Steinberg Cubase Le 4 Manual

							101
Audio processing and functions
Background
Audio processing in Cubase LE can be called “non-de-
structive”, in the sense that you can always undo your last 
operation using the Undo command on the Edit menu. 
This is possible because processing affects audio clips 
rather than the actual audio files, and because audio clips 
can refer to more than one audio file. This is how it works:
1.If you process an event or a selection range, a new au-
dio file is created in the Edits folder, within your project 
folder. 
This new file contains the processed audio, while the original file is unaf-
fected. 
2.The processed section of the audio clip (the section 
corresponding to the event or selection range) then refers 
to the new, processed audio file.
The other sections of the clip will still refer to the original file.
Furthermore, the original, unprocessed audio file can 
still be used by other clips in the project, by other projects 
or by other applications.
Audio processing
Basically, you apply processing by making a selection and 
selecting a function from the Process submenu on the Au-
dio menu. Processing is applied according to the follow-
ing rules:
Selecting events in the Project window or the Audio 
Part Editor will apply processing to the selected events 
only.
Processing will only affect the clip sections that are referenced by the 
events.
Selecting an audio clip in the Pool will apply processing 
to the whole clip.
Making a selection range will apply processing to the 
selected range only.
Other sections of the clip are not affected.
If you attempt to process an event that is a shared copy 
(i.e. the event refers to a clip that is used by other events in 
the project), you are asked whether you want to create a 
new version of the clip or not.
Select “New Version” if you want the processing to affect the selected 
event only. Select “Continue” if you want the processing to affect all 
shared copies. 
ÖIf you activate the “Do not show this message again” 
option, any and all further processing you do will conform 
to the selected method (“Continue” or ”New Version”). 
You can change this setting at any time by using the “On Processing 
Shared Clips” pop-up in the Preferences (Editing–Audio page).
...the clip will refer both 
to the original file and a 
new file, containing the 
processed section only. After processing the event...
This event plays a section of this clip...
...which refers to this audio file. 
						

							102
Audio processing and functions
Common settings and features
If there are any settings for the selected Audio processing 
function, these will appear when you select the function 
from the Process submenu. While most settings are spe-
cific for the function, some features and settings work in 
the same way for several functions:
The “More...” button
If the dialog has a lot of settings, some options may be 
hidden when the dialog appears. To reveal these, click the 
“More...” button.
To hide the settings, click the button again (now labeled 
“Less...”).
The Preview, Process and Cancel buttons
These buttons have the following functionality:
Pre/Post-CrossFade
Some processing functions allow you to gradually mix the 
effect in or out. This is done with the Pre/Post-CrossFade 
parameters. If you activate Pre-CrossFade and specify a 
value of e.g. 1000 ms, the processing will be applied 
gradually from the start of selection, reaching full effect 
1000 ms after the start. Similarly, if you activate Post-
CrossFade, the processing will gradually be removed, 
starting at the specified interval before the end of the se-
lection.
Envelope
The Envelope function allows you to apply a volume enve-
lope to the selected audio. The dialog contains the follow-
ing settings:
Curve Kind buttons
These determine whether the envelope curve should con-
sist of spline curve segments (left button), damped spline 
segments (middle button) or linear segments (right button).
Fade display
Shows the shape of the envelope curve. The resulting 
waveform shape is shown in dark grey, with the current 
waveform shape in light grey. You can click on the curve 
to add points, and click and drag existing points to change 
the shape. To remove a point from the curve, drag it out-
side the display.
Presets
If you have set up an envelope curve that you may want to 
apply to other events or clips, you can store it as a preset 
by clicking the Store button. 
To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up 
menu. 
To rename the selected preset, double-click on the 
name and enter a new one in the dialog that appears. 
To remove a stored preset, select it from the pop-up 
menu and click Remove.
Fade In and Fade Out
For a description of these functions, see the chapter “Fa-
des and crossfades” on page 58.
Button Description
Preview Allows you to listen to the result of the processing with 
the current settings. Playback will continue repeatedly 
until you click the button again (the button is labeled 
“Stop” during Preview playback). You can make adjust-
ments during Preview playback, but the changes are not 
applied until the start of the next “lap”. Some changes 
may automatically restart the Preview playback from the 
beginning.
Process Performs the processing and closes the dialog.
Cancel Closes the dialog without processing.
!The sum of the Pre- and Post-CrossFade times can-
not be larger than the length of the selection. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Gain
Allows you to change the gain (level) of the selected audio. 
The dialog contains the following settings:
Gain
This is where you set the desired gain, between -50 and 
+20dB. The setting is also indicated below the Gain dis-
play as a percentage.
Clipping detection text
If you use the Preview function before applying the pro-
cessing, the text below the slider indicates whether the 
current settings result in clipping (audio levels above 
0 dB). If that is the case, lower the Gain value and use the 
Preview function again.
If you want to increase the level of the audio as much as 
possible without causing clipping, you should use the Nor-
malize function instead (see “Normalize” on page 104).
Pre- and Post-CrossFade
See “Pre/Post-CrossFade” on page 102.
Merge Clipboard
This functions mixes the audio from the clipboard into the 
audio selected for processing, starting at the beginning of 
the selection.
The dialog contains the following settings:
Sources mix
Allows you to specify a mix ratio between the original (the 
audio selected for processing) and the copy (the audio on 
the clipboard).
Pre- and Post-CrossFade
See “Pre/Post-CrossFade” on page 102.
!For this function to be available, you need to have cut 
or copied a range of audio in the Sample Editor first. 
						

							104
Audio processing and functions
Noise Gate
Scans the audio for sections weaker than a specified 
threshold level and replaces them with silence. The dialog 
contains the following settings:
Threshold
The level below which you want audio to be silenced. 
Levels below this value will close the gate.
Attack Time
The time it takes for the gate to open fully after the audio 
level has exceeded the threshold level.
Min. Opening Time
This is the shortest time the gate will remain open. If you 
find that the gate opens and closes too often when pro-
cessing material that varies rapidly in level, you should try 
raising this value.
Release Time
The time it takes for the gate to close fully after the audio 
level has dropped below the threshold level.
Linked Channels
This is available for stereo audio only. When it is activated, 
the Noise Gate is opened for both channels as soon as 
one or both channels exceed the Threshold level. When 
Linked Channels is deactivated, the Noise Gate works in-
dependently for the left and right channel.
Dry/Wet mix
Allows you to specify a mix ratio between “dry” and pro-
cessed sound.
Pre- and Post-CrossFade
See “Pre/Post-CrossFade” on page 102.
Normalize
The Normalize function allows you to specify the desired 
maximum level of the audio. It then analyzes the selected 
audio and finds the current maximum level. Finally it sub-
tracts the current maximum level from the specified level 
and raises the gain of the audio by the resulting amount (if 
the specified maximum level is lower than the current max-
imum, the gain will be lowered instead). A common use for 
Normalizing is to raise the level of audio that was recorded 
at too low an input level. The dialog contains the following 
settings:
Maximum
The desired maximum level for the audio, between -50 and 
0dB. The setting is also indicated below the Gain display as 
a percentage.
Pre- and Post-CrossFade
See “Pre/Post-CrossFade” on page 102.
Phase Reverse
Reverses the phase of the selected audio, turning the 
waveform “upside down”. The dialog contains the follow-
ing settings:
Phase Reverse on
When processing stereo audio, this pop-up menu allows 
you to specify which channel(s) should be phase-reversed.
Pre- and Post-CrossFade
See “Pre/Post-CrossFade” on page 102. 
						

							105
Audio processing and functions
Remove DC Offset
This function will remove any DC offset in the audio selec-
tion. A DC offset is when there is too large a DC (direct 
current) component in the signal, sometimes visible as the 
signal not being visually centered around the “zero level 
axis”. DC offsets do not affect what you actually hear, but 
they affect zero crossing detection and certain process-
ing, and it is recommended that you remove them.
There are no parameters for this function.
Reverse
Reverses the audio selection, as when playing a tape 
backwards. There are no parameters for this function.
Silence
Replaces the selection with silence. There are no parame-
ters for this function.
Stereo Flip
This function works with stereo audio selections only. It al-
lows you to manipulate the left and right channel in various 
ways. The dialog contains the following parameters:
Mode
 
This pop-up menu determines what the function does:
Freeze Edits
The Freeze Edits function on the Audio menu allows you 
to make all processing permanent for a clip:
1.Select the clip in the Pool or one of its events in the 
Project window.
2.Select “Freeze Edits…” from the Audio menu.
If there is only one edit version of the clip (no other clips 
refer to the same audio file), the following dialog will appear:
If you select “Replace”, all edits will be applied to the original audio file 
(the one listed in the clip’s Path column in the Pool). If you select “New 
File”, the Freeze Edits operation will create a new file in the Audio folder 
within the project folder (leaving the original audio file unaffected).
If the selected clip (or the clip played by the selected 
event) has several edit versions (i.e. there are other clips re-
ferring to the same audio file), the following alert will appear:
As you can see, you don’t have the option to Replace the original audio 
file in this case. This is because that audio file is used by other clips. Se-
lect “New File” to have a new file created in the Audio folder within the 
project folder.
!It is recommended that this function is applied to 
complete audio clips, since the DC offset (if any) is 
normally present throughout the entire recording.
Option Description
Flip Left-Right Swaps the left and right channel.
Left to Stereo Copies the left channel sound to the right channel.
Right to Stereo Copies the right channel sound to the left channel.
Merge Merges both channels on each side for mono sound.
Subtract Subtracts the left channel information from the right and 
vice versa. This is typically used as a “Karaoke effect”, for 
removing centered mono material from a stereo signal.
!After a Freeze Edits, the clip refers to a new, single 
audio file.
Option Description 
						

							12
The Sample Editor 
						

							107
The Sample Editor
Background
The Sample Editor allows you to view and manipulate au-
dio at the audio clip level, by cutting and pasting, removing 
or drawing audio data or applying processing.
The Sample Editor also contains Audio Warp related fea-
tures. These are described in the chapter “Audio warp re-
altime processing” on page 118.
Opening the Sample Editor
You open the Sample Editor by double-clicking an audio 
event in the Project window or the Audio Part Editor, or by 
double-clicking an audio clip in the Pool. You can have 
more than one Sample Editor open at the same time.
Note that double-clicking an audio part in the Project 
window will open the Audio Part Editor, even if the part 
only contains a single audio event.
This is described in the chapter “The Audio Part Editor” on page 113.
Window overview
The Elements menu
If you right-click in the Sample Editor to bring up the 
Quick menu, you will find a sub menu called “Elements”. 
By activating or deactivating options on this submenu, you 
specify what is shown in the editor window. Some of 
these options are also available as icons on the toolbar.
The toolbar
The toolbar contains tools and various settings:
You can customize the toolbar by right-clicking it and 
using the pop-up menu to hide or show items.
Selecting Setup from the pop-up menu allows you to 
reorder sections on the toolbar, store presets, etc. See 
“The Setup dialogs” on page 244.
The thumbnail display
The thumbnail display provides an overview of the whole 
clip. The section currently shown in the main waveform 
display of the Sample Editor is indicated by a blue rectan-
gle in the thumbnail, while the current selection range is 
shown in blue.
The Sample Editor tools
Audition, Loop & Volume controlsAutoscrollShow info
Show Audio Event
Snap to Zero CrossingStart and end of the current selection rangeLength of the current selection range
Musical controls
The warp settings pop-up menu, 
see “Warp settings” on page 120.
Musical ModeThe “Use” pop-up menu, see “The “Use” 
pop-up menu” on page 125.
Hitpoint mode and 
sensitivity slider 
						

							108
The Sample Editor
You can move the blue rectangle in the thumbnail to 
view other sections of the clip.
Click in the lower half of the rectangle and drag to the left or right to 
move it.
You can resize the blue rectangle (by dragging its left or 
right edge) to zoom in or out, horizontally.
You can define a new viewing area by clicking in the up-
per half of the overview and dragging a rectangle with the 
pointer.
The ruler
The Sample Editor ruler is located between the thumbnail 
and the waveform display. It shows the timeline in the dis-
play format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The 
Project Setup dialog” on page 21). If you like, you can se-
lect an independent display format for the ruler by clicking 
on the arrow button to the right of it and selecting an op-
tion from the pop-up menu that appears (this affects the 
values in the info line, too). For a list of the display format 
options, see “The ruler” on page 20.
The waveform display and the level scale
The waveform display shows the waveform image of the 
edited audio clip – in the style selected in the Preferences 
(Event Display–Audio page), see “Adjusting how parts 
and events are shown” on page 24. To the left of the 
waveform display, a level scale can be shown, indicating 
the amplitude of the audio.When the level scale is shown, you can select whether 
the level should be shown as a percentage or in dB.
This is done by right-clicking the level scale and selecting an option from 
the pop-up menu that appears. This also allows you to hide the level scale.
To display the level scale after hiding it, right-click to 
bring up the Quick menu and activate “Level Scale” on the 
Elements submenu.
This submenu also allows you to select whether you 
want the zero axis and/or the half level axis indicated in the 
waveform display.
The info line
The info line at the bottom of the window shows informa-
tion about the edited audio clip. You cannot edit the val-
ues on the info line.
To hide or show the info line, click the Show Info button 
on the toolbar.
Half 
level 
axis Zero axis
Audio format and length Current selection range
Selected display format 
(for info line and ruler)Number of edits 
made to clipZoom factor 
						

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The Sample Editor
Initially, length and position values are displayed in the 
format specified in the Project Setup dialog (see “The 
Project Setup dialog” on page 21), but you can change 
this by clicking in the middle field of the info line and se-
lecting another display format from a pop-up menu.
This selection affects the Sample Editor ruler as well.
Operations
Zooming
Zooming in the Sample Editor is done according to the 
standard zoom procedures, with the following special 
notes:
The vertical zoom slider changes the vertical scale rela-
tive to the height of the editor window, in a way similar to 
the waveform zooming in the Project window (see “Zoom 
and view options” on page 22).
The vertical zoom will also be affected if the option “Zoom Tool Standard 
Mode” (Preferences on the Editing–Tools page) is deactivated and you 
drag a rectangle with the Zoom tool.
The following options relevant to the Sample Editor are 
available on the Zoom submenu (on the Edit menu and the 
Quick context menu):
You can also zoom by resizing the rectangle in the 
thumbnail display.
See “The thumbnail display” on page 107.
The current zoom setting is shown in the info line, as a 
“samples per screen pixel” value.
Note that you can zoom in horizontally to a scale with 
less than one sample per pixel! 
This is required for drawing with the Pencil tool (see “Drawing in the 
Sample Editor” on page 112).
If you have zoomed in to one sample per pixel or less, 
the appearance of the samples depend on the option 
“Interpolate Audio Images” in the Preferences (Event Dis-
play–Audio page).
If the option is deactivated, single sample values are drawn as “steps”. If 
the option is activated, they are interpolated to “curves” form.
Auditioning
While you can use the regular play commands to play 
back audio when the Sample Editor is open, it is often 
useful to listen to the edited material only. Below are two 
ways to do this.
ÖYou can adjust the auditioning level with the miniature 
level fader on the toolbar.
By using the Speaker tool
If you click somewhere in the waveform display with the 
Speaker (“Play”) tool and keep the mouse button pressed, 
the clip will be played back from the position at which you 
clicked. Playback will continue until you release the mouse 
button.
By using the Audition icon
Clicking the Audition icon on the toolbar plays back the 
edited audio, according to the following rules:
 If you have made a selection, this selection will be played 
back.
 If there is no selection, but the option “Show Event” is acti-
vated (see “Show audio event” on page 112), the section of 
the clip corresponding to the event will be played back.
 If there is no selection, and “Show Event” is deactivated, play-
back will start at the cursor position (if the cursor is outside 
the display, the whole clip will be played back).
 If the Loop icon is activated, playback will continue repeatedly 
until you deactivate the Audition icon. Otherwise, the section 
will be played back once.
Option Description
Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the position cursor.
Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole clip is visible in the editor.
Zoom to 
SelectionZooms in so that the current selection fills the screen.
Zoom  to  Event Zooms in so that the editor shows the section of the clip 
corresponding to the edited audio event. This is not 
available if you opened the Sample Editor from the Pool 
(in which case the whole clip is opened for editing, not 
an event).
Zoom In/Out 
VerticalThis is the same as using the vertical zoom slider (see 
above). 
						

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The Sample Editor
Scrubbing
The Scrub tool allows you to locate positions in the audio 
by playing back, forwards or backwards, at any speed:
1.Select the Scrub tool.
2.Click in the waveform display and keep the mouse 
button pressed.
The project cursor is moved to the position at which you click.
3.Drag to the left or right.
The project cursor follows the mouse pointer and the audio is played 
back. The speed and pitch of the playback depends on how fast you 
move the pointer.
You can adjust the response of the Scrub tool with the 
Scrub Response (Speed) setting in the Preferences (VST–
Scrub page).
There you will also find a separate Scrub Volume setting.
Adjusting the snap point
The snap point is a marker within an audio event (or clip, 
see below). This is used as a reference position when you 
are moving events with snap activated, so that the snap 
point is “magnetic” to whatever snap positions you have 
selected. 
By default, the snap point is set at the beginning of the au-
dio event, but often it is useful to move the snap point to a 
“relevant” position in the event, such as a downbeat, etc.
1.Activate the “Audio Event” option so that the event is 
displayed in the editor.
2.Scroll so that the event is visible, and locate the “S” 
flag in the event.
If you haven’t adjusted this previously, it will be located at the beginning 
of the event.
3.Click on the “S” flag and drag it to the desired posi-
tion.
When you drag the snap point, a tool tip shows its current position (in 
the format selected on the Sample Editor ruler).
It is also possible to define a snap point for a clip (for 
which there is no event yet).
To open a clip in the Sample Editor, double-click it in the Pool (or drag it 
from the Pool to the Sample Editor). After having set the snap point using 
the procedure described above, you can insert the clip into the project 
from the Pool or the Sample Editor, taking the snap point position into 
account.
Making selections
To select an audio section in the Sample Editor, you click 
and drag with the Range Selection tool.
If Snap to Zero Crossing is activated on the toolbar, the 
start and end of the selection will always be at zero cross-
ings (see “Snap to Zero Crossing” on page 112).
You can resize the selection by dragging its left and 
right edge or by [Shift]-clicking.
The current selection is indicated by the selection con-
trols on the toolbar.
You can fine-tune the selection by changing these values numerically. 
Note that the values are relative to the start of the clip, rather than to the 
project timeline.
A selected range