Translator Pro solving weird Cubase problem - looking for insight

I recently got a Freedrum virtual drum set https://freedrum.rocks They’re a very new product, and barely out of beta.

I’m using it on an M1 MacBook Pro with Ventura 13.3.1

When I first got them, I attempted to record their MIDI output into Cubase and I discovered that they didn’t send MIDI Note OFF messages, which resulted in Cubase recording MIDI notes with infinite length starting at 1.1.1.0. I solved this problem with Translator Pro by transforming the Note ON messages into Note OFF messages with a 10ms delay.

The lack of Note OFF messages also caused weird problems with other DAWs as well.

Freedrum was very responsive and have released a firmware update so that the kit now sends MIDI Note Off messages.

I’ve tested it in Logic, Garageband, Reaper, and Live, and it works perfectly.

The weird thing is that it’s still broken in Cubase. But it’s broken differently now. Instead of creating notes with infinite length starting at 1.1.1.0, it now creates notes with a length of 0.0.1.6 starting at 1.1.1.0.

It’s really strange. For some reason, Cubase sees the Note On and the Note Off arriving at the same time. Even though the MIDI Monitor application shows that there is time between them.

I can get them to work in Cubase by running the MIDI stream through Translator Pro with no translation, simply using Translator Pro’s routing function and routing from the Freedrum in to Translator Pro’s out.

Steinberg have passed the problem along to their developers, so I don’t have hope for an immediate solution.

I’m posting in the Forum here to see if anyone has insight into why Translator Pro might be fixing the problem even through it’s only being used with MIDI Through.

I would double check you MIDI port selection in Cubase. My guess is that you were monitoriing from multiple ports.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care


Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz

Thanks. That’s not the case here, the input was set to come from a single port - either directly from Freedrum or from Translator Pro.

Restart the computer to see if the problem goes away. Perhaps there was a shadow port in Cubase that did not properly get deleted.

Steve Caldwell
Bome Customer Care


Also available for paid consulting services: bome@sniz.biz