Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							CUBASE LEThe Pool 15 – 301
• Do not Ask again.
If this is ticked, you will always import files according to the settings you have made, 
without this dialog appearing. This can be reset again in the Preferences – Audio dialog. 
❐You can always convert later should you so wish, by using the Convert 
Files (see page 304) or Conform Files (see page 305) options.
Importing audio CD tracks
You can import tracks (or sections of tracks) from an audio CD directly 
into the Pool by using the “Import Audio CD” function on the Pool menu. 
This opens a dialog in which you can specify which tracks should be 
grabbed from the CD, converted to audio files and added to the Pool.
For details about the Import Audio CD dialog, see page 511.
Changing the Pool Record folder
The Pool Record folder.
The Pool Record folder is where all audio clips that you record in the 
project will end up. The Pool Record folder is indicated by the “Record” 
symbol shown in the Status column, and by a red dot on the folder it-
self, as shown in the picture above. By default, this is the main Audio 
folder. You can, however, at any time create a new Audio subfolder and 
designate this as your Pool Record folder. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the Audio folder or any audio clip.
You cannot designate the Video folder (or a subfolder in it) as the Pool Record folder.
2.Select “Create Folder” on the Pool menu.
A new empty audio subfolder appears in the Pool.
3.Select the new folder. 
						

							CUBASE LE15 – 302 The Pool
4.Select “Set Pool Record Folder” on the Pool menu, or click in the new 
folders Status column.
The new folder now becomes the Pool Record folder, and any audio recorded in the 
project will from this point on end up in this folder.
Organizing clips and folders
If you accumulate a large number of clips in the Pool, it may sometimes 
be difficult to quickly find specific items. In such cases, organizing clips 
in new subfolders with suitable names that reflect the content can be a 
solution. For example, you could put all sound effects in one folder, all 
lead vocals in another etc. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the type of folder, audio or video, in which you want to create a 
subfolder.
You cannot put audio clips in a video folder and vice versa.
2.Select “Create Folder” on the Pool menu.
A new empty subfolder named “New Folder” appears in the Pool.
3.Click on the name and type in a new appropriate name for the folder.
4.Select and drag the clips you wish to move to the new folder.
5.Repeat steps 1-4 as necessary.
Applying processing to clips in the Pool
You can apply audio processing to clips from within the Pool, just like 
you can to events in the Project window. Simply select the clip(s) and 
select a processing method from the Audio menu. To find out more 
about audio processing, see page 219.
Freeze Edits
If you have applied processing to a clip, either in the Project window 
or in the Pool, this is indicated by the red and grey waveform symbol in 
the Status column. You can also use the Freeze Edits function to cre-
ate a new file with processing applied or replace the original with a 
processed version – see page 235. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Pool 15 – 303
Prepare Archive
This Pool menu command should be used when you want to archive a 
project. It checks that every clip referenced in the project is located in 
the same folder. To be more precise, it does the following:
•Any files that are located outside the current project folder will be cop-
ied to it.
•If any processing has been applied, you will be asked whether you 
want to Freeze Edits.
If you do this, you don’t have to archive the Edit folder. Everything belonging to the 
project will be contained in the project file and the Audio folder.
•Once you have performed a Prepare Archive, you can copy the 
project file and the Audio folder to backup disks, etc.
It is not necessary to archive the Images or Fades folders, since these can be recreated 
by Cubase LE. You may also find a file with the extension “.csh” in the project folder. 
This contains image information for edited clips and other data that can be recreated, 
and can safely be deleted.
❐Video clips are always referenced, and are not stored in the project folder.
Minimize File
This item on the Pool menu allows you to change the size of audio 
files according to the audio clips referenced in a project. The files pro-
duced using this option will only contain the audio file portions actu-
ally used in the project, which can significantly reduce the size of the 
project (given that large portions of the audio files are unused). 
•This operation will permanently alter the selected audio files in the 
Pool (the process is undoable), so be careful with this command!
If this is not what you want, you can use the “Save Project to New Folder” File menu 
item instead. This function also has the option of minimizing files, but copies all files 
into a new folder, leaving the original project untouched. See page 504.
It is useful for archiving purposes. If you have completed a project and 
wish to minimize the project size as much as possible, use this function.  
						

							CUBASE LE15 – 304 The Pool
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the file(s) you wish to minimize in the Pool.
2.Select “Minimize File” from the Pool menu.
An alert appears informing you that the entire Edit History will be cleared. You will at 
this point have the option of cancelling or continuing the operation.
3.After the operation is finished, another alert asks you to save the 
project, to update the new file references.
Do so.
The audio file(s) in the Pool Record folder will now be cropped so that 
only the audio actually used in the project remains in the correspond-
ing audio file.
Convert Files
Selecting Convert Files on the Pool menu opens the Convert Options 
dialog which operates on selected files. Use the pop-up menus to 
specify which audio file attributes you want to keep and which you 
want to convert. The options are:
•Sample Rate.
Keep the sample rate as is, or convert to a sample rate between 8.000 and 96.000 kHz.
•Sample Width.
Keep the sample width (resolution) as is, or convert to 16 bit or 24 bit.
•Channels.
Keep as is, or convert the file to Mono or Stereo Interleaved.
•File Format.
Keep the current format, or convert to AIFF, Sound Designer II or Wave format. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Pool 15 – 305
Options
When you convert a file, you can use the Options pop-up to set one of 
the following options regarding what to do with the new file:
Conform Files
By using this Pool menu command, you will change all selected files 
that have different file attributes to what is specified for the project, to 
conform to this standard. Proceed as follows:
1.Select all clips in the Pool.
2.Select “Conform Files” on the Pool menu.
A dialog opens allowing you to choose between keeping or replacing the original un-
converted files in the Pool. The following applies:
• Clip/event references in the pool are always redirected to the conformed files.
• If any keep option is selected, original files remain in the Project Audio folder 
and new files are created.
• If you select the Replace option, files in the Pool and in the Project Audio 
folder are replaced. 
Option Description
New Files This creates a copy of the file in the audio folder and converts this 
new file according to the chosen attributes. The new file is added 
to the Pool, but all clip references will still point to the original, un-
converted file.
Replace Files This converts the original file, without changing clip references.
New + Replace in 
PoolThis creates a new copy with the chosen attributes, replaces the 
original file with the new one in the Pool and redirects the current 
clip references from the original file to the new file. This is the op-
tion to select if you want your audio clips to refer to the converted 
file, but still want to keep the original file on disk (e.g. if the file is 
used in other projects). 
						

							CUBASE LE15 – 306 The Pool
Options and Settings
Customizing the view
•You can specify which of the columns should be shown or hidden by 
selecting the View pop-up on the toolbar and ticking items on or off.
•You can rearrange the order of the columns by clicking on a column 
heading and dragging the column to the left or to the right.
The mouse pointer changes to a hand when you place it on the column heading.
•The width of a column can also be adjusted by placing the pointer be-
tween two column headers and dragging left or right.
The pointer changes to a divider when you place it between two column headers. 
						

							16
MIDI devices and patches 
						

							CUBASE LE16 – 308 MIDI devices and patches
About program change and bank select
To instruct a MIDI instrument to select a certain patch (sound), you 
send a MIDI Program Change message to the instrument. Program 
Change messages can be recorded or entered in a MIDI part like other 
events, but you can also enter a value in the Program (prg) field in the 
Inspector for a MIDI track (see page 322). This way, you can quickly 
set each MIDI track to play a different sound.
With Program Change messages, you are able to select between 128 
different patches in your MIDI device. However, many MIDI instruments 
contain a larger number of patch locations. To make these available 
from within Cubase LE, you need to use Bank Select messages, a sys-
tem in which the programs in a MIDI instrument are divided into banks, 
each bank containing 128 programs. If your instruments support MIDI 
Bank Select, you can use the Bank (bnk) field in the Inspector to select 
a bank, and then the Program field to select a program in this bank.
Unfortunately, different instrument manufacturers use different schemes 
for how Bank Select messages should be constructed, which can lead 
to some confusion and make it hard to select the correct sound. Also, 
selecting patches by numbers this way seems unnecessarily cumber-
some, when most instruments use names for their patches nowadays.
To help with this, Cubase LE features the MIDI Device Manager. This 
allows you to specify which MIDI instruments you have connected, by 
selecting from a vast list of existing devices or by specifying the de-
tails yourself. Once you have specified which MIDI devices you’re us-
ing, you can select to which particular device each MIDI track should 
be routed. It is then possible to select patches by name in the track list 
or Inspector. 
						

							CUBASE LEMIDI devices and patches 16 – 309
Opening the MIDI Device Manager
Select MIDI Device Manager from the Devices menu to bring up the 
following window:
When you open the MIDI Device Manager for the first time, it will be 
empty (because you haven’t installed any devices yet). On the follow-
ing pages we describe how to add a pre-configured MIDI device to the 
list, how to edit the settings and how to define a device from scratch 
(only necessary if a MIDI device isn’t included among the pre-config-
ured devices).
This is the list of MIDI devices you have connected. The first time you open the MIDI 
Device Manager, this list will be empty:These buttons let 
you manage the list 
of installed devices.
This pop-up menu 
lets you edit the 
selected device 
(provided that 
“Enable Edit” is 
ticked).
Here, the patch 
structure is shown 
for the device 
selected above.
This area shows exactly which MIDI messages should be sent 
out to select the patch highlighted in the list to the left.Here, you specify to which 
MIDI output the selected 
device is connected. 
						

							CUBASE LE16 – 310 MIDI devices and patches
Installing a MIDI Device
In this case “install” means “add to the Installed Devices” list, i.e. spec-
ify that a certain device is part of your MIDI system. Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Install Device button.
A dialog appears listing all pre-configured MIDI devices. For now we assume that your 
MIDI device is included in this list.
2.Locate and select the device in the list and click OK.
•If your MIDI device isn’t included in the list but is compatible with the 
GM (General MIDI) or XG standards, you can select the generic GM 
or XG Device options at the top of list.
When you select any of these options, a name dialog will appear. Enter a name for the 
instrument and click OK.
Now the device appears in the Installed Devices list to the left.
3.Make sure that the new device is selected in the list and pull down the 
Output pop-up menu.
4.Select the MIDI output that is connected to the device.