soens
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Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
Like Sonar, Cubase uses instrument definitions, called "patchnames" for use with your hardware synth. They are standard TXT files and are found in the C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\Steinberg\Cubase\Scripts\patchnames folder. Any files you create must go in the Inactive folder to work. C:\Program Folders\Steinberg\Cubase\Scripts\patchnames seems to be a dummy folder as nothing I put there shows up in Cubase. You can write your own files or here's a utility that can convert Sonar .ins files to Cubase formatted .txt files. Tho it may not work for some hardware it worked for me. From there just follow the instructions here to set them up in Cubase. My synth has 10 banks of 10 voices each arranged in random order. This utility rearranges them by instrument. If you'd rather have the patchnames in the same order as they are in your synth you'll have to do some cutting and pasting after the file is created.
post edited by soens - 2017/12/21 21:36:17
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Markubl2
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/21 19:53:49
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Just finished the process of writing definition files for my hardware (FA-08, Moog Slim, Integra-7 and Nord A1). Time consuming, but fairly easy. I've actually found the Cubase support of external hardware is more robust than Sonar's.
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soens
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/21 21:34:37
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I find it's not 100%. Some voices don't respond right. Some will play the wrong sound and even tho can be corrected while in Play mode, after Stopping will revert back to the wrong sound. Seems to be a major bug with some synths.
Never had this issue with Sonar.
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Markubl2
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/21 21:41:58
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Is it only on some of your presets? Does it choose the wrong (same) sound each time you choose it?
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soens
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/22 06:25:36
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Seems to be the same voice but I don't even recognize the sound so not sure what's going on.
post edited by soens - 2017/12/22 08:38:46
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soens
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/24 11:02:01
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As I posted elsewhere, Studio One and Mixcraft MIDI hardware synth control seems to be a bit more flexible.
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anydmusic
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/24 15:13:28
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husker
Just finished the process of writing definition files for my hardware (FA-08, Moog Slim, Integra-7 and Nord A1). Time consuming, but fairly easy. I've actually found the Cubase support of external hardware is more robust than Sonar's.
Halfway through mine completed a Proteus FX, Akai SG01p and an Evolution EVS-1, Still need to do a Kawai K1-II, Casio VZ-8m, Alesis D4 and POD. All old, and not used as much as they were but personally I still enjoy working with MIDI Hardware. Working on the SG01p I notice the ability to group in levels which is neat. Reading the documentation it looks like you can store sounds on different ways so I could organise by Bank AND Sound Type, I'm going to try that on the FX later. Based on what I have seen it makes sense to create the Patch Names by Bank first. I do wish the documentation was better on this. The setup process is about as hard/easy as Sonar's but if I can create different views this seems to add a level of flexibility that Sonar does no have.
Graham Windows 10 64 bit - Intel i7-4790, 16GB, 2 x 256GB SSD Cubase 9.5 Sonar Platinum (Rapture Pro, Z3TA 2, CA2A, plus some other bits) Delta 24/96, UAD 1, UA25 EX, 2 x MidiSport, IKMultiMedia - (SampleTank 3, Miroslav 2, Syntronik, TRacks 5, Modo Bass), Band In A Box, Sound Quest, VS Pro, Kinetic, Acid, Sound Forge, Jammer Waves MaxxVolume, IR 1, Aphex Enhancer, Abbey Plates Korg Legacy, VStation, Bass Station
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bvideo
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/24 17:41:36
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The .txt files with patch names do offer some flexibility for organizing patches, but they don't represent the full flexibility of Cubase's patch & bank operations. For example, Cubase can configure very non-standard bank select commands, even sysex, through the device GUI. It's very laborious, as far as I can tell, because it needs to be manually configured for each patch. It is possible to export, edit, and then import an XML file that represents these commands, but still laborious and time consuming. The .txt files can only encapsulate standard MIDI bank change data.
Cubase also provides a means to design custom panels with faders knobs and switches. But I have not figured out yet how to get a new .txt file of patches into the device without losing the panels.
W10 pro, Sonar Platinum, Alesis Multimix 16 FW, MOTU Express 128, Gigabyte Z370 HD3P, i7 8700K, 16 Gigs, ssd + 2 X 2T disks, D50-MEX, JV80, A90EX, M1REX
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anydmusic
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/24 21:02:06
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bvideo
...
Cubase also provides a means to design custom panels with faders knobs and switches. But I have not figured out yet how to get a new .txt file of patches into the device without losing the panels.
Ha a real quick look at the panels and it is something that I will go back to. It looked a bit like the StudioWare that was once part of Sonar.
Graham Windows 10 64 bit - Intel i7-4790, 16GB, 2 x 256GB SSD Cubase 9.5 Sonar Platinum (Rapture Pro, Z3TA 2, CA2A, plus some other bits) Delta 24/96, UAD 1, UA25 EX, 2 x MidiSport, IKMultiMedia - (SampleTank 3, Miroslav 2, Syntronik, TRacks 5, Modo Bass), Band In A Box, Sound Quest, VS Pro, Kinetic, Acid, Sound Forge, Jammer Waves MaxxVolume, IR 1, Aphex Enhancer, Abbey Plates Korg Legacy, VStation, Bass Station
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Markubl2
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Re: Cubase Instrument Definitions - How To
2017/12/24 22:11:37
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anydmusic
Halfway through mine completed a Proteus FX, Akai SG01p and an Evolution EVS-1, Still need to do a Kawai K1-II, Casio VZ-8m, Alesis D4 and POD. All old, and not used as much as they were but personally I still enjoy working with MIDI Hardware.
Working on the SG01p I notice the ability to group in levels which is neat. Reading the documentation it looks like you can store sounds on different ways so I could organise by Bank AND Sound Type, I'm going to try that on the FX later. Based on what I have seen it makes sense to create the Patch Names by Bank first. I do wish the documentation was better on this.
The setup process is about as hard/easy as Sonar's but if I can create different views this seems to add a level of flexibility that Sonar does no have.
The grouping is VERY useful - I used it extensively while making my scripts. Most of the patch files I found were grouped by sound type (PCM, SuperNatural, etc.) but I wanted mine grouped by instrument (synth pad, acoustic piano, strings, etc). It took a bit of time, but I'm glad to have the flexibility. I made one xml script that included a panel, but it was more for testing than anything. If anyone wants to see the scripts I made, just PM me. They may help someone.
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