A Few Cubase Pro 10 Questions

[BONES]

I've posted on Steinberg's forum but after two days they still have approved my post and put it up, so I thought I'd ask here. The first thing I need to do is move all our songs across from Orion. To that end I export them from Orion as MIDI files and import them into Cubase. But this creates a couple of problems for me that I'd prefer to solve in Cubase, rather than Orion, just so I learn how to do it.

1. How do I transpose a whole track or a complete song up by one octave? (I don't care so much about drums, I may have to reprogram them anyway.)

2. How do I swap the instrument assigned by default for the VSTi that I need to play that part?

3. Is there a better approach I could take that would get me there more easily or faster? e.g. Can I load the VSTi into a track, then import the MIDI for just that track from the MIDI song file or something similar? Or some other way I haven't even thought of?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated.

[jancivil]

1) all tracks selected; in Key Editor ensure that Transpose Palette and Multiple Part Controls are showing, via Setup (a gear icon); Active Part Only needs be deselected so that all parts are selectable, select all; in the Transpose Palette the larger arrow transposes an octave at a time.

2) for future reference, there is only a default assignment according to Preferences, where unfortunately there is a default to start with, HALion Sonic SE Multitimbral. You probably want this

prefs.png

"MIDI Tracks", instead, where there is nothing loaded by default but "Destination" also incl. 'Instrument Tracks', compare below:

3) the old-school way to instantiate instruments for MIDI tracks is the VST Rack, F11: *Rack* with a downward arrow to open the menu for what's installed. Instrument Tracks (Project menu, under Add Track) is another way but not ideal for multitimbral setup.

[MadDogE134]

what did cubase charge for the last .5 update? ...since i hear of folks complaining about update fees in other threads. i can understand paying for full version upgrades which usually have quite a lot of improvements but charging for .5 updates? may be a big deterrence to purchasing even on this great sounding sale.

the reason i let pro tools lapse was because i can't see paying every year when there is no real work done and i never use support services.

[BONES]

Why are you posting this here? Shouldn't it be on the 50% off thread?

1) all tracks selected; in Key Editor Edit ensure that Transpose Palette and Multiple Part Controls are showing, via Setup (a gear icon); Active Part Only needs be deselected so that all parts are selectable, select all; in the Transpose Palette the larger arrow transposes an octave at a time.

2) for future reference, there is only a default assignment according to Preferences, where unfortunately there is a default to start with, HALion Sonic SE Multitimbral. You probably want this
prefs.png

"MIDI Tracks", instead, where there is nothing loaded by default but "Destination" also incl. 'Instrument Tracks', compare below:

3) the old-school way to instantiate instruments for MIDI tracks is the VST Rack, F11: *Rack* with a downward arrow to open the menu for what's installed. Instrument Tracks (Project menu, under Add Track) is another way but not ideal for multitimbral setup.

Thanks for that, much appreciated. It seems like it will be easiest to do as much as possible in Orion, where those things are an absolute doddle.

So the VST Rack is obsolete, something I should not bother with?

[MadDogE134]

lol... i reckon the first question was for me. title states on the thread "A Few Cubase Pro 10 Questions" and it is a fairly simple question.

p.s. was just reading on cubase threads and this happened to be the one i was reading when i thought to ask and i am not about to ask in multiple threads like 'some' others

[BONES]

Well, as someone who is asking really basic questions about Cubase, I think it is safe to assume I have no idea how much any upgrade has cost.

[Kongru]

Your questions have been answered however there is a quicker way for number 1.

Select the midi clip or clips, press Shift + A to select all of the notes and press shift + up to move them up an octave. Press shift + down to move them down an octave.

[David W]

what did cubase charge for the last .5 update? ...since i hear of folks complaining about update fees in other threads. i can understand paying for full version upgrades which usually have quite a lot of improvements but charging for .5 updates? may be a big deterrence to purchasing even on this great sounding sale.

Steinberg's version numbering policy seems rather anachronistic. There are often as many improvements in a x.0 to x.5 upgrade as an x.5 to (x+1).0 upgrade. Maybe they'll abandon the .5 increase in version number every year from now on.

If you want an idea of upgrade costs from one 'version' back, check the current price to upgrade your chosen edition of Cubase from 9.5 to 10 and double it (to account for the 50% sale). You can do the same with other upgrade scenarios - just don't forget to double the current price to allow for the sale.

There is no guarantee that Steinberg will keep the same upgrade pricing model in the future.

[jancivil]

So the VST Rack is obsolete, something I should not bother with?

No, that's what I use every time. I'm actually ignorant of the changes to 'Instrument Track' but it used to be quite restrictive.
Recently I used it to <create a drum map from instrument> and it made the connection to the instrument from said map different, so in some way it still is. I assign MIDI tracks to a designated port and a channel, from VE Pro which gives 16 channels times the number of ports (eg., 16x16 vs 16x1), this is not possible with I.T. The map created this way meant Cubase confused port for channel, so when I do this I have to dedicate a port to the one instance of BFD3 to communicate. I can have 48 ports (I set up for 16) so no worries.

Actually instantiating via I.T. puts it in the rack, and it will take the multitimbral instrument's default outputs; however just now It only saw Kontakt's defaults and not what I'd set up. Through VE Pro and a Rack instance there is no ambiguity.

There are supposed advantages to I.T.s but I don't know from experience.
ah: "the Instrument Track can exported as a 'MIDI Loop', which can be previewed directly from Media Bay"
But it doesn't work like a MIDI track, ie., if you want to write multiple parts to the Kontakt multi you're still using MIDI Tracks. You could send the one 'part/event' in the I.T. to double it by say 16 instruments in a multi, but multiple parts, apparently this isn't.

https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=103187

seems elegant to have both, then. I don't care about the Media Bay like at all, so...

[jancivil]

So if one's use case is as simple as one part for one instrument, rather than that, one may as well use Instrument Tracks, although it's not actually a great time saver over the Rack in setting up.

What I wrote seems like a lot, but I'm set up that way every time. The majority of the writing was to show the setup In Key Editor. It literally is the same amount of moves as the other description.

[v1o]

what did cubase charge for the last .5 update? ...since i hear of folks complaining about update fees in other threads. i can understand paying for full version upgrades which usually have quite a lot of improvements but charging for .5 updates? may be a big deterrence to purchasing even on this great sounding sale.

the reason i let pro tools lapse was because i can't see paying every year when there is no real work done and i never use support services.

I’ve noticed a lot of composers still using really old versions like Cubase 6 for professional work. I think for professional users in the middle of projects upgrading has potentially more issues than actual benefits. You never come across people still running Logic Studio 8.

If version 10 is stable and does everything you need, it might be worth avoiding the curse of annual upgrades. I drive a car five years old, no need to upgrade to the 2019 model, mine runs just fine.

[v1o]

Bones can you get Cubase to match the Orion mixer EQ in your conversions? Orion has such great EQ.

[BONES]

Yeah, I think so. The EQ is in a strange place (not in the mixer so you can only see one track's EQ at a time) but it has four bands and lots of flexibility. With a bit of effort I'm sure it will do the job just as well.

Recently I used it to <create a drum map from instrument> and it made the connection to the instrument from said map different, so in some way it still is. I assign MIDI tracks to a designated port and a channel, from VE Pro which gives 16 channels times the number of ports (eg., 16x16 vs 16x1), this is not possible with I.T. The map created this way meant Cubase confused port for channel, so when I do this I have to dedicate a port to the one instance of BFD3 to communicate. I can have 48 ports (I set up for 16) so no worries.

I have absolutely no idea what on Earth it is you are talking about here. Don't you just drag a new instrument into the arranger window (or whatever it's called) to create a new track, then add MIDI to it? That's all I need to do and it seems to work. If it's something like Kontakt or Reaktor, which create lots of outputs, I just ignore the ones I don't need. I don't do multi-timbral, I find it makes more sense to use multiple instances and you don't pay much processing overheard for doing it that way. I find the very concept of multitimbral soft synths absurd.

It seems you are carrying around a lot of legacy knowledge that, hopefully, I can forget about or ignore. I want to keep things as simple as possible. Reading the thread you linked to, which mentions working on stuff before you put it into a project, it seems I might need to understand the data structure a bit better before I get too deeply into anything. (I'd assumed you did everything in a project, all the time.) Again, thanks for taking the time to provide such a thorough answer.

[MadDogE134]

@bones nps ... i found a round about answer elsewhere... i think it was $59 for a half step from what i read so that is not hateful. cheers

[jancivil]

Yeah, I think so. The EQ is in a strange place (not in the mixer so you can only see one track's EQ at a time) but it has four bands and lots of flexibility. With a bit of effort I'm sure it will do the job just as well.

Recently I used it to <create a drum map from instrument> and it made the connection to the instrument from said map different, so in some way it still is. I assign MIDI tracks to a designated port and a channel, from VE Pro which gives 16 channels times the number of ports (eg., 16x16 vs 16x1), this is not possible with I.T. The map created this way meant Cubase confused port for channel, so when I do this I have to dedicate a port to the one instance of BFD3 to communicate. I can have 48 ports (I set up for 16) so no worries.

I have absolutely no idea what on Earth it is you are talking about here. Don't you just drag a new instrument into the arranger window (or whatever it's called) to create a new track, then add MIDI to it? That's all I need to do and it seems to work. If it's something like Kontakt or Reaktor, which create lots of outputs, I just ignore the ones I don't need. I don't do multi-timbral, I find it makes more sense to use multiple instances and you don't pay much processing overheard for doing it that way. I find the very concept of multitimbral soft synths absurd.

It seems you are carrying around a lot of legacy knowledge that, hopefully, I can forget about or ignore. I want to keep things as simple as possible. Reading the thread you linked to, which mentions working on stuff before you put it into a project, it seems I might need to understand the data structure a bit better before I get too deeply into anything. (I'd assumed you did everything in a project, all the time.) Again, thanks for taking the time to provide such a thorough answer.

Actually the drum map creation via Instrument Track is relatively new. Instrument Track is relatively recent. If you don't need it, you don't need it. That account does describe a different functionality of the two, MIDI tracks do not do this, Instrument Tracks do not do multiple parts to a multi. If you don't do multis, set up a key command to give you an Instrument Track, control i or whatever and bob's yer uncle.

I don't actually use Kontakt that way, I usually do one part to one instrument as I write from monophonic lines anyway, it's not worth the savings to do more. Sometimes I like 2 or 3 in a sort of family; but I use Vienna Ensemble Pro as a gigantic one, for one thing in order to have vastly more MIDI channels than 16 which is a severe limitation which always baffled me as to why it even exists. But, I have only 3 or 4 stereo outs per instance coming, mixing in it (automation). the real reason for more is multiple stems at the same time, which I don't do.


I have a pretty simple essential workflow, but because I create templates rather than set up every time.