Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 Operation Manual Studio Manual

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Track Presets
Introduction
Track presets are templates that you can create from au-
dio, MIDI or instrument tracks – or several of these tracks. 
With these track presets, you can then create new tracks 
or apply them to existing tracks of the same type. 
The idea behind track presets is:
To allow you to quickly access, browse, select, change 
and preview sounds.
To give you an easy way to reuse channel settings 
across projects.
Track presets are part of the SoundFrame concept (see 
“SoundFrame” on page 284) and organized in the Sound 
Browser (a view of the MediaBay, see “The MediaBay” on 
page 287). This allows you to categorize track presets 
with tags like “EPiano” or “Jazz” and search for these tags.
Related topics
Cubase offers a variety of related functions that allow you 
to handle presets of program settings:
You can save and load channel settings in the mixer (not 
for MIDI), see “Saving mixer settings” on page 141.
You can save and load inserts rack and EQ presets, see 
“Inserts and EQ settings from track presets” on page 310. 
You can export and import tracks as track archives (Cu-
base only), see “Exporting and importing tracks (Cubase 
only)” on page 460.
Types of track presets
There are four kinds of track presets:
Audio
Instrument (this also includes certain VST3 presets, see 
“VST (Instrument) presets” on page 303)
MIDI
Multi (any number of the three preset types above in any 
sequence)
Since the purpose of track presets is to make sound 
handling easier, only parameters are saved that are rele-
vant for the sound of a certain track.
Audio track presets
Track presets for audio tracks include all inserts and ef-
fects that “define” the sound. Since there are big differ-
ences between the typical settings for a trumpet and a 
human voice, for example, audio track presets are a quick 
way to optimize your track.
For example, you can:
Easily audition your audio track with the factory presets.
Use the factory presets as a starting point for your own 
editing.
Save the audio settings that you optimized for an artist 
you often work with and use the resulting audio track pre-
set for future recordings.
Data saved in audio track presets
 Insert FX settings
 EQ settings (including VST effect presets)

 Input Gain + Phase
ÖNote that volume, pan, input gain and input phase will 
be restored only when creating a new track from a track 
preset.
Instrument track presets
Instrument track presets are best choice when handling 
sounds of simple, mono-timbral VST Instruments. Like the 
instrument track, they offer both MIDI and audio features. 
You can use instrument track presets like the audio 
track presets above for auditioning your tracks, inspiration, 
or saving your preferred sound settings. 
In addition, you can directly extract sounds from instru-
ment track presets and VST presets for use in instrument 
tracks.
VST presets also behave like instrument track presets, 
see “VST (Instrument) presets” on page 303. 
						

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Track Presets
Data saved in instrument track presets


 Audio Volume + Pan
 Audio Input Gain + Phase
 MIDI Insert FX

 Input Transformer

And also:
 Staff settings
 Color settings
ÖVolume, pan, input gain and input phase will be re-
stored only when creating a new track from a track preset.
MIDI track presets
MIDI tracks offer more possibilities than instrument tracks; 
therefore, they should be used for multi-timbral VST In-
struments and external instruments.
Due to the resulting complex settings, more details have 
to be taken into account when working with MIDI track 
presets, to ensure that the saved settings are really usable 
as presets for new tracks.
To ensure that saved MIDI track presets for external in-
struments will work again with the same instrument later, 
install the instrument as MIDI device, because in this case 
the MIDI interface and the connecting ports are irrelevant. 
(For this to work, the MIDI device has to have exactly the 
same name as in the original setup.) For more information 
about this, see the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
Include MIDI Channel or MIDI Patch
There is an additional Include option when creating MIDI 
track presets: 
Choose “MIDI Patch” if you want to save the MIDI track 
preset with the currently set patch. This is useful if your ex-
ternal MIDI device offers sounds as certain patches but 
does not require any specific channel settings.
Choose “MIDI Channel” if you want to save the MIDI 
track preset with the currently set channel. This is useful if 
you have the sounds of an external device always on the 
same channel, e.g. strings on channel 12, trumpets on 
channel 13.ÖThe choice is exclusive – you can either save the 
channel or the patch, but not both.
Example 1: Multi-timbral external instrument
Assume you have a multi-timbral external instrument (for 
example, a MIDI Expander), with all sounds available on all 
channels, but the sounds (patches) might change.
In this case, set it up as an external instrument, open a 
MIDI track and select it as output. In the Programs List, 
select a patch. Then save the MIDI track preset with the 
patch included.
Example 2: Multi-timbral external instrument with pre-
configured setup
In a rarer case we have a multi-timbral external instrument 
(for example, a Sampler) which is completely pre-config-
ured. There is no sound (patch) to configure, but only the 
device and the MIDI channel to know. 
In this case, include the channel in the MIDI track preset 
so that the correct channel will be called up.
Example 3: VSTi as pre-configured setup
If you want to use a MIDI track preset for a pre-configured 
VST Instrument setup, the following conditions have to be 
met:
 The VST Instrument(s) are installed in the VST Instruments 
window.
 The VST Instrument patches have not been changed since the 
track preset was saved (that means for example that no other 
FXP/FXB was installed in the meantime).
To ensure this, use a template project with the VSTi setup 
included and put the sounds (track presets) of this tem-
plate project into specific subfolders, as they only work 
within this setup. 
						

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Track Presets
Data saved in MIDI track presets
 MIDI Modifiers (Transpose, etc.)
 MIDI Inserts (FX)
 Output + Channel or Program Change
 Input Transformer
 Volume + Pan
And also:
 Staff settings
 Color settings
ÖNote that volume and pan will be restored only when 
creating a new track from a track preset.
Multi track presets
If you select more than one track when creating a track 
preset, the settings of all selected tracks will be saved as 
one multi track preset. Since you can apply a multi track 
preset only if the target tracks are of the same type, num-
ber and sequence as the tracks in the track preset, multi 
track presets are useful when you have a reoccurring situ-
ation with very similar tracks and settings.
For example, this would be the case for:
Recording setups that require several microphones, e. g. 
when recording a drum set or a choir, where you record al-
ways under the same conditions and have to edit the re-
sulting tracks in a similar way.
Layered tracks, where you use several tracks to gener-
ate a certain sound instead of manipulating only one track.
Data saved in multi track presets
For each track type, the respective track preset parame-
ters are saved in the same sequence as the tracks in the 
Project window.
VST presets
As of VST3, VST presets make it easy for you to work with 
VST plug-ins and instruments, substituting the .fxp and 
.fxb files of the VST2 standard.
There are two kinds of VST presets:
 VST presets based on effect plug-ins
 VST presets based on VST Instrument plug-ins
ÖIn this manual, the wording “VST presets” stands for 
VST3 Instrument presets, unless stated otherwise.
VST effect plug-in presets
VST effect plug-ins are available in VST3 and VST2 for-
mat, for example as insert effects like Expander or Limiter. 
Therefore, VST effect presets can be part of audio track 
presets, see also “SoundFrame” on page 284.
VST (Instrument) presets
VST3 (Instrument) presets (extension .vstpreset) are me-
dia files that can be managed in the Sound Browser and 
to which you can assign tags. VST presets are also listed 
in dialogs like the “Add Track” dialog, see below.
The VST presets behave like instrument track presets in 
the context of the Project window and contain a VST In-
strument and its settings but no modifiers, MIDI inserts, in-
serts or EQ settings:
You can create instrument tracks from VST presets just 
like from instrument track presets, see “Creating tracks 
from track presets or VST presets” on page 306.
In the Inspector of the new instrument track, the VST Instrument, the se-
lected program and the name of the applied VST preset are displayed.
You can apply VST presets to instrument tracks just like 
instrument track presets, see “Applying audio, MIDI and 
instrument track presets” on page 307.
When selecting VST presets in the Browse presets 
section or the Sound Browser, you can preview them like 
instrument track presets, see “Creating tracks from track 
presets or VST presets” on page 306.
Like with instrument tracks presets, you can extract the 
“sound” of VST presets, see “Extracting sound from an in-
strument track or VST preset” on page 308.
The programs of VST2 plug-ins also can be converted to 
VST3 presets.  
						

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Track Presets
Browsing for presets
Using the Sound Browser
When browsing track presets, the quickest way is to use 
the Sound Browser, as it is set up specifically to display 
track and VST presets. 
To open this browser, select “Open Sound Browser” on 
the Media menu.
The Sound Browser.
In the Sound Browser, you can preview track and VST 
presets as well as select them to drag and drop them into 
the project to create new tracks (see “Creating tracks 
from track presets or VST presets” on page 306) or to ap-
ply them to existing tracks (see“Applying audio, MIDI and 
instrument track presets” on page 307).
The general handling of the Sound Browser is the same 
as for the MediaBay, see “The MediaBay” on page 287.
SoundFrame-related dialogs
When you work with track presets, you will find the same 
user interface in all “Add Track” and “Browse Sounds” dia-
logs and the Presets browser.
ÖNote that some of the dialogs will save their last state. 
They may therefore not look exactly like the dialogs de-
scribed below.
Browse Presets section
When you create a new track, the Add Track dialog opens:
The “Add MIDI Track” dialog.
(For a more detailed description of the Add Track dialog, 
see “Handling tracks” on page 40.)
Click “Browse Presets...” to open the Browse Presets 
section with the Category search and a list of all available 
presets. For details, see “Performing a Category search” 
on page 294.
The Add Track dialog with the Browse Presets section opened. 
						

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Track Presets
Browser section
In addition to the Browse Presets section, you can click 
“Show Location” to open the Browser section. It is similar 
to the one in the MediaBay (see “Browsing for media files” 
on page 289), but only necessary if you want to take an ex-
plicit look at the contents of presets subfolders within the 
SoundFrame node (as you can’t move up to other folders).
The Add Track dialog for a MIDI track with all sections open.
When you select a MIDI or instrument track preset (or a 
VST preset), you can see a preview section below the list. 
The preview works like the one in the Scope section in the 
MediaBay (see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST 
presets independently of tracks” on page 309).
The Presets browser
When you apply a track or VST preset to an existing track 
or when you extract a sound, the Presets browser opens, 
allowing you e. g. to preview the presets.
The Presets browser for an audio track preset.
The Browse Sounds dialog
Normally, the view of the Browse Presets section is fil-
tered to show only track presets of a certain kind. There-
fore, if you want to see all available presets, e.g. also multi 
track and VST presets, you can open the Browse Sounds 
dialog. 
Browse Sounds dialog showing all available track and VST presets. 
						

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Track Presets
Creating a track preset
A track preset is created from an existing audio, MIDI or 
instrument track – or several of these tracks. Proceed as 
follows:
1.Select one or more tracks in the Project window. 
If several are selected, all of them are stored in one combined multi track 
preset, see “Multi track presets” on page 303.
2.Right-click one of the selected tracks in the track list to 
open the context menu and select “Create Track Preset”.
The Save Track Preset dialog opens. The buttons on top work like the cor-
responding ones in the MediaBay, see “Folder operations” on page 291
.
3.Enter a file name in the “File Name” field.
The track preset file name extension .trackpreset is assigned automatically.
In the case of MIDI files, you have the additional option of 
including the MIDI channel or the MIDI patch, see “Include 
MIDI Channel or MIDI Patch” on page 302.
4.If you want to apply tags, click on “Tag Editor”.
The available tags are displayed (on how to edit the list of available tags, 
see “Managing the tag lists (Cubase only)” on page 297). To enter a 
value, click in the value field. For many tags, e.g. “Character” and “Style”, 
pop-up menus open in which you can select an entry. In case of a free 
text entry, enter the text in the text field. For more information about the 
Tag Editor, see “Editing tags in the Tag Editor” on page 297.
ÖAs the category search is based on the tags, we highly 
recommend that you use them.
5.Click OK to create the track preset.Track presets are saved in the “Track Presets” folder in 
default subfolders named according to their track type 
(audio, MIDI, instrument and multi). For further information, 
see “Where are the settings stored?” on page 473.
All presets are available under the (virtual) Sound Frame 
node, see “The SoundFrame node” on page 291.
Creating tracks from track presets 
or VST presets
Creating tracks via drag and drop
1.Open the Sound Browser.
You can also drag and drop from the Windows Explorer or the Mac OS 
Finder, but in this case, no preview for MIDI and instrument track presets 
is possible.
2.Select a track or VST preset from the list of all presets. 
At this point you can preview selected MIDI and instrument track presets 
as well as VST presets, see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST pre-
sets independently of tracks” on page 309.
3.Drag and drop the track preset onto the track list in the 
Project window.
One or more (in case of multi track presets) tracks will be created. If you 
drag and drop a VST instrument preset, this will result in an instrument 
track.
Creating tracks in the Browse Sounds dialog
1.Right-click the track list to open the context menu and, 
on the Add Track submenu, select “Browse Sounds…”.
The Browse Sounds dialog opens.
2.Select a track or VST preset from the list of all presets. 
At this point you can preview selected MIDI and instrument track presets 
as well as VST presets, see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets 
independently of tracks” on page 309. If you want to list a certain track pre-
set type only, open the respective folder in the Browser section.
3.Click OK to create one or more (in case of multi track 
presets) tracks.
!You cannot change the default folders, but you can 
add further subfolders, e.g. “drums” and “choir”. 
						

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Track Presets
Creating one or more audio, MIDI or instrument 
tracks with the Add Track function
1.To create one or more new tracks from a track preset, 
proceed as if adding a new track by selecting the corre-
sponding option on the context menu (or by using the key 
command). 
A dialog opens, in this example the “Add Audio track” dialog:
If you want to create more than one track of this type, 
enter the number in the Count field.
2.Click “Browse Presets” to open the Browse Presets 
section of the “Add Track” dialog.
The view is filtered to show only the corresponding track presets, e. g. if 
you choose “Add Audio Track”, only audio track presets will be displayed. 
3.Select a track or VST preset.
At this point, you can preview selected MIDI and instrument track presets 
as well as VST presets, see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST pre-
sets independently of tracks” on page 309. 
4.Click OK to create the track(s).
The new track(s) will be named after the original track (not the track pre-
set).
ÖAs adding multiple tracks is not available as menu op-
tion, multi track presets can only be used for track creation 
via drag and drop or the “Browse Sounds” dialog.
Applying track presets
Track presets can be applied to tracks of their own type 
only, i. e. audio track presets to audio tracks, etc. 
When you apply a track preset, all saved settings are ap-
plied, see “Types of track presets” on page 301.
For instrument tracks, VST presets are also available. 
Since VST presets have no modifiers, MIDI inserts, inserts 
or EQs, applying them leads to removal of your current 
settings for these, see “Inserts and EQ settings from track 
presets” on page 310.
Applying audio, MIDI and instrument track 
presets
Applying track or VST presets via drag and drop
1.Open the Sound Browser from the Media menu.
You can also drag and drop from the Windows Explorer or the Mac OS 
Finder, but in this case, no preview for track presets is possible.
2.Select a track or VST preset.
At this point, you can preview selected presets, see “Previewing track or 
VST presets before applying” on page 309.
3.Drag and drop it onto a track of the same type.
Applying track or VST presets in the Inspector or the 
context menu of the track
Proceed as follows:
1.Select a track in the Project window.
2.Click the SoundFrame button in the Inspector or right-
click the track to open the context menu and select “Apply 
Track Preset”.
Click here to open the Presets browser.
In both cases, the Presets browser opens. Here, the files 
are presented in list form. 
						

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Track Presets
3.Select a track or VST preset from the list.
If the list is very long and you cannot find the needed preset easily, you 
can click Categories in order to expand the view. It now shows a custom-
izable filter section that is similar to the one in the MediaBay, see “Per-
forming a Category search” on page 294.
At this point you can preview selected presets, see “Pre-
viewing track or VST presets before applying” on page 309.
4.Click outside the browser to apply the selected preset 
or click the Reset button below the list to return to the un-
changed track.
ÖOnce the track preset is applied, you cannot undo the 
changes!
In the Inspector, you can see which preset was applied 
last.
Applying a multi track preset
To be able to apply a multi track preset, certain require-
ments have to be met. Proceed as follows:
1.Select several tracks in your project. 
The selected tracks have to be of the same type, number and sequence 
as the tracks in the track preset.
2.Right-click the track to open the context menu and se-
lect “Apply Track Preset”.
The Presets browser opens. Only multi track presets corresponding to 
the selection of tracks in the project will be shown. 
3.Select a multi track preset from the list.
4.Click outside the browser to apply the selected preset 
or click the Reset button below the list to return to the un-
changed track.ÖOnce the track preset is applied, you cannot undo the 
changes!
Reloading track or VST presets
To revert to the default settings of the applied preset, click 
the “Reload Track Preset” button.
Applying another track or VST preset
To apply another track or VST preset, open the Presets 
browser as described above and select another preset.
Removing a track or VST preset from a track
It is not possible to remove an applied preset from a track 
and return to the previous state. If you are unsatisfied with 
the track settings, you can either edit the settings manually 
or apply another preset.
Extracting sound from an instrument track or 
VST preset
For instrument tracks, you can extract the “sound” of an 
instrument track preset or VST preset, that means the VST 
Instrument and its settings.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the instrument track to which you want to apply 
a sound.
2.Click the SoundFrame button below the Output Rout-
ing field in the Inspector. 
The Presets browser opens, showing a list of all available 
presets.  
						

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Track Presets
3.Select an instrument track preset or VST preset and 
click OK. 
The VST instrument and its settings (but no inserts, EQs and modifiers) 
of the existing track are overwritten with the data of the track preset. The 
previous VST instrument for this instrument track is removed and the new 
VST instrument with its settings is set up for the instrument track. Note 
that the VST instrument of an instrument track does not show up in the 
VST Instrument window but only in the Plug-In Information window, see 
the separate manual “Plug-in Reference”.
Previewing track and VST presets
You can preview all types of track and VST presets except 
for multi track presets.
Previewing track or VST presets before 
applying
When you apply a track preset to an existing track, the 
corresponding dialog opens. Here you can preview the 
track presets before applying them permanently. This 
works for audio, MIDI and instrument track presets as well 
as for VST presets.
You can use this preview for listening to the changes in 
the output in real time. Proceed as follows:
1.Set your target track to cycle and play back the loop.
2.Select a track preset in the list.
3.Hit the Play button on the Transport panel to listen to 
the track with all settings from the track preset applied to it.
4.Click outside the browser to apply the selected preset 
or click the Reset button below the list to return to the un-
changed track.
Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets 
independently of tracks
You can also preview MIDI and instrument track presets 
as well as VST presets in the Sound Browser or in dialogs 
with the Browse Presets section open. 
For example, when you open the “Browse Sounds” dialog 
and select a MIDI or instrument track preset or a VST pre-
set, preview buttons appear on the lower right. (In the 
Sound Browser, the preview buttons appear in the Scope 
section.)
Track-independent preview, for example a VST preset in the “Browse 
Sounds” dialog.
Two preview options are available:
Previewing with standard MIDI input
1.Click the MIDI Input button.
2.Play some MIDI notes via your MIDI input device, for 
example a keyboard.
The Activity meter on the far right mirrors the MIDI in activity.
ÖFor this to work, “In All Inputs” has to be activated for 
your MIDI input device (this is the default setting), as only 
MIDI data incoming via “All MIDI Inputs” is used for preview.
Previewing using a MIDI file
1.Click the Choose MIDI File button.
A file dialog opens.
2.Select a MIDI file (.mid) to be played back with the 
track or VST preset applied and click OK.
3.Click the MIDI Input button.
The Play button will become available.
4.Click “Play”.
The program applies the track or VST preset to the MIDI file.
In the Browse Sounds dialog, clicking OK will create a 
new track (see “Creating tracks in the Browse Sounds di-
alog” on page 306).
ÖThe MIDI file selection is not saved when closing the 
dialogs or the Sound Browser. Therefore, you have to se-
lect a new file the next time you want to preview a preset 
using a MIDI file. 
						

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Track Presets
Inserts and EQ settings from track 
presets
Instead of handling complete track presets, it is also pos-
sible to apply settings for Inserts or Equalizers from track 
presets.
This can be done via the Inspector or via the Channel set-
tings window.
In the Inspector, select e. g. an Instrument track and 
click the SoundFrame button on the Inserts or Equalizers 
tab to open the presets pop-up menu. There, select the 
option “From Track Preset…”.
In the Channel Settings window for a MIDI track, instru-
ment track or audio channel track (opened by clicking the 
“e” button in the Inspector), click on the SoundFrame but-
ton in the Inserts section and select “From Track Pre-
set…” in the pop-up menu.
The Presets browser opens, showing all available track 
presets that contain Inserts or EQ settings. Select the 
track preset whose Inserts or EQs you want to apply and 
click outside the browser.
For information on the general handling of Inserts pre-
sets, see the chapter “Audio effects” on page 162.
For information on the general handling of EQ presets, 
see “Using EQ presets” on page 136.