Bobby Thistle

I recently retired my very old external midi modules and moved to sample vsts... Sample Tank 4 and Addictive Drums 2. Both were working relatively well, although Sample Tank would crash CbB on occasion. So I upgraded my desktop computer. But the main reason I upgraded wasn't really because of performance. It was because both of these vsts took a huge chunk of space on my hard drives. And so I put in a third HDD that I'm using exclusively for music software. I also bumped up my ram from 8 to 16GB. Since making these relatively cheap changes my system is handling everything I'm throwing at it smooth as silk. And I have reclaimed a huge amount of space on my main hard drives. /OM

When I first got Sample Tank 4 I was having the same issues with CbB hanging when I would try to use it. That being said, Sample Tank would hang when I was using it as a stand alone. So it wasn't very hard to identify the culprit. Luckily, IK came out with an update three days after I got Sample Tank... version 4.1. No problems whatsoever since installing the update. /OM

Geez... sure hope that I'll live to see the day to see quality stuff going for free!!! 🤣 But, 25 or more years ago I never thought I would see a full version of Cakewalk being given away for no charge. So I guess anything is possible. 😀 /OM

Audacity is my go to when I'm finished a project. Exports to mp3 without a hitch. Also great to normalize the finished song. But that's just me. I'm an old coot who worships anything that doesn't take a lot of thinking to get the job done. 😁 /OM

As I said earlier in an earlier post, I have decided to dump all my ancient gear, grab a helmet and get with the program. 🤣 I now use SampleTank 3 and 4. I now use Addictive Drums. And for the meantime this is all I need to do what I want to do with my music. Funny thing is, the cost for catching up with the times has cost me WAY less than the money I put out years ago for all the gear I thought I needed to make music. Also, factor in the money I put out back then in "today's dollars." I could have bought a house with it. 😄 /OM

So sorry that I can't really offer you any help but... I too have a JV-1010. But after the past couple of years trying to get it to work in BbB... sometimes getting it to go without actually knowing how I did it because I was playing around with the settings and not watching what I was doing. Most other times I'd be pulling my hair out because I couldn't get it. I finally bit the bullet and purchased modern software and laid the 1010 to rest in a drawer and will probably never use it again. That being said, although it wasn't cheap, it was a fantastic piece of gear in it's day. Hope you have some good luck getting it to go for you. I know that it CAN be done. /OM

A kind and knowledgeable tech at XLN answered my email I sent before I even started to play around with moving or deleting anything. His instructions made the change almost too easy. It might have taken me 3 or 4 minutes to get everything where I want it be. I can't believe the dent that the new software made on the new drive. There really was a need for it. /OM

I lied when I said I started out on CW3.0... actually my first experience with MIDI was with Band-in-a-Box and it's sister, Power Tracks Pro. I bought a Roland Rap-10 sound card which was so amazing for it's time. I remember paying about $300.00 for it. I also bought a Yamaha something or another -120 four track cassette recorder. I remember that being about $500.00. Oh... let's not forget my Roland PC-200 MK 2 MIDI keyboard controller which was around $200.00. I still use it. I bought a Zoom Studio 1202 effects unit - again, about $300.00 - I still have it in a drawer somewhere. It's never used. I switched to Cakewalk v3 after hearing it and seeing it for the first time. I can't remember how much I paid for it. I kept upgrading until I got to v8.5. I used it until Sonar Platinum hit the shelves. I'm now using BbB. As a side note, I do think that 8.5 was one of the best versions put out. Steady as heck. Looking back, I can't believe that I spent a fortune in the beginning just to get myself able to work strictly in MIDI. And it was only GM MIDI on top of it all. This all started in about 1992/93 Ah yes, those were the days. /OM

Hi Jon... Thanks so much for this. As I was looking at it, Cakewalk in itself doesn't take up much room on my C:\ drive. So I think I'll just leave it there. That being said, SampleTank and Addictive Drums are massive. Therefore, I have put in another HD just for my music stuff. My plan was to put Cakewalk on there too but for the trouble it takes to do that, I think I'll just leave it alone. I gave it a test run with SampleTank, which I just did a re-install onto the new drive and everything is working well. Tomorrow Addictive Drums will be put there as well. /OM

Good morning to all... I have installed a new hard drive which is going to be used strictly for my music stuff. I'm trying to install Cakewalk on it but can't. When trying to install, Bandlab Assistant will not let me direct all things pertaining to Cakewalk... vst folders, plugins and such, it asks me where to install it but I can't change the default C:\Program Files to G:\ Program Files, the "G" being the new HD. Also, the "browse" button is greyed out. And so I'm left being forced to install it on my C:\ HD There has to be a way to get around this and let me install it to whichever HD I want , no? If anyone has a way of doing it, your advice would be greatly appreciated!!! /OM

Yep... I had a Commodore 64 as well. But it wasn't my first computer. That would be the Timex Sinclair. It was about as big as a calculator. I'd buy the magazine every month and type in all the code. I did the same with the Commodore. It would take hours and most times I made a mistake and had to go over it with a fine tooth comb to fix it. Ah yes... those were the days. 😊

Yes... Windows opened up a brand new world for us!!! But... do you remember that when you booted up it was in MS-DOS and you had to type C:/win to boot up Windows. Wasn't that technology at it's best? 😁 Here's another one you might remember:

At the risk of giving my age away... this is what I started out on. Cakewalk 3.0

I've been using Cakewalk for so many years - started on Cakewalk 3 by Twelve Tone Systems - that I even referred to "Sonar" as Cakewalk. So, since it is now called "Cakewalk" again I don't look like I'm an antique to the younger users when I call it Cakewalk. 😁

Thanks for the replies, fellas... I have been playing around with the suggestions given and have decided that I like the "paste special" way of duplicating clips. I can't believe that for all the years I have been using Cakewalk I never bothered - or even knew about this function. I guess there's still a lot to be learned, huh? 😕 /OM

Yes... Studio One was the DAW I was trying out and I really liked the "D" command. I didn't want to call out Studio One by name because I thought you weren't allowed to do that here. I sure don't want to get kicked out of here for doing so. 😀

Greetings... I have been trying out another software for the past week. I guess because of my using Sonar/CbB I won't be changing over any time soon. But it had one function called "duplicate" that I really liked. All I had to do was press "D" and it would duplicate the MIDI clip and it would copy the selected clip and place it in the exact place on the track without my having to "move" or "nudge" or do anything else to line it up manually behind the clip that comes before it. Truly it is a very simple way to line things up other than doing a "Copy/Paste" and then fiddle around with it to put it exactly where I want it to be on the track. I've searched all the keyboard shortcuts and haven't been able to find an equivalent function in CbB. Is there a shortcut that is called something else that would let me do the same thing? As usual, all replies are very much appreciated. 😊 /OM

I downloaded an e-book (which I paid for but well worth the money) called "The Huge Book of Cakewalk by Bandlab" It has in depth answers for just about any question one might have pertaining to CbB. /OM

Thank you so much for your replies. They are helping me so much. I didn't have very much time to actually try them out yet but I have saved them and will try to work with them... only if time allows. /OM

I've been using Cakewalk/Sonar from version 3, 4, and then went to 8.5. I got into Sonar Platinum and stayed there until Bandlab's free offer. This is running exceptionally well... not crashes to speak of. It's also nice that I'm so used to the UI that I'm getting a lot done in a short amount of time. I was doing 95% MIDI with external modules. Unfortunately after 20 or 25 years it became time to retire the old gear and get into more modern technology. I'm now using 100% VSTs and plugins . This is all suiting me well for doing old or "classic " country and rock and roll. /OM

I go back almost as far as you. I started out on Cakewalk 3 (Twelve Tone Systems) Version 4 came out and I was in heaven. I really can't remember what versions I used before I stepped up to 8.5. Solid as a rock so I stayed with it for a lot of time before landing in Sonar Platinum. I also had a very expensive sound card - Roland Rap-10 All GM midi on board. Thinking back, does anyone remember the gunshot or the whistle? 😄 GM sure was great for it's time. /OM

Congratulations are certainly in order here... good job!!! /OM

My problem was caused by the phenomenon known as "newb-ism" 😣 As Cactus Music pointed out, I was using AD as a stand alone. I was clicking and dragging the instrument into Cakewalk without telling Cakewalk what it was that I dropped into it. I'm slowly catching on to this new (for me) way of making music. Next I have to read the AD manual to see how to drag it into Cakewalk as an audio track. It seems that it is only showing up as a midi track when I bring it in. The fact is, I should be reading the manual to try to solve problems like this one instead of bother you guys on the forum. I'll find it!!! Thanks for your replies... so much appreciated. /OM

Thanks so much for the link!!! I'm pretty sure I'll get it running tomorrow. I was up at 2:30 this morning to have my wife at the hospital for some surgery. I'm about ready to drop now so I won't look at it tonight. I have the link you sent me bookmarked. /OM

Being so new to using only VSTs, I'm embarrassed to say that I don't know how to do this. My old brain doesn't work as well as it used to. 😐