User manual

132
The transpose functions
Introduction
Cubase offers transpose functions for audio, MIDI and in-
strument parts and for audio events. These allow you to
create variations of your music or change the harmonics of
an entire project or separate sections.
Transpose can be applied on three levels:
• To the entire project
By changing the project Root Key in the Project window toolbar, the
whole project will be transposed (see
“Transposing an entire project with
the root key” on page 132).
• To sections of the project
By creating transpose events on the transpose track, you can set trans-
pose values for separate sections of your project (see “Transposing sep-
arate sections of a project using transpose events” on page 134).
• To individual parts or events
By selecting individual parts or events and changing their transpose value
in the info line, you can transpose individual parts or events (see
“Trans-
posing individual parts or events using the info line” on page 135).
Apart from the transpose features described in this chapter,
you can also transpose all MIDI notes on the selected track
using the MIDI modifiers (see
“Transpose” on page 350),
selected notes using the Transpose dialog (see “Trans-
pose” on page 367), and MIDI tracks using MIDI effects
(see the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”).
Transposing your music
In the following sections we will describe the different
possibilities of transposing your music. Note that these
can also be combined. However, we recommend you to
set the root key first, before recording or changing trans
-
pose values on the transpose track.
Transposing an entire project with the root key
The root key you specify for a project will be the reference
that audio or MIDI events in your project will follow. You
can however exclude separate parts or events from being
transposed, e.
g. drums or percussion (see “The Global
Transpose setting” on page 136).
Depending on whether you are using events which already
contain root key information or not, the procedures differ
slightly.
If the events already contain root key information
Let’s say you want to create a project based on loops.
Proceed as follows:
1. Open the MediaBay and drag some loops into an
empty project, see “Inserting the files into the project” on
page 318.
For this example, import audio loops with different root keys.
2. Open the Root Key pop-up menu in the Project win-
dow toolbar and set the project root key.
If the Root Key pop-up menu is not visible, right-click the toolbar and se-
lect the “Project Root Key” option from the context menu. By default, no
project root key is specified (“-”).
!
The transpose functions do not change the actual
MIDI notes or the audio, but only affect the playback.
!
As a general rule, always set the root key first when
you work with content with a defined root key.