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MOTU Digital Performer 6 - MIDI + Audio Sequencer |
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 It's been a bit over two years since MOTU last made a major update to their flagship sequencing software, Digital Performer. Back then, version 5 added a range of useful features intended to benefit users working in many different fields, but MOTU continued to resist any overhaul of the rather old-fashioned and quirky user interface, while there were still concerns about audio performance efficiency, and continuing grumbles about the native audio format and the lack of any easy way to 'comp' multiple takes. Clearly the MOTU design team thought these were important issues too, because they've all been addressed in the new version 6.
Starting life way back in the mists of Mac history, DP's development has been one of gradual accumulation of features rather than frequent reinventions. Consequently, there's an awful lot in DP6 that is almost exactly the same as it was in DP5.
So for that reason, as well as the near impossibility of reviewing a sequencer as sophisticated as DP without feeling like you're rewriting War And Peace, please do refer to my review of DP5 in the September 2006 issue of SOS alongside this one. As before, the heart of DP6 is the combination of the Control Panel and the Consolidated Window. The former is your standard transport window. In previous versions of DP it had fold-out 'drawers', which contained various controls relating to audio settings and data selection, but in DP6 these are gone. It's neater now, and more compact, and there's no chance that important information can be hidden in a closed drawer. The Consolidated Window, meanwhile, is a multi-pane window that can contain the vast majority of editing windows in almost any configuration to suit the needs of individual projects. In essence, there's a central area for all the main editors that are suited to being fairly wide, with 'side-bars' to the left and right for smaller or more vertically oriented panels such as Event Lists, Information palettes, lists of Markers and audio Soundbites. |
