please make beat designer better.

I’m really hating the beat designer. It’s such a poor step sequencer imo. I switched from FL Studio 11 to Cubase 8 pro and as much as I want to completely let go of FL Studio I can’t because Steinberg just doesn’t have a step sequencer on par. I hate that every 5th note is highlighted regardless of its value within the time signature and there seems to be no way to change this behavior or manually color it. Why can’t I click anywhere to fill in the blocks and worry about the volume later instead of having to worry about meticulously clicking the blocks to fill in my notes at the right volume? Why is volume the only control I get per note. How about panning? Help me out here Steinberg.

Work with it a little more and the logic behind how it works will become clearer and you may come to like how it actually does work. I’ve found that to be the case with lots of the features in Cubase. I’d suggest that building drum patterns is actually much easier within the Key Editor or the Drum Editor – I prefer the Key Editor personally.

Good luck!

no i agree, it’s pure obsolescence by today’s standards, and uninspiring. it’s easier to work in audio than setting beat designer up.

I like using things to do what they do best and don’t try to shoehorn them into doing what they can’t or aren’t really designed to do. So, if someone wants a certain sound, Beat Designer might be the way to go. I’ve had some fun putting multiple instances of Beat Designer on a single track, but that was more an experimental novelty. I got some interesting sounds out of it. I’m glad it’s there and it has its place.

In regards to Beat Designer… It IS pretty outdated when compared to the plethora of options available for pure drum sequencing i.e. FL Studio style…

With that being said…
There are other ways to achieve results that, IMO, are more flexible than in FL Studio… For example: the Drum Editor inside Cubase is quite amazing actually. Groove Agent SE 4 is pretty decent at handling things from the “sound Design” and sound editing point of view and then pair it up with the Drum Editor… It produces results that rival ANY drum program out there. Another nice little trick is to use the “In Place Editor” on the track you’re sequencing your drums on. You can zoom in quite a bit and be able to have each note placed on the grid without leaving the Main window or “Event” window as it’s called in Cubase.

I personally just crossgraded to the Absolute VST 2 collection and now have the FULL version of Groove Agent 4 and let me tell you… IT’S THE BEST DRUM PROGRAM I’VE EVER USED. It even includes pattern AND drum editing directly inside of it. Once you get used to the flow of Cubase and it’s unrivaled included VSTi’s, it’s hard to go back to anything else IMO.

But if you’re just looking for pure drum, step sequencing editing with no frills or extras… Then, yes, FL Studio might be what you should stick to if it suits your production style and needs.

(And this is coming from a former DIEHARD Fruity Loops user. P.S… Yes… I did use it back when it was still called Fruity Loops lol.)

+1 for a better beat designer.

“Plurality is not to be posited without necessity”. I think Steinberg should improve drum editor to make it a feature rich modern step sequencer, while leaving features that are already there (for backward compatibility). What is the point of having beat designer? Drum editor should be remade in a way in which working on dance/hip hop beats is a pleasure, and so is working with rock beats.