Cubase 14. New score editor lacks important features of the old editor

[Synthplayer]

I have been using the Score Editor for decades. Mainly for lead sheets with chord symbols and small piano arrangements.

I tested the new Score Editor for this application. In my opinion, it has become significantly worse, as some things no longer work in the new version:

Here are the most important missing functions:

1. No manual entry of chord symbols in the music sheet. This is a must for a lead sheet. Entering via the chord track is far too indirect.

2. No hide function.
   This is really important. You can use it to hide things in your music sheet that are unimportant. For example, even entire staffs that are not needed in one place.

3. No way to move elements manually. For example, moving bar changes is super important to manually improve readability. Or moving a chord symbol to a better place, or a rest.

4. No way to set the playback position in the score (former Shift Alt Click).
   The reason is that you scroll through your score and then want to play the score from a certain point without leaving the score first.

So, now for some less important points:

5. No easy setting of the polyphonic display of a track (single, polyphonic, split with split point) instead with inflexible instruments. I don’t understand why it is not possible, for example, to set even a single staff for a piano instrument. Such notes do exist.

Can you create custom instruments?

6. A clef with an octave sign ( 8 ), above or below, does not adjust the notes. That was very useful.

7. Swing eighth notes/triplets are sometimes displayed incorrectly.

In one example, an ending eighth note triplet note was very strangely connected to the next quarter rest as a triplet.

8. Swing eighth notes cannot be displayed as normal eighth notes (old shuffle setting).

9. No Real Book setting.

10. MIDI bending is still not shown in the note display.
    The old editor couldn’t do that either. But that would be very valuable for synthesizer or guitar notes with pitch bending.

All of this speaks completely against updating to Cubase 14 for me at the moment. But it could be that I haven’t found where to set some things.

[ChrisW]

Another thing that seems to be missing (or I can’t find) is a way to show tablature for guitars, etc.

Apart from this, I much prefer the new Score Editor.

[Timo]

Thank you for your great contribution. I had feared something like that. I’m not sure if it was intentional.

Surely they waited with the funeral of the former score editor until the main authors had disappeared into retirement. And certainly one of the main goals was that you can now realize things in the MIDI area that couldn’t be done before because of the score editor.

Nevertheless, the new score editor - which, by the way, can be used unchanged in all Cubase flavors which I find remarkable - functionally being more or less equal to the old one. If this is not the case at the moment, there must be a clear timetable on the part of Steinberg as to what will be added and by when this should happen. It plays a big role for me whether I switch to Cubase 14 or not, whether I am able to create lead sheets or Realbook pages easily and quickly. I am sure Dorico is a great tool, but I prefer to do anything in one application. Cubase up to now made this possible - please continue that way.

[StefanFuhrmann]

Hi Synthplayer, thanks for your feedback, and welcome to the forum!

@Synthplayer

No manual entry of chord symbols

Look at the symbol palette, last section for Text items, click on the Chord Symbol button. Then click in the score where you want to add the Chord Symbol. You’ll then see a little popover, which you can use to enter the chord as a text string. The syntax is identical to how Dorico deals with them.

No hide function

We are considering adding that at some point in future. For now, it would be interesting to see exactly why you would need it. For hiding staves, look at the Layout Options, Vertical Spacing section.

No way to move elements manually

It would be interesting to see specific examples where the default score doesn’t suit your needs. Make sure you’re in page mode and have set your desired page and stpace size accordingly.
There will be cases where the automatic placement isn’t ideal. I’m not certain to what extent we might offer manual engraving tools in the Cubase Score Editor. You can however just export a Dorico file, and do any fine engraving work there (even just in the free Dorico SE version).

No way to set the playback position

We’ll certainly bring that back. You can select events, and press L though.

No easy setting of the polyphonic display

Instrument Settings, “Voices” does allow you to define the voices on each staff. It doesn’t allow you to hide staves though. For that, I’ll refer you back to the Layout Option, Vertical Spacing, Multi-Staff checkbox,

A clef with an octave sign ( 8 ),

Indeed, it doesn’t change notes on purpose. We may look at adding an option for this in future.

Swing eighth notes

You’re right, that’s an area that needs some improvement.

No Real Book

Lots of potential to improve in that area too

MIDI bending is still not shown

We’ll add support for guitar bend symbols in an upcoming patch release. Not sure yet how that should interact with midi pitch bend, an interesting aspect to explore.

I encourage you to take a look at the trial version. Let us know how you get on if you choose to give it a go.

[StefanFuhrmann]

@ChrisW

show tablature for guitars

That’s planned to arrive in a patch release.

[ChrisW]

Brilliant, thanks.

[ChrisW]

It’s interesting to read the comments above. This has the potential to be streets ahead of any rival DAW/scoring software.

[Synthplayer]

Hi all and @StefanFuhrmann,
I’ll keep testing and will report back here.

But I have to say one more important thing:
The score editor built into Cubase is extremely important to me. That is the most important difference between Cubase and other DAWs (I have others too, Studio One, Ableton, Reaper, etc.). Steinberg should really take that into account in my opinion.

A solution that is not built directly into the DAW has little value for me (e.g. Dorico), as you then have to export and switch to the other application, thereby losing direct access to the underlying data (MIDI) in Cubase.

The song (MIDI) data is just as important to me and this data is also changed in the process. The output of the notes should be as close to the original data as possible so that they also reflect the latest changes. I also use Cubase to practice a song and it is very helpful to be able to play the song, follow the notes, play along with it and use the corresponding VSTis in Cubase.
The other important function is to generate a lead sheet/arrangement from the song for other band members. These sheet music should be as compact as possible, hence the hide function, for example.
The old score editor actually worked very well for me for these things.

best regards

[PaulWalmsley]

Thanks for your feedback. These are the kind of use cases that we do want to address.

Could you describe a little more about what you mean about using the hide function to make things compact? What things are you needing to hide to achieve this? Are you able to attach any sample projects or scores that show your desired result? (You can DM me if you don’t want to attach them publicly)

The Dorico scoring engine has a different model to the old score editor and so there may be alternative ways of getting the result you want rather than relying on hiding things.

[Synthplayer]

@PaulWalmsley

sure, here it is an example.

Fanfare for the Common Man Page 1 fanfare_for_the_common_man.mid.cpr.pdf (48,7 KB)

You can see that the arrangement is as compact as possible and only shows the most important things. At the beginning there is just the intro melody, then the bass, then the interplay between keyboard and bass, then just the melody again, the rest is well known.

best regards

[PaulWalmsley]

Thanks, that’s very useful. So for a case like this you would want to hide sections that are maybe repeating a part that has already been established? (ie the player knows the structure of the song, this is just a reminder)

[Synthplayer]

Exactly.

I think I use the hide function mainly for two things:

1. to delete unnecessary staves to make the sheet more compact
2. to delete notes that you don’t want to write down in a stave
   The original tracks shouldn’t be changed, however, as they should still be able to play the entire arrangement.

Instead of using a hide function, the first point could be achieved with a flexible setting for each staves line as to which tracks or perhaps parts of them should be visible. But a general Hide function would be more flexible and could be also used for other things.
The best thing would be both.

The second point is perhaps not quite as important, as you could also work with a track copy that is no longer played (muted) in which the notes are deleted.

It would also be generally nice if muted notes or other elements (track events, tracks) were simply not displayed and not included in the score. This can of course be adjusted.

best regards

[Synthplayer]

Hi,

I wanted to add a better explanation of my general procedure for the PDF example, above:

3 tracks (melody, keyboard, bass) are marked, the score editor is opened and all are displayed as multiple staves in the score editor.

Then in the page view all the staves that should not be displayed on the page were simply marked and hidden.

[zolhof]

@StefanFuhrmann

We are considering adding that at some point in future. For now, it would be interesting to see exactly why you would need it. For hiding staves, look at the Layout Options, Vertical Spacing section.

Hi Stefan! Adding to what synthplayer mentioned, the hide function is useful for keeping scores clean by hiding all the MIDI “junk” that needs to be played but not notated. This allows me to hide extra notes, pauses, and other elements essential for playback but irrelevant to the score’s visual clarity. Here are some examples:

Polished / Hidden

Currently, even if I created a separate set of tracks for notation only (which isn’t ideal and not necessary before), the existing tools still wouldn’t allow me to achieve the same level of flexibility. The original editor, despite its dated look, offered unprecedented control in the DAW realm, which is what made it so special and, I think, very underrated. Missing functions like hide, bezier slur, the properties tab (old “Set Note Info” for in-depth note customization), and the note editing overlay (for precise display duration adjustments beyond display quantize) were essential for this flexibility, and I really hope they make a return.

I understand we’re in the early stages of the editor revamp, so it’s great to be able to discuss its direction clearly at this point. With Dorico engine’s advanced layout, spacing, and overall polish, it would be a dream setup. And being able to move projects to Dorico for final publishing would truly bring the workflow full circle.

[Synthplayer]

Hi zolhof,

oh yes, exactly. Those are good examples of a hide function.
We need the hide function.

The old score editor was really very good. It is really underrated.
I miss it already.

best regards

[Luca_Savazzi]

@Synthplayer

No Real Book setting.

Thanks Synthplayer
When you say “No Real Book setting” do you mean that it is not possible to change the score font like in the image I attached?
Thanks a lot

[jim_knopf]

I don’t want to annoy you and understand that you would like to find functionality you were used to also in the new editor.

But I for one heavily disliked the old score editor, to a degree I didn’t use it any more, for anything. And especially the way it rendered recorded midi was utter crap, totally unuseable and requiring endless editing.

I was glad to use a fast developing Dorico first and still am, and now enjoy a well working midi capture with fast Dorico style editing for the first time, in Cubase 14. I like that workflow MUCH more than the old one. So Í’m not shedding one single tear for the old editor!

[Puma0382]

In the spirit of the topic title, just so it’s noted…

“… explode the midi part with chords to separate mono lines.”
Cubase 14 Score Edit- Whats good and bad - Cubase - Steinberg Forums

[Synthplayer]

@Luca_Savazzi

@Synthplayer

No Real Book setting.

When you say “No Real Book setting” do you mean that it is not possible to change the score font like in the image I attached?
Thanks a lot

Hi Luca_Savazzi,
I’m just talking about the checkbox that you can tick in the Score Settings → Layout tab for “Real Book”. It means that the key and clef are only shown on the first line. It’s very useful for getting a more compact sheet.

The settings you showed are also no longer available in the new editor, or are different.

[Synthplayer]

@jim_knopf

I don’t want to annoy you and understand that you would like to find functionality you were used to also in the new editor.

But I for one heavily disliked the old score editor, to a degree I didn’t use it any more, for anything. And especially the way it rendered recorded midi was utter crap, totally unuseable and requiring endless editing.

I was glad to use a fast developing Dorico first and still am, and now enjoy a well working midi capture with fast Dorico style editing for the first time, in Cubase 14. I like that workflow MUCH more than the old one. So Í’m not shedding one single tear for the old editor!

Hi jim_knopf,
that’s not my experience.
For me, the old editor displayed MIDI data in a readable/playable way (maybe not for an official pretty printout) and was very flexible. Of course, you have to learn its functions.
For example and important for a clean rendering, you always had to set the display quantize setting for rests to 1/4 and consolidate rests, clean lengths and no overlap, otherwise far too many, too fine and too small note values ​​were displayed.