I really have a need to produce polyphony from monophonic instruments.
So a normal controller keyboard - through a new cubase midi transform function - can assign each note to a midi channel (total number of midi channels configurable) and rotates through the midi channels. This will work for 2 to 16 note polyphony/channels.
Have you seen the Channel Rotation parameter in Inspector > Note Expression? I believe this is supposed to do what you’re looking for.
However, in my limited experience, it doesn’t appear to be working (which is why I ended up on your forum post). I inserted the MIDI Monitor on a track with Channel Rotation enabled and saw no change in note MIDI channel assignments. I also tested the output on a Kurzweil K2000 (which supports MIDI Omni Mode and a raw MIDI data scope) and verified that all notes received by the synth arrived on the same MIDI channel - unmodified from the original recorded input. For the record, I also made sure to choose “Any” for the MIDI track’s MIDI output assignement.
The manual says “IMPORTANT: In order to use the Channel Rotation mode, the input controller must support channel rotation,” but this makes no sense to me. If the input controller supports channel rotation, then why would I need Cubase to do it for me? The point is to take input from one channel and distribute it to multiple channels, no? On the other hand, it would make sense to say: “IMPORTANT: In order to use the Channel Rotation mode, the destination instrument(s) must support channel rotation or, if a single polyphonic instrument, MIDI Omni Mode.” This needs clarification.
I hope this is helpful.
Never mind. It looks like my understanding of Cubase’s “Channel Rotation” feature was a product of wishful thinking. I’m sorry for the confusion.
Here is some clarification.