Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual
Have a look at the manual Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual online for free. It’s possible to download the document as PDF or print. UserManuals.tech offer 523 Steinberg manuals and user’s guides for free. Share the user manual or guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Christina Kaboth, Insa Mingers, Sabine Pfeifer, Benjamin Schütte This PDF provides improved access for vision-impaired users. Please note that due to the complexity and number of images in this document, it is not possible to include text descriptions of images. The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced, or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Registered licensees of the product described herein may print one copy of this document for their personal use. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. For more information, please visit www.steinberg.net/trademarks. Release Date: December 3, 2012 © Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2012. All rights reserved.
3 Table of Contents 10Introduction 10About the Program Versions 10Key Command Conventions 11Part I: Getting into the details 12Setting up your system 12Setting up audio 19Setting up MIDI 21Connecting a synchronizer 21Setting up video 22Optimizing audio performance 24The VST Performance Window 25The ASIO-Guard Option 26VST Connections 26About this chapter 26The VST Connections window 27Setting up busses 31Setting up group and FX channels 31About monitoring 32External instruments/effects (Cubase only) 37Editing operations 40The Project window 40Window Overview 42The track list 43The Inspector 47The toolbar 48The status line 48The info line 50The overview line 50The ruler 52The Snap function 54Auto-Scroll 55Working with projects 55Creating new projects 57Opening projects 57Closing projects 58Saving projects 60The Archive and Backup functions 62The Project Setup dialog 64Zoom and view options 69Audio handling 69Auditioning audio parts and events 70Scrubbing audio 70Editing parts and events 80Range editing 83Region operations 84The Edit History dialog 85The Preferences dialog 87Working with tracks and lanes 87Setting up tracks 91Editing tracks 94Working with lanes 97Organizing tracks in folder tracks 100Dividing the track list 101Playback and the Transport panel 101Background 102Operations 106Options and Settings 108The Virtual Keyboard 110Recording 110Background 110Basic recording methods 113Audio recording specifics 124MIDI recording specifics 130Options and Settings
4 134Quantizing MIDI and Audio 134Introduction 134Quantizing Audio Event Starts 134AudioWarp Quantize (Cubase Only) 135Quantizing MIDI Event Starts 135Quantizing MIDI Event Lengths 135Quantizing MIDI Event Ends 135Quantizing Multiple Audio Tracks (Cubase Only) 136AudioWarp Quantizing Multiple Audio Tracks (Cubase Only) 136The Quantize Panel 142Additional Quantizing Functions 143Fades, crossfades, and envelopes 143Creating fades 145The Fade dialogs 147Creating crossfades 148The Crossfade dialog 149Auto fades and crossfades 151Event envelopes 152The arranger track 152Introduction 152Setting up the arranger track 154Working with arranger events 157Flattening the arranger chain 159Live mode 160Arranging your music to video 161The transpose functions 161Introduction 161Transposing your music 165Other functions 169Using markers 169Introduction 170The Marker window 173The marker track 175Exporting and importing markers 177The MixConsole 177Overview 179Configuring the MixConsole 183Keyboard Navigation in the MixConsole 185Working with the Fader Section 190Working with the Channel Racks 201Linking Channels (Cubase only) 203Metering (Cubase only) 205Using Channel Settings 208Saving and Loading Selected Channel Settings 208Resetting MixConsole Channels 209Adding Pictures 210Adding Notes 211The Control Room (Cubase only) 212Setting Up the Control Room Channels 214Opening the Control Room 215The Control Room Mixer 221The Setup Pane 224Cue Channels and Cue Sends 226The Control Room Overview 226Direct Monitoring and Latency 227Audio effects 227Overview 229Insert effects 235Send effects 240Using the side-chain input 242Using external effects (Cubase only) 242Editing effects 243Effect presets 248Installing and managing effect plug-ins 252VST instruments and instrument tracks 252Introduction 252VST instrument channels vs. instrument tracks 252VST instrument channels 255Instrument tracks 258What do I need? Instrument channel or instrument track? 258Instrument Freeze 260VST instruments and processor load 260Using presets for VSTi configuration 264About latency 265External instruments (Cubase only) 266Surround sound (Cubase only) 266Introduction 267Preparations 269Using the SurroundPanner V5 277Using the MixConvert V6 plug-in (Cubase only) 278Exporting a surround mix 279Automation 279Introduction 279Working with automation curves 280Enabling and disabling the writing of automation data 280Writing automation data 283Editing automation events 285Automation track operations 289The Automation panel (Cubase only) 297Automation Preferences 298Hints and further options 299MIDI controller automation
5 302Audio processing and functions 302Background 302Audio processing 313Applying plug-ins (Cubase only) 315The Offline Process History dialog 316Freeze Edits 317Detect Silence 319The Spectrum Analyzer 321Statistics 322About time stretch and pitch shift algorithms 325The Sample Editor 325Window overview 332General functions 341Warping audio 347Working with hitpoints and slices 353VariAudio (Cubase only) 367Generating Harmony Voices for Monophonic Audio 368Flattening realtime processing 371The Audio Part Editor 371Background 371Window overview 372Opening the Audio Part Editor 373Operations 375Options and Settings 376The Pool 376Background 377Window overview 380Operations 393The MediaBay 393Introduction 394Working with the MediaBay 395The Define Locations section 398The Locations section 399The Results list 403Previewing files 406The Filters section 410The Attribute Inspector 415The Loop Browser, Sound Browser, and Mini Browser windows 416Preferences 417Key commands 418Working with MediaBay-related windows 420Working with Volume databases 422Working with track presets 422Introduction 422Types of track presets 424Applying track presets 427Creating a track preset 428Creating tracks from track presets or VST presets 430Track Quick Controls 430Introduction 430Assigning parameters to quick controls 432Connecting quick controls with remote controllers 433Quick controls and automatable parameters 435Remote controlling Cubase 435Introduction 435Setting Up 437Operations 438The Generic Remote device 442Track Quick Controls 442The Remote Control Editor 448Apple Remote (Macintosh only) 449MIDI realtime parameters and effects 449Introduction 449The Inspector – general handling 450The Inspector sections 455MIDI effects 459Managing plug-ins 460Using MIDI devices 460Background 460MIDI devices – general settings and patch handling 467About Device panels (Cubase only) 471MIDI processing 471Introduction 473Making your settings permanent 474Dissolve Part 476Bounce MIDI 476Repeat Loop 477Other MIDI functions 481The MIDI editors 481Introduction 482Opening a MIDI editor 483The Key Editor – Overview 488Key Editor operations 512The In-Place Editor 514The Drum Editor – Overview 516Drum Editor operations 518Working with drum maps 522Using drum name lists 522The List Editor – Overview 523List Editor operations 527Working with SysEx messages 529Recording SysEx parameter changes 529Editing SysEx messages 531The basic Score Editor – Overview 532Score Editor operations
6 542Working with the Chord Functions 542Introduction 542The Chord Track 545The Chord Track Inspector Section 548The Chord Editor 549The Chord Assistant (Cubase only) 551Creating a Chord Progression from Scratch (Chords to MIDI) 552Extracting Chords from MIDI (Make Chords) 553Controlling MIDI or Audio Playback with the Chord Track (Follow Chords) 554Assigning Chord Events to MIDI Effects or VST Instruments 555Expression maps (Cubase only) 555Introduction 556Using expression maps in Cubase 560Creating and editing expression maps 565Note Expression 565Introduction 567Setting up the Note Expression Inspector tab 569Mapping controllers 570Recording 572Editing Note Expression data 576Note Expression and MIDI 579HALion Sonic SE 580The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input Transformer 580Introduction 581Opening the Logical Editor 581Window overview 581Setting up filter conditions 590Selecting a function 591Specifying actions 594Applying the defined actions 594Working with presets 595The Input Transformer 597The Project Logical Editor (Cubase only) 597Introduction 598Opening the Project Logical Editor 598Window overview 598Setting up filter conditions 605Specifying actions 607Selecting a function 608Applying Macros 608Applying the defined actions 608Working with presets 610Editing tempo and signature 610Background 611Tempo and signature display 613Editing tempo and signature 616Process Tempo (Cubase only) 617The Process Bars dialog (Cubase only) 618The Beat Calculator 619Merge Tempo From Tapping (Cubase only) 619The Time Warp tool (Cubase only) 625Tempo Detection (Cubase only) 628Adjusting the audio to the project tempo 629The Project Browser (Cubase only) 629Window Overview 630Editing tracks 638Export Audio Mixdown 638Introduction 639Mixing down to audio files 640The Export Audio Mixdown dialog 645The available file formats 650Synchronization 650Background 651Timecode (positional references) 653Clock sources (speed references) 653The Project Synchronization Setup dialog 658Synchronized operation 659Example scenario (Cubase only) 660Working with VST System Link 663Activating VST System Link 670Video 670Introduction 670Before you start 672Preparing a video project in Cubase 674Video files in the Project window 675Playing back video 678Editing video 678Extracting audio from a video file 679Replacing the audio in a video file 680ReWire 680Introduction 680Launching and quitting 681Activating ReWire channels 682Using the transport and tempo controls 682How the ReWire channels are handled in Cubase 683Routing MIDI via ReWire2 683Considerations and limitations
7 684File handling 684Importing audio 690Exporting and importing OMF files (Cubase only) 692 Exporting and importing standard MIDI files 695Exporting and importing MIDI loops 696Exporting and importing track archives (Cubase only) 698Customizing 698Background 698Workspaces 700Using the Setup options 702Customizing track controls 704Appearance 706Applying colors in the Project window 709Where are the settings stored? 711Key commands 711Introduction 712Setting up key commands 716Setting up tool modifier keys 717The default key commands 724Part II: Score layout and printing (Cubase only) 725How the Score Editor works 725About this chapter 725Welcome! 725How the Score Editor operates 726MIDI notes vs. score notes 726Display Quantize 729Entering notes by hand vs. recording notes 730The basics 730About this chapter 730Preparations 730Opening the Score Editor 731The project cursor 731Playing back and recording 731Page Mode 733Changing the zoom factor 734The active staff 734Making page setup settings 734Designing your work space 737About the Score Editor context menus 737About dialogs in the Score Editor 738Setting clef, key, and time signature 744Transposing instruments 744Printing from the Score Editor 745Exporting pages as image files 746Working order 746Force update 747Transcribing MIDI recordings 747About this chapter 747About transcription 747Getting the parts ready 747Preparing parts for score printout 748Staff settings 749Situations which require additional techniques 750Inserting Display Quantize changes 751The Explode function 752Using “Scores Notes To MIDI” 753Entering and editing notes 753About this chapter 753Score settings 754Note values and positions 756Adding and editing notes 759Selecting notes 760Moving notes 762Duplicating notes 763Cut, copy, and paste 763Editing pitches of individual notes 765Changing the length of notes 766Splitting a note in two 766Working with the Display Quantize tool 766Split (piano) staves 767Strategies: Multiple staves 768Inserting and editing clefs, keys, or time signatures 770Deleting notes 771Staff settings 771About this chapter 771Staff settings 771Making settings 772Working with staff presets 772Staff names 773Key and clef 773Display Quantize and Interpretation Options 776Display Transpose 777The Options tab 778The Polyphonic tab 778The Tablature tab
8 779Polyphonic voicing 779About this chapter 779Background: Polyphonic voicing 781Setting up the voices 783Strategies: How many voices do I need? 783Entering notes into voices 784Checking which voice a note belongs to 784Moving notes between voices 785Handling rests 786Voices and Display Quantize 787Creating crossed voicings 788Automatic polyphonic voicing – Merge All Staves 789Converting voices to tracks – Extract Voices 790Additional note and rest formatting 790About this chapter 790Background: Note stems 790Setting stem direction 792Stem length 793Accidentals and enharmonic shift 794Changing the note head shape 795Other note details 796Coloring notes 797Copying settings between notes 797Handling beaming 803About tied notes 805Graphic moving of notes 806Cue notes 807Grace notes 808Tuplets 811Working with symbols 811About this chapter 811Background: The different layers 812The Symbols Inspector 815Important! – Symbols, staves, and voices 815Adding symbols to the score 825Selecting symbols 826Moving and duplicating symbols 830Changing length, size, and shape 831Deleting symbols 831Copy and paste 832Alignment 832Symbol details 841Working with chords 841About this chapter 841Inserting chord symbols 844Global chord settings 845Working with text 845About this chapter 845Adding and editing text symbols 848Different types of text 854Text functions 858Working with layouts 858About this chapter 858Background: Layouts 859Creating a layout 859Opening a layout 859Layout operations 860Using layouts – an example 861Marker Track to Form 862Working with MusicXML 862Introduction 863Importing and exporting MusicXML files 866Designing your score: additional techniques 866About this chapter 866Layout settings 868Staff size 868Hiding/showing objects 870Coloring notes 870Multiple rests 871Editing existing bar lines 872Creating upbeats 873Setting the number of bars across the page 874Moving bar lines 876Dragging staves 878Adding brackets and braces 878Displaying the Chord Symbols from the Chord Track 879Auto Layout 881Reset Layout 882Breaking bar lines 883Scoring for drums 883About this chapter 883Background: Drum maps in the Score Editor 884Setting up the drum map 886Setting up a staff for drum scoring 886Entering and editing notes 886Using “Single Line Drum Staff” 887Creating tablature 887About this chapter 887Creating tablature automatically 888Creating tablature manually 889Tablature number appearance 890Editing 890Note head shape 891The score and MIDI playback 891About this chapter 891Scores and the Arranger mode 891Working with mapped dynamics
9 895Tips and Tricks 895Overview 895Useful editing techniques 897Frequently asked questions 900If you wish you had a faster computer 901Index
10 Introduction About the Program Versions The documentation covers two different operating systems or “platforms”, Windows and Mac OS X. Some features and settings are specific to one of the platforms. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. If nothing else is said, all descriptions and procedures in the documentation are valid for both Windows and Mac OS X. The screenshots are taken from the Windows version of Cubase. Key Command Conventions Many of the default key commands in Cubase use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] on Windows and [Command]-[Z] on Mac OS X systems. When key commands with modifier keys are described in this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier key first, in the following way: [Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key] For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] on Windows or [Command] on Mac OS X systems, then press [Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] on Windows or [Option] on Mac OS X systems, then press [X]”. ÖThis manual often refers to right-clicking, for example, to open context menus. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click.