I decided to upgrade my Cubase 6 to Cubase 6.5 yesterday (which costed me 42 Euros GRRRRR!)
Everything seems so good so far! Really loving the new Retrologue Synth, really really nice sounding synthesizer with a pretty good looking interface - thank god! I mean look at the older Cubase software instruments - they all look and feel so outdated to the point that you dont really feel like using them at all!
In Logic you have the mighty powerful ES2, praised by many as a solid all-rounder synth, good for stuff ranging from dubstep wobbles to awesome leads.
Ableton has the really versatile and easy to use OPERATOR, really nice FM synthesizer that can also be additive/subtractive depending on how you use it, the ANALOG synth is not too bad as well
But Cubase? I did not really like the built in synths previously, a lot of people i know seems to think the same way, seems like Steinberg listened and introduced the two new synths : Retrologue and Padshop
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| Cubase's new synth - Retrologue! Looks GREAT doesnt it?? |
Retrologue is a nice addition, but The Padshop on the other hand, a "granular synthesis" kinda synth, did not really impress me much. Recently Native Instruments gave away an amazing Granular Synth "SKANNER" - FOR FREE! Now Skanner is really really awesome, I somehow did not get the same feeling with padshop, plus in padshop, we are not able to insert our own wav file , leaving us only to experiment with their own built in samples (for now - i hope they change this in a future update!)
DAFUQ is Granular Synthesis Dude??
Well okay, to put it in easy-to-understand terms, for those who dont know granular synthesis is a form of audio synthesis where the use of very tiny slice of an audio is used, for example, you record yourself saying "AHHH", load it in, lets say, the "SIMPLER" instrument in Ableton (a good granular synth too), when you load it up you can set the instrument to play such a small amount of that "aaaah" sample to the point it sounds totally different, putting it into grain-sized micro slices of audio and playing them back that tiny piece, depending on the length of the sample you chosen and other factors, you get different results, you can make a bass, a lead, or really whatever you want
another example? well here's a good one, you know in Swedish House Mafia's One - where in the intro they turn the kick drum, looped it so tiny, and made it into a bassline? well i suppose that's the idea/concept :)
Why DID I even get Cubase 6.5? Especially since I already have both Logic Pro 9 and Ableton 8?
Well recently I did a lot of interviews and data collection with a lot of local studios here in Singapore, seems like a lot of the post-production studio over here use a lot of Nuendo (which is like Cubase's big brother) and Protools, you see I dont like Protools all that much, and since Im heading into the Audio Post-Production field once I graduate from uni (soon now... soon...) it just makes sense (and wise) for me to start using less ableton and more of the stuff Im gonna actually need to use at work (hahaha)
It just kinda made sense for me to "master" Cubase 6.5 - when i said master as in I'd know it inside out, know all the hotkeys, so i can work REALLY FAST in super stressful environments, i mean i have done all that with Ableton 8, got all the logistics sorted out, and Logic too, I suppose It'd be a good idea to get myself comfy with Cubase so later I can do Post-Production stuff good and fast
Audio Post-Production is a bit different with music production, it mostly involves a lot of audio/video-syncing and we mostly deal with demanding clients who want the best quality work at the shortest time possible (hahaha), so yeah being extremely familiar with a piece of software will really help!
New Features
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| The New Padshop Synth! |
But hey if you want two new synths for 42 euro (if you look at it that way seems not too bad), i think 6.5 is a great update!
Cubase 7 Wish List :)
Okay 6.5 just barely came out and Im already thinking about Cubase 7??? Well, anyway here is a list of things I hope will be in Cubase 7:
- MORE Software Synths Please! - Yes the older ones start to feel really outdated, please renew/update/rework or even introduce more new ones :)
- Better Warping Engine! - This is where Ableton really shines, double clicking an audio file, placing warp markers like a machine gun (bam bam bam so fast) and voila - track warped, In Cubase it still does not feel that intuitive to do warping
- Piano Roll FOLD MODE - you know in ableton where you can just write in a scale that you wanna compose on, and then FOLD IT? Holy shit that is so awesome!!! I really wish something like this can be done in Cubase!
Eh by the way if you wanna purchase Cubase 6.5, you can check the link Below for cheap EDU price from amazon:
If you qualify for an Educational version - its A LOT CHEAPER than the full price, so yeah if you happen to be studying, do make use of the EDU discount for the Pro Audio software - they save you so much!
