Sending MIDI to analog synth in Cubase Artist 8

Cubase
#1

Hello everyone! A potential future Cubase user here.

I’ve been making music as a hobby and I’m planning to buy a proper DAW to get more serious about it. I’ve made a lot of comparisons, reading manufacturers’ sites, browsing discussion boards and done a lot of googling as well. Cubase seems like a viable option since I’ve done some recordings with Cubase AI version that came with my UR22. However, I’m now leaning more towards MIDI based music with software instruments. However, I do have Arturia MiniBrute which I would very much like to utilize in my future productions.

As it is, I’ve been thinking about buying the Artist version of Cubase 8. However, one thing has been bugging me while reading the manual and specifications. ‘External instruments’ is listed as ‘Cubase Pro only’. In the manual, however, it talks about Instrument Tracks and VST connections and whatnot. While it could well be I just don’t understand what those actually mean, I would like to get this thing clear.

Does this prevent me from sending MIDI data to my MiniBrute through MIDI and then recording the output signal? The way I was planning to do it was to create a MIDI track where I would program the sequence I want to record. I would then route the output of that track to MIDI Out of my audio interface, which would naturally be connected to MIDI In connection of my synthesizer. I could then have Cubase ‘play’ the synthesizer and then record the sound to a regular audio track simply by connecting the Master out of the synth to either of the inputs on UR22 interface.

I assume this should be possible since no Instrument tracks would be involved but the whole ‘Cubase Pro only’ thing with external instruments got me worried. It’s well possible that I just don’t know what ‘external instruments’ mean in this context but that’s why I’m asking you. I’m sorry to be asking such an elementary question but I rather ask someone more experienced than blindly throw my money at a product that I’m not 100% sure I can use the way I want.

Thank you all in advance!

#2

yes you can certainly send midi to trigger any synthesizer and record its audio output to an audio track in realtime.
i do this with my moog phatty. you can also use your minibrute as a midi controller for soft synths and render the resulting track to audio. the possibilities are only limited to your imagination/creativity. have fun you will love it.

cheers

ps. midi in/out is in all cubase versions

#3

Thank you so much for answering! Although it was a clear answer with no room for interpretation, I’d just like to make sure you noticed that my question was exclusively about the Artist version of Cubase 8? The reason I’m asking this that your signature indicates you’re using ‘Cubase v8 Pro’ which of course comes without any limitations. But based on your answer I assume that using the said ‘external instruments’ refers to something else than sending MIDI to a hardware synth, in which case there shouldn’t be any problem.

And if that indeed is the case, I think it’s clear which DAW I’ll go for. :smiley:

#4

Hi

Does this prevent me from sending MIDI data to my MiniBrute through MIDI and then recording the output signal? The way I was planning to do it was to create a MIDI track where I would program the sequence I want to record. I would then route the output of that track to MIDI Out of my audio interface, which would naturally be connected to MIDI In connection of my synthesizer. I could then have Cubase ‘play’ the synthesizer and then record the sound to a regular audio track simply by connecting the Master out of the synth to either of the inputs on UR22 interface.

You can do this exactly as you described without the External instrument feature.

What external instrument does, is after you defined one in VST connections (tell it where to send midi and where to get the audio from) it behaves like any VST instrument.
You will have one Instrument track instead of having two (a midi track and an audio track), you don’t have to set up the routing every time you load it, but effectively it’s doing the same thing

#5

Hi, there is to my knowledge only one Thing that is exclusive for “External Instruments” (and thus Cubase Pro), that is latency compensation.

Everything else works the way others described also in Artist.

Cheers, Ernst