When Cubase 12 was introduced with very useful Midi Remote functionality, it already supported a few well known keyboard controllers.
Now we are roughly 7 months into Cubase 12, and none of the minor updates so far has substantially updated support for Midi Remote keyboard controllers, not even for some of the most widespread among them.
I am especially disappointed to STILL not to see Komplete Kontrol Mk2, one of the most used keyboard controllers in studios and home studios, in the list of supported devices. Will Steinberg develop more support in this area at all? Or have they decided to completely abandon this basic aspect of new controller usability for Cubase, leaving further keyboard controller configuration and functionality completely to users?
That is actually a comment for the Native Instruments forums.
At present there is a pretty good integration of Komplete keyboards in Cubase.
What I did (with an S61) is create my own MIDI Remote for the âknobs and buttonsâ section of the keyboard. When the keyboard is in the âMIDIâ mode, you can map the knobs and rotary encoders to anything you like. Creating âmultiple pagesâ and assigning Channel and CCâs has to be done from within Komplete Kontrol.
I know I can do a lot of configuration work both from the NI Kontrol software side and by using quick controls and the likes, or write my own Cubase Midi Remote from scratch.
But thatâs not the way investing time into midi controller setups makes sense to me, if each and every user has to start his/her Midi Remote setup from scratch. There is a reason, why Steinberg has provided ready to go Remote Midi Controls for Akai MPK and APC 40 MKII, Arturia Keylab Controllers and Novation Lauchkey Controllers: because lots of people use them. This simply provides a lot of basic functionality ready to go for thousands of users - while allowing additional personal tweaks and customization, which is still enough work to do.
They just seem to have stopped short, after providing only support for a very limited first batch of controllers. From my view, this is a halfbaked state of things for all users of other widespread controllers.
This Steinberg request has nothing at all to do with NI, who have their own responsibility for their own Kontrol customisation software.
Seems to me this is more a personal alternative expectation rather than a reflection on cubase and midi remote. No harm in that I guess but worth noting an alternative view that the role of midi remote is to allow users to create their own mappings and the like from midi controllers to cubase - thus opening up a extensive capability for a wide range of community contributions and personal customisation - with effort yes, but it can and is done. The supplied mappings are examples, and very useful they are indeed for getting started.
As you note NI provide their own tools for integration with Cubase which from what I understand work well. It is NI that provides that integration, as they have chosen to. If it doesnât suit your purposes then you would need an alternative path, which midi remote provides, to develop your own or perhaps ask another community member to share their starting point as others have done with other controllers.
From this perspective I find it difficult to fault Steinbergs efforts, especially when you consider how many controllers and possible mappings there are. Indeed they have opened an avenue for me to utilise a range of controllers tailored to my particular way of working. For this I am quite grateful and look forward to further additions.
More clear thanks.
May be there should be a dedicated section in this forum to share implementations ? Not having them sparsed amongst Cubase/Nuendo ? Something named Midi Remote.
In the case of Arturiaâs controllers the work was not done by Arturia as I was informed by them. Not sure about the other controllers, you may be right.
Anyway, to me, the new MIDI remote should be seen as the previous one, in the sense that itâs designed to help users create a personalised surface.
Now, of course it would be nice if Steinberg or controllersâ manufacturers get to develop more and more scripts. However, if these manufacturers really wanted to, they had the knowledge to build such ones, even before the arrival of the new remote. The integration I see in most controllers is pretty basic MCU stuff. NOT bad at all! Normally users are quite satisfied with this since they tend to use their keyboard/mouse for more advance handling.
Anyway, answering to the thread now, a solution is to begin sharing our custom scripts and as always some will find them useful, and even expand them, others not Steinberg made a GitHub corner for such scripts, though I donât see much activity there (yet).
Maybe indeed but it is worthwhile just searching this forum. There is a very nice MIDI Remote script for the Faderport V2 out there. (Just as an example)
Okay, but I read somewhere (on a NI forum with a similar question than yours) that NI donât intend to make a MIDI Remote script for further integration in Cubase as there is already a pretty thorough integration right now.
@robw: of course this search was the first thing I did several times, with nothing but issue threads found, and no Kontrol 2 scripts in the results.
Looking at this thread, and the remarkable lack of support for more Steinberg Midi Remote scripts, at least I now donât wonder any more, why Steinberg would not feel compelled to invest any amount of time on that.
Fine, so everybody will be doing it for themselves, as I will certainly do, beyond the most basic Kontrol 2 functionality in Cubase 12. Time to move on and not waste more time with this thread.
Thanks for nothing, and byeâŚ
I do think you got it wrong.
Steinberg provides an API for the MIDI Remote but the initiative to do something with it lies with the manufacturers (or users that know Java Script).
âNormal usersâ can use MIDI Remote through âMIDI Mappingâ as that doesnât require programming skills.
So you may want to vent your frustration on a NI forum.
While you are on the NI forum, please ask if they can make VSTâs with re-sizeable windows
I agree 100%!
Now, when it comes to NI, I can almost fully understand the lack of a new remote.
Their current one, is quite good, covering the basic DAW transports/mixers options.
Say, however, they would want to dive deeper and cover other portions, for example the insert effects section. I donât think they would do that, simply because theyâve already integrated insert effects using their own NKS system. So, there is a conflict of interest here. (Not that irrelevant, they donât even put pads on their controllers, so you may want to buy the Maschine as well )
Furthermore, the way they handle their controller, is pretty closed. As a heavy user of their MK2 I would love to see them expose sysex messages to communicate with its MIDI section (in the DAW section, Iâve already seen a very good script here in the forum, covering new aspects) and build up the two screens the way we like. But, again, this is not for the average user (when it comes to scripting).
Thanks, at least I read it.
But on the topic: I keep the KK M2 integration âas isâ because this makes the keyboard a NKS browser. For more MIDI Remote stuff (those buttons and rotary encoders above and below the little screens) MIDI mapping gives ample functionality.
The thing is: With a NKS plugin I prefer using the âbrowserâ and when the active track is pointing to a ânon-NKSâ plugin, it is nice to have some âCubase shortcutsâ at hand.
Anyhow, thanks for your input!
Steinberg made a GitHub corner for such scripts, though I donât see much activity there (yet).