Audio Hardware
Cubase Essential 4 runs on nearly every audio interface available on the market, including all ASIO- and Core Audio-compatible audio hardware, ready for immediate use. Because countless professional vendors offer interfaces in every price class and with the most diverse analog and digital I/O options, Cubase Essential 4 allows you to to configure the setup that meets your individual needs and best suits your working environment.
Project Window
As the primary window in Cubase Essential 4, the Project window affords you a view of the arrangement and its various tracks. The Project window is fully scalable; you can hide and show tools and display panels at will to adapt the window to the requirements of the task at hand.
You may enter track settings directly in the Track Inspector, a panel at the left of the Project window that you can show and hide on demand. It provides access to all of the selected track’s key control elements and parameters, including all mixer settings and plug-in routings/assignments. To gain a better view of complex arrangements, you can group individual tracks together using special folder tracks.
Workflow
Cubase Essential 4 was developed specifically to enable efficient, ergonomic handling that is easily personalized to satisfy your requirements. Keyboard shortcuts are available for nearly all functions in Cubase Essential 4. You can assign these key commands freely and export the entire set if you want to use your personalized key commands on other systems. If you wish to jump quickly to specific locations within an arrangement, you can put various markers in place. Cubase Essential 4 offers unlimited undo so you can give your creative urges free rein: Go ahead and try anything out; you can always cancel any number of editing actions if it doesn’t work out.
Resource Management
Cubase Essential 4 offers functions enabling you to create complex arrangements that require less computing power and let you use performance-hungry plug-ins. As the name would suggest, the Freeze function freezes VST instruments or audio tracks with insert effects. The track is mixed into a temporary audio file, freeing up sufficient resources for further processing. Unlike conventional track bouncing, which requires you to commit early on, freezing grants you greater flexibility throughout the production process because its actions can be undone at any time.
Pattern-based arranging
While many other DAW applications force you to use a specific way of working, Cubase Essential 4 allows a free choice between timeline-based and pattern-based arranging - both directly accessible within the Essential 4 Project window.
The Arranger Track is an intuitive alternative to linear arrangements. Parts of a song or production can be defined as Arranger Parts, the order sequence and repetitions of which can be handled in a, easy-to-use editor. Different versions of a project can be created and compared in next to no time - without the original version being altered. The resequenced project can then be transformed into a traditional linear arrangement with a single mouse click.
Arranger parts can be triggered live by clicking in the part list. In combination with the special playback modes the arranger feature allows new live performance applications
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