Help Re-choosing sequencer..

[musicmad]

Hi guys,
musicmad here, thanks again for all your feedback "great forum". As you know my original post was talking about sequencers for recording pro-audio for commercial sale sonar/cubase etc, but in fact i'm a solo musician working with one instrument (yamaha P120 digital piano) and my aim is only to record a solo piano album either with the sound from my P120 or with a pro audio VST grand piano plug in (galaxy 2 steinway 5.1 or Ivory grand pianos) etc. So is it absolutely necessary for me to take on a full blown sequencer which i know would take me months to understand, or is there a simpler way for me to get around this??. In the future i would like to experiment with orchestral libraries etc, to expand the scope, but for know i only wish to work on solo piano albums for commecial sale. what road should i take here, or is the sequencer a must??

Musicmad

[idrisguitar]

i cant really give great advice as i have only used cubase,

but for the price cubase is amazing. maybe you do only need a simple ssequencer, but cubase is an investment that not many epople will rgewret no matter what they do, the features help you edit and mix your music brilliantly.

if you go for a cheapo simple one it may not be as good at fine tuning your song in the mix.

as i said im not a good person to ask because while i know of the other sequencers i dont know the prices or how good they are, i do know cubase and can vouch that its worth the price even if you only using one instrument (you could get the cubase lite version as they limit track numbers (which is good for you) but still have good features)

[Nickie Fønshauge]

So is it absolutely necessary for me to take on a full blown sequencer which i know would take me months to understand, or is there a simpler way for me to get around this??.

If you record the piano score real-time you don't need more than Bidule. With Bidule you can record the output of a VST plugin being played real-time or an incoming audio stream (MIDI tweaking is not possible, however). Bidule is fairly easy to setup for your current needs.

Bidule is not a sequencer, it's a VST host with a built in recorder, so you won't be able to sequence an orchestral score (I think; the demo has expired, so I can't check it).

If you want a sequencer, Sonar Home Studio is a very good starter edition. It is more than sufficient for your current needs, is moderately priced and has a fair upgrade path to the more advanced editions.

[Houston Haynes]

Bidule is a great app - one of my favorites in the studio. It's a host. It's a plug-in. It's many things - but it is *not* a candidate for someone's first sequencer. Don't get me wrong, I think Bidule is one of the most brilliant audio-related applications ever created - it's the Microsoft Excel for audio - but it's a terrible first choice as a sequencer.

Get something that's based on a track-based tape-recorder paradigm and you'll be up and running relatively quickly. Instead of buying a full-blown sequencer whose features you'd likely never exploit (at least for a solo piano album) then check out one of the entry-level sequencers from the major developers and see if that "gets you there". I'm a Cubase/Nuendo guy so I'd recommend Cubase Essential 4 or Cubase Studio 4. Check out the Steinberg Users Newbie Zone for help on boot-strapping your setup.

Depending on your hardware setup (PC vs. Mac) you may also want to consider FASoft's ntrack sequencer. Don't let the low price tag fool you - this sequencer is pretty powerful, and should be more than enough to handle solo piano sequencing/rendering.


And if you're serious about a well-recorded virtual piano, particularly for a solo album, get Garritan's official Steinway plugin and be done with it. Gary has mentioned in a another thread that he's working on an online order page for his site, so it should be available soon.

[darrob]

Hi guys,
musicmad here, thanks again for all your feedback "great forum". As you know my original post was talking about sequencers for recording pro-audio for commercial sale sonar/cubase etc, but in fact i'm a solo musician working with one instrument (yamaha P120 digital piano) and my aim is only to record a solo piano album either with the sound from my P120 or with a pro audio VST grand piano plug in (galaxy 2 steinway 5.1 or Ivory grand pianos) etc. So is it absolutely necessary for me to take on a full blown sequencer which i know would take me months to understand, or is there a simpler way for me to get around this??. In the future i would like to experiment with orchestral libraries etc, to expand the scope, but for know i only wish to work on solo piano albums for commecial sale. what road should i take here, or is the sequencer a must??

Musicmad

Hi

If you're not keen on diving straight into the deep end with a full blown and complex sequencing package, try looking at MULab. http://www.mutools.com This is a low cost ($50) piece of software which is simple, powerful and easy to use. There is a free version for you to have a look at as well.

Another alternative is reaper http://www.reaper.fm/ which I have not used, but have heard good things about.

Both these will allow you to record real time both Audio and midi, as well as use VST instruments.

Of the two, I prefer MULab, because I find it easier to use

Cheers...

Daz :0)

[LFO]

Greetings musicmad,

You've been given good advice by those above. I second Houston's recommendation not to use Bidule, it is not a `first time' app.

Reaper is a great choice, especially for the price. So is Cubase SE. If you have access to a Mac, Garageband would be perfect. Cakewalk SONAR Home Edition is $99 and is a great package. The thing you need to remember is that you need about 10% of the sequencers features to do what you want to do. You can then look at the 90% later if you are interested. Treat the sequencer like a tape recorder on steroids (meaning you can have multiple takes, etc.) and you will do just fine.

-Kevin

[bigears]

I just read this updated post and thought about two programs that might work for you. One is a free program called Audacity, which is an open source recorder and audio converter. The other one is a sequencer called Energy-XT2, that is a fairly cheap way to get your feet wet with a sequencer program, I think the lite version is 19 euros, and the full version is 49. Other forum members may have experience with these programs.
You can do a search and come up with both websites. I think they are both fairly small downloadable programs and easy on the CPU. John

[Paul Stutt]

Hi Musicmad

Here's my two penneth

It may take a little while to get to grips with a full blown sequencer, but the benefits are worth the effort. If you look to the future, you KNOW you will not always be satisfied with just a single instrument.

I am also a solo musician, I use cubase for making the MIDI files that I use for live work, I also use it for composing and recording guitar.

You will never regret learning how to use a sequencer.

[buckshead]

There are at least one, I think two,reasonable sequencers given away free with a UK monthly computer magazine. They have a complete digital studio with everything you need, and very often these are added to.

Check it out, the mag is definitely sold worldwide.

These will enable you to record your music, probably the most important item is your sound card. If this is crap then even a £1000 sequencer wont help

[musicmad]

Guys, Thanks again for all your feedback, great forum, will think hard..

MM.