I was eagerly awaiting the release of Cubase 15, with great hope that it would finally address several persistent issues within the Score Editor that significantly hamper my workflow. While I appreciate any improvements, the changes appear to be only slight, and I must admit I expected much more foundational fixes.
I’ve compiled a comprehensive list below of the fixes and feature additions I believe are essential for the Score Editor to be genuinely competitive and efficient.
Core Workflow & Usability Issues
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Cursor Behavior After Drawing Elements: The cursor’s behavior after adding an element remains confusing. For example, if I select Piano (P) from the Immediate Dynamics palette, the cursor correctly displays the ‘P’ sign. However, after placing the dynamic on the staff, the cursor immediately reverts to an arrow, even though the tool is still active in “draw” mode. This makes the user think they are now in selection mode, but the next click still drops another ‘P’. This same inconsistency occurs with time signatures, fermatas, and other elements.
- Request: Please maintain the visual cue of the active tool/element until a different tool is explicitly selected (e.g., the arrow tool).
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Lack of TAB Navigation in Dialogs: It is extremely frustrating to be forced to use the mouse to jump between input fields in configuration dialogs. When editing fields like Title, Lyricist, and Composer in the Score Settings, the inability to use the TAB key to cycle to the next field is a significant time sink.
- Request: Implement standard GUI behavior allowing the TAB key to select the next field in all relevant settings dialogs.
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Presets for Layout and Notation Settings: We have been requesting this since the debut of the new Score Editor in Cubase 14! Setting up a custom layout (e.g., page size, font, spacing) for different projects is currently a tedious process of manual entry every time.
- Request: Please prioritize the ability to save, load, and manage custom presets for both Layout and Notation settings.
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Inconsistent Chord Display with Preferences: The way a chord is chosen to be displayed in the global Preferences (e.g., using a crossed “o” for a half-diminished chord) correctly affects the Chord Track, but this setting does not carry over to the Score Editor. The score still renders it as dim7(b5).
- Request: Ensure the Score Editor respects the global Chord Symbol Display Preferences.
Note Input & Notation
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Dedicated Shuffle Feel Option: A true shuffle feel setting is a must-have for certain genres. While a workaround exists using the DQ and forced eighth notes, it involves constantly toggling the Auto or Force Eights setting. This should be an automatic part of the Quantization Process.
- Request: I propose a “Shuffle” checkbox within the DQ Settings. When checked, eighth-note triplets should automatically display as standard eighth notes if the second triplet is absent. If the second triplet exists, they should display as triplets—mirroring what I currently have to do manually.
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Graphical Notehead Palette: Why are the various notehead types buried in a text-based menu? A visual palette with graphical examples of the noteheads would be exponentially more intuitive and convenient than deciphering text descriptions.
- Request: Replace the current text menu for notehead selection with a visual/graphical palette.
Shortcuts and Efficiency
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Inadequate Shortcut Assignments: There is still no way to assign key commands to many fundamental notation elements such as staccato, slurs, or voice selection. Furthermore, for editing piano parts, essential functions like cross-staff note transfers and respell require me to repeatedly go to the menu, severely slowing down the workflow.
- Request: In an ideal world, every function should be available for a custom key command assignment.
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Tremolo for Note Selections: Currently, applying a tremolo marking to a group of selected notes does not work. You are forced to click each note individually. Imagine the time sink required when a string section has several bars of tremolos.
- Request: Enable the application of tremolo markings to a range of selected notes.
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Arpeggiato/Roll for Cross-Staff Chords: The arpeggiato symbol placed on a chord split across the piano grand staff is not working correctly. If I place it on the right hand, it disappears from the left hand (and vice versa). It should, of course, apply to the entire chord spanning both staves.
- Request: Fix the application of the arpeggiato symbol for chords that span the treble and bass clefs in the grand staff.
Selection and Editing
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Inconsistent and Problematic Selection Logic: The selection logic in the Score Editor is radically different from every other part of Cubase. Outside the score, an element is selected if the selection rectangle merely touches it. In the Score Editor, elements like lyrics must be entirely enclosed within the selection rectangle. This frequently leads to missing part of the lyric or inadvertently selecting notes/beams along with the text.
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Request: Adopt the standard “touch-to-select” logic used elsewhere in Cubase.
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Feature Idea: Add a filter or mode to limit selection to specific element types (e.g., notes, slurs, articulations, lyrics). If I want to delete all lyrics on a page, I currently have to struggle stave by stave. Being able to select only lyrics would allow me to box-select the entire page—a huge time saver.
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Overly Tricky Dynamic Editing and Snapping: Editing dynamics is unnecessarily difficult:
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Handles: The small circular handles used to move and resize dynamics are difficult to accurately click with the mouse.
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Visual Feedback: When a handle is clicked, the dynamic only becomes slightly bolder, which is visually ambiguous. It should perhaps change color to confirm selection.
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Snapping: The current snapping logic for dynamics is incomprehensible and restrictive. Trying to create a complex dynamic shape, like a crescendo for three beats followed by a diminuendo for one beat on a single whole note (e.g., in a string part), is currently almost impossible.
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Request: Provide clearer visual feedback when dynamics are selected, and, most importantly, give us the ability to turn off snapping for dynamics to allow for smooth, free movement and resizing.
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Score Management
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Absence of Bar Hiding/Exclusion: The ability to selectively hide bars is a long-awaited and crucial feature. I almost always have repeated musical sections (e.g., intro repeats) in my project that I must not have appear in the final printed score.
- Request: Implement functionality to hide or exclude specific bars from the score view without deleting the MIDI data.
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Lack of Lyric-to-Note Connection: If I change the rhythmic position of a note, the corresponding lyric is not linked and becomes visually misaligned. This forces me to manually move the lyrics every time a rhythmic change is made.
- Request: Ensure that lyrics are firmly linked to their associated notes so they adjust their horizontal position when the note’s rhythmic position is edited.
Conclusion
Some of these issues have workarounds, but they demand a significant amount of extra time and effort for tasks that should be instantaneous. For others, I can find no practical workaround at all.
When the new Score Editor debuted in 2024 (v14), it required a large adjustment from users accustomed to the previous, more flexible editor. While the aesthetic quality of the generated scores improved greatly, the editor lost much of the previous version’s core functionality. We accepted this as a new product’s starting point, expecting the functionality to be restored and expanded step-by-step.
With the release of Cubase 15, the minor changes to the Score Editor lead me to believe this crucial part of the software is receiving the lowest development priority. This is deeply disappointing, as I—and I know many other composers—rely heavily on this tool.
I sincerely hope to see these fundamental usability issues addressed in future updates.