Steinberg Cubase 4 Operation Manual

							516
Transcribing MIDI recordings
Using “Scores Notes To MIDI”
For very complicated scores, there may be situations 
where you have tweaked the parameters for display quan-
tize and interpretation as best you can, and you still can’t 
get the score exactly as you want it. Perhaps one setting 
works fine in one section of the track and another is 
needed for another section.
In such a case, “Scores Notes To MIDI” will help you out. 
It changes the lengths and position of some or all the MIDI 
notes in the edited parts so that they have exactly the val-
ues currently shown on screen.
1.For safety, go back to the Project window and make a 
copy of the track.
2.Open the part(s) again in the Score Editor.
If you only want some sections of your score to be “converted”, make 
sure to only open those parts.
3.Make sure the notes you want to affect are not hidden 
(see “Hiding/showing objects” on page 609).
4.Select “Scores Notes To MIDI” from the Functions 
submenu on the Scores menu.
The notes are now “converted”.
5.Make whatever adjustments are needed to make the 
score read as intended.
Now that the notes have the exact lengths and positions 
that were previously only displayed, you can probably de-
activate many of the options on the Score Settings–Staff 
page and delete display quantize settings, etc.
If you find the operation didn’t give you the result you were 
after, you can undo your settings or go back to the original 
track, make a copy of that, and start over. 
						

							4
Entering and editing notes 
						

							518
Entering and editing notes
About this chapter
In this chapter you will learn:
 How to make various settings for how notes are displayed.
 How to enter notes.
 How to use tools and settings to make the score as legible as 
possible.
 How to set up a split (piano) staff.
 How to work with multiple staves.
Score settings
Before you start entering notes, you need to make some 
initial staff settings in addition to those described in the 
chapter “The basics” on page 495. To understand why 
and how these settings and the note data in the score in-
teract, please read the chapter “How the Score Editor 
works” on page 490.
There are three ways to open the Score Settings dialog:
Make the staff active, pull down the Scores menu and 
select “Settings…”.
Double-click on the blue rectangle to the left of the staff.
Please note that when the option “Double-click on staff flips between full 
score/part” is activated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), 
double-clicking will instead switch between display of either the whole 
score or the current voice. If your score shows more than one track, dou-
ble-clicking will display this track and hide all others. If your score shows 
only one track, double-clicking will either show the layout that contains 
most of the tracks or, if no multi-track layout exists, all tracks.
Make the staff active and click the “i” button on the ex-
tended toolbar.
For this to work, make sure no notes or symbols are selected – other-
wise, clicking the “i” button may open a dialog with settings for the se-
lected object instead.
The Score Settings dialog shows the current settings for 
the active staff.
Applying settings and selecting other staves
To make settings for another staff, simply make it active in 
the score (by clicking anywhere in the staff or by using the 
up/down arrow keys on the computer keyboard). How-
ever, please note:
ÖAlways click Apply before making another staff active 
– otherwise your settings will be lost!
Staff presets
When you want to reuse settings made for one track in 
other tracks, you will save some time by creating a staff 
preset (see “Working with staff presets” on page 532).
ÖThere are a number of staff presets available, set up to 
suit various instruments, etc.
The presets are accessed via the Presets pop-up menu on the Score 
Settings–Staff page, or from the Staff context menu, opened by right-
clicking on the blue rectangle to the left of the staff. Use them as they 
are, or as starting points for your own settings.
Suggested initial settings
When you start out entering notes, your staff settings 
should make your score display the notes as entered. We 
suggest the following:
You will find out later how to adapt these settings in detail 
to make the score read as you want it to.
ÖIt is very important that you understand how the dis-
play quantize values for notes and rests interact with the 
score. If you select too large a notes/rests value, the notes 
you “click in” may not appear as intended. 
Please read “How the Score Editor works” on page 490. If you have 
mixed triplets and straight notes, see “Display quantize” on page 510.
Option Description
Names As desired
Display Quantize: Notes 64
Display Quantize: Rests 64
Auto Quantize Activated
Syncopation Off
Consolidate Rests Off
Clean Lengths Off
No Overlap Off
Shuffle Off
Key As desired
Clef As desired
Auto Clef Activate this if you want the program to 
select a treble or bass clef automatically.
Display Transpose 0
Options tab settings As is
Polyphonic tab settings Staff Mode: Single (For split staves, see 
“Split (piano) staves” on page 528.)
Tablature tab settings Tablature Mode deactivated 
						

							519
Entering and editing notes
Note values and positions
Two of the most important settings for entering notes (and 
the ones you will change most often) are the length of the 
note (the note value) and the minimum spacing between 
notes (the quantize value).
Selecting a note value for input
This can be done in one of three ways:
By clicking the note symbols on the extended toolbar.
You can select any note value from 1/1 to 1/64th and activate/deactivate 
the dotted and triplet options by clicking the two buttons to the right. The 
selected note value is displayed in the Length value field on the toolbar 
and in the Insert Note tool cursor shape.
The note value is reflected in the extended toolbar, the Length value 
field and the Insert Note tool shape.
By selecting an option from the Length pop-up menu on 
the toolbar.
By assigning key commands to the different length 
values.
This is done in the Key Commands dialog on the File menu, under the 
category “Set Insert Length”.
About unusual note values
Not all note values can be selected directly, for example 
double dotted notes. Such notes are created by changing 
the length of the note after you have put it in (see “Chan-
ging the length of notes” on page 526), by gluing notes 
together (see “Lengthening a note by gluing two notes to-
gether” on page 527) or by using the Display Length 
feature.
Selecting a display quantize value
When you move the mouse pointer over the score, you will 
see that the position box on the toolbar tracks your move-
ment and shows the current position in bars, beats, six-
teenth notes and ticks.
Positioning on screen is controlled by the current quantize 
value. If you for example set this to “1/8 Note”, you can only 
insert and move notes to eighth note positions, at quarter 
notes, at half bars or at bar positions. It is a good strategy 
to set the quantize value to the smallest note value in the 
project. This doesn’t stop you from inputting notes at 
“coarser” positions. However, if you set the quantize value 
to too small a note value, it is easier to make mistakes.
The quantize value is set on the toolbar in the Quantize 
pop-up menu:
You can also assign key commands to the different 
quantize values.
This is done in the Key Commands dialog on the File menu, under the 
category “MIDI Quantize”.
Just like in the other MIDI editors, you can use the 
Quantize Setup dialog to create other quantize values, ir-
regular grids, etc.
However, this is not often used when inputting score notes.
The “mouse position box”
While you will most often use the graphical position in the 
actual score to determine where the notes go, there are 
instances when you will want to verify the position numer-
ically using the mouse position box:
With the quantize value set to “1/8 Note”, you can only 
input notes at eighth note positions. 
						

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Entering and editing notes
The upper field shows the pitch according to the vertical 
position of the pointer in a staff. The lower field shows the 
“musical position” in bars, beats, sixteenth notes and ticks:
The relation between beats and bars depends on the 
time signature: In 4/4 there are 4 beats to a bar. In 8/8 
there are eight, in 6/8 there are six, etc.
The third number is the sixteenth note within the beat. 
Again, the time signature determines the number of six-
teenth notes to each beat. In a quarter note based time sig-
nature (4/4, 2/4, etc.) there are four sixteenth notes to each 
beat, in an eighth note based time signature (3/8, 4/8, etc.), 
there are two sixteenth notes, etc.
The last value is in ticks, with 480 ticks per quarter note 
(and thus 120 ticks per sixteenth note).
The figures below show some note positions and their corresponding 
position values:
Eighth note positions.
Eighth note triplet positions.Sixteenth note positions.
Adding and editing notes
Entering notes using the computer keyboard
A quick and easy way to enter notes, without having to de-
cide on the pitch, position and note value first is using the 
computer keyboard. To enter a note, proceed as follows:
1.On the toolbar, activate the “Keyboard Input” button. 
Now you can enter notes using the computer keyboard.
The “Keyboard Input” button
2.Hold down [Alt]/[Option].
A note with the note value specified in the extended toolbar appears. By 
default, the insert position is the first position of the bar and the pitch is C3. 
You can however change this using the computer keyboard, see below.
You can change the pitch of the note by using the up 
and down arrow keys.
To transpose the note in octave steps, use the Page Up/Page Down 
keys.
To change the insert position of the note use the right 
and left arrow keys.
Note that for position changes, the Quantize value is taken into account.
To change the length of the note, hold down [Shift] and 
use the right and left arrow keys.
This changes the note value step by step, passing from one quantize 
value to the next.
3.To insert the note, press [Return].
The note with the specified pitch and note value is inserted at the desired 
position and a the insert position for the next note changes according to 
the Quantize value. When you press [Shift]+[Return] the insert position 
will not change, allowing you to enter chords.
1.1.7.0
1.1.1.0
1.2.3.0
1.4.1.0 8/8 2/2
4/4
1.1.1.0
1.1.1.01.1.3.0
1.1.3.0
1.2.1.01.1.5.0
1.2.1.0
1.3.1.0
8/8 2/2
4/4
1.8.1.0 1.3.1.0 1.2.1.0
1.5.1.01.2.3.0
1.3.3.0
1.6.1.01.2.5.0
1.4.1.0
1.7.1.01.2.7.0
1.4.3.0
4/4 2/2
8/81.1.1.0
1.1.1.0
1.1.1.01.1.2.40
1.1.2.40
1.1.2.401.1.3.80
1.2.1.80 1.1.3.80
4/4 2/2
8/81.1.5.0
1.2.1.0
1.4.1.80 1.3.1.01.1.6.40
1.2.2.40
1.3.2.401.1.7.80
1.2.3.80
2/2
4/4
8/81.1.1.0
1.1.1.0
1.1.1.01.1.2.0
1.1.2.0
1.1.2.01.1.3.0
1.1.3.0
1.2.1.0 1.2.2.01.1.4.0 1.1.4.0
2/2
4/4
1.4.1.0 1.1.5.0
1.2.1.0
1.3.1.01.1.6.0
1.2.2.0
1.3.2.01.1.7.0
1.2.3.01.1.8.0
1.4.2.0 1.2.4.0
8/8 
						

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Entering and editing notes
Entering notes with the mouse
To add a note to the score, proceed as follows:
1.Make the staff active.
Notes are always inserted on the active staff. See “The active staff” on 
page 498 for details.
2.Select the desired note value.
See “Selecting a note value for input” on page 519.
3.If you select the note value by clicking on a symbol on 
the extended toolbar, the Insert Note tool is automatically 
selected – otherwise select the Insert Note tool from the 
toolbar or Quick menu.
4.Select a quantize value.
The quantize value determines the spacing between notes. If you set 
quantize to “1/1 Note” you will only be able to add notes at downbeats. If 
you set quantize to “1/8 Note” you will be able to add notes at eighth 
note positions, etc.
5.Click in the staff and keep the mouse button pressed.
The Insert Note tool changes into a note symbol (showing the note ex-
actly as it would be inserted in the score). 
6.Move the mouse horizontally to find the correct position.
Check the mouse position box – the position snaps to the grid defined 
by the current quantize value. This allows you to easily find the correct 
position.
7.Move the mouse vertically to find the correct pitch.
ÖIf the option “Show Note Info by the Mouse” is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), the 
position and pitch of the note will also be shown in a “tool 
tip” next to the pointer while you’re dragging.
If you find that screen redraws are too sluggish, you may want to deacti-
vate this option.
8.Release the mouse button.
The note appears in the score.
Adding more notes
1.If you want the next note to be of another note value, 
select a new note value.
2.If you need finer positioning, or if the current value is 
too fine, change the quantize value.
3.Move the mouse to the desired position, and click.
Notes input at the same position are automatically interpreted as chords, 
see below.
About the interpretation
The notes may not always appear in the score as you ini-
tially expect them to. This is because there are a number 
of situations that require special techniques and settings. 
Below you can find a list of some of these and where to 
find more information about handling them:
 Notes at the same position are considered parts of a chord. 
To get independent voicing (for example notes with different 
stem directions), such as for vocal material, you need to use 
polyphonic voicing – see “Polyphonic voicing” on page 536.
Without and with polyphonic voicing
 If two notes beginning at the same position have different 
lengths, the longer will be displayed as a number of tied notes. 
To avoid this, you will either have to use the “No Overlap” fea-
ture (see “No Overlap” on page 511) or polyphonic voicing 
(see “Polyphonic voicing” on page 536).
 One note will often be displayed as two notes with a tie. This 
is only how the program displays the note, there is still only a 
single note “stored”.
This single note in the Key Editor is displayed as two tied notes in the 
Score Editor.!If you activate the option “Animate Note Cursor” in 
the Preferences (Scores-Editing page), you do not 
need to keep the mouse button pressed to see the 
note as it would be inserted in the score.
Accidentals are shown beside the 
note to indicate the current pitch 
						

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Entering and editing notes
 Generally the program adds ties where necessary (if a note 
stretches over a beat), but not always. For more “modern” no-
tation of syncopated notes (less ties), you will need to use the 
syncopation feature, see “Syncopation” on page 510.
The same note, without and with Syncopation.
 If you want a long note to be displayed as two (or more) tied 
notes, you can use the Cut Notes tool for this.
 If a note has the wrong accidental, this can be changed. See 
“Accidentals and enharmonic shift” on page 549.
 If two notes on the same position are too close to each other 
or if you want their “graphical order” in the score reversed, you 
can do this without affecting playback. See “Graphic moving 
of notes” on page 557.
 Stem direction and length is normally automatic, but you can 
set it yourself. See “Background: Note stems” on page 547.
 If you are scoring for piano and therefore (or for other reasons) 
need a split staff, there are special techniques for this, see 
“Split (piano) staves” on page 528 and “Polyphonic voicing” 
on page 536.
If you run into trouble
Below you can find some questions and answers that will 
help you pinpoint some common mistakes:
The note I put in has the wrong length. For example, I 
added a sixteenth and got a quarter note.
You probably have the wrong display quantize value set. Open the Score 
Settings–Staff page. If Auto Quantize is activated, deactivate it, unless 
you have mixed triplets and regular notes. Also check the Notes and 
Rests display quantize values. If the settings are too “coarse”, change 
them to a smaller note value. If you for example need the program to dis-
play an eighth note rest, Rests display quantize must be set to “8” or a 
smaller value (please refer to the chapter “How the Score Editor works” 
on page 490). If No Overlap is activated, you might want to turn it off.
There is a pause after a note that I don’t want.
You probably added a note with the wrong note value. Either lengthen 
the note (physically or graphically – see “Changing the length of notes” 
on page 526) or delete the one you have (see “Deleting notes” on page 
530) and add a new one with the correct note value.
There is no pause after the note although there should 
be one.
Either the note is too long (delete and enter a new one or change the cur-
rent note length, physically or graphically). Or Rests display quantize is set 
to too large a note value. Open the Score Settings–Staff page and lower it.
The note has an accidental when it shouldn’t, or it 
doesn’t when it should.
Maybe the note is simply of the wrong pitch? Click on it (using the Ob-
ject Selection tool) and look at the info line (if this is not shown, see “The 
info line” on page 499). Move it to the correct pitch (see “Editing pitches 
of individual notes” on page 525). If this is not the reason, maybe you 
have the wrong key set? And finally, you can also use enharmonic shift-
ing (see “Accidentals and enharmonic shift” on page 549).
Notes are not grouped under beams the way I want it.
Normally the program groups eighth notes, sixteenths etc. under beams. 
This can be deactivated. There is also detailed control of which notes are 
grouped under a beam, see “Handling beaming” on page 552.
Selecting notes
In the operations described in the rest of this chapter, you 
will often work on selected notes. The text below de-
scribes how to select notes in various ways:
By clicking
To select a note, click on its note head with the Object 
Selection tool. The note head turns red to indicate that it is 
selected.
To select more notes, hold down [Shift] and click on 
them.
To deselect notes, hold down [Shift] and click on them 
again.
If you hold down [Shift] and double-click on a note, this 
note and all the following notes in the same staff are se-
lected.
Selected notes 
						

							523
Entering and editing notes
Using a selection rectangle
1.Click in an empty area in the score with the Object Se-
lection tool and keep the mouse button pressed.
2.Drag the mouse pointer.
A selection rectangle appears. You can drag to select notes on several 
voices or staves if you wish.
3.Release the mouse button.
All notes with their note heads inside the rectangle are selected.
If you want to deselect one or more of the notes, hold 
down [Shift] and click on them.
Using the keyboard
By default, you can step through (and select) the notes in 
the staff using the left and right arrow keys. If you press 
[Shift], you can select a series of notes as you step 
through them.
If you are working with polyphonic voices, you will step 
through the notes in the current track, i.e. in a split system, 
you will step through the staffs.
If you want to use other keys for selecting notes, you 
can customize the settings in the Key Commands dialog 
on the File menu (in the Navigate category).
Selecting tied notes
Longer notes are often displayed in the score as one note 
with a tie. When you intend to select the entire note for 
deleting etc., you should select the first note, not the tied 
note.
Deselecting everything
To deselect everything, simply click in an empty area of 
the score with the Object Selection tool.
Moving notes
Moving by dragging
1.Set the quantize value.
The quantize value will restrict your movement in time. You cannot place 
notes on positions smaller than the quantize value. If Quantize is set to 
“1/8 Note” for example, you will not be able to move the notes to a six-
teenth note position. However, you will be able to put them on any eighth 
note, quarter note, half note or whole note position.
2.Select the note(s) you want to move.
You can select notes across several staves if you wish.
3.Click one of the selected notes and drag it to a new 
position.
The horizontal movement of the note is “magnetically attracted” to the 
current quantize value. The mouse position box on the toolbar shows 
what the new position and pitch for the dragged note will be.
ÖIf the option “Show Note Info by the Mouse” is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), the 
position and pitch of the note will also be shown in a “tool 
tip” next to the pointer while you’re dragging.
If you find that screen redraws are too sluggish, you may want to deacti-
vate this option.
4.Release the mouse button.
The notes appear at their new position.
If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] and drag, movement is 
restricted to vertical or horizontal only (depending on the 
direction in which you drag).
If you move notes vertically and the option “Keep moved 
notes within key” is activated in the Preferences dialog 
(Scores-Editing page), the notes will be transposed within 
the current key only.
Moving by using key commands
Instead of dragging the note with the mouse, you can as-
sign key commands for this:
The commands for which you should assign keys are 
found in the Nudge category in the Key Commands dialog.
The commands are listed as “Left”, “Right”, “Top” and “Bottom”.
!There is a setting for this in the Preferences dialog 
(Scores-Editing page): If you activate “Tied notes 
selected as Single Units”, the whole note will be 
selected, even if you click on one of the tied notes. 
						

							524
Entering and editing notes
When moving notes to the left or right using key com-
mands, the notes will be moved in steps according to the 
current quantize value.
The keys assigned for up/down nudging will transpose notes in semitone 
steps.
Moving across staves – the Lock button
If you are editing several tracks, you may want to move 
notes from one staff to another. Proceed as follows:
1.Make the desired Quantize settings and select the 
notes.
Make sure to select only notes on the same staff.
2.Make sure the “L” (Lock) button on the extended tool-
bar is deactivated.
When this button is activated, you cannot move notes and other objects 
from one staff to another, which is handy if you for example need to trans-
pose a note very high or low.
3.Click on one of the notes and drag them to the new 
system.
The active staff rectangle indicates on which staff the dragged note(s) 
will appear.
The Snap mode
The notes you move, or copy, will snap to positions de-
fined by the note length and quantize values. Using the 
Snap pop-up menu in the Score Editor toolbar you can 
set the Snap mode used when moving or copying notes:
When using the “Grid” Snap mode, notes you move or 
copy will always snap to exact grid positions.
When using the “Grid Relative” Snap mode, a note with 
a certain position relative to a grid line will always maintain 
that relative position, to the grid, when moved or copied.
Activating auditioning
Auditioning activated.
To hear the pitch of the note while moving, activate the 
speaker icon (Acoustic Feedback) on the toolbar.
About the lock layers
When you are moving and editing notes in the score, you 
might accidentally move other objects nearby. To avoid 
this, assign different types of objects to different “lock lay-
ers” (up to three) and instruct Cubase to “lock” one or two 
of these layers, making them unmovable.
There are two ways to set up which type of object should 
belong to which lock layer:
Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu and 
select the Scores–Event Layer page.
This page lets you adjust the layer setting for each object type.
Right-click on one of the layer buttons (1-2-3) in the ex-
tended toolbar to bring up a pop-up menu, showing which 
object types are associated with that layer.
A checkmark for an object type means it belongs to that layer. If no 
checkmark is shown, you can select the object type on the menu to move 
it to that layer.
To lock a layer, click on its Lock Layer button, so that it is 
not blue. You can only select or move objects whose 
Layer button is activated. For more detailed information, 
see “Using the lock layers” on page 573.
The “L” (Lock) button is deactivated. 
						

							525
Entering and editing notes
ÖThere are also “L” and “P” layer buttons, for the layout 
and project layer, respectively.
Clicking these buttons allows you to lock the layout layer and project 
layer (see “Background: The different layers” on page 562).
Duplicating notes
1.Set the quantize value and select the desired notes.
You can duplicate any block of notes, even on several systems at the 
same time. The Snap mode applies, see “The Snap mode” on page 524.
2.Press [Alt]/[Option] and drag the notes to their new 
position.
If you want to restrict movements to one direction only, 
press [Ctrl]/[Command].
This works just as for moving, as described above.
If you want to restrict the pitch to inside the current key 
only, make sure the option “Keep moved notes within key” is 
activated in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page).
3.Release the mouse button to insert the notes.
[Alt]/[Option] is the default modifier key for copying/du-
plicating. If you like, you can change this in the Prefer-
ences dialog (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).
The entry for this is found in the Drag & Drop category (“Copy”).
ÖYou can also move or copy whole bars by dragging 
the bar handles, see “Moving and duplicating with the bar 
handles” on page 576.
Cut, copy and paste
To cut notes, select them and select Cut from the Edit 
menu (or use a key command, by default [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand]-[X]).
The notes are now removed from the score and put on the clipboard.
To copy notes, select them and select Copy from the 
Edit menu (or use a key command, by default [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand]-[C]).
A copy of the notes is made, and put on the clipboard. The original notes 
remain where they were.
Notes that you have put on the clipboard by cutting or 
copying can be inserted into the score again in the follow-
ing way:
1.Activate the desired staff.
2.Move the project cursor to the position where you 
want the first note to appear.
This is done by holding down [Alt]/[Option] and [Shift] and clicking at the 
desired position in the score.
3.Select Paste from the Edit menu (or use a key com-
mand, by default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[V]).
The notes are pasted in, beginning at the project cursor. If the cut or cop-
ied notes come from different staves, they w i l l  a l s o  b e  i n s e r t e d  o n  d i f f e r e n t  
staves. Otherwise, the notes are inserted on the active staff. They keep 
the pitch and relative positions they had when you cut or copied them. 
Editing pitches of individual notes
By dragging
The simplest way to edit the pitch of a note would be to 
drag it up or down. Remember to hold down [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand] to avoid moving the note sideways as well.
If the option “Keep moved notes within key” is activated 
in the Preferences dialog (Scores-Editing page), notes 
will be transposed within the current key only.
To avoid accidentally moving the note into another staff, 
activate the Lock button (see “Moving across staves – the 
Lock button” on page 524).
When you drag the mouse up and down before releas-
ing the button, accidentals are shown beside the note to 
indicate the current pitch.
This helps you verify the vertical position for the note.
Using the Transpose palette
The Transpose palette on the toolbar contains buttons for 
transposing the selected notes up or down in steps of one 
semitone or one octave.
To show the Transpose palette, right-click the toolbar 
and activate “Transpose Palette” on the context menu that 
appears.
!The clipboard can only hold one set of notes. If you 
cut or copy and then cut or copy again, the notes 
that first were on the clipboard will be lost.