Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 Operation Manual

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The mixer
The audio-related channel strips 
All audio-related channel types (audio, instrument track, 
input/output channels, group, effect return, VST Instru-
ment and ReWire) basically have the same channel strip 
layout, with the following 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 clip 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 92)
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) meterMonitor and Record 
Enable buttons
Edit button
Mute and Solo
Insert/Send indicators 
and Bypass buttons
Channel Narrow/
Wide buttonCan Hide State 
Channel automation 
controls
Pan control 
						

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The mixer
The common panel
The common panel appears to the left in the mixer windows 
and contains settings for changing the look and behavior of 
the mixer, as well as global settings for all channels.
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 “VST Connections: Setting up input and output 
busses” on page 9.
How to route audio channels to busses is described on 
“The output channels” on page 92.
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 fader for volume 
control. 
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.
Global automation 
Read/Write buttons
Store/Remove View set but-
tons (+/-) and Select View 
set pop-up, see “Channel 
view sets” on page 89. These indicator buttons se-
lect what channel types are 
shown/hidden in the mixer.Command Target settings, 
see “About the Command 
Target” on page 90. Toggles “All Wide” or “All 
Narrow” channel strips in 
the mixer.
Opens the VST Con-
nections window, see 
“The VST Connections 
window” on page 11. Resets the settings 
to default (for all or 
selected channels).
Channel settings copy/
paste, see “Copying 
settings between audio 
channels” on page 98.
“Can Hide” settings, see 
“Showing/hiding individual 
channels (the “Can Hide” 
setting)” on page 89.
Global Mute and 
Solo buttons
Bus level meter
Read/Write 
Automation
Clip indicator, see 
“Setting input le-
vels” on page 51.
Edit button
Inserts and EQ 
indicators and 
Bypass buttonsPan control
Mute and Solo 
buttonsBus volume fader 
						

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The mixer
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 “Using Write/Read 
automation” on page 135), you can automate the levels 
and most mixer actions.
About the level meters for audio channels
When playing back audio in Cubase Essential, 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 peak 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).
Cubase Essential uses 32 bit floating point processing in-
ternally, so there is virtually limitless headroom – signals 
can go way beyond 0dB without clipping. Therefore:
ÖHaving higher levels than 0 dB for individual audio 
channels is 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’s good practice to keep the max 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 clip 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 about checking and setting input levels, see “Setting input levels” 
on page 51.
In the output busses, the floating point audio is con-
verted to the resolution of the audio hardware. In the inte-
ger audio domain, the maximum level is 0 dB – higher 
levels will cause the clip indicator for each bus to light up.
If the clip indicators light up for a bus, this indicates actual clipping – dig-
ital distortion which should always be avoided.
About 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.
About 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 (top) 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 un-mutes the channel. Several channels 
can be muted simultaneously. 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.
!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).!If the clip indicator lights up for an output channel, 
reset the clip indicator by clicking on it, and lower the 
level until the indicator doesn’t light up.
A muted chan-
nel in the mixer.A lit Global Mute indicator on the 
common panel shows that one or 
more channels are muted. 
						

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The mixer
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.
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” Preference (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 103).
 Four EQ modules and an associated EQ curve display (see 
“Making EQ settings” on page 96).
 A section with eight effect sends (see “Audio effects” on page 
103).
 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.
[Alt]/[Option]-click a Solo button…
…to activate Solo Defeat for that channel. 
						

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The mixer
 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.
For further information, see the chapter “Customizing” on 
page 313.
Every channel has its own channel settings (although 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 96.
 Apply send effects, see “Audio effects” on page 103.
 Apply insert effects, see “Audio effects” on page 103.
 Copy channel settings and apply them to another channel, see 
“Copying settings between audio channels” on page 98.
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 se-
lects 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 in-
stead).
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.
!All channel settings are applied to both sides of a 
stereo channel.
Click the Edit button to open the 
Channel Settings window. 
						

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The mixer
Making EQ settings
Each audio channel in Cubase Essential has a built-in 
parametric equalizer with up to four bands. There are sev-
eral ways to view and adjust the EQs:
By selecting the “Equalizers” or “Equalizer Curve” tab in 
the Inspector.
The “Equalizers” section is similar to the “Equalizers” section in the 
Channel Settings window, while the “Equalizer Curve” section shows a 
display in which you can “draw” an EQ curve. Setting EQ in the Inspec-
tor is only possible for track-based audio channels.
ÖNote that by default, only the Equalizers tab is shown. 
To display the Equalizer Curve tab, right-click on an In-
spector tab (not in the empty area below the Inspector) 
and activate the “Equalizer Curve” option.
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.
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 power button.
Although the modules have different default frequency values and differ-
ent Q names, they all have the same frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz). 
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 (20Hz to 20kHz) 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.
!Below we describe how to set up EQ in the Channel 
Settings window, but the parameters are the same in 
the Inspector. 
						

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The mixer
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 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.
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 in the Inspector.
EQ reset
On the preset pop-up menu in the Channel Settings win-
dow and in the Inspector, you will find the Reset command. 
Holding down [Alt]/[Option] and clicking this will turn off all 
EQ modules and reset all EQ parameters 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 “Inserts and EQ settings from track 
presets” on page 204.
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 effect 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. 
						

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The mixer
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.
You can also select channels with the Channel Select pop-up menu – 
see “Changing channels in the Channel Settings window” on page 95.
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” but-
ton (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 don’t have send effects, 
copying from them will leave the Sends settings in the target 
channel unaffected.
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 0dB.
 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. 
						

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The mixer
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 103.
About output busses
Cubase Essential uses a system of input and output bus-
ses which are set up using the VST Connections dialog. 
This is described in the chapter “VST Connections: Set-
ting up input and output busses” on page 9.
Output busses let you route audio from the program to the 
outputs on your audio hardware. 
Viewing the output busses in the mixer
Output busses are shown as output channels in a sepa-
rate pane to the right in the mixer. You show or hide this 
pane by clicking the Hide Output Channels button in the 
mixer’s common panel to the left:
Each output channel resembles a regular audio channel 
strip. Here you can do the following:
 Adjust master levels for all configured output busses using the 
level faders.
 Add effects or EQ to the output channels (see the chapter 
“Audio effects” on page 103).
MIDI specific procedures
This section describes basic procedures for MIDI chan-
nels in the mixer.
Using Channel Settings
For each MIDI channel strip in the mixer (and MIDI track in 
the Track list or the Inspector), there is an Edit (“e”) button. 
Clicking this opens the MIDI Channel Settings window. 
By default, this window contains a duplicate of the mixer 
channel strip, a section with four MIDI inserts and a sec-
tion with four MIDI send effects. 
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 Cus-
tomize View pop-up menu and use the “Move up” and “Move 
Down” buttons in the dialog that opens.
!The option “Group Channels: Mute Sources as well” 
does not affect how mute automation is written. 
Writing mute automation on a group channel only af-
fects 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 acti-
vated. However, upon playback, only the group 
channel will respond to the automation. 
						

							100
The mixer
Every MIDI channel has its own channel settings.
The MIDI Channel Settings window
Utilities
Link/Unlink channels
This function is used to “link” selected channels in the 
mixer so that any change applied to one channel will be 
mirrored by all channels in that group. You can link as 
many channels as you like, and you can also create as 
many groups of linked channels as you like. To link chan-
nels in the mixer, proceed as follows:
1.Press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on all the channels 
you want to link.
[Shift]-clicking allows you to select a continuous range of channels.
2.Right-click somewhere on the gray mixer panel.
The Mixer context menu appears.
3.Select “Link Channels” from the context menu.
To unlink channels, select one of the linked channels and 
select “Unlink Channels” from the Mixer context menu.
The channels are unlinked. Note that you do not need to select all the 
channels that are linked, only one of them.
ÖIt is not possible to remove individual channels from 
Link status. 
To make individual settings to a linked channel, press [Alt]/[Option] when 
changing the setting.
What will be linked?
The following rules apply for linked channels:
Only level, mute, solo, select, monitor and record enable 
will be linked between channels.
Effect/EQ/pan/input and output routing settings are not linked.
Any individual channel settings you have made before 
linking will remain until you alter the same setting for any of 
the linked channels.
For example, if you link three channels, and one of them was muted at the 
time you applied the Link Channel function, this channel will remain muted 
after linking. However, if you mute another channel all linked channels will 
be muted. Thus, the individual setting for one channel is lost as soon as 
you change the same parameter setting for any of the linked channels.