Chord Track: Differences between Waveform and Studio One 4?

[fantasyvn]

I'm new to Waveform and love its Chord Track feature. This is very inspiring for songwriting.

I read that the new Presonus Studio One 4 also has the Chord Track.

May I ask what are the main differences between the two features?

Thanks,

[zzz00m]

I have Waveform 9 and Studio One 3, and have been following the release of Studio One 4 with interest due to the addition of their chord track.

The main difference, as far as I can tell, is that the chord track in Waveform is designed around the pattern generator. You can have all MIDI clips that use a Waveform pattern generator to follow the Waveform chord track, but not MIDI clips that you create in tracks without the generator. In any case, it's a much needed improvement over the pattern generator in Waveform 8.

The chord track in Studio One 4 is more general, and all MIDI tracks and audio tracks can follow the chord changes. It is designed a lot like the chord track in Cubase, if you may be familiar with that one. But Studio One does not have the MIDI pattern generators like Waveform.

So my take is the chord tracks in Studio One may be useful for arranging a whole song, while trying out different chord progressions, while Waveform may be more useful for creative chord experimentation with pattern based music. So I can see a use for both, as they are different enough to avoid redundancy.

[fantasyvn]

Thank you so much for your explanation. It looks like the two features are both exciting.

[zzz00m]

It looks like the two features are both exciting.

Yes, I was looking for something like this last year when I stumbled across Waveform after trying a demo of Cubase. I really found the MIDI generators in Waveform to be very inspirational, but I also wanted something to make regular MIDI clips follow a chord progression.

I'm glad I waited, as now all I have to do is upgrade to S1 v4, for the best of both!

[DavidCarlyon]

I have been getting into various composition tools recently. Was just thinking about buying captain chords. I use ableton and studio one m, and sadly captain chords doesn’t work in studio one. But I was close to pulling the trigger.
But at the same time, I was trying out biotek by traction and fell in love with it. So I tried waveform......WOW. How did I not know about this? To me it seems that waveform has all the tech of captain chords built in, but on top of that you can have a separate instance of pattern generator in every clip! And you can re arrange them throughout the song.
To me, this is way more useful. Because I use these tools when I’m writing. What I mean by that is - studio one chord track is great for changing chords at a later date (something which I don’t do all that much once I have a song written...although it’s still useful)
Whereas waveform chord track and pattern generator is a full blown songwriting system. It’s in a different league.
I see people complaining that you can’t use it on clips created without pattern generator. But so far I have used it to create all my clips and it’s been incredible.

If you are making an electronic track in waveform from start to finish, it really is an incredible solution.
I’m actually floored by this program. It’s making me rethink things a lot!

[zzz00m]

No complaints here, just pointing out the differences. And they ARE different. Studio One can also shift audio up/down. Studio One doesn't have the pattern generators. The chord track in Cubase is probably most advanced, but it doesn't have pattern generators either.

So to somebody asking about the term "Chord Track" in a product's feature list, it can have several meanings, and none of that is standardized.

I really like the pattern generators in Waveform. Worth the price of admission for me!

[killmaster]

No complaints here, just pointing out the differences. And they ARE different. Studio One can also shift audio up/down. Studio One doesn't have the pattern generators. The chord track in Cubase is probably most advanced, but it doesn't have pattern generators either.

So to somebody asking about the term "Chord Track" in a product's feature list, it can have several meanings, and none of that is standardized.

I really like the pattern generators in Waveform. Worth the price of admission for me!

Are the pattern generators that different in Waveform 9 versus Waveform 8? (I have Waveform 8 currently) I know Waveform 9 added "chord tracks" but not sure if the pattern generators were updated or improved upon...

[Stuttaton]

No complaints here, just pointing out the differences. And they ARE different. Studio One can also shift audio up/down. Studio One doesn't have the pattern generators. The chord track in Cubase is probably most advanced, but it doesn't have pattern generators either.

So to somebody asking about the term "Chord Track" in a product's feature list, it can have several meanings, and none of that is standardized.

I really like the pattern generators in Waveform. Worth the price of admission for me!

Are the pattern generators that different in Waveform 9 versus Waveform 8? (I have Waveform 8 currently) I know Waveform 9 added "chord tracks" but not sure if the pattern generators were updated or improved upon...

They are basically the same, but there are enhancements.

[AGreen]

Are the pattern generators that different in Waveform 9 versus Waveform 8? (I have Waveform 8 currently) I know Waveform 9 added "chord tracks" but not sure if the pattern generators were updated or improved upon...

Waveform 9 has more chords and you can define your own custom chords as well. Pattern generator has a few new options like octave up and down and spread.

[zzz00m]

The best thing apparently about the workflow with the pattern generators in Waveform 9 is that they can follow the new chord track now.

[killmaster]

Thank you all!

[SteffHell]

I have been getting into various composition tools recently. ...

To me, this is way more useful. Because I use these tools when I’m writing. What I mean by that is - studio one chord track is great for changing chords at a later date (something which I don’t do all that much once I have a song written...although it’s still useful)
Whereas waveform chord track and pattern generator is a full blown songwriting system. It’s in a different league.

That is very interesting to me.
I am in a similiar situation. I discovered the Waveform video "midi pattern generator" at https://youtu.be/VE1SU-wfKDA and was really blown away by that combination of chord track plus composing aid with arpeggio, bassline and melody.

I loaded the Waveform demo but was not so happy about other things. So I am starting to investigate how the other two cord track DAWs (studio one and cubase) compare to waveform.

What I read here is that these two other chord tracks offer less in term of pattern generation, is that correct?
Can someone specify, do they have less categories (arpeggio, bassline, melody) or less presets or is it in some other way focused differently?

Generally I am searching for a solution that supports the composing and is fun to play with. I also checked some separate chord or arpeggio vst generators but was much more impressed by the first sight of waveform (but still checking other workflows to see if it is worth a DAW change).

[zzz00m]

I loaded the Waveform demo but was not so happy about other things. So I am starting to investigate how the other two cord track DAWs (studio one and cubase) compare to waveform.

What I read here is that these two other chord tracks offer less in term of pattern generation, is that correct?
Can someone specify, do they have less categories (arpeggio, bassline, melody) or less presets or is it in some other way focused differently?

Generally I am searching for a solution that supports the composing and is fun to play with. I also checked some separate chord or arpeggio vst generators but was much more impressed by the first sight of waveform (but still checking other workflows to see if it is worth a DAW change).

I bought Waveform 8 when it first came out just for the MIDI pattern generators. No chord track was available yet, since Tracktion added that in version 9 as a feature enhancement to the pattern generators. I had been testing the Cubase 9 demo to check out the chord track in there, but opted for Waveform over Cubase because there is nothing else in the DAW world quite like those pattern generators. There are other track based plugins that create chords and arpeggios, but I prefer the integration with the entire DAW.

In W8 if you changed a chord progression in one MIDI clip, you had to edit the other generated clips to update them on the new progression.

The W9 global chord track will let you make the adjustment there, and the generated clips can all be set follow the change.

To be clear, the chord track in Waveform may be referred to as "Global", but it is only used with the generated patterns, not standard MIDI clips, step clips, or audio clips.

However, even with this limitation, I still think that the Waveform pattern generators are the easiest, most fun, way to quickly build a chord progression and bassline.

Great song writing and creativity tools!

On the other hand, the chord track in Studio One is intended to allow you to make chord changes in the project that every track follows. It is a completely different animal, and lacks the pattern generation tools that you will find in Waveform. Studio One would be more useful after you already had a multi-track arrangement in place and wanted to experiment with chord changes to the entire song.

I see no reason not to use both approaches (and DAWs), depending on what stage of song writing you are at. You can export tracks from Waveform.

[SteffHell]

Thanks for the info.
Admittedly, I am not 100% convinced and happy with either solution.
The pattern generation in Waveform is very much the way I like it, and I definitely prefer solutions integrated in the DAW compared to VST plugin. My concerns are that at the moment I am struggling with other workflows within Waveform where I am not sure if it is just different or if I really prefer the solutions from my current DAW. Little things like zooming, scrolling, setting markers or the cursor feels rather strange and some other features like movable regions as a quick tool for arrangement changes seem to be missing.

I was kind of hoping that there was yet another DAW that had it all

[zzz00m]

Thanks for the info.
Admittedly, I am not 100% convinced and happy with either solution.

The sooner you stop looking for "THE" solution, the sooner you can get back to making music! There is no reason that you cannot use more than one DAW. Many folks do.

All DAWs have pros and cons, it's just a matter of finding one that mostly meets your needs. For me that is Studio One Pro. It is an awesome DAW. But I also enjoy using Waveform and Ableton Live to get creative with. They can both do things that Studio One cannot.

I was kind of hoping that there was yet another DAW that had it all

Not likely to happen in this lifetime!!!