Like many other windows, the Key editor now has its own Inspector panel in Cubase 6, providing access to common editing commands for transposing, quantising and adjusting the lengths of notes. To configure Note Expression on a track, a new Inspector Section has been added to both the Project and Key editor windows. The Note Expression Inspector Section shows a list of available parameters, and exactly which ones you see here depends on the instrument you’re using on a particular track. The VST3 controllers declared by a supporting instrument are shown first, followed by a list of MIDI controllers.
Cubase 6 is a great release, and it’s especially gratifying that Steinberg have tidied up some of the loose ends introduced with the slightly dubious 5.5 update last Summer. The user interface finally feels as though it’s gaining consistency, with a cleaner, luculent and more polished appearance, so much so, that returning to Cubase 5.5 after experiencing the improvements — particularly the new Inspectors in the Project, Score and Key editors — is really disorientating. The phrase “How could we ever have worked like this?” kept springing to mind, which, to me at least, is usually the sign of a good upgrade.
Putting the user interface to one side, it’s gratifying to see Steinberg pushing ahead in Cubase 6 and exploring avenues that no other developer seems to be investigating. The Key editor has matured significantly, and compared to the paltry offerings in the competition — specifically Logic, Pro Tools and Sonar — Cubase easily has the best graphical event editing (it seems wrong to use the word MIDI here). The only slight chink in the armour — aside from the fact that it would be nice to have access to the Tempo, Signature and Marker tracks in the Key editor — is that for new features like Note Expression to be truly useful, Steinberg will need the support of its developer community. (See ‘Why VST3 Matters’ box.)
At the end of the day, Cubase 6 is a formidable release. Cubase users will love it, of course; but some of the new features are sure to make followers of other music production software green with envy.