# Is Cubase the fueture of scoring ?!



## onmadegringo (Sep 20, 2019)

now courage is needed! Hans Zimmer once said that there is no need to read the notes (on paper with ink) and I think he has already achieved some successes.

He uses Cubase or? I think it is no longer necessary to read / write more in 2019. But what if you want the staccato or spicatto? VERY EASY: Spitfire Alboin is the way to be shown. Thus, it is 100% likely to use the correct articulation.

Should I still learn to read / write in 2019 or can not I write the really big booms on tracks with Cubase?


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## mducharme (Sep 20, 2019)

Many people get by (and can be quite successful) without being able to read and write conventional music notation. However, in my opinion, score study is an incredibly important aspect of developing musical skills. If you cannot at least read music and properly analyze a score, it becomes quite difficult to learn from orchestration done by others. You might get OK or good (or possibly great/fantastic) results with trial and error, especially if you have a good ear and musical intuition, but score study is invaluable, and you are preventing yourself from being able to do that for the most part if you cannot at least read music.


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## Ashermusic (Sep 20, 2019)

No.


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## bengoss (Sep 20, 2019)

onmadegringo said:


> now courage is needed! Hans Zimmer once said that there is no need to read the notes (on paper with ink) and I think he has already achieved some successes.
> 
> He uses Cubase or? I think it is no longer necessary to read / write more in 2019. But what if you want the staccato or spicatto? VERY EASY: Spitfire Alboin is the way to be shown. Thus, it is 100% likely to use the correct articulation.
> 
> Should I still learn to read / write in 2019 or can not I write the really big booms on tracks with Cubase?


Since you mentioned Hans Zimmer and if you are planing on getting not even close to his level) it’s a must to learn and read. Good luck, and yes Cubase is imo one of the best daws out there for composing film music.
B


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## Fysik (Sep 27, 2019)

Imho it is incredibly helpful at the beginning to study scores and understand them and for that alone you need to be able to read sheet music.
It is like saying: Why should I learn to read music when I can get almost every song on synthesia? Because every once in a while you stumble upon a situation where it is inevitable to read sheet music.

But I wouldn't worry much about that. Learning sheet music isn't that hard and the more you do it the faster you'll become


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## Uiroo (Sep 28, 2019)

I recently brushed up my reading skills from merely being able to "decipher" notes to being able to read somewhat fluently in a few weeks of 15 minutes practice a day. 

It's really not that hard and since I realised that, everytime someone talks about not being able to read i'm just thinking: "Really? Cmon, get your act together if you're serious". It's just worth the trouble.

I also slightly disagree with Hans Zimmer, the one advantage I see with sheet music is, that it is easier to understand what's going on when many things happen at once. I used to agree, but the more I get into reading, the more I like it.

+1 for Cubase, I love it, although it has some problems.


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## Fysik (Sep 29, 2019)

Uiroo said:


> I see with sheet music is, that it is easier to understand what's going on when many things happen at once



I wouldn't generalise it:

Small Orchestras: It is okay-ish to read along a score when listening to it, but MIDI for me has definitely the upper hand here. It's just so convenient to see the harmonies in one "clef" in the MIDI files instead of having to combine violin-, alto-, and bass clef all at once in your head, without losing your main focus on harmony. To become that good it surely needs hell of a lot more skill than I currently have - mind me I don't do this as active and much as I should, though.

Big Orchestras: Reading MIDI when you have way too many instruments (think Test Drive from HTTYD by John Powell) is a pain in the ... . Reading the Test Drive score with MIDI would be 35 MIDI Tracks (including Divisi, Percussion) and thus be so incredibly unmanageable, that you are happy to read the sheet music for it. 

Don't get me wrong. You will never pay attention to all 35 music lines neither with a score nor with MIDI, but for me it is pleasant to always have the option on sheet music to look what something is doing without having to pause and click here and there and then start the playback


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## Uiroo (Sep 29, 2019)

Fysik said:


> I wouldn't generalise it:
> 
> Small Orchestras: It is okay-ish to read along a score when listening to it, but MIDI for me has definitely the upper hand here. It's just so convenient to see the harmonies in one "clef" in the MIDI files instead of having to combine violin-, alto-, and bass clef all at once in your head, without losing your main focus on harmony. To become that good it surely needs hell of a lot more skill than I currently have - mind me I don't do this as active and much as I should, though.
> 
> ...


Yeah I agree, but that's kinda what i meant :D
For sure MIDI is more convenient for reading harmony, it's practically a bit like a piano reduction. Orchestration wise sheet music has the upper hand if you ask me. Because with MIDI, even if you color every instrument, you don't know for sure what's what, you don't see overlapping notes, you don't see dynamics and articulations for every instrument. 
So it seems to me that if you get good enough at reading different clefs fluently, sheet music is the best way to read music. Just not the easiest.


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## Henu (Sep 29, 2019)

onmadegringo said:


> now courage is needed



Never mix up courage with plain stupidity.


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## Fysik (Sep 29, 2019)

Uiroo said:


> Orchestration wise sheet music has the upper hand if you ask me



You are absolutely right. In the heat of the moment I didn't think of anything else than harmony. But orchestration and instrumentation. MIDI doesn't stand a chance against sheet music in this one!


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