Cubase VST plugins

[zhen]

Hi,

I am using a triton as a controller and I'm also using the sounds from the triton. But I am having trouble adding VST effects to midi tracks in cubase SE?

Anyone got a clue how to do this? I understand VST is for audio channels but i read a short description simewhere tat it can also be done on midi tracks. but how??

 

[Cheez]

VST effects plug-in (eg reverbs etc) will have no effect on midi tracks. They work only on audio tracks. Midi tracks contains only midi information - the sound are triggered from your Triton. The VST effect plug-in cannot affect your Triton since it sits INSIDE the audio software (Cubase in your case).

However, if you are using a softsynth/softsampler, things may be different. Softsamplers/softsynths run from within your audio software and some of them (only some, not all) do support VST plug-in from WITHIN the softsampler/softsynth itself. This, also, is not a common thing and only exist in very few softsmaplers/softsynths (eg Gigastudio 3) since running VST from within such software affects the latency dramatically. Most of the time, VST effects works on audio tracks as plug-ins within the audio software.

There are however, different type of VST plug-ins that may work for midi tracks. Some of them like Ntonyx Style enhancer ( http://www.ntonyx.com/se40.htm ) works for midi. But they are not effect VST. They alter the midi sequences to make them more "human", although I'm never quite satisfied with their results and I rather use my own way to "humanise" my tracks although it takes more time. Software like Ntonyx are for lazy people...in my opinion.

 

[zhen]

ok got it. another thing is not all the midi effects that come with the cubase SX seem to be working when i use them. i generally use the midi effects from my inserts. Are there other settings i gota do to monitor the midi effect like the "autopan"?

when u mentioned other ways to "humanise" the midi events, were u talking abt things like velocity and LFO?

 

[Cheez]

I don't use Cubse so I don't know the details of the midi effect plug-ins they have. But most plug-ins that come with audio software are meant for audio and not midi. Autopan may also be for audio - Cubase users please confirm. Midi effect plug-ins like Ntonyx are unusual ones.

For "humanising", yes. I meant adjusting velocity, duration of notes etc. If using synths, then LFOs are part of it as with volume changes. But for softsamplers, the LFO equivalent comes as mod wheel controlling the cross-fading between samples etc. But generally speaking, that's what I do. And the tedious part comes as I usually edit note by note after the sequencing is done.

 

[mingguan]

"edit note by note"???

 

[Cheez]

Yeah! Sounds crazy, but true!

OK maybe I exaggerated slightly - edit most of the notes, not every note. If the phrase sounds OK, I wouldn't edit it. But editing the notes individually is a must in most cases. Especially if you want it to be as realistic and "human" as possible.

This is the "secret weapon" of reaslism!

 

[zhen]

haha, well yes I was actually coming down to also editing note by note before i read your reply cheez. it does make the music more fluid. a fren told me best way is to bounce the midi as audio wave form then use the VSTs. has anyone done that before? cubase users out there?

 

[Cheez]

First of all, a few terminologies and clarifications which I think you may have some misunderstanding. When you put midi sequences into wave, it is not called bouncing. Secondly, midi sequences are basically midi information - they contain messages like which notes are being played (C, D, E etc), the velocity of the note (0-127), the duration of the note, any controllers being used for the note (cc#) etc. They contain no sound. So there's no way you can add any effects/reverbs to them.

To generate sounds, you need the midi sequences to trigger a sound generator which can be an external sound module, an external keyboard or a VST instrument (VSTi - which can be a softsynth, a softsampler etc). After THESE sounds are recorded (ie into wave files within your audio software), you can then add reverbs/effects with VST effect plug-ins to them. That's the ONLY way to do it, which is what I said previously (and what your friend is trying to say as well). You cannot add these reverb or effects to midi sequences as they are just signals and messages.

Bouncing works only on audio tracks. It refers to combining a few audio tracks into one. Sometimes, we run into the problem of having too many audio tracks - either too many for our PC's CPU to take, or too many for our hardware multitrack. We then bounce a few tracks into one track and therefore effectively decreasing the number of tracks, and freeling up more tracks for recording.