C_brains 1.5

Knowledgebase

Installing C_brains follows the typical pattern of installing Logical Editor presets then controlling them with Generic Remotes. If you are new to Cubase, you can read more about these amazing features in the Cubase User Manual.

1. Disable Anti-alias Canvas Objects

Before attempting to sync any MIDI Kinetics controller to your tablet, be sure to disable Anti-alias Canvas Objects in Lemur’s More Settings page. It may cause a crash.

2. Set Lemur skin to Flat

All MIDI Kinetics controllers are designed using the Flat Lemur skin. It offers the most consistent user experience. You can set the Lemur skin in Lemur’s “More Settings” page.

3. C_brains’ Effect on Cubase’s Loading Time

C_brains’ power comes from over 1200 Logical Editor presets for Cubase. Since Cubase 7, with its new enhanced menu style, loading all 1200 of these presets will increase the loading time of Cubase as it works to build the Logical Editor UI. It will also again increase the time it takes for Cubase to rebuild the Logical Editor UI, but only when a new Logical Editor preset is created and saved to disk, or selected from within the Editor UI itself— selecting it from the Edit Menu is fine. These are minor inconveniences.

On a modern computer running Cubase 7 or later, expect an increase in loading time between 7-20s

To speed up loading time you could simply go ahead and delete the logical presets that you never plan on using— though doing so is “officially unsupported”. Don’t change anything in C_brains. When C_brains executes the missing commands, simply nothing will happen.

Please see MIDI Kinetics Connect for instructions on how to register and activate your MIDI Kinetics product.

1. Quit Cubase.

2. Drag the C_brains Command Set folder into Cubase’s Logical Edit presets folder on your hard drive:

1. Launch Cubase.

2. Go to the “Devices” menu and select “Device Setup…”

3. Click on the “+” button at the top left, and create TWO new Generic Remotes:

4. Select the first Generic Remote, press “Import”, and open the “C_brains Part 1/2” remote, and press “Apply’. Select the second Generic Remote and do the same, this time for “C_brains Part 2/2”:

5. Assign both Generic Remotes to the MIDI ports that are connected to Lemur:

6. In MIDI Port Setup, make sure you have excluded this port from your All-MIDI Inputs. You don’t want to accidentally record C_brains’ output!

7. Press “OK”.

There are no special instructions for installing C_brains into Lemur. Just sync it to your tablet, open C_brains’ prefs, and point it to the Lemur target that is connected to the Generic Remotes. Don’t forget to also set the Lemur target for MK Connect to activate your license.

C_brains is now ready.

The Selector allows you to search for and manipulate MIDI data based on its properties— for example, delete notes within a range, select notes that fall rhythmically on a certain beat, mute a specific CC#, or filter a specific channel.

The Selector is a powerful time-saver, eliminating the tedious process of using a mouse to dig into controller lanes and select many MIDI events. You can choose to find events in an entire MIDI region, or within the current selection.

The Selector can find notes based on their rhythmic position in the bar or beat. This makes it easy to edit ostinatos (repeated rhythmic figures) and drum parts— a common process that is otherwise slow, tedious, and cumbersome.

Bar Strip

Select a note based on its position in the bar.

Beat Buttons

Select a note in based on its position in the beat.

Beaming Buttons

The Beaming buttons help you metrically visualize your music on Lemur. They have no effect on the output of the Selector or on Cubase.

Catch Range

Rhythmic Selections have a catch range of ± 1/32nd note.

• When the subdivision is duple, the catch range is ± 1/32nd note.
• When the subdivision is triple, the catch range is ± 1/32nd note triplet.
• The duration of notes doesn’t matter; it only matters that the note should start in the specified range. In the example below, this note will be selected even if it is 10 bars long.

Searching for downbeats will still select this note, even though it is not exactly quantized, because it falls within a 1/32 note on either side.

Multi-Meter Selections

When notes aren’t quantized, be careful when selecting musical passages that contain more than one meter; the Selector could produce unwanted results.

Since the Selector only looks at note starts, searching for the 4th beat in a bar of 4/4 could also select the 1st beat when the next bar is 3/4.

Screen Redraw Bug Correction

Cubase has a Logical Editor bug that sometimes causes deselected notes to appear selected or even partially selected. This is easily fixed by executing any command that redraws the screen.
C_brains does this automatically. 2 messages are sent, one to zoom-in slightly, then one to zoom back out. This has happens very quickly and should be more or less invisible to you.

MIDI Display Resolution

For the Selector to properly perform rhythmic selections, Cubase’s MIDI display resolution must be set to the default setting of 480 PPQ (120 Ticks). This setting can be found in Cubase Preferences: MIDI.

Use the Transformation Panels to modify selected MIDI events.

The Transformation Panels are type-sensitive. For example, if an entire region is selected, using the CC/Program Change converter won’t accidentally convert notes. Likewise, transposing notes up by a minor 2nd won’t accidentally convert CC#1 into CC#2. Nudge works on all selected MIDI events regardless of the type, but Note Trim won’t accidentally trim CC data.

CC/Program Change # Converter

• Select the CC/PGM data to be converted.
• Dial in the new CC/PGM # (0-127).
• Press Enter.

This is useful, for example, when one of your virtual instruments uses CC#11 to control dynamics, and you want to copy the part to another virtual instrument that uses CC#1

Velocity/CC/Pitch Bend Amount

This Transformer applies to all selected MIDI messages, so if you only want to change note velocities, make sure no CCs are selected.

• Use the Wheel to set all to the same value (0-127).
• Use the + or – buttons to increment/decrement by the selected value (1, 5, 10).

Transpose Notes

• Hold the Copy button before pressing to copy-transpose; new notes will be created at the interval.

Nudge / Note Trim

Nudging applies to all selected MIDI messages, regardless of type. Note trim only affects notes.

• Hold a Note-Trim button to temporarily toggle the arrows between Note-Trim and Nudge.
• Double-tap a Note-Trim button to lock-toggle.

Inside the Nudge Value selector you will also find a few very useful note length functions.

The Edit Menu contains common editing commands that are normally triggered using your computer keyboard.

A composer’s desk space is usually very limited, so it’s also extremely useful to have these commands on your tablet.

Undo and Redo are always there: we all make mistakes.

The Thumb-Key is a floating Lemur container for you to put whatever you like — transport, a few faders, some of your own custom creations, etc. The container may be freely moved or resized onscreen.

By default, the Thumb-Key container disappears when the thumb is released, but it can be set to “latch” by double-tapping.

C_brains 1.5 now features 210 Utility Buttons. Use them for anything you like, for example, opening controller lanes, triggering your own custom logical presets, or executing DAW commands.

The command is sent when you release your finger.

• Up to 5 simultaneous MIDI messages per button.
• Send any combination of note, CC, or program change messages.
• Send on any Lemur target or MIDI channel.
• Move Mode for moving Utility Buttons into different slots.
• Custom colors.

Assigning Favorites

You can assign favorite commands to the 6 slots at the bottom of the interface.

• With one finger, hold down the utility button
• With another finger, press one of the favorite slots.