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Sequencing in Cubase, Mixing in Pro Tools


kizoxef
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So I have a quick question.. I recently got a copy of Pro Tools LE from the interface I bought and I've been wanting to experiment with it. However I quickly saw that MIDI functionality was really crappy on Pro Tools. What I'm trying to do now is sequence my midi in Cubase, export each individual track as audio, and import into Pro Tools to mix.

I am using Kontakt 4 right now with the midi tracks. Here are my questions:

1. Since I'm mixing in Pro Tools, I should turn off reverb and any other effects preset in the Kontakt 4 instruments right? I should then apply reverb/effects on the audio track later in Pro Tools?

2. Before I export the individual audio tracks from Cubase, should I change the levels to get the loudest waveform possible without clipping? I'm not sure about this at all.. Should I maximize the volume in Kontakt (while in Cubase) and then mix in Pro Tools, or should I increase the levels of default volume Kontakt audio tracks (generated in Cubase) while in Pro Tools?

I might have some big misconceptions here.. so I'd really appreciate it if someone could help educate me :D

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1) Yeah, you should apply the reverb in Pro Tools, so that you can always go in and change it without having to go all the way back to Kontakt and re-export everything.

2) It doesn't matter that much, especially if you're mixing at 24-bit. If I were you, I'd probably give myself a little headroom on each track, just to be safe - normalize the wav files at -6db.

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2. Before I export the individual audio tracks from Cubase, should I change the levels to get the loudest waveform possible without clipping? I'm not sure about this at all.. Should I maximize the volume in Kontakt (while in Cubase) and then mix in Pro Tools, or should I increase the levels of default volume Kontakt audio tracks (generated in Cubase) while in Pro Tools?

I might have some big misconceptions here.. so I'd really appreciate it if someone could help educate me :D

Depends on what you mean by maximize. Of course you shouldn't let it clip, and as long as you're using high-quality files, you can get away with using fairly low levels on the tracks. Like Ibby already said.

Maximizing is sometimes used to refer to all kinds of loudness-boosting techniques. You'd want the tracks out of Cubase as clean as possible, not with a plethora of harmonic enhancing and rms maximizing and stuff. Which I think you know, just making sure.

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When I used Pro Tools five-ish years ago, the MIDI editing issues were things like no dedicated piano roll view (in-track editing only), a lack of ways to filter MIDI data while editing, awkward editing tools, and so forth. I don't know if the MIDI editing has been improved since then or not, but at the time Pro Tools would have been pretty painful (for me, at least) to do complicated MIDI projects with.

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As far as MIDI writing in a piano roll goes, Cubase also isn't so great. The fastest piano roll that takes the least getting acquainted to is FL Studio.

However, since that's not an option, I would suggest writing your MIDI tracks in Cubase and exporting THE MIDI and import into Pro Tools. Load up Kontakt 4 and channel the MIDI accordingly in Pro Tools.

That way it won't be a finite render and you can edit realtime without having to go back into Cubase and rerender every change.

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The MIDI editor in Cubase is perfectly fine - I dunno what you're talking about. The only program I've used that has MIDI programming that's exceptionally better than the rest is Digital Performer.

I disagree, but I'm not gonna argue.

All I can say is that I own Cubase LE 4 and if I try to write something it takes exceptionally longer than in FL Studio.

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I just want to point out that pro tools is not really anything special for mixing.

It's strengths are tracking live audio, and then editing that audio. It's plugins are pretty good I suppose, but I really see no reason to move it over from cubase for mixing.

I use it pretty much daily at work, but I mix just as well in Logic, or on a mixing console. It's way more to do with the plug-ins and outboard-hardware you have then the fact it's in pro tools. If you wanted to do time-manipulation, or drum fixing also, then pro tools wins hands down.

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I just want to point out that pro tools is not really anything special for mixing.

It's strengths are tracking live audio, and then editing that audio. It's plugins are pretty good I suppose, but I really see no reason to move it over from cubase for mixing.

I use it pretty much daily at work, but I mix just as well in Logic, or on a mixing console. It's way more to do with the plug-ins and outboard-hardware you have then the fact it's in pro tools. If you wanted to do time-manipulation, or drum fixing also, then pro tools wins hands down.

agreed!

Also having to bounce down channels and work between two different programs at once can severely slow down your work rate. Anything that hinders your musical process cannot be a good thing. ;)

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agreed!

Also having to bounce down channels and work between two different programs at once can severely slow down your work rate. Anything that hinders your musical process cannot be a good thing. ;)

@the OP: The only way you'd even want to consider this, in my opinion, is if both your virtual instruments and your audio tracks and audio effects use up most/all of your processor and RAM. For example, if you're writing orchestral music on only one computer and are doing a lot with the mixing, your sample sets might be too big or use too much CPU to really load any effects, so you might export the individual audio tracks into a mixing template, and at that point, doing the mixing in another program wouldn't be that bad. But if you don't need to do that, it's probably simplest to keep everything in one project and in one DAW.

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