# Studio One Pro



## Farkle (Apr 25, 2010)

I've begun using Studio One last year, I actually used it for a real-time composing session that zircon, Sean Beeson, and I did for the GameX Industry Summit.

I'm a big fan of the software; I think it very well might become the video game composer's software of choice over the next 2-3 years. Here are the things I love about it:

1. Nice Gui, really easy to navigate through your project. The hot keys are very intuitive and fast.

2. Audio data and MIDI data are really smoothly accessed and edited. For example, when I do string runs and harp runs, I can (with one click) constrain my notes to a scale or mode. Then, I just drag the mouse over a region, and a strip of notes appear, only in the notes of the mode. BAM! Instant glisses and runs!

3. Built in effects are really excellent, especially the mastering effects. And, all effects chains are created/edited through drag and drop. It's blazing fast!

4. It's optimized for multi-core (in fact, you can go to prefs, and check off how many cores you want to access). It was built from the ground up to address Mac and PC multicores, and their native OS's.

Now, I haven't converted over fully, because of these following areas that I need to have implemented. NOTE: I think many of these areas will be addressed in the 1.5 update.

1. No video support. Bleah! But, 1.5 is supposed to fix that.

2. No folders. Man, I hope they fix this! My orchestral template has about 120 tracks, I need them to be in folders.

3. No more than one layer of bus'ing. In Digital Performer, I can have tracks route to bus'es, that then route to bus'es, etc., etc. That's really powerful, and I kind of need to have Studio One do that.

That said, all of my needs are very easily addressed, and when they are, I'm seriously considering moving over to Studio One. I know the tech guys there, and their tech support is awesome!

So, one vote for Studio One. It's pretty darn powerful.


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## Fernando Warez (Apr 25, 2010)

I've only watched the video and I'm very interested. I have lots of faith in the "new code" theory and the cubase guy with his experience etc... It just sounds like a winning combination to me. 

The problem is I'm completely committed to C5 now. Meaning i have and still am building a huge template using VST expression and it's just unthinkable for me to switch right now. But who knows? Maybe I'll buy it and use it to mix or replace my templates with a smaller one that wouldn't need VST expression anymore. It would be great if VST expression was universal btw. 

P.S. Also, i bought the fader port and i have to say Presonus really got my attention there. Very nice design.


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## dinerdog (Apr 25, 2010)

I have a question for anyone using it. Concerning key commands: are you able to assign any key command the way you do in Logic? I feel like an old dog that can't be taught new tricks, so being able to use pretty much the 'exact' key commands is important. tia


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## R.Cato (Apr 25, 2010)

Downloaded the Demo and was surprised. It's really a option besides Cubase worth thinking about it. The whole interface is very user friendly and gives you the feeling of total control. It probably has the easiest to use key editor I have ever seen so far. Every edit option is just few pixels away.

Play works fine here, too.

With a big Update coming out, I can really recommend to give Studio One a try.


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## dcoscina (Apr 25, 2010)

I'm finding music composing so much more streamlined- I have acclimated to this interface quite quickly.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 28, 2010)

A Mastertracks Pro brother! It took me about four years to wean myself off it and switch to Logic - and by that time it was about seven years out of date.


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## Simon Ravn (Apr 29, 2010)

Dcoscina,

Are you doing big, orchestral work with this? Including both VI's and slave machines via MIDI or...? I gave it a quick look, but couldn't really figure out if it was ready for "serious" MIDI work or not. I did get a crash almost instantly, when I tried to switch on the "inspector" - which made me think "oooohkay, this looks beta". However, it worked fine the next time around so maybe I was just seriously unlucky. 

Since Logic seems to get more and more bloated, I would love to see a new, modern, streamlined sequencer that can handle orchestral scoring, so if you are using this and it works for you, I would seriously give it a shot!


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## dcoscina (Apr 29, 2010)

Simon I would honestly say that I'm a mid level guy. I run several instances of VE PRO, kontakt 4, Omnisphere, Addictive drums, and PLAY usually. But to be quite honest, most of my pieces never go past the 40 track count. I only use a single Mac Pro 2.66 with 8gb ram. 

I can only compare Studio One to my own experiences with DP, Cubase and Logic 9. I find all those programs much too convoluted and I kept wondering why my productivity was beginning to wain. Recently I had moved to composing mostly using Sibelius 6 because of this factor. Studio One certainly isn't the be all end all of DAWS. But for me, I like how it's laid out. It actually is truly optmized for a single monitor too. There aOmerome things that I miss such as being able to set automation for the master track (for fades and such) but most of the other stuff I don't miss. And that scale choice in the editor window that someone mentioned earlier is brilliant. It takes seconds to input chromatic or pentatonic runs using it. Brilliant.

Mostly like thus program cause it runs lean and mean. No crashes for me yet either in 64bit or 32bit modes


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## dcoscina (Apr 29, 2010)

I scored my first films using MT Pro and Encore. Great streamlined sequencer and notation combo.


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## Nick Batzdorf (Apr 29, 2010)

Yup, I used to use Encore too. It was very good - with a couple of glaring faults: 1. you couldn't copy/cut and paste, and 2. cross-staff beaming involved getting out a drawing program. 

At the time, importing an 8-bar MIDI file into Finale took - I'm not kidding - 10 minutes. Encore imported it in seconds and got it pretty close to right, but when it was wrong it was easy to change.

Obviously Finale has changed a lot since then.


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## Dr.Quest (Apr 29, 2010)

I downloaded the Demo yesterday and it looks pretty cool - kind of nuendo-like. However it won't import movies. I click on the icon and get a window saying QuickTime is not installed. I'm on a Mac 10.6.3 with QT 10. So that's a deal breaker for me. Does anyone know if this is just a demo limitation?
The tech support guys seem puzzeled.
J


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## dcoscina (Apr 29, 2010)

Works fine here. I'm on the same OS as you. Maybe a limit of the demo.


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## Dr.Quest (Apr 29, 2010)

Maybe so. Sounds like you are enjoying working in it. I'm a Logic user from way back so it will have to be pretty good to get me over. What is it that is causing you to work faster/better? It looks as though you can have several songs within a project so right there that seems pretty cool for cues. Does one song need to close to open another?
J


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## dcoscina (Apr 29, 2010)

No you can have multiple songs open. For me it's just the ease of the interface. Everything is one mouse or key command away. I can shift between the tools much faster than Logic and some things are ridiculously easy- like highlighting tracks and right clicking can get you a separate bus fir those tracks only. Unlimited fx inserts. Much faster response for VSTs. The list goes on.


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## Dr.Quest (Apr 29, 2010)

Thanks Dave, good info. Will investigate the demo further.
J


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## dcoscina (Apr 30, 2010)

If you get a chance, check out their videos from PreSonus. I have learned some tricks about Studio One through them. The one-click functions are just stunning. Most editing is one or two clicks away. There's no convoluted steps to get things done. If I want to consolidate various events in a track, I just hit "B" or "G" on my computer keyboard. "G" also assigns the track name to the event. Nice! No control-alt-command-letter nonsense. 

To bounce the entire piece down, command-E is the trick. This stuff is not revolutionary in of itself but it certainly makes editing a helluva lot faster and pleasant. I don't feel the need to re-record my tracks because cleaning the existing ones up is a snap. The first four number keys (1-2-3-4) allow you to switch between tools. Quick and easy. You can snap to grid, or not. Once again, it's not as if Logic or DP or Cubase don't do these things- it's just that they do them slower with more steps. I have been on Studio One Pro for a week and already I feel at home as an advanced user. The interface is practically transparent allowing me to focus on music first, not the technology. 

Oh, I love how you can drag and drop fx chains into your console. There are preset chains that sound terrific. And I really love how easy it is to assign a separate track per instrument in a multitimbral VST/AU plug-in. HALion Symphony Orchestra is especially happy to reside in Studio One probably on account of the fact that some of its creators came from Steinberg.

What I would like to see in future versions?

At least some basic notation editor although I've gotten quite proficient with the piano roll editor. 

Allowing one to export a QT movie with the music embedded into it much like Logic and Digital Performer can do. As it is, I have to export the music and marry it to the film in QT.


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## dcoscina (May 1, 2010)

One thing I found that I'm not crazy about is the lack of flexibility in drawing tempo lines. At present the program only can change tempo in chunks AFAIK although I'm going to look into thus more. I like inserting ritards and smooth accelerandos into my music and this seems very straightjacketed.


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## José Herring (May 1, 2010)

dcoscina @ Sat May 01 said:


> One thing I found that I'm not crazy about is the lack of flexibility in drawing tempo lines. At present the program only can change tempo in chunks AFAIK although I'm going to look into thus more. I like inserting ritards and smooth accelerandos into my music and this seems very straightjacketed.



Been looking at this program a while. This is one of the main problems I find in a lot of the DAWS other than the major three, DP, Cubendo and Logic. A lot of DAWS are great on the surface but as soon as you dig a little beneath the hood there's not much depth. Let me know if you sort out this problem with the tempo maps. I think this would be crucial to the way I work these days. A DAW has to allow you to be musical and only being able to raise and lower tempos in chunks is pretty non music imo.

best,

Jose


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## dcoscina (May 1, 2010)

They definitely need to allow a composer to scale tempos smoothly. I found away around it but it's still not perfect- it will allow you to add blocks of time changes in minute segments- snap to 64th notes and such. Doesn't look pretty but it works. 

However, I'm still amazed at how quickly I can fly around its editing. I am able to copy paste and orchestrate on the fly faster than I ever have with Cubase or heck, even Sibelius. It's a very intuitive way of working. Only having those 5 tools helps. I can switch instantly between them and move stuff around, filter out things, whatever. And this thing just doesn't crash. No hang ups, slow downs and all that crap. For me, that's huge. Studio One makes me want to develop ideas rather than hinder them in a sea of mouse clicks.


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## Dr.Quest (May 1, 2010)

I do like the work flow in the demo. Already I'm really addicted to dragging and instrument to make a track or drag an EFX chain on to a track. So easy.
It doesn't like AU instruments at all it seems so if there isn't a VST equivalent your screwed there.
The GUI is brilliant. But I don't think I can justify the $400 price tack since I still can't get movies to work in it. But it is only a 1.5 version so there is room to grow.


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## dcoscina (May 1, 2010)

Yeah AU omnisphere it doesn't like. I find VST better anyhow in terms of CPU usage


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (May 2, 2010)

I didn't know about this at all till now. Thanks for this thread.

I'm a Logic user, but there are a few things that I just kind of wish were different in Logic. I can't put my finger on it. Workflow just seems slower to me.

"Allowing one to export a QT movie with the music embedded into it much like Logic and Digital Performer can do."

Errr...how do you do this in Logic?


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (May 2, 2010)

First at a glance feature I LOVE:

Creating multi-output instruments is way..way easier than Logic, and more organized. Each track is treated as if each track was an instance of that plugin (the way it operates and looks) no orphaned MIDI tracks.


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## dcoscina (May 2, 2010)

Oh yeah, S1 Pro is a snap when it comes to routing things, creating FX buses, FX chains, by simply drag and drop. It couldn't be any easier. There's some really sweet Mastering Preset chains too to slap onto your Master Track. 

I'm still having a ball with it and as mentioned, I don't hate editing any more. It's so smooth and intuitive I actually WANT to clean up my lines. Actually, in many cases, I don't feel the need to re-do a track performance wise if there are a couple little problems with it. I just edit it. I even add notes, remove notes, change velocities, lengthen notes, with the speed of one-click. 

PLAY2 works pretty well with it too. However, S1 Pro doesn't much like some AU plug ins. Luckily I don't have to resort to using those as VST2 and VST3 versions of my faves are all represented.


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## dcoscina (May 2, 2010)

One other thing I love about Studio One is that when you STOP it goes back to the last position you started. The only other program that I had this on was Sonar (I think Cubase also does this) but Logic and DP always go back to the beginning and I bloody well hate always having to set up new start positions when I begin a new section. Click once, you go back to the most recent START. Click twice and you go back to the beginning of the song. Easy enough and a huge time saver.


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (May 2, 2010)

There is no freeze function but there's a "bounce all the selected tracks, then add the audio files as tracks, then disable the previous midi tracks all at once" feature, which is better than Logic's freeze, because it applies to anything.

Logic doesn't allow me to freeze multi-output tracks at all.

I can see you can bounce the entire projects stems too. Don't think that's in Logic. But if it is, it probably has the same problem as freezing.

I may definitely get this when I get the cash. Just seems cleaner, not to mention way...way faster. CPU wise it seems to be about the same. I had 8 RMX tracks, and 8 omni tracks plus all 3 mic positions of CS and it was only popping a bit with NO MESSAGE stopping the whole thing.

Grats to PreSonus for this. Looks like we're back to the emagic days where the coding was decent.


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## dcoscina (May 2, 2010)

Yeah this thing rocks. And we;re still at the ground level. I know a few guys that have switched over to this. If they beef up the film score features and with some basic notation, i could see some heavyweights moving to this because it's so clean and easy to use. 

Does this thing remind anyone of Studio Vision? I know JN Howard and Gabriel Yared both used that program and thought highly of it.


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (May 2, 2010)

Opcode's Vision? That was my first DAW! 

Yet another big thing for me I found. 

Logic has some serious issues with VE Pro, as it will slow down Logic with every action you do. VSL added a "Decouple" option that was supposed to prevent this, but adds another problem in which you have to reload all the templates in your VE Pro instances.

I stuffed 13 gigs of samples on the host machine, and about 5 gigs of samples from my slave, and Studio One runs as if there was nothing loaded at all. Everything is just as fast.

Logic is fast, but only if you use a low amount of memory (though I use 8, so that's probably my fault) Studio One is 64bit, so there doesn't seem to be a problem with this. With enough instances running, you have to click and hold for 4 seconds just to get a plugin.

Also, any error message you get seem to be at the right time, and beachballs seems to be more "yeah, you should wait" rather than "I wonder if Logic stopped working and I need to force quit?"


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## muziksculp (May 2, 2010)

I can see Studio One Pro (version 2.0) attracting many current LP, DP, Cubase, Sonar, and other DAW users. Although, (version 1.5) is already doing just that :D 

I'm currently moving from Mac/LP9 to PC/Cubase 5, so going through a bit of an adjustment/transition period, but I have S1-Pro on my radar screen, since it was announced 8) 

Actually, I never was very comfortable using LP9, watching some of the S1-Pro videos, I can see why it's becoming a very popular DAW. I can see myself using both Cubase 5 and S1-Pro on my new custom built PC DAW, which will be ready for delivery in a couple of weeks.

The Presonus /Studio One development team is surely thinking outside the box, as far as DAW design, workflow, and features are concerned. Especially the fantastic workflow features, VST and AU support, 64-bit on both Mac and PC platforms, Integrated Mastering tools, Integrated Publishing tools (Soundcloud), Great sounding 64-bit internal summing engine, Great sounding effects plug-ins, and many of the new features in version 1.5, i.e. new automation curves, midi editing, ..etc. 

I'm sure version 2.0 will be hard to resist ! It Looks like once you give it a try, it's hard to go back to the convoluted workflow of many of the current 'mature' DAWs.


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## Farkle (May 2, 2010)

I have absolutely fallen in love with Studio One, and it's my go-to DAW for anything other than a huge trailer-esque score. I'm currently doing keyboard parts for an album (5-8 key tracks, plus a couple of audio tracks where my reference stems are), and it's fantastic! Omnisphere, Papen Blue, Kontakt 4, all running blazing fast.

My only issue now is that there are no folder structures. If there were, then I would port over my large orch. template to Studio One, and just go to TOWN. As it is, I may try that, but it's hard having to scroll up and down with 120 tracks. Argh! 

Again, this was built from the ground up with Vista/7 64-bit in mind, and Leopard and Snow Leopard. So, it's really optimized.

And, with Kontakt 4.1 (native 64 bit) coming out, big orchestral scores could be (inside S1) 64-bit end-to-end.

Oohhhh, if 1.5 is this fun, what will 2.0 bring? 

Mike


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## muziksculp (May 2, 2010)

Farkle @ Sun May 02 said:


> I have absolutely fallen in love with Studio One, and it's my go-to DAW for anything other than a huge trailer-esque score. I'm currently doing keyboard parts for an album (5-8 key tracks, plus a couple of audio tracks where my reference stems are), and it's fantastic! Omnisphere, Papen Blue, Kontakt 4, all running blazing fast.
> 
> My only issue now is that there are no folder structures. If there were, then I would port over my large orch. template to Studio One, and just go to TOWN. As it is, I may try that, but it's hard having to scroll up and down with 120 tracks. Argh!
> 
> ...



Very Cool ! Thanks for the positive feedback.

So, what's your current go to DAW for 'Huge Trailer-Esque Score' ? 

I agree with you, the lack of Folder Tracks in S1-Pro is a bit of a bummer. But, it shouldn't be that difficult for their development team to add this feature, even before version 2.0, maybe version 1.6 (now that will be super) :mrgreen: 

I would also like to see S1-Pro offer something like Cubase 5's 'Arranger Track', or possibly a better way to construct, organize, experiment, use pattern style sequencing, to build a linear arrangement. 

Also... A high-quality built-in Convolution reverb, Advanced delay plug-in (similar to LP9's 'Delay Designer, Advanced Audio and Time warp/Elastic Audio type features, a built-in 32-bit bridge for both Mac and PC, GUI color-customization features, flexible tempo track editing, additional video export enhancements. 

These are some of the features that will make me very happy if they were added to version 2.0 . I'm sure the Presonus /S1-Pro development team will add some very creative new features that will surprise us in version 2.0 !


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## dcoscina (May 2, 2010)

Great ideas. I'm having so much fun with this. I actually don't miss the notation editor. that's why I like thus program- because it's not so cluttered. Very direct.


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## Farkle (May 2, 2010)

Ironically enough, I use Cubase 5 right now for my big template (now up to 150 tracks, using the Alex Pfeffer Style of Kontakt Memory Server).

Ironic, because two of the lead programmers of Cubase are the two lead devs for Studio One. Which is why it was really easy for me to jump between the two. The keystrokes have a lot of commonality, the feel is very similar. I really like both Cubase and Studio One's workflow.

I'm totally cool with the built in delays in S1, and kvraudio can help me find cheap or free delays if I need it. I would like a convo 'verb, but as I could buy Reverberate for 50$ (a great price), and download the Bricasti impulses for free from signaltonoize, I'm okay with doing the third-party thing. Right now, Cubase has Reverence (really solid), so I'm convo'ed up for now. 

I would like a smoother tempo structure (like what DP 7 is capable of), but the current tempo feature is pretty strong, and fulfills my needs for game music. For TV music (which I haven't done in a year), I still would probably use DP 7, because of the powerful tempo-mapping features.

Having said that, I'm a huge fan of S1, and I'm really impressed with how strong it's come out of the gate. I used it in Nov. 2009 (version 1.01) for a speed composing presentation, and blazed through 2 minutes of full music in under 1/2 an hour. Full orchestra, etc. It's FAST. Right now, I'm switching between it and Cubase 5 (depending upon the project). And, if S1 gets folder structures, it may well usurp Cubase as my main DAW. 

Goooo, Studio One!

Mike


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## Nathan Allen Pinard (May 2, 2010)

There's a few things I'd want from Logic, but not entirely needed:

1. EX24 Sample Playability
2. Sculpture
3. Platinum Verb

Otherwise, everything else is 3rd party for me.


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