Expression Maps: Negative delay causes the previous articulation to play incorrectly

Cubase
1

Hi everyone,

We are having a problem with the negative delay feature in Cubase Expression Maps, and I’m wondering whether anyone has found a solution or workaround. (using latest version of cubase 15.0.30 - Windows 11, 64 gb ram, SSD drive with samples)

For example:

  • The last note of bar 1 uses a short articulation (atribute mode), such as staccatissimo.
  • The first note of bar 2 uses legato (also atribute mode).
  • The legato articulation has a negative delay of around 150 ms assigned to it in the Expression Map, because the sample needs to be triggered earlier.
  • Both articulations are assigned to the notes as Attributes, not Directions.

The problem is that Cubase seems to apply or interpret the upcoming legato articulation too early. As a result, the staccatissimo note immediately before the legato note sometimes does not play correctly, or does not play at all. It seems as though Cubase becomes confused because the following legato note is being shifted backwards in time by the negative delay. This makes this new cubase expression map feature unusable.

Visually, the articulations are assigned correctly to the individual notes, but during playback, the negative delay of the legato articulation appears to interfere with the articulation of the preceding note.

Has anyone experienced this?

Is there a way to prevent the negative delay of one articulation from affecting the previous note or its articulation? Is this a limitation or bug in the Expression Maps system, or am I setting something incorrectly?

I would like to keep the articulations assigned as note Attributes, because different notes can use different articulations in quick succession.

Thanks for any advice!

2

Hello, somebody, need answer

3

knock knock knocking on Cubase door

4

Anybody there?

5

You know, Petr, we dont know why we even made expression maps update, because it obviously doesnt work. I think somebody got paid for that from our team, but its not really working, because it wont work with latency adjustments, sorry for that

6

Its okay, i still like Cubase, but think of this next time please, why you even make videos of new super fetaure with expression maps, if its a nonsense.

7

Thank you for your patience Petr, i will forward this to our technical department.

8

Like you, I’ve also struggled with the “negative delay” issue.

One workaround is to create a dedicated articulation for only the first note of a legato phrase, and always use that articulation on the phrase’s first note.

This allows you to assign different negative delay values depending on the note’s role. For example, you could set the first note of a legato phrase to a negative delay of 30 ms, while the following legato notes use 200 ms. As a result, each note is triggered at the intended timing, and the preceding staccato note is no longer affected by the long negative delay required for legato transitions.

I wrote an article about this approach some time ago. If you’re interested, you may find it useful.

The article explains the technique in detail using Cinematic Studio Strings, including an actual Expression Map file as a practical example.

I hope this helps you solve the problem.