Steinberg Cubase 5.5 New Features Manual

							41
The Sample Editor
The Overview line
The Overview line displays the whole clip. The section cur-
rently shown in the main waveform display of the Sample 
Editor (the viewing area) is indicated by a rectangle in the 
Overview line, and the current selection range is also 
shown. If the “Show Audio Event” button is activated on the 
toolbar, event start/end and snap point are shown in the 
Overview line.
•To view other sections of the clip, move the viewing 
area in the Overview line.
Click in the lower half of the viewing area and drag to the left or right to 
move it.
•To zoom in or out, horizontally, resize the viewing area 
by dragging its left or right edge.
•To define a new viewing area, click in the upper half of 
the Overview and drag a rectangle. 
The ruler
The Sample Editor ruler is located between the Overview 
line and the waveform display. The ruler is explained in de-
tail in the chapter “The Project window” in the Operation 
Manual. When the Definition tab is open, an additional 
ruler displays the musical structure of the audio file.
The waveform display and the level scale
The waveform display shows the waveform image of the 
edited audio clip according to the wave image style set in 
the Preferences dialog (Event Display–Audio page), see 
the chapter “The Project window” in the Operation Man-
ual. To the left of the waveform display a level scale is 
shown, indicating the amplitude of the audio.
•You can select whether the level is shown as a percent-
age or in dB.
This is done by opening the level scale pop-up menu at the top of the 
level scale and selecting an option. 
•Select the “Show Half Level Axis” option on the context 
menu of the waveform display, if you want the half level 
axes to be shown.
Event start Event end
Viewing areaSelection
Snap point
Half level axis 
						

							42
The Sample Editor
Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the 
standard zoom procedures, with the following special 
notes to keep in mind:
•The vertical zoom slider changes the vertical scale rela-
tive to the height of the editor window, in a way similar to 
the waveform zooming in the Project window (see the 
chapter “The Project window” in the Operation Manual).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if the “Zoom Tool Standard Mode: 
Horizontal Zooming Only” preference (Editing–Tools page) is deactivated 
and you drag a rectangle with the Zoom tool.
The following options relevant to the Sample Editor are 
available on the Zoom submenu of the Edit menu or the 
context menu:
•When the VariAudio tab is active (see “VariAudio” on 
page 57), you can also zoom by holding down [Alt]/[Op-
tion] while drawing a selection rectangle around the seg-
ments that you want to zoom in on. You can zoom out by 
holding down [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in an empty area 
of the waveform.
•The current zoom setting is shown in the info line, as a 
“samples per screen pixel” value.
ÖYou can zoom in horizontally to a scale of less than one 
sample per pixel! This is required for drawing with the Pen-
cil tool (see “Drawing in the Sample Editor” on page 46).•If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, the 
appearance of the samples depends on the “Interpolate 
Audio Images” option in the Preferences dialog (Event Dis-
play–Audio page).
If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If 
the option is activated, they are interpolated to a “curve” form.
Auditioning
While you can use the regular play commands to play 
back audio when the Sample Editor is open, it is often 
useful to listen to the edited material only.
ÖWhen auditioning, audio is routed to the Control Room 
(if activated) or to the Main Mix (the default output bus). 
Clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar plays back the 
edited audio, according to the following rules:
• If you have made a selection, this selection will be played back.
• If there is no selection and “Show Event” is deactivated, play-
back will start at the cursor position.
• If the Audition Loop icon is activated, playback will continue 
repeatedly until you deactivate the Audition Loop icon. Other-
wise, the section will be played back once.
ÖThere is a separate Play button for auditioning regions, 
see “Auditioning regions” on page 46.
Using the Speaker tool
If you click somewhere in the waveform display with the 
Speaker (“Play”) tool and keep the mouse button pressed, 
the clip is played back from the position where you click. 
Playback will continue until you release the mouse button.
Using Acoustic Feedback
If you activate the “Acoustic Pitch Feedback” button on 
the toolbar, the audio will be played back when you edit it 
vertically, i. e. when you change the pitch. This way you 
can easily audition your modifications. 
Option Description
Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole clip is visible in the editor.
Zoom to 
SelectionZooms in so that the current selection fills the editor 
display.
Zoom to 
Selection (Horiz.)Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection fills 
the editor display.
Zoom to Event Zooms in so that the editor shows the section of the 
clip corresponding to the edited audio event. This is 
not available if you have opened the Sample Editor 
from the Pool (in which case the whole clip is opened 
for editing, not an event).
Zoom In/Out 
VerticallyThis is the same as using the vertical zoom slider (see 
above).
Undo/Redo 
ZoomThese options allow you to undo/redo the last zoom 
operation.  
						

							43
The Sample Editor
Using key commands
If you activate the “Playback Toggle triggers Local Pre-
view” option in the Preferences dialog (Transport page), 
you can start/stop auditioning by pressing [Space]. This is 
the same as clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar.
ÖThe Sample Editor also supports the “Preview start” 
and “Preview stop” key commands in the Media category 
of the Key Commands dialog. These key commands stop 
the current playback, whether you are in normal playback 
or in audition mode.
Scrubbing
The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio 
by playing back, forwards, or backwards, at any speed:
1.Select the Scrub tool.
2.Click in the waveform display and keep the mouse 
button pressed.
The project cursor is moved to the position where you clicked.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The audio is played back. The speed and pitch of the playback depend 
on how fast you drag.
Adjusting the snap point
The snap point is a marker within an audio event. It is used 
as a reference position when you move events with snap 
activated, so that the snap point is “magnetic” to whatever 
snap positions you have selected.
By default, the snap point is set at the beginning of the au-
dio event, but often it is useful to move the snap point to a 
“relevant” position in the event, such as a downbeat.
To adjust the snap point, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the “Show Audio Event” option on the tool-
bar, so that the event is displayed in the editor.
2.If needed, scroll until the event is visible, and locate 
the “S” flag in the event.
If you have not adjusted this previously, it is located at the beginning of 
the event.
3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired position.
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project cursor at the de-
sired position, and selecting “Snap Point To Cursor” on the Audio menu.
The snap point will be set to the position of the cursor. 
This method can also be used in the Project window and 
the Audio Part Editor.
It is also possible to define a snap point for a clip (for 
which there is no event yet).
To open a clip in the Sample Editor, double-click it in the 
Pool. After having set the snap point you can insert the 
clip into the project from the Pool or the Sample Editor 
with the set snap point position.
Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, click and 
drag with the Range Selection tool.
!When you set the grid start on the Definition tab, the 
snap point is moved to the grid start (see “Manual 
Adjust” on page 49).
!Events and clips can have different snap points. If 
you open a clip from the Pool you can edit the clip 
snap point. If you open a clip from within the project 
window, you can edit the event snap point. The clip 
snap point serves as a template for the event snap 
point. However, it is the event snap point that is 
taken into account when snapping.
A selected range 
						

							44
The Sample Editor
•If “Snap to Zero Crossing” is activated on the toolbar, 
the selection’s start and end are always at zero crossings.
•You can resize the selection by dragging its left and 
right edge or by [Shift]-clicking.
•The current selection is indicated in the corresponding 
fields on the Range tab of the Sample Editor Inspector.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values. Note that the 
values are relative to the start of the clip, rather than to the project timeline.
Using the Select menu
On the Select menu on the Range tab and in the Select 
submenu of the Edit menu you find the following options:
Editing selection ranges
Selections in the Sample Editor can be processed in sev-
eral ways. 
If you attempt to edit an event that is a shared copy (i. e. 
the event refers to a clip that is used by other events in the 
project), you are asked whether you want to create a new 
version of the clip.
•Select “New Version” if you want the editing to affect 
the selected event only. Select “Continue” if you want the 
editing to affect all shared copies.
ÖIf you activate the “Please, don’t ask again” option in 
the dialog, any further editing will conform to the selected 
method (“Continue” or “New Version”). You can change 
this setting at any time with the “On Processing Shared 
Clips” pop-up menu in the Preferences dialog (Editing–
Audio page).
•Any changes to the clip are shown in the Offline Pro-
cess History, making it possible to undo them later (see 
the chapter “Audio processing and functions” in the Op-
eration Manual).
Cut, Copy, and Paste
The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands (on the Edit menu, 
on the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in 
the main Edit menu) work according to the following rules:
•Selecting Copy copies the selection to the clipboard.
•Selecting Cut removes the selection from the clip and 
moves it to the clipboard.
The section to the right of the selection is moved to the left to fill the gap.
•Selecting Paste copies the data from the clipboard into 
the clip.
If there is a selection in the editor, this is replaced by the pasted data. If 
there is no selection, the pasted data is inserted starting at the project 
cursor. The section to the right of the line is moved to make room for the 
pasted material.
Option Description
Select All Selects the whole clip.
Select None Selects no audio (the selection length is set to “0”).
Select in Loop Selects all audio between the left and right locator.
Select  Event Selects only the audio that is included in the edited event. 
This is grayed out if you have opened the Sample Editor 
from the Pool (in which case the whole clip is opened for 
editing, not an event).
If the VariAudio tab is open and your audio file is split into 
separate segments (see “Segments mode” on page 59), 
all segments are selected.
Locators to
Selection 
(Range tab 
only)Sets the locators to encompass the current selection. 
This is available if you have selected one or several 
events or made a selection range.
Locate Selection 
(Range tab only)Moves the project cursor to the beginning or end of the 
current selection. For this to be available, you must have 
selected one or more events or parts, or made a selec-
tion range.
Loop Selection 
(Range tab only)This activates playback from the start of the current se-
lection and keeps starting over again when reaching the 
selection end.
From Start 
to Cursor (Edit 
menu only)Selects all audio between the clip start and the project 
cursor.
From Cursor 
to End (Edit 
menu only)Selects all audio between the project cursor and the 
end of the clip. For this to work, the project cursor must 
be within the clip boundaries.
Equal Pitch - 
all Octaves/
same OctaveThis function requires that the audio event has been an-
alyzed using the VariAudio features and that one or sev-
eral notes are selected. These options select all notes of 
this event that have the same pitch as the currently se-
lected note(s) (in any octave or in the current octave).
Left Selection 
Side to Cursor 
(Edit menu only)Moves the left side of the current selection range to the 
project cursor position. For this to work, the cursor must 
be within the clip boundaries. This function is not avail-
able for VariAudio segments.
Right Selection 
Side to Cursor 
(Edit menu only)Moves the right side of the current selection range to 
the project cursor position (or the end of the clip, if the 
cursor is to the right of the clip). This function is not 
available for VariAudio segments. Option Description 
						

							45
The Sample Editor
Delete
Selecting Delete (on the Edit menu, on the Process tab of 
the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the main Edit menu) re-
moves the selection from the clip. The section to the right 
of the selection is moved to the left to fill the gap.
Insert Silence
Selecting “Insert Silence” (on the Edit menu, on the Pro-
cess tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the Range 
submenu of the main Edit menu) inserts a silent section 
with the same length as the current selection, at the selec-
tion start.
•The selection is not replaced, but moved to the right to 
make room. 
If you want to replace the selection, use the “Silence” function instead (see 
the chapter “Audio processing and functions” in the Operation Manual).
Processing
The Processing features (on the Select Process menu, on 
the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector, or in the 
Process submenu of the Audio menu) can be applied to 
selections in the Sample Editor, as well as the effects (on 
the Select Plug-in menu on the Process tab of the Sample 
Editor Inspector or in the Plug-ins submenu of the Audio 
menu). For more information, see the chapter “Audio pro-
cessing and functions” in the Operation Manual. 
Creating a new event from the selection using drag & drop
To create a new event that plays only the selected range, 
proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Drag the selection range to an audio track in the 
Project window.
Creating a new clip or audio file from the selection
To extract a selection from an event and either create a 
new clip or a new audio file, proceed as follows:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Open the context menu and select “Bounce Selec-
tion” from the Audio submenu.
A new clip is created and added to the Pool, and another 
Sample Editor window opens with the new clip. This clip 
refers to the same audio file as the original clip, but con-
tains the audio corresponding to the selection range only.
Working with regions
Regions are sections within a clip. One of the main uses 
for regions is Cycle recording, in which the different 
“takes” are stored as regions (see the chapter “Record-
ing” in the Operation Manual). You can also use this fea-
ture for marking important sections in the audio clip. 
Regions can be dragged into the Project window from the 
Sample Editor or the Pool to create new audio events. 
Regions are best created, edited, and managed in the 
Sample Editor.
Creating and removing regions
1.Select the range that you want to convert into a region.
2.Click the “Set up Window Layout” button and activate 
the Regions option.
The regions list is displayed on the right.
3.Click the Add Region button above the regions list (or 
select “Event or Range as Region” from the Advanced 
submenu of the Audio menu).
A region is created, corresponding to the selected range.
4.To name the region, double-click on it in the list and 
enter a new name.
Using this procedure, regions can be renamed at any time.
•When you click on a region in the regions list, it is in-
stantly displayed in the Sample Editor.
•To remove a region from a clip, select it in the list and 
click the Remove Region button above the list.
Creating regions from hitpoints
If your audio event contains calculated hitpoints, you can 
choose to automatically create regions from hitpoints. This 
can be useful to isolate recorded sounds. For further infor-
mation on hitpoints, see “Working with hitpoints and 
slices” on page 53. 
						

							46
The Sample Editor
Editing regions
The region selected in the list is displayed in gray in the 
waveform display and the overview line.
There are two ways to edit the start and end positions of a 
region:
•Click and drag the region start and end handles in the 
waveform display (with any tool).
When you move the pointer over the handles, it automatically changes to 
indicate that you can drag the handles.
•Edit the Start and End positions in the corresponding 
fields in the regions list.
The positions are shown in the display format selected for the ruler and 
info line, but are relative to the start of the audio clip rather than the 
project timeline.
Auditioning regions
You can listen to a region by selecting it in the list and 
clicking the Play Region button above the list. The region 
will play back once or repeatedly, depending on whether 
the Loop icon on the toolbar is activated or not.
You can also listen to a region by selecting it in the list and 
clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar. This way you can 
preview separate regions by clicking on them in the list or 
by selecting them with the up/down arrow keys on your 
computer keyboard.
Making selections from regions
If you select a region in the list and click the Select Region 
button above, the corresponding section of the audio clip 
is selected (as if you had selected it with the Range Se-
lection tool) and zoomed. This is useful if you want to ap-
ply processing to the region only. 
ÖYou can also double-click a region in the Pool to have 
its audio clip opened in the Sample Editor with the area of 
the region automatically selected.
Creating audio events from regions
To create new audio events from regions using drag & 
drop, proceed as follows:
1.In the list, click on the region and keep the mouse but-
ton pressed.
2.Drag the region to the desired position in the project 
and release the mouse button.
A new event is created.
•You can also use the “Events from Regions” function 
from the Advanced submenu of the Audio menu (see the 
chapter “The Project window” in the Operation Manual).
Exporting regions as audio files
If you create a region in the Sample Editor, the region can 
be exported to disk as a new audio file. This is done from 
the Pool, see the chapter “The Pool” in the Operation Man-
ual.
Drawing in the Sample Editor
It is possible to edit the audio clip at sample level by draw-
ing with the Pencil tool. This can be useful if you need to 
manually edit out a spike or click, etc.
Proceed as follows:
1.Zoom in to a zoom value lower than 1.
This means that there is more than one screen pixel per sample.
2.Select the Pencil tool.
3.Click and draw at the desired position in the waveform 
display.
When you release the mouse button, the edited section is automatically 
selected.
ÖThe Pencil tool cannot be used when the VariAudio 
tab is open. 
						

							47
The Sample Editor
Options and settings
Show Audio Event
When the “Show Audio Event” button is activated on the 
toolbar, the section corresponding to the edited event is 
highlighted in the waveform display and the Overview. The 
sections of the audio clip not belonging to the event are 
shown with a gray background.
•In this mode, you can adjust the start and end of the 
event in the clip by dragging the event handles in the 
waveform display.
Snap
The Snap function helps you to find exact positions when 
editing in the Sample Editor by restricting horizontal 
movement and positioning to certain grid positions. You 
turn Snap on or off by clicking the Snap button in the 
Sample Editor toolbar.
ÖThe Sample Editor Snap function is independent of 
the Snap setting in the Project window toolbar or other 
editors. It has no effect outside the Sample Editor.
Snap to Zero Crossing
When this option is activated, editing is done at zero 
crossings (positions in the audio where the amplitude is 
zero). This helps you to avoid pops and clicks which might 
otherwise be caused by sudden amplitude changes.
ÖIf hitpoints have been calculated, these are also taken 
into account when snapping to zero crossings.ÖThe Sample Editor function “Snap to Zero Crossing” 
is independent of the same setting in the Project window 
toolbar or other editors. It has no effect outside the Sam-
ple Editor.
Auto-Scroll
When the Auto-Scroll option is activated on the Sample 
Editor toolbar, the waveform display will scroll during play-
back, keeping the project cursor visible in the editor.
ÖThis setting is independent of the Auto-Scroll setting 
in the Project window toolbar or other editors.
AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio
AudioWarp means realtime time stretching functions in 
Cubase. The main AudioWarp features are tempo match-
ing audio loops to the project tempo and matching up an 
audio clip with fluctuating tempo to a fixed tempo.
Musical Mode
If you want to tempo match an audio loop to the project 
tempo, you will normally work with loops with straight 
beats. In this case you only need to activate the Musical 
Mode on the toolbar. 
The Musical Mode is one of the key AudioWarp features. 
It allows you to lock audio clips to the project tempo by 
using realtime time stretching. This is very useful if you 
want to use loops in your project without worrying too 
much about timing.
!This button is only available if you have opened the 
Sample Editor by double-clicking an audio event in 
the Project window or the Audio Part Editor. It is not 
available if you have opened the audio event from the 
Pool. 
						

							48
The Sample Editor
When Musical Mode is activated, audio events will adapt 
to any tempo changes in Cubase, just like MIDI events.
You can activate Musical Mode on the AudioWarp tab, the Definition 
tab, and the toolbar.
It is also possible to activate/deactivate Musical Mode 
from within the Pool by clicking the corresponding check-
box in the Musical Mode column. 
To tempo match an audio loop to the project tempo, pro-
ceed as follows: 
1.Import your loop into the project and double-click it to 
open the Sample Editor.
If you open the Definition tab and take a look at the rulers, you will see that 
the project tempo grid (upper ruler) and the grid of your audio (lower ruler) 
do not match.
2.Activate the Musical Mode button on the toolbar.
Your clip is warped and stretched automatically to adapt it to the project 
tempo. The rulers reflect the change.
In the Project window, the audio event is now shown with 
a note symbol and a double arrow in the bottom right cor-
ner to indicate that Musical Mode is activated.
The Musical Mode state is saved with the project. This al-
lows you to import files into the project with Musical Mode 
already activated. The tempo is also saved when exporting 
files.
Auto Adjust
If you want to use an audio file with unknown tempo or if 
the beat of your loop is not straight, you have to change 
the “definition” of this audio file first. This is done with the 
Auto Adjust function on the Definition tab of the Sample 
Editor Inspector.
The Auto Adjust function quantizes your audio automati-
cally, i. e. the transients are moved to exact note values in 
the audio grid. 
!Cubase supports ACID® loops. These loops are 
standard audio files but with embedded tempo/length 
information. When ACID® files are imported into Cu-
base, Musical Mode is automatically activated and the 
loops will adapt to the project tempo. 
						

							49
The Sample Editor
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Sample Editor and define a selection range 
for your audio clip. 
Alternatively, you can define a range by setting the start and end of the 
audio event. 
2.Open the Definition tab and click the Auto Adjust 
button.
The transients, i. e. the significant positions of your audio are moved to 
exact note values in the audio grid.
3.Activate the Musical Mode button on the toolbar.
Your clip is warped and stretched automatically to adapt it to the project 
tempo. The rulers reflect the change.
You can see that the event snap point is moved to the 
start of the selected range. If you take a look at the lower 
ruler, you will see that red vertical lines are shown. These 
indicate that your audio has been aligned to bar and beat 
positions.
Manual Adjust
You might have a very special loop where the automatic 
function does not lead to satisfying results. In this case 
you can manually adjust the grid and tempo of your audio 
file. Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Definition tab in the Sample Editor Inspector 
and activate the Manual Adjust tool.
2.Select a suitable value from the Grid pop-up menu.
This determines the grid resolution for your audio. The vertical lines of the 
grid represent bar positions, and the red vertical lines beat positions.
3.Move the mouse pointer to the beginning of the audio 
file until the tooltip “Set Grid Start” is displayed.
The mouse pointer turns into a double arrow to indicate that you can edit 
the time grid for the audio file.
4.Click and drag to the right to set the grid start at the 
first downbeat, and release the mouse button.
The lower ruler (for the audio) changes to reflect your edits. 
5.Audition the file to determine where the second bar in 
the sample begins.
6.In the upper part of the waveform, move the mouse 
pointer to the vertical line nearest to the second bar so 
that the tooltip “Stretch Grid” and a blue vertical line are 
shown.
The functionality of the Manual Adjust tool changes depending on its po-
sition, e. g. if applied in the lower part of the waveform on a vertical line, it 
is used to set a bar position, see below. 
						

							50
The Sample Editor
7.Click and drag the blue vertical line to the left or right 
to the position of the first downbeat in the second bar and 
release the mouse button.
The beginning of the next bar is set, and all following bars are stretched 
or compressed by the same amount.
8.Check the positions of the following bars and, if nec-
essary, move the mouse pointer over the grid lines in the 
lower part of the waveform until the tooltip “Set Bar Posi-
tion (Move Following Bars)” and a green vertical line are 
shown.
This allows you to set the bar positions. When you drag the mouse, the 
beginning of the next bar is set, and the tempo of the previous bar is 
changed.
9.Now have a look at the single beats in between the 
bars and, if necessary, move the mouse pointer to a beat 
position to adjust them.
The Set Beat Position function is displayed with a light blue line. Drag it 
until the single beat position is aligned with the waveform, and release 
the mouse button. 
•If you are not satisfied with a specific edit, you can hold 
down any modifier key and click on the adjusted grid line 
(bar or beat).
The Eraser tool appears together with a tooltip indicating that you can re-
move your edit.
When you are done, you can activate Musical Mode to ad-
just your audio loop to the project tempo.
Applying swing
If you find that your audio sounds too straight, e. g. after 
having quantized it with the Auto Adjust function, you can 
add swing. Proceed as follows:
1.Activate Musical Mode.
2.On the AudioWarp tab, select a suitable grid resolu-
tion from the Resolution pop-up menu.
This defines the positions that the swing is applied to. If you select 1/2, 
the swing is applied in steps of half notes, if you select 1/4, it is applied 
in steps of quarter notes, etc.
3.Move the Swing fader to the right to offset every sec-
ond position in the grid.
This creates a swing or shuffle feel. 
Depending on how far you move the fader to the right and 
what grid resolution you chose, this function offers every-
thing from half-note swing to 64th-note swing.