Steinberg Cubase Ai 5 Manual

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The MIDI editors
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 ei-
ther 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 arrow tool at the start or end of the note, so 
that the pointer takes on the shape of a small double ar-
row. Click and drag to the left or right to resize the note.
This method allows you to resize the note from either direction.
Click with the Pencil tool within the note box and drag 
to the left or the right (to make the note shorter or longer, 
respectively).
With both 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 op-
tions” on page 262 for more information.
Select the note and adjust its length on the info line.
See “Editing on the info line” on page 192 for details on info line editing.
Use the Trim tool, see “Using the Trim tool” on page 186.
Splitting notes
There are three ways to split notes:
Clicking on a note with the Scissors 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 Edit menu, all 
notes that are intersected by the project cursor are split at 
the cursor position.
If you select “Split Loop” from 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 Tube tool will “glue it to-
gether” 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 (ve-
locity, etc.) of the first note.
Muting notes
Individual notes can be muted in the Key Editor, as op-
posed 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].
Selecting “Paste Time” with this data on the clipboard 
and the project cursor here…
…will give you this. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Deleting notes
To delete notes, either click on them with the Erase tool or 
select them and press [Backspace].
Editing on the info line
The info line shows the values and properties of the se-
lected event(s). 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 
yellow.
Several events are selected.
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 the Pitch or Velocity field in the info 
line and play a note on your MIDI keyboard – the pitch or 
velocity will be adjusted according to the note you played.
ÖIf you have several events selected and change a value, 
all selected events will be changed by the set amount.
ÖIf you have several events selected, hold down [Ctrl]/
[Command] and change a value, the change will be abso-
lute.
In other words, the value setting will be the same for all selected events.
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 202), the Key Ed-
itor will display the drum sound names as defined by the 
drum map.In Cubase AI, the name of the drum sound is displayed in 
the following locations:
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.
Editing notes via MIDI
You can change the properties of notes via MIDI. For ex-
ample, 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 on the MIDI Input button on the toolbar to enable 
editing via MIDI.
3.Use the note buttons on the toolbar to decide which 
properties should be 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.
In the info line, in the Pitch field. In the Mouse Note Value field.
In the event itself (provided that the 
zoom factor is high enough). When dragging a note. 
						

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The MIDI editors
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.
Step input
Step input, or step recording, is when you enter notes one 
at a time (or one chord at a time) without worrying about 
the exact timing. This is useful e.g. when you know the part 
you want to record but are not able to play it exactly as you 
want it.
Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Step Input button on the toolbar to activate 
Step Input mode.
2.Use the note buttons to the right to decide which 
properties should be included when you input the notes.
For example, you may not want to include the velocity and/or note-off ve-
locity of the played notes. It is also possible to turn off the pitch property, 
in which case all notes will get the pitch C3, no matter what you play.
3.Click anywhere in the note display to set the start po-
sition (the desired position of the first note or chord).
The step input position is shown as a blue line in the note display, and in 
the lower mouse pointer display in the toolbar.
4.Specify the desired note spacing and length with the 
Quantize and Length Quantize pop-up menus.
The notes you input will be positioned according to the Quantize value 
and have the length set with the Length Quantize value. For instance, if 
you set Quantize to 1/8 notes and Length Quantize to 1/16 note, the 
notes will be sixteenth notes, appearing on each eighth note position.
5.Play the first note or chord on your MIDI instrument.
The note or chord appears in the editor and the step input position ad-
vances one quantize value step.
ÖIf Move Insert Mode is activated, all notes to the right 
of the step input position will be moved to “make room” for 
the inserted note or chord.
Move Insert Mode is activated.
6.Continue in the same way with the rest of the notes or 
chords.
You can adjust the Quantize or Length Quantize value as you go along, 
to change the timing or note lengths. You can also move the step input 
position manually by clicking anywhere in the note display.
To insert a “rest”, press the right arrow key on the com-
puter keyboard.
This advances the step input position one step.
7.When you are done, click the Step Input button again 
to deactivate step input.
Editing in the controller display
About controller lanes
By default, the controller display has a single lane, show-
ing one event type at a time. However, you can add lanes 
by clicking the plus button or by opening the context menu 
and selecting “Create New Controller Lane”. The use of 
several controller lanes allows you to view and edit differ-
ent controllers at the same time.
The controller display with three lanes set up
To remove a lane, click on the minus sign or open the 
context menu and select “Remove this Lane”.
This hides the lane from view – it does not affect the events in any way. 
						

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The MIDI editors
If you remove all lanes, the controller display will be 
completely hidden.
To bring it back again, select “Create New Controller Lane” from the 
context menu.
Editing the events in the controller display is much like 
editing automation data on an automation track in the Pro-
ject window (except for velocity values, see “Editing velo-
city values” on page 194).
Selecting the event type
Each controller lane shows one event type at a time. To 
select which type should be displayed, use the event type 
pop-up menu to the left of the lane.
Selecting “Setup…” opens a dialog in which you can 
specify which continuous controller event types should be 
available on the pop-up menu.Each MIDI track has its own controller lane setup (num-
ber of lanes and selected event types). 
When you create new tracks, they get the controller lane setup used last.
Controller lane presets
Once you have added the required number of controller 
lanes and selected the event types you need, you can 
store this combination as a controller lane preset. You 
could for example have a preset with one velocity lane 
only, another with a combination of velocity, pitchbend 
and modulation, and so on. This can make working with 
controllers much quicker.
To add the current controller lane setup as a preset, pull 
down the pop-up menu to the left of the horizontal scroll-
bar and select “Add”.
Enter a name for the preset in the dialog that appears and click OK.
To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up menu.
This immediately brings up the controller lanes and event types in the 
preset.
To remove or rename presets, select “Organize…” from 
the pop-up menu.
Editing velocity values
When “Velocity” is selected, the lane shows the velocity of 
each note as a vertical bar.
Velocity values are edited with the Pencil or the Line tool. 
The different tools and Line tool modes offer several pos-
sibilities, as listed below:
ÖThe Arrow tool automatically switches to the Pencil tool 
when you move the pointer into the controller display.
If you want to use the Arrow tool to select events in the controller display, 
press [Alt]/[Option].
ÖIf the Speaker icon (Acoustic Feedback) is activated 
on the toolbar, the notes will be played back when you ad-
just the velocity, allowing you to audition your changes.
Controller types in this list are 
already listed on the pop-up 
menu.Controller types in this list are 
not listed on the pop-up menu.
Click this button to add the 
selected controller type to the 
pop-up menu. Click this button to remove the 
controller type selected in the left 
list from the pop-up menu. 
						

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The MIDI editors
You can use the Pencil tool to change the velocity of a 
single note: click on its velocity bar and drag the bar up or 
down.
While you drag, the current velocity value is shown in the display to the left.
You can use the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint 
mode to change the velocity values of several notes by 
painting a “freehand curve”.
When editing velocity, these two methods have the same functionality.
Use the Line tool in Line mode for creating linear veloc-
ity ramps.
Click where you want the ramp to start and drag the cursor to where you 
want the ramp to end. When you release the mouse button, the velocity 
values are aligned with the line between the two points.
Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns the 
velocity values to a Parabola curve instead.
Use this for smooth, “natural” velocity fades, etc.
The remaining three Line tool modes (Sine, Triangle and 
Square) align the velocity values to continuous curve 
shapes (see below).
ÖIf there is more than one note at the same position 
(e.g. a chord), their velocity bars will overlap in the control-
ler lane. 
If none of the notes are selected, all notes at the same position will be set 
to the same velocity value when you draw. To edit the velocity of only one 
of the notes at the same position, first select the note in the note display. 
Now, editing will only affect the velocity of the selected note.
You can also adjust the velocity of a single note by select-
ing it and changing its velocity value on the info line.
Adding and editing events in the controller display
When any option other than “Velocity” is selected for a 
controller lane, you can create new events or edit the val-
ues of existing events using the Pencil tool or the Line tool 
in its various modes:
Click with the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint mode 
to create a new event.
Press [Alt]/[Option] and use the Pencil tool or the Line 
tool in Paint mode to modify the value of an event (without 
creating a new one).
Note that you can click and drag to change or add multiple events, draw 
controller curves, etc. You can press or release [Alt]/[Option] while draw-
ing, switching dynamically between “edit mode” and “create mode”.
If you want to enter or adjust a single event, click once 
with the Pencil tool or the Line tool in Paint mode.
If you want to “paint a curve”, drag with the tool in the con-
troller lane (keeping the mouse button pressed):
When you move the pointer in the controller lane, the corresponding 
value is displayed in this field. 
						

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The MIDI editors
ÖWith the Pencil tool and the Line tool in Paint mode, the 
quantize value determines the “density” of created control-
ler curves (if Snap is activated, see “Snap” on page 187).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small quantize value or turn off 
Snap. However, this will create a very large number of MIDI events, which 
can cause MIDI playback to “stutter” in some situations. A medium-low 
density is often sufficient.
Clicking and dragging with the Line tool in Line mode 
shows a line in the controller lane, and creates events with 
values aligned to this line.
This is the best way to draw linear controller ramps. If you press [Alt]/[Op-
tion], no new events are created – use this mode for modifying existing 
controller curves.
The Parabola mode works in the same way, but aligns 
the values to a parabola curve instead, giving more “natu-
ral” curves and fades.
Note that the result depends on the direction from which you draw the 
parabola.
In Parabola mode, you can use modifier keys to deter-
mine the shape of the parabola curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command], the parabola curve will be reversed. If you 
press [Alt]/[Option]-[Ctrl]/[Command] while Snap is activated, you can 
change the position of the whole curve (in both cases the snap value for 
the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value). If you press [Shift], 
the exponent will be increased or decreased.
ÖIn Line and Parabola modes, the length quantize value 
determines the “density” of created controller curves (if 
Snap is activated).
For very smooth curves, you should use a small length quantize value or 
turn off Snap. To avoid over-dense controller curves (which may cause 
MIDI playback to “stutter”), use a medium-low density.
The Sine, Triangle and Square modes create events 
with values aligned to continuous curves.
In these modes, the quantize value determines the period of the curve 
(the length of one curve “cycle”) and the length quantize value deter-
mines the density of the events (the lower the length quantize note value, 
the smoother the curve).
In Sine, Triangle and Square mode you can also use 
modifier keys to determine the shape of the curve.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] you can change the phase of the beginning 
of the curve, if you press [Alt]/[Option]-[Ctrl]/[Command] while snap is ac-
tivated you can change the position of the whole curve (in both cases the 
snap value for the positioning will be a quarter of the quantize value).
ÖYou can also set the curve period freely by holding 
down [Shift] when you insert events in Sine, Triangle or 
Square mode.
Activate Snap, [Shift]-click and drag to set the length of one period. The 
period length will be a multiple of the quantize value.
In Triangle and Square mode, you can press [Shift]-
[Ctrl]/[Command] to change the maximum position of the 
triangle curve (to create sawtooth curves) or the pulse of 
the square curve. As in other modes, you can press [Alt]/
Converting a controller curve to a ramp using the 
Line tool. 
						

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The MIDI editors
[Option] if you want to change the existing events rather 
than creating new ones. Again, the snap value for the po-
sitioning will be a quarter of the quantize value.
Moving and copying events
You can move or duplicate events in a controller lane, 
much like you can with notes:
1.Click with the Arrow tool to select the events you want 
to cut or copy.
You can also click and drag to create a selection rectangle encompass-
ing the desired events.
2.Click on a curve point and drag the events to move 
them.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the 
events (see “Snap” on page 187). 
Using cut, copy and paste
You can use the standard Cut, Copy and Paste options on 
the Edit menu to move or copy events in the controller dis-
play:
1.Select the events you want to cut or copy.
2.Select Cut or Copy from the Edit menu.
3.If you want to paste the events into another MIDI part, 
open that part in another Key Editor window.
4.Position the project cursor where you want to paste 
the events.
5.Select Paste from the Edit menu.
The events on the clipboard are added, starting at the project cursor po-
sition, maintaining their relative distances. If a pasted event ends up at 
the same position as an existing event of the same type, the old event is 
replaced. 
Deleting events in the controller display
You delete events by clicking on them with the Erase tool 
or by selecting them and pressing [Backspace]. Please 
note:
Deleting a controller event makes the last event before 
this valid up until the next event. It does not “zero” any 
controller changes.
You can delete notes by deleting their velocity bars in 
the controller display.
Please be aware that if there is more than one note on the same position, 
there may still only be one velocity bar visible – make sure you delete only 
the desired notes!
Editing continuous controllers on the controller lane
When a continuous controller is selected for a controller 
lane, additional data is displayed on the controller lane. 
This is due to the fact that MIDI controller data can be re-
corded (or entered) either for an automation track or for a 
MIDI part.
The following applies:
In the event type pop-up menu, an asterisk is displayed 
next to the controller name if automation data already ex-
ists for this controller.
This can be either controller data you entered in a MIDI editor (the data 
will then be displayed on the controller lane), or controller data recorded 
on an automation track in the Project window (in which case no events 
are displayed on the controller lane). 
For this controller, automation data is available.
On the controller lane, you can also see the controller 
curve that is applied before the part starts. That way, you 
know which controller value (if any) is currently being used 
at the starting point of the part so that you can choose the 
start value accordingly. 
!Remember that a non-note event does not have a 
length – it is “valid” until the next event (see “The 
controller display” on page 185).
!When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated 
in the Key Editor toolbar, selecting notes will also se-
lect the corresponding controller events. Moving 
events (either using cut/copy/paste or drag & drop) 
in the note display will also move the corresponding 
controller events (see also “Selecting controllers 
within the note range” on page 190). 
						

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The MIDI editors
Adding and editing Poly Pressure events
Poly Pressure events are special, in that they “belong to” a 
specific note number (key). That is, each Poly Pressure 
event has two editable values: the note number and the 
amount of pressure. Therefore, when Poly Pressure is se-
lected on the event type pop-up menu, there are two value 
fields to the left of the controller display, one for the note 
number and one for the amount.
To add a new Poly Pressure event, proceed as follows:
1.Select Poly Pressure on the event type pop-up menu.
2.Set the note number by clicking on the keyboard dis-
play.
The selected note number is displayed in the upper value field to the left 
of the controller display. Note that this only works for the topmost lane. If 
you have selected “Poly Pressure” for several controller lanes, you have 
to type in the desired note number directly in the lower value field to the 
left of each lane. 
3.Use the Pencil tool to add a new event, just as when 
adding regular controller events.
To view and edit existing Poly Pressure events, proceed 
as follows:
1.Select Poly Pressure on the event type pop-up menu.
2.Click on the arrow button next to the note number field 
to the left of the controller lane.
A pop-up menu appears, listing all note numbers for which there already 
are Poly Pressure events.
3.Select a note number from the pop-up menu.
The Poly Pressure events for the selected note number are shown in the 
controller lane.
4.Use the Pencil tool to edit the events as usual.
Press [Alt]/[Option] to edit existing events without adding any new ones.
Poly Pressure events can also be added and edited in 
the List Editor. 
						

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The MIDI editors
The Drum Editor – Overview
The toolbar and info line
These are much the same as the toolbar and info line in 
the Key Editor (see “The Key Editor – Overview” on page 
184), with the following differences:
The Drum Editor has no Pencil tool – instead there is a 
Drumstick tool (for entering and removing notes) and a 
Line tool with various line and curve modes (for drawing 
several notes in one go or editing controller events).
There are no Scissors and Glue Tube tools in the Drum 
Editor.
As in the Key Editor, the mouse pointer display in the 
toolbar shows the pitch and position of the pointer, but the 
pitch is shown as a drum sound name rather than a note 
number.
The Use Global Quantize button allows you to select 
which value should be used when Snap is activated – the 
global quantize value on the toolbar or the individual quan-
tize values for the drum sounds.
Instead of a Length Quantize pop-up, there is an Insert 
Length pop-up menu.
It is used in much the same way, as described on the following pages.
The drum sound list
A drum sound list for GM Drum Map
The purpose of the Drum Editor is to edit MIDI tracks where 
each note (pitch) plays a separate sound, as is typically the 
case with a MIDI drum kit. The drum sound list to the left 
lists all drum sounds by name (according to the selected 
drum map or name list – see below), and lets you adjust 
and manipulate the drum sound setup in various ways.
Please note the following:
The number of columns in the list depends on whether a 
drum map is selected for the track or not.
See “Working with drum maps” on page 202.
You can reorder the columns by dragging the column 
headings, and resize them by dragging the dividers be-
tween the column headings.
Toolbar
Ruler
Note 
display
Controller 
display Drum 
sound 
list
Drum 
Maps 
						

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The MIDI editors
The note display
The note display of the Drum Editor displays notes as dia-
mond symbols. The vertical position of the notes corres-
ponds to the drum sound list to the left, while the horizontal 
position corresponds to the note’s position in time, just as in 
the Key Editor. Note, however, that the diamond symbols do 
not indicate the length of the notes. This makes sense, 
since drum sounds most often are “one-shot” samples that 
play to their end regardless of the note lengths.
Drum map and name pop-up menus
Below the drum sound list you will find two pop-up menus, 
used for selecting a drum map for the edited track or (if no 
drum map is selected) a list of drum sound names. For an 
explanation of drum maps, see “Working with drum maps” 
on page 202.
Controller display
The controller display in the Drum Editor is the same as in 
the Key Editor. You can add or remove controller lanes via 
the context menu, and create and edit events as described 
in the section “Editing in the controller display” on page 
193.
Note that when you select a line in the drum sound list 
(to the left of the event display), only the velocity controller 
events belonging to the note events on this line are dis-
played in the controller display.
You can select more than one line in the drum sound list 
(using [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] as usual), which will 
show all velocity controller events for all notes on all se-
lected lines.
This will help you when having to adjust the controller values between 
different drum sounds.
Drum Editor operations
The basic handling (zooming, playback, auditioning, etc.) 
is the same as in the Key Editor (see “Key Editor opera-
tions” on page 186). The following sections describe the 
procedures and features specific to the Drum Editor.
Creating and editing notes
The standard way of entering notes in the Drum Editor is 
to click with the Drumstick tool.
When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar position and 
drum sound is indicated in the toolbar, making it easy to find the right 
sound and position.
The position of the created note depends on the following 
factors:
If Snap is deactivated on the toolbar, the note will ap-
pear exactly where you clicked.
In this mode, notes can be positioned freely.
If Snap is activated and Use Global Quantize is deacti-
vated on the toolbar, the note will snap to positions ac-
cording to the quantize value set for the sound in the drum 
sound list.
You can set up different quantize values for different drum sounds. You 
may for example want hi-hat notes snap to sixteenth notes, but snare and 
bass drum snap to eighth notes.
If Snap and Use Global Quantize are activated, the note 
will snap to positions according to the Quantize setting on 
the toolbar (next to the Use Global Quantize button).
The length of the inserted note is determined by the Insert 
Length setting on the toolbar. However, if this is set to 
“Drum-Map Link”, the note will get the length of the quan-
tize value for the drum sound.
ÖYou can quickly audition the drum sounds by clicking 
in the leftmost column in the drum sound list.
This plays the corresponding note.
ÖClicking with the Drumstick tool on an existing note 
will remove it.
This makes drum pattern editing very quick and intuitive.