Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual

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Using MIDI devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
To help with this, you can use the MIDI Device Manager to specify which MIDI 
instruments you have connected by selecting 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 is 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:
Cubase Artist:
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.
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 are sent out to select the 
patch highlighted 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 devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
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 installing a preset MIDI device 
(“Install Device”) and importing a MIDI device setup (“Import Setup”):
•The presets do not include any device mapping of parameters and controls and no 
graphic panels.
They are simply patch name scripts. When you install a preset MIDI device, 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 imported. For 
more information about setups and device panels, see 
“About Device panels 
(Cubase only)” on page 467. 
Defining a new MIDI device
If your MIDI device is not included in the list of pre-configured 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 Artist. 
Cubase:
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device button.
The Add MIDI Device dialog opens.
2.Select “Define New…” and click OK.
The “Create New MIDI Device” dialog opens. For a description of the options in 
this dialog, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”. 
3.In the Identical Channels list, activate the MIDI channels 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 menu at the top of the window.
As you can see, the list is currently empty.
6.Make sure that 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 Artist:
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. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
4.Select the device in the list.
As you can see, it currently contains only an Empty Bank item.
5.Make sure that 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.
Installing a preset MIDI device
To install a preset MIDI device, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Install Device button.
A dialog opens listing all pre-configured MIDI devices. For now we assume 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 compatible 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 document “MIDI Devices”.
6.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up menu 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 several devices o f  t h e  s a m e  m o d e l ,  a n d  w a n t  t o  s e p a r a t e  
them by name instead of by number.
•To remove a device from the Installed Devices list, select it and click Remove 
Device. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
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. Typically, 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 instruments. For example, while “patches” typically are 
“regular” programs that you play one at the time, “performances” may be 
combinations of programs, which could be split across the keyboard, layered, or used 
for multi-timbral playback, and so on.
For devices with several banks, you will find an additional item labeled “Bank 
Assignment” in the pop-up menu 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.
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 
Devices”.
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.Open the Output menu (in the track list or Inspector) 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. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
You can also use a filter function here. For this, enter the search term in the Filter field, 
e.g. “drum”, and press [Return] 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 Installed Devices list.
2.If you are using Cubase, click Open Device.
Make sure that Patch Banks is selected on the pop-up menu at the top of the 
window.
3.Activate the Enable Edit checkbox.
When this is turned off (default), you cannot edit the pre-configured devices.
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 press [Return].
7.Rename the desired patches in this way, and finish by deactivating Enable Edit 
again (to avoid modifying the device 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 represented by presets in 
the list.
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 afterwards by clicking it and typing in the list. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesMIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
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 directly 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 presets 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.
!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 devicesAbout Device panels (Cubase only)
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, separated 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.
3.Specify a Default Name below the event display.
The added events will get this name, followed by a number. You can rename 
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 dragging 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 464).
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 devices. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesAbout Device panels (Cubase only)
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.steinberg.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. 
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 panel opens in a separate window. The Edit (“e”) button at the top 
opens the Edit Panel window, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesAbout Device panels (Cubase only)
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 for the corresponding track in the MixConsole.
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 Device Panel section 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 Device 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, although 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.
Showing panels in the MixConsole
1.Open the MixConsole and activate the “Show Channel Racks” button.
2.Click Racks to open the rack selector and activate the Device Panels rack.
3.Click the Panel header to expand the Device Panels rack. 
						

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Using MIDI devicesAbout Device panels (Cubase only)
4.Click the button at the right of the header.
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.
5.Double-click to select a panel.
The panel is shown in the Channel Racks section of the MixConsole.
Automating device parameters
Automation works just like for normal audio and MIDI tracks:
1.Open the device 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 device 
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 parameter on the pop-up menu, 
click the + button (“Append automation 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 button 
activated.