dave_bass5

Check the link I posted earlier about the VST instruments. That has all the info.

Nope. Didn’t say that, I said it handles video. Doesn’t edit it. It’s used for a lot of scoring and soundtrack stuff, so video integrates well with it, but it’s not a video editor.

Exactly. I sent you the link to the Bandlab version ages ago as you wanted to do some recording. So yeah, we are both right 😂

Not you matey. You never got around to using cakewalk so getting another DAW is not happening 😀 But yes it does handle video.

Something that’s getting phased out after all these years 😀 Personally I have no issue with it. Long gone are the days all you needed was a cracked copy of a .dll to run Cubase. I did like the idea of the dongle though. It keeps all the licences together and I can go to someone else’s house and have full functionality, even if they don’t own the software. No need to keep registering it etc.

If you can go AI to Artist or pro, you can still use Elements. You’d need to get another dongle as it’s locked to your computer using the soft licenser, but with a dongle you can take it to another computer if you need to.

Yeah. Those plus others. Still not the full versions of GA and Halion, but with more sounds in Halion. https://steinberg.help/cubase-manuals/cubase-pro/cubase-pro-11/

It seemed a simple thing to do, and not something ive done before, but I couldn’t figure out what it was all going wrong. Normally not a problem, but it was nice having this feature. If i i time stretched it i could get the benign and end linked up, but the bits between would not match the bars. We also did our own verison of Town called Malice, and i used Spectrlayers to rip Weller vocals off the original and put it on ours, just as an experiment. That too worked well. I also had to play bass on that, and I hadn’t played bass for over 6 months. I ended up going in and moving any of the notes that were out of time back in time. Mates thought i had played it really well.....don’t tell them otherwise lol,

Ok so my last comment about VST instruments was correct, and the previous ones were way off lol. Elements comes with 3 VST instruments, Artist and Pro come with 8. That clears that up.

It wasn’t the use of them, it was what i wanted to achieve. We started a project in Elements that had midi and audio (guitar and bass). Before we went to mix it we wanted to speed the track up, but the timing went in the audio parts. Artist and Pro have a music mode for tracks, which means the audio gets adjusted with the tempo changes. Auto time stretch i guess, but it does it in a way that everything just stays in sync at each point in the track, inc any variations in the tempo. We have also done a couple of tracks where we took vocals off old demos and put them on newly recorded backing tracks. The old recordings were too fast, and we used a drummer who couldn't keep good time. CB Pro gives you the option to imprint the tempo in to the audio files so they play back perfectly in time with the project tempo. It also works if you have multiple audio tracks you need to align. Choose the master track, and CB will match the others to it, again with variations. Pretty neat.

Is there anything in the eLicenser section for AI? It looks like you have registered it if you are offered a download link.

And thats what makes it the ‘best one’. Unless it lacks features you want, i cant see any reason to change. Looks pretty neat, much neater than my smaller projects. I’m a messy bugger with my desk and desktop. The audience will never notice 😂

I wouldnt like to say, as its a bit of a tricky one. I do know that if you have ever upgraded from AI to Elements, the AI code is no use anymore. I’d get on to Steinberg and ask them.

Ha, ive only been using it properly since Dec so hardly an experienced user. I’m sure there are plenty on here though. Some of the recoil dogs ive heard are amazing, and done on less specified DAW’s. Always happy to help of course. As you know CB comes with Groove agent SE. This is quite a good way in, but can be confusing. I still don’t truly understand it but it does have a lot under the hood. . Once you get the different instruments on separate outputs it just makes it a lot more versatile. GA has its won mixer and you can add effects within it, but having, say the Snare on a separate output means you can pile on the FX, automation etc, a lot easier. Ive used this feature once or twice but find the GA mixer does enough fro me most of the time. My comment about the Track instruments was a very educated guess. Ive had 11 VST instrument tracks running in Pro, so that more than the 8 Instruments they quote, so I’d suggest trying it first. In fact just re reading that i wonder if it just means 3 Instruments are included. That might actually be it and all my other talk was just rubbish lol.

Ive never used rack instruments in CB. I think the idea is you set the module up, and direct you’re midi tracks to it. I think Steinberg are phasing this out as it seems pitiful that you can only use 8 of them. There doesnt seem to be any be real benefit to using them, but I’m probably missing something. The track method is a bit confusing at first, but doesnt have to be. Want a Piano on track one, crate the track as an instrument track with a sound module and load a piano. There’s your track. You can even layer it and still play it form one track etc. You can record midi to that track, but you can still use that module for other midi tracks (so liek a rack i guess). Because its going through a softsynth you have two sections on the left. Top one relates to all the note stuff, volume, panning etc. then underneath you’ll have the audio adjustments so you have your sends and inserts for audio FX. Not sure if the other DAW’s have this, but when dealing with lot of tracks its very easy to colour code them and /or add them to folders to have under one control. Also the ability to hide and un hide them, and have these views as presets for quick recall can be handy for large projects. Lots of little things that make life easier. Ive tried a lot of DAW’s over the years, but never really grasped them as fast as i have CB. Like you say, plenty of way to skin a cat (or write a classic hit). The best way is the easiest.

Yes, Its the one that comes free with certain things, you cant even buy it. Its quite strange as Steinberg don’t sell these cheap upgrades, i got mine from G4M. Even came with a dongle. Not bad for £245. Most of the music retailers sell the upgrades.

Thats 3 instruments used as rack instruments. In Cubase you can also use them as track instruments, which then gives you 24. Also any midi tracks can use any of these so its not really a limitation. As you can see, even Pro only has 8. For example i sometimes set up Halion to use its drum kit(s) on channel 10. This is as an instrument track and has the midi data on this track for the drums. I then still have 15 available midi slots in that one instrument that any midi track can access and can play any instrument inside it. So that one track alone can have 16 drum kits (or one drum kit and 15 bass parts lol)

Yeah, those are good reasons to go to Artist. For a while I was using Cakewalk for one or two features the Elements doesn’t have, mainly a list editor. This is really crucial to me for stripping out CC data. I don’t think there is a way in elements. Also the Music mode for audio tracks is great. I wasn’t bothered about the Logical editor, but now use it a lot and it’s fantastic. Like I said, see if you can get a licence for AI and then save a lot of money. £120 for Artist is worth the extra hassle of getting the free licence IMO. These prices are not on Steinberg’s website.

When i was looking at the chart for the various versions of CB, i had to think long and hard if I really wanted to go higher. Wasn’t bothered by a lot of what the top tier offered on paper. I spent ages comparing them and Artist seemed to be the one to go for, especially you for £120.. When i tried the demo for Pro (i needed its features to change a track) i found a lot of small things that made working with it much faster and it could do things I hadn’t thought of/was possible. I’m glad i didnt base my purchase decision on what i was doing at the time. The ability to not only automatically quantise any audio track, but too be able to manually move any section of it around so it fits is pretty cool, as is the ability to correct vocals lines on a per note basis. You can even change the Formant of a voice. Things I didn’t think I’d need, but use them a lot (maybe I should have got the signers to chip in). Ive recently discovered the Quaradfuzz 2 plugin and now putting that over everything lol. Also Frequency 2 EQ is just amazing. Sounds boring, nothing could be further from the truth. This is what ive found with a lot of the VST’s that I had no initial interest in. I think if you have a load of plugins already then its not quite as clear cut, but other than Ozone i didnt, so for me CB was an all in one package. Those plugins can soon add up. If its was just for me redoing at home on keys I wouldn’t have bothered, but doing the band stuff i wanted all the comps, amp sims etc, and the ability to line audio up to different tempos etc. Its all come in very handy and it makes doing all this a real pleasure. I don’t intend to buy 3rd party plugins, CB has it all, plus it has loads more synths and synths sound. Its just more complete to me.

Yes, stick with Elements for now, its very good and if its 11 its bang up to date. When i got my synth last year i got AI with it and wasnt too bothered. I was using Cakewalk by Bandlab at the time. This is actually more specified than Elements, and free, but i struggled with it. It didn’t seem too user friendly to me. I tried AI and took to it straight away. I had used Cubase VST decades ago but this is nothing like it. I did the upgrade to Elements and all was good, but a rouge midi file gave me issues that Pro or Artist could sort out so i tried the demo. I also found the ability to speed tracks up that had midi and audio in them has been handy, as well as tempo matching and quantising audio tracks, so i have no regrets about going to Pro. I just won’t ever use all the features. Here’s the thing. To go from AI to Artist is £120. To go from AI to Pro is £245. Once you upgrade to Elements you cant take these routes, and like you say, it starts getting even more expensive. What i did was ask around on FB to see if anyone had a licence for AI I could have. I was luckily that i was given one, so the cost to Pro wasn't as high as it could have been. Ive just given away a licence to AI that it got recently, otherwise I’d let you have it. They’re are loads of unused ones around if you do want to go that route. Look in the Yamaha Montage/MODX groups, or recording groups as it comes with Steinberg interfaces as well, and most people already have CB of come sort. Artist is quire a big jump up IMO, no need to go Pro.

Personally I’d stick with CB Elements if you already have it. What do you find lacking? Everyone will have their favourite and will recommend it, but IME the best is the one you can work the fastest in, doesn’t get in the way, and does what you need it to do. If you are comfortable with Elements then I’d stick with it until you reach a limitation, then maybe upgrade to Artist if you don’t want to go all the way to Pro. I only upgraded from Elements to Pro because I wanted more Synths and some of the clever stuff sounded interesting. I didnt feel Elements lacking for getting the job done though. I now have both Elements and Pro, and although i cant see me needing to ever use Elements, i can see I’m really only touching the surface in Pro at the moment.

This is a new (to me song). Never heard it before we started recording it. We set ourselves a challenge. To cover it in the same style, but different. I’m really pleased with how it turned out, as this is not my usual style of music, and I’m still finding my way around the keyboard and DAW. All mixed and put together in Cubase. Love that we could put a realSax on it. https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/hYmbQBsZ2Y5FJqNs6

Huge, huge fan of Cubase. I started with AI last June and now have Pro 11. Cant state now impressed i am with it. Its not cheap (£250), but as I spend so much time playing with it, it worked out a lot cheaper than a new instrument. Plus it comes with tons of synths sounds.

I had a set in a Squier VM PJ when they first came out but wasn't really blown away with them. Thats probably more the bass i recon, a bit of a lightweight sound no matter what pups it had in it. I now have the P in my Fender Sandblasted P bass and love it. Wont be changing this anytime soon (ever).

I love my little LT25, although i never use it. Handy as a bedside table though lol. I got the wrong order from GG (well, my son did who ordered it as a Christmas present for me).. I wanted a cover my my DBR12 and the one for £49 was perfect. They sent the high end verison, worth more and loads of features by mistake, and i really didn’t want that one lol.