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Like a lot of definitions those definitions or interpretations thereof have changed over time, especially per genre, such as w/ dance and hip hop where guys are producing/composing beats and where those two terms are one and the same in the end. As a doom metal musician I actually consider those terms to be the same thing too. These days I think you'd have to say something more like "audio engineering is not composition" in order to get any clear separation.

After you finish installing Samplitude, an activation dialog appears and takes you to that page.

My product is compost. Is that close enough?

Tom , Thanks for posting this. I'm starting a new one that really needs some better sounding natural sounding acoustics. I really need to Stop and spend some time on experimenting with the sound , instead of feeling rushed and just jumping in and start recording. You made me exhale a little slowly and start thinking again. mark

Sampletank 4 (and all IK instruments) all use OpenGL for their UI. OpenGL isn't provided by Windows, it's actually provided by your video card driver. Video card drivers almost always need to be updated/maintained by hand. Windows won't do it right. You may want to update your video card drivers. If Sampletank crashes when you first insert it, that would be the most likely cause. If Sampletank doesn't crash when you first insert it, but rather when you try to open a project you saved using it. That's a completely different kind of issue. Your description of the problem is very unclear. Problems with Sampletank once it's open and the other things in your first message about instruments and arpeggios, sounds more like an installation problem, which could very well be your crashing issue as well. Installing Sampletank and all the sound libraries can involve a bit of pain (especially the larger MAX package). You really need to read and install it exactly how IK describes. You should have a Sampletank 4 content directory. You tell Sampletank where this is in the Sampletank Settings dialog, Sound Content panel. It should have the path to your Sampletank 4 content. Which is where you should have installed all the content by downloading and running all the content installers, one at a time. Your Sampletank 4 content library should be stored in a directory you have write privileges on. This can often mess people up, since the installer runs as admin and they stick the content someplace they can't actually write as a user. There are other ways to make this fail also, sadly. If you really have installed everything correctly and you have updated your video card drivers and it still crashes, I hate to tell you this but there is zero chance IK support will be able to help you in the slightest. I have YEARS of history trying to get them to fix bugs where I've given them exact steps to reproduce the problem, which they confirmed would crash for them to only to have it not be fixed. The good news is that it's not crashing like this for most people (me for example) so odds are it's something about your config and installation. But again only you know how you installed it and configured it.

I really wanted to like Samplitude. I got the demo a few years back and tried to get into it, but then the 1980's called and said that they wanted their UI back.

Yesssss. Don't be a stranger! Hope your time away was for good things. Great dynamics in this piece. I liked the synth arpegg noodle around 1:00 mark. Catchy. As per your usual, many elements come and go and are balanced to mix perfection. The only thing I might ask about is adding some more low end weight to the toms, bass, and kick. As they are, very polished and controlled. Nothing up top is overwhelmed by mud. So kudos there. And it might be just me because I really like bass-end stuff. But I think just a bit more heft, even if it were just the tom fills, might be interesting to try. It's all so subjective. And you certainly got your $$$ worth out of Omnisphere! Do you have Omni 1 or 2? I just have 1, never upgraded, always wondered of 2 was worth it. Lastly, the guitar work is spot on for that grand epic atmosphere, good power there, well done! great to have you and your tunes back, Dan! -Tom

The ST4 UI and preset loading system is a bit weird at first. Groove3 has a SampleTank 4 Explained video (with Eli Krantzberg) that isn't that bad (if you happen to have a sub). Though I don't think it goes into the included multis all that much, since that section actually was expanded after the initial software release. But if you want to learn the interface and some of the more complex features it is maybe the best video guide I've seen. ST4 is better than ST3 by a good ways. I'm not sure I've ever used the drum kits that much, they don't seem as good as Superior Drummer 3/EZDrummer/Addictive Drums 2/etc. But they are certainly usable. The big thing I wish they might address is that ST4 lost the visible keyswitch guide that ST3 instruments had. This was very nice with the Miroslav instruments. In ST3 you could see the keyswitch guide but in ST4 it's just some red colored keys. You can see what articulation is active in the main parts view (shows up under the instrument name) but that's it. Sampletank has never been home of the deeply sampled super-realistic scripted instruments you can find in Kontakt. But for a rompler its sounds aren't all that bad. I know there are still some outstanding issues with 4.0.9 (check KvR for the thread). But at least for me 4.0.9 and the sounds update that went with it, addressed most of the problems. I still don't trust the VST3 version though and stick with the VST2. For Sampletank 3 this was pretty much required, for Sampletank 4 I believe the VST3 should be stable, but the long history of it crashing (when the VST2 wouldn't) kind of makes me avoid it.

You may need to download each of the Sampletank sound installers, unzip them and run them and point them to the same directory. Trying to get around the installer by "hand unzipping" may result in more problems. There are a lot of downloads and installers for Sampletank content (even more if you are doing the full MAX version) and it takes forever to fully unzip and run all of them. When you are finally done, start the stand alone version and it will rebuild the database. Which takes forever also. When it's all done though you should have a ton of presets even for the SE version.

I also have BFD3. SSD5 and Trigger. Superior Drummer 3 I am really pleased with and find it logical and sounds great. But I am just learning drum programming. I have not really done much with my own music but enjoy mixing a lot. Most of my work is within live sound and TV/video, Since I joined Cakewalk many moons ago... I have learnt so much from here. I am now retired and have a modest studio set up here above my stables and need to work on some of my own stuff that I wrote when I was 19+ which I never got to put down. All the best. Gary

For your sheepish compositions absolutely 😉😀

The thing is.....I have heard some great composers who didn't have mixing/production chops. So no, production is not composition but in this day and age composers need either someone who can do it or they need to learn to do it. Makes all the difference online (where most music is heard nowadays). Also, it is possible to change composition with production now.........they pretty much go hand in hand IMHO.

Thanks Matt and others for chiming in. I think I have finally found the answer which was something I overlooked. Since I recently installed ST4 I was pretty sure I had the latest version. Wouldn't you know it was version 4.0.7 and not version 4.0.9. I uninstalled that version and reinstalled 4.0.9 from the IK website>products area. FWIW I went to their forum and this has been occurring on pro Tools , Ableton and Fruity Loops to name a few...so this was not a Cakewalk issue. 4.0.7 and maybe earlier versions are buggy. I loaded the old version into Studio One and I had some kind of a default dummy graphic. I guess the SE library is lighter than I thought it was. Scanned that twice. Unzipped multiple files and still only have maybe a handful of sounds there. Shouldnt ST 4 show up on my Custom shop ? I knew something was amiss when I seen the default graphic. See the pics below. If you have the grapic in the first pic there's a problem. Looks as if there's an issue with my TRacks too.

I tried to explain that to my friend's band too... 🤣

Thanks for this great daw. I tried LMMS, Ableton Live 10 Lite, FL Studio 20, Reaper but every time I return to Cakewalk. I don't know why exactly but I like to work with it with no limitations. My first wish would be a better integration of controllers (I have an Arturia Minilab MK2) with their mapping. In Ableton Live, it's very easy to use knobs and assign them. My second wish and I think it would be great for many new users who play EDM is to rethink the matrix view and make it more "Live". Many Thanks for your job PS : I'm french so my english may not be very understandable 😅

@Noel BorthwickNice idea, man everything I do is 100% Cakewalk really, let me post an suggest the last thing I did, instrumental experimental, acoustic tracks and some oft synths: Instruments played: Ronrocos (2) Charango Acoustic Guitar Acoustic and electric drums Electric bass Caxixis Cymbals Rhodes electric piano (Waves E88) Wurlitzer (two different; Waves E200 and Arturia V1) Some Kontakt freebies: Aurorror, DrumCircle Lite and Free Fall Several Waves plugins fro metering and Master bus (see pic), Two oldies as bus/send reverb: Lexicon Hall reverb and the good old Perfect Space... No other FX really. photo by joshua earle

The new free Samplitude Pro X4 Silver limited to 8 Tracks 2 Aux 2 Bus is here. A great DAW for those who don't need much. https://www.magix.com/us/support/pro-audio-downloads/ Brian

Your socks would be a strange place to keep one anyway (unless you're The Red Hot Chili Peppers). It's when she buys you the matching underpants that you should be worrying.

Building a new house, including a media room/studio. Stocking/setting up said media room (which was a lot of fun!). Finally, I bought a new motorcycle a couple of years ago so I've been spending a lot of time doing that, as well as building and setting up a shop for it. Just a lot of non-music activity, lol. Omni 2, with a bunch of extras, including Trilian and Keyscape. I had to cut the rumble in those toms as they were a little overpowering, but I added back some in the low mids. The real thing that I think would add some heft is another, deeper kick layered on top of the one in the kit, but, to be honest, I'm anxious to move on to the next one, and I'm pretty happy with what's there Thanks a bunch for the feedback!

I was quite surprised by the range of the glockenspiel: it's quite low; almost like a bass-glockenspiel is such a thing exists

So I need to buy an expensive dongle (Apollo) and a Mac to use this? 🤣. Fab Dupont says Luna is aimed to replace Ableton Live... uhm, yeah right. 😂

Nigel, this track is very well done! As they used to say on American Bandstand, "it sounds good and is easy to dance to". Mix is very good, though I heard some distortion on the hats (left ear), but that may be intentional. Thanks for sharing! Dan

Thanks Gary for the post and thankyou Jesse for the Vid ... Really enjoyed this ballet

Print it, it can run under the credits at the end of the movie! Tom

https://www.bandlab.com/wilbyforce/lady-5dcfdb56?revId=8877fdd5-af3a-ea11-a601-2818789a1e8a As suggested I've added some drum fills here and there and the middle 8 now contains new lyrics and percussion. Thanks for all the feedback people

Get Down, Y'all. Presenting "Groooove!" by some old Dude named Larry Graham Alexander. He is so old that he shouldn't be allowed to write music of this type. He should only be permitted to sit in a rocking chair and drool like other old people. 😊

...Another of my BIG BAND thangs. This is "Fireworks" and it is LOUD! Larry Graham Alexander

Freddy the J I find the vocal layers very interesting Did you do the ooohs? and the guitar tones on the lead are very unique listening on headphones, and deaf in one ear, had to switch the phones around and listen twice, sounded good both times, but best when the left was on the left.

The return of the Man, the Dan. Epic Regal Expansive Better than Mannheim Steamroller

Brilliant song Keith.

Unfortunately, I was born without a face. Fortunately, I enjoyed a thirty-year career in radio broadcasting. Larry Graham Alexander

Brilliant, love it. Tongue in cheek-ness at its best.

Hi Dan, So much in there but never too much and over busy, everything so well ballanced, production perfect, so much depth , just really great cheers PB

Reid the guy behind ik reverbs was the guy that make relab stuff so top quality indeed , i also had xverb (ssl) from the same guy that i sold and regrets .... i sold all ssl just few weeks before the updated them , if only they would have communicated on those updates lol i sold them with the sentiment of abandonware...

Another stellar Staypress production! Very nice clean, open mix. You and the missus did a great job on this. In my head, I heard the timing a little different on a few lines, but that's just me and my weird internal clock. Dan

Today, Toontrack announced that the official release month for EZbass will be May 2020. As already announced, EZbass is Toontrack's highly anticipated bass software instrument and the next core title in the company's popular EZ Line of products. Erik Phersson, Toontrack's Head of Development says: A bass instrument with the same intuitive design and flexibility as our other EZ Line products has been missing on the market and is something that our customer base repeatedly has asked for. EZbass falls perfectly in place to fill the gap between EZkeys and EZdrummer 2 and we can't wait to see and hear what our customers will do with it in May and beyond. In addition to carefully sampled bass tones, EZbass will include MIDI as well as a host of features to aid the user in quickly and effortlessly adding bass to their songs. Aside from the soon-to-be-released EZbass, the EZ Line includes EZkeys, EZmix 2, EZdrummer 2 and a wide range of expansion content. Expect more in-depth information on EZbass as the release date draws nearer. http://www.toontrack.com/

Note that mixing RAM with different memory chip config can cause issues. Having the same timing alone doesn't eliminate all compatibility issues.

https://unitedplugins.com/Hyperspace/ At checkout, use code: HSCM50 This is the discount code from the FREE version you get with the Feb Computer Music magazine. I've been liking the reverb so much I contacted the Dev to let him know. According to him, the CM version has about 1/4 of the functionality of the full version. He said "I literally kept my supercomputer running for a month flat out machine learning to get the most perfect algorithm settings possible, it learned over 20 million!" Then he somehow "picked the best ones". Any change on the UI grid is a new algorithm. Really interesting approach. Anyway, to be sure, I asked if he was OK with me sharing the code, and he was. (I wouldn't do it otherwise.) I'm sure it's a hard world out there for a small plugin Dev...

A few years ago you could buy all IK products for roughly $300. $250 for just a reverb? OK, not an average reverb, but room heard on long outdated records for this price? I wonder how many copies they will sell for this price throughout the year.

They also shot themselves in the foot (AGAIN) by not allowing Gear Credits for the Pre-Order.

Realitone's Acoustic Lite is presently on sale for $24.95. Here are some free downloads from Indiginus as well as their $59 US nylon string acoustic , $45 US jangly steel string acoustic and another $59 US steel string acoustic . Each guitar sounds different and the user interface differs from plain to great. @jude77, please forgive me for threading on your post.

I have been using cakewalk for a while and I noticed that if the "free" vst "Sitala" wasn't around a lot of people just could use cakewalk for a lot of stuff and would be restricted to specific genres. I went to the Sitala site and it looked like the makers of Sitala, "Decomposer" is ready to closely help anybody who wants to bundle Sitala to their software or service. They said they would even create exclusive stuff for the company who wants to add their software to their bundle. Sitala has helped a lot of cakewalk users therefore I believe that they should receive the credit they deserve. Also it took me 3 months to find Sitala so please bundle this software to cakewalk for the sake of beginners.

I think white icons are VST3 (you can see the 3 in the icon) orange are VST2 (looks like a plug), green are 32 bit

I installed the new version tonight. Unfortunately, the standalone was not working correctly. There seems to be a bug in selecting the correct interface. If this happens to you, you will need to find the registry where the name of the interface is stored, and enter the correct interface. https://www.scuffhamamps.com/forum/7-bugs-issues/8949-s-gear-2-9-standalone-asio-devices-selection-bug I also had a problem getting the VST3 to work in CW but it works OK in SOP4.

Wow that is a great song! I like the way it bounces - Male - Female. I also love the synths! Max Arwood

Thank you for listening and providing feedback, Gary! I apologize for taking so long to respond, my Dad's been in the hospital for several weeks and it seems that my time is no longer my own. Melodyne is incredibly useful for creating harmonies and I often use it in the writing process, but usually once I have them I set them aside and record the harmonies the old fashioned way. It sounds a lot better to my ear that way.

This track is called Sunset. It is from my newly released CD entitled "Midwest Stroll". I'm currently in the Smoothjazz.com Indie Chart and Main Chart top 100. All recorded and mixed in Sonar BandLab. https://soundcloud.com/andromidus/sunset-radio-version-1

Here's a jazzy "spy" style instrumental .... https://soundcloud.com/jazzstan/elegant-espionage Red3 Compressor, BReverb, Replika, Px-64, Sonnitus reverb.

Uses mostly Cakewalk plugins like sonitus compressor and melodyne I am remastering it on the weekend with some new techniques.

Noel here is a song and video that a few of us on the forum put together. We got all the info and project files if you decide to use it.