Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLPlayback and the Transport panel 3 – 31
•The main Transport functions (Cycle/Stop/Play/Record) can also be 
shown on the toolbar.
In addition, various play options are available on the Transport menu.
Hiding and showing
The Transport panel is shown by default when you launch a new 
project. To hide or show it, select the “Transport Panel” item from the 
Transport menu (or use a key command – by default [F2]).
About Preroll and Postroll
These items are described in the chapter “Recording” – see page 83.
Tempo track on/off 
Synchronization on/off The tempo and time signature display
Metronome click on/offShow Markers (opens 
Marker window)
Jump to Marker
Precount on/off
Play Order controls
MIDI In (left meter)/
MIDI Out activity
Level Control (Output bus 1)
Audio activity (Output bus 1) Audio input activity (Input bus 1)  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL3 – 32 Playback and the Transport panel
Customizing the Transport panel
You can customize the appearance of the Transport panel by right-
clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) anywhere on the panel and 
making selections on the pop-up menu that appears.
• On the upper half of the pop-up menu you can hide or show elements on the 
panel by activating or deactivating the corresponding menu items.
• Selecting the Show All item displays all sections of the Transport panel.
• Selecting Default shows all sections in their default positions on the panel.
• The items in the lower half of the pop-up menu are preset configurations for 
the Transport panel. You will also find your own stored presets here, for quick 
selection.
• Selecting Setup brings up a dialog where you can set show/hide status for 
the separate sections, configure where the sections should be placed on the 
panel and store different Transport panel layouts as presets for instant recall.
For more about customizing the Transport panel, see page 765.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SLPlayback and the Transport panel 3 – 33
The numeric keypad
In the default Key Command settings, the numeric keypad on the 
computer keyboard is assigned various Transport panel operations 
The keypads are slightly different on PC and Macintosh computers:
PC:
Mac:
Num
Lockx—
789
456+
123
0
,EnterStop
Return to Zero Play Fast Forward Rewind Cycle On/OffRecord
Go to right locator
Go to left locatorGo to Marker 
number 3-9
num
lock=/*
789–
456+
123
0
,
enter
StopReturn to Zero Play Fast Forward Rewind Cycle On/Off
Record
Go to right 
locator
Go to left 
locatorGo to Marker 
number 3-9 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL3 – 34 Playback and the Transport panel
Operations
Setting the project cursor position
There are several ways to move the project cursor position:
• By using Fast Forward and Rewind.
• By using the Jog/Shuttle/Nudge control on the Transport panel (Cubase SX 
only – see page 37).
• By dragging the project cursor in the lower part of the ruler. 
• By clicking in the ruler.
Double clicking in the ruler moves the cursor and starts/stops playback. 
• If the option “Locate when Clicked in Empty Space” is activated in the Prefer-
ences dialog (Transport page) you can click anywhere in an empty section of 
the Project window to move the cursor position.
• By changing the value in any of the position displays.
• By using the position slider above the transport buttons.
The range of the slider relates to the Length setting in the Project Setup dialog. Hence, 
moving the slider all the way to the right will take you to the end of the project. 
• By using markers (see page 168).
• By using playback options (see page 39).
• By using the play order function (see page 152).
• By using functions on the Transport menu.
The following functions are available:
• If Snap is activated when dragging the project cursor, the Snap value is 
taken into account. This is helpful for finding exact positions quickly.
• There are also numerous key commands available for moving the 
project cursor (in the Transport category in the Key Commands dialog). 
For example, you can assign key commands to the “Step Bar” and “Step Back Bar” func-
tions, allowing you to move the project cursor in steps of one bar, backwards and forwards.
Function Description
Locate Selection / 
Locate Selection EndMoves the project cursor to the beginning or end of the cur-
rent selection. For this to be available, you must have selected 
one or more events or parts, or made a selection range.
Locate Next/Previous 
MarkerThis moves the project cursor to the closest marker to the right 
or left (see page 168).
Locate Next/Previous 
EventThis moves the project cursor forwards or backwards respec-
tively, to the closest beginning or end of any event on the se-
lected track(s). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLPlayback and the Transport panel 3 – 35
About the Transport panel display formats
Primary time display (left) and secondary time display (right).
The time unit shown in the ruler can be independent from the time unit 
shown in the main time display on the Transport panel. This means 
that you can display timecode in the transport position display and 
bars and beats in the ruler, for example. In addition, there is a second-
ary time display to the right of the primary time display which is also in-
dependent, giving you three different time units shown at the same 
time (in the Project window, you can also create additional ruler tracks 
– see page 103). 
The following rules apply:
•If you change the time format from the primary time display on the 
Transport panel, this will apply to the ruler as well.
This is the same as changing the display format in the Project Setup. Therefore, to 
have different display formats in the ruler and the main time display you should change 
the format in the ruler.
•The primary time display format is set on the pop-up menu to the right 
in the main position display.
•The setting here also determines the time format displayed for the left 
and right locators.
•The secondary time display is completely independent, and the display 
format is set on the pop-up menu to the right in the secondary time dis-
play.
•You can swap time formats between the primary and secondary time 
displays by clicking the double arrow symbol between them. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL3 – 36 Playback and the Transport panel
The left and right locators
The left and right locators are a pair of position markers used for 
specifying punch-in and punch-out positions during recording, and as 
boundaries for cycle playback and recording. 
• When cycle mode is activated on the Transport panel, the area between 
the left and right locator will be repeated (cycled) on playback. 
However, if the right locator is positioned before the left, this will work as a “jump” or 
“skip mode” – when the project cursor reaches the right locator it will immediately 
jump to the left locator position and continue playback from there.
There are several ways to set locator positions:
•To set the left locator, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and click at the desired 
position in the ruler.
Similarly, pressing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking in the ruler sets the right locator. You can 
also drag the locator “handles” directly in the ruler.
The locators are indicated by the “flags” in the ruler. The area between the locators 
is highlighted in the ruler and in the Project window (see page 775). Note that if the 
right locator is before the left locator the area will be red in the ruler to indicate this.
•Click and drag in the upper half of the ruler to “draw” a locator range.
If you click on an existing locator range, you can drag to move it.
•Pressing [Ctrl]/[Command] and pressing [1] or [2] on the numeric 
keypad sets the left or right locator to the project cursor position.
Similarly, you can press [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad (without [Ctrl]/[Command]) to 
set the project cursor position to the left or right locator position. Note that these are 
default key commands – you can change these if you like.
•By creating cycle markers you can store any number of left and right 
locator positions, which can be recalled by simply double clicking on 
the corresponding marker (see page 172).
•The “Locators to Selection” item on the Transport menu (default key 
command [P]) sets the locators to encompass the current selection.
This is available if you have selected one or several events or made a selection range.
•You can also adjust the locators numerically in the Transport panel.
Clicking the L/R buttons in the locator section on the Transport panel will move the 
project cursor to the respective locator. If you press [Alt]/[Option] and click the L or R 
button, the corresponding locator will be set to the current project cursor position. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLPlayback and the Transport panel 3 – 37
The Shuttle Speed control (Cubase SX only)
The shuttle speed control (the outer wheel on the Transport panel) al-
lows you to play the project at any playback speed, forwards or back-
wards. This provides a quick way to locate or “cue” to any position in 
the project.
•Turn the shuttle speed wheel to the right to start playback.
The further to the right you move the wheel, the faster the playback speed. 
•If you turn the wheel to the left instead, the project will play back-
wards.
Similarly, the playback speed depends on how far to the left you turn the wheel.
Project scrubbing – the Jog Wheel (Cubase SX only)
The middle wheel on the Transport panel serves as a jog wheel. By 
clicking and dragging it to the right or left you will move the playback 
position manually forwards or backwards – much like scrubbing on a 
tape deck. This helps you pinpoint exact locations in the project.
•Note that the jog wheel is an “endless dial” – you can turn it as many 
times as needed to move to the desired location.
The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the playback speed.
•If you click the jog wheel during playback, playback will automatically 
stop. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL3 – 38 Playback and the Transport panel
The nudge position buttons (Cubase SX only)
The + and – buttons in the middle of the Shuttle/Jog Wheel allows 
you to nudge the project cursor position to the right or left, respec-
tively. Each time you click a nudge button, the project cursor is moved 
by one frame.
Options and Settings
The “Return to Start Position on Stop” preference
This setting is found on the Transport page in the Preferences dialog 
(found on the File menu under Windows, on the Cubase SX/SL menu 
under Mac OS X).
•If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is activated when you stop play-
back, the project cursor will automatically return to the position where 
recording or playback last started.
•If “Return to Start Position on Stop” is deactivated, the project cursor 
will remain at the position where you stop playback.
Pressing Stop again will return the project cursor to the position where recording or 
playback last started.
About track disable/enable
For audio tracks, the track context menu contains an item named “Dis-
able Track”. This shuts down all disk activity for the track, as opposed 
to using Mute, which merely turns down the output volume for a track. 
For example, if you often record “alternative takes” you can easily build 
up a large number of takes on different tracks. Even though these 
tracks are muted, they are actually still “playing back” from the hard 
disk during playback. This puts an unnecessary load on your disk sys-
tem, so using “Disable Track” is recommended for such situations.
•Select “Disable Track” for tracks that you want to keep in the project 
for later use (but don’t want to play back now).
Select “Enable Track” from the track context menu to re-enable disabled tracks. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLPlayback and the Transport panel 3 – 39
Playback functions
Apart from the standard transport controls on the Transport panel, you 
can also find a number of functions that can be used to control play-
back on the Transport menu. The items have the following functionality:
The functions listed above (except “Play until Next Marker”) are only avail-
able if you have selected one or more events or made a selection range.
Option Description
Postroll from Selection 
Start/EndStarts playback from the beginning or end of the currently 
selected range and stops after the time set in the Postroll 
field on the Transport panel.
Preroll to Selection Start/ 
EndStarts playback from a position before the start or end of the 
currently selected range and stops at the selection start or 
end, respectively. The playback start position is set in the 
Preroll field on the Transport panel.
Play from Selection Start/
EndActivates playback from the beginning or end of the current 
selection.
Play until Selection Start/ 
EndActivates playback two seconds before the start or end of 
the current selection and stops at the selection start or end, 
respectively.
Play until Next Marker This activates playback from the project cursor and stops at 
the next marker.
Play Selection Range This activates playback from the start of the current selec-
tion and stops at the selection end.
Loop Selection This activates playback from the start of the current selec-
tion and keeps starting over again when reaching the selec-
tion end. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL3 – 40 Playback and the Transport panel
About Chase
Chase is basically a function that makes sure your MIDI instruments 
sound as they should when you locate to a new position and start 
playback. This is accomplished by having the program transmitting a 
number of MIDI messages to your instruments each time you move to 
a new position in the project, making sure all MIDI devices are set up 
correctly with regard to program change, controller messages (such 
as MIDI Volume) etc.
For example, let’s say you have a MIDI track with a program change 
event inserted at the beginning. This event makes a synth switch to a 
piano sound.
In the beginning of the first chorus you have another program change 
event which makes the same synth switch to a string sound.
You now play back the song. It begins with the piano sound and then 
switches to the string sound. In the middle of the chorus you stop and 
rewind to some point between the beginning and the second program 
change. The synth will now still play the string sound although in this 
section it really should be a piano!
The Chase function takes care of that. If program change events are 
set to be chased, Cubase SX/SL will track the music back to the be-
ginning, find the first program change and send this out, so that the 
synth is set to the right sound.
The same thing can apply to other event types as well. The Chase 
Events settings in the Preferences dialog–MIDI page determine which 
event types will be chased when you locate to a new position and 
start playback.
• Event types for which the checkbox is activated here will be chased.