Cubasis for iPad

The New Google Sites version is available at /yala-music1/cubasis-ipad.

I was previously using a recording studio set-up using MIDI equipment controlled by Atari Mega STe running C-Lab Notator and recording on Alesis ADAT XT. C-Lab Notator was a pattern-based sequencer and had professional features like SMPTE code to synchronise to the multi-track "tape" recorder. I last used this set-up to record audio in 1999. The Atari ST line was first produced in 1985 and finally discontinued in 1993. It is 2014 and my Atari STe is not behaving as it should; it doesn't always boot up, the floppy disk drive is spotty and the "Save as MIDI file" only converts part of the song. For your long reliable service, I salute you, my old Atari... but it is time to move on.

Using an Apple iPad running Cubasis iPad, you can do quite a lot, especially if you are composing music. It is able to handle (1) playback of its own instruments, (2) output to MIDI modules, and (3) record audio. I still have my old MIDI synthesizers which I would like to use. I also need to record audio including guitars and vocals. Without going into too much depth, it looks like the Cubasis iPad set-up can replace (a) the computer, (b) the music sequencer, (c) the multi-track recorder, and (d) the mixer.

My focus will be on (1) audio quality, and (2) functionality. Any timing errors will not be acceptable. This was my main reason for sticking to the Atari for so long. To achieve the audio quality, I will need to purchase an audio-interface, something like Alesis IO Dock 2... but that will be later. This is a good time to mention that I did use Steinberg Pro-24 sequencing programme on Atari ST back in 1985 but I am not a Cubase user.

Cubasis is basically a multi-track recording system with sound mixer; what they nowadays call a digital audio workstation (DAW). Apparently the number of tracks you can record is unlimited. In practice, this is dependent on the computing power and memory of your iPad. A Track can be an Audio Track -or- a MIDI Track. An Audio Track is a sound recording. Typically, this would be a live instrument or vocals. You can use the iPad's built-in microphone, although you should purchase an interface for better audio quality. A MIDI Track is a capture of the key-strokes being played. This is information and not sound. Typically, this would be the keys pressed on a keyboard -or- the banging of drums. The point of MIDI is that the instrument sound is not fixed and can be changed to another instrument sound. Most digital music instruments will have a MIDI interface. In Cubasis, a MIDI Track is assigned to an Instrument for you to select what sound to be played. There are 3 types of Instruments:- • Micro Sonic - the wave-sample library of popular instruments and drums • Micrologue - the virtual synthesizer • Inter-App - a connection to third-party sounds or synths From what I can infer from the website and manual, Cubasis' playback performance is attuned (optimised) for Audio Tracks. Cubasis has an impressive rock "demo" project file entitled "On and On" which contains about 10 Audio Tracks, 1 M'Sonic track for drums and 2 M'logue tracks for synths. On an iPad2, Cubasis handles this playback with no problem. This "demo" song, has at least 6 tracks being played back simultaneously at times. To monitor the workload, Cubasis has a "CPU meter" which tells you how much processing the iPad is undergoing. The minimum requirement for hardware is an iPad3. Using an iPad2, I managed to overload the CPU meter resulting in audio cracking up when I was only using 2 tracks of MicroSonic (drums & guitar [3-note poly]) and 2 tracks of Micrologue (bass & strings [2-note poly]). Swapping the string instrument from the M'logue synth to M'Sonic samples made a huge difference in reducing the workload down to about 33% on the CPU meter. However using an iPadAir, the original arrangement only caused the CPU meter to bubble happily around 25%.

This was a surprise! The Micrologue synthesizer engine uses up a lot of CPU power. Much more than I anticipated as compared to the MicroSonic wave-samples. And Audio Tracks, since they are read at a constant rate, use the least CPU power. Maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise! Obviously, which model of iPad you have does makes a big difference too.

To help unburden the CPU load of MIDI tracks, Cubasis provides each track with a "freeze button" which renders the track into a fixed frozen track. Whether Audio or Instrument, freezing will render the track including all the mixer dynamics and effects selected.

FILE TRANSFERS

If you do not have a sequencer to compose music, then Cubasis iPad is an affordable and workable approach to take. If you don't mind the small iPad screen interface, you should be able to actually complete entire music projects.

However, you cannot compare Cubasis to a full computer-based music software like Pro-Tools, Reason, Logic, Sonar or Ableton. They run on computers while Cubasis runs on an iPad.

If you already use Cubase, then Cubasis is your perfect travelling companion programme. They are designed to work together. The file transfers between them are quick and easy.

If you are already using another computer-based music software, you may want to consider Cubasis as a portable music sketchpad and them transfer your work using MIDI files.