I’m about a month into learning Cubase - using free instruments so far, mainly Halion (like [GM 042 Viola]. I did a mockup on piano in MuseScore, exported to MusicXML and imported this into Cubase. It’s a flute quartet, 52 measure long (4 voices).
It seems very “raw” - no balance between the parts, etc. I’m weak on modulations, reverb, etc, but I think the first thing I need to do is have more important parts be “louder”. For instance, the cello and viola start out with an accompanying figure while the flute and violin share a melody, back and forth.
How do I “highlight” the important voices? At first I thought I would do with with a “volume” cc - but I’ve tried velocity and it seemed to work better.
What do you think? Should I go through and change the velocity of the parts to better balance them before I do anything else?
Velocity seems more of a “piano” concept rather than a string concept. What are some recommendations specifically for strings?
Change the Velocity of the given MIDI Notes. Then it behaves, like the player really plays louder, even the sound color might change. If you do it via MIDI CC7 (Main Volume), it’s more like if a sound engineer change the fader on the mix console.
Thanks, Johnny and Martin! I’m glad to know “velocity” is a good first step. This gives me a “note by note” granular ability to increase or reduce the importance of notes relative to the other tracks, just the way a skilled musician would hear his own place in a musical texture.
Your idea to change Expression, or Main Volume was my first idea, but I’ve seen this demonstrated mainly on very short “clips” - like 2 - 4 measures. My tracks are all 52 measures long, and I haven’t seen a demonstration of altering a modulation on a track “up and down” over a “long” piece.
I’ll try CC11 (Expression). I’m going to review a tutorial - when I add an expression lane, and then set a level, I what base line is “no expression” or “some expression”, etc. I’ll review this.
Adding to Johnny*s answer:
I would load Iconica Sketch and use the expression for that . It’s a free instrument for HALion Sonic; but you have to download and install it first.
Thanks Buer! I think (after struggling with some kind of “lock” on my output) I’m getting some blooming of the flute on long notes. Iconica Sketch has a lot of promise!
OK - a lot of progress - I LOVE Iconica Sketch - the instruments sound just a ton better than the “GM 042 Viola” to my ear.
Also I finally understand automation. I was able to use the controls in Iconica to change the “level” and real-time change where the important parts of the line were so the instruments sound like they are interacting the way a real quartet would.
Do you have opinion on the best “solo” strings/winds that come included with Cubase? Iconica Sketch is great as a section, but I’d like to try solo instruments.
I can tell soon I’ll have to buy a library, but I think it’s a little premature at this stage.