Cubase

I think Cubase is great, it was a milestone in 1989, after Pro 24 on the Atari ST. 

Version 2.1 was all one could wish for on the MIDI side in those days. When Cubase moved on to the PC and when Steinberg 'invented' VSTis it became unaffordable for the non-pro user. 

Instead of using a cracked version other VSTi host software became a real alternative to Cubase; Reaper being the best example: a free software that does more than Cubase does for money. Reaper comes without all the unnecessary licencing software and dongles and it runs off a USB stick on any computer if necessary. 

The feeling talking to other people using Reaper and the developers is similar to what Steinberg was in the pioneering days. 

Cubase has moved from a software for musicians to becoming a pure marketing strategy and that's not good for music.

1. Connect your MPC1000 with the supplied USB cable to your computer. Double-click the "Reason" icon on the desktop, or launch the program from the Start menu.

2. Press "CTRL + ," (comma) to bring up the preferences. Click "Advanced Control." Click the "MIDI Clock Sync" drop-down and select the port that corresponds with your Akai MPC1000. Close the preferences menu.

3. Click "Options," then "Sync" and then "MIDI Clock."

4. Scroll to the "MIDI/Sync" menu on your MPC1000. Press "MODE" + "PAD 9."

5. Set "Sync" to "F2." Set "Sync In" to "OFF." Set "Sync Out" to the jack which connects to your computer. Press "Play" or "Play Start" to finish setting up the device with Reason.

1. Launch Studio One. Click on the program's "File" heading and select the "New Song" option. The "Song Templates" menu appears.

2. Select one of the project templates from the "Song Templates" menu. If you select "Empty Template," insert an instrument track to house the VST plug-in.

3. Return to the "File" menu and click "Options." Click on the "Locations" button in the "Options" menu and then click "Add."

4. Navigate to the folder that contains your VST plug-ins in file explorer window. Click "Apply."

5. Click on the "Instrument" tab in the browser window in Studio One's main menu. Navigate the browser window's file tree to the VST instrument you'd like to work with.

6. Drag and drop the VST instrument into an empty instrument track.

1. Navigate to your VST folder and highlight the instrument or effect "DLL" file with your mouse. Hit the "Delete" button on your computer keyboard to remove it from the folder. The location of the VST folder on your hard drive will depend on where you chose to house the VST's during installation.

2. Open Ableton Live by either double-clicking the desktop icon, or by going to "Start," typing "Ableton Live" in the search box, then selecting it from the search results with your mouse. As Ableton Live opens, you will see a message that says "Browsing VST Folder" appear briefly.

3. Click on the alternating current adapter icon to open Ableton Live's VST browser window. The VST browser window, or "Plug-In Devices" screen is the second circular icon underneath the arrow button on the left side of the user interface. A list of all installed VST programs will be appear. The uninstalled VST should not appear in the list anymore.

4. Rescan Ableton Live's VST folder if the VST's name still appears in the list. Click "Options," "Preferences," File Folder," then select the "Rescan" button that is located next to "Rescan Plug-Ins," under "Plug-In Sources." The assigned VST folder will be rescanned, and the DLL file for the VST you uninstalled will be removed from the browser list.

1. Visit either the Best Free VST, KVR Audio, or VST 4 Free websites and download either GSnap, KeroVee, or Autotalent. Click on the download links, then click "Save" to store the file(s) on your computer's hard drive.

2. Unzip the downloaded files to your VST folder with either WinZip, 7-Zip, or CAM Unzip. This will store the ".dll" files into the folder Ableton uses as its source for VSTs.

3. Open Ableton Live by double-clicking the icon located on your computer's desktop, then open a project that contains vocals you want to autotune. Click "File," "Open Project," then select the desired project from the list that appears on your screen.

4. Navigate to the left side of the Ableton Live user interface and click on the second circle under the arrow button that is pointing right. This button will have an electrical plug icon, representing your plug-in folder. A list of all installed VSTs will now appear on the left side of your screen.

5. Click and drag either the GSnap, Autotalent, or KeroVee VST onto your vocal track. The VST's user interface will now appear on your screen. The vocal track's audio will now be routed through the pitch correction software and then be sent to the master audio channel.

1. Load Ableton Live.

2. Click "Start," "Computer." Navigate to the location of your instruments.

3. Click and drag an instrument from the window on your computer into the Ableton Live suite. Let go of the mouse button to install the instruments.

1. Open your Web browser and navigate to the MySteinberg Web page located at www.steinberg.net/en/mysteinberg.

2. Click the "Create user account" link. Choose your country from the drop-down menu and click "Next Step" to advance to the registration form.

3. Type your desired user name and password in the fields under "Log-In Data" and type your name and email address in the fields under "Your Personal Data."

4. Select Mac or PC from the "Computer platform" drop-down menu. Click "Next Step" to continue.

5. Click a radio button under the "Support" heading and check the "Privacy Policy" check box.

6. Type the security code into the box and click "Create Account Now."

7. Open your email address and click the confirmation link contained in the email you received from Steinberg. Your MySteinberg account is now active.

8. Log into MySteinberg with your user name and password.

9. Click the "Trial Versions" link under the "Products" heading. Click "Continue" next to WaveLab.

10. Click the "Online Shop" link to open a new browser tab and purchase a USB-eLicenser if you don't already own one. You must plug a Steinberg USB-eLicenser into your computer in order to download the WaveLab application. As of the time of publication, the USB-eLicenser costs $27.99.

11. Type your USB-eLicenser's number in the "Number" field and click "Request download link and activation code." A link to download the application will be sent to your email. Click the link in the email to download the WaveLab installation file to your computer.

1. Run the demo version of Ozone 4, then click the blue link in the center of the authorization window to open the Ozone 4 page at the iZotope store website.

2. Fill out your personal information, billing address and payment type in the form at the bottom of the page and click "Next."

3. Type in your payment details and click "Submit" to complete your purchase. As of May 2011 the iZotope Ozone 4 application costs $249.

4. Check the email account that you specified during your purchase; there should be an email from iZotope that contains your serial number.

1. Run the demo version of the iZotope Ozone 4 application. An authorization dialog window will pop up.

2. Type the serial number that was included with the license into the "Serial Number" field, then enter your personal information into the form.

3. Click "Authorize" to contact the iZotope authorization server. If your registration is successful you will see an "Authorization Successful" message on the screen.

1. Download the GSnap VST plug-in from the GVST website.

2. Double-click the downloaded "GSnap.zip" file to open the archive. Copy the "GSnap.dll" file contained within the archive.

3. Navigate to the "VST" folder in the "Acoustica Mixcraft 5" directory and paste the "GSnap.dll" file into the "3rd Party" folder. The Mixcraft 5 directory is located in your computer's "Program Files" directory.

4. Launch the Mixcraft 5 application and click on "File" in the main toolbar. Select "Preferences" from the drop-down menu.

5. Click on "Effects" in the left-hand column and click on "Edit VST Effects" in the center of the application window.

6. Click the "Add" button and select the GSnap plug-in from the list of files. Click "OK" twice to exit the Effects menu.

1. Click on the vocal track that you want to edit.

2. Click the "Fx" button in the Mixcraft toolbar to open the list of available effects.

3. Click on "Select an Effect" and select the "GSnap Pitch Correction" effect from the drop-down menu. Click the "Edit" button to open the GSnap customization menu.

4. Click the "Set Key" button to select the appropriate key for your current song and click "OK." This is the key that will be used to alter the pitch of your vocal track.

5. Alter the GSnap settings by moving the knobs left or right until you generate the desired result. Close the GSnap edit window to save your settings.

1. Click on a track to select it.

2. Select "Add a Sound." Browse Mixcraft's sound library, which includes a variety of instruments across a number of musical genres. For example, select "Steel String Guitar" if you want to include a guitar track in your song.

3. Click on the horizontal green bar that runs through the length of a loop. This lets you increase or decrease the volume of a track. Click the bar at different points on the bar to mark a volume change. In this way, you can increase and decrease volume at different parts of a song.

4. Click and drag the beginning or end of a loop to extend its length. Drag the loop to indicate the length of time you want to increase it. For example, if you want your guitar loop to play throughout the entire song, click on the right boundary of the loop and drag it to the right until you reach the desired length.

5. Select the "FX" button to incorporate special effects into a track. Mixcraft includes a number of audio effects to alter the sound of your track. Experiment with different effects until you find one that matches your desired sound.

6. Select other tracks to add new sounds to go along with your first one. For example, combine the steel string guitar with drums or bass for a fuller, more polyphonic sound.

7. Record your own voice by clicking the "Make a Recording" button. Press the red record button when you are ready. Hit space bar when you're done recording. You must have a microphone for this step. You can edit your voice track as you did with other sound clips.

8. Convert a track to Mono by going to the "Sound" menu, selecting "Channels" and choosing the left or right channel.

9. Click "Mix Down" when you're ready to convert your project to an audio file that you can save and distribute. Choose WMA, MP3, MP4 and other audio formats.

1. Open Reaper. Click "Options" in the top menu bar, then select "Preferences" from the menu that opens.

2. Click the "VST" link under the "Plug-ins" heading. Click the "Add" button in the top right-hand corner of the "Reaper Preferences" window.

3. Navigate to the folder containing the new VST plug-in. Click on it, then click "Open."

4. Click the "Re-Scan" button. Reaper scans the directory for new VST plug-ins and adds them to its list of VSTs. Click "OK" when the scan completes.

5. Click "Insert" in the top menu bar, then click "Insert Virtual Instrument on New Track." Click "VST" in the left-hand column, then click on the new VST. Click "OK" to add it to a new track in Reaper.

1. Launch the WaveLab software and set the software up in a way that displays what you want to articulate in the screenshot.

2. Click the "Start" button in the lower-left corner of your desktop. Type "Snipping Tool" in the field and press your "Enter" key. Click the "Snipping Tool" link that appears.

3. Click on the WaveLab window.

4. Click the "New" button arrow and choose "Window Snip." Click the "Save Snip" button. Type a name for the snip, select a location on your hard drive for the file and click the "Save" button.

1. Insert the Waves installation disc and wait a few moments for the setup to begin.

2. Click "Next," then "I accept" and then "Next."

3. Click "Next" twice more until the VST selection screen appears and then click "Browse." Select "C:\Program Files\VSTPlugins\" as the VST folder. Click "Next."

4. Select the plug-ins to install and click "Next" and then "Install."

5. Click "Finish."