Steinberg Cubase 6 Manual

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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 opens, allowing 
you to name the folder. You can also rename the folder af
-
terwards 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 is 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.
!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 359).
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 pan
-
els, including all parameters controllable from within Cu-
base. 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 maps can be found in the Knowledge Base 
on the Steinberg web site (http://knowledgebase.stein
-
berg.net).
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”.
4.Click Open. The Import MIDI Devices dialog opens 
where you can select one or several devices for import.
A device setup file can contain one or several MIDI devices.
5.Select a device and click OK. 
The device is added to the list of installed devices in the MIDI Device 
Manager.  
						

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Using MIDI devices
6.Select the correct MIDI output from the Output pop-
up menu, select the device in the list and click the Open 
Device button.
The device control panel opens in a separate window. The Edit (“e”) but-ton at the top opens the Edit Panel window, see the separate PDF doc-
ument “MIDI Devices”.
7.Close the Device panel and return to the Project 
window.
8.Select the device from the “Output Routing” pop-up 
menu for a MIDI track.
Note that for some devices, you may have to set the MIDI channel to 
“Any”.
Now the Device panel can be opened by clicking the 
Open Device Panels button in the Inspector or in the 
channel strip for the corresponding track in the Mixer.
ÖNote that [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the Open Device 
Panels button allows you to open a subpanel via the panel 
browser pop-up menu.
Showing panels in the Inspector
1.In the Inspector, open the User Panel tab and click on 
the arrow on the right.
A “Panels” folder is shown with the selected device in a node structure 
below it. If you open all the folders, you can select any individual panel 
from the device that “fits” into the User Panel space.
2.Select a panel by double-clicking it in the list.
The panel opens in the Inspector.
ÖIf you cannot see any panels in the “Panels” folder, al-
though you have successfully set up a MIDI device with 
several panels, make sure that you selected the correct 
channel from the Channel pop-up menu, preferably “Any” 
to see all device panels. Also make sure that the panels fit 
into the space, otherwise they will not be available in the 
“Panels” folder. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
Showing panels in the Mixer
1.Open the Mixer and make sure that the extended 
channel view is shown.
2.Open the View options pop-up menu for the MIDI 
channel connected to the device and select “User Panel”.
3.Click the arrow next to the label “user” at the top of the 
extended section of the channel strip.
The Panels folder is displayed like in the Inspector, but with different 
available panels. Just like in the Inspector, the panel has to “fit” into the 
available space to be selectable.
4.Double-click to select a panel.
The panel is shown in the extended section of the channel strip.
Automating device parameters
Automation works just like for normal audio and MIDI 
tracks:
1.Open the device control panel by clicking the Open 
Device Panels button in the Inspector.
2.Activate Write automation on the device panel.
You can automate the device by either moving knobs and sliders on the 
control panel or by drawing curves on the automation track for a selected 
parameter. 
3.If you now go back to the Project window, there will be 
a MIDI Device Automation track in the track list.
If the track is hidden, select “Show All Used Automation” on the Track 
Folding submenu of the Project menu.
If you click in the name field, all parameters in the device 
are shown and can be selected for automation. 
•To open another automation track for the next parame-
ter on the pop-up menu, click the + button (“Append au-
tomation track”) at the bottom left of the automation track.
ÖIf you wrote automation but your MIDI device is not yet 
connected, the panel will not display any parameter 
changes when playing back the track with the Read but
-
ton activated.
About Studio Connections
Studio Connections is the name of an initiative led by 
Steinberg and Yamaha. The initiative intends to create in
-
dustry standards for totally integrated system environ-
ments using software and hardware products.
First implementation stage of the Studio Connections 
open standard is the integration and support of Yamaha’s 
Studio Manager 2 (SM2) and Total Recall for compatible 
hardware devices. 
For further information about Studio Connections, please 
visit the web site http://www.studioconnections.org. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
If you have an SM2 component installed, there is an addi-
tional menu item on the Devices menu.
Total Recall
Total Recall means that you can save and recall all set-
tings of your hardware and software products by opening 
one integrated file in a DAW such as Cubase or Nuendo. 
Also you will have instant and organized access to hard
-
ware editors.
When you load a project or switch to another active project 
that contains SM2 data, the Total Recall Synchronization 
dialog opens:
This dialog can also be opened any time from the Studio 
Manager’s Synchronize menu. Click OK for the Dump to 
start.
Virtual MIDI Devices
If you have a new OPT component (e. g. the DM2000) 
which uses a new special interface, you can access these 
components as virtual MIDI Devices in the MIDI track’s 
output routing (if the output of the OPT is configured).
When a MIDI track is routed to such a device, the “Open 
Device Panels” button becomes available.
•Click the Open Device Panels button, to open the editor 
window for the device.
ÖPlease also refer to the separate documentation for 
the Studio Manager 2 and the OPT components. 
						

							30
MIDI processing 
						

							367
MIDI processing
Introduction
This chapter describes the various MIDI processing func-
tions available on the MIDI menu. They offer various ways 
to edit MIDI notes and other events, either in the Project 
window or from within a MIDI editor.
MIDI functions vs. MIDI modifiers
In some cases, the result of a MIDI function can also be 
obtained by using MIDI modifiers and effects, see 
“MIDI 
realtime parameters and effects” on page 348). For exam-
ple, the operations “Transpose” and “Quantize” are avail-
able both as MIDI modifiers and as MIDI functions.
The main difference is that MIDI modifiers and effects do 
not affect the actual MIDI events on the track in any way, 
while MIDI functions change the events “permanently” 
(although recent changes can be undone). 
Use the following guidelines to decide which path to 
choose for operations that are available both as modifiers 
or effects and as functions:
•If you want to adjust a few parts or events only, use MIDI 
functions. The MIDI modifiers and effects affect the output 
of the whole track (although they can be made permanent 
in a specific area with the Merge MIDI in Loop function). 
•If you want to experiment with different settings, use 
MIDI modifiers and effects.
•MIDI modifiers and effects settings are not reflected in 
the MIDI editors, since the actual MIDI events are not af
-
fected. This can be potentially confusing; if you have trans-
posed notes using modifiers for example, the MIDI editors 
will still show the notes with their original pitch (but they will 
play back at their transposed pitch). Therefore, MIDI func
-
tions are a better solution if you want to see the effects of 
your editing in the MIDI editors.
What is affected by the MIDI functions?
Which events are affected when you use a MIDI function 
depends on the function, the active window and the cur
-
rent selection:
•Some MIDI functions only apply to MIDI events of a cer-
tain type.
For example, quantization only affects notes, while the Delete Controllers 
function only applies to MIDI controller events.
•In the Project window, the MIDI functions apply to all 
selected parts, affecting all events (of the relevant types) 
in them.
•In the MIDI editors, the MIDI functions apply to all se-
lected events. If no events are selected, all events in the 
edited part(s) will be affected.
Transpose
The Transpose item on the MIDI menu opens a dialog with 
settings for transposing the selected notes.
ÖYou can also use the transpose track for transposing, 
see 
“The transpose functions” on page 131.
Semitones
This is where you set the amount of transposition.
Scale Correction
Scale Correction transposes the selected notes by for-
cing them to the closest note of the selected scale type. 
This can be used for creating interesting key and tonal 
changes, either by itself or in conjunction with the other 
settings in the Transpose dialog.
•To activate Scale Correction, click the checkbox.
•Select a root note and scale type for the current scale 
from the upper pop-up menus.
•Select a root note and scale type for the new scale from 
the lower pop-up menus.
Make sure to select the correct root note if you want to keep the result in 
the same key as the original notes, or select an entirely different key if you 
want to experiment. 
						

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MIDI processing
Use Range
When this is activated, transposed notes will remain within 
the limit that you specify with the Low and High values. 
If a note would end up outside this limit after transposition, 
it is shifted to another octave, keeping the correct trans
-
posed pitch if possible. If the range between the upper 
and lower limit is very narrow, the note will be transposed 
“as far as possible”, i.
 e. to notes specified with the Low 
and High values. If you set Low and High to the same 
value, all notes will be transposed to this pitch!
OK and Cancel
Clicking OK performs the transposition. Clicking Cancel 
closes the dialog without transposing.
Making your settings permanent
The settings described in the chapter “MIDI realtime pa-
rameters and effects” on page 348 do not change the 
MIDI events themselves, but work like a “filter”, affecting 
the music on playback. Therefore, you may want to make 
them permanent, i.
 e. convert them to “real” MIDI events, 
for example to transpose a track and then edit the trans
-
posed notes in a MIDI editor. For this, you can use two 
commands from the MIDI menu: “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” 
and “Merge MIDI in Loop”.
Freeze MIDI Modifiers
“Freeze MIDI Modifiers” applies all filter settings perma-
nently to the selected track. The settings are “added” to 
the events on the track, and all modifiers are set to zero. 
The “Freeze MIDI Modifiers” function affects the following 
settings for MIDI tracks:
• Several settings on the main tab of the Inspector (program 
and bank selection and the Delay parameter).
• The settings on the MIDI Modifiers tab (i. e. Transpose, Veloc-
ity Shift, Velocity Compression, and Length Compression).
• The settings on the MIDI Inserts tab (for example, if you are us-
ing an arpeggiator and want to convert the added notes to real 
events).
The following settings for MIDI parts are taken into account 
as well:
• The Transpose and Velocity settings for parts displayed on the 
info line – the Volume setting is not taken into account. 
Merge MIDI in Loop
The “Merge MIDI in Loop” function combines all unmuted 
MIDI events on all unmuted tracks, applies MIDI modifiers 
and effects, and generates a new MIDI part, containing all 
the events as you would hear them during playback. Pro
-
ceed as follows:
1.Mute all the tracks that you do not want to include in 
the merge.
Instead of muting whole tracks, you can also mute individual parts.
2.Set up the left and right locators to encompass the 
area that you want to merge.
Only events starting within this area will be included. 
3.Select the track on which you want the new part to be 
created.
If you do not select a track, a new MIDI track is created. If several MIDI 
tracks are selected, the new part is inserted on the first selected track. 
Existing data on the selected track can be kept or overwritten (see be
-
low).
4.On the MIDI menu, select “Merge MIDI in Loop…”.
The MIDI Merge Options dialog opens.
The following options are available:
5.Activate the desired options and click OK.
A new part is created between the locators on the destination track, con-
taining the processed MIDI events.
ÖIf you only want to include events from a single track in 
the merge operation, you may want to solo the track.
OptionDescription
Include InsertsIf this is activated, any MIDI insert effects and MIDI modi-fiers currently activated for the tracks will be applied. 
Include SendsIf this is activated, any MIDI send effects currently acti-vated for the track(s) will be applied.
Erase 
DestinationIf this is activated, any existing MIDI data between the left 
and right locators on the destination track will be deleted.
Include ChaseIf this is activated, events placed outside the selected part 
but relating to it will be included in the processing, e. g. a 
Program Change right before the left locator. For details 
about chase events, see 
“About Chase” on page 87.
Convert VST3 
(Cubase only)If this is activated, all VST 3 data within the selected area 
is converted to MIDI data. 
						

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MIDI processing
Applying effects to a single part
Normally, the MIDI modifiers and effects affect a whole 
MIDI track. This may not always be what you want. For ex
-
ample, you may want to apply some MIDI effects to a sin-
gle part (without having to create a separate track for that 
part only). The “Merge MIDI in Loop” function can help:
1.Set up your MIDI modifiers and MIDI effects the way 
you want them for the part.
This will of course affect the whole track, but focus on the part for now.
2.Set the locators to encompass the part.
An easy way to do this is to select the part and choose Locators to Se-
lection from the Transport menu (or use the corresponding key com-
mand, by default [P]).
3.Make sure that the track holding the part is selected in 
the track list.
4.On the MIDI menu, select “Merge MIDI in Loop…”.
The MIDI Merge Options dialog opens.
5.Activate the desired options, making sure that “Erase 
Destination” is activated, and click OK.
A new part is created on the same track, containing the processed 
events. The original part is deleted.
6.Turn off or reset all MIDI modifiers and effects, so that 
the track plays back as before.
Dissolve Part
The Dissolve Part function on the MIDI menu allows you to 
separate MIDI events according to channels or pitches:
•When you work with MIDI parts (on MIDI channel “Any”) 
containing events on different MIDI channels, activate the 
“Separate Channels” option.
•To separate MIDI events according to pitch, activate the 
“Separate Pitches” option.
Typical examples are drum and percussion tracks, where different 
pitches usually correspond to separate drum sounds.
ÖWhen dissolving a part into either separate channels 
or separate pitches, you can automatically remove the si
-
lent (empty) areas of the resulting parts by activating the 
“Optimized Display” checkbox in the Dissolve Part dialog. 
This option is not available when “Dissolve to Lanes” is 
activated, see 
“Dissolving to lanes” on page 370.
Dissolving parts into separate channels
Setting a track to MIDI channel “Any” will cause each MIDI 
event to play back on its original MIDI channel, rather than 
a channel set for the whole track. There are two main situ
-
ations when “Any” channel tracks are useful:
•When you record several MIDI channels at the same 
time.
You may for example have a MIDI keyboard with several keyboard zones, 
where each zone sends MIDI on a separate channel. Recording on an 
“Any” channel track allows you to play back the recording with different 
sounds for each zone (since the different MIDI notes play back on sepa
-
rate MIDI channels).
•When you have imported a MIDI file of Type 0.
MIDI files of Type 0 contain only one track, with notes on up to 16 different 
MIDI channels. If you were to set this track to a specific MIDI channel, all 
notes in the MIDI file would be played back with the same sound; setting 
the track to “Any” will cause the imported file to play back as intended.
The Dissolve Part function scans MIDI parts for events on 
different MIDI channels and distributes the events into new 
parts on new tracks, one for each MIDI channel found. This 
allows you to work with each musical part individually.
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the parts containing MIDI data on different 
channels.
2.Select “Dissolve Part” from the MIDI menu.
3.In the dialog that opens, select the “Separate Chan-
nels” option.
Now, for each MIDI channel used in the selected parts, a 
new MIDI track is created and set to the corresponding 
MIDI channel. Each event is then copied into the part on 
the track with the corresponding MIDI channel. Finally, the 
original parts are muted. 
						

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MIDI processing
An example:
This part contains events on MIDI channels 1, 2, and 3.
Selecting “Dissolve Part” creates new parts on new tracks, set to chan-
nels 1, 2, and 3. Each new part contains only the events on the respec-
tive MIDI channel. The original MIDI part is muted.
Dissolving parts into separate pitches
The Dissolve Part function can also scan MIDI parts for 
events of different pitches, and distribute the events into 
new parts on new tracks, one for each pitch. This is useful 
when the different pitches are not used in a melodic con
-
text, but rather for separating different sounds (e. g. MIDI 
drum tracks or sampler sound FX tracks). By dissolving 
such parts, you can work with each sound individually, on 
a separate track. 
Proceed as follows:
1.Select the parts containing MIDI data.
2.Select “Dissolve Part” from the MIDI menu.
3.In the dialog that opens, select the “Separate Pitches” 
option.
A new MIDI track is created for each used pitch in the selected parts. 
The events are then copied into the parts on the track for the corres
-
ponding pitch. Finally, the original parts are muted.
Dissolving to lanes
In the lower right section of the Dissolve Part dialog, you will 
find the “Dissolve to Lanes” option. When this is activated, 
the part will not be dissolved onto different tracks but onto 
different lanes of the original track, allowing for a better 
management of MIDI material that “belongs together”.
This is useful when working with drums for example, as it al-
lows you to split up a part into different drum sounds and 
edit these independently. When you have made the desired 
modifications, you can reassemble all your drums into one 
part using the Bounce MIDI command, see below.
This option is especially handy when working with instru-
ment parts on instrument tracks. “Normal” dissolving 
would lead to a number of different tracks each routed to a 
separate instance of the connected VST instrument. 
When dissolving parts to lanes, the parts will still reside on 
the same track, with all parts using the same VST instru
-
ment instance.
Bounce MIDI
With this function, you can combine MIDI parts on several 
lanes to a single MIDI part. This can be used to reassem
-
ble a drum part that you dissolved onto several lanes for 
editing, see above. Simply select the MIDI parts on the dif
-
ferent lanes that you want to combine and select “Bounce 
MIDI” on the MIDI menu.
During the bounce process, any muted parts will be re-
moved. If transpose and velocity values were specified for 
the parts, these are taken into account as well.
Repeat Loop
With this function, the events inside the independent track 
loops will be repeated until the end of the part, i.
 e. the 
notes that were previously only played repeatedly are now 
actual notes on the MIDI track. Events to the right of the 
independent track loop (within the same part) will be re
-
placed by this function. For more information about inde-
pendent track loops, see “The independent track loop” on 
page 381.