Steinberg Nuendo 3 Operation Manual

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Recording 4 – 81
About the Auto Quantize function
If Auto Quantize is activated on the Transport panel (the “Auto Q” but-
ton), the notes you record are automatically quantized according to 
the current Quantize settings. For more information about quantizing, 
see the chapter “MIDI Processing” in the separate PDF document 
“Working with MIDI”.
Recording MIDI in cycle mode
When you record MIDI in cycle mode, the result depends on which 
Cycle Record mode is selected on the Transport panel:
Cycle Rec mode: Mix (MIDI)
For each completed lap, everything you record is added to what was 
previously recorded, in the same part. This is useful for building up 
rhythm patterns, for example. Record a hi-hat part on the first lap, the 
bass drum part on the second lap etc. 
Cycle Rec mode: Overwrite (MIDI)
As soon as you play a MIDI note (or send any MIDI message) all MIDI 
you have recorded on previous laps is overwritten – from that point on 
in the part. An example:
1.You start recording in an eight bar cycle.
2.The first take wasn’t good enough – you start directly with a new take 
on the next cycle lap and overwrite the first take.
3.After recording the second take you let the recording roll on and listen, 
without playing anything. 
You find that the take was good up until bar seven, for example.
4.On the next lap, you wait until bar seven and start playing.
This way you will overwrite the last two bars only.
5.Make sure you stop playing before the next lap begins – otherwise 
you will overwrite the entire take. 
						

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Cycle Rec mode: Keep Last
Each completed lap replaces the previously recorded lap. Note:
•The cycle lap must be completed – if you deactivate recording or 
press Stop before the cursor reaches the right locator, the previous 
take will be kept.
•If you don’t play or input any MIDI during a lap, nothing happens (the 
previous take will be kept).
Cycle Rec mode: Stacked/Stacked 2 (No Mute)
In this mode, the following happens: 
• Each recorded cycle lap is turned into a separate MIDI part.
• The track is divided into “lanes”, one for each cycle lap.
• The parts are stacked above each other, each on a different lane.
• All takes but the last one are muted (Stacked). 
• If Stacked 2 is selected, no muting takes place.
This makes it easy to create a “perfect take” by combining the best 
parts from the different cycle laps. You can edit the parts in the 
Project window (by cutting, resizing and deleting) or you can use a 
MIDI editor as in the following example:
1.Unmute the muted takes by clicking the parts with the Mute tool.
2.Select all takes (parts) and open them in the Key Editor for example.
3.Use the part list pop-up menu on the toolbar to select which part to 
edit.
See the chapter “MIDI Editing” in the separate PDF document “Working with MIDI”.
4.Remove or edit notes as desired.
5.When you are happy with the result, close the editor.  
						

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6.To turn it all into a single MIDI part (containing your “perfect take”), se-
lect all parts and select Merge MIDI in Loop from the MIDI menu.
7.In the dialog that appears, activate the Erase Destination option and 
click OK.
The remaining events in the parts are merged together into a single part.
Recording different types of MIDI messages
You can decide exactly which event types should be recorded by using 
the MIDI filters – see page 87.
Notes
With MIDI, when you press and release a key on your synth or other 
MIDI keyboard, a Note On (key down) and a Note Off (key up) message 
are sent out. The MIDI note message also contains the information 
which MIDI channel was used. Normally, this information is overridden 
by the MIDI channel setting for the track, but if you set the track to MIDI 
channel “Any”, the notes will be played back on their original channels.
Continuous messages
Pitch bend, aftertouch and controllers (like modulation wheel, sustain 
pedal, volume etc.) are considered as MIDI continuous events (as op-
posed to the momentary key down and key up messages). If you move 
the Pitch bend wheel on your synthesizer while recording, this move-
ment is recorded together with the key (Note On and Note Off mes-
sages), just as you’d expect. But the continuous messages can also be 
recorded after the notes have been recorded (or even before). They can 
also be recorded on their own tracks, separately from the notes to 
which they belong. 
Say for instance that you record one or several bass parts on track 2. 
If you now set another track, like track 55, to the same output and 
MIDI channel as track 2 you can make a separate recording of just 
pitch bends for the bass parts. This means that you activate recording 
as usual and only move the pitch bend wheel during the take. As long 
as the two tracks are set to the same output and MIDI channel it will 
appear to the MIDI instrument as if the two recordings were made at 
the same time. 
						

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4 – 84 Recording
Program Change messages
Normally, when you switch from one program to another on your key-
board (or whatever you use to record), a number corresponding to 
that program is sent out via MIDI as a Program Change message. 
These can be recorded on the fly with the music, recorded afterwards 
on a separate track, or manually entered in the Key or List Editors. 
System Exclusive messages
System Exclusive (SysEx) is a special type of MIDI message used to 
send data that only makes sense to a unit of a certain make and type. 
Every major MIDI manufacturer has its own SysEx identity code and 
these are part of practically all SysEx messages. SysEx can be used to 
transmit a list of the numbers that make up the settings of one or more 
sounds in a synth. For more about viewing and editing SysEx mes-
sages, see the chapter “Working with System Exclusive messages” in 
the separate PDF document “Working with MIDI ”.
The Reset function
The Reset function on the MIDI menu sends out note-off messages 
and resets controllers on all MIDI channels. This is sometimes neces-
sary if you experience hanging notes, constant vibrato, etc.
•Nuendo can also automatically perform a MIDI reset during playback 
(after each part) and/or on stop.
You turn these functions on or off in the Preferences dialog (MIDI page). 
						

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Retrospective Record
This feature allows you to capture any MIDI notes you play in Stop 
mode or during playback and turn them into a MIDI part “after the 
fact”. This is possible due to the fact that Nuendo can capture MIDI 
input in buffer memory, even when not recording.
Proceed as follows:
1.Enable the Retrospective Record function in the Preferences dialog 
(Record page).
This activates the buffering of MIDI input, making Retrospective Record possible.
2.Make sure a MIDI track is record enabled.
3.When you have played some MIDI material you want to capture (either 
in Stop mode or during playback), select Retrospective Record from 
the Transport menu (or use the key command, by default [Shift]-[Pad*]).
The contents of the MIDI buffer (i.e. what you just played) is turned 
into a MIDI part on the record enabled track. The part will appear 
where the project cursor was when you started playing – this means 
that if you played along during playback, the captured notes will end 
up exactly where you played them in relation to the project.
•The Retrospective Record Buffer Size setting in the Preferences dia-
log (Record page) determines how much data can be captured. 
						

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4 – 86 Recording
MIDI Preferences
The following options and settings in the Preferences dialog affect 
MIDI recording and playback:
MIDI page
•Length Adjustment
Adjusts the length of notes so that there always is a short time between the end of one 
note and the start of another (of the same pitch and on the same MIDI channel). You 
set the time in ticks. By default there are 120 ticks per 1/16 note, but you can adjust 
this with the MIDI Display Resolution setting on the same page.
Record page
•Snap MIDI Parts to Bars
When this is activated, recorded MIDI parts will automatically be lengthened to start 
and end at whole bar positions. If you are working in a Bars+Beats-based context, this 
can make editing (moving, duplicating, repeating, etc.) easier.
•Solo Record in MIDI Editors
If this is activated and you open a part for editing in a MIDI editor, its track is automat-
ically record enabled. Furthermore, Record Enable is deactivated for all other MIDI 
tracks until you close the editor again.
This makes it easier to record MIDI data when you’re editing a part – you will always be 
sure the recorded data ends up in the edited part and not on any other track.
•MIDI Record Catch Range in ms
When you record starting at the left locator, this setting helps you make sure the very 
start of the recording is included. A very annoying scenario is when you have recorded a 
perfect MIDI take, only to find out that the very first note wasn’t included – because you 
started playing a little bit too early! If you raise the Record Catch Range, Nuendo will 
catch the events played just before the recording start point, eliminating this problem.  
						

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Recording 4 – 87
Filtering MIDI
The MIDI–MIDI Filter page in the Preferences dialog allows you to 
prevent certain MIDI messages from being recorded and/or “thruput” 
(echoed by the MIDI Thru function).
The dialog is divided into four sections:
Section Description
Record  Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI message from 
being recorded. It will, however, be thruput, and if already recorded, it 
will play back normally.
Thru  Activating any of these options prevents that type of MIDI message from 
being thruput. It will, however, be recorded and played back normally.
Channels If you activate a channel button, no MIDI messages on that MIDI channel 
will be recorded or thruput. Already recorded messages will, however, 
be played back normally.
Controller  Allows you to prevent certain MIDI controller types from being recorded 
or thruput.
To filter out a controller type, select it from the list at the top of the 
Controller section and click “Add”. It will appear on the list below.
To remove a controller type from the list (allow it to be recorded and 
thruput), select it in the lower list and click “Remove”.  
						

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4 – 88 Recording
Options and Settings
Recording-related Preferences
A couple of settings in the Preferences dialog (Transport page) are 
relevant for recording. Set these according to your preferred method 
of work:
Deactivate Punch In on Stop
If this is activated, punch in on the Transport panel is automatically de-
activated whenever you enter Stop mode.
Stop after Automatic Punch Out
If this is activated, playback will automatically stop after automatic 
punch out (when the project cursor reaches the right locator and 
punch out is activated on the Transport panel). If the postroll value on 
the Transport panel is set to a value other than zero, playback will con-
tinue for the set time before stopping (see below).
About Preroll and Postroll
The preroll and postroll value fields (below the left/right locator fields) 
on the Transport panel have the following functionality:
• By setting a preroll value, you instruct Nuendo to “roll back” a short section 
whenever playback is activated.
This applies whenever you start playback, but is perhaps most relevant when recording 
from the left locator (punch in activated on the Transport panel) as described below.
• By setting a postroll value, you instruct Nuendo to play back a short section 
after automatic punch out, before stopping.
This is only relevant when punch out is activated on the Transport panel and “Stop 
after Automatic Punchout” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Transport page).
Preroll value field and on/off switch.
Postroll value field and on/off switch.  
						

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Recording 4 – 89
• To turn pre- or postroll on or off, click the corresponding button on the Trans-
port panel (next to the pre/postroll value) or use the “Use Preroll” and “Use 
Postroll” options on the Transport menu.
An example:
1.Set the locators to where you want to start and end recording.
2.Activate punch in and punch out on the Transport panel.
3.Activate the option “Stop after Automatic Punchout” in the Preferences 
dialog (Transport page).
4.Set suitable preroll and postroll times by clicking in the corresponding 
fields on the Transport panel and typing in time values.
5.Activate pre- and postroll by clicking the buttons next to the preroll 
and postroll times so that they light up.
6.Activate recording.
The project cursor “rolls back” by the time specified in the preroll field and playback 
starts. When the cursor reaches the left locator, recording is automatically activated. 
When the cursor reaches the right locator, recording is deactivated, but playback con-
tinues for the time set in the postroll field before stopping. 
						

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4 – 90 Recording
Using the metronome
The metronome will output a click that can be used as a timing refer-
ence. The two parameters that govern the timing of the metronome 
are tempo and time signature, and these are edited in the Tempo 
Track window (see page 506).
You can use the metronome for a click during recording and/or play-
back or for a precount (count-in) that will be heard when you start re-
cording from Stop mode. Click and precount are activated separately:
• To activate the metronome, click the Click button on the Transport panel.
You can also select “Metronome On” from the Transport menu or use the correspond-
ing key command (by default [C]).
• To activate the precount, click the Precount button on the Transport panel.
You can also select “Precount On” from the Transport menu or set up a key command 
for this.
Click on/off Precount on/off