Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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Note ExpressionRecording
When you now start overdubbing, the values for all these controls are attached to the 
notes that are passed during overdub recording, replacing any existing controller data 
of the same type.
Resetting the Latch buffer
Whenever data is present in the Latch buffer, the “Reset Latch buffer” button 
becomes available. If you click this button, all the memorized values are removed from 
the Latch buffer.
ÖWhen you are using Latch mode in combination with cycle recording, the Latch Buffer 
is automatically reset at the end of the cycle.
Recording Note Expression data via MIDI input
An alternative way to enter Note Expression data for existing notes is using Note 
Expression MIDI input. When you activate the “MIDI Input” and “Note Expression MIDI 
Input” buttons on the Key Editor toolbar, you can replace the controllers for the 
selected note.
•To record Note Expression data via MIDI input, select a note and move the active 
control on your MIDI device.
The note is played in real time and any manipulation of the controls, i. e. all 
incoming controller data, is recorded for this note. Recording stops when the end 
of the note or the end of the release phase (see 
“Editing the release phase of a 
note” on page 575) is reached, or when you deselect the note.
Recording the sustain pedal
When the sustain pedal (MIDI CC 64) of the connected MIDI device is held during 
recording, the following applies for VST
 3 parameters (not for continuous MIDI 
controllers):
•When a note-off event is received (when the key on the connected keyboard is 
released), this message is not sent to the VST
 3 instrument but is instead created 
by the program when the sustain pedal is released. 
This makes it possible for the VST 3 instrument to play back controllers that are 
sent after a key was released.
•The release phase of the recorded notes ends when the sustain pedal is released.
Reset Latch Buffer
Click here to activate Latch mode 
						

							572
Note ExpressionEditing Note Expression data
Editing Note Expression data
In the Key Editor, you can view and edit the Note Expression data for notes in the Note 
Expression editor. This is opened by double-clicking a note in the event display. In the 
editor, you can add Note Expression data from scratch. All parameters that are 
marked as visible in the Inspector are displayed as curves in the editor.
ÖWhen several notes are selected in the Key Editor and you double-click any of them, 
the Note Expression editor opens for all these notes. This is useful if you want to edit 
all notes in a chord in the same way, for example.
•To adjust the editor size, click and drag the Resize handle (in the center of the 
lower border of the editor). This allows you to switch between three different 
window sizes.
•To navigate from note to note while the editor is open, use the left and right arrow 
keys.
You can also use the key commands [Tab] and [Shift]-[Tab] to step through the 
notes.
To make settings in the editor, first select the parameter that you want to make 
settings for. How to do this depends on whether you want to modify existing data or 
enter new data from scratch:
•If you want to enter new data from scratch, i. e. create events for a parameter that 
has not been used yet, you have to select this parameter in the Inspector to make 
it available in the editor.
•If you want to edit existing data, you specify which parameter to edit in one of the 
following ways: by clicking on the curve, by selecting the corresponding controller 
on the Parameter pop-up menu, or by selecting the parameter on the Note 
Expression Inspector tab.
The parameter pop-up menu in the lower left corner of the editor lists all 
parameters that are used for the edited note. If the editor size is big enough, the 
name of the edited parameter is displayed to the right of the pop-up menu.
•You can close the editor by clicking outside of it in the event display.
You can also specify a key command for opening and closing the Note Expression 
editor.
The value display
The value display in the lower right corner of the editor shows the current value at the 
(vertical) mouse pointer position. The value range differs depending on the parameter 
type, e.
 g. 0 to 127 for MIDI controllers or semitones and cents for Tuning.
Selection ranges
You can select a range of controller values by clicking and dragging in the editor with 
the Object Selection tool. 
•If you hold down [Shift] and drag, any previous selection will be kept.
•You can move selections by dragging them in the editor.
•To copy a selection in the editor, click on it, keep the mouse button pressed, then 
press [Alt]/[Option] and drag. 
						

							573
Note ExpressionEditing Note Expression data
Editing functions
Drawing in data
You can enter or modify curves using the Draw tool or the line tool. The editing is the 
same as in the controller lanes, see 
“Adding and editing events in the controller 
display” on page 504. If the Object Selection tool is selected and the editor is open, 
you can press [Alt]/[Option] to get the Draw tool.
You can enter lines and curves using the line tool in its various modes. This works just 
as when editing in the controller lane, see 
“Adding and editing events in the controller 
display” on page 504.
Using Cut, Copy, and Paste
•To cut, copy, and paste Note Expression data for a single parameter in the editor, 
use the corresponding commands on the Edit menu.
It is also possible to copy and paste data between different parameters.
ÖPasting Note Expression data in the editor is restricted to the note (or notes, if they are 
located at the same time position) for which the editor is open. However, you can 
copy all Note Expression data from one note to another using a key command.
•To paste all the Note Expression data from one note to other notes, set up the key 
command “Paste Note Expression” in the Key commands dialog (Note Expression 
category). 
This pastes all the Note Expression information of one or several notes for which 
you have used the Copy command into the currently selected notes.
Using the “Paste Note Expression” command, you can copy the settings you made for 
one note into several other notes, or copy the settings for several selected notes into 
a number of other notes (which makes it easy to recreate specific drum patterns, for 
example).
I f  N o t e  E x p r e s s i o n  d a t a  i s  c o p i e d  f r o m  s everal source notes to a number of destination 
notes, the following applies:
•If the number of the source and destination notes matches, the data of the first 
“source” note is pasted into the first “destination” note, the data of the second 
source note into the second destination note, etc. 
•If the number of source notes is smaller than the number of destination notes, the 
source note data will be pasted repeatedly into the destination notes in the order in 
which they appear.
When you copy the data from two source notes into four destination notes, for 
example, the first destination note gets the Note Expression data from the first 
source note, the second destination note the data of the second source note, the 
third destination note the data of the first source note and the fourth destination 
note the data of the second source note.
Deleting Note Expression data
•To delete all or the selected Note Expression data, use the Delete command on 
the Edit menu or press [Backspace].
Moving Note Expression data
•To move all or the selected data of the active parameter, click with the Object 
Selection tool in the editor (not in the stretch area at the bottom of the window) 
and drag.
You can restrict the direction to vertical or horizontal by pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] 
while dragging. When you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while dragging, the data is 
copied instead. 
						

							574
Note ExpressionEditing Note Expression data
Fixed values
•To enter or edit a fixed value (i. e. a straight line), activate “One-Shot Mode” mode 
by clicking the button in the upper left corner of the window and click with the 
Draw tool anywhere in the editor to set the value.
Note that some VST 3 parameters are one-shot only. For these, this mode is 
automatically activated.
The snap controls
The horizontal snap button in the upper right corner of the editor corresponds to the 
Snap button in the Project window (see 
“The Snap function” on page 52).
The Vertical Snap button in the middle of the left border of the editor is especially 
useful for the Tuning parameter. It allows you to enter the pitch in semitone steps 
instead of as a continuous curve. This way, it is much easier to create fast pitch 
modulations.
•To temporarily switch to vertical snapping while editing, hold down [Shift].
Modifying the data using the smart controls
The editor offers various modes for editing the Note Expression data. Most editing 
modes are activated by clicking the various smart controls, situated on the editor 
frame.
Which editing is performed is reflected by the shape of the mouse pointer. The 
following modes are available:
Horizontal Snap
Vertical snap (best suited for 
the Tuning parameter)
Editing modeTo activate this 
mode…Description
Move VerticallyClick in an empty 
area on the upper 
border of the editor.This mode allows you to move the entire curve 
up or down, which is useful to boost or attenuate 
a curve. 
Scale VerticallyClick the smart 
control in the middle 
of the upper border 
of the editor.Use this mode to relatively scale the curve, i. e. to 
raise or lower the values in percent (not by 
absolute amounts).
Smart controls 
						

							575
Note ExpressionEditing Note Expression data
Editing the release phase of a note
Sometimes it can be necessary to edit the release phase of a note, e. g. to work on the 
tail of a note which is still sounding after the note-off message was sent. These 
settings are made in the release section of the editor. To add a release phase, click 
and drag the release length handle in the lower right corner of the editor.
When Note Expression data are displayed in the Key Editor, the release phase of a 
note is also shown.
Tilt the left/right 
part of the curveClick the smart 
control in the upper 
left/right corner of 
the editor.These modes allow you to tilt the left or the right 
part of the curve, respectively. This is useful if the 
curve form is exactly the way you want it, but the 
start or end needs to be boosted or attenuated a 
bit.
Compress the 
left/right part of 
the curve[Alt]/[Option]-click 
the smart control in 
the upper left/right 
corner of the editor.These modes allow you to compress the left or 
the right part of the curve. You can create a 
vibrato using the line tool in sinus mode, for 
example, and then compress its start and end to 
get a more natural effect.
Scale Around 
Absolute CenterClick the smart 
control in the middle 
of the right border of 
the editor.This mode allows you to scale the curve around 
the absolute center, i.
 e. horizontally around the 
center of the editor. This is useful for parameters 
which contain a center value or position, such as 
Pitchbend or panorama.
Scale Around 
Relative Center[Alt]/[Option]-click 
the smart control in 
the middle of the 
right border of the 
editor.This mode allows you to scale the curve relative 
to its center. This can be used to boost or 
reduce vibrato, for example.
StretchClick and drag in the 
lower part of the 
editor.This allows you to stretch all or the selected 
Note Expression data.
You can apply the stretching to all visible curves 
at the same time by keeping [Shift] pressed 
while dragging.
Editing mode To activate this 
mode…Description
Note
Release phaseRelease length handle 
						

							576
Note ExpressionNote Expression and MIDI
Setting the length of the release phase
To determine the length of the release phase, drag the release length handle or enter 
the value manually on the info line. You can also modify the release length after having 
edited or recorded controller data. Only the controllers within the specified length will 
be heard during playback.
ÖWhen you have opened the editor for several notes and hold down [Alt]/[Option] while 
setting the release length for one note, the release phase of all the notes will be 
changed accordingly, i.
 e. they will all end at the same time position.
Adding controllers in the release phase
You can add controllers in the release phase by overdubbing or by manually entering 
Note Expression data in the editor. When you are overdubbing Note Expression data, 
the length of the existing release phase will be used to associate newly recorded data 
to the notes. When the sustain pedal of your external device is held during recording, 
the notes automatically get a corresponding release phase.
Editing multiple notes simultaneously
When you have opened the editor for several notes, any editing (e. g. entering Note 
Expression data, applying time stretch or modifying the length of the release phase) 
affects all the notes that are present at the time position where you perform the 
editing.
Note Expression and MIDI
Making global settings
In the Note Expression MIDI Setup dialog, you can make some global settings for the 
use of the Note Expression functionality with MIDI. In this dialog, you can specify 
exactly which MIDI controllers will be used when recording Note Expression data, for 
example.
Proceed as follows:
1.On the MIDI menu, open the Note Expression submenu and select “Note 
Expression MIDI Setup…”.
The Note Expression MIDI Setup dialog opens.  
						

							577
Note ExpressionNote Expression and MIDI
The dialog contains the following options:
2.When you have made the desired settings, click OK to close the dialog.
The settings you made in the Note Expression MIDI Setup dialog will be used 
every time that you use the “Convert to Note Expression” function or record MIDI 
controllers as Note Expression data. 
Recording MIDI controllers as Note Expression data
To record Note Expression data using standard MIDI controller messages, activate 
the “MIDI as Note Expression” button on the Note Expression Inspector tab and enter 
the notes and controllers using your MIDI device. Afterwards, you can copy, paste and 
move the notes and the associated controller data will follow. 
However, you should not shift individual notes from a chord, because this leads to 
conflicting controller messages. One way to avoid such conflicts is to record MIDI 
controllers as Note Expression data for monophonic performances only. Another 
option is to use a MIDI track set to “Any” channel and to split polyphony to separate 
channels. This is useful when working with guitar-to-MIDI controllers, where each 
string sends on a separate MIDI channel. 
ÖWhen recording MIDI controllers as Note Expression data, keep in mind that this only 
works within the limits of standard MIDI controllers. With the exception of Poly 
Pressure, all MIDI controllers are channel-specific messages and therefore not 
available for notes.
Converting MIDI Controllers into Note Expression data
You can also convert the MIDI controller data on the controller lanes into Note 
Expression data.
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the MIDI part in the Key Editor.
2.Make sure that the MIDI controllers to be recorded are activated in the “Note 
Expression MIDI Setup” dialog.
OptionDescription
ControllerActivate this option if you want to use MIDI controllers when working 
with Note Expression. In the table below, activate the MIDI controllers 
you want to use and deactivate the MIDI controllers that should be 
disregarded in the Note Expression context.
If MIDI controller data for a deactivated controller is received in Cubase, 
it will end up on the controller lane.
PitchbendActivate this option if you want incoming Pitchbend data to be used 
when working with Note Expression.
AftertouchActivate this option if you want incoming Aftertouch data to be used 
when working with Note Expression.
Poly PressureActivate this option if you want Poly Pressure data to be used when 
working with Note Expression.
Controller Catch 
RangeThis allows you to associate controllers with a note, although they were 
sent slightly before the note-on message. Specify the number of ticks in 
the value field. For example, this might be necessary when working with 
some electronic drums for which the drum head position message is 
sent before the note.
!When you are editing the MIDI notes after recording them, it might be necessary to 
consolidate the controller data. 
						

							578
Note ExpressionNote Expression and MIDI
3.On the MIDI menu, open the Note Expression submenu and select “Convert to 
Note Expression”.
The MIDI data of the types you specified in the Note Expression MIDI Setup dialog 
is converted from controller lane data into Note Expression data, leaving the 
corresponding controller lanes empty. 
During this process, the program searches for notes that are sounding at the same 
time as the controllers and if several notes are playing at the same time, the same 
Note Expression parameters will be attributed to them, with the same values.
ÖWhen converting MIDI controllers into Note Expression data, release phases (see 
“Editing the release phase of a note” on page 575) are automatically created where 
necessary, so that no controller data is lost during this process.
Consolidating MIDI overlaps
It can be problematic to convert regular MIDI controllers into Note Expression data or 
to edit MIDI controllers which have been recorded as Note Expression data. For 
example, when you move notes so that they overlap other notes containing the same 
controllers (e.
 g. by moving or quantizing), these controllers are conflicting. This might 
cause trouble, especially for connected MIDI devices.
You can eliminate such controller conflicts using the “Consolidate Note Expression 
Overlaps” command on the Note Expression submenu of the MIDI menu. When you 
select this command, the following happens:
•If notes overlap that contain data for the same controller, the controller values of 
the second note are used from the beginning of the overlap.
•If a note is moved so that it is positioned entirely within a longer note and if these 
notes contain controller data for the same controller, the controller values of the 
longer note are used until the encompassed note starts. The controllers for the 
“embedded” shorter note are used for the entire length of that note. At the end of 
the shorter note, the controllers of the longer note are used again.
Distributing notes to different channels
If you do not have a VST 3 instrument, but still want to use the Note Expression 
functions, proceed as follows:
1.Add a multi-timbral instrument, open its control panel, and assign the same sound 
to different channels.
2.In the Inspector for the corresponding MIDI track, make sure the MIDI output pop-
up menu is set to “Any”.
3.Enable the “MIDI as Note Expression” button and record or enter MIDI notes with 
expression as needed.
4.On the MIDI menu, open the Note Expression submenu and select “Distribute 
Notes to MIDI Channels”.
This will distribute the MIDI notes to different channels (starting at channel 1).
5.Edit Note Expression for each note independently without controller conflicts.
!When you are editing the MIDI notes after the conversion, it might be necessary to 
consolidate the controller data. 
						

							579
Note ExpressionHALion Sonic SE
Dissolving Note Expression data
•To convert Note Expression data into MIDI controller data on controller lanes, 
select the “Dissolve Note Expression” option from the Note Expression submenu 
on the MIDI menu. 
Note that this applies only to Note Expression data that consists only of MIDI 
controllers (i. e. not the VST 3 controller data).
Removing all Note Expression data
•To delete all the Note Expression data for the current selection, open the MIDI 
menu and, on the Note Expression submenu, select “Remove Note Expression”.
Trimming Note Expression data
When you reduce the release length of a note after entering Note Expression data for 
the release phase, some of the data ends up behind the release phase, thereby 
becoming unused. 
•To keep only those Note Expression events that are actually used, select the notes 
and select “Trim Note Expression to Note Length” from the Note Expression 
submenu on the MIDI menu.
This will delete any Note Expression data present after the end of the release 
phase for the notes.
HALion Sonic SE
HALion Sonic SE is a VST 3-compatible VST instrument. For use with Note 
Expression, it offers the VST
 3 parameters “Tuning” (Pitch), “Volume”, and “Pan”. 
HALion Sonic SE comes with several presets (with the file name extension 
“*.NoteExp”) that can be used with Note Expression. Use them to get a quick overview 
of the possibilities HALion Sonic SE offers when working with Note Expression.
For detailed information about HALion Sonic SE and its parameters, refer to the 
separate PDF document “HALion Sonic SE”.
ÖYou can also open the Project Browser to have all the Note Expression data shown in 
a list. This is described in detail in the chapter 
“The Project Browser (Cubase only)” 
on page 629. 
						

							580
The Logical Editor, Transformer, and Input 
Transformer
Introduction
Most of the time you will perform your MIDI editing graphically in one of the MIDI 
editors. But there are times when you want more of a “search and replace” function on 
MIDI data, and that’s where the Logical Editor comes in.
The principle of the Logical Editor is this:
•You set up filter conditions to find certain elements.
This can be elements of a certain type, with certain attributes or values or on 
certain positions, in any combination. You can combine any number of filter 
conditions and make composite conditions using And/Or operators.
•You select the basic function to be performed.
The options include Transform (changing properties of the found elements), 
Delete (removing the elements), Insert (adding new elements based on the found 
positions of other elements) and more.
•You set up a list of actions, which specify exactly what is done.
This is not necessary for all functions. For example, the Delete function does not 
require any additional action specifications – it simply removes all found elements. 
The Transform function on the other hand requires that you specify which 
properties are changed and in which way (transpose notes by a certain amount, 
adjust velocity values, etc.).
By combining filter conditions, functions and the specific actions, you can perform 
very powerful processing.
To master the Logical Editor, you need some knowledge about how MIDI messages 
are structured. However, the Logical Editor also comes with a rich selection of 
presets, allowing you to access its processing powers without delving into its more 
complicated aspects, see 
“Working with presets” on page 594.
About the Transformer MIDI effect
The Transformer effect is a realtime version of the Logical Editor, allowing you to apply 
editing to the events played back from a track “on the fly”. The Transformer contains 
virtually the same settings and functions as the Logical Editor – where there are 
differences between the two, this is clearly stated on the following pages.
ÖFor details on how to open the Transformer (and other MIDI effects), see “MIDI 
realtime parameters and effects” on page 449.
!The Logical Editor is only available in Cubase! However, the Transformer MIDI effect 
and the Input Transformer that share many of the functions with the Logical Editor are 
also available in Cubase Artist.
!Studying the included presets is an excellent way to learn the workings of the Logical 
Editor! Many of them can also be used as starting points when you set up your own 
editing operations using the Logical Editor.