Steinberg Cubase Ai 5 Manual
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Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling 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 publica- tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Windows Vista is a registered trademark or trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The Mac logo is a trademark used under license. Macintosh and Power Macintosh are registered trademarks. Release Date: June 04, 2009 © Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2009. All rights reserved.
4 Table of Contents 7About this manual 8Welcome! 9VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses 10About this chapter 10Setting up busses 12Using the busses 13About monitoring 14The Project window 15Background 17Window Overview 21Operations 40Options 42Playback and the Transport panel 43Background 44Operations 45Options and Settings 47The Virtual Keyboard 48Recording 49Background 49Basic recording methods 51Audio recording specifics 55MIDI recording specifics 59Options and Settings 61Recovery of audio recordings after system failure 62Fades, crossfades and envelopes 63Creating fades 65The Fade dialogs 66Creating crossfades 67The Crossfade dialog 68Auto Fades and Crossfades 69The mixer 70About this chapter 70Overview 70Configuring the mixer 73The audio-related channel strips 73The MIDI channel strips 74The output channels 74Basic mixing procedures 76Audio-specific procedures 81MIDI-specific procedures 82Utilities 85Audio effects 86About this chapter 86Overview 87Insert effects 90Send effects 94Editing effects 94Effect presets 96Installing and managing effect plug-ins 99VST Instruments and Instrument tracks 100Introduction 100VST Instrument channels vs. instrument tracks 100VST Instrument channels 102Instrument tracks 103What do I need? Instrument channel or Instrument track? 103VST instruments and processor load 103Using presets for VSTi configuration 106About latency 108Automation 109Introduction 109Enabling and disabling the writing of automation data 110What can be automated? 111Hints and further options 111Automation track operations 114Working with automation curves 116MIDI Part Data vs Track Automation 117Audio processing and functions 118Background 118Audio processing 123Freeze Edits 124The Sample Editor 125Background 126Window overview 128General Operations 132Options and settings 132AudioWarp: Tempo matching audio 134Working with hitpoints and slices
5 Table of Contents 138The Audio Part Editor 139Background 139Opening the Audio Part Editor 139Window overview 141Operations 142Common methods 142Options and Settings 143The Pool 144Background 144Window overview 146Operations 155Working with Track Presets 156Introduction 156Types of track presets 157Applying track presets 158Creating a track preset 159Creating tracks from track presets or VST presets 159Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets independently of tracks 160Remote controlling Cubase AI 161Introduction 161Setting Up 162Operations 163The Generic Remote device 165Apple Remote (Macintosh only) 166MIDI realtime parameters 167Introduction 167The Inspector – General handling 167The Inspector sections 171MIDI processing and quantizing 172Introduction 172The Quantizing functions 176Permanent settings with Freeze MIDI Modifiers 177Dissolve Part 178Other MIDI functions 181The MIDI editors 182Introduction 182Opening a MIDI editor 184The Key Editor – Overview 186Key Editor operations 199The Drum Editor – Overview 200Drum Editor operations 202Working with drum maps 205Using drum name lists 206The List Editor – Overview 207List Editor operations 210Working with System Exclusive messages 211Recording System Exclusive parameter changes 211Editing System Exclusive messages 213The Score Editor – Overview 214Score Editor operations 221Editing tempo and signature 222Background 222Tempo and signature display 223Editing tempo and signature 226Export Audio Mixdown 227Introduction 227Mixing down to audio files 228The available file formats 232Synchronization 233Background 233Synchronization signals 234Synchronizing the transport vs. synchronizing audio 235Making basic settings and connections 236Synchronization settings 240Sync Options 240Working with VST System Link 240Preparations 243Activating VST System Link 246Application examples 248Video 249Background 249Before you start 251Operations 253File handling 254Working with Projects 258Importing audio 259Exporting and importing standard MIDI files
6 Table of Contents 261Customizing 262Background 262Using the Setup options 263Customizing track controls 265Appearance 265Applying track and event colors 267Where are the settings stored? 268Key commands 269Introduction 269Setting up key commands 271Setting up tool modifier keys 272The default key commands 275Index
8 About this manual Welcome! This is the Operation Manual for Steinberg’s Cubase AI. Here you will find detailed information about all the fea- tures and functions in the program. 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 plat- forms. This is clearly stated in the applicable cases. In other words: ÖIf 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 AI. Key command conventions Many of the default key commands in Cubase AI use mod- ifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system. For example, the default key command for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Command]-[Z] under Mac OS X. 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] under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then press [Z]”. Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] under Win- dows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”. ÖPlease note that this manual often refers to right-click- ing, e.g. to open context menus. If you are using a Mac with a single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click.
2 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses
10 VST Connections: Setting up input and output busses About this chapter Cubase AI uses a system of input and output busses to transfer audio between the program and the audio hard- ware. Input busses let you route audio from the inputs on your audio hardware into the program. This means that when you record audio, you will always do this through one or several input busses. Output busses let you route audio from the program to the outputs on your audio hardware. When you play back audio, you will always do this through one or several output busses. As you can see, the input and output busses are vital when you work with Cubase AI. This is why you find this chapter at the beginning of the Operation Manual – once you un- derstand the bus system and know how to set up the bus- ses properly, it will be easy to go on with recording, playing back and mixing. Setting up busses Strategies In Cubase AI, you can create up to 8 stereo busses or up to 16 mono busses. ÖThe bus configuration is saved with the project – therefore it is a good idea to add and set up the busses you need and save these in a template project (see “Save as Template” on page 256). When you start working on new projects, you start from this template. That way you get your standard bus configuration without having to make new bus settings for each new project. If you need to work with different bus configurations in different projects, you can either create several dif- ferent templates or store your configurations as presets (see “Other bus operations” on page 12). The templates can of course also contain other settings that you regularly use – sample rate, record format, a basic track layout, etc. Input busses Most likely you need at least one stereo input bus assigned to an analog input pair. This would let you record stereo material. If you want to be able to record in stereo from other analog input pairs as well, you add stereo input busses for these, too. Although you can record mono tracks from one side of a ste- reo input, it may be a good idea to add a dedicated mono in- put bus. This could be assigned to an analog input to which you have connected a dedicated microphone pre-amp for ex- ample. Again, you can have several different mono busses. You probably want a dedicated stereo input bus assigned to the digital stereo input, for digital transfers. Output busses For digital transfers, you need a stereo bus assigned to the digital stereo output as well. Preparations Before you set up busses, you should name the inputs and outputs on your audio hardware. The reason for this is compatibility – it makes it easier to transfer projects between different computers and setups. For example, if you move your project to another studio, the audio hardware may be of a different model. But if both you and the other studio owner have given your in- puts and outputs names according to the setup (rather than names based on the audio hardware model), Cubase AI will automatically find the correct inputs and outputs for your busses and you will be able to play and record with- out having to change the settings. Use the Device Setup dialog to assign names to the in- puts and outputs of your audio hardware: 1.Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu. 2.Make sure that the correct driver for your audio hard- ware is selected on the VST Audio System page, so that the audio card is listed in the Devices list. 3.Select your audio card in the list. The available input and output ports on your audio hardware are listed on the right. 4.To rename a port, click its name in the “Show as” col- umn and enter a new name. •If needed, you can also disable ports by deactivating them in the “Visible” column. Disabled ports will not show up in the VST Connections window when you are making bus settings. If you attempt to disable a port that is used by a bus, you will be asked whether this is really what you want – note that this will remove the port from the bus! 5.Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.