Steinberg Nuendo 5 Manual

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Using MIDI devices
Background
The MIDI Device Manager allows you to specify and set 
up your MIDI devices, making global control and patch 
selection easy.
But the MIDI Device Manager also features powerful edit-
ing functions that can be used to create MIDI device pan-
els. MIDI device panels are internal representations of 
external MIDI hardware, complete with graphics. The MIDI 
device panel editor provides all the tools you need to cre
-
ate device maps where every parameter of an external de-
vice (and even an internal device like a VST instrument) 
can be controlled and automated from inside Nuendo.
For descriptions of how to create device maps and the 
powerful device panel editing features, see 
“About Device 
panels” on page 386. For additional information on how to 
create panels for VST instruments, see the separate PDF 
document “MIDI Devices”.
MIDI devices – general settings and 
patch handling
On the following pages, we will describe how to install 
and set up preset MIDI devices, and how to select 
patches by name from within Nuendo. For a description 
on how to create a MIDI device from scratch, please refer 
to the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
About Program Change and Bank Select
To instruct a MIDI instrument to select a certain patch 
(sound), you send a MIDI Program Change message to 
the instrument. Program Change messages can be re
-
corded or entered in a MIDI part like other events, but you 
can also enter a value in the Program Selector field in the 
Inspector for a MIDI track. This way, you can quickly set 
each MIDI track to play a different sound.
With Program Change messages, you are able to select 
between 128 different patches in your MIDI device. How
-
ever, many MIDI instruments contain a larger number of 
patch locations. To make these available from within Nu
-
endo, you need to use Bank Select messages, a system in 
which the programs in a MIDI instrument are divided into banks, each bank containing 128 programs. If your instru
-
ments support MIDI Bank Select, you can use the Bank Se-
lector field in the Inspector to select a bank, and then the 
Program Selector field to select a program in this bank.
Unfortunately, different instrument manufacturers use dif-
ferent schemes for how Bank Select messages are con-
structed, which can lead to some confusion and make it 
hard to select the correct sound. Also, selecting patches 
by numbers this way seems unnecessarily cumbersome, 
when most instruments use names for their patches 
nowadays.
To help with this, you can use the MIDI Device Manager to 
specify which MIDI instruments you have connected by 
selecting from a vast list of existing devices or by specify
-
ing the details yourself. Once you have specified which 
MIDI devices you are using, you can select to which par
-
ticular device each MIDI track is routed. It is then possible 
to select patches by name in the track list or Inspector.
Opening the MIDI Device Manager
Select MIDI Device Manager from the Devices menu to 
bring up the following window:
List of connected MIDI devices. 
The first time you open the MIDI 
Device Manager, this list will be 
empty.Use these 
buttons to 
install/remove 
devices.
Here you specify to which MIDI 
output the selected device is 
connected.This button 
opens the 
selected 
device.
Use these buttons to import/
export XML Device setups. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
When you open the MIDI Device Manager for the first 
time, it will be empty (because you have not installed any 
devices yet). On the following pages we describe how to 
add a pre-configured MIDI device to the list, how to edit 
the settings and how to define a device from scratch.
ÖNote that there is an important difference between in-
stalling a preset MIDI device (“Install Device”) and import-
ing a MIDI device setup (“Import Setup”):
•The presets do not include any device mapping of pa-
rameters and controls and no graphic panels.
They are simply patch name scripts. When you install a preset MIDI de-
vice, it is added to the Installed Devices list. For more information about 
patch name scripts, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
•A device setup can include device mapping, panels 
and/or patch information. 
Device setups are also added to the list of installed devices when im-
ported. For more information about setups and device panels, see “About Device panels” on page 386. 
Defining a new MIDI device
If your MIDI device is not included in the list of pre-config-
ured 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.
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, click the Install Device 
button.
The Add MIDI Device dialog opens.
2.Select “Define New…” and click OK.
The “Create New MIDI Device” dialog opens. For a description of the op-tions in this dialog, see the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”. 
3.In the Identical Channels list, activate the MIDI chan-
nels you would like the device to use.
This means that the device will receive Program Change over any MIDI 
channel. For a description of Identical and Individual Channels, see the 
separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
4.Enter a name for the device at the top of the dialog, 
and click OK.
The device appears in the Installed Devices list, and the device node 
structure for the device is automatically shown in a new window.
5.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up menu at the top 
of the window.
As you can see, the list is currently empty.
6.Make sure that the Enable Edit checkbox is activated.
Now you can use the functions on the Commands pop-up menu on the 
left to organize the patch structure of the new device.
Installing a preset MIDI device
To install a preset MIDI device, proceed as follows:
1.Click the Install Device button.
A dialog opens listing all pre-configured MIDI devices. For now we as-
sume that your MIDI device is included in this list.
2.Locate and select the device in the list and click OK.
•If your MIDI device is not included in the list but is com-
patible with the GM (General MIDI) or XG standards, you 
can select the generic GM or XG Device options at the 
top of the list.
When you select one of these options, a name dialog will appear. Enter a 
name for the instrument and click OK.
The device now appears in the Installed Devices list to the 
left.
3.Make sure that the new device is selected in the list 
and open the Output pop-up menu.
4.Select the MIDI output that the device is connected to.
5.Click the Open Device button.
A separate window opens for the selected device, showing a node struc-
ture in the left half of the window. At the top of this structure is the device 
itself, and below it the MIDI channels used by the device. For more infor-
mation about the Device window, see the separate PDF document “MIDI 
Devices”.
6.Select Patch Banks from the pop-up menu at the top 
of the window.  
						

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Using MIDI devices
The Patch Banks list in the left half of the window shows 
the patch structure of the device. This could simply be a 
list of patches, but it is usually one or several layers of 
banks or groups containing the patches (much like a 
folder structure on a hard disk for example).
•You can rename a device in the Installed Devices list by 
double-clicking and typing – this is useful if you have sev
-
eral 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, se-
lect it and click Remove Device.
ÖNote that if there already exists a panel for the device, 
opening the device might open this panel first. In this 
case, click on the Edit (“e”) button to open the Device 
window.
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 dif
-
ferent “types” of patches are handled differently in the in-
struments. For example, while “patches” typically are 
“regular” programs that you play one at the time, “perfor
-
mances” may be combinations of programs, which could 
be split across the keyboard, layered, or used for multi-
timbral playback, and so on.
For devices with several banks, you will find an additional 
item labeled “Bank Assignment” in the pop-up menu at 
the top of the window. Selecting this opens a window in 
which you can specify for each MIDI channel which bank it 
should use.
The selection here will affect which bank is displayed 
when you select programs by name for the device in the 
track list or Inspector. For example, many instruments use 
MIDI channel 10 as an exclusive 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 choose between different drum 
kits in the track list or Inspector.
Limitations
There is no easy way to import a patch name script into an 
existing MIDI device. For a complex workaround based on 
XML editing, see the separate PDF document “MIDI De
-
vices”. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
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 Inspec-
tor) for the track you want to associate the installed device 
with, 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 Selector fields in the track 
list and Inspector are replaced by a single Program Selector field that 
currently reads “Off”.
2.Click the Program Selector field to display a pop-up 
menu, hierarchically listing 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.
You can also use a filter function here. For this, enter the 
search term in the Filter field, e.g. “drum”, and press [Re
-
turn] to display all sounds with “drum” in the name.
3.Click a patch in the list to select it.
This sends the appropriate MIDI message to the device. You can also 
scroll the program selection up or down, as with any value.
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 actual 
device:
1.In the MIDI Device Manager, select the device in the 
Installed Devices list.
2.Click Open Device.
Make sure that Patch Banks is selected on the pop-up menu at the top of 
the window.
3.Activate the Enable Edit checkbox.
When this is turned off (default), you cannot edit the pre-configured de-
vices.
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 de
-
vice by accident).
ÖYou can also make more radical changes to the patch 
structure in a device (adding or deleting patches, groups 
or banks), see below. For example, this is useful if you ex
-
pand your MIDI device by adding extra storage media 
such as RAM cards.
Patch Structure
Patches are structured as follows:
• 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 repre-
sented by presets in the list. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
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 opens, allowing 
you to name the folder. You can also rename the folder af
-
terwards by clicking it and typing in the list.
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, the 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, proceed as 
follows:
•To change which Program Change value is 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 di-
rectly below the last event in the list and select a new 
event from the pop-up menu.
After adding a new event, you need to set its value in the Value column, 
as with Program 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, followed 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 Program Change after that.
•To remove an event, select it and press [Delete] or 
[Backspace].
Add Multiple Presets
This opens a dialog, allowing you to set up a range of pre-
sets to be added to 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 values 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, sep-arated 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.
ÖThe number of added presets depends on the Range 
setting.
!For details on which MIDI events are used for 
selecting patches in the MIDI device, consult its 
documentation.
!Different devices use different schemes for Bank 
Select. When you insert a Bank Select event, you 
should check the device’s documentation to find out 
whether to choose “CC: BankSelect MSB”, “Bank 
Select 14 Bit”, “Bank Select 14 Bit MSB-LSB 
Swapped” or some other option. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
3.Specify a Default Name below the event display.
The added events will get this name, followed by a number. You can re-
name presets manually in the Patch Banks list later.
4.Click OK.
A number of new presets have now been added to the selected bank or 
folder, according to your settings.
Other editing functions
• You can move presets between banks and folders by drag-
ging them to 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 is 
added to the pop-up menu at the top of the window. Use this 
to assign banks to the different MIDI channels (see 
“About 
Patch Banks” on page 383).
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 the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
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 pan
-
els, including all parameters controllable from within Nu-
endo. Building more complex device maps requires that you 
are familiar with SysEx programming (see the separate PDF 
document “MIDI Devices”). But you can also create simpler 
panels by assigning MIDI Control Change messages 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.
Device panels in the program
In this section we will take a look at a pre-configured MIDI 
device panel to illustrate how it can be used in Nuendo. 
Several device maps can be found in the Knowledge Base 
on the Steinberg web site (http://knowledgebase.stein
-
berg.net).
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 see 
the separate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.
4.Click Open. The Import MIDI Devices dialog opens 
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.  
						

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Using MIDI devices
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, see the separate PDF doc-
ument “MIDI Devices”.
7.Close the Device panel and return to the Project 
window.
8.Select the device from the “Output Routing” 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 on 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.
2.Select a panel by double-clicking it in the list.
The panel opens in the Inspector.
ÖIf you cannot see any panels in the “Panels” folder, al-
though you have successfully set up a MIDI device with 
several panels, make sure that you selected the correct 
channel 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. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
Showing panels in the Mixer
1.Open the Mixer and make sure that the extended 
channel view is shown.
2.Open the View options pop-up menu 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.
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. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
About Studio Connections
Studio Connections is the name of an initiative led by 
Steinberg and Yamaha. The initiative intends to create 
industry standards for totally integrated system environ
-
ments using software and hardware products.
First implementation stage of the Studio Connections 
open standard is the integration and support of Yamaha’s 
Studio Manager 2 (SM2) and Total Recall for compatible 
hardware devices. 
For further information about Studio Connections, please 
visit the website http://www.studioconnections.org.
If you have an SM2 component installed, there is an addi-
tional menu item on the Devices menu.
Total Recall
Total Recall means that you can save and recall all set-
tings of your hardware and software products by opening 
one integrated file in a DAW such as Nuendo or Cubase. 
Also you will have instant and organized access to hard
-
ware editors.
When you load a project or switch to another active project 
that contains SM2 data, the Total Recall Synchronization 
dialog opens:
This dialog can also be opened any time from the Studio 
Manager’s Synchronize menu. Click OK for the Dump to 
start.
Virtual MIDI Devices
If you have a new OPT component (e. g. the DM2000) 
which uses a new special interface, you can access these 
components as virtual MIDI Devices in the MIDI track’s 
output routing (if the output of the OPT is configured).
When a MIDI track is routed to such a device, the “Open 
Device Panels” button becomes available. 
						

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Using MIDI devices
•Click the Open Device Panels button, to open the editor 
window for the device.
ÖPlease also refer to the separate documentation for 
the Studio Manager 2 and the OPT components.