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Cubase Tips - Tooled-Up

Do you know Cubase's editing tools inside and out? If not, read on
for some handy tips that'll make your life easier..

One of the reasons Cubase has remained so popular must be its inherent flexibility. As the old saying goes, there
is more than one way to skin a cat - and that, metaphorically at least, is exactly what Cubase allows for. There are
many ways of achieving the same result tucked away within Cubase. Which method to use is largely down to the
user's personal preferences, but there's also an element of 'horses for courses' involved too.
The best way to know what method to use in what situation is to know what tools are available and what they
actually do. So without further ado (and before I start rolling out some more of my Granny's old sayings) let's take
a look at Cubase's various tools.
The Toolbox
As you will no doubt be aware, right-clicking in a window opens up a toolbox (For Mac users, it's [option]+click, or
go to the tools menu). The majority of Cubase's windows have their own set of tools available for quick and easy
editing, some of which are found in all the editors and some which are exclusive to only one. Most of the tools also
have modifiers, accessed by holding down combinations of the shift, control and alt keys (command, control and
shift on a Mac - but not necessarily in that order!). Here's a rundown of what each tool does...
Common tools
1. The Pointer. This is the most-used tool. Use it for selecting parts or events, either by clicking on-screen items or
'rubber banding' groups of objects. Holding down Shift allows you to add or remove an item from the selection.
Clicking and holding on an item or group of items turns the pointer into a hand and allows you to move the item
freely around the screen. Hold down the Alt key before clicking and dragging to create a copy of the item. In the
Arrange window, hold down Control when moving an item to create a ghost copy of a part (more on ghost parts
later).
2. The Pencil. This tool is mainly used for creating and re-sizing items. The items can be parts in the Arrange
window or events in the List and Key editors. To create an item, simply click and drag at the desired location in
your song. In the Key and List editors, using combinations of the Shift and Control keys creates notes with varying
velocity. There are four values of velocity that can be entered in this way, from 32 (Control and Shift keys held) to
127 (no keys held).
To resize an item, select a pre-existing item with the Pointer, change to the Pencil, click on the selected item and
drag it to the new size. In the Key and List editors it's possible to re-size more than one event at a time. Using the
Pointer again, select the notes to be edited, switch to the Pencil, click on to one of the selected events and drag it
to the new size. All the other items selected are stretched or shortened by the same amount. Holding down the
Control key while doing this will force all selected parts to the same size.
Back in the Arrange window, there are some more handy little shortcuts to be had from the Pencil. You can 'drag
out' copies of a part by holding down Alt, clicking on the part to be copied and dragging - the part will be copied
repeatedly to fill the selection. Doing the same thing with the Control key held down will drag out ghost copies of a
part.
3. The Eraser. This does exactly what it says on the tin. Use it to delete items by clicking on them or moving
across them while holding down the mouse button. But you didn't really need me to tell you that, now did you?
4. The Magnifying Glass. This is really more of an audition tool than anything else. In the Arrange window, clicking
a part with the Magnifying Glass changes the part's appearance to represent the events it contains Moving the
mouse while keeping the button pressed then plays any events that the Magnifying Glass passes over. In the Edit
windows, the Magnifying Glass simply plays the event it is clicked on.
Arrange window tools

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5. The Q Match tool. This Arrange window tool is exceptionally useful, especially when dealing with drum and
other rhythmic parts. Using this tool always involves two parts: a reference and a target. You simply select the Q
Match tool, then drag the reference part and drop it on top of the target. The idea behind what this does is simple:
to match the feel of the target part with that of the reference part.
Let's say we had a two-bar unquantised hi-hat part. Now let's say that we had programmed a kick and snare
pattern that had a slightly different feel. Now, the aim here is to match the feel (i.e. the bar positions of the events)
of the kick and snare with that of the hi-hat part. In the arrange window, drag the hi-hat part onto the kick and
snare part. A dialog box will pop up to ask if you want to include the accents (the velocities of the hi-hat part) - the
options are self-explanatory. That done, and all being well, the result should be as tight as a gnat's chuff. So to
speak.
There is a little more to it than this, as the quantisation setting does come into play, but we shall cover that when
we take a look at all of the quantisation methods in a future instalment.
6. The Mute tool. Use this tool to mute individual parts within an arrangement. That's it - there's nothing more to
be said about it. Move along, now.
7. The Scissors. This tool is used for cutting a part into segments. In normal use, the Scissors simply create a split
in a part at the point at which the Scissors are used. However, holding down the Alt key before clicking on a part
creates splits along the full duration of a part. Each new cut has the same length as that of the first cut.
8. The Glue. The opposite of the Scissors tool. Clicking on a part with the Glue tool merges it with the following
part on the same track, creating a single, longer part. The two parts in question do not have to be next to each
other, as any space in between them is included in the new part. Holding down Alt when using the Glue tool will
merge all parts from the selected part to the last part in the arrangement.
Editor tools
9. The Crosshair (a.k.a. the Compass).
This is probably the most versatile tool in Cubase's armoury. Its function not only varies with which window you
are using, but also with what area of the window you are using it in. Let's start by looking at its function in the Key
editor as this is where it is most useful, and has the most modifications.
As an example, consider an E major chord as voiced on a guitar. Using the crosshair to click and drag a line that
slopes from top left to bottom right adjusts the lengths of all the notes to follow this line. Doing a similar thing with
the Alt key held down adjusts the start points while still keeping the note ends in their original positions. Hopefully,
it will be clear at this point why I used a guitar -voiced chord - the crosshair is perfect for creating a strummed
effect.
Holding down the Control key when using the crosshair allows you to move either the start or end points of an
event or group of events. Using the tool on the left half of a note moves the start point without affecting the end
point; using the tool on the right half alters the end point without affecting the start.
The crosshair can also be used to edit data in the controller portion of the Edit window. Its operation here varies
depending upon what type of controller information you are editing, but the following general rules apply: using the
tool with no extra keys held down simply alters any existing data to follow the line drawn, for example ramping
velocities.
However, in the case of a MIDI continuous controller message, such as volume, there is not necessarily any
volume data to edit (the volume stays at whatever level its last message told it to be - it doesn't have a continuous
stream of 'volume=112' messages). To get around this, simply hold down the Alt key while drawing the desired
fade (or filter sweep or whatever). Now Cubase will create a series of controller messages to match the desired
line, their spacing being determined by the Editors' 'snap' setting.
10. The Brush. This tool is used for creating large numbers of events quickly and easily. In the Key and Drum Edit
windows, clicking and dragging the Brush on the screen creates a line of notes whose length is defined by the
current quantise value, and separation by the current snap value. Combinations of the shift and control keys
create different note velocities, in the same way as they do with the Pencil tool.
You will notice that notes are only drawn in a horizontal line from the point of your initial click. Holding down Alt
enables you to 'paint' events anywhere you want. In the List editor the Brush performs the same operation, but
can be used to create any type of MIDI message, with the message type being defined by the 'ins.' setting at the
top of the List Edit window. We shall cover this in more detail when we take a closer look at the Editors.

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11. The Kickers. These two tools are used for nudging events earlier (to the left) or later (to the right) in a part.
The amount an event is nudged by is defined by the editor's snap value.
12. The Drumstick. This tool, exclusive to the Drum editor, is used, rather unsurprisingly, to create events on the
drum grid. Using the shift and control keys while entering notes adjusts the note's velocity (the velocity values that
are created are defined for each individual instrument in the drum editor). Notes in the Drum editor only appear as
individual hits with no note length. The notes entered with the drumstick do indeed have a length value attached to
them, but normally this isn't important, as most synths' drum kit patches are set simply to trigger on an incoming
note on message and ignore the note length. If, however, you need to enter longer notes, then these longer
lengths can also be set on a
per-instrument basis.

Adam Crute The Mix 05/00

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