Steinberg Cubase SE 3 Operation Manual

CUBASE SE
Recording 4 – 41
Setting up the track
Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration
Audio tracks can be configured as mono or stereo tracks. This allows 
you to record or import a stereo file and treat it as one entity, with no 
need to split it up into mono files etc. The signal path for an audio 
track maintains its channel configuration all the way from the input 
bus, via EQ, level and other mixer settings to the output bus.
You specify the channel configuration for a track when...

CUBASE SE
4 – 42 Recording
Setting input levels
When recording digital sound, it’s important to set the input levels 
correctly – loud enough to ensure low noise and high audio quality, 
but not so loud that clipping (digital distortion) occurs.
Clipping typically occurs in the audio hardware, when a too loud ana-
log signal is converted to digital in the hardware’s A/D converters. 
Proceed as follows:
In Cubase SE, you check the input level at the channel strip for the 
track on which you are...

CUBASE SE
Recording 4 – 43
Monitoring
In this context, “monitoring” means listening to the input signal during 
recording. There are three fundamentally different ways to do this: via 
Cubase SE, externally (by listening to the signal before it reaches Cu-
base SE) or by using ASIO Direct Monitoring (which is a combination 
of both of the other methods – see below).
Monitoring via Cubase SE
If you monitor via Cubase SE, the input signal is mixed in with the audio 
playback. The advantage of this is that...

CUBASE SE
4 – 44 Recording
• Manual.
This option allows you to turn input monitoring on or off by clicking the Monitor button 
in the Inspector, the Track list or in the mixer.
• While Record Enabled.
With this option you will hear the audio source connected to the channel input when-
ever the track is record enabled.
• While Record Running.
This option switches to input monitoring only during recording.
• Tapemachine Style.
This option emulates standard tapemachine behavior: input monitoring in Stop...

CUBASE SE
Recording 4 – 45
ASIO Direct Monitoring
If your audio hardware is ASIO 2.0 compatible, it may support ASIO 
Direct Monitoring. In this mode, the actual monitoring is done in the 
audio hardware, by sending the input signal back out again. However, 
monitoring is controlled from Cubase SE. This means that the audio 
hardware’s direct monitoring feature can be turned on or off automat-
ically by Cubase SE, just as when using internal monitoring.
•To activate ASIO Direct Monitoring, open the...

CUBASE SE
4 – 46 Recording
Recording
Recording is done using any of the general recording methods (see 
page 35). After you finish recording, an audio file has been created in 
the Audio folder within the project folder. In the Pool, an audio clip is 
created for the audio file, and an audio event that plays the whole clip 
appears on the recording track. Finally, a waveform image is calculated 
for the audio event. If the recording was very long, this may take a while.
• If the option “Create Audio...

CUBASE SE
Recording 4 – 47
•In “Normal” or “Merge” mode, recording where something has already 
been recorded creates a new audio event that overlaps the previous 
one(s).
When you record audio there is no difference between “Normal” and “Merge” mode – 
the difference only applies to MIDI recording (see page 54).
•In “Replace” mode, existing events (or portions of events) that are 
overlapped by the new recording will be removed.
This means that if you record a section in the middle of a longer existing...

CUBASE SE
4 – 48 Recording
Recording audio in cycle mode
If you are recording audio in cycle mode, the result depends on the 
following factor:
•The Cycle Record Mode setting on the Transport panel.
Cycle Record Modes on the Transport panel
There are three different modes on the Transport panel, but the differ-
ences between two of the modes only apply to MIDI recording. For 
audio cycle recording, the following applies:
•If “Keep Last” is selected, the last complete “take” (the last completely 
recorded...

CUBASE SE
Recording 4 – 49
To select another take for playback, proceed a follows:
1.Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the event and select “To Front” 
from the pop-up menu that appears.
A submenu appears, listing all the other (obscured) events.
2.Select the desired take.
The corresponding event is brought to front.
This method allows you to quickly combine the best parts of each 
take, in the following way:
1.Use the Scissors tool to split the events in several sections, one for 
each part of the...

CUBASE SE
4 – 50 Recording
MIDI Recording Specifics
Activating MIDI Thru
As described in the Getting Started book, the normal way to work 
with MIDI is to have MIDI Thru activated in Cubase SE, and Local Off 
selected in your MIDI Instrument(s). In this mode, everything you play 
during recording will be “echoed” back out again on the MIDI output 
and channel selected for the recording track.
1.Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated in the Preferences 
dialog (MIDI page).
2.Record enable...