Steinberg Nuendo 4 MIDI Devices Manual

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MIDI devices
4.Enter a name for the device at the top of the dialog, 
click [Enter] and then OK.
The device appears in the Installed Devices list, and the device node 
structure for the device is shown automatically in a new window.
5.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up at the top of the 
window.
As you can see, the list is currently empty.
6.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.
The Create New MIDI Device dialog
When you select “Define New” in the Add MIDI Device di-
alog, the Create New MIDI Device dialog opens.
ÖThe dialg contains the following settings:
ÖIf you create identical channels with the Channels set-
ting “Snapshot” and delete one of them and create a new 
channel instead, this channel will be individual and without 
the snapshot ability! For more information about the Snap-
shot options, see “Working with snapshots” on page 31.
Creating a new MIDI device without channels/subnodes
It is possible to create a new device without any channels/
subnodes. For this, deselect all channels in the Create 
New MIDI Device dialog. (If you want, you can activate the 
options SysEx Parameters and Snapshots in the Global 
Settings section.)
The Device window is opened.
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 “exclu-
sive”. An example for this are GM/XG devices – in these 
devices, the channels are all identical, except channel 10, 
which is always the drum channel.
Channel 
SettingsThis specifies which MIDI messages should be sup-
ported by the MIDI device (for each Identical channel).
Preset Type Preset References contain the patch name and a corre-
sponding MIDI message (typically Program Change/
Bank Select). Snapshots also contain a patch name but 
in addition complete parameter settings, which are reset 
when such a preset patch is recalled. For more informa-
tion about snapshots, see “Working with snapshots” on 
page 31.
Global Settings 
SysEx 
ParametersActivate this checkbox if you wish the device to use Sys-
tem Exclusive messages. For more information about 
SysEx messages, see “SysEx messages” on page 33.
Global Settings 
SnapshotsThis specifies whether the device supports global snap-
shots, which memorize all parameters in a device. For 
more about snapshots, see “Working with snapshots” on 
page 31.
!Once you set the attributes (identical/individual chan-
nels, snapshots) here, changes can only be applied 
with major effort like direct editing in XML, see “Edit-
ing the device setup XML files directly” on page 44. 
However, there is a little workaround for channel set-
tings, see below.
Item Description 
						

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MIDI devices
You can now add sets of identical MIDI channels/subnodes 
via the Add Subnodes button. However, if subnodes are 
added directly to the device node, the MIDI connections are 
not automatically created. (In this case, the variables col-
umn remains empty for the new channel and the Device 
panel will not send data to the MIDI device.)
To build the MIDI connection, you have to activate the 
Create Multiple option in the Add Subnodes dialog. 
Proceed like in our following example:
1.Select the device in the list to the left.
2.Click on the Add Subnodes button.
3.Enter a name for the Subnodes, e. g. “Channel”, and 
activate the Create Multiple option. 
4.Enter the Variable Name “channel”, the Variable 
Range, e. g. “1-12”, and click OK.
This way, 12 channels with identical settings are generated. 
ÖIf you want to create only one MIDI channel, e.g. 
Channel 9, simply enter “9” as range.
5.Add more multiple subnodes, e. g. “channel B” and a 
range from “13-16”, with the Create Multiple option acti-
vated. 
This way, you will generate a second set of four subnodes with identical 
settings.
6.You can now test the resulting configuration by adding 
a parameter to channel 1. The parameter will appear in ev-
ery channel from 1-12, because of their identical setting, 
but not in the channels 13-16.
For a practical example of this approach, see “Defining a 
SysEx device – a tutorial” on page 38.
If you want to give the subnode “Channel 5” an individual 
setting now, you have to delete “Channel 5” and add it as a 
new subnode (with the Create Multiple option activated). 
ÖA drawback of the approach described here is that 
you can never activate the Snapshot option for Channels, 
see “Working with snapshots” on page 31. 
						

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MIDI devices
About Device panels
On the following pages we will describe how to use MIDI 
Device panels and the powerful MIDI device panel editing 
features of the MIDI Device Manager. 
ÖWe recommend that you first configure the patch 
banks, then export the device setup before editing the 
panels. This way, most of your settings will be saved in 
case of panel configuration problems. 
The panels are saved in XML format. For more information, 
see “Panel XML files” on page 44.
Basic concept
The panel editing features in the MIDI Device Manager 
can be seen as a separate application or entity within 
Nuendo. It allows you to build device maps complete 
with control panels, with all parameters controllable from 
within Nuendo. Building more complex device maps re-
quires that you are familiar with SysEx programming (see 
“SysEx messages” on page 33). But you can also create 
simpler panels by assigning MIDI Control Change mes-
sages to control objects, which does not require any 
programming skills.
Although these powerful editing features are there if you 
need them, you do not have to use them to use MIDI de-
vices.Nuendo users may recall the MIDI Mixer, which allowed 
you to create similar control setups, called Mixer maps. 
Third-party developers created Mixer Maps for hundreds 
of popular devices at that time.
But now, this concept has been taken to a higher level, of-
fering a much deeper and more intuitive integration of the 
control features in the program.
Overview
Device panels in the program
In this section we shall take a look at a pre-configured 
MIDI device panel to illustrate how it can be used in Nu-
endo. Several device setups complete with panels are in-
cluded with the program. These are located in the “Device 
Maps” folder inside the application folder.
Opening a device setup
Proceed as follows to open a MIDI device setup:
1.Open the MIDI Device Manager from the Devices 
menu.
2.Click the “Import Setup” button.
A file dialog opens. 
3.Select a device setup file for import by navigating to 
the Device Maps folder (see above). 
The Device setup files are saved in XML format; for more information 
about them, see the section “Device setup XML files” on page 43. 
						

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MIDI devices
4.Click Open. The Import MIDI Devices dialog appears 
where you can select one or several devices for import.
A device setup file can contain one or several MIDI devices.
5.Select a device and click OK. 
The device is added to the list of installed devices in the MIDI Device 
Manager. 
6.Select the correct MIDI output from the Output pop-
up menu, select the device in the list and click the Open 
Device button.
The device control panel opens in a separate window. The Edit (“e”) but-
ton at the top opens the Edit Panel window, the main edit window, see 
“The Edit Panel window” on page 18.
A device control panel representing an Access Virus synth.
7.Close the Device panel and return to the Project win-
dow.8.Select the device from the “Out” pop-up menu for a 
MIDI track.
Note that for some devices, you may have to set the MIDI channel to 
“ANY”.
Now the Device panel can be opened by clicking the 
Open Device Panels button in the Inspector or in the 
channel strip for the corresponding track in the Mixer.
ÖNote that [Ctrl]/[Command]-clicking the Open Device 
Panels button allows you to open a subpanel via the panel 
browser pop-up menu.
Showing panels in the Inspector
1.In the Inspector, open the User Panel tab and click on 
the arrow to the right.
A “Panels” folder is shown with the selected device in a node structure 
below it. If you open all the folders, you can select any individual panel 
from the device that “fits” into the User Panel space. 
						

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MIDI devices
2.Select a panel by double-clicking it in the list.
The panel opens in the Inspector.
ÖIf you can’t see any panels in the “Panels” folder, al-
though you have successfully set up a MIDI device with 
several panels, make sure you selected the correct chan-
nel from the Channel pop-up menu, preferably “Any” to 
see all device panels. Also make sure that the panels fit 
into the space, otherwise they will not be available in the 
“Panels” folder.
Showing panels in the Mixer
1.Open the Mixer and make sure the extended channel 
view is shown.
2.Open the View options pop-up for the MIDI channel 
connected to the device and select “User Panel”.3.Click the arrow next to the label “user” at the top of the 
extended section of the channel strip.
The Panels folder is displayed like in the Inspector, but with different 
available panels. Just like in the Inspector, the panel has to “fit” into the 
available space to be selectable.
4.Double-click to select a panel.
The panel is now shown in the extended section of the channel strip.
Automating device parameters
Automation works just like for normal audio and MIDI 
tracks:
1.Open the device control panel by clicking the Open 
Device Panels button in the Inspector. 
						

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MIDI devices
2.Activate Write automation on the device panel.
You can automate the device by either moving knobs and sliders on the 
control panel or by drawing curves on the automation track for a selected 
parameter. 
3.If you now go back to the Project window, there will be 
a MIDI Device Automation track in the Track list.
If the track is hidden, select “Show Used Automation” on the Track Fold-
ing submenu of the Project menu.
If you click in the name field, all parameters in the device 
are shown and can be selected for automation. 
To open another automation track for the next parame-
ter on the pop-up menu, click the + button (“Append au-
tomation track”) at the bottom left of the automation track.
ÖIf you wrote automation but your MIDI device is not yet 
connected, the panel will not display any parameter 
changes when playing back the track with the Read but-
ton activated.
The main edit windows 
To edit device panels you use two main windows; the De-
vice and the Edit Panel window. In this section we will de-
scribe the main working areas of these edit windows and 
what they are used for.
The Device window
1.Select a device in the Installed Devices list in the MIDI 
Device Manager and click Open Device.
The Device window opens with a node structure in the left half of the 
window. In this example, the top node represents the device and the 
subnodes the MIDI channels used by the device.
2.Click on a node.
Now three areas appear to the right of the node structure: Device Node, 
Panels and Variables.
The Device window.
Device structure
On the left is a hierarchical view of the device’s structure, 
which can consist of nodes, subnodes, and parameters. 
By default, the structure of a newly created device (or a 
device with no panels added yet) will either be based on 
the MIDI channels that have been activated in the Create 
New Device dialog (see “The Create New MIDI Device di-
alog” on page 11) or, as in this case, on one of the preset 
devices, which all have the same structure (all 16 MIDI 
channels activated).
In the Device structure, you can easily move parameters 
between nodes by clicking and dragging them to the other 
node. This is very handy if you want to restructure your pa-
rameters for the panel assignments. 
You can also delete empty nodes and parameters by se-
lecting them and pressing [Delete] or [Backspace].  
						

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MIDI devices
Device node
This shows the name of the selected node. You can rename 
some or all nodes, for example if the device is a typical GM-
compatible synth you may want to rename “Channel 10” to 
“Drums”. 
Panels
In the Panels window area a list of panels assigned to the 
selected node will be shown (currently no panels are as-
signed). 
The “Add Panel” button opens the Add Panel dialog, 
see “The Add Panel Dialog” on page 17.
When an existing panel is selected in the Panels win-
dow area, the “Edit Panel” button will open the panel for 
editing in the Edit Panel window, see “The Edit Panel win-
dow” on page 18.
Variables
The “Add Variables” button lets you define variables. 
Variables are useful when you’re working with multiple in-
stances of the same panel. A typical example is when you 
have a multi-timbral synthesizer with 16 parts, where each 
part is identical in terms of features and functions, and all 
that distinguishes them are the MIDI channel numbers. So 
you create multiple subnodes where the variable is named 
“part” and the variable range is 1–16. This way you can 
repeat the same objects and parameters across all parts.
The “Add Parameters” button opens the “Add Parame-
ter” dialog where you define the parameters that will be 
used in the Panel. A parameter defines how the setting of 
the connected device can be modified, what the valid 
range is and what the current state of the parameter is. 
Parameters are assigned to objects (see “Control to pa-
rameter assignment area (bottom middle)” on page 19), 
i.e. knobs, faders, switches or data entry fields on a panel.
The “Add Subnodes” button lets you create subsidiary 
nodes. This is useful when you wish to create multiple 
panels for one node. When you build a device panel you 
may want to break it up in several parts, or “subpanels” – 
e. g. one for the Envelope section, one for the Filter section 
and so forth. By creating all panel sections under separate 
subnodes, you can show the different sections in the In-
spector or channel strip. From these subpanels you can 
later build a large main panel using the subpanels, see 
“Creating complex panels” on page 29.
The Add Panel Dialog
Clicking the “Add Panel” button in the Device window 
opens a dialog where you select the size and enter a name 
for the new panel. You have three default sizes to chose 
from:
General Size (352*352 pixels by default).
This is the largest view, which is to be used in a separate Panel window. 
The size is customizable, as you often need more than 352 by 352 pixels 
to fit all controls of an entire instrument into one screen.
Inspector Size (157*342 pixels).
The standard size for a Panel to be used in the Inspector. 
Channel Strip Size (84*322 pixels).
The standard size for a panel to be used in a Mixer channel strip. 
						

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MIDI devices
The Edit Panel window
After selecting a name and a panel size in the Add Panel 
dialog, click OK to open the Edit Panel dialog. When a 
panel has been added, you can switch between all edit 
windows (Device/Edit Panel/Patch Banks) by using the 
pop-up menu at the top of the window.
The Edit Panel window contains the following areas:
Device structure (top left)
This is the device “tree” where you can navigate the de-
vice structure and its nodes, subnodes and parameters. It 
is the same as shown in the Devices window, but without 
the possibility to move or delete nodes or parameters.
Edit area (top middle) 
This is the “stage” where you build the panel from various 
object components. Above the edit area are the Panel Edit 
settings which affect the operations you perform in the 
edit area.
Objects area (right) 
This area contains the predefined objects which can be 
dragged and dropped into the edit area. At the top of this 
area there is a pop-up menu where you can select Object 
categories; backgrounds, faders, knobs, data entry, switch-
es and labels, see “The available objects” on page 19.
Properties area (bottom left)
This contains all data and options pertaining to the cur-
rently selected node, subnode or parameter.
 When a node or subnode is selected in the device structure, 
you can rename it and add or remove parameters or variables 
and add subnodes. (Subnodes can only be removed in the 
Device window.)
 When a parameter is selected in the device structure, you can 
edit its name, value and transmission type (Control Change or 
SysEx messages).
Parameter assignment area
Edit area
Device structure
All Templates list
Objects areas
Device item proper-
ties (Device Node, 
Views, Variables) 
						

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MIDI devices
At the top you can see and edit the node name. In the 
Views area, you see the list of panels assigned to the cur-
rent node. Using the buttons to the right of the list, you 
can add a new (blank) panel to a node and edit or remove 
an existing panel. 
The way to reach a particular panel or subpanel is to se-
lect a node in the device structure area, and then select 
the desired panel in the Views window area. If you click 
the Edit Panel button, the panel will open in the edit area.
Alternatively, you can click on an entry in the All Templates 
list (see below), which directly opens the respective panel.
It is also possible to drag a subnode’s panel from the 
“Views” area into the panel of a parent node, see “Creat-
ing complex panels” on page 29.
Control to parameter assignment area (bottom middle) 
This area has two functions:
You can link parameters with controls, see “Assigning 
parameters” on page 20.
You can see to which node a panel element belongs, 
see “Identifying the nodes and templates” on page 30.
All Templates list (bottom right)
As panels are created, they are added to the All Tem-
plates list. 
You can switch between templates, copy objects that 
you need, switch back to the panel you’re currently editing 
and paste the objects into that panel.
The available objects
On the Objects pop-up in the top right corner you can se-
lect between object categories. Faders, knobs, data entry 
and switches are control objects, i.e. you have to define a 
parameter assignment to them when inserted into the edit 
area, whereas labels and backgrounds are only graphic 
elements. The object categories are as follows:
Operations in the Edit Panel window
On the following pages, we will describe the basic opera-
tions in the Edit Panel window. For a more “hands on” de-
scription of how to create panels, see “Building a control 
panel – a tutorial” on page 22.
Creating a panel
1.Either create a new MIDI Device (see “Defining a new 
MIDI device” on page 10), or select a preset device from 
the Add MIDI Device dialog, see “Panels” on page 17.
2.In the MIDI Device Manager dialog, select the device 
in the Installed Devices list and click the Open Device 
Panels button.
Now the Devices window opens with the Device structure 
to the left.
3.Select the node, subnode or parameter you wish to 
add a panel to.
4.Click the Add Panel button, and select a name and size 
for the panel, see “The Add Panel Dialog” on page 17.
The Edit Panel window opens.
When you have created a new panel you will see a light 
blue rectangle which defines the size of the panel. When 
you click on the rectangle, resize handles will appear. 
These allow you to customize the Panel size. 
ÖIf you are creating a specific Inspector or Channel 
Strip panel you should not resize the panel.
Object 
categoryDescription
Backgrounds Here you can select various background colors and bor-
ders.
Faders There are four basic horizontal and vertical fader/slider 
types, each with three options: basic, with title field, and 
with title field and min-max values.
Knobs Various types of knobs, with and without title fields and 
min-max values.
Data entry Various types of data entry fields for entering values. 
There are data entry fields for direct entry, and data entry 
types for using up/down arrows or sliders (or both) to set 
values.
Switches Switches can only send two values. There are three basic 
types of switches: on/off, momentary and one shot. Mo-
mentary switches change to the second value as long as 
the switch is pressed and revert back when released. 
One shot switches activate a command, e. g. resetting a 
value to a default value.
Labels Labels of various sizes and styles. Object 
categoryDescription 
						

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MIDI devices
Adding objects
You build a panel by dragging objects from the Objects 
area on the right hand side of the window into the rectan-
gle in the edit area.
Assigning parameters
Parameters can be assigned to control elements (switches, 
faders, etc.). This is done in the Control Parameter Assign-
ment dialog. This dialog is opened automatically when you 
add a control object, but you can also open it later to 
change the assignment for existing objects.
When you add control objects, the Control Parameter 
Assignment dialog is opened:
In this dialog you can create and define a name for the pa-
rameter and set the parameter value range and a transmis-
sion message (see below). On the left, you can also select 
any parameters that were defined for this subnode. When 
you have set up the parameters as desired, click OK to 
close the dialog.
To open the Control Parameter Assignment dialog for 
an already existing control object, double-click on the ele-
ment.
If you want to assign an already defined parameter from 
another node, proceed as follows: 
1.Click on the control object.
2.Select a parameter in the device structure area on the 
left. 
The parameter data is displayed on the bottom left.
3.Click on the Assign Parameter button in the Control 
Assignment area (below the Edit area).
Editing parameters
You can either edit parameters in the Control Parameter 
Assignment dialog or you click on the Parameter in the 
Device structure on the left to display its Parameter data 
(see “Properties area (bottom left)” on page 18) and edit 
them in the following sections:
Parameter name
Here you can enter or edit the parameter name. 
Parameter value
In the “Min” and “Max” fields you can set the value range 
for the parameter. The Default value determines what the 
value will be when you open the device.
Transmission
Here you set the parameter assignment. Clicking in the 
value field opens the Transmission pop-up menu where 
you can select either “Channel Messages”, i. e. MIDI Con-
trol Change messages, or SysEx messages. 
If you wish to create custom SysEx messages, click the 
“Create SysEx” button to open the respective dialog.
For information on SysEx and SysEx editing, see “SysEx 
messages” on page 33 and the chapter “Working with 
System exclusive messages” in the Operation Manual.
Object handling
Selecting objects
You select an individual object by clicking on it.
 Select multiple objects by pressing [Shift] and clicking on 
each object in turn.
 You can also click in an empty area and drag a selection rect-
angle around one or more objects to select them.
 To select the complete panel, press [Ctrl]/[Command]+[A]. 
This way, the panel items also “remember” their place in the 
panel arrangement.
Moving objects
Simply click-drag an object to a new location and drop it. 
You can also use the arrow keys to move a selected ob-
ject one pixel horizontally or vertically. 
If you press [Shift], the arrow keys will move the object 
in steps of 10 pixels.