Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual
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CUBASE SX/SLMIDI processing and quantizing 23 – 531 Now, for each MIDI channel used in the selected part(s), a new MIDI track is created and set to the corresponding MIDI channel. Each event is then copied into the part on the track with the corresponding MIDI channel. Finally, the original part(s) are muted. An example: Dissolving parts into separate pitches The Dissolve Part function can also scan MIDI parts for events of dif- ferent pitch, and distribute the events into new parts on new tracks, one for each pitch. This is useful when the different pitches are not used in a regular melodic context, but rather for separating different sounds (e.g. MIDI drum tracks or sampler sound FX tracks). By dis- solving such parts, you can work with each sound individually, on a separate track. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the part(s) containing MIDI data. 2.Select “Dissolve Part” from the MIDI menu. 3.In the dialog that appears, select the “Separate Pitches” option. A new MIDI track is created for each used pitch in the selected part(s). The events are then copied into the parts on the track for the corresponding pitch. Finally, the original part(s) are muted. This part contains events on MIDI channel 1, 2 and 3. Selecting “Dissolve Part” creates new parts on new tracks, set to channel 1, 2 and 3. Each new part con- tains only the events on the respective MIDI channel. The original MIDI part is muted.
CUBASE SX/SL23 – 532 MIDI processing and quantizing
CUBASE SX/SL24 – 534 The MIDI editors About editing MIDI There are several ways to edit MIDI in Cubase SX/SL. You can use the tools and functions in the Project window for large-scale editing, or use the functions on the MIDI menu to process MIDI parts in various ways (see page 512). For hands-on graphical editing of the contents of MIDI parts, you use the MIDI editors: • The Key Editor is the default MIDI editor, presenting notes graphically in an intuitive piano roll-style grid. The Key Editor also allows for detailed editing of non-note events such as MIDI controllers. • The Edit In-Place function (Cubase SX only) allows you to edit MIDI parts directly in the Project window. This is much like working in the Key Editor, but makes it easier to edit MIDI in context with other track types. See page 568. • The Drum Editor is similar to the Key Editor, but takes advantage of the fact that with drum parts, each key corresponds to a separate drum sound. This is the editor to use when you’re editing drum or percussion parts. • The List Editor shows all events in the selected MIDI parts as a list, al- lowing you to view and edit their properties numerically. • The Score Editor shows MIDI notes as a musical score. If you are using Cubase SL, the Score Editor offers basic score editing and printing – see page 597 for details). Cubase SX comes with advanced tools and functions for no- tation, layout and printing, all described in the separate pdf document “Score Layout and Printing”. However, even if your focus is on creating printed scores we recommend that you study this chapter as well, to get a grip on the common MIDI editing procedures. • Finally, you can also edit MIDI in the Project Browser. Like the List Editor, this shows the events in a list and allows you to perform numerical editing. However, you will probably find the List Editor more suited for MIDI editing, since it has various dedicated features and functions for this. The Project Browser is described on page 644.
CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 535 About this chapter This chapter describes how to use the Key, Drum and List Editors. Please note that a lot of features are identical in these editors (espe- cially in the Key and Drum Editors) – they are all described in the Key Editor section. The sections about the Drum Editor (see page 570) and the List Editor (see page 586) describe the specific features of these editors only. Opening a MIDI editor There are two ways to open a MIDI editor: • Select one or several parts (or a MIDI track, with no parts selected) and select Open Key Editor, Open Score Editor, Open Drum Editor or Open List Editor from the MIDI menu (or use the corresponding key command). The selected parts (or all parts on the track, if no part was selected) will open in the chosen editor. • Double click a part. Which editor opens depends on the settings in the Preferences dialog (Event Display– MIDI page): Double clicking will open the editor selected on the Default Edit Action pop-up menu. However, if the option “Edit as Drums when Drum Map is assigned” is activated and a drum map is selected for the edited track (see page 582), the Drum Editor will open. This way you can double click to open the Key Editor (or the Score Editor or List Editor, depending on your preferences) but drum tracks will automatically open in the Drum Editor. • If the part you open for editing is a shared copy, any editing you perform will affect all shared copies of this part. Shared copies are created by pressing [Alt]/[Option]+[Shift] and dragging, or by using the Repeat function with the “Shared copies” option activated. In the Project window, shared copies are indicated by the part name in italics and an icon in the right corner of the part (see page 129).
CUBASE SX/SL24 – 536 The MIDI editors Handling several parts When you open a MIDI editor with several parts (or a MIDI track con- taining several parts) selected, you might find it somewhat hard to get an overlook of the different parts when editing. If so, the editor toolbar features a few functions to make working with multiple parts easier and more comprehensive: •The Part List menu lists all parts that were selected when you opened the editor (or all parts on the track, if no parts were selected), and lets you select which part should be active for editing. When you select a part from the list, it is automatically made active and centered in the note display. • Note that it is also possible to activate a part by using the Arrow tool and clicking on an event in a part. •The button “Edit Active Part Only” lets you restrict editing operations to the active part only. If you for example select “All” from the Select submenu on the Edit menu with this op- tion activated, only events in the active part will be selected. Similarly, if you select notes by dragging with the Arrow tool (making a selection rectangle), only the notes in the active part will be selected. “Edit Active Part Only” activated on the toolbar. •You can zoom in on the active part so that it fills the screen by select- ing “Zoom to Event” from the Zoom submenu on the Edit menu.
CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 537 •The button “Show Part Borders” can be used if you want to see clearly defined borders for the active part. When this is activated, all parts except the active one are grayed out, making the bor- ders easily discernible. In the Key Editor, there are also two “markers” in the ruler with the name of the active part, marking its beginning and end. These can be moved freely to change the size of the part. “Show Part Borders” activated on the toolbar. •It is possible to cycle between parts, making them active, with key commands. In the Key Commands dialog – Edit category, there are two functions: “Activate Next Part” and “Activate Previous Part”. If you assign key commands to these, you can use them to cycle between parts in the editors. Please refer to page 781 for instructions on how to set up key commands. The Key Editor – Overview
CUBASE SX/SL24 – 538 The MIDI editors The toolbar As in other windows, the toolbar contains tools and various settings. The user can configure what toolbar items should be shown or hidden and store/recall different toolbar configurations – see page 767. Show/Hide Info line Solo Editor button Key Editor tools Autoscroll on/offAudition on/off Part listShow/Hide Part borders Edit active part only Nudge ToolsTranspose Palette Snap on/off Velocity for inserted notes Grid modes Quantize settings Step Input Midi InputStep/Midi input controls Color pop-up menu Independent track loop on/off Loop range (see page 544). Chord recognition display Mouse pointer display: Current pitch- and meter position Open Device Button
CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 539 The info line The info line shows information about selected MIDI notes. You can edit all values on the info line using regular value editing (see page 553 for details). Length and position values are displayed in the format cur- rently selected for the ruler (see below). •To hide or show the info line, click the icon in the toolbar. The ruler The ruler shows the time line, by default in the display format selected on the Transport panel. You can select a separate format for a MIDI editor ruler by clicking the arrow button to the right of it and selecting an option from the pop-up menu that appears. For a list of the avail- able formats, see page 102. At the bottom of the pop-up menu there are two additional items: •If “Time Linear” is selected, the ruler, note display and controller dis- play will be linear in relation to time. This means that if the ruler shows bars and beats, the distance between the bar lines will vary depending on the tempo. •If “Bars+Beats Linear” is selected, the ruler, note display and control- ler display will be linear in relation to tempo. I.e. if the ruler shows bars and beats, the distance between beats will be constant. In most cases, you would probably set the display format to “Bars+Beats” in “Bars+Beats Linear” mode when editing MIDI.
CUBASE SX/SL24 – 540 The MIDI editors The note display The note display is the main area in the Key Editor. It contains a grid, in which MIDI notes are shown as boxes. The width of a box corresponds to the note length, and the vertical position of a box corresponds to the note number (pitch), with higher notes higher up in the grid. The piano keyboard to the left serves as a guide for finding the right note number. The chord recognition function Cubase SX/SL features a handy chord recognition function that helps you identify chords in the key editor note display. To find out which chord some simultaneously played notes make up, place the project cursor over the notes. All MIDI notes currently “touched” by the project cursor are analyzed and the chord recognition display in the toolbar shows you which chord the notes form. In the picture above, the project cursor touches the notes C, Eb and G. As shown in the chord recognition display, this results in a C minor chord.