Setting up Phase Plant Expressive Suite in Cubase

This article explains how to set up Phase Plant Expressive Suite within Steinberg Cubase. The steps needed to make MPE work for Kilohearts Phase Plant differ from the usual setup of MPE synths in Cubase. We use Osmose as an MPE controller, but the setup is similar for other MPE controllers.

Using Osmose as an MPE controller in Cubase

When controlling external instruments inside your DAW, use USB MIDI Port 1 (Play port) of Osmose exclusively, see: Connect Osmose to your computer. On your Windows PC, Port 1 will simply be called "Osmose". Take this into account for all the following instructions:

Choose MPE configuration for Osmose's External MIDI Mode

On Osmose, enter the config menu of External MIDI mode and select the "mpe" configuration.

This will make Osmose send MIDI messages according to the MPE specification on Port 1.

Enabling MPE input from Osmose in your DAW

In Cubase, from the “Studio” menu, click the “Studio Setup” option. Then, create a new Note Expression Input Device by clicking on “Add Device” > “Note Expression Input Device”. Even if you have already created such a device for Osmose in the past, you will need to create a separate Note Expression Input Device specifically for usage with Phase Plant.

For the newly created Note Expression Input Device, set "Osmose Port 1" as 'MIDI Input'. Then activate "Use For Tuning" within the "Horizontal/X" section of the page. For Pressure and Vertical/Y, set the preferred choice to "As recommended by Instrument".

Creating an instrument track with Osmose as the input device

Create a new Instrument track: “Project” menu > “Add Track” > “Instrument” and select Phase Plant. It is mandatory that you use the VST3 version of Phase Plant, otherwise the mapping of MPE parameters won't work.
In the Track Inspector, select “Note Expression Input Device” for the track's MIDI input and "Channel 1" for the MIDI channel selection.

Assign MPE parameters to Cubase Note Expression

We will now need to change the input assignment of MIDI messages / VST3 controller messages to Cubase's Note Expression system. It is done by clicking in the "In" column of the table in the Note Expression section of the Inspector.*

You need to assign Horizontal/X (H) to Tuning, Pressure (P) to Pressure, and Vertical/Y (V) to MPE Timbre. Unless you plan to edit wider pitch bend ranges, we also recommend limiting the Max. Value and Min. Value for the Tuning control parameter to +2.000 and -2.000 semitones. It has no direct influence on the messages recorded but allows for a more comfortable editing of your pitch curves in the piano roll editor.

*Note: The Inspector's Note Expression section might be hidden by default. Right-click/Option-click in the Inspector Area and choose "Set up Sections...", then activate "Note Expression" if it is not shown.