No, this is not true at all! You can so DO MUCH MORE with CuBase. You can isolate and extract things to temporary tracks…transform, select, deselect, mute, transpose, mirror, invert, retrograde, move, slide, bump, merge, bounce, really, the sky is the limit in the power tools CuBase provides for manipulating MIDI events.
In the OP’s case, just open a Logic Editor and define the range of events you want to ‘select’, and then use the mouse to manipulate them all in one move:
Here’s an example of selecting all CC 1 events in bars 1 - 4:
Here’s one that accents every 2nd and 4th beat of a high-hat part by adding 6 to the velocity.
Oops! I think I’d rather move beats 1 and 3 to an open hi-hat! So here’s a script that’ll take every F#1 in the track that falls pretty close to beats 1 and 3, and moves them to A#1 where my open hat lives.
Starting to get the idea?
Please look in the Manual and read up on the following:
MIDI Logic Editors (Most useful for hard/permanent manipulation in the project arranger or a MIDI editor).
MIDI Global Transformers (Useful for ‘real time’ MIDI manipulation of the Data stream)
MIDI Local Transformers (More real time manipulation)
MIDI Track inserts (A big tool box full of real time MIDI tools)
MIDI Track Sends (Same tool box as Inserts, but at a different point in the data flow).
Generic MIDI Remote Maps (Remotely control practically anything in the DAW with your favorite MIDI controller, or transform various types of real time MIDI events).
Quick VST Controls (Manipulate automation lanes with your Controller)
Quick Track Controls (Manipulate automation lanes with your Controller)
MIDI Expression Maps (Convert symbols or text (VST3 Expression events) into a library of expressive event sequences)
Actually, I don’t know of a ‘modern’ DAW that is any better at manipulating MIDI events and dealing with remote controls. Not only is it tremendously powerful in this reguard, it gives you CHOICES! You can treat it like a scoring package…with ‘translation’ schemes that you build in ‘Expression Maps’. You can treat it like a linear MIDI sequencer right down to the machine level MIDI events; you can treat it like a ‘live instrument’ and record your stuff in real time; or, you can build yourself a toolbox full of stuff you use often and work in ‘a pattern based’ frame of mind, or you can treat it like an ‘automated mixing console’. And more!
I would personally start out by practicing using the Logical Editors.
This allows you to build scripts to do many edits in batch mode with simple logic scripts that you build in the Logic Editor.
Just as another practical example (rehashed from another thread to demonstrate using a Logic Editor)…say I want to add a CC-1 event before every note that matches the MIDI note number (to simulate playing louder with higher notes, and softer with lower notes on an instrument that is set up to use CC-1 for expression volume): I would open a logic editor and do this:
Logic:
Insert CC1 before every note event and set value 2 of CC1 to value 1 of the MIDI note.
What this does (In the case of my example using a Garritan Violin patch in ARIA), is cause the volume to go up as the phrase gets higher, and down as it gets lower. Of course you can also do this backwards if you prefer (mirror MIDI note value to a new CC 1 event so it gets softer when higher, and louder when higher)…or even build a script to randomize or set up other sorts of dynamic patterns.
Note that it’s also easy to lasso a group of events in the key editor and scale/tilt/expand/compress them…or otherwise work with them as a big unified group. Experiment by holding the mouse button while lassoing a group of events…also with things like holding ctrl or shift key while dragging (it can lock the x or y drag plane…etc).
At this point, if it’s too soft, I can lasso phrases as above and drag it a bit louder…or I can run a second pass with a logical editor to raise all of the CC1 events on the entire track by a set uniform amount.
Logic Example:
Raise all CC1 events by adding 5.
Note, the ability to isolate CC event lanes in the ‘key editor’ above! Yep, you can do it for multiple tracks as well, though it helps to have each track set to a different ‘midi channel’ and ‘freeze’ the tracks so their events have a unique ‘channel’ so you can keep track of what events belong with what parts.
If I have a phrase where the same note repeats over and over, I’ll again use the logic editor to give that passage some ‘random’ volume and velocity settings to avoid getting a ‘machine gun’ effect.
Logic:
Move the selected CC1 events to a random value within a given range:
If there is a lot of ‘block cording’ going on in a part, I’ll go back and ‘thin MIDI controller’ data to avoid really large unwanted jumps in volume during said ‘chords’. A quick visual inspection of such tracks isn’t a bad idea…as too much jumping around while a chord sustains might be unwanted…just delete the CC1 events that don’t work in the interest of the musical phrase.
Here you can see a violin phrase (actually two second violins on the same track [divisi style]) that has some Fp, sFz, and multiple notes/chords going on. I got the basics running some logical editors, then drew in (or recorded using my mod wheel) my crescendos and whatnot.
Don’t forget that you can still change the over all mix of the track using the CuBase Mixer, or via Master Volume Control in a MIDI track or automation lane (CC7) without having to redo all your detailed general dynamic stuff that you did with CC1 (or CC 11, or whatever) events.
While this might sound like a lot of trouble, it actually only takes a few clicks to select any parts I want to do this for in the logic editor, and a few more clicks to do everything described above. The result is a more natural sounding track (in most cases).
Example:
- Right click a MIDI track and choose ‘select all events’.
- Open the Logic Editor.
- Build my script or load one of my logic editor presets.
- Click apply!
- If I haven’t already, and I think I’ll want my little logic script again in the future…save a preset of it.
It’s really that simple
Really you can use a series of Logic Editors to do pretty much anything you can imagine.
I.E.
- Build a generic sforzando-like string of CC-11 events on a track by itself.
- Pull up a full page score of the part and select all the notes you want to apply that sofrzando.
- Run a logic editor that inserts your sforazando for the ‘selected notes’…
- Go to the key editor, pull up a CC lane for CC 11, and spot check from there…use lasso to adjust/compress/tilt/scale/etc, and fine tune each case.
Note, you can certainly process more than one track at once!
The trick here is to work from the main arranger’s window to select all of the events on all of the parts you wish to process with a Logic Editor.
I.E.
Hold ctrl and click several tracks. Next, right click and choose ‘select all events’. Now open your logical editor and build your simple logic script. Alternatively, you can open a MIDI editor of you choice first and then use a Logic Editor.
In short the Logic Editors give you all the tools to select, mute, transform, extract, etc…any type and range of MIDI event and Value you wish.
Sometimes it’s easier just to use a Logical Editor to ‘select’ a range of events and then use the mouse in your MIDI Editor of choice to drag/compress/scale/tilt/etc.
As for manipulating more than one type of CC at once…you’d simply use booleen (if, and, or) statements in your script Logic; however, there may still be cases where it’s simpler to do things in multiple Logic Editor passes rather than trying to pack it all into one script.
More food for thought:
Here I’m discussing just few of dozens of methods CuBase offers…in the CC1 to every note case I described above we’re stashing CC data in the same MIDI track as the note events, but you do have other options as well! You can keep CC events on a separate track set to the same instrument and channel if you like (or even have different takes of the CC track(s)). The Logic Editor also allows you to ‘extract’ a range of events, and they’ll get parked on a fresh track. This approach of using dedicated CC tracks makes it easy to ‘record’ stuff in real time using your favorite MIDI controller’s wheels, knobs, sliders, etc. You can do as many takes as you like, mute them in and out…and eventually cut and paste the best parts of each into a ‘best of’ track, etc…
Again, you can use the Logic Editor to extract any sort of events you like to a fresh track, and edit, process, cut/paste/copy to your hearts desire from that.
Don’t forget that you can indeed store presets of your custom Logic Editor scripts! You can also build key macros to launch them (even in sequence if something requires more than one Logic editor pass/script) if it is something you use often…and for what it’s worth, you can easily assign them to MIDI remote controls as well (see generic MIDI remote map). Other DAWs don’t even come close on this front without adding more apps (Such as Bome Translator)!
The Logical Editors really are quite powerful! Some more complex processes might require more than one pass, and temporarily stashing some values away on a temporary track somewhere, or as some other data type, but with a little thinking, there’s not much you can’t accomplish. Practice with them…make presets for things you do often.
Yet another option (quite attractive for through composed classical and jazz) is to explore the ‘Expression Maps’ offered by the Score and Key Editors. These will let you assign all sorts of MIDI commands to various ‘symbols’ or "text keywords’ that you can set up as ‘attributes or directions’ and then simply drag and drop on a score, or draw into lanes on the Key Editor. I.E. Tell CuBase that the pp symbol should set volume @ 30%, or to increase the velocity X amount for the ‘accent mark’, or throw in a ‘patch change or key switch’ for the word ‘arco’, or kick on the CC-68 for the word ‘legato’, or turn portamento with symbol, and on and on. In short, ‘expression maps’ can give you MIDI ‘translation’ abilities for your most commonly needed MIDI event sets. Again, you can drive/insert these ‘attributes and directions’ via remote if you like…simply assign them ‘key switches’. I.E. Put the cursor where you want to give the ‘mute on’ command for trumpets, then tap the remote key you assigned in the Expression Map, and poof…in goes your ‘mute trumpet’ command…which sends whatever commands your VSTi or MIDI instruments need to pull that up.
You can also elect to work with Automation lanes for CC data instead of traditional MIDI tracks, which can allow you to use ‘Automation Panel’ tools, along with ‘Project Logic Editors’ in tandem with more ‘mixing like’ controls.
VST3 Expression goes even further:
So far I’ve mainly touched on using traditional CC style events, but CuBase opens the door to VST3 expression as well! At first, you’ll see this pop up when using ‘Expression Maps’ along side the Key and Score editors, but it offers a heck of a lot MORE if you’re using HALion 5 or Groove Agent 4. I.E. Rather than using ‘channel events as CC messages’, you can independently apply this stuff in individual ‘notes’! Example: Have two violin parts on the same track divisi style…and draw things like pitch bend, or expression volume on each note by itself…copying and pasting each note throughout the score will carry all that fine tuning information with it as part of the note! Unlike with channel CC data, you can have multiple things going on with expression all on the same track! I.E. One note of a chord bending pitch upward and applying a filter, while another note in that exact same block chord on the same track does exactly the opposite. Currently…no other DAW lets you do this…
CuBase is EXTREMELY powerful when it comes to manipulating MIDI…both in real time (using real-time transformation plugins/scripts), or in editors.
If you want to get anywhere close to the raw power Today’s CuBase/Nuendo provides for generating and manipulating MIDI events…you’d probably have to go ‘super retro’ with some Atari ST Emulation such as STeem/Nostalgia, and go back to software from the 90s (KCS Level 2, CuBase Audio Falcon, etc.). Today, there’s just not much out there that can come anywhere close to CuBase/Nuendo on the MIDI side…most of the modern DAWs are far more focused on the audio side, along with prepackaged loops…tons of dumbing things on the MIDI end down to the point that they’re almost useless for through composed music. They force you to do far more by ‘hand’, and do NOT give you the tools and access to build up your own maps and workflow choices. The few that do have a logic editor or script engine often require you to reboot the stupid thing to change or install a new script or MIDI tool In contrast, CuBase lets you choose…and build any sort of workflow you need to fit your project style/need ‘on the fly’. It’s got the swing tools, the quantify tools, the scripting tools, and dozens of workflow options…as well as the tools needed to convert from one workflow style to another (I.E. start out with a score, and later convert that to all linear style General MIDI tracks, and then crunch that down to Type O SMF…and on and on).