User manual

79
Recording
MIDI recording specifics
Activating MIDI Thru
Normally, when working with MIDI, you will have MIDI Thru
activated in Cubase, and Local Off selected in your MIDI
Instrument(s). In this mode, everything you play during re-
cording will be “echoed” back out again on the MIDI out-
put and channel selected for the recording track.
1. Make sure the option “MIDI Thru Active” is activated in
the Preferences (MIDI page).
2. Record enable the track(s) on which you want to
record.
Now, incoming MIDI is “echoed” back out again for all record-enabled
MIDI tracks.
Ö If you just want to use the Thru function for a MIDI
track without recording, activate the monitor button for the
track instead.
This is useful e.g. if you want to try out different sounds or play a VST
instrument in real time without recording your playing.
Setting MIDI channel, input and output
Setting the MIDI channel in the instrument
Most MIDI synthesizers can play several sounds at the
same time, each on a different MIDI channel. This is the
key to playing back several sounds (bass, piano etc.) from
the same instrument. Some devices (such as General
MIDI compatible sound modules) always receive on all 16
MIDI channels. If you have such an instrument, there’s no
specific setting you need to make in the instrument. On
other instruments, you will have to use the front panel con-
trols to set up a number of “Parts”, “Timbres” or similar so
that they receive on one MIDI channel each. See the man-
ual that came with your instrument for more information.
Naming MIDI ports in Cubase
MIDI inputs and outputs are often displayed with unneces-
sarily long and complicated names. However, you can re-
name your MIDI ports to more descriptive names:
1. Open the Device Setup dialog from the Devices menu.
2. Select the MIDI Port Setup item in the Device list.
The available MIDI inputs and outputs are listed. Under Windows, which
device to choose depends on your system.
3. To change the name of a MIDI port, click in the “Show
As” column and type in a new name.
After closing the dialog, the new name will appear on the MIDI Input and
Output Routing pop-up menus.
Setting the MIDI input in the Inspector
You select MIDI inputs for tracks in the Inspector (the area
to the left of the Track list in the Project window):
1. If the Inspector is hidden, click the Show Inspector
button on the toolbar.
2. Select the track(s) by clicking in the Track list.
To select multiple tracks, press [Shift] or [Ctrl]/[Command] and click. The
Inspector shows the settings for the first selected track (for details, see
“The Inspector” on page 29).
3. Click the track name in the Inspector to make sure the
topmost section is shown.
Record Enable button
Monitor button