Steinberg Cubase 4 Operation Manual

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Track Quick Controls 
						

							312
Track Quick Controls
Introduction
Cubase can give you instant access to up to eight para-
meters of each audio track, MIDI track or instrument track. 
This is done with the aid of the so-called quick controls, set 
up on the Quick Controls Inspector tab for these tracks.
The Quick Controls tab can be used as a kind of track con-
trol center, an area in which your most important parame-
ters are assembled in one place. This saves you from having 
to click your way through the various windows and sections 
pertaining to your track.
Also, Cubase allows you to assign these quick controls very 
quickly to an external remote control device. This gives you 
manual control of your most important track parameters.
Setting up the Quick Controls tab
The Quick Controls tab in the track Inspector is available 
for all audio tracks, MIDI tracks and Instrument tracks. It is 
displayed by default.
The Quick Controls tab in the Inspector.
Assigning parameters to quick controls
The opened Quick Controls tab shows eight slots, one for 
each quick control. To start with, these slots are empty. 
Proceed as follows to assign track parameters to the 
quick control slots:
1.In the Quick Controls tab, click on the first quick control 
slot.
A context menu is opened. This context menu lists all parameters currently 
accessible for this particular track. 
2.Double-click the parameter that you want to assign to 
the first quick control slot.
The parameter name and its value are displayed in the slot. You can 
change the value by dragging the quick control’s slider.
The track’s main volume parameter is assigned to quick control 1.
You can now repeat these steps for each quick control slot 
until all eight slots are associated with track parameters!
Renaming a quick control
By default, the parameter name as listed in the browser 
pop-up menu for available track parameters is displayed in 
the quick control slot.
To rename a quick control, simply double-click on the 
name in the slot to select it, enter a new name and press 
[Enter]. 
						

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Track Quick Controls
Replacing a quick control assignment
To replace a parameter assignment with a different pa-
rameter, click on the corresponding quick control slot and 
double-click on a different parameter in the browser pop-
up menu list.
The parameter assignment in this slot is changed.
Removing a quick control assignment
To remove a parameter from a slot, you have the following 
possibilities:
Double-click the parameter name to select it and press 
the [Delete] or [Backspace] key. Confirm this operation by 
pressing [Enter].
Click in the corresponding slot and select “No parame-
ter” from the browser pop-up menu.
The parameter assignment is removed, and the quick con-
trol slot is empty.
Options and settings
Quick control assignments are saved with the current 
project.
Since quick control settings are part of the track setup, 
you can save them as track presets, allowing you to re-use 
your settings across different projects.
Track presets are described in the chapter “Track Presets” on page 300.
You can automate all parameter settings on the Quick 
Controls tab using the Read/Write Enable buttons (R and 
W) at the top right.
The automation features of Cubase are described in detail in the chapter 
“Automation” on page 203.
Quick controls and automatable parameters
The quick controls feature has one special extension that 
should be used with caution: you can use quick controls 
not only to access certain parameters of the current track, 
but also to control all automatable parameters.
This makes it possible to use the Quick Controls tab of a 
dedicated track as a kind of “mini mixer”, controlling pa-
rameters on other tracks. Proceed as follows:
1.Create a new, empty audio track and open its Quick 
Controls tab.
This track has no events or parts.
2.Hold down the [Ctrl]/[Command] key and click on the 
slot for quick control 1.
The parameter selection context menu is opened, but it lists not the pa-
rameters of the current track, but all automatable parameters.
3.Click the + sign in the list to open the VST Mixer folder.
The pop-up lists all channels available in the mixer of your 
current project. 
4.Now assign a parameter of one particular channel to 
quick control 1, and another parameter of another channel 
to quick control 2. 
						

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Track Quick Controls Here, quick controls 1-8 have been set up to control the main volume of 
five audio tracks.
The Quick Controls tab has become a “secondary” mixer, 
dedicated to quick-controlling parameters on other tracks.
Setting up quick controls on an 
external remote controller
Quick controls become really powerful when used in com-
bination with a remote controller.
Setting up the connection between the slots on the Quick 
Controls Inspector tab and a remote control device is 
easy. Proceed as follows:
1.In Cubase, open the Device Setup dialog from the De-
vices menu.
2.In the Devices list on the left, select the Quick Con-
trols option.This will open the Quick Controls section on the right of 
the dialog:
3.With your remote controller device connected to Cu-
base via MIDI, select the corresponding MIDI port on your 
computer in the MIDI Input pop-up (or select “All MIDI In-
puts”).
If your remote controller has its own MIDI input and supports MIDI feed-
back, you can connect your computer to the device input. Then, select 
the corresponding MIDI port in the MIDI Output pop-up.
4.Click “Apply” to apply your settings.
5.Select “QuickControl1” in the “Control Name” column.
6.Move the control (knob, fader or other) on your remote 
control device that you want to use for the first quick con-
trol.
7.In the Device Setup dialog, click the Learn button.
8.Repeat the last 3 steps for the other quick controls.
You have now associated the slots on the Quick Control 
tab with control elements on your external remote control-
ler. Moving a control element will automatically change the 
value of the parameter assigned to the corresponding 
quick control.
The remote controller setup for quick controls is saved 
globally, i. e. independent of any projects.
If you have various remote controllers, you can store and load several 
quick control setups using the Export and Import buttons.
!Quick controls that are assigned that way cannot 
work when saved as track presets. 
						

							25
MIDI realtime parameters and effects 
						

							316
MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Introduction
For each MIDI track, you can set up a number of track pa-
rameters, or modifiers, and MIDI effects. These affect how 
the MIDI data is played back, “transforming” MIDI events 
in real time before they are sent to the MIDI outputs.
On the following pages, the available parameters and ef-
fects are described. Keep in mind:
 The actual MIDI events will not be affected – the changes 
happen “on the fly”.
 Since the modifier settings don’t change the actual MIDI data 
on the track, they will not be reflected in the MIDI editors. To 
convert the track settings to “real” MIDI events, use the Freeze 
MIDI Modifiers function or the Merge MIDI in Loop function 
(see “Making your settings permanent” on page 330).
The Inspector – General handling
The MIDI modifiers and effects are set up in the Inspector 
(although some settings are available in the mixer as well). 
Here’s a brief rundown on how to handle the Inspector:
To show or hide the Inspector, click the Inspector icon 
on the Project window toolbar.
For a MIDI track, up to eight sections (seven in Cubase 
Studio) are available. Which of these sections are dis-
played in the Inspector is determined in the setup context 
menu or the Setup dialog of the Inspector.
For information about setting up the Inspector, see “The Setup dialogs” 
on page 466.
You can fold or unfold the sections individually by click-
ing on the section name.
Clicking the name for a hidden section brings it to view and hides the 
other sections. [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the tab allows you to hide or 
show a section without affecting other sections. Finally, [Alt]/[Option]-
clicking a tab shows or hides all sections in the Inspector.
The Inspector for a MIDI track.
ÖFolding or hiding (via the Setup dialog) a section does 
not affect the functionality but merely hides the section 
from view. 
This means your settings will still be active even if you fold or hide the In-
spector settings. 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Basic track settings
The topmost Inspector section contains the basic settings 
for the selected MIDI track.
These are settings that either affect the basic functionality 
for the track (mute, solo, enable record, etc.) or send out 
additional MIDI data to the connected devices (program 
change, volume, etc.). The section contains all settings in 
the Track list (see “The Track list” on page 28), with a few 
additional parameters:  
ÖNote that the functionality of the Bank and Patch se-
lector settings (used for selecting sounds in the con-
nected MIDI instrument) depends on the instrument to 
which the MIDI output is routed, and how you have set it 
up in the MIDI Device Manager.
The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify which MIDI instruments 
and other devices are connected to the various MIDI outputs, thus mak-
ing it possible to select patches by name. See the separate PDF docu-
ment “MIDI Devices” for details about the MIDI Device Manager.
ÖMany of the basic track settings are duplicated in 
“mixer channel strip form” in the MIDI Fader section of the 
Inspector (see below).
Parameter Description
Track name
fieldClick once to show/hide the topmost Inspector section. 
Double-click to rename the track.
Edit button This opens the Channel Settings window for the track (a 
window showing a channel strip with volume fader and 
other controls, along with effect settings – see “Using 
Channel Settings” on page 133).
Mute/Solo 
buttonsMutes or solos the MIDI track.
Read/Write 
buttonsUsed for automating the track settings – see “Using 
Write/Read automation” on page 209.
Open Device 
Panels buttonCubase only: If the MIDI track is routed to a device with a 
panel, clicking this button opens the respective panel. 
For more information, see the separate PDF document 
“MIDI Devices”.
Input trans-
former buttonOpens the Input Transformer dialog, allowing you to 
transform incoming MIDI events in real time, see “The In-
put Transformer” on page 377.
Record enable 
buttonActivate this to make the track ready for recording.
Monitor button When this is activated (and the option “MIDI Thru Active” 
is activated in the Preferences–MIDI page), incoming 
MIDI will be routed to the selected MIDI output.
Toggle Time-
base buttonSwitches between musical (tempo related) and linear 
(time related) time base for the track. See “Switching 
between musical and linear time base” on page 42.
Lock button Activate this to disable all editing of all events on the 
track.
Lane Display 
Type buttonAllows you to divide the tracks in lanes. For more about 
lanes, see “Recording audio in Stacked mode” on page 
77.
Volume Use this to adjust the level for the track. Changing this 
setting will move the track’s fader in the mixer window, 
and vice versa. See “Setting volume in the mixer” on page 
128 for more about setting levels.
Pan Use this to adjust the panning of the track. 
Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the MIDI track. Posi-
tive values delay the playback while negative values 
cause the track to play earlier. The values are set in milli-
seconds.
In/Out/Chn 
pop-upsThis is where you select MIDI input, MIDI output and MIDI 
channel for the track.
Edit Instrument 
buttonIf the MIDI track is routed to a VST instrument, clicking 
this button opens the control panel for the VST instru-
ment.
Bank and Patch 
Selector pop-upAllows you to select a sound, see below. (If no bank is 
available, only the Patch selector is shown.)
Map pop-up Allows you to select a drum map for the track – see “Ma-
naging drum maps” on page 361.
Apply Track 
Preset buttonAllows you to apply a track preset, see “Applying track 
presets” on page 307. Parameter Description 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Other Inspector sections
Apart from the basic track settings (see above), the MIDI 
Modifiers (see “MIDI Modifiers” on page 319) and the ef-
fect sections (see “MIDI effects” on page 321), the Inspec-
tor for a MIDI track also contains the following sections:
The MIDI Fader section
This contains a single channel strip, allowing you to set 
volume, pan, mute/solo and other parameters for the track, 
and a panel view of the active sends/inserts. This is a “mir-
ror” of the track’s channel strip in the Cubase mixer – see 
“The MIDI channel strips” on page 127.
The Notepad section
This is a standard notepad, allowing you to enter notes 
and comments about the track. Each track has its own 
notepad in the Inspector.
VST Instrument section
If the MIDI track is routed to a VST Instrument, a new sub-
panel will appear at the bottom of the Inspector, labeled 
with the name of the VST instrument. Clicking this section 
shows a duplicate of the Inspector settings for the VST In-
strument channel. This makes it easy to adjust the channel 
settings for the VST Instrument while you are editing the 
MIDI track.
If the VST Instrument has multiple outputs (and thus 
several mixer channels), there will be a setting called 
“Output” at the top of the VST Instrument section.
New sub-panels will also be added in the following cases:
 When a MIDI track is routed to an external instrument or effect 
that has an associated MIDI Device. In this case, the new sub-
panel will get the name of the device.
 When a MIDI track is routed to an effect plug-in that also re-
ceives audio data, i.e. that is used as an insert effect for an au-
dio track (e.g. MIDI Gate), a sub-panel for this audio track 
appears in the MIDI track inspector. If a MIDI track is routed to a plug-in assigned to a FX Channel 
track, a corresponding FX sub-panel is added to the Inspector.
ÖFor an easy way to combine MIDI and VST instruments, 
check out instrument tracks (see “VST Instruments and In-
strument tracks” on page 182).
User Panel section (Cubase only)
This allows you to display MIDI device panels, which are 
control panels for external hardware. This is described in 
the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
Quick Controls section
This allows you to configure quick controls, e.g. to use re-
mote devices. See the chapter “Track Quick Controls” on 
page 311. 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
MIDI Modifiers 
The following settings will affect the MIDI events on the 
track in real time during playback. They will also be in ef-
fect if you play “live” with the track selected and record 
enabled (provided that “MIDI Thru Active” is activated on 
the Preferences–MIDI page). This makes it possible to e. g. 
transpose or adjust the velocity of your live playing.
ÖIf you want to compare the result of your modifier set-
tings with the “unprocessed” MIDI, you can use the By-
pass button in the MIDI Modifiers section.
When this is activated, the MIDI Modifiers settings will be temporarily 
disabled. A bypassed section is indicated by a yellow Bypass button.
Transpose
This allows you to transpose all notes on the track in semi-
tones. The available range is -127 to +127 semitones, but 
remember that the total range of MIDI note numbers is 0 
to 127. Furthermore, not all instruments can play back 
notes over the whole range. Therefore, extreme transposi-
tions can give rather strange and unwanted results.
You can also transpose individual MIDI parts using the 
Transpose field in the info line.
The transposition in the info line (for the individual part) is added to the 
transpose value you have set up for the whole track in the Inspector.
ÖThis setting is also affected by the global Transpose 
settings. For detailed information, see the chapter “The 
Transpose functions” on page 111.
Velocity Shift
This setting lets you change the dynamics of all notes on 
the track. The value in this field is added to the velocity of 
each note message that is sent out (use negative values to 
lower the velocities). The range is -127 to +127 with 0 
representing no change in velocity.
Note that the effect of changing the velocity depends on 
the sound and instrument.
ÖYou can also adjust the velocity of events in individual 
MIDI parts using the Velocity field in the info line.
The velocity shift in the info line (for the individual part) is added to the 
velocity shift you have set up for the whole track in the Inspector.
Velocity Compression
This function multiplies the velocity values with the factor 
you specify. This factor is set using a numerator (left value) 
and a denominator (right value), resulting in a fractional 
number (1/2, 3/4, 3/2 etc.). For example, if you set the 
factor to 3/4, the velocities will be three quarters of their 
original values. This will also affect the difference in veloc-
ity between the notes, thus compressing or expanding the 
velocity scale. Typically, you would combine this setting 
with the Velocity Shift parameter. An example:
Let’s say you have three notes with the velocity values 60, 
90 and 120, and wish to “even out” the velocity differ-
ences somewhat. If you set the Velocity Compression 
value to 1/2, the notes will play back with the velocities 
30, 45 and 60. By adding 60 in the Velocity Shift field, the 
notes will play back with the velocities 90, 105 and 120, 
meaning you have compressed the velocity range. 
In a similar way, you can use Velocity Compression values 
greater than 1/1 together with negative values in the Ve-
locity Shift field, to expand the velocity range.
Length Compression
This value adjusts the lengths of all notes on the track. As 
with Velocity Compression, the value is set with a numer-
ator and denominator. For example, the value 2/1 means 
that all note lengths will be doubled, while 1/4 means all 
note lengths will be a quarter of the actual lengths.
!Remember that the maximum velocity is always 127 
no matter how much you try to expand. 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Random
The Random settings let you introduce random variations 
to various properties of MIDI notes. Anything from very 
subtle variations to dramatic changes can be applied. 
There are two separate “random generators”, set up in the 
following way:
1.Pull down the Random pop-up menu and select which 
note property should be randomized.
The options are position, pitch, velocity and length. 
ÖKeep in mind that depending on the content of the 
track, certain parameter changes might not be immedi-
ately noticeable or have any effect at all (as would be the 
case if applying random length to a percussion track play-
ing “one-shot” samples for example). 
To best audition the random changes, choose a track with clearly defined 
rhythm and note content (as opposed to a string pad).
2.Set the desired range of random deviation by entering 
values in the two number fields.
The two values govern the limits of the randomization, so that the values 
will vary between the left value and the right value (you cannot set the left 
value higher than the right value). The maximum random range for each 
property is listed in the table below: 
ÖYou can make independent settings for the two ran-
dom generators.
To deactivate the Random function, pull down the Ran-
dom pop-up menu(s) and select “OFF”.
Range
The Range function lets you specify a note (pitch) or ve-
locity range and either force all notes to fit within this 
range, or exclude all notes outside this range from play-
back. As with the Random function, there are two sepa-
rate Range settings. Set them up as follows:
1.Pull down the Range pop-up menu and select one of 
the following four modes:
2.Use the two fields to the right to set the minimum and 
maximum values.
These values will be shown as numbers (0-127) for the velocity modes 
and as note numbers (C-2 to G8) for the pitch modes.
ÖNote that you can make independent settings for the 
two Range functions.
To deactivate the Range function, pull down the Range 
pop-up menu(s) and select “OFF”.
Property Range
Position -500 to +500 ticks
Pitch -120 to +120 semitones
Velocity -120 to +120 
Length -500 to +500 ticks
Mode Description
Vel. Limit This function affects all velocity values outside the speci-
fied range. Velocity values below the Min setting (the 
lower limit of the range) are set to the Min value, and ve-
locity values above the Max setting are set to the Max 
value. Notes with velocity values within the set range are 
not affected. Use this if you want to force all velocity val-
ues to fit within a certain range.
Vel. Filter Velocity Filter works by excluding all notes with velocity 
values outside the specified range. Notes with velocity 
values below the Min setting or above the Max setting will 
not be played back. Use this to “isolate” notes with cer-
tain velocity values.
Note Limit This function allows you to specify a pitch range, and 
forces all notes to fit within this range. Notes outside the 
specified range are transposed up or down in octave 
steps until they fit within the range.
Note: If the range is too “narrow”, so that some notes 
cannot be fit within the range by octave-transposing, 
these notes will get a pitch in the middle of the range. For 
example, if you have a note with a pitch of F3, and the 
range is C4-E4, that note will be transposed to D4.
Note Filter Note Filter works by excluding all notes with pitches out-
side the specified range. Notes lower than the Min set-
ting or higher than the Max setting will not be played 
back. Use this to “isolate” notes with certain pitches.