Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 Operation Manual

271
Working with the Tempo track
Using Tap Tempo
The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by 
tapping:
1.Open the Beat Calculator.
2.If you want to tap the tempo to some recorded material, 
activate playback.
3.Click the Tap Tempo button.
The Tap Tempo window appears.
4.Tap the tempo on the computer keyboard’s space bar 
or with the mouse button.
The tempo display will update the calculated tempo between each tap.
5.When you stop tapping, the program calculates the 
average timing of the taps...

26
Export Audio Mixdown 

273
Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction
The Export Audio Mixdown function in Cubase Essential 
allows you to mix down audio from the program to a file on 
your hard disk. You always mix down an output bus. For 
example, if you have set up a stereo mix with tracks routed 
to a stereo output bus, mixing down that output bus would 
give you a mixdown file containing the whole mix.
Please note the following:
The Export Audio Mixdown function mixes down the 
area between the left and right locators.
When you...

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Export Audio Mixdown
8.Make additional settings for the file to be created.
This includes selecting sample rate, bit depth, etc. The available options 
depend on the selected file format – see “The available file formats” on 
page 274.
9.If you want to automatically import the resulting audio 
file back into Cubase Essential, activate the checkboxes in 
the “Import into project” section.
If you activate the “Pool” checkbox, a clip referring to the file will appear 
in the Pool. Activating the “Audio...

275
Export Audio Mixdown
AIFC files
AIFC stands for Audio Interchange File Format Com-
pressed, a standard defined by Apple Inc. These files sup-
port compression ratios as high as 6:1 and contain tags in 
the header. AIFC files have the extension “.aifc” and are 
used on most computer platforms. 
AIFC files support the same options as AIFF files.
Wave files
Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are the most 
common file format on the PC platform. 
Wave files support the same options as AIFF files....

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Export Audio Mixdown
Windows Media Audio files (Windows only)
This is a format developed by Microsoft Inc. Due to the ad-
vanced audio codecs and lossless compression used, 
WMA files can be decreased in size with no loss of audio 
quality. The files have the extension “.wma”.
Exporting a WMA mixdown
ÖDepending on the chosen output, not all options may 
be shown.The following options are available:
General tab
In the Input Stream section, you set the sample rate (44.1, 
48 or 96 kHz) and the bit...

277
Export Audio Mixdown
you to select from various levels of desired quality, with 10 
being the lowest and 100 the highest. Generally, the 
higher the bitrate or quality you select, the larger the final 
file will be.
Advanced tab
Dynamic Range Control
These controls allow you to define the dynamic range of 
the encoded file. The dynamic range is the difference in 
dB between the average loudness and the peak audio 
level (the loudest sounds) of the audio. These settings af-
fect how the audio is...

27
Synchronization 

279
Synchronization
Background
What is synchronization?
Synchronization is said to exist when you make two pieces 
of equipment agree on time or tempo and position info. 
You can establish synchronization between Cubase Es-
sential and a number of other types of devices, including 
tape recorders and video decks, but also MIDI devices 
that “play back”, such as other sequencers, drum ma-
chines, “workstation sequencers” etc.
When you set up a synchronization system, you must de-
cide which unit is the...

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Synchronization
MIDI Clock
MIDI Clock is a tempo-based type of synchronization sig-
nals, i.e. it is related to the number of “beats per minute”. 
MIDI Clock signals are suitable for synchronizing two de-
vices that agree on tempo, such as for example Cubase 
Essential and a drum machine.
Word Clock
Word clock is basically a replacement for the sample rate 
clock in for example an audio card. Word clock hence 
runs at the same rate as the sample rate in the audio, 
44.1kHz, 48kHz etc.
Word clock does...