Already did that. Setting to -12 to 12 and using vertical/horizontal snap DOES make it easier to adjust to semitones. But it doesn’t resolve the initial problem of linking the expression map to the piano roll. Which leads to examples like this. Where I can see SOME kind of action happening. But can never tell what notes are going where for review later. . . This also leads to wacky scenarios where two voices might be crossing, but the visuals don’t suggest that.
In the example below, I attempted to mimic the Ableton THX sound I posted above, each note is starting from the same C4, sliding up or down to their respective note. The original C4 slides to C5, thus crossing that E4 and G4. Not only is this visually hard to read. But the lines themselves might suggest logically at a glance that this is microtonal or that the C4 is sliding to D quarter flat or something. There’s literally no indication that it voice crossed…And even less indication as to where any of these notes are going or went. This might not be a big deal for one chord. But a piece full of them?
Attempting to edit/revise something akin to that Xenakis piece above? Impossible or agonizing. What took me 10-15 minutes to barely slap together would take me less than a minute in Ableton and would be infinitely easier to read, both for myself and an editor.
Ps. Lord knows I love Cubase. It’s my fav DAW by miles, especially for film/animation compositions…The macro engine is awesome and allows lots of customization. The video engine and ability to manipulate time signatures and the like is almost unrivaled and it’s certainly MUCH better than Pro Tools for midi….My critique isn’t “Why is Cubase not Ableton”….My critique is “Cubase’s Note Expression/MPE is pitifully terrible compared to many other DAWs out of the box…And as of now, I’m still unsure it can even achieve what I’m trying to do.
