Steinberg Nuendo 4 Plug In Reference Manual
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61 MIDI effects AmpMod This is only used for the two waveforms with “periodical envelopes” (see above). The period value (set in beats) determines the length of the envelope. In the following fig- ure, Period is set to 4th and the AmpMod is 4 beats. This results in a quarter note-based curve in which the top am- plitude decreases gradually, repeated each bar. Controller Determines which Continuous Controller type is sent out. Typical choices would include pan, volume and brightness but your MIDI instrument may have controllers mapped to various settings, allowing you to modulate the synth pa- rameter of your choice – check the MIDI implementation chart for your instrument for details! Min and Max These determine the minimum and maximum controller values sent out, i.e. the “bottom” and “top” of the control- ler curves. Chorder The Chorder is a MIDI chord processor, allowing you to as- sign complete chords to single keys in a multitude of varia- tions. There are three main modes of operation: Normal, Octave and Global. You switch between these modes by clicking the respective button to the left below the key- board. Normal mode In this mode, you can assign a different chord to each sin- gle key on the keyboard. Proceed as follows:1.Select the key to which you want to assign a chord, by clicking in the lower “Trigger Note” keyboard display. 2.Set up the desired chord for that key by clicking in the upper “Chord Setup” keyboard display. Clicking a key adds it to the chord; clicking it again removes it. 3.Repeat the above with any other keys you wish to use. If you now play the keys you have set up, you will instead hear the assigned chords. Octave mode The Octave mode is similar to the Normal mode, but you can only set up one chord for each key in an octave (that is, twelve different chords). When you play a C note (re- gardless of whether it’s a C3, C4 or any other octave) you will hear the chord set up for the C key. Global mode In the Global mode, you only set up a single chord, using the Chord Setup keyboard display (the lower keyboard dis- play is hidden). This chord is then played by all keys on the keyboard, but transposed according to the note you play.
62 MIDI effects Using switches The Switch Setup section at the bottom of the panel al- lows you to set up variations to the defined chords. This works with all three modes and provides a total of eight variations for each assignable key (that is, a maximum of 8 different chords in Global mode, 12 x 8 chords in Octave mode and 128 x 8 chords in Normal mode). The variations can be controlled by velocity or note range. Here’s how you set it up: 1.Select one of the two switch modes: velocity or note. How to use these is explained below. The velocity switch mode selected. 2.Specify how many variations you want to use with the Use value box. 3.Click the first Switch Select button and set up the chord(s) you want for the first variation. 4.Click the next Switch Select button and set up the chord(s) you want for that variation. 5.Repeat this for the number of variations you specified with the Use setting. Each Switch Select button corresponds to a variation. 6.Now you can play the keyboard and control the varia- tions according to the selected switch modes. These work as follows: To turn the variation switch feature off, select the “No Switch” mode. Compress This MIDI compressor is used for evening out or expanding differences in velocity. Though the result is similar to what you get with the Velocity Compression track parameter, the Compress plug-in presents the controls in a manner more like regular audio compressors. The parameters are: Switch mode Description Velocity The full velocity range (1–127) is divided into “zones”, according to the number of variations you specified. For example, if you’re using two variations (Max is set to 2) there will be two velocity “zones”: 1–63 and 64–127. Playing a note with velocity at 64 or higher will trigger the second variation, while playing a softer note will trigger the first variation. Note In this mode, the chorder will play one chord at a time – you cannot play several different chords simultaneously. When the Note switch mode is selected, you play a key to determine the base note for the chord, then press a higher key to select a variation. The variation number will be the difference between the two keys. To select variation 1, press a key one semitone higher than the base note, for variation 2, press a key two semitones higher, and so on. Parameter Description Threshold Only notes with velocities over this value will be affected by the compression/expansion. Ratio This determines the rate of compression applied to the velocity values above the threshold level. Ratios greater than 1:1 result in compression (i.e. less difference in ve- locity) while ratios lower than 1:1 result in expansion (i.e. greater difference in velocity). What actually happens is that the part of the velocity value that is above the threshold value is divided by the ratio value. Gain This adds or subtracts a fixed value from the velocities. Since the maximum range for velocity values is 0–127, you may need to use the Gain setting to compensate, keeping the resulting velocities within the range. Typi- cally, you would use negative Gain settings when ex- panding and positive Gain settings when compressing.
63 MIDI effects Context Gate The Context Gate allows for selective triggering/filtering of MIDI data. It can be used for context selective control of MIDI devices. The following parameters are available: Poly Mode – Chord Gate When Chord Gate is activated, only notes in recognized chords are let through. There are two modes of chord rec- ognition available; Simple and Normal. In Simple mode, all standard chords (major/minor/b5/dim/sus/maj7 etc.) are recognized, whereas Normal mode also takes more ten- sions into account. Poly Mode – Polyphony Gate This allows you to filter MIDI according to the number of pressed keys within a given key range. This can be used independently or in conjunction with the Chord Gate func- tion. The Minimum value field allows you to specify the mini- mum number of notes needed for the notes to be let through. The Upper/Lower Range sets the key range. Only notes within this range will be let through. Mono Mode – Channel Gate When this is activated, only single note events in a speci- fied MIDI channel are let through, which can be used with MIDI controllers that can send MIDI over several channels simultaneously, for example guitar controllers which send data for each string over a separate channel. You can ei- ther set this to a specific channel (1–16), or to “Any”, i.e. no channel gating. Mono Mode – Key Range Gate This can be used independently or in conjunction with the Channel Gate function. Played notes will sound (no note off message) until a note is played inside the set Upper and Lower range (and additionally the set Channel Gate channel, if checked). Panic button Sends an “All Notes Off” message over all channels, in case of hanging notes. Learn button When this is activated, you can specify a Reset trigger event via MIDI. Whenever this specific MIDI event is sent, it triggers an “All Notes Off” message. When you have set the Reset event, the Learn button should be deactivated. Auto Release time If there is no input activity, all resounding notes are sent a note off message after the set time, in seconds or millisec- onds. Minimum Velocity Notes below a set velocity threshold value will be gated.
64 MIDI effects Density This generic control panel affects the “density” of the notes being played from (or thru) the track. When this is set to 100 %, the notes are not affected. Lowering the Density setting below 100 % will randomly filter out or “mute” notes. Raising the setting above 100 % will instead randomly add new notes. Micro Tuner The Micro Tuner lets you set up a different microtuning scheme for the instrument, by detuning each key. Each Detune field corresponds to a key in an octave (as indi- cated by the keyboard display). Adjust a Detune field to raise or lower the tuning of that key, in cents (hundreds of a semi- tone). Set the Convert setting according to whether the track is routed to a VST instrument or a “real” standard MIDI instru- ment (capable of receiving microtuning information). The Micro Tuner comes with a number of presets, includ- ing both classical and experimental microtuning scales. MIDIControl This generic control panel allows you to select up to eight different MIDI controller types, and use the value fields or sliders (which are displayed when you click on a value field while holding down the [Alt]/[Option] key) to set values for these. A typical use for this would be if you’re using a MIDI instrument with parameters that can be controlled by MIDI controller data (e.g. filter cutoff, resonance, levels, etc.). By selecting the correct MIDI controller types, you can use the plug-in as a control panel for adjusting the sound of the in- strument from within Nuendo, at any time. To select a controller type, use the pop-up menus to the right. To deactivate a controller slider, set it to “Off” (drag the slider all the way down).
65 MIDI effects MIDIEcho This is an advanced MIDI Echo, which will generate addi- tional echoing notes based on the MIDI notes it receives. It creates effects similar to a digital delay, but also features MIDI pitch shifting and much more. As always it is impor- tant to remember that the effect doesn’t “echo” the actual audio, but the MIDI notes which will eventually produce the sound in the synthesizer. The following parameters are available: Quantize The echoed notes will be moved in position to a quantizing grid, as set up with this parameter. You can either use the slider or type to set the value in ticks (1/480 ticks of quar- ter notes) or click the arrow buttons to step between the “rhythmically exact” values (displayed as note values – see the table below). This makes it easy to find rhythmically relevant quantize values, but still allows experimental set- tings in between. An example: setting this to “16th” will force all echo notes to be played on exact 16th note positions, regardless of the timing of the original notes and the Echo-Quant. set- ting. ÖTo disable quantizing, set this parameter to its lowest value (1). Length This sets the length of the echoed notes. This can either be the same as their original notes (parameter set to its lowest value, “Source”) or the length you specify manually. You can either set the length in ticks or click the arrow buttons to step between the “rhythmically exact” lengths (displayed as note values – see the table below). ÖThe length can also be affected by the Length Decay parameter. Repeat This is the number of echoes (1 to 12) from each incom- ing note. Echo-Quant. The Echo-Quant. parameter sets the delay time, i.e. the time between a played note and its first echo note. You can either use the slider or type to set the value in ticks (1/480 ticks of quarter notes) or click the arrow buttons to step be- tween the “rhythmically exact” delay times (displayed as note values – see the table below). For example, setting this to “8th” will cause the echo notes to sound an eighth note after their original notes. ÖThe echo time can also be affected by the Echo Decay parameter. Velocity Decay This parameter allows you to add or subtract to the veloc- ity values for each repeat so that the echo fades away or increases in volume (provided that the sound you use is velocity sensitive). For no change of velocity, set this to 0 (middle position). Pitch Decay If you set this to a value other than 0, the repeating (echo- ing) notes will be raised or lowered in pitch, so that each successive note has a higher or lower pitch than the pre- vious. The value is set in semitones. For example, setting this to -2 will cause the first echo note to have a pitch two semitones lower than the original note, the second echo note two semitones lower than the first echo note, and so on. Echo Decay This parameter lets you adjust how the echo time should be changed with each successive repeat. The value is set as a percentage. When set to 100 % (middle position) the echo time will be the same for all repeats (as set with the Echo-Quant. parameter). If you raise the value above 100, the echoing notes will play with gradually longer intervals (i.e. the echo will become slower). If you lower the value below 100, the echoing notes will be- come gradually faster, like the sound of a bouncing ball.
66 MIDI effects Length Decay This parameter lets you adjust how the length of the ech- oed notes should change with each successive repeat. The higher the setting (25 –100), the longer the echoed notes will be compared to their original notes. About ticks and note values The timing and position-related parameters (Echo-Quant., Length and Quantize) can all be set in ticks. There are 480 ticks to each quarter note. While the parameters allow you to step between the rhythmically relevant values (dis- played as note values), the following table can also be of help, showing you the most common note values and their corresponding number of ticks: Note to CC This effect will generate a MIDI continuous controller event for each incoming MIDI note. The value of the controller event corresponds to the note number (pitch) and the sin- gle parameter allows you to select which MIDI controller should be sent out (by default controller 7, MIDI volume). The incoming MIDI notes pass through the effect unaf- fected. For example, if MIDI volume (controller 7) is selected, notes with low note numbers (pitches) will lower the vol- ume in the MIDI instrument, while higher note numbers will raise the volume. This way you can create “keyboard tracking” of volume or other parameters. Note Value Ticks 1/32 note 60 1/16 note triplet 90 1/16 note 120 1/8 note triplet 160 1/8 note 240 Quarter note triplet 320 Quarter note 480 Half note 960 !Note that a controller event is sent out each time a new note is played. If high and low notes are played simultaneously, this could lead to somewhat confus- ing results. Therefore, the Note to CC effect is prob- ably best applied to monophonic tracks (playing one note at a time).
67 MIDI effects Quantizer Quantizing is a function that changes the timing of notes by moving them towards a “quantize grid”. This grid may consist of e.g. straight sixteenth notes (in which case the notes would all get perfect sixteenth note timing), but could also be more loosely related to straight note value positions (applying a “swing feel” to the timing, etc.). ÖThe main Quantize function in Nuendo is described in the Operation manual. While the Quantize function on the MIDI menu applies the timing change to the actual notes on a track, the Quantizer effect allows you to apply quantizing “on the fly”, changing the timing of the notes in real time. This makes it easier to try out different settings when creating grooves and rhythms. Note however, that the main Quantize function contains settings and features that are not available in the Quantizer. The Quantizer has the following parameters: Step Designer The Step Designer is a MIDI pattern sequencer that sends out MIDI notes and additional controller data according to the pattern you set up. It does not make use of the incom- ing MIDI, other than automation data (such as recorded pattern changes). Creating a basic pattern 1.Use the Pattern selector to choose which pattern to create. Each Step Designer can hold up to 200 different patterns. 2.Use the Quantize setting to specify the “resolution” of the pattern. In other words, this setting determines how long each step is. For exam- ple, if Quantize is set to “16th” each step will be a sixteenth note. 3.Specify the number of steps in the pattern with the Length setting. As you can see in the note display, the maximum number of steps is 32. For example, setting Quantize to 16 and Length to 32 would create a two bar pattern with sixteenth note steps. 4.Click in the note display to insert notes. You can insert notes on any of the 32 steps, but the Step Designer will only play back the number of steps set with the Length parameter. The display spans one octave (as indicated by the pitch list to the left). You can scroll the displayed octave up or down by clicking in the pitch list and dragging up or down. This way you can insert notes at any pitch. Note that each step can contain one note only – the Step Designer is monophonic. Click and drag to view other octaves. To remove a note from the pattern, click on it again. Parameter Description Quantize Note This sets the note value on which the quantize grid is based. Straight notes, triplets and dotted notes are avail- able. For example, “16” means straight sixteenth notes and “8T” means eighth note triplets. Swing This allows you to offset every second position in the grid, creating a swing or shuffle feel. The value is a per- centage – the higher you set this, the farther to the right every even grid position is moved. Strength This determines how close the notes should be moved to the quantize grid. When set to 100 %, all notes will be forced to the closest grid position; lowering the setting will gradually loosen the timing. Delay This delays (positive values) or advances (negative val- ues) the notes in milliseconds. Unlike the Delay setting in the Track Parameters, this delay can be automated.
68 MIDI effects 5.Select “Velocity” on the Controllers pop-up menu. This pop-up menu determines what is shown in the lower controller dis- play. 6.Adjust the velocity of the notes by dragging the veloc- ity bars in the controller display. 7.To make notes shorter, select “Gate” on the Controllers pop-up menu and lower the bars in the controller display. When a bar is set to its maximum value (fully up), the corresponding note will be the full length of the step (as set with the Quantize parameter). 8.To make notes longer, you can tie two notes together. This is done by inserting two notes and clicking the Tie button below the second note. When the Tie button is lit for a note, it won’t retrigger – instead the pre- vious note will be lengthened. Also, the tied (second) note will automati- cally get the same pitch as the first note. You can add more notes and tie them in the same way, creating longer notes. 9.If you now start playback in Nuendo, the pattern will play as well, sending out MIDI notes on the track’s MIDI output and channel (or, if you have activated the Step De- signer as a send effect, on the MIDI output and channel selected for the send in the Inspector). Adding controller curves The Controllers pop-up menu has two more items: two controller types. You can select which two controller types (filter cutoff, resonance, volume, etc.) should be available on the pop- up menu by clicking the Setup button and selecting con- trollers from the lists that appears. This selection is global to all patterns. To insert controller information in a pattern, select the desired controller from the pop-up menu and click in the controller display to draw events. The MIDI controller events will be sent out during playback along with the notes. ÖIf you drag a controller event bar all the way down, no controller value will be sent out on that step. Other pattern functions The following functions make it easier to edit, manipulate and manage patterns: Automating pattern changes You can create up to 200 different patterns in each Step Designer – just select a new pattern and add notes and controllers as described above. Typically, you want the pattern selection to change during the project. You can accomplish this by automating the Pat- tern selector, either in real time by activating the Write auto- mation and switching patterns during playback or by drawing in the automation subtrack for the Step Designer’s MIDI track. Note that you can also press a key on your MIDI keyboard to change patterns. For this, you have to set up the Step Designer as an insert effect for a record enabled MIDI track. Press C1 to select pattern 1, C#1 to select pat- tern 2, D1 to select pattern 3, D#1 to select pattern 4 and so on. If you want, you can record these pattern changes as note events on a MIDI track. Proceed as follows: 1.Select the desired MIDI track or create a new one and activate the Step Designer as an insert effect. 2.Set up several patterns as described above. Function Description Shift Oct These buttons allow you to shift the entire pattern up or down in octave steps. Shift Time Moves the pattern one step to the left or right. Reverse Reverses the pattern, so that it plays backwards. Copy/Paste Allows you to copy the current pattern and paste it in an- other pattern location (in the same Step Designer or an- other). Reset Clears the pattern, removing all notes and setting con- troller values to default. Random Generates a completely random pattern – useful for ex- perimenting. Swing The Swing parameter allows you to offset every second step, creating a swing or shuffle feel. The value is a per- centage – the higher you set this, the farther to the right every even step is moved. Presets Note that a stored Preset contains all 200 patterns in the Step Designer.
69 MIDI effects 3.Press the Record button and press the desired keys on your keyboard to select the corresponding patterns. The pattern changes will be recorded on the MIDI track. 4.Stop recording and play back the MIDI track. You will now hear the recorded pattern changes. ÖThis will only work for the first 92 patterns. Track Control The Track Control effect contains three ready-made con- trol panels for adjusting parameters on a GS or XG com- patible MIDI device. The Roland GS and Yamaha XG protocols are extensions of the General MIDI standard, al- lowing for more sounds and better control of various in- strument settings. If your instrument is compatible with GS or XG, the Track Controls effect allows you to adjust sounds and effects in your instrument from within Nuendo. Selecting a control panel At the top of the Track Controls effect window you will find a pop-up menu. This is where you select which of the available control panels to use: About the Reset and Off buttons Regardless of the selected mode, you will find two buttons labelled “Off” and “Reset” at the top of the control panel: Clicking the Off button will set all controls to their low- est value, without sending out any MIDI messages. Clicking the Reset button will set all parameters to their default values, and send out the corresponding MIDI mes- sages. For most parameters, the default values will be zero or “no adjustment”, but there are exceptions to this. For example, the default Reverb Send settings are 64. Control panel Description GS Basic ControlsEffect sends and various sound control parameters for use with instruments compatible with the Roland GS standard. XG Effect + SendsEffect Sends and various sound control parameters for use with instruments compatible with the Yamaha XG standard. XG Global Global settings (affecting all channels) for instruments compatible with the Yamaha XG standard.
70 MIDI effects GS Basic Controls The following controls are available when the GS Basic Controls mode is selected: XG Effects + Sends The following controls are available when the XG Effects + Sends mode is selected: XG Global Settings In this mode, the parameters affect global settings in the instrument(s). Changing one of these settings for a track will in fact affect all MIDI instruments connected to the same MIDI output, regardless of the MIDI channel setting of the track. Therefore, to avoid confusion it might be a good idea to create an empty track and use this only for these global settings. The following controls are available: Control Description Send 1 Send level for the reverb effect. Send 2 Send level for the chorus effect. Send 3 Send level for the “variation” effect. Attack Adjusts the attack time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the attack, while raising it gives a slower attack. Middle position (64) means no adjustment is made. Decay Adjusts the decay time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the decay, while raising it makes the decay longer. Release Adjusts the release time of the sound. Lowering the value shortens the release, while raising it makes the release time longer. Cutoff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency. Resonance Adjusts the filter resonance. Express Allows you to send out expression pedal messages on the track’s MIDI channel. Press. Allows you to send out aftertouch (channel pressure) messages on the track’s MIDI channel. This is useful if your keyboard cannot send aftertouch, but you have sound modules that respond to aftertouch. The default value for this parameter is zero. Breath Allows you to send breath control messages on the track’s MIDI channel. Modul. Allows you to send modulation messages on the track’s MIDI channel (just as you normally do with a modulation wheel on a MIDI keyboard).Control Description Send 1 Send level for the reverb effect. Send 2 Send level for the chorus effect. Send 3 Send level for the “variation” effect. Attack Adjusts the attack time of the sound. Lowering this value shortens the attack, while raising it gives a slower attack. Middle position means no adjustment is made. Release Adjusts the release time of the sound. Lowering this value shortens the release, while raising it makes the release time longer. Middle position means no adjustment is made. Harm.Cont Adjusts the harmonic content of the sound. Bright Adjusts the brightness of the sound. CutOff Adjusts the filter cutoff frequency. Resonance Adjusts the filter resonance. Control Description Eff. 1 This allows you to select which type of reverb effect should be used: No effect (the reverb turned off), Hall 1– 2, Room 1–3, Stage 1–2 or Plate. Eff. 2 This allows you to select which type of chorus effect should be used: No effect (the chorus turned off), Chorus 1–3, Celeste 1–3 or Flanger 1–2. Eff. 3 This allows you to select one of a large number of “varia- tion” effect types. Selecting “No Effect” is the same as turning off the variation effect. Reset Sends an XG reset message. MastVol This is used to control the Master Volume of an instru- ment. Normally you should leave this in its highest posi- tion and set the volumes individually for each channel (with the volume faders in the Nuendo mixer or in the Inspector).