HALion Sonic Midi Issue (Help ?)

Cubase
1

Hi folks,

i have a Nord Stage 88 midi up to my Cubase Artist 6 to trigger the sounds within HALion Sonic. i have been experiencing an issue with the Midi between the Nord and HALion Sonic. It is not a fault as i am certain i have just not configured some of the settings correctly.

i open VSTi (F11) and select HALion Sonic in box #1. Then it asks me if i want to create a MIDI TRACK to which i click YES. i open the HALion Sonic Multi Program Rack and select a sound in slot #1 (say Trumpet or whatever). My Nord is transmitting on Midi Channel 1 and the Trumpet sound in the Multi Program Rack (slot #1). i play and record this part in Cubase, no problem.

Now, the problem comes when i re-open the HALion Sonic Multi Program Rack and select the sound in slot #2 (say Flute or whatever). As far as i am aware this should be assigned to Midi Channel 2. But whatever Midi Channel i set the Nord to Transmit on (1~16) it will always and only trigger the Trumpet sound in slot #1 on Midi Channel 1 ??

As i CREATE each new Midi Track the Midi Channel is displayed as the initial instrument/track name (HALion 01, HALion 02, etc)

In the past, i have imported Midi Files into Cubase and had over 8 x instruments in different slots (as you would with any multi timbral instrument) within the HALion Sonic Multi Program Rack. So i would assume it should work in the same way when layering up instrument tracks in HALion Sonic during this type of recording process ??

Thanks a lot…

Paul

2

Hi,

You can play any instrument of the HALion Sonic on any MIDI channel, even if you send MIDI data on 1st channel only.

Nord will send MIDI data on the channel 1 into the Cubase. Cubase will translate it on the channel, you set in the track. So if you create new track witch HALion Sonic output, and channel 2, Cubase will transmit data from channel 1 of input to the channel 2 on output.

You will be able to play all sounds on any MIDI channel.

3

Hi MJ,

Thank you for your reply.

i am still confused about what exactly you mean here.

Nord will send MIDI data on the channel 1 into the Cubase. Cubase will translate it on the channel, you set in the track. So if you create new track witch HALion Sonic output, and channel 2, Cubase will transmit data from channel 1 of input to the channel 2 on output.

i half understand it but not fully !! Sorry for my lack of understanding here.

Thanks a lot.

Paul

4

Hi Paul,

Sorry for my english!

I will try to make a graph:

  • Nord Output MIDI Channel 1 –> Cubase (all channels)
  • Cubase → to any MIDI track, you actually selected
  • In the MIDI track, you can set the MIDI channel number of the output. Lets say MIDI CH 2.
  • The track MIDI CH2 → HALion Sonic SE Input on channel 2.

Is it clear, now?

5

Thanks a lot Martin,

i can see where you set the Midi Input Channel (which gives you a choice of 1~16 or ALL). But i am not sure where the Midi Output Channel is located ??

i did find one method which kind of worked though i am not sure if this is the correct way to do it, or how reliable it might be :-

i choose the sounds i want in Instrument Multi Rack and then open the main recording page. If i set all the Midi Input Channel on all the Midi Tracks to ANY (rather than each on a different Midi Channel) so that every Midi Track is on ANY. Then when i change Midi Transmission Channel on the Nord it will step thru the sounds in the same order in which they are placed in the Instrument Multi Rack. So for instance, if the sounds in the Instrument Multi Rack are placed in the following boxes :-

01 - Piano / 02 - Guitar / 03 - Drums, then when i switch to the main recording screen and flick thru the Midi Transmission Channels (on the Nord) the results are :-

CH 01 = Piano / CH 02 = Guitar / CH 03 = Drums.

6

Un the Inspector of the track, there are two fields: Input Routinng, and Output Routing. In the Input, you can set All MIDI Devices, ale specify, which MIDI Device you want to use for this track. In the Output Routing filed, you can set the output device, like Nord, or Kontakt, or HALion Sonic, etc. Under this Output Routing, there is filed with MIDI Channel.

Here you can set the output channel of the track. So if you set Chanel 2 here, you will send the sound into the second slot of HALion Sonic.

If you set all MIDI track to ANY, then you can set, what MIDI channel will be sent, directly in the track. Every single MIDI event contains information about channel. You can find the channel of any event in the List editor, or in the Key Editor, if you opens Info line. Just click on any MIDI Note.

If you set MIDI Channel to ANY, you can choose, any MIDI channel for every single MIDI event. If there is MIDI channel specified in the Inspector, all MIDI channels in the track are ignored, and all MIDI data of this track are sent to the channel, which you set in the Inspector. So, the settings in the Inspector is superordinate to every single MIDI event.

I would recommend to set the MIDI channel in the Inspector of the track, and leave all MIDI data recorded with MIDI channel 1 (for example). Thanks to this, you can move all MIDI data across all tracks, and all channels.

7

Thank you Martin,

i will try all of this out.

Though i did find the IN/OUT in the Inspector and the IN is set to ALL MIDI INPUTS and the OUT is set to HALion Sonic.

Cheers.