# Cubase tracks color (background), HZ template.



## JBZeon (Oct 3, 2012)

I was watching this video in Youtube about Hans Zimmer talking about the sound and music in DKR and im curious with the background color in the Cubase Main windows, the black color around the track name, this is very useful to maintenance the tracks order when you have more than 200 tracks. Seem to be Cubase 6.x.

I always had in mind to do something like this, thought it was not possible but cant find a way to do it, if any, there is only option to modify the color track, but this not affect the background color. 

Anyone knows how to set this background color or separations around track names in Cubase 6?.







http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8449/8051330604_dc1e979dc0_h.jpg


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## synthetic (Oct 4, 2012)

Have you tried using track folders? Put all of your brass tracks in a folder, wind tracks in another folder, etc. Then you can mute them all at once, collapse/hide sections not in use, etc.


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## bwherry (Oct 4, 2012)

Those are actually just disabled MIDI tracks, with names like "(empty)", used as spacers around the track folders, to help the track folders ("Strings", "Brass", etc.) stand out better. HTH!


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## MacQ (Oct 4, 2012)

Haha, that's a smart way to do it. I'll have to try that. Thanks Brian.

Edit: It's disabled audio tracks ... you can't disable MIDI tracks in C6.5. But it does work surprisingly well. I wonder who first came up with this idea?

As an aside ... Hans, that's gotta be annoying with the reading glasses. No Lasik option?


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## bwherry (Oct 4, 2012)

Oh right, disabled audio tracks. Sorry!


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## JBZeon (Oct 4, 2012)

Thank you all for the help. seem to be "disable audio tracks", at least it works¡. :D 

Steinberg could include this option, some kind of separator....

Thanks all you again.


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## Rctec (Oct 4, 2012)

Brian, are there no secrets left in my life? I was wondering how long it would take "Young Composer" to figure this out for himself, and now you ruined the game.
But seriously, I've been beating up on the Steinberg folks to make things easier to recognize. I try to have as much pattern recognition as possible in my setup. Colors do that, different sizes do that, etc... It has always been a problem and will only get worse as our computers get more powerful. Reading tiny labels on tracks just takes you right out of the workflow. And since I'm old, I need glasses. I'm just saving up for the pipe and walking stick...
But it would be nice if this community added its voice and ideas to the different DAW makers in how to make this problem go away... Anybody out there got any ideas?
Hz


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## RiffWraith (Oct 4, 2012)

Rctec @ Fri Oct 05 said:


> Anybody out there got any ideas?



Storm SB HQ?

Seriously, if *you*'ve been beating up on the Steinberg folks to make things easier to recognize, and they have not yet done anything - do you think they are going to listen to anyone else? SB is notoriously stubborn - and I am not talking about them not wanting to give info on bug fixes and features in upcoming releases - that's all fine. I am talking about their _my may or the highway_ approach.

Hopefully some improvements will be made to the GUI in v.7

Cheers.


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## MacQ (Oct 4, 2012)

Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:


> But it would be nice if this community added its voice and ideas to the different DAW makers in how to make this problem go away... Anybody out there got any ideas?
> Hz



I've always thought that mouse-over tool tips functionality should be customizable. That is to say that if I hover my mouse over top of a track (anywhere in line with it, not just on the track's name), it should show me the track name either in an "Info" window I can put anywhere (like "Always on Top" for the mixer) ... or in-place with font sizing of my preference. And it should happen instantaneously. Fewer clicks, faster "what the hell is going on" answers.

You probably have more clout with them than I do, so if you want to pass that one along that'd be great. =o 

~Stu


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## rpaillot (Oct 4, 2012)

Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:


> Brian, are there no secrets left in my life? I was wondering how long it would take "Young Composer" to figure this out for himself, and now you ruined the game.
> But seriously, I've been beating up on the Steinberg folks to make things easier to recognize. I try to have as much pattern recognition as possible in my setup. Colors do that, different sizes do that, etc... It has always been a problem and will only get worse as our computers get more powerful. Reading tiny labels on tracks just takes you right out of the workflow. And since I'm old, I need glasses. I'm just saving up for the pipe and walking stick...
> But it would be nice if this community added its voice and ideas to the different DAW makers in how to make this problem go away... Anybody out there got any ideas?
> Hz




Maybe a small "zooming" bubble that pops up only when your scroll over the track label 
 sounds like something for very old people with eyes problems but .. Anyway I'm 
Only 24 and I already have glasses because of years watching computer screens :/


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## givemenoughrope (Oct 4, 2012)

What specifically are you guys having trouble reading in Cubase? Track names? I had that problem but I had to just come up with my own short hand for labeling. I use folders religiously. Colors, not so much (yet). What else though? Maybe I don't even know that I'm having a problem. 

And I wear glasses at the computer. When I moved to LA it was so dry that my contacts just fell out. I might try them again but never at the computer. Too much strain.


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## Stephen Baysted (Oct 4, 2012)

Folders differentiated by colours here in my template. Oh and good, helpful assistants too, for when I forget :D


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## bwherry (Oct 4, 2012)

Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:


> Brian, are there no secrets left in my life? I was wondering how long it would take "Young Composer" to figure this out for himself, and now you ruined the game.



Haha! Oopsie.


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## José Herring (Oct 4, 2012)

What I really want to know is what that Star Trek thingy in front of the screen is. Wow!


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## givemenoughrope (Oct 4, 2012)

Lemur touchscreen I'd suppose...?

What's with the blinding white screen?


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## LeighJC (Oct 4, 2012)

not sure if they are Lemurs i read a post somewhere that said they are custom built hp touch screen monitor system he has a pair of them, i'm sure Maestro Zimmer will enlighten us if we ask nicely lol......i fact i'll do it now.....Dear Mr.Zimmer would you be kind enough to tells us about your touch screen things? 

i'm sure he'll post we he can, 

if your interested in touch screen, i use a pair of iPad 3's with the artsUnmuted templates they are fantastic i'm that used to using them i can't remember half the key commands anymore 

Leigh


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## guydoingmusic (Oct 4, 2012)

Can't you get medicinal marijuana for glaucoma in California? May not help the vision... but I bet EVERYTHING would sound better afterwards!! 

Brad


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## Rctec (Oct 4, 2012)

...O.K., the touch screens. Any touch screen will do, or an Ipad, but when the amazing Mark Wherry build this system for me, Ipads didn't exsist yet. We started off with a cashregister with 128 physical buttons. Cheap, practical - and hell to program.
But the concept behind the touchscreen is the same as any keyboard. Middle 'C' is always in the same phsical place, and in my world "raise the velocity of the 3rd beat by 10" is always in the same phisical place. I think having your muscle memory know where any comand or function is, is far less interuptive to creativity than picking up a mouse, looking at the screen to locate the little cursor, move it over to the object you want to select, etc - all the stuff you can do so well with a mouse. It might only take a split second, but it is an interuption of flow, you have to switch your left/right brain over. It's the difference between using a Theremin and a keyboard.
So my touchscreen does a few things: it takes care of all the articulation switches in the sampler; it has all those menues hidden behind pull downs available all the time, so that I don't have to remeber that 'note length' is in Midi/Functions/Notelength at the top of the screen. Its faders for things you need continuous controllers for - and not just in the sequencer, but in Protools and any external device, in affect bringing the whole studio into a centralized workspace - and it lets you 'nest' comands (like macros) and it - most importantly with the sequencer - lets me select and edit notes in a grid of musical subdivision. Most music is gridbased: a scale for pitch, subdivisions for rhythm. It's not free-form pixel based, which is what a graphic controller like a mouse is so good for. For example, if I have a repeating pattern where I want to accent every 3rd 16th in a 32 bar sequence, I'll be mousing around while holding shift for a long time, trying to select all those notes. My touchscreen grid lets me select every note - either in a single bar, or for a whole part - with one touch. It looks a bit like the layout of the 808 buttons...
Since Mark custom designs our samplers, the touchscreen is really it's user interface as well. And as we add functionallity, it's easy to reprogram and add to the interface.

Now, one of the nice things about the touchscreen is, I get to design it's lay-out. I know where everything is, how things are grouped and what color they are. I don't actually have to read the labels on the buttons. And that is exactly the problem with the tracknames in large daw setups. it's not that I can't read the names, it's that I don't want to. The folder tracks are a tremendous step forward, but unless you really look, they are just another track type, more gray on gray, but at a quick (and I want it quick) glance not really helpful when you just want to scroll up and down fast and find something. I can't even make their background a different color (strings are blue, brass is red, etc). That's what bugs me. So our bargain workaround is to 'frame' them with disabled audio tracks. And, picking up where the "Young Composer" started, I blame Cubase for writing such crap music.


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## LeighJC (Oct 4, 2012)

thanks for the reply Hans always wondered exactly what the hp monitors were doing, nice little bit of info for everyone there!!

Leigh


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## José Herring (Oct 5, 2012)

Thanks Hans.

You make me feel like a 4 year old trying to program a casio by comparison.

Off to buy an ipad!


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## Daryl (Oct 5, 2012)

I use my Lemur for all patch changes, and because I don't have multiple MIDI tracks for each instrument, the colour coding, combined with folders works well for me. I also use the Lemur to trigger some very complex macros, but because Cubendo is very slow to react to multiple modifier keys, it is not as useful as I would like. This problem is something that I, and others, have been nagging Steinberg about for years, but either they can't do anything about it, or are not interested. It is a shame, because both Cubase and Nuendo are fantastic programs, but there are just a few niggles, and unfinished features that could become annoying, if you don't learn to let go and just find a workaround. :wink: 

Touch screens are a mixed blessing, IMO. Whilst I like the ability to customise the layout, I don't like the lack of tactile feedback. There are some very exciting things on the technology horizon that may help with this, but until then, using faders, and other such devices that rely on touch, will remain a hardware solution in my studio.

D


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## Ganvai (Oct 5, 2012)

I think some seperators with free to choose colors would be very usefull, also the colored folders are usefull too.

What I'm really missing is the chance to make some notes for tracks and files.

I think of another tool which you can use to create a note for a track or a file, or a timeline-position you have in your sequencer. If you add a note there is a tiny symbol and when you go over it with the mouse you see your note in a little window attached on teh track/file.

With that there should be an overview about all notes in the opened project and there should be a symbol in the timeline to see where notes where added and if you hover that, all notes at this position should be shown.

Would be very usefull for work in progress - projects or if you are working together with someone. You could save very quick ideas for mixing, or harmonies and with the symbol you everytime get rememberd.

There should be a chance to make links to other /tracks/files/timeline-positions but the editor should be very easy and tiny, a fast to use tool that eliminate all those yellow notes flying aroundon my table after two tracks.

Maybe with that, a track where you can place a simple text in would be very cool too. You have an easy track, where you can ever place a text in. So if you work with folders, you could close a folder and mark with the "text-track" what happens in this folder at this point and so on, without opening it again. You could give headlines to several parts of your project like "start brass crescendo" and "end brass crescendo" or something that's more usefull than this silly example  I think espacially in big projects, that go 10 or more minutes it might be a more usefull way than the old-fashioned markers.

I think I'll start writing a mail for Steinberg...


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## jcs88 (Oct 5, 2012)

Well, this thread has quickly become gold with insight from HZ like that.

I'd encourage you guys to check out an ipad + TouchOSC. It's what I use my ipad for, mostly. You can easily program the layout/buttons/functions on the computer. Don't think you can do super complicated macro's like Mr. Zimmer's set up there, but I use it for all my CC controls, articulation switching (have one page for each section, etc). It's also wireless so great for using in a live room/recording away from the keyboard. Touch controlling EQ systems are nice as well.


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## Andreas Moisa (Oct 5, 2012)

I always wonder why Cubase does not provide more useful features that really support creativity.
Just take a look at Hans' touch screen and adopt it to an iPad App. Or recently I wondered about the Channel EQ - no visual analyzer, no simple ways to use high and low pass filters (without wasting the two bands out of four). Simple things...

I would also like to see different "tabs" for the arranger window where you could just make a different version of a cue (when scoring to picture) and easily AB different versions within one project...

For project compatibility I would like to be able to read out all loaded Plugins with their Patch Names offline so that I could easily re-open/re-create old projects.

Still "the best DAW is the one you know best" rings in my ear and is an essential truth 

As for the "Folder" problem, you could solve it with a function like "show only tracks within folder xy" (together with "hide unused").

I guess I'd buy a CubaseHZ ))


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## germancomponist (Oct 5, 2012)

Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:


> Anybody out there got any ideas?
> Hz



Some years ago I sent a similar photo to the Steinberg gang, but never got a response. 

The idea is to get this screen by only one mouse-click. I know some people are doing nearly the same by turning their monitors 90 degrees, but..... .


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## Ganvai (Oct 5, 2012)

Oh man, I fear this pain in my eyes now won't ever go away... :D


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## mark812 (Oct 5, 2012)

germancomponist @ Fri Oct 05 said:


> Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:
> 
> 
> > Anybody out there got any ideas?
> ...



Probably because they went blind after seeing it. :lol:


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## germancomponist (Oct 5, 2012)

mark812 @ Fri Oct 05 said:


> germancomponist @ Fri Oct 05 said:
> 
> 
> > Rctec @ Thu Oct 04 said:
> ...



Ha ha ha, I did this in 5 minutes in Photoschop. But do you get the idea? It is like the mixers are...., much more tracks on the screen.


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## germancomponist (Oct 5, 2012)

Another thing I would like in Cubase is to be able to record the tempo track via a midi controller.

BTW, I have exchanged my photoshopped picture. o=<


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## givemenoughrope (Oct 5, 2012)

Alternate and curved tempos ala LP would be nice. 

I can't really complain too much about Cubase though. I'd say that I have to get back into setting key commands. They were wiped and one point and I altered the way I work a bit. It was undoubtedly faster and more intuitive. I'm really thinking about the time wasted reaching for the mouse now after a few people have mentioned it interrupting the flow.


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## JBZeon (Oct 5, 2012)

That's the problem. Technology makes information more dense in screens, more resolution, smaller letters. I have the same problem as Hans, the view too tired and those tiny letters only worsen ocular fatigue, i have no place to put some 100 inch monitors around here.

Ipad is fine, but the end is the same, too much information into something too small. I use it mainly for keyboard shortcuts, KS etc, i need to look at MAX with any (bigger) touchscreen to see how deep can go. Decisions between manufacturers are slow to come and I think that this problem does not have it in perspective or are not interested in implement.


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## Blakus (Oct 5, 2012)

germancomponist @ Sat Oct 06 said:


> Another thing I would like in Cubase is to be able to record the tempo track via a midi controller.


That's actually a great idea. I hate mouse fiddling with tempo tracks. Now that you mention it I'm surprised Cubase can't already do this!


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## guydoingmusic (Oct 5, 2012)

Blakus @ Fri Oct 05 said:


> germancomponist @ Sat Oct 06 said:
> 
> 
> > Another thing I would like in Cubase is to be able to record the tempo track via a midi controller.
> ...



you can do this in Cubase now. Not sitting in front of Cubase ATM or else I would tell you how.

Brad


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