EDM Producers. What are you missing in cubase?

I am quite happy with cubase overall, but when producing EDM i am missing this main things:

How about you?

  • a simple sampler
    We may be lucky with something new in the next release… (a ‘basic sampler’ was one of the top 5 things voted for by users, in a recent SB survey)

  • easier sidechain on non vst3
    Don’t hold your breath; I would think there would be zero effort put in to this from the devs - vst3 is the future

  • save automation curves
    Agreed.

Though, I’d add that a more general overhaul of automation is needed to include much better/easier writing and storage and re-use of all this type of data; macro controls needed, writing multiple parameters at once (enhanced QuickControls…?)

Puma

I wouldn’t mind a simple sampler.
Improved batch export - the issue I have is with everything being either stereo or bounced to mono (which is sketchy IMO). Tracks should be bounced according to the source and avoid extra summing.
Rewire stereo channels
Improved routing for re-recording (anywhere routing of audio)
Continuous recording when arranger track is enabled
easier faders (hard to click on clips fader)

Just want to unserstand… why does groove agent se fail as a simple sampler?

Curious to hear reasons.

Thanks

I use Padshop Pro as a simple sampler in Cubase… super easy drag n drop from the arrange window.

As an EDM producer I’m 99% satisfied with Cubase right now. The only feature I would LOVE to see implemented tho is Ableton’s macro feature where you can create a macro from multiple VST instruments and effects. For example: send the ‘filter cutoff’ from Serum, the ‘mix’ from REVelation, and the distortion ‘mix’ from Quadrafuzz (at varying amounts) all to one macro knob you can control and automate. Maybe Steinberg could add this feature to the Quick Controls…

Yeah, good idea. I guess for now though this could be achieved with 3rd party SW - Bidule, VST Forx, Lemur…

… also curious, but I’m guessing the answer will be that GASE is not the obvious choice and there’s a learning curve.

personally : i wan’t something cpu light and oriented for an instrument and not a kit. Padshop might be closer for this, but again the GUI is blured around other task and probably more cpu hungry because it is oriented for granular, and is not free (altho it is just 10 Euros).

that would be nice too. i don’t know Abletons Macros, but Sometimes i miss FL STUDIO, which i used many years ago, things that would be very welcome, like this:
https://www.image-line.com/support/FLHelp/html/plugins/Fruity%20Formula%20Controller.htm

which combined with QuickControls would be very nice

I’ve been missing delay compensation for hardware inserts when using RME interfaces… the ping function has not been functioning properly for the last 5 years or so… Soundonsound even wrote an article about it in like 2011… It’s still not right.

This.

The reference is/has been what Ableton/FLStudio have done. Very minimal CPU usage. I want to have 100 on a project without very much CPU usage.

“session view”
Modular environment in the styles of Bitwig/Ableton Live or Studio one 3.

That’s it!

there should be a ‘midi accept’ button on instrument tracks seperate from the arm button, so that you can control more than one midi instrument with you knob controller.

Using one track’s quick controls is counter inuitive and annoying

i felt this since the beginning. Something like “last moved button Default CC controller” would be nice too. This way a button once being used is being controlled by that specific CC which is always the same.

Some workarounds to get some of the things people have addressed in this thread…

First, don’t forget that MIDI Tracks have up to 4 Aux Sends. That’ll let you get a single CC event into multiple plugins, and you can have transformers in the effect slot for ‘variations’.

A another trick I 've discovered to do some interesting automation of stuff in Cubase…

Load up something like loopMIDI and make some ports dedicated to communicating with Remote Maps from Cubase tracks.

Make “Generic Remote” maps that listen to these virtual MIDI ports. You can also ‘duplicate’ remote maps that are currently listening live to a device…One listening to the actual MIDI remote controller, and a second copy listening to one of your Virtual loopback ports. That way you can record/edit actual MIDI tracks of your remote control events, and later play them back by pointing them to the looped version of your remote map(s).

Now one can get to, and automate a bunch of DAW controls that aren’t in the automation lanes through the Generic Mixer Maps directly from Cubase MIDI tracks.

Just as an example, there’s not an Automation lane to arm and disarm tracks; however, this can be done through remote mixer maps. I actually use this method to emulate organ stops/ranks using MPC pads. Tap a pad and it lights up, the track it is assigned to is active and records/plays, tap the pad again, the light goes out and the track disarms.

By looping a MIDI track into a Generic Remote map I can also set up a simple MIDI track to arm and disarm tracks from within the sequence. There’s quite a bit those Remote Maps can do inside Cubase that should be, but aren’t included in the list of VST automation lanes (including run macros and logic editors).

This approach could also help give virtually unlimited ‘quick controls’ to almost anything in Cubase.

In principal these Remote Maps may seem like they’re just there to set up a hard core digital Mixing Console with motorized faders and all that are typically ‘parked’ to do one simple thing, but the truth is you can bust these sorts of Maps out for all kinds of useful and creative purposes…even if all you’re using is a Wind Jammer. They’ve got the potential to be uber powerful for the EDM composer or ‘live DJ who’s into beat-meshing and the like’.

Please explore the “Generic Remote” mapping abilities of Cubase.
These are kind of like Quick Controls on steroids. You get remote access to almost every single control and command in Cubase, including launching macros and logic editors. You get to set them up exactly like you want them…

You can get to these “Remote Maps” in “Devices/Device Setup”.
Create a new “Generic Remote” Map by clicking the plus sign at the top left of the dialogue.

You can ‘stack’ maps, or have duplicate entries in a single map if you want a single control to do multiple things at once.

You can also ‘automate’ stuff in these maps directly on Cubase tracks using some Virtual MIDI ports (loopMIDI on pc, Using the Driver Properties on a Mac)…

If for some reason you need to modulate and transform the output of these maps for each instrument then you can direct their output through an armed track into virtual MIDI ports and process them with transformer Inserts before passing them on to the maps and instrument(s). AUX MIDI sends can be a big help here as well (MIDI tracks have them, instrument tracks do not).

Simple Sampler…

Record to a DAW track…
Drag the part to a PAD in Groove Agent SE.

Generic Remotes are great but be warned, they will re-map your templates if you add any new tracks to your project that in any way re-order the layout of the projects tracks as they were when you made the mappings. This can be quite frustrating if you have spent a long time creating a template and later wish to organize a project with new tracks. Things are fine so long as any new track you add is added to the bottom of the list.

This is correct if you bind to ‘Dynamic Mixer Devices’ when making your maps, in that Generic Maps are universal and not part of the project or templates. These maps are ‘independent’ of project templates. Depending on how they’re designed…‘track order’ matters.

My work around is to save the xml maps in the project folder and import/delete them as needed. I make notes in Project/NotePad to remind me if the project needs me to import a remote map.

For some controllers I have maps that are always active for any project and never need to change much. These Maps listen to the actual device port at all times. It stays the same no matter what project I load. In this case I actually WANT my mapping to be dynamic so I can drive my DAW in Mixing Console like fashion with my MPK2.

For more creative, project sensitive temporary setups, I typically only use those via Cubase track through a Virtual Port, and custom do it for a given project. I map directly to ‘plugins or MIDI devices’. If I forget to unload the map it’s no big deal, as nothing is going to use it anyway unless I set up a track to send something to that ‘virtual port’.