Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Score Layout And Printing Manual

							CUBASE SXWorking with symbols 8 – 171
Adding a symbol to several notes using the Pencil tool
You might for example want to add a staccato symbol to all notes 
within a few measures. Proceed as follows:
1.Make sure the Note Symbols palette is visible.
2.Select the notes to which you want to apply the symbol.
3.Click (or double click) on the desired symbol in the palette.
4.Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click on one of the notes.
The symbol is added to each selected note, at a predefined distance. The symbols can 
be moved later.
Adding a symbol to several notes using the Multi Insert function
1.Select the notes to which you want to apply the symbol.
2.Select the desired symbol from the palette.
3.Pull down the Scores menu and select “Multi Insert” from the Staff 
Functions submenu.
The symbol is added to the selected notes at a predefined distance from the note 
heads. The symbols can be moved later.
Adding a symbol without tying it to a note
Note dependant symbols can be entered freely, too. This for example 
allows you to add a fermat to a rest symbol.
1.Make sure the correct staff is active.
2.Click or double click the symbol so that the Pencil tool is selected, as 
described above.
3.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click where you want to add the 
symbol. 
						

							CUBASE SX8 – 172 Working with symbols
Adding other symbols
1.Make sure the desired symbol palette is visible.
2.Click (or double click) on the desired symbol in the palette.
As mentioned above, the “Double Click Symbol to get Pencil tool” preference deter-
mines whether you need to double click. In any case, the Pencil tool is automatically 
selected.
3.Click once or click and drag somewhere in the score.
The symbol appears. For many symbols with a length, you can drag while holding the 
mouse button down, to set the length of the symbol directly. The symbol appears with 
its handles selected (if it uses handles) so that you can change its size directly if you 
wish. This is all described in detail on page 193.
Press the mouse button — drag — and release!
About note dependant symbols
Note dependant symbols like arpeggios and strum directions must be 
put in front of a note or they will be “invisible”.
Adding text
There are special methods for working with text, described in their 
own chapter, “Working with text”. 
						

							CUBASE SXWorking with symbols 8 – 173
Adding slurs and ties
Slurs can be drawn manually or inserted automatically for a group of 
notes. Ties are normally added by the program but can also be drawn 
in as “graphic” symbols.
• There are two types of slurs – “regular” slurs and Bezier slurs (with which 
you have full control over thickness, curve shape, etc.).
The regular slurs are described below. For a description of Bezier slurs, see page 175.
Slurs, ties and the display quantize value
Since a slur or tie “musically” always spans from one note (or chord) 
to another, the beginning and end of a slur/tie in Cubase SX is always 
related to two notes in the score.
When you draw in a tie or slur, the program uses the quantize value to 
find the closest two notes to “attach” the symbol to. In other words, if 
you want to add the slur/tie to a note at a sixteenth note position, 
make sure Quantize is set to 1/16th notes or smaller (this is only true 
for manual drawing of slurs and ties).
Please note that this does not necessarily mean that the symbol has 
to start or end exactly above/below two notes. Instead, what it means 
is that when you use the Graphic Move tool to move the note graphi-
cally to adjust the look of the bar, the slur/tie moves with it (see page 
147). The same is true if you adjust the width of the measure, the slur/
tie is adjusted accordingly.
• If you specifically want the end points of the slurs to snap to exact note 
positions, activate the option “Snap Slurs when dragging” in the Prefer-
ences dialog (Scores page).
Drawing the slur/tie
1.Check the two notes that the slur/tie should span and set the Quan-
tize value accordingly. 
For example, if one of them is at a quarter note position and the other at an eighth note 
position, set Quantize to 1/8 note or a smaller note value.
2.Click or double click on the correct slur/tie in the symbol palette, so 
that the Pencil tool is selected. 
						

							CUBASE SX8 – 174 Working with symbols
3.Position the mouse close to the first note and drag to a position close 
to the second note.
The end points of the slur/tie will snap to their default positions – holding down [Ctrl]/
[Command] allows you to move the end points freely.
There are two special functions for inserting a slur or tie that automat-
ically spans from one note to another.
Adding a slur/tie between two notes
1.Select two notes.
2.Click or double click the correct slur/tie symbol from the palette, so 
that the Pencil tool is selected.
3.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and [Shift] and click on one of the two 
notes.
Inserting a slur/tie over a selection of notes
1.Select a span of notes.
2.To insert a slur, pull down the Scores menu and select “Insert Slur” 
from the Staff Functions submenu.
A slur is created, starting at the first selected note and ending at the last.
3.To insert a tie, select the tie symbol and select “Multi Insert” from the 
Scores–Staff Functions submenu.
This method can of course also be used to add slurs, but if you use the “Insert Slur” 
function, you don’t need to have the symbol palette visible. You can even create a key 
command for the “Insert Slur” function, for instant access. 
						

							CUBASE SXWorking with symbols 8 – 175
The Bezier slur
The Bezier slur is a special slur symbol, found in the Dynamics symbol 
palette. Unlike the regular slur, this symbol is made up of a bezier 
curve, allowing you to create more advanced curve shapes.
To add a Bezier slur, click or double click on the symbol in the palette 
so that the Pencil tool is selected, and click or drag in the score. Click-
ing creates a Bezier slur of the default length and shape, while drag-
ging creates a straight line.
You will find that the default Bezier slur has four curve points - one at 
each end and two along the curve.
•To move the slur, click on it (but not on a curve point) and drag.
•To resize the slur, click and drag the end points.
•To change the shape of the slur, click on one of the middle curve 
points and drag in any direction.
Right-clicking (Windows) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) on a curve point 
brings up a pop-up menu with the following options:
Option Description
Add Points Adds another pair of curve points to the Bezier slur. This allows 
you to create very complex slur shapes. After adding points, this 
menu item will say “Reduce Points” – selecting it removes the 
additional two curve points.
Add Thickness Makes the Bezier slur thicker.
Reduce Thickness Makes the Bezier slur thinner.   
						

							CUBASE SX8 – 176 Working with symbols
Creating trills
If you have recorded or entered a trill, Cubase SX can help you display 
this properly:
1.Select the notes that make up the trill.
2.Pull down the Scores menu and select Build Trill from the Staff Func-
tions submenu.
A dialog appears.
3.Select the options you want.
The radio buttons determine how the trill should look. Activate the “Help Note” option 
if you want an extra note to indicate between which notes the player should trill.
4.Click OK.
Now the following happens:
• All notes except the first one (and possibly the second) are hidden.
• The first note automatically gets a display length matching the length of the 
whole trill.
• If you chose to include a help note, the second note is converted to a “Graphic” 
note, with brackets but without stem. Otherwise, the second note is hidden, too.
• The trill symbols you indicated in the dialog are inserted.
Inserting symbols across staves
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while adding a symbol to one staff in a 
grand staff, this symbol will be put in at corresponding positions on all 
staves. This allows you to for example insert rehearsal marks, repeats, 
etc. for all instruments at the same time. 
						

							CUBASE SXWorking with symbols 8 – 177
Adding a keyboard symbol
The Other palette contains a piano keyboard symbol, useful for exam-
ple in educational scores. The symbol has the following properties:
•To insert the keyboard symbol, select it from the palette, click with the 
Pencil tool at the desired position and drag a box to specify the ap-
proximate size of the keyboard.
•After you have inserted the keyboard symbol, you can drag its edges 
to resize it vertically or horizontally.
•If you double click on an inserted keyboard symbol, a dialog appears, 
allowing you to specify further properties of the symbol.
Option Description
Size Governs the width of the keys.
Start Note This is the leftmost note in the keyboard symbol.
Show Note Names When this is activated, each C key is displayed with note 
name and octave (C1, C2, etc.).
White/Black Keys 
transparentActivate these if you want the white and/or black keys to be 
transparent.  
						

							CUBASE SX8 – 178 Working with symbols
Adding guitar chord symbols
A fretboard symbol of a guitar chord can be inserted anywhere in the 
score. These guitar symbols are found in the “Other” symbol palette:
1.Make sure the “Other” palette is visible.
2.Click or double click on the guitar chord symbol, so that the Pencil 
tool is selected.
3.Click in the score, at the position you want the symbol.
The Guitar Symbol dialog appears.
•To put a black dot on any fret and string, click on it. 
To remove it, click again.
•To input a symbol just above the string, outside the fretboard, click 
there.
Consecutive clicks allow you to select between a ring (open string), a cross (don’t play 
this string) and no symbol.  
						

							CUBASE SXWorking with symbols 8 – 179
•To add a capodaster number, click to the left of the symbol.
Consecutive clicks allow you to step through the possibilities.
•You can also add a capodaster symbol (a line over the strings), by set-
ting the “Capo String” parameter to a value higher than 0.
By adjusting the Capo End and Start values, you can create capodaster symbols that 
span fewer strings.
•Use the “Size” pop-up menu to adjust the size of the chord symbol.
•If you want the symbol to be horizontal, activate the “Horizontal” 
checkbox.
•If you want to display more or fewer frets than the default six, change 
the “Frets” value.
•If you have defined guitar chord symbols in the guitar library (see be-
low), these are available for selection on the “Library” pop-up menu.
4.Click Apply.
The guitar symbol appears in the score. 
•Clicking the Insert Notes button will insert the actual notes in the 
chord into the score.
You can edit the symbol at any time by selecting it, changing the set-
tings in the dialog and clicking Apply. If the dialog is closed, open it by 
double clicking the guitar symbol. Note also that you can access the 
symbols you have defined in the guitar library by right-clicking (Win) or 
[Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) a guitar symbol – see below. 
						

							CUBASE SX8 – 180 Working with symbols
Using the guitar library
The above method is fine if you only want to add a few chord symbols 
to your score. If you need a lot of chord symbols, or if you are using 
chord symbols in a lot of different scores, you can gather all your 
chord symbols in a “guitar library” instead. This way you don’t need to 
recreate the same chord symbol over and over again.
Defining chord symbols
1.Pull down the Scores menu and select Guitar Library from the Global 
Settings submenu.
The Guitar Library dialog appears.
2.To add a guitar chord symbol to the library, click the New button.
A chord symbol appears in the list to the left.
3.To edit the chord symbol, double click it in the list.
This opens the Guitar Symbol dialog, as when editing a chord symbol in the score.