{"id":21322,"date":"2025-11-10T13:47:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T13:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/?p=21322"},"modified":"2025-11-10T13:49:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T13:49:34","slug":"atari-st-cubase-a-20th-centuary-daw-setup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.routenote.com\/blog\/atari-st-cubase-a-20th-centuary-daw-setup\/","title":{"rendered":"Atari St + Cubase: A 20th Centuary DAW Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We take modern music production for granted these days. Everything happens in the box<\/em>: unlimited tracks, instant editing, endless plug-ins. But if you rewind to the previous century, things looked very different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This post is inspired by the launch of Cubase 15<\/a> as well as a fantastic video from YouTuber Dan Baxter<\/a>, who takes us on a nostalgic trip back to a late 1980s digital audio workflow, that just about works but has much less in the way of flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1980s and the Birth of MIDI<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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image courtesy of Planet Botch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest breakthroughs that pushed music into the digital age was the creation of a universal communication standard for electronic instruments <\/strong>called MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface).<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once MIDI became the norm, it suddenly became possible to sync synthesisers, drum machines, sequencers, and recording devices seamlessly. And it was computer company Atari\u2019s forward-thinking move to add built-in MIDI ports to their computers that made the Atari ST the natural choice for musicians everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While other computers, like the Apple Macintosh or IBM PCs, could handle music tasks, they were often clunky and expensive. The Atari ST (and its competitive cousin, the Commodore Amiga) stood out as one of the first personal computers with a graphical user interface (GUI), something essential for running what we\u2019d now call a digital audio workstation (DAW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And among the early music software, one name quickly rose to the top: Cubase<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cubase: A Whole New World of Compositional Control<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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MIDI hardware sequencers and drum machines were everywhere in the \u201980s, but Cubase introduced a visual, timeline-based approach that ran on an affordable home computer. This changed everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the Atari ST, which maxed out at just 1 MB of RAM, Cubase was primarily used to sequence and control external MIDI instruments rather than produce audio internally. Still, the resemblance to today\u2019s workflows is unmistakable. For example, It uses a horizontal timeline, MIDI blocks representing notes, and an editable “Key Editor” window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Dan Baxter\u2019s video, you can see how many familiar modern DAW concepts, like keyboard shortcuts and track editing views, actually originated with these very early versions of Cubase running on the Atari ST.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Integrated MIDI Setup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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It\u2019s important to remember that the Atari ST + Cubase combo wasn\u2019t a full-fledged DAW like we\u2019re used to today. Although the ST had a Yamaha YM2149F sound chip with a simple 3-voice square wave + noise channel, its limited memory and processing power meant it wasn\u2019t used for actual audio recording or effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, it functioned primarily as a sequencer, with everything connected via MIDI cables, with synchronisation handled through MIDI Time Code or SMPTE. As shown in the video, this setup was miles away from our smooth, instantaneous modern systems. There were sync delays, necessary run-ins, and the occasional need to restart just to get everything locked in sync.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But for musicians of the \u201970s and early \u201980s, especially those into electronic music, this was still a revolutionary leap forward in composition and control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hardware: From Sound Modules to Digital Recorders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what sort of setups were used in the 20th century to mimic the power of a modern DAW? In the video, Dan Baxter uses a Roland SC-880 sound module (released in 1997) for the drum and instrument sounds, along with a Fostex D-160, a 16-track digital recorder from 1998.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the 1980s, digital recorders were not yet affordable. Musicians had to rely on reel-to-reel multitrack recorders, such as the popular and affordable Fostex R8. These could be synced to MIDI via SMPTE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To mix everything down, the audio outputs were fed and mixed through a console and then recorded to a stereo reel-to-reel machine. And while digital mastering to DAT (Digital Audio Tape) did exist in the late \u201980s, it didn\u2019t become truly affordable or widespread until the \u201990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, enough of the describing. I’m sure you want to see and hear what an old late 80’s looked and sounded like. Check out the video below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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