On the scoring front, Logic’s editor is more comprehensive. Both provide a decent array of instruments and plug-ins, although Logic has always excelled in this area. Both programs have had multiple automation lanes in their main sequencing pages for a long time.Ĭubase, however, also has this feature in its excellent MIDI editor while Logic and DP don’t.
Both, like DP9, are mature and well featured in the three key areas, MIDI, audio and scoring. Now, Digital Performer 9 boasts a new MusicXML export feature, so scores can be imported into programs such as Finale and Sibelius, without losing QuickScribe’s interpretation.Īlternatives There are a good many DAWs around these days but Logic 10 and Cubase 8 are, arguably, the main rivals to Digital Performer 9. It’s almost always accurate and a huge timesaver because there’s virtually no clean-up operation required. Of all the DAWs that have a music notation score, Digital Performer’s QuickScribe is the best at transcribing non-quantized MIDI data. It’s a simple matter of clicking a learn button and moving a control on the MIDI controller device. In Digital Performer 9, Custom Consoles is now used to implement a new Learn Controller feature that enables the mapping of MIDI controller knobs, faders and switches to audio plug-in parameters and bus send knobs in the mixer. Various colour schemes are available.įor a long while Digital Performer has had a powerful Custom Consoles feature for generating, transforming and monitoring MIDI continuous controller data. It’s an extremely colourful affair with frequency content represented vertically along the timeline and brightness indicating harmonic intensity. Digital Performer’s new spectrogram display can be viewed alongside a waveform display on audio tracks.
High Spec Although relying on your ears is very important when balancing and processing audio, a visual display of the frequency content of an audio track is useful. It comes with 120 inspirational EDM presets from synth expert Erik Norlander The MX4 is a hybrid synthesiser that delivers both modern and vintage sounds. Apparently this is a hot topic with DP programmers lately…
We can’t help thinking, though, that as a favourite DAW with film and media composers, it would be good if Digital Performer’s new multi-lanes feature displayed virtual instrument articulations linked to its score pages, à la Cubase’s Expression maps. It’s a really useful addition and brings Digital Performer in line with Cubase, which has had this feature for some time. They require MIDI tracks to run them and within this new command the MIDI tracks can be automatically generated for particular instruments – a real timesaver.Īutomation editing has also been improved with the data, audio or MIDI, now available in separate lanes below a track. Instrument tracks in Digital Performer don’t carry MIDI data as in some other DAWs. The process of adding tracks has been streamlined with a new Create Tracks command for adding many different types of tracks in one fell swoop, a group of MIDI, audio and instrument tracks, for example. However it’s used, it’s a very welcome new feature. Now that it’s there it can be used correctively to temporarily mute notes in a track or, creatively, to experiment with interesting rhythmic patterns.
#DIGITAL PERFORMER 6 REVIEW FULL#
The small text has always been an issue for some but now that it’s white on a dark grey background it’s arguably, easier to read, particularly for owners of new Macs with a Retina display because Digital Performer 9 now takes full advantage of that technology. The new default look, though, is excellent, modern, stylish and at the same time remains clear and easy on the eye.
Although the previous default interface was much lighter, Digital Performer has, in fact, had a large selection of themes available in the preferences section for some time. Hey Good Looking With so many DAWs now flourishing a fashionable dark look to their GUI it’s perhaps inevitable that Digital Performer would follow suit. So what’s new in Digital Performer 9? Well, for starters, there are several new plug-in processors, a new synth and many workflow enhancements.
#DIGITAL PERFORMER 6 REVIEW WINDOWS#
That said, MOTU appear to be out to attract new users with an emphasis on guitar plug-ins, the inclusion of virtual synths and the addition of the Windows platform that came about with Digital Performer 8. Conservative? Maybe, but Digital Performer has a fiercely loyal user base, particularly with US film composers and keeping them onboard must, surely, remain a priority.
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