Hi everyone,
over the last weeks I’ve been experimenting with CC11 (Expression) shaping for SWAM Strings in Cubase, using the Offline or better Midi Logical Editor instead of manual drawing or real-time CC recording. The result is a set of Logical Editor presets that generate musically plausible CC11 curves based on note length ranges (e.g. half note-nearly whole note) rather than fixed note values.
Each preset:
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filters notes by PPQ length range
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inserts multiple CC11 events per note
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creates a curve with:
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a controlled attack
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one or more internal micro-waves
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a prepared release slightly before note-off
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This workflow works best for monophonic or near-monophonic writing, where only one note is active at a given position.
Applying All Presets at Once (Cubase Macro)
To make this usable in practice, I use a Cubase Macro that runs all Logical Editor presets sequentially.
How the Macro works
Each CC11 curve step is saved as an individual Logical Editor preset in your DAW’s user preset folder (e.g. C: \Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\Steinberg\Cubase\User Presets\Logical Edit)
A Cubase Macro must be created (in Edit/Key Commands) that calls all these presets in sequence (see image)
The Macro could be assigned to a single key command. Or you choose Edit/Macros/NAMEOFTHECEATEDMACRO
Important: The Macro only works reliably for me if all target notes are selected using the Range Selection Tool in the Key Editor.
Download:
Link to the Logical Editor presets LE_presets_Note2CC11.zip (103,2 KB)
Feel free to adapt or rebuild them — the idea is to share a repeatable workflow, not a fixed musical rule. For me its a good starting point.
Best,
Ingo