I’m wondering if I’m facing a Cubase Elements limitation (Windows 10) or if I’m simply not doing the right thing.
I usually record jazz acoustic instruments through a focusrite 2i4 usb box and Elements is great with the Simon Phillips jazz drum expansion.
But sometimes I have fun in live techno sessions with Arturia stand alone apps (Spark, Pigment etc.) and Arturia’s Microfreak, an external instrument plugged into the focusrite 2i4.
Here’s the problem: I would like to record the live session.
Audacity can’t do it since it won’t record the output of the virtual instruments (Spark, Pigment etc.) .
Live Lite will easily do it. But I’m more familiar with Cubase.
Cubase 10 Elements won’t do it because it won’t allow group tracks as input to an audio track. So I can’t record live the VST instruments (Spark, Pigment, etc.). It will only record the Microfreak, an external instrument.
I find it strange that Live Lite could do it so easily. I must be missing something.
More precisely, the only input to an audio track in Elements is physical Mono left, right or stereo. There does not seem to be a way to route anything else to an audio track.
The only quite inelegant way I found in Cubase 10 Elements is by having the output 3+4 of the focusrite 2i4 and the physical input to the 2i4 sent to a 3+4 bus to another soundcard and have an external editor like Audacity record on this second soundcard.
Would it be so much to allow a group as input to an audio track?
Rather than playing the standalone versions of the instruments, load the VSTi plugin version inside Cubase. Send your MIDI to the Cubase track with the VSTi loaded. This allows you to record the MIDI, which is more easily edited, and effectively “re-performs” when you play it back. Rather than recording the audio, at a later stage you can “render” the audio from the VSTi to an actual audio track for mixdown. You can of course still record the audio from the acoustic instruments parallel to your MIDI recording.
Or if you really insist on recording audio, you could just use a cable from out 3 and 4 going to input 1 and 2.
Just be very careful what you monitor, you could easily create a feedback loop that could destroy speakers and ears
I dont have your gear, but i wonder if you can just use a bus ?
so in my case, i use komplete audio and i would just have channel left and right from komplete maped to channel 1 and channel 2. then i could route them to a bus and have that bus be the input for channel 3. should work i think.
Which is, what is asked in the first post. And no it does not work with cubase Elements. And to answer the question of the OP: Yes, itˋs a limitation of any not-„Cubase pro“ version.
Thank you all for answering! I thought I would be locked into a soliloquy. I’m not familar with the forum. I would like to answer every one individually but it seems I can’t do it.
It’s seems from your comments it’s an Elements (Artist?) limitation. But there are great suggestions to try out.
Of course I can record each instrument on a midi track and render the mix. No problem there. And Elements is sufficient for my day to day purpose, with great compression, equalization, mastering plugins. And the Simon Phillips jazz drum pack.
I usually record acoustic instruments (guitar, bass, sax, snare) on audio tracks one by one (obviously!), the piano being the only instrument I record on a midi track which I sometimes edit. And the Phillps drum track.
But I feel midi recording and editing steals the “live” feeling. I tried to use Audacity to record everything in a single track. It won’t work in Windows (easily done In linux with Jack audio server). It’s a Windows’ limitation. It may seem a strange way of doing things but I’m not the only one trying to find a way of recording the output of VST instruments to an audio track (besides rendering).
Svennilenni confirms there’s no bus solution. I thought I was missing something or that there was some tweak available. I did my homework before posting. In Pro, you either route the VST instruments to a group track. Then you route the group track to an audio track. Alternatively. you create a dummy bus, route the VST instruments to the dummy and the dummy to an audio track. Quite simple. But in Elements (some say even in Artist), an audio track allows only mono left or right and stereo as input. By channel, I presume telecode means an audio track.
Peakae’s solution is a good idea. Replugging the ouput of 3+4 as input to the focusrite, with the caveats.
I’m not sure a mixer (I was considering a Yamaha MG mixer) would solve the problem. You can’t plug in VST intruments into a mixer. Pluging the 1+2 output into a mixer? Would’nt there be a a feedback loop? Maybe not if the 3+4 are plugged back into the mixer since the mixer would output to 1+2. It would be similar to peakea’s solution. I’ll ask my mixer salesman.
Thank you MrSoundman.
Yes that’s what I usually do with a piano track (electric piano plugin or The Grandeur plugin). But when I go techno, I want to fell like a dj and renderind steals a bit from the live feeling. I answer more fully to all below.
Thank you Telecode.
Neither do I usually record that way. I want the fell of a live session, like a dj.
I beleive you can’t plugin a VST instrument into a mixer.
I was considering a small Yamaha MG mixer for other purpose. Maybe pluging the 3+4 output of the focusrite 2i4 would work.
I answer more fully below.
Thank you Svennilenni.
It settles the question. I thought there would be a tweak some how. Even Artist?? How can Live do it so easily.
It’s not a criticism of Elements, a great buy for the price.
I answer to all more fully below.
