Steinberg Cubase LE Getting Started Manual

							CUBASE LEEditing MIDI 12 – 131
Editing velocity in the controller display
The Key Editor controller display is used for viewing and editing vari-
ous values and events. The controller display shows one event type at 
a time. 
•If you click the arrow to the left of the controller display, a pop-up ap-
pears allowing you to select what event type you wish to view. 
For this example, select “Velocity”.
•When “Velocity” is selected for viewing, the controller display shows 
the velocity of each note as a vertical bar.
Velocity events in the controller display.
•To change the velocity of a single note, click on its velocity bar with 
the Pencil tool, and drag the bar up or down. If there are several notes 
on the same position only the velocity value of the selected note is 
changed. If there is no note selected the velocity values for all notes 
on this position will be changed.
While you drag, the current velocity value is shown in the display to the left.
•To change the velocity values of several notes, you can either draw a 
“velocity curve” with the Pencil tool or use the Line tool to create a ve-
locity ramp. 
						

							CUBASE LE12 – 132 Editing MIDI
An example
In the following example we will create a velocity ramp using the Line 
tool:
1.Add some notes in the note display by using the Pencil tool.
2.Select the Line tool from the pop-up menu that appears by clicking on 
the Pencil tool icon.
The other tools available on this pop-up menu are described in the Operation Manual.
3.Click where you want the ramp to start, move the pointer to where you 
want the ramp to end and release the mouse button.
When the mouse button is released, the velocity values will be scaled according to the 
ramp curve. 
						

							13
Basic Cubase LE concepts 
						

							CUBASE LE13 – 134 Basic Cubase LE concepts
About this chapter
This chapter describes the basic “building blocks” and terminology in 
Cubase LE. Please take your time to read this chapter thoroughly be-
fore moving on!
The project
The native document format of Cubase LE is called a project. Before 
you can start recording, playing back or editing you always have to 
create a new project, or open a saved project file from disk. There can 
be several projects open at the same time, but one is always the ac-
tive project.
Two Project windows in Cubase LE. The project “on top” is the active project, as 
indicated by the lit red indicator in the upper left corner of the window. 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Cubase LE concepts 13 – 135
About the file and folder structure
A project file (file extension “.cpr” under Windows) is always associ-
ated with a project folder on your hard disk. Several projects can 
share the same project folder (which is practical if you have several 
versions of your project, for example). 
Typically, a project folder is structured like this.
•The Audio folder contains audio files referenced by the project.
It is also possible for the project to refer to audio files elsewhere on your disk(s), but 
having all audio files in the project’s Audio folder makes the project easy to move and 
archive, and is a good safety measure.
•The Edits folder contains audio files created automatically by editing 
and processing operations in Cubase LE.
As a rule, you shouldn’t touch the files in this folder. To remove unused edit files, it is 
better to use the Cleanup function, as described in the Operation Manual.
•The Fades folder contains audio files created by fade and crossfade 
operations in Cubase LE.
•The Images folder contains waveform images for the audio files in the 
project.
•The project file itself contains all references to audio and video files, 
along with playback information, MIDI data and settings for the project 
(such as sample rate, frame rate, etc.).
•Video files are never automatically copied to the project folder.
This is because video files are often very large, and it doesn’t make sense to copy them 
into different project folders. However, nothing stops you from creating a Video folder 
inside the project folder and storing your video files there.
•You may also find additional files in the project folder.
For example, Cubase LE’s Auto Save feature stores backup copies of the project file in 
its project folder. 
						

							CUBASE LE13 – 136 Basic Cubase LE concepts
Audio terminology
When you record audio in Cubase LE, this is what happens:
• An audio file is created on the hard disk.
• In Cubase LE, an audio clip is created. The audio clip refers to the audio file 
on disk.
• An audio event is also created in Cubase LE. This plays back the audio clip.
There are good reasons for this long chain of references:
• The audio event is the object that you place on a time position in Cubase LE. 
If you make copies of an audio event and move them to different positions in 
the project, they will still all refer to the same audio clip. 
Furthermore, each audio event has an Offset value and a Length value. These 
determine at which positions in the clip the event will start and end, i.e. which 
section of the audio clip will be played back by the audio event. For example, 
if you resize the audio event, you will just change its start and/or end position 
in the audio clip – the clip itself will not be affected.
• The audio clip does not necessarily refer to just one original recorded file! 
For example, if you apply some processing to a section of an audio clip, this 
will actually create a new audio file that contains only the section in question. 
The processing will then be applied to the new audio file only, leaving the orig-
inal audio file unchanged. Finally, the audio clip is automatically adjusted, so 
that it refers both to the original file and to the new, processed file. During 
playback, the program will switch between the original file and the processed 
file at the correct positions. You will hear this as a single recording, with pro-
cessing applied to one section only.
This feature makes it possible to undo processing at a later stage, and to apply 
different processing to different audio clips that refer to the same original file. 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Cubase LE concepts 13 – 137
Audio tracks, parts and channels
For an audio event to be played back in Cubase LE, it has to be placed 
on an audio track. This is similar to a track on a multi-track tape re-
corder, and allows you to view the event and move it along the timeline. 
You can place any number of audio events on an audio track, but only 
one at a time can be played back. You can add up to 48 audio tracks. 
Note that the number of tracks you can play back at the same time also 
depends on your computer performance.
Even though audio events can be placed directly on audio tracks, some-
times it is convenient to gather several audio events into an audio part. 
This is simply a “container”, allowing you to move and duplicate several 
audio events as one.
An event and a part.
Each audio track has a corresponding audio channel in the Mixer. This 
is much like a channel on a hardware mixer, allowing you to set levels 
and panning, add EQ and effects, etc. 
						

							CUBASE LE13 – 138 Basic Cubase LE concepts
MIDI terminology
When you are recording MIDI (or entering MIDI data manually in an ed-
itor), 
MIDI events are created. For example, each note you record is a 
separate MIDI event, and if you record the movement of a modulation 
wheel or other controller, a large number of densely spaced events are 
created.
MIDI events are always placed in 
MIDI parts. These are “containers”, 
allowing you to move or copy a number of MIDI events (e.g. a recorded 
MIDI melody line) as one item.
MIDI parts are placed on MIDI tracks. You can add up to 64 MIDI 
tracks. For each 
MIDI track you can specify on which MIDI output and 
MIDI channel its MIDI events should be played back. This allows you 
to have different tracks play back different sounds, in the same or dif-
ferent MIDI instruments.
A MIDI part on a MIDI track. The black lines in the part indicate MIDI events.
Video terminology
• When you import a video file from disk into a Cubase LE project, a video clip 
is created that refers to the file. 
•A video event is then created, referring to the video clip. Video events can be 
moved, copied and resized without affecting their video clips. 
• For a video event to be played back, it has to be placed on the video track. 
There can only be one video track in a Cubase LE project.
The video support in Cubase LE is described in its own chapter in the 
Operation Manual. 
						

							14
Basic Methods 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 140 Basic Methods
About this chapter
This chapter contains descriptions of the general methods and proce-
dures used in Cubase LE. As this information applies to all parts of the 
program and all ways of working, please take time to read this chapter 
before continuing with the Operation Manual. 
Using menus
Main menus
The menus in the main Cubase LE menu bar are always available, re-
gardless of which window is active. However, menu items that are not 
relevant in the current window may be greyed out. You select items 
from the main menus following the standard procedure of the operat-
ing system.
Pop-up menus
Pop-up menus can be found throughout the program and are often 
used for selecting options or values. A pop-up menu is indicated by a 
small arrow in a field showing the currently selected option/value. 
•To bring up the pop-up menu, click the arrow. 
Selecting is done as with regular menus.
Selecting from the Snap pop-up menu.