I bought a UR12 the other day and now have Cubease 8. I’m not a complete moron, despite popular opinion, and I was able to set it up well enough to get a sound from my old Roland JV80 through it. But that’s all I can do.
The reason I bought it was so that I could play and record musical arrangements and save them as a single WAV file for insertion into films that I make. So, all I want to be able to do is to record multiple midi tracks and layer them, if that’s clear.
Thing is, many years ago I had a sequencing program which I used with the JV80 and a UM interface, which allowed me to utilise the actual sounds from the JV80, instead of using generic midi that came with the sequencer. If I played a part using the JV80’s timpani, that’s the exact same sound I heard when I played it back. If I selected some unique sound from the synthesiser’s banks, that’s the sound that would play back. I could also combine all the tracks into one and save it, and it would sound exactly right when I played it in Quicktime.
I’ve been told by a music store guy that that should have been impossible.
So, my first question is, was he right? Is it impossible and was I hearing things?
Second question is; if it is possible, how is it done in Cubease and using the UR12?
I realise that second question covers a lot of ground, and you’d be right to tell me to go read the manual, but I’m counting on pity here.
I did do that, Split. I hooked the U12 up to the Mono Out of the 80, and played. The level indicator showed that audio was being played, and then a WAV file was saved. But when I went to listen to the WAV in QT, there was no sound.
I think what you need is to be able to work in MIDI first but the interface only provides USB…
As far as playing and recording audio into Cubase, that should work very well with the interface, but both inputs on it appear to be mono and I’m guessing the JV 80 provides a stereo output. It does say 2 in 2 out in the promo, but there’s one mono quarter inch and one mono XLR, no? So, if you want the JV 80s stereo sounds recorded, you’ll have to come up with a way to patch into both inputs at the same time…
I really think what you need is an interface with physical five-pin MIDI IN and Out ports. That, or just use the synths that came with Cubase. However, I don’'t know why you’re not getting your files saved. Maybe connect a microphone and test your inputs. Did you have the track’s monitor and record button turned off after recording? Did you see a wave file on the screen?
It all should be working… Keep messing with it. Good luck.
Sorry I haven’t replied, sooner, Stephen. Didn’t get a notification.
The JV80 does have stereo output, with the left channel doubling as a Mono output. And yes, the UR12 has one mono 6.5 and one XLR, which is solely for microphone.
I think you may be right that I should get an interface with proper five-pin MIDI ports. That didn’t occur to me, because I mistakenly thought the USB connection to the computer somehow carried the JV80’s signal back and forth. Silly mistake, and the store didn’t disabuse me of my error, of course.
Re playback saved files, no, I didn’t turn off the monitor and the record button after recording. I’ll do that.
I really would like to be able to use the JV80’s sounds, since they’re superior to the Cubease ones. Also, I have a few Sound Library cards for the Expansion board of the JV80, and the sounds on them are unique.
I’ll persevere, but I think I might be looking to return this unit and swap it for a proper MIDI one.
Well, I may have to amend that bit about not being a moron. I just remembered that ~20+ years ago, I had a sequencing program with which I used to compose music using the JV80, and it could combine and save the tracks to a single WAV file which reproduced the onboard sounds of the JV80.
I know they were the 80’s sounds because I often used some of its unique sounds from its “memory”, and the WAV file played in those same sounds. Some of them were unmistakable.
The thing is, I did not have anything like a UR12 or any other kind of digital recorder hooked up to the computer. All I had was a Roland UM-1 interface, connecting the JV80 to the computer. Nothing else. The program, (I wish I could recall its name), did the rest.
So, what I need to find out is whether or not Cubease 8 can do what that old program could do, and play back compositions through the JV80, and save them in those sounds.
I’m thinking this must be possible, maybe even simple, but I can’t find anything in the manual or on Youtube, or Vimeo, about it.
Can I stretch the friendship and ask the question?
You can get so much from Cubase. I use Pro 8, but all the versions in the line provide excellent and very similar features.
If you want to use the JV 80 as your primary midi controller and it does not have a USB output, you’ll need a MIDI interface with “normal” MIDI DIN connectors. Then, you’ll set it up as a remote device. Once you have that done, you’ll be able to record MIDI tracks in Cubase and have it send that data to the JV 80. The Audio from the JV 80 needs to get into your monitors, so, an interface with two inputs is needed. The UR might work, but you’ll need one cable with the Phone plug and the other with an XLR… This also might mean adjusting the keyboards audio output levels…you don’t want an impedance mismatch on the input – line level to line level, mic level to mic level… you understand about that, I’m sure.
Cubase may even provide a set-up for using your keyboard as a remote device. It has lots of set-ups built-in to the program.
So, here’s what I’m seeing for a working set-up that will let you record MIDI tracks playing JV-80s sounds and then render those into audio, again, with the JV80s sounds as sources.
MIDI Interface connecting Cubase to the JV-80 (JV-80 MIDI Out to interface MIDI In; Interface MIDI Out to JV 80’s MIDI In.
JV-80’s stereo audio output goes to the interface’s input.
Set-up JV 80 as Remote Device (RTFM and the Forum about doing that. There may be an existing template for your keyboard. ) You’ll have to adjust your Keyboard’s Local Control and Multitimbral settings as needed.
Create Project, create MIDI track and assign JV-80 to that, pick your patch or multi (Cubase will send MIDI bank select and program change messages, but you might not need to worry about that.)
Record MIDI tracks using the JV-80s sounds (Computer’s USB Audio Out to Interface’s USB In, listening on Monitor Speakers or headphone connected to your interface.) Btw, If you have “control room” “studio” on, I suggest turning it off until you need that level of detail in your set-up.
Render the track (or tracks) using Render In Place
Mix
Export Audio Mixdown
Final tweaks (Mastering )
Release
Good luck with this. I’ve not detailed every single thing you might have to deal with, but once you get your set-up in place, it should work exactly as you want it to. You’re almost there and Cubase will do amazing audio recording and mixing using your JV’s cool sounds.
If you want to use the JV 80 as your primary midi controller and it does not have a USB output, you’ll need a MIDI interface with “normal” MIDI DIN connectors. Then, you’ll set it up as a remote device. Once you have that done, you’ll be able to record MIDI tracks in Cubase and have it send that data to the JV 80
I have a generic MIDI interface (sans driver), with the In/Out MIDI DIN connectors. Before, I had that connecting the JV80 to the laptop. I also had headphones connected to the 80, and I could hear what I played, of course. But I couldn’t find the settings in Cubebase to make it record the 80’s sounds.
Your suggested workflow seems similar to what I used to do with my old program, iirc, so I’ll try that this weekend. I’ll let you know how it works, Stephen.
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