PreSonus Studio One 4 - Highlights

PreSonus Studio One 4 - Highlights

It's been three years since the release of Studio One V3. In those three years, users have had a wonderful experience with mixing workflow, the all-powerful Scratch Pad, Melodyne integration and overall great support from PreSonus. We have had continuous updates regarding bug fixes, workflow improvements and massive plugin enhancements. Not the least of which being the new Fat Channel bundles. If you want to upgrade from a previous version of Studio One, click here. On May 22nd, 2018, PreSonus released the highly anticipated Studio One V4. It's packed with incredibly innovative songwriting tools. In today's article, we'll cover some of the best features of the new standard in production software.

New Look

 

Starting off strong, the new GUI for Studio One 4 is much cleaner in the mixer section and in the arrange window. The Record, Mute, Solo and Monitor buttons used to be on the side and cluttered up the fader. Now they sit on top and can even be hidden. The new GUI gives the whole program a sleeker, more modern feel. Another highly-requested new feature is track notes! You can now take notes on an entire song or individual tracks for later use. This is a feature long used in other DAW's and finally found its way to Studio One. These also have the ability to be hidden from the fader view to clean it up when necessary.

AAF Session Data Import

Importing session data has been a key aspect for recording studios for many years. Now that same workflow is now available in Studio One. Importing session data will put tracks and automation curves into your session in the exact same spot as they were in the session sent to you. Before this, the person sending it would need to ensure that all files were the same length and that all key information like tempo, etc. was noted. With Studio One's new session import, this can save hours of time. Being a mixing/mastering engineer, this is a huge plus for me and others who work in multiple DAW's.

Chord Track/Notion

One of the crazy new songwriting tools included in Studio One 4 is the Chord Track. It can analyze the harmonic structure of your song and allows you to change any of the chords using this Circle of Fifths chart. Although it does sound very good, PreSonus recommends using this just as a tool to get your chord structure down and then record the parts again for the final track. This can alter the notes of any harmonic content including (but not limited to) guitar, bass, vocals, woodwinds and brass. The best part is that it if you change one chord, it changes every harmonic instrument/voice, both audio and MIDI tracks, to the key of that chord to streamline your writing process. If you have the latest version of Notion, Studio One can send this note information over and create a lead sheet with the melody printed to it with the respective chord changes. This is great for producers who love to write string parts but would like to have real string players perform on the recording.

Drum Editor

A dedicated drum editor, similar to the one found in Cubase has been on the radar for users and PreSonus delivered. It has never been easier to program realistic drum sounds within Studio One. A lot of metal producers and engineers use this type of programming be it for writing or even for the actual release of a song. There is also a pattern editor in the style of a sequencer for those more familiar with that type of workflow. These are the types of additions that really appeal to songwriters, producers and beat makers.

Impact XT

Impact XT is a new and improved version of the classic instrument in older versions of Studio One. It has too many new features to write about, so check it this video from PreSonus! Coming soon to Studio One is ARA 2.0 support. If there is a feature you would like to see in Studio One, click here to make a request! As always, enjoy FAST and FREE shipping on any order in the continental US. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to give us a toll free call at 855-269-0474, or stop in our store in Downtown Appleton! Be sure to check out our other articles here.

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