(Please forgive if this is a very basic question.)
I’m comparing Cubase 15 versions - currently trying out Elements. I have 2 questions about MIDI FX inserts:
Under “MIDI Effects”, “Elements” shows nothing. “Pro” and “Artist” show a long list. I assume that these are the Steinberg built-in factory ones. This would be why Inspector in Elements has no option for inserting MIDI FX?
It seems (but I’m not sure) that third-party MIDI effects can’t be inserted in any version - just factory ones?
Technically there are 3rd party Midi Effects but they are all from one developer and rather old. I wasn’t able to find the web page but it is linked somewhere here in the forum.
In fact, I have been developing some rather simple MIDI FX plugins myself, for my own specific needs. I can use them in my usual DAW. I was just wondering about Cubase.
Yes, you’ll need at least Artist to use the built-in MIDI Effects based on the VST-MA, however you might want to check on the developer forum as to whether or not that framework has any future – the Steinberg set of MIDI Effects got a facelift about 10 years ago and they haven’t been touched or updated in any way since then. On top of that, I’m not aware of any other DAW that can host a VST-MA plug-in.
As I understand it, VST3 is the way to go, which is already MIDI 2.0-aware, but I’m not a developer, beyond hobby dabbling.
The other thing is that Windows 11 is about to get a major update to the MIDI stack, which will enable things like system-native loopback ports, so it might be possible to route output from a Cubase MIDI track to an external application (that you develop, even in PowerShell) and then back into a different Cubase MIDI track for recording.
My plugin is defined as an “Instrument” with MIDI in and MIDI out. (The audio isn’t actually used.) I can insert it ahead of any real synthesizer in Reaper and it processes the MIDI. A similar arrangement works for me in Sonar.
Cubase defines an “Instrument” strictly as MIDI in, audio out (not surprisingly).
That is very interesting. I’ve messed around with a clumsy 3rd-party loopback app before, but it wasn’t very practical. An easy loopback might remove some Dorico barriers for me, as well as for Cubase.
IIRC it has been a long standing feature request to be able to insert plugins which behave as MIDI processors before instrument plugins. But Steinberg pretty much neglected MIDI processing or generating from VSTs from the start…
I have no VSTi plugin that has a MIDI out atm, but I think you need to create an Instrument track with your plugin, then another with the VSTi you actually want to use and set the MIDI input to the output from your VSTi. Pretty much a kludge.