Why can external instruments be used only in one single instrument track?

After setting up external instruments as VST instruments

if I use them in instrument tracks, I get the benefit of seeing the patch names


The downside is that I cannot use the same external VST instrument in more than one instrument track.

If, on the other side, I add them to the VST-racks and use them in MIDI tracks, I can have multiple MIDI tracks, each with a different MIDI channel, thus triggering different sounds which is nice.
The downside is that the Inspectors of those MIDI tracks won’t show the patch names. They show only numbers.

Unless I am doing something wrong, I find the limitations in both cases very frustrating.

For the M1 script, if loading the External instrument in the VST rack you need to make sure the other midi track is assigned to the correct output routing.

Good luck in the Midi Device Manager, Open Device, Patch Bank / Bank Assignment. I spent many months in here expanding the included CS1x script to include all the CS2x internal samples… and a way to access the jv1080 expansion cards from the inspector.

Just using Midi Tracks seems to display the patch names for me ok for multiple midi channels to the same external device on my system (Cubase 11 Pro on Win 10)

I had to remove and re-add the track and now, indeed, Midi Tracks do show the patch names too.

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Hopefully one of you guys can help me. (I’m a noob to Cubase; have Cubase 12 Pro, Win10).

I have a Korg Kronos X and a Yamaha MX49(v2) that I have managed to hook up via USB. My audio interface is a Steinberg UR22C (I chose that to get started because it’s Steinberg and should therefore work with Cubase! - so far it does.)

I would like to use the above synths as VSTi’s, preferably with USB only (without using analogue audio to my interface).

So far I have got them to appear as VSTi’s but I can only use them on one track. I cannot open another Instrument Track and use the same synth for another sound, which is obviously a huge waste of potential.

Is there a way I can use more tracks with the same external synth as a VSTi, preferably using audio over USB, so I don’t have to receive the audio via analogue leads to my interface?

I will explore the “VSTi rack” option mentioned above. Meantime, if anyone can help guide me to the best way to use an external synth for more than one track, that would be massively appreciated.

So far I have managed to get my Kronos X to work over USB on multiple tracks using MIDI Tracks in Cubase. If I use my Kronos in Sequencer mode and set up different instruments on different channels, I can get Cubase to record, playback etc the respective sounds on each channel. However, for a mixdown I need to record each track separately as an Audio track in Cubase. This is tedious and requires me to do my mixing all over again. Often I get a pretty good mix as I go, while recording and listening to takes. Hopefully there’s a better way - like when you use software VSTi’s.

I know an option would be to mixdown my main Korg LR into one Cubase Audio track, after I have sorted all my mixing, but that would seriously limit future mixing capability. The ways I have found so far seem messy. There must be a better way…?

Hello
I have been using my external multi timber synths as 1 VST track for up to 16 midi tracks. However I still don’t understand why the external synth can’t be used more than once as a VST instrument. Is there a work around to do this?
Thanks!

On OSX you can. But on win10/11, it’s much harder. Even if you manage to get a complex setup going, there’s no gurantee that will be stable.

So which OS are you on?

Hi Takashi, I’m using Windows10 on my home setup and Win11 on a portable. Sounds like it will be a headache. My workaround is to just use Midi Tracks. I have my Korg Kronos-X hooked up by USB and I can set up different instruments on different Midi channels in Sequencer mode on the Korg. That works pretty well. It just takes longer to do a mix down because I have to eventually record each channel as an Audio Track in Cubase and go from there. If I subsequently want to tweak something, I have to make the change on the Midi Track then re-record that track as Audio. Not optimal but workable.

All the best!

Hi Steven,

Glad to hear you’ve found a solution but,

I don’t really find any difference here, why do you prefer to have midi track → audio track approach than an external inst? For me, the reason is the timing of the synth. Changing the recorded audio to match the rest is much more troublesome than creating a send and record to an audio track or just exporting the inst track. Also, you can’t listen to the track in proper timing while playing back.

And again, getting MIDI data and audio over usb is a completely different thing. You can receive MIDI from external inst as well as just as MIDI device, nothing relates to the synth’s audio here. So I can’t see any headache for your setup.

But anyways, there are many ways to do stuff, so it’s all up to you. :smiley:

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