RICHARD HUTCHINS

Yes I remember this button now, however I've just tried this fully expecting it to work and...nothing still.

Hi all,

Okay, apologies in advance, this I know is very basic but its ages since I did any thing with the CW drums, and today I just cant get them to record. I've done a screenshot which will show my setup, and I know its something stupid, but for the life of me I cant recall what I used to do to set them up.

I can hear all the kit okay through my phones,  but when I press record, no waveform can be seen and there are no drums.  I have tried various settings. I suspect its simple but cant figure it out. Input is through my Steinberg UR22 interface, with MIDI omni on the dropdown.

Once again I throw myself at the mercy of the forum!

Richie

Yep that worked, gave it completely different name and location. Now need to go back and rename with a more sensible file name and put it on the right folder.

Could be. Sometimes I mix to a file and replace the original and even if the name of the file is slightly different eg song and song1 CW cakewalk tells me that file already exists, even though the name is slightly different. Maybe part of the same problem, I'll try this thanks

But thanks for the further advice on the plug in John!

Yes I agree, to a point. Depends on the venue I suppose? We are going for a drums and bass backing, but as my voice is weak I think we need the extra third  harmony, as without it, its just not that elusive "Mersey" sound. Other songs of that genre are easier to follow but the Beatles? Some places we play, you mess with those songs at your peril!🙄

Thanks all, much to digest.

You mean use Youlean as a plug in on the master?

Really interesting posts. I am proposing to use Stage Traxx 3 and an iPad and keep it simple. Except it isn't simple! I'd like the option of mixing it a bit at different venues but not sure how to do that as yet.

I use a variax guitar and it has a nice sitar, although I always fancy a curry after playing it! 

As to the Beatles I was also of the opinion of  that " how hard can it be" crowd. How wrong could I be. I've been in rock and metal bands and they all love to whizz around the fretboard showing off how fast they are and how many hours they spent in their bedroom practicing the arpeggios of doom, etc etc but its actually easier to do that than do a Beatles song correctly for some bizarre reason.

I think it is because the amount of talent in the Beatles was so huge, mere practice is not enough to even come close to getting that sound. I have to admit I'm finding it hard work, but I don't mind because I get to listen to their songs and learn all about the structure, harmonies and arrangement. ( Also I grew up with them here in the UK and they were Gods to us!)

But how did they make it look so easy, and sound so good in front of thousands of screaming kids, using a couple of Vox AC30s? Errr...talent. 😄

Thanks for replying, I appreciate it,  but that doesn't mean much to me I'm afraid. I'm a Complete novice with tech stuff, despite my best efforts to learn.

So,  What do you mean by "Something else?"  Something else has  got what open? 

Hi all,

I'm trying to export a backing track as an MP3 for my iPad,  done dozens with no problem but today I got an error message ( see my screenshot) saying " an internal error occurred while processing the mixdown"

So I mustered my huge technical skills and tried;

renaming and exporting...nope

closing CW and restarting; nope

doing it all again; nope.

I was basically adding an audio file of an extra vocal ( track 8 on the screenshot) to the backing track in MP4 format, don't know if that confused the DAW?

Ideas welcome, I'm a bit stumped here. ( Doesn't take much)

Thanks all. John we have Black Friday here in the UK  too, so I will do some shopping but I take on board your positive comments for the plug in. Thanks again

Rich

John, I watched your very helpful mixing video. I like the youlean plug in and got the free version, I'm assuming I need to get the pro version to set an optimum LUF level for the tracks? It looks disabled in the free version, which I suppose is fair enough.

I assume its simple to use? Has to be for me I'm sorry to say. All I want is for the tracks to be the same level for the gigs.

Ah! Okay I will revisit forthwith! Thanks John.

Yep, just had a look, and it doesnt support MP3's unfortunately.

Interesting, thanks Max I'll have a look.

Thanks I'll check it out. Need all the help I can get vox wise.

John, can it help with weedy vocals ( me) by double tracking them and maybe a bit of pitch correction?

That's all very helpful, I hadn't heard of the voice harmoniser nor the expose2 app.  My set up will have a lead vocalist and I try to do the harmonies but the problem is that whilst I can sing in tune my voice is thin and reedy, with no real character.  Nothing I can do about that I daresay.

Thanks again I will check all of this out, and probably come running back with questions!( I'm not on a learning curve here, its actually vertical!!)

Hi John

Of course as a novice I wont attempt arguing with these very salient points. Except maybe to offer my two penn'orth worth;

" Why use a click track?" I do Beatles songs, and some have gaps with just Vox until the drums come back in so its nice to have something to follow and then come back in to the song on time. 

"Kill those harmonies" Again, playing Beatles songs harmonies are simply everything and whilst I can sing after a fashion,  I am on a different planet to the mop tops, who were all three great singers in their own right. So I either stay silent or get some help!

Just my own point of view obvs 🙂

Ah! The default export option in CW is stereo so I will try that thanks.

So far, I haven't chosen a setup, still rehearsing. But I saw a web site video on you tube that recommended mono files unless you have separate outputs from the iPad. I think because sometimes there are two harmonies on one track on karaoke version,  in stereo, so you would lose one unless it was bounced to mono.

On the other hand they could tell me the iPad was made of cheese and I wouldn't really know the difference, as I am so inexperienced in this type of thing. Much happier just playing my guitar and not getting bogged down in tech stuff, but of course that will get me nowhere except my bedroom! I'm very thankful for forums like this to say the least.

Hi again!

Firstly, in response to the tech stuff above, " yeah, what he said, "! 😄 Over my head but interesting and worth an effort to try to understand.

Anyhow, back to the humble land of the novice; whilst working through all of this I hit another problem and I am sure its something silly, but would appreciate help? Basically I download the backing tracks from karaoke version, individually i.e. bass, drums, vox etc. and copy them to a cakewalk file. I then convert them to mono so I can use them live. 

But when I play it back in cakewalk, the  signal  seems to be just on the left side, i.e. when I pan the master fader to the right 100% no sound, pan to left full sound. Why is this and what am I doing wrong here? ( see screenshot)

Apologies in advance for the rather basic questions.

Well as usual thanks guys for taking time to give full replies, much appreciated. I am going to digest the info and decide on a way forward but with all of this I'm confident I can sort it. If I don't add to this  post with more questions,  it means its been a success, I hope that makes sense.? 

Thanks again, I've said it before but this is an excellent forum.

Hi all,

I am setting up 40 songs with backing tracks from karaoke version. I edit them in cakewalk and export them for our gigs as MP3's. Is there a good way to ensure the finished songs are at roughly the same level? I noticed quite a variation in the output volume for some songs. Is there a plug in out there? Or a decent tutorial...? All new to me I'm afraid!

Thanks Skook just seen this!