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Digital Performer 9+: User experiences?

averystemmler

Active Member
So, I've used almost every major daw as my primary at one point or another. I'm currently on Cubase 8.5 (the past few versions haven't seemed necessary), but my eye has been drawn to Digital Performer again (which I used for a couple years before switching to Cubase) lately, and I realized I haven't heard much about the latest version. Anybody out there with experiences they'd like to relate? Positive, negative, entirely indifferent? I last used DP8, but I do find myself missing some of its more scoring-centric features. It may well be rose colored glasses at work.

Thanks!
 
Have you tried their 30 day demo? Since DAWs are so personal, the only one who can really compare the two is yourself.

DP was my first DAW then later I switched to Cubase. I tried the DP 9.5 demo just for kicks, and I can give you my impressions, but they are just that: my impressions. Things I may dislike in DP you may really love and visa-versa.

I apologize—I probably didn’t give you the answers you were looking for :)
 
No apology necessary, but I was looking for more long-term impressions. The little frustrations you only uncover after years of use, the little performance quirks you don't really notice with a few demo projects. Or the amazing hidden feature you never thought you'd use but has become invaluable. That sort of thing.

But, that's also stuff that can also be hard to put into words, so it's a bit of an ask on my part to be sure. I'll download the demo some point and give it a whirl, but I'm just interested in what the "landscape" is like out there for the product, and the general consensus on MOTU as a company in 2018
 
DP 9 had a significant horsepower boost as well as some fantastic pitch shifting usung the zplane technology. also there are terrific view options that allow you to create track sets. You can see only tracks w midi datta or just the strings etc. very helpful for thw 1000+ track template crowd.
 
No apology necessary, but I was looking for more long-term impressions. The little frustrations you only uncover after years of use, the little performance quirks you don't really notice with a few demo projects. Or the amazing hidden feature you never thought you'd use but has become invaluable. That sort of thing.

But, that's also stuff that can also be hard to put into words, so it's a bit of an ask on my part to be sure. I'll download the demo some point and give it a whirl, but I'm just interested in what the "landscape" is like out there for the product, and the general consensus on MOTU as a company in 2018

In that case, I’ll give you my impressions from the small amount of time of trying DP.

I’ve gotten so used to MIDI being inside regions from using Cubase and Logic that when I use DP it gets frustrating quickly for me. I find the workflow in Cubase to be quicker with less mouse clicks than in DP. Logical/transformers/macros are a major plus for me as well as the Q-link function (alt-shift). And one of the biggest is Retrospective Record (in Logic too).

I know a lot of DP users love the Chunks feature and v-racks. I recently did a performance test using Diva & Adaptiverb with DP, Logic, and Cubase, and DP’s PreGen engine seemed to handle more tracks than the other two (surprisingly). However, there may have been some variables that affected this which I’d like to retest.

But like I said, you may sequence/record differently than myself so maybe you’ll enjoy DP more. I think DP is still a wonderful DAW, it’s just not for me anymore.
 
Thank you both!

Logical/transformers/macros are a major plus for me as well as the Q-link function (alt-shift). And one of the biggest is Retrospective Record (in Logic too).

Now that you mention it, those were all reasons I shifted to Cubase in the first place, so it's good to be reminded of them. You start to take them for granted after a time.

I'm definitely interested in poking at the PreGen engine though. And that spectrograph view is mighty appealing!
 
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all the daws have pros and cons including dp. Ultimately I can’t stand the absence of midi regions and I have come to rely on logic’s scripter. Dp has absolutely nothing for articulation management.

It has a lot of other nice features though but for me they aren’t enough because of the above, but:

V-racks, chunks, midi routing, film hit point calculation, etc... it’s got some interesting features. My overall impression is that dp is built by audio engineers for audio engineers and that it excels particularly in production and mixing tasks. Everything is straightforward and smooth to use for those kinds of tasks, but for the actual music writing and composing task I find other daws like logic to be far more intuitive. But I know musicians that have been using dp for years to write Music and they are used to it with no complaints. So there you go. It’s a subjective thing.
 
User of DP for 15+ years here. I use it mainly for MIDI rather than audio (that is, most of my work is done using sampled instruments rather than live audio). I find it excellent for midi work and editing, though I probably don't work as efficiently as a lot of people. (I'm not sure what you all mean by midi region. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.).

Chunks and V-racks are invaluable when it comes to film scoring.

For a while, before I had VE Pro, I had the problem of DP suddenly quitting when I loaded it up with lots of plugins. That problem went away as soon as I got VEP.

The MasterWorks plugins get a lot of use. Don't have much use for the guitar pedals and effects.

The lack of articulation management is a weakness. That is one thing that makes me take a look at Cubase. It would be nice if MOTU would do something in this regard.

I know this doesn't give you much insight. If you have specific questions, maybe I can answer them.
 
User of DP for 15+ years here. I use it mainly for MIDI rather than audio (that is, most of my work is done using sampled instruments rather than live audio). I find it excellent for midi work and editing, though I probably don't work as efficiently as a lot of people. (I'm not sure what you all mean by midi region. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.).

Hi, MIDI regions are similar to a recorded audio file; all the MIDI info is contained inside a region (or container) for just that section of the music. For example, on a single violin track, you can have many regions with the different violin lines in it. These are handy because you're able to apply some kind of effect to just that region without affecting other regions on the same track. I know in DP, when you record in MIDI, it creates "boxes" of MIDI data, which is similar, but it's a bit different. I'm not really sure how to explain it correctly. :) It basically makes MIDI editing/muting/etc a bit easier to work with because you're dealing with small "containers".

However, like I said, DAWs are very personal, and they all do pretty much the exact same thing these days, so the best option is to just stick with what you're the most comfortable with. Every time I get frustrated with Cubase I always start fooling around with other DAWs, and every time I end up back using Cubase just because I've used it the longest and know it the best.

I hope that helps even a little :)
 
I know in DP, when you record in MIDI, it creates "boxes" of MIDI data, which is similar, but it's a bit different. I'm not really sure how to explain it correctly. :) It basically makes MIDI editing/muting/etc a bit easier to work with because you're dealing with small "containers"

I was wondering if it was similar to DP's midi boxes in the tracks window. I find the boxes work well enough, though sometimes they include or exclude data a bit arbitrarily. But most of the time, I can apply affects to the regions I want.
 
I find the boxes work well enough, though sometimes they include or exclude data a bit arbitrarily.

Ha.. that's what always has me looking over cubase's shoulder at DP. I hate that Cubase doesn't know that something played a millisecond ahead of the beat belongs in the later midi region if I make an edit at that point.
 
The lack of articulation management is a weakness. That is one thing that makes me take a look at Cubase. It would be nice if MOTU would do something in this regard.
Recently I managed to work out a system to change articulations in Kontakt via Program Changes. Shall we call it a poor man's Expression Maps system for DP?

Tracks Overview
DP%20Art%201.gif

Midi Editor
DP%20Art%202.gif


So basically it's sending a Program Change to Kontakt and I've made a custom multiscript that converts these Program Changes into Midi CC or Note Values.
This way you can control CSS for example or any library.

I've been working with Logic and Cubase/Nuendo but DP's workflow just clicks with how I write. It's so personal.
I desperately wanted to love Cubase (Macros and Expression Maps!) and while it's incredible I always ran into oddities and shortcoming for my preferred way of working. And I missed Chunks too much :scout:

However, seeing these fantastic things Cubase could do I tried to make it work in DP. For example with Keyboard Maestro you can program macro's yourself. Key commands for velocity +10/-10, Midi CC increase/decrease, Quantize presets, Set Note length etc etc etc.
Wizard @jononotbono has tons of ideas for these macros.

Editing CC's are a breeze as well:
DP%20Spline.gif


I could go on and on :) but DP is an incredibly deep that has so many different workflows. Every week I come across something and think, gosh I didn't know that was possible.
 
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Recently I managed to work out a system to change articulations in Kontakt via Program Changes. Shall we call it a poor man's Expression Maps system for DP?

Hi. Your images aren't coming across, maybe dropbox permissions?

Yes. Program changes are handled pretty well in DP. We could do more with them if DP allowed for arbitrary patch maps for virtual instruments and offered a MIDI effect like Logic's Scripter.
 
Recently I managed to work out a system to change articulations in Kontakt via Program Changes. Shall we call it a poor man's Expression Maps system for DP?

Tracks Overview
p.gif

Midi Editor
p.gif


So basically it's sending a Program Change to Kontakt and I've made a custom multiscript that converts these Program Changes into Midi CC or Note Values.
This way you can control CSS for example or any library.

I've been working with Logic and Cubase/Nuendo but DP's workflow just clicks with how I write. It's so personal.
I desperately wanted to love Cubase (Macros and Expression Maps!) and while it's incredible I always ran into oddities and shortcoming for my preferred way of working. And I missed Chunks too much :scout:

However, seeing these fantastic things Cubase could do I tried to make it work in DP. For example with Keyboard Maestro you can program macro's yourself. Key commands for velocity +10/-10, Midi CC increase/decrease, Quantize presets, Set Note length etc etc etc.
Wizard @jononotbono has tons of ideas for these macros.

Editing CC's are a breeze as well:
p.gif


I could go on and on :) but DP is an incredibly deep that has so many different workflows. Every week I come across something and think, gosh I didn't know that was possible.
Oh Yeah! I'd love to see more! Sounds amazing! Would you share the multiscript?
 
Hi, MIDI regions are similar to a recorded audio file; all the MIDI info is contained inside a region (or container) for just that section of the music. For example, on a single violin track, you can have many regions with the different violin lines in it. These are handy because you're able to apply some kind of effect to just that region without affecting other regions on the same track. I know in DP, when you record in MIDI, it creates "boxes" of MIDI data, which is similar, but it's a bit different. I'm not really sure how to explain it correctly. :) It basically makes MIDI editing/muting/etc a bit easier to work with because you're dealing with small "containers".

They can also be easily copied, moved, aliased, looped, linked to the arrangement track, etc.. DP is clumsy in comparison.
 
I was wondering if it was similar to DP's midi boxes in the tracks window. I find the boxes work well enough, though sometimes they include or exclude data a bit arbitrarily. But most of the time, I can apply affects to the regions I want.

no, DP does not have midi regions. There are some visual representations that they paint that kinda look like it, but they are not actual midi regions. This is a well known issue with DP.
 
no, DP does not have midi regions. There are some visual representations that they paint that kinda look like it, but they are not actual midi regions. This is a well known issue with DP.
Yes, Dewdman knew how to describe it better. He’s much wiser than I am, so do heed his word. (No joke) :)
 
Hi. Your images aren't coming across, maybe dropbox permissions?

Yes. Program changes are handled pretty well in DP. We could do more with them if DP allowed for arbitrary patch maps for virtual instruments and offered a MIDI effect like Logic's Scripter.
Ok strange. Have a look again!
 
Recently I managed to work out a system to change articulations in Kontakt via Program Changes. Shall we call it a poor man's Expression Maps system for DP?

Tracks Overview
DP%20Art%201.gif

Midi Editor
DP%20Art%202.gif


So basically it's sending a Program Change to Kontakt and I've made a custom multiscript that converts these Program Changes into Midi CC or Note Values.
This way you can control CSS for example or any library.

I've been working with Logic and Cubase/Nuendo but DP's workflow just clicks with how I write. It's so personal.
I desperately wanted to love Cubase (Macros and Expression Maps!) and while it's incredible I always ran into oddities and shortcoming for my preferred way of working. And I missed Chunks too much :scout:

However, seeing these fantastic things Cubase could do I tried to make it work in DP. For example with Keyboard Maestro you can program macro's yourself. Key commands for velocity +10/-10, Midi CC increase/decrease, Quantize presets, Set Note length etc etc etc.
Wizard @jononotbono has tons of ideas for these macros.

Editing CC's are a breeze as well:
DP%20Spline.gif


I could go on and on :) but DP is an incredibly deep that has so many different workflows. Every week I come across something and think, gosh I didn't know that was possible.

@vewilya Sure here are the Kontakt multiscripts! One is Program Change to CC and the other Program Change to Note.

Kontakt%20PC%20Multiscript.png


So I guess it's self explanatory. Incoming Program Change (PC) translates to the midi cc you enter. And you can set the port it goes to. Midi CC58 in this picture.
Now you can send it to 2 cc values as I've done with CSS for example to select sustains or legato (requires 2 CC's).

One thing is that the incoming PC from DP is one higher (I think.. I always confuse this..) than the Kontakt value.

Hope these pictures work now btw!
 
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