Table of Contents

1 Description and overview What is Cubase SX? When was Cubase SX developed? Who can use Cubase SX? Why use Cubase SX? How do I use Cubase SX? The big picture. Brief preview. Patience, practice and understanding. 2 Setting up the system General computer requirements. Installation. System verification. Overall system setup. Summary. 3 First steps Recording in Cubase SX. Your first MIDI recording. Your first Audio recording. First impressions. Testing the controls 4 The Project window The Project window. The Project window tools. Autoscroll and snap functions. Split, divide, size and track colour functions. The ruler and the left and right locators. The Transport Panel. Track types. The Inspector. Using the tools. The Quick menu. Zoom functions in the Project window. Saving and opening details. Progress report. 5 MIDI recording What is MIDI? MIDI network details. Record modes for MIDI recording. MIDI recording in detail. MIDI cycle recording project 1 (Mix mode). MIDI cycle recording project 2 (Overwrite mode). MIDI cycle recording project 3 (Stacked mode). Combining techniques. Other MIDI recording techniques. Quantize. How do I include my MIDI recordings when I use Export/Audio Mixdown? 6 MIDI editing General features of the MIDI editors. General tips on using the MIDI editors. Key editor. Edit In-Place. The List editor. The Drum editor. Smart Moves. More about the MIDI menu. More about quantize. Quantize setup in detail. Advanced quantizing techniques. 7 Audio recording Digital audio and audio recording techniques. What bit resolution and sample rate should I use? Audio routing. Troubleshooting the recording process. Monitoring in Cubase SX. Record enable and monitor buttons in detail. Monitoring modes in detail. Latency. Record modes for audio recording. Audio recording strategies. Dropping in 'on the fly'. Audio recording in cycle mode. Practical audio recording projects in cycle mode. Audio events, audio clips and audio files. 8 Audio editing General audio editing techniques. The Audio Part editor. The Sample editor. Creative techniques using the Audio Part editor and Sample editor. Audio warping in the Sample editor. 9 Audio processing The processing options. What gets affected. Common buttons in the audio processing dialogues. The Process functions. Combination processing. Offline Process History. 10 The Pool The Pool window. The Pool columns. The Pool toolbar. The Pool Infoline. The Pool Search function. Getting to know the Pool. Archiving your Cubase SX projects. Switching to a new Project folder and making back-ups. Practical Pool techniques. Importing and exporting the Pool. 11 Mixing and EQ Preliminaries. What is mixing? Ten golden rules for recording and mixing. The Mixer. Mixing decisions. EQ Hot Zones. Mixing strategies. Mixer routing. Mixing down. Export/Audio Mixdown. Mixer moves. 12 Audio effects Plug-in formats and standards. Audio effects in theory. Filtering. Setting up audio effects in Cubase SX. Common GUI functions for audio effects. The supplied audio effects. Additional effects. Combination processing. Plug-in information. 13 Mastering What is mastering and what is a master? Mastering decisions. Mastering in Cubase SX. Mastering processing settings. Dithering. Recommended order of use of plug-ins for mastering. Downsampling issues. Quality control. Burning the CD. 14 MIDI effects The difference between MIDI effects and audio effects. Setting up MIDI effects in Cubase SX. Common graphical user Interface functions for MIDI effects. The supplied MIDI effects. How do I make the MIDI effects a permanent part of the data? MIDI effects combinations. 15 Automation Basic automation. Automation modes. Automating your mix. Step-by-step automation project. Creating snapshots of the mixer settings. What exactly can be automated? 16 Surround sound Demystifying surround sound. Common surround sound formats. Setting up the surround features in Cubase SX. Mixing surround sound. Using the surround panner plug-in. Exporting a surround sound mix. 17 VST Instruments What are VST Instruments? System requirements and performance issues. The supplied VST instruments. Installing third party developer VST instruments. Activating and using VST Instruments. VST instrument automation in Cubase SX. Converting VSTi tracks into regular audio tracks. The supplied VST Instruments. 18 The Tempo Track The Tempo Track editor toolbar. Exploring the Tempo Track editor. Time display format in the ruler. Why use tempo changes? Matching the tempo of Cubase SX to the tempo of a musical performance. 19 Synchronisation Bar-based synchronisation. Time-based synchronisation. Synchronisation in digital systems. The SMPTE Generator plug-in. Setting up synchronisation in Cubase SX. Practical synchronisation in Cubase SX. 20 Production tips and power tools 100 speed tips. Macro magic. Workspaces. 21 Recommended reading 22 Useful websites 23 Glossary Appendix 1 Computer hardware Appendix 2 MIDI messages Appendix 3 MIDI Controllers Appendix 4 General MIDI Index

About the Author

Simon Millward is a music software specialist and sound designer. He has a Master of Science degree in Music Technology from the University of York, UK. Originally trained as a musician and subsequently as a sound engineer, his interest in software sequencers and virtual studio instruments has established him as one of the UK's foremost Cubase experts.