concerns for learning cubase.I

Cubase
#1

I promised myself I would not go on a rant when writing this, but boy is that going to be hard. First of all can someone give me a lync or the phone number itself to support for Cubase in the united states. I realize the company is located in Europe but I can’t believe there is not a way to call and have an actual conversation.

Furthermore, is there a weekend or weeklong seminar where I could go and get good exposure of cubase, get hands on experience and get a good handle on the basics. Given that this is “the most popular DAW worldwide” I would not think this would be difficult. But there seems to be nothing when I search the web. If anything I find 6 month to multiple year programs or I find camps for kids up to 18. I’'m 45 and that aint gonna work. I have looked in recording trade magazines, google search for cubase seminar/camps. The steinberg website itself shows one certified training center in Boston. I live in a small town and networking with people locally is not an option.

If all I do is audio recording I have that down. But since I have bought my Roland Juno DS I have been extremely frustrated. most issues seem (I think) seem to do with routing and BUS problems. What I need is someone to look at my system and see what my problems are as they pertain me and what i am currently unable to figure out.

Very frustrated. :neutral_face: Hope someone can provide me with a contact number or a weeklong camp somewhere in the western united states. Thanks.

#2

Hi dk

First thing ya gotta do is tell us your system specs, which version your using, controller, peripherals etc then we should be able to assist with at least the Roland setup. There are some extremely knowledgeable people on this forum.

Best regards

Dave

#3

Have you tried any of the video tutorials that are around for cubase?

If not, take a look at groove3.com or macprovideo.com, both usually have a couple of videos from a tutorial available to watch for free to see if you like them.

Also, there are plenty of useful video’s on youtube, some better than others i have to say but there’s still plenty of information out there.

Then when you have seen some relevant tutorials you can come back onto the forums if theres still something that you need help with.

#4

Don’t know if you have the Pro version, if so this might help? In the video it’s not the latest version of Cubase but the procedure is the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zWK5BlpkwQ

#5

+1 for groove3.com. askvideo.come is another good resource. You might want to subscribe for a couple of fmonths. It!s cheaper when you want to view several videos.

#6

Wouldn’t that be nice? In the USA there is none. You need to put in a support ticket via email. Then, assuming your problem isn’t resolved, they will either try with another email response or set up a time to call you. Other countries have phone support, but not the USA. Several years ago Steinberg did have direct phone support, but not any more.

I have never heard of any “seminar” for Cubase other than a few Cubase “clubs” in larger cities.

A routing/bus problem can’t be all that difficult to sort out. As said perhaps post your Cubase version and computer specs here and explain the problem step-by-step. I would also do the same at Gearslutz Cubase section.

Unless you want to get deep into details and learn everything Cubase has to offer by reading the extensive manual, I suggest watching video tutorials. There are hundreds on line if not thousands. The Greg Ondo tutorials are a good start.

#7

Thanks to all who have commented thus far. I don’t know if I can ask this in any short form but I will try to be brief. First of all I am running windows 10 version 1511. My computer has an I5 chip and is a 3230-MCPU and runs at 2.6 ghz. I have 6 MGB of RAM and have a 64 bit operating system. I am running cubase Elements version 8.0.40.

First, let me state that my goal is to use me keyboard to record into cubase in two different forms. first I need to be able to open a track and record sounds THAT ARE ALREADY IN MY JUNO DS. If I understand this correctly, in this scenario, my keyboard is not acting as a midi controller. Correct? Now, I have been able to record one sound from the keyboard however, when I go to create a second track and choose a different sound that again is part of the Juno DS and not in my computer it will appear torecord on the second track, but when I play what I have recorded it is obvious the second sound I chose for the second track is being applied to the first track. Now in the last few days it seems something has changed and now I cant hear any of the tracks. However, if I record a MIDI track and record something of say reaktor, those sounds I can hear, but i have to unplug my headphones from the juno DS and plug it into my digital audio interface (I don’t have studio monitors yet). So where my music play through is also a problem. I hope this is a good start to what my problem is without giving too much worthless data. Thanks.

#8

Hi,

  1. To use the JUNO as sound source, you only have to connect the audio out of the JUNO to a mono or steroe chanel of your sound card. Create an audio track in CB, enable the monitor button, hit record and go wild :wink:

  2. To use the JUNO as master keyboard over midi, you have to connect the midi OUT of the JUNO to the midi IN of your soundcard. For a simple solution to ghost notes, I suggest you disconnect the audio cable when using midi only.

You can also set your JUNO to “local off”, which means that the keyboard only accepts midi from it;s midi IN port. This way you can play both midi and audio (depending on the selected track in Cubase) without having to connect/ disconnect cables. This is the preffered setup, however, the above two mentioned setups are maybe a bit less advanced, so easier (took me a couple of months to get around the ‘local off’ thing on my KORG SP250)

In any case, you want your headset in your soundcard all the time. The JUNO is a sound source, but not the soundcard for all your sounds. Cubase only routes sounds to your soundcard, not back to your JUNO.

Hope this helps, good luck!

#9

Did you notice all the free Getting Started and Advanced videos in the Cubase hub? Several hours worth of viewing and much cheaper than a camp seminar. There’s also the free Club Cubase Google Hangouts which includes an index to currrent and past sessions.

+1 for the Dave Askew videos available at Groove 3.
The MPV offerings are also good but I prefer Groove 3.

#10

Thanks Vinnie for the reply, I currently have a USB cable going from my audio interface to my computer and another USB cable going from my Juno to my keyboard. I am pretty sure I know how to go into the Juno menu and select “turn off local.” However, if I understand you correctly, I also need a MIDI cable connecting my Juno to my audio interface? True? I assume this is especially true if I am using the internal sounds of my keyboard, but is it also true if I am using my keyboard as a MIDI controller? If I have a MIDI cable, how will I know when a sound leaving my keyboard in either situation is going from my keyboard and through the USB connected to the computer or whether the signal is going out the MIDI cable, into my audio interface and then into my computer? Thanks for your help. It is hard to do this technical stuff over a forum board.

#11

Frog,
Thanks for your reply. I have watched hours of videos but almost all focus just on the computer screen and show setting in VST connections, Device setup, etc… none of these show a correlation withe the physical setup. I am very new to this but for me it seems eerybody’s setup is different and presents unique challenges in every situation. I would love to see a video of someone’s physical setup of hardware showing wire connectivity and relate it to those videos so that I understand the process and can relate it to my situation. Otherwise, instead of understanding the setup, I am simply following instructions from someones else’s setup which is different that mine and when I do the steps, inherently something doesn’t work.

I will go back and try to get some more information from the videos and relate them to my situation and check out some of the websites you recommended. Thanks

#12

In watching "getting connected video it shows the audio interface connected to the computer. Then it shows and says I have to connect my MIDI keyboard to a MIDI interface and shows it as a separate box. However, my audio interface has a MIDI IN port. Can I just have a MIDI OUT from my keyboard and plug it into here? I realize this has kind of already been asked in a different way in my response to Vinnie.

#13

Yes, connect a cable from MIDI out of your keyboard to MIDI in on the interface. If you are going to control your Juno’s sound engine from Cubase, then also connect a cable from the Midi out of the interface to back to the MIDI in on the keyboard.
Not to confuse things, but you can also use the USB on the Juno to send/receive midi data straight to your computer. It does the same thing.

#14

I already have a USB cord going from my Juno to my computer, so I don’t think having a MIDI cable to my audio interface is necessary, except for maybe listening. I need to get my system so that all sounds end up coming out of my audio interface. currently.

#15

Yes, you are right, the usb cable is carrying your MIDI signal between the keyboard and the computer (I just read the thread more carefully)
As Vinnie says, you also need to connect AUDIO cables to the interface - have you done that? That’s how the actual “sound” gets into the computer. The MIDI signal is just a digital language that communicates musical information between devices. You need both signals for this to work. (My apologies if you already know this)

#16

Trust me Philskeys, no apologies needed, you don’t have to assume I know anything, because I don’t. Here is where I am at now. I created a “song” called midi tracks (just for learning). I have recorded several tracks: using groove agent, Komplete, and Halion sonic, all using my keyboard. I did this by adding a track using the “add instrument” to create that track. all of them recorded and I have been able to listen to them through my headphones and the sound is coming out of my audio converter. I also created a guitar track and ran it through guitar rig which I can also hear through my headphones. Lastly I created a vocal track which I can hear through the headphones during playback. This is just about perfect. This is the best I have ever gotten it. Now I am going to try and select sounds from within the Juno DS and try and record them. I will let you know how it goes.

However, I am not sure what u mean by AUDIO cable. The only cables I have to the interface are the USB which goes to my computer, my headphones, and when necessary i plug a line into audio line 1 or audio line 2 t record vocals or a guitar. If I am trying to record sounds or even hear sounds that are within my keyboard (I am not talking about midi sounds in the computer) do I need a AUDIO cable connected to my audio interface?

#17

sorry folks. thought I had it. last night I hooked up a guitar cord that I usually use to hook up my guitar to my interface and istead I connected my mono OUT from my JUNO to my input 1 on my audio interface and everything worked perfect. It was the first time I could record from a microphone, bring up VST instruments and record MIDI, or record multiple sounds from inside my JUNO I turned everything off last night and this AM I can not get my keyboard to to trigger any sounds. When I create a create a track and bring up a VST instrument and hit a key there is no sound. the MIDI in activity bar shows activity when I hit a key, but no activity in the audio activity just adjacent or in the track signal. I still have my USB connecting my computer to both my audio interface and my keyboard. I have an audio cable going from L MONO out from the keyboard to the #1input to my interface. Under VST connections I have input mono line 1 and mono line 2 (2 buses) and the out put is set to stereo out (all are labled with the correct audio interface name.) Under Device set up I have the correct interface selected and under MIDI port setup I have “all MIDI ports” on and selected. Yet with this set up I show no signal getting to my audio interface line 1. This makes no sense. at the very least with mono line in 1 set in my VST connections I should see signal getting to my interface. In fact If I open a new track and use guitar rig and leave the settings as stated above, my audio interface does show it receives signal and I can record and playback. So for some reason my keyboard is not sending a signal to my interface.

Now I am not sure that this matters but I have my local switch “on” in the JUNO I can create a “audio track”, record it, and it works fine. And in this scenari I again see signal going into my interface. It is just when I try to play VST instruments. What seems to stop all signal to my interface is the local off/on switch. but I know it was off last night and I was playing and recording MIDI just fine.

#18

Okay, over on the left side of the screen, look under Inspector tab…
There is a little window called “Input Routing”. Make sure this is either set to ALL MIDI INPUTS or to the Juno DS. It sounds like you may have this set to your interface. That would cause this problem.

Hope that works–
Gee, you were so excited a few hours ago!

#19

I am familiar with that. The top box says “no track preset” The next one down is input routing and I have it set to all midi channels, but have also set it to roland DS and this does not change anything. Next down is the instrument I have selected. I have tried both groove agent and halion sonic and cant not get signal to go to my audio interface.

When I have my “local On” set in Juno my keyboard sends and records just fine. It is something in my computer settings that is not recognizing my keyboard as a midi controller. It is universially not being recognized in groove agent, halion sonic, reaktor, or komplete.
Thank you for your patience.

#20

Is the instrument track you are trying to play record-enabled?-- the little dot in the track header should be red.
It’s gotta be something.