Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

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The MIDI editors
Editing in the controller display
About controller lanes
By default, the controller display has a single lane, show-
ing one event type at a time. However, you can add lanes 
by clicking the plus button or by opening the Quick con-
text menu and selecting “Create new controller lane”. The 
use of several controller lanes allows you to view and edit 
different controllers at the same time.
The controller display with three lanes set up
To remove a lane, click on the minus sign or open the 
context menu and select “Remove this Lane”.
This hides the lane from view – it does not affect the events in any way.
If you remove all lanes, the controller display will be 
completely hidden.
To bring it back again, select “Create new controller lane” from the con-
text menu.
Editing the events in the controller display is much like 
editing automation data on an automation track in the Pro-
ject window (except for velocity values, see “Editing velo-
city values” on page 352).
Selecting the event type
Each controller lane shows one event type at a time. To 
select which type should be displayed, use the pop-up 
menu to the left of the lane.
Selecting “Setup…” opens a dialog in which you can 
specify which continuous controller event types should be 
available on the pop-up menu.
Each MIDI track has its own controller lane setup (num-
ber of lanes and selected event types). 
When you create new tracks, they get the controller lane setup used last.
Controller types in this list are 
already listed on the pop-up 
menu.Controller types in this list are 
not listed on the pop-up menu.
Click this button to add the 
selected controller type to the 
pop-up menu. Click this button to remove the 
controller type selected in the left 
list from the pop-up menu. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Controller lane presets
Once you have added the required number of controller 
lanes and selected the event types you need, you can 
store this combination as a controller lane preset. You 
could for example have a preset with one velocity lane 
only, another with a combination of velocity, pitchbend 
and modulation, and so on. This can make working with 
controllers much quicker.
To add the current controller lane setup as a preset, pull 
down the pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal scroll-
bar and select “Add”.
Enter a name for the preset in the dialog that appears and click OK.
To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.
This immediately brings up the controller lanes and event types in the 
preset.
To remove or rename presets, select “Organize” from 
the pop-up.
Editing velocity values
When “Velocity” is selected for viewing, the lane shows 
the velocity of each note as a vertical bar.
Velocity values are edited with the Pencil or the Line tool. 
The different tools and Line tool modes offer several pos-
sibilities, as listed below.
ÖThe Arrow tool automatically switches to the Pencil tool 
when you move the pointer into the controller display.
If you want to use the Arrow tool to select events in the controller display, 
press [Alt]/[Option].
ÖIf the Speaker icon (Acoustic Feedback) is activated 
on the toolbar, the notes will be played back when you ad-
just the velocity, allowing you to audition your changes.
You can use the Pencil tool to change the velocity of a 
single note: click on its velocity bar and drag the bar up or 
down.
While you drag, the current velocity value is shown in the display to the left.
You can use the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint 
mode to change the velocity values of several notes by 
painting a “freehand curve”.
When editing velocity, these two methods have the same functionality.
Use the Line tool in Line mode for creating linear veloc-
ity ramps.
Click where you want the ramp to start and drag the cursor to where you 
want the ramp to end. When you release the mouse button, the velocity 
values are aligned with the line between the two points.
Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns the 
velocity values to a Parabola curve instead.
Use this for smooth, “natural” velocity fades, etc.
The remaining three Line tool modes (Sine, Triangle and 
Square) align the velocity values to continuous curve 
shapes (see below). 
						

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The MIDI editors
ÖIf there is more than one note at the same position 
(e.g. a chord), their velocity bars will overlap in the control-
ler lane. 
If none of the notes are selected, all notes at the same position will be set 
to the same velocity value when you draw. To edit the velocity of only one 
of the notes at the same position, first select the note in the note display. 
Now, editing will only affect the velocity of the selected note.
You can also adjust the velocity of a single note by select-
ing it and changing its velocity value on the info line.
Editing articulations
It is also possible to add and edit musical expressions or 
articulations in the controller lane. This is described in de-
tail in the chapter “VST Expression” on page 372.
Adding and editing events in the controller display
When any option other than “Velocity” is selected for a 
controller lane, you can create new events or edit the val-
ues of existing events using the Pencil tool or the Line tool 
in its various modes:
Clicking with the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint 
mode creates a new event.
Press [Alt]/[Option] and use the Pencil tool or the Line 
tool in Paint mode to modify the value of an event (without 
creating a new one).
Note that you can click and drag to change or add multiple events, draw 
controller curves, etc. You can press or release [Alt]/[Option] while draw-
ing, switching dynamically between “edit mode” and “create mode”.
If you want to enter or adjust a single event, click once 
with the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint mode.
If you want to “paint a curve”, drag with the tool in the con-
troller lane (keeping the mouse button pressed):ÖWith the Pencil tool and the Line tool in Paint mode, the 
quantize value determines the “density” of created control-
ler curves (if Snap is activated, see “Snap” on page 344).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small quantize value or turn off 
S n a p .  H ow e v e r ,  t h i s  w i ll  c r e a t e  a v e ry  l a rg e  n u m b e r o f  M I D I  e v e n t s ,  w h ic h  
can cause MIDI playback to “stutter” in some situations. A medium-low 
density is often sufficient.
Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode 
shows a line in the controller lane, and creates events with 
values aligned to this line.
This is the best way to draw linear controller ramps. If you press [Alt]/[Op-
tion], no new events are created – use this mode for modifying existing 
controller curves.
The Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns 
the values to a parabola curve instead, giving more “natu-
ral” curves and fades.
Note that the result depends on the direction from which you draw the 
parabola.
When you move the pointer in the controller lane, the corresponding 
value is displayed in this field.
Converting a controller curve to a ramp using the 
Line tool. 
						

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The MIDI editors
In Parabola mode, you can use modifier keys to deter-
mine the shape of the parabola curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command], the parabola curve will be reversed. If you 
press [Alt]/[Option]-[Ctrl]/[Command] while Snap is activated, you can 
change the position of the whole curve (in both cases the snap value for 
the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value). If you press [Shift], 
the exponent will be increased or decreased.
ÖIn Line and Parabola modes, the length quantize value 
determines the “density” of created controller curves (if 
Snap is activated).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small length quantize value or 
turn off Snap. To avoid over-dense controller curves (which may cause 
MIDI playback to “stutter”), use a medium-low density.
The Sine, Triangle and Square modes create events 
with values aligned to continuous curves.
In these modes, the quantize value determines the period of the curve 
(the length of one curve “cycle”) and the length quantize value deter-
mines the density of the events (the lower the length quantize note value, 
the smoother the curve).
In Sine, Triangle and Square mode you can also use 
modifier keys to determine the shape of the curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] you can change the phase of the beginning 
of the curve, if you press [Alt]/[Option]-[Ctrl]/[Command] while snap is ac-
tivated you can change the position of the whole curve (in both cases the 
snap value for the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value).
ÖYou can also set the curve period freely by holding 
down [Shift] when you insert events in Sine, Triangle or 
Square mode.
Activate Snap, [Shift]-click and drag to set the length of one period. The 
period length will be a multiple of the quantize value.
In Triangle and Square mode, you can press [Shift]-
[Ctrl]/[Command] to change the maximum position of the 
triangle curve (to create sawtooth curves) or the pulse of 
the square curve. As in other modes, you can press [Alt]/[Option] if you want to change the existing events rather 
than creating new ones. Again, the snap value for the po-
sitioning will be a quarter of the quantize value.
Moving and copying events
You can move or duplicate events in a controller lane, 
much like you can with notes:
1.Click with the Arrow tool to select the events you want 
to cut or copy.
You can also click and drag to create a selection rectangle encompass-
ing the desired events.
2.Click on a curve point and drag the events to move 
them.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the 
events (see “Snap” on page 344). 
Using cut, copy and paste
You can use the standard Cut, Copy and Paste options on 
the Edit menu to move or copy events in the controller dis-
play:
1.Select the events you want to cut or copy.
2.Select Cut or Copy from the Edit menu.
3.If you want to paste the events into another MIDI part, 
open that part in another Key Editor window.
4.Position the project cursor where you want to paste 
the events.
5.Select Paste from the Edit menu.
The events on the clipboard are added, starting at the project cursor po-
sition, maintaining their relative distances. If a pasted event ends up at 
the same position as an existing event of the same type, the old event is 
replaced. 
!Remember that a non-note event does not have a 
length – it is “valid” until the next event (see “The 
controller display” on page 341).
!When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated 
in the Key Editor toolbar, selecting controller events 
will also select the corresponding notes. Moving 
events (either using cut/copy/paste or drag & drop) 
in the note display will also move the corresponding 
controller events and vice versa. See also “Selecting 
controllers within the note range” on page 346. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Deleting events in the controller display
You delete events by clicking on them with the Eraser tool 
or by selecting them and pressing [Backspace]. Please 
note:
Deleting a controller event makes the last event before 
this valid up until the next event. It does not “zero” any 
controller changes.
You can delete notes by deleting their velocity bars in 
the controller display.
Please be aware that if there is more than one note on the same position, 
there may still only be one velocity bar visible – make sure you delete only 
the desired notes!
Editing continuous controllers on the controller lane
When a continuous controller is selected for a controller 
lane, additional data is displayed on the controller lane. 
This is due to the fact that MIDI controller data can be re-
corded (or entered) either for an automation track or for a 
MIDI part (see “MIDI Controller automation” on page 202).
The following applies:
In the controller pop-up menu, an asterisk is displayed 
next to the controller name if automation data already ex-
ists for this controller.
This can be either controller data you entered in a MIDI editor (the data 
will then be displayed on the controller lane), or controller data recorded 
on an automation track in the Project window (in which case no events 
are displayed on the controller lane). 
For this controller, automation data is available.
If conflicting controller data exists in two different 
places, you can specify what will happen on playback by 
making settings for the Automation Merge Mode (see 
“Merging automation data” on page 202). The resulting 
curve is displayed in addition to the curve you entered on 
the controller lane.
On the controller lane, you can also see the controller 
curve that is applied before the part starts. That way, you 
know which controller value (if any) is currently being used 
at the starting point of the part so that you can choose the 
start value accordingly. 
Note that this value also depends on the Automation Merge Mode.
Adding and editing Poly Pressure events
Poly Pressure events are special, in that they “belong to” a 
specific note number (key). That is, each Poly Pressure 
event has two editable values: the note number and the 
amount of pressure. Therefore, when Poly Pressure is se-
lected on the event type pop-up menu, there are two value 
fields to the left of the controller display, one for the note 
number and one for the amount.
Controller curve entered on 
the controller laneResulting controller curve (if controller 
automation was also recorded on a 
track). These values depend on the 
selected Automation Merge Mode.
The controller curve before the part starts. This curve depends on the 
existing controller data (if any) and on the selected Merge Mode. 
						

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The MIDI editors
To add a new Poly Pressure event, proceed as follows:
1.Select Poly Pressure on the event type pop-up menu.
2.Set the note number by clicking on the keyboard dis-
play.
The selected note number is displayed in the upper value field to the left 
of the controller display. Note that this only works for the topmost lane. If 
you have selected “Poly Pressure” for several controller lanes, you have 
to type in the desired note number directly in the lower value field to the 
left of each lane. 
3.Use the Pencil tool to add a new event, just as when 
adding regular controller events.
To view and edit existing Poly Pressure events, proceed 
as follows:
1.Select Poly Pressure on the event type pop-up menu.
2.Click on the arrow button next to the note number field 
to the left of the controller lane.
A pop-up menu appears, listing all note numbers for which there already 
are Poly Pressure events.
3.Select a note number from the pop-up menu.
The Poly Pressure events for the selected note number are shown in the 
controller lane.
4.Use the Pencil tool to edit the events as usual.
Press [Alt]/[Option] to edit existing events without adding any new ones.
Poly Pressure events can also be added and edited in 
the List Editor.
The In-Place Editor
The In-Place Editor makes it possible to edit MIDI parts di-
rectly in the Project window, for quick and efficient editing 
in context with other tracks. 
To open the In-Place Editor for one or more selected 
tracks, you have the following possibilities:
Select “Open In-Place Editor” on the MIDI menu.
Use a key command, by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-
[Shift]-[I].
Toggle the In-Place Editor for all selected tracks by 
clicking on the respective button above the Track list.
To open a single MIDI track, you can also click the Edit 
In-Place button in the Track list (if necessary, expand the 
Track list to see the button).
This expands the MIDI track to show something like a min-
iature Key Editor, allowing you to edit MIDI notes and con-
trollers.
To zoom or scroll the In-Place Editor, point at the left 
part of the piano keyboard display so that the pointer 
changes to a hand. Now you can click and drag to the 
right or left to zoom in or out vertically, and drag up or 
down to scroll the editor. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Clicking on the little gray triangle in the upper right cor-
ner of the Track list for the edited track brings up a local 
toolbar with some settings specific to the In-Place Editor.
For descriptions of these settings, see “The toolbar” on page 340.
Just like in the Key Editor, you can edit velocity or con-
tinuous controllers at the bottom of the In-Place Editor.
To change which controller type is shown, click in the controller name field 
directly below the piano keyboard and select a controller type from the 
pop-up menu. To add or remove controller lanes, right-click below the con-
troller name field and select an option from the context menu.
When you select a MIDI note, the Project window info 
line shows information about that note, just like the info 
line in the Key Editor.
You can perform the same editing here as on the Key Editor info line, see 
“Editing on the info line” on page 348.
The Snap button and Snap type pop-up menu on the 
Project window toolbar govern snapping in the In-Place 
Editor, but the snap grid is set using the Quantize pop-up 
menu.
To close the In-Place Editor for one or several selected 
tracks, you can use the key command or click the “Toggle 
the In-Place Editor” button above the Track list. 
To close the In-Place Editor for one track, you can click 
the Edit In-Place button in the Track list or double-click 
below the controller display in the In-Place Editor.
Working with Parts 
If you work with parts in the In-Place Editor, the following 
editing functions are available:
 change the length of the parts by clicking on the lower part 
edges (so that the mouse pointer changes to a double arrow) 
and dragging it to the left or right.
 drag and drop notes from one part to the other.
 change the length of notes by clicking on them and dragging 
the double arrow to the left or right. 
						

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The MIDI editors
The Drum Editor – Overview
The toolbar and info line
These are much the same as the toolbar and info line in 
the Key Editor (see “The Key Editor – Overview” on page 
340), with the following differences:
The Drum Editor has no Pencil tool – instead there is a 
Drumstick tool (for entering and removing notes) and a 
Line tool with various line and curve modes (for drawing 
several notes in one go or editing controller events).
There are no Scissors and Glue Tube tools in the Drum 
Editor.
As in the Key Editor, the mouse pointer display in the 
toolbar shows the pitch and position of the pointer, but the 
pitch is shown as a drum sound name rather than a note 
number.
The Use Global Quantize button allows you to select 
which value should be used when Snap is activated – the 
global quantize value on the toolbar or the individual quan-
tize values for the drum sounds.
Instead of a Length Quantize pop-up, there is an Insert 
Length pop-up menu.
It is used in much the same way, as described on the following pages.
The drum sound list
A drum sound list for GM Drum Map
The purpose of the Drum Editor is to edit MIDI tracks where 
each note (pitch) plays a separate sound, as is typically the 
case with a MIDI drum kit. The drum sound list to the left 
lists all drum sounds by name (according to the selected 
drum map or name list – see below), and lets you adjust 
and manipulate the drum sound setup in various ways.
Please note the following:
The number of columns in the list depends on whether a 
drum map is selected for the track or not.
See “Working with drum maps” on page 361.
You can reorder the columns by dragging the column 
headings, and resize them by dragging the dividers be-
tween the column headings.
Toolbar
Ruler
Note
display
Controller
display Drum 
sound 
list
Drum 
Maps 
						

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The MIDI editors
The note display
The note display of the Drum Editor displays notes as dia-
mond symbols. The vertical position of the notes corres-
ponds to the drum sound list to the left, while the horizontal 
position corresponds to the note’s position in time, just as in 
the Key Editor. Note, however, that the diamond symbols do 
not indicate the length of the notes. This makes sense, 
since drum sounds most often are “one-shot” samples that 
play to their end regardless of the note lengths.
Drum map and name pop-up menus
Below the drum sound list you will find two pop-up menus, 
used for selecting a drum map for the edited track or (if no 
drum map is selected) a list of drum sound names. For an 
explanation of drum maps, see “Working with drum maps” 
on page 361.
Controller display
The controller display in the Drum Editor is the same as in 
the Key Editor. You can add or remove controller lanes via 
the context menu, and create and edit events as described 
in the section “Editing in the controller display” on page 
351.
Note that when you select a line in the drum sound list 
(to the left of the event display), only the velocity controller 
events belonging to the note events on this line are dis-
played in the controller display.
You can select more than one line in the drum sound list 
(using [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] as usual), which will 
show all velocity controller events for all notes on all se-
lected lines.
This will help you when having to adjust the controller values between 
different drum sounds.
Drum Editor operations
The basic handling (zooming, playback, auditioning, etc.) 
is the same as in the Key Editor (see “Key Editor opera-
tions” on page 342). The following sections describe the 
procedures and features specific to the Drum Editor.
Creating and editing notes
The standard way of entering notes in the Drum Editor is 
to click with the Drumstick tool.
When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar position and 
drum sound is indicated in the toolbar, making it easy to find the right 
sound and position.
The position of the created note depends on the following 
factors:
If Snap is deactivated on the toolbar, the note will ap-
pear exactly where you clicked.
In this mode, notes can be positioned freely.
If Snap is activated and Use Global Quantize is deacti-
vated on the toolbar, the note will snap to positions ac-
cording to the quantize value set for the sound in the drum 
sound list.
You can set up different quantize values for different drum sounds. You 
may for example want hi-hat notes snap to sixteenth notes, but snare and 
bass drum snap to eighth notes.
If Snap and Use Global Quantize are activated, the note 
will snap to positions according to the Quantize setting on 
the toolbar (next to the Use Global Quantize button).
The length of the inserted note is determined by the Insert 
Length setting on the toolbar. However, if this is set to 
“Drum-Map Link”, the note will get the length of the quan-
tize value for the drum sound.
ÖYou can quickly audition the drum sounds by clicking 
in the leftmost column in the drum sound list.
This plays the corresponding note.
ÖClicking with the Drumstick tool on an existing note 
will remove it.
This makes drum pattern editing very quick and intuitive. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Setting velocity values
The notes you enter will get the insert velocity value set in 
the insert velocity field on the toolbar – to speed up things 
you may want to assign key commands to the insert velo-
city options. See “Setting velocity values” on page 345.
Selecting notes
Selecting notes is done by any of the following methods:
Use the Arrow tool.
The standard selection techniques apply.
Use the Select submenu on the context menu (see 
“Selecting notes” on page 346).
Use the left and right arrow keys on the computer key-
board to step from one note to the next or previous note.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be 
kept, allowing you to select several notes.
You can also press [Shift] and double-click on a note to 
select all the following notes for the same drum sound.
If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is acti-
vated in the Preferences (Editing page), all notes currently 
“touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.
Moving, duplicating or repeating notes
To move or copy notes in the editor (to other positions or 
other drum sounds), you use the same methods as in the 
Key Editor: click and drag, use the arrow keys or Edit 
menu functions, etc. – see “Moving and transposing no-
tes” on page 347. To help you identify the right notes, the 
drum sound names as defined in the drum map are dis-
played in the Pitch field on the Drum Editor info line and, 
when dragging notes in the event display, in the text fields 
displayed next to the mouse cursor.
There is one other thing to note:
When you move or copy several selected notes by drag-
ging them and Snap is activated but Use Global Quantize 
is deactivated, the notes will snap to positions according 
to the quantize values for the drum sounds. If the moved/
copied notes have different quantize values, the largest 
value will determine snapping. For example, if you are 
moving two notes, with the quantize values 1/16 and 1/4 
respectively, the notes will snap to quarter notes (1/4).ÖYou can also adjust the position of notes by quantizing 
(see “The Quantizing functions” on page 326).
Again, which quantize value is used depends on whether Global Quan-
tize is used.
Muting notes and drum sounds
You can mute individual notes by clicking or enclosing 
them with the Mute tool or by using the Mute function on 
the Edit menu (see “Muting notes” on page 348).
Furthermore, if a drum map is selected (see “Selecting a 
drum map for a track” on page 363), the drum sound list 
will have a Mute column. Click in the Mute column for a 
drum sound to mute that sound. Finally, clicking the Drum 
Solo button will mute all drum sounds other than the se-
lected one.
Muted drum sounds
Deleting notes
To delete notes, click on them with the Drumstick or 
Eraser tool or select them and press [Backspace].
Other editing methods
As in the Key Editor, you can edit notes on the info line or 
via MIDI, and enter notes using step input, see “Editing on 
the info line” on page 348.
!Please note that the mute state for drum sounds is 
part of the drum map, so any other tracks using the 
same map will also be affected.