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Vocallective's NATA female voicebank for the Plogue Alter/Ego realtime voice synthesizer is now a free download Site: https://nata.vocallective.net Plogue Alter/Ego https://www.plogue.com/downloads.html#alterego Announcement: https://www.twitter.com/vocallective I haven't tried this yet so can't testify to how good/bad/easy/hard it is.

I used to play her on a jazz radio show in the late 90's and it always killed. Her version of Autumn leaves, none better.

Hi folks, This project happened rather suddenly, by my standards. I really enjoyed my New Year's Eve experiment of creating a piece of music fast and without thinking too much about it. So, I tried a similar thing on Sunday evening -- just sat down and wrote something, not stopping until I had something basically complete. And "The Soldier's Hornpipe" is the result. I just had a fragment of melody that I fleshed out and then created the basic sketch, which evoked for me the image of Colonial-era soldiers on the march. The basic foundation of the track took four hours on Sunday, and I revisited it both last night and tonight in order to give it more polish. In total, about 6 hours of work - so far. More work is needed, as I consider this a preliminary sketch, and I actually intend to expand the music, as well as improve and add more detail. I must admit, I am surprised at how much I am enjoying writing stuff using this damn the torpedoes sort of approach. I tend to be my own worst critic, and sometimes do a great job derailing my creative impulses. Kind of nice to just get stuff down, and not worry about whether it's good until the dust settles. Anyway, I'd be very curious to hear any feedback on this one, if folks are so inclined: Libraries used... Strings: Albion ONE and 8Dio Anthology Brass: EastWest Hollywood Brass Woodwinds: Vienna Symphonic Library Percussion: Native Instruments Symphony Series, Vienna Symphonic Library, EastWest Hollywood Percussion Ethnic/World: Era II Soprano Recorder Thanks a lot folks! Rob PS: I am interested in hearing about things in the music that people both like and dislike. Any critical points or comments are greatly appreciated. I've already noticed a couple of points that somehow escaped my notice when I exported the audio - a glitchy recorder note in the final section, and a discordant note when the recorder and (I think) a tamtam strike interfere with each other at the key change modulation.

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Here: https://www.payloadz.com/d1/default.aspx?id=3275020

I also think STTNG had better story lines than the first ST series. I also am a fan of the star trek voyager series.

"Doing the entire backing track myself lets me know exactly what is going on in the song, the chords, the substitutions used, and everything I need to play a good improvised solo." One key thing I've learned about performance over all the decades is Don't play it till you get it right Play it till you can't get it wrong. Doing all the parts yourself gives an insight into the music that can't be achieved any other way.

https://youtu.be/EU3ceUH8VjU

...of course! I started this last night...no idea where it's going but at least I got it started 😉 Working title is Born In Fire but most probably will change- Born in Fire Bill

Waves support solved it. It was in the preferences file of Waves Central. He cleared that, and boom -- back to loading in seconds.

Hey Meng, Noel, Jesse, Hoping you have a great NAMM show !

Hi😀 Have you ever tried Autohotkey? I'm not on my PC, but tomorrow Morning I can Write a few AHK Scripts for Midi transpose. Greetz😊 Bassman

The PC and FX Rack are processed in series. By default the PC is before the track FX Rack. It may be placed after the track FX rack using the "Post FX Rack" option in the PC context menu or the Post button above the mini-Quad Curve EQ in the track inspector and console view.

Oh and too drunk 😂

Maybe he meant less bugs on the developer side

Less bugs... I'm calling bullcrap on that one. lol Sounds more like he wanted to use shiny/new which is fine if he wants a limited market. Most smart developers will wait a year before forcing required new versions.

I was wondering the same thing and contacted the creator. I received the following reply this morning.

Nope, never heard it before. Well dance tracks aren't my thing, but I applaud anyone giving new arrangements to old tunes. It's like building a rat-rod. Model T's are nice, but a T-bucket dragster, that's entertainment!

Archiving your projects on an external drive is an excellent idea, as that will free up space on your internal drive. However, if you are going to be working with any of those projects again, you should first copy it back to an internal drive. The reason is that external drives are generally slow 5400 RPM USB drives, that are OK for backups but not audio production. For audio drives always use at least an internal 7200 RPM SATA HDD for good audio track throughput.

Yep shame I don't play like Clapton .....

I think its really worth a fresh blank un-bloated install when you switch over to a new OS or computer (even though I have had success just swaooing my OS hard drive out into a new system). But cleaner is better in my experience. It doesn't really take all that long as long as you are organized and be sure you have everything you need before you embark. It is especially quick if you are reinstalling on an SSD like Cactus suggests. Just be sure you save all you existing preset files, themes, keyboard bindings, etc. I always try to put all mine in the "Cakewalk Content" folder on my D:\ drive but there are a bunch that still get defaulted to C:\Users\(Your Name)\AppData\Local and C:\Users\(Your Name)\AppData\Roaming. Just copy the folders containing your third-party audio applications (like Waves, Magix, AD2, AAS, Native Instruments, etc.) onto a thumb drive and reload them into you new Cakewalk Content and User folders with the same names. You can do a selective install of the old Sonar versions you have, just selecting the plug-ins that aren't included in CWbB. That's my vote, anyway. Good luck.

I believe this script works without any dialog box and this is what he wanted - immediate effect after pressing the key. Workflows, workflows...

Sorry. I used the wrong terminology in my explanation.

Hey Will, thanks for your critique. The entire production of the song was done in a bedroom - less than adequate surroundings. The acoustic guitar was miced with a SHURE SM58 dynamic mic without a mic stand. ☺️ The electric guitar is a $150 Squire 51 sent through an ampsim. All-in-all, its a demo of sorts just to get the arrangement of the song together. Sometime in the near future, I'd love to redo the production in a more stellar recording and mixing environment using higher end instruments and equipment.

Notice the clip area at the top of the signal flow diagram Region FX happen just before the Clip FX Rack.

We all have our own methods, good luck! 😀 Bill

Do you mean just re install the program or start over with a new system drive? Re installing software "clean" to a old system requires removing a lot of stuff and takes a bit of doing. All those nasty little registry entries and hidden folders and whatnot. Starting fresh on a nice shiny brand new SSD C drive is sort of easier. I used to do this every 2 years in the old days but things seems to work better for longer now.

Starting with X3, "Automatic Background Scan" is the default (and recommended) setting. Regardless of the scan option the scanner only scans plug-ins once unless the "rescan" options are enabled. This is why the "rescan" options are disabled by default and should only be used to solve certain issues when running a manual scan.

I run all the Waves Plugins without problem. I’m on the latest Win10 and CbB release as well. The reason for telling you this is to try and give you the confidence that a) the problem isn’t universal and b) that you can get it to work. If you can’t get help on the forum, contact Waves support by phone or email. They are excellent and will work with you. All the best. BTW, in addition to the post above; the Cakewalk scanner should only run when there’s a new plugin found, even if set to Scan on Startup which is the recommended and default setting. If the scanner hangs it’s often the case that there’s an error message hidden behind another open window that requires some action on your part. The scanning process will sit there until you clear the message.

May or may not be related but I'll mention this in case it might help. I recently had a similar problem with Wave 10 after I reinstalled the Abbey Road suite where the VST scan would hit Waves 10 and then crawl like a sick slug , issue went away after I reinstalled Mercury. Details: Waves uses a couple of DLLs to cover it's library. Abbey Roads was on WaveShell3-VST3 10.0_x64.vst3 and after reinstalling A.R. the DLL was the same version but had a newer time/date stamp than the other two. Additional attempts at reinstalling A.R. didn't change things, reinstalling Mercury (which updated WaveShell1-VST3 10.0_x64.vst3 and WaveShell2-VST3 10.0_x64.vst3) did. As mentioned previously problem didn't occur till after after I reinstalled Abbey Roads and all the Waves VST3s were the same version. Now my VST scan times are back to normal. If still having issue try reinstalling your Waves plugins.

In PRV drag the notes up and down as much as you want...why would you want to script such a simple action? bitman hit the nail on the head! Bill

Turn off the scanner on start up...the only time you need to scan is when you add a new plugin. Bill

A classic. Clever, funny, and the dude could play a bit.

Ok, even this departure from your normal is good. A raw song and a good one. Mix-wise, I'd recommend vocal down, drums up as a start. Probably guitar down a bit, too. cheers, -Tom

If MME works for you, that is great. It is better to spend time making music than tuning latency and MIDI tolerates higher latency then let say guitar (voice is the worse). Just do not hesitate to try other modes if you start to feel you want a bit faster response.

I make my own backing tracks for my duo saving the most fun parts to be played live over the tracks. Downsizing to a duo was a compromise, but a way to keep making a living doing music and nothing but music in the days after people stopped paying bands enough money to live on. I make most of them 100% MIDI because (a) I don't have a pristine recording environment and (b) too much audio sounds like karaoke to me. I don't know if the audience cares about karaoke tracks, but I have enough self-pride to care. I make the majority of them from scratch, playing the parts live with MIDI controllers, starting with the drums first, then the bass, and after that whatever the song needs. I play drums, bass, sax, wind synth, guitar, flute, keyboard synth and vocals so it's something I can do. Doing the entire backing track myself lets me know exactly what is going on in the song, the chords, the substitutions used, and everything I need to play a good improvised solo. Doing the backing tracks myself also allows me to change and/or extend the song I'm covering so I can have a space for a nice solo. I can put it in our best key, and change the tempo too without artifacts. If there is an appropriate style I'll use Band-in-a-Box for the 'mule work' (comp parts that don't require song specific licks or rhythms). I have a page on how to: http://www.nortonmusic.com/backing_tracks.html Another mule work time saver. I can enter the chords in BiaB, and if playing horn, string or other ensemble parts, I can record the high part and let BiaB write the lower harmony parts. BiaB has many different options and follows the rules I learned in the Berklee correspondence course when I was young. I'm a live performer, if I were to do an album I'd still record the parts the same way, drums first, bass next and so on. So would it be a backing track or not? (Who cares?) I've done 'sax for hire' studio work often to a rhythm section already recorded and with a temp vocal track on it. When done the singer overdubs the final track. So is that a backing track to the vocalist? (Another rhetorical question.) I also write aftermarket styles for Band-in-a-Box so I know what the app can do and cannot do, it's strong points to use and it's weaknesses to avoid. At the start of this post, I said the duo was a compromise, and it is... All the background parts are 'me'. -- there is nobody to surprise me with a part I didn't think of already -- there is interaction on stage only between my partner and myself, but not with the 'band' .. we can react to it, but it doesn't react back to us -- the arrangements are set in stone and although I can make different arrangements of the same song for different situations, once I start it's what it is -- it's a lot more 'not playing music work' on stage -- when those rare but inevitable mistakes are made, the rest of the 'band' won't help you cover them up. But here is what drove me to duo-land: I was in a 5 piece band with the woman who is now my wife (we first met while in different bands and joined first a jazz trio and then this pop band together). We were working steadily and the bass player had to quit. Two months out of work auditioning and braking in a replacement. As a musician I know to keep two months living money in the bank for these circumstances but I don't like having to replenish it. A few months later we lost the drummer. Auditioned a few and hired one who had a small kit, kept a solid beat, played tastefully, and could sing background vocals. She caught on quickly and we got back to work in about a month. First gig, a wedding at a local country club. The crowd was huge so the opened the accordion pleat wall between the lounge and the dining room and set us in the lounge. The drummer said, "God won't forgive me if I play in a bar." I said, "God will have to forgive me for homicide tonight if you don't play in the bar." She then figured if we didn't drink for this one time it would be OK. The next week I bought a keyboard with an on-board sequencer and never looked back. And the bonus was that we were taking home more money. The duo made only about $100 less per night than the 5 piece was making. And we split it with two people who were living together at the time (and eventually married). After the keyboard came an Atari Computer, a Mac, and now I make the tracks on a Windows PC. The technology has grown nicely since I started doing the duo thing in 1985, and we've been working steady every since. In fact, we have to turn down work to take a yearly vacation. The duo works for us, and making my own backing tracks works for us too. Insights and incites by Notes

You're in the UK? Funny, like Clapton, you sound American when you sing. I never would have guessed.

The line above: (-= Note.Key 12) is the one that changes the note, in this case by -12 semitones. Change it to: (-= Note.Key 1) to move down one semitone or (+= Note.Key 1) to move up one semitone I've found this guide useful: http://members.ziggo.nl/t.valkenburgh/Cakewalk Application Language Programming Guide.pdf

I do something similar if I'm hitting a creative dry spell: I take scores from composers I like and admire (John Williams, in particular), and create mock-ups in my DAW. Helps on a whole bunch of levels -- you get see from the inside what expert composers do in terms of orchestration and arrangement; you get to practice creating various articulations with the libraries you have; and you learn how to balance an orchestral mix to achieve a realistic sound between all the instruments. At least, that is the theory. I haven't exactly managed all those things yet , but I find creating mock-ups really helps. I believe it has made a difference in my own recordings.

You'll want to be aware of the stretching algorithms using AudioSnap. The Elastique algorithms will give you the best bang for your buck for online rendering (what you hear during real time playback). You can set the defaults for this in the Preferences or change per clip via the AudioSnap Palette or Clip Properties.

What I like is it doesn't take long. If I'm transcribing something I want to learn I can record my own tracks to practice with without using the original recording. By comparing the two I can tell if it's wrong or right. If so I can then practice whatever I want. Tempos, keys, different instruments etc. I've been doing this on Pat Metheny phrases lately. I'll pick out a segment that sounds interesting. Make a backing track with just the parts I want, getting as close as I can, then start really learning from it. Cakewalk is wonderfully useful in so many ways!

I know what you're saying Star Man, and I sort of agree on one hand, but on the other I also think that we get many, if not most, of our ideas from listening to others play and building on it, especially when we're younger (musically speaking). I was never one to try to copy licks on guitar. I would just listen to what was being done and then try to do something similar but not the same. And I would take ideas I got from one song and apply them to an entirely different kind of song. Like I might take the way Jerry Donahue could bend three strings at once in different directions or one of them slightly before or after the beat in a country song and see if I could do something along the same lines in a rock or jazz song. I agree that just doing other people's songs note for note is not particularly productive (although I guess most people do it when they're first starting), but I do still listen for inspiration, though not nearly as much as I used to. More often than not, I just sit and noddle until I come up with something on my own. I guess that comes with age and experience.

I compose whatever comes out of me which could be anything sometimes. Tends to be meandering unless I stop myself and make it into a structure people might recognize. I'm sure I'm the odd man out here. No problem. I'm accustomed to that role. I don't listen to much music. Do you want music going in or coming out? If you want music coming out you need to stop putting so much music in unless your intention is to play the stuff you hear. That's already been played. Why not play something different?

I'm not capable of creating music I would listen to, unfortunately.

Will Hackett, A song can be a cover of an original tune but have a completely different arrangement. You can pick any era of recorded music and find many covers of the same song. The cover doesn't even need to be in the same genre as the original. As an example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGmQXuySF28 is The song "A Taste Of Honey" as an instrumental by Herb Albert and The Tijuana Brass and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkQ1eOcl5ug the same song as sung by The Beatles. Eric Clapton made two versions of "Layla". Unfortunately, not everyone is a musician, singer or have a desire to be an entertainer. But some non musicians do have musical ideas running through their head. Musical tools like DAWs, sequencers, soft synths, midi and audio loops and Band-in-a-Box gives everyone the opportunity to make, not just music, but good or excellent music.

How much does double speed cassette increase fidelity? We are down to considering a live 16 track mix to stereo cassette. That's not likely to come out very well.

CALs saved me impossible to count hours of manual work in prv.

I like Bass Professor II from here: https://sonic.supermaailma.net/plugins It's free and tweaking the settings usually allows me to get my DI bass to sit better in a mix.

High DPI mode for 2160P or higher