Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Score Layout And Printing Manual

							7
Additional note and rest
formatting 
						

							CUBASE SX7 – 122 Additional note and rest formatting
In this chapter you will learn:
• How to control stem direction.
• How to control beaming, and create cross staff beaming.
• How to make detailed adjustments to note appearance.
• How to perform “graphic moving” of notes.
• How to create grace notes.
• How to create tuplets.
Background: Note stems
The direction of stems is governed by five things:
• How notes are grouped under beams.
• Any manual manipulation of beams.
• The Flip Stems function.
• How the note information is set for each note.
• How the Polyphonic tab in the Staff Settings dialog is set up (if you use poly-
phonic voices).
Also, there is a priority system with these steps, as they are listed 
above. In other words, if you have adjusted the beam slant “by hand” 
(see below), it doesn’t matter if you previously flipped the stems, or 
how the note was set up. If you have flipped the stems it doesnt mat-
ter how the notes or voices were set up, etc.
❐If you have edited the stem length of a note and then flip it, the stem will 
be reset to default length.
❐If you have activated the “Fixed Stems” option in the Staff Settings dialog 
(Options tab, see page 100), a lot of the automatic stem length settings 
are ignored. However, you can still edit the stem length and direction of 
individual notes. 
						

							CUBASE SXAdditional note and rest formatting 7 – 123
Setting stem direction
In polyphonic voices
In the Staff Settings dialog, on the Polyphonic tab, stem direction can 
be set separately for each voice.
This is the stem setting with the lowest priority. It is only valid if no 
other settings were made specifically.
Using Flip Stems
Flipping the stem of a single note
1.Select the note.
2.Click the Flip icon on the extended toolbar.
•You can also assign a key command for this.
In the Key Commands dialog on the File menu, the command is called “Flip” and is 
found in the Score Functions category.
Flipping the stem of a number of selected notes
1.Select the notes.
2.Invoke Flip Stems as described above.
All the stems in the selection are now flipped. Those that pointed up now point down 
and vice versa.
The voice stem settings
The Flip icon 
						

							CUBASE SX7 – 124 Additional note and rest formatting
Flipping the stems of notes grouped under a beam
1.Select any note in the group.
2.Invoke Flip Stems as described above.
The entire group is now flipped. 
Before and after the flip. No matter which note you select, the entire group is 
flipped.
❐This will not work if you have adjusted the slanting of the beam by drag-
ging. If you have, you must first reset the beam as described on page 126.
Independent stem direction under a beam
If you need stems attached to the same beam to go in different direc-
tions, this is achieved by dragging the beam’s start and end points, as 
described on page 142. This feature is available in Page Mode only.
Independent stem direction under a beam. 
						

							CUBASE SXAdditional note and rest formatting 7 – 125
Stem direction in the Set Note Info dialog
The Set Note Info dialog can be opened by double clicking on a note 
head, as described below. In its lower left corner you will find a pop-
up for setting stem direction.
The Set Note Info dialog with the Stem pop-up.
• Setting this to Up or Down is the same as using Flip Stems, see page 123. 
• Setting it to Auto makes the program set the stem direction automatically.  
						

							CUBASE SX7 – 126 Additional note and rest formatting
Stem length
Adjusting stem length (Page Mode)
1.To change the stem length, proceed as follows:
2.Click on the end of the stem so that a handle appears.
The stem handle selected.
3.If you want to change the lengths of several stems at the same time, 
hold down [Shift] and select these stems as well.
4.Drag the stem handle (on one of the selected stems) up or down.
All selected stems will be lengthened or shortened by the same amount.
Resetting stem length and beam slants
1.Make sure the display filter bar is visible (if not, click the Show Filter 
View button in the toolbar).
For more about the filter bar, see page 30.
2.Make sure the “Stems/Beams” checkbox is activated on the filter bar.
Now, below the notes where stems have been changed or beam slant adjusted manu-
ally, the word “Stem” will appear.
3.Click on the “Stem” text to select it.
4.Press [Backspace] or [Delete] to remove it.
Before and after deleting the “Stem” item. 
						

							CUBASE SXAdditional note and rest formatting 7 – 127
Accidentals and enharmonic shift
Making global settings
In the Accidentals dialog on the Scores–Global Settings submenu, you 
will find a number of options for how accidentals are displayed in the 
score. Once set, these are valid for all tracks in the project. Proceed as 
follows:
1.Pull down the Scores menu and select “Accidentals” from the Global 
Settings submenu.
The Accidentals dialog.
2.Activate one of the four main options by clicking on the graphics:
3.With the radio buttons to the right, you can decide how five of the 
most common intervals outside the scale should be displayed, as 
sharps or as flats.
❐In the Notation Style dialog (Options tab) on the Scores–Global Settings 
menu, there is a further option for accidentals, called “Accidentals for Each 
Note”. When this is activated, all notes get accidentals – even tied notes.
Option Description
Normal Notes outside the scale get accidentals. In this mode, accidentals are 
not repeated within a measure.
Help As above, but if a note outside the scale is followed by one inside the 
scale (in a following measure), this second note will also be displayed 
with an accidental.
Force As Normal, but accidentals are repeated even within the same measure.
Force all Every single note in the score gets an accidental. 
						

							CUBASE SX7 – 128 Additional note and rest formatting
Enharmonic shift
If one or several notes are not displayed with the accidentals you 
wish, you can perform an Enharmonic Shift on them.
1.Select the notes to be shifted.
2.Click the desired option on the extended toolbar.
Option Description
Use these buttons when you want regular Enharmonic 
Shifting (select one option).
Use this button when you want to turn off Enharmonic Shift-
ing for the note(s).
Use this button when you want to hide the accidental com-
pletely.
Use this button when you want to create a “help accidental” 
for the selected note(s) only. For more info see the global 
Help option described above.
Use this button when you want to enclose the accidental in 
parentheses. To remove these, select “off”. 
						

							CUBASE SXAdditional note and rest formatting 7 – 129
Changing the note head shape
1.Select the notes whose note head shape you want to change.
Make sure not to select the stems, only the note heads.
2.Double click one of the notes or click the “i” button on the extended 
toolbar.
The Set Note Info dialog opens.
3.Pull down the “Note Head” pop-up menu at the top left corner of the 
dialog.
The pop-up menu contains all the available head shapes and an “Auto” option, which 
selects the normal default shape for the note.
The Note Head menu.
4.Select one of the note heads.
5.Click Apply.
The settings are applied to the selected note(s).
6.If you like, select other notes and make settings for them.
When you are done, close the dialog by clicking its Close box.
• You can also select note head shapes directly in the score by right-click-
ing (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) on a note head and selecting an option 
from the pop-up menu that appears. 
						

							CUBASE SX7 – 130 Additional note and rest formatting
Other note details
Each note has a number of settings in the Set Note Info dialog.
•To open the Set Note Info dialog double click on a note head or select 
one or several notes and click the “i” icon on the extended toolbar.
•If the Set Note Info dialog is already open, you simply select the de-
sired notes, adjust the settings in the dialog and click Apply.
The settings are applied to all currently selected notes.
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