Steinberg Cubase LE Getting Started Manual

							CUBASE LEBasic Methods 14 – 141
The Quick menu
In Cubase LE, clicking the right mouse button will bring up a contextual 
pop-up menu (under Mac OS X you need to press [Ctrl] and click, or 
preferably use a two-button mouse set up so that the right mouse but-
ton generates a [Ctrl]-click). 
Some areas have special context menus with functions or settings that 
only apply to the corresponding area (for example, right-clicking in a 
ruler brings up a pop-up menu with display format options). 
However, right-clicking in the main area of a window brings up the 
Quick menu. As a rule, the Quick menu contains:
•The tools (provided that the window has tools).
See page 142.
•The most relevant menu items from the main Cubase LE menus.
•Settings that are specific for the window.
For example, in the Sample Editor the Quick menu contains settings for which ele-
ments should be displayed in the waveform display.
The Quick menu in the Sample Editor. 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 142 Basic Methods
Using tools
Editing in Cubase LE is largely done with the various tools. Typical ex-
amples are selecting and moving events with the Arrow (Object Selec-
tion) tool, drawing with the Pencil tool, deleting with the Eraser tool, etc. 
There are different tools for different windows.
Tools can be selected in three ways:
•By clicking the corresponding tool icon on the toolbar.
When you click a tool icon, the pointer takes on the shape of the corresponding tool.
•By using the Quick menu.
As described on page 141, clicking with the right mouse button in the main area of a 
window brings up the Quick menu. The tools will be listed (along with their correspond-
ing icons) at the top of the menu – to select a tool, simply select it from the menu.
•By using key commands.
By default, the keys [1] - [0] on the alphanumeric part of the keyboard are used, so that 
pressing [1] selects the leftmost tool and so on. You can also use key commands to 
step between the tools on the toolbar. By default, pressing [F9] selects the previous 
tool and pressing [F10] selects the next tool.
❐The uses and purposes of the tools in the different windows are de-
scribed in the corresponding chapters of the Operation Manual. 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Methods 14 – 143
About tool tips
If you position the pointer over a tool icon (or any other icon or button 
in Cubase LE), a label will appear after a moment, informing you of the 
function of the icon or button. 
•This feature can be turned off by deactivating the option “Show Tips” 
on the User Interface page in the Preferences dialog (accessed from 
the File menu under Windows and from the Cubase LE menu under 
Mac OS X).
Changing values
Throughout the program you will encounter various value fields that 
can be edited. These can be divided into three categories: position 
values, regular numeric values and names.
Editing position values
Depending on the selected display format (see the Operation Manual), 
position values in Cubase LE are usually divided into several “seg-
ments” (the exception being the “Samples” display format, in which 
values are edited as regular numeric values). Two examples:
If the “Seconds” display format is selected, positions are shown as 
“hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds“.
If the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected, positions are shown as 
“bars.beats.sixteenth notes.ticks” (with 120 ticks per sixteenth note).
Each value segment can be edited separately, in one of the following 
ways:
•Point at the upper or lower edge of the segment and click.
Clicking at the upper edge will raise the value of the segment one step, clicking at the 
lower edge will lower the value. 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 144 Basic Methods
•Point and click directly on the value segment, type a new value and 
press [Return].
•If you are using a wheel mouse, point at the value segment and use 
the wheel to raise or lower its value.
Generally, we recommend that you use a wheel mouse, as this speeds up editing in 
many areas in Cubase LE.
You can also edit the whole value (all segments) by double clicking 
and typing in a new value. Note:
•To separate the value segments, you can use spaces, dots, colons or 
any other character that isn’t a number.
•If the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected, and you enter a value 
with less than four segments, the largest position value segments will 
be affected and the program will set the lesser segments to their low-
est values.
For example, if you enter “5.3”, the position will be set to “5.3.1.0”.
•If one of the frame based display formats (all formats called “fps” or 
“dfps”) is selected, and you enter a value with less than four segments, 
the smallest position value segments will be affected and the program 
will set the larger segments to their lowest values.
For example, if you enter “2:5”, the position will be set to “0:0:2:5”.
•If the “Seconds” display format is selected, value editing works as 
with the frame based formats, with one addition: The smallest value 
segment (milliseconds) is considered to be the decimal part of the 
seconds segment.
This means that if you enter “2:50”, the position will be set to “0:0:2:500”, rather than 
“0:0:2:050”. 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Methods 14 – 145
Editing regular numeric values
Numeric values other than positions are edited by clicking the value 
and editing numerically from the computer keyboard.
In the Preferences dialog (User Interface – Controls page) you can 
specify what should happen when you click on a value field. The 
“Value Box/Time control” item contains the following options
•In the Inspector and elsewhere in the program you can find blue value 
sliders – click and drag to adjust the value.
Option Description
Text Input on Left-Click In this mode, clicking a value box will open it for editing by 
typing.
Increment/Decrement on 
Left/Right-ClickIn this mode you can click with the left or right mouse but-
ton to decrease or increase the value, respectively. To edit 
values by typing in this mode, please double-click.
Increment/Decrement on 
Left-Click and DragIn this mode, you can click and drag up or down to adjust 
the value (much like dragging a vertical fader). To edit val-
ues by typing in this mode, please double-click. 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 146 Basic Methods
•For some values, you can hold down [Alt]/[Option], click on the value 
and keep the mouse button pressed to display a value slider.
This allows you to scroll the value by dragging up or down with the mouse button 
pressed. When you release the mouse button, the value slider is hidden.
Adjusting the event volume setting on the Info line.
•These values can also be edited using a wheel mouse: point at the 
value and use the wheel to raise or lower it.
Editing names
To edit a name, click on it, type a new name and press [Return] (or 
click outside the name field). 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Methods 14 – 147
Using knobs and sliders
In the VST audio windows, most parameters are shown as knobs, slid-
ers and buttons, emulating real-world hardware interfaces. For knobs 
and sliders, you can select the desired way of making adjustments in 
the Preferences dialog (User Interface–Controls page):
Knobs
The Knob Mode pop-up menu contains the following options:
Sliders
The Slider Mode pop-up menu contains the following options:
Option Description
Circular To move a knob, you click on it and drag in a circular motion, much 
like turning a “real” knob. When you click anywhere along the 
knob’s edge, the setting is immediately changed.
Relative Circular Works like the “Circular” option, but clicking does not automatically 
change the setting. This means you can make adjustments to the 
current setting by clicking anywhere on a knob and dragging, with-
out having to click on the exact current position.
Linear To move a knob, you click on it and drag up or down with the mouse 
button pressed – as if the knob were a vertical slider.
Option Description
Jump In this mode, clicking anywhere on a slider will make the slider handle in-
stantly move to that position.
Touch In this mode, you have to click on the actual slider handle to adjust the pa-
rameter. This reduces the risk of accidentally moving sliders.
Ramp In this mode, clicking anywhere on a slider (but not on the actual handle) 
and keeping the mouse button pressed, will cause the handle to move 
smoothly to the new position. 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 148 Basic Methods
Selecting objects
Selecting Cubase LE objects such as audio and MIDI events is gener-
ally done with the Arrow tool, according to standard selection proce-
dures.
•Clicking on an object selects it (and deselects any previously selected 
objects).
•Holding down [Shift] and clicking on an object selects it without dese-
lecting any other objects.
•You can also create a selection rectangle by clicking in an empty area 
and dragging with the mouse button pressed.
All objects partially or totally enclosed by the rectangle will be selected.
•If an object is already selected, you can use the left and right arrow 
key on the computer keyboard to select the previous or next object, 
respectively.
Holding down [Shift] and using the arrow keys allows you to select the previous/next 
object without deselecting the current object.
❐There are several additional ways to make selections in the different 
Cubase LE windows. These are described in the corresponding 
Operation Manual chapters. 
						

							CUBASE LEBasic Methods 14 – 149
Zoom and view techniques
Scrolling the view
If the active window isn’t large enough to show all its contents, you can 
scroll the view by using the standard window scroll bars. However, if 
you are using a wheel mouse, there are two additional ways to scroll:
•Rolling the wheel will scroll the view vertically.
If you hold down [Shift] and use the wheel, the view will be scrolled horizontally. Just 
make sure not to point at a value field, as this will edit the value instead.
•If you aim in the main area of a window, click the wheel and keep it 
pressed, the pointer takes on the shape of a hand. You can now scroll 
the view freely by dragging the mouse horizontally and/or vertically. 
Zooming
All windows that contain graphical displays can be zoomed horizon-
tally and vertically. While some windows have special zoom functions 
(see the respective chapters in the Operation Manual), a few methods 
are commonly available:
Using the zoom sliders
At the lower right corner of all zoomable displays, you will find two 
zoom sliders.
•To zoom in horizontally, drag the horizontal zoom slider handle to the 
right.
•To zoom in vertically, drag the vertical zoom slider upwards.
There is one exception to this: in the Project window, dragging the vertical zoom slider 
upwards will decrease the height of Tracks (in effect, zooming out). See the chapter 
“The Project Window” in the Operation Manual. 
						

							CUBASE LE14 – 150 Basic Methods
•Clicking on a zoom slider will move the handle to the click position, in-
stantly changing the magnification.
❐If the project cursor is visible when you zoom in or out horizontally, the 
magnification will be “centered on the cursor”. In other words: if possi-
ble, the project cursor will remain in the same position on screen.
Using the Magnifying Glass tool
You can use the Magnifying Glass tool to zoom in and out horizontally, 
using the following methods:
•Click once to zoom in one step.
Zooming will be centered on the click position.
•Double click (or press [Alt]/[Option] and click) to zoom out one step.
•Draw a zoom rectangle by pressing the mouse button, dragging the 
pointer and releasing the mouse button.
The view will zoom in horizontally, so that only the area enclosed in the zoom rectangle 
is visible.
Using the Zoom submenu
At the bottom of the Edit menu, you will find a Zoom submenu with 
various zoom functions. Exactly which items on the submenu are avail-
able depends on the currently active window.
•The Zoom submenu is also available as a separate menu item on the 
Quick menu.
•As with any menu item, you can specify key commands for the func-
tions on the Zoom submenu, for quick access.
Key commands are set up in the Key Commands dialog on the File menu, described in 
a separate chapter in the Operation Manual.