EDM Producers: what is Cubase lacking most for you?

Steinberg Lounge
21

Since you were upfront about having to Google it, I’ll go easy, but let’s set the record straight. :smiley:

“EDM” is an unfortunate and recent moniker. Those who have been into “Electronica” (and all its sub genres), for decades, shudder when we hear it.

To equivocate Justin Bieber to mainstream EDM may have some merit (and frankly is doing Justin Bieber a disservice in many cases), but is only a thin, superficial veneer into the world of so-called EDM.

There are old, jaded, intelligent and passionate aficionados of deep house and techno (to name two sub-genres) who are as sophisticated and nuanced a listener as would be found in any genre, perhaps more.

Audiophiles, high-end headphone and amp purchasers, vinyl browsers and project studio owners. The kinds of folks who buy lossless audio, start record labels, tech startups and can pick out not only the vintage drum machine that was used on a track, but whether it was recorded hot to magnetic tape, or not.

The really well respected and good productions are not done with Garage Band, and in fact push the limits of Cubase or any modern DAW.

A good, modern, respected piece of electronica can be as creative and complex as a film score + all the sound design for the sound effects of a feature film. The workflow, fx chains and track counts can be almost as high.

As for “Fruity Loops,” while I’m not a fan of FL Studio myself, it’s come a long way and is a force to be reckoned with.

While Ableton gets most of the spotlight when talking about EDM, only just recently becoming mainstream in America, it’s been popular in Europe for decades, as has Cubase.

There are probably more electronic dance music professionals using Cubase, worldwide, than any other DAW.

22

Thanks for giving me your permission *sigh

23

@Jal, thanks for the back round on EDM :slight_smile: When I started with Cubase during the days of VST 5/32, all I knew about was audio recording with REAL instruments. his is what I did with Cubase for years. I had only heard of midi, and maybe midi sound modules, but didn’t even know VSTi’s existed.

Even back then I was set in my old ways, but have come quite a long ways. Even though my music is based on ‘old school’ for the most part, I now apply technology to get the music into something listenable…by the use of VSTi’s and midi. I’m not about to go EDM, or ‘Night At The Roxbury’ or whatever, and go’s to show that “electronic music” doesn’t HAVE to be ‘electronic music’ style.

PS, though I definitely don’t get into, or remotely even like ‘electric music’, I was just taking a friendly jab :wink: Hey, even the guitar dominant music I grew up listening to from the 70’s, I can barely stand listening to now…and I’m mainly a guitar player :slight_smile:

24

:smiley: No worries, I knew it was just a friendly jab.

As for being mainly a guitar player, you’re in good company here. It seems like around 95% of Cubase, Studio One, Sonar and Protools users are.

And maybe 95% of electronic artists seem to be on Ableton, FL Studio, Bitwig or Logic. I think in Europe there are more electronic artists using Cubase. Many seem to be on older versions. Maybe in part because Cubase isn’t really innovating in ways that help electronic artists.

I think it’s why the original poster, posted this thread. It’s a valid question. I often feel like Cubase is the wrong tool for the job. Like I’m using a wrench to pound a nail.

25

I really have no dog in the wish list fight. Been down this road various times as a beta tester for Pro Tools and Samplitude / Sequoia. The horror.

I am only here to chime in the fact I HATE that term EDM. To me…you’re a hipster if you honestly use that term. And hipsters…well…deserve to have their Pabst shoved up their bleached areses and their loser beards trimmed off with a hatchet.

okay, back on topic please. :smiley:

Oh, Not a guitar player, but a bass p layer who is into Louis Benedetti — …if you know house, you know that name. :sunglasses:

26

For someone new to Cubase, that may find this thread, I should point out there is a reasonable workflow equivalent to one of my wishlist items:

4.c) A feature / option for Render In-place that remembers its first audio clip it bounced and will automatically replace it (and all its shared copies) on subsequent renders. Basically, make a change and have it automatically reflected across the entire project where that share audio clip exists.

While no sexy, streamlined solution exists, the workaround is to simply open the waveform editor for the freshly Rendered In-place audio event that the user wishes to use to replace an arrangement they’ve made from a previously Rendered In-place clip, select all and copy-paste into the target. It will then update all the matching audio events (or converted-to Parts) throughout the project. The newly created track and it’s audio event can then be removed/deleted to remove the clutter.

An option to do this sort of “render in-place update from source region” that would not even create the unnecessary track and event would be awesome, a game-changer, used a lot by many for sure, but is probably a long-shot feature as so many other things need to be addressed in Cubase.

Anyway, If we can get the pre-fader option added to Render In-place, and a working Disable Track (including post-fader inserts), it would keep me from looking enviously at Studio One’s arrange-frozen-tracks feature pretty much indefinitely.

Then we just need that insert count bump and we’d have removed the two biggest pain-points, in my opinion.

Render In-place, even in its incomplete form, has already addressed the biggest issue.

27

Most missing for me: Sample accurate automation!

If you change your sound card buffer size, ALL your automation will now occur in a slightly different place. :open_mouth:

28

Yikes! Is this true?! :open_mouth:

If so, this is horrible and would be my new #1 request.

I’ll insert it onto my list using a “programmer’s zero” to sneak it in before #1. :slight_smile:

Thanks for sharing this. I didn’t fully realize the repercussions of what “no sample accurate automation” could mean.

29

didn’t know about that are you sure?

30

Yes. I’ve been battling with it for 10 years.

See also here:

31

Wow. Worse still, some are saying it actually “shifts” from playback to playback even at the same buffer size!

If so, that’s unacceptable.

I’ve been avoiding precise automation in Cubase for other reasons: no proper curve tools.

What a mess.

(Since this thread has been unceremoniously relegated to “the lounge” it’s unlikely to get much traction. Note to self: be sure to put an “8” after “Cubase” in post titles if it’s to have any staying power in the General forum. :laughing: )

32

That is hardly something that should be a shock, and really no big deal.

33

I would like a track preset that did not come loaded with A vst instrument… similar to Abeltons RACKS. This was I can switch presets in terms fly without having to load in the vst instrument and the instrument patch.

34

P.S. I’m not trying to imply that these ideas wouldn’t be a great benefit to Cubase if they were applied exactly as described in this thread ‘out of the box’.

I’m simply trying to show some ways to get similar functionality using what is there NOW.

In Cubase workflow isn’t mandated for you. You get to design and implement your own…

35

we all want more cowbell lol

36

EDM Producers: what is Cubase lacking most for you?

Talent

37

Hehehe… :mrgreen:

38

Edm stands for erectile dysfunction medicine well before dance music.

39

Midi recording that doesn’t shift forward or jitter. Seriously, how is this still a thing on Cubase?

I end up opening ableton whenever I need to record midi data, that’s pretty ridiculous I can’t even rely on my main DAW for proper recording and aligning of midi notes.

40

Considering Cubase started as a MIDI sequencer (I know I used to use it!) this is pretty lame!