Justin Schaffer

I don't have too many specifics here, but ever since I've updated to the latest version my current project takes FOREVER to open... the blue/green box in the lower right says Opening Project Loading [plugin name here]" for literally about 5 minutes until I can start mixing. Previous versions were so much faster when I'd open CW and then open this project.

Nice performance and a really clean mix!... I assume this was done in Cakewalk, right? Curious if you used any ProChannel plugins... console or tape emulators, PC4K compressor, etc?

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! FreeEarCandy: I agree... we wanted to keep the vocal as the main stereo sound in the song, but I did try to subtly put some harmonics from the bass in stereo using Basslane (free version), but perhaps not low enough freq or at too low of an amount setting.

I helped my daughter record, mix, and master this one using CW. The live instruments recorded were a 1950's Martin D18 (recorded though both an NT1A and a XM8500 dynamic, at times each mic panned for wider sound), and a bass guitar (recorded through both the amp and DI). The Subbass that comes in later on was MIDI using the SI Bass Guitar (I believe Dance Synth preset). For this one she wanted vocals really wide (similar to Harry Styles' "From the Dining Table") and mellow (similar to many Phoebe Bridgers' songs) to go with the feelings of blurriness and absence. So the vocals are a bit unconventional, but that is the subjective creative choice we made :) We used three separate VOX takes, all recorded through an NT1A: one panned hard left, one hard right, and one up the middle - with the middle track at a much lower level. All the VOX reverb is coming from the middle take and ducked with NOVA because we didn't want clashing reverbs. Hope you enjoy her song and my latest mix! Links here: Soundcloud Spotify -Justin

Thanks all for listening and the feedback! I've tweaked EQ's, gave the song a little more "body", gave the snare a little more high-end bite, tweaked the delay and reverb levels, and slapped the still-free Brainworx bx_Masterdesk Classic on the Master Bus in place of the basic limiter I was using. If you care to hear the newer version, which is less thin and more punch, here's the SoundCloud link: Time Kills - Mix 13a Justin

Antler, Thanks for the feedback! I agree, when I play it on various speakers around the house/car, it sounds off somehow...like its missing something. I've checked all my EQ's on the tracks, and for the most part I'm only taking a little off the bottom of some tracks, and a little off the top of others, so there aren't really any crazy EQ curves drastically changing the sound of the guitars, or synths (bass, drums, and 808). I was even boosting the upper-mids on the guitars along with Fresh Air to bring up the clarity, but it still sounded dull. I did notice the ProChannel 76 compressors I had on each of the 3 guitar tracks (1 is the lead guitar through the amp simulator going up the middle and the other two are alternate takes of raw acoustic guitar panned hard L and R respectively) were really altering the natural tone of that Martin... so I replaced it with another compressor and I think that helped bring back the clarity. I also made the EQ tweaks you suggested above too the bass and snare which I think helped.. I'll bounce it and see how it sounds tomorrow before uploading this fixed version. Justin

Time Kills ahhh!! don’t know why that link didn’t work but thanks for letting me know.. this one should work:

As a former wedding videographer, my first thought after just the first few notes was I could see this being played at a wedding ceremony. Very nice sounding recording!

Hi all, Appreciative of the constructive feedback given on my last post a few months back, I wanted to share my next Cakewalk mix for thoughts and feedback. This one hasn't been sent to the distributor yet so I can still make small tweaks if anyone finds anything that seems out of whack! Go easy on the lyrics/vocals/guitar playing as it's my 15 y/o daughter's work But I take responsibility for the Spitfire Labs drums (which I loved the sound of - i think that will be my go to drum VST!) and other mix effects and choices. My biggest struggle on this one (as has been my usual struggle) is getting the tack and bus EQ's right so it sounds ok on various speakers around the house and in the car. Also keeping the 808/bass/kick low end in check. I'm pretty happy with how it sounds now, and of course maybe someone in a better room with better speakers may think otherwise or hear an obnoxious frequency. Here's the *CORRECTED* private link on SoundCloud: Time Kills Mix 11 --Justin UPDATED 9/2/22: Newer version (see comments below): Time Kills Mix 13a

Thanks all for the feedback! Actually, there is no pitch correction on the lead vocal. I used some ever so slightly on some doubles to make them stand apart from the lead but only at key phrases. I will say our recording environment wasn't ideal for this one, and I did struggle for a while with the vocal EQ and saturation and noise reduction to get it to where it is. And I have no say in the lyrics or composition... not my area of expertise... I'm just a drummer! Her next song which we're just about done with had a much better raw vocal that took very minimal EQ and clean up. Looking forward to posting it as soon as she figures out the cover art, which is always the longest hold up of each release!

Nice song - I liked the stereo imaging of the guitars, and thought the overall balance of the mix (vocal/instr levels) was well done. My only suggestion would be for a slightly longer fade out at the end maybe?

My daughter is an aspiring singer/songwriter, and this is the latest song I helped her record and then mixed for her. Its the first song I mixed using Cakewalk, after hearing about it and switching from Vegas Pro. I have used Vegas for a decade for video work, so I used it on her other songs because I knew it well. It was an ok DAW (with roots as a DAW a long time ago), but once I learned the interface of cakewalk its obvious how much better CW is for the task! One big improvement was memory management - my PC often choked playing Vegas mixes, but played smoothly in CW. Also of note, the strings and drum hits were created using the TTS-1 included with CW. Soundcloud link: Spotify Link: https://open.spotify.com/track/0nqq9UgGngwD6PfOPZMHtn?si=d26bc20f542442a7 I'm not a pro at audio mixing, but rather an enthusiastic hobbyist, so go easy on me if you have any comments/suggestions! -Justin

I know this topic is old, but I've had this issue pop up a few times and I wasn't able to find any guidance online as to what the cause was. The problem - which only seemed to happen randomly - was that if I had an audio clip on one audio track and dragged it to certain other audio tracks, it would appear greyed out. The clip wasn't muted, nor was it locked in the Clip Inspector, and it wouldn't play. I could move it to some tracks and it was find, others greyed it out. I finally came to the realization that every time this happened, the track to which I moved (or copied) the audio clip was a comp track with several takes. So when this was happening, the moved or copied clip was being added to a new and inactive take lane under the hood. It was still showing up on the audio track, but as the take wasn't selected it was greyed out and not played. So all I had to do was expand the take lanes and make it an active clip, then it was no longer greyed out and played as expected. Not sure if this is the same issue the OP was having, but this thread came up in my searches to solve my problem, so figured I'd post the solution I found. Justin