Target Groups
Cubase Essential 5 is the ideal entry-level Cubase edition from Steinberg for singers, composers, home-recorders, bands and electronic music producers. Based on the latest Cubase 5 technology, it assists musicians with every step of the music creation process: from the first idea through the arrangement to the final mix. In doing so, Cubase offers various tools to meet the individual needs: be it a recording engineer, rock guitarist, dance DJ, hip-hop producer, songwriter or film score composer, Cubase users are among the most successful professionals in the world.
Cubase Essential 5 can be used for a large range of music styles and areas of application. From singers and songwriters recording vocal lines to rock bands jamming in their rehearsal room, Cubase Essential 5 is as easy as it gets — with outstanding audio quality as well as flexible and time-saving recording and editing functionality.
Singer/songwriter
Cubase Essential 5 is the ideal tool for singers and songwriters for recording vocal lines, preparing playbacks and creating entire songs. The PitchCorrect plug-in removes intonation problems in real time and shifts recorded vocals to the next note value on a defined scale. It’s even possible to control each individual note in real time with a MIDI keyboard or by playing back notes from a MIDI track.
Cubase Essential 5 also offers exceptional virtual instruments and sounds that let you create professional-sounding accompaniments, be it a playback for vocal exercises or even an entire demo. To edit vocals, various effect plug-ins such as a high-quality EQ, compressor and reverb are readily available. If the singer accompanies vocals with guitar, it goes without saying that the guitar music can also be recorded and edited extensively in Cubase Essential, which also includes a top-notch virtual guitar amplifier exactly for this reason.
Composer
With Cubase, composers get also a software notation program for creating simple score layouts which can then be printed out in high quality. Thanks to the integrated HALion ONE sample player, the user has hundreds of sounds ready at hand, including a slew of high-quality orchestral sounds played in different styles.
Cubase Essential 5 also allows for composing and syncing music to video. Video files of virtually all popular formats like AVI, MPEG and QuickTime can be displayed in a freely scalable video window within Cubase. The individual video frames are displayed as thumbnails in a video track, making it a whole lot easier to compose in sync with individual frames. Basic editing functionality, such as edit, cut and paste, are also readily available.
Beat producer
Cubase Essential 5 includes a ton of tools for the creative beat producer. By using the Beat Designer step sequencer, the user can quickly and intuitively program individual drum patterns with dozens of beats in different music styles.
Using MediaBay, it is possible to comfortably manage, categorize and listen in on all the drum samples, presets and loops. And with powerful hitpoint and time-stretching tools, adjusting the imported loops to any song tempo happens at the flick of switch — perfect for remixing other projects.
The added effects provide everything needed to let beats sound punchier, louder and dirtier. Here the user finds high-quality EQs, compressors, limiters, distortion effects and tons more, not to forget the featured full side-chaining support.
Electronic music producer
Producers of all types of electronic music will instantly fall in love with the included exceptional rich-sounding Prologue virtual analog synthesizer and the stunning and numerous audio and MIDI effect processors available in Cubase Essential 5. Based on renowned synthesizer technology by VirSyn, Prologue’s multi-mode variable resonance filters, powerful modulation capabilities and excellent onboard effects make it the perfect choice for any type of synth sound. Finally, the HALion ONE sampler player perfectly rounds out the rich sound spectrum of Cubase Essential 5.
The Arranger function allows the user to define different segments of the song as Arranger parts and play them back in any order — the ideal solution for live performances. And with outstanding tools like the Drum Editor and the Beat Designer step sequencer for programming quick and individual grooves, more than 30 audio effects for sound designing and mixing and 18 MIDI-effects, Cubase Essential 5 is truly a stunning application for all electronic music producers.
Band
Be it in the rehearsal room or recording studio, recording bands with Cubase Essential 5 is as easy as it gets. Different recording modes and great tools help manage multiple takes. What’s more, with 64 audio tracks at the user’s disposal, recording, arranging and mixing large and comprehensive projects can be achieved with ease. Due to the integrated audio pre-record function, the user won’t miss a single take (especially the really good ones) even when forgetting to activate the recording function. What’s more, Cubase Essential 5 comes with PitchCorrect, a powerful tool for pitch and intonation correction, to automatically correct the vocal line after the recording.
