Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

							91
Working with tracks and lanesEditing tracks
Editing tracks
Adding events to a track
There are a number of ways to add events to a track:
•By recording (see “Basic recording methods” on page 110).
•By dragging files and dropping them on the track at the desired position.
You can drag from the following locations: the desktop, the MediaBay and its 
related windows (see the chapter 
“The MediaBay” on page 393), the Pool, a 
library (a Pool file that is not attached to a project) (Cubase only), the “Find media” 
dialog, another open Project window, the Audio Part Editor, the Sample Editor 
(press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag to create an event of the current selection, or 
click in the left column of the region list and drag to create an event from a region).
When you drag the clip into the Project window, its position will be indicated by a marker line 
and a numerical position box.
•By importing an audio or video file using the Import submenu on the File menu.
When you import a file this way, a clip is created for the file and an event that plays 
the whole clip is inserted on the selected track, at the position of the project 
cursor.
•By importing a MIDI file using the Import submenu.
See “Exporting and importing standard MIDI files” on page 692.
•By grabbing audio CD tracks and converting them to audio files.
See “Importing audio CD tracks” on page 685.
•By importing only the audio portion of a video file and converting it to an audio file.
See “About thumbnail cache files” on page 674. 
•By using Copy and Paste on the Edit menu.
This allows you to copy all kinds of events between projects. You can also copy 
events within the project, e.
 g. from the Sample Editor.
•By drawing.
This is possible for marker and automation tracks e. g. For audio, MIDI and 
instrument tracks, you can only draw parts (see 
“Creating parts” on page 92).  
						

							92
Working with tracks and lanesEditing tracks
Creating parts
Parts are containers for MIDI or audio events, or even for tracks (see “Working with 
folder parts” on page 98). 
Creating MIDI parts
A MIDI part is automatically created when you record. This will contain the recorded 
events. However, you can also create empty MIDI parts and later add events to them. 
There are two ways to do this:
•Draw a part on a MIDI track with the Draw tool.
You can also draw parts by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Object Selection 
tool.
•Double-click with the Object Selection tool on a MIDI track, between the left and 
right locator.
To add events to a MIDI part, you use the tools and functions in a MIDI editor (see 
“The Key Editor – Overview” on page 483).
Creating audio parts
There is no way of automatically creating audio parts on recording. On recording 
audio events are created always. To create audio parts, you have the following 
possibilities: 
•Use the “Events to Part” function on the Audio menu to gather existing audio 
events into a part.
This creates an audio part containing all selected audio events on the same track. 
To remove the part and make the events appear as independent objects on the 
track again, select the part and use the “Dissolve Part” function on the Audio 
menu.
•Draw a part on an audio track with the Draw tool.
You can also draw parts by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Object Selection 
tool.
•Double-click with the Object Selection tool on an audio track, between the left and 
right locator.
ÖYou can use Copy and Paste or Drag and Drop in the Audio Part Editor to add events 
to existing audio parts (see 
“Window overview” on page 371).
Selecting tracks
•To select a track, click on it in the track list.
A selected track is indicated by a light gray color in the track list.
•To select several tracks press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on them.
This track is selected. 
						

							93
Working with tracks and lanesEditing tracks
•To select a continuous range of tracks [Shift]-click on them.
You can also set up Cubase to select tracks on the following actions by activating 
Preferences:
•Selecting a channel in the MixConsole
The respective track is automatically displayed in the track list as well. For this to 
work you have to select “Track” on the “Scroll to Selected…” pop-up menu in the 
Preferences dialog (Editing–Project & MixConsole).
•Selecting an event in the Project Window
The corresponding track is automatically selected, if the “Track Selection Follows 
Event Selection” option is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing).
•Activating the solo button for the track
The track gets automatically selected, if the “Select Channel/Track on Solo” 
option is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Project & MixConsole).
•Clicking the Edit button (e) for the track
The track gets automatically selected, if the “Select Channel/Track on Edit 
Settings” option is activated in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Project & 
MixConsole).
Duplicating tracks
•To duplicate a track together with all contents and channel settings, right-click the 
track list and select “Duplicate tracks” from the context menu, or select “Duplicate 
tracks” from the Project menu.
The duplicated track will appear below the original track.
Moving tracks
•To move a track, click and drag it up or down in the list.
•To move one or several selected tracks to a folder, select “Move Selected Tracks 
to New Folder” from the context menu.
Disabling tracks
Audio tracks can be disabled by selecting “Disable Track” from the track list context 
menu. Disabling a track “zeroes” the output volume from the track, shuts down all disk 
activity and processing for it, and hides the corresponding channel in the MixConsole. 
For more information, see 
“About track disable/enable” on page 106.
Track folding
On the Project menu you will find the Track Folding submenu, allowing you to quickly 
show, hide or invert what is displayed in the Project window event display. This 
enables you for example to divide the project into several parts (by creating several 
folder tracks for the different project elements) and showing/hiding their contents by 
selecting a menu function (or using a key command). You can also fold in automation 
tracks this way. The following options are available:
•Toggle Selected Track
When you select this menu option, the fold state of the selected track is reversed, 
i.
 e. if the track was folded in (its elements (subtracks) were hidden), it is now 
unfolded (all subtracks displayed) and vice versa.
•Fold Tracks
Select this menu option to fold in all open folder tracks in the Project window. 
Please note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track 
Folding” setting in the Preferences dialog, see below. 
						

							94
Working with tracks and lanesWo r k i n g  w i t h  l a n e s
•Unfold Tracks
Select this menu option to unfold all folder tracks in the Project window. Please 
note that the exact behavior of this function depends on the “Deep Track Folding” 
setting in the Preferences dialog, see below.
•Flip Fold States
Select this menu option to flip the fold states of the tracks in the Project window. 
This means that all tracks that were folded in will be unfolded and all unfolded 
tracks will be folded in, respectively.
•Move Selected Tracks to New Folder
This menu option is available, if at least one folder track is available. Selecting this 
option moves all selected tracks to the folder track.
ÖYou can assign key commands for these menu options in the Key Commands dialog 
(Project category).
In the Preferences dialog (Editing–Project & MixConsole page), you can find the 
following option affecting the track folding behavior:
•Deep Track Folding
When this is activated, any folding settings you make in the Track Folding 
submenu of the Project menu also affect the subelements of the tracks, i.
 e. if you 
fold in a folder track which contains 10 audio tracks 5 of which have several 
automation tracks open, all these audio tracks within the folder track will be folded 
in as well.
Working with lanes
ÖTo simplify matters, the descriptions in the following paragraphs focus on cycle 
recordings with takes. However, you can also apply lane operations and comping 
methods on overlapping events or parts that you assemble on one track.
If you perform a cycle recording in the “Keep History” or “Cycle History + Replace” 
modes (audio) or in the “Stacked” or “Mix-Stacked” modes (MIDI), the recorded cycle 
laps are shown on the track with the last recorded take active and on top.
The “Show Lanes” mode provides a very comfortable working environment and gives 
you a good overview of all your takes. If you activate the “Show Lanes” button, the 
recorded takes are shown on separate lanes. 
The “Show Lanes” button 
						

							95
Working with tracks and lanesWo r k i n g  w i t h  l a n e s
Lanes are handled differently, depending on whether you work with audio or MIDI:
•Audio
As each audio track can only play back one single audio event at a time, you only 
hear the take that is activated for playback, for example, the last lap of a cycle 
recording. 
•MIDI
Overlapping MIDI takes (parts) can be played back simultaneously. If you recorded 
in “Mix-Stacked” mode, you hear all takes from all cycle laps.
Lanes can be reordered, sized, and zoomed like regular tracks.
To solo a lane, you can activate the Solo button for it. This allows you to hear the lane 
in the project context. If you want to hear the take without the project context, you also 
have to activate the main track’s Solo button.
In the following you will learn how to play back, cut, and activate takes to combine the 
best parts of your recording in a final take.
Assembling a perfect take
1.Select the Comp tool or the Object Selection tool.
2.Bring a take to front to select it for playback, and listen to it.
3.Audition different takes to compare them in more detail.
4.If necessary, cut your takes into smaller sections, create new ranges and bring 
them to front.
5.Proceed until you are satisfied with the result.
Assembling operations
Unless it is clearly stated, all operations can be performed in the Project window and 
in the Audio Part Editor. Snap is taken into account, and all operations can be undone.
To assemble a perfect take, you can use the Comp tool or the Object/Range 
Selection tool:
•The Comp tool modifies all takes on all lanes simultaneously.
This is useful if the recorded takes have the same start and end positions.
•The Object/Range Selection tool affects single takes on individual lanes.
If this is not what you want, you can either perform your edits on the main track or 
use the Comp tool.
The following operations can be performed:
OperationComp toolObject/Range Selection tool
SelectHold down [Shift] and click on a take.Click on a take.
Bring to front 
(Project window only)
Click on a take. Click twice to toggle. Position the mouse pointer over the 
middle of the lower border of a take until it 
changes to a Comp symbol, and click. 
Click twice to toggle. 
 
For MIDI this mutes/unmutes a take.
Comp  
(create a new range 
and bring it to front, 
Project window only)
Click and drag on a lane. All takes are 
cut at the range start and end. 
 
If the audio takes are adjacent without 
gaps or fades and the material itself 
matches, the takes are merged within 
the range. 
– 
						

							96
Working with tracks and lanesWo r k i n g  w i t h  l a n e s
ÖIf you assemble stacked events on an audio track, make sure that the option “Treat 
Muted Audio Events like Deleted” setting in the Preferences dialog (Editing–Audio 
page) is deactivated. Otherwise it will come to unexpected results.
Additional steps
After assembling your perfect take, you can perform additional steps:
•Open the track context menu and select “Clean Up Lanes”.
This resolves overlaps and removes empty lanes. 
For audio, proceed as follows:
1.Apply auto fades and crossfades to the comped takes. 
2.Select all takes and select “Delete Overlaps” from the Advanced submenu on the 
Audio menu to put all takes on a single lane, and remove all takes in the 
background.
3.Open the Audio menu and select the “Bounce Selection” function to create a new 
and continuous event of all selected takes.
For MIDI, proceed as follows:
1.Open your takes in a MIDI editor to perform fine adjustments like removing or 
editing notes.
2.Select all takes and use the “Bounce MIDI” function on the MIDI menu to create a 
new and continuous part of all selected takes that is placed on a single lane.
You can also use the “Merge MIDI in Loop” option to create a new part and place 
it on a new track.
Finally, clean up the lanes as follows:
•Select “Create Tracks from Lanes” from the track list context menu. 
The lane is converted into a new track. 
AuditionPress [Ctrl]/[Command] to activate the 
Speaker tool and click at the position 
where you want playback to start.See left.
MoveClick and drag on the main track. Click and drag on any lane.
ResizeDrag the resize handles. All takes with 
the same start and end positions are 
affected. Resizing is constrained to the 
end or start of the adjacent takes. This 
ensures that you do not create 
overlaps accidentally.Drag the resize handles. 
Correct timing 
(Slip Event)
Select a take, hold down [Alt]/[Option]-
[Shift] (the tool modifier for Slip Event) 
and drag with the mouse.See left.
Cut[Alt]/[Option]-click on a take. If you cut 
a MIDI part and the cut position inter
-
sects one or several MIDI notes, the 
result depends on the “Split MIDI 
Events” option in the Preferences dia
-
log, see “Splitting events” on page 75.
See left.
Adjust cutsPosition the mouse pointer over a cut 
and drag to the left or to the right. See left.
Glueing cutsBring a new range to front.Select a range spanning all the cuts that 
you want to glue, and double-click.
Operation Comp tool Object/Range Selection tool 
						

							97
Working with tracks and lanesOrganizing tracks in folder tracks
Organizing tracks in folder tracks
Creating folder tracks
Moving tracks into a folder is a way to structure and organize tracks in the Project 
window. By grouping tracks in folder tracks, you can solo and mute them in a quicker 
and easier way and perform editing on several tracks as one entity. Folder tracks can 
contain any type of track including other folder tracks.
Working with folder tracks
•Creating a folder track
On the Project menu open the “Add Track” submenu and select “Folder”, or right-
click the track list and select “Add Folder Track” from the context menu.
•Moving tracks into a folder
Open the Project menu and use the “Move Selected Tracks To New Folder” 
command from the Track folding submenu, right-click on the track in the track list 
and select the command from the context menu or set up and use the 
corresponding key command (found in the Project category of the Key Commands 
dialog). 
•Removing tracks from a folder
Drag a track out of the folder and release it in the track list to remove it from the 
folder.
•Hiding/showing tracks in a folder
Click on the “Expand/Collapse Folder” button (the folder icon) to hide or show the 
tracks located in a folder or use the corresponding options in the Track Folding 
submenu of the Project menu (see 
“Track folding” on page 93). Hidden tracks are 
played back as usual. 
A folder track
Tracks in the folder 
						

							98
Working with tracks and lanesOrganizing tracks in folder tracks
•Hiding/showing data on folder tracks
Right-click on the folder track to open the context menu and from the “Show Data 
on Folder Tracks” submenu select one of the options. This menu is also available in 
the Preferences dialog (Editing page). The following options are available:
•Muting and soloing folder tracks
Click the Mute or Solo button on the folder track to mute or solo all tracks in the 
folder as one unit.
Working with folder parts
A folder part is a graphic representation of events and parts on the tracks in the folder. 
Folder parts indicate the position and length of the events and parts, as well as on 
which track they are (their vertical position). If part colors are used, these are also 
shown in the folder part.
Any Project window editing you perform to a folder part affects all the events and 
parts it contains. You can select several folder parts if you like – this allows you to 
handle and edit them together. The editing you can perform includes:
- Moving a folder part. This will move its contained events and parts (possibly 
resulting in other folder parts, depending on how the parts overlap).
- Using cut, copy and paste.
- Deleting a folder part. This will delete its contained events and parts.
- Splitting a folder part with the Cut tool.
- Gluing folder parts together with the Glue tool. This will only work if the adjacent 
folder parts contain events or parts on the same track.
- Resizing a folder part resizes the contained events and parts according to the 
selected resizing method.
- Muting a folder part. This will mute its contained events and parts.
Tracks inside a folder can be edited as one entity by performing the editing directly on 
the folder part containing the tracks. You can also edit individual tracks within the 
folder by showing the contained tracks, selecting parts and opening editors as usual.
OptionDescription
Always Show DataThe data on the folder track is always visible.
Never Show DataThe data on the folder track is never visible.
Hide Data When ExpandedThe data on the folder track is only visible if the folder is not 
expanded. 
						

							99
Working with tracks and lanesOrganizing tracks in folder tracks
Double-clicking a folder part opens the editors for the corresponding track classes 
present in the folder. The following applies:
•All MIDI parts located on the tracks within the folder are displayed as if they were 
on the same track, just like when opening the Key Editor with several MIDI parts 
selected.
To be able to easily discern the different tracks in the editor, give each track a 
different color in the Project window and use the “Part Colors” option in the editor 
(see 
“Coloring notes and events” on page 490).
•If the folder contains tracks with audio events and/or audio parts, the Sample 
and/or Audio Part Editors are opened with each audio event and audio part in a 
separate window.
About Group Editing (Cubase only)
The Group Editing mode for folders allows you to quickly group events and parts 
across multiple tracks without having to select all the events or parts. This is useful for 
multi-track recordings of drum sets, where you often want to edit the different drum 
tracks (bass drum, snare, toms, etc.) together. Edit groups are also useful if you want 
to quantize multiple tracks.
You activate the Group Editing mode by clicking the Group Editing button (the “=” 
sign) for a folder in the track list.
If the Group Editing mode is activated and you select an event, a part or a range on a 
track inside the folder track, other events, parts or ranges that have the same start and 
end time and the same playback priority, are also selected and temporarily grouped.
Temporarily means that on every new selection with the Object Selection or the 
Range Selection tool, Cubase looks for corresponding events or parts inside the 
folder and groups them. If you edit the start or end point of a single event or part 
before activating the “=” button for group editing, will cause this event or part to be 
excluded from the group.
Edit actions in Group Editing mode affect all grouped events, parts or ranges. If you 
select another take by using the small “To Front” arrow at the right side of one event of 
an Edit Group e.g., all other tracks inside the Edit Group also switch to the 
corresponding take. This is very useful for comparing takes of a multi-track recording.
ÖThe Group Editing setting overwrites any regular group settings in the edit group. For 
further information, see 
“Grouping events” on page 78. 
						

							100
Working with tracks and lanesDividing the track list
Dividing the track list
It is possible to divide the track list into two parts. Both sections will have independent 
zoom and scroll controls (if needed), but resizing the window vertically will affect the 
lower section only (if possible). This is useful if you are working with a video track 
along with multi-track audio, for example. This way, you can place the video track in 
the upper track list, letting you scroll the audio tracks separately in the lower track list, 
referencing them against the video track.
•To divide the track list, click the “Divide Track List” button in the top right corner of 
the Project window just below the ruler.
•To revert to a single track list, click the button again.
When the track list is divided into two parts, the following applies:
•If you add tracks from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu, video tracks, 
marker tracks, and arranger tracks are automatically placed in the upper part of the 
track list.
If the track list already contains any video, marker, or arranger tracks, these are 
automatically moved to the upper part when you divide the track list. All other types 
of tracks are placed in the lower part.
•If you add tracks from the context menu invoked by right-clicking the track list, the 
tracks are added to the part of the track list in which you click.
•You can move any type of track from the lower track list to the upper and vice versa 
by right-clicking it in the track list and selecting “Toggle Track List” from the 
context menu.
•You can resize the upper part by clicking and dragging the divider between the 
track list sections.