Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

							631
Working with symbols
Dragging symbols across staves
If you drag a symbol across the staves, you can see how 
the “active staff” indicator to the left follows the mouse 
pointer. Use this as an indication to make sure that sym
-
bols end up in the correct staff.
•If you are editing several tracks at the same time, and 
want to make sure that a symbol is not accidentally moved 
to another track when you drag it vertically, activate the 
Lock “L” button on the extended toolbar.
When this is activated, you cannot move symbols across staves by drag-ging.
Moving by using the computer keyboard
In the Key Commands dialog, you can assign key com-
mands for moving symbols, notes, or rests graphically. The 
commands are found in the “Nudge” category and are 
called “Graphical Left”, “Graphical Right”, “Graphical 
Top”, and “Graphical Bottom”.
Selecting an object and using one of these commands is 
the same as dragging them with the Layout tool, but this 
method offers higher precision.
Moving and duplicating with the bar handles
This function allows you to move or copy the contents of a 
whole bar to one or several other bars. You can select 
which elements in the bar will be included in the operation. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Make sure that the filter bar is visible.
If the filter bar is not visible, click the “Set up Window Layout” button on 
the toolbar and activate the Filters option. 
2.On the filter bar, make sure that the “Bar Handles” 
option is activated.
Now, each bar in the score is shown with a handle in the upper left 
corner.
3.Double-click on the handle of the bar from which you 
want to copy or move symbols.
The Bar Copy dialog appears.
4.Make sure that only the symbol types that you want to 
move/copy are checked.
5.If you have several subsequent bars to which you want 
to copy symbols, set the “Repeats” value to this number of 
bars.
If you only want to copy symbols from one bar to another, make sure that 
“Repeats” is set to 1. This option is only available for copying, not for 
moving.
6.If you want this dialog to appear every time you per-
form the move/copy operation, activate “Show Dialog”.
7.Click OK to close the dialog.
8.To copy the specified event types to another bar, hold 
down [Alt]/[Option], click on the bar handle of the first bar 
and drag it to the “target” bar.
To move the event types instead of copying them, drag the bar handle 
without holding down [Alt]/[Option].
•If you activated “Show Dialog”, the Bar Copy dialog ap-
pears, allowing you to confirm your settings.
Click OK to close the dialog and perform the operation.
Bar handles 
						

							632
Working with symbols
The following happens:
•If you activated “Note Symbols”, the note symbols are 
copied from the “source” bar and pasted onto notes at the 
same positions in the “target” bar. If there is a note symbol 
for a certain note in the “source” bar, but no note at the 
corresponding position in the “target” bar, the symbol is 
ignored.
The actual positions of notes are used as a basis for this operation – not 
the displayed positions.
•If you activated other types of symbols, these are simply 
moved to the same graphical position in the “target” bar.
•If you set “Repeats” to a number larger than 1, the same 
symbols are pasted into that number of bars (starting from 
the one you drag the bar handle to).
•If you do not hold down [Alt]/[Option] when dragging 
the bar handle, the symbols (and other event types speci
-
fied in the dialog) are removed from the “source” bar.
Moving note symbols
Note symbols, slurs and ties all have “default positions”. 
This determines the vertical distance between the note 
head(s) and the symbol. 
•You can manually adjust the vertical positions of individ-
ual symbols, but if you move or transpose their notes, the 
symbols are automatically reset to their default positions. 
This also ensures that note symbols and slurs are positioned sensibly 
when you change the Display Transpose settings.
•To reset the vertical positions of note symbols and slurs 
in a score, right-click on the corresponding object and se
-
lect “Default position” from the context menu.
Changing length, size, and shape
You can change the shape of any symbol that has a 
length. Proceed as follows:
Changing the length of a symbol
1.Select the symbol.
The handles appear.
Symbols with a length have two handles when selected.
2.Drag one of the handles.
You may be restricted to vertically or horizontally only, depending on the 
type of symbol.
Resizing note symbols and dynamics
1.Right-click on a dynamic or note symbol.
2.Select the desired option from the Size submenu.
The size of the symbol changes accordingly.
!If there already are symbols (or other objects) of the 
specified types in the “target” bars, these are re
-
moved.
If you copy the note symbols from the first bar to the second bar…
…only symbols that find corresponding note positions in the second 
bar are copied.
!In the Preferences dialog (Scores–Editing page), 
there is a preference called “Keep Crescendo Sym
-
bols Horizontal”. When this is activated, crescendo 
and diminuendo symbols are never slanted. 
						

							633
Working with symbols
Altering the shape and direction of slurs and 
ties
ÖThis section describes how to alter the “regular” slur 
and tie symbols. How to add and edit Bezier slur symbols 
is described in the section 
“The Bezier slur” on page 624.
There are two types of slurs and ties in the Symbols In-
spector. The up/down variation of each actually represent 
the same symbol but with different initial direction. You 
can perform the following editing to slurs and ties:
•By dragging the middle handle up/down and left/right 
you can change the shape of the curve. 
•By selecting a slur or a tie and clicking the “Flip” symbol 
on the extended toolbar or by selecting “Flip Position” on 
the context menu, you can change the direction and posi
-
tioning of the slur or tie.
Actually, there are three “modes” for a slur or tie. You step through these 
three modes by clicking the button.
•By dragging the end points of a slur or tie, you can 
change its shape without affecting its “relation” to the 
notes it belongs to.
In other words, the end point of the slur/tie keeps its relative distance to 
that note when the note is moved with the Layout tool or when the mea-
sure width is adjusted.
•By holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] and dragging the 
end points of a slur or tie, it can be detached from the 
notes it belonged to.
ÖTo restore the default shape of a symbol, right-click on 
it and select “Default position” from the context menu, see 
“Moving note symbols” on page 632.
•To change the default shape and spacing of slurs and 
ties, open the Score Settings dialog on the Project–Spac
-
ings subpage and edit the “Slur’s Start & End Distance 
from Note Head” and “Slur’s Middle Distance from Note 
Head” settings.
These settings are used for all new slurs and ties you create, as well as 
for all existing slurs for which you have not manually changed the shape.
Deleting symbols
This is done as with all other objects in Cubase, either 
with the Erase tool or by selecting it and pressing [Delete] 
or [Backspace].
Copy and paste
All symbols except those in the Layout and Project tabs 
can be copied and pasted just as any other object in Cu
-
base. The following applies:
•Symbols that were tied to notes (e.g. accents) become 
“free-floating” objects when pasted. 
That is, they are not tied to any note any more. If this is not what you 
want, consider copying with the bar handles, as described in the section 
“Moving and duplicating with the bar handles” on page 631.
Alignment
Symbols can be aligned as in drawing programs. Proceed 
as follows:
1.Select all objects that you want to align.
2.Open the Scores menu and select an option from the 
Align Elements submenu. 
						

							634
Working with symbols
The following options are available:
The “Dynamics” option is a special function for aligning 
dynamic symbols, as described in the section 
“Aligning 
dynamics” on page 635.
Symbol details
This section further describes some of the symbol tabs.
The “Clefs etc.” tab
Clefs
You can insert a clef symbol anywhere in the score. This 
has an effect on the notes, just as the first clef on the staff 
has. And just as with the first clef, the type is selected from 
the Edit Clef dialog that appears when you select the Clef 
symbol and click in the Score. See 
“Inserting and editing 
clefs, keys, or time signatures” on page 584 and “Setting 
clef, key, and time signature” on page 562 for details.
When you double-click on an existing clef, the Edit Clef 
dialog appears again, allowing you to change the type. 
When you right-click on a clef, you can change the type 
from the context menu. 
Keys
Inserting a key change is similar to inserting a new clef (see 
above). For further information, see 
“Editing the key” on 
page 564.
ÖIn the dialog that appears when you insert a key 
change, you can also insert Display Transpose changes.
Time signatures
You can insert a time signature symbol at the beginning of 
any bar. Inserting a new time signature inserts a change 
on the signature track, see 
“Inserting and editing clefs, 
keys, or time signatures” on page 584.
When you select the Time Signature symbol and click in 
the score, the Edit Time Signature dialog opens, allowing 
you to specify the time signature. When you double-click 
on an existing time signature symbol, the same dialog ap
-
pears, allowing you to change the type. This dialog is de-
scribed in detail in the section “Editing the time signature” 
on page 562. When you right-click on a time signature, 
you can change the type on the context menu.
OptionResult
Left
Right
Top
Bottom
Center 
Vertically
Center 
Horizontally
!Note symbols like staccato and accents can only be 
aligned horizontally. 
						

							635
Working with symbols
•You can select a font and size for time signatures in the 
“Text Settings” subpage of the Score Settings dialog 
(Project page).
The default font for this is the included “Steinberg Notation” font.
The Dynamics tab
There are dynamic symbols ranging from ffff to pppp, plus 
“special” dynamic symbols such as sforzando, fortepiano, 
etc. 
•By selecting a dynamic symbol and clicking the “+” and 
“-” buttons on the extended toolbar, you can quickly edit 
dynamics in the score.
Use this feature to step between pppp, pp, p, mp, mf, f, ff, fff, and ffff. 
•You can also right-click on a symbol and select “One 
up” or “One down” on the context menu.
As above, these commands can be used to step between pppp, pp, p, 
mp, mf, f, ff, fff, and ffff. 
•To change the size of a dynamic symbol, right-click on it 
and in the context menu, select an option from the Size 
submenu.
•In the Line/Trill tab you can find a line symbol which al-
lows you to create the following type of change in dynam-
ics:
Crescendo and diminuendo (decrescendo)
In the Dynamics tab, there are three kinds of crescendo 
symbols: regular crescendo, regular diminuendo and a 
“double” crescendo (diminuendo–crescendo).
•To insert a crescendo (), select the 
corresponding symbol from the tab and drag from left to 
right.
•If you draw a crescendo symbol from right to left, the re-
sult is a diminuendo symbol, and vice versa.
•To insert a crescendo-diminuendo () symbol, select 
the double crescendo symbol from the tab and drag from 
left to right.
•To insert a diminuendo-crescendo (>
						

							636
Working with symbols
The Line/Trill tab
Octave symbols
The octave symbols (8va and 15va) act as a “local display 
transpose” (see 
“Transposing instruments” on page 565) 
– they shift the display of the score one/two octaves 
down.
•By dragging the end of the dotted line, you can specify 
exactly which notes are affected by the octave symbol.
Only notes beneath the dotted line are display transposed.
•You can also right-click on the octave symbol and se-
lect the “Extend (+)” or “Reduce (-)” command to extend it 
to the next chord or to reduce it.
Tuplet group symbols
These are “graphical” tuplet group symbols, as opposed 
to the “real” tuplets.
•After inserting a tuplet group symbol, you can double-
click on its number and enter any number from 2 to 32.
•In the Score Settings dialog (Project page–Notation 
Style subpage) you can specify globally how tuplets are 
displayed.
You can also select a font and size for the tuplet numbers in the Text Set-
tings subpage. 
•You can also right-click on the tuplet group symbol and 
select the “Extend (+)” or “Reduce (-)” command to ex
-
tend it to the next chord or to reduce it.
Vertical symbols
The vertical symbols in the Line/Trill tab are “note-depen-
dent”. This means that they must be inserted in front of a 
note. For more information see 
“Note layer symbols” on 
page 619 and the text about grace notes (which behave 
similarly) in the section “Grace notes” on page 615.
The Other tab
Lyrics and text symbols are described in the chapter “Work-
ing with text” on page 645. Chord symbols are described in 
the section “Inserting Chord symbols” on page 641.
Pedal down and up symbols
When you insert a Pedal down or up symbol, you also in-
sert an actual MIDI event (damper pedal, control change 
64) at that position. Similarly, inserting or recording a 
damper pedal event in another editor displays a pedal 
down/up symbol in the score.
•If the “Hide Pedal Markers” option is activated in the 
Score Settings dialog, Project–Notation Style subpage 
(Miscellaneous category), all pedal markers are hidden.
Use this if you have recorded a lot of damper pedal messages, but do not 
want these to show in the score (for example if you are writing for an in
-
strument other than piano).
A pedal down/up symbol combination can be displayed as 
“Two Symbols”, ““Ped.” + Bracket” or as “Bracket only”. 
Just right-click on the pedal symbol and choose an option 
from the context menu. You can also set this in the Score 
Settings dialog, on the Project–Notation Style subpage 
(Miscellaneous category).
Repeats
Repeat signs (one and two bars) have a special feature: if 
you hold down [Shift]-[Ctrl]/[Command] when entering 
them, notes in the bars they relate to are automatically hid
-
den (for more info on hiding symbols, see “Hiding/show-
ing objects” on page 665). 
						

							637
Working with symbols
Box (rectangle) symbol
This is a “generic” box symbol, which may be useful for 
different purposes. If you double-click on a box, a dialog 
opens in which you can specify whether the box is trans
-
parent or not, and whether the border is visible. This dia-
log can also be opened by selecting “Properties” from the 
context menu.
The box symbol is available on the “Other” and “Layout” 
tabs.
The keyboard symbol
This is described in the section “Adding a keyboard sym-
bol” on page 625.
Additional symbols
If you click the “Other Symbol” button and then into the 
score, the “Select Symbol” dialog opens. Here you can 
choose note heads, accidentals and rests that work only 
as drawing elements, i.e. they do not insert any note data 
into the track. They do not affect MIDI playback! You can 
set the desired symbol font size directly in the Font Size 
field.
The Layout tab
Rehearsal marks
These come in two flavors: as numbers and as letters.
When you place the first of these in the score, it is labeled 
1 or A (depending which you choose on the tab), the sec
-
ond is then automatically labeled 2 or B, the next 3 or C, 
etc. If you delete one, the labeling of the others is shifted 
so that they always make up a complete series of num
-
bers/letters.
•You can select a font and size for rehearsal marks on 
the Project–Text Settings subpage of the Score Settings 
dialog.
This dialog also allows you to add a box or an oval around the rehearsal 
mark.
•Rehearsal marks can be added automatically, at the 
start position of each Marker in the project.
This is done using the “Marker track to Form” function.
Da Capo and Dal Segno symbols
The “D.C.”, “D.S.”, and “Fine” symbols provide a quick 
way to insert some common play directions into the score. 
The symbols are text symbols – you can adjust which font 
is used on the Project page (Text Settings subpage) of the 
Score Settings dialog, see 
“Settings for other fixed text el-
ements” on page 654.
•To have these symbols actually affect playback, insert 
them from the Project tab and use the Arranger mode.
See “Scores and the Arranger mode” on page 685.
Endings
There are two types of endings, closed (“1”) and open 
(“2”). Both can be stretched to any length or height by 
dragging the handles. You can also double-click or right-
click on the existing number and enter any text you like.  
						

							638
Working with symbols
Endings are available on the Layout tab (for the layout 
layer), the Project tab (for the project layer), and the Line/
Trill tab (for the note layer). Which one to choose depends 
on the score; while it is handy to insert endings once and 
for all as Project symbols, this does not allow you to make 
individual adjustments for the different parts.
•You can right-click on an ending symbol and select the 
“Extend (+)” or “Reduce (-)” command to extend it to the 
next chord or to reduce it.
Tempo Indicator symbol
This symbol allows you to insert the current tempo ac-
cording to the tempo track. In other words, to make this 
symbol display a certain tempo, insert the value on the 
tempo track.
Normally this symbol shows the number of beats (quarter 
notes) per minute, but if you double-click or right-click it, 
you can select any note value. The number then changes 
accordingly.
Tempo change according to note values symbol
This symbol allows you to specify a tempo change as a 
change from one note value to another. The example 
above would mean “lower the tempo by a third”.
To change the note value for either symbol, double-click 
or right-click on it and select the desired note value from 
the context menu.
User Symbols
The User Symbols tab lets you create your own graphic 
symbols and use these in the score. 
Creating a user symbol
Initially, the User Symbols tab is empty. To create symbols 
you use the User Symbols editor:
1.Double-click on the empty symbol field on the tab.
The User Symbols editor opens. You can also right-click on an empty 
symbol field and select “Edit…” to open the same dialog.
2.Pull down the Functions pop-up menu and select the 
desired zoom factor from the View submenu.
Often you want to work at a reasonably high zoom factor when drawing 
and editing symbols.
3.Use the tools and functions to draw a symbol.
The available tools are listed in the table below.
When you are finished, you can close the editor and insert 
the symbol into the score, or you can create more symbols:
4.Select “New Symbol” from the Functions pop-up menu.
An empty symbol field appears in the section to the left of the drawing 
area – this section corresponds to the actual User Symbols tab, showing 
all symbols that you have created.
5.Click the new empty symbol field on the left to make 
sure that it is selected.
The drawing area is cleared.
6.Continue creating new symbols this way.
•You can edit existing symbols at any time by selecting 
them to the left and using the tools and functions.
Any changes you make are automatically stored in the User Symbols tab 
for the project. You can also export symbols for use in other projects, see 
below.
•To insert a user symbol into the score, click on it on the 
tab and then click at the desired position in the score. 
						

							639
Working with symbols
The User Symbols editor – tools and functions
The toolbar contains the following tools and settings, from 
left to right:
The Note Linked pop-up menu lets you create symbols 
linked to note positions. This affects the whole symbol, not 
a selected graphic object:
The Functions pop-up menu contains the following items 
(some of these can also be accessed on the context menu 
for the User Symbols tab):
ToolDescription
ArrowUse this to select objects – press [Shift] to select more 
than one. Click and drag to move objects – press [Ctrl]/
[Command] to drag vertically or horizontally only or press 
[Alt]/[Option] to copy. 
 To delete an object, select it and press [Backspace] or 
[Delete].
LineDraws a straight line.
RectangleCreates a rectangle. You can fill this with the Fill button if 
needed.
PolygonCreates a polygon – click where each corner of the poly-gon should be and close the figure by clicking outside the 
drawing area.
CircleCreates a circle. You can fill this with the Fill button if 
needed. 
EllipseCreates an ellipse. You can fill this with the Fill button if 
needed.
ArcCreates an arc.
TextAllows you to insert text objects. Clicking with this tool in 
the drawing area opens a dialog where you enter the text, 
specify font, style, etc. You can double-click on a text ob
-ject you have inserted to change its text or settings.
SymbolClicking with this tool brings up a dialog where you can 
select any of the existing score symbols and incorporate 
this (at the desired font size) into your own symbol.
Set Color of 
FrameWhen this is selected, the Color pop-up menu is used to 
select the color for the object frame.
Set Color of 
FillWhen this is selected, the Color pop-up menu is used to 
select the fill color for objects (if Fill is selected)
FillClick this if you want the object to be filled – you can then 
select a Fill Color for it from the Color pop-up menu.
Don’t FillClick this if you do not want the object to be filled.
Color pop-up 
menuSelects Frame or Fill Color for objects. The “Select Col-ors…” menu item brings up a standard color dialog.
Line WidthAllows you to change the line width used for the selected 
object.
Menu itemDescription
Not LinkedThe symbol is not linked to notes.
Linked/LeftThe symbol is linked to a note, appearing to the left of 
the note.
Linked/CenterThe symbol is linked and centered to a note.
Linked/BehindThe symbol is linked to a note, appearing to the right 
of the note.
Menu itemDescription
New SymbolAdds a new empty symbol to the tab (and to the sym-bol list to the left in the editor).
Delete SymbolDeletes the current symbol from the tab.
Export User 
Symbols…Allows you to save the current tab with all available 
symbols as a separate file on disk.
Import User 
Symbols…Loads settings for a complete tab from disk. Note that 
this replaces the current settings.
Export/Import 
Symbol…Lets you save or load individual symbols to/from disk. 
Importing a symbol replaces the current symbol on the 
tab.
DeleteDeletes the selected object(s).
Select AllSelects all objects in the current symbol.
Transform – Scale 
SymbolLets you scale (resize) the selected object by specify-ing a percentage.
Transform – Mirror 
horizontal/verticalMirrors the selected object along the horizontal or ver-tical axis.
Transform –  Flip ±90Rotates the selected object by + or – 90 degrees.
Draw – GroupGroups the selected objects so that they are treated 
as one.
Draw – UngroupUngroups the selected group.
Draw – Bring To 
Front/Send To 
BackThese items let you arrange the objects by moving 
them to the front or the back.
Align – Left/Right/
Top/Bottom/Cen-ter Vertically/Cen-ter Horizontally
Aligns the selected objects to each other.
DisplaySets the zoom factor for the drawing area. 
						

							9
Working with chords