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After almost 10 years of not really recording or writing anything (having kids will do that to you!) I finally started to get back into it, and thought I would upgrade to the newest version of Sonar. So imagine my surprise when I found out that Cakewalk the company was no more and instead had been bought by Bandlab. And, best of all, the latest and greatest version can be had for FREE!!! I feel a little like Rip Van Winkle right now. Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone here. I look to playing with all the new features I didn't know existed and don't have to pay for 😀 Jeff

Yeah, that was probably me, the 1000th, now I've got you sorted with the 50% OFF. Thank me later .

Would anyone agree that Boz stuff will always be useful, easy to use and sound great? And usually quirky enough to do things other similar plugins don't do. One of the names you can trust, AFAIC.

Can you open a text file in MS Word (or other word processor)? Yes. Can you add a PICTURE of a text there? Yes Do you see the text in picture with original formatting? Yes. Can you save the result as TXT? A kind of... you normally loose the picture. Cakewalk automatically ORC "the text" in picture and put characters into the TEXT file. Extra feature! Can you restore original picture from the resulting TXT file? NO. There is no way to describe a picture in the text. An envelope consist of "control points" and "curve segment types". SMF files do not support them. SMF: Standard MIDI Files. Standard means there is a definition what is inside. There can be different "MIDI file" format, with automation, audio support, something else support. CWP can be perceived as such format. But you want use SMF with features not included into SMF. That is not possible, by definition of SMF. Nothing to "fix" or "improve". ----- You may ask for explicit conversion of envelopes into CC during editing, so without saving to MIDI. But CC lines editing in Cakewalk is good. Simply edit/draw CC if you want to use Cakewalk as a MIDI editor. Also do not use Audio, Envelopes, VSTi presets, separate tracks with the same MIDI channel, more then 16 tracks, etc. That does not fit into pure MIDI.

Late at night on a deserted beach far from the crowds of madness along with the noise they make Night Beach Thanks for the listen Synths used Synclavier V, CMI V, ARP Odyssey, Wurli V

Normally one would set up a reverb bus, with the desired reverb set to all wet. Then use sends from the tracks you want to add reverb to. You can then adjust how much reverb added to each track by adjusting the send levels. For example, I don't tend to add much, if any, reverb to bass tracks. You can then adjust the overall level of reverb using the buss. HTH

This is really nice Wookster. Love the synth brass arp that comes in - straight off A Broken Frame by Depeche Mode. Can I suggest a title for the follow up to this one - 'Son of a Beach' ?

Make him cry like a little girl, Mibby!

This seems to be a common theme with a lot of the CbB reviews that are out there, and one of the downsides of the skylight interface - there's a lot of hidden features in Cakewalk, that unless you know about them, are almost hidden away. This used to frustrate the hell out of me - especially when I went through the transition from Sonar 8.5 to X1. Here's the thing though... once I learned how to use a feature and started using it a lot, there's absolutely no way I'd want to do without it. The smart tool & clip editing is probably the best example. It's incredibly confusing to a newbie, but once you get to know it, it's so powerful and very quick to use. Sometimes I do sympathise with the frustration both newbies & reviewers have, but on the other hand... if someone is going to start using a program as complex as a DAW, do they really expect to be able to use it properly without reading the manual or watching some tutorials? If I took the same approach as most "box opening" reviewers took with something like PhotoShop, I'd give it a pretty scathing review.

I can understand ones curiosity, but does it really matter ? What are we planning for ? I hope this doesn't sound a slight or me being ignorant, I just don't see how it matters ? Bandlab has delivered on its promise (for over a year now) to make Cakewalk free. That's good enough for me.

I don't think you have made it clear yet whether you prefer emulations or samples of "real" instruments, or want to use completely synthesized sounds. It appears from your list that you already own a bit of both types of virtual instruments. It would also help to know what style of music you are into. I get that you don't want classical music oriented collections (which implies to me no orchestral sample libraries), but that does not exclude other real instruments like guitars, basses, pianos, organs, jazz brass and woodwinds, drums, etc. I would suggest that some of the previous comments about Kontakt are right on as far as "real" instrument coverage. It's like SampleTank, but with extensive 3rd party instrument libraries. For pure synthesizers, there are a range of popular options, but many of the most popular ones today are supplied with presets for trance and dance machines used by the EDM crowd. A synth really isn't genre specific, and can be programmed and used for any style of music. It is always recommended to first learn to program a virtual analog synth (and there are several great free ones available), before plunging into buying an expensive commercial mega-synth. I really like the SynthMasters and find them quite satisfying. There truly isn't "one synth to replace them all". Except maybe for Omnisphere, but I just can't bring myself to drop $500 on a synth.

You really have to wonder about their QA process. If they break as many things as they fix when releasing a patch, it's clear that they are not testing thoroughly. I understand that 4.0.0 was rushed out the door to meet marketing deadlines, but at this point I would expect them to take the time to get updates right.

First you should decide if you want a synth or a rompler/sampler or some combination of the two. The "space inferno" issue is related to the presets or samples that the "synth" ships with. You can generally create a wide range of sounds from a true synthesizer even just using basic oscillators or waveforms and filters, and if you are getting sounds you do not like from the synths you own, then I expect it is because you have not learned to program them to your taste. Of course if you are using a rompler, you will usually just get what someone else thought would make an impressive demo for the people the designer believes will buy the most copies, or easily recognizable (clichéd) patches sampled from "vintage" synths. If you are trying to make music using sampled wood and wire instruments, that sound passably genuine, then Kontakt has the advantage that it ships with a fairly large library, and that the full version (as opposed to the player) will often play libraries offered for free by others. The new version includes the ability to use wavetable instruments as well, but rather than buy that (especially if you have to pay list) I would recommend an investment of time and study in how to program the stuff you already own. Something like Syntorial might be a better investment.

The review made some good points (e.g., lack of console undo is not great, there are some half-baked features) but overall I think the review was WAYYYY too harsh. He's also constantly saying "tons of other DAWs do (feature X) better" without mentioning any examples. He also doesn't seem to really know how to use CW all that well. For example, he bases his statement that crossfading two clips is a really hard thing to do on... the number of steps they use to describe it in the manual. If he were to have actually used the feature he would have realized that crossfading two clips is one of the easiest things you can do in CW: just drag the edge of one clip over the top of another. At least two other DAWs I've used require you to do that and then do some sort of keyboard shortcut to do the actual crossfade. CW, and, I think, Cubase are the only two DAWs I've seen that do it as easily as CW does. Anyway, the bakers should definitely take some useful feedback from the review, but let's not pretend it was balanced or objective.

So here’s my first and quite possibly last Light Theme for Cakewalk, as I much prefer dark themes I find it more difficult to make a light theme, so all I can do is hope the light theme likers like it cause I don’t, lol. Many greys and whites have been inspired by those of the metal ‘Titanium’, many colors have been used from my previous M-Lux Blue Theme except those I’ve had to change due to incompatibility with a light theme. Most other backgrounds, buttons, knobs etc are also from my previous theme but most with modification to match a light theme. Enjoy! (Hopefully) :~} Free Download Here.... M-Titanium Cakewalk Theme A combined total of around 150 hours, sometimes much more, goes in to creating each Theme I make, then there's more time spent to update them whenever BandLab makes changes or additions to the Cakewalk GUI to ensure any changed or new items display correctly and match the Theme, I also don't make all these Themes for myself, it's more of a hobby and to share the end results with the Cakewalk Community for their use and enjoyment at no charge, Any Tips/Donations via the following link for my time and efforts in creating and updating these are greatly appreciated, however small. Thank You! ❤️ https://www.paypal.me/MatthewJohnWhite

This is a video on how you can use MSoundfactory to create instruments such as xylophones using stuff you found around your house. Keep in mind this is synthesis, not sampling, so you don't have to worry about wasting HD space or velocity layers. Anyway I hope you find this useful and interesting.

This is a quick mix (any suggestions?) on a song that defines the axiom "just because you can, doesn't mean you should" . . . Critiques sincerely appreciated: Youtube vid with a weird "audio visualizer" . . . or Soundcloud . . . many thanks for the listen! -Tom

That Simple Steel freebee is rather nice!

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for taking the time to listen and comment.😊

Great work again. Unorthodox in a good way

I bought 2 plugins for 25$ on a previous sale. Registered during the current sale and got a link for a free plugin!

From what I can gather, the clips are all stored in one file for performance reasons. Nowadays with faster HDD's and SSD's this isn't as much of an issue. I guess if you've got lots and lots of small clips, there could be a slight drop in performance as it'll have to have many more files open, but personally I've not noticed any difference.

I enjoyed this. Very aptly named too: evocative, with the dancing synth parts sounding like twinkling stars, and the synth pad with the long-ish attack time sounding like waves breathing as they wash in and flow out. Good mix too. Thanks for sharing.

1. Not easily - but it'll be the bit that has been replaced with silence (apologies if this sounds flippant - it's not meant to be). There is something you could try, but I doubt if it'll help much more: Save your project Go to the audio file directory and look at the most recently changed audio file - take a note of its filename Right click on each clip and select "Associated Audio Files" - if one matches the filename, then that's the track its affected. I've not found a way to easily get a list of the files and which track they belong to. I'd hoped ProjectScope ( http://adamczyk.com/images/projectscope.zip ) would show it, but it lists tracks and audio files separately. 2. Personally, I've only ever seen this message once. I guess it could tell you the audio file, and the time area where the corruption occurred... but that is working on the assumption that the relevant timing information hasn't also been corrupted. I appreciate this doesn't help much with your current situation, but here's a few things you could try to stop it happening in the future: 1. Run chkdisk on your drive. A corrupted file could be a symptom of more serious issues with your hdd. 2. Consider having "Create one file per clip" checked (this is on the save dialog). This will ensure every clip resides in its own file, reducing the likelihood of any corruption affecting other clips. Note that this only affects clips created after you set this option. If you want to apply this to existing clips, you'll need to select each clip individually and right click->Bounce to clip(s).

This review was a bit bizarre for me. He first reported there were no Track templates or project templates. That was soon edited from his review once someone called him out on it in the comments. He also suggested that Traktion is a better choice for a free DAW. That is almost laughable. Sure im partial because I use Cakewalk but I sure as hell wouldn't do a review on Pro Tools if I knew nothing about it.

Behringer produce different audio interface solutions (electronically). Some are more advanced (and so more expensive) then other. No mistake here. And common... the whole discussion remind me about "20Hz-20HZ headphones for $1". $40 interface is not the same as $60 (especially when produced by the same company), and it is not the same as $120, $200, $500, $700...

I loved the background music for Myst. It was almost as important and beautiful as the graphics.

Well the licensing's changed since you hung around, but the devs have remained and they've turned around. Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

I hear a story behind this, a voice over ... sorta like 'War Of The Worlds'. I especially like the attention to detail in the mix everything works in harmony .. not an easy thing .so good on you ... Steve

Well, that's a note worthy story. If caught, the thieves will go to sing-sing! When accused a suspect responded, "you're a lyre!"

I don't know, Summer NAMM isn't really a technology show. I assume Noel will be there to see what various companies are up to...or maybe just to buy another guitar I suspect BandLab's big focus will be their Harmony guitars, Mono cases, and the like, but I'm just speculating based on what seems logical.

AKA "The Bouy's People?"

My lawyers are on it. Just as soon as I make the retainer fee check good.

4.0.5 is pretty broken. Even by IK standards. The repeating MIDI note problem reproduces in Cubase easily. Just draw a bunch of 1/8 notes on the same key. It won't play them all when you play it back. Doesn't seem to matter what patch you use either, it's the engine not the samples.

I got a reply from IKM support and they asked me for screenshots or a video (obviously my detailed explanation was not enough). I just created a detailed video showing the issue. I showed the workflow using Sampletank 4.04 were the edited patch loaded successfully. I repeated the same workflow with Sampletank 4.05 (same patch and everything) and the error appeared. I am hoping this will be enough to get them to reproduce the issue and come up with a fix in the form of an update. Until this is resolved, I am staying with Sampletank 4.04

I liked this a lot. Was struggling to hear your vocals. Bring them to the front more.. dont be shy 🙂

This just in: possible suspect identified as Dynamic Mike

if you don't have Kontakt, well that would be my best bet. If you have any Kontakt library, you can update for $249.00 US as a cross grade. If you don't, you can always buy a cheap library and save a couple of bucks. Or you can wait for another deal. I just upgraded from Kontakt 5 to Kontakt 6, during their last deal promotion for $49.00.

Welcome back jw!!!! Yep things are mysteriously different yet the same. I Am feverishly trying to start recording again also. good luck and have fun!

Well, although I am a native Californian, I don't care for such sentiments. I don't support xenophobic philosophies and I'm not saying that you're accusing me of such. Just thought the bumper sticker was humorous. So hey, will the last person boarding this submarine please close the screen door behind them?

Even the multiple "Prophets" couldn't foretell the outcome.

After they broke in, an automated voice informed them that they could steal anything they want, except for Monster Cables which are never discounted and can't leave the store for anything except full price... 😆

Police were silently working to MESH the luters with a mesmerizing drum beat

Klayportshiyesh??? 😳 Do you have kontakt yet? It probably covers a lot of the territory you already have, but it is the very definition of versatile. Plus it puts you in the realm of the various third party libraries, which is where the magic lies. The expensive magic. Or, Dune 3 is worth a look.

Vouchers are based on what you've spent at PA over a 12 month period Antler...

Hi Bjorn, Love the ironic hook and breathy vocal. Thanks for sharing. Good Job! regards paul

This is a beautiful song Bjorn. It just radiates honesty and emotion. The lyrics are great and the performance does indeed complement and convey the honesty and emotion of the lyrics. Your vocals are perfectly suited for this song. Your love one must really appreciate this song. All-in-all, I would say that you did one terrific job on this number.

Great Song, awesome sound.

Are there more virtual drummers plugins than EQs now?

I find the best way to do this is to change the clip envelope - I know it sounds like using an envelope, but it doesn't actually involve drawing one. If you change the filter on the clip to Clip Gain, then hold the CTRL key down, you can move the volume up and down for the clip. As this just affects the clip, you're still free to use volume automation for the track independently: You can of course do this with the track volume as well, but this will be overridden by any fader changes or track volume automation.