Cubase Studio 5 New Features and Details

Drum sampling deluxe

Groove Agent ONE pairs powerful drum sampling with detailed sound shaping — seamlessly integrated into Cubase. Not only does it boast sliced loop and MPC-import but rocks right out of the box with its own custom library of only the finest acoustic, urban, hip hop and dance drum kits! Each of its virtual pads features a complete sound processing section that gives full control of textures, timbres and expressive qualities of each drum sound. Creation of custom kits with drag and drop from the MediaBay allows an extremely fluid and easy workflow.

• Support for WAV, AIFF and the legendary MPC format
• Easy to use interface — the perfect fusion of functionality and simplicity
• Powerful editing section for each drum sound
• Automatically maps sliced Cubase audio parts or multiple audio events across the pads by simply dragging them directly to Groove Agent ONE
• Convert sliced audio loops to MIDI by dragging them back to a MIDI track

Beat it!

Beat Designer is a hot new beat construction plug-in that allows you to get hands-on with beats for step programming and designing drum patterns in an easy yet powerful way, working hand in hand with Groove Agent ONE. Getting really interactive with different grooves and variations has never been easier: Beat Designer organizes several patterns at once in customizable banks and can trigger each of them in real time and synced to Cubase with a MIDI keyboard.

• Supports up to 64 steps per pattern
• Customizable resolution and time signature
• Support for flam hits and rolls
• Individual volume settings for each element in a beat allowing full control of the dynamics of any groove
• Comes with dozens of beats in various styles perfectly matching the Groove Agent ONE kits

On-the-fly pitch correction

Designed for vocal and solo instrument recordings, the new PitchCorrect VST3 plug-in brings easy and automatic intonation control and scale correction of vocal and monophonic instrument recordings to Cubase. PitchCorrect is based on the acclaimed Yamaha Pitch Fix technology and constantly detects the pitch of the input material and immediately corrects it to match to the closest pitch of a user-specified scale, including minor, major, chromatic and custom scales.

• Corrects poor intonation without noticeable artifacts and preserves the sonic audio quality of the original performance
• Various parameters, like the Retune and Tolerance control, help adapting the retune rate to almost any performance style for very natural-sounding pitch correction
• Control the pitch of individual notes interactively from a MIDI keyboard in real time

New automation handling

The new automation handling in Cubase 5 is now more transparent and flexible than ever before, the centerpiece being the new automation panel, which offers a unified point of control for all automation settings. Once a Key Command has been assigned, the new panel is at your instant command, offering new commands to manipulate automation data. The new Suspend Read and Write options exclude parameters from playing back or recording automation data, adding extra security when
automating large projects.

Rule-based consolidation

Automating the MIDI area of productions has also been made far more transparent. Rule-based consolidation of part-based MIDI controller data and track-based automation data routed to the same target eliminates conflicts and fuses the two systems together. Now it’s easy to use both MIDI Continuous Controller and MIDI automation (track) data on the same target and handle layered controller/automation data in a consistent way. This best-of-both-worlds approach really comes to life with the brand-new ability to view and edit MIDI track automation side by side and inline with existing MIDI controller data in the Key Editor or the Project Window.

The composer’s choice: VST Expression

VST Expression is an ultra-intuitive new way of working with multipleinstrument articulations, for example of huge orchestra libraries, and introduces an editing concept that is not only user-customizable but is also fully integrated with the Key and Score Editors. VST Expression makes working with instrument articulations as easy as it should be. Instead of handling all those MIDI controllers for switching articulations, VST Expression allows seamlessly and transparently integrated editing as well as full control over multiple articulations in the Key and Score Editors. Articulations noted in the Score Editor can be played back immediately in real time by orchestra or any other sample-based libraries like the all new electric and acoustic guitar, bass and brass expression sounds included in the new HALion ONE Expression Set 01.

• Compatible with any current VSTi or stand-alone sample library, including Steinberg HALion Symphonic Orchestra and the new HALion ONE Expression Set 01
• Expression Map Editor provides mapping and remapping of articulation controllers, such as key switches, controller changes or MIDI channel remapping
• Using Expression Maps, projects can be ported for playback to a different sound device or library
• New Articulation Lane allows intuitive and fast editing of instrument articulations in the Key and Drum Editors
• When recording articulation changes, for example, key switches, the
  correct symbols are automatically added in the Score Editor

Your signature track

Cubase 5 comes armed with two brand-new track types: Signature Track and Tempo Track. These extremely useful new track types offer total control over tempo and time signature directly in the Project Window. Visualizing and editing tempo and signature changes within the project context next to audio, MIDI and markers offer a highly intuitive new way of exploiting every nuance of a song or composition with the right tempo and signature, whilst allowing greater freedom to experiment with new signatures.

• Available in both time linear and Bars+Beats modes
• Editing can be performed from both Info Line and Track Inspector, so advanced functions such as process tempo and process bars are always at your fingertips.
• Multiple selected events can be edited simultaneously, including drag ‘n’ drop actions
• Snap, Grid and Quantize function-dependent editing and Crosshair-cursor support

The ideal symphonic instrument

Evocative scores, exquisite arrangements and emotive accompaniments: HALion Symphonic Orchestra is the ideal, symphonic instrument for composition, production and pre-production in music, TV and film scoring and game sound. It puts the awesome emotive power and sheer sonic majesty of a full symphonic orchestra under total control with its full support for the new Cubase 5 VST Expression feature. Each instrument comes with a Track Preset including a VST Expression map and matching staff settings for the Score Editor.

Cubase 5 contains a 90-day fully functional trial version of the HALion Symphonic Orchestra 16-bit Special Edition, providing a wealth of acoustic orchestral instruments at their best. The trial version of the HSO 16-bit Edition can be upgraded online to a permanent license at a very special price.

• Complete symphonic orchestra with breathtakingly authentic strings, brass, woodwind and percussion
• Works hand in hand with the new Cubase 5 VST Expression feature —giving total control over key-switch articulations right in the Score and Key Editor supporting creative, intuitive and dynamic playing and hassle-free editing
• Extraordinarily expressive with full dynamic range covering all common articulations of each instrument.
• Outstanding playability and instant access to all the most important parameters
• Unique Crescendo Controller feature allows seamlessly real-time blending between samples with different dynamic characteristics
• Richly detailed and perfectly balanced sound with adjustable real-recorded ambience

Extremely versatile for all styles from Baroque to R‘n’B and everything in between

Even more expression

The HALion ONE sound library has been expanded with a new set of studio-quality instruments developed by Yamaha’s acclaimed sound design team. The Expression Set 01 features 14 new instruments with multiple articulations for natural and expressive performances. With each articulation assigned to a key switch, the new Expression Set is perfectly suited to explore the new VST Expression feature in Cubase 5.

The following instruments are included: Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass, Fretless Bass, Pick Bass, Nylon Guitar, Steel Guitar, Clean Guitar, Distortion Guitars 1&2, Solid Guitar, Tenor Sax, Solo Trumpet, Brass Section and Large String Section.

Experience the X64 advantage

Cubase 5 fully supports native 64-bit high performance computing under Microsoft Windows Vista 64 and increases the addressable memory space from 2 GB to an amazing 1 terabyte — placing more tracks, plug-ins and a whole lot of more samples of the biggest libraries right at the artist’s fingertips! Producers and composers using the latest sample libraries will benefit from the ability to access a maximum of 1 terabyte of memory. With a sufficient amount of addressable memory space, all sample data can be loaded directly into RAM, allowing software samplers to become far more responsive. Not only does this offer complete creative freedom for composers, but live performances using sample-based material are now freed up from reliance on hard drives.

Cubase 5 features bit-map technology to enable the use of 32-bit VST effect and instrument plug-ins in the 64-bit version of Cubase, protecting past investments and ensuring future compatibility of older plug-ins.

Built on Cocoa

The Cubase 5 framework for Mac OS X has been reworked: it has been “de-carbonized” and is now “cocoa-ized”. This is the foundation for a Cubase Mac OS X 64-bit version which is planned at a later stage and is not part of the Cubase 5 release.

Low latency for all

Cubase 5 takes full advantage of the latest WASAPI* audio driver technology in Microsoft Windows Vista and supports generic and on-board sound hardware with lower latencies than ever before.

* Windows Audio Session API is the new driver model from Microsoft for Windows Vista operating systems.

Total export

The brand-new Channel Batch Export is a new way of exporting individual tracks to create archives or exchange projects with other production systems. As an extension of the Export Audio Mixdown window, Channel Batch Export allows the export of the audible output of a multiple selection of mixer channels to audio files. Channel Batch Export is also an ideal way of reorganizing a project to give the maximum available CPU power, with all files and VSTi tracks exported to audio tracks, freeing up system resources.

• Quickly select the channels you want to include and exclude from the export process
• Search field for channel names
• Redesigned Audio Engine Output selection lists all available channels/busses sorted by type
• Useful export options such as the ability to include or exclude elements of the mix such as EQ, inserts, send settings or automation
• Improved backup function for audio and including video files

MediaBay optimizations

MediaBay is the media file management system within Cubase, supporting the VST Sound standard that is part of VST3. For this new update, MediaBay has been extensively reworked with expanded features and many performance and usability improvements, making it even more intuitive and powerful. This includes faster searching and browsing, an overall improved performance and a more advanced and transparent tagging process.

• New Category Filter browsing improvement allows you to narrow down categories and results
• Result Numbers in Categories function displays the number of existing files that are found in each category
• Write Protection Indicator and the Pending Tags Indicator

The Attribute Filter Search allows the user to make a detailed search query in the Viewer of MediaBay

Refined editing

Enhancing previously available features and adding new ones, the Sample Editor now gives access to pivotal parameters faster than ever before. With Cubase 5, the Sample Editor sees increased usability, with several tab items moved to the toolbar to improve handling by providing easier access to important functions. The additional enhancements include an info-line toggle button, a Solo button, reworked Snap functionality,new Key Commands handling and much more.

The Logical Project Editor, a uniquely powerful and advanced project-wide editing system, also benefits from numerous enhancements, covering everything from minor improvements to brand-new functions. These include more destinations such as track color and Aux Sends, new Search and Action functions in the time domain and PPQ, the ability to invoke macros after Logical Project Editor processing as well as a complete user interface overhaul.

Recording enhancements

Cubase 5 features a more straight-forward approach to handling multiple takes and lane management, speeding up recording workflows for both audio and MIDI. New tools and commands give more flexible control over recording and provide better support for engineers or producers recording in Cubase 5.

• Remaining Record Time Display gives constant feedback on the total amount of recording time available to Cubase, preventing errors while planning recording sessions
• Lock Record function prevents accidental disarming of tracks when recording
• Arm/Disarm Tracks function helps the user when preparing to record a large number of tracks
• Crosshair Cursor supports accurate navigation and placement in Audio, Instrument and MIDI track lanes.
• The new ability to dissolve MIDI parts to lanes comes in handy when separating notes or MIDI channels into sub-parts for easier editing.
• The “To Front” UI arrow control is very useful when several parts or events are overlapping
• Now even individual MIDI selections of tracks or lanes can be bounced to new MIDI parts.

Virtual MIDI keyboard

The virtual MIDI keyboard is a small but powerful feature. With the virtual MIDI keyboard, notes can be played and recorded by clicking the mouse or hitting the computer’s keys, giving the ultimate mobile low-latency experience while on the move — just you and your laptop.