Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

							4
Recording 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL4 – 42 Recording
Background
This chapter describes the various recording methods that you can 
use in Cubase SX/SL. As it is possible to record both audio and MIDI 
tracks in Cubase SX/SL, both these recording methods are covered 
in this chapter.
Before you start 
This chapter assumes that you are reasonably familiar with certain ba-
sic recording concepts, and that the following initial preparations have 
been made:
•You have properly set up, connected and calibrated your audio hard-
ware. 
This is described in the Getting Started book.
•You have opened a project and set the project setup parameters to 
your specifications.
Project setup parameters determine the record format, sample rate, project length etc. 
that affect the audio recordings you make during the course of the project. See page 
105.
•If you plan to record MIDI, your MIDI equipment should be set up and 
connected correctly.
See the Getting Started book. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLRecording4 – 43
Basic recording methods
This section describes the general methods used for recording. How-
ever, there are additional preparations and procedures that are specific 
to audio and MIDI recording respectively. Make sure to read these sec-
tions before you start recording (see page 48 and page 69).
Record enabling a track
Cubase SX/SL can record on a single track or on several tracks (au-
dio and/or MIDI) simultaneously. To make a track ready for recording, 
click the Record Enable button for the track in the Track list, in the In-
spector or in the mixer. When activated, the button(s) turn red, indi-
cating record ready mode.
Record Enable in the Inspector, Track list and mixer.
• If the option “Enable Record on Selected Track” is activated in the Pref-
erences dialog (Editing page), tracks are automatically record enabled 
when you select them in the Track list.
• The exact number of audio tracks you can record simultaneously de-
pends on your computer CPU and hard disk performance.   
						

							CUBASE SX/SL4 – 44 Recording
Manually activating recording
You activate recording by clicking the Record button on the Transport 
panel or toolbar, or by using the corresponding key command (by de-
fault [*] on the numeric keypad).
Recording can be activated from Stop mode (from the current cursor 
position or from the left locator) or during playback:
• If you activate recording from Stop mode, and the option “Start Record at Left 
Locator” is activated on the Transport menu, recording will start from the left 
locator.
The preroll setting or the metronome count-in will be applied (see page 83).
• If you activate recording from Stop mode, and “Start Record at Left Locator” is 
deactivated, recording will start from the current project cursor position.
• If you activate recording during playback, Cubase SX/SL will immediately enter 
Record mode and start recording at the current project cursor position.
This is known as “manual punch in”.
Activating recording in Sync mode
If you are synchronizing the Cubase SX/SL transport to external equip-
ment (Sync is activated on the Transport panel) and you activate re-
cording, the program will go into “record ready” mode (the record 
button on the Transport panel will light up). Recording then starts when 
a valid timecode signal is received (or when you manually click the Play 
button). See page 678 for more information about synchronization. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLRecording4 – 45
Automatically activating recording
Cubase SX/SL can automatically switch from playback to recording 
at a given position. This is known as “automatic punch in”. A typical 
use for this would be if you need to replace a section of a recording, 
and want to listen to what is already recorded, up to the recording 
start position.
1.Set the left locator to the position where you want recording to start.
2.Activate the Punch In button on the Transport panel.
Punch In activated.
3.Activate playback from some position before the left locator.
When the project cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated.
Stopping recording
Again, this can be done automatically or manually:
•If you click the Stop button on the Transport panel (or use the corre-
sponding key command, by default [0] on the numeric keypad), record-
ing is deactivated and Cubase SX/SL goes to Stop mode.
•If you click the Record button or use the key command for recording, 
by default [*], recording is deactivated but playback continues.
This is known as “manual punch out”.
•If the Punch Out button is activated on the Transport panel, recording 
will be deactivated when the project cursor reaches the right locator.
This is known as “automatic punch out”. By combining this with automatic punch in, 
you can set up a specific section to record – again very useful if you want to replace a 
certain part of a recording. See also page 82.
Punch In and Out activated. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL4 – 46 Recording
Cycle recording
Cubase SX/SL can record and play back in a cycle – a loop. You 
specify where the cycle starts and ends by setting the left and right lo-
cators. When the cycle is active, the selected section is seamlessly 
repeated until you hit Stop or deactivate cycle mode.
•To activate cycle mode, click the cycle button on the Transport panel.
If you now start playback, the section between the left and right locator is repeated in-
definitely until you stop.
Cycle activated
•To record in cycle mode, you can start recording from the left locator, 
from before the locators or from within the cycle, from Stop mode or 
during playback.
As soon as the project cursor reaches the right locator, it will jump back to the left lo-
cator and continue recording a new lap.
•The results of cycle recording depend on the selected cycle record 
mode and are different for audio (see page 60) and MIDI (see page 75). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLRecording4 – 47
Audio pre-record
This feature allows you to capture up to 10 minutes of any incoming 
audio you play in Stop mode or during playback, “after the fact”. This is 
possible because Cubase SX/SL can capture audio input in buffer 
memory, even when not recording. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the File menu and open the Preferences dialog.
2.In the list to the left, select “Record” to open the Record page.
3.Specify a time (up to 600 seconds) in the Audio Pre-Record Seconds 
field.
This activates the buffering of audio input, making Pre-Record possible.
4.Make sure an audio track is record enabled and receives audio from 
the signal source.
5.When you have played some audio material you want to capture (either 
in Stop mode or during playback), click the Record button.
6.After a few seconds stop the recording (unless you wish to continue 
recording).
An audio event is created, starting at where the cursor position was when you acti-
vated recording. This means that if you were in stop mode, and the cursor was at the 
beginning of the project, you may have to move the event to the right in the next step. 
If you were playing along to a project you should leave the event where it is.
7.Select the Arrow tool and place the cursor on the bottom left edge of 
the event so that a double arrow appears, then click and drag to the 
left. 
Now the event is extended and the audio you played before activating record is in-
serted – this means that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will 
end up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.
The recording was activated at the start of bar 9. This is indicated by a blue line in 
the audio event.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL4 – 48 Recording
Audio recording specifics
Selecting a recording file format
The format of recorded files is set in the Project Setup dialog on the 
Project menu. There are three settings: sample rate, record format (bit 
depth) and record file type. While the sample rate is set once and for 
all when you start working on a new project, the bit depth and file type 
can be changed at any time.
Record file type
The Record File Type setting determines which type of files will be cre-
ated when you record:
•If you select Broadcast Wave File or AIFF format, you can specify 
Author, Description and Reference text strings that will be embedded 
in the recorded file.
This is done on the Record–Broadcast Wave page in the Preferences dialog.
File type Description
Wave File Wave files have the extension “.wav” and are the most common file for-
mat on the PC platform.
Wave 64 File 
(Cubase SX 
only)Wave64 is a proprietary format developed by Sonic Foundry Inc. Audio-
wise it is identical to the Wave format, but the internal file structure 
makes much larger file sizes possible. This is useful e.g. for long live re-
cordings in surround format, where the audio files could become huge.
Broadcast 
Wave FileIn terms of audio content, the same as regular Wave files, but with em-
bedded text strings for supplying additional information about the file 
(see below).
AIFF File Audio Interchange File Format, a standard defined by Apple Computer 
Inc. AIFF files have the extension “.aif” and are used on most computer 
platforms. Like Broadcast Wave files, AIFF files can contain embedded 
text strings (see below). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLRecording4 – 49
Record format (bit depth)
The available options are 16 bit, 24 bit and 32 bit float. Use the fol-
lowing guidelines:
• Normally, select the record format according to the bit depth delivered by 
your audio hardware.
For example, if your audio hardware has 20 bit A/D converters (inputs), you may want 
to record at 24 bit resolution, to capture the full bit depth. On the other hand, if your 
hardware has 16 bit inputs, it’s pointless to record with a higher bit depth – this will 
only make the audio files larger, with no difference in audio quality. The exception is if 
you record with effects – see page 66 for an example of this.
• The higher the bit depth, the larger the files and the more strain is put on the 
disk system.
If this is an issue, you may want to lower the record format setting.
Setting up the track
Creating a track and selecting the channel configuration
Audio tracks can be configured as mono, stereo or surround tracks 
(Cubase SX only). This allows you to record or import a file containing 
multiple channels and treat it as one entity, with no need to split it up 
into several mono files etc. The signal path for an audio track main-
tains its channel configuration all the way from the input bus, via EQ, 
level and other mixer settings to the output bus.
You specify the channel configuration for a track when you create it:
1.Select Add Audio Track from the Track list context menu or the Project 
menu (or double click in an empty area of the Track list when an audio 
track is selected – when a MIDI track is selected, double clicking in 
the Track list creates a new MIDI track).
A dialog appears with a channel configuration pop-up menu.
2.Select the desired format from the pop-up menu.
In Cubase SL you choose between mono and stereo; in Cubase SX the most common 
formats are listed directly on the pop-up menu with the remaining surround formats 
listed on the “More…” submenu. For a list of the available surround formats, see page 
305.
3.Click OK.
A track appears, set to the specified channel configuration. In the mixer, a corresponding 
channel strip appears. Note that you cannot change the channel configuration for a track. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL4 – 50 Recording
Selecting an input bus for a track
Here we assume that you have added and set up the required input 
busses (see page 14). Before you record you need to specify from 
which input bus the track should record. You can do this in the In-
spector or in the mixer:
•In the Inspector you select an input bus on the “in” pop-up menu in 
the top section.
As described on page 92, the Inspector shows the settings for the selected track. You 
show or hide the Inspector using the Inspector icon on the Project window toolbar.
•In the mixer you select an input bus on the Input Routing pop-up menu 
at the top of the track’s channel strip.
If this pop-up menu isn’t shown, you need to click the Show Input and Output Settings 
field in the common panel to the left. See page 199 for more about the mixer.
Click here to select an input 
bus for the track. Click here to show/hide the Inspector.
Click here to 
select an input 
bus for the 
track. Click here to 
show or hide the 
input and output 
settings.