1 Description and overview

What is Cubase? When was Cubase developed? Who can use Cubase? Why use Cubase? How do I use Cubase? The big picture. Brief preview. Patience, practice and understanding.

2 Setting up the system

3 First steps

Project window basics. The Project window tools. Autoscroll and snap functions. Split, divide, size and track colour functions. The ruler and the left and right locators. Zoom and sizing functions. The Quick menu. The Transport Panel. Track types. Track presets. The Inspector. Using the tools. Saving and opening details. Progress report.

5 MIDI recording

MIDI basics. MIDI message types. MIDI channels. What MIDI is not. MIDI network details. Record modes for MIDI recording. MIDI recording in detail. MIDI linear recording. MIDI cycle recording. Combining techniques. Retrospective record. How do I include my MIDI recordings when I use Export/Audio Mixdown? Brief summary of MIDI recording techniques.

6 MIDI editing

General features of the MIDI editors. General tips for the MIDI editors. Key editor. Edit In-Place. The List editor. The Drum editor. Smart Moves. More about the MIDI menu. Quantize. Quantize Setup in detail. Advanced quantizing techniques.

7 Audio recording

Digital audio and audio recording techniques. The magic formula for making great sounding recordings? Audio routing. Troubleshooting the recording process. Monitoring in Cubase. Latency. Record modes for audio recording. Audio recording strategies. 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.

9 Audio processing

The processing options. What gets affected. Common buttons in the audio processing dialogues. The Processing functions. Combination processing. Offline Process History.

10 The Pool and Media Management System

The Pool window. The Pool columns. The Pool toolbar. The Pool Infoline. The Pool Search function. Getting to know the Pool. Archiving your Cubase projects. Switching to a new Project folder and making back-ups. Practical Pool techniques. Importing and exporting the Pool. The Media Management system.

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. The Control Room Mixer.

12 Audio effects

Plug-in formats and standards. Audio effects in theory. Filtering. Setting up audio effects in Cubase. Common GUI functions for audio effects. The supplied audio effects. Additional effects. Combination processing. Plug-ins from other developers. Plug-in information.

13 Mastering

What is mastering and what is a master? Mastering decisions. Mastering in Cubase. 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. 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. 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. Converting VSTi tracks into regular audio tracks. Exploring the supplied VST Instruments. Combining Cubase with applications from other developers. Summary and VST Instruments list.

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 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. Practical synchronisation in Cubase.

20 Production tips and power tools

100 tips. Macro magic. Workspaces.

21 Recommended reading

22 Useful websites

23 Glossary

Appendices