Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual

							Editing tempo and signature
The Beat Calculator
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The Beat Calculator
The Beat Calculator is a tool for calculating the tempo of freely recorded audio or 
MIDI material. It also allows you to set the tempo by tapping.
Calculating the tempo of a recording
PROCEDURE
1. In the Project window, make a selection that covers an exact number of beats 
of the recording.
2. Select “Beat Calculator…” from the Project menu.
The Beat Calculator window appears.
3. In the Beats field, enter the number of beats that the selection encompasses.
The corresponding tempo is calculated and displayed in the BPM field.
If you need to adjust the selection, you can go back to the Project window, leaving 
the Beat Calculator open.
To re-calculate the tempo after adjusting the selection, click Refresh.
4. You can also insert the calculated tempo into the tempo track by clicking one 
of the buttons in the lower left corner of the Beat Calculator window.
Clicking “At Tempo Track Start” will adjust the first tempo curve point, while “At 
Selection Start” will add a new tempo curve point at the selection’s start position, 
using the “Jump” curve type.
IMPORTANT
If fixed tempo mode is selected when you insert the calculated tempo, the fixed tempo 
will be adjusted, regardless of which button you click.
RELATED LINKS
Adding tempo curve points on page 904
Using Tap Tempo
The Tap Tempo function allows you to specify a tempo by tapping:
PROCEDURE
1. Open the Beat Calculator.
2. If you want to tap the tempo to some recorded material, activate playback. 
						

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Merge Tempo From Tapping (Cubase Pro only)
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3. Click the Tap Tempo button.
The Tap Tempo window appears.
4. Tap the tempo on the Spacebar of the computer keyboard or with the mouse 
button.
The tempo display will update the calculated tempo between each tap.
5. Click OK to close the Tap Tempo dialog.
The tapped tempo is now shown in the Beat Calculator’s BPM display. You can insert 
it into the tempo track as described above.
Merge Tempo From Tapping (Cubase Pro only)
This function allows you to create a complete tempo track based on your tapping. 
Typically, you would use this if you have an audio file with no tempo mapping and 
want to be able to add other material afterwards, etc.
PROCEDURE
1. Create an empty time-based MIDI track and, while playing back your audio 
material, tap the new tempo on your MIDI keyboard and record the created 
notes onto the new MIDI track.
Note that you must create note events – pedal events cannot be used for this 
function.
2. Play back the audio and check that the timing of the MIDI notes corresponds 
to that of the audio.
If necessary, edit the MIDI notes in an editor.
3. Select the MIDI part (or the individual notes in an editor) that you want to use 
for the calculation.
4. Select “Merge Tempo From Tapping” from the Functions submenu of the 
MIDI menu.
A dialog opens.
5. In the dialog, specify what type of note (1/2, 1/4, etc.) you tapped during the 
recording.
If you activate the “Begin at Bar Start” option, the first note will automatically start at 
the beginning of a bar when calculating the new tempo curve.
6. Click OK.
The project’s tempo is adjusted to the tapped notes. 
						

							Editing tempo and signature
The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only)
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7. Open the Project menu and select “Tempo Track” to check that the new 
tempo information is reflected in the tempo curve.
NOTE
Another way of creating a tempo map for freely recorded audio would be to use the 
Time Warp tool, see below.
The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only)
The Time Warp tool lets you adjust the tempo track so that “musical time-based” 
material (positions related to the tempo) matches “linear time-based” material 
(positions in time). Some typical applications:
• When you have recorded music (audio or MIDI) without tempo reference or 
metronome click, the Time Warp tool can be used for creating a tempo map 
that fits the recording (allowing you to rearrange or add other material).
• When you are creating music for a movie and want to match certain positions 
in the video with certain positions in the music.
The Time Warp tool makes use of the fact that tracks can be based on time 
positions (linear time base) or positions related to tempo (musical time base).
RELATED LINKS
Defining the Track Time Base on page 149
Basic procedure
You use the Time Warp tool to drag a musical position (a position in bars+beats 
format) to a certain position in time. This can be done in the Project window or in an 
editor, as described below. Here is the general procedure:
PROCEDURE
1. Make sure tempo track mode is active.
You cannot use the Time Warp tool in fixed tempo mode.
2. Select the Time Warp tool.
Bars+Beats format is automatically selected for the ruler in the active window, and 
the ruler is shown in brown.
3. Click in the window at a musical position and drag it so that it matches a 
position in the material you are editing
 – e. g. the start of an event, a certain 
“hit” within an audio event, a frame in a video clip, etc.
When you click with the Time Warp tool, it snaps to the grid in the window. 
						

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Dragging the start of the bar to the start of the audio event.
While you are dragging, the track(s) you are editing are temporarily switched to linear 
time base. This means that the contents of the tracks remain at the same time 
positions regardless of the tempo (there is an exception to this in the Project window, 
see below).
4. When you release the mouse button, the musical position you clicked on 
matches the time position you dragged it to.
This is because the Time Warp tool changed the last tempo event on the tempo track 
(and/or added new ones, depending on window and usage), thereby scaling the 
tempo track to fit.
Rules
• When you use the Time Warp tool, the tempo value of the last tempo event 
(before the click position) is adjusted.
• If later tempo events exist, a new tempo event will be created at the click 
position. This way, the later tempo event(s) will not be moved.
• When you click with the Time Warp tool, it snaps to the tempo grid in the 
window.
• When you drag the tempo grid to a new position, it can be magnetic to events 
in the window. 
In the Project window, this requires that Snap is activated and “Events” is 
selected on the Snap Type pop-up menu – the grid will then snap to the start 
and end o f e ven ts or  part s, an d to mar ke rs. In t he  Sample Edito r, th is re qu ire s 
that Snap is activated – the grid will then snap to hitpoints (if any). In the MIDI 
editors, this requires that Snap is activated – the grid will then snap to the 
start and end of notes.
• The function will create tempo values up to 300 bpm.
Viewing and adjusting tempo events
When you select the Time Warp tool, the ruler of the active window is shown in 
brown. Existing tempo events are shown in the ruler as “flags” with the tempo values 
displayed. 
						

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This helps you see what’s going on, but you can also use this for editing the tempo 
track:
• If you press the create/erase modifier key (by default [Shift]) and click on a 
tempo event in the ruler, it is deleted.
[Shift] is the default modifier for this – you can adjust this in the Preferences 
dialog (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).
• You can click on a tempo event in the ruler and drag to move it.
This automatically edits the tempo value in the event so that elements to the 
right keep their positions.
• If you press [Alt]/[Option] and move (or delete) a tempo event in the ruler, the 
tempo value is not adjusted – this means elements to the right will be moved.
This is the default modifier key for this – you can adjust it in the Preferences 
dialog (Editing–Tool Modifiers page).
Using the Time Warp tool in the Project window
In the Project window, there are two modes for the Time Warp tool. To select the 
desired option, click on the Time Warp tool and click again to open a context menu. 
The available options are:
•Warp Grid
This is the default mode. If you use it, all tracks are temporarily switched to 
linear time base. This means that all tracks will keep their absolute time 
positions when you adjust the tempo track.
• Warp Grid (musical events follow)
If you use this mode, no tracks are switched to linear time base. This means 
that all tracks that are not set to linear time base will follow the changes you 
make to the tempo track. 
						

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Matching a musical score to video
Here’s an example of how to use the Time Warp tool in “musical events follow” 
mode. Let’s say you are creating the music for a film. You have a video track, an 
audio track with a commentary and some audio and/or MIDI tracks with your music. 
Now you want to match the position of a musical cue to a position in a video film. 
The musical cue is located in bar 33. There are no tempo changes in the project 
(yet).
PROCEDURE
1. Make sure tempo track mode is selected on the Transport panel.
2. Now you need to locate the position in the video. If you do not need very high 
precision, you can simply locate it by looking at the thumbnails on the video 
track – otherwise you can pinpoint the exact position and add a marker to the 
marker track (to which you can snap later).
You can also make a note of the exact position and add an extra ruler track set to show 
the timecode (Cubase Pro only).
3. Make sure that the correct tracks are set to linear time base or musical time 
base, respectively.
In our example, we want the video track and the audio track with a commentary 
voice-over to be linear time-based (as well as the marker track, if used). All other 
tracks should be set to musical time base. You change this by clicking the time base 
button in the track list or Inspector.
Musical time base selected
Linear time base selected
4. Set up the Grid Type pop-up menu as desired.
When you click with the Time Warp tool, it snaps to the selected grid. In this case, 
you will find the musical cue at the start of bar 33, so we can set the grid to “Bar”.
Note that this affects the snapping to the ruler (tempo grid) when you click! In 
addition, the tool can be “magnetic” to events in the Project window when you drag 
– for this, you need to activate the Snap function, open the Snap Type pop-up menu, 
and select “Events”.
In our example, this would be useful if you created a marker at the desired position in 
the video – when you drag the grid (see below), it will snap to the marker.
5. Click on the Time Warp button and click again to open a pop-up menu.
6. Select the “Warp Grid (musical events follow)” mode. 
						

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The Time Warp tool (Cubase Pro only)
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7. Click in the event display at the start of bar 33 and drag to the desired position 
in the video.
As mentioned above, this can mean dragging to a position indicated by the 
thumbnails on the video track, to a marker on the marker track or to a time position on 
an additional ruler track (Cubase Pro only).
When you drag, the ruler is scaled – and the music tracks will follow.
8. Release the mouse button.
If you look in the ruler at the beginning of the project, you will see that the first (and 
only) tempo event has been adjusted.
9. Try playing back.
The musical cue should now happen at the correct position in the video.
Let’s say you need to match another cue to another position later on in the video. If 
you simply repeat this procedure, you will find that the first cue gets out of sync – 
since you are still changing the first (and only) tempo event on the tempo track!
You need to create a “lock point” – a tempo event at the first cue position:
10. Press [Shift] and click with the Time Warp tool in the event display at the cue 
position.
In our case, this is bar 33.
A tempo event (with the same value as the first one) is added at that position.
11. Now match the second musical cue to the correct video position by dragging 
the musical position to the desired time position as before.
The new tempo event is edited – the first tempo event is unaffected and the original 
cue is still matched.
If you know you are going to match several cues this way, make it a habit to press 
[Shift] each time you use the Time Warp tool to match positions.
This adds a new tempo event – that way, you do not have to add tempo events 
afterwards as described above. 
						

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About snapping
If Snap is activated in the Project window and “Events” is selected on the Snap 
Type pop-up menu, the Time Warp tool will be magnetic to events when you drag 
the tempo grid. This makes it easier to snap a tempo position to a marker, the start 
or end of an audio event, etc.
Using the Time Warp tool in an audio editor
Using the Time Warp tool in the Sample Editor or Audio Part Editor is different from 
using it in the Project window, in the following ways:
• When you use the Time Warp tool, a tempo event is automatically inserted at 
the beginning of the edited event or part. This tempo event will be adjusted 
when you warp the tempo grid with the tool.
This means that material before the edited events will not be affected.
• Only the default mode for the Time Warp tool is available.
This means that when you use the tool, the edited track is temporarily 
switched to linear time base.
Making a tempo map for a “free” recording
The following example shows how to use the Time Warp tool in the Sample Editor 
to create a tempo map matching freely recorded music. Let’s say you have recorded 
a drummer, playing without a metronome – this typically means the tempo varies 
ever so slightly. To be able to add more material and easily rearrange the recorded 
audio, you want the tempo in Cubase to match the recorded drum track:
PROCEDURE
1. If necessary, move the recorded event.
Move it so that the first downbeat (“one”) happens at the start of the bar – zoom in if 
needed.
2. Open the drum recording in the Sample Editor and make sure Hitpoint mode 
is not selected.
The Time Warp tool cannot be used in Hitpoint mode. However, if you have calculated 
hitpoints already, these will be visible when the Time Warp tool is selected (see 
below).
3. Set the zoom so that you can see the individual drum hits clearly.
To achieve this type of “visual” beat matching, it is important to have a fairly clean 
recording, such as the drum track in this example.
4. Select the Time Warp tool.
You have already matched the first downbeat with the start of a bar. However, if the 
recording starts before the first downbeat (with a fill, some silence, etc.), you want to 
“lock” the first downbeat so that it stays in position: 
						

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5. Press [Shift] and click in the event at the position of the first downbeat (the 
start of the bar).
When you press [Shift], the pointer turns into a pencil. Clicking adds a tempo event 
at the first downbeat – when you later adjust the tempo with the Time Warp tool, the 
first downbeat will stay in place. Note that if the event starts exactly on the first 
downbeat (no audio before the “one”), you do not need to do this. This is because a 
tempo event is automatically added at the start of the edited event.
6. Now, locate the start of the next bar in the ruler.
7. Click at that position in the event display and drag to the downbeat of the 
second bar in the recording.
When you click, the pointer will snap to the ruler grid.
By dragging the grid, you changed the tempo value in the tempo event at the first 
downbeat. If the drummer held a fairly consistent tempo, the following bars should 
now match pretty well, too.
8. Check the following bars and locate the first position where the audio drifts 
from the tempo.
Now, if you simply adjusted that beat in the tempo grid to match the beat in the 
recording, the tempo event at the first downbeat would be changed – this would ruin 
the match in the previous bars! We need to lock these by inserting a new tempo 
event.
9. Locate the last beat that is in sync.
This would be the beat just before the position where the audio and tempo drift apart.
10. Press [Shift] and click at that position to insert a tempo event there.
This locks this matched position. The material to the left will not be affected when you 
make adjustments further along.
11. Now match the tempo grid to the next (unmatched) beat by clicking and 
dragging with the Time Warp tool.
The tempo event you inserted in step 10 will be adjusted.
12. Work your way through the recording this way – when you find that the 
recording drifts from the tempo, repeat steps 9 to 11 above.
Now the tempo track follows the recording and you can add more material, rearrange 
the recording, etc.
Matching to hitpoints
If you have calculated hitpoints for the audio event you are editing, these will be 
shown when the Time Warp tool is selected.
• The number of hitpoints shown depends on the Hitpoint Sensitivity slider 
setting you have made in Hitpoint mode.
• If you activate the Snap to Zero Crossing button on the toolbar, the Time 
Warp tool will snap to hitpoints when you drag the tempo grid.
• You can use the Create Markers from Hitpoints function (on the Hitpoints 
submenu of the Audio menu) to create markers at the hitpoint positions. This 
can be useful when using the Time Warp tool in the Project window, as the 
tool will be magnetic to markers (if the Snap Type is set to Events). 
						

							Editing tempo and signature
Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only)
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Using the Time Warp tool in a MIDI editor
This is very similar to using the tool in an audio editor:
• When you use the Time Warp tool, a tempo event is automatically inserted at 
the beginning of the edited part – this tempo event will be adjusted when you 
warp the tempo grid with the tool. Material before the edited part will not be 
affected.
• Only the default mode for the Time Warp tool is available. So when you use 
the tool, the edited MIDI track is temporarily switched to linear time base.
• The rulers in the MIDI editors can be set to “Time Linear” or “Bars+Beats 
Linear” mode – the Time Warp tool requires Time Linear mode. If necessary, 
the ruler mode will be switched when you select the Time Warp tool.
• If Snap is activated on the toolbar in the MIDI editor, the tool will snap to the 
start and end of MIDI notes when you drag the tempo grid.
Typically, you would use the Time Warp tool in a MIDI editor to match the Cubase 
tempo to freely recorded MIDI material (much like the audio example above).
RELATED LINKS
Changing the Display Format for the Ruler on page 688
Tempo Detection (Cubase Pro only)
Cubase offers a powerful tempo detection algorithm that can be used on any 
rhythmic musical content, even if it has not been recorded to a metronome click 
and/or contains tempo drift. This feature serves two main purposes:
• Analyzing the tempo of freely recorded material so that other (audio or MIDI) 
tracks can follow this tempo.
• Adjusting freely recorded material to the project tempo, which can be fixed or 
variable.
Requirements
• The audio event or MIDI part has to be at least 7 seconds long.
• The material must have discernible beats or rhythms.
• Audio events must be set to musical mode.