Midi volume, Drums etc - help needed!!

[jonobacon]

Hi all,

I am a new Cubase 5 VST/32 user and I am just getting to know the environment. Although I am doing OK, I have a fews unresolved issues I wonder if you could help with:

- When I import a drum MIDI file and edit the drums, the volume is not very loud even when I set it to 127. How can I bring it up to the volume of the guitars?

- To create a drum map I need to import a MIDI file first and then edit it - is there a way to create a new one from within Cubase?

- Is there a way to replace a MIDI drum hit with a real WAV sample? I saw a guy in a studio replace a normal drum sound with a better drum sample also - he did this in Protools, but can you do it in Cubase?

- Is there a way to view a meter of my input signal from my guitar? It doesnt show on the channel strips anywhere so I can set my input level.

- Any decent VST plugins thjat you can suggest for compression, mastering or drums?

Thanks in advance!!

Jono