First, I will be up front. I don’t know. I joined this forum in hopes i can get some help. I just bought cubase 6 so i can get the most out of my music and be able to use a wider range of VSTi’s as i can. I am still in the learning stage of using computers for music production, though i have been using finale family of software since 2005. Learning to use Finale has been fairly easy for me and i upgraded to Finale 2011 just recently as well. And to say now I like using notation in Finale and I don’t wish to use the notation in cubase, though I have checked it out and wasn’t as comfortable with it as i am with Finale. My first question will be is how do i get set up for loading midi data into cubase. I played with other Daw software as a trial and it was fairly simple for me. But with cubase I am stuck at the project dialog box with the templates, and i don’t want to use the templates ( at least not the ones i see). I just want to start a project that I can load my midi tracks into cubase, and add new tracks if i find i need more. Any one willing to help me get started with this? I know you’ll probably need more info, and i will try to give it but bear with me, I may not know what you are talking about. I have Windows7, 64bit, using Finale 2011, and Cubase 6 educational version.
Thanks for the reply all, and to answer in order. yes I read the manual, and i think i have things set up right. I’ve also tried the quick start/ video tutorials dvd, but the problem there for now is it will not work. I have submitted a support case because when i open (run) the dvd i get the error message that adobe projector has stopped working, so i don’t get to work with it right now. I tried solving the problem but have had no luck, so i wait for support to contact me for a solution. And after I posted at first I went back to play with it some more and I did just that as to go to more in project assistance box and clicked on empty. I was not really sure if it was right at first because it had nothing I was expecting to see.Don’t forget i’m not use to cubase, i only played with some of the other Daws and i guess i expected to see more from cubase. I was able to import a midi file into cubase but yet was having trouble using other VSTi’s other than Halion sonic SE. When I finally got The Grand SE to work (make some noise) I was still having problems. Also what just came to mind is, I seem to have problems getting answers to the way in which i wish to work with. I will mainly work with Finale and then using VSTi’s to bring it to life. That’s why i bought cubase so I can use other VSTi’s like EastWest, SonicImplants, Vienna symphonic,etc. They all don’t work with Finale, or very good. Everything I seem to find deals more with live recording, so it seems my resources are limited. I would also like to know how to get other VSTi’s into cubase (like Garritan). Thanks for the replies all, till next time. Eric
Got like 140+ views but only 5 replies. Can’t use the video tutorials because it keeps crashing telling me “Adobe projector has stopped working”. The rep hasn’t been able to help me out and he vanished. I asked for a call so hopefully they call me today. I can’t learn this thing if i don’t get any help. I know I need to play with it to learn it, but there should be better help when needed. Finale does an awesome job at this for me. As of right now Cubase is just taking up space on my computer. I wrote to find out if the books out there on cubase 5 will help me get more insight, but i got to wait to hear back. I hope they don’t ignore me as well.
Did you watch the video tutorials included with Cubase 6?
I would definitely recommend you to watch them.
You seem to have not read his last post.
Can’t use the video tutorials because it keeps crashing telling me “Adobe projector has stopped working”
Eric, I’d imagine the reason you have so few replies is that you are not asking a single specific question or pointing out a particular problem.
Just telling us you’re having problems isn’t going to help us help you…you have to tell us precisely what the problems are…even if that means one step at a time.
Regarding the tutorial videos you could try this…close the autostart screen if it opens…explore the CD drive.
Go to the folder: Assets/Videos/Videos_HD (or Videos_SD) & double click the mov files…as long as you have something installed that plays quicktime then they should play individually bypassing the adobe projector.
For a person that is somewhat new to the DAW world, there is a bit of a learning curve no matter what DAW you use. Cubase is no different from the others in that regard. Therefore, you are going to have to roll up your sleeves, read a lot of material, and view a number of tutorials in order to get up to speed to do the things you want to do with Cubase. Just a fact of life.
Keep in mind that each DAW has its own way of tackling certain issues (recording, midi, vst instrument, etc). Cubase has its own way of doing things and some of these methods are relatively unchanged over the various versions of the program. So you can view a tutorial on Cubase SX3 as to how to set up an audio or midi track (or how to import a midi file) and it is going to be about the same in Cubase 6 (at the very least it will give you a clue on were to start in 6).
With that said, here are some other resources for you:
You tube has a bunch of tutorials…just search for Cubase and tutorials.
If you just want to import a midi file into your Cubase project, go to file >import> midi file (see pg 527-28 in operational manual for additional info). Check out some of the tutorials for more details.
Don’t get discouraged. There are so many things that Cubase can do that you will always be in a “learning mode” to some extent. In my opinion, it is well worth it.
Thanks for all the replies all. I got my call from a rep today. Got them so I can watch the tutorials, although it’s still being a pain, I’ll work around it. I believe i have been to youtube and think it was kind of discouraging, but i will keep checking it out. Thanks for all the resources Dave, I thought a book on Cubase 5 would be alright for me to use, since there is nothing yet for 6, but i always like to be sure for some peace of mind. I felt after many years debating that cubase was the better for me, and i’ve had advice from others for other Daws, but i came from 8-track recorders and never followed the industry and now i’m way behind. I’m also going to check out the colleges recording classes, hands-on training is something I could benefit from to catch up.
It’s mind-boggling that you can use finale but can’t figure out cubase. Forget the college classes My friend. Just start making music with cubase.it is the same thing as your 8-track, just on a computer screen. I have never seen software that makes it any easier, especially with media bay!
Stop preparing and start Accomplishing!
If I understand your question correctly this is the best answer I can give you. I us C5 as I do not yet have C6 but it should be close to this. Open the empty project in cubase like earlier described, go to file/import/midi files. This should bring in all the seperate tracks of your midi file. Go to Devices, VST Instruments, load what VST’s you want to use into open slots. Go back to arrange window (main screen with your tracks), look at the inspector (left part of main screen), by each track you will see an option for midi in and midi out. When you click on midi out you will see a list of VST’s you loaded earlier, choose the one that has the sound you want that midi track to play. If you are using one VST instrument (Halion for example) to play different sounds for different tracks (strings, guitar, brass, etc) on different midi tracks then once you have added the VST instrument as described earlier open the VST, load the sounds you want into your VST instrument itself and assign each one to a different midi track, example within Halion(bass guitar midi track one, acoustic guitar midi track 2, etc). Using this example, back on arranger page in inspector on left as described earlier in this post, click on midi out for track you want to play bass guitar sound, select Halion, then set midi out channel to midi out one, go to acoustic guitar midi track select Halion, and set it to midi out two, etc. One last thing. All of your VST’s have to be installed to your Steinberg VST folder or you have to choose where you have them installed as alternate VST folder for Cubase to find them. If you want to record new midi tracks, create new midi track, in inspector for midi in choose the midi port you have your keyboard hooked up to (if you have been recording midi into finale I presume you already know what this means) and choose the VST you want to produce the sound for midi out as described earlier, just make sure you assign each one to a different midi out track number so two or more tracks do not play the same sound, unless this is what you want. Hope this is correct in C6 and somewhat answers your question.