Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
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Editing tempo and signature Tempo and signature display 901 A note about tempo-based audio tracks For tempo-based tracks, the start position of audio events on the timeline depends on the current tempo setting. However, it is important to realize that the actual audio (“within” the events) will play back as recorded, regardless of any tempo changes you make. Therefore, it is good practice to make the proper tempo and time signature settings before you start recording tempo-based audio. • To make an already recorded audio track follow the tempo changes, you can use the Tempo Detection Panel or the Sample Editor. • To adapt the tempo track to time-based material, you can use the Time Warp tool. This allows you to adjust the tempo track so that tempo-based material (e. g. positions in music) coincides with time-based material (positions in narration, video, etc.). RELATED LINKS Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only) on page 920 Sample Editor on page 432 The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only) on page 913 Tempo and signature display You can view the current tempo and signature settings of your project in a number of ways: • On the Transport panel. • By displaying the tempo track and the signature track in the Project window. Open the Project menu, select Add Track and the Signature and/or Tempo options. • In the Tempo Track Editor. Open the Project menu and select Tempo Track, or [Ctrl]/[Command]-click the Tempo button on the Transport panel. RELATED LINKS Transport Panel on page 196 About the tempo and signature tracks The tempo track and the signature track allow you to view and edit tempo and signature data in the project context.
Editing tempo and signature Tempo and signature display 902 • The Inspectors for these tracks show the positions and values of individual tempo curve points or signature events. • The signature track’s background always shows bars. This is independent of the ruler display format setting. • In the track list for the tempo track, on the far right, you can specify the display range by clicking on the numbers at the top or bottom and dragging up or down. Note that this does not change the tempo setting, but changes the display scale of the tempo track. • You can lock the tempo track and the signature track to prevent unintentional editing. Simply click the lock symbols in the track list to lock/unlock the tracks. About the Tempo Track Editor 1) Time Signature area 2) Tempo curve display If you do not want to display two extra tracks in the Project window, you can also open the Tempo Track Editor to view and edit tempo and signature information. The Tempo Track Editor has a toolbar, info line, and ruler just like other editors in Cubase, plus an area for the display of time signature events and a tempo curve display.
Editing tempo and signature Tempo and signature display 903 The toolbar The toolbar contains various tools and settings: 1) Activate Tempo Track 2) Show Info 3) Tools 4) Auto-Scroll 5) Suspend Auto-Scroll when Editing 6) Snap on/off 7) Snap value 8) The selected tempo 9) Curve type for new tempo events 10) Tempo recording slider (Cubase Pro only) 11) Open Process Tempo dialog (Cubase Pro only) 12) Open Process Bars dialog (Cubase Pro only) • The tools for Object Selection, Erase, Zoom and Draw are used in the same way as in other editors. The Snap and Auto-Scroll functions also work exactly like in the Project window. Note that in the Tempo Track Editor, the Snap function affects tempo events only. Time signature events always snap to the beginning of bars. • The info line in the Tempo Track Editor allows you to change settings for selected time signature events, and the type and tempo of selected tempo curve points. • The ruler in the Tempo Track Editor shows the timeline, and is similar to the ruler in the Project window. • The area below the ruler shows time signature events. • The main display shows the tempo curve (or, if fixed tempo mode is selected, the fixed tempo). To the left of the display you will find a tempo scale to help you quickly locate the desired tempo. Note that the vertical “grid lines” in the tempo curve display correspond to the display format selected for the ruler. RELATED LINKS Ruler on page 48 Setting the fixed tempo on page 907
Editing tempo and signature Editing tempo and signature 904 Editing tempo and signature You can use the options of the Tempo Track Editor or the tempo and signature tracks to edit tempo and signature settings. The descriptions given below are valid in both cases. The only exception is the tempo recording slider, which is available only in the Tempo Track Editor. RELATED LINKS Recording tempo changes (Cubase Pro only) on page 907 Editing the tempo curve IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT This section assumes that you are working in tempo track mode, i. e. the Tempo button must be activated on the Transport panel. Adding tempo curve points PROCEDURE 1. Use the “Type of New Tempo Points” pop-up menu (on the toolbar of the Tempo Track Editor) or the “Type of New Tempo points” pop-up menu in the track list for the tempo track to select whether you want the tempo to change gradually from the previous curve point to the new one (“Ramp”) or change instantly to the new value (“Jump”). You can also set this to Automatic. In this case, the types of existing tempo curve points will be used when inserting new points at the same position. 2. Select the Draw tool. 3. Click and drag in the tempo curve display to draw a tempo curve. When you click, the tempo display on the toolbar shows the tempo value. If Snap is activated on the toolbar, this determines at which time positions you can insert tempo curve points. Type of New Tempo Points set to “Ramp” Type of New Tempo Points set to “Jump”
Editing tempo and signature Editing tempo and signature 905 You can also click on the tempo curve with the Object Selection tool. This adds a single point with each click. NOTE Tempo values can also be automatically inserted by the Beat Calculator. RELATED LINKS The Beat Calculator on page 911 Snap Function on page 62 Selecting tempo curve points Curve points can be selected as follows: • Using the Object Selection tool. The standard selection techniques apply. • Using the Select submenu of the Edit menu. The options are: All Selects all curve points on the tempo track. None Deselects all curve points. Invert Inverts the selection – all selected curve points are deselected and all curve points that were not selected are selected instead. In Loop Selects all curve points between the left and right locator. From Start to Cursor Selects all points to the left of the project cursor. From Cursor to End Selects all points to the right of the project cursor. • You can also use the left and right arrow keys on the computer keyboard to go from one curve point to the next. If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, you can select several points at the same time.
Editing tempo and signature Editing tempo and signature 906 Editing tempo curve points Curve points can be edited in the following ways: • By clicking and dragging horizontally and/or vertically with the Object Selection tool. If several points are selected, all of them are moved. If Snap is activated on the toolbar, this determines to which time positions you can move curve points. • By adjusting the tempo value in the tempo display on the Tempo Track Editor toolbar, in the Inspector, or on the info line. NOTE Selecting several points and changing the tempo value in the info line leads to a relative adjustment of the tempo values. IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT We recommend using the Bars+Beats display format when editing tempo curves. Otherwise, you may get confusing results. This is because moving a point will change the relationship between tempo and time. If you move a tempo point to the right and drop it at a certain time position, the mapping between tempo and time will be adjusted. Since you have changed the tempo curve, the moved point will appear at another position. RELATED LINKS Snap Function on page 62 Adjusting the curve type You can change the curve type of a tempo curve segment at any time, using the following method: PROCEDURE 1. With the Object Selection tool, select all curve points within the segment you want to edit. 2. In the info line, click below the word “Type” to switch the curve type between “Jump” and “Ramp”. The curve sections between the selected points are adjusted.
Editing tempo and signature Editing tempo and signature 907 Removing tempo curve points To remove a curve point, either click on it with the Erase tool or select it and press [Backspace]. The first tempo curve point cannot be removed. Recording tempo changes (Cubase Pro only) The Tempo Recording slider on the toolbar of the Tempo Track Editor allows you to record tempo changes “on the fly”: simply start playback and use the slider to raise or lower the tempo at the desired positions. This is useful for creating natural sounding ritardandos, etc. Setting the fixed tempo When the tempo track is deactivated, the tempo track curve is grayed out (but still visible). Since the tempo is fixed throughout the whole project, there are no tempo curve points. Instead, the fixed tempo is displayed as a horizontal black line in the tempo curve display. To set the tempo in fixed mode: • Adjust the value numerically in the tempo display on the Tempo Track Editor toolbar or in the track list. • On the Transport panel, click on the tempo value to select it, enter a new value and press [Enter]. Adding and editing time signature events • To add a time signature event, click with the Draw tool in the time signature area or time signature track. This adds a default 4/4 time signature event at the closest bar position. • To edit the value of a time signature event, select it and adjust the value on the info line, or double-click the event and enter a new value. Note that there are two controls for the signature display; the left one adjusts the numerator and the right one adjusts the denominator.
Editing tempo and signature Process Tempo (Cubase Pro only) 908 • To move a time signature event, click and drag it with the Object Selection tool. Note that you can [Shift]-click to select multiple events. Also note that time signature events can only be positioned at the start of bars. This is also true if Snap is deactivated. • To remove a time signature, either click on it with the Erase tool or select it and press [Backspace] or [Delete]. The first time signature event cannot be removed. Exporting and importing tempo tracks (Cubase Pro only) You can export the current tempo track for use in other projects by selecting “Tempo Track” from the “Export” submenu of the File menu. This allows you to save the tempo track information (including time signature events) as a special XML file (file extension “.smt”). To import a tempo track, select “Tempo Track” from the Import submenu of the File menu. Note that this replaces all tempo track data in the current project (although the operation can be undone if needed). Process Tempo (Cubase Pro only) Process Tempo allows you to define a specific length or end time for a set range, and the tempo track will automatically set a tempo that will fit the range in the specified time. PROCEDURE 1. Specify a region or range that you wish to process by setting the left and right locators, either in the Tempo Track Editor or in the Project window. 2. Click on the Process Tempo button (either in the Tempo Track Editor or on the tempo track). The Process Tempo dialog opens.
Editing tempo and signature The Process Bars dialog (Cubase Pro only) 909 3. In the Process Range fields, the specified range is shown, in Bars and Beats (PPQ) and in a time format, which can be selected from the Time Display Format pop-up menu. The range defined in step 1 will already be set, but you can edit the range by adjusting the values in the Process Range fields if you wish. Now you can either specify a new range length or a new range end time. What to choose depends on whether the range should have a specific length or whether it should end at a specific time position. 4. Enter the desired End or Length in the corresponding fields of the New Range section. You can select a time format for the new range in the Time Display Format pop-up menu. 5. Click Process. Now the tempo track is automatically adjusted, and the range will have the specified duration. The Process Bars dialog (Cubase Pro only) The Process Bars dialog (opened from the Tempo Track Editor or the signature track) uses the global “Insert Silence” and “Delete Time” functions from the Range submenu of the Edit menu. However, the necessary ranges (or parameters) are calculated using a musical “bars+beats-based” environment. The function also ensures that the time signatures stay “in sync” after these operations. This allows for a much more intuitive approach when inserting, deleting or replacing “time” while working with a project set to the Bars+Beats time type. The dialog contains the following elements: Bar Range The Bar Range display shows the bar range within the project as well as its length. Click on the right edge of the green indicator and drag it to the right to enlarge the range. You can also use the Start and Length value fields (see below). The arrow pair in this section marks the length of the current project. The area to the right marks the bar range that can be added (10,000 bars max.). Bar Range – Start This is where you specify the start position for the bar range. Click on the arrows to raise/lower the value or click directly in the value field to enter the value manually.
Editing tempo and signature The Process Bars dialog (Cubase Pro only) 910 Bar Range – Length This is where you specify the length of the bar range. Click on the arrows to raise/lower the value or click directly in the value field to enter the value manually. Action – Insert Bars When you select this action, clicking the Process button will insert the specified number of empty bars with the set time signature at the start position specified above. Action – Delete Bars When you select this action, clicking the Process button will delete the specified number of bars, beginning at the start position specified above. Action – Reinterpret Bars When you select this action, clicking the Process button will reinterpret the bar range to fit the specified time signature. This is very special in the sense that both bars+beats positions of the notes and the tempo are being changed to fit the new time signature, but the playback of the notes will stay just the same. For example, if you want to reinterpret a bar with the time signature 3/4 so that it gets the time signature 4/4, quarter notes will become half note triplets. If you reinterpret a bar with the time signature 4/4 to attain 3/4, you will get quadruplets. Action – Replace Bars When you select this action, clicking the Process button will cause the time signature of the specified bar range to be replaced by the one you specify in this dialog. Action – Signature This lets you specify the time signature for the action you select on the Action pop-up menu (except for the Delete Bars action). Process Click on this button to apply your changes to the specified bar range. Close Clicking this button without clicking on “Process” first will close the dialog without applying your settings.