Steinberg Cubase 5 Operation Manual

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
MIDI Inserts section
This allows you to add up to four MIDI insert effects. The 
section contains the following items:
ÖEffects that display their controls in the Inspector can 
be opened in a separate control panel window by press-
ing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking the Edit button.
MIDI Sends section
This allows you to add up to four MIDI send effects. Unlike 
audio send effects, you can select and activate send ef-
fects individually for each track. The section contains the 
following items:
ÖEffects that display their controls in the Inspector can 
be opened in a separate control panel window by press-
ing [Alt]/[Option] and clicking the Edit button.
Item Description
Preset 
Management 
buttonClick this to open the track presets pop-up menu and se-
lect an insert preset or apply a n  i n s e r t  f r o m  a track preset, 
see “Previewing MIDI, instrument and VST presets inde-
pendently of tracks” on page 293.
Bypass button Click this to temporarily disable all insert effects for the 
track (useful for comparing with the unprocessed MIDI, 
etc.).
Inserts section 
tabThis is in blue if an insert effect is activated.
Effect selec-
tion pop-up 
menu (x 4)Selecting an effect from this pop-up menu automatically 
activates it and brings up its control panel (which can be 
a separate window or a number of settings below the in-
sert slot in the Inspector).
To remove an insert effect completely, select “No Effect”.
On button (x 4) Allows you to turn the selected effect on or off.
Edit button 
(x4)Click this to bring up the control panel for the selected 
effect. Depending on the effect, this may appear in a sep-
arate window or below the insert slot in the Inspector. 
Clicking the button again hides the control panel.
Item Description
Bypass button Click this to temporarily disable all send effects for the 
track (useful for comparing with the unprocessed MIDI, 
etc.).
Sends section 
tabThis is in blue if any send effect is activated.
Effect selection 
pop-up menu
(x 4)Selecting an effect from this pop-up menu automatically 
activates it and brings up its control panel (which can be 
a separate window or a number of settings below the 
send slot in the Inspector).
To remove a send effect completely, select “No Effect”.
On button (x 4) Allows you to turn the selected effect on or off.
Pre/Post but-
ton (x4)If this is activated, the MIDI signals will be sent to the 
send effects before the MIDI modifiers and insert effects.
Edit button (x4) Click this to bring up the control panel for the selected 
effect. Depending on the effect, this may appear in a 
separate window or below the sends slot in the Inspec-
tor. Clicking the button again hides the control panel.
Output pop-up 
menu (x4)This determines to which MIDI output the effect should 
send the processed MIDI events.
Channel setting 
(x4)This determines on which MIDI channel the effect should 
send the processed MIDI events. 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
About presets
Several of the MIDI plug-ins come with a number of pre-
sets for instant use.
To load a preset, select it from the Presets pop-up menu.
To store your current settings as a preset, click on the 
plus (+) button (“Save Preset…”) to the right of the Pre-
sets menu.
You will be asked to specify a name for the preset. The saved preset will 
then be available for selection from the pop-up menu for all instances of 
that MIDI plug-in, in all projects.
To remove a preset, select it, click on the minus (-) but-
ton (“Remove Preset”).
At the left and right borders of the Presets pop-up menu 
you will also find MIDI In and Out activity indicators. 
Whenever the plug-in receives or transmits MIDI data, the 
left or the right indicator will light up, respectively.
Applying a MIDI insert effect – an example
Here is a step-by-step example of how to add a MIDI in-
sert effect to a MIDI track:
1.Select the MIDI track and open the Inspector.
2.Open the MIDI Inserts tab in the Inspector.
Alternatively you could use the mixer: bring up the ex-
tended mixer panel and select “Inserts” on the view op-
tions pop-up menu for the track’s channel strip.
3.Click in one of the insert slots to open the MIDI effect 
pop-up menu.
4.Select the desired MIDI effect from the pop-up menu.
The effect is automatically activated (the power button for the insert slot 
lights up) and its control panel appears, either in a separate window or in 
the MIDI Inserts section below the slot (depending on the effect).
Now all MIDI from the track will be routed through the ef-
fect.
5.Use the control panel to make settings for the effect.
All included MIDI effects are described in the separate manual “Plug-in 
Reference”.
You can bypass the insert effect by clicking its power 
button (above the insert slot).
To bypass all insert effects for the MIDI track, use the 
bypass button in the MIDI Inserts section in the Inspector, 
in the mixer channel strip or in the Track list.
To remove an insert effect, click in its slot and select 
“No Effect”.
Save and Remove 
Preset buttons MIDI In and Out activity indicators 
						

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MIDI realtime parameters and effects
Managing plug-ins
Selecting Plug-in Information from the Devices menu 
opens a window in which all loaded plug-ins, audio and 
MIDI, are listed.
To view the MIDI effect plug-ins, click the MIDI Plug-ins 
tab.
The leftmost column allows you to deactivate plug-ins.
This is useful if you have plug-ins installed that you do not want to use in 
Cubase. Only plug-ins that are activated (ticked checkbox) will appear 
on the MIDI effect pop-up menus.
Note that plug-ins that are currently in use cannot be deactivated.
The second column shows how many instances of each 
plug-in are currently used in the project.
The remaining columns show various information about 
each plug-in and cannot be edited. 
						

							24
Using MIDI devices 
						

							315
Using MIDI devices
Background
The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify and set up 
your MIDI devices, making global control and patch selec-
tion easy.
But the MIDI Device Manager also features powerful editing 
functions that can be used to create MIDI device panels 
(Cubase only). MIDI device panels are internal representa-
tions of external MIDI hardware, complete with graphics. 
The MIDI device panel editor provides all the tools you need 
to create device maps where every parameter of an external 
device (and even an internal device like a VST instrument) 
can be controlled and automated from inside Cubase.
For descriptions of how to create device maps and the 
powerful device panel editing features, see “About Device 
panels (Cubase only)” on page 320. For additional infor-
mation on how to create panels for VST instruments, see 
the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
MIDI devices – general settings and 
patch handling
On the following pages, we will describe how to install 
and set up preset MIDI devices, and how to select 
patches by name from within Cubase. For a description on 
how to create a MIDI device from scratch, please refer to 
the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
About Program Change and Bank Select
To instruct a MIDI instrument to select a certain patch 
(sound), you send a MIDI Program Change message to 
the instrument. Program Change messages can be re-
corded or entered in a MIDI part like other events, but you 
can also enter a value in the Program Selector field in the 
Inspector for a MIDI track. This way, you can quickly set 
each MIDI track to play a different sound.
With Program Change messages, you are able to select 
between 128 different patches in your MIDI device. How-
ever, many MIDI instruments contain a larger number of 
patch locations. To make these available from within Cu-
base, you need to use Bank Select messages, a system in 
which the programs in a MIDI instrument are divided into banks, each bank containing 128 programs. If your instru-
ments support MIDI Bank Select, you can use the Bank Se-
lector field in the Inspector to select a bank, and then the 
Program Selector field to select a program in this bank.
Unfortunately, different instrument manufacturers use dif-
ferent schemes for how Bank Select messages should be 
constructed, which can lead to some confusion and make 
it hard to select the correct sound. Also, selecting patches 
by numbers this way seems unnecessarily cumbersome, 
when most instruments use names for their patches now-
days.
To help with this, you can use the MIDI Device Manager to 
specify which MIDI instruments you have connected by se-
lecting from a vast list of existing devices or by specifying 
the details yourself. Once you have specified which MIDI 
devices you are using, you can select to which particular 
device each MIDI track should be routed. It is then possible 
to select patches by name in the Track list or Inspector.
Opening the MIDI Device Manager
Select MIDI Device Manager from the Devices menu to 
bring up the following window:
Cubase:
List of connected MIDI devices. 
The first time you open the MIDI 
Device Manager, this list will be 
empty.Use these 
buttons to 
install/remove 
devices.
Here you specify to which MIDI 
output the selected device is 
connected.This button 
opens the 
selected 
device.
Use these buttons to import/
export XML Device setups. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
Cubase Studio:
When you open the MIDI Device Manager for the first 
time, it will be empty (because you have not installed any 
devices yet). On the following pages we describe how to 
add a pre-configured MIDI device to the list, how to edit 
the settings and how to define a device from scratch.
ÖNote that there is an important difference between in-
stalling a preset MIDI device (“Install Device”) and import-
ing a MIDI device setup (“Import Setup”):
The presets do not include any device mapping of pa-
rameters and controls and no graphic panels.
They are simply patch name scripts. When you install a preset MIDI de-
vice, it is added to the Installed Devices list. For more information about 
patch name scripts, see the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
A device setup can include device mapping, panels 
and/or patch information. 
Device setups are also added to the list of installed devices when im-
ported. For more information about setups and device panels, see 
“About Device panels (Cubase only)” on page 320. 
Defining a new MIDI device
If your MIDI device is not included in the list of pre-config-
ured devices (and is not a “plain” GM or XG device), you 
need to define it manually to make it possible to select 
patches by name. This is handled slightly differently for 
Cubase and Cubase Studio.
Cubase:
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device 
button.
The Add MIDI Device dialog appears.
2.Select “Define New…” and click OK.
The “Create New MIDI Device” dialog appears. For a description of the op-
tions in this dialog, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”. 
3.In the Identical Channels list, activate the MIDI chan-
nels you would like the device to use.
This means that the device will receive Program Change over any MIDI 
channel. For a description of Identical and Individual Channels, see the 
separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
4.Enter a name for the device at the top of the dialog, 
and click OK.
The device appears in the Installed Devices list, and the device node 
structure for the device is automatically shown in a new window.
5.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up at the top of the 
window.
As you can see, the list is currently empty.
6.Make sure the Enable Edit checkbox is activated.
Now you can use the functions on the Commands pop-up menu on the 
left to organize the patch structure of the new device.
Cubase Studio:
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device 
button.
The Add MIDI Device dialog appears.
2.Select “Define New…” and click OK.
A dialog appears.
3.Enter the name of the device and the MIDI channels 
you would like the device to use and click OK.
The device appears in the Installed Devices list.
4.Select the device in the list.
As you can see, it currently contains only an Empty Bank item.
5.Make sure the Enable Edit checkbox is activated.
Now you can use the functions on the Commands pop-up menu on the 
left to organize the patch structure of the new device.
This pop-up menu lets you edit 
the selected device (provided that 
“Enable Edit” is ticked).Here, the patch structure 
for the selected device is 
shown.
This area shows exactly which 
MIDI messages should be sent 
out to select the patch high-
lighted in the list to the left.
Here you specify to which 
MIDI output the selected 
device is connected. List of connected MIDI devices. The first 
time you open the MIDI Device Manager, 
this list will be empty.Use these buttons to 
install/remove devices. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
Installing a preset MIDI device
To install a preset MIDI device, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Install Device button.
A dialog appears listing all pre-configured MIDI devices. For now we as-
sume that your MIDI device is included in this list.
2.Locate and select the device in the list and click OK.
If your MIDI device is not included in the list but is com-
patible with the GM (General MIDI) or XG standards, you 
can select the generic GM or XG Device options at the 
top of the list.
When you select one of these options, a name dialog will appear. Enter a 
name for the instrument and click OK.
The device now appears in the Installed Devices list to the 
left.
3.Make sure that the new device is selected in the list 
and open the Output pop-up menu.
4.Select the MIDI output that the device is connected to.
5.If you are using Cubase, click the Open Device button.
A separate window opens for the selected device, showing a node 
structure in the left half of the window. At the top of this structure is the 
device itself, and below it the MIDI channels used by the device. For 
more information about the Device window, see the separate pdf docu-
ment “MIDI Devices”.
6.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up at the top of the 
window. 
The Patch Banks list in the left half of the window shows 
the patch structure of the device. This could simply be a 
list of patches, but it is usually one or several layers of 
banks or groups containing the patches (much like a 
folder structure on a hard disk for example).You can rename a device in the Installed Devices list by 
double-clicking and typing – this is useful if you have sev-
eral devices of the same model, and want to separate 
them by name instead of by number.
To remove a device from the Installed Devices list, se-
lect it and click Remove Device.
ÖNote that if there already exists a panel for the device 
(Cubase only), opening the device might open this panel 
first. In this case, click on the Edit (“e”) button to open the 
Device window.
About Patch Banks
Depending on the selected device, you may find that the 
Patch Banks list is divided in two or more main banks. Typ-
ically, these are called Patches, Performances, Drums, etc. 
The reason for having several patch banks is that different 
“types” of patches are handled differently in the instru-
ments. For example, while “patches” typically are “regular” 
programs that you play one at the time, “performances” 
may be combinations of programs, which could e. g. be 
split across the keyboard, layered or used for multi-timbral 
playback.
For devices with several banks, you will find an additional 
item labeled “Bank Assignment” in the pop-up at the top 
of the window. Selecting this opens a window in which 
you can specify for each MIDI channel which bank it 
should use.
The selection here will affect which bank is displayed 
when you select programs by name for the device in the 
Track list or Inspector. For example, many instruments use 
MIDI channel 10 as an exclusive drum channel, in which 
case you would want to select the “Drums” (or “Rhythm 
Set”, “Percussion”, etc.) bank for channel 10 in this list. 
This would then let you choose between different drum 
kits in the Track list or Inspector. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
Limitations
There is no easy way to import a patch name script into an 
existing MIDI device. For a complex workaround based on 
XML editing, see the separate pdf document “MIDI De-
vices”.
Selecting a patch for an installed device
If you return to the Project window at this point, you will 
find that the installed device has been added to the MIDI 
Output menus (in the Track list and the Inspector). Now 
you can select patches by name, in the following way:
1.Pull down the Output menu (in the Track list or Inspec-
tor) for the track you want to associate the installed device 
with, and select the device.
This directs the track to the MIDI output specified for the device in the 
MIDI Device Manager. The Bank and Program Selector fields in the 
Track list and Inspector are replaced by a single Program Selector field 
that currently reads “Off”.
2.Click the Program Selector field to display a pop-up 
menu, hierarchically listing all the patches in the device.
The list is similar to the one displayed in the MIDI Device Manager. You 
can scroll the list up and down (if required), click the plus/minus signs to 
show or hide subgroups, etc.
You can also use a filter function here. For this, enter the 
search term in the Filter field, e.g. “drum”, and press [Re-
turn] to display all sounds with “drum” in the name.
3.Click a patch in the list to select it.
This sends the appropriate MIDI message to the device. You can also 
scroll the program selection up or down, as with any value.
Renaming patches in a device
The pre-configured devices list is based on the factory-
preset patches, i.e. the patches included in the device 
when you first bought it. If you have replaced some of the 
factory presets with your own patches, you need to modify 
the device so that the patch name list matches the actual 
device:
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, select the device in the In-
stalled Devices list.
2.If you are using Cubase, click Open Device.
Make sure that Patch Banks is selected on the pop-up at the top of the 
window.
3.Activate the Enable Edit checkbox.
When this is turned off (default), you cannot edit the pre-configured de-
vices.
4.Use the Patch Banks display to locate and select the 
patch you want to rename.
In many instruments, the user-editable patches are located in a separate 
group or bank.
5.Click on the selected patch in the Patch Banks list to 
edit its name.
6.Type in the new name and click OK.
7.Rename the desired patches in this way, and finish by 
deactivating Enable Edit again (to avoid modifying the de-
vice by accident).
ÖYou can also make more radical changes to the patch 
structure in a device (adding or deleting patches, groups 
or banks), see below.
For example, this is useful if you expand your MIDI device by adding extra 
storage media such as RAM cards.
Patch Structure
Patches are structured as follows:
 Banks are the main categories of sounds – typically patches, 
performances and drums, as described above.
 Each bank can contain any number of groups, represented by 
folders in the list.
 The individual patches, performances or drum kits are repre-
sented by presets in the list. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
The Commands pop-up menu contains the following items:
Create Bank
Creates a new bank at the highest hierarchical level of the 
Patch Banks list. You can rename this by clicking on it and 
typing a new name.
New Folder
Creates a new subfolder in the selected bank or folder. 
This could correspond to a group of patches in the MIDI 
device, or just be a way for you to categorize sounds, etc. 
When you select this item, a name dialog appears, allow-
ing you to name the folder. You can also rename the folder 
afterwards by clicking it and typing in the list.
New Preset
This adds a new preset in the selected bank or folder. 
You can rename the preset by clicking it and typing a new 
name.
When the preset is selected, the corresponding MIDI 
events (Program Change, Bank Select, etc.) are shown in 
the event display to the right. The default setting for a new 
preset is Program Change 0 – to change this, proceed as 
follows:
To change which Program Change value should be 
sent out to select the patch, adjust the number in the 
Value column for the Program Change event.
To add another MIDI event (e. g. Bank Select) click di-
rectly below the last event in the list and select a new 
event from the pop-up menu.
After adding a new event, you need to set its value in the Value column, 
as with Program Change.
To replace an event, click on it and select another event 
from the pop-up menu.
For example, a MIDI device may require that a Bank Select message is 
sent first, followed by a Program Change message, in which case you 
would need to replace the default Program Change message with a 
Bank Select message and add a new Program Change after that.
To remove an event, select it and press [Delete] or 
[Backspace].
Add Multiple Presets
This opens a dialog, allowing you to set up a range of pre-
sets to be added to the selected bank or folder.
Proceed as follows:
1.Add the event types required for selecting a patch in 
the MIDI device.
This is done just as when editing the settings for a single event: clicking 
in the event display brings up a pop-up menu from which you can select 
an event type.
2.Use the Range column to set up either a fixed value or 
a range of values for each event type in the list.
This requires some explanation: 
If you specify a single value in the Range column (e. g. 3, 15 or 127), all 
added presets will have an event of this type set to the same value. 
If you instead specify a value range (a start value and an end value, sep-
arated by a dash, e. g. 0–63), the first added preset will have an event set 
to the start value, the next value will be incrementally raised by one and 
so on, up to and including the end value.
ÖThe number of added presets depends on the Range 
setting.
This will generate eight presets, each with a Bank Select event set to 2, 
but with different Program Change events (ranging from 0 to 7).
!For details on which MIDI events are used for 
selecting patches in the MIDI device, consult its 
documentation.
!Different devices use different schemes for Bank 
Select. When you insert a Bank Select event, you 
should check the device’s documentation to find out 
whether to choose “CC: BankSelect MSB”, “Bank 
Select 14 Bit”, “Bank Select 14 Bit MSB-LSB 
Swapped” or some other option. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
3.Specify a Default Name below the event display.
The added events will get this name, followed by a number. You can re-
name presets manually in the Patch Banks list later.
4.Click OK.
A number of new presets have now been added to the selected bank or 
folder, according to your settings.
Other editing functions
 You can move presets between banks and folders by drag-
ging them to the Patch Banks list.
 You can remove a bank, folder or preset by selecting it in the 
Patch Banks list and pressing [Backspace].
 If you specify more than one bank, a Bank Assignment item is 
added to the pop-up menu at the top of the window. Use this 
to assign banks to the different MIDI channels (see “About 
Patch Banks” on page 317).
About Device panels (Cubase only)
On the following pages we will describe how to use MIDI 
Device panels and the powerful MIDI device panel editing 
features of the MIDI Device Manager. 
ÖWe recommend that you first configure the patch 
banks, then export the device setup before editing the 
panels. This way, most of your settings will be saved in 
case of panel configuration problems. 
The panels are saved in XML format. For more information, 
see the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.
Basic concept
The panel editing features in the MIDI Device Manager 
can be seen as a separate application or entity within 
Cubase. It allows you to build device maps complete 
with control panels, including all parameters controllable 
from within Cubase. Building more complex device maps 
requires that you are familiar with SysEx programming 
(see the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”). But 
you can also create simpler panels by assigning MIDI 
Control Change messages to control objects, which 
does not require any programming skills.
Although these powerful editing features are there if you 
need them, you do not have to use them to use MIDI de-
vices.
Device panels in the program
In this section we will take a look at a pre-configured MIDI 
device panel to illustrate how it can be used in Cubase. 
Several device setups complete with panels are included 
with the program. These are located in the “Device Maps” 
folder inside the application folder.
Opening a device setup
Proceed as follows to open a MIDI device setup:
1.Open the MIDI Device Manager from the Devices 
menu.
2.Click the “Import Setup” button.
A file dialog opens. 
3.Select a device setup file for import by navigating to 
the Device Maps folder (see above). 
The Device setup files are saved in XML format, for more information see 
the separate pdf document “MIDI Devices”.