Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1014407
60 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2018 60 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2018 TECH TIPS by Joseph Herman I 've tried out a lot of Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs) for music production over the years. The first one I sunk my teeth into was Cubase but, along the way, I've bumped into others, each with its own cadre of devotees. At some point, I adopted Pro Tools, largely because it is widely used in established recording studios and post-production facilities. I figured that, if needed, I could bring a project into a large facility for finishing or mastering. The truth is, that has seldom ever happened; my audio projects are often started and finished independently. Not all that long ago, a colleague told me about a new DAW called Studio One by PreSonus, and I soon began hearing a lot about it. On YouTube, for example, I noticed enthusiastic testimonial videos about Studio One by respected and esteemed producers, engineers and composers. I also heard about Notion, another piece of PreSonus software. In fact, in addition to software, PreSonus manufactures a wide range of hardware products, such as advanced digital mixing systems for live and studio applications as well as a line of impressive audio interfaces, control surfaces, studio monitors, preamps, signal processors, PA systems and more. A NOTION TO SCORE Before we discuss Studio One 4, however, let's begin with a look at the company's Notion 6 — a remarkable and full-blown notation program that is oriented toward composing, orchestrating and scoring music, as well as delivering complete polished scores for orchestras, small group arrangements or even simple lead sheets (see Figure 1). But Notion is about more than writing music and printing out scores; it can also be used to record the music. That's because the program comes with a generous sample library of realistic musical instruments painstakingly recorded with a wide range of dynamics, Sometimes a Great Notion; The Beat Goes On with Studio One 4 Figure 1: Notion 6 not only allows one to write music and create professional notation for scores, but also includes a built-in mixer and an entire orchestral sample library recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, making it useful for recording music as well. Figure 2: Notion includes an integrated video window for scoring to picture.