mdiemer

I really struggle with this as well, due to using so many vst insts. This thread is really great, so much helpful info in here. I need to remember to turn off look-ahead plugins except in mastering, like the LP 64. I'll have to look into the PDC thing. Many 'likes' to everyone on this thread! The tips here should really help me out.

I don't see how that is possible. But the solution is to make the notes in track 1 half the value of the notes in track two. For example, track one is eighth notes, track two is quarter notes. Quarter notes are twice as long as eighth notes.

I had the same question a ways back, and also asked it on other forums. But people convinced me it doesn't matter. As long as your vsti's are configured correctly and Cakewalk's inspector agrees with them, it doesn't matter. For example, I do orchestral music and I move whole phrases around from inst. to inst. This cause the channels to get messed up in Event List. So, although I have violins on channel 12 and violas on 13, if I move a melody from the violins to the violas, the violas will suddenly have a bunch of notes on channel 12 instead of 13. but it doesn't matter. It's just an artifact. The new melody will still play correctly (have the right pan, volumes etc) because the initial settings take precedence.

With Vienna you will need a dongle, a deal-breaker for many. I have some of their stuff and have no problem with the dongle. but I use a desktop so I don't need to worry about the stupid things breaking, or not having enough USB ports. Their Special Edition 1 is probably the best entry-level library around in terms of quality. but it has its shortcomings. Which is why I use a combo of several different ones, they compliment one another. Be sure to get the Vienna Player version, not the Synchron one, as the latter is not multi-timbral.

Once you have Aria installed, you do need to authorize it with a keycard. there is a place on the site to generate one: https://www.garritan.com/support/ You just drag the keycard onto the player and that's it. Assuming that the working assumption that this is free is correct. If it won't let you generate a keycard, that means you need to purchase one of their libraries.

If you do need a license, you could consider waiting for one of their sales. Typically you can get GPO, Jazz And Big Band etc for about 50.00. Personally I'm waiting for Concert And Marching Bands to be on sale, mainly to get the saxophones. The Jazz collection looks good too. In my experience, the winds and percussion are the best parts of the Garritan stuff. Saxophones, I don't know. I'm just hoping they're good. My only saxes are the Alto and Tenor in Dimension Pro. If I play with the settings I can get the Alto to mimic the Soprano (although it won't go up as high). Other than that, I only have a couple freebies that aren't that good. I would think it would be to MakeMusic's advantage to offer the Aria player easily and freely, as it would probably generate more sales of their libraries. But then I'm not a businessman, what do I know....

Sorry about that. Guess I need to fact-check myself.

Hmm, I may be wrong about this. My apologies. I'm wondering how the OP, Dick, got it? I do own GPO so when I go to MakeMusic it just shows up when I log in. I would create an account anyway and see what happens.

Make sure your outputs are set to your focusrite. You can do this in console view. Any buses should go to a mix bus, which in turn goes to the focusrite. Also, make sure you are setting volumes on your instruments, either with knobs or controller events. You did not mention if you are doing midi or audio, that info would be helpful. Along with info on your computer, input device, operating system etc. finally, make sure you have things set correctly in Preferences. Your interface (Focusrite) needs to be selected as the audio device. If you're just starting out, you should study the manual. This stuff needs some care in initial setup; after that things usually go smoothly. Usually being the operative word.

I believe the Aria is free. You may be able to get it directly from Plogue, I believe they actually make it. also, good point about sforzando 32 bit maybe was downloaded by mistake, that could easily cause problems. In my experience, there is no practical difference between Aria and sforzando, they just look different. They do the same things. Use whichever one you want.

The Aria Player, which is very similar to sforzando (made by the same company) will almost certainly not do this. You have to register on MakeMusic, but it's free after that.

That stuff should be illegal. It's the foulest, nastiest chemical goop ever created.

Not true, there is something called an in-place reinstall for Windows 7: http://www.illawarrapcug.org.au/Tricks/Win7%20No%20Reformat%20Nondestructive%20Reinstall.pdf I have done this and it works!

I wonder, did they play the theme song to Jurassic Park in Toronto's Jurassic Park (the place fans congregate - by the thousands - during Raptor games, when Toronto won the NBA championship?

The Ensoniq that came with my Gateway Pentium II computer around the year 2000. It had its own (quite good) General Midi set on it, so I was happy to use that for awhile. Then I got an Audiophile 2496. I now use a Steinberg Ur-22. I just do midi so it suits my needs, as did the others at the time.

I walked into a music store in Portland, ME in the late 90's and a guy sold me Cakewalk Home Studio.

You may also need to do some configuring in Kontakt. When using Cinematic Strings, I have to assign controls for volume and expression. I use 7 for volume and 11 for expression. you set this on the Kontakt player. I assume you mean the free version, that is what I'm using.

I do only midi. I use Play (EWSO Gold), Aria (GPO5), Vepro (Vienna sp. Ed. 1), and Kontakt (Cinematic Strings2). Also, Appasionata Strings from VI, which use the Synchron Player. Plus a few Dim Pro instances. I do almost exclusively large orchestral projects of my own creation, 50 + midi tracks. I usually have an instance each of Play, Aria, Vepro and Kontakt. DP and App. Strings are single-instance synths. I run 5 for App Strings, about 2-3 for DP. I use FX sparingly, e.g. two instances of EW Spaces reverb, two instances of Sonitus Compressor, two instances of LP64 EQ, all on two buses. No problems. My stats: i7 Ivy Bridge (not the most advanced i7); 32 GB ram; (2) WD Black 1 TB HDDs; Steinberg UR-22 ( a $100.00 usb interface); Windows 7 SP1. I use the onboard graphics. I keep this computer offline almost always. I run MSE for AV. A fairly powerful but really pretty basic system. No Solid State drives, no high-end graphics, a modest audio interface. I also tweaked the system for music production. Basically, I used the plan that Sweetwater Co. advises, but I picked and chose what changes I made. Also I looked at which Windows services etc you can safely disable, using an online tutorial. Finally, I adjusted Cakewalk's settings so that I don't have any pops and clicks. I figured this stuff out over a period of time; you can too.

If you happen to have Dimension Pro, it has nice saxes (minus the soprano).

Just my opinion of course, but the only advantage that laptops have is portability. If that's not important to you, stay with a desktop. Many advantages, as have already been reported here.

I have had this happen too, and it turned out there were in fact duplicate notes, but one set was hidden. I forget exactly how I found them, but I think I expanded this or that, and there they were. Sorry this doesn't solve it, but hopefully it will give you something to go on.

The brain is so poorly understood, I don't think a definitive statement can be made. There is no doubt that most people are right handed, but about 10% are left handed. This obviously has to do with brain organization. Which means there is some truth to the claim. Additionally, people are either right or left eyed as well. Usually it goes with the dominant hand. There is an easy way to test this: Hold your index finger (either one) about a foot from your nose. Now open one eye at a time, alternating the two. Your finger will appear to move as you do this. Whichever way it moves, that is your dominant eye. If you're right handed, you're probably right eyed as well. And so on for left handed people.

Yeah, for 139.00, it's worth it. I have better libraries now, but I still use a handful of Garritan stuff on my orchestral projects. It's also very easy to use. Some people prefer Instant Orchestra, but I've never used it, so I can't comment on it.

https://www.makemusic.com/ https://account.makemusic.com/Account/Login?ReturnUrl=%2fOpenId%2fVerifyRequest Create an account, then download it, along with the Aria engine. You need both.

Update to this, I just tried using a Garritan Pocket Orchestra inst. from DP in the Aria player ( a harpsichord). Loaded fine, but payback was distorted.