What Is ARA

Cubase
1

Recently I have seen references to ARA applications. I have even used it with Spectral Layers and now Tonalic, but I don’t understand what it means or how it integrates with the DAW or VSTs.

What am I missing here? Is this a whole new protocol for music makers to wrestle with?

I think the technology must be in it’s infancy, as I ma struggling to get results that I am satisfied with. For instance, I was keen try out Tonalic ( the free version with Cubase. ) I gave it a go, but the clips or samples from Tonalic just go on the Cubase project timeline as a grey block. I have watched the Tonalic introduction video and the timeline shown is different to what happens in Cubase. I assumed ( wrongly ) that If I bought the full version I would get that functionality, but disappointingly, not.

So what is ARA for the uninformed person and how much integration can Cubase support?

2

The grey blocks, are placeholders for audio, that exists within the plug-in.

3

Hi,
hopefully these articles can shed some light on extensions in Cubase:

4

Ara? Lazy people answer to not being bothered doing one focused thing at a time.

Ara is Always Running All at the same time. Like eating a 3 course meal in the form of a sandwich in one bite and then wondering why everything is kinda glitchy in your stomach…imo :slight_smile:

5

Thanks Reco 29, That has answered some of my question.

6

Amusing, Thanks.

7

Hi Garth. Thanks for replying.
What your telling me is correct for Cubase. However, the Tonalic video , shows a different timeline, with a graphic of the selected content, and is able to be extended, by dragging, with an apparent continuing evolution of the content for however long it is extended. These grey blocks can only be duplicated.
All this is slightly annoying because it was watching Tonalic’s video and seeing the adaptive functions that drew my attention in the first place.
All that said, I have been using it in some of my projects with acceptable results, and I look forward to an update where those features I want become available.

8

Those features are most likely the monthly subscription version. The version they gave us for “free” is just the gateway drug… first taste of crack to get you hooked and handing over cash regularly. Personally, I’m uninstalling it and reclaiming my drive space… which it eats up

9

The fact that Tonalic installed in the tabbed area on the right, hopefully means more plug-in’s will be instanced that way in the future.

10

Personally, I don’t like ARA, just like I didn’t like Re-wire.

If it works one day, great but again personally, I would rather industry resources be dedicated to things like project compatibility; or audio networking, not failed experiments.