Cubase 3.1 Score for Atari ST

Hi all
Please dont laugh. I am running a 1992 version on my Atari ST for my music sequencing. I have a few little queries I would like to ask
Thanks :+1:

Welcome to the forum.

I can’t guarantee that anyone will be able to answer them, but ask away. Maybe someone still remembers enough about it to help.

Should be interesting. I did run the Atari for quite a few years.

Thanks Roman, pleased to be here :+1:
Hoping I can find a thread here of us “oldies” who ran the original Steinburg systems in the late 80’s and early 90’s on the Atari ST.
Remember Pro 24? Probably before you were born… ha ha :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::+1:
Anyway, I do have a PC in my music room and downloaded a free Bandlab Cakewalk old version, but I have not tried it yet.

I am going to run the vintage Atari 3.1 score system as I know my way around it from the old days… but I would like to look into the newer tech also.

So much technical stuff to set up yet before I even think of the musical creative process again.

I would like to ask a couple of questions and advice please.

Is there a free slightly older version of Cubase now for PC with all of the digital functions similar to the Cakewalk app I downloaded? I suppose it is nothing like my old Atari 3.1 …but it might be a evolution thing that I can try to learn and understand. I hope this makes some sort of sense.
Secondly… I have a couple of nice Rode NT1 studio condenser mikes. They were the recommended model for any home recording musician on a budget. They do not have phantom power so I dont really want to plug them straight into the PC.
I think I will need an interface and have seen them from anywhere between ÂŁ30 to ÂŁ200.

Can you recommend the best condenser mike to PC interface unit for someone like me on a budget?

Sorry for all of the questions and if I have got off topic.

Any advice and help is really appreciated Roman.
Cheers, Smithers :wink::grinning::+1:

Thanks MK, nice to meet you.

I will still run my Atari system as it is old faithful that I know where I am with. But I will also be looking to set up a more modern version on the PC.

Thanks

Smithers :grinning::wink::+1:

You should have no issues finding a decent audio interface in that range. If you look at ones made by Steinberg, such as the UR22c, they come bundled with Cubase AI which is a lite version of Cubase. Much likely a lot more feature rich than your current Cubase 3.1!

PS
Yes, I remember Pro24 fondly. I still have diskettes somewhere with old songs from that Atari age!

Thanks ML for the advice, most appreciated :+1:
I will source that and if it comes with a Cubase Lite included then that is a win win, it will be more than I ever need :wink::grinning::+1:
My 18 and 16 year old nephews come round and say… Wow, Uncle Stephen you have an Atari! That is so cool, but why do you have two monitors? I have to explain that the colour monitor that runs the games will not support Cubase so I needed a hi res mono monitor… but the youngsters just love the retro computing these days, it is all the rage. They also love my turntables and vinyl​:grinning::+1:
Gosh I sound so old!
But thanks for that ml, I will look into it :+1::+1::+1:

That mono monitor was great and made Cubase easy to read. I had an Atari STE with 2meg of memory with latest os (more like a Mac) and a 40meg hard drive. I had it synced up with midi time code to my tascam 464 cassette based machine and produced tracks that still sound good now even though I mastered to cassette. I eventually got a tascam trs8 reel to reel. When I sold it all to start using a pc it was a few years before I finally got back to where I was with everything stable. I jumped ship a bit early.

Back then I even ran a class on using Cubase and all it’s features. That was including logical editor and building a mixer for synths with the (forgot the name) mix editor where you could add buttons sliders and knobs. A bit like the new one which has just turned up in Cubase 12.

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Wow, I started out on Cubase 2 (I think) on Atari 1040 STE
Not so sure you will get any USB support on Atari :smiley:

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That’s “device panels”.
I also started out on Atari ST and Cubase 2 upgraded to 4mb memory and an Atari (pancake :-)) 30 mb disk and later switched to a 100 mb one from Quantum… I also had the Midex 5 so I could connect all my external synths and fx gear. I still have the hardware and once every year or so run it to see if it still works. My last version was also Score 3.1.

I didn’t have a midex but I did have a box with an extra port. I still have my sync unit for striping tape then reading and sending as midi time code.

Wow, this is some trip down memory lane …

Device Panels are still in Cubase 12!

I still have a Midex 5 and a Midex 8. The Midex 8 is still in use and working perfectly on Windows 10 with Cubase 12!

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Thanks for all of the great posts guys. It is nice to here that there are still people like me of slightly advanced years :sweat_smile:who can remember origins of this now state of the art Steinburg systems and where it all came from!

Just got to get up to speed with the modern stuff now.

Thanks all :wink::+1:

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Sorry … Steinberg… bloody autocorrect :sweat_smile:

Unfortunately, today’s Device Panel is not comparable to the Studio Module that was available first for Cubase Atari and later up to Cubase VST 5 and was then abolished with Cubase SX.
Functionally, the Studio Module came close to the Sound Diver from Emagic, you could model your complete Midi equipment with the DMaker software.

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Hi P.A.T
Thanks for the comment. I am really trying to get back up to speed with all of the gear I have set up now after many years out of the loop.
I have an XRI SMPTE rack module tape striper.
I know I can run it with the MT8X Analogue Multitracker but do you have any idea if it will work with my outboard gear as well from the ST?
Compressor, Sampler, EQ module, ADAT, DCC etc or do you think I will need an extra interface? The ST was upgraded to 4mB to run Cubase Score 3.1 and I now have a 200mB HDD if this helps. I dont know the Atari TOS version but the machine is from about 1992.
Sorry for the stupid questions but I am fumbling around in the dark at the moment.
Any advice is really appreciated, thanks.
Smithers :wink::grinning::+1::+1:

Unfortunately, I can’t answer your questions. First of all, it’s been very long time since I dealt with the Atari, and secondly, I’m not familiar with the devices you mentioned. Maybe someone else here in the forum can answer the questions?

These actually are (were :slight_smile:) two different things. The Studio module was the tool to manage patches and soundbanks for external midi gear. I still miss it because of the ease of use and great integration within Cubase. Once setup for a synth you could easily save entire banks full sysex or just the preset names and upload them to the synth. Just send the program change or the complete data without actally overwriting the current one. Nowadays I use MidiQuest and it has a lot of options but doesn’t even come close to the the ease of use of the Studio Model from back then. On the other hand nowadays I use my external gear a lot less then I did durind the Atari era.

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No probs, thanks for the reply :+1:

I have no experience with this hardware myself but as long as it communicates via midi and you have the same midi channel configured, sending and receiving, on all devices it should work.