Hello Cubase Folks,
I’ve created a script for the beloved TASCAM US-428 control surface. I know this is an older device, but it’s still amazing and fun to use. These units originally shipped with Cubase and were supported natively up to version 10.5. I’ve kept most of the original functionality, but also changed a few things about how the interface works.
Here you’ve got F1, F2, and F3 banks to control 3 banks of 8 channels. That way you can just glance at the TASCAM and see an indicator light of which bank you’re currently controlling.
The “bank” buttons now control the currently selected track in Cubase. So if you need more than 24 channels, you can still use the arrows to select. But in the spirit of the original Portastudio, I opted to base the design mainly around 24 tracks. (You can also just drag whatever tracks you’re working on up within the first 24 in Cubase.)
The NULL button toggles the Metronome on/off.
STOP+REW button = RTZ (return to zero)
There are two modal buttons- the “ASGN” assign button, and the “SOLO” button:
ASGN Mode off (default)
EQ buttons - band select (High, Hi-Mid, Low-Mid, Low)
AUX buttons - FX send select 1-4
JOGWHEEL - controls selected FX send level
LOCATE left/right - jump to prev/next marker
SET button - creates a marker at playhead
PAN knob - controls Pan of selected track
MASTER FADER - controls master output volume
REC Master button - bypass/enable master bus inserts (1 touch “mastering” button!)
ASGN Mode on
EQ buttons - individual band toggle on/off
AUX buttons - FX sends toggle on/off 1-4
JOGWHEEL - controls Cubase zoom in and out
LOCATE left/right - set project locator in/out points
SET button - toggle cycle mode on/off
PAN knob - controls Volume of selected track
MASTER FADER - controls first FX track volume (aka master reverb knob)
REC Master button - display/hide track channel settings window (easier to see your EQ)
SOLO Mode off (default)
MUTE buttons = Mute track
SELECT buttons = Select track
SOLO Mode on
MUTE buttons = Solo track
SELECT buttons = Record Enable track
There are also currently two settings at the top of the Javascript you may easily alter as needed:
// if we just want to use the main controls & ignore faders.. set to true or false
const DISABLE_FADERS = false
// if we want to use the "LOW" EQ knobs for Low Cut PreFilter.. set to true or false
const LOW_EQ_PREFILTER_MODE = false
Windows Drivers
Final key point… The bad news is, the last driver TASCAM released was for Windows Vista 64-bit. The good news is, it seems to work rock solid (at least on my Windows 10) as long as you use Vista Compatibilty mode:
(*You must be in US-428 Native mode!)
I hope there’s somebody out there who still has one of these old dogs and finds this useful! I really think the code could at least be helpful to anybody wanting to learn Midi Remote scripting. Huge thanks to @m.c who was a tremendous help to me answering many esoteric API questions I had in the forums.
Drivers:
https://www.tascam.eu/sw/us-428/US-428_Win_v340.zip
MidiRemote file:
Tascam_US-428.midiremote (15.2 KB)
JavaScript file:
Tascam_US-428 v1.0.zip (9.2 KB)
Have fun,
Paul Warner