Steinberg Cubase 7 User Manual
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551 Working with the Chord FunctionsCreating a Chord Progression from Scratch (Chords to MIDI) Complexity Filters for Common Notes The following complexity filters are available for common notes: Creating a Chord Progression from Scratch (Chords to MIDI) Let’s say you want to create a completely new harmonic structure by creating chord events, and you want to get suggestions about which chords may sound well together. Adding Chord Events Proceed as follows: 1.Open the Project menu, and on the “Add Track” submenu, select “Chord”. The chord track is added. 2.On the chord track, use the Draw tool to draw a new chord event. 3.Select the Object Selection tool, and double-click the chord event. 4.In the Chord Editor, select root note, chord type, and tension for the chord event. 5.In the Chord Editor, click the “Add Chord” button (“+” symbol) to add a new undefined chord event and edit it as described above. For further information, see “The Chord Editor” on page 548. Getting Suggestions for the Following Chords (Cubase only) If you do not know what your chord progression should look like, you can use the Chord Assistant to get suggestions for the following chords. Proceed as follows: 1.After defining your first chord in the Chord Editor, select the “Chord Assistant” tab. 2.Click the “Add Chord” button (“+” symbol) and select one of the chord suggestions from the list. For further information, see “The Chord Assistant (Cubase only)” on page 549. Create as many chord events as are required by your harmonic structure. You can move, copy, or delete chord events in the event display using the standard techniques. ParameterDescription Chords with x Common NotesThese options let you decide how many common notes the next chord shares with the previous chord. A C major chord, for example, has two common notes with an E minor chord (E and G) and one with Eb major (G). Allow 4-Note ChordsIf you activate this mode, you also get suggestions for 4-note chords. Allow AlterationsIf you activate this mode, all basic chord types, as opposed to only major and minor chords, are shown as suggestions.
552 Working with the Chord FunctionsExtracting Chords from MIDI (Make Chords) Converting Chord Events to MIDI Now that you have created a chord progression, you can convert your chord events to MIDI for further editing, or for printing a lead sheet in the Score Editor, for example. Proceed as follows: 1.Open the Project menu, and on the “Add Track” submenu, select MIDI or instrument. 2.Select the chord events that you want to convert to MIDI events, and drag them to the newly created MIDI or instrument track. A new MIDI part is created, containing the chords as MIDI events. Extracting Chords from MIDI (Make Chords) If you have a MIDI file and want to show its harmonic structure, or if you want to take this file as the starting point for further experimenting, you can extract chords from MIDI notes, parts or tracks using the “Make Chords” function. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the MIDI tracks, parts, or notes that you want to analyze. You can do this in the Key Editor, Score Editor, or In-Place Editor, or select a part, or one or several MIDI tracks in the Project window. Make sure the MIDI notes can be interpreted as chords. Drums, monophonic bass, or lead tracks are not suitable. 2.Open the Project menu, and on the “Chord Track” submenu, select “Make Chords”. 3.If you want your chord events to contain bass notes or tensions, activate the corresponding options in the “Make Chords” dialog. 4.Enter a value in the “Ignore Notes Shorter Than” value field to determine the minimum length of the MIDI events that are taken into account. 5.Click Apply. The Chord track is added to the project, showing the converted MIDI notes as chord events. Cubase only: You can now open the Chord Assistant to create variations, see “The Chord Assistant (Cubase only)” on page 549.
553 Working with the Chord Functions Controlling MIDI or Audio Playback with the Chord Track (Follow Chords) Controlling MIDI or Audio Playback with the Chord Track (Follow Chords) You can use the chord track to control MIDI or audio playback. In this scenario, the chord track is used to transpose already existing MIDI events or VariAudio segments. We recommend to use this function only if you are sure that you do not want to change the MIDI notes or VariAudio segments anymore. Also make sure that you have set up scales, as these are required for mapping. Following the Chord Track Let’s say you have a MIDI recording or a monophonic audio event that you want to match to a chord progression on the chord track. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the track that you want to match to the chord track. 2.Open the “Chord Track” section in the Inspector, and on the “Follow Chord Track” pop-up menu, select one of the mapping modes. For further information, see “The Chord Track Inspector Section” on page 545. Transposing the MIDI Input Live You can use the chord track to transpose the MIDI input live, for example, to create a rhythmic pattern that matches a given chord progression on the chord track. In this case, you do not have to worry about what key you hit on your MIDI keyboard. Proceed as follows: 1.Create an instrument track and activate its “Record Enable” button. 2.Open the “Chord Track” section for your instrument track in the Inspector. 3.Open the “Live Transform” pop-up menu and select Chords or Scales. Chords will map the keys you hit on the keyboard to the chord events on the chord track, Scale will map them to scale events. 4.Hit some keys on your MIDI keyboard. No matter what keys you hit, they are always mapped to the chord events or scale events in realtime. Mapping to the Chord Track Instead of matching whole tracks to the chord track, you can also map individual MIDI parts, or MIDI and audio events to the chord track. This is only possible if the events or parts are placed on a track that does not follow the chord track. To map events or parts to the chord track, proceed as follows: 1.In the Project window, select the events or parts that you want to map to the chord track. 2.Open the Project menu and from the “Chord Track” submenu, select “Map to Chord Track”. 3.In the “Map to Chord Track” dialog, open the “Mapping Mode” pop-up menu and select a mapping mode. The chords and scales of each event or part are analyzed and used for mapping. If no chords are found, Cubase assumes that the performance is in “C”. The available mapping modes and voicings correspond to the parameters in the “Chord Track” Inspector section, see “The Chord Track Inspector Section” on page 545. ÖIf you select Voicings as mapping mode and no voices are found, Auto mode is used instead.
554 Working with the Chord FunctionsAssigning Chord Events to MIDI Effects or VST Instruments Assigning Chord Events to MIDI Effects or VST Instruments You can assign a chord progression to the Chorder or to HALion Sonic SE. Assigning a Chord Progression to the Chorder 1.Create a MIDI track or an instrument track, and open the “MIDI Inserts” section in the Inspector. 2.Click in the insert slot to open the MIDI effect pop-up menu, and select the Chorder. The effect is automatically activated, and its control panel opens. 3.On the chord track, select the chord events and drag them to the Chorder panel. The first chord event is mapped to the drop position, and all subsequent chord events are mapped chromatically. The drop position also determines the velocity area. Chords with more than one occurrence are only assigned once. 4.Hit the corresponding keys on your MIDI keyboard to play back the chords. ÖIf you accidentally mapped chords to the wrong keys, hold down [Alt]/[Option] while dragging. This clears all previously mapped chords. For detailed information on the Chorder MIDI effect, see the separate PDF document “Plug-in Reference”. Assigning a Chord Progression to HALion Sonic SE Pads 1.Create an instrument track using HALion Sonic SE as VST instrument. 2.On the chord track, select the chord events and drag them to one of the HALion Sonic SE pads. The first chord event is mapped to the pad where you dropped it, and all subsequent chord events are mapped to the following pads. 3.Click the corresponding keys on the HALion Sonic SE keyboard to trigger the chords. For detailed information on HALion Sonic SE, see the separate PDF document “HALion Sonic SE”.
555 Expression maps (Cubase only) Introduction About articulations Musical articulations, or expressions, define how certain notes “sound”, i. e. how they are sung or performed on a given instrument. They allow you to specify that a string instrument is bowed (not plucked), a trumpet muted (not played open), and so on. Articulations also define the relative volume of notes (to play some notes louder or softer than the others) or changes in pitch (create a tremolo). Articulations can be divided into “Directions” and “Attributes”. •Directions are valid for all notes from the insert position on, until another direction is scored. This means, they are applied not to single notes, but to a continuous range of notes, or even an entire piece of music. An example for a direction is pizzicato, which means that the string instrument is plucked. •Attributes belong to single notes. They are only applied to the notes for which they are scored. Examples for this are accents, where a note is played with an emphasis, and staccato, where a note is played shorter. Musical articulations in the Score Editor Articulations and MIDI When working with MIDI, i. e. when you are entering notes via a MIDI keyboard, editing notes in the MIDI editors or using VST instruments, articulations need to be realized as different sounds. To trigger the necessary sound changes, use the following command and data types: Pizzicato Tenuto Accent Staccato Attributes Direction OptionDescription Program Change Program Change messages can be used to instruct a connected VST instrument to switch from one program to another. Depending on the instrument, this can be used to play a different articulation. MIDI channelMulti-timbral instruments, such as Steinberg’s HALion, feature programs, usually representing different articulations. These can be accessed via MIDI channel messages. Key switchesSome software samplers, like Steinberg’s HALion Symphonic Orchestra, make use of “key switches”, meaning that certain keys are not used to trigger sounds, but to switch between articulations, for example.
556 Expression maps (Cubase only)Using expression maps in Cubase Expression maps When working on a project, you might want to audition a composition including articulations. In Cubase, this can be achieved using expression maps, which can be selected via the Expression Map section in the Inspector for MIDI or instrument tracks. Within these maps, you can specify the sound mapping and characteristics for all your musical expressions, using the methods described in the table above. When you select an expression map for a MIDI or instrument track, the articulations (sounds) defined in the map are automatically applied during playback. Cubase recognizes the expressions scored for the MIDI part and searches the sound slots in the expression map for a sound that matches the defined criteria. When a matching sound slot is found, the current note is either modified (e. g. reduced in length or played louder), or the MIDI channel, program change or key switch information is sent to the connected instrument (the instrument selected on the Output Routing pop-up menu for the track), so that a different sound is played. When no sound slot is found that matches the articulations used in the part, the “closest match” is used, see “Groups” on page 563. When you enter articulations in a MIDI part, you need to set up an expression map in a way that the right sounds in the connected VST or MIDI instrument are triggered (see “Creating and editing expression maps” on page 560). Expression maps also allow you to link your articulations with remote keys on a MIDI input device and map these to sounds that can be played by a MIDI device or VST instrument. This way, you can enter notes and articulations using a remote MIDI device and have these automatically be recorded and played back correctly by Cubase. Expression maps are useful in the following situations: •When you want to enter musical articulations directly in one of the MIDI editors, especially the Score Editor, without having to record MIDI data first. •When you want to play/record music in realtime and control articulation changes while playing. •When you open and edit projects from other users. By using expression maps, you can map the articulation information to a different instrument set or content library quickly and easily. ÖYou can also use the Note Expression functions to add articulations directly on your MIDI notes in the Key Editor. This is described in detail in the chapter “Note Expression” on page 565. Using expression maps in Cubase Expression maps and their related functions can be found in different locations in Cubase. To be able to use these functions, an expression map or a track preset containing such a map has to be loaded. Loading expression maps Expression maps can either be part of track or VST presets, or be saved separately. Depending on this, the way to make them available in Cubase is slightly different. Loading expression maps that are part of presets Cubase comes with a set of predefined expression maps which are part of the default presets. They are loaded automatically with the presets. Track presets are described in detail in the chapter “Working with track presets” on page 422.
557 Expression maps (Cubase only)Using expression maps in Cubase The following applies: •Included with Cubase are several track presets which are pre-configured for use with expression maps. They contain sounds that make use of key switches and have different articulations. To indicate that these presets can be used in this context, they have the suffix “VX”. •Track presets for HALion Symphonic Orchestra can also be used with expression maps. The presets are installed automatically with Cubase. However, for them to be available, you have to separately install the VST instrument. These Track Presets begin with “HSO” and end with “VX”. Expression maps that were saved separately You can also define your own expression maps, see “Creating and editing expression maps” on page 560. To load these, proceed as follows: 1.In the Inspector for the selected track, select the Expression Map section, open the pop-up menu and select “Expression Map Setup…”. The Expression Map Setup window opens. ÖIf the Expression Map section is not shown in the Inspector, right-click on another Inspector section and select “Expression Map” from the context menu. 2.In the Expression Maps section on the left, click the Load button. A file dialog appears. 3.Locate and select an expression map and click Open. The expression map is added to the Maps list. 4.Repeat the steps for all the maps that you want to make available, and close the dialog. All loaded maps are available on the Expression Map pop-up menu in the Inspector. Expression maps in the Project window In the Inspector for MIDI and instrument tracks, the Expression Map section is available. This indicates whether an expression map is used for a track. It also shows the sound slots that are active for playback and for realtime input. The possibility to monitor the active slots is especially useful when recording articulations with an external device, such as a MIDI keyboard. This way, you can see whether the correct sound slot, i. e. the right articulation, is used. Indicates that an expression map is used for the track. Marks the slot that is currently played back. Shows which remote key is being pressed.
558 Expression maps (Cubase only)Using expression maps in Cubase Expression maps in the Score Editor In the Score Editor, the articulations that are part of an expression map can be inserted like other symbols. There is a special tab in the Symbols Inspector, containing all articulation symbols of the current expression map. •To insert a symbol, click on it in the Expression Map tab, and click at the desired position in the note display. •To delete an articulation symbol from the score, select it and press [Delete] or [Backspace]. You can also click on it with the Eraser tool. ÖIn the Preferences dialog (Score–Colors for Additional Meanings page), you can specify a color for Expression Map symbols. This way, you can easily distinguish them from other Score symbols. Articulation editing in the Score Editor is the same as regular symbol editing, see the chapter “Working with symbols” on page 811. Expression maps in the Key, Drum, and In-Place Editors If an expression map is used for a MIDI or instrument track, its articulations are shown in the note events in the Key Editor display, provided that the vertical zoom factor is high enough. If the horizontal zoom factor is high enough, the attribute description (the text in the Description column, see “Editing Articulations” on page 563) is also shown. You can insert and edit articulations in the Key, Drum, and In-Place Editors using the controller lane. This is much like regular controller lane editing (see “Using the controller display” on page 502). •To display the articulations set up in the selected expression map, open the pop- up menu to the left of the lane and select “Articulations/Dynamics”. Dynamics are described in detail in the section “Editing dynamics (Cubase only)” on page 509. !In the Score Editor, it is possible to insert symbols for a single note that in fact cannot be combined in a musically meaningful way. So when entering articulations, make sure that they do not conflict with other articulations.
559 Expression maps (Cubase only)Using expression maps in Cubase •When “Articulations/Dynamics” is selected for a controller lane, the note beginnings are displayed as thin vertical lines in the controller display. •All articulations that are specified for the selected expression map are available on the controller lane. They appear on different rows one above the other. The order in which they are listed is the same as in the expression map. The different groups (1 to 4) are also reflected here, see “Groups” on page 563. They are separated by black lines. Articulations belonging to the same group are shown in the same color. •Directions are displayed as bars in the controller lane. They begin at the insertion point of a direction and end at the insertion point of the next articulation from the same group (or at the end of the part if no more directions follow). Attributes are inserted at the note beginning. You can assign a maximum of one attribute per group to each note. Editing on the controller lane •To insert new directions on the controller lane, select the Draw tool and click at the desired position in the respective row, i. e. where you want the direction to start. Note that you have to click at the exact position of the first note that you want to apply this articulation to or to the left of it. Instead of selecting the Draw tool, you can also hold down [Alt]/[Option] and click at the desired position. •To insert new attributes on the controller lane, select the Draw tool and click at the respective note line in the corresponding row of the controller lane. Instead of selecting the Draw tool, you can also hold down a modifier key (by default [Alt]/[Option]) and click at the desired position. •To remove a direction, click on it with the Erase tool or select it and press [Delete] or [Backspace]. •To remove an attribute, click on it with the Draw tool. Note that you cannot select attributes in the controller lane without automatically selecting the corresponding note, too. Therefore, you cannot delete an attribute by selecting it and pressing [Delete] or [Backspace] without deleting the note as well. ÖIf several notes are selected, you can use the Draw tool to insert or delete attributes for all of them in one go. Editing on the info line When a MIDI note is selected in the note display, the info line contains the “Articulations” option. This displays the note attributes (symbols) specified for the selected note. Click in this section to open the Articulations pop-up menu. The following applies: •All note attributes available in the expression map are shown on the pop-up menu, sorted by group (see “Groups” on page 563). •To add an attribute to a note, simply select it on the pop-up menu. Attributes that are active for a note are indicated on the menu. If you click on an active attribute again on the menu, it is deleted. •If you select another attribute from the same group for a note, the attribute replaces the previous attribute.
560 Expression maps (Cubase only)Creating and editing expression maps Expression maps in the List Editor In the List Editor, the Articulations can be viewed and edited in the Comment column. The options are the same as on the Key Editor info line, see above. Directions can be shown either as Text or as Graphic Symbols (like in the Score Editor). Either way, they are followed by the text “VST Expression” in brackets, so as to be easily recognizable and distinguishable from ordinary Score symbols. Creating and editing expression maps Creating an expression map from scratch Proceed as follows: 1.In the Inspector for a MIDI or instrument track, open the Expression Map section, open the pop-up menu and select “Expression Map Setup…”. The Expression Map Setup window opens, allowing you to load and create expression maps. ÖYou can also open the Expression Map Setup window by selecting the “Expression Map Setup…” option on the MIDI menu. 2.To create a new map from scratch, click the “+” button at the top of the Maps list in the Expression Maps section of the dialog. A new map named “Untitled” is shown in the Expression Maps section. 3.Click on the map name and enter a meaningful name (e. g. “Cello” to set up an expression map for a cello).