Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Getting Started Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Cubase SX/SL concepts 5 – 61
Audio tracks, parts and channels
For an audio event to be played back in Cubase SX/SL, it has to be 
placed on an 
audio track. This is similar to a track on a multi-track tape 
recorder, and allows you to view the event and move it along the time-
line. You can place any number of audio events on an audio track, but 
only one at a time can be played back. You can have a virtually unlim-
ited number of audio tracks, although the number of tracks you can 
play back at the same time depends on your computer performance.
Even though audio events can be placed directly on audio tracks, some-
times it is convenient to gather several audio events into an 
audio part. 
This is simply a “container”, allowing you to move and duplicate several 
audio events as one.
An event and a part.
Each audio track has a corresponding audio channel in the mixer. This 
is much like a channel on a hardware mixer, allowing you to set levels 
and panning, add EQ and effects, etc.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL5 – 62 Basic Cubase SX/SL concepts
MIDI terminology
When you are recording MIDI (or entering MIDI data manually in an 
editor), 
MIDI events are created. For example, each note you record is a 
separate MIDI event, and if you record the movement of a modulation 
wheel or other controller, a large number of densely spaced events 
are created.
MIDI events are always placed in 
MIDI parts. These are “containers”, al-
lowing you to move or copy a number of MIDI events (e.g. a recorded 
MIDI melody line) as one item.
MIDI parts are placed on MIDI tracks. For each MIDI track you can 
specify on which MIDI output and MIDI channel its MIDI events should 
be played back. This allows you to have different tracks play back dif-
ferent sounds, in the same or different MIDI instruments.
A MIDI part on a MIDI track. The black lines in the part indicate MIDI events.
Video terminology
• When you import a video file from disk into a Cubase SX/SL project, a video 
clip is created that refers to the file.
• A video event is then created, referring to the video clip. Video events can be 
moved, copied and resized without affecting their video clips.
• For a video event to be played back, it has to be placed on the video track. 
There can only be one video track in a Cubase SX/SL project.
The video support in Cubase SX/SL is described in its own chapter in 
the Operation Manual.  
						

							6
Basic Methods 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 64 Basic Methods
About this chapter
This chapter contains descriptions of the general methods and proce-
dures used in Cubase SX/SL. As this information applies to all parts of 
the program and all ways of working, please take time to read this chap-
ter before continuing with the Operation Manual. 
Using menus
Main menus
The menus in the main Cubase SX/SL menu bar are available regard-
less of which window is active. You select items from the main menus 
following the standard procedure for the operating system. Menu items 
that are not relevant in the current window may be greyed out.
Pop-up menus
Pop-up menus can be found throughout the program and are often 
used for selecting options or values. A pop-up menu is indicated by a 
small arrow in a field showing the currently selected option/value.
•To bring up the pop-up menu, click the arrow.
Selecting is done as with regular menus.
Selecting from the Snap pop-up menu.   
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 65
The Quick menu
In Cubase SX/SL, clicking the right mouse button will bring up a con-
textual pop-up menu (under Mac OS X you need to press [Ctrl] and 
click, or preferably use a two-button mouse set up so that the right 
mouse button generates a [Ctrl]-click). 
Some areas have special context menus with functions or settings that 
only apply to the corresponding area (for example, right-clicking in a 
ruler brings up a pop-up menu with display format options).
However, right-clicking in the main area of a window brings up the 
Quick menu. As a rule, the Quick menu contains:
• The tools (provided that the window has tools), see page 66.
• The most relevant menu items from the main Cubase SX/SL menus.
• Settings that are specific for the window.
For example, in the Sample Editor the Quick menu contains settings determining which 
elements should be shown in the waveform display.
The Quick menu in the Sample Editor.
• If the option “Popup toolbox on right click” is activated in the Preferences 
dialog (Editing page), right-clicking (or [Ctrl]-clicking under Mac OS X) 
will instead bring up a dedicated toolbox, containing the tools only.
In that case you can bring up the Quick menu by pressing a modifier key (e.g. [Shift]) 
and right-clicking/[Ctrl]-clicking.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 66 Basic Methods
Using tools
Editing in Cubase SX/SL is largely done with the various tools. Typical 
examples are selecting and moving events with the Arrow (Object Se-
lection) tool, drawing with the Pencil tool, deleting with the Eraser tool, 
etc. There are different tools for different windows.
Tools can be selected in four ways:
•By clicking the corresponding tool icon on the toolbar.
When you click a tool icon, the pointer takes on the shape of the corresponding tool.
•By using the Quick menu.
As described on page 65, clicking with the right mouse button in the main area of a 
window brings up the Quick menu. The tools will be listed (along with their correspond-
ing icons) at the top of the menu – to select a tool, simply select it from the menu.    
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 67
•By using the dedicated toolbox.
If the option “Popup toolbox on right click” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Edit-
ing page), right-clicking (or [Ctrl]-clicking under Mac OS X) will bring up the toolbox 
instead. This shows the tools only and you select tools as if from a menu. 
Note that you can still bring up the Quick menu in this mode by pressing a modifier key 
(e.g. [Shift]) and right-clicking/[Ctrl]-clicking. Similarly, if the option isn’t activated in 
the Preferences dialog, you can bring up the toolbox in that way.
•By using key commands.
By default, the keys [1] - [9] on the alphanumeric part of the keyboard are used, so that 
pressing [1] selects the leftmost tool and so on. You can also use key commands to 
step between the tools on the toolbar. By default, pressing [F9] selects the previous 
tool and pressing [F10] selects the next tool.
The uses and purposes of the tools in the different windows are de-
scribed in the corresponding chapters of the Operation Manual.
About tool tips
If you position the pointer over a tool icon (or any other icon or button 
in Cubase SX/SL), a label will appear after a moment, informing you of 
the function of the icon or button.
•This feature can be turned off by deactivating the option “Show Tips” 
on the General page in the Preferences dialog (found on the File menu 
under Windows and on the Cubase SX/SL menu under Mac OS X).  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 68 Basic Methods
Changing values
Throughout the program you will encounter various value fields that 
can be edited. These can be divided into three categories: position 
values, regular numeric values and names.
Editing position values
Depending on the selected display format (see the Operation Manual), 
position values in Cubase SX/SL are usually divided into several “seg-
ments” (the exception being the “Samples” display format, in which 
values are edited as regular numeric values). Two examples:
If the “Seconds” display format is selected, positions are shown as 
“hours:minutes:seconds.milliseconds”.
If the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected, positions are shown as 
“bars.beats.sixteenth notes.ticks” (with 120 ticks per sixteenth note, by default).
Each value segment can be edited separately, in one of the following 
ways:
•Point at the upper or lower edge of the segment and click.
Clicking at the upper edge will raise the value of the segment one step, clicking at the 
lower edge will lower the value.
•Click directly on the value segment, type in a new value and press 
[Return].
•If you are using a wheel mouse, point at the value segment and use 
the wheel to raise or lower its value.
Generally, we recommend that you use a wheel mouse, as this speeds up editing in 
many areas in Cubase SX/SL.   
						

							CUBASE SX/SLBasic Methods 6 – 69
You can also edit the whole value (all segments) by double clicking 
and typing in a new value. Note:
•To separate the value segments, you can use spaces, dots, colons or 
any other character that isn’t a number.
•If the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected, and you enter a value 
with less than four segments, the largest position value segments will 
be affected and the program will set the lesser segments to their low-
est values.
For example, if you enter “5.3”, the position will be set to “5.3.1.0”.
•If one of the frame based display formats is selected and you enter a 
value with less than four segments, the smallest position value seg-
ments will be affected and the program will set the larger segments to 
their lowest values.
For example, if you enter “2:5”, the position will be set to “0:0:2:5”.
•If the “Seconds” display format is selected, value editing works as 
with the frame based formats, with one addition: The smallest value 
segment (milliseconds) is considered to be the decimal part of the 
seconds segment.
This means that if you enter “2:50”, the position will be set to “0:0:2:500”, rather than 
“0:0:2:050”.
Editing regular numeric values
Numeric values other than positions are edited by clicking the value 
and editing numerically from the computer keyboard.
In the Preferences dialog (Editing–Controls page) you can specify 
what should happen when you click on a value field. The “Value Box/
Time Control Mode” item contains the following options:
Option Description
Text Input on Left-Click In this mode, clicking a value box will open it for editing by 
typing.
Increment/Decrement on 
Left/Right-ClickIn this mode you can click with the left or right mouse but-
ton to decrease or increase the value, respectively. To edit 
values by typing in this mode, please double-click.
Increment/Decrement on 
Left-Click and DragIn this mode, you can click and drag up or down to adjust 
the value (much like dragging a vertical fader). To edit val-
ues by typing in this mode, please double-click. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL6 – 70 Basic Methods
•In the Inspector and elsewhere in the program you can find value sliders 
that may be blue or green – click and drag to adjust the value.
•For some values, you can hold down [Alt]/[Option], click on the value 
and keep the mouse button pressed to display a value slider.
This allows you to scroll the value by dragging up or down with the mouse button 
pressed. When you release the mouse button, the value slider is hidden again.
Adjusting the event volume setting on the info line.
•Most values can also be edited using a wheel mouse: point at the 
value and use the wheel to raise or lower it.
Editing names
To edit a name, click on it, type a new name and press [Return] (or click 
outside the name field).