setting up midi controller--cubase 6.5?

guitaristic

prophet of Dave
Hey all,


So I haven't recorded much lately, but I am gonna get back into it once college goes on break later this month. One thing I've been wanting to play with is MIDI, since Cubase 6.5 has some great stuff already in it plus I've got Addictive Drums which I've never really used unfortunately. But I literally have no idea how to set up my MIDI controller (an Akai MPD18 I got for free). I've also got a Roland synth as well that has MIDI functions, but I'll leave that alone for now and concentrate on the Akai. What do I need to do? I have looked at the manuals for both, but they are a bit over my head since I don't have a good grasp on MIDI.


You're my only hope! :thumbs up:
 
LOL! It not that hard man. :)

The MPD18 has it's own control panel. You set the MIDI notes there to control whatever notes you need from your VSTi.

As far as I remember, the drivers for the MPD18 just worked with Cubase.

I will have to dig in to see if I missed something...
 
I do remember some weirdness starting off. I kinda remember having to write down the MIDI notes that I wanted to program into the Akai from A Drums. From what I remember, I had to have Cubase closed when programming the notes to the AKAI.

Open the MPD18 Edtor. Select the MPD18 from the dropdown menu. DONE. Select the notes you want each pad to send. Then hit the 'Commit-Upload'. Or Save the preset first. Actually, I think you can save numerous presets, but the 'Commit' is what the MPD will do when you open the DAW. I don't want to do this and fuck up my shit, so you are on your own after this. lol

I am a MIDI t*rd as well. I got it to work the way I wanted, and never looked back.

Bank 1: kicks, snares and some HH's. Bank 2: HH's, rides, crashes. Bank 3: Toms.

Now I just run through a drum programming session in 3 phases.

It works, I just don't remember exactly how I got there. Sorry, just being honest...
 
LOL! It not that hard man. :)

The MPD18 has it's own control panel. You set the MIDI notes there to control whatever notes you need from your VSTi.

As far as I remember, the drivers for the MPD18 just worked with Cubase.

I will have to dig in to see if I missed something...

I do remember some weirdness starting off. I kinda remember having to write down the MIDI notes that I wanted to program into the Akai from A Drums. From what I remember, I had to have Cubase closed when programming the notes to the AKAI.

Open the MPD18 Edtor. Select the MPD18 from the dropdown menu. DONE. Select the notes you want each pad to send. Then hit the 'Commit-Upload'. Or Save the preset first. Actually, I think you can save numerous presets, but the 'Commit' is what the MPD will do when you open the DAW. I don't want to do this and fuck up my shit, so you are on your own after this. lol

I am a MIDI t*rd as well. I got it to work the way I wanted, and never looked back.

Bank 1: kicks, snares and some HH's. Bank 2: HH's, rides, crashes. Bank 3: Toms.

Now I just run through a drum programming session in 3 phases.

It works, I just don't remember exactly how I got there. Sorry, just being honest...

allright dude thanks for the help! I will have to dig into it tomorrow and see if I can get things going. Sounds pretty simple! Haha I just had no idea what to do.
 
Hey, and when you figure it out, give me some exact instructions so I don't have to figure it out again myself! :) Not kidding actually. MIDI and I don't meet in a friendly way either. I know it is simple, but my brain just don't seem to want to know, even though it needs to...

Guess I am showing my age huh?
 
Funny, I just looked at the manual and it seems my memory isn't fading yet. I kinda said it right. Just open Addictive Drums in Cubase, and open the Drum Editor. write down the notes you wish to program (on paper or whatever).

Then open the MPD18 Editor. Edit each pad to send the MIDI notes to which drum hits you wish to have for the first 'BANK'. 'Save Preset'. Then you 'Commit - Upload' that preset to the controller itself. The controller will send what is 'Committed' to it. Presets are just programs to choose from later. Then it will send those notes to Cubase from BANK 1 preset.

To save a different preset to a different BANK, click on the 'BANK' button on the right side of the Editor panel. It toggles between A/B/C. Follow the same steps for each.

Then with Cubase open, and running a VSTi, you just hit the 'BANK' button on the MPD controller to change between the programmed preset notes.

Holy crap, that almost wore me out....

On a side thought, I typically will press the 'FULL LEVEL' button on the controller if I am just trying to get a basic beat. You can always adjust velocity later. It takes a bit of time to get used to using variable velocity from the pads. It can be good or bad, depending on how good you drum with your fingers. I hit the pads like a angry drummer, and they haven't yet broke on me. Quite a solid unit.

Things like 'Note Repeat' and 'Control Change', I haven't a clue. Not sure my head want's to know. Probably for using with synth stuff I wouldn't understand....
 
Funny, I just looked at the manual and it seems my memory isn't fading yet. I kinda said it right. Just open Addictive Drums in Cubase, and open the Drum Editor. write down the notes you wish to program (on paper or whatever).

Then open the MPD18 Editor. Edit each pad to send the MIDI notes to which drum hits you wish to have for the first 'BANK'. 'Save Preset'. Then you 'Commit - Upload' that preset to the controller itself. The controller will send what is 'Committed' to it. Presets are just programs to choose from later. Then it will send those notes to Cubase from BANK 1 preset.

To save a different preset to a different BANK, click on the 'BANK' button on the right side of the Editor panel. It toggles between A/B/C. Follow the same steps for each.

Then with Cubase open, and running a VSTi, you just hit the 'BANK' button on the MPD controller to change between the programmed preset notes.

Holy crap, that almost wore me out....

On a side thought, I typically will press the 'FULL LEVEL' button on the controller if I am just trying to get a basic beat. You can always adjust velocity later. It takes a bit of time to get used to using variable velocity from the pads. It can be good or bad, depending on how good you drum with your fingers. I hit the pads like a angry drummer, and they haven't yet broke on me. Quite a solid unit.

Things like 'Note Repeat' and 'Control Change', I haven't a clue. Not sure my head want's to know. Probably for using with synth stuff I wouldn't understand....

Oh ok! When you put it that way it seems pretty simple. I'll give it a go tomorrow and see! Let's hope my finger-drumming is better than my normal drumming lol :D
 
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