1/ If I select two midi parts - say, one with violins and one with cellos - and double clik one of them to open the key editor, I can sort of switch between viewing either the violins or the cellos by using the little drop down menu at the top of the window, as seen here:
But instead of seeing both midi parts overlayed in this way I would like to be able to toggle between them in order to see the differences more clearly. Is this not possible?
2/ This question may actually belong over in the Halion Sonic department, but here goes: If I grab the pencil tool and write some automation info into the “Expression CC 11” controller lane at the bottom of the picture above, I can hear the sound of my string section in Halion Sonic being affected in some sort of velocity related way, but I can’t figure out which setting inside HS is being manipulated by the automation info. Anyone know what’s going on with this? The reason I ask is I would like be able to find that velocity function and make it “learn CC” so I can write the automation data using my midi keyboard instead of the pencil tool.
Errr… am I misunderstanding the requirement? Otherwise the answer would be: It is CC 11, just like it says. This can, after recording it, be turned into a VST automation if you so desire.
1/ I would like to be able to see the fundamental differences: what notes are being played, how long are they, etc. With the overlaid view, if my strings and my cellos have many overlapping notes and are played with rougly the same velocities, they become hard to distinguish. As far as I can tell, it also isn’t possible to open two instruments in separate key editor windows and compare them that way. Instead, I must constantly open and close them one by one. Would be smart if I could just toggle between the two in the same window and spot the differences immediately.
2/ As for the CC-thing, I understand that any CC 11 data in the controller lane somehow affects the expression, but where is this expression function that is being affected? If instead of “CC 11” I draw some data into the controller lane for “CC1 (modulation)”, “CC7 (main volume)” or “CC8 (pan)”, I can observe the virtual mod wheel or volume/pan sliders inside Halion Sonic move up and down, effecting the the changes that are made to the sound. But with “CC 11” I can’t find the parameter being affected inside HS. The reason I ask is - as I hinted at above - I would like to “perform” the “CC 11” changes using my midi keyboard instead of drawing them in with the pencil tool. And for that I need to find this mysterious expression function and assign it to one of the sliders/knobs on my keyboard using “Learn CC”. Unless there is another way of doing this?
You are irritated because you cannot see a graphical representation of controller 11 in Halio Sonic. Well, that’s normal and also true for many other controllers and should not stop you from recording.
If your MIDI keyboard can send controller 11 with one of its faders or knobs then you can just record that.
If it doesn’t you can use the Input Transformer of Cubase (only Artist or higher) to transform whatever controller your midi keyboard sends into controller 11.
Let us know if that is already sufficient informatio nfor you or if you need any more details.
That is all I’m trying to accomplish! But the only way I know how to do this is to find the relevant parameter inside my virtual instruments and click “Learn CC”. That is why I’m trying to find the “expression parameter” inside HS. But I’ll try and have a look at the Input Transformer instead (I’m on 12 Pro). Thanks.
Thanks, I’ll investigate these Quick Controls as well
This works! A little cumbersome having to “repaint” my tracks to do these comparisons, but definitely worth it. Thanks.
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If the preset in HS responds to a drawn in controller 11 event then it will also repsond to a controller 11 event created by your keyboard. There would be nothing to learn.
If your Cubase has the (Project) Input Transformer you can change any controller created by your keyboard into controller 11. Here is an example:
I have loaded the preset “12 String Acoustic” into HS. It reacts to controller 11 (also called Expression). My MIDI keyboard cannot natively generate controller 11 events, so I set up the Project Input Transformer to change controller 1 (called Modulation) to controller 11.
When I now use my modulation wheel on my midi keyboard Cubase will record controller 11 and it will affect the preset in HS accordingly.
Let Cubase display the Quick Controls, select the first QC and type Expression into the search field. Now chose the MIDI Controller Expression for the MIDI channel that your preset is assigned to. You need to have your midi keyboard’s controls set up to operate these Quick Controls via MIDI Remote.
Thank you very much for these instructions. I struggled to get the Input Transformer going until I realized it needs to be switched on in the little dropdown menu in the Inspector, but now that it’s working it’s an excellent fix, easy to turn on and off.
I’ve also managed to get the Quick Controls solution working after setting up Midi Remote. But I’m not really sure what to make of this Midi Remote thing yet. On the plus side, it’s nice to be able to assign various Cubase functions to my keyboard, but on the other hand it seems like Midi Remote overrides some of the functions my keyboard would normally have inside plugins/instruments. For example the whole “Learn CC” function where you right click a virtual knob inside an instrument to assign it to a knob or fader on your keyboard seems to disappear - but I can then “teach CC’” using the quick controls instead. Anyway, I’ll experiment a bit and see what makes sense to me.
Just a quick question regarding Midi Remote: What function do people usually map the mod wheel on their keyboard to? I couldn’t find anything in the Mapping Assistant that made sense so I just mapped it to one of the Focus Quick Controls, “Focus QC1”. But maybe I shouldn’t map it to anything at all? I haven’t mapped the pitch wheel to anything and that still seems to works as usual.
Spot on. It is either one or the other, but not both. That is, any hardware control that you assign in MIDI Remote cannot be used for anything else. MIDI Remote is a little bit like an input transformer in the way that it takes an incoming message and replaces it with another message.
Having this in mind, I would not assign the ModWheel to anything in MIDI Remote but leave it, so it can send controller 1.
So, my midi remote setup has worked very well the last few weeks - thanks again - but today I discovered a problem:
I have connected a small, two-octave midi controller, an M-Audio Oxygen25, to midi remote. Apart from the piano keys, it has 8 rotary knobs and 8 drum pads, and using the Mapping Assistant I have set those 8 drum pads up to perform various transport functions inside cubase - play, stop, enable record, solo track etc. What I discovered today is that these drum pad functions have somehow “imprinted” themselves on 8 of the low range piano keys, C1-G1. So if I’m playing something down in that range, Cubase will suddenly start recording or stop playback or whatever.
I’m fairly sure the problem is related to Midi Remote, because if I go into the Midi Remote Manager and disable the script I have created for the Oxygen25, the piano keys will work fine again - but I obviously lose the transport functions. Likewise, when I use my larger Midi Controller, a 61 key Roland XP, there are no problems of this kind.
To be honest, the bug may have been present ever since I set up the Midi Remote thing to begin with, and it may be that I just haven’t noticed it because I’ve mainly been working on stuff in the upper range of the key bed. Either way, I haven’t made any changes to the midi setup since setting it up, not intentionally at least. I did install Cubase 13 Pro yesterday, but I doubt that would affect my midi setup. In any event, the problem is present in both 12 and 13.
Does anyone have any idea why Cubase seems to be interpreting those low range piano keys as duplicates of the drums pads?
Here’s a screenshot of my Midi Port/Midi Remote setup:
Isn’t this because these pads are actually assigned to these notes? Note that Cubase can’t really know what you’ve pressed on your keyboard, be it a pad, or key, as long as your keyboard transmits the very same message.
That is actually possible. When Midi Remote is disabled, the drum pads certainly do play some of the same notes as may be played on the actual piano keys, but I haven’t checked if it is in fact the exact 8 notes in question. Will check tomorrow.
Still, shouldn’t it be possible to set up Midi Remote in such a way that it can distinguish between drum pads and regular keys?
Hi, If your hardware pads are set to say, channel 10, and keys set to say, channel 1 (eg as can be done with a Novation keyboard via their components app) and your Cubase drum instrument track is set ch10 and the keys instrument track is set to ch1, then don’t the pads control drums sounds independently to the key sounds regardless of the midi (overlap) note sent?
Or have I misunderstood the issue /function?
Hi guys. Thanks for the input. I’ve managed to fix the problem, though I’m not quite sure how.
First I scoured the M-Audio manual for a way to make the pads and keys send midi through different channels, but that doesn’t seem to be possible.
Instead, I opened the “Edit Midi Controller Surface” function in the Midi Remote tab and changed the channel for all the drum pads from 1 to 2. A long shot, and as expected it only had the effect of disabling the drum pads altogether (the Oxygen was set up to send midi via channel 1).
At this point, I did two things in short order: Apart from changing the channels for the pads back to 1 inside “Edit Midi Controller Surface”, I also did a hard reset of the Oxygen 25, and voila, suddenly everything worked perfectly. The pads are now performing the transport functions I’ve set them up to perform, and the piano keys only play cirtual instrument notes like they’re supposed to.
I’m guessing its the reset that did the trick. I must have inadvertently messed up some setting on the Oxygen at some point.
