Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 Score Layout And Printing Manual

							CUBASE SXEntering and editing notes using the mouse 4 – 81
•If you have several notes selected, hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and 
change the pitch on the info line, the changes will be absolute.
That is, all selected notes will be set to the same pitch.
Via MIDI
1.On the toolbar, activate the MIDI Input button and the Record Pitch 
button to the right.
If you also want to change the note-on and/or note-off velocity of the notes via MIDI, 
this can be done by also activating the corresponding velocity buttons, as described in 
the chapter about MIDI editing in the Operation Manual.
To edit notes via MIDI (pitches only), set up the buttons like this.
2.Select the first note you want to edit.
3.Press a key on your MIDI keyboard.
The note takes on the pitch of the key you pressed. The program then selects the next 
note.
4.To change the pitch of the next selected note, simply press the de-
sired key.
In this manner you can change the pitches of as many notes as you wish, by simply 
pressing the relevant keys. You can also use key commands (by default the left and 
right arrow key) to step around among the notes. For example, if you make a mistake, 
you can step back to the previous note by pressing the left arrow key. 
						

							CUBASE SX4 – 82 Entering and editing notes using the mouse
Changing the length of notes
When it comes to note lengths, the Score Editor is special in that it 
doesn’t necessarily display the notes with their actual length. Depend-
ing on the situation, you may want to change the “physical length” of 
the notes or the “display length”.
Changing the “physical” length
This will change the actual length of the notes. The change will be re-
flected when you play back the music.
❐Remember that the appearance of notes and rests in the score is deter-
mined by the display quantize settings in the Staff Settings dialog. De-
pending on the display quantize “Notes” and “Rests” values, notes may 
be displayed as if they were longer than they really are (see page 13).
By using the Insert Note tool
1.Select a note value that you wish to apply to the note.
This can be done by clicking a note value icon in the extended toolbar, by selecting a 
new length value or by pressing keys on the computer keyboard.
2.Select the Insert Note tool if it isn’t already selected.
3.Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click on the notes you wish to set to this 
length.
By using the extended toolbar
Using the extended toolbar is another quick way to set a number of 
notes to the same length:
1.Select the notes you want to change.
2.Hold down [Ctrl]/[Command] and click on one of the note icons on 
the extended toolbar.
All the selected notes are now given the length of the clicked note. 
						

							CUBASE SXEntering and editing notes using the mouse 4 – 83
By using the info line
You can also edit length values numerically on the info line. The same 
rules apply as when changing the pitch of notes (see page 80).
Lengthening a note by gluing two notes together
You can create unusual note length values by gluing notes of the 
same pitch together.
1.Insert the notes you want to glue together (if they don’t already exist).
2.Select the Glue tool from the toolbar or Quick menu.
The Glue tool on the Quick menu.
3.Click on the first note.
This note will now be tied to the first note after it that has the same pitch.
❐Make sure you have display quantize values for notes and rests that al-
low you to display notes of the created note value.
4.If you want to glue more notes, click again.
By gluing together a quarter note, an eighth note and a sixteenth note…
…you get a double dotted quarter note. 
						

							CUBASE SX4 – 84 Entering and editing notes using the mouse
Changing the display length
If you want to change the displayed length of notes without affecting 
how they play back, the first thing to try is to adjust the display quantize, 
either for the whole staff or for a separate section, using the Display 
Quantize tool (see page 55). But you can also make length adjustments 
to individual notes in the Set Note Info dialog:
1.Double click on the head of the note.
The Set Note Info dialog opens.
2.Locate the “Displ. Length” setting.
By default, this is set to “Auto”, meaning that the note will be displayed according to its 
actual length (and the display quantize settings).
3.Set a new length value (displayed in bars, beats, sixteenth notes and 
ticks).
To set the display length to “Auto” again, scroll the value down to zero.
4.Click Apply to close the dialog.
The note will now be displayed according to its display length setting. However, the 
display quantize settings still apply!
Splitting a note in two
If you have two notes strung together by a tie, and click on the “tied” 
note head with the Split tool, the note will be divided into two, with the 
respective length of the “main” and the tied note.
Before and after splitting a tied note.
Working with the Display Quantize tool
There are instances when you will want different staff settings on dif-
ferent sections of the track. The settings in the Staff Settings dialog 
are valid for the entire track, but by using the Display Quantize tool 
you are able to insert changes and exceptions wherever you like. This 
is described in detail on page 55. 
						

							CUBASE SXEntering and editing notes using the mouse 4 – 85
Split (piano) staves
Setting up the split staff
1.Make a staff active.
2.Open the Staff Settings dialog for the staff and select the Polyphonic 
tab.
3.From the Staff Mode pop-up, select Split.
4.Set the Splitpoint value to a suitable note.
All notes below this will be put on the lower clef, all above will be put on the upper clef.
Split mode selected.
5.Open the Main tab and select a clef and key.
When you set a key for the upper staff, this setting is automatically copied to the lower 
staff. To set a separate key for the lower staff, activate “Lower staff” and then change 
the key.
6.Make whatever additional staff settings you need.
These will apply to both the upper and lower clefs.
7.Click Apply.
Before and after setting a split at C3. 
						

							CUBASE SX4 – 86 Entering and editing notes using the mouse
Adding notes
This is done just as on a single system, see page 68. Please note the 
following:
• When you enter a note, use the pitch box (on the toolbar) to determine the 
pitch. Whether it ends up on the upper or lower staff has nothing to do with 
where you aim with the mouse. The splitpoint setting always decides if a note 
goes on the upper or lower clef. If you change the split point, this will affect 
existing notes, see below.
• Sometimes a fixed split point isn’t good enough. You might want to put two 
notes with the same pitch on different staves in different parts of the piece. To 
achieve this you need to use polyphonic voicing, see page 101.
Changing the split point
1.Open the Staff Settings dialog for the system you are working on.
2.Select the Polyphonic tab.
3.Change the Splitpoint value.
4.Click Apply.
Now, some notes that were previously on the lower staff will be on the 
upper, or vice versa. 
						

							CUBASE SXEntering and editing notes using the mouse 4 – 87
Strategies: Multiple staves
As described above, when you have parts on several tracks selected 
in the project window, these will be put on one staff each, when you 
open the Score Editor. This allows you to work on several staves in 
parallel.
Working with several staves is not much different from working with 
one. Below follow some guidelines that apply specifically to working 
with multiple staves.
Staff settings
• As described above, the settings in the Staff Settings dialog are local to each 
staff. You can have the Staff Settings dialog open and select each staff in turn 
to make settings – just remember to click Apply before selecting another staff, 
otherwise your changes will be lost.
• If several staves share settings, you will save some time by using staff presets. 
Set up the staff settings for the first staff, then make those settings a preset. 
This preset can then be applied to any of the other staves, one at a time. See 
page 94 for details.
Selecting notes
• You can select notes from one or several staves at the same time, using any 
method of selection, as described on page 72.
Adding notes
• You can add notes to any staff by just clicking inside it. The active staff rectan-
gle will move to the staff where you input the note.
• If you need to put in a note with a very high or low pitch, which makes it wind 
up on the wrong staff when you click, first enter a note with the wrong pitch, 
and then edit its pitch as described on page 80. 
						

							CUBASE SX4 – 88 Entering and editing notes using the mouse
Inserting and editing clefs, keys or time 
signatures
It is possible to insert a change of key signature, clef, or time signature 
anywhere in the score:
Inserting a symbol on one staff
1.Select “Clef etc.” from the “Symbol Palettes” menu on the Scores 
menu.
This opens the “Clef etc.” palette, which contains clef, key and time signature symbols.
The Symbol Palettes submenu and the “Clef etc.” palette.
2.Click in the palette to select the symbol you wish to insert.
The Pencil tool is automatically selected (see also page 169).
3.Move the mouse over the staff where you want to insert a new symbol.
Use the mouse position box to find the exact location. The vertical position is of no rele-
vance as long as you click somewhere in the staff. Time signature changes can only be 
inserted at the beginning of a bar.
4.Click the mouse button.
A dialog appears, allowing you to select the desired clef, key or time signature. For de-
tails on the Edit Time Signature dialog, please see page 31. 
						

							CUBASE SXEntering and editing notes using the mouse 4 – 89
5.Select an option from the dialog and click OK.
The symbol appears. If there is room for it in the bar, the notes are moved to make 
room for it. If not, you will have to use Auto Layout or make manual adjustments (see 
“Moving clefs” below).
❐Inserting a symbol at position 1.1.1.0 is the same as changing the staff 
settings which are stored in the track. Inserting anywhere else adds the 
change to the part.
Inserting a symbol on all staves
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] when you click with the Pencil tool to 
insert a symbol, it will be inserted at this position on all staves cur-
rently being edited in the Score Editor. Note:
• Time signature changes are always inserted on all tracks in the score.
Or rather, they are inserted on the tempo track, which affects all tracks.
• For key changes, display transpose is taken into account.
This allows you to set all staves to a new key and the staves set to display transpose 
will still show the correct key after the key change.
• If some of the staves are bracketed (straight brackets only, as set up in 
the Layout Settings dialog – see page 266), inserting a symbol for one of 
these staves will insert it for all other staves within the bracket.
Staves outside the bracket will not be affected.
Editing keys, clefs and time signatures
If you double click on a symbol, the same dialog appears as when you 
inserted it. This allows you to change the settings for it.
If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] when double clicking, all symbols at 
the same position are changed accordingly. With key signatures, the 
display transpose value is taken into account as described above.
•You will find several options for how key, clef and time signature 
changes should be displayed in the Notation Style–Switches dialog 
on the Scores–Global Settings menu.
You can also adjust the automatic spacing between these symbols in the Spacings 
dialog on the same menu. See the dialog help for details. 
						

							CUBASE SX4 – 90 Entering and editing notes using the mouse
Moving clefs
Clefs inserted into the score have an effect on how notes are dis-
played. If you for example insert a bass clef in the middle of a treble 
staff, the staff switches to show bass pitches. Therefore it is very im-
portant where you insert the clef.
However, you might want to move the clef graphically, without disturb-
ing this relation between the clef and the notes. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the Graphic Move tool.
This is available in Page Mode only.
2.Click and move the clef just as with the normal Object Selection tool.
Now the clef is moved, but the score is still interpreted as if it remained in its original 
position.