MIDI modifiers to play all scales on white keys

This can be a very powerful tool!

Two things would help enormously.

  1. Play all scales using white keys only.
    All you would need to know is C major or A minor Scale (it will give people so much more creativity) using familiar shapes.

  2. Be able to record shifted scale on the track. (so if I am playing in C major but I have selected E minor) it should record E minor notes on the track if the option is selected.

Please do this one in cubase 10…
btw 9.5 has some very useful features…

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You can do this now by using the Input Transformer to transpose what you are playing in C Major or A minor to any other key.

Hi, your point 2 can already be done using the chord track, more or less. There’s a video by Greg Ondo out there that explains how to do this, sorry I don’t have the link.

I haven’t seen Greg’s video so I may be offbase & missing something. But I assume it is about using the Chord Tab in the Track Inspector. If you turn Live Transform on it will indeed take the notes being played on the white keys and modify them so they conform to the notes of the Key and/or Chord shown in the Chord Track. But it doesn’t do this by transposing, rather it just moves any out-of-key notes to the closest in-key notes. The OP is looking to actually transpose the notes.

For example if you play D-E-F in C Major and transposed it to G Major the notes would be A-B-C. But if you used Live Transform to make the notes conform to G Major you’d end up with D-E-F#.

That said Live Transform can be great fun. Just slap at your keyboard and all the notes will be in key.

I am confused, live transform follows the chords, you would have to have chord track enabled and chords defined to even do that.

I was talking about midi input transformation based on scale selection, where all the white keys can be used to play any scale (in sequence no delays or gaps like the midi plugin Midi Modifiers). Kinda like how NI Komplete Kontrol keyboard. Just integrated in Cubase 10 Pro as a midi plugin or a track feature.


kinda like the easy mode on NI Komplete Kontrol MIDI keyboard…

Yeah, Live Transform was a detour introduced into the discussion. FYI, you can set it to just use the scale & not chords.

Use the Input Transformer to do what you requested in your OP.

Alternatively you can use the Transpose in the Track Inspector’s MIDI Modifiers tab. However this only affects the playback - so the MIDI Part will record the notes in C Major, but play them back transposed (even while initially recording). The Transformer on the other hand will let you record the transposed notes.

And just for completeness - you can also select an existing MIDI Part and transpose its playback via the info line.

I know how chord track can be followed by an instrument or midi track, I am asking for enhancement of midi modifier in cubase that already has scale and scale note selection, all I am requesting is 2 new things added to it.

  1. A way to map all selectable scales, to be mapped, to all white keys, example … I want to play D# harmonic minor, I should be able to map all the keys to the white keys in sequence so there are no blank or repeat notes. I am sure, if Steinberg is listening, they should be able to do this fairly easily.

  2. Able to print these notes to the track, so the play back engine knows that the notes that are being played don’t need to be remapped (this can also be an offline process) does not have to be real-time.


    example I gave is the NI Keyboard
    Kontrol S Keyboard Scale Modes Explained - YouTube

You can indeed to do it with the Input Transformer.

In module 1 set the notes (value 1:equal:<note name/number>) that need to be transposed in the Filter pane.
Set their transpositions in the Action pane. (Value 1:Subtract:)
Be sure to set all the booleans on the right to OR. Then activate the module.

In module 2 filter target is equal:note, action target is Value 1:subtract (or add) what you need to get the transposition you need. This transposes the all the pitches together.

Let’s say you want to set up a harmonic minor scale. Put the notes needing transposition in the Filter pane, and put the value by which they will be transposed in the action pane.

See example.

**You

Can

Do

This

Now**

it does not work…

I works perfectly. I rephrased my post above, hopefully it’s easier to understand, but the pic is clear. I didn’t take a pic of the second module, since there’s only one entry.

Yes this I understand, but it would be nice to just select a scale and click a checkbox that says map to white keys. :grinning:

Creativity requires immediate and friendly simplicity.

I disagree. Creativity requires inventiveness, hard work, discipline, patience, and knowing oneself. Immediate gratification is the enemy of creativity.

How many different modes do you need? I propose five minutes work maximum per scale, probably less. Then, forever, you have the feature that you are willing to wait a couple years for by asking for it in a software forum, and you get it now, tonight without waiting, and you can customize it the way you want.

When inspiration strikes, one needs simplicity, to dive into the unknown. :headphones: :wink:
Hard work is skill, creative is the collective… one can lose inspiration messing with menus and nobs.

But I will try your advice in using the input transform :+1:

Hi Steve,
I programed one octave, is there a way to apply it to the whole 88 key keyboard ?
Seems really tedious to do one key at a time.

Amad M.

Why go through all that trouble with the Input Transformer? If you load “MIDI Modifiers” as a MIDI Insert plugin, you can set the scale at the bottom and it will transform all notes you play into that scale. They have every crazy kind of scale you can think of, just pick one, set the root, and play!

That won’t do what the OP wants. It will convert any note played on the keyboard into the closest note in the new scale. But that’s different than transposing to the new scale. If you set the MIDI Modifier to A Major and on the keyboard play C-D-E, it will come out as C#-D-E. But if you transpose to A Major you’d end up with A-B-C#.

Also the modifier only affects playback. If you record those notes they’ll still be C-D-E in the MIDI Part.

You only have to enter the notes that need to be transposed, not every single note. Use the graphic I uploaded as a guide.That is for four octaves if I remember correctly.