I am trying to use microtones with cubase (13 pro) and am told that there’s a “Fine Tune” option where I can add or subtract cents to create microtonal tuning.
However, I can’t find this setting anywhere. I was told it would be in the Transpose inspector menu, but it’s not there.
For VST Instruments:
Open the inspector of your vst track in the left zone > Midi Inserts > pick Micro Tuner and adjust to taste.
The downside: it works really well for most of the Steinberg instruments but rarely for 3rd party instruments.
Thanks - but it’s 3rd party plugins I’m using (Berlin Orchestra, which doesn’t seem to be affected by it…). Also, Midi Inserts only seem to apply to an entire event rather than individual notes? So I couldn’t use say both C and C half Sharp (and C sharp) in the same event.
I guess I’m really looking for the fine tune option, but haven’t managed to locate it
Hi,
yes, the Micro Tuner insert adjusts the whole track and your instrument doesn´t support it in the first place as a 3rd party plugin. Steinberg had a good idea but other companies didn´t jump on the support road, sadly.
To my knowledge you have only limited options:
I would suggest to automate the pitch in your specific instrument - there is a fine tune option, right? Assign the parameter to an automation lane and adjust it right there. Quick Controls might come in handy if you prefer to do it via a controller. The event would be associated with the adjustment per default so if you move it the values would be kept and you can freely adjust other parameters at any given time.
Another option is to bounce the track and finetune it from there. I´m not sure if this is a good idea although it would definitely work.
Thanks for this. I’ve found this, but I actually don’t want to replace one key with another (I’d like to use all the notes too). I need to find a way to fine tune individual notes
Thanks Reco29. I haven’t found a Fine Tune option - Chat GPT told me that there was one in Cubase in the Transpose section of the inspector, but I haven’t been able to find it. There’s no fine tune option in SINE player either…
Okay, then I guess it doesn´t work that way - would have been so elegant with automation…
Then there is the second option I mentioned before: You can render your part, cut these specific notes out and then apply fine tune to these events. The last part is really easy, you can acces fine tune above your project window in the information panel for the instrument. That definetly works.
I´m sure that this can be automated via a key command as well (cut, render, fine tune, mute, fade etc).
Thanks again. Sorry for another question, but can you let me know where I should see “fine tune”? Maybe a screenshot? If it’s there, it should work for doing it within the project for any notes I want to change. However, I can’t seem to find it - I do have everything showing, but it’s not there, unless I’m being thick and missing it. This is what I see in the info panel for the instrument.
Your screenshot shows midi events. I meant fine tuning on the audio level after rendering. You could even try to work with Vari Audio if the signal isn´t polyphonic.
However, why don´t you work with your pitchbend wheel and simply tweak the one note accordingly? That would make perfect sense as pitch bend is fine grained like no other Midi-CC. And you could even copy and paste this note because the pitch bend information is attached to the note. That way you would always have your half-sharp note at the tip of your hand. Just leave a copy of this special note somewhere on a muted track or wherever. And you could easily adjust the transitions to make it sound natural. Why complicate things? Because we can.
Thanks - I tried that first, but it really doesn’t work well in practice, especially with legato notes. Whenever the note stops or combines with another, it briefly reverts to its original value before moving on, regardless of the pitch bend status…
Unless you want to rip off someone´s ear - no!
I was suggesting that you have one track for the regular tuning and one track that just comes in whenever you need an in-between tuning. In other words: one track plays at a time. That way you have no automation issues and you have fully covered the legato issue, too.
Thanks Reco - that’s a good idea. It will be a bit fiddly… - would be great if Cubase has a simpler way of making this possible… (with MIDI, it should be easy…)
This one isn´t on Cubase alone - it is mainly on the manufactorer´s side. But of course you´re right - it´s a drag to do it like this. At least you can copy/paste…