Steinberg Nuendo 3 Working With MIDI Manual

							NUENDO
VST Instruments 7 – 251
You can have up to 64 VST Instruments activated at the same time, dif-
ferent models or several instances of the same instrument. However, 
software synthesizers can consume quite a lot of CPU power – keep an 
eye on the VST Performance window to avoid running out of processor 
power. See also page 254.
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 In-
strument for playback.
• You can check the latency for your audio hardware in the Device Setup 
dialog (VST Audiobay page).
The input and output latency values are shown under the ASIO Driver pop-up menu. 
For live VST Instruments playing, these values should ideally be a few milliseconds 
(although the limit for “comfortable” live playing is a matter of personal taste). 
						

							NUENDO
7 – 252 VST Instruments
Constrain Delay Compensation
Nuendo 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 compensated for during playback, so that all 
channels are kept in perfect sync (see the chapter “Audio effects” in 
the Operation Manual).
However, when you play a VST Instrument in real time or record live 
audio (with monitoring through Nuendo activated), this delay compen-
sation may sometimes result in added latency. To avoid this, you can 
click the Constrain Delay Compensation button on the Project win-
dow 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 setting called Delay 
Compensation Threshold. Only plug-ins with a delay higher than this 
setting will be affected by the Constrain Delay Compensation function.
•VST plug-ins (with higher delay than the threshold value) which are 
activated for VST Instrument channels, audio track channels that are 
record enabled, group channels and output channels will be turned 
off when you activate Constrain Delay Compensation.
•VST plug-ins activated for FX channels are not turned off but their de-
lay is disregarded by the program (delay compensation is turned off).
After recording or using a VST Instrument with Constrain Delay Com-
pensation, you should turn off the function to restore full delay compen-
sation.  
						

							NUENDO
VST Instruments 7 – 253
Selecting patches and making settings
•To select a patch for a VST Instrument, use its patch pop-up menu in 
the VST Instruments window.
The available patches depends on the VST Instrument. Not all VST Instruments come 
with pre-made patches.
•To access the parameters for the VST Instrument, click the Edit button 
in the VST Instruments window or in its channel strip (at the bottom of 
the fader strip) in the mixer.
This opens a “control panel” for the VST Instrument.
• For descriptions of the included VST Instruments and their parameters, 
see the separate pdf document “Audio Effects and VST Instruments”.
Selecting patches from the Project window
When a VST Instrument is selected as MIDI output for a track, you can 
also select patches by name, using the program pop-up menu in the 
Track list or Inspector. Although this is set up automatically and trans-
parently, there are a couple of things to note:
•If the VST Instrument supports the VST 2.1 standard (or later), selecting 
a patch will cause Nuendo to send MIDI Program Change and Bank 
Select messages to the VST Instrument, just as with “real” physical 
MIDI instruments.
A consequence of this is that you can enter Program Change events in MIDI parts any-
where on the track, having the VST Instrument change patch at the desired locations 
(“automating” the patch selection).  
						

							NUENDO
7 – 254 VST Instruments
•If the VST Instrument supports the original VST 2.0 standard only, 
only limited support of patch selection is offered.
In this case, selecting a patch will actually ask the VST Instrument to change “Plug-in 
Program”, which is not the same as selecting a “Patch” by sending MIDI Program 
Change and Bank Select messages.
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 Instrument is done in 
the same way as automating VST effect parameters.
See the chapter “Automation” in the Operation Manual.
The Instrument Freeze function
Like all plug-ins, VST Instruments can sometimes require a lot of pro-
cessor power. If you are using a moderately powerful computer or if 
you are using a large number of VST Instruments, you may come to a 
point where your computer cannot handle all VST Instruments playing 
back in real time (the CPU overload indicator in the VST Performance 
window lights up, you get crackling sounds, etc.).
Enter the Instrument Freeze function! This is how it works:
• When you freeze a VST Instrument, the program renders an audio file of its 
output (taking into account all unmuted MIDI parts routed to that VST Instru-
ment). This file is placed in the “Freeze” folder within the Project folder.
• All MIDI tracks routed to the VST Instrument are muted and locked (the con-
trols for these tracks will appear “greyed-out” in the Track list and Inspector).
• When you play back, the rendered audio file is played back from an “invisible” 
audio track, routed to the VST Instrument’s mixer channel. Thus, any effects, 
EQ or mixing automation will still be applied.
• If you like, you can choose to freeze the VST Instrument’s mixer channel(s) as 
well. This freezes any pre-fader insert effects for the channels, just as when you 
freeze an audio track (see the chapter “Audio effects” in the Operation Manual).
The result of all this is that you get exactly the same sound as before, 
but the computer processor doesn’t have to calculate the sound of 
the VST Instrument in real time. 
						

							NUENDO
VST Instruments 7 – 255
• If you need to edit the MIDI parts routed to the VST Instrument or adjust the set-
tings on the instrument itself, you need to unfreeze the instrument first. This re-
moves the rendered file and restores the MIDI tracks and VST Instrument. Once 
you have made the necessary adjustments you can freeze the instrument again.
Performing the Freeze
1.Set up the Project so that the VST Instrument plays back the way you 
want it.
This includes editing the MIDI parts routed to the VST Instrument and making parame-
ter settings for the VST Instrument itself. If you have automated parameter changes for 
the VST Instrument, make sure the Read (R) button is activated.
2.Open the VST Instruments window from the Devices menu.
3.Click the Freeze button for the VST Instrument (the button to the left 
of the VST Instrument slot).
A dialog appears with some options for the Freeze operation:
•Select “Freeze Instrument Only” if you don’t want to freeze any insert 
effects for the VST Instrument channels.
If you are using insert effects on the VST Instrument channel(s) and want to be able to 
edit, replace or remove these after freezing the VST Instrument, you should select this 
option.
•Select “Freeze Instrument and Channels” if you want to freeze all pre-
fader insert effects for the VST Instrument channels.
If your VST Instrument channels are set up with the desired insert effects and you don’t 
need to edit these, you can select this option.  
						

							NUENDO
7 – 256 VST Instruments
•Activate the “Unload Instrument when Frozen” option if desired.
This unloads the frozen VSTInstrument from the computer’s memory. This is useful if 
you are freezing an instrument that uses a lot of RAM, e.g. a sampler plug-in. By unload-
ing the instrument, the RAM becomes available for other plug-ins, etc.
4.Click OK.
A progress dialog is shown while the program renders the VST Instrument audio to a 
file on your hard disk.
The Freeze button lights up and the power, bypass and edit buttons 
for the VST Instrument are greyed out (and the control panel closes if 
it was open). If you check the Project window at this point you will find 
that the relevant MIDI tracks have greyed out controls in the Track list 
and Inspector. Furthermore, the MIDI parts are locked and cannot be 
moved.
5.Try playing back the project.
You will hear exactly the same sound as before Freezing the VST Instrument – but the 
CPU load will be considerably less! 
6.If you selected “Freeze Instrument and Channels”, any insert effects 
used by the VST Instrument are also frozen (except for the post-fader 
inserts). However, you can always adjust level, pan, sends and EQ for 
frozen VST Instruments.
Unfreezing
If you need to make adjustments (either to the MIDI tracks, to the VST 
Instrument parameters or to the VST Instrument channels if these were 
frozen) you need to unfreeze the VST Instrument:
1.Click the Freeze button for the VST Instrument slot again.
You will be asked whether you really want to unfreeze the instrument.
2.Click “Unfreeze”.
The MIDI tracks and VST Instrument are restored and the rendered “freeze file” is de-
leted. 
						

							Index 
						

							NUENDO
 258 Index
A
Activate Next/Previous Part 83
Active Part
 82
Aftertouch
Deleting
 113
Editing
 109
Arpache 5
 27
Arpache SX
 29
Arpeggiator
 27, 29
Auditioning
MIDI editors
 92
Auto Select Events under Cursor
MIDI editors
 96
Autopan (MIDI effect)
 32
Autoscroll
 90
B
Bank Select 145
Bars+Beats Linear
MIDI editors
 86
C
Chord Recognition 87
Chorder (MIDI effect)
 34
Color pop-up menu
MIDI editors
 141
Compress (MIDI effect)
 37
Constrain Delay 
Compensation
 252
Controller display
About
 88
Adding and removing
lanes
 104
Controller lane presets
 106
Editing events
 109
Editing velocity
 106
Selecting event type
 105
Controller Lane Editing - Select 
Tool defaults to Pen
 107, 112Controllers
Deleting
 113
Editing
 109
Create new controller lane
 104
D
Default Edit Action 81
Delay compensation
Constraining
 252
Delete
MIDI controllers
 71, 113
MIDI drum notes
 123
MIDI notes
 100
Delete Continuous Controllers
 71
Delete Controllers function
 71
Delete Doubles function
 71
Delete Notes function
 72
Delete Overlaps
Mono (MIDI)
 73
Poly (MIDI)
 74
Density (MIDI Effect)
 40
Device panels
About
 157
Edit windows
 167
Editing
 173
Device window
 167
Dissolve Part
MIDI
 76
Draw
MIDI controllers
 109
MIDI notes
 92
Drum Editor
Creating and editing notes
 120
Muting drum sounds
 122
Selecting drum maps
 128 
						

							NUENDO
Index 259
Drum maps
About
 123
Making settings
 124
MIDI channel and output
 127
O-Note Conversion
 130
Selecting
 128
Setup dialog
 129
Drum name lists
 131
Drum Sound Solo
 122
Drumstick tool
 120
Duplicate
MIDI notes
 97
E
Edit Active Part Only 82
Edit as Drums when Drum Map is
assigned
 81
Edit button
MIDI track Inspector
 11
Edit In-Place
 115
Editing via MIDI
 101
Equal Pitch (Selection)
 95
F
Filter bar 137
Fixed Lengths
 71
Fixed Velocity
 75
Freeze Quantize
 68
Freeze VST Instruments
 254
G
Global (Input Transformer) 235
Glue Tube tool
MIDI editors
 99
Groove Quantize
From MIDI
 65
GS Control Panel
 51
I
Independent track loop
MIDI editors
 91
Info line
Drum Editor
 117
Key Editor
 85
I-Note
 125
Input Transformer
 235
Insert pop-up menu
 134
Insert velocity (MIDI Editors)
 94
Inspector
MIDI tracks
 8
Instrument Freeze
 254
Iterative Quantize
 66
L
Legato 70
Length Compression
 16
Length Quantize
 93
Line mode
MIDI controllers
 110
MIDI velocity
 108
List Editor
Adding events
 134
Editing in the list
 134
Editing in the value display
 139
Filtering events
 137
Masking events
 137
Local (Input Transformer)
 235
Logical Editor
About
 212
Actions
 229
Filter conditions
 216
Functions
 227
Opening
 214
Presets
 215, 234
Loop
MIDI editors
 91 
						

							NUENDO
 260 Index
M
Mask function 137
Merge MIDI in Loop
 25
Micro Tuner (MIDI Effect)
 40
MIDI channel
In drum maps
 127
Send effects
 21
MIDI connector button
 101
MIDI Context Gate (MIDI effect)
 38
MIDI Device Manager
 146
Device window
 167
MIDI devices
Defining new for patch 
selection
 152
Editing patches for
 151
Installing
 147
Selecting patches for
 150
MIDI Echo (MIDI effect)
 42
MIDI effects
About
 19
Deactivating
 24
Inserts
 20
Presets
 22
Sends
 21
MIDI input (Editing via)
 101
MIDI Input Transformer
 235
MIDI notes
Deleting
 100
Drawing
 92
Editing velocity
 106
Moving
 96
Muting
 99
Muting in Drum Editor
 122
Quantizing
 59
Resizing
 98
Selecting
 95
Splitting and gluing
 99
Transposing (Function)
 69
Transposing (in editor)
 96MIDI outputs
In drum maps
 127
Send effects
 21
MIDI parts
Editing
 81
MIDI Step Sequencer
 47
MIDI tracks
Settings
 10
Track Parameters
 14
MIDIControl (MIDI Effect)
 41
Move Controller 
(Quantize setting)
 64
Mute
MIDI notes
 99
N
Non Quantize setting 64
Note to CC (MIDI effect)
 45
Notes, see “MIDI notes”
Nudge buttons
MIDI editor toolbar
 96
O
O-Note 125
O-Note Conversion
 130
Over Quantize
 65
P
Parabola mode
MIDI controllers
 110
MIDI velocity
 108
Part to Groove
 65
Paste Time
MIDI editing
 98
Patch Banks
 149
Pattern Sequencer
 47
Pedals to Note Length
 73