Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Getting Started Manual

CUBASE SX/SLQuick start for former Cubase users 8 – 101
Drum tracks
There is no specific track class for drums. Instead, you can assign a 
drum map to any MIDI track – this gives you the same drum editing 
features as in previous Cubase versions.
Where’s the MIDI Track Mixer?
Mixing MIDI is done in the Mixer together with your audio channels. The 
MIDI channel strips are similar to the channel strips in the MIDI Track 
Mixer, allowing you to set levels, panning and other parameters for your 
MIDI...

CUBASE SX/SL8 – 102 Quick start for former Cubase users
•You can of course also use normal “Write/Read” automation to record 
your actions just like in previous versions of Cubase. 
•All effect control panels also feature Write/Read buttons.
Each automated effect and VST Instrument will have its own automation track in the 
Track list, with subtracks for each parameter.
See the chapter “Automation” in the Operation Manual.
Surround sound (SX only)
Cubase SX has integrated surround sound features with...

9
Tutorial 1: Recording and
playing back audio 

CUBASE SX/SL9 – 104 Tutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio
About this tutorial
This chapter contains a step-by-step description of how to make a 
simple audio recording and play it back. The purpose is for you to try 
out some of the most common recording and playback features. How-
ever, you should make sure to read the Recording chapter in the Op-
eration Manual before doing any “serious” recording, as there are a lot 
of settings, options and methods that are not mentioned here. 
Before you...

CUBASE SX/SLTutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio 9 – 105
Creating a new project
Before you can start recording, you need a working environment – a 
project:
1.Pull down the File menu and select “New Project”.
A dialog appears, listing a number of project templates for various purposes.
2.Make sure the “Empty” item in the list is selected and click OK.
A file dialog appears, allowing you to specify a location for the project folder. This will 
contain all files related to the project. 
3.Navigate...

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The next step is to create an audio track to record on:
4.Pull down the Project menu and select “Add Track”.
A submenu appears, listing the various types of tracks available in Cubase SX/SL.
5.Select “Audio”.
In the dialog that appears you can select whether the track should be mono or stereo. 
If you are using Cubase SX, you can also select one of several different surround con-
figurations.
6.In this example, set the track to stereo by...

CUBASE SX/SLTutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio 9 – 107
Preparing to record
Before you can start recording, there are some preparations to make:
Setting up input and output busses
When you record in Cubase SX/SL, the signal passes from the inputs 
on your audio hardware to an input bus in the program. This is where 
you check levels and adjust the sound to be recorded. From the input 
bus the signal is written to an audio file on your hard disk, and sent to 
the track’s channel in the mixer for...

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2.Select the “Inputs” tab by clicking on it.
By default, there is a stereo bus present – if there wasn’t you could easily add one by 
clicking the Add Bus button.
3.Click the “+” button to the left so that the individual inputs in the bus 
are shown.
The Device Port column shows the physical inputs on your audio hardware that are 
used by the bus.
4.Click in the Device Port column for the “Left” channel.
A pop-up menu appears, listing all...

CUBASE SX/SLTutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio 9 – 109
•In addition there is an “Audition” output bus (SX only). This is a dedi-
cated output bus exclusively for monitoring when previewing, scrub-
bing or editing in the Sample editor. The Audition bus is set up on the 
“Studio” tab in the VST Connections window, and is described in the 
Operation Manual.
•Right now the mixer should contain one input bus (Cubase SX only), 
one stereo audio channel and one output bus (apart from the Audition...

CUBASE SX/SL9 – 110 Tutorial 1: Recording and playing back audio
9.At the very top of the channel strip for the audio track, you find an In-
put Routing pop-up menu. Click this and make sure your stereo input 
bus is selected.
The input bus is now routed to the audio track.
Leave the Mixer window open for now.
Checking the input level
When you record digitally, it’s important to set the input level correctly. 
Above all, you don’t want the signal to be too loud, as this will cause 
clipping, digital...