As above. What is the signal flow from a MIDI track? If I have a VST3 plugin that processes MIDI, can I have that plugin after the expression map and before the instrument?
No. VST3 plugins always come after the output of the VSTi.
I thought as much. Thanks. And there are no MIDI sends out of an instrument track, are there. It’s too bad the only plugins we have are that group of four. Would be great to be able to use custom MIDI plugins that could come after the Expression map.
Does your plugin expose a MIDI Out port?
VST3 plugins are audio plugins.
But Cubase also has true MIDI plugins and you can insert them as a MIDI Insert before the instrument. I have not checked whether these plugins are processed before or after an Expression Map. It should be easy to find out, though.
The Cubase routing for MIDI generating plugins is to have the Instrument pick up it’s MIDI input from that plugin.
But I’m not sure if there’s any way to insert MIDI after the Expression Map. The way the Expression mapping works in Cubase is a bit weird - for example, I don’t think it carries MIDI channel information.
i.e. For the receiving Instrument Track, choose the MIDI generating plugin as the the Routing source (rather than the default “All MIDI Inputs”). (Scroll down to the bottom of all the available Input sources to find the listing of currently loaded plugins).
p.s. This is different from some other plugin hosts, which use a different MIDI routing metaphor. Steinberg has historically had a somewhat “interesting” attitude towards MIDI in VST3. And that has led to different design decisions in Cubase than in some other hosts. But it works just fine in Cubase the way it is now. So other than the little initial learning curve, the Cubase implementation has worked well for me for quite a while with quite a variety MIDI generating plugins.
Addendum:
I just remembered: There is maybe another, even more convoluted way to send MIDI to an Instrument track:
And that involves routing the MIDI generating plugin’s MIDI output to a separate MIDI track. And then have that MIDI track route it’s output to the target Instrument - potentially via it’s extra MIDI sends.
That method of routing hits the target Instrument in a different way.
It’s been a while since I experimented with that method of MIDI routing, so I don’t remember, if it potentially bypasses the Expression Mapping when it gets to the target instrument.
Also, since the Expression Maps seem to always implicitly use MIDI channel 1 (if I recall correctly), there’s a chance that some innovative MIDI channel setup can route around the Expression Map setup?
But I’ve given up on using Expression Maps, so it’s been a while, since I last went down that rabbit hole.