Steinberg

Last updated
Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Software Development
Genre Music technology
Founded1984;40 years ago (1984)
FounderKarl Steinberg
Manfred Rürup
Headquarters
Hamburg
,
Germany
Key people
Managing Directors: Clyde Sendke, Yoshiyuki Tsugawa, Marco Papini
Products Cubase, Nuendo, WaveLab, HALion, Dorico, SpectraLayers
Parent Yamaha Corporation
Website steinberg.net

Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH (trading as Steinberg) is a German musical software and hardware company based in Hamburg. It develops software for writing, recording, arranging and editing music, most notably Cubase, Nuendo, and Dorico. It also designs audio and MIDI hardware interfaces, [1] controllers, and iOS/Android music apps including Cubasis. [2] Steinberg created several industry standard music technologies including the Virtual Studio Technology (VST) [3] format for plug-ins and the ASIO (Audio Stream Input/Output) protocol. Steinberg has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha since 2005. [4]

Contents

History

The company was founded in 1984 by Karl Steinberg and Manfred Rürup in Hamburg. [5] As early proponents and fans of the MIDI protocol, the two developed Pro 16, a MIDI sequencing application for the Commodore 64 and soon afterwards, Pro 24 for the Atari ST platform. [6] The ST had built-in MIDI ports which helped to quickly increase interest in the new technology across the music world.

In 1989, Steinberg released Cubase for Atari, and versions for the Mac and Windows platforms would follow soon afterwards. It became a very popular MIDI sequencer, used in studios around the globe.

Steinberg Media Technologies AG had a revenue of 25 million DM in 1999. It had 180 employees in 2000. [7] A planned entry on the Neuer Markt (New Market, NEMAX50) of the Deutsche Börse failed. The company had a revenue of 20 million Euros in 2001 and 130 employees in 2002. [8]

In 2003, Steinberg was acquired by Pinnacle Systems [9] and shortly after that, by Yamaha in 2004. [10] With its new mother company Yamaha, Steinberg expanded design and production of its own hardware, and since 2008, it has created a range of audio and MIDI interface hardware including the UR, MR816, CC and CI series.

In 2012, Steinberg launched its first iOS sequencer, Cubasis, which has seen regular updates since then. The Steinberg satellite office in London was also opened in 2012. [11]

Steinberg has won a number of industry awards including several MIPA awards, and accolades for Cubasis and its CMC controllers amongst others.

Dorico team acquisition

In 2012, Steinberg acquired the former development team behind Sibelius, following the closure of Avid's London office in July, to begin development on a new professional scoring software named Dorico . [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] It was released on 19 October 2016. [17]

Product history

Cubase was released in 1989, initially as a MIDI sequencer. Digital audio recording followed in 1992 with Cubase Audio, followed by VST support in 1996, which made it possible for third-party software programmers to create and sell virtual instruments for Cubase. Steinberg bundled its own VST instruments and effects with Cubase, as well as continuing to develop standalone instruments. Atari support eventually ended, and Cubase became a Mac and Windows DAW (digital audio workstation), with feature parity across both platforms.

The WaveLab audio editing and mastering suite followed in 1995 for Windows, and the VST and ASIO protocols – open technologies that could be used by any manufacturer – were first released in 1997. WaveLab would come to the Mac in 2010.

In 2000, the company released Nuendo, a new DAW clearly targeted at the broadcast and media industries. 2001 saw the release of HALion, a dedicated software sampler. A complete rewrite of Cubase in 2002 was necessary due to its legacy code which was no longer maintainable, leading to a name change to Cubase SX, ditching older technology and using the audio engine from Nuendo. Since this time, Cubase and Nuendo have shared many core technologies. Cubase currently comes in three versions – Elements, Artist and Pro.

Steinberg was one of the first DAW manufacturers who started using automatic delay compensation for synchronization of different channels of the mixer which may have different latency.

With the growing popularity of mobile devices, Steinberg develops apps for iOS including Cubasis, a fully featured DAW for iPad with plug-ins, full audio and MIDI recording and editing and many other professional features. It also creates standalone apps, including the Nanologue synth and LoopMash. In 2016, Steinberg released Dorico, a professional music notation and scoring suite.

Steinberg VST

As part of the development of its flagship, the sequencer Cubase, Steinberg defined the VST interface (Virtual Studio Technology) in 1996, by means of which external programs can be integrated as virtual instruments playable via MIDI. VST simulates a real-time studio environment with EQs, effects, mixing and automation and has become a quasi-standard supported by many other audio editing programs. [18]

The latest version is VST 3. The VST 3 is a general rework of the long-serving VST plug-in interface. It is not compatible with the older VST versions, but it includes some new features and possibilities. [19]

Initially developed for Macintosh only, Steinberg Cubase VST for the PC followed a year later and established VST and the Audio Stream Input/Output Protocol (ASIO) as open standards that enabled third parties to develop plug-ins and audio hardware. ASIO ensures that the delay caused by the audio hardware during sound output is kept to a minimum to enable hardware manufacturers to provide specialized drivers. ASIO has established itself as the standard for audio drivers. [20]

Products

Steinberg's first product, Steinberg Pro 16, was sold on floppy disks. This is version 2.3 Steinberg pro12.jpg
Steinberg's first product, Steinberg Pro 16, was sold on floppy disks. This is version 2.3

Current products

Music software

VST instruments

  • HALion (SE/Sonic) – virtual sampling and sound design system
  • HALion Symphonic Orchestra
  • Groove Agent – electronic and acoustic drums
  • The Grand [22] – virtual Piano
  • Padshop – granular synthesizer
  • Retrologue – analog synthesizer
  • Dark Planet – dark sounds for cinematic and electronic music
  • Hypnotic Dance – synth-based dance sounds
  • Triebwerk – Sounds for Elektro, Techno and House
  • Iconica – Orchester Library, recorded at Funkhaus Berlin

Hardware

  • Steinberg AXR4 – 28x24 Thunderbolt 2 Audio Interface with 32-Bit Integer Recording and RND SILK
  • Steinberg UR824 – 24x24 USB 2.0 audio interface with 8x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz, on board DSP, zero latency monitoring, advanced integration. Their top-of-the-line USB audio interface
  • Steinberg CC121 – Advanced Integration Controller
  • Steinberg CI2 – Advanced Integration Controller

Steinberg Houston - Controller with motorised faders

  • Steinberg MR816 CSX – Advanced Integration DSP Studio
  • Steinberg MR816 X – Advanced Integration DSP Studio
  • Steinberg UR44 – 6x4 USB 2.0 audio interface with 4x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support & MIDI I/O
  • Steinberg UR22mkII – 2x2 USB 2.0 audio interface with 2x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support & MIDI I/O
  • Steinberg UR12 – 2x2 USB 2.0 audio interface with 1x D-PREs, 24-bit/192 kHz support
  • Steinberg Key (License Control Device for Steinberg Software - Dongle)
  • eLicenser (License Control Management for Steinberg Software - Dongle)

Past products

Music software

  • Pro 16 (for Commodore 64) [23]
  • Trackstar (for Commodore 64) [24]
  • Pro 24 (for Atari ST, [25] [26] Amiga) [27]
  • The Ear (for Atari ST) [28]
  • Twelve (for Atari ST) [29]
  • Tango (for Atari ST) [30]
  • MusiCal (for Atari ST) [31]
  • Cubeat (for Atari ST) [32]
  • Cubase Lite (for Atari ST/Mac/PC) [33]
  • SoundWorks series (for Atari ST) – Sample editors for the Akai S900, Ensoniq Mirage, E-mu Emax and Sequential Prophet 2000
  • SynthWorks series (for Atari ST) – Patch editor/librarians [34] for the Yamaha DX7, DX7II, TX7 and TX81z, Roland D50, other Roland D-series (D20, D10, D110, D5) and MT32 and Ensoniq ESQ-1
  • Cubase SX
  • Cubase VST
  • Avalon – sample editor for Atari [35]
  • V-Stack
  • ReCycle – Windows/Mac sample editor [36]

VST instruments

  • Plex
  • D'cota
  • Hypersonic [37]
  • X-phraze
  • Model-E
  • Virtual Guitarist [38]
  • Virtual Bassist

Hardware

  • MIDEX-8 – USB MIDI interface [39]
  • MIDEX-3 – USB MIDI interface [40]
  • MIDEX+ – Atari MIDI interface [41]
  • Steinberg Amiga MIDI interface
  • Steinberg Media Interface 4 (MI4) – USB MIDI interface
  • Avalon 16 DA Converter – AD Converter for Atari
  • SMP-24 – SMPTE/MIDI processor [42]
  • Timelock – SMPTE processor [43]
  • Topaz – Computer controlled recorder [44]

Protocols

Steinberg have introduced several industry-standard software protocols. These include:

Steinberg's notable packages include the sequencers Cubase and Nuendo , as well as WaveLab (a digital audio editor) and numerous VST plugins.

Related Research Articles

Akai is a Hong Kong-based manufacturer of consumer electronics. It was established as Akai Electric Company Ltd in Tokyo, Japan, in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinberg Cubase</span> Digital audio workstation

Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-down versions of Cubase are included with almost all Yamaha audio and MIDI hardware, as well as hardware from other manufacturers. These versions can be upgraded to a more advanced version at a discount.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual Studio Technology</span> Audio plug-in software interface

Virtual Studio Technology (VST) is an audio plug-in software interface that integrates software synthesizers and effects units into digital audio workstations. VST and similar technologies use digital signal processing to simulate traditional recording studio hardware in software. Thousands of plugins exist, both commercial and freeware, and many audio applications support VST under license from its creator, Steinberg.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital audio workstation</span> Electronic device or application software used for recording, editing and producing audio files

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Emagic was a music software and hardware company based in Rellingen, Germany and a satellite office in Grass Valley, California. On July 1, 2002 Emagic was bought by Apple Computer. Emagic's Windows-based product offerings were discontinued on September 30, 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Audio Stream Input/Output</span> Computer sound card driver protocol

Audio Stream Input/Output (ASIO) is a computer audio interface driver protocol for digital audio specified by Steinberg, providing high data throughput, synchronization, and low latency between a software application and a computer's audio interface or sound card.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ensoniq EPS</span> Digital musical instrument

The Ensoniq Performance Sampler (EPS) was one of the first few affordable samplers on the market. It was manufactured from 1988 to 1991 by Ensoniq in Malvern, Pennsylvania, US. The EPS is a 13-bit sampler and replaced the Mirage - widely regarded as the first truly affordable sampling keyboard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waldorf Music</span> German synthesizer company

Waldorf Music is a German synthesizer company best known for its Microwave wavetable synthesizer and Blofeld virtual analogue synthesizer.

The Yamaha TX81Z is a rack-mounted (keyboard-less) frequency modulation (FM) music synthesizer, released in 1987. It is also known as a keyboard-less Yamaha DX11. Unlike previous FM synthesizers of the era, the TX81Z was the first to offer a range of oscillator waveforms other than just sine waves, conferring the new timbres of some of its patches when compared to older, sine-only FM synths. The TX81Z has developed a famous reputation, largely based on some of its preset bass sounds. The Yamaha DX11 keyboard synth was released the following year, offering improved editing abilities.

The Yamaha SY85 is a digital music workstation introduced in 1992. Unlike other Yamaha synthesizers of the time the SY85 does not use FM synthesis. Instead, its sounds are based on samples, which can be layered and modified to create new sounds.

In computer music and professional audio creation, a DirectX plugin is a software processing component that can be loaded as a plugin into host applications to allow real-time processing, audio effects, mixing audio or act as virtual synthesizers. DirectX plugins allow the replacement of traditional recording studio hardware and rack units used in professional studios with software-based counterparts that can be connected together in a modular way. This allows host manufacturers to focus on the conviviality and efficiency of their products while specialized manufacturers can focus on the digital signal processing aspect. For example, there are plugins for effects boxes, such as reverbs and delays, effects pedals, like guitar distortion, flange and chorus, and for mixing and mastering processors such as compressors, limiters, exciters, sub bass enhancers, stereo imagers and many more.

WaveLab is a digital audio editor and recording computer software application for Windows and macOS, created by Steinberg. WaveLab was started in 1995 and it is mainly the work of one programmer, Philippe Goutier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roland R-8</span> Drum machine

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The Akai S1000 is a 16-bit, 44.1 kHz professional stereo digital sampler, released by Akai in 1988. The S1000 was among the first professional-quality 16-bit stereo samplers. Its abilities to splice, crossfade, trim, and loop sound in 16-bit CD quality made it popular among producers in the late 80s through to the mid 90s. The S1000 used 24-bit internal processing, had digital filters and an effects send and return, and came with 2MB of RAM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinberg Nuendo</span> Audio post-production system

Nuendo is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music recording, arranging, editing, and post-production. The package is aimed at audio and video post-production market segments, but also contains optional modules that can be used for multiple multimedia creation and audio sequencing.

Gajits Music Software, also known as Software Technology Ltd., was a software company based in Manchester, England. The company developed music software for the Atari ST and Amiga in the early 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bedroom production</span>

A bedroom producer is an amateur musician who creates, performs, and records their music independently using a home studio, often considered a hobbyist opposed to a professional record producer in the recording industry that works in a traditional studio with clients. Typically bedroom producers use accessible digital technology that costs less than the equipment in a professional studio, such as MIDI controller-based instruments and virtual studio technology, to create music for release to the world. While a professional record producer oversees and guides the recording process, often working alongside multiple people such as studio musicians, singers, engineers, mixers, songwriters, arrangers, and orchestrators, a bedroom producer does everything independently: creating the ideas, recording them and processing them for release. Bedroom producers are often self-taught, learning sound design, mixing and music theory by reading music production blogs and watching tutorials on the internet. As bedroom producers depend on the accessibility of music technology, bedroom production has been made easier with advances in home computing power and digital audio workstations (DAW).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Steinberg</span> German businessman

Karl "Charlie" Steinberg is a German businessman best known for being the co-founder of Steinberg Media Technologies in 1983 with Manfred Rürup. Their tools helped to make digital audio editing popular, most notably through the Cubase program. He and Rürup also co-founded the now-discontinued online service digitalmusician.net.

References

  1. ↑ IT-Service, Sven Vörtmann-Internet und. "UR Series". www.steinberg.net/. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  2. ↑ "Cubasis: Music creation for iOS & Android | Steinberg" . Retrieved 2020-09-21.
  3. ↑ The Oxford handbook of computer music. Dean, R. T. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2009. ISBN   9780195331615. OCLC   263605563.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. ↑ "Yamaha Buy Steinberg". www.soundonsound.com. Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  5. ↑ "A brief history of Steinberg Cubase". MusicRadar . 2011-05-24. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  6. ↑ Manning, Peter. Electronic and computer music (Fourth ed.). New York. p. 325. ISBN   9780199986439. OCLC   858861237.
  7. ↑ Steinberg Media Technologies AG geht an den Neuen Markt, golem.de, 13 September 2000
  8. ↑ Jobatey, Cherno: Steinberg: Röhren wie Hendrix, Wirtschaftswoche No. 46, 7 November 2002
  9. ↑ Steinberg & Pinacle: The Buyout
  10. ↑ Yamaha übernimmt Steinberg, computerbase.de, 21 December 2004
  11. ↑ "STEINBERG MEDIA TECHNOLOGIES GMBH overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-10-01.
  12. ↑ Kirn, Peter (2016-05-17). "This is the next-gen notation tool from original Sibelius team". CDM Create Digital Music. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  13. ↑ Stevens, Alex (21 April 2016). "Applied Theory". Rhinegold. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  14. ↑ Rogerson, Ben (22 February 2013). "Sibelius team working on new Steinberg notation application". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  15. ↑ Wherry, Mark (February 2017). "Steinberg Dorico [Preview]". Sound On Sound. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  16. ↑ Shapey, Rachel (18 February 2019). "Interview with Dorico creator, Daniel Spreadbury | icancompose.com" . Retrieved 2019-07-03.
  17. ↑ Spreadbury, Daniel (2016-11-01). "Dorico is available now, first update coming November". Dorico. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  18. ↑ Michael Steppat: Audio Programming: Sound Synthesis, Editing, Sound Design, Carl Hanser Verlag, 2014, p. 69.
  19. ↑ "VST3SDK". GitHub . 2021.
  20. ↑ Petelin, Roman (2004). Cubase SX 2 : virtual MIDI & audio studio. Petelin, Yury. Wayne, PA: Alist. p. 113. ISBN   1931769192. OCLC   55054529.
  21. ↑ "Steinberg Sequel". Sound On Sound. July 2007. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015.
  22. ↑ "Steinberg The Grand". Sound On Sound. March 2002. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
  23. ↑ "The Professional's Choice". Sound On Sound. April 1986. pp. 63–5. ISSN   0951-6816. OCLC   925234032.
  24. ↑ "Trackstar". Electronics & Music Maker. October 1986. pp. 80–1. OCLC   317187644.
  25. ↑ "Software Tracking". Electronics & Music Maker. September 1986. p. 32. OCLC   317187644.
  26. ↑ "Steinberg Pro24 Version III". Sound On Sound. August 1988. pp. 74–5. ISSN   0951-6816. OCLC   925234032.
  27. ↑ "Steinberg Pro 24 v1.1". Amiga Format. No. 24. Future Publishing. July 1991. p. 144. ISSN   0957-4867. OCLC   225912747.
  28. ↑ "Steinberg's The Ear". Music Technology. August 1988. pp. 72–74. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  29. ↑ "High Noon!". Sound On Sound. February 1989. pp. 21–4. ISSN   0951-6816. OCLC   925234032.
  30. ↑ Berg, Henning. "Tango: Software for Computer-Human Improvisation" (PDF). www.nime.org.
  31. ↑ "Steinberg Musical". Music Technology. September 1989. pp. 86–89. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  32. ↑ "Steinberg Cubeat". Music Technology. May 1991. pp. 60–64. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  33. ↑ "Soft Options". Recording Musician. November 1992. pp. 26–34. ISSN   0966-484X. OCLC   264952514.
  34. ↑ "Steinberg Synthworks". Music Technology. Vol. 3, no. 5. April 1989. p. 80. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   24835173.
  35. ↑ "Steinberg Avalon". Music Technology. December 1989. pp. 58–62. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  36. ↑ "Steinberg ReCycle". Sound On Sound. May 1995. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015.
  37. ↑ "Steinberg Hypersonic 2". Sound On Sound. March 2006. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
  38. ↑ "Steinberg Virtual Guitarist 2". Future Music . No. 175. Future Publishing. June 2006. pp. 52–3. ISSN   0967-0378. OCLC   1032779031.
  39. ↑ "Steinberg Midex 8". Sound On Sound. May 2001. Archived from the original on 6 June 2015.
  40. ↑ "Steinberg Midex 3". Sound On Sound. March 2002. Archived from the original on 7 June 2015.
  41. ↑ "Steinberg MIDEX+". Music Technology. December 1990. pp. 72–75. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  42. ↑ "Steinberg SMP-24". Sound On Sound. May 1987. pp. 42–46. ISSN   0951-6816. OCLC   779656410.
  43. ↑ "Steinberg Timelock". Music Technology. January 1988. p. 18. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.
  44. ↑ "Steinberg Topaz". Music Technology. February 1990. pp. 10–11. ISSN   0957-6606. OCLC   483899345.

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