C7 feature request: 'Sampler Track' & 'Full Screen Mixer'

Steinberg Lounge
#1

Don’t you think that it is the time for a ‘sampler track’ in Cubase? regular piano roll layout with a drag & drop option which would allow to drag samples to individual keys. Simple ‘poping up’ menu windows for every single key in piano roll with adjustments for :

  • tune (root key)
  • velocity mapping
  • filter (shape, LFO, AHDSR)
  • sends (signal routing for individual voice)

Even Fruity Loops can do that.

I think ‘Full screen mixer’ would be really great feature. Like it or not, most of the computer users use computer mouse for mix and editing. As far as I remember, very accurate long faders and knobs was a dream of everyone who ever had to make a mix using computer mouse or laptop pad. Simplified optional full screen mixer window available to send to separate display, touchscreen,iPad,Android Tablet or smartphone would seriously put Cubase into a modern times. (for example LoopMash can go full screen)

I am a Cubase user since early beginnings and i must say that i’m a bit disappointed about what Cubase is comparing to what Cubase was. If someone had told me 20 years ago that in 20 years Cubase has unlimited audio, realtime time stretching, impulse reverb but… still can’t sample? I wouldn’t believe, because it’s really not much more innovative and creative than combination of Cubase for Atari + Akai sampler from 1991 :wink:

#2

  1. You can use FL as some form of slave in Cubase, I’m almost certain?
    Sample in FL, mix in Cubase. Problem solved :sunglasses:

  2. Slightly off topic, but you can get better slider resolution if you hold [SHIFT] will manipulating the faders.

#3

But i don’t want to use Fruity Loops at all, it’s just a toy for amateurs, that was about Cubase

#4

oops, sorry, I misread that!

what about Groove Agent ONE then? No keys, but pads? Maybe I misread that as well? :confused:

#5

I was thinking of integration on piano roll editor level in DAW, solid combination of midi track module with sampling engine, without a need for additional vst instrument. This is about workflow. Sampling is not a big deal anymore, how cool would it be to have a ‘sampler track’ apart from ‘audio track’ , ‘midi track’ , ‘group track’ etc… sampling by default, which finally will allow to load all the akai, soundfonts, kontakt files directly onto a track :sunglasses:

#6

Well, as long as Steinberg wants to sell HALion X to you, don’t hold your breath :wink:

What would play all those formats? Some default invisible player? And editing the sample patches, no?

#7

Basically, integrated ‘poping up’ editor for each individual voice would do… double click on desired key or note and you’re in editor. To load the program , you’ll just drag .akp or .nki file onto track and that’s it. life can be beautiful.

Halion…that’s true, but Cubase isn’t free either. Computing power is growing constantly and I really can’t understand why the progress of DAW’s ergonomy and comfort of use is so slow (if not going opposite). Term ‘Digital Audio Workstation’ doesn’t sound seriously in case where i need to use additional programs to do basic tasks. Where is the common sense?

#8

Well, I’d certainly check your built in sampler out if it was there, maybe I’d even like it and use it. :slight_smile: But there is no such thing as a free lunch. It’s not like Cubase would get cheaper with added functionality. I usually prefer Cubase to be the platform and then I add plugins as I need them e.g. a dedicated sampler is better than a lite version added more for the sake of completeness than for functionality. I just tried HALion 4 out and it’s a monster that I really like, not only because it’s well integrated into Cubase! I will get that when the time is right! I also have Emulator X, Kontakt plus Battery for percussion and Superior Drummer for real drums and a bunch of other stuff (of which I have some bundled plugins that I’ve almost not opened since installation :confused: :blush: ). And I’m far from the worst gear addict, FAR from it! Maybe that’s why it’s a little silent in this topic

#9

hmmm… like I wrote in the title line, it is a ‘C7 feature request’ which would really improve the workflow and could be really helpful for pros at work. About what “free lunch” are you talking about? I pay for every update, and since version 4 i regret every purchase. BTW are you the Steinberg’s spokesman? :neutral_face:

#10

I actually agree with marcusidlo (except for the FL Studio “toy” characterization :wink: ) on the addition of a sampler track into Cubase. This is something that I have been thinking about for a while now. I also have samplers, including FL Studio and Kontakt, and I use the former as a vsti for its browser, sampler channels, Slicex and other looping tools. There is a flow to it when you are working on a song. You can drop in a sample and apply midi tools (in Cubase or in FL Studio’s channel or piano roll)…don‘t like it …throw in another sample, etc. while staying in the flow of what you are doing. I prefer, however, to take maximum advantage of all of the great tools and arranging features that are in Cubase and try to minimize having to go back and forth between certain applications because Cubase can’t do something. In the case of a sample track, Cubase actually has many of the necessary capabilities in the program as is. I think it is just a matter of how it could be implemented to be useful and creative.

To me, this is more of an issue of effective integration with Cubase like how Groove Agent One and the Beat Designer were added to Cubase 5. That is, utilizing Cubase’s existing strengths (midi, drum editors and midi effects) and audio editors and effect processing in a user friendly and creative/musical manner. I am sure many folks had various drum vsti’s and used them with Cubase’s drum editor before these items were introduced. These additions were about workflow…making it easier/faster to accomplish certain tasks. It will make my dependence on other vsti’s change or I will use them differently. Take a look at the Beat Track in Sequel 3 as to how Steinberg tied the Beat Designer and Groove Agent One to a “track” designation.

For instance, with a sampler/sample track, you could drop in a sample (or load from Media Bay…default to replace existing sample when a new sample is added (please?)). Play or input your midi notes and then add a midi effect (i.e., Arpache SX ). Utilize the mixer and audio effects that you already have in Cubase (or your third party vst effects). I don’t think you would need all of the additional effects that you find in vsti samplers.

What if the sampler/sample track actually allowed you to record from any input buss or group buss? Need hitpoints? Use the Cubase audio editor. You can create them and then play each slice on your keyboard like a “Dr Rex” or Groove Agent One. Place several samplers/sampler tracks in a “folder track” that would enable you to you layer them on one midi channel or spit them to several channels (like a “layer channel” in Fl Studio). You could save these sampler folders in Media Bay as presets in Cubase. Oh yeah,…one less vsti to deal with… save your juice for something else. I would think a sample/track and midi data would use less resources that a full fledged sampler vsti, sample, and midi data.

I find that sometimes using a full fledged sampler like Kontakt for some sampling tasks is like trying to hit a barn with a bazooka (I am glad I have the bazooka …but I’m just sayin’…you can get the job done with less).

“Halion lite” on a track level? Maybe. As long as it is done with integration, functionality and creativity in mind I would welcome it. If it keeps me in Cubase’s Project Page and utilizing its great midi, audio, arrangement and project tools then I would be happy.

Dave