Wow, I am actually reviving this 4 year old post. Believe it or not, but this still hasn’t been solved in media bay, but there are some workarounds that I will briefly mention below (for anyone still battling with this issue).
First off, regular WAV files cannot be tagged (file format does not support tagging), but broadcast wave does. MP3 and AIFF files also support tagging. As far as I understand, Cubase / Media Bay will write tags for wave files either into its own database (hence non-destructive) or into a broadcast wave junk file (or both).
Regarding auto-tagging:
Automatically taking text from a filename (sample) and adding it as a tag is not yet supported but would also be a great feature in media bay. Steinberg’s Sampler Halion 6 already has a similar (related) feature whereby you can import a sample and tell it to use the text (root key info) in the filename to automatically map the sample accordingly.
I have suggested that Steinberg incorporate something similar into Cubase’s media bay. When importing a sample into media bay, the software could automatically read the text in the filename and if tempo or key information is detected, automatically add it to the tags. I agree this would be a nifty little feature for both root key and tempo, maybe even category (such as drum, percussion aso).
What would take this whole process to a new level, is real auto-sensing capability in media bay, whereby not just the file name, but the actual content of a sample is analysed (using one or multiple algorithms) and the recognized tempo and key automatically written into tags. Maybe even category information.
The only 3rd party software to employ an algorithm that seems to be 97 - 98% exact (and which I have tested) is “Mixed in Key”. It does a good job of detecting root key and tempo. Keyfinder is outdated and not supported any longer. Mixed in Key cannot auto-tag Broadcast Wave files though, which is a real limitation as far as I am concerned.
You would have to use its “write to filename” feature, which then appends the filename with root key and tempo (also WAVs). Be aware that some licensed sample libraries do not allow file-renaming in their license agreements. Something to be aware of, so the following method is not applicable to all situations.
Renaming the filename is not ideal for many reasons. But it can be done. Mixed in Key’s renaming feature also has another limitation, as it can only add both root key AND tempo, not just tempo alone (eg. for purely rhythmic content). For rhythmic content (such as percussion or drums) or harmonic one shots and multi-samples (where you need only key but not tempo) you would then have to clean up your file names after processing them using the free “Bulk Rename Utility”. In effect, you would be renaming a second time. Then you would import files into Cubase (or rescan folder). Then search for key strings, then bulk tag all files in your search results.
Be aware, that Media Bay ignores underscore and dash symbols in your search. So looking for A or -A- keys will in essence show all files that have “A” in the filename, rendering this feature useless, as this would include practically every filename on your hard drive. A workaround is bulk renaming all files using the free “Bulk Rename Utility”. There you can rename your file name from A to (A) or from - A - to -(A)- as searching for brackets is recognized in Media Bay.
I have worked this way for the past 3 years and to this day I have not found an alternative to this method. Its cumbersome, but will pay off if you really have to process large depository of samples, as I have done. I have also developed complex RegEx Expression (many many pages) for use in “Bulk Rename Utility” to also process the most complicated filename combinations.
If you want to read more on the whole process you can check out my comments in this post: "Tempo" column in Media Bay / Delete not possible! - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
You can read and comment my feature request for auto-sensing root key, tempo and category in Media Bay here (which would really make this whole process a lot easier): Auto-Tagging in Cubase Media Bay (Key, Tempo, Category) - Cubase - Steinberg Forums
Hope this helps,
Cheers.