Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Operation Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLThe Project Browser 26 – 651
The list columns for MIDI events:
• For SysEx (system exclusive) events, you can only edit the position 
(Start) in the list.
However, clicking the Comment column opens the SysEx Editor, in which you can per-
form detailed editing of system exclusive events. This and other aspects of working 
with system exclusive messages are described in the System Exclusive chapter of the 
separate pdf document “MIDI Devices and Features”.
Parameter Description
Type The type of MIDI event. This cannot be changed.
Start The position of the event. Editing this value is the same as moving the 
event.
End This is only used for note events, allowing you to view and edit the end 
position of a note (thereby resizing it).
Length This is only used for note events. It shows the length of the note – 
changing this resizes the note and automatically changes the End value 
as well.
Data 1 The property of this value depends on the type of MIDI event:
For notes, this is the note number (pitch). This is displayed and edited 
as a note name and an octave number, with the values ranging between 
C-2 and G8.
For Controller events, this is the type of Controller, displayed in words. 
Note that you can edit this by entering a number – the corresponding 
Controller type is automatically displayed.
For Pitch Bend events, this is the fine adjustment of the bend amount.
For Poly Pressure events, this is the note number (pitch).
For other event types, this is the value of the event.
Data 2 The property of this value depends on the type of MIDI event:
For notes, this is the note-on velocity.
For Controller events, this is the value of the event.
For Pitch Bend events, this is the coarse bend amount.
For Poly Pressure events, this is the amount of pressure.
For other event types, this is not used.
Channel The event’s MIDI Channel. See page 77.
Comment This column is used for some event types only, providing an additional 
comment about the event. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL26 – 652 The Project Browser
Filtering MIDI events
When you are editing MIDI in the Project Browser, the large number 
of different MIDI events displayed can make it hard to find your way. 
To remedy this, the Filter pop-up menu allows you to select a single 
event type for display.
When this option is selected, only Program Change events will be shown in the 
event display. To reveal all event types, select the top item (“---”) from the menu.
Creating MIDI parts
When a MIDI track is selected in the Project Structure list, you can 
create empty MIDI parts on the track by clicking the Add button. This 
will insert a part between the left and right locator.
Creating MIDI events
You can use the Project Browser to create new MIDI events:
1.Select a MIDI part in the Project Structure list.
2.Move the project cursor to the desired position for the new event.
3.Use the Add pop-up above the event display to select which type of 
MIDI event to add.
4.Click the Add button.
An event of the selected type is added to the part, at the project cursor position. If the 
cursor is outside the selected part, the event is added at the beginning of the part. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe Project Browser 26 – 653
Editing Automation tracks
All kinds of Cubase SX/SL automation (the automation subtracks for 
MIDI, audio, group and FX channel tracks or the individual automation 
tracks for VST Instruments, ReWire channels or Input/Output busses) 
are handled in the same way in the Project Browser. Each Automation 
item in the Project Structure list will have a number of subentries, one 
for each automated parameter. Selecting one of these parameters in 
the Project Structure list shows its automation events in the list:
You can use the two columns in the list to edit the position of the 
events and their values.
Editing the Video track
When the Video track is selected in the Project Structure list, the event 
display lists the video events on the track, with the following parameters:
Column Description
Name The name of the video clip that the event refers to.
Start  The start position of the event. Editing this value is the same as moving 
the event.
End The end position of the event. Editing this value is the same as resizing 
the event, and will automatically change the Length value as well.
Length The length of the event. Editing this value is the same as resizing the 
event, and will automatically change the End value as well.
Offset This determines “where in the video clip” the event starts.
Note that the event cannot start before the start of the clip, or end after 
the end of the clip. Thus, if the event already plays the whole video clip, 
the Offset cannot be adjusted at all. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL26 – 654 The Project Browser
Editing the Marker track
Marker events have the following parameters:
When the Marker track is selected, you can insert markers selecting 
“Marker” or “Cycle Marker” from the Add pop-up menu and clicking 
the Add button. Regular markers will be added at the current project 
cursor position while cycle markers will be added between the current 
left and right locator positions.
Column Description
Name The name of the marker. This can be edited for all markers except the 
left and right locator.
Start  The position of “regular” markers or the start position of cycle markers.
End  The end positions of cycle markers. Editing this value is the same as 
resizing the cycle marker, and will automatically change the Length 
value as well.
Length  The length of cycle markers. Editing this value is the same as resizing 
the marker, and will automatically change the End value as well.
ID The number of the marker. For regular (non-cycle) markers, this corre-
sponds to the key commands used for navigating to the markers. For 
example, if a marker has ID 3, pressing [3] on the computer keyboard 
will move the song position to that marker. By editing these values, you 
can assign the most important markers to key commands.
Note that you cannot edit the “L” and “R” marker IDs (Left and Right 
locator) or assign IDs 1 and 2 to markers (since these are reserved for 
the locators). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLThe Project Browser 26 – 655
Editing the Tempo track
When Tempo track is selected in the Project Structure list, the event 
display shows the events on the Tempo track, with the following pa-
rameters:
You can add new Tempo events by clicking the Add button. This cre-
ates a Jump-type event with the value 120 bpm, at the project cursor 
position. Make sure that there is no other tempo event at the current 
cursor position.
Editing Time Signatures
When “Signature track” is selected in the Project Structure list, the 
event display shows the Time Signature events in the project:
You can add new Time Signature events by clicking the Add button. 
This creates a 4/4 event, at the beginning of the bar closest to the 
project cursor position. Make sure that there is no other time signature 
event at the current cursor position.
Parameter Description
Position The position of the Tempo event. You cannot move the first event on 
the Tempo track.
Tempo The tempo value of the event.
Type This indicates whether the tempo should jump to the value of the event 
(“Jump” type) or whether it should change gradually from the previous 
Tempo event, creating a ramp (“Ramp” type). See page 620.
Parameter Description
Position The position of the event. Note that you cannot move the first Time 
Signature event.
Signature The value (time signature) of the event.  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL26 – 656 The Project Browser
Deleting Events
The procedure for deleting Events is the same for all different Track 
types:
1.Click on an Event (or a Part) in the Event display to select it.
2.Select Delete from the Edit menu or press [Delete] or [Backspace].
Note that you cannot delete the first Tempo Event or the first Time Sig-
nature Event. 
						

							27
Export Audio Mixdown 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL27 – 658 Export Audio Mixdown
Introduction
The Export Audio Mixdown function in Cubase SX/SL allows you to mix 
down audio from the program to a file on your hard disk, in a number of 
formats. You can choose to mix down one of the following:
•An output bus.
For example, if you have set up a stereo mix with tracks routed to a stereo output bus, 
mixing down that output bus would give you a mixdown file containing the whole mix. 
Similarly, you can mix down a complete surround bus, either to a single multi-channel 
file (interleaved) or to one file per surround channel (split).
•The channel for an audio track (Cubase SX only).
This will mix down the channel for the track, complete with insert effects, EQ, etc. This 
can be useful for turning a number of events into a single file, or if you are using CPU-
intensive insert effects – by exporting the track and re-importing it into the project you 
can turn off the insert effect, saving processor power.
•Any kind of audio channel in the mixer (Cubase SX only).
This includes VST Instrument channels, effect return channels (FX Channel tracks), 
Group channels and ReWire channels. There are many uses for this – for example, you 
can mix down an effect return track or turn individual ReWire channels into audio files.
Notes
•The Export Audio Mixdown function mixes down the area between the 
left and right locator.
•When you mix down, you get what you hear – mutes, mixer settings 
and insert effects are taken into account.
Note though that you will only include the sound of the bus or channel you select for 
mixdown.
•MIDI tracks are not included in the mixdown!
To make a complete mixdown containing both MIDI and audio, you first need to record 
all your MIDI music to audio tracks (by connecting the outputs of your MIDI instruments 
to your audio inputs and recording, as with any other sound source).
•With Cubase SX, you can also export selected tracks – this is a differ-
ent function that doesn’t create an audio mixdown.
Rather, this is a way to transfer complete tracks (including clips and events) from one 
project to another. See page 741. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLExport Audio Mixdown 27 – 659
Mixing down to an audio file
1.Set up the left and right locator to encompass the area that you want 
to mix down.
2.Set up your tracks, so that they play back the way you want.
This includes muting unwanted tracks or parts, making manual mixer settings and/or 
activating the R (Read) automation buttons for some or all mixer channels.
3.Pull down the File menu and select “Audio Mixdown…” from the 
Export submenu.
The Export Audio Mixdown dialog appears.
The upper half of this dialog is a standard file dialog, while the lower 
half contains file format options and settings for the mixdown function. 
Note that the available settings and options differ depending on the 
selected file format (see page 662).  
						

							CUBASE SX/SL27 – 660 Export Audio Mixdown
4.Select the bus or channel you want to mix down with the Outputs pop-
up menu (with Cubase SL you can only export busses, not channels).
This lists all output busses and channels in the active project.
5.Select the channel configuration for the mixdown file with the 
Channels pop-up menu.
Typically you would select the same channel configuration as the bus or channel you’re 
mixing down, but it’s also possible to e.g. mix down a stereo bus to a mono file. In this 
case a warning will appear, asking if that’s what you want to do.
Here you will also find the “N. Chan. Split” and “N. Chan. Interleaved” options – these 
allow you to create a surround mixdown file, either as one mono file per surround chan-
nel – split – or as a single multi-channel file – interleaved (Cubase SX only).
• The Channels pop-up and the “N. Chan” options are only available when 
an uncompressed file format is selected (AIFF, uncompressed Wave, 
Wave64 or Broadcast Wave).
For the other formats you can select stereo or mono using controls that are specific to 
each format. When mixing down to 5.1 Surround, you also have the option to mix down 
to Windows Media Audio Pro (Windows and Cubase SX only) – see page 672.
6.Select a file format with the File type pop-up menu.
7.Make additional settings for the file to be created.
This includes selecting sample rate, resolution, quality, etc. The available options de-
pend on the selected file format – see page 662.
8.If you want to automatically import the resulting audio file back into 
Cubase SX/SL, activate the “Import to” checkboxes.
If you activate the “Pool” checkbox, a clip referring to the file will appear in the Pool. 
Activating the “Audio Track” checkbox as well will create an audio event that plays the 
clip, and place it on a new audio track, starting at the left locator.
• The Import options are only available if you have selected an uncom-
pressed file format (AIFF, uncompressed Wave, Wave64 or Broadcast 
Wave files).
9.If you activate Real-Time Export, the export will happen in real time, i.e. 
the process will take the same time as regular playback.
Some VST plug-ins require this to have time to update correctly during the mixdown – 
consult the plug-in manufacturers if uncertain.