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Steinberg The Grand 3 Manual

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    							Cristina Bachmann, Heiko Bischoff, Marion Bröer, Sabine Pfeifer, Heike Schilling
    Thanks to: Matthias Klag, Michael Ruf
    The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part 
    of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement 
    and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica-
    tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission 
    by Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
    Steinberg, The Grand, VST and ASIO are registered trademarks of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. Windows, 
    Windows Vista and DirectX are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other countries. 
    Macintosh, Mac and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Pentium and Intel 
    Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. All other product and 
    company names are ™ and ® of their respective holders.
    Release Date: June 29, 2009
    © Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH, 2009.
    All rights reserved. 
    						
    							4
    The Grand 3
    Table of Contents
    5Welcome
    5Key command conventions
    6How you can reach us
    6Installation
    6The USB-eLicenser
    7System requirements
    7Installing The Grand
    8Register your software!
    8Getting ready to play
    8Setting up The Grand as a VST instrument in 
    Cubase
    8Using The Grand in an AU compatible application
    9The Grand standalone and ReWire
    10Missing content
    11The content
    11The recording of The Grand
    11The models
    12Parameters
    12General plug-in controls
    15The Model page
    16The Equalizer page
    17The Ambience page
    18The Control page
    19The Options page
    21Additional controls when using The Grand as a 
    standalone instrument
    24Performance issues
    26Using MIDI controllers
    26MIDI controllers
    27Automation parameters
    28Index 
    						
    							5
    The Grand 3
    Welcome
    Congratulations and thank you for purchasing The Grand 3 
    by Steinberg.
    Both its previous versions have established The Grand as 
    one of the leading virtual piano instruments worldwide. 
    Now in 2009, The Grand is returning with a third version 
    to claim its rightful place at the forefront of virtual piano 
    software on the market today.
    With the purchase of The Grand 3 you have chosen a pre-
    mium virtual piano suite which comes with five virtual pi-
    anos perfectly recorded to meet your demands, providing 
    stunning sound quality unrivaled by current standards. The 
    Yamaha C7, Bösendorfer 290 Imperial, and Steinway D 
    grand pianos plus the classic Yamaha CP80 Electric 
    Grand, as well as the charismatic upright piano by Nordiska 
    Pianofabriken have been recorded to offer you an entire 
    palette of virtual piano greatness.
    Thanks to the incorporated intelligent sample architecture 
    and latest recording technology, The Grand 3 does not 
    simply play back samples, but responds to your individual 
    playing behavior as well as adding natural full-length sus-
    tain and decay, distinctive pedal and hammer noises, and 
    key thumps in order to recreate the sound of acoustic pi-
    anos so perfectly. And it doesn’t stop here. To further en-
    hance the effectiveness of your system, both ECO Mode 
    and RAM Save technology featured in The Grand 3 help 
    you to reduce the RAM consumption and improve CPU 
    performance.
    Whether you are a musician, arranger or composer, The 
    Grand 3 is certainly your first choice when it comes to 
    breathtaking authenticity, extraordinary dynamic response 
    and the breadth and depth of tones only made available in 
    this virtual piano software conceived and designed by 
    Steinberg.
    Based on the same technology used by REVerence, the 
    world’s first VST3-based convolution reverb processor al-
    ready featured in Cubase 5, The Grand 3 enables you to 
    make your piano sound as if you were playing in an ancient 
    cathedral or in a live music venue – simply at the flick of a 
    switch. You also get an algorithmic reverb with more than 
    60 reverb presets to round out your options, giving you 
    absolute freedom to explore your acoustic environment.The standalone version allows you to use The Grand 3 
    without a host application – a great choice for performing 
    live. It has two additional features: the quick-idea scratch 
    pad, which lets you instantly store spontaneous ideas, and 
    the metronome.
    Please don’t forget to register on MySteinberg in order to 
    gain access to online support offers and additional exclu-
    sive services. And check out the The Grand 3 community 
    at Cubase.net, our online forum, for tips and other useful 
    information.
    We wish you a lot of musical inspiration!
    Your Steinberg The Grand Team
    Key command conventions
    Many of the default key commands in The Grand use 
    modifier keys, some of which are different depending on 
    the operating system. For example, the default key com-
    mand for Undo is [Ctrl]-[Z] under Windows and [Com-
    mand]-[Z] under Mac OS X.
    When key commands with modifier keys are described in 
    this manual, they are shown with the Windows modifier 
    key first, in the following way:
    [Win modifier key]/[Mac modifier key]-[key]
    For example, [Ctrl]/[Command]-[Z] means “press [Ctrl] 
    under Windows or [Command] under Mac OS X, then 
    press [Z]”. 
    Similarly, [Alt]/[Option]-[X] means “press [Alt] under Win-
    dows or [Option] under Mac OS X, then press [X]”.
    Please note that this manual often refers to right-clicking, 
    e.g. to open context menus. If you are using a Mac with a 
    single-button mouse, hold down [Ctrl] and click. 
    						
    							6
    The Grand 3
    How you can reach us
    Clicking the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of The 
    Grand opens a pop-up menu where you will find items for 
    getting additional information and help:
    •On this menu, you can find links to various Steinberg 
    web sites. Selecting one automatically launches your 
    browser application and open the page.
    On the web sites you can find support and compatibility information, an-
    swers to frequently asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, 
    etc. This requires that you have a browser application installed on your 
    computer, and a working Internet connection.
    •When you choose the Help item, an online version of 
    the documentation opens.
    •You will also find a menu item for the registration of your 
    product.
    For further information see “Register your software!” on page 8.
    Installation
    The USB-eLicenser
    Many Steinberg products, including The Grand, use the 
    USB-eLicenser, a hardware copy protection device. The 
    Grand will not run without an eLicenser containing an ac-
    tivated license.
    The USB-eLicenser
    The USB-eLicenser is a USB device on which your Stein-
    berg software licenses are stored. All hardware-protected 
    Steinberg products use the same type of device, and you 
    can store more than one license on one device. Also, li-
    censes can (within certain limits) be transferred between 
    USB-eLicensers – which is helpful, e.g. if you want to sell 
    a piece of software. 
    The product package of The Grand contains an activation 
    code, which is found on the Essential Product License In-
    formation card within the product package. To make unlim-
    ited use of your version of The Grand, you must manually 
    download a license to an USB-eLicenser connected to 
    your computer, and activate your permanent license using 
    the activation code.
    The License Control Center (which can be found on the 
    Start menu on Windows systems or in the Applications 
    folder on a Mac after installation of The Grand) is the place 
    where you can check the licenses installed on your USB-
    eLicenser, and activate new licenses. 
    To do so, launch the License Download wizard of the 
    License Control Center and follow the instructions.
    •If you are using other copy-protected Steinberg pro-
    ducts, you may want to transfer all licenses for your appli-
    cations to one USB-eLicenser, thus using up only one 
    USB port of your computer.
    To transfer licenses between USB-eLicensers, launch the License Trans-
    fer wizard of the License Control Center and follow the instructions.
    !Please read the following section before installing 
    The Grand.
    !The USB-eLicenser is a separate product, and is not 
    included in the product package of The Grand. 
    						
    							7
    The Grand 3
    System requirements
    To use The Grand, your computer must meet the following 
    requirements:
    Windows
    • Windows XP (SP2) or Windows Vista
    • Pentium/Athlon 2.0 GHz dual core mobile (2.5 GHz recom-
    mended) or dual core 2.0 GHz processor (3 GHz recom-
    mended)
    • 2 GB RAM (3 GB recommended)
    • Up to 32 GB of free hard disk space
    • Display resolution 1024 x 768 pixels (1280 x 800 pixels 
    recommended)
    • Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware (ASIO compati-
    ble audio hardware recommended for low-latency performance)
    • DVD-ROM drive with dual-layer support
    • USB port for USB-eLicenser (license management)
    • USB-eLicenser
    • Internet connection for license activation
    • VST2, VST3, AU (tested in Cubase SX3, Cubase 4, Cubase 5, 
    Nuendo 4, Ableton Live 8 and SONAR 8), or ReWire compat-
    ible host for use as plug-in or ReWire slave-device
    Macintosh
    • Mac OS X 10.5
    • Power Mac G5 dual 2.0 GHz or Intel Core Duo 2.0 GHz pro-
    cessor (Intel Core Duo 2.66 GHz recommended)
    • 2 GB RAM (3 GB recommended)
    • Up to 32 GB of free hard disk space
    • Display resolution 1024 x 768 pixels (1280 x 800 pixels 
    recommended)
    • CoreAudio compatible audio hardware
    • DVD-ROM drive with dual-layer support
    • USB port for USB-eLicenser (license management)
    • USB-eLicenser
    • Internet connection for license activation
    • VST2, VST3, AU (tested in Cubase SX3, Cubase 4, Cubase 5, 
    Nuendo 4, Ableton Live 8 and Logic 8), or ReWire compatible 
    host for use as plug-in or ReWire slave-device
    Installing The Grand
    The product package of The Grand contains several 
    DVDs for installation. Since The Grand provides a large 
    amount of content, more than one DVD is needed for the 
    installation process. Please have all DVDs ready, because 
    you will be asked to remove one DVD and insert the next 
    one during the installation.
    Proceed as follows:
    1.Insert the first DVD into your DVD drive.
    An interactive start screen appears. If the interactive start screen is not 
    opened automatically or if you have a Macintosh computer, you can man-
    ually open the interactive start screen by double-clicking the file 
    “The_Grand_3_Start_Center.exe” under Windows or “The Grand 3 
    Start Center.app” on a Macintosh computer.
    2.Follow the instructions on screen to start the installa-
    tion of The Grand and browse through the additional op-
    tions and information presented.
    If you don’t want to install The Grand via the interactive 
    start screen, follow the instructions below:
    Windows
    1.Double-click the file called “Setup.exe”.
    2.Follow the instructions on screen.
    Macintosh
    1.Double-click the file called “The Grand 3.mpkg”.
    2.Follow the instructions on screen.
    !The installation process may take some time. To keep 
    it short you might want to start by installing only one 
    model. During the installation process you also have 
    the possibility to select the content you wish to install. 
    You can add more models or content later by restart-
    ing the installation process.
    !The installer of The Grand allows you to save the 
    content files on a different hard drive than the pro-
    gram files. 
    						
    							8
    The Grand 3
    Register your software!
    We encourage you to register your software! By doing so 
    you are entitled to technical support and kept aware of up-
    dates and other news regarding The Grand. 
    Proceed as follows:
    •Click the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of the 
    control panel and select “Register The Grand 3” from the 
    menu that appears.
    This option is an Internet link that opens the Registration page of the 
    Steinberg web site. To register, simply follow the instructions on screen. 
    Getting ready to play
    The following sections describe how to use The Grand as 
    a plug-in in different host applications, or as a standalone 
    instrument.
    Setting up The Grand as a VST instrument in 
    Cubase
    ÖThe following information refers to the use of The Grand 
    in Cubase. We assume that you have correctly set up Cu-
    base as well as your MIDI and audio hardware, and that Cu-
    base receives MIDI data from your external MIDI keyboard. 
    If you want to use The Grand in another VST host applica-
    tion, please refer to the documentation of this application.
    Cubase provides two ways of working with VST instru-
    ments: the VST Instruments window, or instrument tracks.
    To access The Grand via the VST Instruments window, 
    proceed as follows:
    1.In Cubase, open the Devices menu and select the VST 
    Instruments option.
    The VST Instruments window opens.
    2.Click in one of the empty slots to open the instrument 
    pop-up menu and select The Grand.
    3.You will be asked if you want to create an associated 
    MIDI track connected to the VST instrument. Click Create.
    The Grand is loaded and activated, and its control panel is opened. A 
    MIDI track called The Grand is added to the Track list. The output of this 
    track is routed to The Grand.
    To access The Grand via an instrument track, proceed as 
    follows:
    1.Open the Project menu, and on the Add Track sub-
    menu select “Instrument”.
    2.The Add Instrument Track dialog is opened.
    Select The Grand from the instrument pop-up menu. 
    3.Click OK to create the instrument track.
    Click the Edit Instrument button in the Cubase Inspector to open the 
    control panel of The Grand.
    The Grand has now been set up as a VST instrument in 
    Cubase. For more details about the handling of VST in-
    struments, see the Cubase Operation Manual.
    Using The Grand in an AU compatible 
    application
    You can use The Grand in an AU host application (e. g. 
    Logic).
    The AU version of The Grand is installed in your AU plug-
    ins folder and lets The Grand work in an AU environment – 
    without any performance loss or incompatibilities.
    For Logic Pro 8, proceed as follows:
    1.Open the Track Mixer and select the desired Instru-
    ment channel.
    2.[Command]-click the I/O field, and in the pop-up 
    menu that opens select either Multi-Channel or Stereo.
    3.In the submenu that appears, select All Instruments 
    and then The Grand.
    The Grand is now loaded as AU instrument. 
    						
    							9
    The Grand 3
    The Grand standalone and ReWire
    The Grand can be used as a standalone application, inde-
    pendently of any host application. This also makes it pos-
    sible to use The Grand with sequencer applications that 
    do not support one of the provided plug-in formats of The 
    Grand (i. e. VST and AU), but allow for data exchange us-
    ing ReWire.
    ReWire2 is a special protocol for streaming audio and 
    MIDI data between two computer applications. When us-
    ing ReWire, the order in which you launch and quit the 
    two programs is very important, as the first audio applica-
    tion launched will capture the audio card resources.
    Proceed as follows:
    1.Launch the sequencer application you wish to use 
    (e. g. Ableton Live, ProTools).
    If your sequencer supports ReWire, it will provide a way to assign audio 
    and MIDI channels for the exchange of data. See the documentation of 
    your sequencer application for details.
    2.Launch The Grand as a standalone application.
    You can launch the program like any other application on your computer 
    via the Start menu or desktop icon (Win) or by double-clicking the appli-
    cation symbol in the Applications folder (Mac). You can also double-click 
    the file “The Grand 3.exe” in the program folder (Win).
    When you now play a sample with The Grand, the sound 
    is streamed via ReWire to the assigned mixer channels in 
    your host application.
    ÖNote that you are now running two completely sepa-
    rate applications. When you save your sequencer project, 
    this will include the overall channel and bus configuration, 
    but none of the settings in The Grand!•To retain your The Grand settings, you have to save 
    them as a preset (click the disk symbol to the right of the 
    The Grand logo).
    You may want to use a file name that indicates that the file contains set-
    tings created for a particular sequencer project. This way, you can easily 
    reload your settings when reopening a particular sequencer project. For 
    more information, see “Preset handling” on page 12.
    The Preferences dialog
    When running The Grand as a standalone application, you 
    can configure the application in the Preferences dialog. To 
    open the Preferences dialog, proceed as follows:
    •Click the Open Preferences button (the cogwheel sym-
    bol) to the right of the audio output field.
    •Right-click in the topmost section of the control panel 
    and select “Preferences” on the context menu.
    The Preferences dialog has several pages on which you 
    can make the following settings:
    •On the MIDI Routing page, use the MIDI Input Port pop-
    up menu to specify a MIDI input.
    •On the Audio Routing page, use the Audio Output Port 
    pop-up menus to assign different audio outputs.
    The Grand supports four channels: two front channels (left and right) 
    and two rear channels (left and right). You can assign different audio out-
    puts for each channel. Selecting an audio output on the pop-up menu 
    maps that output to the corresponding channel.
    If you press [Shift] and select an audio output, the front and rear channels 
    are set to incrementing audio output ports – e. g. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, 6, 7, 8.
    If you press [Alt]/[Option]-[Shift] and select an audio output, the audio out-
    puts are assigned in pairs to the front and rear channels – e. g. 1, 2, 1, 2 or 
    5, 6, 5, 6.
    •On the Metronome page you can make a number of set-
    tings regarding the use of a metronome:
    !Note that to use the ReWire functionality, the corres-
    
    have these files already, you can download them 
    from www.propellerheads.se.
    !When you are using a Mac, you have to launch the 
    program in standalone mode once after the installa-
    tion to activate the ReWire functionality. 
    Option Description
    Mode Here you can turn the metronome on and off or set it to 
    Count In mode.
    Accent Activate this to accentuate the first beat of each bar.
    Level Use this fader to adjust the volume level of the metro-
    nome.
    Connections Here you can select a separate stereo output for the met-
    ronome.
    Click here to open the 
    Preferences dialog. 
    						
    							10
    The Grand 3
    •On the General page, activate “Don’t prompt for confir-
    mation when quitting The Grand 3” if you want The Grand 
    to close without prompting when quitting the program.
    •On the ASIO Driver page, select your audio hardware 
    driver from the ASIO Driver menu.
    If you plan to use several audio applications simultaneously, you may 
    want to activate the option “Release Driver when Application is in Back-
    ground”. This will allow another application to play back via your audio 
    hardware even though The Grand is running.
    The input and output latency values for your audio hardware are dis-
    played. “Latency” is the amount of time it takes for your system to re-
    spond to whatever messages are sent to it. High latency results in a 
    noticeable delay between when you press a key and when you hear the 
    sound. Below the latency values, the sample rate that is set for the con-
    nected audio hardware is displayed.
    When you run The Grand, there are several processes fighting for ac-
    cess to processor time in your computer. The parameter “Audio Priority” 
    allows you to determine which processes have priority:
    •Once you have selected the driver, open the Advanced 
    page to specify which inputs and outputs should be used 
    and name these. Click the Control Panel button to bring 
    up the control panel for the audio hardware and adjust the 
    settings as recommended by the audio hardware manu-
    facturer.
    Missing content
    There might be situations where a model or a content file 
    becomes unavailable. The reason can be a closed en-
    crypted partition or a detached removable hard drive, for 
    example. In these cases you will be prompted that a spe-
    cific VST Sound Library cannot be found. To access the 
    content again, proceed as follows:
    1.Click Ignore.
    The Grand is loaded, containing the content that could be found.
    2.Quit The Grand.
    3.Reattach the removable hard drive or reopen the en-
    crypted partition.
    4.Launch The Grand.
    If content files or models are missing for another reason 
    (e. g. if you moved them onto another hard drive after in-
    stallation or if you have added a hard drive, thereby “shift-
    ing” the partitions), proceed as follows:
    1.In the window with the message about the missing 
    VST Sound Library, click Locate if you want to choose a 
    different file location.
    A file dialog opens.
    2.Browse to the directory where the content is located.
    3.Select the file and click Open.
    All content files that are found in this location become available.
    ÖIf you have installed the content files on multiple drives, 
    the dialog might open again asking for further content files.
    •Click Remove if you don’t want The Grand to search for 
    a particular file in the future. 
    This way, you can avoid that The Grand searches for missing content af-
    ter having uninstalled a specific model.
    ÖYou can activate the “Do not ask again” option if you 
    want to ignore or remove all missing files at once.
    Option Description
    Normal In this mode non-audio processes and audio playback 
    get roughly equal priorities (default setting).
    Boost In this mode, audio precedes MIDI in priority. Try this 
    mode if audio playback problems occur when playing 
    back MIDI and audio material.
    !Under Windows, we strongly recommend that you 
    access your hardware via an ASIO driver written 
    specifically for the hardware, if available. If no ASIO 
    driver is installed, we recommend that you check 
    with your audio hardware manufacturer if they have 
    an ASIO driver available, for example for download 
    via the Internet.
    !On Windows Vista systems, you can also use the 
    Generic Low Latency ASIO driver if no specific 
    ASIO driver is available. 
    						
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