The documentation applies to the operating systems Windows and macOS.

In our documentation, we use typographical and markup elements to structure information.

Many of the default key commands, also known as keyboard shortcuts, use modifier keys, some of which are different depending on the operating system.

You can play back and record MIDI in the Score Editor using the standard transport commands, just like in the other MIDI editors.

When you are preparing a score for printout, you should set the Score Editor to Page Mode. This is done by selecting Page Mode from the Scores menu. If Page Mode is activated, a checkmark appears next to this menu option.

There are two ways to change the zoom in Page Mode: by setting a zoom factor on the zoom pop-up menu or by using the Zoom tool.

Only one staff at a time can be active, and it is indicated by a rectangle to the left of the clef symbol.

Before preparing the score for printout, you have to make some page settings for your project. This does not have to be the first thing you do, but it is a good working habit, because it also affects the on-screen display of the score.

You can design your work space according to your needs by showing/hiding different areas using the Window Layout function and by showing/hiding different options of these areas using the Setup options dialogs. Which areas and options to show or hide depends on what kind of project you are working on, how large your monitor is, and so on.

Many functions and settings of the Score Editor can be accessed via context menus, opened by right-clicking on certain elements of the score. For example, if you choose a note, the note context menu opens, listing note-related functions.

When preparing to enter notes into a score, you probably want to start out by setting the desired clef, key, and time signature for the staff. The text below assumes you are working on one track only. If you have multiple staves, you either make this setting independently for each staff or for all staves at once.

Scores for some instruments, for example a lot of brass instruments, are written transposed. Therefore, the Score Editor provides a Display Transpose function. With this function notes are transposed in the score without affecting the way they are played back. This allows you to record and play back a multi-staff arrangement, and still score each instrument according to its own transposition.

When you have made all necessary changes to the score display and you are satisfied with the result, you can print your score.

When you prepare a score, we suggest you do things in the following order, since this minimizes the time needed if you make a mistake somewhere and need to redo a step.

The first thing to do after opening the Score Editor is to make initial staff settings. This is done in the Score Settings dialog, on the Staff page.

The notes may not always appear in the score as you expect them to, initially. This is because there are a number of situations which require special techniques and settings.

Some situations may require different staff settings on different sections of the track. The staff settings are valid for the entire track, but you can insert changes wherever you like:

This function allows you to “split” the notes on a staff into separate tracks. It is also possible to use this function to convert a polyphonic staff into polyphonic voices.

For very complicated scores, there may be situations where you have tweaked the parameters for Display Quantize and Interpretation as best you can, and you still cannot get the score exactly as you want it. Perhaps one setting works fine in one section of the track and another is needed for another section.

Before you start entering notes, you need to make some initial staff settings.

To duplicate notes in the score, proceed as follows:

There are instances when you want different staff settings for different sections of the track. The settings on the Staff page of the Score Settings dialog are valid for the entire track, but by using the Display Quantize tool you are able to insert changes and exceptions wherever you like.

When you have parts on several tracks selected in the Project window, these are put on one staff each, when you open the Score Editor. This allows you to work on several staves in parallel.

It is possible to insert a change of clef, key, or time signature anywhere in the score.

To set up your score for polyphonic voicing, proceed as follows:

When you add new notes, you need to decide which voice they go into:

With polyphonic voices, you often get more rest symbols than desired.

When you insert Display Quantize changes, you can either apply the settings to all voices (by Alt-clicking with the tool) or to the current voice only.

Often, for example in vocal scoring, you have crossed voicings on one system. You can of course move notes manually into voices to get the stem direction and other note properties right, but there is a quicker way. Let’s explain how to do this by example. Without using polyphonic voicing, you have entered this:

If you have already created some tracks which look and play back as they should, and you want to combine these into one track with polyphonic voices, there is a special function on the Scores menu for this:

This function does the opposite of “Merge All Staves” – it extracts polyphonic voices from an existing track and creates new tracks, one for each voice.

Each note has a number of settings in the Set Note Info dialog.

You can assign colors to notes using the Event Colors pop-up menu on the toolbar.

If you have made various settings in the Set Note Info dialog for a note, and want to use these settings for other notes as well, there is an easy way to do this:

There are four ways to move and duplicate symbols:

Symbols can be aligned as in drawing programs.

You can add various types of text to the different layers of the score. The selected layer specifies which type of text is available.

In addition to the text symbols that you can add to the different layers, you have other text functions at your disposal that support you while working on the score. These are described in the following sections.

Layouts are created automatically when you open a new combination of tracks for editing.

The “Open Layout” command on the Scores menu opens a dialog listing all available layouts for the Project.

The following text outlines the basic steps for extracting a musical part from a full score.

If you have created markers in the Project window which denote the start of each new “section” in your music (verse, bridge, chorus, etc.), you can automatically transfer these markers into the current layout.

Cubase can import and export MusicXML files, which makes it possible to transfer musical scores to and from applications that support this file format. However, there are some restrictions concerning the parameters supported by Cubase.

Multiple consecutive rests can be automatically displayed as multi-rests.

For each barline, you can choose whether you want a regular, single barline, a double barline, a repeat sign, etc.:

Brackets and braces are added on the Layout page of the Score Settings dialog. The settings you make are specific for the current layout, that is, you can have different brackets or braces set up for different track configurations.

You can display the chord symbols from the chord track. Chord symbols can be viewed, edited, and printed out in Page Mode.

This function allows you to delete invisible layout elements, which in effect restores the score to default settings.

Sometimes you may not want a barline to stretch all the way across a grand staff. If this is the case, you have the possibility to “break it”.

To set up the drum map, proceed as follows:

If this option is activated on the Options tab of the Staff page in the Score Settings dialog, there is only one line in the system. Furthermore, notes can only appear below the line, on the line and above the line.

In this chapter you will learn:

This assumes you have a regular score on screen already. We also suggest you perform basic editing like quantizing to make the score as legible as possible as regular notes before converting into tablature.

To set up an empty system for inputting tablature, proceed as follows:

In the Score Settings dialog on the Project–Font Settings subpage, you can find settings for the tablature numbers. In the “Font For” pop-up menu, select “Tablatures” and then select the desired font, size, and style for the number note heads.

Tablature can be edited like any other score. You can move notes, handle beaming, stem direction, etc.

If you only want to enter a fret number for your notes (Tablature mode off), you can use the Set Note Info dialog on regular notes.

In this chapter you will learn:

You can show regular notation as rhythmic notation.

Rhythm bar indicators display markers in the score where rhythmic notation is shown instead of regular notation.

You can suspend rhythmic notation and show the regular notation again.

You can clear one or more bars so that notes and rests are hidden. This allows you to focus on specific parts of your score, without deleting these bars that you do not want to show.

You can show a repeat bar sign that replaces the regular or the rhythmic notation in one or more bars.

The Notation Style page in the Score Settings dialog contains options that allow you to change the appearance of the rhythmic notation.

Repeats (barlines) appear in all layouts, as well as Project symbols like Segnos, Codas, Da Capo, endings, etc. To have the playback in Cubase follow these directions, proceed as follows:

In this section, you can find some answers to questions concerning adding and editing of notes as well as the handling of symbols and layouts.