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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... 🤣

@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

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.

Hmm not even crappy onboard audio you can try? That sucks to not be able to use ARS3 after you bought it.

I Am not Shure if I shoed bring this up but it could be a bad sign XX bought me some new sox that have the word dickless written on them

Groove player is used to render the metronome ....

Just a quick go. Seemed like an overly complicated but nice looking mono-izer. I should RTFM too see if I missed any nuances...

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

Have any of you guys take a second to ponder how handsome all the guys are here at the CH? Which makes me wonder why the CH is not a babe magnet We should be flooded with them!

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

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. 😊

To me, a composer is someone who writes musical phrases for one or more instruments and puts them together to form a piece of music. A producer is someone who takes a composed piece of music and targets it for the application: maybe suggest some additional percussion if it's for an action piece; maybe strip it back a little for something emotional; maybe add some special reverb in places for epicness.

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

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

Brilliant song Keith.

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

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...

HI Dan. I was only thinking I hadn,t heard from you for quite a while... then here you are. 🙂 I have learnt a lot from your mixing skills over the years. The sense of space and clarity you create is top notch. I recognized Omnisphere and the kontakt stuff but not the guitars. BFD3 sounds great! (I just got the decades pack... so just learning how to use BFD3) Well done... looking forward to hearing some more ear candy from you again.

I have AAS GS-2. I think it's an upgrade of a version that was bundled with SONAR at some point. AAS has discounted pricing several times a year.

Hey , Thanks for the input so far. To Tom , yeah the cello didn't come in until that point . I guess I should have just said featuring Mandolin. The cello was added as an after thought after everything else was done. Seems like everything I've been posting (that I think is worthy) has cello in it . I guess I really need to spend more quality time with it. To Gary , 2 of the 4 Sonar 7 drum loops I used , had a really sub sounding kick , the bass guitar was pretty thin , so that's probably where the deeep stuff came from. As far as the bass sucking sound , if it was mainly from the short break it may have been from the reversed reverb on the acoustic. If not , Iv'e been told several times that my bass sucks .. mark

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

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.

I have a hardware instrument that can transmit Poly AT and another that can receive it. Both state so in their MIDI implementation charts. To prove me wrong you would need to do a lot of wrestling with simple, easily checked facts. A lot of effort, indeed.

After the Waves APA disaster years ago, I ain't touching any waves hardware based stuff with Lars' dongle.

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

I'm not surprised... the company is out of business !

There aren't many that can carry a subtle 80's cheese character quite that well... 😁 Loved it as per usual. It has your signature clean and tidy mix, vocals are in the pocket, and the lyrics are, well, just great. And accurate. And funny. And...

And if you don't have Kontakt, an alternative to free Kontakt libraries is to use the free sfz format Virtual Playing Orchestra library for the Plogue sforzando player (the player is from the creators of the Aria player used by Garritan): http://virtualplaying.com/virtual-playing-orchestra/ "This is a full, free orchestral sample library featuring section and solo instruments for woodwinds, brass, strings and percussion." "Virtual Playing Orchestra is a free orchestral sample library, in sfz format, that attempts to emulate multiple articulations of the solo and section instruments from a full orchestra using the best free samples from Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra, No Budget Orchestra, VSCO2 Community Edition, University of Iowa, Philharmonia Orchestra and extra free samples from Mattias Westlund, author of Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra." https://www.plogue.com/products/sforzando.html The main drawback to sforzando is that it's not multi-timbral, so you may need to insert multiple instances of the plugin to achieve what you need.

You should THUNK them for the answers....

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.

My first DAW was Cakewalk for DOS This song, "Solo" 48hkz 24bit heavily utilizes Melodyne Studio, it has sidechaining on the vocals using Cakewalk's PC4K S-Type Bus Compressor to cut a vocal impression out of the mix. Instrument Plugins: NI Session Guitarist Electric Sunburst, NI Scarbee Jay-Bass, Dimension Pro (pad name: "As Quiet As Possible"), NI Abbey Road 80s Drummer, NI Vintage Organs (patch, "Green Onions"), Guitar Lead: Orange Tree Samples Evolution Rock Standard Plugin (user made preset), NI Symphony Series String Ensemble, Effects plugins: Kazrog - True Iron, Fab Filter Pro-L2, Heavy use of the CBB ProChannel, Overloud - Breverb 2, Overloud - ReMatrix possibly utilizing PerfectSpace impulse waves and 2 Overloud impulse packs, Nomad Factory Blue Tube DL3D, Waves Vocal Rider, Izotope Ozone 9 Imager. Mixed on an Intel I9 12 core 24 thread processor w/Nvidia 1080TI graphics card, 16GB ram 3000mhz (overclocked), RexRed is currently #3 on Reverbnation's global charts for singer songwriter and is placing at #33 globally on the charts in all genres All of the over 200 songs of RexRed on Reverbnation are made in Cakewalk. http://rexred.com RexRed- Flock of Angels (gay romance) channel on YouTube receives an average of 2 million views a month, the original songs in the videos there were all made in Cakewalk. 😊. The song, "Solo" is completely original and all rights are owned by RexRed. All of the tracks have been frozen but they can be unfrozen to reveal the inner settings, just keep a copy of the project if it becomes corrupted by accidental edits/saves. One of the guitar tracks is comprised of wave files created in an earlier version of the project so they cannot be unfrozen. I can create a new project and I could include them in the project muted if you wish. The genre of this project is, "psychedelic rock ballad" I would say, if this song is chosen as a candidate I will make the project available in a onedrive link. As for the REmatrix impulses from PrefectSpace, a generic reverb could be assigned to these tracks if there are any problems, I can provide the impulses but they are all in the wave folder of PerfectSpace and the name of the impulse packs I have from Overloud are JPVerbs and Dusty Racks Volume 1. I have over 200 songs on Reverbnation, choose another song or several if you like.

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.

I forgot to list the plugins. For Drive, the non-native plugins are: Izotope Neutron. Image Line Delay TAL Reverb II Soundtoys FilterFreak1, Sie-Q Nicky Romero Kickstart Sleepy-Time DSP Lisp (Desser) For Voyager: Neutron

Awesome, I'll be at Namm with GHS Strings, looking forward to saying hi again Noel. I have two for you, both released 2019: Voyager at the Heliopause Ambient instrumental, with lyrics in morse code. Here's a music video with 3D animation I did - all of which are scientifically accurate recreations of Voyager's journey through the solar system. Drive Synth heavy dance track with vocals.