Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 Operation Manual Studio Manual

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Audio processing and functions
Pitch Shift
This function allows you to change the pitch of the audio 
with or without affecting its length. You can also create 
“harmonies” by specifying several pitches or apply pitch 
shift based on a user specified envelope curve.
When the “Transpose” tab is selected, the dialog contains 
the following parameters:
Keyboard display
This offers a way to specify the transpose interval in semi-
tones and gives a graphic overview of the transposition 
setting.
The “root note” is indicated in red.
This has nothing to do with the actual key or pitch of the original audio, it 
just provides a way to display transpose intervals. If you like, you can 
change the root note by using the settings in the Pitch Shift Base sec-
tion, or by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the keyboard display.
To specify a transpose interval, click on one of the keys.
The key is indicated in blue, and the program plays test tones in the base 
pitch and transpose pitch to give you an audible confirmation.
If “Multi Shift” is activated (see below), you can click on 
several keys to create “chords”.
Clicking on a blue (activated) key removes it.
Pitch Shift settings
The “Semitones” and “Fine tune” settings allow you to 
specify the amount of pitch shift. You can transpose the 
audio ±16 semitones, and fine tune it by ±200 cents 
(hundredths of semitones).
Volume/Amplitude
Allows you to lower the volume of the pitch-shifted sound.
Multi Shift
When this is activated, you can add more than one trans-
pose value, creating multi-part harmonies. This is done by 
adding intervals in the keyboard display (see above). Note 
that you cannot use the Preview function in Multi Shift 
mode.
If the intervals you add make up a standard chord, this 
chord is displayed to the right.
Note however, that to include the base pitch (the original, untransposed 
sound) in the processed result, you need to click the base key in the key-
board display as well, so that it is displayed in blue.
Listen Key/Chord button
Clicking this button plays a test tone pitched according to 
the activated interval key on the keyboard display. If “Multi 
Shift” is activated, this button is called “Listen Chord” and 
plays all activated intervals as a chord.
Pitch Shift Base
This allows you to set the root note (the red key in the key-
board display). It has nothing to do with the actual pitch, 
but is an aid for setting up intervals and chords.
Pitch Shift Mode
This is where you can make settings for the MPEX 3 algo-
rithm.
You can choose between 7 quality settings: 
Option Description
Preview This mode should only be used for preview.
Mix  Fast This mode is a very fast mode for preview. This works best 
with composite music signals mono or stereo material.
Solo Fast Use this mode for single instruments (monophonic mate-
rial) and voice.
Solo Musical Same as above but higher quality.
Poly Fast Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-
terial. This is the fastest setting that gives still very good 
results. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords.
Poly Musical Use this for processing monophonic and polyphonic ma-
terial. This is the recommended MPEX default quality set-
ting. You can use this for drum loops, mixes, chords.
Poly Complex This high quality setting is quite processor intense and 
should be used only when processing difficult material or 
for stretch factors above 1.3. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Formant Mode 
If you are processing vocal material, you should activate 
this option in order to preserve the vocal characteristics of 
the pitch-shifted audio and to avoid a a “chipmunk voice” 
effect.
Time Correction
When this is activated, the pitch shift process will not af-
fect the length of the audio. When this is deactivated, rais-
ing the pitch will shorten the audio section and vice versa, 
much like changing the playback speed on a tape recorder.
Using envelope based Pitch Shift
When the “Envelope” tab is selected, you can specify an 
envelope curve on which the pitch shift should be based. 
This allows you to create pitch bend effects, pitch-shift 
different sections of the audio by different amounts, etc.
Envelope display
Shows the shape of the envelope curve over the wave-
form image of the audio selected for processing. Envelope 
curve points above the center line indicate positive pitch 
shift, while curve points below the center line indicate 
negative pitch shift. Initially, the envelope curve will be a 
horizontal, centered line, indicating zero pitch shift.
You can click on the curve to add points, and click and 
drag existing points to change the shape. To remove a 
point from the curve, drag it outside the display.
Curve Kind
These buttons determine whether the envelope curve 
should consist of spline curve segments (left button), 
damped spline segments (middle button) or linear seg-
ments (right button).
Spline curve segment envelope.
The same envelope with damped spline segments selected.
The same envelope with linear segments selected.
Range
This parameter determines the vertical pitch range of the 
envelope. If set to “4”, moving a curve point to the top of 
the display corresponds to pitch shifting by + 4 semi-
tones. The maximum range is +/- 16 semitones.  
						

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Audio processing and functions
Transpose and Fine Tune
These parameters allow you to adjust the value of a curve 
point numerically:
1.Click on a curve point to select it.
The selected point is shown in red.
2.Adjust the Transpose and Fine Tune parameters to 
change the pitch of the curve point in semitones and 
cents, respectively.
Pitch Shift Mode
These are the same parameters as on the Transpose tab, 
see “Pitch Shift Mode” on page 221.
Example
Let’s say that you wish to create a pitch bend effect, so 
that the pitch is raised linearly by exactly 2 semitones in a 
specific part of the selected audio.
1.Remove all curve points by clicking the Reset button.
2.Select a linear curve by clicking the Curve Kind button 
to the right.
3.Make sure the Range parameter is set to 2 semitones 
or higher.
4.Create a point where you want the pitch bend to start 
by clicking on the envelope line.
Since this is the starting point for the pitch bend, you want its pitch to be 
zero (the envelope line should still be straight). If necessary, use the Fine 
Tune parameter to set the curve point to 0 cents, because this point gov-
erns the start point, where you want the pitch transition to begin.
5.Create a new curve point at the horizontal position 
where you want the pitch bend to reach the full value.
This curve point determines the rise time of the pitch bend effect, i.e. the 
further away from the starting point the new point is positioned, the 
longer it will take for the pitch bend to reach the full value, and vice versa.
6.With the second point still selected, use the Trans-
pose and Fine Tune parameters to set the pitch to exactly 
2 semitones.
7.Create a new curve point to set the duration of the 
pitch bend, i.e. the time the pitch should remain trans-
posed by 2 semitones.8.Finally, create a point where you want the pitch bend 
to end.
You don’t need to create a new point if you are at the end of the audio 
file, since there is always an end point at the right side of the waveform 
display.
9.If necessary, make additional settings in the Pitch Shift 
Mode section, see “Pitch Shift Mode” on page 221.
10.Click Process.
The pitch bend is applied according to the specified settings.
Remove DC Offset
This function will remove any DC offset in the audio selec-
tion. A DC offset is when there is too large a DC (direct 
current) component in the signal, sometimes visible as the 
signal not being visually centered around the “zero level 
axis”. DC offsets do not affect what you actually hear, but 
they affect zero crossing detection and certain process-
ing, and it is recommended that you remove them.
There are no parameters for this function. Note that you can 
check for DC Offset in an audio clip using the Statistics 
function (see “Statistics (Cubase only)” on page 231).
!It is recommended that this function is applied to 
complete audio clips, since the DC offset (if any) is 
normally present throughout the entire recording. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Resample
The Resample function can be used for changing the 
length, tempo and pitch of an event.
The original sample rate of the event is listed in the dialog. 
Resample the event to a higher or lower sample rate by ei-
ther specifying a sample rate or by specifying the differ-
ence (as a percentage value) between the original sample 
rate and the desired new one.
Resampling to a higher sample rate will make the event 
longer and cause the audio to play back at a slower speed 
with a lower pitch.
Resampling to a lower sample rate will make the event 
shorter and cause the audio to play back at a faster speed 
with a higher pitch.
You can audition the result of the resampling by enter-
ing the desired value and clicking “Preview”.
The event will then be played back as it will sound after the resampling.
When you are satisfied with the preview result, click 
“Process” to close the dialog and apply the processing.
Reverse
Reverses the audio selection, as when playing a tape 
backwards. There are no parameters for this function.
Silence
Replaces the selection with silence. There are no parame-
ters for this function.
Stereo Flip
This function works with stereo audio selections only. It al-
lows you to manipulate the left and right channel in various 
ways. The dialog contains the following parameters:
Mode
 
This pop-up menu determines what the function does:
Option Description
Flip Left-Right Swaps the left and right channel.
Left to Stereo Copies the left channel sound to the right channel.
Right to Stereo Copies the right channel sound to the left channel.
Merge Merges both channels on each side for mono sound.
Subtract Subtracts the left channel information from the right and 
vice versa. This is typically used as a “Karaoke effect”, for 
removing centered mono material from a stereo signal. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Time Stretch
This function allows you to change the length and “tempo” 
of the selected audio without affecting the pitch. The dia-
log contains the following parameters:
Define Bars section
In this section you set the length of the selected audio and 
the time signature:
Original Length section
This section contains information and settings regarding 
the audio selected for processing:
Resulting Length section
These settings are used if you want to stretch the audio to 
fit within a specific time span or tempo. The values will 
change automatically if you adjust the Time Stretch Ratio 
(see below).
Seconds Range section
These settings allow you to set the desired range for the 
time stretch.
Time Stretch Ratio section
The Time Stretch Ratio determines the amount of time 
stretch as a percentage of the original length. If you use 
the settings in the Resulting Length section to specify the 
amount of time stretch, this value will change automati-
cally. The possible range depends on the “Effect” option:
If the “Effect” checkbox is deactivated, the range is 75–
125 %.
This is the preferred mode if you want to preserve the character of the 
sound.
If the “Effect” checkbox is activated, you can specify val-
ues between 10 and 1000 % (Realtime), or 50 and 200 % 
(MPEX 3). 
This mode is mainly useful for special effects, etc.
Parameter Description
Bars If you use the tempo setting (see below), you can specify 
the length of the selected audio here, in bars.
Beats If you use the tempo setting, you can specify the length of 
the selected audio here, in beats.
Sign. If you use the tempo setting, you can specify the time sig-
nature here.
Parameter Description
Length in 
SamplesThe length of the selected audio, in samples.
Length in 
SecondsThe length of the selected audio, in seconds.
Tempo in BPM If you are processing music, and know the actual tempo 
of the audio, you can enter it here as beats per minute. 
This makes it possible to time-stretch the audio to an-
other tempo, without having to compute the actual time 
stretch amount.
Parameter Description
Samples The desired length in samples.
Seconds The desired length in seconds.
BPM The desired tempo (beats per minute). For this to work, 
you have to know the actual tempo of the audio, and 
specify this (along with time signature and length in bars) 
in the Original Length section to the left.
Parameter Description
Range Allows you to specify the desired length as a range be-
tween two time positions.
Use Locators Clicking the diamond-shaped button below the Range 
fields sets the Range values to the left and right Locator 
positions, respectively. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Algorithm section
Allows you to select a time stretch algorithm: MPEX 3 
(see below) and Realtime mode. 
MPEX 3 mode
This mode is based on Prosoniqs proprietary MPEX (Minimum Per-
ceived Loss Time Compression/Expansion) algorithm. This algorithm 
(which is also used in Prosoniq’s TimeFactory™ application) uses an arti-
ficial neural network for time series prediction in the scale space domain 
to achieve high end time and pitch scaling. This gives the best possible 
audio quality result. You can choose between 7 quality settings, see 
“Pitch Shift Mode” on page 221.
Realtime mode
This is the algorithm used for the realtime time stretching features in Cu-
base. Although this algorithm is optimized for time stretching in realtime, 
you can use it for offline processing as well. The Presets pop-up con-
tains the same presets as found in the Algorithm pop-up in the Sample 
Editor, see “Determining the audio tempo automatically and time-stret-
ching your audio” on page 247.
Applying plug-ins (Cubase only)
You can add plug-in effects in real-time during playback 
(see the chapter “Audio effects” on page 162). However, 
sometimes it’s useful to “permanently” apply effects to 
one or several selected events. In Cubase, this is done in 
the following way:
1.Make a selection in the Project window, the Pool or an 
editor.
Effects are applied according to the same rules as Processing (see 
“Common settings and features” on page 218).
2.Select “Plug-ins” from the Audio menu.
3.Select the desired effect from the submenu that ap-
pears.
The Process Plug-in dialog appears.
About stereo and mono
If you are applying an effect to mono audio material, only 
the left side of the effect’s stereo output will be applied.
The process plug-in dialog
The process plug-in dialog for the StudioChorus effect.
The upper section of the process plug-in dialog contains 
the actual effect parameters of the selected plug-in. For 
details on the parameters of the included plug-ins, see the 
separate manual “Plug-in Reference”.
The lower section of the dialog contains settings for the 
actual processing. These are common to all plug-ins.
If the lower section is hidden, click the “More…” button 
to display it.
Clicking the button again (now labeled “Less…”) will hide the lower sec-
tion.
The following settings and functions are available in the 
common, lower section of the dialog:
Wet mix/Dry mix
These two sliders allow you to specify the balance be-
tween wet (processed) and dry (original) signal in the re-
sulting clip. 
Normally the two sliders are “reverse-ganged”, so that 
raising the Wet mix slider lowers the Dry mix slider by the 
same amount. However, if you press [Alt]/[Option] and 
drag a slider, you can move it independently. This allows 
you to set e.g. 80 % dry and 80 % wet signal. Be careful to 
avoid distortion. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Tail
This parameter is useful if you are applying an effect that 
adds material after the end of original audio (such as re-
verb and delay effects). When the checkbox is activated, 
you can specify a tail length using the slider. The tail time 
is included when playing back with the Preview function, 
allowing you to find the appropriate tail length.
Pre/Post-CrossFade
These settings allow you to gradually mix the effect in or 
out. If you activate Pre-CrossFade and specify a value of 
e.g. 1000 ms, the effect will be applied gradually from the 
start of selection, reaching full effect 1000 ms after the 
start. Similarly, if you activate Post-CrossFade, the pro-
cessing will gradually be removed starting at the specified 
interval before the end of the selection.
Preview button
Allows you to listen to the result of the processing with the 
current settings. Playback will continue repeatedly until you 
click the button again (the button is labeled “Stop” during 
Preview playback). You can change the effect settings dur-
ing Preview playback if needed.
Process button
Applies the effect and closes the dialog.
Cancel button
Closes the dialog without applying the effect.
The Offline Process History dialog
Procedures
If you want to remove some or all processing from a clip, 
this can be done in the Offline Process History dialog. Pro-
cessing that can be modified in the Offline Process History 
dialog includes the functions on the Process menu, any 
applied plug-in effects (Cubase only), and Sample Editor 
operations such as Cut, Paste, Delete and drawing with 
the Pencil tool.
ÖDue to the clip-file relationship (see “Background” on 
page 217), it is even possible to modify or remove some 
processing “in the middle” of the Process History, while 
keeping later processing! This feature depends on the type 
of processing performed (see “Restrictions” on page 228).
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the clip in the Pool or one of its events in the 
Project window.
You can see which clips have been processed by checking the Status 
column in the Pool – the waveform symbol indicates that processing or 
effects have been applied to the clip (see “About the Status column sym-
bols” on page 273).
2.Select “Offline Process History…” from the Audio 
menu.
The Offline Process History dialog appears.
The left part of the dialog contains a list of all processing 
you have added to the clip, with the most recent opera-
tions at the bottom of the list. The “Start” and “Length” 
columns indicate which section of the clip was affected by 
each operation. The “Status” column indicates if the oper-
ation can be modified or undone.
3.Locate the operation you want to edit and select it by 
clicking on it in the list.
!The sum of the Pre- and Post-CrossFade times can-
not be larger than the length of the selection. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
To modify the settings of the selected processing, click 
the “Modify” button.
This opens the dialog for the processing function or applied effect, allow-
ing you to change the settings. This works just as when you applied the 
processing or effect the first time.
To replace the selected operation with another pro-
cessing function or effect, select the desired function from 
the pop-up menu and click the “Replace By” button.
If the selected function has settings, a dialog will appear as usual. The 
original operation will then be removed and the new processing will be 
inserted in the Offline Process History.
To remove the selected operation, click the “Remove” 
button.
The processing is removed from the clip.
To undo the selected operation and remove the pro-
cessing from the clip click the “Deactivate” button.
The processing is removed from the clip, but the operation remains in the 
list. To redo the operation and apply the processing again, click the but-
ton, now renamed to “Activate”, again.
4.Click “Close” to close the dialog.
Restrictions
If there are no settings for the processing function, you 
cannot modify it.
If you have applied processing that changes the length 
of the clip (such as Cut, Insert or Time Stretch), you can 
only remove this if it is the most recent processing in the 
Offline Process History (at the bottom of the list in the di-
alog). If an operation cannot be removed or modified, this 
is indicated by an icon in the “Status” column. Also, the 
corresponding buttons will be grayed out.
Freeze Edits
The Freeze Edits function on the Audio menu allows you 
to make all processing and applied effects permanent for 
a clip:
1.Select the clip in the Pool or one of its events in the 
Project window.
2.Select “Freeze Edits…” from the Audio menu.
If there is only one edit version of the clip (no other clips 
refer to the same audio file), the following dialog will appear:
If you select “Replace”, all edits will be applied to the original audio file 
(the one listed in the clip’s Path column in the Pool). If you select “New 
File”, the Freeze Edits operation will create a new file in the Audio folder 
within the project folder (leaving the original audio file unaffected).
If the selected clip (or the clip played by the selected 
event) has several edit versions (i.e. there are other clips 
referring to the same audio file), the following alert will 
appear:
As you can see, you don’t have the option to Replace the original audio 
file in this case. This is because that audio file is used by other clips. Se-
lect “New File” to have a new file created in the Audio folder within the 
project folder.
!After a Freeze Edits, the clip refers to a new, single 
audio file. If you open the Offline Process History di-
alog for the clip, the list will be empty. 
						

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Audio processing and functions
Detect Silence
The Detect Silence function on the Advanced submenu of 
the Audio menu searches for silent sections in an event 
and either splits the event, removing the silent parts from 
the project, or creates regions corresponding to the non-
silent sections. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the event in the Project window or the Audio 
Part Editor.
You can select several events if you like, in which case you will be al-
lowed to make separate settings for each selected event.
2.Select “Detect Silence” from the Advanced submenu 
of the Audio menu.
The Detect Silence dialog appears.
3.Adjust the settings in the Detection section to the left.
They have the following functionality:
4.Click the “Compute” button.
The audio event is analyzed, and the waveform display is redrawn to indi-
cate which sections will be considered “silent”, according to your set-
tings. Above the Compute Button the number of detected regions is 
displayed.
If you activate the “auto” checkbox next to the Compute 
button, the audio event will be analyzed (and the display 
will be updated) automatically every time you change the 
settings in the Detection section of the dialog.
Please note that you should not activate this option when you are work-
ing with very long files, as this process might take some time.
Setting Description
Open
ThresholdWhen the audio level exceeds this value, the function will 
“open”, i.e. let the sound through.
Set this low enough to open when a sound starts, but 
high enough to remove unwanted noise during “silent” 
sections.
Close 
ThresholdWhen the audio level drops below this value, the function 
will “close”. This value cannot be higher than the Open 
Threshold value. 
Set this high enough to remove unwanted noise during 
“silent” sections.
Linked If this checkbox is ticked, Open and Close Threshold will 
have the same value.
min. time 
openDetermines the minimum time that the function will re-
main “open” after the audio level has exceeded the Open 
Threshold value.
If the audio contains repeated short sounds, and you find 
that this results in too many short “open” sections, try 
raising this value.
min. time 
closedDetermines the minimum time that the function will re-
main “closed” after the audio level has dropped below 
the Close Threshold value.
Usually you would want to set this to a low value, to avoid 
removing sounds.
Pre-Roll Allows you to have the function “open” slightly before the 
audio level exceeds the Open Threshold value. In other 
words, the start of each “open” section is moved to the 
left according to the time you set here.
This is useful to avoid removing the attack of sounds.
Post-Roll Allows you to have the function “close” slightly after the 
audio level drops below the Close Threshold value.
This is useful to avoid removing the natural decay of 
sounds. Setting Description 
						

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Audio processing and functions
You can use the Preview function to listen to the result.
The event is played back repeatedly in its entire length, but with the 
“closed” sections silenced.
5.Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you are satisfied with the 
result.
6.Select the desired result, by activating either the “Add 
as Regions” or the “Strip Silence” checkbox, or both.
“Add as Regions” will create regions according to the non-silent sec-
tions. “Strip Silence” will split the event at the start and end of each non-
silent section, and remove the silent sections in between.
7.If you activate “Add as Regions”, you can specify a 
name for the Regions in the Region Name field.
In addition to the name, the regions will be numbered, starting with the 
number specified in the Auto Number Start field.
8.Click “Process”.
The event is split and/or regions are added.
The result of the “Strip Silence” option.
If you selected more than one event in step 1 above, you 
can activate the “process all” checkbox to apply the same 
settings to all selected events. If you don’t activate this, 
the dialog will appear again, allowing you to make sepa-
rate settings for each event.
The Spectrum Analyzer 
(Cubase only)
This function analyzes the selected audio, computes the 
average “spectrum” (level distribution over the frequency 
range) and displays this as a two-dimensional graph, with 
frequency on the x-axis and level on the y-axis.
1.Make an audio selection (a clip, an event or a range se-
lection).
2.Select “Spectrum Analyzer” from the Audio menu.
A dialog with settings for the analysis appears.
The default values give good results in most situations, but 
you can adjust the settings if you like:
Setting Description
Size  in Samples The function divides the audio into “analysis blocks”, the 
size of which is set here. The larger this value, the higher 
the frequency resolution of the resulting spectrum.
Size of Overlap The overlap between each analysis block.
Window used Allows you to select which window type should be used 
for the FFT (Fast Fourier Transform, the mathematical 
method used for computing the spectrum). 
Normalized 
ValuesWhen this is activated, the resulting level values are 
scaled, so that the highest level is displayed as “1” 
(0 dB).
From  Stereo When analyzing stereo material, there is a pop-up menu 
with the following options:
Mono mix – the stereo signal is mixed to mono before 
analyzing.
Mono left/right – the left or right channel signal is used 
for analysis.
Stereo – both channels are analyzed (two separate 
spectrums will be displayed).