Steinberg Nuendo 4 Manual

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The Arranger track
Click in the Mode field for an event and select the de-
sired repeat mode.
When you now play back the Arranger chain, you will hear 
the complete arrangement. Proceed as follows:
1.Make sure that Arranger mode is activated.
When Arranger mode is activated, the project will be played back using 
the Arranger settings.
The Arranger mode button must be activated.
2.Position the Arranger Editor window so that you can 
see the Arranger track in the Project window, and click in 
the arrow column for the event at the top of the list so that 
the arrow becomes blue.
You should see the project cursor jump to the beginning of the first event 
specified in the Arranger chain.
3.Activate playback, either from the Arranger Editor or 
on the Transport panel.
The events are played back in the specified order.
Editing the Arranger chain
In the Arranger chain to the left, you can do the following:
Select events by clicking or [Shift]-clicking.
The selected events do not have to be a continuous selection.
Drag events to move them in the list.
Drag events while holding [Alt]/[Option] to create cop-
ies of the selected items.
The insert location for both move and copy operations is indicated by a 
blue or red line in the list. A blue line indicates that the move or copy is 
possible; a red line indicates that if the current position were to be used, 
a move or copy is not allowed.
Use the Repeats column to specify how many times 
each event should be repeated.
Click the arrow to the left of an event in the Arranger 
chain to move the playback position to the start of that 
event.
To remove an event from the list, right-click on it and se-
lect “Remove Touched” from the pop-up menu that ap-
pears. To remove several events, select them, right-click 
and select “Remove Selected”.
Navigating
To navigate between arranger events, you use the Ar-
ranger transport buttons:
These controls are available in the Arranger Editor, the 
Project window toolbar, and the Transport panel.
In the Arranger Editor, the event that is currently played 
back is indicated by an arrow in the leftmost column, and 
the indicators in the Counter column. You can switch be-
tween Arranger chains during playback using the pop-up 
menu in the Editor, Inspector or Track list.
Option Button Description
Normal In this mode, your Arranger chain will be played 
back normally, just as you set it up.
Repeat for-
everIn this mode, the current Arranger event will be re-
peated in a loop until you either click on another 
event in the Arranger Editor or press play once 
again.
Pause after 
RepeatsIn this mode, the playback of the Arranger chain 
will be stopped after having played back all re-
peats of the current Arranger event.
First repeat of current chain step Previous chain step
Next chain stepLast repeat of current chain step 
						

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The Arranger track
Managing Arranger chains
You can create several Arranger chains. This way, you can 
create alternative versions for playback. In the Arranger 
Editor, the toolbar buttons on the right are used for this:
The Arranger chains you create will be listed on the Name 
pop-up menu, found in the Arranger Editor to the left of 
the buttons, at the top of the Arranger track Inspector, and 
in the Track list. Please note that to be able to select an-
other Arranger chain from the pop-up menu, Arranger 
mode must be activated.
In the Inspector, these functions are accessed from the 
Arranger pop-up menu (opened by clicking on the Ar-
ranger name field).
Flattening the Arranger chain
When you have found an Arranger chain that suits your pur-
poses, you can “flatten” it, i. e. convert the list into a linear 
project. Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Flatten button (or select Flatten Chain from 
the pop-up menu in the Inspector for the Arranger track).
The events and parts in the project are reordered, repeated, resized, 
moved and/or deleted (if these are not within the boundaries of any used 
Arranger event), so that they correspond exactly to the Arranger chain.
The Flatten button
2.Activate Playback.
The project will now play back exactly as in Arranger mode, but you can 
view it and work with it as usual.
Flattening options
Sometimes it might be useful to keep the original Arranger 
events even after flattening the Arranger track. By using flat-
tening options you can define which chain should be flat-
tened (Source section), where it should be stored and how 
it should be named (Destination section) together with 
other options (Options section). 
1.Click the Flattening options button.
2.In the window that appears, select the desired options.
In the Source section you can specify, which Arranger 
chain should be flattened. The available options are:
Button Description
Click this to rename the current Arranger chain.
Creates a new, empty Arranger chain.
Creates a duplicate of the current Arranger chain, containing 
the same events.
Removes the currently selected Arranger chain. Only avail-
able if you have created more than one Arranger chain.
!Flattening the Arranger chain may remove events 
and parts from the project. Only use the Flatten func-
tion when you know you don’t want to edit the Ar-
ranger track/chain any more. If in doubt, save a copy 
of the project before flattening the Arranger chain.
Option Description
Current Chain If you activate this option, only the current chain will be 
flattened.
Checked Chain If you activate this option, you can select the arranger 
chains you want to flatten in the list to the left.
All Chains If you activate this option, all arranger chains of the cur-
rent project will be flattened. 
						

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The Arranger track
The Destination section allows you to choose where the 
result of the flattening should be saved. The available op-
tions are:
In the Options section you can make further settings. The 
available options are:
3.You can now flatten the Arranger track by clicking the 
Flatten button.
If you realize that you want to do further arrangements, you can also click 
the “Go Back” button and make your adjustments. Your Flattening set-
tings will be kept.
4.Click the “Go Back” button to go back to the Arranger 
Editor or close the window by clicking its Close button.
Live Mode
If you have set up an Arranger track and play it back, you 
have also the possibility to influence the playback order 
“live”. Note that the Arranger mode has to be activated to 
be able to use the Live mode. 
1.Add an Arranger track by selecting “Arranger” from the 
Add Track submenu of the Project menu.
2.Create the desired Arranger events by drawing with 
the Pencil tool on Arranger track.
3.Set up an Arranger chain in the Inspector for the Ar-
ranger track or in the Arranger Editor, activate the Ar-
ranger mode and play back your project.
Now you can use your Arranger events listed in the lower 
section of the Arranger track Inspector to play back your 
project in Live Mode:
4.Switch into Live mode by clicking on the little arrow in 
the lower list of the Arranger track Inspector to the left of 
the Arranger event you want to trigger.
The Arranger event will be looped endlessly, until you click on another Ar-
ranger event. This might be useful, if you want to loop e.g. a guitar solo with 
a flexible length.
You can stop Live mode by clicking the Stop button or 
go back to “normal” playback in Arranger mode by clicking 
on any arranger event in the upper list.
In the latter case, playback will be continued from the arranger event 
where you clicked. The “Select grid” pop-up menu will always be taken 
into account. When the grid is set to “1 Bar” and you click the STOP 
button e.g., playback will be stopped after the next bar.
Option Description
Current  Project This option is only available, if you have selected “Current 
Chain” as Source. If you activate this option, the result of 
the flattening of the current chain will be saved in the cur-
rent project.
New Project If you activate this option, you can flatten one or several 
chains in a new project. In this case it might be useful to 
use naming options. If you activate “Append Chain 
Name”, the Chain Name(s) will be appended in brackets 
to the project name. If you activate “Use Chain Name”, 
the new project(s) will have the name of the current Ar-
ranger chain(s). If you activate “Add Number”, the new 
project(s) will be named like the old ones and a number 
will be appended in brackets.
Option Description
Keep Arranger 
TrackIf you activate this option, the Arranger Track will be kept 
when flattening the Arranger chain. If you activate the op-
tion “Rename Arranger Events” a number will be ap-
pended to the events according to their use. If e.g. you 
use Arranger event “A” two times, the first occurrence 
will be renamed “A 1” and the second “A 2”.
Make Real Event 
CopiesNormally, you will get shared copies when flattening the 
Arranger track. If you activate this option, real copies will 
be created instead.
Don’t Split 
EventsIf the option is activated, MIDI notes that start before or 
are longer than the Arranger event will not be included. 
Only MIDI notes that begin and end inside the Arranger 
event boundaries will be taken into account.
Open New 
ProjectsIf you activate this option, a new project will be created 
for every flattened Arranger chain. If you activate the op-
tion “Cascade New Projects” the opened projects will be 
cascaded. 
						

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The Arranger track
The active Arranger event will be played back as long as 
defined before jumping to the next.
Arranging your music to video
The relative time of your Arranger track can be taken as a 
reference instead of the project time. This is useful, if you 
want to use the Arranger track to compose music for 
video and fill e.g. a specific video section with music, by 
repeating the corresponding number of Arranger events. 
If you position your external sync master device to a posi-
tion that does not match the Project Start time, Nuendo 
will jump automatically to the right position in the Arranger 
track and will start playback from there, i.e. the correct rel-
ative position and not the absolute project time will be 
found. The reference for the external timecode can be 
MIDI or any other Timecode that can be interpreted/read 
by Nuendo. 
ÖIf the Arranger mode is not activated or no Arranger 
track exists, Nuendo will work as usual. 
Below follows an example, that will help you understand 
this functionality:1.Set up a project with a MIDI track and three MIDI parts. 
The first should start at position 00:00:00:00 and end at 
position 00:01:00:00, the second should start at position 
00:01:00:00 and end at position 00:02:00:00 and the 
third should start at position 00:02:00:00 and end at po-
sition 00:03:00:00.
2.Activate the Sync button on the transport panel.
3.Add an Arranger track and create Arranger events that 
match the MIDI parts.
4.Set up the Arranger chain “A-A-B-B-C-C”, activate 
the Arranger mode and play back your project.
5.Start external Timecode at position 00:00:10:00 
(within the range of A).
In your project, the position 00:00:10:00 will be located and you will hear 
A playing. Nothing special!
Now, let’s see what happens if your external sync master 
device starts at a position that does not match the Project 
Start time:
6.Start at 00:01:10:00 (within the range of what origi-
nally was B).
In your project, the position 00:01:10:00 will be located and you will hear 
A playing, because it plays twice in the Arranger track.
7.Start external Timecode at position 00:02:10:00 
(within the range of what originally was C).
In your project, the position 00:02:10:00 will be located and you will hear 
B playing, because it plays later in the Arranger track.
Option Description
Now Jumps to the next section immediately.
4 bars, 
2 barsWhen one of these modes is selected, a grid of 4 or 2 bars (de-
pending on the setting) will be placed on the active Arranger 
event. Whenever the respective grid line is reached, playback 
will jump to the next Arranger event. An example:
Let’s say you have an Arranger event which is 8 bars long and 
the grid is set to 4 bars. When the cursor is anywhere within the 
first 4 bars of the Arranger event when you hit the next Arranger 
event, playback will jump to the next event when the end of the 
fourth bar of the Arranger event is reached. When the cursor is 
anywhere within the last 4 bars of the Arranger event, playback 
will jump to the next event at the end of the event.
When an event is shorter than 4 (or 2) bars when this mode is 
selected, playback will jump to the next section at the event end.
1 bar Jumps to the next section at the next bar line.
1 beat Jumps to the next section at the next beat.
End Plays the current section to the end, then jumps to the next sec-
tion. 
						

							8
Folder tracks 
						

							106
Folder tracks
About folder tracks
Just as the name implies, a folder track is a folder that con-
tains other tracks. Moving tracks into a folder is a way to 
structure and organize tracks in the Project window. For 
example, grouping several tracks in a folder track makes it 
possible for you to “hide” tracks (thus giving you more 
working space on the screen). You can solo and mute 
several tracks in a quicker and easier way and perform ed-
iting on several tracks as one entity. Folder tracks can 
contain any type of track including other folder tracks. 
Handling folder tracks
Creating a folder track
Folder tracks are created just like any other track: Select 
“Add Track” from the Project menu and select “Folder” 
from the submenu that appears, or right-click in the Track 
list and select “Add Folder Track” from the context menu.
Moving tracks into a folder
You can move any type of track into a folder by using drag 
and drop:
1.In the Track list, click on a track that you want to move 
into a folder and drag it onto a folder track.
A green arrow pointing to a folder appears when you drag the track onto 
the folder track in the list.
2.Release the mouse button.
The track is now placed in the folder track, and all parts and events on 
the track will be represented by a corresponding folder part (see “Wor-
king with folder parts” on page 107), which is a graphical representation 
of all parts and events in the folder.
Since you can move any type of track into a folder track, it 
is possible to create sub-folders by moving one folder 
track into another. This is called “nesting”. For example, 
you could have a folder containing all the vocals in a 
project, and each vocal part could have a nested folder 
containing all the takes for easier handling etc.
Removing tracks from a folder
To remove a track from a folder, simply drag it out of the 
folder and release it in the Track list.
Hiding/showing tracks in a folder
You can hide or show the tracks located in a folder by 
clicking on the “Expand/Collapse Folder” button (the 
folder icon). Hidden tracks are still played back as usual.
When a folder is “closed” this way, the folder part(s) still 
give you a graphic representation of the parts and events 
within the folder.
In the Track Folding submenu of the Project menu, there 
are several options for hiding/showing elements inside 
folders. These are described in detail in the section “Track 
folding” on page 39.
A folder track
Tracks in the 
folder 
						

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Folder tracks
Muting and soloing folder tracks
One of the main advantages of using folder tracks is that 
they provide you with a way to mute and solo several tracks 
as one unit. Muting and soloing a folder track affects all 
tracks in the folder. You can also solo or mute individual 
tracks in the folder. 
Muting a folder track
You can mute a folder track (and thereby mute all tracks 
within it) the same way you mute other tracks by clicking in 
the Mute (“M”) button in the Track list.
Soloing a folder track
You can solo a folder track (and thereby mute all tracks 
outside the folder, except those already set to Solo) the 
same way you solo other tracks, by selecting it and click-
ing the Solo button.
Soloing or muting tracks within a folder
This can be done by showing the tracks in the folder and 
using the Mute and Solo buttons in the Track list as usual 
for any tracks inside the folder.
Working with folder parts
A folder part is a graphic representation of events and 
parts on the tracks in the folder. Folder parts indicate the 
position and length of the events and parts, as well as on 
which track they are (their vertical position). If part colors 
are used, these are also shown in the folder part.
Folder parts are created automatically when there are 
parts or events on the tracks within the folder. The follow-
ing rules apply:If there is a gap between parts/events on the tracks, 
there will be two separate folder parts.
Parts or events that overlap within the folder may be 
represented by the same folder part or by two different 
folder parts – depending on how much they overlap.
If a part/event overlaps by half its length or less, it will be placed in a new 
folder part.
Handling and editing folder parts
Most of the editing you can do in the Project window ap-
plies to folder parts as well.
Any Project window editing you perform to a folder part 
affects all the events and parts it contains (those elements 
on the track within the folder that are represented by the 
folder part). You can select several folder parts if you like 
– this allows you to handle and edit them together. The 
editing you can perform includes:
 Moving a folder part. This will move its contained events and 
parts (possibly resulting in other folder parts, depending on 
how the parts overlap).
 Using cut, copy and paste.
 Deleting a folder part. This will delete its contained events and 
parts.
 Splitting a folder part with the Scissors tool (see the example 
below).
 Gluing folder parts together with the Glue tube tool. This will 
only work if the adjacent folder parts contain events or parts 
on the same track.
 Resizing a folder part resizes the contained events and parts 
according to the selected resizing method. This is set by click-
ing the Arrow tool icon on the toolbar and selecting “Normal 
Sizing”, “Sizing Moves Contents” or “Sizing Applies Time 
Stretch” from the pop-up menu – see “Resizing events” on 
page 48. Note that if you select “Sizing Applies Time Stretch”, 
any automation data is not taken into account.
 Muting a folder part. This will mute its contained events and 
parts.
The “snare1” event overlaps the 
“snare2” event by more than half 
its length, which means it is in-
cluded in the same folder part.
The “bass drum” event does not 
overlap with any of the other 
events. This means a new folder 
part is created. 
						

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Folder tracks
An example
Editing tracks within folder parts
Tracks inside a folder can be edited as one entity by per-
forming the editing directly on the folder part containing 
the tracks as explained above. You can also edit individual 
tracks within the folder by showing the contained tracks, 
selecting parts and opening editors as usual.
Double-clicking a folder part opens the editors for the cor-
responding track classes present in the folder. The follow-
ing applies:
All MIDI parts located on the tracks within the folder are 
displayed as if they were on the same track, just like when 
opening the Key Editor with several MIDI parts selected.
To be able to easily discern the different tracks in the editor, give each 
track a different color in the Project window and use the “Part Colors” 
option in the editor (see “Coloring notes and events” on page 370).
If the folder contains tracks with audio events and/or au-
dio parts, the Sample and/or Audio Part Editors are opened 
with each audio event and audio part in a separate window.
Splitting the folder part 
with the Scissors tool……will split all contained parts or 
events present at that position. 
						

							9
Using markers 
						

							110
Using markers
About markers
Markers are used to locate certain positions quickly. If you 
often find yourself jumping to a specific position within a 
project, you should insert a marker at this position. There 
are two types of markers:
 Cycle markers allow you to store the start and end positions of 
a range.
 Standard markers store a specific position. 
Markers can be created and edited in several ways: 
 By using the Marker window (see below).
 By using the Marker track (see “Using the Marker track” on 
page 111).
 By using key commands (see “Marker key commands” on 
page 113).
 By using the Project Browser (see “Editing markers in the Pro-
ject Browser” on page 113).
ÖThe left and right locators are handled separately – 
see “The left and right locators” on page 61.
The Marker window
In the Marker window, you can perform most editing oper-
ations concerning markers. The markers are listed in the 
Marker window in the order in which they occur in the 
project. Most functions in the Marker window are also 
available in the Inspector when the Marker track is se-
lected.
To open the Marker window, you can:
 Select “Markers” from the Project menu
 Click the “Show” button in the Marker section on the Trans-
port panel
 Use the key command (by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[M]).
The Marker window columns
The Marker window is divided into six columns which are 
used for performing the following operations:
The leftmost column is the Locate column. 
Clicking in this column will move the project cursor to the corresponding 
marker position. A blue arrow indicates the marker at the project cursor 
position (or the closest marker before the project cursor).
The ID column is used to edit marker ID numbers. 
See “About marker ID numbers” on page 111.
The Position column displays the markers’ time posi-
tions (or start positions for cycle markers).
The marker positions can be edited directly in this column.
The End and Length columns display the end positions 
and length of cycle markers – see “About cycle markers” 
on page 111.
These values can also be edited directly in the respective column.
The Description column lets you enter names or de-
scriptions for markers.
Click on a column heading to sort the marker list by that 
column. The Marker columns can also be reordered by 
dragging and dropping the column headers.
Adding and removing markers in the Marker window
You add position markers (in Stop mode, during play-
back or during recording) by clicking the Add button or by 
pressing [Insert] (Windows only) on the computer key-
board. Markers are always added at the current project 
cursor position. 
To add a cycle marker, select “Cycle Markers” from the 
Show pop-up menu and click the Add button.
This adds a cycle marker between the left and right locator. You can also 
draw cycle markers on the Marker track (see “Editing markers on the 
Marker track” on page 112).
To remove a marker, select it and click the Remove but-
ton.
ÖNote that you can assign key commands to various 
marker commands in the Key Commands dialog (see 
“Marker key commands” on page 113).