Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

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The MIDI editors
The independent track loop
The independent track loop is a sort of “mini-cycle”, affect-
ing only the MIDI part being edited. When the loop is acti-
vated, the MIDI events within the loop will be repeated 
continuously and completely independent – other events 
(on other tracks) will be played back as usual. The only “in
-
teraction” between the loop and the “regular playback” is 
that every time the cycle starts over again, so does the loop.
To set up the independent track loop, proceed as follows:
1.Activate the “Independent Track Loop” button on the 
toolbar.
If it is not visible, right-click the toolbar and add the Independent Track 
Loop Settings section – see “Using the Setup options” on page 534.
ÖIf you have previously set up a loop range in the Proj-
ect window, this is now hidden from the ruler in the MIDI 
editor.
2.Specify the length of the independent track loop by 
[Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking and [Alt]/[Option]-clicking in 
the ruler to set the start and end of the loop, respectively.
Alternatively, you can click and drag in the upper part of the ruler to move 
the locators to the desired positions.
The independent track loop is indicated in purple in the 
ruler. When the corresponding options are activated on 
the context menu, the track loop start and end are also 
displayed on the status line.
The MIDI events will be looped as long as the “Indepen-
dent Track Loop” button is activated and the MIDI editor is 
open.
•To turn the loop into actual MIDI notes, use the Repeat 
Loop function on the MIDI menu, see 
“Repeat Loop” on 
page 370.
Acoustic Feedback
If the Acoustic Feedback icon (speaker symbol) on the tool-
bar is activated, individual notes will automatically be played 
back (auditioned) when you move or transpose them, or 
when you create new notes by drawing. This makes it eas
-
ier to hear what you are doing.
In the Preferences dialog (MIDI page), you can specify 
whether the Acoustic Feedback function takes into account 
any MIDI sends or inserts used for the track. Activate the 
“Audition through MIDI Inserts/Sends” option if you want 
the layering of MIDI instruments (by MIDI sends) to be ac
-
tive within the MIDI editors as well. This way, the acoustic 
feedback of the editors sends the MIDI data not only to the 
output selected for the track, but additionally through any 
MIDI inserts and MIDI sends assigned to it. Note, however, 
that this also means that the MIDI events will be sent 
through any MIDI plug-ins assigned to this track.
Snap
The Snap function helps you find exact positions when 
editing in a MIDI editor. It does this by restricting horizon
-
tal movement and positioning to certain positions. Opera-
tions affected by snap include moving, duplicating, 
drawing, sizing, etc. The Snap function is described in de
-
tail in the section “The Snap function” on page 45.
•When the “Bars+Beats” display format is selected in 
the ruler, the snap grid is set by the quantize value on the 
toolbar.
This makes it possible to snap not only to straight note values but also to 
swing grids set up in the Quantize Panel (see 
“The Quantize Panel” on page 111).
When any of the other display formats is selected in the 
ruler, positioning is restricted to the displayed grid, i.
 e. you 
can snap in finer increments by zooming in, and in coarser 
increments by zooming out. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Coloring notes and events
By using the Event Colors pop-up menu on the toolbar, 
you can select a color scheme for the events in the editor. 
The following options are available:
For all of the options except “Part” the pop-up menu also 
contains a “Setup…” option. This option opens a dialog in 
which you can specify the colors that are associated with 
which velocities, pitches, or channels, respectively.
Creating and editing notes
To draw in new notes in the Key Editor, use the Pencil tool 
or the Line tool.
Drawing notes with the Pencil tool
With the Pencil tool, you can insert single notes by clicking 
at the desired time (horizontal) and pitch position (vertical).
•When you move the pointer in the note display, its bar 
position is indicated on the status line, and its pitch is indi
-
cated both on the status line and on the piano keyboard to 
the left.
This makes it easy to find the right note and insert position. For a descrip-tion of how to show the status line, see “The status line” on page 378.
•If Snap is activated, this determines the start position of 
the created note.
•If you click once, the created note will have the length 
set on the Length Quantize pop-up menu on the toolbar.
You can create a longer note by clicking and dragging. The length of the 
created note will be a multiple of the Length Quantize value. If “Length 
Quantize” is set to “Quantize Link” the note value is determined by the 
quantize grid.
Drawing notes with the Line tool
The Line tool can be used for creating series of contiguous 
notes. To do so, click and drag to draw a line and then re
-
lease the mouse button.
OptionDescription
VelocityThe notes get different colors depending on their velocity 
values.
PitchThe notes get different colors depending on their pitch.
ChannelThe notes get different colors depending on their MIDI 
channel value.
PartThe notes get the same color as their respective part in 
the Project window. Use this option when you are work-ing with two or more tracks in an editor, to make it easier 
to see which notes belong to which track.
Grid MatchThe notes get different colors depending on their time 
position. For example, this mode makes it easy to see if 
the notes in a chord start at the exact same beat.
Sound Slot 
(Cubase only)The notes get different colors depending on the articula-tion that has been assigned to the note in the Expression 
Map Setup dialog. For more information, see the chapter 
“Expression maps (Cubase only)” on page 419. 
						

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The MIDI editors
ÖTo determine another mode for the Line tool you can 
click on the Line tool and click again to open a pop-up 
menu where you can select the desired option.
The button will change appearance according to the se-
lected mode.
Setting velocity values
When you draw notes in the Key Editor, the notes will get 
the velocity value set in the Insert Velocity field on the tool
-
bar.
You can use different methods to set the velocity:
•When a tool modifier is assigned for the Select tool–
Edit Velocity action (in the Preferences dialog, Editing–
Tool Modifiers page), you can select one or more notes, 
press the modifier and click on one of the selected notes 
to change the velocity. 
The cursor changes into a speaker and, next to the note, a field with the ve-
locity value appears – the Note Velocity slider. Move the mouse pointer up 
or down to change the value. Value changes will be applied to all selected 
notes, as you can see in the controller lane. 
•Selecting a predefined velocity value from the Insert Ve-
locity pop-up menu.
The menu contains five different predefined velocity values. The “Setup…” 
item opens a dialog that allows you to specify which five velocity values are 
available on the pop-up menu. (This dialog can also be opened by select
-ing “Insert Velocities…” from the MIDI menu.)
•Manually entering the desired velocity value by double-
clicking in the Insert Velocity field and typing in the desired 
value.
•Using a key command.
You can assign a key command to each of the five available velocity val-
ues in the Key Commands dialog (MIDI category – the items Insert Ve-locity 1–5). This allows for quick switching between different velocity 
values when entering notes. See 
“Setting up key commands” on page 
542 for instructions on how to set up key commands.
Selecting notes
Selecting notes is done using any of the following methods:
•Using the Arrow tool.
The standard selection techniques apply.
•Using the Select submenu of the Edit menu or context 
menu.
The Select menu options are:
ModeDescription
LineThis is the default mode for the Line tool. When this mode 
is selected, you click and drag to create a straight line, in 
any angle. When you release the mouse button a series 
of notes will be created, aligned with the line. If Snap is 
activated, the notes will be spaced and sized according 
to the Quantize value.
Parabola, Sine, 
Triangle, 
SquareThese modes insert events along different curve shapes. 
While they can be used for creating notes, they are prob-ably best suited for controller editing (see “Adding and editing events in the controller display” on page 390).
PaintAllows you to insert multiple notes by dragging with the 
mouse button pressed. If Snap is activated, the notes will 
be positioned and sized according to the Quantize and 
Length Quantize values. If you press [Ctrl]/[Command] 
while painting, movement will be restricted to horizontal 
(i.
 e. the painted notes will have the same pitch).
OptionDescription
AllSelects all notes in the edited part.
NoneDeselects all events.
InvertInverts the selection – all selected events are deselected 
and all notes that were not selected are selected instead.
In LoopSelects all notes that are partially or completely inside the 
boundaries of the left and right locators (only visible if lo-cators are set).
From Start  to CursorSelects all notes that begin to the left of the project cursor.
From Cursor  to EndSelects all notes that end to the right of the project cursor.
Equal Pitch –  all OctavesThis function requires that a single note is selected. It se-lects all notes of this part that have the same pitch (in any 
octave) as the currently selected note. 
						

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The MIDI editors
•To step from one note to another, use the left and right 
arrow keys on the computer keyboard.
If you press [Shift] and use the arrow keys, the current selection will be 
kept, allowing you to select several notes.
•To select all notes of a certain pitch, press [Ctrl]/[Com-
mand] and click on the desired key in the keyboard display 
to the left.
•To select all the following notes of the same pitch, you 
can press [Shift] and double-click on a note. 
ÖIf the “Auto Select Events under Cursor” option is acti-
vated in the Preferences dialog (Editing page), all notes 
“touched” by the project cursor are automatically selected.
Toggle selections
If you want to toggle the selected elements within a selec-
tion rectangle, press [Ctrl]/[Command] and enclose the 
same elements within a new selection rectangle. Once 
you release the mouse button, the previous selection is 
deselected and vice versa.
Selecting controllers within the note range
You can select the controllers within the range of the se-
lected notes. The following applies:
•When the Auto Select Controllers button is activated 
on the toolbar, the controllers will always be selected 
when the respective notes are selected.
•When you select “Select Controllers in Note Range” on 
the Select submenu of the Edit menu, the controllers within 
the note range (i.
 e. between the first/leftmost and last/right-
most note) will be selected.
Please note that for this to work, only two notes have to be selected.
•A note range lasts until the start of the next note or the 
end of the part. 
•Selected controllers for notes are moved when the cor-
responding notes are moved.
Moving and transposing notes
To move notes in the editor, use any of the following me-
thods:
•Select the notes and use the buttons on the Transpose 
Palette on the toolbar.
•Click and drag to a new position.
All selected notes will be moved, maintaining their relative positions. If 
Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can move the 
notes, see 
“Snap” on page 381.
•Use the up and down arrow keys on the computer key-
board.
This method allows you to transpose the selected notes, without risking to 
move them horizontally. Note that pressing [Shift] and using the up and 
down arrow keys will transpose notes in steps of one octave. 
 Transpose is also affected by the global transpose setting, see “The trans-
pose functions” on page 131. 
ÖYou can also use the Transpose function on the MIDI 
menu (see 
“Transpose” on page 367).
•Use the Move to Cursor function on the Edit menu.
This moves the selected notes to the project cursor position.
•Select a note and adjust its position or pitch on the info 
line, see 
“Editing on the info line” on page 386.
•Use the Move buttons in the Nudge palette on the tool-
bar.
This moves the selected note(s) by the amount set on the Quantize pop-
up menu. By default, the Nudge palette is not shown on the toolbar. How 
to show/hide toolbar items is described in the section 
“Using the Setup 
options” on page 534.
Equal Pitch –  same OctaveAs above, but selects notes of the exact same pitch only 
(same octave).
Select Con-trollers in Note 
RangeSelects the MIDI controller data within range of the se-lected notes, see below.
Option Description
All notes of the cor-
responding pitch are 
selected.
!You can restrict movement to horizontal or vertical by 
holding down [Ctrl]/[Command] while dragging. 
						

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The MIDI editors
ÖWhen you move selected notes to a different position, 
any selected controllers for these notes will move accord
-
ingly. For further information, see also “Moving events” on 
page 392.
ÖYou can also adjust the position of notes by quantizing 
(see 
“Quantizing MIDI and audio” on page 108).
Duplicating and repeating notes
Notes are duplicated much in the same way as events in 
the Project window:
•Hold down [Alt]/[Option] and drag the note(s) to a new 
position.
If Snap is activated, this determines to which positions you can copy 
notes (see 
“Snap” on page 381).
•Selecting Duplicate from the Functions submenu on the 
Edit menu creates a copy of the selected note and places 
it directly after the original.
If several notes are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, main-taining the relative distance between the notes.
•Selecting “Repeat…” from the Functions submenu on 
the Edit menu opens a dialog, allowing you to create a 
number of copies of the selected note(s).
This works like the Duplicate function, but you can specify the number of 
copies.
•You can also perform the Repeat function by dragging: 
Select the note(s) to repeat, press [Alt]/[Option], click the 
right edge of the last selected note and drag to the right.
The longer to the right you drag, the more copies are created (as indicated 
by the tooltip).
Using cut and paste
You can use the Cut, Copy and Paste options on the Edit 
menu to move or copy material within a part or between 
different parts. When you paste copied notes, you can ei
-
ther use the regular Paste function or the function “Paste 
Time” from the Range submenu of the Edit menu.
•“Paste” inserts the copied notes at the project cursor 
position without affecting existing notes.
•“Paste Time” inserts at the project cursor position, but 
moves (and if necessary, splits) existing notes to make 
room for the pasted notes.
Resizing notes
To resize a note, use one of the following methods:
•Position the Arrow tool at the start or end of the note, so 
that the pointer takes on the shape of a small double ar
-
row. Click and drag to the left or right to resize the note.
This method allows you to resize the note from either direction.
•If you want to apply time-stretching to the controller 
(and Note Expression data, Cubase only) associated with 
the note that you resize, you can select the “Sizing Applies 
Time Stretch” mode for the Arrow tool before resizing the 
note.
This resizing mode works exactly as in the Project window, see “Resizing events using time stretch” on page 64.
•Click with the Pencil tool within the note box and drag 
to the left or the right (to make the note shorter or longer, 
respectively).
With these methods, the resulting length will be a multiple 
of the Length Quantize value on the toolbar.
•Use the Trim Start/End buttons on the Nudge palette on 
the toolbar.
This resizes the selected note(s) by moving their start or end positions, in 
steps according to the Length Quantize value on the toolbar. By default, 
the Nudge palette is not shown on the toolbar – see 
“Using the Setup options” on page 534 for more information.
•Select the note and adjust its length on the info line.
See “Editing on the info line” on page 386 for details on info line editing.
•Use the Trim tool, see “Using the Trim tool” on page 380.
Selecting “Paste Time” with this data on the clipboard 
and the project cursor here…
…will give you this. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Splitting notes
There are three ways to split notes:
•Clicking on a note with the Scissors tool splits the note 
at the position you pointed (taking the Snap setting into 
account if activated).
If several notes are selected, they are all split at the same position.
•If you select “Split at Cursor” from the Functions sub-
menu on the Edit menu, all notes that are intersected by 
the project cursor are split at the cursor position.
•If you select “Split Loop” from the Functions submenu 
on the Edit menu, all notes that are intersected by the left 
or right locator are split at the locator positions.
Gluing notes
Clicking on a note with the Glue Tube tool will “glue it to-
gether” with the next note of the same pitch. The result will 
be one long note spanning from the start of the first note 
to the end of the second note and with the properties (ve
-
locity, etc.) of the first note.
Muting notes
Individual notes can be muted in the Key Editor, as op-
posed to muting an entire MIDI part in the Project window. 
This allows you to exclude notes from playback, but keep 
the option to bring them back again at any time. To mute a 
note, use one of the following methods:
•Click on it with the Mute tool.
•Drag a rectangle with the Mute tool, enclosing all notes 
you want to mute.
•Select the note(s) and choose Mute from the Edit menu. 
The default key command for this is [Shift]-[M].
Muted notes are “dimmed” in the note display.
•To unmute a note, either click it or enclose it with the 
Mute tool, or select it and choose Unmute from the Edit 
menu.
The default key command for this is [Shift]-[U].
Deleting notes
To delete notes, either click on them with the Erase tool or 
select them and press [Backspace].
Editing on the info line
The info line shows the values and properties of the se-
lected events. If a single event is selected, its values are 
displayed on the info line. If several events are selected, 
the info line shows the values of the first of these events 
(in color).
You can edit the values on the info line using regular value 
editing. This allows you to move, resize, transpose or 
change velocity of events in a very precise manner. It is 
also possible to click in the Pitch or Velocity field in the 
info line and play a note on your MIDI keyboard – the pitch 
or velocity will be adjusted accordingly.
•If you have several events selected and change a value, 
all selected events will be changed by the set amount.
•If you have several events selected and change a value 
holding down [Ctrl]/[Command], the change will be abso
-
lute. In other words, the value setting will be the same for 
all selected events.
ÖCubase only: If the Note Expression editor is open and 
you have selected values on a curve, the info line shows 
values belonging to the corresponding Note Expression 
parameter. 
						

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The MIDI editors
How the Key Editor handles drum maps
When a drum map is assigned to a MIDI or instrument 
track (see 
“Working with drum maps” on page 400), the 
Key Editor will display the drum sound names as defined 
by the drum map. 
In Cubase, the name of the drum sound is displayed in the 
following locations:
This allows you to use the Key Editor for drum editing, e. g. 
when editing drum note lengths (which may be necessary 
for some external instruments) or when editing several 
parts, to identify drum events.
How the Key Editor handles expression maps 
(Cubase only)
When an expression map is assigned to a MIDI track, the 
musical articulations defined for that map are displayed in 
the following locations of the Key Editor:
For more information, see the chapter “Expression maps 
(Cubase only)” on page 419.
Note Expression data in the Key Editor 
(Cubase only)
The Key Editor is the main editor for working with Note Ex-
pression. This functionality is described in detail in the 
chapter 
“Note Expression (Cubase only)” on page 428.
Editing notes via MIDI
You can change the properties of notes via MIDI. For ex-
ample, this can be a fast way to get the right velocity value, 
since you will hear the result even as you edit:
1.Select the note you want to edit.
2.Click the MIDI Input button on the toolbar to enable 
editing via MIDI.
On the info line, in the 
Pitch field
In the event itself (provided that 
the zoom factor is high enough)
When dragging a note On the status line, in the 
Mouse Note Position field
On the info line
In the event itself if the vertical zoom factor 
is high enough On the controller 
lane 
						

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The MIDI editors
3.Use the note buttons on the toolbar to decide which 
properties are changed by the MIDI input.
You can enable editing of pitch, note-on and/or note-off velocity.
With this setting, the edited notes will get the pitch and velocity values 
of the notes input via MIDI, but the note-off velocities will be kept as 
they are.
4.Play a note on your MIDI instrument.
The note selected in the editor will get the pitch, velocity and/or note-off 
velocity of the played note.
The next note in the edited part is automatically selected, 
making it easy to quickly edit a series of notes.
•If you want another try, select the note again (e. g. by 
pressing the left arrow key on the computer keyboard) and 
again play a note on your MIDI instrument.
Step input
Step input, or step recording, is when you enter notes one 
at a time (or one chord at a time) without worrying about 
the exact timing. This is useful, for example, when you 
know the part you want to record but are not able to play it 
exactly as you want it.
Proceed as follows:
1.Click the Step Input button on the toolbar to activate 
Step Input mode.
2.Use the note buttons to the right to decide which 
properties are included when you input the notes.
For example, you may not want to include the velocity and/or note-off ve-locity of the played notes. It is also possible to turn off the pitch property, 
in which case all notes will get the pitch C3, no matter what you play.
3.Click anywhere in the note display to set the start po-
sition (the desired position of the first note or chord).
The step input position is shown as a blue line in the note display.
4.Specify the desired note spacing and length with the 
Quantize and Length Quantize pop-up menus.
The notes you input will be positioned according to the Quantize value 
and have the length set with the Length Quantize value. For instance, if 
you set Quantize to 1/8 notes and Length Quantize to 1/16 notes, the 
notes will be sixteenth notes, appearing on each eighth note position
ÖIf “Length Quantize” is set to “Quantize Link” the note 
length is also determined by the Quantize value.
5.Play the first note or chord on your MIDI instrument.
The note or chord appears in the editor and the step input position ad-
vances one quantize value step.
ÖIf Move Insert Mode is activated, all notes to the right 
of the step input position will be moved to “make room” for 
the inserted note or chord.
Move Insert Mode is activated.
6.Continue in the same way with the rest of the notes or 
chords.
You can adjust the Quantize or Length Quantize value as you go along, 
to change the timing or note lengths. You can also move the step input 
position manually by clicking anywhere in the note display.
•To insert a “rest”, press the right arrow key on the com-
puter keyboard.
This advances the step input position one step.
7.When you are done, click the Step Input button again 
to deactivate step input.
Using the controller display
By default, the controller display has a single lane, show-
ing one event type at a time. However, you can add as 
many lanes as you need. The use of several controller 
lanes allows you to view and edit different controllers at 
the same time. 
						

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The MIDI editors
Each MIDI track has its own controller lane setup (number 
of lanes and selected event types). When you create new 
tracks, they get the controller lane setup used last.
The controller display with three lanes
•To add a lane, click the “+” button or open the “Control-
ler Selection and Functions” pop-up menu and select 
“Create Controller Lane”.
•To remove a lane, open the “Controller Selection and 
Functions” pop-up menu and select “Remove this Lane”.
This hides the lane from view – it does not affect the events in any way.
ÖIf you remove all lanes, the controller display will be 
completely hidden. You can bring it back by clicking the 
“Create Controller Lane” button.
Instead of adding and removing single lanes, you can also 
show/hide multiple lanes using the “Controller Lane 
Setup” pop-up menu:
•“Show/Hide Controller Lanes” allows you to hide all 
controller lanes from view, giving you more space for view
-
ing and editing the MIDI notes. When you select this op-
tion again, your previous lanes setup is restored.
•“Velocity Only” resets the controller display to show 
only the Velocity lane.
•“Show Used Controllers” allows you to automatically 
show all controller lanes with controller data.
Selecting the event type
Each controller lane shows one event type at a time. To 
select which type is displayed, use the “Controller Selec
-
tion and Functions” pop-up menu to the left of the lane.
Setting up the available continuous controllers
In the MIDI Controller Setup dialog you can specify which 
continuous controllers are available for selection. Proceed 
as follows:
1.Open the “Controller Selection and Functions” pop-
up menu and select “Setup…”.
The MIDI Controller Setup dialog opens.
2.Move all the controllers that you need to the list on the 
left and move the controllers that you do not need to the 
list on the right. 
						

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The MIDI editors
3.Click OK.
Controller lane presets
Once you have added the required number of controller 
lanes and selected the event types you need, you can 
store this combination as a controller lane preset. For ex
-
ample, you can have a preset with one velocity lane only, 
another with a combination of velocity, pitchbend and 
modulation, and so on. This can make working with con
-
trollers much quicker.
Controller lane presets are organized via the “Controller 
Lane Setup” pop-up menu.
The following options are available:
•To add the current controller lane setup as a preset, se-
lect “Add Preset…” on the pop-up menu.
A dialog opens, where you can enter a name for the preset.
•To apply a stored preset, select it from the pop-up 
menu.
This immediately brings up the controller lanes and event types in the 
preset.
•To remove or rename presets, select “Organize…” from 
the pop-up menu.
Entering and editing controller events
Editing the events in the controller display is much like ed-
iting automation data on an automation track in the Project 
window (except for velocity values and articulations, see 
“Editing velocity values” on page 393 and “Editing articu-
lations (Cubase only)” on page 394).
All controller values can be edited with the Pencil or the 
Line tool. If you have selected more than one controller 
event on a controller lane, the controller lane editor is dis
-
played, see “Working with selection ranges” on page 395.
•To select all events on a controller lane, open the “Con-
troller Lane Setup” pop-up menu and choose the “Select 
all Controller Events” option.
Adding and editing events in the controller display
When any option other than “Velocity” is selected for a 
controller lane, you can create new events or edit the val
-
ues of existing events using the Pencil tool or the Line tool 
in its various modes:
•To create a new event, click with the Pencil tool or the 
Line tool.
•To modify the values of existing events, press [Alt]/[Op-
tion] and use the Pencil tool or the Line tool.
No new controller events are added in this mode.
You can click and drag to change or add multiple events, 
draw controller curves, etc:
ÖWith the Pencil tool and the Line tool in Paint mode, the 
quantize value determines the “density” of created control
-
ler curves (if Snap is activated, see “Snap” on page 381). 
For very smooth curves, use a small quantize value or turn 
off Snap. However, this will create a very large number of 
MIDI events, which can cause MIDI playback to “stutter” in 
some situations. A medium-low density is often sufficient.
!The MIDI Controller Setup dialog can be opened 
from different areas in the program. The settings are 
global, i.
 e. the setup you choose here affects all ar-
eas of the program where MIDI controllers can be 
selected.
When you move the pointer in the controller lane, the corresponding 
value is displayed in this field.