Steinberg Cubase Le 4 Manual
Have a look at the manual Steinberg Cubase Le 4 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+.
142 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks Introduction VST Instruments are software synthesizers (or other sound sources) that are associated with Cubase LE. They are played internally via MIDI, and their audio outputs ap- pear on separate channels in the mixer, allowing you to add effects or EQ, just as with audio tracks. The VST Instrument HALionOne is included with Cubase LE, others can be purchased separately from Steinberg and other manufacturers. ÖThis chapter describes the general procedures for setting up and using VST Instruments. For a description of HALionOne and its parameters, see the chapter “HALionOne” in the Plug-in Reference. Activating and using VST Instruments VST Instruments can be activated by creating Instrument tracks. Instrument tracks are a combination of a VST In- strument, an Instrument channel and a MIDI track. You play and record MIDI note data directly for this track. Instrument tracks feature a single MIDI input and a single stereo output. An instrument track corresponds to one channel in the mixer, which corresponds to one VST Instrument that is set up automatically with the instrument track. All automation parameters are available directly in the instrument track. This way, you can move VST Instrument automation curves together with the MIDI data. Instrument tracks provide a very convenient way of quickly browsing for and auditioning preset sounds before you actually create the track! Instrument tracks have Inserts, Sends, EQ, etc. There are certain limitations that apply to Instrument tracks: As there is only one stereo output available, you cannot use multiple outputs for VST Instruments loaded in an In- strument track. Thus, you can only use the first output channel pair of a multitimbral in- strument. The MIDI volume and pan are not visible. Instead, the VST Instrument volume and pan are displayed.The output device of an Instrument track always has to be a VST Instrument. Creating an instrument track 1.To add a track, either open the Project menu, select the “Add Track” option and choose “Instrument” or right- click in the track list to open the context menu and select “Add Instrument Track”. 2.In both cases, the Add Instrument Track dialog opens, providing a list of available VST Instruments. You can either select a VST Instrument from the list or proceed without specifying an instrument. If you want to add more than one instrument track, set the corresponding number in the count field. 3.Click OK to create the instrument track(s). The instrument track appears in the Track list and as an Instrument channel in the mixer. The instrument channel in the mixer… …and the instrument track in the track list.
143 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks The instrument panel does not open automatically (re- gardless of whether an instrument was selected in the “Add Instrument Track” dialog or not). If a device was se- lected, the track will have the same name as the instru- ment, otherwise it will be named “Instrument Track”. In the Inspector, you can select a VST Instrument from the Instrument pop-up. Only VST Instruments are available on the pop-up. When you select an instrument on this pop-up menu, its control panel is opened. On the Input Routing pop-up you can select a MIDI input. Instrument tracks only have one MIDI input. To open the control panel for the VST Instrument, click the “Edit Instrument” button in the Inspector. Recording/playing the instrument is done just like for MIDI tracks. Editing an instrument track/channel According to the “mixed” nature of the instrument track, the features and parameters of VST Instruments as well as of MIDI tracks are available for editing: You can solo and mute tracks or add, modify or bypass audio inserts and EQs etc. You can perform the usual MIDI editing procedures on the instrument track. You can adjust track delay, choose the MIDI input, select drum maps, etc. Using VST presets About VST presets VST presets store all panel settings for an instrument, but no track/channel settings. There are two types of VST presets that can be used; the VST 2 standard “.fxb/.fxp” files and the new VST 3 preset standard with the extension “.vstpreset”. All VST 2 instruments can import “.fxb/.fxp” files and also convert them to the VST 3 standard. Once converted you can use all the Preset browser features. Selecting VST presets VST Instruments come with a large number of VST pre- sets for instant selection. Presets can either be accessed from the control panel for the instrument or from the In- spector. To select a VST Instrument preset, proceed as follows: 1.Load a VST Instrument by creating an Instrument track. 2.If necessary, click on the track name at the top of the Inspector to open the basic track settings. 3.Click in the Programs field in the Inspector. This opens the Presets Browser. Selecting a new preset overwrites the settings of the current preset so any unsaved changes will be lost. 4.To exit the browser, double-click the desired preset or click somewhere outside the window to close it. You can also open the preset list from the VST Instru- ment’s control panel. Simply click in the Preset name field. If you click the SoundFrame button (the cube symbol), the “Load Preset…” dialog opens.
144 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks This dialog is much like the Preset list, but there is a differ- ence: If you use the “Load Preset” dialog, this allows you to preview the settings of other presets without actually load- ing them. If you chose to cancel the operation, the preset that was selected before opening the dialog will be re- loaded exactly as it was, including any unsaved changes. If you activate “Auto Preview” below the Viewer section, you can step through the presets and play them via MIDI. When you use the Preset list, selecting another preset will load it directly, replacing the previous preset. The Viewer section of the Load Preset dialog and the Preset list automatically display all the available presets for the instrument. 5.When you have selected an instrument preset, click OK to close the Load Preset dialog or – if you used the Preset browser – double-click the preset or click outside the browser window to close it. Saving VST Instrument presets You can save your edited settings for further use (e.g. in other projects): 1.In the VST Instrument panel, click the SoundFrame but- ton to the right of the name field. This opens a pop-up menu. 2.Select “Save Preset” from the pop-up menu. This opens a dialog where you can save the current settings as a preset. Presets are saved into a default folder named VST3 Pre- sets. Within this folder, there is a folder named “Steinberg Media Technologies” where the included presets are ar- ranged in sub-folders named after each instrument. You cannot change the default folder, but you can add fur- ther subfolders inside the instrument’s preset folder. Under Windows, the default preset folder is in the fol- lowing location: Boot drive/Documents and Settings/User name/Application data/VST3 Presets. Under Mac OS, the default preset folder is in the follow- ing location: Users/Username/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Presets/ 3.In the File name field in the lower part of the dialog you can enter a name for the new preset.4.Click OK to store the preset and exit the dialog. About earlier VST Instrument presets You can use any VST 2.x Instrument plug-ins in Cubase LE. Adding VST Instrument plug-ins works the same way as for audio effects. When you add a VST 2 plug-in, any previously stored pre- sets for it will be of the old FX program/bank (.fxp/.fxb) standard. You can import such files, but the preset han- dling will be slightly different. You will not be able to use the new features like the Preview function until you have converted the old “.fxp/.fxb” presets to VST 3 presets. If you save new presets for a VST 2 plug-in these will auto- matically be saved in the new “.vstpreset” format in the default location. Importing and converting FXB/FXP files To import .fxp/.fxb files, proceed as follows: 1.Load any VST 2 instrument you may have installed, and click on the SoundFrame button to open the Preset Man- agement pop-up menu. 2.Select “Import FXB/FXP” from the pop-up. This menu item is only available for VST 2 instrument plug-ins. 3.In the file dialog that opens, locate the file and click Open. If you loaded a Bank, it will replace the current set of all programs. If you loaded a single preset, it will replace the currently selected preset pro- gram only. 4.After importing, you can convert the current program list to VST Presets by selecting “Convert Program List to VST Presets” from the Preset Management pop-up. After converting, the presets will be available. The new converted pre- sets will be stored in the VST3 Preset folder.
145 VST Instruments and Instrument tracks Exporting Instrument tracks You can export instrument tracks as standard MIDI files, see “Exporting MIDI files” on page 241. Please note: As there is no MIDI patch information in an instrument track, this information is missing in the resulting MIDI file. If you activate “Export Inspector Volume/Pan”, the volume and pan of the VST Instrument channel are converted and written into the MIDI file as volume and pan controllers. About latency Depending on your audio hardware and its ASIO driver, the latency (the time it takes for the Instrument to produce a sound when you press a key on your MIDI controller) may simply be too high to allow comfortable real-time VST Instrument playback from a keyboard. If this is the case, a workaround is to play and record your parts with another MIDI Sound Source selected, and then switch to the VST Instrument for playback. ÖYou can check the latency for your audio hardware in the Device Setup dialog (VST Audio System page). The input and output latency values are shown below the ASIO Driver pop-up menu. For live VST Instruments playing, these values should ide- ally be a few milliseconds (although the limit for “comfortable” live playing is a matter of personal taste). Constrain Delay Compensation Cubase LE features full delay compensation throughout the entire audio path. This means that any delay inherent in the VST plug-ins you use will automatically be compen- sated for during playback, so that all channels are kept in perfect sync (see the chapter “Audio effects” in the Plug- in Reference). However, when you play a VST Instrument in real time or record live audio (with monitoring through Cubase LE ac- tivated), this delay compensation may sometimes result in added latency. To avoid this, activate the Constrain Delay Compensation button on the Project window toolbar. This function tries to minimize the latency effects of the delay compensation, while maintaining the sound of the mix as far as possible. In the Preferences dialog (VST page) you will find a set- ting called Delay Compensation Threshold. Only plug-ins with a delay higher than the value entered here will be af- fected by the Constrain Delay Compensation function. VST plug-ins (with higher delay than the threshold value) which are activated for audio track channels that are record enabled, group channels and output channels will be turned off when you activate Constrain Delay Com- pensation. VST plug-ins activated for FX channels are not turned off but their delay is disregarded by the program (delay compensation is turned off). After recording or using a VST Instrument with Constrain Delay Compensation, you should turn off the function to restore full delay compensation. Automating a VST Instrument Automation of the VST Instrument channel settings is done in the same way as automating regular channels. Automation of the specific parameters for a VST Instru- ment is done in the same way as automating VST effect parameters. See the chapter “Automation” on page 90.
147 MIDI realtime parameters and effects Introduction For each MIDI track, you can set up a number of track pa- rameters, or modifiers. These affect how the MIDI data is played back, “transforming” MIDI events in real time be- fore they are sent to the MIDI outputs. On the following pages, the available parameters and ef- fects are described. Keep in mind: The actual MIDI events will not be affected – the changes happen “on the fly”. Since the modifier settings don’t actually change the MIDI data on the track, they will not be reflected in the MIDI editors. To convert the track settings to “real” MIDI events, use the Freeze MIDI Modifiers function (see “Permanent settings with Freeze MIDI Modifiers” on page 160). The Inspector – General handling The MIDI modifiers are set up in the Inspector. Here’s a brief rundown on how to handle the Inspector: To show or hide the Inspector, click the Inspector icon on the Project window’s toolbar. For a MIDI track, up to three sections are available, and all three sections are displayed by default. For information about setting up the Inspector, see “The Setup dialogs” on page 244. You can fold or unfold the sections individually by click- ing on the section name. Clicking the name for a hidden section brings it to view and hides the other sections. [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the tab allows you to hide or show a section without affecting other sections. Finally, [Alt]/[Option]- clicking a tab shows or hides all sections in the Inspector. The Inspector for a MIDI track. ÖFolding in or hiding (via the Setup dialog) a section does not affect the functionality but merely hides the sec- tion from view. This means your settings will still be active even if you fold in or hide the Inspector settings. Basic track settings The topmost Inspector section contains the basic settings for the selected MIDI track. These are settings that either affect the basic functionality for the track (mute, solo, enable record, etc.) or send out additional MIDI data to the connected devices (program change, volume, etc.). The section contains all settings in the Track list (see “The Track list” on page 16), with a few additional parameters: Parameter Description Track name fieldClick once to show/hide the topmost Inspector section. Double-click to rename the track.
148 MIDI realtime parameters and effects ÖNote that the functionality of the Bank and Patch se- lector settings (used for selecting sounds in the con- nected MIDI instrument) depends on to which instrument the MIDI output is routed, and how you have set it up in the MIDI Device Manager. The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify which MIDI instruments and other devices are connected to the various MIDI outputs, thus mak- ing it possible to select patches by name, see “The MIDI Device Mana- ger” on page 150. ÖMany of the basic track settings are duplicated in “mixer channel strip form” in the fader section of the In- spector (see below). Other Inspector sections Apart from the basic track settings (see above) and the MIDI Modifiers (see “MIDI Modifiers” on page 148), the In- spector for a MIDI track also contains the following: The MIDI Fader section This contains a single channel strip, allowing you to set volume, pan, mute/solo and other parameters for the track. This is a “mirror” of the track’s channel strip in the mixer – see “The MIDI channel strips” on page 80. MIDI Modifiers The following settings will affect the MIDI events on the track in real time during playback. They will also be in ef- fect if you play “live” with the track selected and record enabled (provided that “MIDI Thru Active” is activated on the Preferences–MIDI page). This makes it possible to transpose or adjust the velocity of your live playing. ÖIf you want to compare the result of your modifier set- tings with the “unprocessed” MIDI, you can use the By- pass button in the MIDI Modifiers section. When this is activated, the MIDI Modifiers settings will be temporarily disabled. A bypassed section is indicated by a yellow Bypass button. Transpose This allows you to transpose all notes on the track in semi- tones. The available range is -127 to +127 semitones, but remember that the total range of MIDI note numbers is 0 to 127. Furthermore, not all instruments can play back notes over the whole range. Therefore, extreme transposi- tions can give rather strange and unwanted results. Edit button This opens the channel settings window for the track (a window showing a channel strip with volume fader and other controls – see “Using Channel Settings” on page 83). Mute/Solo buttonsMutes or solos the MIDI track. Read/Write buttonsUsed for automating the track settings – see “Using Write/Read automation” on page 94. Record enable buttonActivate this to make the track ready for recording. Monitor button When this is activated (and the option “MIDI Thru Active” is on in the Preferences–MIDI page), incoming MIDI will be routed to the selected MIDI output. Lane Display Type buttonAllows you to divide the tracks in lanes. Volume Use this to adjust the level for the track. Changing this setting will move the track’s fader in the Mixer window, and vice versa. See “Setting volume in the mixer” on page 80 for more about setting levels. Pan Use this to adjust the panning of the track. Delay This adjusts the playback timing of the MIDI track. Posi- tive values delay the playback while negative values cause the track to play earlier. The values are set in milli- seconds. Input/Output Routing/ChannelThis is where you select MIDI input, MIDI output and MIDI channel for the track. Bank and Patch Selector pop-upAllows you to select a sound, see below. (If no bank is available, only the Patch selector is shown.) Drum Map Allows you to select a drum map for the track – see “Ma- naging drum maps” on page 187. Parameter Description
149 MIDI realtime parameters and effects ÖYou can also transpose individual MIDI parts using the Transpose field in the info line. The transposition in the info line (for the individual part) is added to the transpose value you have set up for the whole track in the Inspector. Velocity Shift This setting lets you change the dynamics of all notes on the track. The value in this field is added to the velocity of each note message that is sent out (use negative values to lower the velocities). The range is -127 to +127 with 0 representing no change in velocity. Note that the effect of changing the velocity depends on the sound and instrument. ÖYou can also adjust the velocity of events in individual MIDI parts using the Velocity field in the info line. The velocity shift in the info line (for the individual part) is added to the velocity shift you have set up for the whole track in the Inspector. Velocity Compression This function multiplies the velocity values with the factor you specify. This factor is set using a numerator (left value) and a denominator (right value), resulting in a fractional number (1/2, 3/4, 3/2 etc.). For example, if you set the factor to 3/4, the velocities will be three quarters of their original values. This will also affect the difference in veloc- ity between the notes, thus compressing or expanding the velocity scale. Typically, you would combine this setting with the Velocity Shift parameter. An example: Let’s say you have three notes with the velocity values 60, 90 and 120, and wish to “even out” the velocity differ- ences somewhat. If you set the Velocity Compression value to 1/2, the notes will play back with the velocities 30, 45 and 60. By adding 60 in the Velocity Shift field, the notes will play back with the velocities 90, 105 and 120, meaning you have compressed the velocity range. In a similar way, you can use Velocity Compression values greater than 1/1 together with negative values in the Ve- locity Shift field, to expand the velocity range. Length Compression This value adjusts the lengths of all notes on the track. As with Velocity Compression, the value is set with a numer- ator and denominator. For example, the value 2/1 means that all note lengths will be doubled, while 1/4 means all note lengths will be a quarter of the actual lengths. Random The Random settings let you introduce random variations to various properties of MIDI notes. Anything from very subtle variations to dramatic changes can be applied. There are two separate “random generators”, set up in the following way: 1.Pull down the Random pop-up menu and select which note property should be randomized. The options are position, pitch, velocity and length. ÖKeep in mind that depending on the content of the track, certain parameter changes might not be immedi- ately noticeable or have any effect at all (as would be the case if applying random length to a percussion track play- ing “one-shot” samples for example). To best audition the random changes choose a track with clearly defined rhythm and note content (as opposed to a string pad). 2.Set the desired range of random deviation by entering values in the two number fields. The two values govern the limits of the randomization, so that the values will vary between the left value and the right value (you cannot set the left value higher than the right value). The maximum random range for each property is listed in the table below: ÖNote that you can make independent settings for the two random generators. To deactivate the Random function, pull down the Ran- dom pop-up menu(s) and select “OFF”. !Remember that the maximum velocity is always 127 no matter how much you try to expand. Property Range Position -500 to +500 ticks Pitch -120 to +120 semitones Velocity -120 to +120 Length -500 to +500 ticks
150 MIDI realtime parameters and effects Range The Range function lets you specify a note (pitch) or ve- locity range and either force all notes to fit within this range, or exclude all notes outside this range from play- back. As with the Random function, there are two sepa- rate Range settings. Set them up as follows: 1.Pull down the Range pop-up menu and select one of the following four modes: 2.Use the two fields to the right to set the min and max values. These values will be shown as numbers (0-127) for the velocity modes and as note numbers (C-2 to G8) for the pitch modes. ÖNote that you can make independent settings for the two Range functions. To deactivate the Range function, pull down the Range pop-up menu(s) and select “OFF”. The MIDI Device Manager The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify and set up your MIDI devices, making global control and patch se- lection easy. Opening the MIDI Device Manager Select MIDI Device Manager from the Devices menu to bring up the following window: When you open the MIDI Device Manager for the first time, it will be empty (because you haven’t 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. They are simply patch name scripts. When you install a preset MIDI de- vice, it is added to the Installed Devices list. A device setup can include device mapping and/or patch information. Mode Description Vel. Limit This function affects all velocity values outside the speci- fied range. Velocity values below the Min setting (the lower limit of the range) are set to the Min value, and ve- locity values above the Max setting are set to the Max value. Notes with velocity values within the set range are not affected. Use this if you want to force all velocity val- ues to fit within a certain range. Vel. Filter Velocity Filter works by excluding all notes with velocity values outside the specified range. Notes with velocity values below the Min setting or above the Max setting will not be played back. Use this to “isolate” notes with cer- tain velocity values. Note Limit This function allows you to specify a pitch range, and forces all notes to fit within this range. Notes outside the specified range are transposed up or down in octave steps until they fit within the range. Note: If the range is too “narrow”, so that some notes cannot be fit within the range by octave-transposing, these notes will get a pitch in the middle of the range. For example, if you have a note with a pitch of F3, and the range is C4-E4, that note will be transposed to D4. Note Filter Note Filter works by excluding all notes with pitches out- side the specified range. Notes lower than the Min set- ting or higher than the Max setting will not be played back. Use this to “isolate” notes with certain pitches.This is the list of MIDI devices you have connected. The first time you open the MIDI Device Manager, this list will be empty.These buttons let you manage the list of installed devices. This pop-up menu lets you edit the selected device (provided that “Enable Edit” is activated).Here, the patch structure is shown for the device selected above. 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.