Steinberg Cubase Studio 4 MIDI Devices Studio Manual

							
MIDI Devices 
						

							Revision and Quality Control:
Cristina Bachmann, Marion Bröer, Heiko Bischoff, Sabine Pfeifer
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Release Date: October 19, 2007
© Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2007.
All rights reserved. 
						

							Table of Contents 
						

							4
Table of Contents
5MIDI devices
6Background
6MIDI devices – general settings and patch handling
14About Device panels (Cubase only)
14Overview (Cubase only)
17The main edit windows (Cubase only)
20Operations in the Edit Panel window (Cubase only)
23Building a control panel – a tutorial (Cubase only)
29Advanced Panel handling
33Building panels for VST Instruments
34Exporting and importing device setups
(Cubase only)
34SysEx messages (Cubase only)
39Defining a SysEx device – a tutorial (Cubase only)
44Important files
47About Studio Connections (Cubase only)
49Index 
						

							1
MIDI devices 
						

							6
MIDI devices
Background
The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify and set up 
your MIDI devices, making global control and patch selec-
tion easy.
But the MIDI Device Manager also features powerful edit-
ing functions that can be used to create MIDI device pan-
els (Cubase only). MIDI device panels are internal 
representations of external MIDI hardware, complete with 
graphics. The MIDI device panel editor provides all the 
tools you need to create device maps where every para-
meter of an external device (and even an internal device 
like a VST instrument) can be controlled and automated 
from inside Cubase.
For descriptions of how to create device maps and the 
powerful device panel editing features, see “About Device 
panels (Cubase only)” on page 14. For additional informa-
tion on how to create panels for VST instruments, see 
“Building panels for VST Instruments” on page 33.
MIDI devices – general settings and 
patch handling
On the following pages, we will describe how to install 
and set up preset MIDI devices, and how to select 
patches by name from within Cubase. This section also 
describes how to create a MIDI device from scratch.
About program change and bank select
To instruct a MIDI instrument to select a certain patch 
(sound), you send a MIDI Program Change message to 
the instrument. Program Change messages can be re-
corded or entered in a MIDI part like other events, but you 
can also enter a value in the Program (prg) field in the In-
spector for a MIDI track. This way, you can quickly set 
each MIDI track to play a different sound.
With Program Change messages, you are able to select 
between 128 different patches in your MIDI device. How-
ever, many MIDI instruments contain a larger number of 
patch locations. To make these available from within Cu-
base, you need to use Bank Select messages, a system in 
which the programs in a MIDI instrument are divided into banks, each bank containing 128 programs. If your instru-
ments support MIDI Bank Select, you can use the Bank 
field (Bank Selector) in the Inspector to select a bank, and 
then the Program field to select a program in this bank.
Unfortunately, different instrument manufacturers use dif-
ferent schemes for how Bank Select messages should be 
constructed, which can lead to some confusion and make 
it hard to select the correct sound. Also, selecting patches 
by numbers this way seems unnecessarily cumbersome, 
when most instruments use names for their patches now-
adays.
To help with this, you can use the MIDI Device Manager to 
specify which MIDI instruments you have connected by se-
lecting from a vast list of existing devices or by specifying 
the details yourself. Once you have specified which MIDI 
devices you’re using, you can select to which particular de-
vice each MIDI track should be 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:
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. 
Here you specify to 
which MIDI output 
the selected device 
is connected.This button opens 
a selected device.This button 
allows you to 
import Mixmaps.These buttons are used 
to import/export XML 
Device setups. 
						

							7
MIDI devices
Cubase Studio:
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 and no graphic panels.
They are simply patch name scripts. When you install a preset MIDI de-
vice, it is added to the Installed Devices list. For more information about 
patch name scripts, see “Patch name script text files” on page 46.
A device setup can include device mapping, panels 
and/or patch information. 
Device setups are also added to the list of installed devices when im-
ported. For more information about setups and device panels, see 
“About Device panels (Cubase only)” on page 14. 
Installing a MIDI device
To install a preset MIDI device, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Install Device button.
A dialog appears listing all pre-configured MIDI devices. For now we as-
sume 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 isn’t included in the list but is com-
patible 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.
Now the device appears in the Installed Devices list to the 
left.
3.Make sure that the new device is selected in the list 
and pull down the Output pop-up menu.
4.Select the MIDI output that is connected to the device.
5.If you are using Cubase, click the Open Device Panels 
button.
Now 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 main edit windows 
(Cubase only)” on page 17.
6.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up at the top of the 
window. 
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 ticked).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. 
						

							8
MIDI devices
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’s 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 sev-
eral devices of the same model, and want to separate 
them by name instead of by number.
To remove a device from the Installed Devices list, se-
lect it and click Remove Device. The device will be deleted 
immediately. 
ÖNote that if there already exists a panel for the device, 
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 dif-
ferent “types” of patches are handled differently in the in-
struments. For example, while “patches” typically are 
“regular” programs that you play one at the time, “perfor-
mances” may be combinations of patches, which could 
e. g. be split across the keyboard, layered or used for mul-
titimbral playback.
For devices with several banks, you will find an additional 
item labeled “Bank Assignment” in the pop-up 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 select 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 “Editing the device setup XML files di-
rectly” on page 45. 
						

							9
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.Pull down the Output menu (in the track list or Inspec-
tor) for a track that you want to play the installed device, 
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 fields in the track list and 
Inspector are replaced by a single Programs field that currently reads 
“Off”.
2.Click the Programs field to display a pop-up menu, hi-
erarchically 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.
You can also use a filter function here. For this, enter the 
search term in the Filter field, e.g. “drum”, and press [Re-
turn] 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 In-
stalled Devices list.
2.If you are using Cubase, click Open Device.
Make sure that Patch Banks is selected on the pop-up at the top of the 
window.
3.Activate the Enable Edit checkbox.
When this is turned off (default), you cannot edit the pre-configured de-
vices.
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 click OK.
7.Rename the desired patches in this way, and finish by 
deactivating Enable Edit again (to avoid modifying the de-
vice 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 would be useful if you expanded your MIDI device by 
adding extra storage media such as RAM cards, etc. 
						

							10
MIDI devices
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 repre-
sented 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 will appear, al-
lowing you to name the folder. You can also rename the 
folder afterwards 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, its 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, use the fol-
lowing procedures:To change which Program Change value should be 
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 that appears.
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 in 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.!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 
whether to choose “CC: BankSelect MSB”, “Bank 
Select 14 Bit”, “Bank Select 14 Bit MSB-LSB 
Swapped” or possibly some other option.