User manual

392
Working with System Exclusive messages
Transmitting a bulk dump back to a device
1. Make sure the MIDI track with the System Exclusive
data is routed to the device.
You may want to check your device’s documentation to find details about
which MIDI channel should be used, etc.
2. Solo the track.
This might not be necessary, but it is a good safety measure.
3. Make sure the device is set up to receive SysEx mes-
sages (often, receiving SysEx is turned off by default).
4. If necessary, put the device in “Standby to Receive
System Exclusive” mode.
5. Play back the data.
Some advice
• Don't transmit more data than you need. If all you want is a sin-
gle program, don't send them all, it will only make it harder to
find the one you want. Usually, you can specify exactly what
you want to send.
• If you want the sequencer to dump the pertinent sounds to
your instrument each time you load a project, put the SysEx
data in a silent “count-in” before the project itself starts.
• If the dump is very short (for instance, a single sound) you can
put it in the middle of the project to re-program a device on the
fly. However, you can achieve the same effect by using Program
Change. This is definitely preferable, since less MIDI data is
sent and recorded. Some devices may be set up to dump the
settings for a sound as soon as you select it on the front panel.
• If you create parts with useful “SysEx dumps”, you can put
these on a special muted track. When you want to use one of
them, drag it to an empty unmuted track and play it back from
there.
• Do not transmit several SysEx dumps to several instruments at
the same time.
• Make a note of the current device ID setting of the instrument.
If you change this, the instrument may refuse to load the dump
later.
Recording System Exclusive
parameter changes
Often you can use SysEx to remotely change individual
settings in a device, e.g. open a filter, select a waveform,
change the decay of the reverb etc. Many devices are also
capable of transmitting changes made on the front panel
as SysEx messages. These can be recorded in Cubase,
and thus incorporated into a regular MIDI recording.
Here's how it works: let's say you open up a filter while
playing some notes. In that case, you will record both the
notes and the SysEx messages generated when you
opened of the filter. When you play it back, the sound
changes exactly like it did when you recorded it.
1. Open the Preferences dialog from the File menu, se-
lect the MIDI–MIDI Filter page and make sure that SysEx is
recorded, i.e. the Sysex checkbox in the Record section is
deactivated.
2. Make sure the instrument is actually set to transmit
changes of front panel controls as SysEx messages.
3. Record normally.
When you’re done, you can check that the events were recorded pro-
perly in the List Editor.