PreSonus Blog

Now available at shop.presonus.com: VocALign Project 3!

VocALign Project 3 provides the latest version of the basic and legendary VocALign program that has been available since 1995, providing instant tight alignment of one audio signal to another. Simply capture a Guide signal with the right timing, capture a Dub signal to be aligned, press one button, and a new aligned Dub is generated and returned to your DAW.

Quietly legendary, VocALign’s early life included use in music production ranging from Shania Twain and Steely Dan to Black Eyed Peas; as well as in popular TV shows such as Friends and Seinfeld and in blockbuster films including Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.

Click here to buy VocALign at shop.presonus.com

• ARA (Audio Random Access) is a pioneering extension for audio plug-in interfaces. Co-developed by Celemony and PreSonus, ARA technology enhances the communication between plug-in and DAW, and gives the plug-in and host instant access to the audio data.
• Synchro Arts and PreSonus have worked together to integrate VocALign tightly into Studio One with a simple, streamlined workflow to provide automatic, instantaneous time alignment of the selected audio signals.

Editors can save hours in the studio and let VocALign do the fine re-timing work automatically. Users simply select Guide and Dub audio events and drag and drop them into VocALign which instantly edits the Dub audio to match the timing of the Guide.

• Compatible with Studio One 3 Professional v3.3.1 or higher
• VocALign Project takes just seconds to automatically align two audio signals so that the timing of one matches the other
• Simple, intuitive operation
• Sophisticated pattern matching techniques
  • Rejects guide track noise
  • Work with different speakers, singers, words, instruments, and sounds
• The aligned audio can be auditioned within VocALign Project
• Scrolling, scalable display allows instant visual confirmation of sync
• User interface allows adjustment of selected audio regions for processing
• User-adjustable processing presets ensure optimal performance
• Pitch of aligned audio is unchanged
• Pace iLok account required when used in Studio One.

The PreSonus^® Notion™ 6.0.409 update includes:

New Features

• Ukulele chord diagrams: Open the chord library and click a ukulele staff to see chord diagrams for a standard-tuning uke
• New Korean Quick Reference Guide

Fixes and Enhancements

General

• Chord Looseness value added to MIDI Import (Windows^®)
• Text size fixed for editor text (e.g., pan/volume/FX when entering a text value for a parameter) (Windows)
• Tools>Transpose now opens the correct dialog (Windows)
• Handwriting area on Windows tablets (non-Surface) improved
• Multi-measure rest options now show in the Part Options dialog if the Full Score Options dialog was opened first (Mac^®)
• Undo tooltip now shows correctly
• Chords of Fb, Cb, and G# now show as expected when transposing

Layout

• Left margin of a multi-measure rest now spaced properly
• No longer shows empty parentheses in tab if there is a tied note in both tab and standard notation
• Layout handles now do not print
• Multi-measure rests now print when using the Print Parts dialog

Audio

• Improvements in searching and setting audio format when opening Notion (Mac)
• Network discovery check enabled by default in Preferences

User Interface

• Fix Windows dialogs for high-DPI scaling (About screen, Installer screen, built-in effects, MIDI Commands dialog)
• Mixer and Effects knob drawing issues fixed (Windows)
• Numpad Return now mirrors Return when default Notion numpad is selected in Preferences
• MIDI Device Commands dialog now fits screen

Language

• Preferences now open when language is set to German (Mac)
• Fix issue closing Notion when language is set to Italian (Mac)
• Built-in output now shows in Preferences if language is set to French
• Solo and Mute labels in Mixer now showing correctly in German
• Japanese default font for Windows 10 updated

Complete list of new features in Notion 6.

Your copy of Notion 6 should auto-update next time you open it. Alternatively, you can find the download links in your My PreSonus account; simply log in and go to My Products>Software.

Looking for some of the best-sounding pianos you can get for Studio One? Look no further than this Piano Collection from Chocolate Audio. Three different pianos are available, each recorded with high-quality mics and expensive preamps. They also take advantage of Presence XT’s advanced scripting functionality to simulate the behavior of these beloved instruments as accurately as digitally possible.

If you’re not sure which piano is right for you and your music, check out the descriptions below. And if you’re still not sure after reading, get the combo pack of all three. The Chocolate Audio Piano Collection for Studio One is available only at shop.presonus.com.

The Concert Grand:

A recreation of a world-class concert grand piano sound as found in a Steinway D274 grand coda. This piano is gorgeous and rich in sound with a very well-balanced tone, very well fit for classical but equally at home with jazz and any scenario where a full piano sound is called for.

Great attention was paid to recreate this huge concert’s signature full and balanced sound through sampling. The sample set features 11 dynamic layers and a sustain pedal resonances layer, 12 release sample layers and pedal and key release noise effects tuned to perfection using Presence custom scripting. Studio One Professional users can load the multi-instrument preset which combines the two microphone sets for an even fuller control on its sound.

The Concert Grand offers two different phase-coherent recording setups: a player’s perspective recorded with Schoeps CMC6 microphones and a listener’s perspective recorded right at the edge of the lid with Neumann KM microphones, all matched-pairs going through Millennia preamps.

Electric Grand: 

A top-notch rendition of a famous Japanese electric grand piano. At that time it was dubbed as “compact,” which it actually was when compared to the weight and size of an acoustic piano. Its mid-rangey character is due to the presence of a piezo pickup under the saddle of each string. Full restoration was carried out and proper tuning applied on the piano before sampling. A classic sound heard on countless hit records in the 70s-80s is now reborn inside Studio One.

Achieving a quality level on par with our goals from this piano was tough. The onboard electronics are noisy and the piano picks up a lot of ambient noise even if it’s electric (imagine a guitar with 88 strings!). Through attention and care, we managed to capture what we believe is the best rendition of this classic electric grand piano. The sample set features 12 dynamic layers, a sustain pedal resonance layer, nine release sample layers, and pedal and key release noise effects tuned to perfection using Presence custom scripting.

The Electric Grand was sampled direct from the output to the preamp and converter. All of the behavioral details of the piano have been re-created through the use of Presence XT’s custom advanced scripting.

Steinbach Upright:

A high quality Italian-made upright piano sampled in full detail. The recording techniques used make this piano fit for many different uses, from classical to pop, country, rock and beyond.

This is a world-class piano recorded in a state-of-the-art studio with choice microphones and audiophile preamps and converters. Great attention was paid to recreate Steinbach’s signature full, organic, sound through sampling. The sample set features eight dynamic layers and a sustain pedal resonances layer, four release sample layers and pedal and key release noise effects, tuned to perfection using Presence custom scripting.

The Steinback Upright was recorded with two different phase-coherent setups: Blumlein stereo and Spaced stereo, recorded with Royer R121 matched-pair ribbon mics through Millennia preamps. Studio One Professional users can load the multi-instrument preset which combines the two microphone-sets for an even fuller control on its sound.

Last but not least:

The Chocolate Audio Pianos are compatible with Studio One 3.2 or later: Prime, Artist, and Professional editions.

All of the pianos in this family have the following onboard script controls:

• Tuning: 440/442 Hz
• Level control for Sustain Resonances, Pedal Noise and Release samples
• Velocity Curve control
• Hold, Decay, Release envelope controls
• Touch Response* control: sets the amount of pre-attack key noise heard, sets the attack time at higher settings.

Watch the show on Thursday 09/15, streaming live at presonus.com/videos/presonuslive or on our YouTube channel!

We just launched no fewer than seven new loop packs for Studio One, all from LoopMasters! These cover a lot of sonic territory including Ambient, Drum and Bass, Techno, Trap, and more.

LoopMasters’.audioloops and .WAV files sound great, professionally produced at 24bit/44.1KHz, and are very reasonably priced. Get some inspiration for your next track for less than the cost of a lunch for two! Each of these packs contains 200 loops, (they are Loopmasters, after all) but you also get several drum kits and presets for Studio One’s Impact in every pack.

Click here to learn more about the LoopMasters sample packs—be sure to check out the audio demos to hear them for yourself!

Musicbed is a team of passionate creatives who represent over 650 indie musicians and composers for sync licensing and custom scores. They also operate Musicbed Sessions, and have an incredible performance space outfitted with StudioLive loudspeakers and a StudioLive mixer.

Check out some fine live performance video from Musicbed Sessions at blog.musicbed.com/sessions.

Share your StudioLive story at www.presonus.com/iamstudiolive

Versatile, customizable, and easy to transport. Oh, and the sound? It will blow you away.

Learn more about AIR by clicking here.

Notion user Michael Josephs is an award-winning American film and television score composer. He has written and conducted musical scores for many notable films and television programs including Wild Kingdom, National Geographic, and many PBS specials. Recent projects include scores for HBO, BBC, PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC, The History Channel, and many others. Michael received a National Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music for his score for the series Thoroughbred. He has received numerous other awards. He received a National Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 2001. He has received numerous other awards.

Hello Michael – please tell us a little bit about the kind of work you do?

I compose and conduct music, mainly for long-form documentaries and TV series, and the occasional independent feature film. My first scoring job was doing a brand-new series called America’s Most Wanted for Fox Television. I did that full-time for a few years right at the start of my composing career, which was a great education because it was on the air around 50 episodes per year, so I was always writing and recording. Most shows only run maybe 8-10 episodes a year, so for Fox I was constantly writing and recording every week, which was a great learning experience, especially because I tried to treat every week like a completely unique score instead of just generic “crime music.”

From there I branched out and started to work for other directors and networks and do other shows like “Wild Kingdom”, “National Geographic”, HBO, a lot of PBS stuff, etc.

Briefly, what’s your workflow/process, from the first time seeing the cue, to conducting and recording it?

I rarely have the luxury of seeing something before it’s handed to me to start writing. I do try to take a day or two at the beginning and just work on thematic material at the piano, some of which, and sometimes none of which, will end up in the film, but it gives me a moment at least to close my eyes and think about what kind of score it will be. The deadlines are always very tight so it’s nice to have a little space to imagine before diving into the mechanics of writing.

From there, I put the film up and start writing from the first frame. I tend to write sequentially, so I go cue by cue straight through the film, rather than jumping back and forth to different scenes. Sometimes themes develop as you work, so I’ll jump back some times and incorporate things or hints of where things may lead.

I started my career before computers, recording live directly to 2” tape for many years, so the computer and digital-video still seem like an incredible luxury to me! Some of the sequenced parts stay in, and I write and copy charts for everything that will be played live.

If it’s a smaller score, I do most everything at my own place, including a lot of overdubs, and then I’ll mix here. I’m set up for 5.1 mixing, and it’s very comfortable working in my own space. If it’s a larger ensemble I’ll do some tracking and mixing at a commercial studio because room is just too tight here. I also conduct the sessions too.

When I track somewhere else I’ve started a new thing lately, which is to just use their physical space and microphones and cue-system, but record right into my own portable rig and rack, which saves time and confusion transferring files back and forth.

What’s the relationship with the director/producer/music supervisor – how can it affect what you write?

Most of the time, at least with documentaries, there are no temp scores or preconceived notions. Directors want me to come up with the concept, direction, vibe, really everything. It’s the opposite of people loving a temp-track…there is no guidance at all, so I really try to give each film something completely different and unique.

As far as directors and producers, it really doesn’t matter how much or how little they know about music, but rather what kind of creative spirit and vision they have. I work with people who know absolutely nothing about music and are wonderful and creative to work with, and others who know a lot about music but have bad instincts with it. It’s really all over the place! I don’t feel it’s their job to know a ton about music. If they could compose music, they probably would!

What was it about Notion that attracted you?

Notion is AMAZING! I love it. I own both Finale and Sibelius, but they have to be the most difficult, not-intuitive programs I’ve ever encountered. Just doing some little tweak requires me to pull out the manual, and even then I still can’t figure it out!

How have you found Notion now you are using it day in, day out?

From the day I tried Notion, I was hooked. It is completely intuitive, and I have never looked at the manual. When you want to do something, it is always very obvious how to do it quickly. It can go pretty deep if you need it to, but the basics are right there and not hidden fifteen deep in some hidden sub-menu. For day to day trying to get work done, it is unparalleled. With the budgets I have, I need to do my own orchestration and copying, and the last thing I would want to do is take three days off of precious writing time to do charts. Film music usually has a ton of key, meter and tempo changes, so this further complicates that process.

Any user tips or tricks based on your experience with Notion?

Sure. I do a quick clean-up of the music before I export a midi file from my DAW. I then import that file into Notion. I also open my empty “template” file in Notion that is set up the way I like, add the relevant instruments to the staff, then do a mass copy / paste of the imported midi file into the template. This is great because Notion reads all of the key and meter changes beautifully. From there I quickly add articulations, dynamics, clean stuff up, and extract the parts. It all goes very fluidly with Notion.

Can you tell us what might be coming up for you, or out soon?

I did a really good film recently called Dateline Saigon, which both has a score and also arrangements of period music. I dove right in with Notion on that, and it was fabulous. I compose 99% of the time, so doing arrangements was a little different for me, and Notion made it possible to do the charts and also change them up and re-print them really quickly when there were re-edits of the film.

I also did another terrific IMax film right after that, but it won’t be released until next year… so watch this space!

Where can we find more about you and your music?

http://www.michaeljosephs.com

Hot on the heels of the hit Studio 192 comes his scrappy little brother, the Studio 192 Mobile. If you’re a recordist or producer and need a grab-and-go solution for your tracking, the Studio 192 Mobile is equally at home set up on your desktop, packed in your messenger bag, or tracking in your bassist’s garage.

Hook it up to a laptop with the included Studio One DAW, and you’ll have remote software control of the preamp levels on the 192 Mobile, eliminating the need to constantly get up from your seat and tweak while establishing levels. You’ll be capturing those levels in sterling 192 kHz, by the way, and you’ve got 2 XLR jacks and 2 Line inputs to do the capturing. That’s enough for a small band or multi-channel drums, but it’s expandable via additional hardware like the Digimax DP88—so you’ve got some room to grow. Add to that advanced monitoring capabilities, word clock, and S/PDIF, and you’ve got a powerhouse in a tiny package.

Just think, you can get all that for a hundred bucks less than normal. Contact a local dealer or shop online for this no-hassle, no-paperwork instant rebate.

Oh, and hurry—this USA-only opportunity ends on Oct. 31, 2016 because missing out on this deal would be terrifying.

Click here to find a dealer.

Studio One 3.3 is available now!

Just click “Check for updates” from the Start page in Studio One. This is a free update for all owners of Studio One 3, Artist or Professional.

Features and updates include:

• Single-click global effects on/off
• Deeper integration with Notion—compose in Studio One 3.3 and send note data to Notion 6 for editing and printing. You can also export audio to Notion 6.
• Multi-track drum editing improvements—instantly quantize using beat slicing
• Disable tracks, instruments, or plug-ins to improve CPU load and latency
• New Video Engine

• Click here to buy Studio One from shop.presonus.com
• Click here to find a dealer in the USA
• Click here to find a distributor outside the USA