Steinberg Cubase SX/SL 3 MIDI Devices And Features Manual

							 
CUBASE SX/SL
 
MIDI devices 1 – 11 
• 
You can rename a device in the Installed Devices list by double click-
ing and typing – this is useful if you have several 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, select it and click 
Remove Device. 
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 different “types” of patches are handled differently 
in the instruments. For example, while “patches” typically are “regular” 
programs that you play one at the time, “performances” may be com-
binations of patches, which could e.g. be split across the keyboard, 
layered or used for multitimbral playback.
For devices with several banks, you will find an additional item labeled 
Bank Assignment. Selecting this opens a window in which you can 
specify for each MIDI channel which bank it should use.  
						

							 
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1 – 12 MIDI devices 
The selection here will affect which bank is displayed when you select 
programs by name for the device in the track list or Inspector (see be-
low). For example, many instruments use MIDI channel 10 as an exclu-
sive 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. 
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 Inspector) 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, hierarchically list-
ing 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.
 
3. 
Click a patch in the list to select it. 
This sends the appropriate MIDI message to the device. You can also scroll the pro-
gram selection up or down, as with any value.  
						

							 
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MIDI devices 1 – 13 
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 ac-
tual device: 
1. 
In the MIDI Device Manager, select the device in the Installed Devices 
list. 
2. 
If you are using Cubase SX, 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 devices.
 
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 device by accident). 
•It’s fully possible to make more radical changes to the patch structure in 
a device as well (adding or deleting patches, groups or banks).
 
For example, this would be useful if you expanded your MIDI device by adding extra stor-
age media such as RAM cards, etc. The available editing functions are described below. 
						

							 
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1 – 14 MIDI devices 
Defining a new MIDI device
 
This section describes how to define a new MIDI device. 
If your MIDI device is not included in the list of pre-configured devices 
(and is not a “plain” GM or XG device), you need to define it manually 
to make it possible to select patches by name. This is handled slightly 
differently for Cubase SX and Cubase SL:
Cubase SX: 
1. 
In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device button. 
The Add MIDI Device dialog appears.
 
2. 
Select “Define New...” and click OK. 
The “Create New MIDI Device” dialog appears. For a description of all the options in 
this list, see page 18. 
 
3. 
Activate the MIDI channels you would like the device to use in the 
Identical Channels” list. 
This means that the device will receive Program Change over any MIDI channel. Iden-
tical and Individual channels are described on page 18.
 
4. 
Enter a name of the device at the top of the dialog, click [Enter] and 
then OK. 
The device appears in the Installed Devices list.
 
5. 
Select the device in the list and click on the Open Device button. 
The device node structure for the device is shown.
 
6. 
Select Patch Banks from the pop-up at the top of the window. 
As you can see, the list is currently empty.
 
7. 
Make sure the Enable Edit checkbox is activated. 
Now you can use the functions on the Commands pop-up menu to the left to organize 
the patch structure of the new device.
 
Cubase SL: 
1. 
In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device button. 
The Add MIDI Device dialog appears.
 
2. 
Select “Define New...” and click OK. 
A dialog appears. 
						

							 
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MIDI devices 1 – 15 
3. 
Enter the name of the device and the MIDI channels you would like the 
device to use and click OK. 
The device appears in the Installed Devices list.
 
4. 
Select the device in the list. 
As you can see, it currently contains only an Empty Bank item.
 
5. 
Make sure the Enable Edit checkbox is activated. 
Now you can use the functions on the Commands pop-up menu to the left to organize 
the patch structure of the new device.
 
Patch Structure
 
A patch structure is made out of the following components: 
•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 represented 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, allowing you to name the folder. You can also re-
name the folder afterwards by clicking it and typing in the list. 
						

							 
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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 following procedures: 
For details on which MIDI events are used for selecting patches in the 
 
MIDI device, consult its documentation.
 
• 
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 directly 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 Pro-
gram 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, fol-
lowed 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 Pro-
gram Change after that.
 
• 
To remove an event, select it and press [Delete] or [Backspace]. 
Different devices use different schemes for Bank Select. When you in-
sert 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. 
						

							 
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MIDI devices 1 – 17 
Add Multiple Presets
 
This opens a dialog, allowing you to set up a range of presets 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.
 
2. 
Use the Range column to set up either a fixed value or a range of val-
ues for each event type in the list. 
This requires some explanation: 
If you specify a single value in the Range column (e.g. 3, 15 or 127), all added presets 
will have an event of this type set to the same value. 
If you instead specify a value range (a start value and an end value, separated by a 
dash, e.g. 0-63), the first added preset will have an event set to the start value, the next 
value will be incrementally raised by one and so on, up to and including the end value.
 
•The number of added presets depends on the Range setting.
 
This example will generate eight presets, each with a Bank Select event set to 2, 
but with different Program Change events (ranging from 0 to 7). 
						

							 
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1 – 18 MIDI devices 
3. 
Specify a Default Name below the event display. 
The added events will get this name, followed by a number. You can rename presets 
manually in the Patch Banks list later.
 
4. 
Click OK. 
A number of new presets are now added in the selected bank or folder, according to 
your settings.
 
Other editing functions
 
•You can move presets between banks and folders by dragging them in the 
Patch Banks list.
•You can remove a bank, folder or preset by selecting it in the Patch Banks list 
and pressing [Backspace].
•If you specify more than one bank, a Bank Assignment item will be added to 
the pop-up menu at the top of the window. Use this to assign banks to the dif-
ferent MIDI channels (see page 11).
The Create New MIDI Device dialog
When you select “Define New” in the Add MIDI Device window, the 
Create New MIDI Device dialog opens.
•If you are using Cubase SL, this is where you can enter a name for the 
new device and specify which MIDI channels you want the device to use. 
						

							CUBASE SX/SLMIDI devices 1 – 19
•If you are using Cubase SX, the dialog contains the following settings:
Item Description
Identical/Individual 
ChannelsHere you can specify which MIDI channels you wish the device to 
use. Identical channels share channel settings and parameters, 
whereas Individual channels are “exclusive”. An example for this 
are GM/XG devices – in these devices, the channels are all iden-
tical, except channel 10, which is always the drum channel.
Channel Settings This specifies which MIDI messages should be supported by the 
MIDI device (for each Identical channel).
Preset Type Preset References contain the patch name and a corresponding 
MIDI message (typically Program Change/Bank Select). Snap-
shots also contain a patch name but in addition complete parame-
ter settings, which are reset when such a preset patch is recalled.
Global Settings 
SysEx ParametersActivate this checkbox if you wish the device to use System Exclu-
sive messages.
Global Settings
SnapshotsThis specifies whether the device supports global snapshots, 
which memorize all parameters in a device.  
						

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About Device panels (Cubase SX only)
On the following pages we will describe how to use MIDI Device pan-
els and the powerful MIDI device panel editing features of the MIDI 
Device Manager. 
Basic concept
The panel editing features in the MIDI Device Manager can be seen as 
a separate application or entity within Cubase SX. It allows you build 
device maps complete with control panels, with all parameters con-
trollable from within Cubase SX. Building more complex device maps 
requires that you are familiar with SysEx programming (see page 53). 
But you can also create simpler panels by assigning MIDI Control 
Change messages to control objects, which does not require any pro-
gramming skills.
Although these powerful editing features are there if you need them, 
you do not have to use them to use MIDI devices.