User manual

391
Working with System Exclusive messages
Introduction
SysEx (System Exclusive) messages are model-specific
messages for setting various parameters of a MIDI device.
This makes it possible to address device parameters that
would not be available via normal MIDI syntax.
Every major MIDI manufacturer has its own SysEx identity
code. SysEx messages are typically used for transmitting
patch data, i.e. the numbers that make up the settings of
one or more sounds in a MIDI instrument.
Cubase allows you to record and manipulate SysEx data
in various ways. This chapter points to various features
that help you manage and create SysEx data.
(To learn about the possibilities of the MIDI Device Man-
ager for controlling your device, please refer to the sepa-
rate PDF document “MIDI Devices”.)
Bulk dumps
Recording a bulk dump in Cubase
In any programmable device, the settings are stored as
numbers in computer memory. Change those numbers,
and you will change the settings.
Normally, MIDI devices allow you to dump (transmit) all or
some settings in the device's memory in the form of MIDI
SysEx messages. A dump is therefore (among other
things) a way of making backup copies of the settings of
your instrument: sending such a dump back to the MIDI
device will restore the settings.
If your instrument allows the dumping of a few or all of its
settings via MIDI by activating some function on the front
panel, this dump will probably be recordable in Cubase.
1. Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu (on
the Mac, this is located on the Cubase menu) and select
the MIDI–MIDI Filter page.
This allows you to govern which MIDI event types should be recorded
and/or thru-put.
2. Make sure that recording of Sysex data is not filtered,
by unchecking the Sysex checkbox in the Record section.
The Sysex checkbox in the Thru section can be left as it is
(by default activated).
This way, SysEx messages will be recorded but not echoed back out to
the instrument (which may lead to unpredictable results).
3. Activate recording on a MIDI track and initiate the
dump from the front panel of the instrument.
4. When done recording, select the new part and open
the List Editor from the MIDI menu.
This allows you to check that the SysEx dump was recorded – there
should be one or several SysEx events in the part/event list.
!
If your MIDI instrument doesn’t offer a way to initiate a
dump “by itself”, you have to send a Dump Request
message from Cubase to start the dump. In that case,
use the MIDI SysEx Editor (see “Editing System Exclu-
sive messages” on page 393) to insert the specific
Dump Request message (see the instrument’s docu-
mentation) at the beginning of a MIDI track. When you
activate recording, the Dump Request message will
be played back (sent to the instrument), the dump will
start and be recorded as above.