How do I create an instrument list for my keyboard on Steinberg Cubase SX or SL?

Before you start, it would be helpful to get your manual and any instrument name information you have on the keyboard you wish to add, including patch names (and numbers) with bank numbers. Also, check your manual to find out what type of bank select method it uses.

1. Then, in Cubase SX / SL, go to Devices – MIDI Device Manager. Click Install Device, and choose Define New, click OK. Type the name of the keyboard and click OK.

2. Then, at the bottom-left of the screen, you’ll see Empty Bank. Click on it until you can type, change the name to the name of the keyboard.

3. Right-click on this new line where the keyboard name is (if it doesn’t give you the option, make sure the keyboard name is highlighted and try again), and go to New Folder. Name this folder the bank number/name you are creating.

4. Right-click on this new bank number and go to Add Multiple Presets.

Assuming your keyboard has more than one bank (128 sounds), you’ll need to do the following.

Find the Bank Select Method your keyboard requires. The most common is either Controller 0, sometimes called MSB, or Controller 32, sometimes called LSB. More common recently is actually using a combination of BOTH. Many Roland and newer Yamaha keyboards/modules use both. On the listing of the programs in the manual, they will typically have a column for both MSB and LSB. This is how you can tell you need both.

5. Left-click on Program Change and choose either the 2nd choice on the large list, CC: BankSelect MSB (which is Controller 0), or the 32nd one CC: BankSelect LSB (Controller 32). If your keyboard requires both, add another one below the first one by clicking in the blank space. Then, add a Program Change by clicking in the blank space.

Now it’s time to set parameters so Cubase can do some work for you. Since you’re adding a single bank but multiple patches, here’s the trick:

6. You can ignore MIDI Message Bytes and Valid Range, this is figured for you. The Range column is important. You’ll want to type the bank LSB/MSB/both in here. Then, under the Program Change Range, this is where you will give it two numbers (lower and upper numbers). If your keyboard has banks 128 instruments long, you’ll type 0-127 under Range. If your keyboard has only 100 instruments per bank (K2000 series is one that does), you’ll type 0-99.

What this does: Since you typed a single number under Range for LSB/MSB, it will create only one group of, say, bank 2. Since you typed 2 numbers in Program Change Range, it will auto-create up to 128 instruments, each with the same bank number. Thus, you’re done with this bank except for manually typing the patch names, which we’ll get to later.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 for all banks. Then move on to step 8.

8. Now you’ve created all the infrastructure of the instrument. It’s time to throw on some walls and paint. Click on the first bank’s first preset. Then click again, and you should be able to type the name of the instrument. Hit Enter when done.

Some tips:
* If you forget which patch you’re doing, you can always look at the right and find out which bank and program number you are editing, cross-reference it in the manual, and keep going.

* To speed up the process, single-click Preset 1, press the Enter key on your keyboard. You can now type the name. Press Enter again and it will go out of editing mode. Now press the down arrow and repeat.

* Stop after editing a few instruments when you are first getting the hang of it, exit the MIDI Device Manager, and go to a MIDI track to test it. You would not want to spend all the time required to type all the patch names just to find out you’re one number off or have used the wrong bank select method. Try the first few presets of each bank you start editing.

* You might want to Export this setup to a floppy disk when it is finished and tested just in case something happens to the file on the computer. You may also want to share it with others- since CubaseSX and SL are relatively new, there are many users with many keyboards which don’t have lists available yet.

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