Question For Cubase 7 and EWQL Users

After a day long battle, I finally got CCC2 installed and it’s absolutely mind
blowing.

I do have some questions after watching some YouTube videos.

I’m having a little trouble wrapping my head around exactly how keyswitching
works for both live play and within use with Cubase. As I know this is really complicated, I’m going to try to make it as simple as possible so please bear with me.

Let’s take a simple example playing live.

I load up 2 patches for first violins, legato and pizzicato.

How exactly do I switch, playing live, from the legato to the pizzicato? I don’t see any blue highlighted keys (I’m assuming they should be blue). When I load multiple patches I notice they all play at the same time. So how do I stop one from playing or is this not possible in real time?

Now let’s take the cubase example. Same thing. I record a string line. I want the first measure to play legato and the second measure to play pizzicato. But during playback I get both sounds on both measures.

I understand that there are expression maps for the EWQL libraries. Do I need to download those and assign an expression on a note per note basis? Is another way to do it to duplicate the strings track and make the duplicate the pizz track and make the original the legato track?

It just seems that, in order to replicate a “realistic” orchestral performance, there is a lot more work involved than just composing a piece in something like Finale and exporting a MIDI file.

If I could just figure out how to change articulations during live playing (whether through mod wheel, key switch keys or whatever) I could at least make this process a little simpler.

FWIW, technology should never get in the way of the music and it just seems to me that you need to be as much of a computer programmer as a composer in order to get things to sound the way they’re supposed to sound.

Even a good tutorial (if you could point me to it) would help immensely. I’m very good at reading and following instructions.

As for the sounds themselves, I love 'em. These libraries are beyond anything I’ve ever heard in my life.

I just want to make the most out of them.

As you said, this is a very intricate subject, but the short answer is that you CAN achieve what you want (switching and playing different articulations live from a keyboard) using VST Expression Maps in Cubase.

IMO, the best way, and perhaps not the simplest, is to use Instrument Tracks and create your own keyswitches based on the project’s demands. The downside of this is that you may have to tweak things here and there, adding and removing articulations/instruments, even if you create a template. However, the loading time is quick since you are only loading the most used instruments. On the other hand, some people create templates using the factory keyswitches from the EWQL libraries and simply load all of them at once. The downside of that is that it takes much longer, and lots of RAM, to load projects this way. The upside is that, once loaded, you won’t have to hunt patches/articulations down since they are already loaded and ready to go.

Then there are people who prefer using VST Instruments Tracks (via the Synth Rack - F11), rather than Instrument Tracks. That’s another subject you may want to investigate, so that you can try the different workflows and figure out which one works best for you. Lastly, you will have to learn and spend time manipulating MIDI CC data, as well as MIDI note data, in order to achieve realism in you pieces. There’s simply no way around that, unless you simple don’t give a damn (pardon my french) about realism. Again, these things just take time and you will have to be VERY patient. Add to that, you just got a bunch of new libraries that you are still not familiar with. So yeah, patience is key.

Anyway, a quick search on Youtube (keywords: VST Expression Maps) gave the following results:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=vst+expression+maps+in+cubase


HTH

Thank you. It kind of confirms what I suspected and does help, if for no other reason than to realize that we’re all in the same boat with this technology and it’s not going to just fall into place without a lot of effort and, as you said, patience. Yes, I want this stuff to sound as real as possible so I guess I’m just going to have to take this slowly.

Thanks again.

Its best to create a multi out template with all the different articulations going to their own tracks, best done from the F11 instrument rack. The key switches should be highlighted on player keyboard, are they not?

See, this is where I disagree since there is no best workflow for everyone. Your best workflow may not be my best, and in fact it isn’t, since I like using Instrument Tracks instead of the multi-out approach via the Synth Rack (F11). I find Instrument Tracks much better for the way I like to work. YMMV.

That’s why I suggested for the OP to find out which method he prefers. Sadly, this takes lots of trial and error and, even when you do find a good workflow, it keeps changing as technology evolves.

Indeed, each individual will have their preferred method of using VSTi’s in tracks or racks.

Each have their merits which are explained clearly in the manual starting on p252. Though individual outputs to the mixer (of each drum for example or divisi strings/choirs etc) are desirable in many scenarios.