Loading an old .cpr made with Cubase SX... a real mess!

Cubase
1

Hello, I have a symphony made with Cubase 5.0 VST Score in an .all format, which I could import from an old computer with my old Cubase SX and save it, in a .cpr format with no loss.

I opened the .cpr project with Cubase 12, and I had the full score with 16 instruments, working perfectly.

I wanted to replace the old ugly midi sounds with the new VST sounds with Iconica Opus and failed to do it on the original midi tracks. Therefore, I created new instrument tracks, using Halion Sonic SE 3, and I copied the old midi tracks in the new instrument tracks.

  1. It was a real mess… for some reason, in some tracks, instruments have doubled notes! I want first to know if there is an easy and fast way to fix this (without deleting all the double notes one by one, as my symphony has over 2000 measures for 16 instruments!).

  2. Other problem: the rhythm was a real mess, and almost the half of the instruments had a wrong rhythm… like using triplets where they should not, or moving notes to the wrong place (obviously a Q problem).

I spent hours trying to fix it, using Ctrl arrow left and right, using the Q tool for EACH SINGLE NOTE (a real boring stuff… 48 hours of work just to fix the score for 100 measures… 1900 measures left!).

When I tried to play it, the result was terrible, as the score was maybe visually fixed for those 100 bars, but when played, the midi notes were still unsynchronized… like if the musicians were drunk! :slight_smile:

Of course, I know that I could fix the midi notes in the score, using the new tool that allow us to superpose the edition of the midi notes on the notes of the score, but I didn’t, as I thought that fixing the score would be enough… Obviously, I was wrong… and Cubase seems to still be unfriendly to do such work on a score…, and this is taking a lot of time. I am a little bit despaired.
Is there a function that allows me to Q the midi notes while fixing the score? Without having to fix the position of each single midi note in addition of fixing the score? Or maybe the opposite? Fixing the position of the midi notes that will fix the score at the same time?

I need a way to work faster.

  1. I also have to say, that Cubase 12 started to do crazy bugs at the end… Like when I wanted an 1/8th note, using the Q tool to write it on the score? It was writing triplets… delete… Q tool… rewrite… delete, rewrite… I lost one hour to fix one single note… and I failed to do it. I left this note for later, and after a while, I realized that the note fixed itself… Like a magical trick. Obviously, it was a display glitch…, as magic does not exist in computers… I just had to go to another page and come back, and it was fix… So… I need to understand… Is it because the .cpr file is a very old one? made from an .all format (stone age for computers…)? or is it Cubase that still show glitches and bugs on the screen that doesn’t exist in the midi system, or the opposite, showing the correct score, while the midi notes are a real mess…

I feel fighting again with the very old Cubase VST score… and all the old bugs…

I need help.

PS: I have the .cpr file of the whole symphony. I also have the .cpr files of each instrument saved alone (if this can help?).

Thank you for the help.
Regards,
Dominique

2

Hi,

MIDI > Function > Delete Doubles.

Hard to guess what happened.

Display Quantize in the Score Editor.

Quantize.

You could also try to export MIDI file from the old Cubase SX.

3

Hi Dominique,

Are you going to produce printed scores for real orchestral musicians to read?

If so, I would seriously look at a dedicated scoring package rather than the Cubase score editor.

4

Is using a version of Cubase that simply plays the old project as intended an option?

If it must be imported into a different daw, at least one could export it as pure MIDI, or even simply connect the outputs of the sequence to a new daw and do a ‘real time dub’.

Once upon a time I faced some similar problems. Getting all my old Atari projects into PC world. Sometimes it was easier to just connect the two machines the old fashioned way (sync them to the same clock)…hit record on one, play on the other, and take it from there.

5

Search delete doubles in the Cubase Pro 12 manual

You probably activated triplets in the quantize menu, or you have a Display Quantize object in the score. Use the Score Editor Filters to make them visible if they are not, and also read up on Display Quantize

To do such massive and advanced work, it’s best to understand the program functions ahead of time. Really, it’s a matter of knowing the terms used.

6

Hello Richard,
Yes this is the idea…
I chose Cubase because :

  1. I was used to it
  2. To be able to use VST Sounds while composing
  3. record myself at home on my piano (home studio).
    So Cubase seemd to me to be the best option… But maybe I should listen to you and use another software for scoring editing… But which one?
    How to export a file from Cubase to use it in… another software??? is that possible?

Exporting a Cubase file from an old Cubase caused a lot of trouble… I am afraid to face a lot of new problems, exporting from a software to another, not from the same company…

Any suggestions?

7

Thank you for your answer.
I did not try to export midi files no.
I will do

8

Thank you Steve. I will try this

9

Your suggestion to sync the 2 machines to the same clock, seems facinating… Can you explain how you do it?

10

As you’re familiar with Cubase I would recommend Dorico which is also by Steinberg. It can handle things like automatic condensing, divisi, cues, players with multiple instruments, etc and it’s great at producing good quality output without significant tweaking.

If you can export a midi file you can import to Dorico.

For something as complex as a symphony I think the investment would be worth it.

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