoints between Arrangements, you can use two techniques: Cut, Copy and Paste or Import/Export. Using Cut, Copy and Paste To Cut, Copy and Paste between Arrangements, proceed as follows. 1.
31 Hitpoints 32 - 410 -
What can I do with Hitpoints? Hitpoints are basically used for matching time positions to meter positions, by inserting – and changing the values of – tempo changes. This can be used in a number of situations: • • • • When scoring for film and video, matching music to visual cues. For syncing Cubase VST to live music on tape. For restoring lost sync tracks. When working with material that contains both music (tempo based Events) and for example sound effects (time based Events).
Meter Hits always appear on meter positions (bars, beats etc) and Time Hits are always on time positions (for example displayed as time code). The idea is that you set out Time Hits to mark out important visual keys in film, or for example quarter notes in freely recorded music. You then use various tools to find a relation between the Time Hit’s positions (defined in time) and important musical positions (defined in bars and beats).
Setting Out Hitpoints Using the Mouse The obvious way of setting out Hitpoints is using the Pencil in the Toolbox. This works just as with Time Signature changes (see page 400), just select the Pencil from the Toolbox and click or drag in a Hitpoint Strip (see previous chapter). The Snap values restricts your input as usual. ● Please note that when settings out Meter Hits, you may want to turn off Snap completely.
Mirror This function will mirror the selected Hitpoints onto the "other side". A Time Hit will get a Meter Hit at the corresponding position, and vice versa. Selecting two Hitpoints and then Mirror... ...creates two new Hitpoints.
Editing Hitpoints Moving and Naming using the Info Line Just as with Tempo Events and Time Signatures, Hitpoints can be edited one by one on the Info Line (see page 415). Apart from moving them this way you can also give each Hitpoint a name. Just double click on the default name at the far right end of the Info line and type in a new one. The right end of the Info line shows the type of Hitpoint and its name. Moving, Duplicating, Deleting etc.
Quantizing Meter Hits can be Quantized. This is probably most useful together with the Mirror & Link function as described on page 419. Combining these two functions allows you to for example easily insert small tempo changes to make some Hits perfect after using Match to find an adequate tempo. 1. Set a Quantize value using the Quant pop-up menu. 2. Select the Meter Hits you want to Quantize.
Playing back Hitpoints via MIDI You can get audible feedback on the position of a Hitpoint. While this is probably most useful for Time Hits, it can be used on Meter Hits too. To set up MIDI playback of Hitpoints, select "Edit Hitp Note" from the pop-up Do menu. If you are familiar with the Metronome dialog, this one will be self explanatory. The Meter and Time Hitpoints can be set to play one key each with a certain velocity.
Linking Hitpoints Linking Hitpoints is a way of telling the Master Track editor which Meter and Time Hits belong together. The program can then use this information to change tempo (and insert tempo changes if needed) to make certain meter and time positions line up. The practical uses of this are described on page 424 and page 426. Linked Hitpoints Show Hitpoint Links To make the links between Hitpoints visible, you must make sure that Show Hitpoint Links on the pop-up Options menu is ticked.
When Drawing If you hold down [Alt] while drawing a Hitpoint you automatically get a linked Hitpoint right above/below it. Breaking Links If you want to break a Link between two Hitpoints, select the scissors from the Toolbox and use it to click on or drag over the lines. Do not click on the Hitpoints themselves. Also, if you delete a Hitpoint, its link to any other Hitpoint will vanish.
Working with Tempo Matching The Tempo Matching feature of the Master Track editor is best suited for finding suitable tempi for shorter spots or a smaller section of a larger piece. Show Hitpoint Match When this option is turned on on the pop-up Options menu, lines will extend from the Time Hits up over the Tempo Graph and onto the Meter Hit strip. When these lines are dotted, the Time Hits currently do not match any certain meter positions, when they are solid, they do.
4. Use the Hitpoint MIDI playback function (see page 417) to verify that the Hits actually happen when they should. 5. Decide for a Snap setting and a Tolerance. Raising the Tolerance will give you a larger number of Matches, but they will be of lower precision. However, you might gain from increasing the Tolerance initially to find as many matches as possible. You can later link the Time Hits to absolute Meter positions and then use Straighten Up to automatically create a perfect fit. See page 423. 6.
Using Auto Tempo Scan If adjusting the tempo as in the Process above feels like too much work, the Master Track editor can do it for you. 1. Set things up just as described above and set the tempo to the lowest you could possibly be satisfied with. The Master Track editor always raises the tempo when trying to find matches. 2. Select the Tempo Event you want to vary to find the match Auto-scan can only vary one Tempo Event at a time. 3.
Proceeding from here If you have found a tempo that you would like to use, but not all Hits match, or you think you have raised the Tolerance too far, you can automatically insert tempo changes to create a perfect match: 1. Use Tempo Match (with or without Auto Tempo Scan) to find a tempo that gives an adequate match, as described above. 2. Select Show Hitpoint Links from the pop-up Options menu. The Tempo Match lines disappear. 3. Select all the Time Hits involved. 4.
Working with Straighten Up Straighten Up is a function, and as all others in the Master Track editor it is located on the pop-up Do menu. Straighten up adjusts and inserts tempi to make Linked Time and Meter Hits match, so that musical positions (Meter Hits) happen at specific time cues (Time Hits). Switching to “Straighten Up Mode” (Show Hitpoint Links) To display the Links between Hitpoints (instead of the Tempo Match lines) activate Show Hitpoint Links on the pop-up Options menu.
5. Draw in, or use MIDI to insert a Time Hit where the music will start. 6. Draw a Meter Hit on Bar 1, and link it to the Time Hit. 7. Now select Straighten Up, and the tempo will get adjusted so that these two points line up. If the tempo was changed too much, you might have to repeat the procedure, set a new Song Start and Time Display in the Sync dialog, and move the Time Hit accordingly, then Straighten Up again. 8.
Synchronizing to existing music and recovering lost Sync Tracks It is not uncommon to have to synchronise MIDI sequencing to existing music. To do this, you need the Master Track editor and a tape with the music on one track and time code on another. Anyone who has been in the unfortunate situation of losing a time code track, for example by accidentally erasing it, knows how time consuming it can be to restore it. The procedure below lets you do both these things very easily: 1.
9. Now select Straighten Up, and the tempo will get adjusted so that these two points line up. If the tempo was changed too much, you might have to repeat the procedure. Note down the position of your Time Hit. Select a new Songstart and Time Display in the Sync dialog, and move the Time Hit accordingly. Then Straighten Up again. 10.When the beginning of the Song is adjusted to taste, you can begin inserting Time Hits. We suggest you use MIDI to input them, and start out with one or two Hits per Bar.
Tempo Mapping "freely recorded" Music using Time Locked Tracks The Master Track editor interacts with Cubase VST’s Time Locked Tracks in a special and very useful way. If you change the tempo in the Master Track editor, notes on Time Locked Track will get moved, bar-wise, so as to make them still appear on the same time positions. You can use this to your advantage: • To "reposition" Events in music recorded without a metronome, so that they fit the meter positions in Cubase VST.
Repositioning "freely recorded" Music Many musicians find it constraining to record in time with a metronome. With the Master Track editor you can record in "free time" and later adapt the recording to Cubase VST’s meter positions: 1. Turn off the Metronome and perform a recording. If you plan to preserve the feeling in the recording, make sure you get a take that contains all the tempi just as you want them. 2. For safety, make a copy of the Track and Mute it. 3.
11.Select Straighten Up, and when the dialog box appears, verify that it is OK to insert new Tempo Events. 12.Play back the Track and examine it in Key or Score Edit to check that everything actually has wound up as you intended. When examining the recording in one of the editors, you will note that the Events have been moved to the correct musical (meter) positions.
32 Matching Audio and Tempo - 431 - 33
Introduction This chapter describes Cubase VST’s features for matching the tempo of the audio to the MIDI playback tempo and vice versa. These features are based on the Match Points described on page 249 in the Audio Editor chapter. Having a reasonably good knowledge of the Mastertrack Graphic Editor will simplify working with Audio/Tempo matching. If you want to check up on details, see the Mastertrack and Hitpoints chapters.
Adding and Editing Match Points in the Editor Match points, or M-Points, are “markers” within an Audio Event, used to indicate significant positions in your Audio file - often all “beats” in the recording. In this editor, the Match Points are shown in the area below the waveform, where Time Hitpoints usually are shown. Match Points Creating Match Points There is no actual “add M-Points” function in the Match Audio/Tempo editor.
Sensitivity The higher the value, the more “sensitive” the detection algorithm, and the more Match Points will be created. Attack Try experimenting with this parameter when you are working with “non-percussive” recordings. Max. NumThe maximum allowed number of Match Points per second of auber of Events dio. per Sec. • If you don’t want to experiment with different settings, click the Default Settings button. 2. When you have made the desired settings, click on Process.
4. Pull down the Audio pop-up menu and select Hitpoint to M-Point. The selected Time Hitpoint is converted to a Match Point, which you later can move to another position if you like. Moving Match Points Match Points can be moved by clicking on them and dragging to the left or right. Remember that the Snap value affects to which positions you can move the Match Point (in most cases it will be best to turn Snap off when you move Match Points).
Making the Playback Tempo follow the Audio There are two ways to do this: • Use Hitpoint Match mode to find the closest tempo match, and insert one tempo change at the beginning of the Event. This may be sufficient if you’re working with rather short Events and audio with a fairly steady tempo. The method is described below, under the heading Fixed Tempo Match. • Use Hitpoint Link mode and Straighten Up to make a tempo map. This means that tempo changes are inserted at several places in your Event.
This will display vertical lines rising from the Match Points. If the position of the Match Points coincide with the Snap value, the lines will be fully drawn; if the Match Points are “off” the Snap value, the lines will be dotted (see the Hitpoints chapter in the main Cubase manual). 5. Set the Tolerance pop-up to a fairly high percentage. The higher the Tolerance percentage, the more “off” the Match Points are allowed to be and still be considered Matching.
7. Move the slider and try to find the position where as many as possible of the vertical lines are fully drawn (matching). To reset the slider to middle position (zero stretch), hold down [Control] and click anywhere on the slider. ● As you move the slider, you will note that the waveform image is stretched (slider above middle position) or contracted (slider below middle position). This is only a visual help for you, to make it easier to find a match, and does not affect the actual Audio Event! 8.
Creating a Tempo Map For this to work, Match Points should be inserted throughout the whole Event, and preferably evenly distributed, for example on every quarter note. It is possible to create a tempo map for an Audio Event with a lot of “syncopated” Match Points, but this will require you to insert and move Meter Hitpoints by hand (see step 6 below). 1. Activate Master on the Transport Bar. 2.
If everything is OK, you should get a number of roughly vertical lines (if you made a good estimation of the audio tempo in step 2 above). If the angle of the lines changes abruptly from one line to the next, this indicates that there are dramatic tempo changes in the audio. If you know that there are no such tempo changes in the audio, the links are not correct and you need to insert or delete Meter Hitpoints. Repeat steps 6 to 8 until the links seem OK. 9.
Making the Audio Follow the Tempo This means changing the length of the audio file, to make it fit the playback tempo. One reason to do this (instead of matching the tempo to the audio) might be that your Song contains other audio files that already match the tempo, or that you simply are perfectly satisfied with the playback tempo you have.
5. Select a Stretch percentage range from the pop-up below the slider. This determines the maximum stretch range with the slider. If you for example select 4.2%, you may visually stretch the waveform ± 4.2%, with zero stretch in the slider’s middle position. 6. Move the slider and try to find the position where as many as possible of the vertical lines are fully drawn (matching). To reset the slider to middle position (zero stretch), hold down [Command] and click anywhere on the slider.
4. Select Fill Meter Hitpoints from the Do pop-up menu. Meter Hitpoints are inserted in the area above the tempo curve, spaced according to the Snap setting. 5. If your Audio Event contains Match points that are not positioned on quarter notes (or whatever Snap value you have chosen), you need to insert Meter Hitpoints on the corresponding places as well.
If your Audio Event is partly right in Timing If some parts of the Audio are in timing but some are not, a special situation arises. For example, let’s look at a drum loop where one beat is “off” but the rest is correct. When you now use Quantize Audio to put the faulty section right again, you must be careful to not also accidentally move parts of the correctly timed audio: Here, the beat in the middle is played too early (note that the link line is dotted).
The essence of this is: ● Always put one Match Point before and one after the sections you want to quantize, at the nearest beats (or other musical “events”) that are in timing, and “straight-line” link both these Match Points to meter hitpoints! It may seem that an easy way to avoid the problem above would be to simply draw two Match Points immediately before and after the faulty beat, and very close to it, so that no important, correctly timed audio was affected.
Creating a Groove template With this feature, an audio file is used as a source for a new groove template. The template is added to the Groove Quantize submenu, and can be used with any MIDI material. 1. Pull down the Do pop-up menu and select Get M-Points. The Get Match Points dialog appears (see page 433). 2. Experiment with the settings in the Get Match Points dialog until you get a sufficient amount of Match Points in your Audio Event. If possible, try to get Match Points on the sixteenth notes.
Using Snip at M-points This function (found on the Do pop-up menu in the Audio editor) allows you to take a rhythmic piece of audio (for example a drum loop) and make it play back faster, without raising the pitch or performing any actual time correction. The trick is to split the Audio Event at each single “beat”.
Why not lower the Tempo as well? Of course you can lower the tempo with this function. The individual Events will start at the correct positions, giving the impression of a lower tempo in the audio. But since the length of the Events doesn’t change when you lower the Tempo, there will be “empty space” between the Events, which in most cases will sound strange (see the figure below). Therefore, we cannot recommend lowering the tempo other than as a special effect.
33 Time Locked Tracks - 449 - 34
What are Time Locked Tracks? Events on Time Locked Tracks are fixed in time. This means that even if you change the tempo, the Events will stay at the same position, time-wise. For example, an Event that played back ten seconds in from the beginning of the Song will still play back ten seconds in from the beginning, even if the tempo is doubled. Time locked Tracks can be used for example when you work with audio locked to film or video and mix sound effects with music in one Arrange window.
Turning Time Lock On and Off A Track can at any time be switched in and out of Time lock mode. But when you switch a Track out of time locked mode the Events will of course stay at their current time position. This means that if you have made any tempo changes since you Time Locked the Tracks, the Events on those Tracks will not be at “sensible” meter positions when you turn off Time Lock.
34 Synchronization - 452 - 35
Introduction Synchronizing is when you make two pieces of equipment agree on time or tempo. You can establish synchronization between Cubase VST and a number of other types of devices, including tape recorders and video decks, but also other MIDI devices that “play back”, such as other sequencers, drum machines, “workstation sequencers” etc.
Cubase VST – Master Or Slave? When you set up a synchronization system you must decide which unit is the master. All other devices are then slaved to this unit, which means they will adjust their playback speed to the master’s. Cubase VST as a Slave When a synchronization signal is coming in to Cubase VST, from another device (such as a tape recorder, a disk based recording system, a drum machine, another sequencer etc), this device is the master and Cubase VST is the slave.
Synchronization and audio playback Synchronizing digital audio material with the “real world” raises many issues which are not immediately apparent when using MIDI only systems. This is a big subject, and we will only be able to touch upon it here. ● Please note that Cubase VST makes use of special Synchronization functionality in the respective ASIO drivers. Exactly what is possible depends on which audio card you are using.
If you now set the MIDI Sync Reference setting in the Audio System dialog to Time Code, and Cubase VST receives time code, it will vary its overall playback speed (the “song position speed”) to compensate for such fluctuations in the speed of the time code, that’s the whole purpose of synchronization. What happens with the Digital Audio? The fact that Cubase VST’s playback is synchronized to the time code does not affect the playback of the digital audio.
Chose your Audio Timing Reference In the System dialog there are two settings the are related to sync (see page 364): • The MIDI Sync Reference allows you to decide whether Cubase VST’s playback (and hence the MIDI) should slave to the external time code or to the audio hardware. • The Audio Clock Source setting is for those with advanced audio hardware that supports resolving via external word clock signals. It allows you to clock the audio card from an external source.
The Synchronization Dialog Box This dialog box is used for setting up everything that has to do with Cubase VST’s synchronization to other units. You reach it from the Options menu. Once you have the settings in the dialog box right, you activate sync as such by clicking on the Sync button on the Transport bar or by pressing [X] on the computer keyboard. When the Sync button is activated, Cubase VST will automatically start when it receives a proper synchronization signal.
Internal Sync - No External Synchronization used When no external synchronization source is used at all, it actually doesn’t matter what settings you have made in the Synchronization dialog box, as long as the Sync button on the Transport Bar is deactivated. Sync deactivated on the Transport Bar. However, there are situations where you might want to make sure that Cubase VST is definitely not synchronized to any source, even if you (accidentally) activate Sync on the Transport Bar. Proceed as follows: 1.
Synchronizing Cubase VST to MIDI Time Code (MTC) You might have a device which transmits time code in a MIDI cable – MIDI Time Code (MTC).There are several types of devices that does just this: • MIDI interfaces with built synchronization capabilities. • Time Code (SMPTE) to MIDI Time Code converters. • VITC (Vertical Interval Time Code, used in video editing systems) to MTC converters. • MIDI devices (like other sequencers or disk based recording systems) which generate MIDI Time Code.
5. Use the Song Start value to set which frame on the tape that should correspond to the beginning of the Song (position 1.1.0 in Cubase VST). Set this to the time code position where you want the Song to start from the beginning. 6. Close the Synchronization dialog. This is actually not necessary, but probably preferable. 7. On the Transport Bar, activate Sync by clicking on the button with the same name, or by pressing [X]. Cubase VST is now expecting MIDI Time Code to come in via the specified port.
About Frame Rates The Frame Rate is the number of frames per second in a film or on a video tape. Just as there is always sixty seconds to a minute, there is always a certain number of frames to each second. However, the frame rate used varies with the type of media (film or video), which country the video tape has been produced in, and other circumstances. When synchronizing Cubase VST to time code, you must make sure that the Frame Rate setting in Cubase VST matches the actual frame rate of the time code.
Synchronizing Cubase VST to another MIDI Device via MIDI Clock ● This method should only be used for MIDI-only material. If you want Cubase VST to follow the tempo of another MIDI device (such as another sequencer, a drum machine or similar), you need to use MIDI Clock signals. In this situation, synchronization happens as follows: • Cubase VST’s tempo is synchronized to the other device’s. In other words, the other device is the master and Cubase VST is the slave).
6. Set up the other device to transmit MIDI clocks, and Start it. Cubase VST will automatically start and play in the same tempo as the other device. This type of synchronization is tempo based, that is the external device controls Cubase VST’s tempo. This means that the Master Track and the tempo setting on the Transport Bar have no effect on playback. ● You do not need to activate play in Cubase VST, it will automatically begin playback when it senses the incoming MIDI Clock.
Synchronizing other Equipment to Cubase VST You may have other MIDI devices which you may want to synchronize Cubase VST to. There are two types of synchronization that Cubase VST can transmit: MIDI Clock and MIDI Time Code. Transmitting MIDI Clock • If you transmit MIDI Clock to a device supporting this type of synchronization signal, the other device will follow Cubase VST’s tempo. That is, Cubase VST is the master and the other device is the slave.
Transmitting Synchronization Signals while Cubase VST is synchronized to an External Source • Cubase VST can be synchronized to an external source at the same time as it transmits synchronization signals to another device.This means that Cubase VST is acting as a slave to one device at the same time as being the master for another. A common application for this would be to for example synchronize Cubase VST to tape while transmitting MIDI clock to for example a drum machine.
Song Start The Song Start time code position. This is the position on the time code tape that will make Cubase VST start the song from the beginning. If you for example set this to 0:5:0:0:0 (five minutes) Cubase VST will start from the beginning of the Song when it receives a time code message with this value. In other words, if Cubase VST receives a time code message of “seven minutes” with the Song Start value suggested above, it will jump to a position two minutes in from the beginning of the Song.
Bar Display By the same token as with Time Display Offset you can here set the number of the first Bar in the Song. This allows you to record before position 1.1.0, which is otherwise impossible. Setting the Bar Display to for example “-1” makes the Song start at “0.1.0” instead of the normal “1.1.0”.
MROS Resolution and System Preroll MROS Resolution This allows you to set the playback resolution of the program. Cubase VST normally gives MIDI playback first priority. This means that whatever the workload of the computer, MIDI data is sent out when — and as — it should. However, when a lot of MIDI data is handled and an unusual amount of real-time processing is going on, the program might not feel as smooth to use as it normally does.
Sync Options Lock Time Using this field you can set how many frames of “correct” time code Cubase VST should receive before attempting “lock” (synchronize) to incoming time code. If you have a tape recorder with a very short start-up time, you could try lowering this number to make lock-up even faster than it already is. If you have Chase Events turned on, and many Events to chase, you could try raising this number. Dropout Time On a tape with time code (SMPTE) dropouts may occur.
35 Customizing Cubase VST - 471 - 36
Why Customize? When you use Cubase VST the first time, all settings in the program have “factory values”. Depending on your working style, what we have chosen might suit you perfectly or not at all. By customizing Cubase VST, you are able to make it “your program” and you will streamline your work considerably. Customizing actually only involves two steps: 1. Setting up the program exactly as you want it to be each time you start up. 2. Saving those settings in a default Song file (“Def.
Examples of things to customize Below follows a brief list of candidates for customizing. At this point you might not understand what all the functions below are for and what they do. Either look them up in the rest of this manual or leave them out for now. Window Settings You can change the size of the windows, move dividers and set the magnification, to tailor the windows to your needs. Saving this in the startup song will make the program appear as you want it.
Audio Settings In the Monitor and other VST windows you can name buses, set up effects, EQ, panning and a lot of other things to create your own “mixing environment”. The Pool window also allows you to determine how you want the files and segments to be listed. Preferences On the File menu you have a Preferences dialog box. This is used to set up a few general things, like for example which editor opens when you double click on a Part.
Saving the Startup Song Once you have set up the Song, perform the following steps. 1. Pull down the File menu and select “Save As...”. 2. From the File Format pop-up, select “Songs (*.ALL)”. 3. Make sure you save in the same directory as where you have your Cubase VST program. 4. In the File Name field, type in the name “Def.All”. 5. Click OK. Now the next time you launch the program, the Song you just saved will automatically be loaded.
36 Keyboard Commands - 476 - 37
What This Chapter Contains The following is a list of the keyboard short-cuts for many of Cubase VST's functions. Numeric Keypad Key Command: Function: [*] Activate recording [Enter] Start/Continue [0] or [spacebar] 1st time – Stop 2nd time – Go to Left Locator/ 1. 1. 0 3rd time – Go to 1. 1.
Typewriter Keyboard The various key commands are grouped after their contexts, to make it easier to find what you’re looking for: File Handling and General Procedures Key Command: Function: [Control]-[O] Open [Shift]+[Control]-[N] New Song [Control]-[S] Save Song [Shift]+[Control]-[S] Save Arrangement [Control]-[Z] Undo [Control]-[X] Cut [Control]-[C] Copy [Control]-[V] Paste [Control]-[Q] Quit - 478 -
Window Handling Key Command: Function: [Control]-[N] New Arrange window [Control]-[W] Close active window [Return] Close editor or "click button with bold label" in Dialog Box [Esc] Close and Cancel in Dialog Boxes [G] Decrease horizontal magnification [H] Increase horizontal magnification [Shift]-[G] Decrease vertical magnification |Shift]-[H] Increase vertical magnification [F12] Hide/Show Transport Bar [Shift]-[F12] Hide/Show VST Windows [Control]-[F12] Bring VST Windows to front
Transport Bar functions Key Command: Function: Page Up Forward Page Down Rewind [P] Set Meter Position [Shift]-[P] Set Time Position [Shift]-[T] Set Tempo [Shift]-[S] Set Time Signature [L] Set Left Locator [R] Set Right Locator [Alt]+[Control]-[P] Set Left and Right Locator to Part’s Start and End [Shift]+[F2] to [F11] Store Locator settings [F2] to [F11] Recall Locator settings [C] Click On/Off [D] Toggle Record Mode (Overdub/Replace) [F] Follow Song On/Off [I] Punch In On/O
General Selection and Editing Key Command: Function: [Control]-[A] Select All Parts/Events [Backspace] Delete Selection [Control]-[Backspace] Permanently delete audio from the hard disk. [Control]-[I] Get Information about selected Parts/elements [Q] Over Quantize [U] Undo Quantize [W] Note On Quantize [E] Iterative Quantize [J] Groove Quantize [Z] Auto QuantizeOn/Off [1]-[7] Set Quantize value [T] Set Quantize value to triplets [.
Arrange Window Selection and Editing Key Command: Function: [→] Select Next Part [←] Select Previous Part [↑] Go one Track up [↓] Go one Track down [Control]-[T] Create Track [Alt]+[Control]-[T] Select Track (enter a Track number, counted from the top of the Track list) [Alt]+[Control]-[N] Rename Track [Alt]+[Control]-[C] Set MIDI/Audio Channel for selected Track [Alt]+[Control]-[O] Set MIDI Output for selected Track [Alt]+[Control]-[J] Create/Rename Instrument for selected Track [Shif
All MIDI Editor windows Key Command: Function: [Return] Keep (Close editor, keeping changes) [Esc] Cancel (Close editor, discarding changes) [Insert] Insert Event [Tab] Move one Snap in Step Edit [A] Edit Solo on/off [Alt]+[Control]-[O] Loop On/Off [Alt]+[Control]-[L] Input Left Loop boundary [Alt]+[Control]-[R] Input Right Loop boundary [Alt]+[Control]-[I] Info On/Off [Alt]+[Control]-[C] Show/Hide Controller display • In all MIDI Editors, the arrow keys can be used in combination with
Score Edit only Key Command: Function: [→] Next Note [←] Previous Note [↓] Next Staff [↑] Previous Staff [Control]+[Arrow key] Move selected item up/down/left/right [+] (typewriter kbd) Move Tablature note one string up [–] (typewriter kbd) Move Tablature note one string down [Alt]+[Control]-[X] Flip Stems [Alt]+[Control]-[G] Group selected items [Alt]+[Control]-[B] Hide selected items [Alt]+[Control]-[H] Grace Note [Alt]+[Control]-[1] to [8] To Voice 1 - To Voice 8 [Control]-[P] P
Index 38 - 485 -
A Accelerandi 402 Active Part 94 Aftertouch Deleting 112 Editing 110 Filtering 183 In List Edit 137 In Logical Edit 171 Selecting Events In Editors 112 Any Audio Channel 12, 24 MIDI Channel 19 Arrow Tool Editors 98, 107 List Edit 142 Master Track 401 ASIO Control Panel 364 DirectX driver 379 Multimedia driver 369 ASIO Device 363 ASIO Multimedia driver 363 ASIO Multimedia Setup Window 369 Audio Buffers 373 Audio Card Requirements 356 Audio Channel About 11 Any 12, 24 Assigning to Bus 201 Maximum nr of 362 vs
Color Editing 96 In Audio Editor 239 In MIDI Editors 95 Comment (Score Edit) 161 Compression 61 Conditions 170 Controller Display Drum Edit 110, 112 Key Edit 110, 112 List Edit 143 Controllers Deleting 112 Editing 110 Filtering 183, 184 In List Edit 137 In Logical Edit 171 Mapping 186 Selecting Events In Editors 112 Transforming 137 Converting Drum Tracks To MIDI Tracks 134 Hitpoints to Matchpoints 434 MIDI Notes to Hitpoints 415 MIDI Tracks To Drum Tracks 134 Copy Audio Events 255 Logical Edit 173 Master T
Duplicate Audio Events 253 Master Track Events 401 MIDI Events 101 Parts 38 Segments 218 Dynamic Events About 274 Displaying 237, 274 Editing 274 E Easy (Logical Edit) 167 Edit Audio 297 Edit Solo 92 Editing Audio Editor 243 External Wave Editor 297 In List Edit 141 MIDI Parts In Drum Edit 133 Wave Editor 291 Editing via MIDI 108 Editors Closing, Cancelling Changes 91 Closing, Keeping Changes 91 Differences 88 Opening 89 Opening Several 90 Playback Parameters 94 Effect Plug-Ins Installing 332 User Interfac
G Generate SMPTE 457 Get Info 35 Get M-Points 433 Ghost Audio Events About 351 Converting 353 Creating 254, 352 Selecting Segment for 277 vs "Normal" Audio Events 352 Ghost Parts About 45 Audio 353 Creating 45 Creating Using Repeat 46 Global Cut 47 Global Insert 48 Global Split 48 Glue Tube Tool Arrangement 40 Score Edit 158 GM, Activating 192 GM/GS/XG Editor Controls 191 Goto Pop-up Menu 97 Groove Quantize 257 Grooves Creating from Audio 446 Group Mixer 317 Group Parts About 84 Arranging 83 Arranging Durin
J M Joining Parts 40 Magnification Pool 211 Wave Editor 288 Magnifying Glass Tool Arrangement 41 Audio Editor 242 Editors 98 Wave Editor 289 Mapping MIDI data 187 Mask About 145 Event Type 145 Event Type and Value 145 Removing 146 Master Button 385, 393 Master Effects About 306 Selecting 313 Master Track About 385 Copying Data Between Arrangements 409 Graphic Editor 386 Importing and Exporting 409 List Editor 406 Matching Audio and Tempo 432 Match Pitch to Scale 44 Match Points, see M-Points Match Quanti
MIDI Clock Sync to 463 Transmitting 465 MIDI Connector Button 108 MIDI In Button 114, 413 MIDI Input 108 MIDI Mute Button 301 MIDI Output About 16 Multi-port Interfaces 16 Standard Interfaces 16 MIDI Sync Reference 366 MIDI Thru Filters 185 MIDI Time Code 460 MIDI to Audio Delay 366 MIDI Tracks Converting to Drum Tracks 134 Mixing Down 52 MIDI Volume 59, 70 Mirror 414 Mirror & Link 419 Mix Down With Audio Tracks 53 With MIDI and Drum Tracks 52 Mixer Tracks In List Edit 138 in Logical Edit 164 Mixing Audio A
O Offset (Audio Input/Output Port) 372 Output (MIDI) About 16 Drum Tracks 125 Outputs (Audio) About 195 Routing Buses to 201 P Paint Brush Tool 105, 131 Pan Audio Editor 274 Audio Monitor Mixer 302 GM/GS/XG Editor 191 MIDI Inspector 61 Parts Active and Inactive 94 Auditioning 41 Creating 34 Cutting, Copying and Pasting 37 Deleting 39 Getting Information About 35 Joining 40 Match Quantizing 42 Merging 36 MIDI Volume 59 Muting 41 Naming 44 Notes Lengths 60 Overlapping 34 Recording 33 Repeating 38, 46 Resizin
Q S Q Tool, see Match Quantize Q-Points About 233, 247 Displaying 247 Grouped Events 263 Setting Automatically 248 Setting Manually 247 Quantize Audio (by Time Stretching) 259, 442 Audio Events 256 Drum Edit 132 Drum Tracks 129 Editors 104 Hitpoints 416 Logical Edit 168, 173 Match 42 Quieten 280 Sample Rate 356, 364 Sample Rate (ASIO Multimedia Setup) 371 Save Pool 227 Scissors Tool Arrangement 39 Audio Editor 265 Master Track 419 Score Edit 158 Score Displaying 151 Printing 162 Score Edit Editing Severa
Snap 104 Snap to Zero 234, 246 Snip at M-points 447 Snip Loop 265 Solo Audio Monitor Mixer 301 Drum Edit 132 Edit Solo 92 Recording 73 Song Start Offset 467 SoundFonts 69 Speaker Audio Editor 243, 247 MIDI Editors 98 Split Audio Events 265 Parts 39 Split (Piano) Staff 152 Staff Active 156 Multiple 155 Staff Mode 152 Staff Settings 151 Start and End Insets About 244 Changing in Audio Editor 245 Changing in Pool 218 Startup Song 472, 475 Step Button 114 Step Input About 114 Entering Notes 115 Entering Rests 1
Track Class Converting Between MIDI And Drum Tracks 134 Tracks Active 240 Audio 11 Drum Tracks 122 Group 82 Name in Score 154 Tranforming MIDI data 187 Transpose Editing Transposed Notes 94 Group Tracks 82 MIDI Inspector 59 Triggering Parts 41 U Undo Audio Quantize 259 Editing 91 Logical Edit 167 Ungroup Audio Events 262 Unmask 146 Use 16-Bit only 375 Use Waveforms 217 W Wave Editor About 284 Cut, Copy and Paste 293 Loop button 289 Opening 285 Opening "Secondary" 298 Opening External 297 Playing Back 289
