Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 MIDI Devices And Features Manual

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI effects 2 – 91
Note to CC
This effect will generate a MIDI continuous controller event for each 
incoming MIDI note. The value of the controller event corresponds to 
the note number (pitch) and the single parameter allows you to select 
which MIDI controller should be sent out (by default controller 7, MIDI 
volume). The incoming MIDI notes pass through the effect unaffected.
For example, if MIDI volume (controller 7) is selected, notes with low 
note numbers (pitches) will lower the volume in the MIDI instrument, 
while higher note numbers will raise the volume. This way you can cre-
ate “keyboard tracking” of volume or other parameters.
Note that a controller event is sent out each time a new note is played. If 
high and low notes are played simultaneously, this could lead to some-
what confusing results. Therefore, the Note to CC effect is probably best 
applied to monophonic tracks (playing one note at a time). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL2 – 92 MIDI effects
Quantizer
Quantizing is a function that changes the timing of notes by moving 
them towards a “quantize grid”. This grid may consist of e.g. straight 
sixteenth notes (in which case the notes would all get perfect six-
teenth note timing), but could also be more loosely related to straight 
note value positions (applying a “swing feel” to the timing, etc.).
•The main Quantize function in Cubase SX/SL is described in the Oper-
ation manual.
While the Quantize function on the MIDI menu applies the timing 
change to the actual notes on a track, the Quantizer effect allows you 
to apply quantizing “on the fly”, changing the timing of the notes in real 
time. This makes it easier to try out different settings when creating 
grooves and rhythms. Note however, that the main Quantize function 
contains settings and features that are not available in the Quantizer.
The Quantizer has the following parameters:
Parameter Description
Quantize Note This sets the note value on which the quantize grid is based. Straight 
notes, triplets and dotted notes are available. For example, “16” 
means straight sixteenth notes and “8T” means eighth note triplets.
Swing This allows you to offset every second position in the grid, creating a 
swing or shuffle feel. The value is a percentage – the higher you set 
this, the farther to the right every even grid position is moved.
Strength This determines how close the notes should be moved to the quantize 
grid. When set to 100%, all notes will be forced to the closest grid 
position; lowering the setting will gradually loosen the timing. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI effects 2 – 93
Step Designer
The Step Designer is a MIDI pattern sequencer that sends out MIDI 
notes and additional controller data according to the pattern you set 
up. It does not make use of the incoming MIDI, other than automation 
data (such as recorded pattern changes).
Creating a basic pattern
1.Use the Pattern selector to choose which pattern to create.
Each Step Designer can hold up to 200 different patterns.
2.Use the Quantize setting to specify the “resolution” of the pattern.
In other words, this setting determines how long each step is. For example, if Quantize 
is set to “16th” each step will be a sixteenth note.
3.Specify the number of steps in the pattern with the Length setting.
As you can see in the note display, the maximum number of steps is 32. For example, 
setting Quantize to 16 and Length to 32 would create a two bar pattern with sixteenth 
note steps.
4.Click in the note display to insert notes.
You can insert notes on any of the 32 steps, but the Step Designer will only play back 
the number of steps set with the Length parameter.
Delay This delays (positive values) or advances (negative values) the notes 
in milliseconds. Unlike the Delay setting in the Track Parameters, this 
delay can be automated. Parameter Description 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL2 – 94 MIDI effects
•The display spans one octave (as indicated by the pitch list to the left). 
You can scroll the displayed octave up or down by clicking in the 
pitch list and dragging up or down.
This way you can insert notes at any pitch. Note that each step can contain one note 
only – the Step Designer is monophonic.
Click and drag to view other octaves.
•To remove a note from the pattern, click on it again.
5.Select “Velocity” on the Controllers pop-up menu.
This pop-up menu determines what is shown in the lower controller display.
6.Adjust the velocity of the notes by dragging the velocity bars in the 
controller display.
7.To make notes shorter, select “Gate” on the Controllers pop-up menu 
and lower the bars in the controller display.
When a bar is set to its maximum value (fully up), the corresponding note will be the full 
length of the step (as set with the Quantize parameter).
8.To make notes longer, you can tie two notes together. This is done by 
inserting two notes and clicking the Tie button below the second note.
When the Tie button is lit for a note, it won’t retrigger – instead the previous note will 
be lengthened. Also, the tied (second) note will automatically get the same pitch as the 
first note. You can add more notes and tie them in the same way, creating longer notes.
9.If you now start playback in Cubase SX/SL, the pattern will play as 
well, sending out MIDI notes on the track’s MIDI output and channel 
(or, if you have activated the Step Designer as a send effect, on the 
MIDI output and channel selected for the send in the Inspector). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI effects 2 – 95
Adding controller curves
The Controllers pop-up menu holds two more items: two controller 
types.
•You can select which two controller types (filter cutoff, resonance, 
volume, etc.) should be available on the pop-up menu by clicking the 
Setup button and selecting controllers from the lists that appears.
This selection is global to all patterns.
•To insert controller information in a pattern, select the desired control-
ler from the pop-up menu and click in the controller display to draw 
events.
The MIDI controller events will be sent out during playback along with the notes.
•If you drag a controller event bar all the way down, no controller value 
will be sent out on that step.
Other pattern functions
The following functions make it easier to edit, manipulate and manage 
patterns:
Function Description
Shift Oct These buttons allow you to shift the entire pattern up or down in octave 
steps.
Shift Time Moves the pattern one step to the left or right.
Reverse Reverses the pattern, so that it plays backwards.
Copy/Paste Allows you to copy the current pattern and paste it in another pattern 
location (in the same Step Designer or another).
Reset Clears the pattern, removing all notes and setting controller values to 
default.
Random Generates a completely random pattern – useful for experimenting. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL2 – 96 MIDI effects
Automating pattern changes
You can create up to 200 different patterns in each Step Designer – 
just select a new pattern and add notes and controllers as described 
above.
Typically, you want the pattern selection to change during the project. 
You can accomplish this by automating the Pattern selector, either in 
real time by activating the Write automation and switching patterns 
during playback or by drawing in the automation subtrack for the Step 
Designer’s MIDI track. Note that you can also press a key on your MIDI 
keyboard to change patterns. For this, you have to set up the Step De-
signer as an insert effect for a record enabled MIDI track. Press C1 to 
select pattern 1, C#1 to select pattern 2, D1 to select pattern 3, D#1 
to select pattern 4 and so on. If you want, you can record these pat-
tern changes as note events on a MIDI track. Proceed as follows:
1.Select the desired MIDI track or create a new one and activate the 
Step Designer as an insert effect.
2.Set up several patterns as described above.
3.Press the Record button and press the desired keys on your keyboard 
to select the corresponding patterns.
The pattern changes will be recorded on the MIDI track.
4.Stop recording and play back the MIDI track.
You will now hear the recorded pattern changes.
•This will only work for the first 92 patterns.
Swing The Swing parameter allows you to offset every second step, creating 
a swing or shuffle feel. The value is a percentage – the higher you set 
this, the farther to the right every even step is moved.
Presets Handling of Presets is described in the chapter “MIDI realtime set-
tings” in the Operation manual. Note that a stored Preset contains all 
200 patterns in the Step Designer. Function Description 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI effects 2 – 97
Track Control
The Track Control effect contains three ready-made control panels for 
adjusting parameters on a GS or XG compatible MIDI device. The 
Roland GS and Yamaha XG protocols are extensions of the General 
MIDI standard, allowing for more sounds and better control of various 
instrument settings. If your instrument is compatible with GS or XG, 
the Track Controls effect allows you to adjust sounds and effects in 
your instrument from within Cubase SX/SL.
Selecting a control panel
At the top of the Track Controls effect window you will find a pop-up 
menu. This is where you select which of the available control panels to 
use:
Control panel Description
GS Basic Controls Effect sends and various sound control parameters for use with 
instruments compatible with the Roland GS standard.
XG Effect + Sends Effect Sends and various sound control parameters for use with 
instruments compatible with the Yamaha XG standard.
XG Global Global settings (affecting all channels) for instruments compati-
ble with the Yamaha XG standard. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL2 – 98 MIDI effects
About the Reset and Off buttons
Regardless of the selected mode, you will find two buttons labelled 
“Off” and “Reset” at the top of the control panel:
•Clicking the Off button will set all controls to their lowest value, without send-
ing out any MIDI messages.
•Clicking the Reset button will set all parameters to their default values, and 
send out the corresponding MIDI messages.
For most parameters, the default values will be zero or “no adjustment”, but there are 
exceptions to this. For example, the default Reverb Send settings are 64.
GS Basic Controls
The following controls are available when the GS Basic Controls 
mode is selected:
Control Description
Send 1 Send level for the reverb effect. 
Send 2 Send level for the chorus effect.
Send 3 Send level for the “variation” effect.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the at-
tack, while raising it gives a slower attack. Middle position (64) means no 
adjustment is made.
Decay Adjusts the decay time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the 
decay, while raising it makes the decay longer.
Release Adjusts the release time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the 
release, while raising it makes the release time longer.
Cutoff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency.
Resonance Adjusts the filter resonance.
Express Allows you to send out expression pedal messages on the track’s MIDI 
channel.
Press. Allows you to send out aftertouch (channel pressure) messages on the 
track’s MIDI channel. This is useful if your keyboard cannot send after-
touch, but you have sound modules that respond to aftertouch. The de-
fault value for this parameter is zero.
Breath Allows you to send breath control messages on the track’s MIDI channel.
Modul. Allows you to send modulation messages on the track’s MIDI channel 
(just as you normally do with a modulation wheel on a MIDI keyboard). 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI effects 2 – 99
XG Effects + Sends
The following controls are available when the XG Effects + Sends 
mode is selected:
XG Global Settings
In this mode, the parameters affect global settings in the instrument(s). 
Changing one of these settings for a track will in fact affect all MIDI in-
struments connected to the same MIDI output, regardless of the MIDI 
channel setting of the track. Therefore, to avoid confusion it might be a 
good idea to create an empty track and use this only for these global 
settings.
The following controls are available:
Control Description
Send 1 Send level for the reverb effect. 
Send 2 Send level for the chorus effect.
Send 3 Send level for the “variation” effect.
Attack Adjusts the attack time of the sound. Lowering this value shortens the at-
tack, while raising it gives a slower attack. Middle position means no ad-
justment is made.
Release Adjusts the release time of the sound. Lowering this value shortens the 
release, while raising it makes the release time longer. Middle position 
means no adjustment is made.
Harm.Cont Adjusts the harmonic content of the sound.
Bright Adjusts the brightness of the sound.
CutOff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency.
Resonance Adjusts the filter resonance.
Control Description
Eff. 1 This allows you to select which type of reverb effect should be used: No 
effect (the reverb turned off), Hall 1-2, Room 1-3, Stage 1-2 or Plate.
Eff. 2 This allows you to select which type of chorus effect should be used: No 
effect (the chorus turned off), Chorus 1-3, Celeste 1-3 or Flanger 1-2. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SL2 – 100 MIDI effects
Track FX
This plug-in is essentially a duplicate of the Track Parameter section. 
This can be useful if you e.g. need extra Random or Range settings, or 
if you prefer to have your track parameters in a separate window (to 
get this, [Alt]/[Option]-click the Edit button for the effect).
The Track FX also includes an additional function that isn’t available 
among the track parameters:
Scale Transpose
This allows you to transpose each incoming MIDI note, so that it fits 
within a selected musical scale. The scale is specified by selecting a 
key (C, C#, D, etc.) and a scale type (major, melodic or harmonic mi-
nor, blues, etc.).
•To turn Scale Transpose off, select “No Scale” from the Scale pop-up 
menu.
Eff. 3 This allows you to select one of a large number of “variation” effect 
types. Selecting “No Effect” is the same as turning off the variation ef-
fect.
Reset Sends an XG reset message.
MastVol This is used to control the Master Volume of an instrument. Normally you 
should leave this in its highest position and set the volumes individually 
for each channel (with the volume faders in the Cubase SX/SL mixer or 
in the Inspector). Control Description