Why does MIDI phase in & out on low frequencies?

[Pharaoh Lite]

Why does Cubase MIDI phase in & out on low frequencies

I find it really annoying when I sequence a bassline in Cubase and it will sometimes phase in & out, but there won't be any effects on the midi track. This has been happening with several different Vst's. Even after exporting an audio track and EQ-ing it, it sometimes still does that phasing nonsene. It seems to only happen with low frequency patches.

I always EQ the shyte out of everything I do to get the best possible full sound, but because the audio exports all the midi attributes it is sometimes hard to get rid of the phasing. It will sound weaker in some parts of the bassline, sometimes more so with more dramatic pitch changes.

Is anyone familiar with what I'm talking about? Any help is appreciated, thnx.

I'm hoping to get my XV2020 recording soon so I won't have to use crappy Vst's!

Pharaoh Lite

 

[2_nice]

with bass using plugins (or recording electric or upright acoustic bass etc.) recording in mono in the norm. with synth bass i usually use mono and if i want width just mix down and clone the track (panning either side). with bass if you're having problems with phase just use mono !! (bass is mostly always smack down the middle anyway and sounds good mono)

p.s. as most people here will know and you may also midi itself is just a protocol (musical instrument digital interface) and it is the sound of the plugin phasing. alot of synths vst and hardware phase especially with bass just working on your programming !!

 

[Pharaoh Lite]

Cool thnx for the tips 2nice, that should solve it, obviously a fairly common thing. It sounds so logical now that you've described a solution, but a lotta problems can seem bigger than they are! I'll be prepared when I do get my sound module recording if bass starts to phase.

I've been using midi for ages and yes I am aware that MIDI is not sound but digital information or signals, obvious why they are called 'events' when they are on a midi map. Midi was one of the first things I learnt about b4 getting into producing, important thing to understand aswell when using sequencers.

Cheers,
Pharaoh Lite

 

[2_nice]

i am not sure if anyone can clarify this if you have a patch from your plugin that is stereo going into the output for the plugin and you have the plugins output set to mono will the plugin then operate internally as mono (defeating phasing issues) or will the signal instead me changed to mono when the sound inputs from the plugin to the track output leaving all the phasing issues. (this is out of interest i think switching the track to mono will mean the plugin operates in mono but i am not sure). i know this is the case in cakewalk sonar now (thx to an upgrade patch) but i am not sure about cubase

 

[Pharaoh Lite]

whoa 2nice, you confused the shyte out of me...at first! but i got some of it...maybe... I tried your solution the other day...the phasing still persisted after making a mono track. Exporting a mono mixdown and EQ-ing it didn't help either.

I don't know how to make the actual plugins run as mono in Cubase, can probably do it tho, its a big program. So to answer your question, with my experience, the answer is no, making a mono track will not make the plugin run as mono. The stereo sound from the plugin will be converted to mono, but the phasing will stay. There would be an ezy enuff solution to this, they woukldn't make these fancy plugins if there was no way to avoid phasing.

It's all good tho, I got my XV2020 recording....finally! Won't need to use any bass from vst plugins anymore, I got enough bass patches on that thing to last me for a while and I got a couple of expansion boards to soon add to the library, woohoo!! That machine kicks serious ass... and its only a halfrack!

But keep me posted about the phasing thing, I'll still need to know for other patches I use with other plugins, thanks.