On Choosing A DAW

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Lipskimusic
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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Lipskimusic » Wed Feb 15, 2017 10:58 am

If you own a Mac I think LP X offers a lot for the money.

It comes with a lot of decent sounding virtual instruments (e.g. the Drummer, Alchemy etc.) for composing and the built-in plugins are also pretty much all you need to get started.

The only thing it does not offer, which I like very much in Protools is the option to edit multiple midis at the same time within the arrangement window.

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Tunesmith » Wed Feb 15, 2017 2:52 pm

I posted a new post this morning here and it never posted! Anyway, yes I did work for Dt T's which was lots of fun..I know all about their software if you ever have a question..I did all the trade shows and contract work with Casio, Roland, Commodore basically demonstrating our software with their products..

And now, I am probably going to step up to a PC based Daw as my VS1680 needs to have ample space on the hard drive. I have to keep backing data up, deleting tracks and clearing space..

I was wondering what you all use for a Windows PC system and what type monitors for the PC? (Not audio monitors)

Thank you in advance and it's fun to see what you use and what you started with!

Now, hopefully this will post!

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by jonnybutter » Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:05 pm

Lipskimusic wrote: The only thing [LPX] does not offer, which I like very much in Protools is the option to edit multiple midis at the same time within the arrangement window.
It does! Select all of the regions you want to edit, and open your piano roll (command-6). LPX will do just about anything MIDI you can dream up, and some you never thought of too.

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Lipskimusic » Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:25 pm

jonnybutter wrote:
Lipskimusic wrote: The only thing [LPX] does not offer, which I like very much in Protools is the option to edit multiple midis at the same time within the arrangement window.
It does! Select all of the regions you want to edit, and open your piano roll (command-6). LPX will do just about anything MIDI you can dream up, and some you never thought of too.
It is not the same I am afraid. In Logic you can indeed select them all and you can also assign different colours to distinguish between different instruments within one piano roll but that does not help if e.g. some instruments are playing the same notes... believe me I checked all forums and contacted Apple's product specialist... If you know PT you know what I mean and for writing orchestral stuff it is just great to have all midi tracks at your fingertips within the arrangement window, i.e. no need to even open a piano roll window.

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by jonnybutter » Wed Feb 15, 2017 8:16 pm

for writing orchestral stuff it is just great to have all midi tracks at your fingertips within the arrangement window, i.e. no need to even open a piano roll window.

Ah yes, now I understand. Yes, you can't edit midi 'inline' in LPX, unfortunately. I just use a key command to switch from editor to arrange window and select/deselect regions (in case you can't get at notes), but it's a little bit of a kludge. I haven't spent much time doing MIDI in PT, but you can do what you seek in Reaper and Tracktion too. I wish LPX worked the same but..it's old!

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by jonnybutter » Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:04 am

I use Sibelius too, but am intrigued with Notion. I downloaded a demo but haven't had the time to dig in. Notation is LPX is pretty good, for editing or even for printing out quick parts (not as good as Sibelius of course). Reaper also has notation now. Lots of choices

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Len911 » Thu Feb 16, 2017 6:52 am

I always thought Arpege's Pizzicato was the best notation software plus for the money and other features. For one thing, you don't have to use the built in sounds, you can use any standalone instrument that accepts midi in. My soundcard is limited to a single asio stereo, so I can only use 1 stand alone vi, like SampleTank, but I can have as many instruments there as st will allow, and just match the midi channels in Pizzicato and ST for the instrument track. I haven't kept up with the other programs after I bought Pizzicato, so I'm not sure if any have caught up.
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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by fuzzbox » Thu Feb 16, 2017 7:32 am

Interesting article :ugeek: :geek:

I'm a long-term Cubase user started at 4 now on 9. I can't complain really... well now and again when it crashes when I do something stupid! lol :D

Interestingly the section in the article on Cubase has this to say about its cons:
Cons

Compared to Logic Pro X, which is similarly featured, Cubase is the more expensive option. On the other hand, unlike Logic, Cubase has a try-before-you-buy option so you can see if it feels right for you.

Normally I try to be objective and find a couple of significant program faults, but it’s quite hard to pick holes in Cubase. It truly is a comprehensive and well-rounded solution. Its long heritage has meant that the major kinks have been ironed out, but Steinberg have also endeavored to stay on the leading edge, lest their product stagnate.

What It’s Best At

A tried and true DAW that can handle pretty much anything you throw at it.
Says it all really!

Cubase just gets better and better with each release I think. I just need to write the songs to fit inside it! lol :D ;)
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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Lipskimusic » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:43 am

Pvgeldrop wrote:Personally, I'm not a big fan of MIDI-editing in most DAW's, especially when composing. I use Sibelius to notate and arrange my orchestral parts (most of the time including the keyswitches for my VIs as well), then export that to a DAW for further VI improvement, manual editing, mixing and mastering. With a dedicated notation-program, I find composing a lot less hassle than in a DAW. The builtin sample library of SIbelius may not be that amazing, but as it does respond to dynamics, technique notations et cetera, it's a lot easier to get to that final arrangement.
Hi Paul!

I was thinking of doing the same. That is very interesting! I always end up with printing a lot of scores out of Logic when composing for orchestra just to keep track of what I am doing :) and it is a bit of a mess. I need to see the notes I am writing and the 'piano roll' has its limitations when things get more complex.

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Matt

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Re: On Choosing A DAW

Post by Cruciform » Thu Feb 16, 2017 5:03 pm

Tunesmith wrote:I was wondering what you all use for a Windows PC system and what type monitors for the PC? (Not audio monitors)
I'm running an i7 4790 on a gaming motherboard, because it has a ton of USBs ports onboard. 32gb ram. Rarely hit the ceiling so haven't felt the need for more yet.
Still on Windows 7 because it's so stable. I don't upgrade the OS until absolutely necessary. I have an SSD for boot and some programs. Two HDDs for sample libraries, projects, audio files, etc.
And another SSD which has larger sample libraries on it.

I use an internal Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium HD for 98% of what I do. The other 2% is recording guitars through a Native Instruments Komplete Audio 6.

Monitors, I have 3 but mostly only use 2. I think they're 27", 26" and the rarely used one is a 23 or 24. Usually use the third one when I've got some footage to work with.

One thing which is really useful to me is a Logitech G13 gamepad. All the keys are programmable so I've set it up with macros for heaps of commonly used key commands. It has a little thumb joystick which I've set for scrolling and zooming. Big time saver!

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