First multitracker was a Tascam Portastudio cassette 4tk. I was clueless as to what the extra 2 faders were for.
Roland VS-880; still have it. Doing all the cutting and pasting within Roland menus on a 2” x 5” screen was…less than optimal, but in 1998, it was revolutionary.
Roland VS-2000; this was better, but Roland nickled and dimed everything if you wanted to hook up a VGA monitor and mouse, which I did.
logic Pro; when I got my first Intel Mac in 2007, I decided to get Logic 7 Express to sync with the Roland. I discovered working within the computer was easier in a lot of ways, and sold thr VS-2000. It was only a core duo with 2 gb ram. Had to freeze tracks all the time.
I've tried and rejected Cubase 10 and Reaper.
DAW Journey thoughts and opinions
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- KVRAF
- 11950 posts since 31 Aug, 2013 from Someplace else
Last edited by Bombadil on Sun Oct 01, 2023 3:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
“The Generals sat, and the lines on the map, moved from side to side.”
― Pink Floyd
― Pink Floyd
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- KVRAF
- 5144 posts since 3 Oct, 2013
In my case, the various color palettes saved Studio One for me, especially the temperate Coramel23
from 6.1
from 6.1
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
"Where we're workarounding, we don't NEED features." - powermat
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- KVRAF
- 4066 posts since 3 Jul, 2022
To me, my DAW journey has been mainly driven by "Killer feature" and fun as I can adapt easily to any workflow. I don't mind changing my habits, on the contrary.
I started with 4-channels trackers (Atari and Amiga time) and jumped to Cubase and Cakewalk...
Then I discovered Reason and it was like a discovery moment. It was like having the hardware without needing the money and hassle of the hardware... Opening Reason was like Christmas everyday.
Then I started to get frustrated with the poor support of the VST of reason and I tried multiple times Ableton and Reaper.
On paper, Ableton is my dream DAW, strong ecosystem, strong features set, electronic oriented. In reality, I never managed to like it. That doesn't mean the DAW is not good, not built for me.
Then I discovered Bitwig, and it was like a series of WTF moments where everything I dreamed with Reason and Ableton was there and beyond. And it was still super fun to use and to play with.
With Reason being available as RRP, going from Reason to Bitwig was like having the best of both world...
I don't see myself changing DAW anymore.
My only missing part is an android or iOS version of Bitwig so I can sketch music on the go.
Now I am using Cubasis but I don't love it. And of course the movement from Cubasis to Bitwig is painful.
Now I am hoping for a Studio One (with its compatibility with Bitwig) or Bitwig mobile version.
I started with 4-channels trackers (Atari and Amiga time) and jumped to Cubase and Cakewalk...
Then I discovered Reason and it was like a discovery moment. It was like having the hardware without needing the money and hassle of the hardware... Opening Reason was like Christmas everyday.
Then I started to get frustrated with the poor support of the VST of reason and I tried multiple times Ableton and Reaper.
On paper, Ableton is my dream DAW, strong ecosystem, strong features set, electronic oriented. In reality, I never managed to like it. That doesn't mean the DAW is not good, not built for me.
Then I discovered Bitwig, and it was like a series of WTF moments where everything I dreamed with Reason and Ableton was there and beyond. And it was still super fun to use and to play with.
With Reason being available as RRP, going from Reason to Bitwig was like having the best of both world...
I don't see myself changing DAW anymore.
My only missing part is an android or iOS version of Bitwig so I can sketch music on the go.
Now I am using Cubasis but I don't love it. And of course the movement from Cubasis to Bitwig is painful.
Now I am hoping for a Studio One (with its compatibility with Bitwig) or Bitwig mobile version.
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- KVRAF
- 5444 posts since 15 Feb, 2020
- 'Free' no-name-DAW given to me on a floppy when I purchased my first synth, a CS-1x
- Cubase VST (kinda...)
______________________ (let's draw a line under the first 2)
- Logic Silver
- Ableton Live (still using)
- Studio One (sold it, as didn't like it)
- Logic Pro (still using)
- Cubase VST (kinda...)
______________________ (let's draw a line under the first 2)
- Logic Silver
- Ableton Live (still using)
- Studio One (sold it, as didn't like it)
- Logic Pro (still using)
I lost my heart in Cap de Creus
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- KVRist
- 259 posts since 26 Sep, 2023
I'm an old guitar player - started on a 4-track, learned a little computer music on Digital Orchestrator in the 90's, and then used Cakewalk Guitar Tracks for a long while. Moved on to Cubase, then a (at the time very good) intro version of ProTools, Studio One, and now Reaper.
To be honest, I can't say any one or another feels that much better. My bandmates all used Reaper so I switched so we could shared files more easily. It's a bit more fiddly and in some places less pretty to look at, but for $60 for a full featured DAW, I've been very happy so far.
I totally agree with the many who have said that your own skillset with the software is what makes the workflow. Each one does this or that a little better, and some are more intuitive to learn. Pick one, learn it well, and then make music!
To be honest, I can't say any one or another feels that much better. My bandmates all used Reaper so I switched so we could shared files more easily. It's a bit more fiddly and in some places less pretty to look at, but for $60 for a full featured DAW, I've been very happy so far.
I totally agree with the many who have said that your own skillset with the software is what makes the workflow. Each one does this or that a little better, and some are more intuitive to learn. Pick one, learn it well, and then make music!
Some space and fantasy ambient musings:
https://soundcloud.com/negoba
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6HP74XN ... Cwso38SWqw
https://soundcloud.com/negoba
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6HP74XN ... Cwso38SWqw
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- KVRAF
- 9064 posts since 1 Aug, 2003
tldr;
Cubasis Lite > Cubase [VST] > Bitwig
---
My journey:
I started as guitar player in a band.
Always dreamed of getting a Portastudio multitrack recorder, but couldn't afford one.
I never had a computer when I was a kid, and as young adult I couldn't afford one (I needed to support my troubled then girlfriend).
But early 90s I bought a copy of Keyboard Magazine (a big expense to me, back then).
I read it from cover to cover, ads included, and learned a lot.
I wanted to get a PC, and Notator or Cubase (and lots of hardware).
When I left my girlfriend in 1995, within months I bought my first PC (a Pentium 120).
And I went to a music store, to buy Cubase (Notator had been renamed Logic, a name that didn't ring any bells for me, as I hadn't had the money to buy more recent magazines).
The salesman recommended a bundle instead: Cubasis Lite + Waveplayer (which allowed a single audio file to be triggered from within Cubasis, a MIDI only 1st gen DAW).
To my regret, I followed his advice (I could have got the then current version of Cubase, which had audio - important to me as guitar player).
It was a total rip-off - and ~10 years later, the shop still sold that damn bundle at the same price (damn you, Key Music - damn you to hell).
I used it to make music using an ISA sound card as synthesizer:
a Mediatrix Audiotrix Pro (GM compatible, MIDI, 128 sounds, reverb)
Years later I got a proper version of Cubase, and upgraded it to Cubase VST when that came out, and Cubase SX after that.
At first, VST instruments were very limited, and I mainly used soundcards still:
- a Yamaha DB50XG (dirt cheap, yet offering a bunch of XG sounds, and even FX)
- years later, I upgraded to a Yamaha SW1000 XG - later i added a daughterboard that emulated a Prophet 5 (finally, my first taste of analog synths).
- when a friend promised music collaboration, I bought a Hoontech DSP24 multi-input interface (it cost almost a month's wages, and I never got to use it, as my 'friend' let me down)
From 2007 onward, I took a long break from making music, but in 2016 I just had to get back into the game (either that, or suffer a mild depression). Sadly, my job left me little time.
I tried Reaper, but decided to stick with (and upgrade) Cubase, and a Focusrite interface (sadly my PC didn't have an ISA slot for my beloved Yamaha SW1000XG soundcard).
In 2018 I suffered burnout, and the ensuing financial uncertainty got me into a deep depression, and heavy anxiety.
I went back to playing guitar (as that has a healing effect on me), just improvising, using Cubase and headphones (no amp).
Many recording sessions failed due to drop outs on my Dell PC, that suffered DHCP latency problems I never was able to fix.
I bought a Whammy pedal, which opened the floodgates to acquiring a large collection of pedals, and a few synths.
In 2021 U-he offered a Bitwig deal I couldn't resist.
I haven't used Cubase much since (although I did upgrade to Cubase 12, to get rid of the damn dongle, which had given me trouble in the past).
In january 2022 I ran out of *cough* motivational herbs, another deep depression ensued. No more music until the autumn, during which I made music using Bitwig (no guitar or hardware synths though, as my beloved cat claimed my lap full time - she passed away december 8th).
This repeated early 2023, only in the last few weeks I could bring myself to make music again.
I got a new PC that is suitable for use as a DAW (with help from some friendly folks here at KVR).
For the first time in years I'm set up to try and make some new tracks (including guitar) - in the coming months, at least.
I will most likely continue using Bitwig.
If I do fire up Cubase again, it will most likely be to salvage old projects.
---
My appreciation of Cubase and Bitwig:
- There were times when I knew Cubase inside and out.
VST made me a fanboy.
I always felt a little frustrated though (I had the feeling Steinberg often failed to use the opportunities software offers, sticking to the old hardware studio paradigm;
when the Freeze feature finally arrived it was implemented in a way that made me avoid it altogether;
Cubase sometimes forced me to adopt a roundabout workflow that had me worried it would confuse me if I ever had to revisit old projects, e.g. having to use Group tracks as a work-around to be able to do simple things).
- I haven't got proficient with Bitwig yet.
What lured me in was how it handles modulation.
Turns out I also like the routing features, the option to go pattern-based (although I haven't used that yet), and how fast it boots.
---
Other DAWs that caught my attention:
- I regretted not having bought Logic (which I might have done, if I had known it was the new version of Notator, back in 1995).
In 2002, Logic went Apple-only, and it turned out I had been lucky after all, being a PC guy.
- I've been FL Studio curious since the Fruity Loops days.
I like step sequencing, and Image Line seems to do their customers right.
Now that I have Bitwig, I have less of an excuse to get FL Studio, so I probably won't.
- Around 1995 I tried a free tracker for a short while, I found it intriguing and fun.
- Around 2000 I used Propellerhead ReBirth RB-338 for a while, I loved it and made a track I exported to Cubase, where I added lots.
That got me interested in Reason, but i never got round to buy it.
- long ago I read (here at KVR, most likely) about a DAW that had object-oriented editing.
That gave me some GAS.
I think it was Samplitude, which was later acquired by Magix.
- I tried Reaper, back in 2016, but it seemed too limited to my taste, back then.
- I considered Studio One in 2016 (I think I even tried it, but decided to upgrade my old version of Cubase instead)
Cubasis Lite > Cubase [VST] > Bitwig
---
My journey:
I started as guitar player in a band.
Always dreamed of getting a Portastudio multitrack recorder, but couldn't afford one.
I never had a computer when I was a kid, and as young adult I couldn't afford one (I needed to support my troubled then girlfriend).
But early 90s I bought a copy of Keyboard Magazine (a big expense to me, back then).
I read it from cover to cover, ads included, and learned a lot.
I wanted to get a PC, and Notator or Cubase (and lots of hardware).
When I left my girlfriend in 1995, within months I bought my first PC (a Pentium 120).
And I went to a music store, to buy Cubase (Notator had been renamed Logic, a name that didn't ring any bells for me, as I hadn't had the money to buy more recent magazines).
The salesman recommended a bundle instead: Cubasis Lite + Waveplayer (which allowed a single audio file to be triggered from within Cubasis, a MIDI only 1st gen DAW).
To my regret, I followed his advice (I could have got the then current version of Cubase, which had audio - important to me as guitar player).
It was a total rip-off - and ~10 years later, the shop still sold that damn bundle at the same price (damn you, Key Music - damn you to hell).
I used it to make music using an ISA sound card as synthesizer:
a Mediatrix Audiotrix Pro (GM compatible, MIDI, 128 sounds, reverb)
Years later I got a proper version of Cubase, and upgraded it to Cubase VST when that came out, and Cubase SX after that.
At first, VST instruments were very limited, and I mainly used soundcards still:
- a Yamaha DB50XG (dirt cheap, yet offering a bunch of XG sounds, and even FX)
- years later, I upgraded to a Yamaha SW1000 XG - later i added a daughterboard that emulated a Prophet 5 (finally, my first taste of analog synths).
- when a friend promised music collaboration, I bought a Hoontech DSP24 multi-input interface (it cost almost a month's wages, and I never got to use it, as my 'friend' let me down)
From 2007 onward, I took a long break from making music, but in 2016 I just had to get back into the game (either that, or suffer a mild depression). Sadly, my job left me little time.
I tried Reaper, but decided to stick with (and upgrade) Cubase, and a Focusrite interface (sadly my PC didn't have an ISA slot for my beloved Yamaha SW1000XG soundcard).
In 2018 I suffered burnout, and the ensuing financial uncertainty got me into a deep depression, and heavy anxiety.
I went back to playing guitar (as that has a healing effect on me), just improvising, using Cubase and headphones (no amp).
Many recording sessions failed due to drop outs on my Dell PC, that suffered DHCP latency problems I never was able to fix.
I bought a Whammy pedal, which opened the floodgates to acquiring a large collection of pedals, and a few synths.
In 2021 U-he offered a Bitwig deal I couldn't resist.
I haven't used Cubase much since (although I did upgrade to Cubase 12, to get rid of the damn dongle, which had given me trouble in the past).
In january 2022 I ran out of *cough* motivational herbs, another deep depression ensued. No more music until the autumn, during which I made music using Bitwig (no guitar or hardware synths though, as my beloved cat claimed my lap full time - she passed away december 8th).
This repeated early 2023, only in the last few weeks I could bring myself to make music again.
I got a new PC that is suitable for use as a DAW (with help from some friendly folks here at KVR).
For the first time in years I'm set up to try and make some new tracks (including guitar) - in the coming months, at least.
I will most likely continue using Bitwig.
If I do fire up Cubase again, it will most likely be to salvage old projects.
---
My appreciation of Cubase and Bitwig:
- There were times when I knew Cubase inside and out.
VST made me a fanboy.
I always felt a little frustrated though (I had the feeling Steinberg often failed to use the opportunities software offers, sticking to the old hardware studio paradigm;
when the Freeze feature finally arrived it was implemented in a way that made me avoid it altogether;
Cubase sometimes forced me to adopt a roundabout workflow that had me worried it would confuse me if I ever had to revisit old projects, e.g. having to use Group tracks as a work-around to be able to do simple things).
- I haven't got proficient with Bitwig yet.
What lured me in was how it handles modulation.
Turns out I also like the routing features, the option to go pattern-based (although I haven't used that yet), and how fast it boots.
---
Other DAWs that caught my attention:
- I regretted not having bought Logic (which I might have done, if I had known it was the new version of Notator, back in 1995).
In 2002, Logic went Apple-only, and it turned out I had been lucky after all, being a PC guy.
- I've been FL Studio curious since the Fruity Loops days.
I like step sequencing, and Image Line seems to do their customers right.
Now that I have Bitwig, I have less of an excuse to get FL Studio, so I probably won't.
- Around 1995 I tried a free tracker for a short while, I found it intriguing and fun.
- Around 2000 I used Propellerhead ReBirth RB-338 for a while, I loved it and made a track I exported to Cubase, where I added lots.
That got me interested in Reason, but i never got round to buy it.
- long ago I read (here at KVR, most likely) about a DAW that had object-oriented editing.
That gave me some GAS.
I think it was Samplitude, which was later acquired by Magix.
- I tried Reaper, back in 2016, but it seemed too limited to my taste, back then.
- I considered Studio One in 2016 (I think I even tried it, but decided to upgrade my old version of Cubase instead)