Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual
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61 Playback and the Transport panel About Pre-roll and Post-roll These items are described in the chapter “Recording”, see “About Pre-roll and Post-roll” on page 84. Changing the Transport panel setup You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by right-clicking anywhere on the panel and selecting/de- selecting the corresponding options on the context menu. This is described in detail in the section “The setup con- text menus” on page 471. The numeric keypad In the default Key Command settings, various Transport panel operations are assigned to the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard. The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers: Operations Setting the project cursor position There are several ways to move the project cursor position: By using Fast Forward and Rewind. By using the Jog/Shuttle/Nudge control on the Trans- port panel (Cubase only – see “The Shuttle Speed control (Cubase only)” on page 63). By dragging the project cursor in the lower part of the ruler. By clicking in the ruler. Double-clicking in the ruler moves the cursor and starts/stops playback. If the option “Locate when Clicked in Empty Space” is activated in the Preferences (Transport page) you can click anywhere in an empty section of the Project window to move the cursor position. By changing the value in any of the position displays. By using the position slider above the transport buttons in the Transport panel. The range of the slider relates to the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog. Hence, moving the slider all the way to the right will take you to the end of the project. By using markers (see “Markers” on page 54). By using playback options (see “Playback functions” on page 64). By using the Arranger function (see “The Arranger track” on page 96). By using functions on the Transport menu. The following functions are available: ÖIf Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is taken into account. This is helpful for finding exact positions quickly. ÖThere are also numerous key commands available for moving the project cursor (in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog). For example, you can assign key commands to the “Step Bar” and “Step Back Bar” functions, allowing you to move the project cursor in steps of one bar, backwards and forwards. Numeric Key Function [Enter] Play [+] Fast Forward [-] Rewind [*] Record [÷] (Win)/[/] (Mac) Cycle On/Off [,] Return to Zero [0] Stop [1] Go to Left Locator [2] Go to Right Locator [3-9] Go to marker 3 to 9 Function Description Locate Selec- tion/ Locate Selection EndMoves 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 selection range. Locate Next/ Previous MarkerThis moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right or left (see “Marker tracks” on page 31). Locate Next/ Previous EventThis moves the project cursor forwards or backwards respectively, to the closest beginning or end of any event on the selected track(s).
62 Playback and the Transport panel About the Transport panel display formats Primary time display (left) and secondary time display (right) The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit shown in the main time display on the Trans- port panel. This means that you can display timecode in the transport position display and bars and beats in the ruler, for example. In addition, there is a secondary time display to the right of the primary time display which is also independent, giving you three different time units shown at the same time (in the Project window, you can also create additional ruler tracks – see “Using multiple rulers – ruler tracks (Cubase only)” on page 33). The following rules apply: If you change the time format of the primary time display on the Transport panel, the time format of the ruler will be changed as well. This is the same as changing the display format in the Project Setup. Therefore, to have different display formats in the ruler and the main time display you should change the format in the ruler. The primary time display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the main position display. This setting also determines the time format displayed for the left and right locators on the Transport panel. The secondary time display is completely independent, and the display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the secondary time display. You can swap time formats between the primary and secondary time displays by clicking the double arrow sym- bol between them. The left and right locators The left and right locators are a pair of position markers used for specifying punch-in and punch-out positions dur- ing recording, and as boundaries for cycle playback and recording. ÖWhen cycle mode is activated on the Transport panel, the area between the left and right locator will be repeated (cycled) on playback. However, if the right locator is positioned before the left, this will work as a “jump” or “skip mode” – when the project cursor reaches the right lo- cator it will immediately jump to the left locator position and continue playback from there. There are several ways to set locator positions: To set the left locator, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click at the desired position in the ruler. Similarly, pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the ruler sets the right lo- cator. You can also drag the locator “handles” directly in the ruler. The locators are indicated by the “flags” in the ruler. The area between the locators is highlighted in the ruler and in the Project window (see “Appearance” on page 474). Note that if the right locator is before the left locator, the color of the ruler between the locators will change (from blue to red). Click and drag in the upper half of the ruler to “draw” a locator range. If you click on an existing locator range, you can drag to move it. Pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and pressing [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad sets the left or right locator to the pro- ject cursor position. Similarly, you can press [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad (without [Ctrl]/ [Command]) to set the project cursor position to the left or right locator position. Note that these are default key commands – you can change these if you like. By creating cycle markers you can store any number of left and right locator positions, which can be recalled by simply double-clicking on the corresponding marker (see “Editing markers on the Marker track” on page 55). The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu (default key command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection. This is available if you have selected one or several events or made a se- lection range. You can also adjust the locators numerically on the Transport panel. Clicking the L/R buttons in the locator section on the Transport panel will move the project cursor to the respective locator. If you press [Alt]/[Op- tion] and click the L or R button, the corresponding locator will be set to the current project cursor position.
63 Playback and the Transport panel The Shuttle Speed control (Cubase only) The shuttle speed control (the outer wheel on the Trans- port panel) allows you to play the project at any playback speed, forwards or backwards. This provides a quick way to locate or “cue” to any position in the project. Turn the shuttle speed wheel to the right to start play- back. The further to the right you move the wheel, the faster the playback speed. If you turn the wheel to the left instead, the project will play backwards. Similarly, the playback speed depends on how far to the left you turn the wheel. Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel (Cubase only) The middle wheel on the Transport panel serves as a jog wheel. By clicking and dragging it to the right or left you will move the playback position manually forwards or back- wards – much like scrubbing on a tape deck. This helps you pinpoint exact locations in the project. Note that the jog wheel is an “endless rotary encoder” – you can turn it as many times as needed to move to the desired location. The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the playback speed. If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically stop. The nudge position buttons (Cubase only) The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog sec- tion allow you to nudge the project cursor position one frame at a time to the right or left. Options and Settings The “Return to Start Position on Stop” preference This setting is found on the Transport page in the Prefe- rences (found on the File menu under Windows, or on the Cubase menu under Mac OS X). If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is activated when you stop playback, the project cursor will automatically re- turn to the position where recording or playback last started. If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is deactivated, the project cursor will remain at the position where you stop playback. Pressing Stop again will return the project cursor to the position where recording or playback last started. About track disable/enable For audio tracks, the track context menu contains an item named “Disable Track”. This shuts down all disk activity for the track, as opposed to using Mute, which merely turns down the output volume for a track. For example, if you often record “alternative takes” you can easily build up a large number of takes on different tracks. Even though these tracks are muted, they are actually still “playing back” from the hard disk during playback. This puts an un- necessary load on your disk system, so using “Disable Track” is recommended for such situations. S e l e c t “ D i s a b l e T r a c k ” f o r t r a c k s t h a t y o u w a n t t o k e e p i n the project for later use but do not want to play back now. The track color changes to indicate that the track is disabled. Select “Enable Track” from the track context menu to re-enable disabled tracks.
64 Playback and the Transport panel Playback functions Apart from the standard transport controls on the Trans- port panel, you can also find a number of functions on the Transport menu that can be used to control playback. The items have the following functionality: ÖIn the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio page) you will find the option “Treat Muted Audio Events like De- leted”. When you activate this option, any events over- lapped by a muted event will become audible. About Chase Chase is a function that makes sure your MIDI instruments sound as they should when you locate to a new position and start playback. This is accomplished by the program transmitting a number of MIDI messages to your instru- ments each time you move to a new position in the project, making sure all MIDI devices are set up correctly with re- gard to program change, controller messages (such as MIDI Volume), etc. For example, let’s say you have a MIDI track with a pro- gram change event inserted at the beginning. This event makes a synth switch to a piano sound.At the beginning of the first chorus you have another pro- gram change event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound. You now play back the song. It begins with the piano sound and then switches to the string sound. In the middle of the chorus you stop and rewind to some point between the be- ginning and the second program change. The synth will now still play the string sound although in this section it re- ally should be a piano! The Chase function takes care of that. If program change events are set to be chased, Cubase will track the music back to the beginning, find the first program change and transmit it to your synth, setting it to the correct sound. The same thing can apply to other event types as well. The Chase Events settings in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page) determine which event types will be chased when you locate to a new position and start playback. ÖEvent types for which the checkbox is activated here will be chased. In this section of the Preferences dialog, you will also find the option “Chase not limited to Part Boundaries”. When you activate this option, MIDI controllers are also chased outside the part boundaries, i.e. the Chase will be performed on the part touched by the cursor as well as on all the parts to the left of it. Please note that this option should be deactivated for very large projects, as it consider- ably slows down operations such as positioning and soloing. When you deactivate this option, the MIDI controllers are only chased within the parts under the position cursor. Option Description Post-roll from Selection Start/EndStarts playback from the beginning or end of the currently selected range and stops after the time set in the Post-roll field on the Transport panel. Pre-roll to Selection Start/EndStarts playback from a position before the start or end of the currently selected range and stops at the selection start or end, respectively. The play- back start position is set in the Pre-roll field on the Transport panel. Play from Selection Start/EndActivates playback from the beginning or end of the current selection. Play until Selection Start/EndActivates playback two seconds before the start or end of the current selection and stops at the selec- tion start or end, respectively. Play until Next Marker This activates playback from the project cursor and stops at the next marker. Play Selection Range This activates playback from the start of the current selection and stops at the selection end. Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current selection and keeps starting over again when reaching the selection end. !The functions listed above (except “Play until Next Marker”) are only available if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.
65 Playback and the Transport panel The Virtual Keyboard The Virtual Keyboard can be displayed in the Transport panel. It allows you to play and record MIDI notes by using your computer keyboard or mouse. This is useful if you have no external MIDI instrument at hand and you do not want to draw in notes with the Pencil tool. The Virtual Keyboard can perform all functions that can be controlled by external MIDI keyboards, e.g. playing and recording MIDI notes. You can choose between two different keyboard dis- play modes: computer keyboard and piano roll. To switch between these two modes, click the “Change Virtual Key- board Display Type” button or use the [Tab] key. The Virtual Keyboard in computer keyboard display mode The Virtual Keyboard in piano roll display mode To record MIDI using the Virtual Keyboard, proceed as fol- lows: 1.Create or choose a MIDI or an instrument track and ac- tivate the “Record Enable” button for it. 2.Open the Virtual Keyboard by selecting “Virtual Key- board” on the Devices menu or by pressing [Alt]/[Option]- [K]. You can also open the Virtual Keyboard by right-click- ing on the Transport panel and selecting “Virtual Keyboard” on the context menu. The Virtual Keyboard is displayed in the Transport panel. 3.Activate the Record button and press a key on your computer keyboard to enter a note. You can also click on the keys of the Virtual Keyboard to enter notes. You can also press several keys simultaneously to enter polyphonic parts. The maximum number of notes that can be played at one time varies between the different operat- ing systems and hardware configurations. 4.Use the fader “Note velocity level” to the right of the virtual keyboard to adjust the volume. You can also use the up and down arrow keys for this. 5.Enter the desired notes this way. 6.When you are done, hit the Stop button and close the Virtual Keyboard. When the Virtual Keyboard is hidden, all key commands are available again. Options and settings In piano roll mode, you have a wider range of keys at your disposal, allowing you to enter two voices simulta- neously, for example bass and lead voice or bass drums and HiHats. In computer keyboard mode, you can use the two rows of keys that are dis- played on the Virtual Keyboard to enter notes. In piano roll mode, you can also use the two rows of keys below these. You have seven full octaves at your disposal. Use the “Octave Offset” buttons at the bottom of the virtual key- board to offset the octave range of the keyboard. You can also use the left and right arrow keys to switch the keyboard range to a lower or higher octave, respectively. In piano roll mode, you can use the two sliders to the left of the keyboard to introduce pitchbend (left slider) or modulation (right slider). You can also click on a key, hold the mouse button pressed until the mouse pointer becomes a crosshair tool and drag upwards/downward to introduce modulation or left/right to create pitchbend. !When the Virtual Keyboard is displayed, the usual key commands are blocked because they are reserved for the Virtual Keyboard. The only exceptions are: [Ctrl]/ [Command]-[S] (Save), Num [*] (Start/Stop Record), [Space] (Start/Stop Playback), Num [1] (Jump to left locator), [Delete] or [Backspace] (Delete), Num [/] (Cycle on/off), [F2] (Show/Hide Transport panel), and [Alt]/[Option]-[K] (Show/Hide Virtual Keyboard).
67 Recording Background This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can use in Cubase. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI tracks, both recording methods are covered in this chapter. Before you start This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain basic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have been made: You have properly set up, connected and calibrated your audio hardware. You have opened a project and set the project setup parameters to your specifications. Project setup parameters determine the record format, sample rate, pro- ject length etc. that affect the audio recordings you make during the course of the project. See “The Project Setup dialog” on page 34. If you plan to record MIDI, your MIDI equipment should be set up and connected correctly. Basic recording methods This section describes the general methods used for re- cording. However, there are additional preparations and procedures that are specific to audio and MIDI recording respectively. Make sure to read these sections before you start recording (see “Audio recording specifics” on page 69 and “MIDI recording specifics” on page 79). Record-enabling tracks Cubase can record on a single track or on several tracks (audio and/or MIDI) simultaneously. To make a track ready for recording, click the Record Enable button for the track in the Track list, in the Inspector or in the mixer. When ac- tivated, the buttons turn red, indicating record ready mode. Record Enable in the Inspector, Track list and mixer ÖIf the option “Enable Record on Selected Track” is ac- tivated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), tracks are automatically record-enabled when you select them in the Track list. ÖYou can set up key commands to record-enable all audio tracks simultaneously and to deactivate Record En- able for all audio tracks (Arm/Disarm all Audio Tracks). You will find these commands in the Key Commands dia- log, in the Mixer category (see “Setting up key commands” on page 480). ÖThe exact number of audio tracks you can record si- multaneously depends on your computer CPU and hard disk performance. In the Preferences (VST page), you can find the option “Warn on Proces- sing Overloads”. When this is activated, a warning message will be dis- played as soon as the CPU clip indicator (on the Transport panel) lights up during recording. Manually activating recording You activate recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport panel or toolbar or by using the correspond- ing key command (by default [*] on the numeric keypad). Recording can be activated in Stop mode (from the current cursor position or from the left locator) or during playback: If you activate recording in Stop mode, and the option “Start Record at Left Locator” is activated on the Trans- port menu, recording will start from the left locator. The pre-roll setting or the metronome count-in will be applied (see “About Pre-roll and Post-roll” on page 84). If you activate recording in Stop mode, and “Start Record at Left Locator” is deactivated, recording will start from the current project cursor position.
68 Recording If you activate recording during playback, Cubase will immediately enter Record mode and start recording from the current project cursor position. This is known as “manual punch in”. Activating recording in Sync mode If you are synchronizing the Cubase transport to external equipment (Sync is activated on the Transport panel) and you activate recording, the program will go into “record ready” mode (the record button on the Transport panel will light up). In this case, recording will start when a valid timecode signal is received (or when you click the Play button). See the chapter “Synchronization” on page 427 for more information. Automatically activating recording Cubase can automatically switch from playback to record- ing at a given position. This is known as “automatic punch in”. A typical use for this would be if you need to replace a section of a recording, and want to listen to what is already recorded, up to the recording start position. 1.Set the left locator to the position where you want re- cording to start. 2.Activate the Punch In button on the Transport panel. Punch In activated 3.Activate playback from some position before the left locator. When the project cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automati- cally activated. Stopping recording Again, this can be done automatically or manually: If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or use the corresponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), recording is deactivated and Cubase goes into Stop mode. If you click the Record button (or use the key command for recording, by default [*]), recording is deactivated but playback continues. This is known as “manual punch out”. If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport panel, recording will be deactivated when the project cur- sor reaches the right locator. This is known as “automatic punch out”. By combining this with auto- matic punch in, you can set up a specific section to record – again very useful if you want to replace a certain part of a recording. See also “Stop after Automatic Punch Out” on page 84. Punch In and Out activated Cycle recording Cubase can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left and right locators. When the cycle is active, the selected section is seamlessly repeated until you hit Stop or deac- tivate cycle mode. To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the Transport panel. Cycle activated To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from the left locator, from before the locators or from within the cycle, in Stop mode or during playback. As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back to the left locator and continue recording a new lap. The results of cycle recording depend on the selected cycle record mode and are different for audio (see “Re- cording audio in cycle mode” on page 75) and MIDI (see “Recording MIDI in cycle mode” on page 81).
69 Recording Audio pre-record This feature allows you to capture up to 1 minute of any in- coming audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is possible because Cubase can cap- ture audio input in buffer memory, even when not recording. Proceed as follows: 1.Open the Preferences (Record–Audio page). 2.Specify a time (up to 60 seconds) in the “Audio Pre- Record Seconds” field. This activates the buffering of audio input, making Pre-Record possible. 3.Make sure an audio track is record-enabled and re- ceives audio from the signal source. 4.When you have played some audio material you want to capture (either in Stop mode or during playback), click the Record button. 5.After a few seconds stop the recording. An audio event is created, starting at where the cursor position was when you activated recording. This means that if you were in stop mode, and the cursor was at the beginning of the project, you may have to move the event to the right in the next step. If you were playing along to a pro- ject you should leave the event where it is. 6.Select the Arrow tool and place the cursor on the bot- tom left edge of the event so that a double arrow appears, then click and drag to the left. Now the event is extended and the audio you played before activating record is inserted – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project. The recording was activated at the start of bar 9. This is indicated by a blue line in the audio event. Audio recording specifics Selecting a recording file format The format for recorded files is set in the Project Setup dia- log on the Project menu. There are three settings: sample rate, record format (bit depth) and record file type. While the sample rate is set once and for all when you start work- ing on a new project, the bit depth and file type can be changed at any time. Record file type The Record File Type setting determines which type of files will be created when you record: If you select Broadcast Wave File or AIFF format, you can specify Author, Description and Reference text strings that will be embedded in the recorded file. This is done on the Record–Audio–Broadcast Wave page in the Prefe- rences. Record format (bit depth) The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit and 32 bit float. Use the following guidelines: Normally, select the record format according to the bit depth delivered by your audio hardware. For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs), you may want to record at 24 bit resolution to capture the full bit depth. On the other hand, if your hardware has 16 bit inputs, it is pointless to record with a higher bit depth – this will only make the audio files larger, with no difference in audio quality. The exception is if you record with ef- fects – see “Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 78. File type Description Wave File Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are a common file format on the PC platform. Wave 64 File (Cubase only)Wave 64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. Audio-wise it is identical to the Wave format, but the internal file structure makes much larger file sizes possible. This is useful e.g. for long live recordings in sur- round format, where the audio files can become huge. Broadcast Wave FileIn terms of audio content, the same as regular Wave files, but with embedded text strings for supplying additional information about the file (see below). AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Ap- ple Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used on most computer platforms. Like Broadcast Wave files, AIFF files can contain embedded text strings (see below).
70 Recording The higher the bit depth, the larger the files and the more strain is put on the disk system. If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting. Setting up the track Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration Audio tracks can be configured as mono, stereo or sur- round tracks (Cubase only). This allows you to record or import a file containing multiple channels and treat it as one entity, with no need to split it up into several mono files etc. The signal path for an audio track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus. You specify the channel configuration for a track when you create it: 1.Select “Add Audio Track” from the Track list context menu or the Project menu (or, if an audio track is already selected, double-click in an empty area of the Track list). A dialog appears with a channel configuration pop-up menu. 2.Select the desired format from the pop-up menu. In Cubase Studio, you choose between mono and stereo. In Cubase, the most common formats are listed directly on the pop-up menu, with the re- maining surround formats listed on the “More…” submenu. For a list of the available surround formats, see “Output bus configuration” on page 182. The Browse item in this dialog allows you to browse your disk(s) for created Track Presets, which can be used as a basis (or template) for tracks. This is described in detail in the chapter “Working with Track Presets” on page 288. 3.Click OK. A track appears, set to the specified channel configuration. In the mixer, a corresponding channel strip appears. You cannot change the channel configuration for a track. Selecting an input bus for a track Here we assume that you have added and set up the re- quired input busses (see “Setting up busses” on page 14). Before you record, you need to specify from which input bus the track should record. You can do this in the Inspec- tor or in the mixer: In the Inspector, you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu in the top section. As described in the section “The Inspector” on page 29, the Inspector shows the settings for the selected track. You show or hide the Inspector by clicking the “Show/Hide Inspector” button on the Project window toolbar. In the mixer, you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu at the top of the track’s channel strip. If this pop-up menu is not shown, you need to open the Mixer Routing View by clicking the “Show Routing” button in the extended Mixer common panel or by selecting “Show Routing View” from the Window submenu on the Mixer context menu. See “Configuring the mixer” on page 112 for more information about the mixer. !For further information on the options in the Project Setup dialog, see “The Project Setup dialog” on page 34. Click here to select an input bus for the track. Click here to show/hide the Inspector. Click here to select an input bus for the track. Click here to show or hide the input and output settings.