John Vere

Glad you sorted it out as that old thread sort of ended with no solution. There was a lot of long time users and all of us were sort of stumped. @Kalle Rantaaho was the closest to figuring it out as all fingers pointed at some sort of internal routing issue. I have never used Offset mode so I would have to look it up to understand what it actually does. Sound like something I would defiantly use with extreme caution, like Ripple Edit. The Gain control is often overlooked. It is actually the most important setting on a channel strip. 45 years of live sound mixing teaches you that. You have 8, 12, 16, 24 channels of live inputs, You need to get a mix happening FAST. At sound check- , Mute the Mains, use headphones, you set all the faders at unity and musician, instrument, channel by channel you solo and use the input gain to put the meter where you want it. During the show you are constantly tweaking the gain keeping an eye out for peaking. Once every channel is set at the same input level the mix will be 90% balanced. Even the monitors will be easy to set. That input gain is the way to achieve a balanced mix without touching a fader. I set a basic target, nothing is to go over -6db. Average should be around -10 or -12. Vocals will need the most work and a touch of compression to catch peaks but I will also edit the track with clip gain ( actually I use Melodyne now) to get rid of those manually. It was mentioned that you would not use the gain to turn down a track because it becomes lame, and with that I absolutely agree. To a point So to clarify, turning down a track that doesn't have dynamic effects on it is harmless. What I am saying is all your tracks should be optimized and set at the target level long before you would be automating a fader. This is the Gains purpose. And yes you need to be aware of how the gain will interact with compressors. This is all part of having a workflow that keeps that signal chain in mind at all times. Remember, adding any effects can change the output of the track especially EQ. Its a balancing act of making changes and keeping an eye on that peak level. You want to hear that compressor working? Then keep the gain up and use it's output to maintain the peak. Always observe the peak readings that are found in your effects like in the Pro Channel. Don't clip anything! Keep that fader at unity as you work. Look at the console view to observe all your faders Play the song and observe each tracks peak and hold readings. They should not be exciding your target levels. I have different targets for different types of tracks. Example Keyboards @ -12. Bass and drums @ - 6. Same goes fore the buses. If they are peaking go find the hot spots and either fix them manually of use a compressor /limiter. Then you can start automation to bring stuff in and out of the mix. This step should be the last thing you do. Tip- Mix recall is your friend if you want to start over but don't want to loose the currant mix and all it's effects and automations.

For those interested in the topic the OP carried on and found a solution. Offset mode!

I was curious. Opened a basic project added a synth, and using the virtual keyboard played a few notes. I added a Wheel lane to the controller pane and drew a pitch bend. The first attempt was blocky ( notice the lower part) so I turned off snap and I was able to draw exactly what I wanted by just holding the left mouse button as I moved it around. No fuss to muss.

It's a bit confusing and possibly not enough information about what you want and what you did? The project shown sees to be all audio tracks. So I'll assume this was a recording done without a click track? Audio, as said above, unless told to do so with Audio snap or Groove clips, does not follow the tempo map, only midi does. What you've done is created a tempo map that matches the original audio recording. This is what one would do before they record midi parts and be able to then quantize to the grid. So what is not clear, are you hoping to speed up or slow down the whole song? Or are you hoping to make the whole song play at an even perfect tempo? FYI If you have any version of Melodyne installed you can automatically create a tempo map by dragging an audio clip to the timeline,

I just use T. The tools menu pops up at mouse position.

Ok here’s some answers to how to prevent it from happening . 1- Don’t go for lunch leaving Cakewalk recording. Yes we all do this once. 2- Don’t forget to stop when recording midi parts and then hit your controller at 2 minutes after the song ended. 3- Check that your midi controller is not randomly sending controller data from the joystick. 4-Pay attention when copying and pasting where the paste has gone if it isn’t what you wanted. 5- Always check the Undo list when something you pasted didn’t seem to work. It might have landed on measure 400 6- Don’t use Ripple edit on a complex project 7- Hidden tracks? 8. Your Cat found the R key. 9- Keep projects tidy

Using the gain doesn’t change tone. That is your ears lying to you. It is common knowledge that level has an effect on how we listen. A lot of snake oil plug ins make you think that they instantly make a track sound better but it’s just louder. Possibly understanding what you are trying to achieve would help offering a workflow that would help you better. Cakewalk has many options you can use to control the level of tracks. I actually rarely end up needing volume automation. I mostly use clip gain. I will also use tools such as Process Gain, Compression, Limiters and EQ. I try and leave all my faders at unity. I use the gain to set a target peak level for each track. I will use clip gain envelope for solos or brief changes. With clip gain I can simply highlight the section at drag the whole part up or down while observing the level read out showing at the pointer. As said there are dozens and dozens of workflows available and as you are finding out what works for one person doesn’t always work for you. Example almost all compressors, limiters and EQ,s have a input and output level control you can also automate. I have never needed this but it yet one more option.

Or use the gain

It might not be the video. It can also be caused by a certain VST instrument. Are you seeing the little blue circle spinning when you press the space bar? When this happens to me I then try freezing synths until it goes away. I think you can also try muting them until you find the problem.

Did it come with an ASIO driver and did you install it and choose ASIO in the driver settings. You shouldn’t be seeing the on board audio as an option if you did.

I’m not familiar with those mikes so not sure how good they would be at rejecting background sounds. But generally dynamic mikes like the SM series are used in live performance just for that one reason alone. I guess you could test them by turning on some noise in another room and see how much is picked up when say recording a guitar or something in your studio

Yes I guess I was thanks for clarification.

Export midi only exports the very basic midi data. If you Save a midi file it will contain the other important information like patches and tempo.

Not sure what you are saying because in the screenshot it is showing? Are you meaning the version that doesn’t say 64 bit? The one at the top might be a 32 bit or VST 2 version. If you select the option to only show VST3 versions when available then what you are seeing is correct.

Not the answer you are looking for but a possible solution. If you have the ability to use a directional dynamic mike like a SM 57 you might be able to eliminate the noise at the source. It depends on what you will record with. It’s one of the reasons I chose the Tascam DR 40 handheld recorder. It not only has the condenser mikes built in but it also has XLR jacks so I can do direct from the mixer or add 2 more mikes. There-are also some very directional mikes used by video people for when they do location interviews.

As said if you have Midi as the template and then the audio exports as stems starting at zero it’s not a big deal. Everyone has different approach’s to what effects are used so personally I would not worry about duplicating what the first person used. I just go at it with my own methods which is why collaboration is a wonderful idea to get a completely different perspective of a mix

There’s a difference between built in audio on a laptop and a desktop computer. For many desktop on board audio systems Windows detects when you plug a jack in. Like I never plug anything in to the mike jack so it will not even show as an input device. I guess if your computer has both a speaker and a headphone jack then that will definitely confuse Cakewalks ability to select the default output device. They may show as available in audio devices but the master bus output can only use one. There is a way to add a headphone bus that solves the problem. But it can be different for each computer how this might work. If you look to the right of your buses in console view you’ll see a divider you can pull left to show the hardware mixer. Laptops are different in that they have both built in mikes and speakers as well as the jacks. The headphone/ mike jack disables the speakers/ mikes so it s still the same device and therefore no problem.

Click on clip to highlight Hold CTRL and drag to new location. CTRL copies the clip If you hold SHIFT at same time it will maintain place on time grid. Just holding shift will move a clip to new location. When choosing a track by clicking the number I always use ALT mouse wheel and zoom out to see whole project to make sure everything got highlighted

If it is live with no drums or click tracks that makes it easy. All I do is export as stems at a high quality rate and drag and drop into a new project usually based on a template for the type of music. The critical difference is if the Pro tools session was recorded to the clock. But it’s pretty easy to take the audio and drag it to the timeline and create a tempo map in Cakewalk. If it was played to a clock then the midi file will make that easy. Just make sure you Open the midi file. Bummer is you can’t use a template.

I’ll add that you can store templates anywhere you want them including backup drives. But only the ones you place in the folder selected will show on the start screen. Like scook I’ve used a custom location on my data drive for years now and all my templates are fine. I had to change my pathway back to the default C drive location for making the tutorials so it would show the default templates for demonstrating opening new projects. I did that 2 years ago and I just copied a few of my custom templates there as well. They are unscathed after numerous updates. They really take up zero space so the default is just fine by me these days. I just like having my back ups on other drives as well.

I have done things out of order a few times and I never seemed to have anything weird happening to CbB but possibly because I always leave folder pathways and such to defaults. And I have 8.5 then jump to X3 and I have the Lexicon Reverb. So I’m sure I got it from 8.5. But as I say I remember looking for it and Tru Piano and just ran the 8.5 installer only checking the bare bones of what I needed. This was long after I had installed the rest of them. Note you should really copy the disks to your hard drives as I would not trust an optical disk as a dependable source.

Yes this catches me out all the time. Normally like scook says I have my own templates but if I start a project with a Midi file, as I often might do, I have to always remember to change that to Overwrite before I lay down any new tracks. It is yet another default that annoys me. To me it should be a global pre set, not per project.

You must have the vocals assigned directly to the master. Create a vocal bus.

My first guess is there's no kit loaded into SD. I've never used a drum map with it as I always stick to 90% GM mapping.

I thought the word was going to be Talent. A music teacher told me once that the successful artists have at least 2 of 3 attributes. Talent, Ambition and Knowledge. The ones who have all 3 are lucky. At first I thought this was wrong but then you think of an artist you might run into. Like the dude that will buy expensive gear and talk about gear forever, and read all the magazines and can tell you just about anything about every hit record and who played on it. They are always trying to put together a band and book gigs, but there's just something missing when they play. Talent. Or the person who has lots of Talent and Knowledge but you can't get them off the couch, No ambition. You can go a long way with lots of Ambition and a little Talent. ( Taylor Swift?) I'm very similar to Tim in my approach to vocals. What I'm seeing for me is I just turned 70 so as I age the components needed to sing are wearing out. I defiantly cannot hear like I used to and my voice is not as smooth as when I was 50. I will re sing the same song I recorded 25 years ago and it's like a different person. But it is what it is, and I'm not trying to compete with anybody or score a record deal. I just want to enjoy the process without technology getting in my way. I'm real happy to be in a place with my set up that works without fuss. It is defiantly worth the time and effort to get the Hardware and software under your absolute control and leave that part of it behind you and start making music. I try and not overuse Melodyne and have slowly learned how to use the other tools it offers like aptitude and timing more than the pitching tools. So now I can just be loose when I sing and not obsess about perfecting the track. Ultimately I like to get out in the real world and sing my songs live a dozen times or more before I commit to tape. Writing a song , recording a backing track and then singing the song cold will never work well for me. The singing has to take on a life of it's own, you might completely re phrase everything and choose a different melody even. It all happens when you get out there and belt it out in front of real people. And I'll end with saying , don't obsess about unimportant stuff like bit depth. It's not a deciding factor in making great recordings.