Chester Jankowski

New DAWg

Spent the day putting my new Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), Cubase 4, through its paces and you can hear the results yourself. Only took a few hours to get the audio set up to match my studio and learn the basics of looping, audio tracks, MIDI tracks, mix automation, inserts, sends, mixdown, the whole works. I have to say I’m pretty impressed, which is good considering it costs same as a couple of nights at the St. Regis. It should be pretty clear where I pilfered the chord progression, but for bonus points can you name the drum loop?

Do you think it needs more guitar?

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Chester Jankowski

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8 responses to “New DAWg”

  1. John T Avatar
    John T

    Cubase is cool – & doesn’t get the respect it deserves. If I remember corrrectly, Tape Op did a shootout which found that the Cubase inside-the-box mix bus preserves more fidelity than Logic or Pro Tools using the same basic tracks at unity gain!

    The drum loop ID is right on the tip of my earlobes! I know I know it & will smack the side of my head when you tell me… So what is it anyway?

    The guitars are DI-Pod right? Sometimes it sux to be in Manhattan. I generally prefer the combo of paper cone, mic & room air – but it’s not often possible to do it that way at home in this dirty old town.

    If I resided in yrr space I’d soundproof the f*&k out of the kitty cat bathroom & leave an amp & mic in there ready to go. It’d be a sweet lil vocal booth too.

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  2. John T Avatar
    John T

    Yes. More guitar please.

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  3. krunkbot Avatar
    krunkbot

    Yes, Cubase has always had its die-hards. I’ve been wavering about going the Pro-Tools LE route for quite some time now. But the latest version of the Digi Rack did not inspire me. And LE has always had some crippleware elements to it. I was a huge Logic Audio guy back in the day, but I’m going to sweat out this PC for another two years. After that, I may go Mac again. I think you’re right about Cubase’s internal architecture–they were the first to go 32 bit floating point. VST led the way for host-based processing and there are just a huge number of plugins and instruments out there, including some good free ones.

    Yes, guitars are all from the PODxt. But I just re-tubed the Boogie and it’s sounding better than ever. If we owned this place, I would absolutely sound-proof one of the rooms–the hall closet, which would also be a perfect vocal booth.

    Can’t tell you what the loop is yet–I’m just shocked that NAM hasn’t guessed it yet.

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  4. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Ok, can’t believe no one got it. Now, listen to the drums and repeat after me “Gold Lion’s gonna tell me where the light is…”

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  5. John T Avatar
    John T

    The only reason I became a Cubase dude is that way back in pre-history (the 90’s,) I was collaborating with an OG Cubase dude & it was easier to trade files if I used it too.

    I’m with you r.e. the soundproofing issue. I have a space I’d love to soundproof, but there’s no way I’d spend the $ on a rental either. Luckily the dude downstairs has a studio too & we have an understanding. I just have to choose a time when the upstairs people aren’t home. I pine for the days when the upstairs place was occupied by a deaf person!

    In other news, I used my highly developed research skills to ID yrr demo drum loop. Turns out I didn’t know it after all. I’m guess I’m not hip enough (on purpose) – but I won’t spill the beans either.

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  6. William Avatar
    William

    Dude, I don’t know the loop *or* the changes, but you should think of extending the tricky bit at the very end into a little dub.

    More guitars, always! And if you wanted some overdubs from an American Deluxe Ash Strat, I could help you out with that. As of yesterday, which explains the giddy tone…

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  7. Avatar
    Anonymous

    Didn’t get the changes? Well, please allow me to introduce myself! Now that you know that, you ‘ll hear me deconstructing Keef’s solo in the part where I switch from the major pentatonic to the minor pentatonic.

    A Strat! By gum, the world’s gone topsy-turvy, what with your Strat and my Squire Affinity Tele. That’s right! It’s my “playing scales while watching the teevee in Tampa” axe. Actually plays rather well, and it’s just begging for something nasty to be done to the butterscotch finish.

    So how do you like stratdom? Seductive,yes? What made you pick the deluxe over the over versions?

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  8. William Avatar
    William

    Those Affinity Teles are pretty nice. I was looking at one a few months ago when I needed an office guitar, and I’d probably have gotten one if I didn’t already have a Tele. Cheap guitars are such a great excuse to try out new formats (so Squier Cyclone got the nod that time).

    Regarding Strats, it was really just a matter of time. Here were the factors, in no particular order:

    >> I wanted something with a trem, and no other trem system seems to be as good a compromise between function and sound.

    >> I wanted something with a smoother, more watery single coil sound to complement the Tele.

    >> I also want an SG to complement the Lester, but we can’t be buying all guitars at the same time…

    >> Strat style guitars are pretty much all I played and owned in the eary years of my electric guitar life (high school and undergrad). When I got back into playing electric after a long grad school layoff, I developed a whole new style (or rather I just was playing differently without thinking about it), and didn’t really pick up Strats. But over the last year, when I tried out Strats, I found that my old style was still there. So I wanted a guitar that would let me get back in touch with that.

    OK, question two. Why the AmDlx? Main factors similarly disorganized:

    >> I wanted locking tuners, and I also like the pop-in trem arm with adjustable tension.

    >> I had high hopes for the SCN pickups, and mostly they measure up. There’s just a touch less sparkle and responsiveness with these than with true single coils, but they still sound very stratty. And they have a smoothness that I like — gets a tiny bit of the G&L feel but still sounds very Fender. And they really are noiseless (about twice as quiet as the humbuckers on the Lester).

    >> The guitar overall is a little darker sounding than many other Strats, which works well because the tone really does sit halfway between my Tele and Lester, and also, I can switch between the Strat and the Lester without adjusting the amp tone controls (going to the Tele always requires a huge change in the treble control).

    So there’s most of the saga. Morgan’s bugging me to get on the computer so he can go to Webkins World, so that’s all for now…

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