Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

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The Sample Editor
Window overview
The Elements menu
If you hold [Alt]/[Option] and right-click in the Sample Ed-
itor to bring up the context menu, you will find a submenu 
called “Elements”. By activating or deactivating options on 
this submenu, you specify what is shown in the editor win-
dow. Some of these options are also available as icons on 
the toolbar.
ÖProvided that the “Popup Toolbox on Right Click” op-
tion in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Tools page) is ac-
tivated, a right-click holding a modifier key brings up the 
context menu.
The toolbar
The toolbar contains the following tools:
To the right of the tools the estimated length of your audio 
file is displayed in bars and beats (PPQ) together with the 
estimated tempo and the time signature. If you want to use 
Musical mode, you should always verify if the length in bars 
corresponds to the audio file you imported. If necessary, 
listen to your audio and enter the correct bar length. The 
Algorithm pop-up allows you to select an algorithm for the 
realtime time stretching (see “Selecting an algorithm for 
the flattening (Cubase only)” on page 241).
The Sample 
Editor toolsAudition, Loop & 
Volume controls
Solo EditorAcoustic 
Feedback
Autoscroll
Show 
Inspector
Snap 
on/off Show Audio event Show Info
Show 
regionsSuspend Autoscroll 
when editing
Snap to Zero 
CrossingMusical Mode 
						

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The Sample Editor
You can customize the toolbar by right-clicking it and 
using the context menu to hide or show items.
Selecting Setup from the context menu allows you to 
rearrange sections on the toolbar, store toolbar presets, 
etc. See “Using the Setup options” on page 471.
The info line
If you activate the Show Info button on the toolbar, the info 
line will show information about the edited audio clip:
Initially, length and position values are displayed in the for-
mat specified in the Project Setup dialog. The info line can 
be customized, see “The Setup dialogs” on page 471. 
The Sample Editor Inspector
To the left in the Sample Editor, you will find the Sample 
Editor Inspector. It contains all the tools and functions for 
working in the Sample Editor. 
For more information on the handling of the various Inspec-
tor tabs, see the section “The Inspector” on page 29.
The Definition tab
The Definition tab will help you to adjust the audio grid and 
define the musical context of your audio. This is useful, if 
you have an audio loop or audio file that you want to match 
to the project tempo, see “AudioWarp: Tempo matching 
audio” on page 231.
The AudioWarp tab
The AudioWarp tab lets you perform timing settings for 
your audio. This includes setting a quantize resolution for 
the audio, applying swing and manually changing the 
rhythm of the audio by dragging beats to time positions in 
the grid (see “Free Warp” on page 238).
Global Transpose status Audio format and length
Selected display format 
(for info line and ruler)Number of edits made to the clip
Zoom factor
Realtime status
Original pitch and deviation
Pitch and deviation Current selection range
!If you activate the Disable Warp Changes button 
(see above), any warp modifications you have made 
will be disabled, allowing you to compare the modi-
fied with the original sound of your audio. However, 
the display will not change. The timestretch imple-
mented by the Musical mode will not be disabled by 
this. Disable Warp Changes is deactivated when you 
close the Sample Editor and will not be recalled on 
reopening it.
Disable Warp Changes 
						

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The Sample Editor
The VariAudio tab (Cubase only)
On this tab you can edit single notes of your audio file 
and change their pitch and/or timing, in a way that is sim-
ilar to the editing of MIDI notes (see “Understanding the 
waveform display in VariAudio” on page 243). Further-
more, you can extract MIDI from your audio (see “Func-
tions – Extract MIDI…” on page 252).
The Hitpoints tab
On this tab, the transients or hitpoints of the audio can be 
marked and edited (see “Working with hitpoints and sli-
ces” on page 234). Hitpoints allow you to slice your audio, 
and to create groove quantize maps from your audio. You 
can also create markers, regions and events using hit-
points.
The Range tab
On this tab you will find functions for working with ranges 
and selections (see “Making selections” on page 227).
The Process tab
This tab regroups the most important audio editing com-
mands from the Audio and Edit menus. For further infor-
mation on the Select Process and Select Plug-in pop-up 
menus, see the chapter “Audio processing and functions” 
on page 204.
The thumbnail display
The thumbnail display provides an overview of the whole 
clip. The section currently shown in the main waveform 
display of the Sample Editor is indicated by a blue rectan-
gle in the thumbnail, while the current selection range is 
shown in light blue. If the “Show Audio Event” button is 
activated in the toolbar, event start/end and snap point will 
also be shown in the thumbnail display.
You can move the blue rectangle in the thumbnail to 
view other sections of the clip.
Click in the lower half of the rectangle and drag to the left or right to 
move it.
You can resize the blue rectangle (by dragging its left or 
right edge) to zoom in or out, horizontally.
You can define a new viewing area by clicking in the up-
per half of the overview and dragging a rectangle. 
!If you activate the Disable Pitch Changes button (see 
above), any pitch modifications you have made will 
be disabled, allowing you to compare the modified 
with the original sound of your audio. However, the 
display will not change. Disable Pitch Changes is 
deactivated when you close the Sample Editor and 
will not be recalled on reopening it.
Disable Pitch Changes
Event Start Event End
Snap PointSelection range
Blue rectangle 
						

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The Sample Editor
The ruler
The Sample Editor ruler is located between the thumbnail 
and the waveform displays. The ruler is explained in detail 
in the section “The ruler” on page 33.
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 (Event Display–Audio page), see “Ad-
justing how parts and events are shown” on page 37. To 
the left of the waveform display a level scale can be 
shown, indicating the amplitude of the audio.
When the level scale is shown, you can select whether 
the level should be shown as a percentage or in dB.
This is done by right-clicking the level scale and selecting an option from 
the context menu. This also allows you to hide the level scale.
To display the level scale after hiding it, right-click to 
bring up the context menu and activate Level Scale on the 
Elements submenu.This submenu also allows you to select whether you 
want the zero axis and/or the half level axis indicated in the 
waveform display.
General Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the 
standard zoom procedures, with the following special 
notes:
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 “Zoom 
and view options” on page 35).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if the Preference “Zoom Tool 
Standard Mode” (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 (on the Edit menu and the 
context menu):
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.
Half 
level 
axis Zero axis 
						

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The Sample Editor
On the VariAudio tab (see “VariAudio (Cubase only)” on 
page 243) you can also zoom by holding down [Alt]/[Op-
tion] while drawing a selection rectangle around the seg-
ments that you want to be zoomed on. You can zoom out 
by holding down [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in an empty 
area of the waveform.
You can also zoom by resizing the rectangle in the 
thumbnail display.
See “The thumbnail display” on page 223.
The current zoom setting is shown in the info line, as a 
“samples per screen pixel” value.
Note that you can zoom in horizontally to a scale of less 
than one sample per pixel! 
This is required for drawing with the Pencil tool (see “Drawing in the 
Sample Editor” on page 230).
If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, 
the appearance of the samples depends on the option 
“Interpolate Audio Images” in the Preferences (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.
ÖCubase only: When auditioning, audio will be routed 
to the Control Room (if the Control Room is activated) or 
to the Main Mix (the default output bus). In Cubase Studio, 
the Main Mix bus is always used for all auditioning. For in-
formation about routing, see the chapter “VST Connec-
tions: Setting up input and output busses” on page 13.
ÖYou can adjust the auditioning level with the miniature 
level fader on the toolbar.
Using key commands
If you activate the “Playback Toggle triggers Local Preview” 
option in the Preferences (Transport page), you can start/
stop auditioning by pressing [Space]. This is the same as 
clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar.
Using the Audition icon
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, but the option “Show Event” is acti-
vated (see “Show audio event” on page 230), the section of 
the clip corresponding to the event will be played back.
 If there is no selection, and “Show Event” is deactivated, play-
back will start at the cursor position (if the cursor is outside 
the display, the whole clip will be played back).
 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.
ÖNote that there is a separate Play button for audition-
ing regions. See “Auditioning regions” on page 229.
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 will be played back from the position at which you 
clicked. Playback will continue until you release the mouse 
button.
Using Acoustic Feedback
See “Listening to your modifications” on page 252.
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 opened the Sample Editor from the 
Pool (in which case the whole clip is opened for edit-
ing, not an event).
Zoom In/Out 
VerticalThis is the same as using the vertical zoom slider (see 
above). Option Description 
						

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The Sample Editor
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 at which you click.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played 
back. The speed and pitch of the playback depends on how fast you 
move the pointer.
You can adjust the response of the Scrub tool with the 
Scrub Response (Speed) setting in the Preferences 
(Transport–Scrub page).
You will also find a separate Scrub Volume setting on this page.
Adjusting the snap point
The snap point is a marker within an audio event (or clip, 
see below). This is used as a reference position when you 
are moving 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, etc.
1.Activate the “Show Audio Event” option on the toolbar, 
so that the event is displayed in the editor.
2.Scroll so that the event is visible, and locate the “S” 
flag in the event.
If you haven’t adjusted this previously, it will be located at the beginning 
of the event.
3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired position.
When you drag the snap point, a tooltip shows its current position (in the 
format selected on the Sample Editor ruler).
Cubase only: If the Scrub tool is selected when you 
move the snap point, you will hear the audio while drag-
ging (just like when scrubbing).
This makes it easier to find the correct position.
You can also adjust the snap point by setting the project 
cursor:
1.Place the cursor at the desired position (intersecting 
the event).
You may want to do this by scrubbing, to spot the right position exactly.
2.Holding [Alt]/[Option], right-click to open the context 
menu and select “Snap Point To Cursor” from the Audio 
submenu.
Provided that the “Popup Toolbox on Right Click” option in the Preferen-
ces dialog (Editing–Tools page) is activated, a right-click holding a mod-
ifier key brings up the context 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.
!When you set the grid start in the Definition tab, the 
snap point will be moved to the grid start (see “Ma-
nually adjusting grid and tempo” on page 232). 
						

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The Sample 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 hav-
ing set the snap point using the procedure described above, you can in-
sert the clip into the project from the Pool or the Sample Editor, taking 
the snap point position into account.
Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, you click 
and drag with the Range Selection tool.
If Snap to Zero Crossing is activated on the toolbar, the 
start and end of the selection will always be at zero cross-
ings (see “Snap” on page 230).
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 in the Range tab of the Sample Editor Inspector.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values numerically. 
Note that the values are relative to the start of the clip, rather than to the 
project timeline.
Using the Select menu
In the Select menu in the Range tab and in the Select sub-
menu of the Edit menu you can find the following options:
Editing selection ranges
Selections in the Sample Editor can be processed in sev-
eral ways. Please note the following:
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. 
Note: If you activate the option “Do not show this message again” in the 
dialog, any further editing you do 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 
(Editing–Audio page).
Any changes to the clip will appear in the Offline Process 
H i s t o r y ,  m a k i ng  i t  po s s ib l e t o  un d o t h e m  a t  a  l a t e r  p o in t  ( s ee  
“The Offline Process History dialog” on page 214).
!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 serves as a template for the event snap point 
and does not affect snapping.
Function Description
Select All Selects the whole clip.
Select None Selects no audio (the selection length is set to “0”).
A selected range
Select in Loop Selects all audio between the left and right locator.
Select Event Selects the audio that is included in the edited event 
only. This is not available if you opened the Sample Edi-
tor from the Pool (in which case the whole clip is 
opened for editing, not an event).
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.
Edit Pitch This function requires that one or several notes are al-
ready selected. The Edit Pitch options select all notes of 
this part 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.
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). Function Description 
						

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The Sample Editor
Cut, Copy and Paste
The Cut, Copy and Paste commands (on the Edit menu in 
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 on the clipboard into 
the clip.
If there is a selection in the editor, this will be replaced by the pasted 
data. If there is no selection, the pasted data will be inserted starting at 
the selection line. The section to the right of the line will be moved to 
make room for the pasted material.
The pasted data will be inserted at the selection line.
Delete
Selecting Delete (on the Edit menu in the Process tab of 
the Sample Editor Inspector or in the main Edit menu or by 
pressing [Backspace]) removes the selection from the 
clip. The section to the right of the selection is moved to 
the left to fill out the gap.
Insert Silence
Selecting “Insert Silence” (on the Edit menu in the Process 
tab of the Sample Editor Inspector or in the Range sub-
menu of the main Edit menu) will insert a silent section with 
the same length as the current selection, at the selection 
start. 
The selection will not be replaced, but moved to the 
right to make room. 
If you want to replace the selection, use the “Silence” function instead 
(see “Silence” on page 211).
Processing
The Processing features (on the Select Process menu in 
the Process tab of the Sample Editor Inspector or in the 
Process submenu on the Audio menu) can be applied to 
selections in the Sample Editor, as can the effects (on the 
Select Plug-in menu in the Process tab of the Sample Ed-
itor Inspector or in the Plug-ins submenu on the Audio 
menu). See the chapter “Audio processing and functions” 
on page 204. 
Creating a new event from the selection using drag&drop
You can create a new event that plays only the selected 
range, using the following method:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag the selection range 
to the desired audio track in the Project window.
Creating a new clip or audio file from the selection
You can extract a selection from an event and either cre-
ate a new clip or a new audio file, in the following way:
1.Make a selection range.
2.Holding [Alt]/[Option], right-click to open the context 
menu and select “Bounce Selection” from the Audio sub-
menu.
Provided that the “Popup Toolbox on Right Click” option in the Preferen-
ces dialog (Editing–Tools page) is activated, a right-click holding a mod-
ifier key brings up the context menu.
A new clip is created and added to the Pool, and another 
Sample Editor window will open with the new clip. The 
new clip will refer to the same audio file as the original clip, 
but will only contain the audio corresponding to the selec-
tion range.
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 “Recording audio in cycle mode” 
on page 75). You can also use this feature for marking im-
portant 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. From the Pool, you can also ex-
port a region to disk as a new audio file.
Regions are best created, edited and managed in the 
Sample Editor. 
						

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The Sample Editor
Creating a region
1.Select the range that you want to convert into a region.
2.Click the “Show Regions” button on the toolbar, or ac-
tivate the “Regions” option on the Elements submenu of 
the context menu.
The regions list is displayed to the right in the Sample Editor window.
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.
Regions can be renamed at any time, using this procedure.
When a region is selected in the Regions list, it is in-
stantly displayed and selected in the Sample Editor.
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 sli-
ces” on page 234.
Editing regions
The region selected in the list is displayed in gray in the 
waveform display and thumbnail.There are two ways to edit the start and end position of a 
region:
Click and drag its start and end handles in the waveform 
display (with any tool).
When you move the pointer over the handles, it will automatically change 
to an arrow pointer to indicate that you can drag the handles.
Edit the Start and End positions numerically in the Re-
gions 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 pro-
ject 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.
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). This is useful if you want to apply processing 
to the region only.
Note that you 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 new events from regions
You can create new audio events from regions, using 
drag&drop:
1.Click in the region’s leftmost column in the list and 
keep the mouse button 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 function “Events from Regions” 
from the Advanced submenu of the Audio menu for this 
(see “Region operations” on page 53). 
						

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The Sample Editor
Removing regions
To remove a region from a clip, select it in the list and click 
the Remove Region button above the list.
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 “Exporting regions as audio files” on page 
269.
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.
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.
Options and settings
Show audio event
When the Show Audio Event button is activated on the 
toolbar (or the option “Audio Event” is activated on the Ele-
ments submenu of the context menu), the section corre-
sponding to the edited event is highlighted in the waveform 
display and Thumbnail. The sections of the audio clip not 
belonging to the event are shown with a dark gray back-
ground.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.
When you move the pointer over the event handles (no matter what tool 
may be selected), it takes on the shape of an arrow, to indicate that you 
can click and drag.
Snap
Snap activated.
The Snap function helps you to find exact positions when 
editing in the Sample Editor. It does this by restricting hor-
izontal movement and positioning to certain grid positions. 
You turn Snap on or off by clicking the Snap button in the 
Sample Editor toolbar. This setting affects:
 Range operations
 VariAudio modifications
 AudioWarp modifications
This setting affects only the Sample Editor, and is inde-
pendent of the Snap setting in the Project window toolbar 
or other editors.
Snap to Zero Crossing
Snap to Zero Crossing activated.
This setting is linked to the Snap to Zero Crossing setting 
in the Project window, see the section “Snap to Zero 
Crossing” on page 57.
ÖIf hitpoints have been calculated, these will also be 
taken into account when snapping to zero crossings.
!Any modifications created by drawing will appear in 
the Offline Process History, making it possible to 
undo them at a later stage (see “The Offline Process 
History dialog” on page 214).
!This is only available if you opened the Sample Editor 
by double-clicking an audio event in the Project win-
dow or the Audio Part Editor and not, if you opened 
the audio event from within the Pool.