Help - trying to use Korg Keystage as a Midi Controller

Cubase
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47

m.c, thank you so much for the patch! FQC page now allows the Value know to work as the AI Knob on Mac, and the extra mapping you made for the TapTempo button to suit my workflow :slight_smile: is ideal. If only we could convince Korg to stop the tempo light blinking…

@JRoeper , thank you also for the excellent explanation of the complexities and of where we are at with MIDI-CI 2.0 Property Exchange. That is super useful to know and we wish you luck in making it real for the future.

Here is my summary of this thread for those finding it now:

  • I’m very happy with the Keystage as a MIDI Controller for Cubase now. This is primarily due to the custom script created by m.c here: Korg Keystage 49/61 - Custom MIDI Remote Script - #2 by m.c

  • The promised MIDI 2.0 integration of Keystage with Cubase is not really a thing. This is nicely explained by JRoeper above in this thread here: Help - trying to use Korg Keystage as a Midi Controller - #44 by JRoeper. But, today, we aren’t lacking for anything between the two devices, because the custom MIDI Remote script that we have (above) does everything you might want from MIDI 2.0 regarding integrated control of Cubase and (some) VST Plugins.

  • As a physical keyboard controller, the Keystage is very nice indeed. It looks great, plays nicely, has useful text info panels above the controller pots, does polyphonic aftertouch, and in general has a good form factor to fit on my desk while still leaving room for mouse, keyboard, CC121… Combined with the MIDI Remote script, it really is a useful controller surface for playing, editing and tweaking your tracks.

  • I’ve tried the Keystage as a super-portable gigging keyboard, using the Midi Remote script to control 8 different VST instruments in a Cubase project that was ready to go (for a live jam session). I used its Audio passthrough direct to the onstage mixer, so I had a very lightweight and easy to setup system - MacBook, 2 balanced jack cables from Keystage to the mixer, a single USB cable for Keystage to Mac, a foot pedal and the Keystage itself. This is pretty cool. The little metal ‘stand’ for balancing your laptop (particularly on the larger Keystage61) is also very useful. But - current problems with losing connection between the Keystage and Cubase make this risky. The only workaround I know to get the Keystage to reconnect to an open Cubase session when it mysteriously just loses it, is to go to the MIDI Remote Manager page, remove the Keystage-custom controller surface, and then hit the “reload scripts” button at the top right. This seems to work.

  • If Korg are listening, there are a few things you can do to improve the Keystage right now. The most important is to offer users the ability to have lights not blink at them. The Tempo button! And also the Octave +/-. For the next iteration, we need backlit labels and endless encoders. And 48khz audio project support would be useful.

Thanks for reading! And thanks to everyone above for their help.

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