The EDU edition is the Flagship version of Bitwig Studio, discounted at only 269 USD / 269 EUR (Original price €399 EUR).

How to get the Bitwig Studio EDU edition?

1. Purchase one of my Bitwig courses here.
2. Go to Bitwig Webstore EDU link here.
3. Press BUY and purchase Bitwig Studio EDU product.
4. In your “verification process email” to Bitwig, you can attach your “Order confirmation email” from us (Morningdew Media Education). Or mention that you purchased a course from Morningdew Media Education, the course name + your order number.
5. Done!

As long as the course is a Bitwig related course you are eligable to receive the EDU discount!

I’m super excited to be able to offer this to all Bitwig students! If you’re on Bitwig 8-track, or thinking about moving from other DAW to Bitwig…this is a GREAT opportunity to jump in.

Thank YOU all for joining!

// Mattias

The post 🎁 Exciting News for Bitwig students – big discount on Bitwig Studio flagship edition! 🥳 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

In this comprehensive course, we’ll guide you through everything you need to know to start making music with Logic Pro, from setting up your workspace to recording and editing audio and MIDI.

Getting Started with Logic Pro

If you’ve never used Logic Pro before, the first thing you’ll want to do is get familiar with the software. We’ll walk you through the interface and show you how to set up your workspace to suit your needs. We’ll cover everything from creating a new project to selecting the right audio interface and MIDI controller. By the end of this section, you’ll have a solid understanding of how Logic Pro works and be ready to start creating music.

When you buy the course you get:

 Lifetime access to the Course Web App – a dedicated place to learn Logic Pro!
 Chat – Ask Logic Pro related Questions to the course mentor (Mattias).
 Free preset pack for the Logic Alchemy Synth!
 Access to the Exclusive Discord channel!
 All episodes are free of advertisements!
 21 Episodes – 2h 51min (new episodes drops every 2nd week!)

What’s the benefits of the Logic Pro for beginners guide course compared to watching free videos on YouTube?

 You get a dedicated place to learn Logic Pro instead of searching through YouTube to find what you are looking for. Saves you time!

 The course app can be run from any platform; mobile, desktop / laptop / tv. Just Login to the web app and start watching the episodes from your last bookmark!

  Chat with Mattias Holmgren and get help with your progress in Logic Pro!

  Learn from +25 year producer Mattias Holmgren, credits here.

You can sign up to our newsletter here, and you will be the first to get all updates and infos on the course!

We’ve planned to add new episodes to the course every second week, at least until the end of 2023! It’s gonna be a masterclass for YOU!

So make sure you sign up to the newsletter to get the latest news!

Recording Audio and MIDI

Recording audio and MIDI is one of the most important aspects of using Logic Pro. We’ll show you how to set up your audio inputs and outputs, as well as how to record audio from a microphone or instrument. You’ll also learn how to record MIDI data using a keyboard or other MIDI controller. We’ll cover everything from basic recording techniques to more advanced features like comping and punching in.

Editing Audio and MIDI

Once you’ve recorded your audio and MIDI, you’ll need to edit it to create a polished final product. We’ll show you how to use Logic Pro’s powerful editing tools to trim, split, and merge audio and MIDI regions. You’ll also learn how to quantize MIDI notes and use Flex Time to adjust the timing of audio recordings. By the end of this section, you’ll have a solid understanding of how to edit audio and MIDI in Logic Pro.

Using Software Instruments and Effects

Logic Pro comes with a wide variety of software instruments and effects that can help you create unique and interesting sounds. We’ll show you how to use these instruments and effects to add depth and texture to your music. You’ll learn how to use synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers to create your own sounds, as well as how to use effects like reverb, delay, and distortion to shape your mix.

Mixing and Mastering Your Music

Mixing and mastering are crucial steps in the music production process. We’ll show you how to use Logic Pro’s mixing tools to balance the levels of your tracks and create a cohesive mix. You’ll also learn how to use EQ, compression, and other processing tools to shape the tone of individual tracks and the overall mix. Finally, we’ll cover mastering techniques that can help your music sound great on any playback system.

Conclusion

Logic Pro is a powerful tool for creating professional-quality music, but it can be intimidating for beginners. Our Logic Pro for Beginners video course will guide you through everything you need to know to start making music with Logic Pro. Whether you’re a songwriter, composer, or producer, this course will give you the skills and knowledge you need to take your music to the next level.

So why wait?

Sign up today and start making great music with Logic Pro!

More relevant articles on Logic Pro

How to install Alchemy presets in Logic Pro

Logic Pro Key Commands – ULTIMATE GUIDE

Alchemy Synth tutorial – Granular Pluck

Logic Pro – Alchemy Preset pack – NEPTUNE

The post Logic Pro for Beginners: Step-by-Step Music Production Course appeared first on Morningdew Media.

With over 5 hours of cutting-edge Bitwig content, you’ll be able to master every aspect of Bitwig in no time! Enroll and learn Bitwig Masterclass. Led by renowned instructor Mattias Holmgren, known for his highly acclaimed Bitwig Studio Basics, Film Scoring and Game music series on YouTube, this masterclass is guaranteed to take your music production skills to the next level.  

Bitwig Masterclass overview video

In this Bitwig Masterclass overview video you will get a good idea of the course outline and what you get when you enroll the Bitwig Masterclass.

What’s included in the Bitwig Masterclass?

+ Access to the Bitwig Masterclass Video Tutorials pumped with tips and tricks!

+ 35 Episodes, 5 hour 20 minutes playtime in crisp 4K video quality.

+ Bitwig presets – Producer Essentials Pack Vol 1 for Bitwig Studio (worth €25!)

+ Sound pack 1 – Catalyst Risers (worth €12)

+ Sound pack 2 – Analog Coast Kit (worth €12)

+ Exclusive Discord channel for QA (Question Answers related to the masterclass)

The post Bitwig Masterclass – learn to produce with the Bitwig Studio DAW! appeared first on Morningdew Media.

The new version, Bitwig Studio 4, features new musical timelines, Operators, Apple M1 Mac support, mp3 export and Ableton Live file import!

Bitwig feature roadmap at a glance

Bitwig Studio have definitely found their place among the big names in the DAW industry with exciting features for the modern music producer. Especially if you are into any kind of EDM or experimental music. While Bitwig 3 announced the Grid system with a complete modular environment living within Bitwig Studio, version 4 takes this organic feature set even further with note operators.

Making organic music in Bitwig 4 with conditional note events

Bitwig 4 features continues down the road of playful & organic randomization to breath life into stale composition. With the past releases we have had many modulators to breath movement into our parameters and sounds. In Bitwig 4 you have note Operators.

If you ever played an Elektron device, like the Digitakt, with conditional triggers you know what the trigs, err I mean “note Operator” can do.

What are Operators in Bitwig 4?

Operators are rules triggered by note and audio events. Like “trigs” they represent the continued evolution of the DAW from something that has everything frozen in time and, well, boring, to an environment that’s more generative and dynamic.

Chance – Throw a dice and find out if a note event will trigger. Chance is a great feature to quickly make your midi arpeggios come alive!

Repeat – Note event repeats. How many times should a specific note be repeated?

Occurance – Lets you set certain conditions for each event to determine whether it should play. Is this the first loop? Is the performance control “fill” button turned on?

Recurrence – Recurrence allows you to dictate when an event plays during a set number of looping cycle.

Feature trailer of Bitwig Studio 4!

Check out the exciting video from Bitwig Studio team!

Export audio to mp3 in Bitwig Studio 4

Finally, mp3 export options in Bitwig! The export screen have been re-designed slightly with some new modes. Mp3 export in Bitwig should satisfy many producers.

Track Comping in Bitwig Studio 4

Comping lives within the clips. It’s easy to activate comping with the overdub button (below PLAY). Track comping in Bitwig Studio 4 works within the arranger and within the clip launcher so you can work in your prefered environment. Furthermore, you can even drag comp takes between the arranger and the clip launcher! Great!

Is Bitwig Apple M1 compatible?

Yes, with Bitwig Studio 4, Bitwig can run in apple M1 mode (native arm64). With the flexible plugin support in Bitwig, it basically runs the DAW and plugins separately. You can safely run native arm64 plugins AND intel VST plugins alongside each other. If a plugin does crash, Bitwig Studio keeps running. And you can just restart / replace the plugin that crashed.

If you want to find out more about the Apple Silicon M1 architecture and technology you can check my previous articles and videos here.

Is Apple M1 good for music production?

Amazing Strings in Bitwig 4.1.2

Bitwig teamed up with Orchestral Tools for the release of Bitwig 4.1.2 to include a sweet package of orchestral strings. You get pizzicato, sustained, sordino and spiccato. Check out my walkthrough video where we also compose an orchestral music cue.

What’s missing in Bitwig Studio 4 release?

With such a huge set of new features… are there still major features missing that I wish the Bitwig developers would implement? I actually spoke to one of the key developers (Claes) at NAMM 2020 about this. Video support!

VIDEO SUPPORT!

IMO Bitwig should have included video support in Bitwig Studio 4.0. Everyone is making music to videos these days. May it be the huge amount of short films, games, TikTok, YouTube or Instagram stories. I really would have liked video support with this release. All other top DAWs have this feature. So I hope the Bitwig development team will include it in an upcoming “minor” release, maybe 4.1!?

All in all it’s a very welcome release in Bitwig Studio 4.

Try out Bitwig Studio 4 before official release

If you have an active license subscription of Bitwig Studio you can download the Bitwig 4 beta today!

Don’t have Bitwig yet?

You can always purchase Bitwig via my affiliate links + 10% discount code here.

If you have some suggestions of content you would like me to highlight or show in future videos, please PM me on Instagram!

I also have a very exciting announcement to make, but…all in due time!

Thanks!

// Mattias Holmgren – Your Bitwig instructor!

The post Bitwig Studio 4: explore “new musical timelines” with Operators, flexible comping and Apple M1 support! appeared first on Morningdew Media.

We will go through some of my best tips to enhance and bring out the character from the recorded voice.

How to process vocals in a mix

I always begin my vocal processing chain with an equalizer (EQ) to balance the sound. We want to get rid of the low-end rumble often present in many audio recordings.

It can be rumble from microphone stands, fans and many other sound sources. You really don’t want to have this low-end fighting against you later in a compressor, reverb etc. So it’s highly recommended to do this low-cut at the first stage of your vocal processing chain.

Mixing the low-end of the vocal – <100Hz

In a sparse mix with few instruments you can leave more of the low-end in there. Try a high-pass around 80Hz. But for more dense mixes (read: EDM, metal etc.) you really can go higher without anyone noticing.

For a dense mix I tend to high-pass at around 140Hz.

Process the vocal low-midrange – 250-500Hz

Furthermore, the next frequency band to look at is the low-mids. We are talking the 200-500Hz range. Many of your instruments will probably have their body, or fundamental around this range. We tend to see a lot of build-up in this area, which can cause all kinds of trouble with the mix.

I sweep this range with a medium broad Q-point. The Q-point, is the width of the filter. It is the ratio of center frequency to bandwidth. How “wide “frequency-area” of the sound spectrum the EQ-peak will effect.

Try sweeping with a quite high resonating peak to hear where your sound is “odd” or where you have annoying sounds. Then reduce a few db in that area to smoothen your sound.

I find 250Hz is a good starting-point for this low-mids reduction area, and reduce about 2-5 db. If your singer is really up-close to the microphone the proximity effect will boost this area plenty so you will probably have to make a great cut to balance the sound.

Prevent overpowering sibiliance in the recorded voice

We want the vocals to be a pleasant listening experience. Smooth as butter, without poking sibiliant peaks.

Sibilance is the recurrence of a hissing ‘s’ sound. It’s a very strong and sometimes harsh sound. You want some of the sibiliance, because it makes our voice recognisable. But you don’t want too much.

So after the initial EQ to balance the sound we add a de-esser plugin.

What is a DeEsser?

De-Esser plugins are typically used in a mix to attenuation sibilant sounding consonants in recorded vocal tracks.

DeEsser vst plugins are basically multi-band compressors where you work with a single-band area to find the sibiliant sweet-spot…or should I say; harsh spot. The de-esser then have a threshold and reduction knob so we can adjust the plugin to reduce maybe -8db from the harsh frequency area.

This is a quite subtle effect, but in the long term it will be more pleasant to listen to the vocals.

Many DAWs comes with a native de-esser plugin. But if you can’t find one there are great free alternatives. Like this SpitFish De-Esser plugin. Or Antress which also contains a DeEsser.

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

Be sure to sign up to our newsletter for new exciting articles in design, music production and sound design.

The post How to process vocals in the DAW appeared first on Morningdew Media.

How to properly record vocals into the DAW

I know the struggle to get the vocals to sit just right in a music mix!

Many producers reach out to me and ask about some tips and tricks to record vocals. If you follow these tips you can instantly improve the vocal recording and save you headache at the mixing stage.

Selecting the proper microphone for your voice

There are as many voices as there are people in the world. Seriously we all have a certain sound and with the right microphone you can carefully capture the essence of the voice.

Some mics will work against your voice. While another microphone can help to bring out the vocal character. I suggest you try out a few microphones. Borrow some microphones from a friend, or from the local music store if it’s possible.

Microphone types

Condenser microphones

When I record vocals in the studio I typically go for a large-diaphragm condenser microphone. Something like the Neumann TLM 102. It’s a mid-budget mic (around €700) with a broad sound range. There are several reasons why I think the TLM 102 is such a great mic for vocals (and many other instruments).

The Neumann TLM 102 is capable of tolerating SPLs up to 144dB!

Neumann TLM 102

Firstly the TLM 102 has a very tight grill which incorporates a built in pop screen which reduces poppings from plosives. For my voice it’s a perfect match, but some singers might still need a regular pop-screen to get rid of the plosives.

While some condenser microphones tend to be very sensitive to SPL (Sound Pressure Level). The Neumann TLM 102 is capable of tolerating SPLs up to 144dB (0.5 percent distortion). That makes the TLM102 also suitable for use with loud instruments such as drums, brass instruments and guitar amplifiers!

The TLM 102 condenser microphone requires +48 V phantom power to operate.

The frequency range of the TLM102 extends from 20Hz to 20kHz (‑3dB) and is nominally flat up to 6kHz. After 6kHz you start to hear a gentle presence rise in the higher frequency range. It’s an overall good starting point for a great sound.

Dynamic microphones

Another great microphone for vocals is the Shure SM58. It’s a professional cardoid dynamic microphone. If you ever done a live gig you have probably used this microphone on stage. It’s probably the most common microphone for live vocals.

Shure SM58

Compared to the condenser microphones the Shure SM58 dynamic microphone is less sensitive to SPL. Thus it makes the Shure SM58 a great mic for recording percussion, drums and guitar amplifiers too.

I still recommend this microphone for voice over and lead vocal recording in the studio. Especially if you are working in a noisy environment.

Like all directional microphones, the SM58 is subject to proximity effect, a low-frequency boost when used close to the source. The cardioid response reduces pickup from the side and rear prevents feedback onstage. There are wired (with and without on/off switch) and wireless versions of this microphone.

Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator is an easy to use, compact solution for common audio problems faced in the field and in the studio. Designed for all passive microphones – including ribbons- the CL-1 safely uses any standard phantom powered microphone input device to provide up to +25db of ultra- clean, transparent gain.

Boost the gain of a dynamic microphone

If the signal is a bit weak from your dynamic microphone you can introduce the Cloudlifter.

Cloudlifters dramatically improve the performance of passive microphone signals by driving stronger, cleaner signals over longer XLR cable runs, making them ideal for broadcast, live, and studio applications.

Microphone Techniques

There are several microphone techniques you can use to get the best out of a vocal performance.

Microphone Distance

The distance to the mic is very important when recording any instrument, including the human voice. As you get closer to the microphone you also get more bass frequency content, ie. proximity effect. I recommend a distance of about 20cm / 7 inches between the microphone pickup and the mouth.

If you are recording a very quiet voice a closer distance might work better. And some artists even get up really close because they prefer the upfront sound.

When recording too close to the microphone it’s impossible to remove that low-end in the mix-stage without loosing the natural voice character.

My advice is always to fix the sound at recording stage, rather than trying to solve a bad recording in the post-processing stage.

While backing off the microphone from the singer you will also notice that you will pickup more of the room ambience. So it can be a good advice to experiment with larger distance when recording backing vocals, ad-libs etc.

In conclusion, and after experimenting for many years I believe that a 15-20 cm distance is optimal for lead vocals. The vocal tracks will sound natural and require less post-processing.

Vocal pre-amps

While a vocal pre-amp might not always be necessary, it can tremendously help your vocal signal. Today, many audio interfaces comes with built in pre-amp / gain stage with enough juice to give your microphone signal life.

How much amplification you need really depends on your microphone and on the singer. Dynamic microphones tend to need more gain boost than the large-capsule condenser microphones.

Pre-amp compressor

Sometimes you might need a pre-amp to boost the signal to a proper level. The vocal pre-amp can also include additional sweet features, like a compressor and gate. The pre-amp might also include a tube amplifier stage. A tube can give your sound some sweet saturation and character.

Balancing the tracking signal

A compressor can also be helpful if you want to have a balanced signal already at the tracking stage. Keep in mind though that this compressor effect is not possible to change later.

Vocal compression settings

I love to have a small amount of compression with a ratio of 2/1 or 3/1 at tracking stage for vocals. Just to give the vocals a little bit of dynamic glue.

Set the attack to about 10-25ms and about 50ms release. Furthermore, we adjust the threshold to get about 2-3db of gain reduction from the compressor. Finally, add 3db of make-up gain.

This will give our vocal audio recording a smooth compression at the recording stage.

If you are recording voice over for You Tube videos a gate, compressor and some tube amplification in the audio pre-amp can really be a time-saver at the tracking stage.

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

Be sure to sign up to our newsletter for new exciting articles in design, music production and sound design.

The post How to properly record vocals into the DAW appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Using a NKS compatible controller with Studio One can be a great time saver. Do all the important production work directly from the keyboard!

No more mouse!? Well, at least you can do some work from the controller.

Komplete Kontrol features in Studio One:

• Transport control – play/stop/record/tempo/metronome
• Navigate the playhead – via the big rotary knob
• Undo / Redo
• Mix – adjust volumes / pan
• Switch tracks
• Regular CC (Controller Change) automation
• Browse NKS instruments / effects (requires the Komplete Kontrol plugin)

Let’s dive in and see how Komplete Kontrol S61 integrates with Studio One 4.5. First, connect the Komplete Kontrol to Studio One (read: USB cable between keyboard and computer).

How to set up Komplete Kontrol in Studio One 4

Run Komplete Kontrol standalone application. IMPORTANT!!!

Firstly, you want to run the Komplete Kontrol standalone application. I need to emphasise this step. Because the first time you run Kontrol, it will import and create the meta-data for all your NKS compatible instruments, effects and samples. This import can take a while, but it’s necessary to get an accurate NKS library for further use in Komplete Kontrol software.

Furthermore, you are now ready to setup the Komplete Kontrol scripts in Studio One to start using the midi controller and NKS features.

Set up the Komplete Kontrol Scripts in Studio One 4

Komplete Kontrol mk2 S61 needs two scripts activated to make full use of the midi controller in Studio One 4.

Start up Studio One 4.

You need to use at least Studio One 4.5.3. In this version Presonus added support (read: scripts) for Komplete Kontrol keyboards. Open the Preferences tab and press the “Add” button.

Add the “Komplete Kontrol DAW” script.

Now we are going to add the first Komplete Kontrol script. Browse to the Native Instruments tab and first select the Komplete Kontrol S DAW control script (see image below). Also make sure to select the Send To port to Komplete Kontrol S61 MK2 Port 1!

Add the “Komplete Kontrol S” script.

Next up we need to add the second script, the Komplete Kontrol S script. This script handles the input / output from the actual midi keyboard. Without this script you will not get any midi input (notes etc.) to Studio One. In this script page you can also set this keyboard to the default input keyboard, which can be helpful.

Great, the Komplete Kontrol mk2 S61 is now ready for use with Studio One!

How can Komplete Kontrol ease your work in Studio One 4.5?

Let’s first talk about the general DAW control you have in Studio One with the Komplete Kontrol midi controller.

The big rotary knob will move the playhead in your Studio One project. Great for navigating your songs! Then the regular transport buttons to the left is for play, stop, record, metronome on/off, quantize etc.

Three important Kontrol pages

There are three important pages (or views) on the Kontrol. Each page is designed for specific controller options.

1. Mix Page – General mixing
2. Midi page – CC editing
3. Browser Page – NKS instruments & effects

Mix page

Firstly, the Mix page is for controlling Studio One general functionality like:

• Switching active track
• Mixing track volume / pan / mute / solo

Notice that you can even see the sub tracks of your Impact instrument (drum tracks like hi-hat, snare, cymbals etc.).

Midi page

Secondly, we have the midi page. This Midi page lets you adjust regular midi controller change (CC) data via the capacitive rotary knobs. If you want to change the default midi CC parameters you can always fire up the standalone version of Komplete Kontrol and access the MIDI Assignment Editor.

Browser page

Finally, the Browser page is for browsing NKS compatible instruments and effects. It also let’s you get deep access to parameters of your plugins. Browser page can only be accessed if you have the Komplete Kontrol insert plugin on the track. Komplete Kontrol vst plugin is necessary to make full use of the Komplete Kontrol midi controller.

If you want to learn more about browsing NKS instruments / effects with Komplete Kontrol mk2 S61 keyboard I did this extensive video & article explaining all the important features of this keyboard.

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

Be sure to sign up to our newsletter for new exciting articles in design, music production and sound design.

Boost Your Productions – Pristine Sound Packs

The post Set Up Komplete Kontrol in Studio One 4 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Studio One is a modern DAW that I’ve been using for film scoring and scoring several games the past years. Learn all about the great new features of Studio One 4.5 in this article and video!

Studio One 4.5 overview

This update features some really great improvements if you are using tons of plug-in instrument and effects. Studio One 4.5 reduces CPU usage with up to 70%! We also have new midi functionality in the piano roll. Generate random melodies from your midi content, and much more. Let’s look at this list of the most important new features:

New Features in Studio One 4.5 update

• Redesigned input channel strip with input gain, phase flip and input meters.
• Plug-in manager list.
• Track grouping, redesigned with more options for your track groups.
• I/O setup improvements.
• New midi editing functionality and macros.
• CPU usage optimization for native and third-party plugins.

Quick Studio One interface recap

We find two distinct applications, or “views”, in Studio One. The Song- and Project-view. The modern design and colors of Studio One is appealing and it makes great use of the screen real estate.

Song view

The “Song” view is where you compose and produce your music. It features a modern DAW layout with a big arrangement / timeline centered on the screen with all your tracks and midi / audio clips.

You can open a more minimal track-list to the left. This gives you the ability to quickly observe more tracks and hide tracks from the arrangement view. Furthermore, to the right we have the browser for quick access to all your instruments, effects, loops and files.

It’s a familiar layout seen in many other DAWs so Studio One shouldn’t be hard to grasp if you have used Cubase, Logic, Reaper, Bitwig etc.

Project view

“Project” view is the dedicated mastering application in Studio one. In this view you make all your final mastering to the tracks. It’s east to import (update) tracks from your Song-view. With Project view you can compile red-book cd’s, DDP and also upload to soundcloud.

Redesigned Track Group Options

Grouping has been completely redesigned. Groups now have attributes for defining edit groups or mix groups using attributes for Volume, Pan, Mute/Solo, Inserts, and Sends. Groups can be nested and can be easily edited and activated/suspended with one click. A dedicated command can globally enable/disable all Groups at once.

If you have volume activated for the group, it’s still possible to adjust one track against the group, by just holding down ALT. This is a welcome addition to tailor exactly what functionaly you want the groups to respond to.

New Plug-in manager

Studio One 4.5 features a brand new Plug-In Manager. The Plug-in manager lists all installed third-party plug-ins, including a list of plug-ins that were blacklisted during the initial scan, allowing them to be reset individually or globally. Showing or hiding individual or groups of plug-ins only takes a few clicks.

I/O setup improvements

Setting up an external audio interface is a lot easier thanks to several I/O setup improvements. Add any number of new inputs and outputs in just one step, including custom naming and coloring.

Inputs and outputs can be reordered with simple drag-and-drop. Users who switch interfaces, move between studios, or collaborate will appreciate the new Import and Export options for I/O setups.

Splitting audio in the Studio One mixer

If you explore the mixer in Studio One 4 you find that there is a splitting button on the top left in the plugin window. This is where you setup the audio routing for your insert plug-ins. Firstly, it gives you a quick overview of the plugin flow. Secondly, you can add split-points and adjust “how” the split should be done.

How do you want to split the audio signal?

Branching out your audio is powerful if you want to do anything from parallell processing to more elaborate audio signal setups. In Studio One 4 mixer you can do the following audio splits:

• Normal audio Split (split the stereo/mono signal equally).
• Channel Split – split the left / right channel.
• Frequency Split – Split at certain frequency range.

In conclusion, splitting is very powerful.

CPU optimization

If you are working on laptops you are gonna love this CPU optimization update in Studio One 4.5.

CPU load for using combined virtual instruments inside a Multi-Instrument has been reduced by 70% for Native Plug-ins. For third-party instruments you can expect around 50% CPU usage reduction. CPU optimization has also been implemented for SampleOne XT, Mai Tai, Presence XT, and Impact XT.

Cons

My studio is setup in a very light space and since the interface of Studio One is very dark, it can sometimes be a tad overwhelming in contrast. In the past (Studio One 2) the interface had a lighter grey tone which I preferred.

It would be great if Presonus gave us the ability to adjust the brightness / contrast of the interface. Bitwig Studio, has this user interface functionality integrated. If you want to read up on another modern DAW, you can check out this article and video I made on Bitwig Studio 3.

No clip launcher

Studio One does not feature a clip launcher. So if you want to work with this type of composition and production style you should look elsewhere. Bitwig Studio, Ableton Live and FL Studio is great DAWs with clip launchers.

Ways to improve the insert chain?

The only downside I’ve found with the plugin insert functionality in Studio One is that we can “only” save the whole insert chain of a channel. It’s not possible to save part of the channel strip for later use.

In DAWs like Bitwig Studio it’s possible to save parts of your plugin chains, which makes it much more versatile and re-usable.

It’s nitpicking, but worth pointing out.

Studio One 4.5 – Conclusion

I think Studio One is great for media, game and film composing. The video support is great and being able to export audio directly to the video reduces the need for third party video apps.

Bands with regular rock instrument setups (read: drums and guitars) will also benefit from working in Studio One since we have such a great multi-tracking and multi-editing support. The track grouping is extremely useful and powerful when you want to make quick edits to several tracks.

The midi editing is excellent. I especially like the ghost tracks feature (mini track list) and quick access to change which track to edit.

In conclusion, I highly recommend Studio One 4.5 for anyone working with audio production and recording acoustic instruments.

Boost Your Productions – Pristine Sound Packs

The post Studio One 4.5 review & tutorial appeared first on Morningdew Media.

Finally, in the video I also talk about how it compares to Bitwig Studio and Ableton Live device chains.

I hope this video will give you a good start on how to work with the Patcher. It is a very good tool for creating complex instrument layers which you can modify and sculpt with ease.

Why use the Patcher in FL Studio?

If you want to create advanced instruments and sounds the Patcher gives you a visual representation of your signal flows. In the Patcher you connect cables (patch connections) between devices and plugins to route events, audio and other signals.

Of course you can layer instruments without using the Patcher. But the Patcher gives you a focused view where you can adjust levels and separate sends between the plugins.

Two distinct views in the Patcher which gives you a deep and light overview.

While opening the patcher you will be greeted with the first view called “Map“. The map view could be seen as the back-end of your sound creation, or Patch. In this view you attach plugins from the FL midi event input to the output (mixer).

The second view is the “Surface”, where you can design your own front-end interfaces for controlling your mapped instrument layouts and sound experiments.

It’s a great way of separating the deep editing (Map mode) and the lightweight user interface (Surface) for a music producer.

The Patcher presets – hidden gem of FL Studio.

The patcher is like the hidden gem of FL Studio and comes with a nice selection of presets. These Patcher presets also have custom front-end layouts so you can easily mould and sculpt the sound while you perform.
You don’t have to worry about the back-end and signal flow. Just jump into the Surface view and you have instant access to macro parameters of the preset. In the presets you find everything from plucks to ambient drone pads.

What gear I used in the FL Studio Patcher video?

FL STUDIO 20 (affiliate link):
https://amzn.to/2KL56ku

Wacom Intous Pro (affiliate link):
https://amzn.to/2V4mioW

M-Audio Keystation Mini 32 (affiliate link):
https://amzn.to/2Xma48O

What gear I use in the studio? Check out the Resources Page.

Join my exclusive community: https://www.patreon.com/gelhein

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The post How to use Patcher in FL Studio 20 appeared first on Morningdew Media.

And then going back to my roots with trackers (hi, Equinox Pro Tracker) to FL Studio.

I know, FL is not a tracker by all means, but you do work with patterns.

Then finally decided I would work in multiple DAWs. Because they all rule in different areas.

My personal top 3 DAWs

Bitwig Studio – For electronic music and sound experimentation. You can compose with a smile in this modern, stable and intuitive DAW environment.

Logic Pro X – Hands down the best DAW package when it comes to composing for film and video. The bundled sound package and plugins are top notch quality. With Logic you also get a very powerful synth in the Alchemy Synth which is now part of Logic.

It has great video integration and I’ve scored several shortfilms and trailers with Logic as my main tool. You can even export the audio directly to the video! No need for extra apps just to get the audio back into the video before you send it to the game- or film-director.

FL Studio – FL will let you compose quickly and get the ideas out in a heartbeat. It also has the best piano roll I’ve ever worked. The downside of FL Studio is really that it demands more out of the user when it comes to organization. It’s easy to get lost with 100 of patterns and list items which you may or may not use. But if you learn how to keep organized it’s a breeze to work with.

I’ve always been on the lookout for new features in the DAWs that will ease up the workflow for composing and creating interesting music. Much has happened since the first baby steps in Digital Audio Workstations and today we have some really interesting modular systems coming up. They feature multiple ways of composing both linear and in a non-linear way.

So what is the best DAW in 2019?

Check my videos below and learn all about my favourite DAW in 2019. In the video I talk about the 5 reasons why I like this digital audio workstation.

Boost Your Productions – Pristine Sound Packs

The post Best DAW 2019 appeared first on Morningdew Media.