Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual
Have a look at the manual Steinberg Cubase 8 Manual online for free. It’s possible to download the document as PDF or print. UserManuals.tech offer 523 Steinberg manuals and user’s guides for free. Share the user manual or guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.
![Page 770
MIDI Editors
List Editor Operations
770
• To set the values of all selected events to the same value, press
[Ctrl]/[Command] and edit the value for one event.
• For SysEx events, you can only edit the Start position in the list. However,
when you click the Comment column, the MIDI SysEx Editor opens, in which
you can perform detailed editing of system exclusive events.
NOTE
When you trim the beginning of a note in the List Editor, the note may move to a
different position in the list, since other...](http://img.usermanuals.tech/thumb/86/98229/w64_d_1507296127-steinberg-cubase-8-manual_d-769.png "Page 770
MIDI Editors
List Editor Operations
770
• To set the values of all selected events to the same value, press
[Ctrl]/[Command] and edit the value for one event.
• For SysEx events, you can only edit the Start position in the list. However,
when you click the Comment column, the MIDI SysEx Editor opens, in which
you can perform detailed editing of system exclusive events.
NOTE
When you trim the beginning of a note in the List Editor, the note may move to a
different position in the list, since other...")
MIDI Editors In-Place Editor 771 In-Place Editor The In-Place Editor allows you to edit MIDI notes and controllers directly in the Project window, for quick and efficient editing in context with other tracks. The In-Place Editor expands the MIDI track to show a miniature Key Editor. When you select a MIDI note, the Project window info line shows the same information about the note, as the info line in the Key Editor. You can perform the same editing here as in the Key Editor. RELATED LINKS Editing Note Events on the Info Line on page 693 Opening the In-Place Editor • To open the In-Place Editor for the selected tracks, select MIDI > Open In-Place Editor. • To open the In-Place Editor for a single MIDI track, click the corresponding Edit In-Place button in the track list. Toolbar The toolbar contains tools and settings for the In-Place Editor. To open the toolbar, click on the gray triangle in the upper right corner of the track list for the edited track. Static Buttons Acoustic Feedback If this button is activated, individual notes are automatically played back when you move or transpose them, or when you create them by drawing.
MIDI Editors In-Place Editor 772 Multiple Part Controls Edit Active Part Only If this button is activated, editing operations are applied only to the active part. Currently Edited Part This pop-up menu lists all parts that are currently open in the editor. This allows you to select a part for editing. Insert Velocity Insert Velocity Allows you to specify a velocity value for new notes. Indicate Transpositions Indicate Transpositions If this button is activated, MIDI notes are displayed according to their transposition settings. Auto Select Controllers Auto Select Controllers If this button is activated and a note is selected in the editor, the corresponding controller data is also automatically selected. Snap/ Quantize Length Quantize Determines the event length for the Length Quantize function. Event Colors Event Colors Allows you to select a color scheme for the events in the editor. List of Parts in Editor List of Parts in Editor Lists all parts of the selected In-Place Editor. Working with the In-Place Editor • To zoom or scroll the In-Place Editor, point at the left part of the piano keyboard display so that the pointer changes to a hand. Then drag to the right or left to zoom in or out vertically, and drag up or down to scroll the editor.
MIDI Editors SysEx Messages 773 • To add or remove controller lanes, right-click below the controller name field and select an option from the context menu. • To close the In-Place Editor for one track, click Edit In-Place in the track list or double-click below the controller display in the In-Place Editor. • To open/close the In-Place Editor for one or several selected tracks, use the Edit In-Place key command. • You can drag notes from one In-Place Editor to another. NOTE The Snap button and Snap Type pop-up menu on the Project window toolbar control snapping in the In-Place Editor, but the snap grid is set using the Quantize pop-up menu. SysEx Messages SysEx (System Exclusive) messages are model-specific messages for setting various parameters of a MIDI device. This makes it possible to address device parameters that would not be available via normal MIDI syntax. Every major MIDI manufacturer has its own SysEx identity code. SysEx messages are typically used for transmitting patch data, for example, the numbers that make up the settings of one or more sounds in a MIDI instrument. Cubase allows you to record and manipulate SysEx data in various ways. RELATED LINKS Using MIDI devices on page 658 Bulk Dumps In any programmable device, the settings are saved as numbers in computer memory. If you change these numbers, you will change the settings. Normally, MIDI devices allow you to dump (transmit) all or some settings in the device’s memory in the form of MIDI SysEx messages. A dump is therefore, among other things, a way of making backup copies of the settings of your instrument: sending such a dump back to the MIDI device restores the settings. If your instrument allows the dumping of a few or all of its settings via MIDI by activating some function on the front panel, this dump will probably be recordable in Cubase.
MIDI Editors SysEx Messages 774 Recording a Bulk Dump IMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANTIMPORTANT If your MIDI instrument does not offer a way to initiate a dump, you have to send a Dump Request message from Cubase to start the dump. In that case, use the MIDI SysEx Editor to insert the specific Dump Request message (see the instrument’s documentation) at the beginning of a MIDI track. When you activate recording, the Dump Request message is played back (sent to the instrument), the dump starts and is recorded. PROCEDURE 1. Do one of the following: • On Microsoft Windows, select File > Preferences. • On Mac, select the Cubase menu, and select Preferences. 2. In the Preferences dialog, select MIDI > MIDI Filter. 3. In the Record section, deactivate the SysEx checkbox to make sure that the recording of SysEx data is not filtered. This way, SysEx messages are recorded but not echoed back to the instrument. This can lead to unpredictable results. 4. Activate recording on a MIDI track and initiate the dump from the front panel of the instrument. 5. When you have finished recording, select the new part and select MIDI > List Editor. This allows you to check that the SysEx dump was recorded. There should be one or several SysEx events in the part/event list. Transmitting a Bulk Dump Back to a Device PREREQUISITE Route the MIDI track with the System Exclusive data to the device. Check your device’s documentation to find details about which MIDI channel should be used, etc. PROCEDURE 1. Solo the track. 2. Make sure that the device is set up to receive SysEx messages. 3. If necessary, put the device in Standby to Receive System Exclusive mode. 4. Play back the data.
MIDI Editors SysEx Messages 775 About Recording and Transmitting Bulk Dumps • Do not transmit more data than you need. If all you want is a single program, do not send all. Otherwise, it could get too difficult to find the recognized program. Usually, you can specify exactly which data you want to send. • If you want the sequencer to dump the pertinent sounds to your instrument whenever you load a project, put the SysEx data in a silent count-in before the project itself starts. • If the dump is very short, which can, for example, be a single sound you can put the dump in the middle of the project to quickly re-program a device. However, you can achieve the same effect by using Program Change. This is definitely preferable, since less MIDI data is sent and recorded. Some devices may be set up to dump the settings for a sound as soon as you select it on the front panel. • If you create parts with useful SysEx dumps, you can put these on a special muted track. To make use of these parts, drag it to an empty unmuted track and play it back. • Do not transmit several SysEx dumps to several instruments at the same time. • Make a note of the current device ID setting of the instrument. If you change this, the instrument may later refuse to load the dump. Recording SysEx Parameter Changes Often you can use SysEx to remotely change individual settings in a device, for example, opening a filter, selecting a waveform, changing the decay of the reverb, etc. Many devices are also capable of transmitting changes that are made on the front panel as SysEx messages. These can be recorded in Cubase, and thus incorporated into a regular MIDI recording. For example: you open up a filter while playing some notes. In that case, you record both the notes and the SysEx messages that are generated when you open the filter. When you play back the recording, the sound changes exactly as it did when you recorded it. PROCEDURE 1. Select File > Preferences. 2. In the Preferences dialog, select MIDI > MIDI Filter and make sure that SysEx is deactivated in the Record section. 3. Make sure that the instrument is set to transmit changes of front panel controls as SysEx messages. 4. Record. AFTER COMPLETING THIS TASK In the List Editor, check if the events were recorded properly.
MIDI Editors SysEx Messages 776 MIDI SysEx Editor While SysEx events are displayed in the List Editor/Project Browser (Cubase Pro only), it is not their entire content, that is displayed. Only the beginning of the message is displayed in the Comment column for the event. The event is not editable. You can only move the event, the same way you would move it in the List Editor. • To open the MIDI SysEx Editor for a SysEx event, click in the Comments column for the event in the List Editor/Project Browser. The display shows the entire message on one or several lines. SysEx messages always begin with F0 and end with F7 and a number of arbitrary bytes in between. If the message contains more bytes, so that they do not entirely fit on one line, it continues on the next line. The Address indication to the left helps you find out on which position in the message a certain value is located. You can edit all values except for the first (F0) and the last ones (F7). In the MIDI SysEx Editor, the bytes are displayed as follows: • In the main display, values are shown in hexadecimal format. • To the right of the main display, values are shown in ASCII format. • At the bottom of the dialog, the selected value is shown in ASCII, binary, and decimal formats. Adding and Deleting Bytes • To add a byte, open the MIDI SysEx Editor and click Insert. The byte is added before the selected byte. • To delete a byte, open the MIDI SysEx Editor, select a byte, and click Delete. • To delete the complete SysEx message, select it in the List Editor and press [Delete] or [Backspace].
MIDI Editors SysEx Messages 777 Editing Byte Values You can edit the selected byte value in the main display of the MIDI SysEx Editor, or in the ASCII, decimal, and binary displays. • To edit the selected value, open the MIDI SysEx Editor, click on a byte, and type in the value. Importing and Exporting SysEx Data You can import SysEx data from disk and export the edited data to a file. The file has to be in MIDI SysEx (.syx) binary format. Only the first dump in a SYX file will be loaded. • To import SysEx data, open the MIDI SysEx Editor and click Import. • To export SysEx data, open the MIDI SysEx Editor and click Export. NOTE Do not confuse this format with MIDI files, which have the extension .mid.
778 Expression maps (Cubase Pro 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. 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. Direction Attribute Attribute Attribute Pizzicato Tenuto Accent Staccato
Expression maps (Cubase Pro only) Introduction 779 To trigger the necessary sound changes, use the following command and data types: 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 channel Multi-timbral instruments, such as Steinberg’s HALion, feature programs, usually representing different articulations. These can be accessed via MIDI channel messages. Key switches Some 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. 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. 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. E x p r e s s i o n m a p s a l s o a l l o w y o u t o l i n k y o u r a r t i c u l a t i o n s w i t h r e m o t e k e y s o n a M I D I 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.
Expression maps (Cubase Pro only) Using expression maps 780 • 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. NOTE You can also use the Note Expression functions to add articulations directly on your MIDI notes in the Key Editor. RELATED LINKS Creating and editing expression maps on page 785 Groups on page 789 Note Expression on page 792 Using expression maps 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. 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”. RELATED LINKS Track Presets on page 160