Steinberg's Cubase on the Mac

Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing.  The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-down versions of Cubase are included with almost all Yamaha audio and MIDI hardware, as well as hardware from other manufacturers. These versions can be upgraded to a more advanced version at a discount.

After a brief period with audio integration, the next version, Cubase VST, featured fully integrated audio recording and mixing along with effects. It added Virtual Studio Technology (VST) support, a standard for audio plug-ins, which led to a plethora of third-party effects, both freeware and commercial. Cubase VST was only for Macintosh and Windows; Atari support had been effectively dropped by this time, despite such hardware still being a mainstay in many studios. Cubase VST was offering a tremendous amount of power to the home user, but computer hardware took some time to catch up. By the time it did, VST's audio editing ability was found to be lacking, when compared with competitors such as >Pro Tools DAE and Digital Performer MAS.

Liam's comment:
"I did Jilted Generation with the W30 sequencer, but afterwards, I thought I could do with getting a few more tracks. Cubase has helped my writing quite a bit. I was so stuck with the W30 I never really thought I'd need more than 16 tracks. Also, I was worried I'd change the way I wrote. Now, I try and write the same way I used to on the W30; for example, I try not to copy too many things. I might write something and do an 8-bar section instead of one bar repeated, which is what most people in dance music do. The worst thing is getting stuck in an 8-bar loop -- you stick Cycle on, come up with something good, and it goes round and round. Then you get stuck into a groove, and it takes you ages to actually write the song. I try not to use Cycle too much -- just until I get a few ideas, then I turn it off. "

"Cubase was the obvious choice -- just because it's the most widely-used program. It wasn't out of any need to try and be clever -- I don't think it's the program you use that counts, it's what you've got in your head. Leeroy bought the colour version, but I'm not really into that -- although maybe I just didn't like the look of it because he's got a smaller monitor".