Keeping time with percussionists live using C 6.5

im working on some projects with live percussionists and would like to run cubase live with them, first problem they change tempo all the time and rarely keep perfect time for more than a 30 secs :frowning: Im wordering if i could use the doum doum or djembe source to trigger and adjust the tempo or could i apply my pitch bend wheel on the keyboard to chase and adjust the tempo changing some what like you would nudging the platter on a turntable to chase a wondering beat? this is the way i would prefer to do it because the pb wheel always recenters itself, or can someone offer some advice here?

If you mean track playback from within Cubase, the short answer is that for live performance, Cubase would have to be the master, so no, you can’t do what you’re proposing unless you get the percussionists to play against a click track using headphones (good luck with that!). You’ll never be able to adjust the tempo in realtime to the extent you would need to. While it is possible to generate a MIDI sync signal with say, a footpedal, you would then have to “chase” sync what you’re hearing; in addition, you can’t use MIDI sync for synchronising audio playback. On top of all that, even if you did manage to handle tempo variations, you still wouldn’t be able to do abrupt tempo changes, let alone time signature changes, without knowing where they are going to occur.

I don’t see this as a shortcoming of Cubase, it’s more a case of simply not being the right tool for the job. You could consider creating shorter loops with the approximate tempo of the live performance (ideally not percussive material) and then load the loops into Groove Agent One (or HALion if you have it), triggering them manually using a control surface like a nanoPAD.

yeah i couldnt find any info on bending the tempo in cubase, it would be handy if you could use the plus or minus keys to do slight tempo bumps… like you suggested i fill all the pads/banks in groove agent with 4 bar loops and trigger them with nanopad2… sadly even with the click track belting out through a monitor in front of them they still cant follow a straight tempo… Thanks for your help