My PreSonus Blog Tips Are Ending

[Craig Anderton]

Maybe Craig could use the archives as source material for a new title ...

Interesting idea. It would probably take a lot of effort to separate out the pertinent info, and I'm sure re-writing and updating woudl be required. But it would be doable, as long as there weren't rights involved...if I had to get a release from everyone who contributed something cool, that would take close to forever!

 

[TonalDynamics]

Interesting idea. It would probably take a lot of effort to separate out the pertinent info, and I'm sure re-writing and updating woudl be required. But it would be doable, as long as there weren't rights involved...if I had to get a release from everyone who contributed something cool, that would take close to forever!

What's utterly insane is the power-grab of virtually all the ToSes with online platforms... not passing in the real world, ever.

Imagine the Anaheim convention center did this, "Well yes we'll rent the facility to you, but the staff is going to record the conversations of both you and your attendees, and we own the copyright to anything that's said because reasons. Just sign this paper here affirming as much and you're good to go!"

Something tells me it wouldn't fly with their clientele.

To be clear, I'm talking about the 'all-rights' boilerplate ToS vis a vis users posts on the forums (which 90% of forums do) that every tech company big and small gets away with, I know you've got your own deal with Presonus which supersedes it all.

In the U.S., you own the copyright to whatever you say and/or create the minute it is recorded in some way. They are abusing a loophole that allows transfers of that right via ToS contracts that no one reads.

It just burns my biscuits that title 17 can be abused this way!
This is of course but the least egregious crime of tech overreach, but in our present situation, a very relevant one.

Rambling on...

 

[Craig Anderton]

One aspect is that donating what you post to a service is the price of having a free service. But at least in my forum experience, forums mostly have a TOS to cover their butts. For example, suppose someone goes on a rant here about how everyone who uses Reaper is a devil-worshipper and should be poisoned. Because of the TOS, a moderator can delete that material because the forum owns it. The 1st Amendment says Congress shall make no law restricting freedom of speech, but this forum isn't Congress and can draw up whatever rules the moderators want to use regarding the ability of people to express themselves. By agreeing to the forum's TOS, it's almost impossible for someone to file a nuisance lawsuit based on some specious claim. Remember, lawsuits like that aren't initiated to win, they're initiated to incentivize the company to pay them something because it would be less expensive than hiring lawyers (although anti-SLAPP laws are helping to address this). With a TOS, the comeback is "You already agreed we could do what we wanted, so bye-bye, have a nice day."

Forum TOSes also include language about the person attesting to being over 13. This is to comply with COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). This restricts websites and online services from collecting personal information from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. Personal information includes names, email addresses, IP addresses, and even cookies. To avoid the burden of compliance, most forums simply set a rule of no users under 13, and spell it out in the TOS.

Unfortunately, these are real issues. When I was editor-in-chief of Harmony Central, there were frequent threats by people to file nuisance lawsuits. Thanks to the TOS, we could just tell them to go away.

 

[TonalDynamics]

The 1st Amendment says Congress shall make no law restricting freedom of speech, but this forum isn't Congress and can draw up whatever rules the moderators want to use regarding the ability of people to express themselves

Very double-edged sword, that.

One would argue that the virtual realm is the new 'public forum' and has been for some time, and I hold that position. As such I am a 'ToS minimalist' when it comes to protecting the rights of the people and limiting how much power companies can grab by setting their own terms, despite seeing why the need to delete posts and perform effective moderation duties is essential.

We have no supreme court rulings on this stuff after a quarter century of internet.

Tech moves at lightspeed while litigation moves at snailspeed, as AI clearly shows.

To be clear I am as sick of frivolous lawsuits as anyone -- to the point of believing fines should be levied upon the litigators if the case is thrown out -- but I believe there is a clear middle ground here between 'all-rights' and 'necessary rights'.

We simply need a ToS solution very similar to the cookies-mandate passed by the EU's GDPR which essentially everyone on the web complies with now. It would obtain user consent for the 'bare minimum' moderation rights established by the Admins, which would include post deletion, mandated edits, user bans, name changes, etc. etc., but without making some blanket-ToS claim to co-opting all creative copyrights from everything a user posts as it does now. If those rights are exceeded, there would have to be a CLEAR, separate consent notification, just like with cookies now.

Keep in mind, in theory, if Ed Sheeran somehow got his hands on his own masters, had his own music video recorded, posted them along with lyrics on Harmony Central or some forum with some boilerplate 'all-rights' ToS, the forum would have a 'legal basis' for posting and monetizing his video wherever they pleased... pretty sure I'm technically right about this, but feel free to present evidence to the contrary, I'm totally open to correction here.

Why doesn't that happen? Because Ed's handlers aren't scared of the legal fees that the site admins would inevitably flee from within minutes of the dozen C&D emails landing on their doorstep. Not that anyone is dumb enough to go around posting their own masters, but the power for abuse is there, and has historically been leveraged to abuse Joe-average users, particularly by shady admins on certain sites.

Thus we have a problem of unequal enforcement. The amount of power granted by the all-rights ToS meta as it stands would never hold up in a high-profile case, but because the average forum user is closer to Al Bundy than Ed Sheeran, creative ownership and user-rights are routinely abused. It simply flies low enough under the radar that no one has to admit that it's an abuse of title 17.

I think my A.C.C. analogy stands.

I just find it egregious that no website in particular, wherever/whatever it may be and whoever is running it, can supersede my country's civil rights protections to free expression with a copy-pasted EULA/ToS.

Again, totally open to civil discussion here, I just think boilerplate ToS is an open loophole in its current form, and there's clear precedent for reforming it. The GDPR essentially forced all nations to comply with CMP/Cookie-splash screen protocols, and if the legislation to reform ToS occurs in the US (fat chance), it would do the same. No one could afford the liability and it would lead to global compliance for a (somewhat) freer internet.


Appreciate your insights as always, Craig.

 

[Davey]

Fortunately, hardly anyone ever reads the TOS or the T&Cs.

As for the archive of the old forum I'd suggest putting it up on a separate site, perhaps one of the free forum hosting sites. I doubt there would be any legal problems but if there were then it's easy to take down.

 

[lokeyfly]

All good things must come to an end, and PreSonus is changing how they plan to present information. So, my regular series of tips for the PreSonus blog will be discontinued at the end of 2025. I don't know what will happen to the material that's already posted, so:

• Now would be a good time to copy any of the posts you want for reference, in case they disappear.
• If you don't copy them, any new tips not already included in The Big Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks v2.2 will be included in the next book update.

"You dont know what you've got till it's gone." - Joni Mitchel. In this case, towards Presonus.

But they keep Joe Gilder on, who takes fifteen minutes into a video to touch on the actual subject matter. [See recording through plugins?] Yeah, that's called inserting a plugin as an input, Joe. I'm sorry if this rubs anyone the wrong way, but Gilder's lack of technical proficiency (as he always states) is a liability on Studio One's ability to be taken seriously amongst many in the DAW community. Look, I get the friendly newbie approach, but the guy is giddy over his own let's just say sense of cuteness. If that isn't enough, he misses alternative possibilities, leaving a few thankful, and mostly others feeling they'll never see that fifteen minutes again.

I'm not comparing Joe to Craig, but its clear to me who's more equiped to provide useful, concise information, tips, options, and a sense of pulse on the industry. So go ahead Presonus, Change your tactics. How's that been working out for you?.

• I'll continue adding tips to the book, even though they won't appear in the PreSonus blog, and continue to release book updates through Sweetwater Publishing.

I'll keep reading them.

PreSonus emphasized their decision had nothing to do with the content. They always appreciated the work I put into the tips, and they'd like me to be available for unspecified future projects.

As a consultant, I'd hope. I know, you can't disavow info. In any event, I'm glad you're here, Craig.

Presonus need to give Gilder a specific startup or broad based newbie designation. He'll have a place there. Not where he is.
It makes Studio One look shallow. Of course it isn't. But, I suspect a number of proficient users feel like they're watching paint dry, when Joe comes on. JMO.

 

[TonalDynamics]

Presonus need to give Gilder a specific startup or broad based newbie designation. He'll have a place there. Not where he is.
It makes Studio One look shallow. Of course it isn't. But, I suspect a number of proficient users feel like they're watching paint dry, when Joe comes on. JMO.

They like his radio voice. I like it too, and I appreciate Joe's demeanor. Seems like a cool hang.

I feel like there's a place for Joe and for Craig. My take is that you need both those types of guys honestly, and they can coexist comfortably with each other.

There's no law saying you can't have multiple forward faces which serve different segments of your community at different skill levels, but what baffles me is that since the acquisition F/P have rather turned up their nose at the PRO market, first with the dearth of development of pro-centric features, then with getting rid of the official community support, and now this with Craig's dismissal.

I guess they know their market better than I do (?), but all the people I know who use Studio One are either composers or people looking for a good reason to leave Cubase, as I was back in 2010... I've been on board since version 1, baby!

A suit's idea of a good DAW and my idea of a good DAW are surely two different things. My idea of a good DAW is basically Studio One from 2020-2024.

Studio One 5 and 6 featured a development cadence at the height of its power in all its nerdy, innovative, German glory, and it was like a fever dream. Like I had found a DAW that had a team of developers that wanted the same things I wanted to help me make music, both as a composer and as someone who records rock bands.

Again, we were the 'Cubase, but better and much less annoying' crowd, and we still are. That's probably not enough for the suits, growth at all costs and whatnot. I do wonder if they fail to appreciate who their core market really is, or if they care anymore. I have no way of knowing, but the lack of acknowledgement of who we are is not encouraging.

I want Scratch pads, routing view, MixScene/Console-recall, all refined and improved, as they are wonderful ideas that never got tuned up to their full potential that I still use in spite of this.

I want PDC to work properly and report correct values when daisy-chaining VSTi.
I want sound variations to offer a +/- delay on articulations for me to tweak when needed to save me from having to make Kontakt scripts.
I want MIDI CC Lane presets, finally and for real.

I want a better plugin-GUI management scheme. We all work with an obscene amount of plugin windows these days, and having presets which could recall various sets of discrete plugin GUIs and locations would be immensely helpful. The 'toggle floating windows' keybind is helpful for this, but you can only toggle the last used set of windows. Different sets of plugin windows for different use cases would be an incredible time-saver both when mixing and tracking.

I want core audio engine improvements to (eventually and somewhat) bring the threading in line with Reaper's efficiency.

A suit probably, if not definitely, wants none of this, because he or she does not produce music. They use words like 'engagement', 'democratization', 'streamline', none of which have anything to do with producing music, only money. They are obsessed with the product, whereas the creative professional is obsessed with the process.

I hope this chasm is not too wide to be broached, but I still haven't upgraded to v7. Bus freezing is cool, it's just not enough to provoke me as a professional.

Here's hoping version 8 has some of the things I'm asking for... if version 8 is forthcoming that is, I have no idea how the new release schedule looks and whatnot since they introduced Adobe-style incremental updates.

In any case, the DAW is still great. I just want the 2020-2023 Presonus back and for existing features to receive the long-needed improvements they deserve.

Rambling on.

 

[lokeyfly]

I feel like there's a place for Joe and for Craig. My take is that you need both those types of guys honestly, and they can coexist comfortably with each other.

yes, I stated that Joe has a place. I'd simply have him in a more beginners circle (I'll call it), respectfully.

 

[Craig Anderton]

Altering the blog may have nothing to do with a different corporate philosophy or direction, it may just be about budget. Granted, I didn't cost much, to say the least. But when a company's looking to cut costs, it's often the people outside of a company who are the first to go.

When they mentioned working on "future projects," based on experience with other companies either that means something cool is coming soon, or I'll never hear from them again

 

[ianaeillo]

But they keep Joe Gilder on, who takes fifteen minutes into a video to touch on the actual subject matter. [See recording through plugins?] Yeah, that's called inserting a plugin as an input, Joe. I'm sorry if this rubs anyone the wrong way, but Gilder's lack of technical proficiency (as he always states) is a liability on Studio One's ability to be taken seriously amongst many in the DAW community. Look, I get the friendly newbie approach, but the guy is giddy over his own let's just say sense of cuteness. If that isn't enough, he misses alternative possibilities, leaving a few thankful, and mostly others feeling they'll never see that fifteen minutes again.

I had a whole thing written out but deleted it cause I didn't want to look like a dick. But yeah, I agree.

I think part of the allure for me is honestly how well you write, Craig. It feels like it's purposeful and intentional and I appreciate not only the manner in which you compose but the content as well. Seasoned professionals can learn without feeling like information is being purposely withheld and newbies don't feel like they're being talked down to.

 

[TonalDynamics]

Altering the blog may have nothing to do with a different corporate philosophy or direction

By itself sure, in concert with the other dozen things I mentioned it just kind of fits a pattern over the last year and a half.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I think part of the allure for me is honestly how well you write, Craig. It feels like it's purposeful and intentional and I appreciate not only the manner in which you compose but the content as well.

I really appreciate that, thank you. Unfortunately I'm not a good first-draft writer, but I can usually edit things into shape...not unlike my keyboard playing

As to Joe Gilder, if you've been at this for a while it's easy to forget how many people are new to DAWs and recording. Joe's non-scary conversational approach works for them, as does the subject matter. He'll do a video on something trivial we've been doing all our lives, and the comments will be like "Wow, I never knew that! Awesome video!" Also, what you see is what you get. I had lunch with him a couple months ago and he's the same guy when the camera isn't on. I also appreciated that he came to my "Make Mixes with Maximum Emotional Impact" presentation at NAMM. Moral support is always good.

As to video length, remember that YouTube rewards long videos, not content and tight editing. I have more than enough subscribers to monetize my YouTube channel, but it's impossible to rack up enough view hours when I post a 3 minute song every couple months. Even my instructional videos are scripted to be as tight and short as possible. That's kryptonite to the Holy YouTube Algorithmic Gatekeeper, but I see it as respect for the pressed-for-time people who gravitate to the kind of material I present.

But again, no one's getting rid of me that fast I have a fun mastering page tip I want to post as soon as I send off The Ultimate Guide to Vocal Production ebook, and hopefully Lukas can convince the forum to accept a .multipreset file type for downloading.

 

[tpittman]

Presonus need to give Gilder a specific startup or broad based newbie designation. He'll have a place there. Not where he is.
It makes Studio One look shallow. Of course it isn't. But, I suspect a number of proficient users feel like they're watching paint dry, when Joe comes on. JMO.

I have to say I am a lot more than surprised that anyone here would actually want to Label Joe Gilders
videos as a"Newbie designation" or anything less. Do I like some of Joe's videos more than others?
Yes, of course!! Do I overall like Joe's videos and feel he is important to Presonus? The answer for me
is "Hell Yes" More Importantly: Are Joe's video's important to me, you bet your ass they are!! With that
being said I respect everyone's option here. Peace Out.

 

[Craig Anderton]

I thought the combination of Joe, Gregor, and me took care of pretty much all Studio One users because we each had our own lane (for lack of a better term). I think it's good that PreSonus is highlighting more of Lukas's material now.

And I'm also curious to see what they have in mind for how to help people get the most out of Studio One, whether beginner or expert, because I'm sure that's the goal. I don't think there was ever a strategy laid out, it just happened that I did tips, and Gregor did video, and Joe did videos, and there were guest stars like Marcus Huyskens...and a forum...it all seemed kind of scattered. If they come up with and implement a strong, unified content strategy based around educating users, that would be truly help Studio One's cause and not coincidentally, give it an advantage over most other DAWs.

 

[lokeyfly]

I had a whole thing written out but deleted it cause I didn't want to look like a dick. But yeah, I agree.

No, wait, ....... leave that to me.

I think part of the allure for me is honestly how well you write, Craig. It feels like it's purposeful and intentional and I appreciate not only the manner in which you compose but the content as well. Seasoned professionals can learn without feeling like information is being purposely withheld and newbies don't feel like they're being talked down to.

Well said. There are few in the industry that catch my ear. Only a few mix engineers, and a few who simply convey smart practices with the right dose of passion. Some of them do that in their profession, while others have the skill set to teach and make it all seem logical, that way. Teaching a gift in its own right. So obviously, those who wish to learn more come from different levels and capacities. Personally, I've always found the DAW itself to be the teacher. OMMV. Of course, mixing and mastering broaden those needs further. Craig was good on that topic. And with using what's available to explore creative possibilities.

I thought the combination of Joe, Gregor, and me took care of pretty much all Studio One users because we each had our own lane (for lack of a better term).

This, being my initial point. Only that is not happening now and vague doesn't always add up to trust. That would be towards, Presonus.

I think it's good that PreSonus is highlighting more of Lukas's material now.

Agreed. I believe that will continue.

And I'm also curious to see what they have in mind for how to help people get the most out of Studio One, whether beginner or expert, because I'm sure that's the goal. I don't think there was ever a strategy laid out, it just happened that I did tips, and Gregor did video, and Joe did videos, and there were guest stars like Marcus Huyskens...and a forum...it all seemed kind of scattered. If they come up with and implement a strong, unified content strategy based around educating users, that would be truly help Studio One's cause and not coincidentally, give it an advantage over most other DAWs.

There hasn't been any real foresight at Presonus towards directing the product. Perhaps that is better, in that there's less chance of separating the user base. At the same token, a simple outline of skill level minimizes boredom. Now if Joe Gilder is one of the few left in the room (I cant even place 101 in his attributes), then he's good for some. Others will see Studio One as a sort of primer DAW after watching his endless one pointers. Joe still thinks power doubled is somewhere around 5 dB's . I'm not making this up, and I called him out on it. If you dont know, dont baffle others with BS.
So while I see some of Joe's reader comments being very grateful of learning something, and they'll no doubt pick up more, elsewhere as they go. Some structure towards skill levels is just going to play into better use of one's capabilities. Again, this comes down to foresight. As the saying goes, there arent bad students, only bad teachers.

When I look at a video by Lukas, I get a flow that makes sense. There's more of a working performer, who has thought through the instruction, first. Then breaks down the related material. All while being pleasant. His videos are less about him, and more about the varied possibilities. Marcus Huyskens is also that person who moves the subject matter along.

Where does this leave Craig? Well, as we can see, Presonus couldn't be any more vague. Does Presonus have a plan on preparing instructional videos going forward? I dont know, and likely dont care. What I do think we can all see is they left their people (or assets) walking around wondering.

I continue to use and enjoy Studio One. Only I'm not impressed with how they're positioning their product, or personell. Last year is testament to that. Industry speculation aside. Forget for a moment, MIDI 2, the lull in musical talent, AI, etc. When a company can't address their show page for years now, then the think tank, or lack thereof is very apparent.
We had some good discussions here about clip gain. Perhaps that will see the light of day on the next release. Otherwise, I'm going to hold with v7.2 for a while. Because if I see another .... uhem....sample player, then the road ahead is clear.

 

[ianaeillo]

No, wait, ....... leave that to me.

Lol no. I'm not as eloquent as you and when I read my initial response I sounded elitist and know-it-all.

 

[TonalDynamics]

I think it's good that PreSonus is highlighting more of Lukas's material now.

Silver lining for sure.

This is off-topic Craig but I just noticed you have the same CPU as me. IDK about you but I've been waiting for a chip to come out to convince me to build a new PC and have been disappointed thus far.

I normally build a new machine every 5 years, however since Moore's law has slowed down the 285 Ultra failed to impress me enough to upgrade last year. Intel's Nova Lake looks promising but it's not due until Q3/Q4 2026 apparently... woof. They're apparently stacking a gigantic L3 cache on the chip to compete with AMD's X3D series so it should likely perform insanely well with large Kontakt libraries and high-voice VSTi.

With Micron and the AI goons screwing over the RAM market it looks like a good time to wait in any case, with DDR5 skyrocketing to 300% of it's normal price in a single month.

What's your upgrade strategy at the moment? I'm likely holding out for Nova.

Probably going to snag 128GB of DDR5 whenever it gets cheaper as well, whenever that is.

 

[Craig Anderton]

What's your upgrade strategy at the moment? I'm likely holding out for Nova.

Keep using what I have for as long as I can!

 

[Craig Anderton]

Hopefully the following is a good solution. I'll post new tips that would have previously gone into the PreSonus blog in the Tutorials, Tips, and Tricks forum. The tips are titled "Craig's Tip" so they're easily searchable. Unlike the blog posts, there will be no fixed weekly schedule...if I come up with something, I'll post it. So far I've done two tips.

Any tips will eventually appear (in updated form, if appropriate) in future updates of The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks. I welcome any comments or questions you post in the threads for the individual tips!

 

[THW]

Hopefully the following is a good solution. I'll post new tips that would have previously gone into the PreSonus blog in the Tutorials, Tips, and Tricks forum. The tips are titled "Craig's Tip" so they're easily searchable. Unlike the blog posts, there will be no fixed weekly schedule...if I come up with something, I'll post it. So far I've done two tips.

Any tips will eventually appear (in updated form, if appropriate) in future updates of The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks. I welcome any comments or questions you post in the threads for the individual tips!

Thank you, Craig! Today is Christmas Eve and coming across this thread while enjoying a relaxing morning made my heart sink a bit.

I just wanted to share a heartfelt thank you to you, Craig. I learned so much from your blog posts over the years and was always eager to read your posts when firing up the daw. Sometimes they took me down some interesting rabbit holes, and I'd emerge hours later having written something I never would have otherwise thanks to your tutorials, tips, and tricks.

Finding solace reading you will continue posting on this forum. And I look forward to picking up a copy of "the huge book".

One of the things that attracted me to S1 was the sense of community...learning from you, Joe, Gregor, and Lukas. S1 features aside, to me there is something special about the S1 community and comradery, teaching, learning, and growing together. I hope the Fender overlords take note. While I wasnt active on the original forum aside from voting for certain feature requests, I was surprised when it shutdown.

i am so grateful to Lukas for building this forum, and to all who contribute and lift each other up. Musicians supporting musicians in a pure, sincere, and thoughtful way.

Happy to read you will continue posting here. I'll always be a fan!

All the best and Happy Holidays!

-THW