Porting Midi between Dorico and Cubase: Expression Maps

Dorico
,
1

Hi, I have seen videos and heard of friends enjoying the wonders of using Spitfire’s BBCSO in Dorico for playback and then being able to simply export midi, load it in Cubase and have it play back identically there as well with keyswitching active using the same expression map.

My issue has been that I own a ton of Spitfire libraries but not BBCSO and I’ve been reluctant to buy it just for this purpose. I’ve tried and tried again to get things to work using Spitfire Symphonic Strings (SSS). Perhaps the issue is the complexity of my expression maps in Cubase. SSS has a ton of articulations so in my orchestral template each instrument, solo clarinet for example, has a Kontakt multi-instrument assigned to it with different midi channels specifying different sets of articulations. I also use UACC rather than midi notes for keyswitching because I like how you don’t have to playback a phrase before the key triggers. It works great in Cubase. No problems there.

I was hoping that I could simply load the same Kontakt multi in Dorico along with the same expression map. That didn’t work so then I built a new expression map in Dorico (using channel switching and UACC) and got it working there. But now when I export that midi out of Dorico and into Cubase it doesn’t work in Cubase. The notes play but no keyswitching happens.

Do you think the problem lies in the channel switching or the UACC? Are these lost in the midi export or is that type of midi data not read in Cubase when using an expression map? I’ve noticed in the list editor in Cubase that when you execute keyswitching with an expression map the switches are text commands like “arco” or “staccato” rather than midi specifications with channel and CC numbers.

Thanks so much for any help,

Josh

2

Welcome to the forum, @jlucan. When you export MIDI from Dorico, all of the MIDI messages and key switch notes that Dorico plays during playback will be included in the MIDI file that is exported. I don’t know (to my shame!) whether Cubase includes any options when importing MIDI to filter out notes of particular pitches etc. but perhaps those keyswitches are not making it into Cubase for some reason?

3

Thanks so much Daniel! I will jump over to the Cubase forum and ask the same question there. I wonder if the problem is that I’m using continuous controller messages for keyswitching (UACC) rather than midi notes and something about the way Cubase uses expression maps as a middle man between the raw midi and playback is causing the failure.