TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! CUBASE® SX/SL 3 POWER! Q Q Q } Robert Guérin TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! CUBASE ® SX/SL 3 POWER! SVP, Thomson Course Technology PTR: Andy Shafran © 2005 by Thomson Course Technology PTR. All rights reserved. No part of this Publisher: Stacy L. Hiquet book may be reproduced or transmitted in Senior Marketing Manager: Sarah O’Donnell any form or by any means, electronic or Marketing Manager: Heather Hurley mechanical, including photocopying, Manager of Editorial Services: Heather Talbot recording, or by any information storage Senior Acquisitions Editor: Todd Jensen or retrieval system without written Senior Editor: Mark Garvey permission from Thomson Course Technology PTR, except for the inclusion Associate Marketing Manager: Kristin Eisenzopf of brief quotations in a review. Marketing Coordinator: Jordan Casey The Thomson Course Technology PTR logo Project Editor: Argosy Publishing and related trade dress are trademarks of Technical Reviewer: Greg Ondo Thomson Course Technology PTR and may PTR Editorial Services Coordinator: Elizabeth Furbish not be used without written permission. Copy Editor: Linda Seifert Interior Layout Tech: Argosy Publishing Cover Designer: Mike Tanamachi Indexer: Nancy Fulton Proofreader: Phyllis Coyne et al. CD Producer: Steve Albanese CD Authors: Colin MacQueen and David Young Cubase is a registered trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Important: Thomson Course Technology PTR cannot provide software support. Please contact the appropriate software manufacturer’s technical support line or Web site for assistance. Thomson Course Technology PTR and the author have attempted throughout this book to distinguish proprietary trademarks from descriptive terms by following the capitalization style used by the manufacturer. Information contained in this book has been obtained by Thomson Course Technology PTR from sources believed to be reliable. However, because of the possibility of human or mechanical error by our sources, Thomson Course Technology PTR, or others, the Publisher does not guarantee the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of any information and is not responsible for any errors or omissions or the results obtained from use of such information. Readers should be particularly aware of the fact that the Internet is an ever-changing entity. Some facts may have changed since this book went to press. Educational facilities, companies, and organizations interested in multiple copies or licensing of this book should contact the publisher for quantity discount information. Training manuals, CD-ROMs, and portions of this book are also available individually or can be tailored for Thomson Course Technology PTR, specific needs. a division of ISBN: 1-59200-537-3 Thomson Course Technology Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004114495 25 Thomson Place Printed in the United States of America Boston, MA 02210 04 05 06 07 08 BH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 http://www.courseptr.com TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! Dedication I would like to dedicate this book to my godfather, Jean Guérin, who lost the battle of his life a year ago, but will remain in our memories as a symbol of kindness and acceptance, tolerance and love. Acknowledgments Thank you Sang Hee, for all your support, wonderful meals, and back rubs when they were needed the most. I would like to give thanks to the following people for their help and support throughout the writing process, and for putting up with my caffeine-induced personality at times: Andy Shafran, for taking a chance; Stacy Hiquet, for keeping things running smoothly; Jenny Davidson and Todd Jensen, in Acquisitions at Thomson Course Technology PTR; and Kevin Sullivan of Argosy Publishing and Linda Seifert during the editing stages. To everyone I’ve contacted throughout the writing process, including Steinberg’s staff (Lars Baumann and Arnd Kaiser, as well as Greg Ondo who technically edited this revision): your help is appreciated and this book would not have been possible without your support. Merci à tous! About the Author Robert Guérin has been a composer for the past 14 years and a music enthusiast since 1976. He has worked on varied personal and commercial projects such as feature and short films, television themes, and educational and corporate videos. Composing, arranging, playing, recording, and mixing most of his material, he has developed working habits that allow him to be creative without losing a sense of efficiency. As a professor, Robert has put together several courses covering a wide range of topics, such as: computer software for musicians, digital audio technologies, sound on the Web, sound in multimedia productions, hard disk recording, and many more. He has been a program coordinator at Trebas Institute and a part-time professor at Vanier College, both in Montreal. Robert has developed online courses on sound integration in Web pages and has written articles for audio- and music-related online magazines. Robert is also the author of several books and CSi CD-ROMs from Course Technology, including Cubase® VST Power!, MIDI Power!, Sound Forge® 7 CSi Starter, and ACID® 5 CSi Starter, and co-author of Nuendo® Power! You can contact the author by visiting his personal site at zerodb.ca, through his book support site at www.wavedesigners.com, or by emailing him at [email protected]. iii Q Q Q TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! Contents at a Glance Introduction . .xvii 1. Introducing Cubase . .1 2. A Guided Tour of Cubase SX/SL 3 . .19 3. Getting Started . .47 4. Navigating the Project Window . .71 5. Working with Tracks . .97 6. Track Classes . .117 7. Recording MIDI and Audio . .153 8. MIDI Editing Windows . .177 9. Audio Editing . .207 10. Browsing and Processing Options . .237 11. Project Editing . .261 12. Mixer and Channel Settings . .289 13. Working with Automation . .315 14. Working in Sync . .337 15. Mixdown and Mastering . .365 16. Score Editing . .387 Appendix A. Using MIDI Effects . .417 Appendix B. Logical Editing . .433 Appendix C. Optimizing Through Customizing . .439 Appendix D. Surround Mixing in SX . .449 Appendix E. Cubase Resources on the Web . .459 Index . .463 iv Q Q Q TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! TABLE OF} Contents Introduction . xvii CHAPTER 1 Introducing Cubase . .1 What Is Cubase? . .1 A Brief Overview of MIDI . .3 What Does MIDI Transmit? . .3 MIDI Connectors . .4 A Brief Overview of Digital Audio . .7 What Is Analog Sound? . .7 What Is Digital Audio? . .9 How Sampling Works . .9 Connecting Cubase . .10 Audio Connections . .11 Audio Track . .12 Mixer Channels . .13 MIDI Ports . .14 MIDI Channel . .15 MIDI Track . .16 About 32-bit Recording . .16 CHAPTER 2 A Guided Tour of Cubase SX/SL 3 . .19 The Project Window . .20 Channels . .21 The Transport Panel . .24 The Devices Panel . .26 The Project Tools . .29 Marker Panel . .29 Tempo Track . .30 v Q Q Q TEAM LinG - Live, Informative, Non-cost and Genuine ! Browser Window . .31 Beat Calculator Panel . .31 Project Setup Dialog Box . .32 MIDI Windows . .33 MIDI Device Manager . .33 Key Editor and In-Place Editor . .34.