Steinberg Cubase Ai 5 Manual

							71
The mixer
The common panel
The common panel appears to the left in the mixer window 
and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of 
the mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.
Selecting what channel types to show/hide
You can specify what channel types to show or hide in the 
mixer. In the lower part of the common panel you find a 
vertical strip with different indicator buttons. Each indica-
tor represents a channel type to show or hide in the mixer:
To hide or show a channel type, click the corresponding 
indicator.
If an indicator is dark, the corresponding channel type will be shown in 
the mixer. If it is orange, the corresponding channel type will be hidden.
Showing/hiding individual channels 
(the “Can Hide” setting)
You can also show/hide individual channels of any type in 
the mixer. For this, you can assign channels a “Can Hide” 
status, which allows you to hide these channels collec-
tively. Proceed as follows:
1.[Alt]/[Option]-click in the top middle section of the 
channel strip activate the “Can Hide” option.
The “/” icon is shown if “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip.
2.Repeat this for all channels you want to hide.
3.Click the button “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” on 
the common panel.
This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the 
button again or click the “Reveal All Channels” button at the bottom of 
the common panel.
Below the “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” button, there 
are three additional buttons.
These have the following functionality:
Global automation Read/
Write buttons
Store/Remove View set 
buttons (+/-) and Select 
View set pop-up, see 
“Channel view sets” on 
page 72. With these indicator but-
tons you can select which 
channel types are shown 
in the mixer (see “Selec-
ting what channel types to 
show/hide” on page 71) 
and/or will be affected by 
commands (see “About 
the Command Target” on 
page 72).
Toggle channel strips in the 
mixer between “All Targets 
Wide” and “All Targets Nar-
row”.
Opens the VST Connec-
tions window, see “The 
VST Connections win-
dow” on page 11. Reset Mixer/
Reset Channels
Channel settings copy/
paste, see “Copying set-
tings between audio 
channels” on page 79.Global Mute and 
Solo buttons
Audio Channels
Group Channels
MIDI Channels
VST Instrument Channels
FX Channels
Output Channels “Can Hide” options, 
see below
Reveal all channels “Command Target” options – 
see “About the Command 
Target” on page 72.
Option Description
Set Target Channels 
to ‘Can Hide’This activates “Can Hide” for all Channels you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from Target ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from All ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all Channels in the 
Mixer. 
						

							72
The mixer
About the Command Target
Command targets let you specify which channels should 
be affected by the “commands” (basically all the functions 
that can be assigned key commands) when working with 
the Mixer, e.g. the width setting of the channel strips, etc. 
You can set command targets using the Mixer common 
panel or the context menu.
The Command Target Controls on the common panel
The following options are available:
 All Channels – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect all channels.
 Selected Only – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect the selected channels only.
 Exclude Outputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the output channels.
Channel view sets
Channel view sets are saved configurations of the mixer 
window, allowing you to quickly switch between different 
layouts for the mixer. Proceed as follows:
1.Set up the mixer the way you wish to store it as a view 
set.
The following settings will be stored:
 Settings for individual channel strips (e. g. narrow or wide mode 
and whether the channel strip is (or can be) hidden or not).
 The hide/show status for channel types.
2.Click the “Store View Set” button (the plus sign) at the 
bottom of the common panel.
3.A dialog appears, allowing you to enter a name for the 
view set.
4.Click OK to store the current mixer view set.
You can now return to this stored configuration at any 
time, by clicking the “Select Channel View Set” button 
(the down arrow to the left of the “Store View Set” button) 
and selecting it from the pop-up menu.To remove a stored channel view set, select it and click 
the “Remove View Set” button (the minus sign).
Setting the width of channel strips
Each channel strip can be set to either “Wide” or “Narrow” 
mode by using the Channel Narrow/Wide button on the left 
above the fader strip.
The Channel Narrow/Wide button
Narrow channel strips contain a narrow fader, miniature 
buttons, and the View options pop-up.
Wide and narrow channel strips
When selecting “All targets narrow” or “All targets 
wide” on the common panel, all channel strips selected as 
command targets (see “About the Command Target” on 
page 72) are affected.
!Some remote control devices (such as Steinberg’s 
Houston) feature this function, which means that you 
can use the remote device to switch between the 
channel view sets. 
						

							73
The mixer
The audio-related channel strips
All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, 
output channels, group, effect return, VST Instrument) ba-
sically have the same channel strip layout, with the follow-
ing differences:
 Only audio and instrument track channels have a Monitor and 
Record Enable button.
 Output channels do not have sends.
 Instrument track and VST Instrument channels have an addi-
tional button for opening the instrument’s control panel.
 Output channels have clipping indicators.
About the Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass buttons
The three indicator buttons in each audio channel strip 
have the following functionality:
If an Insert or Send effect or an EQ module is activated 
for a channel, the corresponding button is lit. 
The effect indicators will be blue, the EQ indicator will be green.
If you click these buttons when lit, the corresponding 
EQ or effects section will be bypassed.
Bypass is indicated by yellow buttons. Clicking the button again deacti-
vates bypass.
The MIDI channel strips
The MIDI channel strips allow you to control volume and 
pan in your MIDI instrument (provided that they are set up to 
receive the corresponding MIDI messages). The settings here are also available in the Inspector for MIDI tracks.
The common 
panel (see “The 
common panel” 
on page 71)
Channel automation controls Record Enable 
and Monitor 
buttons
Opens the control panel for the 
VST Instrument
Level meter Level fader
Edit button (opens 
the Channel Settings 
window)
Insert/EQ/Send indicators and bypass 
buttons (see below)Channel name
The Can Hide State for 
the channel Narrow/Wide button
Pan control
Level fader 
(MIDI volume)Level (velocity) meter
Channel automation 
controlsPan control
Monitor and Record 
Enable buttonsEdit button Mute and Solo Channel Narrow/Wide 
buttonCan Hide State  
						

							74
The mixer
The output channels
The output busses you set up in the VST Connections 
window are represented by output channels in the mixer. 
They are shown in a separate “pane” (to the right of the 
regular channel strips), with its own divider and horizontal 
scrollbar. The output channel strip is very similar to other 
audio channels.
For information on how to set up input and output bus-
ses, see the chapter “VST Connections: Setting up input 
and output busses” on page 9.
How to route audio channels to busses is described in 
the section “The output channels” on page 74.
The Main Mix (the default output) bus is used for moni-
toring. For information about Monitoring, see “About moni-
toring” on page 13.
Basic mixing procedures
Setting volume in the mixer
In the mixer, each channel strip has a volume fader. 
For audio channels, the faders control the volume of the 
channels before they are routed (directly or via a group) 
channel to an output bus.
An output channel fader determines the master output 
level of all audio channels routed to that output bus.
MIDI channels handle fader volume changes in the mixer 
by sending out MIDI volume messages to the connected in-
strument(s).
Connected instruments must be set to respond to MIDI messages (such 
as MIDI volume in this case) for this to function properly.
The fader settings are displayed numerically below the 
faders, in dB for audio channels and in the MIDI volume 0 
to 127 value range for MIDI channels.
You can click in the fader value fields and enter a volume setting by typing.
To make fine volume adjustments, hold down [Shift] 
when you move the faders.
If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on a fader, 
it will be reset to its default value, i.e. 0.0 dB for audio 
channels, or MIDI volume 100 for MIDI channels.
This reset to default values works for most mixer parameters.
You can use the faders to set up a volume balance be-
tween the audio and MIDI channels and perform a manual 
mix by moving the faders and other controls while playing 
back. By using the Write function (see “Enabling and 
disabling the writing of automation data” on page 109), 
you can automate the levels and most mixer actions.
Bus level meter
Read/Write 
Automation
Clipping indicator, see 
“Setting input levels” 
on page 52. Edit button
Inserts and EQ 
indicators and 
Bypass buttonsPan control
Mute and Solo 
buttonsBus volume fader
!It is also possible to make static volume settings for 
an event on the info line or with the volume handle 
(see “About the volume handle” on page 64). 
						

							75
The mixer
About the level meters for audio channels
When playing back audio in Cubase AI, the level meters in 
the mixer show the level of each audio channel.
Directly below the level meter is a small level readout – 
this shows the highest registered level in the signal.
Click this to reset the peak levels.
If the peak level of the audio goes above 0 dB, the numer-
ical level indicator will show a positive value (i.e. a value 
above 0 dB).
ÖCubase AI uses 32 bit floating point processing inter-
nally, so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals can 
go way beyond 0 dB without clipping. Having higher levels 
than 0 dB for individual audio channels is therefore not a 
problem in itself. The audio quality will not be degraded by 
this. 
However, when many high level signals are mixed in an output bus, this 
may require that you lower the output channel level a lot (see below). 
Therefore it is good practice to keep the maximum levels for individual 
audio channels roughly around 0 dB.
About the level meters for output channels
For the output channels, things are different. These chan-
nels have clipping indicators.
When you are recording, clipping can occur when the 
analog signal is converted to digital in the audio hardware. 
It is also possible to get clipping in the signal being recorded to disk. For 
more information, see “Setting input levels” on page 52.
In the output busses, the floating point audio is converted 
to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the integer audio 
domain, the maximum level is 0 dB – higher levels will cause 
the clipping indicator for each bus to light up.
If the clipping indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – 
digital distortion which should always be avoided.
Level meters for MIDI channels
The level meters for MIDI channels do not show actual vol-
ume levels. Instead, they indicate the velocity values of the 
notes played back on MIDI tracks.
MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI channel and output
If you have several MIDI tracks set to the same MIDI chan-
nel (and routed to the same MIDI output), making volume 
and pan settings for one of these MIDI tracks/mixer chan-
nels will also affect all other mixer channels set to the 
same MIDI channel/output combination.
Using Solo and Mute
The Mute and Solo buttons
You can use the Mute and Solo buttons to silence one or 
several channels. The following applies:
The Mute button silences the selected channel.
Clicking the Mute button again unmutes the channel. Several channels 
can be muted simultaneously. Muting Group channels can have two dif-
ferent results depending on how the Preferences are set (see “Settings 
for group channels” on page 80). A muted channel is indicated by a lit 
Mute button and also by the lit Global Mute indicator on the common 
panel.
Clicking the Solo button for a channel mutes all other 
channels.
A soloed channel is indicated by a lit Solo button, and also by the lit Glo-
bal Solo indicator on the common panel. Click the Solo button again to 
turn off Solo.
Several channels can be soloed at the same time.
However, if you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click the Solo button for a 
channel, any other soloed channels will automatically be un-soloed (i.e. 
this Solo mode is exclusive).
[Alt]/[Option]-clicking a Solo button activates “Solo De-
feat” for that channel.
In this mode the channel will not be muted if you solo another channel. To 
turn off Solo Defeat, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Solo button again. 
You can un-mute or un-solo all channels by clicking the 
Mute or Solo indicator on the common panel.
!If the clipping indicator lights up for an output chan-
nel, reset the indicator by clicking on it, and lower the 
level until the indicator does not light up.
A muted channel 
in the mixer.A lit Global Mute indicator on the 
common panel shows that one or 
more channels are muted.
[Alt]/[Option]-click a Solo 
button…
…to activate Solo Defeat for that channel. 
						

							76
The mixer
Setting pan in the mixer
The pan control
The pan controls in the mixer are used to position a chan-
nel between the left and right side of the stereo spectrum. 
By default for stereo audio channels, pan controls the bal-
ance between the left and right channels. You can change 
this in the Preferences. By selecting one of the other pan 
modes (see below), you can set pan independently for the 
left and right channel.
To make fine pan adjustments, hold down [Shift] when 
you move the pan control.
To select the (default) center pan position, hold down 
[Ctrl]/[Command] and click on the pan control.
For MIDI channels, the pan control sends out MIDI pan 
messages.
The result depends on how your MIDI instrument is set to respond to pan 
– check your documentation for details.
About the “Stereo Pan Law” setting (audio channels only)
In the Project Setup dialog there is a pop-up menu named 
“Stereo Pan Law”, on which you can select one of several 
pan modes. This is related to the fact that without power 
compensation, the power of the sum of the left and right 
side will be higher (louder) if a channel is panned center 
than if it is panned left or right. 
To remedy this, the Stereo Pan Law setting allows you to 
attenuate signals panned center, by -6, -4.5 or -3 dB (de-
fault). Selecting the 0 dB option effectively turns off con-
stant-power panning. Experiment with the modes to see 
which fits best in a given situation. You can also select 
“Equal Power” on this pop-up menu, which means that the 
power of the signal will remain the same regardless of the 
pan setting.
Audio-specific procedures
This section describes the options and basic procedures 
regarding audio channels in the mixer.
Using Channel Settings 
For each audio channel strip in the mixer and in the Inspec-
tor and Track list for each audio track, there is an Edit but-
ton (“e”).
Clicking this opens the VST Audio Channel Settings win-
dow. By default, this window contains:
 A section with eight insert effect slots (see “Audio effects” on 
page 85).
 Four EQ modules and an associated EQ curve display (see 
“Making EQ settings” on page 77).
 A section with eight sends (see “Audio effects” on page 85).
 A duplicate of the mixer channel strip
You can customize the Channel Settings window, by 
showing/hiding the different panels and/or by changing 
their order:
 To specify which panels should be shown/hidden, right-click 
in the Channel settings window, and activate/deactivate the 
respective options on the Customize View submenu on the 
context menu.
 To change the order of the panels, select “Setup…” on the 
Customize View pop-up menu and use the “Move up” and 
“Move Down” buttons.
ÖFor further information, see the chapter “Customizing” 
on page 261. 
						

							77
The mixer
Every channel has its own channel settings window (al-
though you can view each in the same window if you like – 
see below).
The Channel Settings window is used for the following 
operations:
 Apply equalization, see “Making EQ settings” on page 77.
 Apply send effects, see “Audio effects” on page 85.
 Apply insert effects, see “Audio effects” on page 85.
 Copy channel settings and apply them to another channel, see 
“Copying settings between audio channels” on page 79.
Changing channels in the Channel Settings window
You can view any channel’s settings from a single window. 
If the option “Sync Project and Mixer Selection” is acti-
vated in the Preferences (Editing–Project & Mixer page), 
this can be done “automatically”:
Open the Channel Settings window for a track and po-
sition it so that you can see both the Project window and 
the Channel Settings window.
Selecting a track in the Project window automatically 
selects the corresponding channel in the mixer (and vice 
versa). If a Channel Settings window is open, this will im-
mediately switch to show the settings for the selected 
channel. This allows you to have a single Channel Settings 
window open in a convenient position on the screen, and 
use it for all your EQ and channel effect settings.You can also select a channel manually (thereby changing 
what is shown in the open Channel Settings window). 
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Channel Settings window for any channel.
2.Open the Choose Edit Channel pop-up menu by 
clicking the arrow button to the left of the channel number 
at the top of the Fader view.
3.Select a channel from the pop-up to show the settings 
for that channel in the open Channel Settings window.
Alternatively, you can select a channel in the mixer by 
clicking its channel strip (make sure not to click on a con-
trol as this will change the respective parameter setting 
instead).
This selects the channel, and the Channel Settings window is updated.
To open several Channel Settings windows at the same 
time, press [Alt]/[Option] and click the Edit buttons for the 
respective channels.
Making EQ settings
Each audio channel in Cubase AI has a built-in parametric 
equalizer with up to four bands. There are several ways to 
view and adjust the EQs:
By selecting the “Equalizers” tab in the Inspector.
The “Equalizers” section is similar to the “Equalizers” section in the 
Channel Settings window. Setting EQ in the Inspector is only possible 
for track-based audio channels.
By using the Channel Settings window.
This offers both parameter sliders and a clickable curve display (the 
Equalizer + Curve pane) and also lets you store and recall EQ presets.
Below we describe how to set up EQ in the Channel Set-
tings window, but the parameters are the same in the mixer.
!All channel settings are applied to both sides of a 
stereo channel.
Click the Edit button to open the Channel Settings 
window. 
						

							78
The mixer
The Equalizers + Curve pane in the Channel Settings win-
dow consists of four EQ modules with parameter sliders, an 
EQ curve display and some additional functions at the top.
Using the parameter controls
1.Activate an EQ module by clicking its on/off button.
Although the modules have different default frequency values and differ-
ent Q names, they all have the same frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz). 
The only difference between the modules is that you can specify different 
filter types for each individual module (see below).
2.Set the amount of cut or boost with the gain control – 
the upper slider.
The range is ± 24 dB.
3.Set the desired frequency with the frequency slider.
This is the center frequency of the frequency range (20 Hz to 20 kHz) to 
be cut or boosted.
4.Click on the lower slider (to the left) to open the filter 
type pop-up menu and select the desired filter type.
The “eq1” and “eq4” bands can act as parametric, shelving or high/low-
pass filters, while “eq2” and “eq3” will always be parametric filters.
5.Set the Q value with the lower slider (to the right).
This determines the width of the affected frequency range. Higher values 
give narrower frequency ranges.
6.If needed, you can activate and make settings for up to 
four modules.
Note that you can edit the values numerically as well, by 
clicking in a value field and entering the desired gain, fre-
quency or Q value.
Using the curve display
When you activate EQ modules and make settings, you will 
see that your settings are automatically reflected in the 
curve display above. You can also make settings directly in 
the curve (or combine the two methods any way you like):
1.To activate an EQ module, click in the curve display.
This adds a curve point and one of the modules below are activated.
2.Make EQ settings by dragging the curve point in the 
display.
This allows you to adjust gain (drag up or down) and frequency (drag left 
or right).
3.To set the Q parameter, press [Shift] and drag the 
curve point up or down.
You will see the EQ curve become wider or narrower as you drag.
You can also restrict the editing by pressing [Ctrl]/
[Command] (sets gain only) or [Alt]/[Option] (sets fre-
quency only) while you drag the curve point.
4.To activate another EQ module, click somewhere else 
in the display and proceed as above.
5.To turn off an EQ module, double-click its curve point 
or drag it outside the display.
6.To mirror (“inverse”) the eq curve on the x axis, click 
the button to the right of the curve display.
The Inverse Equalizers button
EQ bypass
Whenever one or several EQ modules are activated for a 
channel, the EQ button will light up in green in the mixer 
channel strip, Inspector (Equalizer and Channel sections), 
Track list and Channel Settings window (top right corner 
of the EQ section).
You can also bypass all EQ modules. This is useful, as it 
allows you to compare the sound with and without EQ. 
Proceed as follows:
In the mixer, the Track list and in the Channel section in 
the Inspector, click the EQs state button so that it turns 
yellow.
To deactivate EQ Bypass, click the button again, so that it turns green 
again. 
						

							79
The mixer
In the Inspector (Equalizers tab) and in the Channel 
Settings window, click the Bypass button (next to the EQ 
button) so that it turns yellow.
Click again to deactivate EQ Bypass mode.
EQ bypass in the mixer, the Channel Settings window and the Inspector
EQ reset
On the Presets pop-up menu in the Channel Settings win-
dow and in the Inspector, you will find the Reset command. 
Select this to turn off all EQ modules and reset all EQ pa-
rameters to their default values.
Using EQ presets
Some useful basic presets are included with the program. 
You can use them as they are, or as a starting point for fur-
ther “tweaking”. 
To call up a preset, pull down the presets pop-up menu 
in the Channel Settings window or in the Inspector and 
select one of the available presets.
To store the current EQ settings as a preset, select 
“Store Preset” on the presets pop-up menu and enter the 
desired name for the preset in the dialog that appears.
To rename the selected preset, select “Rename Preset” 
on the pop-up menu and enter a new name.
To delete the selected preset, select “Remove Preset” 
on the pop-up menu.
ÖYou can also apply EQ (and Inserts) settings from 
Track presets, see “Applying Inserts and EQ settings from 
track presets” on page 158.
EQ in the channel overview
If the “Channel” section is selected in the Inspector, you 
will get an overview of which EQ modules, insert effects 
and sends are activated for the channel.
By clicking the respective indicator (1 to 4), you can turn 
the corresponding EQ module on or off.
The channel overview in the Inspector
Copying settings between audio channels
It is possible to copy all channel settings for an audio chan-
nel and paste them to one or several other channels. This 
applies to all audio-based channel types. For example, you 
can copy EQ settings from an audio track and apply these 
to a group or VST Instrument channel, if you want them to 
have the same sound. 
Proceed as follows:
1.In the mixer, select the channel you want to copy set-
tings from.
2.Click the “Copy First Selected Channel’s Settings” 
button on the common panel.
3.Select the channel(s) you want to copy the settings to 
and click the “Paste Settings to Selected Channels” button 
(below the “Copy First Selected Channel Settings” button).
The settings are applied to the selected channel(s).
You can copy channel settings between different types of 
channels, but only those channels will be used for which 
corresponding settings are available in the target channel:
 For example, since output channels do not have send effects, 
copying from them will leave the Sends settings in the target 
channel unaffected. 
						

							80
The mixer
Initialize Channel and Reset Mixer
The Initialize Channel button can be found in the lower 
part of the Control Strip section in the Channel Settings 
window (if this section is not shown in the Channel Set-
tings window, open the context menu and select “Control 
Strip” on the Customize View submenu). Initialize Channel 
resets the selected channel to the default settings. 
Similarly, the mixer common panel holds a Reset Mixer/
Reset Channels button – when you click this, you will be 
asked whether you want to reset all channels or just the 
selected channels.
The default settings are:
 All EQ, Insert and Send effect settings are deactivated and re-
set.
 Solo/Mute is deactivated.
 The fader is set to 0 dB.
 Pan is set to center position.
Using group channels
You can route the outputs from multiple audio channels to 
a group. This enables you to control the channel levels us-
ing one fader, apply the same effects and equalization to all 
of them etc. To create a group channel, proceed as follows:
1.Select Add Track from the Project menu and select 
“Group Channel” from the submenu that appears.
2.Select the desired channel configuration and click OK.
A group channel track is added to the Track list and a corresponding 
group channel strip is added to the mixer. By default the first group chan-
nel strip is labeled “Group 1”, but you can rename it just like any channel 
in the mixer.
3.Pull down the Output Routing pop-up for a channel 
you want to route to the group channel, and select the 
group channel.
The output of the audio channel is now redirected to the selected group.
4.Do the same for the other channels you wish to route 
to the group.
Settings for group channels
The group channel strips are (almost) identical to audio 
channel strips in the mixer. The descriptions of the mixer 
features earlier in this chapter apply to group channels as 
well. Some things to note:
You can route the output of a group to an output bus or 
to another group.
You cannot route a group to itself. Routing is done with the Output Rout-
ing pop-up menu in the Inspector (select the subtrack for the Group in 
the Track list).
There are no Input Routing pop-ups, Monitor buttons or 
Record Enable buttons for group channels.
This is because inputs are never connected directly to a group.
Solo functionality is automatically linked for channels 
routed to a group and the group channel itself.
This means that if you solo a group channel, all channels routed to the 
group are automatically soloed as well. Similarly, soloing a channel 
routed to a group will automatically solo the group channel.
Mute functionality depends on the setting “Group Chan-
nels: Mute Sources as well” in the Preferences (VST page). 
By default, when you mute a group channel no audio will pass through 
the group. However, other channels that are routed directly to that group 
channel will remain unmuted. If any of those channels have aux sends 
routed to other group channels, FX channels or output busses, those will 
still be heard. 
If the option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” is activated in the 
Preferences (VST page), muting a group channel will cause all other 
channels directly routed to it to be muted as well. Pressing mute again 
will unmute the group channel and all other channels directly routed to it. 
Channels that were muted prior to the group channel being muted will 
not remember their mute status and will be unmuted when the group 
channel is unmuted.
One application of group channels is to use them as “effect 
racks” – see the chapter “Audio effects” on page 85.
!The option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” 
does not affect how mute automation is written. Writ-
ing mute automation on a group channel only affects 
the group channel and not channels routed to it. 
When writing the automation, you will see the other 
channels being muted when this option is activated. 
However, upon playback, only the group channel will 
respond to the automation.