Use Device Panels in Cubase

Device Panels are one of the most criminally under-used features in Steinberg’s Cubase sequencer.

They allow you to build your own customised panels for controlling the synths you use with the software.

When Device Panels were first introduced in version 3 of the sequencer, they could only be used to control external synths and modules, but since version 3.0.1 you can also use them to operate software plug-ins.

At first, this may not seem like a big deal. After all, software plug-ins already have their own graphical user interfaces and so are pretty easy to use. This is true, but sometimes these interfaces can be a bit cluttered. As a result, there may be times when you’d rather work with a simpler subset of the controls, so you can quickly jump to the ones you need to tweak.

But as well as this, Device Panels are also of benefit because they can be shown in the extended area of the main mixer and in the inspector section of the arrange window.

Being able to have speedy access to a synth’s controls in these windows can be a great time saver. This is especially true when you’re putting together mixes that call for you to be constantly tweaking filter cut-off and resonance controls on the fly to give the track lots of movement.

If you want to put together a Device Panel for an external synth or module, you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the synth’s system exclusive data, and that’s not a particularly easy task.

However, creating Device Panels for software plug-ins is much easier. This is because all the parameters that can be controlled via a Device Panel are automatically labelled in Cubase, so you can just select the controller that you need by name from a list. It really is a very simple process to create a device panel from scratch for a software plug-in, so there’s absolutely no reason not to give it a go.

Creating a control panel
We’re going to take a look a how to build a simple control panel for the Monologue synth plug-in that comes bundled with Cubase. Remember, the control of plug-ins via Device Panels was only introduced in version 3.0.1, so you’ll need that version or a later release to follow these steps. Also, Device Panels aren’t available to those who use the LE, SE or SL versions of the software.

First, start up Cubase and then create a new project. Once the new project window appears, click on the Devices menu and select VST Instruments to open up the instruments rack. Click on the first box and select Monologue from the list of synths.

Like this story? Spread the news by clicking below:

 del.icio.us     Digg this     reddit!