KS problem

[sosmus]

I put the KS notes in a trumpet part, use blank notation and it sounds fine while working on the score. However, when I put the midi file in Cubase, those notes sound. Why? What do I do to keep a Harmon or Bucket but not those basso notes?
sosmus

[buckshead]

I don 't understand this at all!

I have both JABB and GPO with KP2. First there are no samples with these notes that can be playing, check this by looking at the keyboard in KP2. Those notes with samples are coloured blue, the keyswitches are re and dont overlap. Try playing the notes on this keyboard. The uncoloured keys shouldn't sound, they don't on my set up.

Are you sure that the sound is not coming from elsewhere. The track set to a GM player would play all the notes because they are not samples, its an easy mistake to make.

You are, I imagine, allowing for the variation between notation and concert pitch. Are you putting the KS notes on the right octave. Its just possible

Have you set the midi transpose to play an octave high ? even then there are no samples to sound the low note.

I suggest that you've probably missed something obvious but I cant think what that can be. Hope that this is some help.

[sosmus]

Derek:


I have both JABB and GPO with KP2. I am using Kontakt 2, not KP2.
First there are no samples with these notes that can be playing, check this by looking at the keyboard in KP2. Those notes with samples are coloured blue, the keyswitches are re and dont overlap. Try playing the notes on this keyboard. The uncoloured keys shouldn't sound, they don't on my set up.I will give your suggestion a try and let you know.


Are you sure that the sound is not coming from elsewhere. The track set to a GM player would play all the notes because they are not samples, its an easy mistake to make.I'm not sure. You've lost me.


You are, I imagine, allowing for the variation between notation and concert pitch.
Are you putting the KS notes on the right octave. Its just possible
Have you set the midi transpose to play an octave high ? even then there are no samples to sound the low note.I am carefully doing everything in concert pitch, and double checked the GJBB Manual to make sure I'm in the correct octave.



I suggest that you've probably missed something obvious but I cant think what that can be. Hope that this is some help.Considering my lack of experience and knowledge, this is a distinct possiblity.

Thanks for you help.
Steve

[buckshead]

"The sound is coming from somewhere else. "

If you have a sound card that can play the General Midi sound set then you get a choice of sound sources shown in "The Inspector" in Cubase. If you dont choose Kontakt here as your source, the default setting (GM source) will play back for you, although it might not play a trumpet sound.

Are you sure that you are setting the Kontakt as the sound source ?

[sosmus]

Derek:


If you have a sound card that can play the General Midi sound set then you get a choice of sound sources shown in "The Inspector" in Cubase. If you dont choose Kontakt here as your source, the default setting (GM source) will play back for you, although it might not play a trumpet sound.
It sounds like a tuba or some other instrument that plays in that register. Please excuse my ignorance but where is "The Inspector" in Cubase. This is a brand new program for me, as well as a brand "thing" for me to learn.

Are you sure that you are setting the Kontakt as the sound source
No, I am not. How do I do this?
Most of the people on the forum trying to help me use Sonar. I am trying to learn Cubase on a Mac so I'm "lost at sea."
Thanks for your patience.
Steve

[buckshead]

Which version of Cubase are you using ?

[HongKongCV]

SOSMUS, if I understand what you're asking correctly, Garritan has a Tutorial on how to use GPO voices in Cubase, and it can be found here:
http://www.garritan.com/tutorial/GPO-SXtutorial.htm

It was actually written for the pre-kontakt2 version, so basically what you need to do is substitute Kontakt2 where it says PersonalOrchestraVST.

By assigning the Out to Kontakt2, it should play correctly and recognize the KS... assuming you chose one of the KS patches.

[buckshead]

I'm sure this is Cubase problem, lets try starting with a clean sheet a find out whats gone wrong.

Open Cubase and start a new project.
Set a track to play midi.
Open the VST instrument inserts under "Devices"
Install either KP2 or Kontakt as a VST instrument
You should now see JABB appear (it does in KP2) at the left hand side
Select the trumpet sound you want - Trumpet1 KS say
This should now load in Kontakt.
Now in KP2 there is a tab at the top called "Keyboard". This shows a small keyboard at the bottom of the insert, with the keys slightly coloured, blue for notes, red for keyswitches. Playing the keyboard with the mouse will let you hear the sounds, the keyswitches also work.

If you cant hear anything then Kontakt or KP2 hasnt been set up to send the signal to your soundcard.

If you can hear sound, then close the player and go to the midi track.
The inspector is the column on the left of the tracks. Select your track and a box in the inspector will show which sound source you are using, it will drop down to give you a list, select Kontakt (or whatever it appears as).

Cubase can play any number of different VST instruments at the same time so it needs to connect the instrument to the track.

Press Ctrl + E to open the piano roll editor. using the pencil tool draw in some notes, they should play as you do this. enter also the keyswitches.

Once you have done this press play and you should be able to hear the JABB trumpet. Ctrl + W closes this window

I saw a thread last week where it was pointed out that notation programmes often write unnecessary commands to the file that Cubase doesnt want.

Practise removing these - open List Editor - all the midi instructions are written out. using the Filter remove all the notes (just tick the box marked notes) - this varies depending on the version of Cubase but it should be reasonably obvious which is which. You are then left just with the commands and programme changes. These can be erased but you probably loose information that you want to keep.

However try this as a start and see if it helps.

I'm sure that your problem is that you are not setting the playback to the Kontakt player and that you are hearing your soundcard playing GM notes
which is the default setting on installation

[sosmus]

It was actually written for the pre-kontakt2 version, so basically what you need to do is substitute Kontakt2 where it says PersonalOrchestraVST.
By assigning the Out to Kontakt2, it should play correctly and recognize the KS... assuming you chose one of the KS patches.
HongKongCV:
Thank you for your input. Can I assume that the tutorial with apply equally to GJBB and GPO?
Steve

[sosmus]

Derek:
I (am trying to) use Cubase Studio 4.

Open Cubase and start a new project.
Set a track to play midi.This may be the problem right up front.
I turn my Finale score into a midi file and also a WAV file. I open Cubase and import both of these. I have not, nor do I know how to, set up tracks for midi before I load the scores (instruments."
I am going to print out your instructions to do as you instruct and see what happens. However, before I can do any of this, I need to know how to set up the above mentioned track to play midi.
Your grateful student,
Steve

[HongKongCV]

SOSMUS, I use Cubase SX3. The process to assign a VST instrument is basic, but should be common to all. First you define the VST instrument, then you assign the MIDI track to use it. That's all the tutorial that I linked to covers.


As to your other question, if you import a pre-existing midi file into a project, Cubase automatically creates a MIDI track to contain it. At that point you should just have to define the VST instrument and then assign the track to use it.

I do something similar, develop the scores in a notation program, then import the MIDI into Cubase and use the GPO instrments.

[sosmus]

HongKongCV:
Got it! It's nice to see that I'm not too far off the mark.
Slowly the fog is lifting and I'm beginning to see some daylight--whew!
I really appreciate your help.

sosmus (Steve)

[buckshead]

Probably best not to import midi and wav, thats rather overkill, you only the midi file if you want to alter things like volume, velocity, sustain or any other CC control, this then needs to play back in JABB.

The wav file is already recorded so you dont need Kontakt running at all. I'm not sure what you intend to do with the wav file in Cubase unless its editing and mixing.

I usually record each track separately to wav and then mix these. In fact I 'm not sure why you need a separate notation programme at all. It can all be done in Cubase - unless you want pretty print outs - which I dont

[sosmus]

Buckshead:

The wav file is already recorded so you dont need Kontakt running at all. I'm not sure what you intend to do with the wav file in Cubase unless its editing and mixing.Danny Williams tried to tell me this but I didn't really understand at the time. I thought the whole point of entering the score (both wav and midi) was to able to edit and mix. I'm still a little confused about that.

I usually record each track separately to wav and then mix these. In fact I 'm not sure why you need a separate notation programme at all. It can all be done in Cubase - unless you want pretty print outs - which I dontEverything I have done and am going to do is eventually played by a live group plus I've never worked with a sequencer alone. By each track, do you mean enter each instrument individually? My scores are usually for 5 saxes, 4/5 trpts/4/5 trmbs/drums(GRR!)bass, piano, guitar and sometimes vibes. I also do rather large orchestral scores.
It is really helpful to communicate with some one that is knowledgeable about Cubase, thanks.
sosmus

[buckshead]

Your original problem, Cubase not playing keyswitchs - if ou've imported both midi and wav files, are you playing both back at the same time ?

Moving on
I'm trying to understand exactly what you are trying to do.
You are scoring for a large ensemble using notation software and this will output both wav and mid files.

Does the wav file contain all the parts, that is, is it a mixdown ? If so what are you hoping to achieve by placing the file in Cubase.
A single file can be edited - levels adjusted, reverb added, compression applied etc
If your notation programme can output each instrument as a wav file then Cubase can re-mix the volume levels of the tracks. You can import each file then play back all at once and, with the mixer open and audio files visible, you can record and alter the levels of each track independently, bringing up solos and reducing tuttis as you go. You can run backwards and forwards making alterations to the levels, pans etc.

If you import the midi file in Cubase then JABB can be loaded (see earlier posts) and will replay the midi data, you dont need the wav file at all.
All of the data in the midi file can be edited, you can shorten, lengthen notes adjust volume, attack, decay, sustain, vibrato, tremolo, in trumpets falloff, doits and kisses etc. You can edit line by line, note by note or by playing along with the music.

You wrote in another thread about cymbal sounds, you can extract the cymbal sound to a separate track and adjust the level of that one sound without affecting the other drums. You can use this separate track to drive a cymbal from a different sound set, or you could insert a single sample of a cymbal as a wav file using the position marked in the midi file.

You can do almost anything you can think of when you edit this way, but it takes time and patience to find all the possibilities.

If you have a specific problem you can pm me and i will try to solve it for you

[sosmus]

Your original problem, Cubase not playing keyswitchs - if ou've imported both midi and wav files, are you playing both back at the same time ?Yes.



Moving on
I'm trying to understand exactly what you are trying to do. Make realistic mp3's for demo's or rehearsals.

You are scoring for a large ensemble using notation software and this will output both wav and mid files.I write my scores using Finale and then turn my Finale files into WAV and midi files.


Does the wav file contain all the parts?Yes.


is, is it a mixdown ? Not sure.


All of the data in the midi file can be edited, you can shorten, lengthen notIf so what are you hoping to achieve by placing the file in Cubase.
A single file can be edited - levels adjusted, reverb added, compression applied etc


If your notation programme can output each instrument as a wav file then Cubase can re-mix the volume levels of the tracks. You can import each file then play back all at once and, with the mixer open and audio files visible, you can record and alter the levels of each track independently, bringing up solos and reducing tuttis as you go. You can run backwards and forwards making alterations to the levels, pans etc.

If you import the midi file in Cubase then JABB can be loaded (see earlier posts) and will replay the midi data, you dont need the wav file at all.es adjust volume, attack, decay, sustain, vibrato, tremolo, in trumpets falloff, doits and kisses etc. You can edit line by line, note by note or by playing along with the music.Are you saying that I should make separate tracks for each of my instruments and then load them into Cubase one at a time, editing as I go?


You wrote in another thread about cymbal sounds, you can extract the cymbal sound to a separate track and adjust the level of that one sound without affecting the other drums. You can use this separate track to drive a cymbal from a different sound set, or you could insert a single sample of a cymbal as a wav file using the position marked in the midi file.I have NI Battery 3 but do not know how to use it.
I apologize for my ignorance and lack of experience in this area. My aim is to able after writing my arrangements to then make a good sounding mp3.
I can get reasonable results just using Finale and SmartMusicSoftSynth but after hearing those great and realistic sounds that the other Forum members are achieving using sequencers, I thought I would like to try it.
I want to thank you for all of your help but I don't want to waste anymore of your time.
sosmus

[buckshead]

I don't think that any of us believe we are wasting our time when we try to answer each others queries. I know that I find it very satisfying if I can help, I get a lot out of reading the replies to other queries.

if i thought I was wasting my time I wouldn't reply

So feel free anytime, its why wer'e on the forum I'm sure.http://northernsounds.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[sosmus]

Derek:
Thank you for being so patient and understanding. It is very frustrating for me when I can't seem to grasp simple and/or obvious operating procedures, especially in light of the fact that I taught theory/composition and arranging for 35 years.

I wish there was some one here that knew Macs, Finale, NIs, GJBB, GPO and Cubase so that I could have some "hands on" teaching.
I am using the guide you provided and it has really been a big help. I still have questions but I feel with enough trail and error I may be able to figure out some answers myself.
So much to learn and so little time!

Steve