cubase 9

[incubus]

I can't find out if these things can be done.

-Coloring multiple channels at once
-Busing multiple channels (with the parent folder being the overall audio)
-Having a group selected and adding fx or busing to all at once
-Kill all examples of a plug (ala pro tools or studio one)

Also I haven't been any way to find to have the levels at whatever I want when I start a project. I like to start at -6. Seems you have to do them one by one?

Also, I guess you have to have the arrangement open for changing names and being able to tab to the next? Seems not available in the mixer.

Also the hub. I disabled it but a mini version still comes up when you want to load something and there is a long delay between before you can access what you want (which I can only assume is cubase still communicating with something like when the new section is in the hub.

That's enough for now, hope I can get a definitive answer these (and more as I can think of them.

Mostly, it's been quite a beautiful demo.

EDIT: Thanks to everyone for such a killer thread.

[dented42ford]

-Coloring multiple channels at once

https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=73712

There are actually multiple ways to do this...

-Busing multiple channels (with the parent folder being the overall audio)

I'm not sure what you mean - there are group tracks, you can manually route however you want, and you can even automatically create a bus for a folder. Folders don't automatically create busses like Ableton, though - and you wouldn't want them to, in many cases, as it could easily break routings, especially given the way Cubase handles midi tracks and rack instruments.

-Having a group selected and adding fx or busing to all at once

Right click, add FX, or Send to new Group. Seriously, this is literally in the right click context menu. No manual or search required. Just right click on a selected group of tracks!

-Kill all examples of a plug (ala pro tools or studio one)

AFAIK, you can't do this in Cubase, and it would be nice to be able to, but it is far from a "massive feature". It is nice to do in PT and S1 and DP - though Logic can't do it either, and neither can the "production-oriented DAWS" (Reason, Live, Bitwig).

Also I haven't been any way to find to have the levels at whatever I want when I start a project. I like to start at -6. Seems you have to do them one by one?

That is in the properties menu. You can set a lot more than that, including metering colors and ranges. Just look harder, it is there.

Also, I guess you have to have the arrangement open for changing names and being able to tab to the next? Seems not available in the mixer.

Yeah it isn't possible, and it is annoying. Can't really change track order in the mixer either. Those have been issues for a long time, but it is part of having a very old program that has incrementally changed.

Also the hub. I disabled it but a mini version still comes up when you want to load something and there is a long delay between before you can access what you want (which I can only assume is cubase still communicating with something like when the new section is in the hub.

Also irritating, but no solution I know of other than having Cubase default to opening some particular project (which skips the Hub popup). I find it a minor annoyance, and honestly no worse than similar "hub pages" in other DAWs (Studio One and Bitwig both have it, too).

Mostly, it's been quite a beautiful demo.

Glad to hear it! Cubase isn't exactly the most "elegant" program in the world, but it is very powerful. It feels like what it is, which is to say a hodge-podge of features added willy-nilly over decades with little effort dedicated to making sure they feel similar. That being said, they all do work together quite well, generally (there can be crashiness with plugins)!

Have fun messing with it, and try to remember that there is almost always a solution available, buried in some menu somewhere.

[jancivil]

You can change the name of a track in the mixer. Double-click the name at the bottom to open it up for typing/pasting.

[dented42ford]

You can change the name of a track in the mixer. Double-click the name at the bottom to open it up for typing/pasting.

Yes, you can, but he was asking about tabbing between tracks in the mixer to change their names en masse - which, alas, you cannot do.

[incubus]

-Coloring multiple channels at once

https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=73712

There are actually multiple ways to do this...

-Busing multiple channels (with the parent folder being the overall audio)

I'm not sure what you mean - there are group tracks, you can manually route however you want, and you can even automatically create a bus for a folder. Folders don't automatically create busses like Ableton, though - and you wouldn't want them to, in many cases, as it could easily break routings, especially given the way Cubase handles midi tracks and rack instruments.

-Having a group selected and adding fx or busing to all at once

Right click, add FX, or Send to new Group. Seriously, this is literally in the right click context menu. No manual or search required. Just right click on a selected group of tracks!

-Kill all examples of a plug (ala pro tools or studio one)

AFAIK, you can't do this in Cubase, and it would be nice to be able to, but it is far from a "massive feature". It is nice to do in PT and S1 and DP - though Logic can't do it either, and neither can the "production-oriented DAWS" (Reason, Live, Bitwig).

Also I haven't been any way to find to have the levels at whatever I want when I start a project. I like to start at -6. Seems you have to do them one by one?

That is in the properties menu. You can set a lot more than that, including metering colors and ranges. Just look harder, it is there.

Also, I guess you have to have the arrangement open for changing names and being able to tab to the next? Seems not available in the mixer.

Yeah it isn't possible, and it is annoying. Can't really change track order in the mixer either. Those have been issues for a long time, but it is part of having a very old program that has incrementally changed.

Also the hub. I disabled it but a mini version still comes up when you want to load something and there is a long delay between before you can access what you want (which I can only assume is cubase still communicating with something like when the new section is in the hub.

Also irritating, but no solution I know of other than having Cubase default to opening some particular project (which skips the Hub popup). I find it a minor annoyance, and honestly no worse than similar "hub pages" in other DAWs (Studio One and Bitwig both have it, too).

Mostly, it's been quite a beautiful demo.

Glad to hear it! Cubase isn't exactly the most "elegant" program in the world, but it is very powerful. It feels like what it is, which is to say a hodge-podge of features added willy-nilly over decades with little effort dedicated to making sure they feel similar. That being said, they all do work together quite well, generally (there can be crashiness with plugins)!

Have fun messing with it, and try to remember that there is almost always a solution available, buried in some menu somewhere.

Wow, thanks!

[incubus]

One correction. I was referring to adding the exact same effect to a large group of channels (like neutron to every drum track)

The other seems to be adding a send to one effect, which is brilliant and answers the question you were confused about But the other is a mystery yet.

I'll delve deeper, color are still bothering me. Is it like tabbing where you can't do that from the mixer?

[Googly Smythe]

One correction. I was referring to adding the exact same effect to a large group of channels (like neutron to every drum track)

The other seems to be adding a send to one effect, which is brilliant and answers the question you were confused about But the other is a mystery yet.

I'll delve deeper, color are still bothering me. Is it like tabbing where you can't do that from the mixer?

In the mixer select the channels, click the Quick Link button, click an insert slot, select your plugin and you're done. Proviso: fx are added to the same slot and any existing fx are replaced.
With the colours, use the project view. Select the tracks and change the colours via the Color button on the toolbar. If you can't see it, right-click the toolbar and select the setup menu item. (Can't remember the exact name of it, and I'm not in front of my pc at the moment.)

[dented42ford]

One correction. I was referring to adding the exact same effect to a large group of channels (like neutron to every drum track)

The other seems to be adding a send to one effect, which is brilliant and answers the question you were confused about But the other is a mystery yet.

I'll delve deeper, color are still bothering me. Is it like tabbing where you can't do that from the mixer?

Ah, so you want to add it as an insert to a large group of channels. No, it won't let you do that - though you can do the old PT "hold alt and drag" trick to do it more quickly than selecting each slot individually.

EDIT: I forgot that Q-link lets you do it (Hur-dur-dumb moment), but as was pointed out, it does replace whatever was in that slot on every track...

The reason it won't let you do that is because Cubase looks at the slots as "fixed" - and it isn't smart enough to "move around" things that are already there, AFAICT. That would be a cool trick, but I don't see it as a dealbreaker (obviously, as I still use Cubase/Nuendo as my main DAW).

One thing you can do is assign a "track preset" to multiple tracks, which can contain whatever inserts you'd like. This of course only applies if you don't mind wiping out everything already there, in terms of inserts and sends. It can work wonders on a blank project, or one you just started, but loses utility the further into the mix you get...

Colors are weird in Cubase. They are inconsistent - yes, you can change individual channel colors in the mixer, but not groups of channels. You pretty much can't do ANYTHING to do with groups (multiple selected or actual, doesn't matter) of tracks from the mixer, other than select them for Q-Link (which is something I find stupidly useful - if you don't know what it is, look it up, and thank me later). I think this is a relic of when Cubase was primarily a midi sequencer, as Logic (Cubase's long-time primary competitor) behaves in pretty much exactly the same way!

[Terrafractyl]

I can't find out if these things can be done.

-Busing multiple channels (with the parent folder being the overall audio)

If you have multiple tracks in the Mixer selected, Hold down shift before you change where the audio outputs are routed to...should route them all at once.
I think that is what your asking?

[incubus]

Yes, thanks all.

It's just a matter of getting my mind right with it, you know? No biggie, nothing to complain about (well other than the hub, more on that later) but just getting the facts straight.

Pretty easy to figure out (of course I already had 4-5.5)

[incubus]

Very surprised about this, but my evidence seems to point to some constraints for multi-out stuff like ezdrummer. You can save the ezdrummer preset, but you can't save the mulit-outs with it? (something about same tracks only can be saved as a preset)

Is that true? I've got those tracks memorized (which does what) but still, kinda weird if true.

[jancivil]

I'm not perfectly clear on the question. Do you mean you've had a problem reopening a Cubase project with EZ Drummer's outputs configuration? If so, per EZ Drummer or per Cubase per se?

Cubase projects save with multiple outs from instruments no problem. Both in the rack and as Instrument Tracks.
I don't really use it that way (I mix in VE Pro really, as minimal as possible in Cubase mixer) but it proves to be true with Kontakt and VE Pro (closing and reopening doesn't change config in eg., Kontakt) and it's going to prove true with things that work right.

[incubus]

Sorry, I mean a track preset. The "manual" states this:

Multi-Track Presets

You can use multi-track presets, for example, when recording setups that require several microphones (a drum set or a choir, where you always record under the same conditions) and you have to edit the resulting tracks in a similar way. Furthermore, they can be used when working with layered tracks, where you use several tracks to generate a certain sound instead of manipulating only one track.

If you select more than one track when creating a track preset, the settings of all selected tracks are saved as one multi-track preset. Multi-track presets can only be applied if the target tracks are of the same type, number, and sequence as the tracks in the track preset, therefore, they should be used in recurring situations with similar tracks and settings.

Saving in a project is fine, but you have to go through all the renaming of tracks and such per loading of an instance because there seems to be no way to save the VST, the outputs, names, etc because they are different track types.

[jancivil]

I see. Yes, since that entry follows 'Track Presets' and indicates 'same type' etc you must be right.
Meaning eg., multiples of an audio track setup.
I'm a bit dense probably but the way I think of that larger setup is simply Templates.

[incubus]

Nothing dense about that.

It's an obvious choice, but I'm not always sure what kind of drums I'm going to use. Having something like GA and EZD with multi outs in every template would be ... messy