Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 571
The drum sound list
The purpose of the Drum Editor is to edit MIDI tracks where each note 
(pitch) plays a separate sound, as is typically the case with a MIDI drum 
kit. The drum sound list to the left lists all drum sounds by name (ac-
cording to the selected drum map or name list – see below), and lets 
you adjust and manipulate the drum sound setup in various ways.
Note:
• The number of columns in the list depends on whether there’s a drum map 
selected for the track or not.
See page 576.
• You can reorder the columns by dragging the column headings, and resize 
the columns by dragging the dividers between the column headings.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL24 – 572 The MIDI editors
The note display
The Drum Editor’s note display displays notes as diamond symbols. 
The vertical position of the notes corresponds to the drum sound list to 
the left, while the horizontal position corresponds to the note’s posi-
tion in time, just as in the Key Editor. Note however, that the diamond 
symbols don’t indicate the length of the notes. This makes sense, 
since drum sounds most often are “one-shot” samples that play to 
their end regardless of the note lengths.
Drum map and name pop-up menus
Below the drum sound list you will find two pop-up menus, used for 
selecting a drum map for the edited track or (if no drum map is se-
lected) a list of drum sound names. For an explanation of drum maps, 
see page 576.
Controller display
The controller display in the Drum Editor is exactly the same as in the 
Key Editor. You can add or remove controller lanes from the Quick 
menu, and create and edit events as described on page 557. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 573
Drum Editor operations
The basic handling (zooming, playback, auditioning, etc.) is the same 
as in the Key Editor (see page 543). The following sections describe 
the procedures and features that are specific to the Drum Editor.
Creating and editing notes
The standard way of entering notes in the Drum Editor is to click with 
the Drumstick tool.
When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar position and drum sound is 
indicated in the toolbar, making it easy to find the right sound and position.
The position of the created note depends on the following factors:
• If Snap is deactivated on the toolbar, the note will appear exactly where you 
clicked.
In this mode, notes can be positioned freely.
• If Snap is activated and Use Global Quantize is deactivated on the toolbar, 
the note will snap to positions according to the quantize value set for the 
sound in the drum sound list.
You can set up different quantize values for different drum sounds. You may for example 
want hi-hat notes snap to sixteenth notes, but snare and bass drum snap to eighth notes.
• If both Snap and Use Global Quantize are activated, the note will snap to po-
sitions according to the Quantize setting on the toolbar (next to the Use Glo-
bal Quantize button).
The length of the inserted note is determined by the Insert Length set-
ting on the toolbar. However, if this is set to “Drum-Map Link”, the 
note will get the length of the quantize value for the drum sound.
• You can quickly audition the drum sounds by clicking in the leftmost 
column in the drum sound list.
This plays the corresponding note. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL24 – 574 The MIDI editors
• Clicking with the Drumstick tool on an existing note will remove it.
This makes drum pattern editing very quick and intuitive.
Setting velocity values
The notes you enter will get the insert velocity value set in the insert 
velocity field on the toolbar – to speed up things you may want to as-
sign key commands to the insert velocity options. See page 547.
Selecting notes
Selecting notes is done by any of the following methods:
•Use the Arrow tool.
The standard selection techniques apply.
•Use the Select submenu on the Quick menu (see page 548).
•Use the left and right arrow keys on the computer keyboard to step 
from one note to the next or previous note.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be kept, allowing 
you to select several notes.
•You can also press [Shift] and double click on a note to select all the 
following notes for the same drum sound.
•If the option “Auto Select Events under Cursor” is activated in the 
Preferences dialog (Editing page), all notes currently “touched” by the 
project cursor are automatically selected.
Moving, duplicating or repeating notes
To move or copy notes in the editor (to other positions or other drum 
sounds), you use the same methods as in the Key Editor: click and 
drag, use the arrow keys or Edit menu functions, etc. – see page 549. 
There is one thing to note:
When you are moving or copying several selected notes by dragging 
them and Snap is activated but Use Global Quantize turned off, the 
notes will snap to positions according to the quantize values for the 
drum sounds. If the moved/copied notes have different quantize val-
ues, the largest value will determine snapping. For example, if you are 
moving two notes, with the quantize values 1/16 and 1/4 respectively, 
the notes will snap to quarter notes (1/4).
• You can also adjust the position of notes by quantizing (see page 513).
Again, which quantize value is used depends on whether Global Quantize is used. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 575
Muting notes and drum sounds
You can mute individual notes by clicking or enclosing them with the 
Mute tool or by using the Mute function on the Edit menu (see page 
552).
Furthermore, if a drum map is selected (see page 582), the drum sound 
list will have a Mute column. Click in the Mute column for a drum sound 
to mute that sound. Finally, clicking the Drum Solo button will mute all 
drum sounds other than the selected one.
Muted drum sounds
Please note that the mute state for drum sounds is part of the drum 
map, so any other tracks using the same map will also be affected. 
Deleting notes
To delete notes, click on them with the Drumstick tool or Eraser tool or 
select them and press [Backspace].
Other editing methods
As in the Key Editor, you can edit notes on the info line or via MIDI, 
and enter notes using step input. Please refer to page 553.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL24 – 576 The MIDI editors
Working with drum maps
Background
As discussed earlier, a drum kit in a MIDI instrument is most often a 
set of different drum sounds with each sound placed on a separate 
key (i.e. the different sounds are assigned to different MIDI note num-
bers). One key plays a bass drum sound, another a snare and so on.
Unfortunately, different MIDI instruments often use different key as-
signments. This can be troublesome if you have made a drum pattern 
using one MIDI device, and then want to try it on another. When you 
switch device, it is very likely that your snare drum becomes a ride 
cymbal, or your hi-hat becomes a tom, etc. – just because the drum 
sounds are distributed differently in the two instruments.
To solve this problem, and simplify several aspects of MIDI drum kits 
(like using drum sounds from different instruments in the same “drum 
kit”), Cubase SX/SL features so-called drum maps. A drum map is 
basically a list of drum sounds, with a number of settings for each 
sound. When you play back a MIDI track for which you have selected 
a drum map, the MIDI notes are “filtered” through the drum map be-
fore being sent to the MIDI instrument. Among other things, the map 
determines which MIDI note number is sent out for each drum sound, 
and so which sound is played in the receiving MIDI device.
A solution to the problem above would therefore be to make up drum 
maps for all your instruments. When you want to try your drum pattern 
on another instrument, you simply switch to the corresponding drum 
map and your snare drum sound will remain a snare drum sound. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 577
Drum map settings
A drum map consists of settings for 128 drum sounds (one for each 
MIDI note number). To get an overview of these settings, open the 
Drum Editor and use the Map pop-up menu below the drum sound list 
to select the “GM Map” drum map.
This drum map is set up according to the General MIDI standard. For information on 
how to load, create and select other drum maps, see page 582.
Now, take a look at the drum sound list (you may have to drag the di-
vider between the list and the note display to the right to see all col-
umns). The columns show the settings of the drum map for each sound. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL24 – 578 The MIDI editors
Here’s a brief description (details follow below):
• All settings in a drum map (except the Pitch setting) can be changed 
directly in the drum sound list, or in the Drum Map Setup dialog (see 
page 583).
Note that the changes you make will affect all tracks that use the drum map.
Column Description
Pitch The actual note number of the drum sound. This is what links notes on a 
MIDI track to drum sounds. For example, with the above drum map, all 
MIDI notes with the pitch C1 would be mapped to the Bass Drum 
sound. More on this below.
Instrument The name of the drum sound.
Quantize This value is used when entering and editing notes as described on 
page 573 and page 574.
Mute Allows you to mute a drum sound, excluding it from playback. 
See page 575.
I-note This is the “input note” for the drum sound. When this MIDI note is sent 
into Cubase SX/SL, (i.e. played by you), the note will be mapped to the 
corresponding drum sound (and automatically transposed according to 
the Pitch setting for the sound). See below.
O-note This is the “output note”, i.e. the MIDI note number that is sent out every 
time the drum sound is played back. See below.
Channel The drum sound will be played back on this MIDI channel.
Output The drum sound will be played back on this MIDI output. If you set this to 
“Default”, the MIDI output selected for the track will be used. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe MIDI editors 24 – 579
About Pitch, I-note and O-note
This can be a somewhat confusing area, but once you’ve grasped 
how it all works it’s not very complicated. Going through the following 
“theory” will help you make the most out of the drum map concept – 
especially if you want to create your own drum maps.
As we said earlier, a drum map is a kind of “filter”, transforming notes 
according to the settings in the map. It does this transformation twice; 
once when it receives an incoming note (i.e. when you play a note on 
your MIDI controller) and once when a note is sent from the program 
to the MIDI sound device.
In the following example, we have modified the drum map, so that the 
Bass Drum sound has different Pitch, I-note and O-note values.
I-notes
Let’s look at what happens on input: When you play a note on your 
MIDI instrument, the program will look for this note number among the 
I-notes in the drum map. In our case, if you play the note A1, the pro-
gram will find that this is the I-note of the Bass Drum sound.
This is where the first transformation happens: the note will get a new 
note number according to the Pitch setting for the drum sound. In our 
case, the note will be transformed to a C1 note, because that is the 
pitch of the Bass Drum sound. If you record the note, it will be re-
corded as a C1 note. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL24 – 580 The MIDI editors
O-notes
The next step is the output. This is what happens when you play back 
the recorded note, or when the note you play is sent back out to a 
MIDI instrument in real time (MIDI Thru):
The program checks the drum map and finds the drum sound with the 
pitch of the note. In our case, this is a C1 note and the drum sound is 
the Bass Drum. Before the note is sent to the MIDI output, the second 
transformation takes place: the note number is changed to that of the 
O-note for the sound. In our example, the note sent to the MIDI instru-
ment will be a B0 note.
Usage
So, what’s the point of all this? Again, the purposes are different for I-
notes and O-notes:
• Changing the I-note settings allows you to choose which keys will play 
which drum sounds, when playing or recording from a MIDI instrument.
For example, you may want to place some drum sounds near each other on the key-
board so that they can be easily played together, move sounds so that the most impor-
tant sounds can be played from a short keyboard, play a sound from a black key 
instead of a white, and so on.
If you never play your drum parts from a MIDI controller (but draw them in the editor) 
you don’t need to care about the I-note setting.
• The O-note settings let you set things up so that the “Bass Drum” sound 
really plays a bass drum.
If you’re using a MIDI instrument in which the bass drum sound is on the C2 key, you 
set the O-note for the Bass Drum sound to C2. When you switch to another instru-
ment (in which the bass drum is on C1) you want the Bass Drum O-note set to C1. 
Once you have set up drum maps for all your MIDI instruments, you don’t have to care 
about this anymore – you just select another drum map when you want to use another 
MIDI instrument for drum sounds.