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MONTAGE Series Synthesizers
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Topic starter
I've started using Cubase's Chord Pads to work on learning jazz harmony, something that has previously been beyond me. Those 11th and 13th chords may finally start to make sense to me.
Yesterday I was trying some different Cubase project configurations and ran into some really odd MIDI behavior. I think I may have it figured out, but what I figured out is so weird that I'd like to check with someone who knows.
Specifically, I was trying to use the Input Transformer on a MIDI track to filter out certain channels. I was playing lead with my right hand and hitting Chord Pad remote control keys with my left hand. I wanted to filter out the lead instrument and only record the chords.
I discovered that the notes I played with my right hand on the higher end of the keyboard were recorded as coming from channel 16, even though the Montage was sending them on channel 8. The notes of the chords played via the Chord Pads were coming in on channels 1-x, where x is the number of notes in that chord, one note per channel.
So I set up the Input Transformer to filter out channel 16. It didn't work. I've used the Input Transformer a lot, and I know what I'm doing with it, but in this situation it didn't filter anything. I also had it set up to filter out channel 8, just in case. That didn't work either.
I'm thinking that the Chord Pads must be routed in a special way such that the MIDI generated comes in to the track downstream from the Input Transformer. That theory fits what I'm seeing, but it seems like an odd way for things to be set up. So I'm wondering if I've really figured things out correctly.
I also don't understand why the notes I played for the lead ended up on channel 16, since that's clearly not what the Montage was sending.
I asked about this on the Steinberg forum, but as is often the case there I didn't get any responses. So I'm hoping that someone around here who knows the answer will take pity on me and tell me what's going on.
Posted : 01/09/2017 12:29 am
https://www.steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=72619
manual:
... if chord pads are splitting up by pitch, I wonder if Montage sending multiple MIDI notes in a multi-PART performance (assuming you have MIDI mode = multi channel and not single) may be filling up spots.
I haven't taken a look at chord pads in Cubase - but if it does this:
Bass = Midi Channel 1
Tenor = Midi Channel 2
Alto = Midi Channel 3
Soprano = Midi Channel 4
Then perhaps if you have a multi-part performance with 4 parts - then when you play a 4-note chord, Montage actually sends 4 (of the same) bass notes, 4 (of the same) Tenor notes and so on.
So perhaps Cubase will reconfigure as:
Bass (part 1) = Midi Channel 1
Bass (part 2) = Midi Channel 2
Bass (part 3) = Midi Channel 3
Bass (part 4) = Midi Channel 4
Tenor (part 1) = Midi Channel 5
Tenor (part 2) = Midi Channel 6
Tenor (part 3) = Midi Channel 7
Tenor (part 4) = Midi Channel 8
...
Soprano (part 4) = Midi Channel 16
,,, or some such re-channelizing.
Posted : 01/09/2017 6:37 am
Posted : 01/09/2017 3:24 pm
Topic starter
Thanks, Jason and Bad Mister.
Thanks to a combination of what you guys posted and my own grim determination to get Cubase and my Montage to do what I wanted them to do, I finally have things working. It was a long road.
I solved the problem of the Input Transformer not working with Chord Pads by using Zones on my Montage. I split the keyboard into a lower zone transmitting on Channel 1, and an upper zone transmitting on Channel 8. While I don't know the details of how Cubase routes MIDI to and from the Chord Pads, this trick brings the MIDI in upstream of the Input Transformer. So now I can use the Input Transformer with Chord Pads active.
In Cubase, there is a MIDI track setting in the Chords Inspector for "Player." I have the Player for the MIDI track that's supposed to respond to the Chord Pads set to "Piano." I have the Player for the lead MIDI track (that should not respond to the Chord Pads) set to "None." (I'm not in front of my music rig right now, so those settings may not be exactly what you'll see, but they're close enough that it should be obvious.)
So now I can play lead in the right part of the keyboard and hit single notes in the left part of the keyboard to trigger chords from the Chord Pads. And when I record, the chords get recorded into one track, and the lead gets recorded into the other track. Previously, everything was getting recorded into both tracks, which was a pain, and that was the problem I was determined to solve.
I don't know if this will be useful to anyone else, but I'm attaching a zip file containing the Cubase project and an X7B of the Montage Performance. If anyone gets into this and finds ways to improve it, I'd be happy to hear about it.
And finally, this would have been so much easier if there had been documentation available of how of how Cubase routes MIDI internally. Forcing users to "reverse engineer" what's going on is a distraction from music, and most musicians do not have the kind of software engineering background that I can bring to bear on something like this. Steinberg really ought to provide the necessary information to those of us who are serious about learning to use Cubase at an expert level.
Posted : 03/09/2017 8:17 pm
