Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

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Working with Track Presets
ÖYou can also drag and drop track presets from the 
Windows Explorer or the Mac OS Finder, but in this case, 
no preview for track presets is possible.
Applying track or VST presets in the Inspector 
or the context menu of the track
1.Select a track in the Project window.
2.Click the VST Sound button in the Inspector or right-
click the track to open the context menu and select “Apply 
Track Preset”.
The Presets browser opens. Here, the files are presented in list form.
3.Select a track or VST preset from the list.
If needed, activate the Categories option in order to show a customiz-
able filter section that is similar to the one in the MediaBay, see “Perfor-
ming a Category search” on page 281.
4.Hit the Play button on the Transport panel to preview 
the selected audio, MIDI, instrument track or VSTpreset.
All settings from the track preset will be applied in realtime to the se-
lected track. If you set up your target track to a cycle and play back in 
loop, previewing will be very comfortable. Note that you cannot preview 
multi track presets.
5.Click outside the browser to apply the selected preset 
or click the Reset button below the list to return to the un-
changed track.
Applying a multi track preset
1.Select several tracks in your project. 
The selected tracks have to be of the same type, number and sequence 
as the tracks in the track preset.
2.Right-click the track to open the context menu and se-
lect “Apply Track Preset”.
The Presets browser opens. Only multi track presets corresponding to 
the selection of tracks in the project will be shown. 
3.Select a multi track preset from the list.
4.Click outside the browser to apply the selected preset 
or click the Reset button below the list to return to the un-
changed track.
Reloading track or VST presets
To revert to the default settings of the applied preset, click 
the “Reload Track Preset” button.
Applying Inserts and EQ settings from track 
presets
Instead of handling complete track presets, it is also pos-
sible to apply Insert or Equalizer settings from track pre-
sets:
1.Select the desired track, open the Inspector or the 
Channel Settings window and click the VST Sound button 
on the Inserts or Equalizers tab/section.
The presets pop-up menu is opened. 
2.Select “From Track Preset…” in the pop-up menu.
The Presets browser opens, showing all available track presets that con-
tain Inserts or EQ settings. 
3.Select the track preset with the desired Inserts or EQs 
and click outside the browser.
For information on the general handling of Inserts presets, 
see “Effect presets” on page 164. The general handling of 
EQ presets is described in the section “Using EQ pre-
sets” on page 125. 
						

							292
Working with Track Presets
Extracting sound from an instrument track or 
VST preset
For instrument tracks, you can extract the “sound” of an 
instrument track preset or VST preset, that means the VST 
Instrument and its settings.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the instrument track to which you want to apply 
a sound.
2.Click the VST Sound button below the Output Rou-
ting field in the Inspector. 
The Presets browser opens, showing a list of all available 
presets. 
3.Select an instrument track preset or VST preset by 
double-clicking on it. 
The VST instrument and its settings (but no inserts, EQs and modifiers) 
of the existing track are overwritten with the data of the track preset. The 
previous VST instrument for this instrument track is removed and the new 
VST instrument with its settings is set up for the instrument track. 
ÖThe VST instrument of an instrument track does not 
show up in the VST Instrument window but only in the 
Plug-In Information window, see the section “The Plug-in 
Information window” on page 167.
Creating a track preset
A track preset is created from an existing audio, MIDI or 
instrument track – or several of these tracks. Proceed as 
follows:
1.Select one or more tracks in the Project window. 
If several tracks are selected, all of them are stored in one combined 
multi track preset, see “Multi track presets” on page 290.
2.Right-click one of the selected tracks in the Track list to 
open the context menu and select “Create Track Preset”.
The Save Track Preset dialog opens. The buttons on top work like the cor-
responding ones in the MediaBay, see “Folder operations” on page 278.
3.Enter a file name in the “File Name” field.
The track preset file name extension .trackpreset is assigned automatically.
If you selected a MIDI track, you can include either the 
MIDI channel or the MIDI patch in your track preset.
Choose “MIDI channel” from the Include pop-up menu when working 
with a completely pre-configured multi-timbral external instrument (for 
example, a Sampler) in order to call up the correct channel.
Choose “MIDI Patch” when working with a multi-timbral external instru-
ment (e.g. a MIDI Expander), with all sounds available on all channels, but 
changing sounds (patches).
ÖIf you want to use a MIDI track preset for a pre-config-
ured VST Instrument setup, load the VST Instrument(s) in 
the VST Instruments window, select a VST Instrument 
patch, save the track preset and do not change the patch 
afterwards. To ensure this, use a template project with the 
VSTi setup included and save the sounds (track presets) 
of this template project in specific subfolders, as they only 
work within this setup.
4.Open the “Tag Editor” by clicking on the correspond-
ing option and edit the tags.
For more information about the Tag Editor, see “The Tag Editor (Cubase 
only)” on page 284.
5.Click OK to create the track preset.
Track presets are saved in the “Track Presets” folder in 
default subfolders named according to their track type 
(audio, MIDI, instrument and multi). For further information, 
see “Where are the settings stored?” on page 478.
All presets are available under the (virtual) VST Sound 
node, see “The VST Sound node” on page 277.
!You cannot change the default folders, but you can 
add further subfolders, e.g. “drums” and “choir”. 
						

							293
Working with Track Presets
Creating tracks from track presets 
or VST presets
Using drag and drop
1.Open the Sound Browser from the Media menu.
2.Select a track or VST preset from the list of all presets. 
3.Hit the Play button on the Transport panel to preview 
the selected VSTpreset.
All settings will be applied in realtime to the selected track. If you set up 
your target track to a cycle and play back in loop, previewing will be very 
comfortable. Note that you cannot preview multi track presets.
4.Drag and drop the preset onto the Track list in the Pro-
ject window.
One or more (in case of multi track presets) tracks will be created. If you 
drag and drop a VST instrument preset, this will result in an instrument 
track.
ÖYou can also drag and drop from the Windows Ex-
plorer or the Mac OS Finder, but in this case, no preview 
for MIDI and instrument track presets is possible.
Using the Browse Sounds dialog
1.Right-click the Track list to open the context menu and, 
on the Add Track submenu, select “Browse Sounds…”.
The Browse Sounds dialog with all available presets opens. 
2.Select a track or VST preset from the list of all presets.
At this point you can preview selected MIDI and instrument track presets 
as well as VST presets, see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets 
independently of tracks” on page 293. If you want to list a certain track pre-
set type only, open the respective folder in the Browser section.
3.Click OK to create one or more (in case of multi track 
presets) tracks.
Using the Add Track function
1.Right-click the Track list to open the context menu and 
select the desired option on the context menu.
If you want to create more than one track of the same 
type, enter the number in the Count field.
2.Click “Browse Presets” to open the Browse Presets 
section of the “Add Track” dialog with the Category 
search and a list of all available presets. For details, see 
“Performing a Category search” on page 281.
The view is filtered to show only the corresponding track presets. 
If you want to see the contents of presets subfolders 
within the VST Sound node, click the “Show Location” 
option to open the Browser section (see “Browsing for 
media files” on page 276).
3.Select a track or VST preset.
4.Hit the Play button on the Transport panel to preview 
the selected preset.
5.Click OK to create the track.
Notice that the new track will not be named after the track preset.
ÖThis method is not available for multi track presets.
Previewing MIDI, instrument and 
VST presets independently of tracks
There are two possibilities for previewing MIDI, instrument 
track presets and VST presets in the Sound Browser or in 
dialogs with the Browse Presets section open:
Via standard MIDI input
1.Open the “Browse Sounds” dialog and select a MIDI, 
an instrument track or a VST preset.
The preview buttons appear on the lower right. (In the Sound Browser, 
the preview buttons appear in the Scope section.)
Track-independent preview, for example a VST preset in the “Browse 
Sounds” dialog
2.Make sure the “In ‘All MIDI Inputs’” option is activated 
for your MIDI input device (default setting).
Only MIDI data incoming via “All MIDI Inputs” is used for preview.
3.Click the MIDI Input button.
4.Play some MIDI notes via your MIDI input device, for 
example a keyboard.
The Activity meter on the far right mirrors the MIDI in activity. 
						

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Working with Track Presets
Using a MIDI file
1.Open the “Browse Sounds” dialog and select a MIDI 
or instrument track preset or a VST preset.
The preview buttons appear on the lower right. (In the Sound Browser, 
the preview buttons appear in the Scope section.)
2.Click the Choose MIDI File button, select a MIDI file 
(.mid) in the file dialog that appears and click OK.
3.Click the MIDI Input button and activate “Play” (the 
Play button is now available).
The chosen MIDI file file will be played back with the track or VST preset.
ÖThe MIDI file selection is not saved when closing the 
dialogs or the Sound Browser. Therefore, you have to se-
lect a new file the next time you want to preview a preset 
using a MIDI file. 
						

							21
Track Quick Controls 
						

							296
Track Quick Controls
Introduction
Cubase can give you instant access to up to eight para-
meters of each audio, MIDI or instrument track. This is 
done with the aid of the so-called quick controls, set up 
on the Quick Controls Inspector tab for these tracks.
The Quick Controls tab can be used as a kind of track con-
trol center, an area in which your most important parame-
ters are assembled in one place. This saves you from having 
to click your way through the various windows and sections 
pertaining to your track.
Also, Cubase allows you to assign these quick controls very 
quickly to an external remote control device. This gives you 
manual control of your most important track parameters.
Setting up the Quick Controls tab
Assigning parameters to quick controls
The Quick Controls tab shows eight slots, one for each 
quick control. To start with, these slots are empty. Pro-
ceed as follows to assign track parameters to the quick 
control slots:
1.On the Quick Controls tab, click on the first quick con-
trol slot.
A context menu is opened. It lists all parameters currently accessible for 
this particular track. 
2.Double-click the parameter that you want to assign to 
the first quick control slot.
The parameter name and its value are displayed in the slot. You can 
change the value by dragging the slider.
The track’s main volume parameter is assigned to quick control 1.
3.Repeat these steps for each quick control slot until all 
eight slots are associated with track parameters.
You can now control the 8 functions most important to 
you via one single Inspector section.
Editing the quick control slots
To rename a quick control, double-click on the name in 
the slot to select it, enter a new name and press [Enter].
To replace a parameter assignment with a different pa-
rameter, click on the corresponding quick control slot and 
double-click on a different parameter in the browser pop-
up menu list.
The parameter assignment in this slot is changed.
To remove a parameter from a slot, double-click the pa-
rameter name to select it and press the [Delete] or [Back-
space] key. Confirm this operation by pressing [Enter] or 
click in the corresponding slot and select “No parameter” 
from the browser pop-up menu.
The parameter assignment is removed, and the quick control slot is 
empty.
Options and settings
Quick control assignments are saved with the current 
project.
Since quick control settings are part of the track setup, 
you can save them as track presets, allowing you to re-use 
your settings across different projects.
Track presets are described in the chapter “Working with Track Presets” 
on page 288.
You can automate all parameter settings on the Quick 
Controls tab using the Read/Write Enable buttons (R and 
W) at the top right.
The automation features of Cubase are described in detail in the chapter 
“Automation” on page 188. 
						

							297
Track Quick Controls
Setting up quick controls on an 
external remote controller
Quick controls become really powerful when used in com-
bination with a remote controller.
Setting up the connection between the slots on the Quick 
Controls Inspector tab and a remote control device is 
easy. Proceed as follows:
1.In Cubase, open the Device Setup dialog from the De-
vices menu.
2.In the Devices list on the left, select the Quick Con-
trols option.
This will open the Quick Controls section on the right of 
the dialog:
3.With your remote control device connected to Cubase 
via MIDI, select the corresponding MIDI port on your com-
puter in the MIDI Input pop-up (or select “All MIDI Inputs”).
If your remote controller has its own MIDI input and supports MIDI feed-
back, you can connect your computer to the device input. Then, select 
the corresponding MIDI port in the MIDI Output pop-up.
4.Click “Apply” to apply your settings.
5.Select “QuickControl1” in the “Control Name” column.6.Move the control (knob, fader or other) on your remote 
control device that you want to use for the first quick con-
trol.
7.In the Device Setup dialog, click the Learn button.
8.Repeat the last 3 steps for the other quick controls.
You have now associated the slots on the Quick Control 
tab with control elements on your external remote control-
ler. Moving a control element will automatically change the 
value of the parameter assigned to the corresponding 
quick control.
The remote controller setup for quick controls is saved 
globally, i. e. independent of any projects.
If you have various remote controllers, you can store and load several 
quick control setups using the Export and Import buttons. 
						

							298
Track Quick Controls
Quick controls and automatable 
parameters
The quick controls feature has one special extension: you 
can use quick controls not only to access certain parame-
ters of the current track, but also to control all automatable 
parameters. This makes it possible to use the Quick Con-
trols tab of a dedicated track as a kind of “mini mixer”, con-
trolling parameters on other tracks. However, you should 
use this function with caution, as you might accidentally 
modify parameters on other tracks.
Proceed as follows:
1.Create a new, empty audio track and open its Quick 
Controls tab.
This track has no events or parts.
2.Hold down the [Ctrl]/[Command] key and click on the 
slot for quick control 1.
The parameter selection context menu is opened, but it lists not the pa-
rameters of the current track, but all automatable parameters.
3.Open the VST Mixer folder.
The pop-up lists all channels available in the mixer of your 
current project. 4.Now assign a parameter of one particular channel to 
quick control 1, and another parameter of another channel 
to quick control 2.
Here, quick controls 1–8 have been set up to control the main volume 
of eight audio tracks.
The Quick Controls tab has become a “secondary” mixer, 
dedicated to quick-controlling parameters on other tracks.
!Quick controls that are assigned that way cannot 
work when saved as track presets. 
						

							22
Remote controlling Cubase 
						

							300
Remote controlling Cubase
Introduction
It is possible to control Cubase via MIDI. A large number of 
MIDI control devices is supported. This chapter describes 
how to set up Cubase for remote control. The supported 
devices are described in the separate pdf document “Re-
mote Control Devices”.
There is also a Generic Remote Device option, allowing 
you to use any MIDI controller to remote control Cubase.
How to set this up is described in the section “The Generic Remote de-
vice” on page 302.
Setting Up
Connecting the remote device
Connect the MIDI Out on the remote unit to a MIDI In on 
your MIDI interface. Depending on the remote unit model, 
you may also need to connect a MIDI Out on the interface 
to a MIDI In on the remote unit (this is necessary if the re-
mote unit features “feedback devices” such as indicators, 
motorized faders, etc.).
If you will be recording MIDI tracks, you do not want any 
MIDI data from the remote unit to accidentally be recorded 
as well. To avoid this, you should also make the following 
setting:
1.Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.
2.Select “MIDI Port Setup” in the list to the left.
3.Check the table to the right and locate the MIDI input 
to which you have connected the MIDI remote unit.
4.Deactivate the checkbox in the “In ‘All MIDI Inputs’” 
column for that input, so that the State column reads “In-
active”.
5.Click OK to close the Device Setup dialog.
Now you have removed the remote unit input from the “All 
MIDI Inputs” group. This means that you can record MIDI 
tracks with the “All MIDI Inputs” port selected without risk-
ing to record the data from the remote unit at the same time.
Selecting a remote device
1.Pull down the Devices menu and select Device Setup.
A dialog window opens with a list of device categories and devices shown 
in the left part of the window. 
2.If you cannot find the remote device you are looking 
for, click on the plus sign in the top left corner and select 
the device from the pop-up menu.
The selected device is added to the Devices list.
Note that it is possible to select more than one remote 
device of the same type.
If you have more than one remote device of the same type, these will be 
numbered in the Devices list. For example, to be able to use a Mackie 
Control Extender, you must install a second Mackie control device.
3.Now select your MIDI control device model from the 
Devices list.
Depending on the selected device, either a list of programmable function 
commands or a blank panel is shown in the right half of the dialog window.
A JL Cooper CS-10 selected as remote control device.
4.Select the correct MIDI input from the pop-up menu.
If necessary, select the correct MIDI output from the pop-up menu.
5.Click OK to close the dialog.
You can now use the MIDI control device to move faders and knobs, ac-
tivate Mute and Solo, etc. The exact parameter configuration depends on 
which external MIDI control device you are using.