Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Getting Started Manual

10
Tutorial 2: Recording and
playing back MIDI 

CUBASE SX/SL10 – 122 Tutorial 2: Recording and playing back MIDI
About this tutorial
This chapter describes the basic operations for recording and playing 
back MIDI. For a full description of MIDI recording please see the chap-
ter “Recording” in the Operation Manual.
Before you start
This chapter assumes that you have correctly connected your MIDI 
equipment according to the instructions in the chapter “Setting up 
your system” in this book.
This tutorial connects to the previous chapter, so if you...

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Setting up for recording MIDI
Creating a MIDI track
To create a MIDI track, proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the Project menu and select “Add Track”.
A submenu appears.
2.Select MIDI from the submenu.
A MIDI track is added to the Track list.
Setting the MIDI input 
1.Make sure the Inspector is shown to the left in the Project window.
The Inspector shows settings for the selected track. You show or hide it with the Show 
Inspector button on...

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3.Record enable the MIDI track by clicking the red button in the Track list.
MIDI Thru is automatically activated when the track is record enabled.
Record enabling the track in the Track list. This can also be done in the Inspector 
area to the left or in the mixer.
4.Play a few notes on your MIDI instrument, and check the level meter in 
the Track list to make sure that the MIDI signal is received.
If not, check that you have correctly set...

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2.To set the MIDI channel for a track, use the MIDI “chn:” pop-up in the 
Inspector.
If you set the track to MIDI channel “ANY”, it will transmit MIDI on the channel(s) used 
by the MIDI input device (the MIDI instrument you play during recording). 
Click here to set the MIDI channel.
Selecting a sound
•To select different sounds, you can send Program Change messages 
to your MIDI device using the “prg:” value field in the Inspector.
Click...

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Recording MIDI 
1.Make sure the track is record enabled and correctly set up, as de-
scribed in the previous section.
2.Make sure that Cycle and Punch In/Out are deactivated on the Trans-
port panel.
3.To set recording to start at the cursor position, pull down the Trans-
port menu and make sure the item “Start Record at Left Locator” is 
deactivated (unticked).
4.Place the project cursor at the position where you wish to begin re-...

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Playing back in a cycle
You could continue starting and stopping playback this way, moving 
the project cursor manually each time. However, it is more practical to 
have Cubase SX/SL play back your recorded parts and events re-
peatedly, over and over again:
1.Click on the recorded MIDI part to make sure it is selected.
A selected MIDI part has a red border and white handles at its beginning and end.
2.Pull down the Transport menu and...

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Transposing the MIDI track
Let’s try transposing the MIDI track, using the Track Parameters tab in 
the Inspector:
1.Make sure that the Inspector button on the toolbar is lit.
2.Select the MIDI track by clicking on it in the Track list.
The parameters for the MIDI track are now shown in the Inspector area to the left.
3.Click on the Track Parameters title bar in the Inspector.
Click here……to open the Track Parameter 
settings in the...

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4.Click on the blue value line in the Transpose field in the Inspector.
A fader appears, allowing you to transpose the MIDI track up or down in semitones. 
You can also use the up/down arrows to the right in the field to set transpose values.
Click here…
…to set a transpose value for the MIDI track.
5.Start playback to hear the transposed MIDI track.   

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