The new MIDI Remote system doesn't seem designed for Multitimbral Rack Instruments?

What I mean by that is this: while in HALion 6, there does not seem to be a way to get MIDI Remote-created maps to exclusively focus on, say, a Clavinet assigned to Channel 1/loaded into Slot 4, and then later to focus on a Piano, assigned to Channel 8/loaded into Slot 2.

That is because, from what I can see, one can only make/use a Map assigned to one MIDI Channel. In other words, if you made a map for a Novation ReMote Zero SL, fashioning therein a template assigned to Channel 1, then just understand: if changed to another template within your Novation-one that is assigned to a different MIDI Channel (say, Channel 8)-this will not result in you automatically having switched focus to the new HALion Slot/Channel. You will not be able to switch focus within HALion between your Clav/Channel 1 and your Piano/Channel 8 because: as soon as you leave Channel 1, your Quick Controls will no longer work.

The way I handled it before this was: I just made a bunch of different HALion Templates within my Novation, each of them assigned to a different MIDI Channel.

So if, say, I wanted to switch from using the Clav/Channel 1 to the Piano/Channel 8, I just switched templates in the Novation from Template Channel 1 to Template Channel 8, and I’d be able to use the same knobs on the Novation for any Quick Controls that I wanted. But with this new system, there does not seem to be any way to further direct the CC info coming from any knob-on a certain channel-to whatever Instrument you are working on-in whatever Slot, and assigned to a new MIDI Channel-in HALion.

Setting all/any Slots to the same channel, unsurprisingly, does not work: they are not isolated from one another. If you have a Piano in Slot 1 and a Bass in Slot 5-both on Channel 3-and you twist your assigned Quick Control knob-also assigned to Channel 3-then that knob will move parameters for both instruments. Not good.

So: how does one separate actions meant for different instruments in a Multitimbral environment, while using this new system? I have played around with it considerably and I have yet to discover a way.

Hi,

What exactly do you control with your script? Do you use Selected track or any other way to find the track/channel?

Thanks for the reply.

The script ties 8 knobs to Quick Controls, 8 buttons to various functions (like Edit VST, Click On/Off, etc.,), and 8 Faders to things like Control Room Vol, etc.

For controls like the Knobs and Faders, they are set up as Selected Track, but for the 8 knobs set to control QCs, they are set to Focus Quick Controls.

And they work, I would think, exactly as designed to work, meaning: their effects do follow Focus. I can control the knobs in an instance of Vintage Compressor on Track 1, switch to Track 2, and Focus will follow my new selection. If, for instance, I have a Track Instrument instance of Padshop on Track 2, then the QC knobs will immediately take control of that instrument.

The problem lies with instances of Multitimbral Instruments: Rack Instruments that themselves are made up of several different instruments, each with their own Quick Controls. At that point the new MIDI Remote system seems to not have been trained as to how to identify which of those instruments are in focus at any time and how to divy out the attentions of its controls. I’m still trying to figure out a way to do it, but have, as of yet, come up short.

Hi,

Do you really use the Focus Quick Controls, or other Quick Controls type?

I’m not sure if I’m understanding: what “other Quick Controls type”?

Right now, the only protocol I’m using are the Quick Controls provided by the new MIDI Remote system, meaning: I’m mapping Focus Quick Controls to the aforementioned knobs.

I am not using the Quick Controls offerings under the Selected Track pull down menu, in the Functions Browser, if that’s what you’re getting at (it seems to me that those Quick Controls are a reference to the Track Quick Controls you find in the Inspector of every Track (I never use these.))

Nor am I using the old “Legacy” Quick Controls system, found in the Studio Setup Menu-since they have been deemed “Legacy”, I’m trying to implement the new system, since I would assume the “Legacy” way of doing things will soon disappear.

Does that answer your question?

Hi,

I mean the Track Quick Controls or VSTi Quick Controls.

Got it-so, in other words the Legacy System?

Hi,

I would like to know, what you are doing. Could you attach a script of the assignment, please?

Hi-I haven’t forgotten about your request: I am trying to get my head around some things with this system. I am presently really confused about how Cubase distinguishes between the new MIDI Remote-created Quick Controls and the still present VST Quick Control system (which you’ll find either if you press the button labeled “QC” in any Plugin, or also in the VSTi Slots. I am just figuring out that the QC assignments you will see if you choose any of the pull-downs just above the Quick Controls in the Show VST Quick Control section ( the one you’ll see if you press the “QC” button) correspond to the ones you’ll see in the VSTi tab in the Project Window. As far as I can see, this function is not operating properly: according to the Manual, selecting the Settings Button (Cog shaped), will reveal 3 choices. The first is: “Show VST Quick Controls for One Slot Only shows the VST Quick Controls exclusively for the selected instrument.” I am taking that to mean: if one goes to the main menu in HALion 6, and choose various different instruments within different slots, then those various QC assignments seen when one pushes either the Show/Hide VST Quick Controls, or the row of QCs in the VSTi tab should change to reflect whatever QCs are in the selected slot. Problem is, it does not do that.

There is some wacky disconnect going on right now between HALion and this system: changing slots sometimes changes these QC assignments and sometimes it doesn’t. And, all these assignments seem to be connected to some “Phantom” QC set that HALion/Cubase is referring to, involving a Multiprogram set I have but am not presently using. And I cannot find a way to clear this assignment from all memory. So I’m trying to figure out how this VST Quick Control system works so I can get it to behave consistently, and then hopefully understand some things better.

I’ll update you when I get a little more clarity. It won’t be long.

If you have some insights about all that I’ve said, then please share them. This is all very confusing.

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I wanted to give an update of what’s going on with me and MIDI Remote: after having worked with it for the past three days I feel safe to say that the new system is working perfectly for me. Specifically: I am in fact able to switch between instruments in their different slots loaded up into HALion 6, and the QCs that are assigned to each distinct Instrument do, in fact, follow the new Slot selection, making it possible to control each set of QCs with one bank of 8 knobs on my Novation ReMote Zero SL. This is exactly the way I wanted it to behave, and it is obliging.

Why was I having trouble to begin with? Well, this is where things get sort of murky: I am not exactly sure of why, as there are a few culprits to point to. How I finally came to figure things out is that I noticed that with the HALion Control Panel in focus, and while viewing the QC Panel at the top of the window, if I pressed one of the pull-down menus for any of the QCs, I would note that there were various possible assignments for instruments that neither had been presently highlighted, nor (in some cases) were even presently loaded into HALion (this is what I meant earlier about the existence of “Phantom Instruments”). So it looked to me like these instrument assignments were somehow hanging around, and I wanted to know where this interaction was coming from. Investigating this, I came across the Remote Control Editor (right-clicking anywhere at the top of the HALion Control Panel window), and inside I actually found knobs with these same assignments!

So that suggested to me two things: 1. Remote Control Editor was somehow the culprit and 2. Remote Control Editor-as it had proven itself to be closely affecting whatever happens within the new MIDI Remote system, is actually it’s basic equivalent, and I would assume MIDI Remote is intended to be the much more accessible replacement of Remote Control Editor (am I right?).

That’s all fine and good (if I’m correct), but if so then a mention of this within the documentation would have gone a long way towards shortening the length of my detective work in figuring out the problems. I would have known from the get go that I needed to check out Remote Control Editor along with other things in determining what’s going on.

At any rate, what seemed to fix everything is when I pressed the “Get Default Factory Layout/Copy Layout from Other Tab” button (it’s a downward-facing curving arrow, in the upper right-hand corner). This seemingly cleared all previous assignments, essentially resetting this MIDI Remote/Remote Control Editor system entirely, and seemingly clearing the way for my Focus QCs to populate and vacate knobs correctly.

This, coupled along with the realization that while in HALion, the QC Focus Assignments would only follow the movement of the Slot selection provided that each Slot was assigned to it’s own distinct MIDI Channel clarified things for me more and more (not assigning each Slot with it’s own MIDI Channel results in confusion: even though a user might move from one Slot to the next, if the Slot being moved to is assigned to the same MIDI Channel as the Slot being moved from (or even assigned to a Channel shared by another slot) then the Focus QC assignments will not reassign to the Instrument/Slot, but rather will show the assignments of the last Instrument selected that shares that MIDI Channel).

But clarity was not easily attained in this situation.

It came after a lot of time lost and through much confusion that I can’t help thinking could have been averted had these things that I’m bringing up been addressed in the documentation. Things like: Focus QCs in Multitimbral Instruments require that each instrument be assigned to it’s own distinct MIDI Channel, otherwise the Focus QCs will not display properly, nor will they be able to follow focus properly. That would be easy enough, as a for instance.

It caused so much confusion on my part that I cannot say with 100% surety that it was not this phenomenon that I was being confused by from the start, in determining that there were “Phantom Instruments” being stuck somehow into this new MIDI Remote system, whereas instead I was just going from one slot to another, but because some of the slots shared MIDI Channels, I would sometimes go to a different Slot and yet notice that the Focus QC assignments did not follow my movements, and so not yet understanding about the need for fastidiousness with MIDI Channels, I, in my mind made sense out of it by saying that new assignments were “coming up out of nowhere.”

A mistake clearly on my part I would admit, but I would also state that Steinberg could have helped me a lot more to steer me away from making such a mistake by being clearer in the very beginning. Yes?

So, I apologize for such a long post, but I did want to give feedback of my journey to help anyone else out there who might run into the same issue, and to inform Martin.Jirsak of my solution, and to give Steinberg feedback that I feel could help all of us. Thanks for listening.

Hi,
Is there a way I could pick for remote mapping “Edit Instrument” for a rack instrument? I use one instance of Kontakt in my master template as a rack instrument and I’m looking for a way to show the vst and hide it. Is this possible through the midi remote assistant?
Thanks