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I have successfully routed multiple MIDI tracks to different channels of one rack (not track) instance of HALion Sonic SE. When I play them back, their sound reflects the sound selected for the HALion Sonic "slot" number that matches the channel number I set that track to, which is good because that's exactly what I want them to do.

However, when I change the program of one MIDI track --whether in the track overview dropdown, or the sidebar dropdown, or even in the HALion Sonic interface itself --it changes not only the displayed program name of that one track I was actually modifying, but also the displayed program name of all the other tracks associated with that HALion Sonic rack instrument. Which is bad, because I don't want any of the others to change at all when I edit just one of them.

Even though it doesn't actually change the sound or the name of the programs as displayed in the instrument's slots view, I still find this incredibly annoying, because it appears to change them in the main project view. This makes it more difficult for me to tell them apart at a glance, and to tell which track is making which sound.

For instance, say, for instance, that I have a MIDI track routed to Channel 1, and Channel 1's program is "Cello Duo", and I have another MIDI track routed to Channel 2, and Channel 2's program is "Chamber Strings". I've noticed that if I change Channel 2 to "Bellperc strings", then everywhere that it once said that Channel 1 was "Cello Duo", it changes to "Bellperc strings" as well, even though it still sounds as "Cello Duo".

Is there something I'm missing that's causing the program information to be tethered? Is there a way for me to make it show the program name independently (and accurately)? It's not a real problem, since I can always just rename the MIDI tracks so I can tell them apart --it's just not convenient. I know I'm probably just doing something wrong, but I can't figure out what.

(After searching the Internet extensively for an explanation of this situation [and finding nothing], I did ask this question on the Steinberg forum, but I still have yet to receive any kind of acknowledgement there.)

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    Can you describe what you do to create , say 2 midi tracks? Do you copy the first one or do you create another VST instrument track?
    – papakias
    May 23, 2016 at 7:53
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    @papakias Neither. In the (main) project view, I right-click (on the rack instrument, because that's what the guy in a video I watched did, but I'm not sure that it really matters where you right-click) and create a brand-new MIDI track. Just to be clear, I haven't made any track VST instruments, only one rack instrument, and multiple MIDI tracks. None of the MIDI tracks are duplicates or copies of the others; they are each created from the right-click menu.
    – Stan
    May 23, 2016 at 18:47
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    This thread (from 2014!) seems to be about a similar problem. Apparently the renaming behaviour is a design feature that was implemented in a previous update and possibly hasn't been resolved... steinberg.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=182&t=51778
    – ChristopheLynch
    Jun 4, 2016 at 23:32

1 Answer 1

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This behaviour (track renaming) apparently started in the Cubase 7.5 update. It was noted in the linked thread as being undesirable, however it seems that the issue was not resolved despite developers being notified. Perhaps it has been addressed in the latest version of Cubase (you don't say what edition you are using), but perhaps not!

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    I am using Cubase 7.5; sorry for not mentioning that! However, I am not using instrument tracks, but rather MIDI tracks, and I'm not wanting them to be renamed, but to be able to change one slot's program without changing all the others
    – Stan
    Jun 5, 2016 at 19:07
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    Arf yes sorry, my bad! Just downloaded the demo of Cubase 8 with Halion SE and managed to replicate the behaviour you see. I agree it seems a bit nuts that the name displayed in the rack instrument doesn't match the sound. However, in the Halion Sonic Edit window itself the program names seem to be correct for each channel, does that happen for you too? So you could use the edit window as your 'cheat sheet' and ignore what is displayed in the rack instrument? Not the ideal solution I know, but bearable if you have a large enough monitor (or multiple monitors) to display everything.
    – ChristopheLynch
    Jun 5, 2016 at 22:45
  • Ah. Well, if there really is no way around it, I guess I could do that. Thanks for your help!
    – Stan
    Jun 6, 2016 at 4:12

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