How to change instument in middle of MIDI part in Cubase
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 22 Jan, 2013
Hi
I want to experiment with switching to different instruments while playing a certain midi part. I cant find the way to achieve this in Cubase. Basically what I'm looking for is some kind of automation that can change the VSTi that currently plays.
Help anyone?
Thanks.
I want to experiment with switching to different instruments while playing a certain midi part. I cant find the way to achieve this in Cubase. Basically what I'm looking for is some kind of automation that can change the VSTi that currently plays.
Help anyone?
Thanks.
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- KVRAF
- 1701 posts since 19 Apr, 2003 from Copenhagen, Denmark
Make two tracks... unless you want to mimic a multi instrumantalist playing two instruments at the same time...
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Sound design for SQ8L and Alchemy
"Accept All the Good"
Sound design for SQ8L and Alchemy
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 22 Jan, 2013
I'm not talking about merely two instruments, but many instruments. I want to achieve a kind of glitchy/IDM sound by switching between multiple instruments in the middle of a midi part.olepro wrote:Make two tracks... unless you want to mimic a multi instrumantalist playing two instruments at the same time...
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- KVRAF
- 15135 posts since 7 Sep, 2008
Record as audiodizbmm wrote:I'm not talking about merely two instruments, but many instruments. I want to achieve a kind of glitchy/IDM sound by switching between multiple instruments in the middle of a midi part.olepro wrote:Make two tracks... unless you want to mimic a multi instrumantalist playing two instruments at the same time...
Dump both into a sampler on two separate keys.
Randomise with a MIDI note selector or the samplers own LFO.
It's a shame you don't use Live. There's sooooo many ways to do it in that program.
"I was wondering if you'd like to try Magic Mushrooms"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
"It's not scary. You just lose a sense of who you are and all that sh!t"
"Oooh I dont know. Sounds a bit scary"
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- KVRAF
- 5948 posts since 19 Jun, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
Assign multiple synths to different tracks, each with a unique MIDI channel. You will need to set up a MIDI transformer effect on each track to delete all notes that do not match the desired channel for the track.
During your performance, switch MIDI channels to change synth.
Peace,
Andy.
During your performance, switch MIDI channels to change synth.
Peace,
Andy.
... space is the place ...
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- KVRAF
- 2590 posts since 19 Mar, 2008 from germany
Very simple: Insert a program-change-event at the beginning of the new midi-part.dizbmm wrote:Hi
I want to experiment with switching to different instruments while playing a certain midi part. I cant find the way to achieve this in Cubase. Basically what I'm looking for is some kind of automation that can change the VSTi that currently plays.
Help anyone?
Thanks.
Additionally you have to enable the track so that it "receives" program-change-events.
free mp3s + info: andy-enroe.de songs + weird stuff: enroe.de
- KVRAF
- 5948 posts since 19 Jun, 2008 from Melbourne, Australia
Another way to do this would be to use a MIDI FX note splitter to send different octave ranges to synths on separate tracks. Assuming a 4 octave keyboard, you can now play 4 synths (transposed appropriately) using a different section of the keyboard.
Peace,
Andy.
Peace,
Andy.
... space is the place ...
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 22 Jan, 2013
I think that program change is the way to go here. But I'm not sure how to use it. Could you give me a hint on how to use it? I see "Program change" in automation of the midi part (cubase 5), but it doesn't seem to change anything. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?enroe wrote:Very simple: Insert a program-change-event at the beginning of the new midi-part.dizbmm wrote:Hi
I want to experiment with switching to different instruments while playing a certain midi part. I cant find the way to achieve this in Cubase. Basically what I'm looking for is some kind of automation that can change the VSTi that currently plays.
Help anyone?
Thanks.
Additionally you have to enable the track so that it "receives" program-change-events.
Plus, can it switch between instruments? Or just between different presets of same instrument?
Thanks!
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- KVRAF
- 2590 posts since 19 Mar, 2008 from germany
Hi,dizbmm wrote:
I think that program change is the way to go here. But I'm not sure how to use it. Could you give me a hint on how to use it? I see "Program change" in automation of the midi part (cubase 5), but it doesn't seem to change anything. Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place?
Plus, can it switch between instruments? Or just between different presets of same instrument?
Thanks!
First: Program-changes do change presets of (multitimbral) instruments. Usually every preset of a slot of a sampler (Kontakt, Halion, Shortcut etc.) is an "instrument"! Thus by activating a program-change-event you change the preset - and with that you also change the instrument.
That of course means: The assignment of your VSTi to a track is fix. You can't change that while a song is running by a program-change or any automation. You can only change presets of course (and in sample-language a preset is an instrument - yeah, it's the definition of the term).
Insert program-changes: Open the list-editor of a midi-part, go into "edit-mode" and choose "program-change" - that easy.
free mp3s + info: andy-enroe.de songs + weird stuff: enroe.de
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 31 posts since 22 Jan, 2013
Thanks for your answer enroeenroe wrote:
Hi,
First: Program-changes do change presets of (multitimbral) instruments. Usually every preset of a slot of a sampler (Kontakt, Halion, Shortcut etc.) is an "instrument"! Thus by activating a program-change-event you change the preset - and with that you also change the instrument.
That of course means: The assignment of your VSTi to a track is fix. You can't change that while a song is running by a program-change or any automation. You can only change presets of course (and in sample-language a preset is an instrument - yeah, it's the definition of the term).
Insert program-changes: Open the list-editor of a midi-part, go into "edit-mode" and choose "program-change" - that easy.
It doesn't seem possible in Halion or Kontakt, but it does seem to work for some random synths.
Not sure what's the consistency here... Anyone knows why it works for some VSTi and doesn't work for others?
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- KVRer
- 19 posts since 14 May, 2013 from Utrecht, Nederland
Last edited by jantjie on Mon Jan 27, 2014 9:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRian
- 810 posts since 5 Oct, 2009 from Portland, OR
Program Change has to be explicitly supported by the target instrument in order for it to work. Also, some synths have different requirements (some break their presets into 'banks', so you have to specify both a bank and a preset number).dizbmm wrote:It doesn't seem possible in Halion or Kontakt, but it does seem to work for some random synths.
Not sure what's the consistency here... Anyone knows why it works for some VSTi and doesn't work for others?
Say you've got a hardware synth that can store a maximum of 256 patches, broken up into two banks. (A common setup in the 80s.) Addressing patches via MIDI is super easy.
But then look at a modern soft synth, that doesn't have any concept of a finite patch bank at all, but rather a tagged database of hundreds, or even thousands of presets. As a result, some softynths don't respond to program changes at all, while others might have a "favorites" concept where you can assign specific presets to virtual slots that will correspond to a standard MIDI program change. So, it really depends on the synth... modern hardware synths have varying levels of program change support as well.
But in your initial post you ask this:
Are you really looking for a way to change the entire plugin that you're playing? (In which case you might be able to automate plugin disable/enable or maybe even channel change) Or is changing programs within a single plugin sufficient?dizbmm wrote: Basically what I'm looking for is some kind of automation that can change the VSTi that currently plays.
Also, don't overlook synths like FM8 and Alchemy where you can have multiple patches or sound sources loaded and morph between them in real time.
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- KVRist
- 237 posts since 2 Feb, 2005 from Swindon, England