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I understand from the entry "DAW Drones (MIDI)" in the Rack Module Library that there should be a new kind of drones: MIDI FX drones. I assume that these are not normal VST drones just in MIDI mode, but separate drones that work as MIDI Effect plugins. Is that correct?
If that' s the case, I wonder how this works. When I browse the list of available MIDI Effect plugins in Cubase, I don't see anything new that looks like a drone. Is there something that needs to be installed separately? Or maybe I'm misunderstanding something?
Mo., 03.10.2022 - 20:48 Permalink
I was in a similar situation with my DAW. I was finally able to find a solution through trial and error. And mostly happy accidents. I use Studio One, so I'm not sure how the procedure I follow to use MIDI Drones would work in Cubase. But perhaps there are some similarities.
You should see the MIDI Drones listed alongside with the all your other VSTs. In Studio One, the VST instruments and VST effects are separated. So the MIDI Drones are in the Instruments tab under Cognitone.
First, I have to create an FX channel. Then I can add a MIDI Drone (as many as I would like) to the FX channel from the Iist of Insert options listed on that channel. Once the Drone had been added to the channel I am able to route it to any VST instrument I desire using a side menu that organizes routing.
Does Cubase have FX channels? If so, try looking there next. Even though I use Studio One, I know that it's borrowed many functions from other popular DAWs. So the procedure I use may be similar.
Mo., 03.10.2022 - 21:53 Permalink
Thank you very much, that has already helped me.
In Cubase I have three lists of plug-ins. VST Instruments, VST Effects and MIDI FX plugins. Of course, I looked at the MIDI FX plugins. But actually you can find the MIDI Drone under VST Effects.
How the routing is supposed to work, however, is not yet clear to me. Normally, in Cubase I can integrate VST effects only into the audio routing. How should I route this to the MIDI input of an instrument? Well, maybe I'll figure that out (if it even works in Cubase).
Mo., 03.10.2022 - 23:47 Permalink
I've attached a sample picture of my setup to give you an idea of how it works with Studio One. In this case, I'm using Modo Bass as my instrument.
You can see two channels at the bottom, one for Modo Bass, and the other is the FX channel where the MIDI Drone is loaded. In the top left hand corner is a lower case "i", which stand for "Inspector" (Perhaps Cubase as a similar track inception?). For the purposes of this demontration, I've clicked the "i" to revel the Inspector panel. About 2/3rds of the way down on the Inspector panel, you can see Out, In, and Channel. For the purposes of this demonstration, I've clicked on "In" so you can see the options. Once I click on the MIDI Drone option, the drone is now routed to Modo Bass and MIDI data from Synfire is now fed into Modo Bass (or whichever VST I decide to route it to).
I hope this helps clarify my process and will help you with your Cubase setup. Let me know if there's something I missed.
Di., 04.10.2022 - 22:00 Permalink
Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation.
I can confirm that it should work the same way with Cubase. Actually I can load the MidiFX drone anywhere I want (eg into a separate FX channel or even as insert effect of an instrument channel) and route from there to the MIDI input of any instrument. Very interesting, I have learned something new. However, I still have the problem that does not work, meaning I do not get any sound. At the moment I have no idea what's the reason for this. If I can get it to work though, that would be a cool thing.
Do., 06.10.2022 - 08:18 Permalink
Can't check with Cubase right now, but basically, in the signal flow of a channel strip, the MIDI FX Drone needs to be placed before the plug-in or instrument that delivers the sound.
Logic has a slot for MIDI FX in the right place. Ableton Live is a bit more clumsy, needing extra channels and redirection (need to check again). Good to know now how it works with Studio One. Maybe we should add a Wiki page for all DAWs.
Do., 06.10.2022 - 20:22 Permalink
...the MIDI FX Drone needs to be placed before the plug-in or instrument that delivers the sound.
In Cubase, when loading the MIDI FX Drone into an instrument channel strip, I can load it only as insert effect after the instrument. I already figured out, that the MIDI FX Drone does not pass through the audio signal, i.e. inserting it blocks the audio. But that shouldn't be a big deal, because I can switch the drone to bypass without turning it off completely. I would expect it to work then, because routing the MIDI output of the drone to the instrument input of the same channel (or of another channel) is not a problem. But it doesn't.
I don't think it's an audio problem anyway, because it doesn't show me receiving MIDI data during playback either. What does work, however, is to drag and drop the MIDI data from the drone to a MIDI track. So the connection of the drone to Synfire seems to work.
As an alternative to loading the drones as insert effects into the instrument channel strips, you could also load them into a completely separate effect strip (which has nothing to do with the instrument channel audio-wise). That would be @ultravisitor's setup, as far as I understand. However, that doesn't work either. The MIDI routing to the instrument is not a problem, but no MIDI data is received.
Do., 06.10.2022 - 21:14 Permalink
In Cubase, when loading the MIDI FX Drone into an instrument channel strip, I can load it only as insert effect after the instrument
Strange. In Logic, the MIDI FX processes what's stored in the DAW tracks and transforms it before the instrument generates sound. I have no idea why it should be otherwise. What's the purpose of transforming MIDI when it no longer reaches the instrument?
If bypassing audio for the MIDI FX is helpful, I can check if that works.
Do., 06.10.2022 - 21:54 Permalink
Strange. In Logic, the MIDI FX processes what's stored in the DAW tracks and transforms it before the instrument generates sound. I have no idea why it should be otherwise.
For MIDI effects it's the same in Cubase. Of course, a MIDI effect processes the MIDI data before the instrument.
But your MIDI FX drone shows up and behaves like an audio effect. It is found in the list of audio effect plugins not in the list of MIDI effects. That's why I was confused at the beginning to hear that there should be a MIDI effect drone and I didn't find it in the list of MIDI effects. Maybe MIDI effects do have a different file format in Cubase? Or maybe they need a special tag to mark them as a MIDI effect? No idea