Steinberg Cubase LE Operation Manual

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 71
Creating parts
Parts are containers for MIDI or audio events. If you record MIDI, a 
MIDI part is automatically created, containing the recorded events. 
You can also create empty audio or MIDI parts and later add events to 
them. There are two ways to do this:
•Draw a part on a MIDI or audio track with the Pencil tool.
•Double click with the Arrow tool on a MIDI or audio track, between the 
left and right locator.
To add events to a MIDI part, you use the tools and functions in a MIDI 
editor (see page 354). Adding events to audio parts is done in the Au-
dio Part Editor (see page 257) by pasting or by using drag and drop.
•You can also gather existing audio events into a part, by using the 
“Events to Part” function on the Audio menu.
This creates an audio part containing all selected audio events on the same track. To 
remove the part and make the events appear as independent objects on the track 
again, select the part and use the “Dissolve Part” function on the Audio menu. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 72 The Project Window
Auditioning audio parts and events
Audio parts and events can be auditioned in the Project window with 
the Speaker tool:
❐When auditioning, audio will be routed directly to Bus 1, bypassing the 
audio channel’s settings, effects and EQs.
1.Select the Speaker tool.
Note that the Speaker tool and the Scrub tool share the same icon. If the rightmost tool 
icon on the toolbar isn’t a Speaker symbol, first click on the icon to select it, then click 
again and select “Play” from the pop-up menu that appears.
2.Click where you want playback to start, and keep the mouse button 
pressed.
Only the track on which you click is played back, starting at the click position. 
3.Release the mouse button to stop playback. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 73
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.
Note that the Speaker tool and the Scrub tool share the same icon. If the rightmost tool 
icon on the toolbar isn’t a “Scrub symbol”, first click on the icon to select it, then click 
again and select “Scrub” from the pop-up menu that appears.
2.Click at the desired position 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 responsiveness of the Scrub function in the Prefer-
ences dialog (VST page). 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 74 The Project Window
Editing parts and events
This section describes techniques for editing in the Project window. If 
not explicitly stated, all descriptions apply to both events and parts, 
even though we use the term “event” for convenience.
❐When you are using the tools for editing parts and events, you can in many 
cases get additional functions by pressing modifier keys (e.g. pressing 
[Alt]/[Option] and dragging with the Pencil tool creates a copy of the 
dragged event or part). On the following pages, the default modifier keys 
are described, but you can customize these if needed. This is done in the 
Preferences dialog on the Editing – Tool Modifiers page (see page 526).
Selecting events
Selecting events is done using any of the following methods:
•Use the Arrow tool.
The standard selection techniques apply.
•Use the Select submenu on the Edit menu.
The options are:
❐Note that these functions work differently when the Range Selection tool 
is selected (see page 86).
Option Description
All Selects all events in the Project window.
None Deselects all events.
In Loop Selects all events that are partly or wholly between the left 
and right locator.
From Start to Cursor Selects all events that begin to the left of the project cursor.
From Cursor to End Selects all events that end to the right of the project cursor.
All on Selected Tracks Selects all events on the selected track.
Select Event This is available in the Sample Editor (see page 238).
Left/Right Selection 
Side to CursorThese two functions are only used for range selection editing 
(see page 86). 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 75
•Select all events on a track by right-clicking in its Track list and select-
ing “Select All Events” from the pop-up menu that appears.
•You can also use the arrow keys on the computer keyboard, to select 
the closest event to the left, right, above or below.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, allowing 
you to select several events.
•If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is activated in the 
Preferences dialog (Editing page), all events currently “touched” by 
the project cursor are automatically selected.
This can be helpful when rearranging your project, since it allows you to select whole 
sections (on all tracks) simply by moving the project cursor.
•It is also possible to select ranges, regardless of the event and track 
boundaries.
This is done using the Range Selection tool (see page 86).
Moving events
To move events in the Project window, use any of the following methods:
•Click and drag to a new position.
All selected events will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. You can only 
drag events to tracks of the same type. If Snap is activated, this determines to which 
positions you can move the events (see page 90).
Note also, that you can restrict movement to be either horizontal or vertical only, by 
holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging.
❐You will note that there is a slightly delayed response when you move an 
event by dragging. This helps you avoid accidentally moving events 
when you click on them in the Project window. You can adjust this delay 
with the Drag Delay setting in the Preferences dialog (Editing page).
•Use the “Move to” functions on the Edit menu.
The following functions are available:
Function Description
Move to Cursor Moves the selected event to the project cursor position. If there are 
several selected events on the same track, the first event will start at 
the Cursor, and the following will be lined up end-to-start after the 
first one. 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 76 The Project Window
•Select the event and edit the Start position in the info line.
With this method, you can only move one event at a time.
Duplicating events
Events can be duplicated in the following ways:
•Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the event to a new position.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy the events (see 
page 90). 
❐If you hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] as well, movement direction is re-
stricted to either horizontal or vertical. That means if you drag an event 
vertically it can not be moved horizontally at the same time.
•Audio and MIDI parts can also be duplicated by pressing [Alt]/[Op-
tion] + [Shift] and dragging.
This creates a shared copy of the part. If you edit the contents of a shared copy, all 
other shared copies of the same part are automatically edited in the same way.
Shared copies are indicated by the part name in italics and an icon in the lower right 
corner of the part. Move to Origin Moves the selected events to their original positions, i.e. the posi-
tions at which they were originally recorded.
Move to Front,
Move to BackThis function doesn’t actually change the position of the events, but 
moves the selected events to the front or back, respectively. This is 
useful if you have overlapping events, and want to see one that is 
partially obscured.
For audio events, this is an extra important feature, since only the 
visible sections of events will be played back. Moving an obscured 
audio event to front (or moving the obscuring event to back) will al-
low you to hear the whole event on playback. Function Description 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 77
Note:
• When you duplicate audio events, the copies are always shared. This means 
that shared copies of audio events always refer to the same audio clip (see 
page 219).
• You can convert a shared copy to a real copy by selecting “Convert to Real 
Copy” from the Edit menu. This creates a new version of the clip (that can be 
edited independently) and adds this to the Pool. Note that no new files are 
created by this operation – for that you need to use the “Freeze Edits” func-
tion (see page 235).
•Selecting “Duplicate” from the Edit menu creates a copy of the se-
lected event and places it directly after the original.
If several events are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, maintaining the rel-
ative distance between the events.
•Selecting “Repeat...” from the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to 
create a number of copies (regular or shared) of the selected event(s).
This works just like the Duplicate function, except that you can specify the number of 
copies.
•Selecting “Fill Loop” from the Edit menu creates a number of copies 
starting at the left locator and ending at the right locator.
The last copy is automatically shortened to end at the right locator position.
Using Cut, Copy and Paste
You can cut or copy selected events, and paste them in again, using 
the functions on the Edit menu.
•When you paste an event it is inserted on its original track, positioned 
so that its Snap point is aligned with the project cursor position.
See page 90 for information about the Snap point.
•If you use the “Paste at Origin” function, the event is pasted at its orig-
inal position (the position from which you cut or copied it).
Original Copies 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 78 The Project Window
Renaming events
By default, audio events show the name of their clip, but you can enter 
a separate descriptive name for separate events if you like. This is done 
by selecting the event and typing in a new name in the “Description” 
field in the info line.
•You can also give all events on a track the same name as the track by 
changing the track name, holding down a modifier key and pressing 
[Return].
See page 67.
Splitting events
You can split events in the Project window in the following ways:
•Click with the Scissors tool on the event you want to split.
If Snap is activated, this determines the exact split position (see page 90).
•Select “Split at Cursor” from the Edit menu.
This splits the selected events at the position of the project cursor. If no events are se-
lected, all events (on all tracks) that are intersected by the project cursor will be split.
•Select “Split Loop” from the Edit menu.
This splits events on all tracks at the left and right locator positions.
❐If you split a MIDI part so that the split position intersects one or several 
MIDI notes, the result depends on the option “Split MIDI Events” in the 
Preferences dialog (MIDI–Function Parameters page). If the option is ac-
tivated, the intersected notes will be split (creating new notes at the be-
ginning of the second part). If it is deactivated, the notes will remain in 
the first part, but “stick out” after the end of the part.
Gluing events together
Clicking on an event with the Glue Tube tool glues it together with the 
next event on the track. The result is a part containing the two events, 
with one exception:
•If you first split an event and then glue the two sections together again 
(without moving or editing them first), they become a single event again.
In other words, gluing can create a single event if the two events are lined up end to 
start and play a continuous section of the same clip. 
						

							CUBASE LEThe Project Window 3 – 79
Resizing events
Resizing events means to move their start or end positions individu-
ally. In Cubase LE, there are three types of resizing:
To select one of the resizing modes, select the Arrow tool and then 
click again on the Arrow tool icon on the toolbar. This opens a pop-up 
menu from which you can select one of the resizing mode options.
The icon on the toolbar will change shape, indicating the selected resizing mode. Resizing type Description
Normal Sizing The contents of the event stay fixed, and the start or 
end point of the event is moved to “reveal” more or 
less of the contents.
Sizing Moves Contents The contents follow the moved start or end of the 
event (see the figure below).
Sizing  Applies  Time  Stretch The contents will be time stretched to fit the new event 
length (see separate description on page 80). 
						

							CUBASE LE3 – 80 The Project Window
The actual resizing is done by clicking and dragging the lower left or 
right corner of the event. If Snap is activated, the Snap value deter-
mines the resulting length (see page 90).
Normal sizing.
Sizing moves contents.
❐If the event is selected, there will be resize handles in the lower left and 
right corners. However, you can resize unselected events in the same 
way – just click and drag one of the lower corners.
•If several events are selected, all will be resized in the same way.
•You can also resize events with the Scrub tool.
This works just the same as when resizing with the Arrow tool, but the audio under the 
pointer is played back (scrubbed) while you drag.
Resizing events using time stretch
If you want to resize a part and make its contents “fit” the new size, 
you should use this option. Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Arrow icon on the toolbar and select the “Sizing applies 
timestretch” option from the pop-up menu.
2.Point close to the end point of the part you want to stretch.