# Digital Performer - Film scoring



## Aleela (Feb 4, 2019)

Is Digital Performer the best DAW for film scoring?


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## d.healey (Feb 4, 2019)

Define "best".


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## TrondB (Feb 4, 2019)

People here are usually Logic or Cubase so you'll probably get a lot of "no 'this daw' is the best" and so on. 
I use DP. It's the best for me. It's not as difficult as people say it is to learn. I spent a weekend going through the manual and now I can do everything I need it to do, which is film scoring.


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## Aleela (Feb 4, 2019)

d.healey said:


> Define "best".


"Best" in reference to film scoring features


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## d.healey (Feb 4, 2019)

Aleela said:


> "Best" in reference to film scoring features


Pretty much all DAWs have all the basic requirements for scoring a film - MIDI input, VST audio output, video/audio synchronisation. The thing that makes the difference is how well you can work with a particular program. Danny Elfman used to (might still) use DP, Hans Zimmer uses Cubase, John Williams uses a pencil. Find what works best for you.


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## Piano Pete (Feb 4, 2019)

As the others have mentioned, it really comes down to personal taste as to what DAW you use. It really does not have an impact on your ability to work in the industry to use one or the other, unless you are assisting or collaborating with someone using specific software. In that case, you use whatever you need to in order to complete the job. 

I know people of people who use DP in the industry. If it speaks to you and it fits your workflow, use it. Heck, I know people who work exclusively in Fruityloops and Ableton, and those are not really the first go-to's one thinks of for filmscoring, but they work equally as well.


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## Farkle (Feb 4, 2019)

Aleela said:


> Is Digital Performer the best DAW for film scoring?



How do you film score? Do you use punches and streamers? Do you time out scenes, and know how to use a click book? If so, then DP has tools that are very useful for you. Or, do you cut and paste, more like a music editor? In that case... other daws do that equally as well.


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## OLB (Feb 4, 2019)

There is no 'best' DAW. I use DP as well and also for me it's the best. Cubase, Logic, Pro Tools, they are all fantastic.

Digital Performer usually doesn't get all the attention but many A-list composers use it. Dario Marianelli, Danny Elfman, Alexander Desplat, Ludwig Goransson, Michael Giacchino, Marco Bertrami, Carter Burwell, Garry Schyman. List goes on. 

Best 'scoring feature' for me would be *Chunks*. Chunks enable you to have all the cues in one project file. All with their own starting timecode starts.


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## stigc56 (Feb 4, 2019)

I would say that you could deserve a better answer 
I have been using Cubase, Logic and DP and they all have their pros and cons.
Cubase hase VST expression maps, Logic has a similar system, DP lacks in this area, but I think the chunks in DP is a really big advantage, because so much about computers (DAWs) is about reusing stuff, and chunks are all about that.
In Cubase it's an absolute drag so get to use material from one project in another. Loops and sounds is fine, but when you like me work a lot with the same instrument collection (a band) for a show, you will fine tune mixes and EQ's on the tracks that are involved as the process goes by, and in the end you have created the perfect sound for your Scarbee Rhodes ex. Imagine now you have all the cues for the show in the same project and how easy it would be to mix the final version of all the songs, with this final balanced template.
That is difficult in Cubase, a lot easier in Logic!
There are so many things that differentiate DAWs from each other, so the best would be to try them out, watch a lot of videos and read the manuals.


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## jamwerks (Feb 4, 2019)

One time DP user here (now on Cubase). I'd say DP is less advanced in articulation management than Logic or Cubase But for a lot of people that's not that important!


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## Hellfiremusic (May 3, 2019)

As you can see, I hardly ever get involved, but as someone who has used Cubase for over 10 years, then Logic for over 10 years and finally DP for the last few, I can say that the chunks feature in DP is awesome - when working with 20-30 different cues for a film, all with numerous re-writes, to be able to select any cue (and duplicate it if required) almost instantly is fantastic and saves lots of time. I also keep all my VIs in the chunks window so I can access them from every cue - this is now possible using VEP with other DAWs so is not quite the issue it was, (although I also use VEP in the chunks window linking to slave computers for big instrumental templates).
DP is not as intuitive as Logic or Cubase, and it is sometimes time consuming to find out how to do simple things!! Logic plug-ins are great, whereas DP plug-ins feel about 10 years out of date and they could do with making them more user friendly!! So I put up with the downside of DP purely for the great "Chunks" feature. If I was not working to picture, I would have stuck with Logic (or Cubase) as both are fantastic DAWs.


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