Steinberg Nuendo 3 Working With MIDI Manual
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NUENDO MIDI realtime parameters and effects 1 – 41 MIDIControl This generic control panel allows you to select up to eight different MIDI controller types, and use the value fields/sliders to set values for these. A typical use for this would be if you’re using a MIDI instrument with parameters that can be controlled by MIDI controller data (e.g. fil- ter cutoff, resonance, levels, etc.). By selecting the correct MIDI con- troller types, you can use the plug-in as a control panel for adjusting the sound of the instrument from within Nuendo, at any time. • To select a controller type, use the pop-up menus to the right. • To deactivate a controller slider, set it to “Off” (drag the slider all the way to the left).
NUENDO 1 – 42 MIDI realtime parameters and effects MIDIEcho This is an advanced MIDI Echo, which will generate additional echo- ing notes based on the MIDI notes it receives. It creates effects similar to a digital delay, but also features MIDI pitch shifting and much more. As always it is important to remember that the effect doesn’t “echo” the actual audio, but the MIDI notes which will eventually produce the sound in the synthesizer. The following parameters are available: Quantize The echoed notes will be moved in position to a quantizing grid, as set up with this parameter. You can either use the slider or type to set the value in ticks (1/480 ticks of quarter notes) or click the arrow buttons to step between the “rhythmically exact” values (displayed as note val- ues – see the table below). This makes it easy to find rhythmically rele- vant quantize values, but still allows experimental settings in between. An example: setting this to “16th” will force all echo notes to be played on exact 16th note positions, regardless of the timing of the original notes and the Echo-Quant. setting. • To disable quantizing, set this parameter to its lowest value (1). Length This sets the length of the echoed notes. This can either be the same as their original notes (parameter set to its lowest value, “Source”) or the length you specify manually. You can either set the length in ticks or click the arrow buttons to step between the “rhythmically exact” lengths (displayed as note values – see the table below). • The length can also be affected by the Length Decay parameter.
NUENDO MIDI realtime parameters and effects 1 – 43 Repeat This is the number of echoes (1 to 12) from each incoming note. Echo-Quant. The Echo-Quant. parameter sets the delay time, i.e. the time between a played note and its first echo note. You can either use the slider or type to set the value in ticks (1/480 ticks of quarter notes) or click the arrow buttons to step between the “rhythmically exact” delay times (displayed as note values – see the table below). For example, setting this to “8th” will cause the echo notes to sound an eighth note after their original notes. • The echo time can also be affected by the Echo Decay parameter. Velocity Decay This parameter allows you to add or subtract to the velocity values for each repeat so that the echo fades away or increases in volume (pro- vided that the sound you use is velocity sensitive). For no change of velocity, set this to 0 (middle position). Echo Decay This parameter lets you adjust how the echo time should be changed with each successive repeat. The value is set as a percentage. • When set to 100% (middle position) the echo time will be the same for all re- peats (as set with the Echo-Quant. parameter). • If you raise the value above 100, the echoing notes will play with gradually longer intervals (i.e. the echo will become slower). • If you lower the value below 100, the echoing notes will become gradually faster, like the sound of a bouncing ball. Pitch Decay If you set this to a value other than 0, the repeating (echoing) notes will be raised or lowered in pitch, so that each successive note has a higher or lower pitch than the previous. The value is set in semitones. For example, setting this to -2 will cause the first echo note to have a pitch two semitones lower than the original note, the second echo note two semitones lower than the first echo note, and so on.
NUENDO 1 – 44 MIDI realtime parameters and effects Length Decay This parameter lets you adjust how the length of the echoed notes should change with each successive repeat. The higher the setting (25 – 100), the longer the echoed notes will be compared to their original notes. About ticks and note values The timing- and position-related parameters (Echo-Quant., Length and Quantize) can all be set in ticks. There are 480 ticks to each quar- ter note. While the parameters allow you to step between the rhythmi- cally relevant values (displayed as note values), the following table can also be of help, showing you the most common note values and their corresponding number of ticks: Note Value Ticks 1/32 note 60 1/16 note triplet 90 1/16 note 120 1/8 note triplet 160 1/8 note 240 Quarter note triplet 320 Quarter note 480 Half note 960
NUENDO MIDI realtime parameters and effects 1 – 45 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).
NUENDO 1 – 46 MIDI realtime parameters and 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.). • For a description of the main Quantize function in Nuendo, see page 58. 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. 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.
NUENDO MIDI realtime parameters and effects 1 – 47 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.
NUENDO 1 – 48 MIDI realtime parameters and 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 Nuendo, the pattern will play as well, send- ing 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).
NUENDO MIDI realtime parameters and effects 1 – 49 Adding controller curves The Controllers pop-up menu has 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 controller 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 lo- cation (in the same Step Designer or another). Reset Clears the pattern, removing all notes and setting controller values to de- fault. Random Generates a completely random pattern – useful for experimenting. 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 See page 22. Note that a stored Preset contains all 200 patterns in the Step Designer.
NUENDO 1 – 50 MIDI realtime parameters and 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.