I made the move to Luna some 18 months ago from Pro Tools and Logic for my daily work needs. It is great having come through the days of consoles and tape, through early digital to typical modern DAWs. Admittedly, I also use UA Apollos and satellites plus having access to just about the whole range of UAD plug ins which due to the whole workflow and experience within the UA ecosystem , gives me a much more pleasant working day. I still have to work in PT and Logic on occasion but for me the whole creative experience has been enhanced significantly by using Luna. Really good video. Thanks
Yep that’s my story as well , love , have all the plug ins and api Luna eq as well use ssl controllers and all their plug ins … not going back to logic
Hey Mike! Thanks for another great video. I'm just an amateur having fun with things I don't fully understabd but I learn along the way. I've never been in a real recording studio so the path the audio signal takes is a little mystery to me. Mainly, what puzzles me is the "Tape" and "Console" sections. In my head, the tape is the last in the chain, after the console, not before the "Inserts", "Sends", etc... It would be real nice if you could do a video explaining not just the routing but the logic behind it. There maybe some other newbs interested in this info too, not just me, I hope?
If one were to mix on a console back in 1980, all of the audio would be coming from a tape machine. If you recorded that audio today at your home studio, then it just went through the A/D converters in your audio interface. Having the tape emulation at the beginning of Luna’s chain allows you to mix your tracks with the color and saturation of audio recorded to tape in the first place. Back in the old days, we used the tape recorder as a “color box” when recording by “pushing” audio into it while recording. Kick and Bass went into the “red” (above 0 on the VU, slightly overloaded), I’d shoot for 0 with the snare, while legato sounds were kept to around -3. Having the tape as the first processor allows you to mix that way again - if you want to. With Luna, nothing is keeping you from just dropping that Studer emulation (as a plugin) after any other processing you’d like to do first. You choose.
@@JimMoreland Thanks for the reply. I guess I misunderstood the process. Taking your 1980 example, my understanding is: a mic or an instrument goes into the console, thru any EQ and comp and busses (for reverb, delay, etc...) the console had, and then into tape. At that stage the tape "sound" is added. Are you saying the effects (EQ, comp, delay, reverb, etc...) were added only at the bouncing or mixdown stage? The initial recording were going straight to tape and any effects added at a later stage?
@@YvesChaput Rather than engage in a lengthy discussion of general recording practices from 1980, I’ll just use this hypothetical… I mic everything up. I then send the signals through the mixing console and adjust the preamp level and EQ on each track. Those tracks are sent to their corresponding inputs on the tape recorder and we record a first pass. We then listen to the playback to hear what the tape has done to the signal and make adjustments as necessary. The ONLY time I would record reverb or delay would be if those were part of (for example) a guitar players stop box chain going into his/her amp. Our Harrison console had no built in compressors or gates per channel, just EQ. All of the FX (comp/gate, reverb, chorus, delay, etc.) were added at the mix down stage. That would have been a typical day for me at the studio.
@@JimMoreland Cool, thanks for this. It does help me get a better understanding of the process of recording. There were some holes in my understanding of the signal path and where/when the processing was done. Thanks a lot again for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.
I Think is worth it i being using Luna since came out during Covid and i love it it makes Protools looks like Garage band just saying .. Also you can get Spark for $150 a year and get all those plugins and more but the Exertions are separate and they are Amazing. I really like the Neve Summing. Thnx
As long as ARA does not work in Luna it can't be a serious choice for me, also the folder implication is not really well thought out. Luna is ok but nowhere near Protools or Reaper for that matter. But if it works for you, great.
If UAD comes out with a Neve or SSL Console integration for Luna, I would be vey interested. BUT, only when on sale!!...Yes, I know I can use my existing plugins, but to have it "baked in" to the channels would be good
The free Luna is definitely a pro choise (see, what I did there?), if you're making music the traditional way, like you do. Recording live instruments and mixing them down to a master. For soft-synth enthusiasts or electronic musician's it is not very attractive. DAWs nowadays are on a spectrum. FL Studio concentrates on creating music with the PC. Let's put it on the left side. And Luna on the right side. Now every other DAW classifies somewhere on that spectrum. Ableton live leaning a lot towards the left, Studio One to the right, Cubase pretty much in the center. And as much as I love free DAWs, it's sad, that most of them tend to the right side. I would love to see more creativity in mainstream DAWs, that focus on the music creation, supporting VST and Clap, having extensive MIDI editing and tools, and generally supporting the creative phase of music making more.
I think it's fair to say that LUNA is geared toward traditional recording as you said. That's what I like about it since I also use a more traditional work flow with live instruments, etc. I do some MIDI drum programming, but I do that in EZDrummer 3 which has an excellent built in MIDI editor for that. But I could definitely see where it would not ideal for soft-synth and electronic musicians. Studio One does have the "right side" functionality, but it also has a lot of MIDI features as well. Just curious, do the synth instruments/plugins themselves ever provide any of the creativity functionality you're talking about? (That's out of my wheelhouse.)
I was excited it about it as a mixdown tool. But lack of 3rd party VST's makes this a non-starter for me. I did get Ableton Lite with my speakers, I might try that out.
I got Luna for free when it was launched some years ago (it was free when you had a Mac and an Apollo interface which is my case). Obvioulsy I tried it but I still continue to use Logic which is far more fitted to my usage as a composer (I say Logic but could be Cubase or any major DAWs, it's just I use Logic since 30 years..). Today Luna is still on my drives and ready to launch on my computers and I usualy do the updates, but I never use it even if I understand that this kind of "super multitrack tape machine" can realy appeal a lot of us. Furthermore it's always good to see an alternative to Protools which, IMO, doesn't deserve its "industry standard" status since 15 years.
Hiya! Thanks for another great video about Luna. I'm still in S1 but tempted to try Luna. With Luna really bringing in the analog feel and work flow into the digital realm, do you feel gain staging more important and to hit the plugins differently than in other daws and plugins?
Right now, a better value than the LUNA Pro bundle to be in a native UAD ecosystem would be using the free LUNA and getting the Signature Edition Bundle still being sold at half off for $299. You'd get all the modeled instruments and sampled piano, and most of the native plug-ins. The only plug-ins missing would be the Manley Vari-Mu, Helios, LA-6176, Verve Analog Machines, and the Ampex ATR102. Last month, UAD offered the ATR102 for free, and for their summer sale the individual plug-ins were $49 each, which sale will likely come again. And Free LUNA of course comes with Shape for a decently wide range of bread and butter multi-timbral sampled instruments.
When I first downloaded it, Luna didn't even load, it died before it loaded. So for a long time I wasn't even able to use it. Very recently though, about a week ago, I saw that Luna had been updated and so I got the latest version and ran it, and this time it loaded just fine, no issues, and it did impress me, it works great, and yes... it's free! I own many of the plugins included in the pro bundle and I own a billion other VSTs so I don't feel I need to buy the pro bundle.
I am having problems getting my 'multi outs' for my Addictive Drums. I have seen that this is an update since Luna was mde available for windows users. Could you please help me with this? Thank you.
I tried it after Mike's last video, mainly because it looks gorgeous, but was shocked by how poor some of it was, especially the PRV (ugh!) but yes, I know it's a beta. Have they at least fixed the PRV yet?
Just downloaded LUNA (the FREE version) a few days ago to check it out. Still learning it but it's been fun. Haven't decided if I'm going to go with the Pro Bundle since I have all the plugins I need. Having the API console layout looks like a nice feature though.
Last summer sale, I opted for the $300 Signature Edition Bundle instead of the LUNA Pro one. For $100 more, I thought it was a better value to get 34 of their native plug-ins including all of the modeled instruments and the sampled piano. I used the custom bundles to add to that collection what's missing from it, which are the Manley Vari-Mu, Helios Type 69, LA-6176, Verve Analog Machines, ATR-102, and API Summing. Then last month, UAD also gave away the ATR-102. But I think I still would've been pretty well set had I just stuck to the Signature bundle. The API Vision and Bus console were unlocked with the bundle.
@@MrVyrtuoso Nice! I've been picking up some of their plugins here and there as they've been on good sales. Slowly replacing a lot of my Waves plugins. I'm pretty much set now, but there are a couple that I may still get. I've also gotten several for free which is really nice! I missed the ATR-102 somehow though. Oh well 🤣
I did try Luna for a while and still have it on my system, I also have Apollo twin usb interface, but got a bit frustrated with Luna while recording a couple of songs, I use a Roland td9 midi drum kit and use superior drummer 3 software, one major drawback was Luna is unable to record the hi hat foot pedal midi data correctly, superior drummer has a setting for Roland td9 and works perfectly when I use Reaper, but that same settings does not work in Luna so when I play the hi hat it stays open , I must say I always had the same issue with Reason V10 and v11, As a work around I set superior drummer to general instead of Roland td9 and it sort of works, I also could not find half of my plugins in Luna, perhaps they are vst 2 and Luna only uses vst3?
Luna and Logic became my main platforms. I was fed up with PT. I'd had Apollo x8 and x4 before Luna appeared. Luna needs a better piano roll, then Logic is gone for me.
Hi there buddy , question , after using cake for so long now and waiting for the big new outcome they have us all waiting for , would you concider the alternative free Luna DAW , I was maybe looking towards the Reaper if the pricing went south for Cake/Sonar ... Im thinking it does all the things that youd want from a DAW and all the pluging that you acuire in your cakes lifetime will just work as well ! , Im gonna give it a go and see if my head takes to it, ( PS If the priceing on the new Sonar is good and not a monthly plan you can forget everything i have just said, Better the devil you know. ) Loving the channel Mike , ( old man from UK ) Stay well
Hmm, I wonder why I couldn´t get it to work at all. I must be stupid! Or Maybe because I only is on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. But my Studio One Pro works fine?? So I don´t get it. Or maybe you should do a Video how to install this. It´s so much strange things to install so I got lost.
Kush plugins are one of the audio plugins just still undermined by many , I always like a plugin that will give me the results but still leave me sounding musical
@@recordingwhiz A pack of 3 UA SD 3. This was a special promotion and unfortunately I can no longer find the offer at my dealer. Looks like I got the last copy of the promo at my dealer. The deal was three SD 3 microphones for around 300 euros plus the pro bundle.
@@CreativeSauce The Neve Summing requires UAD2 hardware to work and to buy as well. All the other plugins don't. That's because of how the emulation is licensed from AMS Neve. But someone had to complain in the UAD forums for them to explain that. And even with UAD claiming it doesn't matter because that plugin is not part of the bundle, it integrates with the DAW and cannot be used out of it.
_"I made a video about a free DAW for Windows called LUNA"_ With that line a large chunk of you audience clicked off the video to go watch something else . . . which is a shame because LUNA is available for Windows *_and_* Mac.
Ehhh, LUNA does have a lot of potential, but i'm put off by the fact that its only real claim to fame is its built in integrated plugins namly the API 2500, ATR-102 and the Vision channel strip and yet they are only included in the pro version. it's not great at editing MIDI or anything else, it's mediocre at best. its shining star would have been mix / mastering, but without the channel strip and tape effects included in free it doesn't have enough to get me excited to use it, even if it was just a reduced set of presets we need something there in the free version otherwise the DAW doesn't impress in other areas.
I made the move to Luna some 18 months ago from Pro Tools and Logic for my daily work needs. It is great having come through the days of consoles and tape, through early digital to typical modern DAWs. Admittedly, I also use UA Apollos and satellites plus having access to just about the whole range of UAD plug ins which due to the whole workflow and experience within the UA ecosystem , gives me a much more pleasant working day. I still have to work in PT and Logic on occasion but for me the whole creative experience has been enhanced significantly by using Luna. Really good video. Thanks
Yep that’s my story as well , love , have all the plug ins and api Luna eq as well use ssl controllers and all their plug ins … not going back to logic
Thanks for the video. Neve summing is a 30 trial with the pro bundle. Unfortunate, because I quite liked the colouration.
Hey Mike! Thanks for another great video. I'm just an amateur having fun with things I don't fully understabd but I learn along the way. I've never been in a real recording studio so the path the audio signal takes is a little mystery to me. Mainly, what puzzles me is the "Tape" and "Console" sections. In my head, the tape is the last in the chain, after the console, not before the "Inserts", "Sends", etc... It would be real nice if you could do a video explaining not just the routing but the logic behind it. There maybe some other newbs interested in this info too, not just me, I hope?
If one were to mix on a console back in 1980, all of the audio would be coming from a tape machine. If you recorded that audio today at your home studio, then it just went through the A/D converters in your audio interface. Having the tape emulation at the beginning of Luna’s chain allows you to mix your tracks with the color and saturation of audio recorded to tape in the first place. Back in the old days, we used the tape recorder as a “color box” when recording by “pushing” audio into it while recording. Kick and Bass went into the “red” (above 0 on the VU, slightly overloaded), I’d shoot for 0 with the snare, while legato sounds were kept to around -3. Having the tape as the first processor allows you to mix that way again - if you want to. With Luna, nothing is keeping you from just dropping that Studer emulation (as a plugin) after any other processing you’d like to do first. You choose.
@@JimMoreland Thanks for the reply. I guess I misunderstood the process. Taking your 1980 example, my understanding is: a mic or an instrument goes into the console, thru any EQ and comp and busses (for reverb, delay, etc...) the console had, and then into tape. At that stage the tape "sound" is added. Are you saying the effects (EQ, comp, delay, reverb, etc...) were added only at the bouncing or mixdown stage? The initial recording were going straight to tape and any effects added at a later stage?
@@YvesChaput Rather than engage in a lengthy discussion of general recording practices from 1980, I’ll just use this hypothetical… I mic everything up. I then send the signals through the mixing console and adjust the preamp level and EQ on each track. Those tracks are sent to their corresponding inputs on the tape recorder and we record a first pass. We then listen to the playback to hear what the tape has done to the signal and make adjustments as necessary. The ONLY time I would record reverb or delay would be if those were part of (for example) a guitar players stop box chain going into his/her amp. Our Harrison console had no built in compressors or gates per channel, just EQ. All of the FX (comp/gate, reverb, chorus, delay, etc.) were added at the mix down stage. That would have been a typical day for me at the studio.
@@JimMoreland Cool, thanks for this. It does help me get a better understanding of the process of recording. There were some holes in my understanding of the signal path and where/when the processing was done. Thanks a lot again for taking the time to respond. Much appreciated.
I Think is worth it i being using Luna since came out during Covid and i love it it makes Protools looks like Garage band just saying .. Also you can get Spark for $150 a year and get all those plugins and more but the Exertions are separate and they are Amazing. I really like the Neve Summing. Thnx
As long as ARA does not work in Luna it can't be a serious choice for me, also the folder implication is not really well thought out. Luna is ok but nowhere near Protools or Reaper for that matter. But if it works for you, great.
Well presented Mike.
Cheers Vatche :)
If UAD comes out with a Neve or SSL Console integration for Luna, I would be vey interested. BUT, only when on sale!!...Yes, I know I can use my existing plugins, but to have it "baked in" to the channels would be good
Yep would love the neve … enjoy api but neve would be lovely … ssl I’m using with their controllers and software and working great with Luna
The free Luna is definitely a pro choise (see, what I did there?), if you're making music the traditional way, like you do. Recording live instruments and mixing them down to a master. For soft-synth enthusiasts or electronic musician's it is not very attractive. DAWs nowadays are on a spectrum. FL Studio concentrates on creating music with the PC. Let's put it on the left side. And Luna on the right side. Now every other DAW classifies somewhere on that spectrum. Ableton live leaning a lot towards the left, Studio One to the right, Cubase pretty much in the center.
And as much as I love free DAWs, it's sad, that most of them tend to the right side. I would love to see more creativity in mainstream DAWs, that focus on the music creation, supporting VST and Clap, having extensive MIDI editing and tools, and generally supporting the creative phase of music making more.
From what I can tell, Tracktion's Waveform leans more toward your left, though it can also work more like your right.
I think it's fair to say that LUNA is geared toward traditional recording as you said. That's what I like about it since I also use a more traditional work flow with live instruments, etc. I do some MIDI drum programming, but I do that in EZDrummer 3 which has an excellent built in MIDI editor for that. But I could definitely see where it would not ideal for soft-synth and electronic musicians. Studio One does have the "right side" functionality, but it also has a lot of MIDI features as well.
Just curious, do the synth instruments/plugins themselves ever provide any of the creativity functionality you're talking about? (That's out of my wheelhouse.)
I was excited it about it as a mixdown tool. But lack of 3rd party VST's makes this a non-starter for me. I did get Ableton Lite with my speakers, I might try that out.
I got Luna for free when it was launched some years ago (it was free when you had a Mac and an Apollo interface which is my case). Obvioulsy I tried it but I still continue to use Logic which is far more fitted to my usage as a composer (I say Logic but could be Cubase or any major DAWs, it's just I use Logic since 30 years..). Today Luna is still on my drives and ready to launch on my computers and I usualy do the updates, but I never use it even if I understand that this kind of "super multitrack tape machine" can realy appeal a lot of us. Furthermore it's always good to see an alternative to Protools which, IMO, doesn't deserve its "industry standard" status since 15 years.
Hiya! Thanks for another great video about Luna. I'm still in S1 but tempted to try Luna. With Luna really bringing in the analog feel and work flow into the digital realm, do you feel gain staging more important and to hit the plugins differently than in other daws and plugins?
Right now, a better value than the LUNA Pro bundle to be in a native UAD ecosystem would be using the free LUNA and getting the Signature Edition Bundle still being sold at half off for $299. You'd get all the modeled instruments and sampled piano, and most of the native plug-ins. The only plug-ins missing would be the Manley Vari-Mu, Helios, LA-6176, Verve Analog Machines, and the Ampex ATR102. Last month, UAD offered the ATR102 for free, and for their summer sale the individual plug-ins were $49 each, which sale will likely come again. And Free LUNA of course comes with Shape for a decently wide range of bread and butter multi-timbral sampled instruments.
What are your thoughts on using this for live broadcast mixing? Does Luna allow you to save scenes for quick recall during a performance?
When I first downloaded it, Luna didn't even load, it died before it loaded. So for a long time I wasn't even able to use it. Very recently though, about a week ago, I saw that Luna had been updated and so I got the latest version and ran it, and this time it loaded just fine, no issues, and it did impress me, it works great, and yes... it's free!
I own many of the plugins included in the pro bundle and I own a billion other VSTs so I don't feel I need to buy the pro bundle.
I don’t know if I missed it in this video or if you mentioned it in a previous video but do you need an Apollo interface to use Luna?
No you don't. That used to be the case, but not anymore.
Nice! I'd be interested to see a list of plugins you'd use. I use Cakewalk and I only use free plugins with 1 exception....I did pay for Masterplan.
Yeah, definitely something I'll look into :)
Cakewalk was my number 1 daw but now I move to Luna about a week now, it’s so good the sound is just perfect
I am having problems getting my 'multi outs' for my Addictive Drums. I have seen that this is an update since Luna was mde available for windows users. Could you please help me with this? Thank you.
Would you consider comparing the Luna Pro Bundle to Spark? It seems there is a lot of overlap between those.
Hi Mike, great video as always. Do you know whether the Arturia KeyLab will control this DAW?
Thank you. Certainly, my Keylab MkII is working with it yes.
I tried it after Mike's last video, mainly because it looks gorgeous, but was shocked by how poor some of it was, especially the PRV (ugh!) but yes, I know it's a beta. Have they at least fixed the PRV yet?
Just downloaded LUNA (the FREE version) a few days ago to check it out. Still learning it but it's been fun. Haven't decided if I'm going to go with the Pro Bundle since I have all the plugins I need. Having the API console layout looks like a nice feature though.
Last summer sale, I opted for the $300 Signature Edition Bundle instead of the LUNA Pro one. For $100 more, I thought it was a better value to get 34 of their native plug-ins including all of the modeled instruments and the sampled piano. I used the custom bundles to add to that collection what's missing from it, which are the Manley Vari-Mu, Helios Type 69, LA-6176, Verve Analog Machines, ATR-102, and API Summing. Then last month, UAD also gave away the ATR-102. But I think I still would've been pretty well set had I just stuck to the Signature bundle. The API Vision and Bus console were unlocked with the bundle.
@@MrVyrtuoso Nice! I've been picking up some of their plugins here and there as they've been on good sales. Slowly replacing a lot of my Waves plugins. I'm pretty much set now, but there are a couple that I may still get. I've also gotten several for free which is really nice! I missed the ATR-102 somehow though. Oh well 🤣
I did try Luna for a while and still have it on my system, I also have Apollo twin usb interface, but got a bit frustrated with Luna while recording a couple of songs, I use a Roland td9 midi drum kit and use superior drummer 3 software, one major drawback was Luna is unable to record the hi hat foot pedal midi data correctly, superior drummer has a setting for Roland td9 and works perfectly when I use Reaper, but that same settings does not work in Luna so when I play the hi hat it stays open , I must say I always had the same issue with Reason V10 and v11,
As a work around I set superior drummer to general instead of Roland td9 and it sort of works, I also could not find half of my plugins in Luna, perhaps they are vst 2 and Luna only uses vst3?
Hi my midi has no sound !!! I do exactly what I do with cakewalk etc...
Are you able to use plugins that are already on your system? If so is there a process for installing them?
Luna and Logic became my main platforms. I was fed up with PT. I'd had Apollo x8 and x4 before Luna appeared. Luna needs a better piano roll, then Logic is gone for me.
What about my 80+ excisting apollo UAD plugins? Can I use them in the free Luna?
Hi there buddy , question , after using cake for so long now and waiting for the big new outcome they have us all waiting for , would you concider the alternative free Luna DAW , I was maybe looking towards the Reaper if the pricing went south for Cake/Sonar ... Im thinking it does all the things that youd want from a DAW and all the pluging that you acuire in your cakes lifetime will just work as well ! , Im gonna give it a go and see if my head takes to it, ( PS If the priceing on the new Sonar is good and not a monthly plan you can forget everything i have just said, Better the devil you know. ) Loving the channel Mike , ( old man from UK ) Stay well
Hmm, I wonder why I couldn´t get it to work at all. I must be stupid! Or Maybe because I only is on a Microsoft Surface Pro 4. But my Studio One Pro works fine?? So I don´t get it. Or maybe you should do a Video how to install this. It´s so much strange things to install so I got lost.
Kush plugins are one of the audio plugins just still undermined by many , I always like a plugin that will give me the results but still leave me sounding musical
There's also one important detail. You need to have a UAD2 interface to use one of the plug-ins.
I bought a set of microphones from Universal Audio and the pro bundle was included.
which one?
@@recordingwhiz A pack of 3 UA SD 3. This was a special promotion and unfortunately I can no longer find the offer at my dealer.
Looks like I got the last copy of the promo at my dealer.
The deal was three SD 3 microphones for around 300 euros plus the pro bundle.
Which one Bruno?
@@CreativeSauce The Neve Summing requires UAD2 hardware to work and to buy as well. All the other plugins don't. That's because of how the emulation is licensed from AMS Neve. But someone had to complain in the UAD forums for them to explain that. And even with UAD claiming it doesn't matter because that plugin is not part of the bundle, it integrates with the DAW and cannot be used out of it.
I never get a choice to download the free version, just a 30 day trial of the extended paid version. with a lot of "security" garbage.
_"I made a video about a free DAW for Windows called LUNA"_
With that line a large chunk of you audience clicked off the video to go watch something else . . . which is a shame because LUNA is available for Windows *_and_* Mac.
But the previous video WAS about Windows, and it's got 200,000 views.
Actually it’s available for Mac and windows …
I tried my waves plugns...Luna does not like them....keeps crashing
Version 15 of Waves works with Luna 1.6 but only on the Mac side (and thus AU).
Hey Mike, I'm a bit unclear... Is Luna free?
Sorry, couldn't resist.
Lol :)
Go ahead and spend the $150 or whatever. Your tracks will thank you for it.
Ehhh, LUNA does have a lot of potential, but i'm put off by the fact that its only real claim to fame is its built in integrated plugins namly the API 2500, ATR-102 and the Vision channel strip and yet they are only included in the pro version. it's not great at editing MIDI or anything else, it's mediocre at best. its shining star would have been mix / mastering, but without the channel strip and tape effects included in free it doesn't have enough to get me excited to use it, even if it was just a reduced set of presets we need something there in the free version otherwise the DAW doesn't impress in other areas.
Never summing is a trial
Yall think this going be free for ever 😂😂😂😂 yall crazy it a market share grab 😮 bet u in a few years $25 a month
I don't think so but I bet it made them millions in new plugin sales alone.
@@roberteismann1929 need 20,0000 new engineers to make millions they ain’t happening
Tried it. Needs UAD ecosystem to get much from it. Buggy as hell. Uninstalled.
What bugs