Transposing midi in real-time

[Dee]

Is it possible to change the pitch of a VST played via Cubase in realtime? In Kontakt its fine because you have +/- 12 and it keeps all keyswitches ect., in the original position but just basically transposes the key. However, outside of Kontakt does Cubase itself have such a function that will allow me to do this? I don't want keyswitches moving just want to play in one key but adjust it on the fly in cubase.

Thanks for any help as this has been doing my head in for quite a while and is actually stopping me from purchasing some non-kontakt VSTs.

[The Elf]

Yes, there's a parameter in the Track Inspector that lets you transpose a MIDI track.

[Dee]

Hi mate, thanks for getting back to me. I nearly cried tears of joy when I seen it but it is also moving the keyswitches. Anyway of replicating the "tuning" option in Kontakt - up or down 12 - in cubase but keeping the keyswitches where they're originally supposed to be? The more I think about this the less I think it's possible!!

[muzines]

MIDI notes coming in are easy, but of course it will move the keyswitches, which are a function of how they've been programmed in the instrument. A keyswitch programmed for C will play when you hit a C, regardless of whether you initially played a G and transposed it up.

If you want to move the keyswitches, then you have to get dirty with editing the instrument itself, and dealing with how the samples are mapped etc.

[BJG145]

Hi mate, thanks for getting back to me. I nearly cried tears of joy when I seen it but it is also moving the keyswitches. Anyway of replicating the "tuning" option in Kontakt - up or down 12 - in cubase but keeping the keyswitches where they're originally supposed to be? The more I think about this the less I think it's possible!!

Depends on the VST. There's not going be any general fix; keyswitches are just notes to the DAW. All you can do is exclude certain notes from transposition on an individual basis, either in the DAW or plugin somehow, or with a third-party utility like Bome MIDI Translator.

[The Elf]

You want the world on a stick AND gift wrapped!?!

Nope, as the other have said - if you want Cubase to handle the transposition it's going to move the lot, keyswitches included. You're going to have to deal with that within Kontakt.

[Dee]

It's my birthday so I'll take any pressies!!

Thanks to all of you for getting back to me. Thought there may have been a chance that I had missed something completely but as I said above sorta knew it was unlikely.

At least I know now and won't be wrecking my head trying to do something that isn't really feasible.

Ta

[dashdash]

Are you using a MIDI track or an instrument track? You might find luck in using a MIDI track—you'll have to 'load up' the VST into the VST instruments panel (F11) then use the inspector to choose the VST as the channel output (much like you would do if you're sending an audio channel to a group, for instance).

You've then got the option to use MIDI inserts too; see if any of them help you (particularly the MIDI Modifiers one).

Even if you can't use them to help you do what you want, they're a damn useful thing to know about—but largely overshadowed since v4 brought in Instrument tracks.

dd

[dashdash]

You might find you can use the Transformer (MIDI Inserts) to filter out the keyswitches then transpose them back down—in theory you'd have the 'note' keys transposed +12, but the switches are still where they are on the keyboard...

There are transpose presets for Transformer, but you'll have to do some jiggery-pokery to set your ranges (rather than applying the effect to the whole MIDI input).

dd

[MarkOne]

Key switches are usually out of the way on the bottom octave or top octave aren't they?

Wouldn't it be relatively easy to go into grid view, set an appropriate zoom and lasso every note above (or below) the keyswitch zone and drag them to the new key?

[Dee]

Thanks guys for giving me some info. I'll have a check and see if I can get any joy. I had actually given up the prospect of it working and was considering an 88 key controller........*nod, wink....my new post**