Using FCB1010 with Cubase?

Cubase
1

Let me start explaining the main issue: When I started playing guitar, I decided I was happy enough with certain virtual amps and effects, and I don’t want to invest another 10-15k in a guitar rig, lugging around 200+ lbs of gear, like I always did for my bass, so I want to build a virtual rig in my laptop (and luckily I already own a ton of plugins!), and preferably within the program I’ll be using all day, for everything I do with music, Cubase. Building the rig itself isn’t the problem, the audio connections of the plugins are pretty self-explanatory. But now I have to ad a controller to switch presets/channels and turn plugins on/off, and for that I have a Behringer FCB1010 UnO.

Is this basic idea possible in Cubase? (I was told this whould be possible in Studio One, but I ran into so many complications for which I havent been able to find a solution, that it seems a good idea to start with this basic question.)

People who have been working with the FCB1010 will probably know how many tutorials are out there, for dozens of different DAWs and other software, each with it’s own procedures, and probably have noticed how time-consuming it is to only figure out which tutorials are correct and which wont get you anywhere. This in itself already is a complete journey around the world, let alone finding something that corresponds to my equipment.
So…
My Basic setup is a channel with a couple of simple plugins that only need to be switched on/off - I aim to do this with Cubase’s own Insert On/Off or Bypass - followed by a NeuralDSP Amp, for which presets and amp channels have to be switched (No need for pedal switching), followed by Eventide H3000 Factory and Band Delay Mk2, for which I need to be able to switch presets.

If the answer to the first basic question is ‘yes’, any tips for tutorials, from which is confirmed that the contained information is correct, that explains a part of this structure, are most welcome.

Cheers!
Maarten

2

Yes you can just create a MIDI Remote device for it and map using the Cubase interface is the easiest. You can quite simply create a visual representation of your pedal and then decide what maps to where.

It also gives you the option of creating pages so you’re not fixed to one mapping, so you can see on screen what each control is doing.

You’ve not mentioned expression pedals - did you want them to link to a wah or volume? As you can assign these too, quick controls and save a track preset with your insert chain and the quick controls already mapped to.

It gets more complicated for preset switching however, as each plugin may deal with it differently. Some only accept MIDI data directly, in which case you have to route MIDI data into the audio track inserts and do it that way.

But some allow you to change presets via VST Automation data, and others have no kind of remote control for preset changes.

The other, more reliable, option is to go through each preset in a plugin and save it as a VST preset so you can load it via the builtin Cubase preset library for which there are mappable next/previous controls and such like. These commands can be globally mapped to a MIDI controller such as the FCB.

If you went that route, You could even have a separate page on the MIDI Remote for navigation and preset controls. As the presets will change for the plugin in focus.

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