Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

CUBASE SX/SLWorking with the Tempo track 25 – 621
4.Drag the curve point to the desired tempo value (indicated in the 
tempo display), and release the mouse button.
The tempo curve point is inserted. The result depends on whether you selected “Ramp” 
or “Jump” in step 1 above:
•You can also just click and draw a tempo curve with the Pencil tool, 
having curve points automatically inserted as you draw.
You would probably want to select the “Ramp” Insert Curve mode when doing this.
•Instead of using the...

CUBASE SX/SL25 – 622 Working with the Tempo track
•You can also use the left and right arrow keys on the computer key-
board, to go from one curve point to the next.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, allowing 
you to select several points.
Editing tempo curve points
Curve points can be edited in the following ways:
•By clicking and dragging horizontally and/or vertically.
If several points are selected, all of them are moved. If Snap is activated on the...

CUBASE SX/SLWorking with the Tempo track 25 – 623
Adjusting the curve type
You can change the curve type of a tempo curve segment at any time, 
using the following method:
1.Select all curve points within the segment you want to edit.
2.Pull down the Curve pop-up menu on the toolbar and select “Jump” or 
“Ramp”.
The curve sections between the selected points are adjusted.
Removing tempo curve points
To remove a curve point, either click on it with the Eraser tool or select 
it and press [Backspace]. The...

CUBASE SX/SL25 – 624 Working with the Tempo track
Setting the Fixed tempo
When the Tempo track button is deactivated, the Tempo track curve is 
greyed out (but still visible). Since the Fixed tempo is constant through-
out the whole project, there are no tempo curve points. Instead, the 
Fixed tempo is displayed as a horizontal black line in the tempo curve 
display.
There are two ways to set the tempo in Fixed mode:
•Drag the tempo line up or down with the Arrow tool.
•Adjust the value numerically in...

CUBASE SX/SLWorking with the Tempo track 25 – 625
Adding and editing time signature events
•To add a time signature event, click in the time signature area with the 
Pencil tool. 
This adds a default 4/4 time signature event at the closest bar position. You can also 
do this by pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking with the Arrow tool.
•To edit the value of a time signature event, select it and adjust the 
value in the signature display on the toolbar.
Note that there are two thumbwheel controls for the...

CUBASE SX/SL25 – 626 Working with the Tempo track
Process Tempo (Cubase SX only)
Process Tempo allows you to define a specific length or end time for 
a set range, and the Tempo track will automatically set a tempo that 
will fit the range in the specified time. 
It works as follows:
1.Open the Tempo Track window and specify a region or range that you 
wish to tempo process by setting the left and right locators. 
2.Click on the button furthest to the right on the Tempo Track toolbar.
The Process Tempo...

CUBASE SX/SLWorking with the Tempo track 25 – 627
Options and settings
Snap
You activate or deactivate Snap by clicking the Snap icon on the tool-
bar. The behavior of the function depends on the display format se-
lected for the ruler:
•If “Bars+Beats” is selected, tempo curve points will snap to the set 
resolution on the Snap pop-up.
If this is set to 1/1 curve points will snap to the start of bars.
•If any other display format is selected, tempo curve points will snap to 
the vertical grid lines in...

CUBASE SX/SL25 – 628 Working with the Tempo track
The Beat Calculator
The Beat Calculator is a tool for calculating the tempo of freely recorded 
audio or MIDI material. It also allows you to set the tempo by tapping.
Calculating the tempo of a recording
1.In the Project window, make a selection that covers an exact number 
of beats of the recording.
2.Select “Beat Calculator…” from the Project menu.
The Beat Calculator window appears.
3.Enter the number of beats that the selection encompasses in the...

CUBASE SX/SLWorking with the Tempo track 25 – 629
Using Tap Tempo
The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by tapping:
1.Open the Beat Calculator.
2.If you want to tap the tempo to some recorded material, activate play-
back.
3.Click the Tap Tempo button.
The Tap Tempo window appears.
4.Tap the tempo on the computer keyboard’s space bar or with the 
mouse button.
The tempo display will update the calculated tempo between each tap.
5.When you stop tapping, the program calculates the average...

CUBASE SX/SL25 – 630 Working with the Tempo track
Merge Tempo From Tapping
This function allows you to create a complete tempo track based on 
your tapping. Typically, you would use this if you have an audio file 
with no tempo mapping, and want to be able to add sequenced mate-
rial afterwards, etc.
1.Create an empty time-based MIDI track and, while playing back your 
audio material, tap the new tempo on your MIDI keyboard and record 
the created notes onto the new MIDI track.
Note that you must create...