Korg Forums

Is anyone else using Cubase with their Pa2x or Pa800? If so would you be willing to help me resolve a few problems I am facing? The reason I am using Cubase is that I recently bought a Yamaha N8 mixer which has some neat functions integrated with Cubase 4 AI. I'm OK with the audio recording etc.

I need to capture MIDI as well ... prior to mix down of the keyboard tracks. The Pa2x is in Style Play mode. I can't get Cubase to record in multiple MIDI tracks, it stuffs all the notes into the same track, despite me arming 8 separate tracks on different MIDi channels. And when I play back it plays all the notes using the same channel on the Pa2x. Urghh! I realize I may be doing something wrong .... but the Cubase documentation is awful. There is no explanation at all of how to accomplish multi-track simultaneous MIDI recording.

My objective is to record in Style Play mode and when I play back I want to hear exactly the same sounds and backings as the Pa2x played at the time of recording! I want separate tracks in Cubase to correspond to each track on the Pa2x. If anyone can give me a step by step guide then I'd be really grateful.

Many thanks,
Rob

Hello Rob,

I'm far from an expert on Cubase, but I think what you're after is the "Dissolve Part" function (page 160 in the Cubase AI4 manual).

Cubase records everything into one track, and by dissolving it, you break out all the midi channels.

Rob, its something i usually do probably on a daily basis with Cubase,
the easiest and fastest way is to Dissolve after recording. MultiRecording
from Style Mode sux since all 3 Uppers are on 1 Midi Channel and then
even if you fix the rest by 9 Bass, 10 Drums and so on it wont work, you'll
have to arm and edit Cubase itself for MultiTrack recording.
And the best way i think it is is do it in Backing at the same time you recording
your audio or separate, then at least you can export it as a regular MIDI and
work on it with Cubase. I dont know exactly what version AI allows you to do
since i am working on Cubase 5 but it has to be similar.

Hi abo59 and Nedim,

Thanks a lot for your help. The "dissolve part" function is what I needed I think. I also found on the Steinberg web site that there is a time stamp option under the MIDI device menu that I should enable.

Regarding the UPPER1, UPPER2 and UPPER3 "problem" I think I can fix this by setting the MIDI OUT and MIDI IN channel mapping on the Pa2x so these three tracks output and input on Ch1, Ch2 and Ch3 instead of the default which is that they all output and input on Ch1.

Another alternative might be to capture Ch1 only and then set MIDI IN Ch1 to "Global" on the Pa2x MIDI Input map. This then causes the Ch1 track to play UPPER1, UPPER2 and UPPER3 simultaneously.

The reason I want to capture MIDI on Cubase instead of recording on the Pa2x is because I have to synchronise the recording with audio being captured at the same time from vocals and two guitars. I want to keep everything in sync. I'm concerned that if I capture audio on Cubase and MIDI into a file on the Pa2x, then I will have a timing problem later on. If there is a solution to the timing problem please let me know?

Do either of you have a config file for Cubase that you can email to me, to set up the patch names and banks in Cubase the same as the Pa2x / Pa800?

Thanks again,
Rob

I have an XML file for PA800 but i dont know if it is correct cuz it was made for
OS 1.5, i dont know how correct it is with PA2X/800 OS 2.0.
The timing thing its easy, at least for me, even if i was doing MIDI and AUDIO
the same and MIDI in Backing (which is the best way). You Synchronize
Cubase and PA, your choice is which one is a Master. Once you hit Rec in one
of them they both go, in PA you have the MIDI going and in CUBASE Audio.
After you done and import the same MIDI in Cubase you'll be in perfect timing
but i still dont understand under what circumstances you would need that in
a same project. If you shed some light on it there might be another solution.

Oh, i reread your post now again, i understand better, what you actually trying
to do is i think the Conventional way of actually recording a song.
1. Way is still what i described above.
2. Second way can be the PRO recording method, where you actually first
record in Backing, then import in Cubase as a MIDI or record MIDI directly
from PA without exporting and then add Audio tracks.
3. Which i think it might be something you wanna do LIVE with all playing at
once still, i personally see no reason for Audio and MIDI capture at the same
time...but, the Synchronize method can work still work for this too.

Hi Rob

please try to check the inspector of cubase.
Normally each Midi-record-Track has one Midi-Channel.
So look, if you can set in the inspecter, ALL OR POLY OR Multi.
So that cubase can make a complete Midi-recording of all channals.

Update:

Breakthrough 1: Setting the MIDI time stamp option "on" in Cubase. It was off by default and synchronization and timing was seriously bad.

Breakthrough 2: Setting the track status on one track to "All" to allow the track to capture all MIDi channels and play them back on correct channels.

Breakthrough 3: Using "Dissolve Part" to split the recorded multi-channel track into separate tracks each with one MIDI channel.

I would still be most grateful for a config file for Cubase that anyone can email to me, to set up the patch names and banks in Cubase the same as the Pa2x / Pa800?

I think the way Cubase handles multi-channel MIDI recording is a design fault. It is completely counter-intuitive and doesn't even work the same way as Audio multi-channel recording in Cubase.

Regards,
Rob

Hi Rob
I am a 45 years old Black smith and musician
I use cubase 5 with my old Korg Pa1, and for me it nearly works perfectly.
I have tried a couple of sequencer. And I would say cubase is one of the best to handled midi.
Special I love the input/transformer, you can nearly transform or filter all kind of midi data
Also the midi device manager is a great thing. Can’t find anything like this in other sequencer.
So for me Cubase works very well with multi midi recording.
I would more say korg have got a problem since they changed the local off settings.
But I remember we have discussed it for 2 years ago
Sorry to say, but I don’t think you can do it the same way with Cubase 4 AI.

Best regards
Ole B

I think Ole is right, i dont know if Cubase AI has the IT on it and also few
other things that make life easier...Cubase was always the best, it has been
my only DAW since Cubase 3.7, back in 1997-1998...i own a Pro Tools HD3
which usually sits for nothing, i still do everything in Cubase, no better MIDI
Application exist yet...and its also the easiest to use with the most features.

Thank you all for your help so far, and please forgive me for the flow of questions. Three more questions, I'm afraid:

Ive been succeeding with multi track audio recordings in Cubase 4 AI and we have a number of songs laid down now. The recording format is 44.1 KHz and 24 bit. The recordings all play back fine in multi-track mode (there are two stereo tracks and four mono tracks playing back simultaneously). PS After much trial and error I discovered that I have to disable the WLAN adapter because otherwise the WLAN interrupts the Firewire link to the N8.

Question 1, re MP3 export:

I installed the $15 "upgrade" from Steinberg to export as MP3. Since it was installed, the export/mix down option no longer works at all. I can't save as AIFF, WMA or any of the formats that did work before the MP3 addon was loaded. And there is no MP3 option shown in the export menu.

Just to confirm details, I have set the start and end region markers, I use the "mix down" option on the File menu, I select say WMA as the format and then click on export, and I then get an error message saying the format is unsupported. Prior to installing the MP3 add on, Cubase was successfully able to export as WMA, WMF, AIFF etc.

I can still do hardware based mix-downs using the N8 and then resampling the stereo output bus, resulting in a 24-bit 44.1 KHz sampled stereo track which I can not play back with anything apart from Cubase.

Question 2:

The 24 bit 44.1 KHz recording format for the tracks in Cubase is unplayable by Windows Media Player, it either causes Windows Media Player to crash or it plays garbage like white noise. Is there any fix for this do you know?

Question 3:

What is the best way to produce an audio CD using Cubase's 24 bit 44.1KHz stereo tracks, so the CD will play in a conventional CD player?

Many thanks,
Rob

Rob Sherratt wrote:Thank you all for your help so far, and please forgive me for the flow of questions. Three more questions, I'm afraid:

Ive been succeeding with multi track audio recordings in Cubase 4 AI and we have a number of songs laid down now. The recording format is 44.1 KHz and 24 bit. The recordings all play back fine in multi-track mode (there are two stereo tracks and four mono tracks playing back simultaneously). PS After much trial and error I discovered that I have to disable the WLAN adapter because otherwise the WLAN interrupts the Firewire link to the N8.

Question 1, re MP3 export:

I installed the $15 "upgrade" from Steinberg to export as MP3. Since it was installed, the export/mix down option no longer works at all. I can't save as AIFF, WMA or any of the formats that did work before the MP3 addon was loaded. And there is no MP3 option shown in the export menu.

Just to confirm details, I have set the start and end region markers, I use the "mix down" option on the File menu, I select say WMA as the format and then click on export, and I then get an error message saying the format is unsupported. Prior to installing the MP3 add on, Cubase was successfully able to export as WMA, WMF, AIFF etc.

I can still do hardware based mix-downs using the N8 and then resampling the stereo output bus, resulting in a 24-bit 44.1 KHz sampled stereo track which I can not play back with anything apart from Cubase.

Question 2:

The 24 bit 44.1 KHz recording format for the tracks in Cubase is unplayable by Windows Media Player, it either causes Windows Media Player to crash or it plays garbage like white noise. Is there any fix for this do you know?

Question 3:

What is the best way to produce an audio CD using Cubase's 24 bit 44.1KHz stereo tracks, so the CD will play in a conventional CD player?

Many thanks,
Rob

Rob can't help you with Cubase, as I don't have that, but for question #2 and #3:

If you want everybody be able to play back your mixes in their car stereos, boombox..whatever, then you've got to bounce it to 16 bit, and not 24. Same thing with windows media player, unless your sound card (internal or external) actually supports 24 bit audio.

Rob,you can record midi multitrack on separate channels without use "Dissolve Parts".

Do that:

1.Open "New project" / "16 midi tracks"
2.In the right-upper part of the "inspector" you have a button called "Input transformer".Click on it and select "local".
3.In the new window ,in the upper-left part select "Channel Filtering" / Pass Ch01.
4.Activate the filter by pressing on the small circle in the left of module 1 button.Close the window.From now,only midi channel 1 will be recorded on this track.
5.Repeat the procedure for all tracks,of course,changing the midi channels filtering.

Hi Rob,
on Question 1 i cant help you much cuz its mostly something to do with them,
write the Tech Support an e-mail or if you want i'll call them from here.
2. Windows Media Player cannot play 24 Bit files, the system works on 16 Bit.
3. There is no such a Best Way but after everything recorded it should be mixed
and mastered a little, dont try to achieve LOUD volume, its useless.
When Exporting has to be Exported to 16 Bit Wave otherwise it wont work on
a conventional CD. Also before Exporting use Dithering on Master Channel or
however it works on Cubase AI4. Dither is usually set to 16 Bit AutoBlack.

I mean, thats a waaaayyyyy bigger topic then what i said but those are just
some basic things that we usually do and use. Try to avoid Digital Silence but
since you are doing some live Instruments i dont think you'll have that.