Cubase9 pro and External Instrument

[SJ_Digriz]

By the way, did you set Cubase to Direct Monitor mode? You probably aren't recording the audio because if you are doing a direct monitor and recording the audio, you would get all kinds of crazy phasing sounds going on.

[Scotty]

This explains how you set up and external instrument which appears as a plugin in Cubase. Start with this and see how you make out. I suggest you try this to see if it is helpful to your setup ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zWK5BlpkwQ&t=11s

[sacredmimi]

It sounds like you are monitoring from the UFX instead of through C9. For example you can hear the Kronos even when C9 is not loaded? Is that true?

That's correct. Both the Montage and Kronos are audioble through speakers without C9 loaded. My only issue was recording it into cubase, which is fine until I try to make 2 separate tracks for 2 different sounds.

Ok great ...

Are you able to record the audio AND the MIDI, or are you just getting MIDI?

In other words, if you turn off the Kronos can you play back what you recorded?

Nope, once it's off, then the sound is no longer there. When it's on, yes it's there, but the track changes its preset as I change the preset on kronos or montage. So if I want to record a different instrument off of kronos, then I'm out of luck, because the previous preset I chose would then change as well.

[bustedfist]

Let's take this one step at a time.

Open a blank project and add one MIDI and one audio track. On the MIDI track, select the keyboard as the ins and outs and set it to channel 1. On the audio track, select the inputs and outputs of your interface. Record enable both tracks. On the keyboard, select the first desired sound and set it to send on channel 1. Record the part and then MUTE the MIDI track so it doesn't send to the keyboard while you're recording other parts.

You should now have a MIDI and Audio part recorded.

Add another MIDI and Audio track set everything the same except assign channel 2 to the second sound both on the keyboard and in Cubase on the 2nd MIDI track. Record the part, MUTE the MIDI track, make sure the Monitor buttons are off on the audio tracks. and play back what you have. Two separate parts?

Now, you can go back and edit the MIDI for each track and re-record the results. Here, you just record enable the audio track, un-mute the MIDI track associated with that instrument and let the new MIDI trigger the keyboard to play the part.

Each instrument should have its own MIDI and Audio tracks.

[SJ_Digriz]

Let's take this one step at a time.

Open a blank project and add one MIDI and one audio track. On the MIDI track, select the keyboard as the ins and outs and set it to channel 1. On the audio track, select the inputs and outputs of your interface. Record enable both tracks. On the keyboard, select the first desired sound and set it to send on channel 1. Record the part and then MUTE the MIDI track so it doesn't send to the keyboard while you're recording other parts.

You should now have a MIDI and Audio part recorded...

This is what I had him do many posts ago.

The way he has it set up, he is not recording the audio.

He could actually work this way if he is in multi mode. He would just need to load a different patch on each channel of the Kronos. Then change the MIDI out on the MIDI track in Cubase after he was done on each pass.

But eventually he is going to need to record the audio.

[sacredmimi]

Let's take this one step at a time.

Open a blank project and add one MIDI and one audio track. On the MIDI track, select the keyboard as the ins and outs and set it to channel 1. On the audio track, select the inputs and outputs of your interface. Record enable both tracks. On the keyboard, select the first desired sound and set it to send on channel 1. Record the part and then MUTE the MIDI track so it doesn't send to the keyboard while you're recording other parts.

You should now have a MIDI and Audio part recorded.

Add another MIDI and Audio track set everything the same except assign channel 2 to the second sound both on the keyboard and in Cubase on the 2nd MIDI track. Record the part, MUTE the MIDI track, make sure the Monitor buttons are off on the audio tracks. and play back what you have. Two separate parts?

Now, you can go back and edit the MIDI for each track and re-record the results. Here, you just record enable the audio track, un-mute the MIDI track associated with that instrument and let the new MIDI trigger the keyboard to play the part.

Each instrument should have its own MIDI and Audio tracks.

Right now, as you mentioned, I set the midi track to channel 1 and audio track with stereo in 2 (input 3/4 of my UFX which my kronos is connected to) and stereo out. Both record enable pressed. The audio track successfully captured the sound, but then it sounds compressed, soft, and sounds doubled..

When I don't press the 'record enable' on midi track, the sound is fine as it is, but once that's pressed, the sound playback is weird, like hearing overtones and crap.

[bustedfist]

Look for a Local Off setting on the keyboard and switch it from whatever it is now. You set the ins and outs of the keyboard on the MIDI track and muted it after record, right? You need MIDI for nothing more than editing the performance, if desired, and re-recording to audio, the corrections. Other than that it's not needed for anything.

[sacredmimi]

Look for a Local Off setting on the keyboard and switch it from whatever it is now. You set the ins and outs of the keyboard on the MIDI track and muted it after record, right? You need MIDI for nothing more than editing the performance, if desired, and re-recording to audio, the corrections. Other than that it's not needed for anything.

Thanks for the detailed help thus far. I think I'm almost there. How do I solve this problem of compressed/soft-volume sounding coming from the audio track? Hearing the midi track and the audio track individually, the midi track sounds much, much louder.

For editing and re-recording, would I press record enable for both midi and audio track? or just the audio track?

[bustedfist]

Look for a Local Off setting on the keyboard and switch it from whatever it is now. You set the ins and outs of the keyboard on the MIDI track and muted it after record, right? You need MIDI for nothing more than editing the performance, if desired, and re-recording to audio, the corrections. Other than that it's not needed for anything.

Thanks for the detailed help thus far. I think I'm almost there. How do I solve this problem of compressed/soft-volume sounding coming from the audio track? Hearing the midi track and the audio track individually, the midi track sounds much, much louder.

For editing and re-recording, would I press record enable for both midi and audio track? or just the audio track?

Just the audio on re-record.

As to the sound, first make sure you don't have direct monitoring enabled on the interface or Cubase. On some units, there is a knob that adjusts how much pre/ post input you monitor. You want it all the way to to DAW or post. You're recording to a stereo audio track or two mono tracks, right? You Mute the audio track when you play from the MIDI? Could be you've got multiple tracks monitor enabled using the same inputs thus it being louder on live play. Start with that.

[sacredmimi]

Look for a Local Off setting on the keyboard and switch it from whatever it is now. You set the ins and outs of the keyboard on the MIDI track and muted it after record, right? You need MIDI for nothing more than editing the performance, if desired, and re-recording to audio, the corrections. Other than that it's not needed for anything.

Thanks for the detailed help thus far. I think I'm almost there. How do I solve this problem of compressed/soft-volume sounding coming from the audio track? Hearing the midi track and the audio track individually, the midi track sounds much, much louder.

For editing and re-recording, would I press record enable for both midi and audio track? or just the audio track?

Just the audio on re-record.

As to the sound, first make sure you don't have direct monitoring enabled on the interface or Cubase. On some units, there is a knob that adjusts how much pre/ post input you monitor. You want it all the way to to DAW or post. You're recording to a stereo audio track or two mono tracks, right? You Mute the audio track when you play from the MIDI? Could be you've got multiple tracks monitor enabled using the same inputs thus it being louder on live play. Start with that.

In the device setup under ASIO Fireface USB, the direct monitoring was checked. Even when I unchecked it, it makes no difference.

The audio track was muted when I was monitoring the playback of the midi track.
From the midi track itself, I'm hearing what Kronos would sound as a standalone (no cubase operating), in terms of volume. For the audio track, it's much softer, and sounds compressed ( not sure if this is due to the low volume or what)

[Mister Gibson]

In the device setup under ASIO Fireface USB, the direct monitoring was checked. Even when I unchecked it, it makes no difference.

The audio track was muted when I was monitoring the playback of the midi track.
From the midi track itself, I'm hearing what Kronos would sound as a standalone (no cubase operating), in terms of volume. For the audio track, it's much softer, and sounds compressed ( not sure if this is due to the low volume or what)

Hi. Are you feeding Kronos audio to Cubase at saturation? Have you calibrated both your record and playback levels to -10 or +4?

[bustedfist]

Try turning direct monitoring off and starting from square one. Did you make sure the keyboard is just transmitting on channel one?

I get what Mr Gibson is saying, to make sure you've got a good input level, but monitoring live play or triggered MIDI levels are good. It's the recorded audio that's screwy.

I asked more questions than you answered. Read through my last post.

[sacredmimi]

Try turning direct monitoring off and starting from square one. Did you make sure the keyboard is just transmitting on channel one?

I get what Mr Gibson is saying, to make sure you've got a good input level, but monitoring live play or triggered MIDI levels are good. It's the recorded audio that's screwy.

I asked more questions than you answered. Read through my last post.

Correct. The direct monitoring is off and the 1st sound I chose from kronos is dedicated to channel 1. The Midi track channel is also set to 1.

On your last post, I didnt' quite get what you meant by the knob controlling the pre/post input of the monitor. May be it has to do with that, which I don't know what it's about.

[Mister Gibson]

Are the Input and Output VU levels identical? Have you confirmed the audio playback's 'lowered volume/compressed sound' issue is not caused by a feedback loop or phase cancellation?

[sacredmimi]

Are the Input and Output VU levels identical? Have you confirmed the audio playback's 'lowered volume/compressed sound' issue is not caused by a feedback loop or phase cancellation?

I'm a sucker when things get technical.. How could I check on those?

I'm currently on a new blank project, testing out.

This is what it looks like