Feral State Sound

13 minutes ago, Stephen Ajewole said:

There was a interview that I've seen on reddit of one of the guys who was with Gibson at the time and when he was asked about the bugs he said something along the lines of "people don't get drawn in by bug fixes, they get drawn in by new features". I'm new to this daw, but from what it seems, Gibson focused more on adding new features to draw people in rather than making the programme more stable. Here's the thread to see what I'm talking about

 

The time has proven that Gibson were completely wrong with such decision since Cakewalk has been loosing users since the X1 days. Yes, people wants new features but polished ones and only followed by a solid core functionality. I agree with Bumbleebee in this part: 

"If Bandlab just took what’s already there and fixed it, it would be a great product. Get rid of the annoying popups, consolidate the menus, finish the tab view, finish the matrix view, improve automation, give the console an update, add some proper MIDI tooling, improve audiosnap, speed up the GUI, and integrate a decent audio editor, add AAF support. Now you have a product that will give any DAW a run for its money no matter the cost."

I can mention two of these:

- The Metal Factory Studios, Spain: https://metalfactorystudios.com/

- Aeonix Productions, Singapore: http://www.aeonixproductions.com/ 

Cakewalk seems to appeal Metal/Rock guys \m/ ?

Another guy complaining about Cakewalk:

This one is different, since it has been done by a long time Cakewalk user. I am starting to think that the previous owners (Roland & Gibson) did very little for improving the software. Bandlab seems to be pushing the things in the right direction.

Here another pretty fair review:

Everybody love the Prochannel! 

1 hour ago, CosmicDolphin said:

I thought it was pretty fair and balanced and raised some good points. I tend not to be a user of some of the thnigs he didn't like so much though.

I agree with you, this guy seems nice and from my point of view his review is very impartial. Let's stop the "fanboysm" with the software and let's face reality. 

1 - Is Cakewalk the best free DAW in the world? Yes, no doubt.

2 - It has tons of unfinished features? Yes, it has... Video support, score editor, matrix view, audio editing, midi editing etc.

3 - Not being cross platform is a problem? Yes, it is for some people.

4 - Is the new owner fixing and improving the software? Yes... somehow. There are frequent updates but also there is no commitment of doing a much needed overhaul to the program from Bandlab. The same happens with the "features & ideas" section.

5 - Can you make music professionally with Cakewalk? Yes you can, as you can do the same with REAPER, Studio One, Pro Tools and all the others.

I have contacted Sonic Scores and they told me that they have talked several times with Bandlab but suddendly the conversations stopped. What is going on @Meng?

8 hours ago, Gswitz said:

Also remember Linux Ubuntu studio. This is a free low latency build. I have used it on a USB ssd to make 16 track recordings.

I cannot use all my VSTs on this and that is the point. Linux is not a viable option for me now.

Happy end of the year to all!

On 12/24/2018 at 5:09 PM, Starise said:

I am beginning to write notation for groups. I needed a program to use for that. As someone who prefers creating in a DAW in real time, the idea that I could export to Notion from Studio One appealed to me. I DON'T like writing notes in one at a time in any program be it midi or notation. CbB has some notation ability which maybe I should investigate more. I believe it is very rudimentary though. Would get the job done on a simple project. 

For those looking at notation option there's also a decent marriage between Sibleus and Pro Tools. Maybe better in some ways than Studio One/Notion. Never used that setup personally. You don't need rewire with Studio One though it has the option. You can use another built in protocol that makes transfer easier to do. 

In my opinion, the strongest DAW  notation wise it is Digital Performer but it is not widely used and the Windows version still has issues. Pro tools + Sibelius, Studio One + Notion and Cubase + Dorico also seems interesting but... If we have to use two different programs for doing decent notation editing We not to use CBB + Musescore for 0$? Nevertheless, I hope some changes on the CBB staff editor, even the REAPER staff editor is much more powerful. 

Hey Bandlab team!

Now that we have a new forum I wonder if you plan to keep the Cakewalk by Bandlab website as a little part of the Bandlab website or If you plan to create a new dedicated webpage since the old site still is online.

Thank you!

I plan to make some covers on Bandlab. Let's start with The Phantom of the Opera:

If anyone wants to collaborate please PM.

2 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Oh, no kidding! When I first downloaded CbB, which was just a few days after the announcement, I exported raw audio stems from my previous DAW of a couple of projects I had been working on for months, using my favorite plug-ins.

I decided to just fiddle around with Cakewalk using as many of the included plug-ins as possible and try to get a decent-sounding mix.

....and was blown away by first how quickly I was able to surpass my efforts in the DAW I was so familiar with, and second, by how capable and great-sounding the ProChannel modules were.

I still have and use my specialty FX like MAutoAlign and Gatey Watey, and my "cheaters" from iZotope, but those ProChannel modules stopped dead my search for an 1178 clone, and I had already snagged the CLA2A when it was a freebie a couple of years ago. The QuadCurve EQ pretty much replaced my use of MEQualizer.

And that's not to mention the Sonitus DX FX, which sound great. The only issue I have with them is that they look kinda homely, but as far as sound , operation, and features they are great. Multiband compressors are few in the freeware world and the Sonitus DX one is a treat.

I can't live without the ProChannel. I am doing MIDI work 99% of the time and using those plugs also 99% of the time. I have Waves Gold and others but the PC it is just at my fingertips. I hope the devs do not forget this wonderful feature. 

9 hours ago, mkerl said:

I like Cake as it is. Nuff said.

Ok, recording directly in Matrix cells would be great, like in Bitwig or Live. But after all, Cake feels great. And works even better.

BTW, Bitwig is Linux, too. But you can't really compare Bitwig with Cake. 

I own S1 too, but I don't need it. And don't really like it.

When I had to change, I think Cubase is the competitor. Another Option is  Ableton Live. 

Great idea on the Matrix view! You should post it on the feature request section.

Why don't you like S1? Now it is pretty similar to CBB. Cubase is a beast, no doubts, but I don't want to pay for updates every year. Ableton Live it is not for me I guess.

5 minutes ago, Mandolin Picker said:

Continuing to use Cakewalk after SONAR was pulled. Looked at REAPER, and while it is not intuitive it is rather powerful. For me, the fact that they now have a Linux version is a huge plus. I really only use Windows for music any more, having switched over to Linux for most everything else. At some point Windows 7 and 8.1 will no longer be of use (and I really do not like Windows 10) and so I will be switching over to Linux for everything at that point.

I would like to switch to Linux also but it is not possible since I rely on ton of third party VST.

I am also having problems with Waves plugs in CBB. In my case with the latest V10 version and I have to reset all parameters on the Cakewalk plug-in manager to get all plugins properly working every time I install a new plugin. That is really annoying and I haven't received any response from Waves Support. On the other hand, the Bandlab support team told me that they will investigate the issue.

7 minutes ago, Phil Balliet said:

Anyone ever try the Harrison Mixbus 32c? I know there's a trial, never tried it but I think it looks really cool.

I have tried that DAW a little bit and while it is very good for mixing "in the box" I didn't find it useful for composing music. I don't know it is implemented yet but during my testing it lacks a proper PRV. The audio and MIDI editing were basic at most.

1 hour ago, Michael Kothe said:

To mention, I did fully switch over to Studio One. I tried ableton and looked into reaper but after 1 night was hooked. On the polyphonic midi aftertouch issue from what I researched the issue is primarily on electronic drums but supposedly works on keyboards. I have not tested using a keyboard but can verify on drums it does suck having to write the cymbal chokes in manually. However the ease of use with Studio One made it possible for me to be up and running within 1 night. 

Yeah... Studio One is probably the most intuitive DAW out there. Maybe this could explain its fast expansion.

Hey folks!

What about a topic to discuss our experiences with CBB and other DAWs? I am sure that we have tested some since the GIBSON announcement.

I will start first:

- CBB: instantly familiar for SONAR users and a no brainer for PC users since it is a free full-fledged DAW with VST support. I really like the UI, the Prochannel system and its analogic/traditional studio workflow. Its main drawbacks, in my opinion, are some included tools that are lagging behind the competition (the staff editor or the stock plugins for example) and some bugs and compatibility issues with third-party plugs.

- REAPER: fast, lightweight, stable, affordable and highly customizable. But... that is it main drawback for me, the defaults are weird and you must customize even basic things (the stock metronome is synthy generated for example). Non intuitive for newcomers.

- Studio One: very intuitive, comfortable workflow and a less bloated "Skylight" like UI. Although, no staff editor, no surround, no polyphonic midi aftertouch... And it cost 400 $.

That is all I have tested for the moment, What are your thoughts on this?

Edit: I forgot to mention that CBB it is not cross-platform and I imagine that it is a headache for the MAC guys. Even Digital Performer and FL Studio are now cross-platform.

Hey again! (I am a little irritating I know ?)

I think that a REAPER like "Pre-release discussion" subforum with the possibility to test unsupported/development versions and being able to report bugs and problems to the devs will be great. Particularly, if the Bakers want to focus on "stability and fixes".

Thank you!

Here another. I also enjoy OST a lot. 

1 minute ago, scook said:

Looks like we were posted at the same time. It just occurred to me the OP may not be recording and I was updating my post to suggest a single project with multiple tempo and time signatures may be best.

? I didn't see the update.

3 hours ago, scook said:

Tempo and time signature are data stored in project and project templates. One could create empty projects or project templates to use as presets. It may be faster to load the project/project template files than changing the values in a single project.

The only other solution I can think of is scripting with a tool like autohotkey.

Yeah.. The best solution is to create some project templates. If you are not going to record, then you could make only one template with different measures and tempos highlighted by markers and only selecting and looping the one that you want. Here an example:

Hey!

With TH3 inserted on an audio track, you can click on the automation lanes buton, TH3 and here you can automate all the parameters of the plugin in the timeline.

Don't sure if it is what do you want.

Hey folks!

I think that this subforum is a little wasted. Some of the most interesting feature request are getting buried with more and more topics. Because of that, I think that it could be great if we could vote the topics to make them popular and to see them in the first places. The Questions and Answers subforum has this capability and I don't understand why this is different.

Thank you!

4 hours ago, Stephen Seth Ankrum said:

I agree also,really bummed me out they didn't/couldnt make a Mac version.Not because mac is better,I own and use both, but because it would take cakewalk to the next level and give so many musicians the chance to see how amazing it is.Im no expert on code, so I in no way mean to brush aside how difficult it might be to re-write such a complex program, but I wonder whose Idea that was to write it so it tightly with windows libraries(again I dont know code).I wonder how much money and time would it require?Would the sales and growth make up for those expenses?I fell like it would, but then again its free right now so maybe its not possible for them to do that.

Hope that makes sense

I don't know code also but maybe the first step is getting rid of some legacy code of the app.

I suspect that there will be some payment addons in the future ?