CM16.

vsttut

29/11/99 6:38 pm

Page 24

TUTORIAL CUBASE VST MASTERCLASS

Cubase VST
Masterclass
Part 2: Taking control
ITS

VST MASTERCLASSES IN WHICH WE DELVE INTO SOME

OF THE LESSER KNOWN AREAS OF THE PROGRAM. THIS TIME WE LOOK AT CONTROLLER
DATA AND SOME OF THE UNSPEAKABLY-WONDERFUL THINGS YOU CAN DO WITH IT...
THE SECOND IN OUR SERIES OF

IDI Controllers are a collection of 128 messages

numbered from 0-127 which are used to, er,
control various MIDI parameters. Many relate to
common music functions such as Volume (7), Pan (10)
and Modulation (1) but there are more esoteric ones as
you can see in the side panel. Many Controllers have not
been officially defined leaving the way open for new
MIDI control features to be added as and when
manufacturers think of them. Most MIDI parameters
range from 0 to 127 (a total of 128 different values), but
why not run to 100 or even up to 1,000? Its to do with
the way computers count the binary system.
Essentially, in binary its as economical to store a number
range up to 127 as it is up to 100.
When MIDI was developed, storage space was at a
premium and the 0 to 127 range was a good compromise
between required space and number range. This was
important is the early days of MIDI when the way a
synthesiser responded to messages was stored in its
ROM. Now memory is not so tight and if MIDI were to
be re-invented today it would be quite different.
However, we are left with the legacy of the limitations
and restrictions made necessary by those early systems.
However, even back then 128 different values was
deemed insufficient for some purposes, and the only
way to increase the range was to use two sets of
parameters known as the LSB (Least Significant Bit) and
the MSB (Most Significant Bit). Together they offer a 14-

What you need

Mac/PC
Sufficiently powerful Mac or PC to be
running Cubase VST 4.1 /3.7. And Cubase
itself, obviously...

24 computer music

mac
pc

CD

bit number range comprising 16,384 (2 14) different values.

If this extra resolution is not required, only the MSB is
used and the receiving instrument assumes that the LSB
is 0. Controllers 32 to 63 are actually the LSB of
Controllers 0 to 31.
Some parameters such as Bank Select require two
Controllers and its possible to make fine adjustments to
other Controller such as Modulation and Pan, for
example, by using the LSB. However, you may not notice
much of a difference and not all equipment will respond
successfully to such small changes.
Its also worth noting that, although it goes against
the rules, some manufacturers use Controllers to
perform specific functions on their own equipment. One
example is StudioMix (reviewed in issue 8), the hardware
controller for Cakewalk, which controls the program via,
unsurprisingly, Controllers.
Also, note well that not all equipment supports all
Controllers. Some of the undefined Controllers (from 70
to 79, for example) are used by some manufacturers to
control similar types of effect.

Volume vs Expression
Chances are, if you think about making volume
adjustments to a part to set different volume levels or
create fades, for example, you think of using Volume
data. Thats what its for after all, surely? However, in
some cases its actually better to use Expression for

CM16.vsttut

29/11/99 6:38 pm

Page 25

TUTORIAL CUBASE VST MASTERCLASS

MIDI on the net

Theres a lot out there you know...

When MIDI was developed, storage space was at a

premium and the 0 to 127 range was a good compromise
between required space and number range...
MIDI Controllers
The definitive list of all those confusing controller numbers...

If youre a bit confused about MIDI controllers

then youd best get some back issues of
Computer Music (see p89). As theyre selling
out so quickly, you may want to try the
following web sites:
www.midifarm.com contains MIDI files, loads
of background history, news and software.
www.ping.at/users/akainz/midimani.htm a
lighter site with lots of great links.
www.midiweb.com won loads of awards
with sections for net jamming among others.

volume changes within a music part. Heres why...

Lets say you use Volume to create a fade out in a
track, but when you play the piece back in its entirety
the track is too loud in comparison with the others.
What do you do? You plonk a Volume change
instruction at the beginning of the track to reduce the
volume. It sounds great until the fade when the volume
jumps up again before it fades out. To get this right you
have to reduce the level all the fade data. Which is fine
unless you want to adjust the level up a bit when you
have to do it all again.
The solution is to use a master Volume instruction at
the start of the track to set the overall volume level and
to use Expression to create internal volume changes. The
fade will then always be at a level relative to the overall
volume. Over the page we show you how to transform
one type of data into another.

Open the gates

Extremely popular these days, gate effects are based on
noise gates devices which only let through a sound if it
reaches a certain level. Gate effects use Volume or
Expression data to rapidly vary the volume level to
produce rhythmic, pumping effects. Well also show how
you can easily create your own gate effects.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42

Bank Select MSB

Modulation
Breath control
Control 3 (Old DX7 Aftertouch)
Foot control
Portamento time
Data Entry MSB
Main Volume
Balance
Control 9
Pan
Expression
Control 12
Control 13
Control 14
Control 15
General Purpose 1
General Purpose 2
General Purpose 3
General Purpose 4
Control 20
Control 21
Control 22
Control 23
Control 24
Control 25
Control 26
Control 27
Control 28
Control 29
Control 30
Control 31
Bank Select LSB
Modulation LSB
Breath control LSB
Control 35 (Controller 3 LSB)
Foot control LSB
Portamento time LSB
Data Entry LSB
Main Volume LSB
Balance LSB
Control 41 (Controller 9 LSB)
Pan LSB

43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85

Expression LSB
Control 44 (Controller 12 LSB)
Control 45 (Controller 13 LSB)
Control 46 (Controller 14 LSB)
Control 47 (Controller 15 LSB)
General Purpose 1 LSB
General Purpose 2 LSB
General Purpose 3 LSB
General Purpose 4 LSB
Control 52 (Controller 20 LSB)
Control 53 (Controller 21 LSB)
Control 54 (Controller 22 LSB)
Control 55 (Controller 23 LSB)
Control 56 (Controller 24 LSB)
Control 57 (Controller 25 LSB)
Control 58 (Controller 26 LSB)
Control 59 (Controller 27 LSB)
Control 60 (Controller 28 LSB)
Control 61 (Controller 29 LSB)
Control 62 (Controller 30 LSB)
Control 63 (Controller 31 LSB)
Sustain Pedal
Porta Pedal
Sostenuto Pedal
Soft Pedal
Legato Footswitch
Hold Pedal 2
Sound variation/exciter
Harmonic content/compressor
Release time/distortion
Attack time/equaliser
Brightness/expander/noise gate
Undefined/reverb
Undefined/delay
Undefined/pitch transpose
Undefined/flange/chorus
Undefined/special effects
General Purpose 5
General Purpose 6
General Purpose 7
General Purpose 8
Portamento control
Control 85

86 Control 86
87 Control 87
88 Control 88
89 Control 89
90 Control 90
91 Effects depth
92 Tremolo depth
93 Chorus depth
94 Phaser depth
96 Data increment
97 Data decrement
98 NRPN LSB
99 NRPN MSB
100 RPN LSB
101 RPN MSB
102 Control 102
103 Control 103
104 Control 104
105 Control 105
106 Control 106
107 Control 107
108 Control 108
109 Control 109
110 Control 110
111 Control 111
112 Control 112
113 Control 113
114 Control 114
115 Control 115
116 Control 116
117 Control 117
118 Control 118
119 Control 119
120 All sound off
121 Reset all controllers
122 Local Control
123 All notes off
124 Omni mode off
125 Omni mode on
126 Mono mode on
127 Poly mode on

computer music 25

CM16.vsttut

29/11/99 6:39 pm

Page 26

TUTORIAL CUBASE VST MASTERCLASS

Transforming Controller data (Volume to Expression)

If your MIDI arrangement uses Volume data to

make volume changes, you can get more control
over the volume by transforming it to Expression. Open
the part in the List Editor, select one of the MainVolume
entries and then Mask It from the Mask menu.

All Volume entries will be displayed, the rest being

masked out. Select All from the Edit menu. Hold
down Alt (Option on the Mac) and double-click on one
of the seven entries in the Val 1 column to open an edit
box. Enter the value 11 (Expressions Controller number).

All the MainVolume entries will be changed to

Expression and the other events will reappear. You
can do this to transform any Controller to any other. To
omit entries from the transformation, in Step 1, hold
down Ctrl and click on entries you want to preserve.

Select Reduce Cont. Data from the Functions menu.

This reduces all Continuous Controller data, so if
you dont want to thin specific data or data in another
part of the track, split the track into different parts and
select only the part you want to process.

The Data will be thinned and you will see the

difference in the editor. The thinned data will
appear more stepped. The function cannot be repeated
effectively and is intended to preserve the effect of the
Controller rather than to delete unwanted data.

In the Controller section of the dialog, use both

mouse buttons to select the Controller data your
keyboard can generate and the Controller you want to
map it to. When you adjust the Controller box, the
Mapped To box changes, too, so set the Controller first.

This can be tricky, especially for Mac users who

need to position the mouse accurately depending
on whether a click is to raise or lower the setting. A
faster alternative for both Mac and PC users is to doubleclick the parameter and type in the Controller number.

Thinning Controller Data

If lots of tracks contain lots of Controller data, it

can cause playback to glitch and stutter. You can
reduce Controller data quite severely without affecting
the way it sounds. Select an offending part. You can see
whats happening if you open it in the Key Editor, say.

Mapping Controllers

Many performance parameters are best recorded

live. The two most common are pitch bend and
modulation, but you can record other Controllers live,
too. If your keyboard doesnt have a control wheel,
Cubase can do it on the fly. Select Options>MIDI Setup.

26

computer music

CM16.vsttut

29/11/99 6:39 pm

Page 27

TUTORIAL CUBASE VST MASTERCLASS

Creating a fade

Its easy to create fades and crossfades in Cubase.

Open the part in the Key Editor (you can use the
Controller Editor if you have VST 4.0). The Snap value
determines the resolution of the data you draw in. Try 32
but you can change this for a finer or coarser resolution.

Select the Controller you want to use from the

pop-up menu. We used Expression, but you can
use Volume (see text for Volume vs Expression). Zoom in
to where you want to create the fade. Right-click and
select the Crosshairs tool (Mac users use Tools menu).

Hold down the Alt Key (Option on the Mac),

position the Crosshairs at the start of the fade,
hold down the mouse button and drag and draw a line
from the start to the end of the fade. Controller data will
be created according to the Snap resolution.

Create a fade out, as described in the previous

example, at the end of the first part. Open the
second part, here Track 4. Scroll and zoom to the start of
it. Set a suitable Snap value, select the Controller of your
choice and the Crosshairs tool.

Draw in a fade in at the beginning of the part

using the method described in the previous
example. If you now open both parts and look at them
together, you can see that one fades out as the other
fades in. The fades can be as long or a short as you like.

Weve drawn in a ramp to make it easy to see

where each chunk is. Set Quantise the same as
Snap to make it even easier to see the data. Click on the
data points to create gates with different volume
levels. Note, the low volumes dont have to be off.

To hear the effect, try the gate with a single note

using a sustained pad-type sound. Set up a loop so
you can change the gates on the fly. Try a Snap
setting of 16 for more gates. You can create all sorts cm
of patterns using gates with various levels of on.

Creating a crossfade

Its but one short step from a fade to a crossfade.

We suggest putting the fade data on separate
tracks to the note data simply for convenience, but its
not essential. Here, Tracks 1 and 3 contain the note data
and Tracks 2 and 4 the Controller data.

Creating Gate effects

We definitely recommend keeping the note and

Controller data on separate tracks, as this makes it
easier to try different gate effects with the same part.
Open the Controller part, select Expression (or Volume)
set the Snap, say to 8, and draw in a set of data.

computer music

27