Steinberg Cubase 4 Menu Reference Manual
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11 Menu Reference Track Folding (Cubase only) Here you can quickly show, hide or invert what is dis- played in the Project window event display. This enables you to fold in automation subtracks, for example. Pool This opens the audio Pool, which contains all clips (audio and video) that belong to a project. Markers This opens the Marker window. Markers store positions to facilitate quick navigation to important locations in a project. Tempo Track This menu item opens the Tempo Track Editor. For tempo based tracks, the tempo can follow the tempo track (acti- vated with the Master button on the Transport panel), which may contain tempo changes. Browser This opens the Project Browser window which provides a list-based representation of the project. This allows you to view and edit all events on all tracks by using regular value editing in a list. Beat Calculator… This opens the Beat Calculator window. The Beat Calcu- lator is a tool for calculating the tempo of recorded audio or MIDI material. Set Timecode at Cursor This allows you to set the project start position at the cur- sor position. When synchronizing Cubase with external devices, such as video tapes for instance, the start posi- tion denotes which timecode frame on the external device should correspond to the beginning of the project. This can also be set in the Project Setup dialog. However, if you know that a certain position in your project would coincide with a certain timecode position in the external device, using this menu item might be preferable. Move the project cursor to the desired position, select “Set Timecode at Cursor” and specify the corresponding time- code position in the dialog that appears – the Start value is adjusted accordingly. Notepad This opens a standard text notepad. Project Setup… This dialog contains general settings for a project. See the dialog help for specifics. Auto Fades Settings… This opens the Auto Fades dialog, where you can specify various fade options. Use the Help button in the dialog for details. Option Description Toggle Selected TracksReverses the fold state of the selected track, i.e. if the track was folded in (its elements (subtracks) were hid- den), it is now unfolded (all subtracks displayed) and vice versa. Fold Tracks Folds all open folder tracks in the Project window. The exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences. Unfold Tracks Unfolds in all open folder tracks in the Project window. The exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” setting in the Preferences. Flip Fold Status Flips the fold states of the tracks in the Project window. This means that all tracks that were folded in will be un- folded and all unfolded tracks will be folded in, respec- tively. Show All Used AutomationThis will open all used automation subtracks for all tracks. Hide All AutomationThis closes all open automation subtracks.
12 Menu Reference Audio menu Process Basically, you apply audio processing by making a selec- tion and selecting a function from the Process submenu. For details about the functions and parameters in the vari- ous processing dialogs, use the Help button in the corre- sponding dialog. Plug-ins (Cubase only) All installed effect plug-ins are available separately on the Audio menu. This allows you to apply effects processing to one or several selected events. Spectrum Analyzer (Cubase only) This function analyzes the selected audio, computes the average “spectrum” (level distribution over the frequency range) and displays this as a two-dimensional graph, with frequency on the x-axis and level on the y-axis. Statistics (Cubase only) The Statistics function analyzes the selected audio (events, clips or range selections) and displays a window with vari- ous information. Use the Help button in the dialog for details. Option Description Envelope The Envelope function allows you to apply a volume en- velope to the selected audio. Fade In/Out Allows you to set fade-ins and fade-outs. Gain Allows you to change the gain (level) of the selected au- dio. Merge ClipboardThis function mixes the audio from the clipboard into the audio selected for processing, starting at the beginning of the selection. For this function to be available, you need to have cut or copied a range of audio in the Sample Editor first. Noise Gate Scans the audio for sections weaker than a specified threshold level, and silences them. Normalize The Normalize function allows you to specify the desired maximum level of the audio. It then analyzes the selected audio and finds the current maximum level. Finally it sub- tracts the current maximum level from the specified level, and raises the gain of the audio by the resulting amount (if the specified maximum level is lower than the current maximum, the gain will be lowered instead). A common use for normalizing is to raise the level of audio that was recorded at too low an input level. Phase ReverseReverses the phase of the selected audio, turning the waveform “upside down”. Pitch Shift This function allows you to change the pitch of the audio with or without affecting its length. You can also create “harmonies” by specifying several pitches, or apply pitch shift based on a user specified envelope curve. Remove DC OffsetThis function will remove any DC offset in the audio se- lection. A DC offset is when there is too large a DC (di- rect current) component in the signal, sometimes visible as the signal not being visually centered around the “zero level axis”. DC offsets do not affect what you actually hear, but they affect zero crossing detection and certain processing, and it is recommended that you remove them. It is recommended that this function is applied to com- plete audio clips, since the DC offset (if any) is normally present throughout the entire recording. Resample This function changes the length, tempo and pitch of the audio by resampling it to a higher or lower sample rate. Reverse Reverses the audio selection, as when playing a tape backwards. Silence Replaces the selection with silence. Stereo Flip This function works with stereo audio selections only. It allows you to manipulate the left and right channel in var- ious ways. Time Stretch This function allows you to change the length and “tempo” of the selected audio, without affecting the pitch. Option Description
13 Menu Reference Hitpoints This submenu relates to Cubase’s special Hitpoint detec- tion functions. This is a special feature that detects transient attacks in audio material and adds a type of marker, a “hit- point” at each attack. Once the hitpoints have been cor- rectly set, you can slice up the file which amongst other things enables you to change the tempo without affecting pitch. The submenu contains the following items: Realtime Processing The items on this submenu relate to the realtime process- ing features in Cubase. The submenu contains the following items: Advanced The Advanced submenu contains the following items: Events to Part This allows you to create a part from selected audio events. Dissolve Part This menu item dissolves a selected audio part and makes any audio events it contains appear as independent ob- jects on the track. Option Description Calculate HitpointsInvokes the hitpoint calculation in the Sample Editor. Create Audio Slices from HitpointsSlices the event according to the hitpoints and adjusts the tempo of the loop to the current project tempo. Create Groove Quantize from HitpointsCreates a new groove quantize map according to the hit- points in the event. Create Markers from HitpointsCreates markers (on the Marker track) according to the hitpoints. Divide Audio Events at HitpointsSplits the event into several events, according to the hit- points. Remove HitpointsThis removes all hitpoints. Option Description Create Warp Tabs from HitpointsThis creates warp tabs from calculated hitpoints. This can be done by either directly selecting this item without creating hitpoints first, or by first creating and editing hit- points and then selecting this item. Quantize Audio This allows you to quantize audio according to the set quantize resolution in the Project. Flatten Time- stretch and TransposeThis allows you to flatten the realtime processing to con- serve CPU power. Unstretch AudioThis allows you to undo the realtime time stretching pro- cessing. For this item to be selectable an audio event has to be open in the Sample Editor. Option Description Detect Silence The Detect Silence function searches for silent sections in an event, and either splits the event, removing the silent parts from the project, or creates regions corresponding to the non-silent sections. Event or Range as RegionThis function is available when one or several audio events are selected or a selection range has been made encompassing one or several audio events. It creates a region in the corresponding clip, according to the follow- ing rules: position of the region will be determined by the start and end position of the event within the clip. ent, regions will be created be- tween each hitpoint. Events from RegionsThis function is available if you have selected an audio event whose clip contains regions within the boundaries of the event. The function will remove the original event and replace it with event(s) positioned and sized accord- ing to the region(s). Set Tempo from EventAdjusts the project tempo to the tempo detected in the edited loop. Close Gaps Applies time stretch to close the gaps between slices (typically when the project tempo is lower than the loop tempo). Stretch to Project TempoStretches the selected event(s) to fit the project tempo. Requires that hitpoints have been calculated for the event(s). Delete OverlapsUsed when recording audio in Stacked Cycle Recording mode. In this mode, each take (cycle lap) ends up on a separate lane on the track in the Project window. After editing the takes (composing a “perfect take” for exam- ple), you can select Delete Overlaps to return the sepa- rate takes to a single lane and remove all overlapped material – e.g. only the material that will be played back will be visible in the Project window.
14 Menu Reference Snap Point to Cursor This allows you to set the snap point to the current cursor position. Bounce Selection This allows you to create either a new clip or a new audio file from a selection. Find Selected in Pool This can be used to quickly find the clips in the Pool for events selected in the Project window. When this menu item is selected, the Pool opens with the corresponding clip(s) highlighted. Update Origin The original start position where a clip was recorded in the project is shown in the Pool’s “Origin Time” column. As this value can be used as a basis for the “Insert into Project” Media menu item (and other functions), you can change it if desired. This can be done by selecting the corresponding clip in the Pool, moving the project cursor to the new posi- tion and selecting this menu item. Crossfade This allows you to create a crossfade between two se- lected consecutive audio events. If the two events overlap, the crossfade will be applied to the overlapping area. If they do not overlap (but their respective audio clips do), the events are resized and a crossfade is applied in the overlapping range. Remove Fades This will remove any fades or crossfades from a selected event. Open Fade Editor(s) This opens the Fade dialog for a selected event. Note that this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and fade-out curves. Adjust Fades to Range This allows you to adjust a fade area according to a range selection. Fade In to Cursor (Cubase only) This applies a linear fade in from the start of the selected event(s) to the position of the project cursor. Fade Out to Cursor (Cubase only) This applies a linear fade out from the end of the selected event(s) to the position of the project cursor. Remove Volume Curve This will remove any event envelope curves for selected events. Offline Process History This opens the Offline Process History dialog. In the dia- log you can remove some or all processing previously ap- plied to a clip. See the dialog help for details. Freeze Edits This allows you to make any processing or applied effects permanent for a clip.
15 Menu Reference MIDI menu Open Key Editor This opens the Key Editor for the selected MIDI part(s) or track(s). This editor consists of a piano-roll type graphic interface, with the notes shown as boxes in a grid. Open Score Editor This opens the Score Editor where MIDI data is inter- preted as a musical score. Open Drum Editor This opens the Drum Editor which is designed especially for editing drum and percussion tracks. Open List Editor This opens the List Editor. In this editor, MIDI notes, con- trollers and other events are shown in a list. Open In-Place Editor This opens the In-Place Editor in the Project window. It looks like a miniature Key Editor and allows MIDI editing. Over Quantize Quantizing is a function that automatically moves re- corded notes, positioning them on exact note values. This quantizes the selected MIDI parts or notes, according to the current Quantize pop-up menu setting. Iterative Quantize Instead of moving a note to the closest quantize grid posi- tion, Iterative Quantize moves it only part of the way. You specify how much the notes should be moved towards the grid with the Iterative Strength setting in the Quantize Setup dialog. Quantize Setup… In the Quantize Setup dialog you can make various quan- tize settings. Advanced Quantize Transpose… This opens the Transpose dialog, where you can make transpose settings for selected notes. Merge MIDI in Loop This combines all MIDI events between the left and right locator on all unmuted tracks and generates a new MIDI part, containing all the events as you would hear them play back. The new part will end up on the selected track, be- tween the locators. You are asked whether to include MIDI insert effects and/or send effects and whether to overwrite (erase) the data on the destination track. A typical use for this is to “freeze” the settings you have made in the MIDI Track Inspector, applying e.g. MIDI ef- fects to a single part. Freeze MIDI Modifiers This function applies all filter settings to the respective track and (in contrast to Merge MIDI in Loop) takes the re- sult as the new standard. Option Description Quantize LengthsThis will quantize the length of the notes without chang- ing their start positions. At its most basic level, this func- tion will set the length of the notes to the Length Quantize value on the toolbar of the MIDI editors. Quantize Ends The Quantize Ends function on the Quantize submenu will only affect the end positions of notes. Apart from that, it works just like regular quantizing, taking the Quantize pop-up menu setting into account. Undo Quantize You can revert the selected MIDI notes to their original, unquantized state at any time. This is independent from the regular Undo History. Freeze Quantize There may be situations when you want to make the quantized positions “permanent”. For example, you may want to quantize notes a second time, having the results based on the current quantized positions rather than the original positions. To make this possible, select the notes in question and use this function. Part to Groove This menu item allows you to create a groove quantize map from a selected MIDI part.
16 Menu Reference Dissolve Part This item has two uses: To separate events according to MIDI channel when a MIDI Part contains events on different channels (MIDI channel “Any”). To separate MIDI events according to pitch. Drum tracks typically have separate drum sounds for each pitch. O-Note Conversion This function (only available if a drum map has been as- signed for the MIDI track) goes through the selected MIDI part(s) and sets the actual pitch of each note according to its O-note setting. This is useful if you want to convert the track to a “regular” MIDI track (with no drum map) and still have the notes play back the correct drum sound. Repeat Loop This menu item is only available if an Independent Track Loop has been set in one of the MIDI editors. When se- lected, the Events inside the loop range will be repeated until the end of the part. Events in the same part that fol- low the loop will be replaced by the events in the loop. Functions Option Description Legato Extends each selected note so that it reaches the next note. You can specify the desired gap or overlap with the “Legato Overlap” setting in the Preferences (Editing page). Fixed Lengths Resizes all selected notes to the length set with the Length Quantize pop-up menu on the MIDI Editor tool- bar. Delete Doubles Removes double notes, i.e. notes of the same pitch on the exact same position. Double notes can occur when recording in Cycle mode, after Quantizing, etc. This func- tion always affects whole MIDI parts. Delete ControllersRemoves all MIDI controller events from the selected MIDI parts. This function always affects whole MIDI parts. Delete Continuous ControllersRemoves all continuous MIDI controller events from the selected MIDI parts. On/Off events, such as sustain pedal events, are not removed. This function always af- fects whole MIDI parts. Delete Notes… Allows you to delete very short or weak notes. This is useful for automatically removing unwanted “ghost notes” after recording. Selecting “Delete Notes…” opens a dialog in which you set up the criteria for the function. Restrict PolyphonySelecting this item opens a dialog in which you can spec- ify how many “voices” should be used (for the selected notes or parts). Restricting the polyphony this way is use- ful when you have an instrument with limited polyphony and want to make sure all notes will be played. The effect is achieved by shortening notes as required, so that they end before the next note starts. Pedals to Note LengthThis function scans for sustain pedal on/off events, lengthens the affected notes to match the sustain pedal off position, and then removes the Sustain Controller on/ off events. Delete Overlaps (mono)This function allows you to make sure that no two notes of the same pitch overlap (i.e. that one starts before the other ends). Overlapping notes of the same pitch can confuse some MIDI instruments (a new Note On is trans- mitted before the Note Off is transmitted). This command can then be used to automatically rectify the problem. Delete Overlaps (poly)This function shortens notes when required, so that no note begins before another ends. This happens regard- less of which pitch the notes have. Velocity… Opens a dialog that allows you to manipulate the velocity of notes in various ways. Fixed Velocity This function sets the velocity of all selected notes to the Insert Velocity value on the toolbar in the MIDI Editors. Thin Out Data This thins out your MIDI data. Use this to ease the load on MIDI devices if you have recorded very dense controller curves etc. Extract MIDI AutomationThis option allows you to automatically convert continu- ous controller data of a MIDI part into MIDI track automa- tion data. Reverse This inverts the order of the selected events (or of all events in the selected parts), causing the MIDI music to play backwards. Note though, that the effect is different from reversing an audio recording. With MIDI, the individ- ual notes will still play as usual in the MIDI instrument – it’s only the order of playback that is changed. Merge Tempo from TappingIf you have freely recorded audio or MIDI and want to match the project tempo to that, you can tap the tempo by recording MIDI notes, select the recorded part and se- lect this function. This adapts the Tempo track to the tempo you have tapped, adding new tempo events where needed. Option Description
17 Menu Reference Logical Editor… This opens the Logical Editor where you can perform ad- vanced “search and replace” operations on MIDI data. Logical Presets This submenu contains various presets for use with the Logical Editor. Drum Map Setup… This is where you load, create, modify and save drum maps. The list to the left shows the currently loaded drum maps; selecting a drum map in the list displays its sounds and settings to the right. Insert Velocities… All MIDI editors feature an Insert Velocity pop-up, where one of five different velocity values can be selected when inserting notes. This menu item allows you to specify which five velocity values should be available on the Insert Velocity pop-up menu. Reset This function sends out note-off messages and resets controllers on all MIDI channels. You can use this if you experience hanging notes or stuck controllers etc. Scores menu Open Selection This opens the selected part(s) in the Score Editor. Open Layout… This opens a list of available score layouts, from which you can choose one to be applied to the selected part(s). Page Mode This option switches the score display to Page Mode, which shows how the score appears on printed pages. Some features of the Score Editor are only available in Page Mode. Settings… This opens the Score Settings dialog in which you can set the appearance and behavior of the score. Group/Ungroup Notes This function allows you to manually group and ungroup selected notes. Convert to Grace Note This allows you to manually convert one or more selected notes to grace notes. Build N-Tuplet… This allows you to create tuplets from selected notes, with or without changing the MIDI data. Insert Slur This option allows you to insert a slur over a selection of notes. Hide/Show This function toggles between the hiding and showing of objects. All objects can be hidden, e. g. notes, rests, sym- bols, clefs, bar lines and even entire staves. To make hid- den objects temporarily visible, activate the Hidden Notes checkbox on the display filter bar. To make them perma- nently visible, select them and click Hide/Show again.
18 Menu Reference Flip This allows you to flip a selected crescendo/diminuendo symbol. Align Elements Make Chord Symbols This analyzes the selected notes and displays the result- ing chord symbols. Make Guitar Symbols This analyzes the selected notes and displays the result- ing guitar chord symbols. Functions Auto Layout… Here you can set the preferences for the automatic layout of the Score Editor. Reset Layout… This function allows you to delete invisible layout ele- ments, which in effect restores the score to default set- tings. Enter your preferences in the dialog that opens. Advanced Layout Media menu Open Pool Window Opens the Pool. Open MediaBay Opens the MediaBay. Open Loop Browser Opens the Loop Browser. Open Sound Browser Opens the Sound Browser. Import Medium… The Import Medium dialog is used for importing files di- rectly into the Pool. Import Audio CD… This opens a dialog that allows you to import audio from audio CDs. Option Description Left/Right/ Top/BottomAligns the selected objects in the respective way. Center Vertical/ HorizontalCenters the selected objects in the respective way. Dynamics Aligns all selected dynamic symbols (e. g. crescendo) horizontally. Option Description Merge All StavesAllows you to combine up to four tracks into a new track with polyphonic voices. Extract Voices Allows you to extract 2-8 voices from a polyphonic track into new tracks of their own (reverse function to Merge All Staves). Explode Allows you to split the notes on a staff into different tracks. It is also possible to use this function to convert a poly- phonic staff into polyphonic voices. Scores Notes to MIDIConverts the score data, as displayed, into MIDI data. Lyrics From ClipboardInserts lyrics (written in another program) via the clip- board. For this, select the first note to which the lyrics should be added. Text From ClipboardInserts text (written in another program) via the clipboard. Find and ReplaceThis text function allows you to replace all occurrences of a certain word or group of words, regardless of their for- matting. Force Update Redraws the screen. Option Description Number of BarsHere you can set the desired number of bars across the page. Display MarkersActivate this to show the marker names. Marker Track to FormInserts rehearsal markers and double bar lines into the score.
19 Menu Reference Import Pool… (Cubase only) Steinberg’s Cubase applications, as well as Nuendo, can export the Pool as a separate file (file extension “.npl”). Such Pool files can be imported into Cubase by using the Import Pool command on the Media menu. When you im- port a Pool file, the file references in it are “added” to the current Pool. The audio and video files themselves are not saved in the Pool file, only a reference to them. For there to be any point in importing a Pool file, you need access to all refer- ence files (which preferably should have the same file paths as when the Pool was saved). Export Pool… (Cubase only) This allows you to export the pool as a separate file (see above). Find Missing Files… This opens the Resolve Missing Files dialog that can be used to find referenced files that may have been moved or renamed etc. In the dialog that appears, decide if you want the program to try to find the file for you (Search), if you want to do it yourself (Locate) or if you want to specify in which direc- tory the program should search for the file (Folder). Remove Missing Files If the Pool contains audio files that cannot be found or re- constructed, you may want to remove these: Select this item to remove all missing files from the Pool (and remove their corresponding events from the Project window). Reconstruct If a missing file cannot be found (e.g. if you have acciden- tally deleted it from the hard disk), it will normally be indi- cated with a question mark in the Status column in the Pool. However, if the missing file is an edit file (a file cre- ated when you process audio, stored in the Edits folder within the project folder), it may be possible for the pro- gram to reconstruct it by recreating the editing to the orig- inal audio file. Convert Files… This opens the Convert Options dialog which operates on selected files. Use the pop-up menus to specify which au- dio file attributes you want to keep and which you want to convert. Conform Files… This will change all selected files that have different file at- tributes to what is specified for the project, to conform to this standard. Extract Audio from Video File This allows you to extract the audio from a video file on disk, whereupon a new clip with the audio will appear in the Pool Record folder. The clip will get the same name as the video file from which it was extracted, and the sample rate and file format used in the project. Generate Thumbnail Cache This generates a thumbnail cache of the video, used for display in case of strained computing resources. Create Folder This allows you to create a new audio or video subfolder. Empty Trash To delete a file permanently from the hard disk, it must first be moved to the Trash folder. When clips are in the Trash folder they can be removed permanently by using this command. Remove Unused Media This function finds all clips in the Pool that are not used in the project, and either moves them to the Pool Trash folder where they can be permanently deleted, or removes them from the Pool. Prepare Archive… This command should be used when you want to archive a project. It checks that every clip referenced in the project is located in the same folder.
20 Menu Reference Set Pool Record Folder This is used to designate a new Pool Record folder. Se- lect the folder, and choose this command to change the Pool Record folder to the selected folder. Minimize File This allows you to change the size of audio files according to the audio clips referenced in a project. The files pro- duced using this option will only contain the audio file por- tions actually used in the project, which can significantly reduce the size of the project (given that large portions of the audio files are unused). New Version This allows you to create a new version of a selected clip. The new version appears in the same Pool folder, with the same name but with a “version number” after it, to indicate that the new clip is a duplicate. The first copy made of a clip will logically get the version number “2” and so on. ÖCopying a clip does not create a new file on disk, but just a new edit version of the clip (referring to the same original file). Insert into Project This allows you to insert clips selected in the Pool into the project, at the current cursor position or at the clip’s Ori- gin position. Select in Project If you want to find out which events in the project refer to a particular clip in the Pool you can use this function. Select the clip in the Pool, and use this menu item. The corre- sponding event(s) will then be selected in the Project win- dow. Search Media… You can perform a search of the Pool to locate particular clips or regions. You can specify various criteria to match in the dialog that appears. Transport menu Transport Panel This opens the Transport panel. Locators to Selection This will set the locators to encompass the current selec- tion or selection range. Locate Selection This moves the project cursor to the start of the current selection or selection range. Locate Selection End This moves the project cursor to the end of the current se- lection or selection range. Locate Next Marker This moves the project cursor to the next marker position. Locate Previous Marker This moves the project cursor to the previous marker posi- tion. Locate Next Event This moves the project cursor to the next event start or end on the selected track. Locate Previous Event This moves the project cursor to the previous event start or end on the selected track. Postroll from Selection Start/End This starts playback from the beginning or end of the cur- rently selected range and stops after the time set in the Postroll field on the Transport panel. Preroll to Selection Start/End This starts playback from a position before the start or end of the currently selected range and stops at the selection start or end, respectively. The playback start position is set in the Preroll field on the Transport panel.