MPE Mode and polyphonic pressure Querry

Cubase
#1

Hello All

Is it possible to disable MPE (Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression) mode or as the table in the link below says select midi mode in cubase 6.53? I am new to polyphonic pressure specification so forgive me in advance as I am digesting this on the fly. My basic need is to have polyphonic pressure for a Patch I created in a third party hardware synth. The synth responds to it but it requires some internal mapping and has its own implementation which requires MPE mode to be off (Aka Midi cc 127 to be = 0). At least this Is what i understand from the specification link I have provided. And then send polyphonic pressure messages from the midi track.

currently I have that set to zero on the midi track and have followed the information from their post and no love …so i digging around in cubase to see if I have missed something here. There is very little on polyphonic pressure in the operation manual.


Tia

phi




I found this copy of the MPE spec

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-26r0pVtVBrZHM6VGA05hpF-ij5xT6aaXY9BfDzyTx8/edit#heading=h.gb00ixhdy3iu

#2

I have read through the manual section on note expression and I am wondering if you have note expression bypassed if that constitutes turning MPE off? I have done this but that hasn’t solved my problem but I am wondering bypassing it does actually constitute disabling MPE then I can happily search elsewhere to solve my problem.

I feel like I am chasing my tail a bit as I work through the cubase terminology and digest the new info so any pointers would be appreciated

cheers

phi

#3

MPE and Polyphonic pressure are two completely different things (and, from what I have read so far about MPE, mutually incompatible)
If I am reading your post correctly, you are seeking to use “regular” polyphonic pressure for your hardware synth, so, yes, do follow the instructions for MPE Off (then forget about it, in this case :wink: ).

Yes, Cubase’s Note Expression is the easiest way of adding Polyphonic pressure… it is one of the available options for it (so, maybe try using it for some simpler controller first, as a test, just to get familiar with using Note Expression in general… and there, the documentation can help :wink: ). But if you’d prefer, Cubase handles “regular” Polyphonic Aftertouch also… there’s a special lane for it amongst the other Controller Lanes in the Key Editor, with a pop-up menu on the left (which contains a list of all used notes in the MIDI Part), for selecting the individual note for which you want to add/edit polyphonic aftertouch.

#4

I am confused … are the specific instructions in the following paragraph? If so then see below.

Here’s what I think I know:

  1. From what I can tell editing poly pressure using the Controller lanes or the note expression pane makes no difference to the midi data stream which is great because I am finding editing in the note expression pane nicer but I still have
    not got the device working correctly.



    2)The quote from the synth’s forum was to make sure MPE mode is turned off. I have found nothing in the cubase documentation which elaborates on this mode specifically. In the link I provided above detailing poly pressure implentaation-"cubase Note expression " was listed as an implementation of the MPE specification. If i understand the details of that document the MIDI Poly Pressure spec in MPE mode requires the user to turn MIDI cc#127 to some value greater than 0 and the value that you set identifies the amount of polyphony that receiving device expects to see and the poly pressure messages would be sent on a different midi channel. However neither method (traditional controller lanes or note expression editor) in cubase seem to be sending the poly pressure messages in that manner. I have used Midi Monitor software to spy on the data stream and it shows all the poly pressure messages as being the same with both methods of sending messages from cubase and all are being broadcast on channel one (the channel selected on the midi track). That leads me to the conclusion the MPE document was inaccurate in the assertion that cubase Note expression is implemented according to that spec. It also clarifies what Vic_France said in his original post and therefor that the synth is not responding/ interpreting that data correctly or that MIDI monitor is not correctly displaying the messages ( it doesn’t show the exact MIDI binary or hex message just the label and the data values in decimal. However the synth manufacturer documentation was very simple and clear saying that as long as MPE mode is off then the synth will respond to poly pressure.

  2. I have checked to make sure that there aren’t any MIDI messages being filtered on my motu mtp to my hardware synth

Sadly i dont have a way to record the midi data in the hardware synth so I could inspect the data being received and check to see if the messages are identical to the messages in the midi.org expanded message list

If anyone knows of a specific method in cubase to turn MPE off please share … hmm I wonder if telling the synth to be in another mode might work to “clear its head” ie omni on or off?? :confused:

Or have I completely misinterpreted the documentation? Any help most appreciated.

Thanks All

Phi

TIA