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VST Instruments and Instrument tracks
• Due to the limitation to one output channel, instrument
tracks play only the first voice of a multi-timbral VST In-
strument. If you want to use all voices, you have to load the
instrument via the VST Instruments window and set up a
MIDI channel to play it.
Exporting instrument tracks as MIDI file
You can also export instrument tracks as standard MIDI
files, see “Exporting MIDI files” on page 259.
Please note:
• As there is no MIDI patch information in an instrument
track, this information is missing in the resulting MIDI file.
• If you activate “Export Inspector Volume/Pan”, volume
and pan information of the VST Instrument will be con-
verted and written into the MIDI file as controller data.
What do I need? Instrument channel
or Instrument track?
• If you need a particular sound without knowing which
VST Instrument to use, create an instrument track and use
the preview features to find the sound you want.
• Do likewise if the Instrument track restrictions described
above do not matter.
• If you are planning to create an instrument track preset,
complete with inserts and EQ settings, you have to use an
instrument track.
• If you need to use multitimbral parts and/or multiple out-
puts, set up a VST Instrument channel.
VST instruments and processor load
If you are working with VST 3 instruments, another way to
relieve processor load is the option “Suspend VST3 plug-in
processing when no audio signals are received” in the Pre-
ferences dialog (VST–Plug-ins page). This is described in
the section “Smart plug-in processing” on page 86.
Using presets for VSTi configuration
About track presets and VST presets
Track presets and VST presets allow you to quickly set up
tracks or instruments with all the settings required for the
sound you want. Cubase AI provides various types of pre-
sets for various purposes. Two of these are of relevance
for VST Instruments:
• Track presets for instrument tracks store the parameter
settings of a VST Instrument together with all track/chan-
nel settings (applied audio insert effects, etc.).
Instrument track presets can only be applied to instrument tracks, not to
instrument channels activated in the VST Instruments window.
• VST presets store all panel settings for a plug-in (VST In-
struments and VST effects), but no track/channel settings.
Note that you can create instrument tracks from VST 3 presets, i.e. se-
lecting a VST 3 preset will create an instrument track with all settings
stored in the VST preset plus an “empty” track.
As described in the chapter “Audio effects” on page 85,
there are two types of VST presets that can be used: the
VST 2 standard “.fxb/.fxp” files and the VST 3 preset stan-
dard with the extension “.vstpreset”. Some of the included
VST Instruments use the VST 2 preset standard, and oth-
ers use the VST 3 standard.
All VST 2 instruments can import “.fxb/.fxp” files and also
convert them to the VST 3 standard. Once converted, you
can use all VST 3 features, see “About earlier VST Instru-
ment presets” on page 106.
Ö For further information on Track presets and VST pre-
sets, see the chapter “Working with Track Presets” on
page 155.
Browsing for sounds
One important and often time-consuming aspect of music
creation is the search for the right sounds. You might spend
a huge amount of time trying out the presets for a particular
instrument only to find out later that the preset for another
instrument contains the sound you were looking for.
This is why Cubase AI features extensive browsing possi-
bilities, allowing you to preview all available presets without
having to load them first!
In addition, you can filter your search by specifying cate-
gory, style, etc.