In praise of my Cantabile "blackbox"

Just a quick post to share my positive experiences of Cantabile.

I have two ways of music-making in my studio. One is typical, with a full-fat DAW running various VI libraries and soft-synths from a fair-sized (sometimes overwhelming) collection. This way of working is specific, and when I have an idea to expand on. The “idea” often being the hardest part.

The second way has unlocked the formation of these ideas. There are days when you just want to switch on your piano and a minimum of gear and let the ideas flow. This is where my Cantabile Solo “blackbox” delivers. I run VI sample libraries on 2x midi ports, so my 32 most used VI libraries are always on and ready to fly as a “composers and inspiration toolbox” on my headless mini-ITX PC running Windows 10 LTSC 2019.

Cantabile is rock solid. It is close to the experience of turning on a rack-mounted S&S “rompler”.

I also have the same sample libraries on my Apple DAW thanks to licensing agreements. Best of both worlds!

Cantabile can do so much more than I need, and I can see some duplication with my beloved Sipario X for midi routing (which as an aside powers from my Kawai ES8 piano and is one of the best things I’ve bought for my studio).

I see Brad has worked tirelessly on Cantabile, with a good flow of significant updates. One day, it may make its way over to Apple OS?

It’s always easy to find fault with anything these days, but wanted to take some time out to reflect and share my positive experiences of Cantabile. Great stuff.

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