XBaker

Hi Jim! I opened the editor program and it's setup properly as near as I can tell. I'm in MCP moide and each fader on the Extender is sending Pitch Bend on unique MIDI channels. It's been a while since I setup the surface, but I'm not using ACT as I recall. I just updated the QCon Firmware from v1.11 to v1.13 and tried again. Now the Cakewalk Fader properly controls the first fader on the QCon EX. BUT ... now the same fader won't control Cakewalk! It appears to be a QCon issue, because it's not becoming the selected channel when I touch the fader. I just performed the Fader Test on the QCon and the first fader isn't responding to my touch. All other faders are fine. I'll go through the calibration settings again and report back soon. Thanks for your help!

I installed 2022.11 Build 21. I'm using it with my two QCon Pro G2 control surfaces, the 2nd of which is the Ex. I cannot get Cakewalk Volume to control the automated fader on the first track of the Extender unit. All other faders on both QCons respond to fader motion in Cakewalk. And all faders in Cakewalk respond to motion on the QCon hardware. I believe the hardware fader in question is working properly, that is, is still motorized, because at hardware Startup, it snaps to 50% of the throw. To the best of my recollection, the fader was working correctly when I was using 2022.11, the official release. Possible defect? Thanks, Tom

Absolutely. I use lots of keyboard shortcuts, assign new shortcuts for the things I do often, etc. But I still rely on the mouse maybe a bit too much. Hence, my recent purchases of several DAW Controllers; QCon Pro G2 and EX, Mongram Traveler, and my Nektar Impact LX88+.

Thanks, Michael. Track Templates are indeed a big improvement over doing it from scratch each time. It was two clicks to insert a Track Template consisting of The Grandeur piano hosted in Kontakt and with a reverb inserted, vs a dozen or so to do it from scratch. I'll create a few more Track Templates for my Go To instruments.

Not to pick nits, but it's two clicks.; one to open the dropdown, another to make the selection Two clicks here, two clicks there, it can add up.

Yes, James, that's what I meant.

Thanks for the reply, Noel! I'd love to see an option for changing it to something else, perhaps in the .ini file, if not in the UI. Tom

When I choose Insert Instrument, the default Instrument is TTS-1. Is it possible to make a different instrument the Default? I searched the Help, this forum, and poked around Manage Plugin Layouts, but no joy. Thanks for any help!

Back in May I said I'd report back here after I received my Monogram Traveler control surface. Well, after a long shipping delay combined with a household move, I've finally had some time to work with the unit in Cakewalk. So far, it's met my expectations. It's quite easy to program using the included Creator software. The unit can be setup to send Windows OS, Keyboard, MIDI, and Joystick messages. I primarily set it up to send Cakewalk Keyboard Shortcuts and some MIDI CCs. For example, I setup a couple of profiles to control Play, Arm, Record, Go to Start, Go to Next/Previous Measure/Marker, Zoom Horizontally and Vertically, Jump between Tracks and Buses, etc. and send CC messages for Expression, Dynamics, and Vibrato. Scrolling through the Timeline and/or Zooming In/Out by turning Knobs is sweet, and by Pressing the same Knob I can go back to the Start. One trick I learned is that I can setup a Button to send multiple Keyboard Shortcuts. For example, I setup a Button to send Alt+F then A to perform a Save As. You can do that to access any menu item, and it can go as deep as you need to. Bottom line, it's easy to program and use, takes very little space on the desk, looks great, and it just works. I'm a fan.

Yup, I've seen that vid! And I know Mark is the man! 🙂

I have the QCon Pro 2 and EX G2, and they're great DAW controllers. I simply can't get Cakewalk to respond to them when I use them in User Defined Mode, which I need in order to send CC1, CC11, etc, when I record orchestral parts. Hence the need for the Monogram CC which I ordered about two weeks ago. Should arrive in another week of so. I'll let folks know how that turns out. FWIW, IMHO the Monogram controller is quite a bit more than a cute little controller. It'll send MIDI of course, but it'll also send Keyboard messages, App-specific messages, OS messages, and even Joystick mode . And you can program up to 15 Profiles, so the knobs, faders, buttons, etc, can have multiple definitions. I've seen a guy use one with another DAW and set it up with a profile for Recording, another for Mixing, another for Editing, etc.

Is anyone using the Monogram control surfaces successfully with Cakewalk? Christian from Spitfire uses it very successfully with Cubase, I think. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work with CbB, because it can be programmed to send just about any MIDI message. Modular Productivity Tool for Creative Pros | Monogram Creative Console (monogramcc.com) Thanks! Tom

And in this pic you can see the CC data in the PRV when recording the faders from the Impact keyboard controller. They're recorded as MIDI Events, not track automation. This is what I want, but from the QCon, not the Impact (because of the much longer faders on the QCon).

In case a picture helps. As you can see, Track 1 (High Strings) is showing the recorded CC1 and CC11 automation. But it's not shown in the PRV below.

Update to my efforts to use my QCon Pro G2 to control CbB, specifically, orchestral VST instruments like Abbey Road One by Spitfire. I found out that I can use the Pro G2 in User Defined Mode, but keep it setup as a Mackie Control control surface in Cakewalk. It sends CC messages and all other MCU-type commands to Cakewalk. The issue now is that while I can send CC1 and CC11 to Cakewalk from the Pro G2, MIDI and Instrument tracks do not record it. The track Inputs are set to All Channels, so it should be listening and receiving the incoming CC messages. I suspect it's something in the MCU protocol that's interfering. I am, however, able to record CC1 and CC11 if I setup the track's Automation Lanes to be Remote Controlled and Abbey Road One does respond to them. Unfortunately, it's a real pain to have to Write Enable each lane to record, then Write Disable and Read Enable to play the track back. There must be simpler way, such as recording simple incoming MIDI CC messages as Events. In fact, with my Nectar Impact LX88+ I don't have to jump through these same hoops to record fader movements. The Impact is also setup as a Control Surface, and it records fader movements during normal track record. The CC messages are displayed in the Piano Roll as MIDI Events. I understand the difference between MIDI Events and Automation. What I want is simple MIDI Events that I can view and edit in the PRV. For some reason, I can record them with Impact but not QCon. Should I be barking up the QCon tree instead? FWIW, their Support is very minimal; I'm hoping someone here is using a QCon and figured out how to customize it for use in CbB already.

I'm talking about the QCon Pro G2, even though I referred to an M+ tutorial. I assume custom mapping is the same across the lineup.

Hello everyone! I recently purchased the QCon Pro G2. I was able to set it up with CbB using the Mackie Control protocol and it works fine. My question is about Custom Mapping the Pro G2. Specifically, I want to assign CC1 (Modulation) and CC11 (Expression) to two of the faders in order to control my Spitfire Audio orchestral library Abbey Road One. I watched Mike from QCon show how this is done in another model, and assumed it's more or less the same thing fro the G2. So far in my efforts, I've been able to use QCon's iMap software to switch to User Defined Mode and reassign Faders 1 and 2 from their Default assignments (Pitch Bend) to CC1 and CC11. I validated that the faders were indeed sending CC1 and 11 on Ch1 using MIDI-Ox to monitor the output. The Abbey Road One plugin doesn't respond to the fader movements, however, even though it's also on Ch1. I suspected it's because CbB is still expecting the Pro G2 to be in Mackie Control protocol, but I'm now in User Defined Mode. If I delete the control surface in CbB and create new ones based on Generic Surface, Abbey Road does indeed respond to CC1 and 11. But the problem is none of the other Pro G2 controls have any effect. I don't want to have to program a complete Generic Surface just to make two changes to what I get using Mackie Control. Has anyone had success using a QCon iCon control surface with a custom mapping?

I'll third this request! Because Ticks are divisions of the Beat, and Tempo affects the frequency of the Beats, it also affects the frequency of the Ticks. One cannot set a negative MIDI Time Offset and achieve a result that is consistent across Tempo Changes. Media composers rely heavily on Tempo changes, and it's impossible to achieve a consistent alignment of the note's attacks/onsets. If Cakewalk is to be considered by Media Composers, this feature enhancement must be added. Please, I strongly encourage you to add MilliSeconds as an option to the Time+ Offset feature. Thank you for your consideration!

Awesome! Wow! Talk about listening to the customer!!! THANK YOU!

Hi all! Setup ... Turn Auto Track Zoom ON. When I use my Control Surface to move to Next or Prev track, and that track is in a Collapsed folder, Cakewalk moves to the correct track but doesn't Expand the folder for me to see the track. I'm requesting this functionality be considered for a future version. In fact, I feel it's a deficiency (defect) in the Auto Track Zoom feature. The Auto Track Zoom feature would also Collapse the current folder when it moves to a track in a different folder, and of course, then Expand that new folder. Ideally, this feature might be included in the Preferences or Track Options. Thanks for your consideration! Tom

Thanks for confirming my results. Interestingly, Cakewalk does indeed go to the Next or Prev track. But it doesn't Expand the Folder to show the track. Tom

Hi Bassman, Thanks for going to the trouble of creating and posting a video. Looks like the difference is that my folders are all Closed by default. Yours are expanded. I agree, it works if the folders are already expanded. I'm asking for o automatically expand the folder if Next or Previous track goes to a track in a Closed folder. Tom

Hi Bassman! Agreed the first track must be clicked on by the mouse. But if the next or previous tracks are inside Folders, the Folder doesn't expand to show the track. Works fine for tracks outside of Folders, or for tracks within a single folder. Doesn't work when tracks are inside multiple folders. Tom

Hi All, I'm using Auto Track Zoom in a project that has multiple tracks in multiple folders. When I use my MIDI Controller's Next Track or Previous Track function, Cakewalk won't Auto Zoom to the track if it's in a Closed Folder. I would like it to Open a Closed Folder and Auto Zoom the nested track. And if could Close the Folder when I move from the last nested track to the first nested track of the next Closed Folder and Open that one3, that'd be perfect for my workflow. Mind you, Cakewalk does indeed move to the appropriate track using the Next and Previous Track functions on my Controller. But it doesn't Auto Zoom the track. The Folder holding the track remains Closed. Does Auto Zoom work with your controller? Is it possible it's only a problem with my Controller? Nektar Impact LX88+. Thanks for any insight! Tom

I resolved the issue by using the Replace Synth feature for each instrument that's in Discover and deleting the instruments that aren't. End result works perfectly!