Navigating Cycle Markers by ID via MIDI Controller in Cubase – is this possible?

Cubase
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1

Hi everyone,

I’d like to ask if anything has changed recently regarding Cycle Marker handling and navigation in Cubase.

I’m using Cubase as a live playback system for backing tracks and MIDI during concerts. My whole live set is built around Cycle Markers:

Each song in the show is one Cycle Marker.
I organize the setlist by Cycle Marker IDs — when the setlist changes, I simply reorder the IDs instead of moving anything on the timeline. This way I don’t have to touch the Tempo Track, hundreds of tracks, or the project structure.

What I want to achieve is a live-performance style navigation from an external MIDI controller:

  • NEXT SONG

  • PREVIOUS SONG

  • START

  • STOP

But I can’t find any command like “Go to Next Cycle Marker ID” or “Go to Previous Cycle Marker ID” — only timeline-based navigation, which is useless for my workflow. Reordering events on the timeline would be a nightmare because of tempo changes, marker-based automation, and large track counts.

So my questions are:

  • Is there a way to jump between Cycle Markers by ID, not by timeline position? (Go to X CYCLE MARKER is not working to me, I don’t want to jump to song numer X, I want to go to NEXT one)

  • Can this be triggered via MIDI Remote / Key Commands?

  • Or is there some alternative workflow for running Cubase like a live setlist engine?

I feel like the Cycle Marker system is almost perfect for live use — but without ID-based navigation it’s missing one crucial piece.

Any ideas, workarounds, or hidden functions would be hugely appreciated.

1 Like
2

I think this keycommand exists, in the default configuration Shift + N jumps to the next marker and Shift + B jumps to the previous Marker (on the active marker track). I use it all the time. I can check how that command is actually called when I’m home.

Edit: I’m wrong, I didn’t get what you’re asking on the first time reading.

3

Thank You, but yes, unfortunately that’s not a solution.

4

I suggest that you have a look at the arranger track, I think it fits better your need, since it accepts previous/next chain step commands, and you no longer have to setup ids. You can even have names for them for easier chain setup.

Here’s an example:

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I have three “songs” here, and in the Arranger Chain I’ve setup the “third” song after the “first”.

The key commands for navigating are in the arranger section:

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Another cool feature is that you can have multiple arranger chains, for different live scenarios.

1 Like
5

Thank You very much for suggestion, it looks like a solution to me!