Curious about Cubase's MIDI

Yumid

New member
Why all the hype? Ive never really put any time or thought into Cubase but whenever the topic comes up I hear its great for MIDI.

Whats Cubase got goin on in that department that other DAWS dont? Just curious, not looking to change or anything.
 
it is more to do with the fact that it's midi code base was developed right at the start of midi: it derives everything from the code base developed for pro12/pro16/pro24 for commodore and atari before moving on to develop their flagship products on mac and pc - i.e. the foundation midi code base is 30 years old and has stood the test of time, even though it may have been migrated to different languages

add to that that pro-24 got most of the implementation of humanising right before '87 and the ability to manipulate individual notes in their list editor was present in '86
 
Cubase started out as a MIDI sequencer during a time when that's how computers were used for making music, so unlike some more recently developed DAWs which had to contend with a myriad of technological advancements some of which were developed by Steinberg, Cubase already had a head start with it's strong emphasis on MIDI, more importantly Cubase really did get things right early on, so much so that it's main rival Notator was overhauled to become a Cubase knockoff called Logic.

The main thing that Cubase got right was it's editors (some of which other DAWs don't even have) but more importantly the incorporation of modular functionality within the program, for example you can create or import custom Drum Maps into the Drum Editor, the Studio Module allowed users to load up MIDI plugins into Cubase way before VST, and even today you can open up an editor for a hardware synth or effects unit within Cubase and tweak away, there is a complement of MIDI effects and modifiers and MIDI controllers can be mapped to just about anything.....The Logical Editor is mad wicked for manipulating all kinds of MIDI data based upon specified conditions you program into it....it's an extremely powerful tool.
 
so much so that it's main rival Notator was overhauled to become a Cubase knockoff called Logic.

it was always called notator logic and did a better job of notation than pro24 did - the notator was dropped in later versions, about the time the emphasis shifted from notational midi to audio worksation
 
it was always called notator logic and did a better job of notation than pro24 did - the notator was dropped in later versions, about the time the emphasis shifted from notational midi to audio worksation

Yeah it was called Notator Logic after Notator SL (Soft Link) then they dropped the Notator when the company split, but...and correct me if I am wrong, Notator Logic was a completely overhauled version of Notator which was more like Cubase than it's predecessor Notator SL, you know with it's pattern based layout with the top down scrolling and the funky piano roll running along the bottom of the screen.
 
My memory has it as E-Magic Notator Logic when on the Atari in 1988-89, the logic was added when they upgraded their editors to provide more intuitive and customisable logical processing of the midi data, to match what pro-24 and the then nascent Cubase was capable of, at the start of the '90's it became logic and then Apple (Steve Jobs after his resurrection as CEO and Chairman) bought the company and ended production for all non-Apple OS
 
I don't have much experience with Notator Logic, just Notator SL with the Unitor-N MIDI/SMPTE interface/dongle (which doesn't work with Notator Logic unfortunately) Notator SL is no slouch in comparison to Cubase on the Atari though, they are just laid out so differently, some things are better in one than the other but they are pretty much on par with each other......I think they dropped the ball a few times with Notator/Logic though, like they should have integrated Sound Diver into Notator/Logic like Cubase did with the Studio module and eventually MIDI Device Panels, they were also a little slow to introduce MIDI effects, they did come up with AMT though which was awesome although even that's been dropped too now in favor of MOTU's MIDI Time Stamping which I would still consider to be a plus for Logic if not diminished by the lack of an integrated hardware editor.
 
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In Cubase we have.....

The Key Editor....this is the piano roll, there are various quantization options, controller lanes for drawing in MIDI Control Change messages, Step Input for programing in notes with the MIDI keyboard as opposed to playing or drawing them in with the mouse.

The Drum Editor....is much like the Key Editor but specifically laid out for drums, it allows you to name notes by their drum sound and change the input note to trigger a different output note so you can set up your keyboard how you want, you can also assign other values to individual drum sounds.....all these settings can be saved and loaded as Drum Maps, for example when I use BFD I load up the BFD Drum Map and everything is all mapped out for me.

The List Editor......lists MIDI events so you can see detailed information such as event times, event type, all the bits and bytes of System Exclusive messages, shit like that, it allows you to see what's going on in great detail like if I move a knob on some MIDI hardware such as a controller keyboard it will tell me exactly what messages that knob is sending but more importantly it allows you to make precise edits by punching in values.

The Logical Editor.....basically it's a programing editor where you can write a program to modify MIDI data, for example you could program a change to the velocity of every 7th note while changing all A notes to C notes etc, which saves a lot of mousing around, you can also use it to do Arpeggios and shit like that instead of using the more basic MIDI effects.

The Score Editor......well that's for making fancy pictures of birds sitting on power lines isn't it? it too is a MIDI editor.

The MIDI Device Panel Editor.....that's for creating custom editors for MIDI hardware, for example I made a very popular editor for the Behringer V-Verb REV2496 which allows people to edit every single parameter of the hardware on screen as though it is a VST, it's kind of the main reason why I never gave up on using my hardware, by that I mean I wasn't getting up out of my chair to go and hunch over some tiny LCD screen to dive through menus like those whose DAWs lacked the functionality.

The Remote Control Device Editor......that allows you to set up and map out MIDI controllers to Cubase, be it HUI or some generic controller you want to use to control the mixer etc.

Then there is stuff like MIDI effects and various processing options, reverse this, quantize that, redraw the automation curve to look like a silhouette of Nicki Minaj taken from some obscene angle.
 
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Hello,

Cubase offers VST Expressions
Which is compose by three technologies: Expression Note, Expression Maps and VST Dynamics.

My favourite one is Note Expression, it was introduce in Cubase 6. It offers an alternative to viewing and editing controller data on the controller lane in the key editor, the controller data can now be viewed and edited directly on individual MIDI note events. It is more logical and it offers you more musical character.

It means each note and its controller data are treated as a unit.

The Expression maps help you work with musical articulations. I.e. how they should perform on a given instrument. You can specify if an instrument is bowed (not plucked), a trumpet muted (not played open), and so on.
In Cubase when you select an Expression Map for a MIDI Instrument track, the articulations (sounds) defined in the map are automatically applied during playback.

And finally the VST Dynamics, with this feature all the dynamics from the score editor are also available in the new Articulations/Dynamics Lane in the key editor. When using VST 3 instruments you get an instant acoustic feedback from parts that contain dynamics.

This technology is what really makes the difference!

Best regards,
GN
 
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