MIDI Setup also allows the user to remap any one controller to any other. This cuts the feed to the synthesis part of your master keyboard (assuming, of course, that it has one) so that it will only play back the data received from Cubase at the MIDI In. To avoid notes sounding twice and other complications when playing your master keyboard with Cubase, it is advisable to switch your keyboard to Local Off mode. When the MIDI Thru is deactivated, the data stops inside Cubase, but turning on the Thru function allows the user to play any unit in the system simply by changing the MIDI channel of the currently selected track in the Arrange window. You can also switch the Thru off for one sole MIDI Channel.īut why do we need to have the MIDI Thru activated in the first place? The answer is simply that to communicate with the MIDI units in your system, the data from your master keyboard must travel through Cubase. MIDI Thru is among the most important, and would, in most cases, be set to 'Active' so that incoming MIDI data is echoed to the MIDI Thru. From here, you can set up various global parameters which govern the manner in which Cubase handles MIDI. MIDI Setup is found in the Options menu (see Figure 2, right). The crosshair cursor is particularly useful for the precise positioning of parts in the Arrange window, while the Autosave function can be indispensable for absent‑minded users. You may find other options are available (as this depends on the version of Cubase you are using), but the function of each option is fairly self‑explanatory. Selecting 'Preferences' in the File menu opens up a dialogue box (see Figure 1 below) where the user may select, amongst other fairly minor options, a crosshair form for the cursor (a cross of vertical and horizontal lines which shows the precise mouse position on the grid), the choice of editor selected when the user double‑clicks on a part (Key, List or Score), and an Autosave function, which automatically saves the current song as 'Backup.All' at the time interval shown in the 'Minutes' box. The Definition files which come with Cubase contain default settings, but users will almost certainly wish to enter their own custom settings at some stage.
Some readers may be thinking that these features should have been dealt with at the very beginning of this series, but you can't effectively design custom system settings if you don't first understand the system's contents and features. To start with, there are three menu items concerned with configuring Cubase Preferences, MIDI Setup and MIDI Filters. Some of these are not concerned with the direct editing and manipulation of data, but rather the configuration and handling of the Cubase system itself. In this, the final part of this series, we continue to look at Cubase's lesser‑known features. Approaching re‑entry into the atmosphere, Simon Millward concludes his tour of the Cubase universe with a look at some of the flagship sequencing package's lesser‑known functions.
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