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Announcing the July issue of SoundBytes Magazine, our thirty-eighth issue. Read it here http://soundbytesmag.net/

For those of you intrigued by Output's Portal but not wanting to spend that much $$$ for a granular plugin, I highly recommend Audiority's Grainspace. It's never been discounted more than 30% that I'm aware of, so this is a good time to check it out. Also, I think their guitar effects are really good, including the one that we're getting for free right now. I've been putting it into tracks, with great results. If I wasn't spending so much money now (and if it was 50% off instead of 15% off) I would go for their guitar effects bundle.

Nice. It seems like a long time since the last issue. I’ve been looking forward to this.

Some long awaited reviews, like the UVI Keysuite bundles and SoundBytes Factory for iPad. Best net mag ever.

For the record, Jim Roseberry just put a Crucial 500 GB in my computer for the boot drive. It's running at full 6 Gigabits/sec, while my two Samsung Evo SSDs are running at 4 Gb/sec.

You'll get used to it.

It's a pretty fresh library, but I hear that load balancing can be a problem from time to time.

I lost family members Ken and one of the hardest things for me to do was attend a support group for Grief, Loss, and Bereavement. It was one of the best things I did. You don't have to do it right away but please know there are others that are going through what you are now and willing to listen, help you. Here is a link when you are up to it. https://www.verywellhealth.com/grief-loss-bereavement-support-groups-1132533

One of my favorite audio software companies, Native Instruments (NI) has a bunch of free stuff. Mostly players and foundational plug-ins, but they have a few other good items for free too.

They should clean up with this library.

OK - so: First, make sure your midi controller's drivers are installed (IF needed - lots of newer controllers are 'class compliant' and will automatically install the needed driver when connected to Windows) In your Cakewalk project: 01) Go to Edit>Preferences>Midi>Devices, and make sure you check the boxes to specify your midi controller as an Input Device. Click on Apply when done, and you can then exit Preferences. This tells Cakewalk you want to declare that midi controller as a valid device to use for input of midi data to Cakewalk. 02) Get an instance of a soft synth plugin loaded into the project, using the Browser Pane (Synth Rack or Browser). I happen to like manually inserting my audio and midi tracks, so I happen to leave all the boxes unchecked in the section of the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog box under 'Create These Tracks'. I leave the following boxes checked else where in the dialog box: Synth Property Page and Synth Rack View, Enable MIDI Output, Recall Assignable Controls, and Ask This Every Time. Click OK, and the plugin will be loaded into the project, and the plugin's Property Page will be displayed. 03) Load a preset into the plugin, using the Property Page for the plugin, then close that window. By default, all plugins I am aware of will route their output to their default output channel - usually a stereo channel of left and right. Some plugins that are mono, will usually output to a mono Left channel, I suppose some may output to a mono Right channel, but I cannot think of any that do, at the moment. SO, most will output to a L and R channel. 04) In the Track Pane, you will need to insert EITHER a single stereo audio track, OR two mono audio tracks (you would set the Interleave of each of the mono tracks to mono, and pan one to the far left and the other to the far right). A stereo audio track will already have the Interleave button set to stereo, and Pan is set to the middle. 05) You need to set the Input of any audio track, to pick up the output from your soft synth. If you had inserted a single stereo track, click on the track number on the left side of the track, to bring that track into focus, and then click on Input, at the bottom of that track in the Track Inspector, which will then open a list of optional sources for you to select. Hover your mouse over the plugin's name, in that list, and it will then expand to show you the set of sources for that plugin. Click on the Primary Output: Stereo source, and that will tell Cakewalk to route any audio output from that plugin, to this audio track. If you had inserted 2 mono tracks, do the same thing for each mono track, except you want to click on the Primary Output: Left (mono) for the left mono audio track, and Primary Output: Right (mono) for the right mono audio track. 06) Right click in the Track Pane, under your audio track(s), and click on Insert Midi Track, to insert a midi track. 07) Click on the track number on the left side of that track, to bring the new midi track into focus. 08) Click on Output, for the midi track, at the bottom of the track in the Track Inspector, and click on the plugin's name in the list that is displayed. Note - Cakewalk will select the 1st loaded soft synth plugin when a midi track is inserted, so this should already be populated with your loaded soft synth, however once you start loading additional soft synths, you have to remember to change the soft synth for each midi track to the one you intended. I wish it didn't do this default, but it is what it is. 09) I suggest you leave the Input parameter for the midi track, set to None or Omni, if the loaded soft synth is a single synth, and not a multi-timbral synth where you could load multiple instruments into a single instance (Kontakt for example), where each instrument is set to receive a different midi channel. For this example, you are dealing with a simple soft synth that is a single instrument with a single sound. 10) SO, at this point, you should be good to go, on the setup. To actually produce sound using the soft synth, click on the track number for the midi track, to bring it into focus. By default, Cakewalk will automatically set the Midi Input Echo button to On. Once you have the midi track into focus, you should be able to play notes on your midi controller, and hear sound. The midi data from the midi controller will be picked up by the midi track, and then the data will be routed to the soft synth, which will react to the incoming data and produce sound, which it will route through its primary output channel. That audio will be picked up by the stereo audio track or each mono track, and then sent to the Master Bus, which will then route the audio to your audio interface, and then you should hear the sound through your speakers, or headphones. 11) Ta-Da I hope the above makes sense. There are more complicated options, but the above should get you started. Bob Bone

Up to 50%, not everything 50% https://mailchi.mp/heavyocity/heavyocitys-summer-sale-starts-now

Haven't used Autotune in years. But Real Tune is a real time tuner. I have never used it for anything other than pitch correction on vocals. I will adjust the vocal with Melodyne, then stick this plugin in the fx bin, set it up like I want, and it really smooths things out.

There is a UI zoom work-around for surge in Cakewalk. Use any working zoom host (s.a. Savihost), zoom surge to what you like. Save as default zoom. Now, when you open surge in cakewalk, it's zoomed correct to that zoom.

This guy posts some good free stuff https://bedroomproducersblog.com/

I think that a person can put together an excellent system entirely with freeware, and CbB is of course an excellent foundation. I hope this thread will be a "virtual sticky," that is, I expect it will be bumped often enough to stay near the top. I'm going to start listing favorite tried-and-true free plug-ins and links to where to download them. They are all ones that I have used extensively with Cakewalk, so they are safe to use in that environment. My recommendations will be only for 64-bit VST's. This thread is intended to be of assistance to our fellow users, especially new ones, in finding good plug-ins to augment the collection that comes with Cakewalk. I'll start with the bundles that I think every DAW user should download straightaway, whether they're on a budget or otherwise. First is the Meldaproduction Free Bundle. This bundle of 34 plug-ins has been described as the best value in the plug-in world, and I agree wholeheartedly. The Compressor and EQ surpass most of the payware competition and wind up on most of my projects to this day, 5 years since I first downloaded the bundle. Download it, spend an evening trying out all of the FX on some material and be amazed at what Meldaproduction is letting us use for free. As a promo, it sure worked on me, I've paid to upgrade the Free Bundle and also bought licenses for other Melda plug-ins. There are utilities in here like signal and noise generators and analyzers in addition to the excellent sound processors. If you only get one of these, make it this one. The ReaPlugs from Cockos, makers of REAPER. Six highly-configurable, very powerful effects, a compressor, multi-band compressor, EQ, delay, gate, and FFT dynamics processor, plus a couple more utilities. It may not sound so exciting, but these are very versatile, and very configurable, much like REAPER, the DAW that is their main product. The EQ and MB compressor allow as many bands as you want, the delay as many taps as you want, etc. Next is Voxengo's Assortment of goodies. I mostly stick with SPAN, the spectrum analyzer, and MSED, their mid-side utility, but Boogex, their amp simulator, and Stereo Touch, their stereoizer, are both excellent at what they do. I find the standard UI theme colors to be challenging on my eyes, so I tone them down in the settings. Blue Cat's Freeware Pack includes a good spectrum analyzer, a really nice guitar amp sim, and a good handful of modulation FX. Very attractive GUI's. Finally, if Cakewalk didn't come with anything, or if someone just wanted or needed one each of every standard effect plug-in, The Dead Duck Free Effects Bundle has 25 essential no-frills FX, nothing fancy, just functional and easy on the eyes. Compressor, Gate, EQ, Phaser, Flanger, Chorus, Bit Crusher, Expander, Channel Strip, they're all there. I've tried them and they work. Nothing fancy about the GUI's, they're nice and attractive, no fake brushed aluminum. As for the sound, no attempts here to inject "mojo" or "vintage warmth" or anything, they do what they say they do. If you download and install everything you can get from those five sites, you'll have in the neighborhood of 80 new plug-ins to try out. Each of them, even Dead Duck, has unique effects and utilities that might wind up being your favorite thing or just handy to have in your plug-in bin in case you need to do a bit of attenuating or boosting or analyzing or bit crushing or whatever. I'll be back with many more, and of course, I hope that others will jump in with great suggestions. These are just what I consider the freebie essentials, the Cheapskate's Choice. And sure, we'll have another thread for VSTi's. Start one!

The former is now open source. The last beta can be downloaded for PC, Mac and Linux here: https://surge-synthesizer.github.io/#downloads

Zynaptiq INTENSITY v1.2.0 update https://www.zynaptiq.com/intensity/ Version 1.2.0, July 14th, 2018: <<<<< note this is old! Ooops! Misread as 2019 INTENSITY v1.2.0 is a free update and recommended for all users. What's new in v1.2.0: New OUTPUT MONITORING SOURCE selector allows quick switching between input, output and loudness compensated output signals. The new loudness compensated monitor path is based on continuous loudness measurement. New INPUT GAIN control with a range of +- 24dB. Fixed an issue that could cause instabilities in some 32bit configurations.

LOL and there's a noise added too... also free

Thanks. Looking forward to it.

Try increasing your MIDI buffer from 250 to 750:

As the shock starts to wear off, you'll face the challenge of surviving the next weeks and months. Like others have said, you can't rush it, you just live it and give yourself time to heal. Take care.

Load a synth, set up audio and MIDI tracks, put it all in a track folder, setting a unified colour scheme would help. Then right-click the track folder and save as track template. If you have keyswitches, also include separate MIDI tracks pointing to the same channels they pertain to.

Hang in there Ken. You'll make it. Many prayers for you and your family. We're here for you man!

As I read this thread and respond it is evening time in Norway. I'm sure today has been a very long day. Hopefully you've been surrounded by friends and family and together you've remembered better times. Remember there are many forum members willing to share the coming days with you.

Yes I still recommend using the tool I wrote (see the link in my previous post) to avoid having to edit the registry directly.

Yes i’ve tried it a few times with results varying from embarrassing to ok. YMMV If you can get harmonies from vocalist(s) its better IMO. J

Damn, I thought you were joking... It IS a sine wave (my auto corrector is too stupid to spell "sine" correctly) And it's free! We've come a long way

Also $150 off the full bundle: https://pluginfox.co/products/soundtoys-5-bundle And all other individual plugins are $79: https://pluginfox.co/collections/soundtoys

Click on the strip to the far left of the track: ... or at the very bottom of the console strip:

Another thing to consider is whether the MIDI drivers that are being used by the interface are multi-client or not. Some legacy MIDI drivers were not. If not multi-client, then if something else is using them, they will not be available for the DAW or another MIDI app. Similar to ASIO drivers only being available to one app at a time.

And a very good Sampletank 4 review, I must add. Talking ‘bout pachyderms in parlors ...

re Instant Pot Smart WiFi 6 Quart Multi-use Electric Pressure with Echo Dot (3rd Gen) - Charcoal about 5 1/2 quarts... Amazon is currently selling the same model without the Dot for $149.95; if you don't want the Dot - gift it to someone.

Thought I'd post the fix here real quick in case that link ever dies: "Try this: - Open Kontakt inside [your daw] - Make the 'Browse' sidebar visible - Click the 'Files' tab in the browser sidebar - Click the 'View' dropdown menu in the Files tab - Uncheck (turn off) "show network drives" - Uncheck (turn off) "show removable drives" - Uncheck (turn off) "show foreign formats" - Close Kontakt, restart [your daw] + Kontakt"

VERSE 1 Am Dm Come down to the coffee house Am G Bb Not number one but num-ber two Am Dm You'll never leave the coffee house Em Dm F (Am) You'll see some birds maybe a cockatoo .

I tend to support those developers. They tend to trust the end user or prefer to spend time developing a products instead of time locking it down.

Steinberg has not introduced any common instrument/preset selection methods. So each plug-in is using build-in preset selection method, sometimes MIDI assignable but not always. VSTs can save presets, so like preset which you can select in the Cakewalk part of VST window. But Cakewalk (as most if not all other DAWs) has just flat list per plug-in and there is no pre-made list. That is not practical in case of 1000s presets. That is why NI NKS is so popular. They have introduced (as usual proprietary) extended preset declaration method. And as a major player attracted many plug-in producers to provide corresponding lists (other lists are make by users). Resulting preset selection works fine (sure, just on NI own keyboards...). Another movement in that direction was AKAI VIP (without extra extension). For the question which buttons are assignable. That is controller specific. Most keyboards/controllers dedicate arrow buttons for internal operations (only). See the documentation for particular device (they always mention which controls are assignable and which not).

Cool lyrics. They really speak to our current times.

Great song and performances Lynn. Drums/Percussion could use some work imho - I think there's a couple of kick drums that needn't be there and they're muddying the water

Difficult times these days & the urgency comes through in your song.

I sure felt hot. So hot I couldn’t touch it! Ouch! Eeeeeew.

That's a LOT of ways to say how much he hates himself. Must be a joy for the airport security too...

Totally agree about the Klanghem stuff. Also don't forget the TDR free plugins. In both cases I soon upgraded to the full versions. jdf

Just noticed that you can get the 1.3 beta update from Initial Audio. I am using it and have had no issues so far. https://initialaudio.com/my-account/sektor-v1-3/ Note that the link has "my-account" within it so you may need to be logged in for it to work. Here's the changelog: Sektor Version 1.3 Improvements: -Switched to a much cleaner sounding limiter on the output of the synth so sounds better when the volume is pushed hard. -Made the resonance of the filter less extreme at high settings. -Adjusted the cutoff range for the filter. -Added 2 new filter types Analog lowpass and Analog Highpass. -Improved the filter menu to have more descriptive names. -Added a more analog sounding overdrive to the master section and filters. -Reduced the CPU usage of the Convolution reverb. -Added a clear notes button and Humanize mode to the sequencer. -Hold Ctrl or Command while dragging on the Osc+ page to set finer values. -Added support for loop points in user wav files. When enabling Loop mode in the sampler if the file contains loop points these will be used instead of looping from the end of the file. -Tooltips now take longer to show, so they don’t popup quite as much. -Improved the level meter to show peaks more accurately. -Improved the CPU usage of the GUI. -When Clicking the link to generate serial, the machine name and activation code are automatically entered. -Users can now move or install Sektors content to another harddrive instead of being forced to install all content to the main drive. Fixes: -Samples where not retriggering correctly in mono mode with long release times. -In MPE Mode Glide wasn’t always polyphonic. -Fixed Heat Up 3 instruments not loading in the sample oscillator. -Fixed a possible crash when an Impulse response was missing. -Higher notes were louder in volume that lower notes, added some attenuation to balance out the difference to sound more natural. -Fixed some values sticking when turning modulations off.

Dang! Looks like you've got some hairy legs there S.L.I.P.! 😆

The bundles I listed have great compressors, but they aren't long on "character" and "vintage mojo." If you want to add some coloration and character to your compression, Klanghelm offers that in heaping helpings. And they have some freeware loss leaders to get you interested. The MJUCjr. is a variable mu compressor that emulates a "tube" compressor. The DC1A is billed as an "effortless character comp." It has two knobs, Input and Output, and two modes, Deep and Relaxed. Character for days. The IVGI is a saturation/distortion plug-in, I believe it emulates the kind of distortion you can get from overdriving an old console input.

I've been lobbying (for a good while) for a static "Clip Gain" parameter. 😉 This static clip-gain parameter would ideally scale the waveform up/down. This makes it quick/easy to level out the volume of tracks. Clip Gain Envelope works... but it's a slower process (and no waveform scaling).