Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 Operation Manual Studio Manual

							526
Entering and editing notes
Using key commands
Instead of transposing the note with the mouse, you can 
assign key commands for this.
The commands for which you can assign key commands 
are found in the Nudge category in the Key Commands 
dialog.
The commands are listed as “Top” (transpose one semitone up) and 
“Bottom” (transpose one semitone down).
Using the info line
You can use the info line to change the pitches (and other 
properties) of one or several notes numerically, see “The 
info line” on page 33.
If you have several notes selected and change the pitch 
on the info line, the changes will be relative.
That is, all selected notes will be transposed by an equal amount.
If you have several notes selected, hold down [Ctrl]/
[Command] and change the pitch on the info line, the 
changes will be absolute.
That is, all selected notes will be set to the same pitch.
Via MIDI
1.On the toolbar, activate the MIDI Input button and the 
Record Pitch button to the right.
If you also want to change the note-on and/or note-off velocity of the notes 
via MIDI, this can be done by also activating the corresponding velocity 
buttons, as described in the chapter “The MIDI editors” on page 339“
To edit notes via MIDI (pitches only), set up the buttons like this.
2.Select the first note you want to edit.
3.Press a key on your MIDI keyboard.
The note takes on the pitch of the key you pressed. The program then se-
lects the next note.
4.To change the pitch of the next selected note, simply 
press the desired key.
In this manner you can change the pitches of as many notes as you wish, 
by simply pressing the relevant keys. You can also use key commands 
(by default the left and right arrow key) to pass from one note to the 
other. For example, if you make a mistake, you can step back to the pre-
vious note by pressing the left arrow key.
Changing the length of notes
When it comes to note lengths, the Score Editor is special 
in that it doesn’t necessarily display the notes with their 
actual length. Depending on the situation, you may want to 
change the “physical length” of the notes or the “display 
length”.
Changing the “physical” length
This will change the actual length of the notes. The 
change will be audible when you play back the music.
By using the Insert Note tool
1.Select the note symbol with the desired note value on 
the extended toolbar.
2.Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click on the note(s) you 
wish to set to this length.
By using the extended toolbar
Using the extended toolbar is another quick way to set a 
number of notes to the same length:
1.Select the notes you want to change.
2.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on one of the 
note icons on the extended toolbar.
All the selected notes now get the note value on which you clicked.
By using the info line
You can also edit length values numerically on the info 
line. The same rules apply as when changing the pitch of 
notes (see “Using the info line” on page 526).
!Remember that the appearance of notes and rests in 
the score is determined by the display quantize set-
tings on the Score Settings–Staff page. Depending 
on the display quantize “Notes” and “Rests” values, 
notes may be displayed as if they were longer than 
they really are (see “Display quantize” on page 492). 
						

							527
Entering and editing notes
Lengthening a note by gluing two notes together
You can create unusual note length values by gluing notes 
of the same pitch together.
1.Insert the notes you want to glue together (if they don’t 
already exist).
2.Select the Glue tool from the toolbar or Quick menu.
The Glue tool on the Quick menu.
3.Click on the first note.
This note will now be tied to the first following note with the same pitch.
4.If you want to glue more notes, click again.
By gluing together a quarter note, an eighth note and a sixteenth note…
…you get a double dotted quarter note.
Changing the display length
If you want to change the displayed length of notes with-
out affecting how they play back, the first thing to try is to 
adjust display quantize, either for the whole staff or for a 
separate section, using the Display Quantize tool (see 
“Inserting display quantize changes” on page 514). 
But you can also make display length adjustments to indi-
vidual notes in the Set Note Info dialog:
1.Double-click on the note.
The Set Note Info dialog opens.
2.Locate the “Displ. Length” setting.
By default, this is set to “Auto”, i.e. the note will be displayed according 
to its actual length (and the display quantize settings).
3.Double-click in the value field and enter a new length 
value (displayed in bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks).
To set the display length to “Auto” again, scroll the value down to zero.
4.Click Apply and close the dialog.
The note will now be displayed according to its display length setting. 
However, the display quantize settings still apply!
Splitting a note in two
If you have two notes strung together by a tie, and click on 
the “tied” note head with the Split tool, the note will be di-
vided into two, with the respective length of the “main” 
and the tied note.
Before and after splitting a tied note.
Working with the Display Quantize 
tool
There are instances when you will want different staff set-
tings for different sections of the track. The settings on the 
Score Settings–Staff page are valid for the entire track, 
but by using the Display Quantize tool, you are able to in-
sert changes and exceptions wherever you like. This is de-
scribed in detail in the section “Inserting display quantize 
changes” on page 514.
!Make sure you have display quantize values for notes 
and rests that allow you to display notes of the cre-
ated note value. 
						

							528
Entering and editing notes
Split (piano) staves
Setting up the split staff
1.Make a staff active.
2.Open the Score Settings–Staff page for the staff and 
select the Polyphonic tab.
3.From the Staff Mode pop-up, select Split.
4.Set the Splitpoint value to a suitable note.
All notes below this note value will be put on the lower clef, all above will 
be put on the upper clef.
Split mode selected.
If the default piano clef settings for the upper and lower 
staff are not what you want, you can adjust these settings 
now (or you can make key and clef adjustments directly in 
the score, see “Setting key, clef and time signature” on 
page 501).
5.Make whatever additional staff settings you need.
These will apply to both the upper and lower staves of the split system.
6.Click Apply.
Before and after setting a split at C3.
Adding notes
This is done just as on a single system, see “Adding and 
editing notes” on page 520. Please note the following:
 When you enter a note, use the mouse position box (on the 
toolbar) to determine the pitch. Whether it ends up on the up-
per or lower staff has nothing to do with where you aim with 
the mouse. The Splitpoint setting always decides if a note 
goes on the upper or lower clef. If you change the splitpoint, 
this will affect existing notes, see below.
 Sometimes a fixed splitpoint isn’t good enough. You might 
want to put two notes with the same pitch on different staves 
in different parts of the score. To achieve this you need to use 
polyphonic voicing, see “Polyphonic voicing” on page 536.
Changing the splitpoint
1.Open the Score Settings–Staff page for the system 
you are working on.
2.Select the Polyphonic tab.
3.Change the Splitpoint value.
4.Click Apply.
Now, some notes that were previously on the lower staff 
will be on the upper, or vice versa.
Strategies: Multiple staves
As described above, when you have parts on several 
tracks selected in the Project window, these will be put on 
one staff each, when you open the Score Editor. This al-
lows you to work on several staves in parallel.
Working with several staves is not much different from 
working with one. Below follow some guidelines that apply 
specifically to working with multiple staves.
Score settings–Staff page
 The settings on the Score Settings–Staff page are local to 
each staff. You can have the Score Settings dialog open and 
select each staff in turn to make settings – just remember to 
click Apply before selecting another staff, otherwise your 
changes will be lost. 
						

							529
Entering and editing notes
 If several staves share settings, you will save some time by us-
ing staff presets. Set up the staff settings for the first staff, and 
save them as a preset. This preset can then be applied to any 
of the other staves, one at a time. See “Working with staff pre-
sets” on page 532 for details.
Selecting notes
 You can select notes from one or several staves at the same 
time, using any of the selection methods, see “Selecting notes” 
on page 522.
Adding notes
 You can add notes to any staff by clicking on it with the Insert 
Note tool. The active staff rectangle will move to the staff 
where you input the note.
 If you need to enter a note with a very high or low pitch, which 
makes it wind up on the wrong staff when you click, first enter 
a note with the wrong pitch, and then edit its pitch as de-
scribed in the section “Editing pitches of individual notes” on 
page 525.
Inserting and editing clefs, keys or 
time signatures
It is possible to insert a change of key, clef, or time signa-
ture anywhere in the score:
Inserting a symbol on one staff
1.Open the “Clefs etc.” tab in the Inspector.
This contains clef, key and time signature symbols.
The “Clefs etc.” tab in the Inspector.
2.Select the symbol you wish to insert.
When you move the mouse over the score display, the pointer takes on 
the form of a pencil (see also “About the Pencil tool” on page 567).
3.Move the mouse over the staff where you want to in-
sert a new symbol.
Use the mouse position box to find the exact location. The vertical posi-
tion is of no relevance as long as you click somewhere in the staff. Time 
signature changes can only be inserted at the beginning of a bar.
4.Click the mouse button to insert the symbol.
Inserting a symbol on all staves
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] when you insert a symbol 
with the Pencil tool, it will be inserted at this position on all 
staves currently being edited in the Score Editor. Note:
ÖTime signature changes are always inserted on all 
tracks in the score.
Or rather, they are inserted on the tempo track, which affects all tracks.
ÖFor key changes, display transpose is taken into 
account.
This allows you to set all staves to a new key and the staves set to dis-
play transpose will still show the correct key after the key change.
ÖIf some of the staves are bracketed (straight brackets 
only, as set up on the Score Settings–Layout page, see 
“Adding brackets and braces” on page 616), inserting a 
symbol for one of these staves will insert it for all other 
staves within the bracket.
Staves outside the bracket will not be affected.
Editing keys, clefs and time signatures
If you double-click on a symbol, a dialog appears allowing 
you to change the settings for it.
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] when double-clicking, all 
symbols at the same position are changed accordingly. 
With key signatures, the display transpose value is taken 
into account as described above.
On the Score Settings–Project page (Notation sub-
page), you will find several options for how key, clef and 
time signature changes should be displayed.
You can also adjust the automatic spacing between these symbols in the 
Spacings subpage. See the dialog help for details.
!Inserting a symbol at position 1.1.1.0 is the same as 
changing the staff settings which are stored in the 
track. Inserting anywhere else adds the change to 
the part. 
						

							530
Entering and editing notes
Moving clefs
Clefs inserted into the score have an effect on how notes 
are displayed. If you for example insert a bass clef in the 
middle of a treble staff, the staff switches to show bass 
pitches. Therefore it is very important where you insert the 
clef.
If you want to move the clef graphically, without disturbing 
the relation between the clef and the notes, proceed as 
follows:
1.Select the Layout tool.
This is available in Page Mode only.
2.Click and move the clef just as with the normal Object 
Selection tool.
Now the clef is moved, but the score is still interpreted as if it remained in 
its original position.
ÖWhen you inserted a clef change in the score, you can 
decide whether this should have the same size as the first 
(default) clef symbol or whether it should be displayed 
with a smaller symbol. Simply right-click the symbol and 
activate or deactivate “Display Clef Changes as small 
Symbols”, respectively.
ÖWhen “Warnings for new Clefs at Line Breaks” is ac-
tivated on the Clef context menu and you inserted a clef 
change at a line break in the score, the Clef change sym-
bol will be inserted in the last bar before the staff break. 
When this is deactivated, the symbol will be inserted in 
the first bar of the next staff line.
Deleting notes
Notes can be deleted in two ways:
Using the Erase tool
1.Select the Erase tool from the toolbar or Quick menu.
The Erase tool on the Quick menu.
2.Click on the note(s) you want to erase, one at a time or 
drag over them with the mouse button pressed to enclose 
them in a selection rectangle, and click on one of the notes.
Using delete menu item or the keyboard
1.Select the notes you want to delete.
2.Select Delete from the Edit menu, or press [Delete] or 
[Backspace] on the computer keyboard. 
						

							5
Staff settings 
						

							532
Staff settings
About this chapter
In this chapter you will learn:
 How to make staff settings.
 How to work with staff presets.
Staff settings
Below follows a run-through of all staff settings, more de-
tailed information about the ones already described and 
references to other places in the manual for some options.
Making settings
1.Open the Score Settings–Staff page.
2.With the dialog open, make the desired staff active.
Click anywhere in a staff to make it active, or use the up and down arrow 
keys to step from staff to staff.
3.Select the desired tab and make whatever settings 
you need to do.
The settings for regular staves are found on the Main and Options tab, 
the Polyphonic tab contains settings for split systems and polyphonic 
voices while the Tablature tab lets you set up tablature scores.
4.When you have made the desired settings, click Apply.
The settings are applied to the active staff.
ÖIf the option “Apply closes Property Windows” is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), 
clicking Apply will also close the dialog.
5.Select another staff, make settings for this and click 
Apply.
Repeat this until all staves have the right settings.
6.If you want to close the dialog, click its close box as 
usual.
Working with staff presets
You will spend some time making staff settings for your 
scores. Staff presets allow you to reuse those settings 
whenever you work with a staff similar to one you have 
worked on before. A staff preset contains all the settings 
on the Score Settings–Staff page, except for the key.
To store the current settings (including the settings on 
the Options tab, see below) click the Store button in the 
Presets section of the Staff page.
Enter a name for the preset in the name dialog that appears, and click 
OK. The preset will now be available on the Presets pop-up menu (in all 
projects).
Use this section to 
set up how the dis-
play should be quan-
tized – the displayed 
spacing and length of 
notes.
This section contains ad-
ditional settings for how 
the notes are displayed.Use this 
section to 
select keys 
and clefs.
Use this section to select and apply 
presets, or turn the current settings 
into a preset.This is where you enter the 
name for the staff. Normally, 
the long name is shown at the 
beginning of the score, while 
the short name is shown for 
the remaining systems.
This is where you specify 
the display transpose for 
instruments that are not 
scored in concert key.
The Staff page has four tabs – here, the Main tab is selected.
!Staff settings can be saved in the track presets. For 
more information, see the chapter “Track Presets” on 
page 300. 
						

							533
Staff settings
To load a preset, select it on the Presets pop-up menu.
Note that this loads the settings in the preset into the dialog – to apply 
these to a staff you must click the Apply button as usual. You can also 
apply staff presets directly in the score – see below.
To remove a preset, select it from the pop-up menu and 
click the Remove button.
Applying a preset directly in the score
If you right-click on the blue rectangle to the left of a staff, 
a context menu will appear, listing all available presets. 
Select one to apply it to the staff.
How staff presets are stored
The staff presets are stored as individual files in the Pre-
sets–Staff Presets folder within the Cubase program 
folder. The presets are available for selection in any project 
you create or edit.
Staff names
These fields allow you to specify a “long” and a “short” 
name for the staff. The long name is shown for the very first 
system for this staff in the score (at the start of the project), 
while the short name is shown for the remaining systems.
Whether the names should be shown at all is set on the 
Score Settings–Layout page (see “Staff names” on page 
597).
Here, you can also opt to use the names of the edited MIDI tracks instead.
If you only want the “long name” to be shown (i.e. if you 
don’t want a name shown for each system in the score), 
simply delete the short name.
If the option “Show Long Staff Names on new Pages” is 
activated in the “Staff Names” section of the Score Set-
tings–Project page, the long name will be shown at the 
beginning of each new page.You can also specify two separate subnames by dou-
ble-clicking the staff name and entering them in the upper 
and lower text entry fields in the dialog that appears. 
Note that this will only be displayed correctly, if you are in Page Mode and 
if “Show Track Names to Left of staff” is activated on the Notation Style 
subpage (Staff Names category) of the Score Settings–Project page.
The Edit Staff Name dialog
Key and clef
The basic key and clef settings are described in detail in 
the section “Setting key, clef and time signature” on page 
501. There is also a Lower Staff check box which is only 
used in conjunction with split (piano) staves and poly-
phonic voicing (see “In a split system” on page 504). 
						

							534
Staff settings
Display quantize and interpretation 
options
These two sections of the dialog contain a number of set-
tings used to determine how the notes should be inter-
preted. While these settings are more critical to making 
MIDI recorded music appear as legible as possible it is 
still important to have them set correctly when entering 
notes using the mouse. Below you will find a brief sum-
mary of the settings – for more details, see “Display quan-
tize” on page 510.
Notes and Rests display quantize values
 Generally, the Notes display quantize value should be set to a 
value equal to, or smaller than, the “smallest note position” you 
want to be shown in the score.
 The Rests display quantize value should be set to a value 
equal to, or smaller than, the smallest note value (length) you 
want to be displayed for a single note, positioned on a beat.
 If the score contains only triplets, or mostly triplets, select one 
of the Triplet options.
Auto Quantize
 If the project contains no triplets or only triplets, deactivate 
this option.
 If the project contains mixed triplets and straight notes, acti-
vate this option (see “If your music contains mixed straight no-
tes and triplets” on page 510).
Interpretation options
Display transpose
This is used when preparing parts for instruments that are 
not scored at the actual concert key. For example, if you 
want the note C3 to be played by an alto sax, you have to 
score it as an A3 – nine semitones up. Luckily, the display 
transpose setting takes care of this for you:
Use the pop-up menu to select the instrument for which 
you’re scoring.
If the pop-up menu doesn’t list the desired instrument, 
you can set the desired transposition with the Semitones 
value field.
ÖThe display transpose setting doesn’t affect playback 
or the actual pitch of the notes – it only changes how they 
are displayed and printed.
You can also insert display transpose changes anywhere 
in the score, by inserting a key change symbol and using 
the Transpose setting in the Edit Key/Clef dialog (see 
“Display transpose in the Edit Key dialog” on page 506).
On the Score Settings–Project page (“Chord Symbols” 
subpage), deactivate the option “Use Display Transpose” 
if you do not want the chord symbols to be affected by the 
display transpose setting (see “Chord Symbols” on page 
588).
You can disable display transpose by clicking on the 
button “Disable Display Tranpose” in the toolbar of the 
Score Editor. 
Option Description
Syncopation Activate this when the program adds more ties to notes 
crossing beats and bar lines than you prefer. See “Syn-
copation” on page 510.
Consolidate 
RestsActivate this when you want two rests joined to one (for 
example an eighth note and a sixteenth note rest displayed 
as a dotted eighth note rest). See “Consolidate Rests” on 
page 511.
Clean Lengths Activate this when you find the program generally inter-
prets your notes as shorter than you expect. See “Clean 
Lengths” on page 511.
No Overlap Activate this when notes starting at the same position, 
but having different lengths, give you more ties than you 
want. See “No Overlap” on page 511.
Shuffle Activate this when you have played a shuffle beat and 
want it displayed as straight notes (no triplets). For details 
see “Shuffle” on page 512. 
						

							535
Staff settings
The Options tab
Clicking the Options tab in the dialog brings up another 
page with additional settings (which can be made part of a 
staff preset just like the other settings). Below follows a 
brief description of these, with references to more detailed 
explanations.
Switches
System Sizes
This section allows you to set the number of system lines 
and to control spacing between the lines:See “Creating tablature manually” on page 626 for an ex-
ample of how this can be used with tablature.
Score Drum Map
These settings are all described in the chapter “Scoring 
for drums” on page 620.
Fixed Stems
If you activate this checkbox, the stems of all notes will 
end at the same vertical position. This feature is perhaps 
most often used when scoring for drums (see “Setting up 
a staff for drum scoring” on page 623).
A drum pattern with Fixed Stem length activated.
The Up and Down parameters determine which position 
(relative to the top of the staff) should be used for up and 
down stems, respectively. The graphical display helps you 
get your settings right. 
Note Limits
Use the Low and High fields to specify a note range. In the 
active staff, any notes outside this range will be displayed 
in a different color. When writing a score for a specific in-
strument, this makes it easy to find notes that are outside 
of this instrument’s note range.
ÖIf the option “Hide Notes beyond Limits” is activated in 
the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), any notes 
outside the Note Limits range will be hidden.
The Polyphonic and Tablature tabs
These are described in the chapters “Polyphonic voicing” 
on page 536 and “Creating tablature” on page 624, re-
spectively. For now, just note that the Polyphonic tab con-
tains the Staff Mode pop-up, which determines whether 
the staff should be a single system, a split (piano) staff or 
use polyphonic voices.
Option Description
Flat Beams Activate this when you want the beams over notes to be 
flat (as opposed to slanted). See “Beam appearance and 
slant settings” on page 555.
No Beams Activate this when you don’t want any beaming at all on 
the staff (for example for vocal scoring). See “Turning be-
aming on/off” on page 552.
Beam 
SubgroupsActivate this when you want sixteenth notes displayed 
under a beam to be divided into two groups of eight 
notes. See “Handling beam groups” on page 555.
16th 
SubgroupsUse this when you want even smaller subgroups of six-
teenth notes. This setting has no effect if Beam Sub-
groups is deactivated.
Option Description
System Lines The number of lines in a system. For regular scoring, this 
should be set to 5.
Add Space Allows you to increase or decrease the space between 
the lines in a system.
Size Allows you to set a size for the systems, as a percentage 
(with 100 % being the default value). In effect, this setting 
scales the score vertically. Option Description