User manual

Table Of Contents
610
Editing tempo and signature
Background
Whenever you create a new project, Cubase will automatically set the tempo and time
signature for this project. The tempo and signature settings can be displayed in two
ways: either on dedicated tracks in the Project window or in the Tempo Track Editor.
Tempo modes
Before we go into detail about tempo and signature settings, you should understand
the different tempo modes.
For each track in Cubase that can make use of this function, you can specify whether
it is time-based or tempo-based (see
“Defining the track time base” on page 90). For
tempo-based tracks, the tempo can either be fixed throughout the entire project (this
is called “fixed tempo mode”) or follow the tempo track (this is called “tempo track
mode”), which may contain tempo changes.
To switch between fixed tempo mode and tempo track mode, use the Tempo
button on the Transport panel:
When the Tempo button is lit (and the text “Track” is shown), the tempo follows the
tempo track; when it is deactivated (and the text “Fixed” is shown), a fixed tempo is
used (see
“Setting the fixed tempo” on page 615). You can also switch the tempo
mode with the Activate Tempo Track button on the Tempo Track Editor toolbar.
In tempo track mode, the tempo cannot be changed on the Transport panel, i. e. the
tempo information here is for display purposes only.
Signature events are always active, regardless of whether fixed tempo mode or tempo
track mode is selected.
A note about tempo-based audio tracks
For tempo-based tracks, the start position of audio events on the timeline depends on
the current tempo setting. However, it is important to realize that the actual audio
(“within” the events) will play back as recorded, regardless of any tempo changes you
make. Therefore, it is good practice to make the proper tempo and time signature
settings before you start recording tempo-based audio.
To make an already recorded audio track follow the tempo changes, you can use
the Tempo Detection Panel (see
“Tempo Detection (Cubase only)” on page 625)
or the Sample Editor, see the chapter “The Sample Editor” on page 325.
To adapt the tempo track to time-based material, you can use the Time Warp tool,
see
“The Time Warp tool (Cubase only)” on page 619.
This allows you to adjust the tempo track so that tempo-based material (e. g.
positions in music) coincides with time-based material (positions in narration,
video, etc.).