Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

							141
Using markers
Sorting and reordering columns
You can customize the display of the marker attributes in 
the marker list by sorting or reordering the columns. Pro
-
ceed as follows:
•To sort the marker list by a specific attribute, click on the 
corresponding column header.
•To reorder the marker attributes, drag and drop the cor-
responding column headers.
•To adjust the width of a column, place the mouse pointer 
between two column headers and drag left or right.
The pointer changes to a divider when you place it between two column 
headers.
ÖNo matter by which attribute you sort, the second sort 
criterion will always be the position attribute.
Marker preferences
You can access the marker preferences by clicking the 
corresponding button in the bottom left corner of the 
Marker window.
The following marker preferences are available:
About marker IDs
Each time you add a marker, it is automatically and sequen-
tially assigned an ID number, starting from 1. IDs for cycle 
markers are shown in brackets and start from [1]. ID num
-
bers can be changed at any time – this allows you to assign 
specific markers to key commands.
ÖIf you move a marker from one marker track to another 
by drag & drop in the Project window and the marker ID is 
already used on this track, the inserted marker automati
-
cally gets a new ID. 
Reassigning marker IDs
Sometimes, especially when setting markers on the fly, 
you may forget or miss to set a marker. When added later, 
this marker’s ID will not correspond to its position on the 
marker track. Therefore, it is possible to reassign the IDs 
for all markers on a track.
Proceed as follows:
1.Open the Marker window.
2.Open the Functions pop-up menu and select either 
“Reassign Position Marker IDs” or “Reassign Cycle 
Marker IDs”.
The marker IDs of the selected type are reassigned to match the order of 
markers on the marker track.
The marker track 
The marker track is used for adding and editing markers. 
In the track list area for the marker track you can find three 
pop-up menus, which help you to select or zoom to the 
markers that you select:
ColumnDescription
Cycle follows 
when locating 
to MarkersThis sets the left and right locators automatically to a po-sition or cycle marker, when locating to this marker. This 
is useful if you need to set the locators on the fly, e. g. dur-ing recording for Punch In/Punch Out. 
Show marker 
IDs on marker 
trackWhen this option is activated, the marker IDs are shown 
on the marker track.
Sync SelectionWhen this option is activated, the Marker window selec-tion is linked to the selection in the Project window. OptionDescription
Locate pop-up 
menuIf you select a position or a cycle marker in this pop-up 
menu, the corresponding marker in the event display or in 
the Marker window is selected.
Cycle pop-up 
menuIf you select a cycle marker in this pop-up menu, the left 
and right locators are set to the corresponding cycle 
marker.
Zoom pop-up 
menuIf you select a cycle marker in this pop-up menu, the view 
zooms to the corresponding cycle marker.
Position marker Cycle 
marker
Cycle pop-up 
menu
Zoom pop-up 
menu Locate pop-up 
menu 
						

							142
Using markers
ÖMarkers shown on the marker track are exactly the 
same as shown in the Marker window, and any changes 
made on the marker track are reflected in the Marker win
-
dow and vice versa. 
Adding, moving, and removing the marker 
track 
•To add the marker track to the project, select Marker 
from the Add Track submenu of the Project menu.
•To move the marker track to another position in the 
track list, click and drag it up or down.
•To remove the marker track, right-click it in the track list 
and select “Remove Selected Tracks” from the context 
menu.
•An empty marker track can also be removed by select-
ing “Remove Empty Tracks” from the Project menu. Note 
that Remove Empty Tracks also removes any other tracks 
that are empty.
Editing markers on the marker track 
The following editing functions can be performed directly 
on the marker track:
•Adding position markers “on the fly”.
Use the [Insert] key (Win) or the “Add Marker” button in the track list for 
the marker track to add position markers at the current cursor position 
during playback. 
•Adding a cycle marker.
Clicking the “Add Cycle Marker” button in the track list for the marker 
track adds a cycle marker spanning the area between the left and right 
locator. 
•Selecting markers.
You can use standard selection techniques like a selection rectangle, or 
use [Shift]-clicking to select separate markers. When selecting markers 
on the marker track, they are also selected in the Marker window. 
•Drawing in position markers.
By using the Pencil tool (or pressing [Alt]/[Option] and using the Arrow 
tool), you can create position marker events at any position on the track. 
If Snap is activated on the toolbar, this determines at which positions you 
can draw markers.
•Drawing in cycle markers.
To draw a cycle marker range, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and use the Pen-
cil tool or the Arrow tool. If Snap is activated on the toolbar, this deter-mines at which positions you can draw markers. 
•Resizing cycle markers.
Select a cycle marker by clicking on it. Two handles appear at the bottom 
of the start and end events. If you click and hold one of the handles you 
can drag the event left or right to resize the cycle marker. This can also 
be done numerically on the info line.
•Moving markers.
Click and drag to move the selected markers. You can also edit marker 
positions on the info line. As usual, Snap is taken into account.  
•Removing markers.
This is done exactly the same way as for other events, i.e. by selecting 
them and pressing [Delete], using the Erase tool, etc.
Using markers to make range selections in the 
Project window
Besides enabling you to quickly move the project cursor 
and the locators, markers can be used in conjunction with 
the Range Selection tool to make range selections in the 
Project window. This is useful if you quickly want to make 
a selection that spans all tracks in the project. 
Moving and copying sections
To quickly move or copy complete sections of the project 
(on all tracks), proceed as follows:
1.Set markers at the start and end of the section that 
you want to move or copy.
2.Select the Range Selection tool and double-click on 
the marker track between the markers.
Everything in the project within the marker boundaries is selected. Any 
functions or processing you perform now affect the selection only.
3.Click on the marker track in the selected range and 
drag the range to a new position. 
Add Marker/Add Cycle 
Marker buttons 
						

							143
Using markers
•If you hold down [Alt]/[Option] while you drag the range, 
the selection in the Project window is copied instead.
Marker key commands
You can check or change any key command assignments 
for the marker commands in the Transport categories of 
the Key Commands dialog. In the following section, the 
available key commands for markers are listed. 
Key commands in the Transport Category:
ÖWhere no default key command is specified, you need 
to define your own stroke sequence in the Key Com
-
mands dialog, see “Key commands” on page 541.
Exporting and importing markers
In Cubase, markers and marker tracks can be imported 
and exported in different ways. You have the following 
possibilities: 
• You can import/export markers contained in MIDI files. 
• You can import/export track archives that contain marker 
tracks (Cubase only). 
Importing markers via MIDI import
You can import position markers by importing MIDI files 
containing markers. This is useful if you want to use your 
marker tracks in other projects or if you want to share them 
with other Cubase users. Any markers you have added are 
included in the MIDI file as standard MIDI file marker events. 
Make sure that the “Import Markers” option is activated in 
the Preferences dialog (MIDI–MIDI File page).
The following settings are imported:
• The start position of position markers and cycle markers
For a description of how to import MIDI files, see “Import-
ing MIDI files” on page 528.
Exporting markers via MIDI
You can export your markers as part of a MIDI file. If you 
activate “Export Markers” in the Export Options dialog, any 
markers are included in the MIDI file. 
The following settings are exported:
• The start position of position markers and cycle markers
ÖTo be able to export markers via MIDI export, your proj-
ect must contain a marker track.
For a description of how to export MIDI files, see “Export-
ing MIDI files” on page 527.
OperationDescriptionDefault key 
command
Insert Cycle 
MarkerCreates a new cycle marker between 
the left and the right locator.-
Insert MarkerCreates a new marker at the current 
project cursor position.[Insert]  (Windows 
only)
Locate Next 
MarkerMoves the project cursor to the right to 
the next marker position (if any).[Shift]-[N]
Locate Previ-ous MarkerMoves the project cursor to the left to 
the previous marker position (if any).[Shift]-[B]
Play until next 
markerPlays back your project from the current 
project cursor position to the next 
marker position.-
Recall Cycle 
Marker 1-9Moves the left and right locators to 
encompass the specified cycle marker 
(1 to 9).[Shift]- Num[1] to 
Num[9]
Recall Cycle 
Marker XMoves the left and right locators to 
encompass the specified cycle marker. 
After pressing the assigned key com
-mand, you can enter the desired marker 
ID.
-
Set Marker  1-9Moves the specified marker (1 to 9) to 
the current project cursor position.[Ctrl]-[1] to [9]
To Cycle 
Marker 1-9Moves the project cursor to the start 
position of the specified cycle marker 
(1
 to 9).
-
To Cycle 
Marker XMoves the project cursor to the start 
position of a marker. After pressing the 
assigned key command, you can enter 
the desired marker ID.-
To Marker 1-9Moves the project cursor to the speci-fied marker (ID 1 to 9).[Shift]-[1] to 
[9]
To Marker XMoves the project cursor to the position 
of the specified marker. After pressing 
the assigned key command, you can en
-ter the desired marker ID.
- 
						

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Using markers
Importing markers as part of a track archive 
(Cubase only)
You can import position markers and cycle markers by im-
porting track archives containing a marker track. 
The following settings are imported:
• The start and end positions of cycle markers
•The marker IDs
For a description of how to import track archives, see “Im-
porting tracks from a track archive” on page 529.
Exporting markers as part of a track archive 
(Cubase only)
If you want to use your marker track in other projects, for 
example to share it with other users, you can export it as 
part of a track archive. Select the marker track that you 
want to export and select “Selected Tracks…” from the 
Export submenu of the File menu. 
The following settings are exported:
• The start and end positions of cycle markers
•The marker IDs
For a description of how to export tracks archives, see 
“Exporting tracks as track archives” on page 529. 
						

							14
The Mixer 
						

							146
The Mixer
Overview
The Mixer offers a common environment for controlling lev-
els, pan, solo/mute status, etc. for both audio and MIDI 
channels. Furthermore it is a convenient environment for 
setting up the input/output routing for multiple tracks or 
channels at the same time. 
This chapter contains detailed information about the ele-
ments used when mixing audio and MIDI, or routing audio. 
You will also learn about the various ways you can config
-
ure the Mixer.
Some mixer-related features are not described in this 
chapter. These are the following:
•Setting up and using audio effects.
See the chapter “Audio effects” on page 187.
•Setting up and using MIDI effects.
See the chapter “MIDI realtime parameters and effects” on page 348.
•Surround Sound (Cubase only).
See the chapter “Surround sound (Cubase only)” on page 217.
•Automation of all Mixer parameters.
See the chapter “Automation” on page 227.
•Mixing down several audio tracks (complete with auto-
mation and effects if you wish) to a single audio file.
See the chapter “Export Audio Mixdown” on page 484.
Opening the Mixer
The Mixer can be opened in several ways:
•By selecting Mixer from the Devices menu.
•By clicking the Mixer icon on the toolbar.
If this icon is not visible, you need to activate the “Media & Mixer Win-
dows” option on the toolbar context menu first.
•By using a key command (by default [F3]).
•By clicking the Mixer button in the Devices panel.
You open the Devices panel by selecting Show Panel from the Devices 
menu.
Opening multiple Mixer windows 
(Cubase
 only)
Several separate Mixer items are available on the Devices 
menu. These are not separate Mixers, but rather separate 
views of the same Mixer. 
•Each of the Mixer windows can be configured to show 
any combination of channels, channel types, narrow and 
wide channel strips, etc.
For example, you can configure one Mixer window to show MIDI channel 
strips, another to show input and output channels, and another to show 
all audio-related channels. 
						

							147
The Mixer
•You can also save channel configurations as view sets 
(see 
“Channel view sets” on page 151), which are then 
accessible from all Mixer windows.
ÖAll options for configuring the Mixer described in this 
chapter are identical for all Mixer windows.
The use of multiple Mixer windows combined with the abil-
ity to recall different Mixer configurations enables you to 
focus on the task at hand and keep window scrolling 
down to a minimum.
What channel types can be shown in the 
Mixer?
The following track-based channel types are shown in the 
Mixer:
•Audio
•MIDI
• Effect return channels (referred to as FX channels in the Proj-
ect window)
• Group channels
• Instrument track channels
The order of audio, MIDI, instrument, group, and effect 
return channel strips (from left to right) in the Mixer corre
-
sponds to the track list in the Project window (from top to 
bottom). If you reorder tracks of these types in the track 
list, this will be mirrored in the Mixer.
In addition to the above, the following channel types are 
also shown in the Mixer:
•Activated ReWire channels, see the chapter “ReWire” 
on page 517.
ReWire channels cannot be reordered and always appear to the right of 
other channels in the main Mixer pane. 
•VST instrument channels, see the chapter “VST instru-
ments and instrument tracks” on page 206.
VST instrument (VSTi) channels can be reordered in the track list which 
will in turn be mirrored in the Mixer.
Input and output busses in the Mixer 
The busses you set up in the VST Connections window 
are represented by input and output channels in the Mixer. 
They are shown in separate panes (to the left and right of 
the regular channel strips), with their own dividers and 
horizontal scrollbars. Input and output channel strips are 
very similar. The only difference between the two is that in
-
put channels have no Solo buttons. 
•You can hide and show these panes by activating or 
deactivating the “Hide Input Channels” or “Hide Output 
Channels” button on the common panel (see 
“The com-
mon panel” on page 149).
For input and output channel strips the following controls 
are available:
•You can check and adjust the input level using the Input 
Gain knobs and/or the level fader.
See “Setting input levels” on page 94.
•You can change the phase of the input signal.
This is done by clicking the Input Phase button next to the Input Gain 
control.
Input Gain
Bus level meter Automation controls
Clipping indicator, see 
“Setting input levels” 
on page 94. Speaker configuration
Inserts and EQ 
indicators/bypass 
buttons Input Phase button
Mute, Solo, and Listen 
buttons (only the Output 
bus features a Solo 
button)Bus volume fader
Edit button
Pan control 
						

							148
The Mixer
•You can add effects or EQ to the busses.
See “Recording with effects (Cubase only)” on page 98 for an example 
of how to add effects to your recording at the input bus stage.
•You can open the Channel Settings window to add ef-
fects or EQ.
These will affect the whole bus. Examples of effects you may want to add 
here include compressors, limiters and dithering, see the chapter “Audio 
effects” on page 187.
For information on how to set up input and output busses, 
see the chapter 
“VST Connections” on page 25.
How to route audio channels to busses is described in the 
section 
“Routing audio to output busses in the Mixer” on 
page 165. 
ÖIf the Control Room is disabled (see the chapter 
“Control Room (Cubase only)” on page 172), the Main 
Mix (the default output) bus is used for monitoring. For in-
formation about Monitoring, see “About monitoring” on 
page 30.
Configuring the Mixer
The Mixer window can be configured in various ways to 
suit your needs and to save screen space. You can decide 
which types of channels are displayed (see 
“Showing/hid-
ing channel types” on page 149), and expand the view to 
open additional sections above the fader display (see be-
low). On the left is the common panel which allows for 
global settings affecting all channels (see 
“The common 
panel” on page 149). 
Normal vs. extended channel strips
While the fader panel in the Mixer is always visible, you 
can show/hide extended channel strips and the routing 
section at the top of the channel strips. The correspond
-
ing buttons can be found on the common panel on the left 
of the Mixer window. For details about the common panel, 
see 
“The common panel” on page 149.
The fader panel shows the basic controls – faders, pan 
controls and an associated vertical row of buttons. The ex
-
tended panel can be set to show EQs, send effects, insert 
effects, etc. The routing panel contains input and output 
routing pop-up menus (where applicable), along with In
-
put Phase and Input Gain controls for audio-related chan-
nel strips or an Input Transformer control for MIDI channel 
strips.
The extended panel and the routing panel can be shown 
and hidden as follows:
•On the common panel, click the “Show Extended Mixer” 
button or the “Show Routing View” button (respectively).
These options are also available on the Window submenu of the Mixer 
context menu.
Showing the extended Mixer panel
•On the common panel, click the “Hide Extended Mixer” 
button or the “Hide Routing View” button (respectively). 
These buttons (down arrows) are only visible when the 
corresponding section is open.
These options are also available on the Window submenu of the Mixer 
context menu.
Hiding the routing panel
!The settings you make for the input channel will be a 
permanent part of the recorded audio file! 
						

							149
The Mixer
The common panel
The common panel can be found on the left of the Mixer 
window. It contains settings for changing the look and 
behavior of the Mixer, as well as global settings for all 
channels.
In standard mode (extended view is hidden), the common 
panel contains the following controls:
Showing/hiding channel types
In the lower part of the common panel you will find a verti-
cal strip with icons representing the different channel 
types:
•To hide or show a channel type, click the corresponding 
icon.
If an icon is lit (orange), the corresponding channel type is not visible in 
the Mixer.
•To show all hidden channel types again, click the “Re-
veal All Channels” button.
Configuring the extended channel strips
Using the icons in the extended area of the common panel 
you can determine globally what is displayed in the ex
-
tended Mixer panel for all channel strips. Depending on 
the channel type, the following options are available:
•For a description of the options available for audio-re-
lated channels, see “Options for extended audio channel 
strips” on page 155. The options for MIDI channels are 
described in the section “Options for extended MIDI 
channel strips” on page 166.
•To apply the global view settings also to the input and 
output channels, press [Alt]/[Option] while clicking on an 
icon.
•To set up the extended channel strip individually for a 
channel, you can use the View Options pop-up menu, see 
below. 
Global automation 
Read/Write buttons
View set buttons, see 
“Channel view sets” on 
page 151. Channel type buttons, 
see below.
Global channel width 
controls, see “Setting the 
width of channel strips” 
on page 151.
Opens the VST 
Connections window, 
see “The VST 
Connections window”
on page 26. Reset Mixer/Reset 
Channels
Channel settings copy/
paste, see “Copying 
settings between audio 
channels” on page 161.
Global Mute, Solo and 
Listen buttons
“Command Target” 
options, see “About the 
Command Target” on 
page 150.
Input Channels
Audio Channels
Group Channels
ReWire Channels
MIDI Channels
VST Instrument Channels
FX Channels
Output Channels “Can Hide” options, see 
below
Reveal All Channels
Clear all views  
(blank panels) Show all Inserts
Show all Equalizers
Show all Equalizers with curve
Show all Sends
Show Sends 1–4 or 5–8
Show SurroundPanners (where 
applicable) (Cubase only)
Show all Meters
Show Channel OverviewShow Studio Sends 
						

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The Mixer
The View Options pop-up menu
Each channel strip in the Mixer features a View Options 
pop-up menu, which is used for two things:
•To determine what is shown in the extended panel for 
individual channels in the Mixer.
The corresponding options are only available when the extended Mixer 
view is open.
•To set the “Can Hide” status for individual channels in 
the Mixer, see below.
The View Options pop-up menu is opened by clicking the 
down arrow located just above the fader panel of a chan
-
nel strip.
Showing/hiding individual channels
Additionally to hiding or showing channel types via the 
common panel, you can show or hide individual channel 
strips. Proceed as follows:
1.Pull down the View Options pop-up menu for a chan-
nel that you want to hide and activate the “Can Hide” op-
tion (or [Alt]/[Option]-click in the top middle section of the 
channel strip). 
The “/” icon is shown if “Can Hide” is activated for a channel strip.
2.Repeat this for all the channels that you want to hide.
3.On the common panel, click the “Hide Channels set to 
‘Can Hide’” button.
This hides all channels set to “Can Hide”. To show them again, click the 
button again, or click the “Reveal All Channels” button at the bottom of 
the common panel.
Below the “Hide Channels set to ‘Can Hide’” button, there 
are three additional buttons. These have the following 
functionality:
About the Command Target
Command targets let you specify which channels are af-
fected by Mixer “commands” (all the functions that key 
commands can be assigned to), e.
 g. what to display in the 
extended Mixer, or the width setting of the channel strips. 
You can set command targets using the common panel or 
the context menu.
The Command Target Controls on the common panel
The following options are available:
• All Channels – Select this if you want your commands to af-
fect all channels.
• Selected Only – Select this if you want your commands to 
affect the selected channels only.
• Exclude Inputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the input channels.
• Exclude Outputs – Select this if you do not want your com-
mands to affect the output channels.
OptionDescription
Set Target Channels 
to ‘Can Hide’This activates “Can Hide” for all channels that you 
specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from Target ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all channels that 
you specified as “Command Targets”, see below.
Remove ‘Can Hide’ 
from All ChannelsThis deactivates “Can Hide” for all channels in the 
Mixer.
The orange color of this control on the common panel indi-
cates that all channels set to ‘Can Hide’ are hidden from view.