Intro to Studio One

Intro

Studio One is one the the most popular DAWs in use today. For this article, I am just going to jump in and explain how to setup Studio One for building a song. I am assuming that you have already installed Studio One and registered it. And, you already have an audio interface of some type connected to your computer via a USB cable.

Let's Get Started

Watch this video first.

Click the Studio One Icon to load Studio One. When the Hub appears, click CREATE.

The Mix Console and the Track Editor will appear. If the Mix Console does not appear, press the F3 key.

Putting the Pieces Together

For this example, we will create a Guitar Track and a Vocal Track to keep it short. You will use the same process for larger, more complex projects. We will create the two tracks in the track editor.

Now, we will add two audio tracks. First we will need to make sure your audio interface is setup properly.

Working With Audio Connections

First, click STUDIO ONE in the top menu bar. Click STUDIO SETUP. Click on VST Audio System. Your audio interface should show up in the center column. If it does not, click the drop down box and select it, provided the software for it has been installed. Then, click OK.

Next, click on STUDIO ONE again and this time, select AUDIO CONNECTIONS. Make sure your Inputs and Outputs are setup correctly. Refer to the Studio One Manual for the details.

Back To The Creation of Audio Tracks.

• 1. Right click in the left column.
• 2. From the drop down, select ADD AUDIO TRACK (Mono).
• 3. Working with the Guitar first, select the Audio Input the Guitar is connected to.
• 4. In the Name box, give the track a name.
• 5. Repeat for the Vocal Track, changing the Input Port to where your microphone is connected.

Configuring Inserts

Now that all tracks are setup, we need to assign the effects. In keeping this simple, we will assign effects to channels using Inserts in this exercise.

Working With Effects

If you look in the Mix Console, you will see the SENDS row and the INSERTS ROW. We will be mostly assiging effects to the tracks using inserts.

• Look in the right column and find the Compression effect.
• Click on the effect and drag it under the Insert box for the guitar channel.
• You will see the Compressor panel. Click in the dropdown that shows and choose one of the acoustic guitar effects. These are default settings for the effect you have chosen.
• Now, you will repeat the same procedure, but scroll down in the right column until you find the Pro EQ effect. Use the same procedure as above.
• Now that the effects are set for guitar, use the same method to set the effects for the vocal channel. Just make the changes in the effect detail box for Vocals.
• One last effect to drag and drop. This would be the Limiter. Locate the Limiter in the right column and drag it into the Main output channel to the far right. Place it under the Inserts box.
• Now, we are ready to setup for recording.

Now that you have your effects assigned to each track, make sure your guitar and mic are connect to the proper ports on your audio interface. Click the track ARM button. Click the track RECORD button if you wish to record at the same time.

There are three large buttons on the bottom bar under the mixer channels. A square(stop), a Pause, and a round (record) button.

Click the Record button and play/sing.

If you need to use a metronome, click the icon on the bottom bar after setting the BPM (beats per min.)

For detailed information on the above instructions, click the Help button in the top menu bar.