Sustain Pedal Problem on Cubase 5

Hello everyone, i came here to ask you if anyone knows a solution for the problem i am having with my sustain pedal.

i am currently using a Yamaha P95 with the pedal that came with it (P10 plug), and a simple generic MIDI interface to plug it on my computer (win7) running cubase 5.

the problem is when i am playing VST instruments, whichever the instrument is, the pedal always sustains but also sometimes it presses a note, specifically the note E (Mi), and always with no sensitivity at highest volume possible, making it impossible to play with my sustain pedal…

This is my first post and i am very new to cubase 5 or music production in general.

Thanks everyone for reading!

Hello (and, Welcome! :slight_smile: ),
I presume you haven’t inserted a Transformer FX or the Input Transformer into that MIDI track (because it is possible to use either of those to trigger notes from your sustain pedal on purpose :wink: )
If we can already rule out the above, then I suspect that the sustain pedal is probably also triggering something in Cubase’s Generic Remote Device (don’t worry :wink: )…
Go to the Devices menu> Device Setup. In its “Devices” column, do you see Remote Devices>“Generic Remote”?
If so, click on it, then , in the main body of that Devices window, make sure that “MIDI Input” (near the top) is set to “Not Connected”, then hit “Apply”.
If that wasn’t it, then please describe in more detail how you have set up your MIDI.

Thanks for the welcome!

I am not aware of the Transformer FX and didn’t use it so far.

In the devices setup/remote devices i use my external audio interface also form steinberg, the ci2+ so there is no “Generic Remote” in the tab :<

i verified the midi input and output anyway, selected the midi input and place it as Not Connected, did hit apply and tests the keyboard sustain pedal once again, it is still triggering the note E :confused:

My setup is basically a Generic Midi > 2.0 USB audio interface that plugs into my notebook and the Steinberg Ci2+ that also plugs in the notebook via USB, apart from that there are the audio monitors plugged in the ci2+
the sustain pedal plugs into the yamaha P10 sustain port, there is nothing else plugged.

Sorry for the trouble and thank you for all the help given so far!

I’m confused… you say you don’t have a Generic Remote tab, but then you say you set it to “not connected” (if it wasn’t there, how could you “set” it to anything? :wink:… don’t confuse that with setting the input of the current MIDI track in the Project window :wink:.
This screenshot of my own Device Setup window will look somewhat different from yours, inasmuch as I have several Generic Remote Devices set up (and I am on Mac here)…


If you really don’t have that there, then obviously the problem is elsewhere, and might even be happening before the MIDI reaches Cubase…
I know you are new to MIDI, so I won’t make it too technical (well, all right then, just a bit :stuck_out_tongue: ), but the fact that it is playing the note E3 is a clear indication that the sustain pedal is being transformed from controller data into note data ( the “sustain pedal on” command generates a Controller message, number 64, with an “on” value of 127, and your perceived E3 (very loud) will happen when the MIDI track in Cubase receives a Note-On message, number 64 (“middle C” is MIDI note number 60), with a velocity of 127.

So, try this…
in an otherwise-empty Project, create a MIDI track, record-enable it, hit “Record”, and just press your sustain pedal, then release it. That should have created a Part on the MIDI track. Open that Part in the List Editor. Look at the list… what actually got recorded? If it recorded the note, E3, then that is what you sent to Cubase, therefore it is happening either from the Yamaha (which I know nothing about), or from your MIDI interface (but you say it is a simple device, so it probably doesn’t do stuff like transforming).

Hello, thanks again for the reply, i did as you asked and will post up some screenshots so you can verify more clearly:

the midi to usb interface i am using is this one:

The audio interface:
http://www.procom.no/media/catalog/product/cache/1//5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/f/i/file_30.jpg

The Keyboard:
http://images.quebarato.com.br/T440x/piano+digital+yamaha+p95+preto+curitiba+pr+brasil__6F8151_2.jpg

The sustain pedal:
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/mmMBCOM/images/Yamaha/Yamaha_P95_pedal.jpg

i hope this helps identifying the problem :slight_smile:

if you think the problem might be in the hardware i am using, do you know any usb sustain pedal or midi interface that recognizes the sustain triggers on keyboard properly?

Do I understand correctly, that, in your 2nd screenshot (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/75310055.png) you have already tried switching its input to “Not Connected”?
And screenshot #3 (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/63289621.png) was the result of just pressing your sustain pedal? (it is certainly recording note-ons).

Is the sustain pedal plugged into your Yamaha keyboard, or into the CI2+?

Do you have any MIDI utility software (independent of Cubase, e.g. MIDI Ox or similar), where you can monitor what MIDI data is being sent into your computer? At least, you’ll be able to see whether that E3 note is being generated before it reaches Cubase.

Yes, i did try to switch it to not connected, that didn’t work out :confused:

And that is correct screenshot 3 is the sustain pedal being pressed.

The sustain pedal is connected to the Yamaha keyboard, sadly the foot switch on the Ci2+ seems to only be able to trigger a Stop/Record event.

I do not have a midi utility software, i will try downloading one and checking it out.

Edit: here is the screenshot o took when using Midiox

I noticed the pedal is sending both sustain and the note E3 at the same time, which is surely causing all the trouble, i believe it might be that my MIDI/Usb interface is not good enough to recognize the pedal as an independent controller… do you know/recommend any MIDI to usb interface more capable than mine?

(Well, at least you know it isn’t the fault of your Cubase installation :wink: )
I just had a quick look online for more info on your Yamaha keyboard, and in their FAQ, they do mention that not all MIDI interfaces behave perfectly with that keyboard (and of course recommend one of their own brand :wink: ). How long have you had that interface? Did you get it from a store? Do you think they’d let you try a different one?

This interface is pretty old, i used it with another keyboard and other programs long ago, certainly the store i bought it on won’t let me trade it out or something like that, but i don’t find it too troublesome to buy another one that would fit without problems.