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Midi question


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Hello. I am not great with midi, but have been slowly improving... I have recorded a midi synth on an instrument track in cubase and wish to vary the cutoff on it. If I twiddle the cutoff knob whilst it is playing back it sounds great, but I can't work out how to record those instructions. I tried setting it to record whilst twiddling and nothing changed. Thank you for any help with this.

 

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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A Cubase user will no doubt chime in here (sorry I am not one), but one basic element you need to make sure of is that the knob you twiddle actually sends midi data.

 

I've somewhat familiar with Digital Perfomer, which has automation "lanes" that can record midi CCs into a previously-recorded track. The mechanism is separate from recording regular midi note data. Perhaps Cubase handles it the same way, but you definitely need to first ensure that the knob you turn on your controller is sending midi data in the first place.

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Not a cubase user, and don't know what synth you're using, but there are several things to check out.

 

Does your synth actually send out MIDI info when you turn the knob? Not all do. Some have to be activated to do this. Some send Sysex or NRPN type commands.

Is Cubase set up to receive/record this info? Some DAWs default to filtering out Sysex.

Have you tried putting in CC info manually, like drawing in automation? I think filter cutoff is cc# 74 (double check me on this). Plus, you'd have to check to see if your synth will respond to that cc. (Some synths/DAWs call it Cutoff, some Brightness)

Find a way to monitor what MIDI info is going in/out of Cubase.

Good luck - hope I helped. There are people a lot more familiar with Cubase that will chime in, I'm sure. But you need to tell us what synth you're using, too.

Professional musician = great source of poverty.

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Many thanks Rob and Chief Dan. Your comments are much appreciated. :) I should have mentioned that I am using a 'soft synth' called Halicon SE...which comes bundled with cubase. The knob I mentioned is a 'virtual knob" which I can turn with my mouse (which is a bit fiddly, and which is why I don't wish to play and twiddle at the same time....).

 

I assume that everything in that program sends CC commands and that Cubase can receive them all. I have not attempted to enter any info manually....that sounds a bit beyond my limited abilities at present....

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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When you say, "I tried setting it to record whilst twiddling and nothing changed," - did you mean you hit the actual record button in the transport bar? You need to activate the "W" button on the track instead, which stands for "Write Automation." What you're trying to do is automate a parameter. When you're done, the "W" will de-activate and the "R" button will activate, which stands for "Read Automation." It should now play back the changes and you should see an automation lane created, which can be edited.

 

I don't know which version you have, but the manual has extensive information on automation. It can be a bit daunting at times (both the manual and the power of automation)!

Roland Fantom 06; Yamaha P-125; QSC K10; Cubase 13 Pro; Windows 10

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You'll probably need to use the "midi learn" tool in Cubase.(it's in most DAW's) When you operate this it "listens" for any connected MIDI devices sending data. So twiddle the knob and save that as a template and it should then be accessible/recordable in your project. Assuming I have not misunderstood your OP of course :D

 

A lot of DAWs already have MIDI maps for most of the major keyboards so check that out at Steinberg Forums.

There is no luck - luck is simply the confluence of circumstance and co-incidence...

 

Time is the final arbiter for all things

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Bingo Kelp! :keynana: That is exactly what I did. I had completely forgotten about that W/R business (which I did come across years ago). That did the trick - thank you very much! :)

 

Henceforth, at long last, my MIDI acronym shall be: 'Miraculously it does it....' (instead of Mostly I Dislike It.......) :D

"Turn your fingers into a dust rag and keep them keys clean!" ;) Bluzeyone
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