I’m using Cubase 15 Pro and BBCSO Pro expression maps. I just trying to get ONE of my instrument tracks working with its expression map. The expression map is BBCSO Flutes Multi (Keyswitch).
Here’s the Articulations Lane (see screenshot below) and you can see it thinks there’s nothing but Legato. I’ve circled in green where the label for Trill M2 should show in the lane, but there’s nothing. I’ve set ‘Trill M2’ to D-2 in the expression map which is clearly what should trigger it.
Is there something fundamental I’m not getting here? I use expression maps in Dorico 6 Pro all the time and it’s super easy there, but Cubase has me stumped. When I remove the expression map everything plays perfectly with the imported MIDI tracks that were merged to the instrument track.
What I can see from your screenshot, you have loose keyswitches in the piano roll changing the articulations. Those can’t be turned into expression map entries automatically. if you really want to convert those to expression map lane entries, what you have to do at the moment is go through and manually add the lane entries in articulation lanes and delete the keyswitches after you’re done. Although you don’t have to use expression maps in this case at all if everything is already in there as loose keyswitches and those are correct.
If those loose keyswitches aren’t playing back when the expression map is active, the culprit is likely the remote keys that you see in the “trigger” column interfering, and then you either have to remove the remote keys or change them to something else that doesn’t interfere with the keyswitches, or change them to use program changes instead of keyswitches.
Michael, thank you! It plays back perfectly with the expression maps. I’m so glad to know that it doesn’t happen automatically. I guess I was expecting a bit too much.
I’ve been agonizing over what to do because this is my first real project, not professionally unfortunately. But I want to learn all the things to do in case I do get some action.
There’s so many books on theory, orchestration, effects, whatever, but are there any books on what professionals actually do when they are getting a mockup ready for production?
For instance, I read that some composers don’t even use expression maps, like Guy Michelmore. I’ve watched videos of him and he’ll have like half a dozen or so instrument tracks setup for different articulations. That appeals to me because it’s so much less time-consuming then noodling about with countless expression maps and having to worry if the key switches are correct or not.
Other things I’m interested in are things like marker tracks. I’m guessing things like rehearsal marks, section marks like in a theme and variations, for example, “2nd Variation”, and so on, should go on a marker track.
I mean everybody’s preferred working method is different. It also has something to do with the libraries that you have. Simpler libraries with fewer articulations you might feel like you can get by having a track per articulation. But with more complicated libraries that offer a lot of articulation choices, you do end up needing to use keyswitches or expression maps practically speaking. Especially with something like VSL Duality Strings which can have 100 different techniques in 1st violins alone, I don’t want to be dealing with 100 different first violins tracks.
