Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
For all of the options except “Part” the pop-up menu also contains a “Setup…” option. 
This option opens a dialog in which you can specify the colors that are associated 
with which velocities, pitches, or channels, respectively.
Creating and editing notes
To draw new notes in the Key Editor, use the Draw tool, the Line tool, or the Chord 
editing tool
Drawing notes with the Draw tool
With the Draw tool, you can insert single notes by clicking at the desired time 
(horizontal) and pitch position (vertical).
•When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar position is indicated on the 
status line, and its pitch is indicated both on the status line and on the piano 
keyboard to the left.
This makes it easy to find the right note and insert position. For a description of 
how to show the status line, see 
“The status line” on page 485.
•If Snap is activated, this determines the start position of the created note.
•If you click once, the created note will have the length set on the Length Quantize 
pop-up menu on the toolbar.
You can create a longer note by clicking and dragging. The length of the created 
note will be a multiple of the Length Quantize value. If “Length Quantize” is set to 
“Quantize Link” the note value is determined by the quantize grid.
Sound Slot 
(Cubase only)The notes get different colors depending on the articulation that has 
been assigned to the note in the Expression Map Setup dialog. For 
more information, see the chapter 
“Expression maps (Cubase only)” 
on page 555.
VoiceThe notes get different colors depending on their voice (soprano, 
alto, tenor, etc.). 
Chord TrackThe notes get different colors depending on whether they match the 
current chord, or scale, or both.
Option Description 
						

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Drawing notes with the Line tool
The Line tool can be used for creating series of contiguous notes. To do so, click and 
drag to draw a line and then release the mouse button.
ÖTo determine another mode for the Line tool you can click on the Line tool and click 
again to open a pop-up menu where you can select the desired option.
The button will change appearance according to the selected mode.
Inserting and Editing Chords with the Chord Editing Tools
You can insert and edit chords by using the tools in the Chord Editing section of the 
Inspector. 
ModeDescription
LineThis is the default mode for the Line tool. When this mode is selected, 
you click and drag to create a straight line, in any angle. When you 
release the mouse button a series of notes will be created, aligned 
with the line. If Snap is activated, the notes will be spaced and sized 
according to the Quantize value.
Parabola, Sine, 
Triangle, SquareThese modes insert events along different curve shapes. While they 
can be used for creating notes, they are probably best suited for 
controller editing (see 
“Adding and editing events in the controller 
display” on page 504).
PaintAllows you to insert multiple notes by dragging with the mouse button 
pressed. If Snap is activated, the notes will be positioned and sized 
according to the Quantize and Length Quantize values. If you press 
[Ctrl]/[Command] while painting, movement will be restricted to 
horizontal (i.
 e. the painted notes will have the same pitch).
Chord type buttons and tools 
for triads
Chord type buttons and tools 
for 4-note chords 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
You can use the tools to the right of the chord type buttons to insert chords. Proceed 
as follows:
1.Select the tool button to the right of the chord type that you want to insert.
2.Click in the event display, drag sideways to determine the length of the chord, and 
up or down to determine its pitch.
If acoustic feedback is active, you hear the chord while dragging. A tooltip 
indicates the root note and chord type of the inserted chord. Snap and “Length 
Quantize” are taken into account.
ÖYou can change the chord type by holding [Alt]/[Option] when dragging up or down.
You can use the chord type buttons to modify existing chords. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the notes of the chord that you want to edit.
If the chord is recognized, the root note, chord type, and tensions are indicated in 
the “Chord Type” field. This also works with arpeggiated notes.
2.Activate one of the chord type buttons in the Triads or in the 4-Note Chords 
section.
The selected notes are transposed to fit the chosen chord type.
3.Use the up/down arrow keys on your computer keyboard to change the pitch of 
the chord.
To change the voicings, you can use the buttons in the Inversions and the Drop Notes 
sections. These allow you to create the typical voicing of a piano, for example.
•To invert the chord, click the “Move highest note to bottom” or “Move lowest note 
to top” buttons in the Inversions section. 
The corresponding notes are transposed by as many octaves as needed. 
•To move the second highest note down by one octave, click the 2 button in the 
Drop Notes section.
•To move the third highest note down by one octave, click the 3 button in the Drop 
Notes section. 
•To move the second and fourth highest notes down by one octave, click the 2/4 
button in the Drop Notes section.
You have two possibilities for adding Key Editor chords to the chord track. For more 
information on the chord track, see 
“Working with the Chord Functions” on page 542.
•To add the recognized chord indicated in the Chord Type field to the chord track, 
click “Add to Chord Track”.
The chord event is inserted at the position on the chord track that corresponds to 
the position of the MIDI notes. Any existing chord events at this position are 
overwritten.
•To perform a chord analysis of the selected notes, click “Make Chords”.
If nothing is selected, the whole MIDI part is analyzed. For further information, see 
“Extracting Chords from MIDI (Make Chords)” on page 552.
You can apply the chord events from the chord track to selected notes in the Key 
Editor:
•To apply a chord event to the selected notes, click “Match with Chord Track”. 
The chord event that is effective at the position of the first selected note is applied 
to the selected notes, which are transposed. Only the basic chord type is applied. 
Tensions are not taken into account. 
ÖOnly the first effective chord event is applied. If there are other chord events in the 
range of the notes, they are not applied.  
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
Setting velocity values
When you draw notes in the Key Editor, the notes will get the velocity value set in the 
Insert Velocity field on the toolbar. You can use different methods to set the velocity:
•When a tool modifier is assigned for the Edit Velocity action in the Select Tool 
category (in the Preferences dialog, Editing–Tool Modifiers page), you can select 
one or more notes, press the modifier and click on one of the selected notes to 
change the velocity. 
The cursor changes into a speaker and, next to the note, a field with the velocity 
value appears – the Note Velocity slider. Move the mouse pointer up or down to 
change the value. Value changes will be applied to all selected notes, as you can 
see in the controller lane. 
•Selecting a predefined velocity value from the Insert Velocity pop-up menu.
The menu contains five different predefined velocity values. The “Setup…” item 
opens a dialog that allows you to specify which five velocity values are available on 
the pop-up menu. (This dialog can also be opened by selecting “Insert 
Velocities…” from the MIDI menu.)
•Manually entering the desired velocity value by double-clicking in the Insert 
Velocity field and typing in the desired value.
•Using a key command.
You can assign a key command to each of the five available velocity values in the 
Key Commands dialog (MIDI category – the items Insert Velocity 1–5). This allows 
for quick switching between different velocity values when entering notes. See 
“Setting up key commands” on page 712 for instructions on how to set up key 
commands.
Selecting notes
Selecting notes is done using any of the following methods:
•Using the Object Selection tool.
The standard selection techniques apply.
•Using the Select submenu of the Edit menu or context menu.
The Select menu options are:
OptionDescription
AllSelects all notes in the edited part.
NoneDeselects all events.
InvertInverts the selection. All selected events are deselected and all notes 
that were not selected are selected instead.
In LoopSelects all notes that are partially or completely inside the boundaries 
of the left and right locators (only visible if locators are set).
From Start to 
CursorSelects all notes that begin to the left of the project cursor.
From Cursor to 
EndSelects all notes that end to the right of the project cursor. 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
•To step from one note to another, use the left and right arrow keys on the 
computer keyboard.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, 
allowing you to select several notes.
•To select all notes of a certain pitch, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the 
desired key in the keyboard display to the left.
•To select all the following notes of the same pitch, you can press [Shift] and 
double-click on a note. 
ÖIf the “Auto Select Events under Cursor” option is activated in the Preferences dialog 
(Editing page), all notes “touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.
Toggle selections
If you want to toggle the selected elements within a selection rectangle, press 
[Ctrl]/[Command] and enclose the same elements within a new selection rectangle. 
Once you release the mouse button, the previous selection is deselected and vice 
versa.
Selecting controllers within the note range
You can select the controllers within the range of the selected notes. The following 
applies:
•When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated on the toolbar, the 
controllers will always be selected when the respective notes are selected.
•When you select “Select Controllers in Note Range” on the Select submenu of the 
Edit menu, the controllers within the note range (i.
 e. between the first/leftmost and 
last/rightmost note) will be selected.
Please note that for this to work, only two notes have to be selected.
•A note range lasts until the start of the next note or the end of the part. 
•Selected controllers for notes are moved when the corresponding notes are 
moved.
Equal Pitch – all 
OctavesThis function requires that a single note is selected. It selects all 
notes of this part that have the same pitch (in any octave) as the 
currently selected note.
Equal Pitch – same 
OctaveAs above, but selects notes of the exact same pitch only (same 
octave).
Select Controllers 
in Note RangeSelects the MIDI controller data within range of the selected notes, 
see below.
Option Description
All notes of the corresponding 
pitch are selected. 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
Moving and transposing notes
To move notes in the editor, use any of the following methods:
•Select the notes and use the buttons on the Transpose Palette on the toolbar.
•Click and drag to a new position.
All selected notes will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. If Snap is 
activated, this determines to which positions you can move the notes, see 
“Snap” 
on page 490.
•Use the up and down arrow keys on the computer keyboard.
This method allows you to transpose the selected notes, without risking to move 
them horizontally. Note that pressing [Shift] and using the up and down arrow keys 
will transpose notes in steps of one octave. 
 
Transpose is also affected by the global transpose setting, see “The transpose 
functions” on page 161. 
ÖYou can also use the Transpose function on the MIDI menu (see “Transpose” on page 
472).
•Use the Move to Cursor function on the Edit menu (Move to submenu).
This moves the selected notes to the project cursor position.
•Select a note and adjust its position or pitch on the info line, see “Editing on the 
info line” on page 499.
•Use the Move buttons in the Nudge palette on the toolbar.
This moves the selected note(s) by the amount set on the Quantize pop-up menu. 
By default, the Nudge palette is not shown on the toolbar. How to show/hide 
toolbar items is described in the section 
“Using the Setup options” on page 700.
ÖWhen you move selected notes to a different position, any selected controllers for 
these notes will move accordingly. For further information, see also 
“Moving events” 
on page 506.
ÖYou can also adjust the position of notes by quantizing (see “Quantizing MIDI and 
Audio” on page 134).
Duplicating and repeating notes
Notes are duplicated much in the same way as events in the Project window:
•Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the note(s) to a new position.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy notes (see 
“Snap” on page 490).
•Selecting Duplicate from the Functions submenu on the Edit menu creates a copy 
of the selected note and places it directly after the original.
If several notes are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, maintaining the 
relative distance between the notes.
•Selecting “Repeat…” from the Functions submenu on the Edit menu opens a 
dialog, allowing you to create a number of copies of the selected note(s).
This works like the Duplicate function, but you can specify the number of copies.
!You can restrict movement to horizontal or vertical by holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] 
while dragging. 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
•You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: Select the notes to repeat, 
press [Alt]/[Option], click the right edge of the last selected note and drag to the 
right.
The longer to the right you drag, the more copies are created (as indicated by the 
tooltip).
Using cut and paste
You can use the Cut, Copy and Paste options on the Edit menu to move or copy 
material within a part or between different parts. When you paste copied notes, you 
can either use the regular Paste function or the function “Paste Time” from the Range 
submenu of the Edit menu.
•“Paste” inserts the copied notes at the project cursor position without affecting 
existing notes.
•“Paste Time” inserts at the project cursor position, but moves (and if necessary, 
splits) existing notes to make room for the pasted notes.
Resizing notes
To resize a note, use one of the following methods:
•Position the Object Selection tool at the start or end of the note, so that the pointer 
takes on the shape of a small double arrow. Click and drag to the left or right to 
resize the note.
This method allows you to resize the note from either direction.
•If you want to apply time-stretching to the controller (and Note Expression data, 
Cubase only) associated with the note that you resize, you can select the “Sizing 
Applies Time Stretch” mode for the Object Selection tool before resizing the note.
This resizing mode works exactly as in the Project window, see “Resizing events 
using time stretch” on page 77.
•Click with the Draw tool within the note box and drag to the left or the right (to 
make the note shorter or longer, respectively).
Selecting “Paste Time” with this 
data on the clipboard and the 
project cursor here…
…will give you this. 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
With these methods, the resulting length will be a multiple of the Length Quantize 
value on the toolbar.
•Use the Trim Start/End buttons on the Nudge palette on the toolbar.
This resizes the selected note(s) by moving their start or end positions, in steps 
according to the Length Quantize value on the toolbar. By default, the Nudge 
palette is not shown on the toolbar – see 
“Using the Setup options” on page 700 
for more information.
•Select the note and adjust its length on the info line.
See “Editing on the info line” on page 499 for details on info line editing.
•Use the Trim tool, see “Using the Trim tool” on page 488.
Splitting notes
There are three ways to split notes:
•Clicking on a note with the Cut tool splits the note at the position you pointed 
(taking the Snap setting into account if activated).
If several notes are selected, they are all split at the same position.
•If you select “Split at Cursor” from the Functions submenu on the Edit menu, all 
notes that are intersected by the project cursor are split at the cursor position.
•If you select “Split Loop” from the Functions submenu on the Edit menu, all notes 
that are intersected by the left or right locator are split at the locator positions.
Gluing notes
Clicking on a note with the Glue tool will “glue it together” with the next note of the 
same pitch. The result will be one long note spanning from the start of the first note to 
the end of the second note and with the properties (velocity, etc.) of the first note.
Muting notes
Individual notes can be muted in the Key Editor, as opposed to muting an entire MIDI 
part in the Project window. This allows you to exclude notes from playback, but keep 
the option to bring them back again at any time. To mute a note, use one of the 
following methods:
•Click on it with the Mute tool.
•Drag a rectangle with the Mute tool, enclosing all notes you want to mute.
•Select the note(s) and choose Mute from the Edit menu. 
The default key command for this is [Shift]-[M].
Muted notes 
are “dimmed” 
in the note 
display.
•To unmute a note, either click it or enclose it with the Mute tool, or select it and 
choose Unmute from the Edit menu.
The default key command for this is [Shift]-[U].
Deleting notes
To delete notes, either click on them with the Erase tool or select them and press 
[Backspace]. 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
Editing on the info line
The info line shows the values and properties of the selected events. If a single event 
is selected, its values are displayed on the info line. If several events are selected, the 
info line shows the values of the first of these events (in color).
You can edit the values on the info line using regular value editing. This allows you to 
move, resize, transpose or change velocity of events in a very precise manner. It is also 
possible to click in the Pitch or Velocity field in the info line and play a note on your 
MIDI keyboard – the pitch or velocity will be adjusted accordingly.
•If you have several events selected and change a value, all selected events will be 
changed by the set amount.
•If you have several events selected and change a value holding down 
[Ctrl]/[Command], the change will be absolute. In other words, the value setting 
will be the same for all selected events.
ÖCubase only: If the Note Expression editor is open and you have selected values on a 
curve, the info line shows values belonging to the corresponding Note Expression 
parameter.
How the Key Editor handles drum maps
When a drum map is assigned to a MIDI or instrument track (see “Working with drum 
maps” on page 518), the Key Editor will display the drum sound names as defined by 
the drum map. This allows you to use the Key Editor for drum editing, e. g. when 
editing drum note lengths (which may be necessary for some external instruments) or 
when editing several parts, to identify drum events.
In Cubase, the name of the drum sound is displayed in the following locations:
On the info line, in the Pitch field
In the event itself (provided that the zoom 
factor is high enough)
When dragging a note On the status line, in the Mouse Note 
Position field 
						

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The MIDI editorsKey Editor operations
How the Key Editor handles expression maps (Cubase only)
When an expression map is assigned to a MIDI track, the musical articulations defined 
for that map are displayed in the following locations of the Key Editor:
For more information, see the chapter “Expression maps (Cubase only)” on page 555.
Note Expression data in the Key Editor (Cubase only)
The Key Editor is the main editor for working with Note Expression. This functionality is 
described in detail in the chapter 
“Note Expression” on page 565.
Editing notes via MIDI
You can change the properties of notes via MIDI. For example, this can be a fast way 
to get the right velocity value, since you will hear the result even as you edit:
1.Select the note you want to edit.
2.Click the MIDI Input button on the toolbar to enable editing via MIDI.
3.Use the note buttons on the toolbar to decide which properties are changed by 
the MIDI input.
You can enable editing of pitch, note-on and/or note-off velocity.
With this setting, the edited notes will get the pitch and velocity values of the notes input via 
MIDI, but the note-off velocities will be kept as they are.
4.Play a note on your MIDI instrument.
The note selected in the editor will get the pitch, velocity and/or note-off velocity of 
the played note.
The next note in the edited part is automatically selected, making it easy to quickly edit 
a series of notes.
•If you want another try, select the note again (e. g. by pressing the left arrow key on 
the computer keyboard) and again play a note on your MIDI instrument.
On the info line
In the event itself if the vertical zoom factor is 
high enough On the controller lane