Menu Reference

Revision and Quality Control:

Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part
of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement
and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica-
tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission
by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
All product and company names are ™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners. Windows XP is a trademark of
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are registered trademarks.
Release Date: June 30, 2009
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2009.
All rights reserved.
 1
Menu Reference
Introduction File menu
This manual lists all main menu items in Cubase Essential New Project…
for quick reference. For any further information, please re-
fer to the Operation Manual. This item allows you to create a new untitled project. A list
appears, allowing you to select an empty project or a
project template. The factory templates are preconfigured
Cubase Essential menu setups to suit various types of projects. A project can be
(Mac OS X only) saved as a template, and will then appear on this list.
After making a selection, a project file dialog appears, al-
About Cubase Essential lowing you to specify a folder where all files relating to the
Opens a window with information about the Cubase Es- new project will be stored. Select an existing folder or
sential version number etc. click the Create button to create a new folder.

Preferences… Open…
The Preferences dialog contains several pages with set- This item opens a file dialog allowing you to locate and
tings and options affecting, for example, the general pro- open saved project files. Cubase Essential Project files
gram behavior. You access the pages by selecting items have the extension “.cpr”. Several projects can be open at
in the list on the left. To make settings without closing the the same time, but only one can be active. The active
dialog use the Apply button. project is indicated by a blue button at the top left corner
of the Project window.
Use the Help button in the dialog for information about the
items on the selected page.
Close
Quit Closes the active window. If the Project window is active,
the corresponding project will be closed.
Quits the program. If there are any unsaved changes in an
open project, you will have the option of keeping these or
discarding them before the program quits.
Save
Saves any changes made to the project since you last
saved. The Save command stores the project under its
current name and location.

Save As…
Save As allows you to specify a new name and a new
project folder for the project.

Back up Project…
This item allows you to save the project into a new empty
folder. It has some additional features that can be used for
backup purposes.
When you back up a project, all files relating to the project
based on the options set will be saved in the new project
folder. The contents of the original project folder will be
left untouched. If you are absolutely certain that you do not

4
Menu Reference
have any further need for the unused files and/or the video Export
files from the original project, you can exclude them from
Option Description
the backup version.
MIDI File… Allows you to export MIDI tracks as standard MIDI files.

Save as Template… MIDI Loop… Allows you to export MIDI loops (file extension “midiloop”)
in Cubase Essential. MIDI loops contain MIDI part infor-
You can save any project as a template. When you create mation plus all settings that are saved in Instrument track
presets.
a new project, the available templates are listed, allowing
you to base the new project on the selected template. Audio Allows you to mix down and export an output bus. The re-
Mixdown… sulting mixes are saved as files on your hard disk in one of
Saved templates will contain everything that was in the several file formats, complete with effects, automation
EQ, etc.
original project, including clips and events.

Revert Cleanup…
This menu item allows you revert to the last saved version The Cleanup function helps you to save hard disk space by
of a project. If any new audio files have been recorded locating unused files which you can delete in the project
since you last saved, you have the option of keeping or folders on your disk.
deleting these.
Preferences…
Page Setup… Ö Under Mac OS X, the Preferences dialog is accessed
This item opens the standard Page Setup dialog, used for from the Cubase Essential menu.
deciding about paper formats, etc., before printing a score. The Preferences dialog contains several pages with set-
The item is only available when the Score Editor is open. tings and options affecting, for example, the general pro-
gram behavior. You access the pages by selecting items
Print… in the list on the left. To make settings without closing the
Opens the standard Print dialog, allowing you to select dialog use the Apply button.
which pages to print, how many copies of each etc. This Use the Help button in the dialog for information about the
item is only available when the Score Editor is open. items on the selected page.

Import Key Commands…

Option Description The Key Commands dialog allows you to specify key com-
Audio File… This command lets you import audio files directly into a mands for virtually any Cubase Essential function, as well
project. The imported file will be placed at the current as customize existing key commands to your liking. Use
cursor position of the selected audio track.
the Help button in the dialog for information about the
Audio CD… Opens the Import from Audio CD dialog where you can
import audio from CDs. For details use the Help func-
items in the dialog.
tion in the dialog.
Video File… Opens a file dialog allowing you to import a video file onto Recent Projects
the video track. You do not have to create a video track
before importing, it is automatically created. The imported This submenu provides shortcuts to the most recent
video will be placed at the current cursor position. projects you have been working with. The list is chrono-
MIDI File… You can import Standard MIDI Files of Type “0” (all data logical with the most recent project at the top of the list.
on single track) or Type “1” (data on several tracks).
When you import, you can choose to import the file into
the current project, or to create a new project.

5
Menu Reference
Quit Paste at Origin
Ö Under Mac OS X, this item is accessed from the Cu- This will paste an event at its original position, i.e. where it
base Essential menu. was originally cut or copied from.

This quits the program. If there are any unsaved changes

Delete
in an open project, you will have the option of keeping
these or discarding them before the program quits. This will delete all selected events.

Split at Cursor
Edit menu
This splits selected events at the cursor position. If no
Undo/Redo events are selected, all events on all tracks intersected by
the cursor will be split.
Cubase Essential offers wide-ranging, multiple Undo, al-
lowing you to undo virtually any action you perform. Split Loop
• To undo the last performed action, select Undo from the This splits all events at the left and right locator positions.
Edit menu, or use the corresponding key command (by
default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z]). Range
If you select Undo again, the previously performed action will be undone,
and so on. The items on the Range submenu have the following
functions:
• To redo the last undone action, select Redo from the
Edit menu, or use the corresponding key command (by Option Description
default [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Shift]-[Z]). Global Copy This copies everything in the selection range.
Undone actions will be available for Redo until you perform another action Cut Time Cuts out the selection range and moves it to the clip-
(at which point the “Redo Stack” is cleared – see “History…” below). board. Events to the right of the removed range are
moved to the left to fill out the gap.
! You can specify how many levels of Undo should be Delete Time The selection range is removed and events to the right
available with the “Maximum Undo” setting on the are moved to the left to fill out the gap.
General page in the Preferences dialog. Paste Time Pastes the clipboard data at the start position and track
of the current selection. Existing events are moved to
make room for the pasted data.
History…
Paste Time Pastes the clipboard data back at its original position. Ex-
The Edit History window contains a representation of the at Origin isting events are moved to make room for the pasted
“Undo Stack” (the performed actions, with the most re- data.
cent action at the top of the stack) and the “Redo Stack” Split Splits any events or parts that are intersected by the se-
(the undone actions, with the most recently undone action lection range, at the positions of the selection range
edges.
at the bottom of the stack). The two stacks are separated
Crop All events or parts that are partially within the selection
by a divider line. range are cropped, that is sections outside the selection
range are removed, leaving only events that are fully in-
The Edit History dialog allows you to undo or redo several side or outside the selection range.
actions in one go, by moving the divider between the Undo
Insert Silence Inserts empty track space at the start of the selection
Stack and the Redo Stack (in essence, moving actions from range. The length of the inserted silence equals the
the Undo Stack to the Redo Stack, or vice versa). length of the selection range. Events to the right of the
selection range start are moved to the right to “make
room”. Events that are intersected by the selection range
Cut/Copy/Paste start are split, and the right section is moved to the right.

You can cut or copy selected events (or selection ranges)

and paste them in again at the current cursor position on
the original track(s).

6
Menu Reference
Select • Selecting “Repeat…” from the Edit menu opens a dia-
log, allowing you to create a number of copies (regular or
The items on this submenu have different functions, de-
shared) of the selected event(s).
pending on whether the regular event selection tool
This works just like the Duplicate function, except that you can specify
(Arrow tool) or the Range Selection tool is selected: the number of copies.
Event selection
Fill Loop
Option Description
This creates a number of copies starting at the left locator
All Selects all events in the window.
and ending at the right locator. The last copy is automati-
None Deselects all events.
cally shortened to end at the right locator position.
In Loop Selects all events that are partly or wholly between the
left and right locator.
Move to
From Start Selects all events that begin to the left of the project
to Cursor cursor. The following functions are available from this submenu:
From Cursor Selects all events that end to the right of the project Option Description
to End cursor.
Cursor Moves the selected event to the project cursor position. If
All on Selec- Selects all events on the selected track. there are several selected events on the same track, the
ted Tracks first event will start at the cursor, and the following will be
lined up end-to-start after the first one.
Range selection Origin Moves the selected events to their original positions, i.e.
the positions at which they were originally recorded.
Option Description
Front/Back This function doesn’t actually change the position of the
All In the Project window, this makes a selection that covers events, but moves the selected events to the front or back,
all tracks, from the start of the project to the end. In the respectively. This is useful if you have overlapping events
Sample Editor, this selects the whole clip. and want to see one that is partially obscured.
For audio events, this is an extra important feature, since
None Removes the current selection range.
only the visible sections of events will be played back.
In Loop Makes a selection between the left and right locator. In Moving an obscured audio event to front (or moving the
the Project window, the selection will span all tracks. obscuring event to back) will allow you to hear the whole
event on playback.
From Start Makes a selection from the start of the project to the pro- Note that it is also possible to use the “To Front” function
to Cursor ject cursor. In the Project window, the selection will span on the event context menu for this (although this works in
all tracks. a different way).
From Cursor Makes a selection from the project cursor to the end of
to End the project. In the Project window, the selection will span
all tracks. Convert to Real Copy
Select Event This item (only available in the Sample Editor) selects the This creates a new version of a clip (that can be edited in-
audio that is included in the edited event only.
dependently) and adds this to the Pool.
All on Selected Selects all events on the selected track.
Tracks
Group/Ungroup
Left Selection Moves the left side of the current selection range to the
Side to Cursor project cursor position. You can group several events so that they are treated as a
Right Selection Moves the right side of the current selection range to the single unit, meaning that if you edit one of the grouped
Side to Cursor project cursor position. events, all other events in the group are affected as well.
Similarly, you can ungroup the events by selecting “Un-
Duplicate/Repeat… group”.
• Duplicate creates a copy of the selected event and
places it directly after the original.
If several events are selected, all of these are copied “as one unit”, main-
taining the relative distance between the events.

7
Menu Reference
Lock…/Unlock Enlarge Selected Track
If you want to make sure you don’t edit or move an event by This option can also be activated in the Preferences (Edit-
accident, you can lock the selected event(s). Locking can ing–Project & Mixer page). When activated, the selected
affect one (or any combination) of the following properties: tracks in the Project window are automatically enlarged in
Option Description
height.
Position If this is locked, the event cannot be moved.
Zoom
Size If this is locked, the event cannot be resized.
The following options are available on the Zoom submenu
Other If this is locked, all other editing of the event is disabled.
This includes adjusting the fades and event volume, pro- on the Edit menu:
cessing, etc.
Option Description
Zoom In Zooms in one step, centering on the position cursor.
To specify which of these properties should be affected
by the Lock function, use the “Lock Event Attributes” pop- Zoom Out Zooms out one step, centering on the position cursor.

up menu in the Preferences (Editing page). Zoom Full Zooms out so that the whole project is visible. “The whole
project” means the timeline from the project start for the
Selecting locked events and choosing “Unlock” will un- length set in the Project Setup dialog.
lock the events. Zoom to Zooms in both horizontally and vertically so that the cur-
Selection rent selection fills the screen.

Mute/Unmute Zoom to Zooms in horizontally so that the current selection fills the
Selection screen.
You can mute (silence) events by selecting them and se- (Horiz.)
lecting “Mute”. Zoom to Event This option is only available in the Sample Editor.

Similarly, you can unmute the selected events by selecting Zoom In Zooms in one step vertically.
Vertically
“Unmute”.
Zoom Out Zooms out one step vertically.
Vertically
Automation follows Events
Zoom In Zooms in selected track(s) one step vertically.
This option can also be activated in the Preferences (Edit- Tracks
ing page). It is, however, also available on the Edit menu Zoom Out Zooms out selected track(s) one step vertically.
for quick activation and deactivation. When activated, au- Tracks
tomation events will automatically follow when you move Zoom Selec- This zooms in vertically on the selected track(s) and min-
an event or part on a track that contains automation for ted Tracks imizes the height of all other tracks.
them. This means that the automation events that affect an
event will be moved along with it rather than remain in a Macros
specific position in the project.
If you have created Macros, these will be available on the
Macros submenu. A Macro is a combination of several
Auto Select Events under Cursor functions or commands, to be performed in one go. Mac-
This option can also be activated in the Preferences (Edit- ros are set up in the Key Commands dialog.
ing page). It is, however, also available on the Edit menu
for quick activation and deactivation. When activated, all
events on the selected track(s) that are “touched” by the
project cursor are automatically selected.

8
Menu Reference
Project menu Auto Fades Settings…
This opens the Auto Fades dialog, where you can specify
Add Track various fade options. Use the Help button in the dialog for
Select a track type from the Add Track submenu to add a details.
new track. The “Browse Sounds…” option opens a dialog
in which you can search for track presets or VST presets. Audio menu
Duplicate Tracks Process
This will create a duplicate (copy) of the selected track. Basically, you apply audio processing by making a selec-
tion and selecting a function from the Process submenu.
Remove Selected Tracks For details about the functions and parameters in the vari-
This will remove all selected tracks and any parts or events ous processing dialogs, use the Help button in the corre-
on them from the Project window. sponding dialog.
Option Description
Show All Used Automation Envelope The Envelope function allows you to apply a volume en-
velope to the selected audio.
This will open the used automation for all tracks.
Fade In/Out Allows you to set fade-ins and fade-outs.

Hide All Automation Gain Allows you to change the gain (level) of the selected audio.

This closes all open automation tracks. Merge This function mixes the audio from the clipboard into the
Clipboard audio selected for processing, starting at the beginning
of the selection.
Pool For this function to be available, you need to have cut or
copied a range of audio in the Sample Editor first.
This opens the audio Pool, which contains all clips (audio Noise Gate Scans the audio for sections weaker than a specified
and video) that belong to a project. threshold level, and silences them.
Normalize The Normalize function allows you to specify the desired
Markers maximum level of the audio. It then analyzes the selected
audio and finds the current maximum level. Finally it sub-
This opens the Marker window. Markers store positions to tracts the current maximum level from the specified level,
facilitate quick navigation to important locations in a project. and raises the gain of the audio by the resulting amount
(if the specified maximum level is lower than the current
maximum, the gain will be lowered instead). A common
Tempo Track use for normalizing is to raise the level of audio that was
recorded at too low an input level.
This menu item opens the Tempo Track Editor. For tempo Phase Reverse Reverses the phase of the selected audio, turning the
based tracks, the tempo can follow the tempo track (acti- waveform “upside down”.
vated with the Tempo button on the Transport panel), which Remove This function will remove any DC offset in the audio selec-
may contain tempo changes. DC Offset tion. A DC offset is when there is too large a DC (direct
current) component in the signal, sometimes visible as the
signal not being visually centered around the “zero level
Beat Calculator… axis”. DC offsets do not affect what you actually hear, but
they affect zero crossing detection and certain processing,
This opens the Beat Calculator window. The Beat Calcu- and it is recommended that you remove them.
lator is a tool for calculating the tempo of recorded audio It is recommended that this function is applied to complete
audio clips, since the DC offset (if any) is normally present
or MIDI material. throughout the entire recording.
Reverse Reverses the audio selection, as when playing a tape
Project Setup… backwards.
This dialog contains general settings for a project. See the Silence Replaces the selection with silence.
dialog help for specifics.

9
Menu Reference
Option Description Events to Part
Stereo Flip This function works with stereo audio selections only. It This allows you to create a part from selected audio
allows you to manipulate the left and right channel in var-
ious ways. events.
Time Stretch This function allows you to change the length and
“tempo” of the selected audio, without affecting the pitch. Dissolve Part
This menu item dissolves a selected audio part and makes
Hitpoints any audio events it contains appear as independent ob-
This submenu relates to Cubase Essential’s special Hit- jects on the track.
point detection functions. This is a special feature that de-
tects transient attacks in audio material and adds a type of Snap Point to Cursor
marker, a “hitpoint” at each attack. Once the hitpoints have This allows you to set the snap point to the current cursor
been correctly set, you can slice up the file which amongst position.
other things enables you to change the tempo without af-
fecting pitch. Bounce Selection
The submenu contains the following items: This allows you to create either a new clip or a new audio
Option Description file from a selection.
Calculate Invokes the hitpoint calculation in the Sample Editor.
Hitpoints Find Selected in Pool
Create Audio Slices the event according to the hitpoints and adjusts This can be used to quickly find the clips in the Pool for
Slices from the tempo of the loop to the current project tempo.
Hitpoints events selected in the Project window. When this menu
item is selected, the Pool opens with the corresponding
Create Creates markers (on the Marker track) according to the
Markers from hitpoints. clip(s) highlighted.
Hitpoints
Divide Audio Splits the event into several events, according to the hit- Update Origin
Events at points.
Hitpoints The original start position where a clip was recorded in the
Remove This removes all hitpoints. project is shown in the Pool’s “Origin Time” column. As this
Hitpoints value can be used as a basis for the “Insert into Project”
Media menu item (and other functions), you can change it if
Advanced desired. This can be done by selecting the corresponding
clip in the Pool, moving the project cursor to the new posi-
The Advanced submenu contains the following items: tion and selecting this menu item.
Option Description
Set Tempo Adjusts the project tempo to the tempo detected in the Crossfade
from Event edited loop.
This allows you to create a crossfade between two se-
Close Gaps Applies time stretch to close the gaps between slices lected consecutive audio events.
(typically when the project tempo is lower than the loop
tempo). • If the two events overlap, the crossfade will be applied
Stretch to Stretches the selected event(s) to fit the project tempo. to the overlapping area.
Project Tempo Requires that hitpoints have been calculated for the
event(s). • If they do not overlap (but their respective audio clips
Delete Used when recording audio in Cycle Recording mode. do), the events are resized and a crossfade is applied in
Overlaps After editing the takes (composing a “perfect take” for ex- the overlapping range.
ample), you can select Delete Overlaps to remove all
overlapped material.

10
Menu Reference
Remove Fades MIDI menu
This will remove any fades or crossfades from a selected
event. Open Key Editor
This opens the Key Editor for the selected MIDI part(s) or
Open Fade Editor(s) track(s). This editor consists of a piano-roll type graphic
This opens the Fade dialog for a selected event. Note that interface, with the notes shown as boxes in a grid.
this will open two dialogs if the event has both fade-in and
fade-out curves. Scores
This opens a submenu, allowing you to open the Score
Adjust Fades to Range editor and containing several Score Editor functions. The
This allows you to adjust a fade area according to a range Score Editor shows MIDI notes as a musical score.
selection.
Open Drum Editor
Offline Process History… This opens the Drum Editor which is designed especially
This opens the Offline Process History dialog. In the dia- for editing drum and percussion tracks.
log you can remove some or all processing previously ap-
plied to a clip. See the dialog help for details. Open List Editor
This opens the List Editor. In this editor, MIDI notes, con-
Freeze Edits… trollers and other events are shown in a list.
This allows you to make any processing or applied effects
permanent for a clip. Over Quantize
Quantizing is a function that automatically moves recorded
notes, positioning them on exact note values. This quan-
tizes the selected MIDI parts or notes, according to the
current Quantize pop-up menu setting.

Iterative Quantize
Instead of moving a note to the closest quantize grid posi-
tion, Iterative Quantize moves it only part of the way. You
specify how much the notes should be moved towards the
grid with the Iterative Strength setting in the Quantize
Setup dialog.

Quantize Setup…
In the Quantize Setup dialog you can make various quan-
tize settings.

11
Menu Reference
Advanced Quantize O-Note Conversion
Option Description This function (only available if a drum map has been as-
Quantize This will quantize the length of the notes without chang- signed for the MIDI track) goes through the selected MIDI
Lengths ing their start positions. At its most basic level, this func- part(s) and sets the actual pitch of each note according to
tion will set the length of the notes to the Length its O-note setting. This is useful if you want to convert the
Quantize value on the toolbar of the MIDI editors.
track to a “regular” MIDI track (with no drum map) and still
Quantize Ends The Quantize Ends function on the Quantize submenu
will only affect the end positions of notes. Apart from that,
have the notes play back the correct drum sound.
it works just like regular quantizing, taking the Quantize
pop-up menu setting into account.
Functions
Undo Quantize You can revert the selected MIDI notes to their original,
unquantized state at any time. This is independent from Option Description
the regular Undo History. Legato Extends each selected note so that it reaches the next
Freeze There may be situations when you want to make the note. You can specify the desired gap or overlap with the
Quantize quantized positions “permanent”. For example, you may “Legato Overlap” setting in the Preferences dialog (Edit-
want to quantize notes a second time, having the results ing–MIDI page).
based on the current quantized positions rather than the Fixed Lengths Resizes all selected notes to the length set with the Length
original positions. To make this possible, select the notes Quantize pop-up menu on the MIDI Editor toolbar.
in question and use this function.
Delete Removes double notes, i.e. notes of the same pitch on
Doubles the exact same position. Double notes can occur when
Transpose… recording in Cycle mode, after Quantizing, etc. This func-
tion always affects whole MIDI parts.
This opens the Transpose dialog, where you can make
Delete Removes all MIDI controller events from the selected
transpose settings for selected notes. Controllers MIDI parts. This function always affects whole MIDI parts.
Delete Removes all continuous MIDI controller events from the
Freeze MIDI Modifiers Continuous selected MIDI parts. On/Off events, such as sustain
Controllers pedal events, are not removed. This function always af-
This function permanently applies all MIDI modifiers to the fects whole MIDI parts.
respective track. Delete Allows you to delete very short or weak notes. This is
Notes… useful for automatically removing unwanted “ghost
notes” after recording. Selecting “Delete Notes…” opens
Dissolve Part a dialog in which you set up the criteria for the function.
This opens a dialog where you can separate MIDI events Restrict Selecting this item opens a dialog in which you can spec-
according to channels or pitches: Polyphony ify how many “voices” should be used (for the selected
notes or parts). Restricting the polyphony this way is use-
• When you work with MIDI parts (on MIDI channel “Any”) ful when you have an instrument with limited polyphony
containing events on different MIDI channels, activate the and want to make sure all notes will be played. The effect
is achieved by shortening notes as required, so that they
option “Separate Channels”. end before the next note starts.

• To separate MIDI events according to pitch, activate the Pedals to This function scans for sustain pedal on/off events,
Note Length lengthens the affected notes to match the sustain pedal
option “Separate Pitches”. off position, and then removes the Sustain Controller on/
A typical example would be drum and percussion tracks, where different off events.
pitches usually correspond to separate drum sounds.
Delete This function allows you to make sure that no two notes
The dialog also contains the option Optimized Display. If Overlaps of the same pitch overlap (i.e. that one starts before the
(mono) other ends). Overlapping notes of the same pitch can
this is activated, the silent (empty) areas of the resulting confuse some MIDI instruments (a new Note On is trans-
parts are automatically removed. mitted before the Note Off is transmitted). This command
can then be used to automatically rectify the problem.
Delete Over- This function shortens notes when required, so that no
laps (poly) note begins before another ends. This happens regard-
less of which pitch the notes have.
Velocity… Opens a dialog that allows you to manipulate the velocity
of notes in various ways.

12
Menu Reference
Option Description Media menu
Fixed Velocity This function sets the velocity of all selected notes to the
Insert Velocity value on the toolbar in the MIDI Editors.
Open Pool Window
Thin Out Data This thins out your MIDI data. Use this to ease the load on
MIDI devices if you have recorded very dense controller Opens the Pool.
curves, etc.
Extract MIDI This option allows you to automatically convert continu- Open MediaBay
Automation ous controller data of a MIDI part into MIDI track automa-
tion data. Opens the MediaBay.
Reverse This inverts the order of the selected events (or of all
events in the selected parts), causing the MIDI music to Open Loop Browser
play backwards. Note though, that the effect is different
from reversing an audio recording. With MIDI, the individ- Opens the Loop Browser.
ual notes will still play as usual in the MIDI instrument –
only the order of playback is changed.
Open Sound Browser
Logical Presets Opens the Sound Browser.
This submenu contains various presets that let you per-
form advanced “search and replace” operations on MIDI
Import Medium…
data. The Import Medium dialog is used for importing files di-
rectly into the Pool.
Drum Map Setup…
This is where you load, create, modify and save drum
Import Audio CD…
maps. The list to the left shows the currently loaded drum This opens a dialog that allows you to import audio from
maps; selecting a drum map in the list displays its sounds audio CDs.
and settings to the right.
Find Missing Files…
Insert Velocities… This opens the Resolve Missing Files dialog that can be
All MIDI editors feature an Insert Velocity pop-up menu used to find referenced files that may have been moved or
where one of five different velocity values can be selected renamed etc.
when inserting notes. This menu item allows you to spec- In the dialog that appears, decide if you want the program
ify which five velocity values should be available on the In- to try to find the file for you (Search), if you want to do it
sert Velocity pop-up menu. yourself (Locate) or if you want to specify in which direc-
tory the program should search for the file (Folder).
Reset
This function sends out note-off messages and resets Remove Missing Files
controllers on all MIDI channels. You can use this if you If the Pool contains audio files that cannot be found or re-
experience hanging notes or stuck controllers, etc. constructed, you may want to remove these:
Select this item to remove all missing files from the Pool
(and remove their corresponding events from the Project
window).

13
Menu Reference
Reconstruct Set Pool Record Folder
If a missing file cannot be found (e.g. if you have acciden- This is used to designate a new Pool Record folder. Se-
tally deleted it from the hard disk), it will normally be indi- lect the folder, and choose this command to change the
cated with a question mark in the Status column in the Pool Record folder to the selected folder.
Pool. However, if the missing file is an edit file (a file cre-
ated when you process audio, stored in the Edits folder Minimize File
within the project folder), it may be possible for the pro-
This allows you to change the size of audio files according
gram to reconstruct it by recreating the editing to the orig-
to the audio clips referenced in a project. The files pro-
inal audio file.
duced using this option will only contain the audio file por-
tions actually used in the project, which can significantly
Convert Files… reduce the size of the project (given that large portions of
This opens the Convert Options dialog which operates on the audio files are unused).
selected files. Use the pop-up menus to specify which au-
dio file attributes you want to keep and which you want to New Version
convert.
This allows you to create a new version of a selected clip.
The new version appears in the same Pool folder, with the
Conform Files… same name but with a “version number” after it, to indicate
This will change all selected files that have different file at- that the new clip is a duplicate. The first copy made of a
tributes to what is specified for the project, to conform to clip will logically get the version number “2” and so on.
this standard.
Ö Copying a clip does not create a new file on disk, but
just a new edit version of the clip (referring to the same
Generate Thumbnail Cache
original file).
This generates a thumbnail cache of the video, used for
display in case of strained computing resources. Insert into Project
This allows you to insert clips selected in the Pool into the
Create Folder
project, at the current cursor position, at the left locator or
This allows you to create a new audio or video subfolder. at the clip’s original position.

Empty Trash Select in Project

To delete a file permanently from the hard disk, it must first With this function you can find out which events in the
be moved to the Trash folder. When clips are in the Trash project refer to a particular clip in the Pool. Select the clip
folder they can be removed permanently by using this in the Pool, and use this menu item. The corresponding
command. event(s) will then be selected in the Project window.

Remove Unused Media Search Media…

This function finds all clips in the Pool that are not used in You can perform a search of the Pool to locate particular
the project, and either moves them to the Pool Trash folder clips. You can specify various criteria to match in the dia-
where they can be permanently deleted, or removes them log that appears.
from the Pool.

Prepare Archive…
This command should be used when you want to archive a
project. It checks that every clip referenced in the project
is located in the same folder.

14
Menu Reference
Transport menu Play until Next Marker
This will activate playback from the current project cursor
Transport Panel position to the next marker and stop.
This opens the Transport panel.
Play Selection Range
Locators to Selection This will play back the current selection range and stop at
This will set the locators to encompass the current selec- the end.
tion or selection range.
Loop Selection
Locate Selection This will loop playback of the current selection range.
This moves the project cursor to the start of the current
selection or selection range. Use Pre-roll
When this is activated and you start playback or record-
Locate Selection End ing, Cubase Essential will “roll back” a bit before starting.
This moves the project cursor to the end of the current se-
lection or selection range. Use Post-roll
When this is activated, Cubase Essential will play back a
Locate Next Marker short section after automatic punch-out.
This moves the project cursor to the next marker position.
Start Record at Left Locator
Locate Previous Marker If this is activated, the project cursor will jump to the left
This moves the project cursor to the previous marker posi- locator position and begin recording when you hit the
tion. Record button. If this is off (unticked), recording will start
directly from the current project cursor position.
Locate Next Event
Metronome Setup…
This moves the project cursor to the next event start or
end on the selected track. Opens the Metronome Setup dialog where you can make
various metronome settings.
Locate Previous Event
Metronome On
This moves the project cursor to the previous event start
or end on the selected track. Activates the metronome.

Play from Selection Start/End Precount On

This activates playback from the beginning or end of the Activates precount – a count-in that will be heard when
current selection. you start recording from stop mode and the metronome is
activated. This can also be activated on the Transport
Play until Selection Start/End panel. You can specify the number of precount bars in the
Metronome Setup dialog.
This activates playback two seconds before the start or
end of the current selection and stops at the selection Project Synchronization Setup…
start or end, respectively.
Opens a dialog where settings relating to synchronization
can be made.

15
Menu Reference
Use External Sync VST Connections
Activates synchronization. Opens the VST Connections window. This where you set
up Input and Output busses to route the audio between
Retrospective Record your audio hardware and Cubase Essential in various
channel configurations (mono and stereo).
Performs retrospective MIDI recording. If the Retrospective
Record function is enabled in the Preferences (Record–
MIDI page), and a MIDI track is record enabled, any MIDI VST Instruments
notes you play in stop mode or during playback are cap- Opens the VST Instruments window, where you can se-
tured in buffer memory. If you then select Retrospective lect up to 16 VST Instruments. When a VST Instrument
Record, the MIDI notes you played – i.e. the contents of the has been selected for a slot in the window, the corre-
buffer memory – are turned into a MIDI part on the record sponding instrument is selectable as a destination on the
enabled MIDI track. The MIDI part will appear where the Output Routing pop-up menu for MIDI tracks.
cursor was when you started playing.
VST Performance
Devices menu This window indicates the current CPU load and disk
transfer rate.
MIDI Device Manager
The MIDI Device manager allows you to install MIDI de-
Video Window
vices. You can either select pre-configured MIDI devices Opens the default video player. The default video player is
from a list, or define a device from scratch. selected in the Device Setup dialog.

Mixer Virtual Keyboard

This opens the Mixer. All audio, MIDI, FX channel and This opens the Transport panel (if not already opened)
Group tracks in a project have a corresponding channel and activates the Virtual Keyboard. Please note that when
strip in the Mixer, as do Output busses and any activated the Virtual Keyboard is active, the usual key commands
VST Instruments and ReWire channels. are blocked.

Plug-in Information Show Panel

The Plug-in Information window lists all installed VST and Opens a panel where you can directly select any of the
MIDI plug-ins, and shows various information about them. currently available devices on the Device menu.

Remaining Record Time Display Device Setup…

This opens a separate window showing the Display of Re- This dialog allows you to add or remove remote control
maining Record Time. This lets you see how much time devices and to make various basic settings for audio and
you have left for recording, depending on your project set- MIDI such as selecting ASIO drivers and MIDI ports, etc.
tings and available hard disk space.

Time Display
This opens a separate window showing the time display.
This is a larger view of the time display in the Transport
panel, showing the position of the project cursor in the se-
lected primary time format.

16
Menu Reference
Window menu Help menu
Minimize Steinberg on the Web
Minimizes the active window. Here you can find links to various Steinberg web sites. Se-
lecting one will automatically launch your browser applica-
Maximize tion and open the page, provided that you have a web
browser application installed on your computer, and a
Maximizes the active window.
working Internet connection.
Close All
Documentation (Adobe PDF format)
Closes all windows.
Ö To read these documents, you need to have a suitable
Minimize All PDF reader application. An installer for Adobe Reader is
provided on the program DVD.
Minimizes all windows.
Option Description
Getting Started Opens the Getting Started book in Adobe pdf for-
Restore All mat.
Restores all minimized Cubase Essential windows. Operation Manual Opens the Operation Manual in Adobe pdf format.
Remote Control Opens the separate pdf document describing the
Windows… Devices MIDI remote control devices supported by Cubase
Essential.
Opens a dialog where you can manage and make settings
Plug-in Reference Opens the separate pdf document containing de-
for all open windows. scriptions of the included plug-in audio effects, MIDI
effects, VST Instruments, and their parameters.
The open windows list Menu Reference Opens the Menu Reference (the document you have
in front of you) in Adobe pdf format.
Selecting a window from the list at the bottom of the menu
brings it to front.
Registration
When you click this item, the Steinberg web page is
opened, where you can register your product. An active
internet connection is required.

Credits and Copyrights

Lists credits and copyright information and opens the
Steinberg web site.

About Cubase Essential

Ö Under Mac OS X, this menu item is accessed from the
Cubase Essential menu.
This opens a window with information about the Cubase
Essential version number etc.

17
Menu Reference