detailed insights to Note Expression?

Cubase
1

Waiting for my copy of C6… I’m curious on details about Note Expression. Read the Manual already, but still hungry for information.

As far as I understood, with Note Expression, a MIDI note is something like a “container” for multiple “continuous data”. Continuous data can be values of specific plugin parameters, or values of a specific MIDI CC#.

  1. Considering the last case first: Note Expression with MIDI CC data:

As we all probably know, MIDI CC data is channel based. MIDI CC data on a specific MIDI channel applies to all MIDI notes of that MIDI channel. Now what will happen, when you playback MIDI CC data for a specific MIDI CC# on the same MIDI channel FOR TWO NOTES, that overlap?

As far as I understand, this is problematic: Assume you have two notes, that start at the same time. Both notes contain Note Expression data for the exact same MIDI CC#, one Note will have the value 127, the other note will have the value 0 at the start of the note.

When you play back, the values 0 and 127 for the MIDI CC# should be send at the same time. Of course this isn’t possible technically, so what will cubase do?

a) will it send out both values for the MIDI CC# sequentially? With a CC curve drawn on each note, this would result in the MIDI CC# jumping around, right?

b) Does Cubase have “realtime rules”, like “calculating the average” of colliding values of the same MIDI CC#?

c) I read in the manual, that there is a “consolidation” function for colliding data of MIDI CC#. This way, you can have Cubase to either priorise MIDI CC data of certain notes when they overlap, or separate polyphonic (overlapping) MIDI notes and their MIDI CC data across muliple MIDI channels. Great!

Question 1: Does this “consolidation” work in realtime, too? Or is this function an offline function only?

Question 2: Can you have MIDI CC values for a certain MIDI CC# for a note in Note Expression, and, at the same time have MIDI CC values in the controller lane for the exact same MIDI CC#?

Question 3: If the answer to 2) is yes. What will happen when the MIDI part is played back? Does “consolidation” include the data on a controller lane, too?

Question 4: If you have TWO MIDI tracks, with the exact same output, and have MIDI data for the exact same MIDI CC# in both parts, and you play back the parts, what will happen? Does “consolidation” include all MIDI data within the same project with the same destination MIDI port/channel/CC#?


2) Considering Note Expression with VST parameters:

How is determined, which VST parameters are available within Note Expression? Does a VST PlugIn have to “expose” specific “Note Expressionable VST Parameters”, in addition to usual “VST Parameters” it already exposes to the Host for automation? Is this the reason, why only VST3 Plugins are supported with Note Expression?

Or can you you use any usual automatable VST parameter with Note Expression, which then will not be polyphonic, but like MIDI CC data “consilidatable”? That would be great.

Or can you even use any VST parameter of any Plugin in the Project? Like with the Quick Controls? That would be even greater?


Perhaps anyone, the Moderators, or anyone who already have C6 up and running could shed some brighter light on the new Note Expression feature and explain it in more detail than the manual?

That would be great! Thank you!

2

Those are some valid concerns. What I gathered from here is that the VST instrument has to support the new note expression, so maybe there is some kind of ‘per note midi channel’ so the instrument can change on a per note basis. That’d get real messy thinking about it though, so I’m probably wrong.

3

What happens now if you have 2 tracks with CC automation sent to the same MIDI instrument and channel? All the CC data is sent and the instrument receives it all.

It’s reasonable to guess that the same will happen in the new Note Expression. If you define redundant data, all of it will be sent to the instrument, and it will react in one way if it’s a standard MIDI one, and differently if it’s a new VST3.5 instrument. There is no way Cubase can know what are you trying to do when this happens. And I prefer Cubase not to think for itself. So, do the things reasonable right in the first place, and no problem should arise. :slight_smile:

4

of course!

I’m mainly interested, wether MIDI data consolidation is realtime, or offline only.
And which VST parameters exactly are available within the Note Expression tab in the inspector.

5

I have no light to shed (still waiting), but those are indeed excellent questions. Sounds like you’ll be finding the answers to them for yourself pretty quick though! :wink:.