Hello. I would like to see note expression updated in the next version of Cubase.
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So, a few thingsā¦
- Cubase 15 development will already be well under way so I suspect the gate is closed for new features.
- What is it about note expression that you would like to see updated?
- You should add the āfeature requestā tag to your post so that someone in Steinberg is more likely to read it.
I would like the expression pitch to be more controllable and to be linked to the grid.
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Yeah STRONGLY NEEDED.
And well you should add the āfeature requestā tag to your post.
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Note Expression has two pitch controls. Pitch Bend and Tuning. Both follow the grid, so please clarify.
hmmā¦ Maybe we should describe our demand clearer. Vertical position of Each point on the expression curve shows what exactly the pitch is on the piano rollā¦? (My bad Englishā¦) They should be aligned.
Another fact is that some plugins use tune / pitch expression ranging too wide (like -120 semitones to +120 semitones) and using the current Note Expression Editor could not decently handle them.
So you are not asking for something to be linked to the grid, but to to pitch increments. The Tuning parameter does this, but the plugin author has to have implemented it. Most Steinberg products do.
But the interface is a box thatās superimposed over the Key Editor. So you must be asking for a mini key editor within the note expression box. If so, please be clear.
Are you aware that you can vertically zoom in and out?
Note Expression only allows up to 48 divisions up or down. What those divisions actually are is determined by the developer of the plugin.
Chances are thereās another way to achieve what youāre after in Cubase.
It would probably make sense for you to tell the forum what you are trying to achieve rather than assuming you need a new feature.
Something like the pitch expression editor in Bitwig would be nice. Drawing pitch curves with nodes and have them snap to the piano roll notes/keys.
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Yes I know that. Iāve been using Note expressions in composing for years and I do know all the features.
My request is quite something like this in bitwig studio.
I would be interested how you change the Pitch Expression by 5 cents in Bitwig.
Thatās exactly what I meant
And most MPE-enabled non-Steinberg products donāt. They use +/-48 Pitch Band which is a MIDI standard since 2018. Cubase mostly does very good job converting between MPE and Note Expressions. The only problem is Pitch Bend editing which is currently useless for MPE VSTis that donāt support Note Expressions. What we need is to be able to snap vertically to clearly labeled half steps according to PitchBand range settings. In addition, ability to define different tunings would be useful in this case as not everyone uses 12 tone ET (Ableton Live has this feature).
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Strategically what we need is to bury MPE as fast as possible and replace it with MIDI 2.0.
MPE is a crutch, always was, always will be. The faster it is gone the better for everybody.
Technically, you are right. Practically, MPE is here to stay, at least for some time. And Cubase already supports all of it in its own way, the only annoying thing is per-note Pitch Bend editing which is an UI issue, not even MPE issue. āNormalā Pitch Bend editing already supports semi-tone grid.
I guess that the easiest thing would be to somehow allow tuning parameter to be drawn for any VSTi, not only Note Expression ones. Transformation from Pitch Bend to Tuning is already performed by Cubase with Note Expression input devices. Here we need the oposite, to draw Tuning and Cubase then converts that to Pitch Bend for devices that donāt support Note Expressions.
Not to resurrect this discussion, but following it, it seems like there is currently no solution to this problem yes? Iām also looking for a way to match note expression of tuning/pitch bend to match up with the piano roll. Bitwig, Ableton, and FL Studio easily incorporated this ideaā¦.And while I appreciate the ability to make small 5 cent deviationsā¦That realm of microtonality is handy but uncommonly necessary, while the need to slide a note 3 semitones or 7 semitones is incredibly common.
Is there any way to easily match these note slides to my key editor? Or will I need to switch to Ableton every time I want to use this technique?
To specify with absolute clarity, Iām looking for a solution similar to this video.
Note that yes while Cubase can technically achieve these tuning adjustments, out of the box, the note expression data wonāt match up with the piano scroll like we see in Ableton
For instance, in my supplied example, the top voice is tuned up a 5th
While the 2nd voice is tuned up a minor 3rd.
Yet thereās no discernible way to see this effectively. It doesnāt communicate that information and itās barely visible. I want to physically see the line go from F to C
Unfortunately, that is not how pitch bend or tuning parameters work
It sounds like what you need to do is actually transpose the note, for example in the info line, or using The Logical editor
Yeah, I figured thatās how it was for Cubase.
Upgraded my Ableton to 12 for the feature. Hopefully we can see the improvement when midi 2.0 is standardized or maybe by cubase 15
Itās unfortunate that transposing the note didnāt work for the effect Iām going for. The THX style pitch slide, or Ligeti style textures. And while I could get it over a long time of adjusting, Cubaseās MPE is simply too clunky and visually ineffective for this goal.
I was genuinely hoping, like Ableton, Bitwig, or FL Studio, that Cubase could also accomplish more accurate tuning textures like this when incorporating vsts like Serum 2.
The real bummer is that I was really hoping to incorporate this effect with film/video projects where nailing the timing was crucial. Ableton lacks the video engine/grids/macros that cubase has. So it winning out on this specifically is a real shame
