Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Getting Started Manual

11
Tutorial 3: Mixing 

CUBASE SX/SL11 – 132 Tutorial 3: Mixing
About this tutorial
This tutorial shows how to do some basic mixing. You will set levels 
and pan, add effects and EQ and finally try automating a mixer param-
eter. The purpose of the tutorial is to give you some basic knowledge 
about the Cubase SX/SL Mixer – for complete descriptions of the mix-
ing features please refer to the chapters “The Mixer”, “Audio Effects” 
and “Automation” in the Operation Manual.
• In this tutorial we will mix in stereo. If you are...

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•Since this project doesn’t contain any MIDI tracks, we will only mix 
audio in this tutorial. 
If you have MIDI tracks in a project, these will also show in the mixer. Many procedures 
(setting levels, pan, mute, etc.) are the same for MIDI mixer channels – see the Opera-
tion Manual.
The Tutorial 3 project.
•If you had another project open, make sure the new project is in the 
foreground and click the Activate button in the upper left corner of the 
Project window...

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• If you don’t hear all four tracks, make sure you have a stereo output bus 
(in the VST Connections window – see page 107) and that all four tracks 
are routed to this bus in the mixer.
To make output routing settings for the tracks, use the input/output settings panel at 
the top of the Mixer channel strips (or the “out” pop-up menus in the Inspector).
All four tracks routed to the Stereo Out bus.
Setting levels
If you listen to the project, you will find that...

CUBASE SX/SLTutorial 3: Mixing11 – 135
2.Start playback and locate the channel strip for the Strings track.
The names of the tracks are shown at the bottom of each channel strip.
3.Click the level fader handle in the channel strip and lower the fader 
until you feel the level of the Strings track is OK.
As you can see, the level meters reflect the signal level of each track – the meter for 
the Strings track will reflect the level change you make.
•If you need to reset a level fader to ±0.00, press...

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Using Mute and Solo
Each channel strip has a Mute and a Solo button, allowing you to 
silence one or several channels.
1.Click the M button for the bass track.
The button lights up and the sound of the bass is muted.
2.Mute the electric piano track in the same way.
Several channels can be muted at the same time.
To unmute a channel you click its M button again. You can also unmute 
all muted channels in one go:
3.Click the lit M button in the common panel – the...

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Adding EQ to an audio channel
Equalization shapes the tone of a signal by boosting and/or cutting 
selected frequencies. Each audio channel in the mixer has a built-in 
equalizer with four parametric modules. 
When and how to apply EQ is of course individual. Below we will add 
EQ to two channels, to achieve the following:
• Cut a very narrow frequency band in the drum track to reduce the intensity of 
the rimshot.
• Add a gentle mid frequency boost to the electric...

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This window allows you to make detailed settings for the selected 
mixer channel. The EQ section is located in the middle of the window 
with parameter dials for the four EQ modules and a graphic display 
showing the frequency boost/cut curve.
The three parameters in each EQ module are:
• Gain (inner dial) – this governs how much a frequency range should be cut or 
boosted.
• Frequency (outer dial) – this is the mid frequency for the range to be cut or 
boosted.
•...

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This setting should produce a fairly good result.
7.Turn off solo to see how the drum sound works with the other tracks.
When you activate an EQ module, the EQ indicator in the channel 
strip lights up green. This shows that one or several EQ modules are 
activated for the channel, and also serves as a bypass button:
8.To compare the sound with and without EQ, click the EQ indicator/
Bypass button in the channel strip.
The button turns yellow when Bypass is...

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Now we will move on to the electric piano track, and try a slightly dif-
ferent approach:
9.Click the small arrow button in the lower left corner of the Channel 
Settings window and select “E.Piano” from the pop-up menu that ap-
pears.
This selects the E.Piano mixer channel – the Channel Settings window will now show 
the settings for that channel instead.
This time we will try adjusting the EQ in the curve display:
10.Click in the curve display and keep the mouse...