abacab

2 hours ago, User 905133 said:

I only have Z3ta+, not Z3ta+ 2, so I have some questions about it. 

https://www.musicradar.com/reviews/tech/cakewalk-z3ta-2-490547

Like friends, soft synths come and go, but only a few will be there for you year after year. In this sense, Z3TA+ is a firm ally of ours.

It's been that way ever since the first version, programmed by René Ceballos of rgc:audio, debuted in 2002. A few years later, Cakewalk took on rgc:audio, and in 2007 gave us Z3TA+ 1.5. After that, though, it looked as if Z3TA+ was going nowhere, until v2 was unexpectedly announced a few months back.

While the interface has had a significant functional and aesthetic makeover, the synthesis architecture hasn't changed.

Z3TA+ 2's most distinctive feature remains its oscillator section, featuring six wavetable oscillators with waveforms ranging from analogue favourites (saws, squares, etc) to grungy, harmonic-laden affairs. There's an eight-voice unison mode, oscillator reset/sync and typical pitch controls.

2 hours ago, User 905133 said:

I only have Z3ta+, not Z3ta+ 2, so I have some questions about it. 

• (1) Can Z3ta+ 2 function as an FX unit (i.e., process audio passed into it like Z3ta+ can with the fx version)?
• (2)  Does it have at least as much programmability as  Z3ta+ (e.g., modulation routing/control)?
• (3) Less importantly, can it handle (load and play) Z3ta+ patches (original and the massive number of third party patches)? 

If so, or if these could be added to the CbB version, I agree that it would be great to have as part of CbB. Might also be nice if it had sampler functionality, was multi-channel/multi-timbral, and had the low CPU draw of E-Mu's Emulator X3.    

1. No

2. Yes, see http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Z3TA/Whats-New

3. Yes

As with the original z3ta+, it is a straight up synth and not sample based, as was Rapture and Dimension Pro. The original creator of z3ta+, Rene Ceballos, was hired by Cakewalk after they bought rgc:audio. Rene went on to design Rapture and Dimension Pro for Cakewalk. Later on Z3TA+2 was designed by the Cakewalk team after Rene departed, inspired by his original design.

2 hours ago, Peter Woods said:

I have a friend who is big into modular hardware synths and makes his own fantastic and complex patches that he sends over audio files to me that I listen to and am blown away by. But at best, I don't desire to want to make them myself, at best, if he does something for a soft synth, I'll just want a patch! 

If you try Voltage Modular from Cherry Audio, you can have your cake and eat it too! The VM Core + Electro Drums comes with 551 presets.

Plus 105 modules...  on sale now for $99.  Fun stuff! 😎   https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/voltage-modular-core-electro-drums

Even the free version of VM comes with 130 presets to play around with!  https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles/voltage-modular-nucleus

21 minutes ago, antler said:

As far as the other tools I mentioned go, I had FabFilter in mind, as well as iZotope's Insight and Tonal Balance.

I haven't gone FabFilter yet, but I do have iZotope's Music Production Suite. I need to dive deeper into it. A lot to swallow at once! I was just playing around with Insight the other day and watching videos on it to get a better feel, and that is an amazing tool!

19 minutes ago, antler said:

Patch creation was always something I said I'd get to 'one day' but never did. Then fairly recently I decided it was something I had to do, having bought Phase Plant. I found getting started quite difficult, and the animated UIs definitely helped me. Same with Pigments - lots going on, so the animations really help. I can't comment about Vital as I've not looked at it, but it seems very cool.

I've arrived in the middle as far as creating patches go. I like using presets to get an initial sound that I like, then knowing my way around the synth well enough to tweak the patch into something with my own take on it.

I used to think starting from "init" was something I should be doing more often, but I find it tedious to start from scratch. Probably a result of the Roland and Korg ROMplers I grew up with.  Editing on hose tiny LCD screens and button pushing had me mostly using presets. Patch design can be very time consuming, and easily turn into a rabbit hole in productivity. I will say though, that Phase Plant, Pigments, and Vital are so intuitive that they are very inspiring to work with. I like the fun factor!

I have not seen a sale on Vital yet, but the free version is the full deal. The Plus, Pro, and subscriptions just add preset and wavetable content. I bought the Pro version quickly after trying out the free version mainly to support the developer. It's not that expensive and I liked what I saw, so I want him to keep doing it! 😎

54 minutes ago, mibby said:

Thanks, I'll have to dig in to see how S1 handles it.  The demos on these sounds really good, and I like that you can adjust the ambience, etc. Could be just the ticket for mocking up a quick drum part.

UJAM has collaborated with PreSonus to integrate their virtual drummer and virtual bassist with Studio One. 😎

There are video demonstrations of these features available online. I just don't happen to have links handy at the moment. Not at my main PC.

For virtual drummer you get piano roll integration:

• With Virtual Drummer version 2.1 we introduced an exclusive PreSonus piano roll integration for Studio One users running on version 4.6.2 or later! The names of styles and drum-elements are displayed on the keys of your piano roll to help you find the right styles and drums faster and easier for your track. The scale range of the styles and instruments are highlighted with a red line at the left side of your piano roll now. You can also use the Presonus Sound Variations View to create your drum tracks.

For virtual bassist you get PreSonus Chord Track and Key Track Integration:

• With the new Virtual Bassist 2.1 update we will provide Studio One users running on version 4.6.2 or later with an exclusive PreSonus chord and key track feature!
• Descriptions of styles and phrases are displayed on the piano roll to help you find the right styles and phrases faster and easier for your track. The play range and the style/common phrases are divided in red (general key switches) and blue (play range) on the piano roll.
• The chord track feature in Studio One automatically follows the chords and automatically changes the MIDI notes for you.
• We recommend using the “Follow Chords” toggle above the “Key” menu on the user interface. When Studio One interprets a wrong chord, the “Follow Chords” feature will correct it. Of course, the chord track feature will also work with turning off the “Follow Chords” toggle .
• Note: Changing styles or common phrases won’t influence or change the chord tracks, but the harmonic input. Not all chords that are possible in PreSonus Chord track, are recognized in our instruments. The closest interpretation will then used.

1 hour ago, antler said:

I'd say in some cases that a 'flashy' UI can make a plugin easier to use, e.g. when you're programming a synth patch

• It can be helpful to see where you are on the ADSR envelope in real time as you play the note (helps someone understand the concept better too)
• Animating the LFOs can help you see what's going on with the sound you're shaping
• It's helpful to see which frame in a wavetable you're on and how quickly the frame transitions
• If you're morphing oscillator waveform e.g. between square and sine, it's useful to see what the shape is

I would say that this is something that the devs of Vital, Pigments, & Phase Plant definitely got right! As compared to another recent allegedly state-of-the art synth, Massive X. 

49 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

The guy in the orange on the left with his head floating away...I would blame him too.  For everything.  Including Larry being away from this forum for so long.

 Spotted the "L" word! 😉 

3 minutes ago, marled said:

Is this progress when an audio tool needs much more resources for graphics? 😡

I am too old, really don't understand the 21st century. To me it gets more and more crazy! 😆

Pretty much the way it is now. All the cool kids want fancy eye candy to inspire them. They don't want their Dad's plugins...

Blame it on Smartphones!!! 🤣

6 minutes ago, Esteban Villanova said:

I hope they integrate a sampler BTW, one of my most wanted additions.

I think Cakewalk would attract a lot more buzz by integrating a sampler than by reviving a dinosaur like Z3TA+2. An integrated sampler is one of the essential features these days of the leading DAWs. 😉

22 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

Maybe they'll integrate Z3ta+ 2 into CbB

Why would they do that when there are far better free synth plugins available today! 😉

The only people that probably care bout Z3TA+2 are former Sonar users, and they most likely already have it. Don't get me wrong, I have it and think it sounds great, but haven't opened it a long time.

1 hour ago, Doug Rintoul said:

I think part of the advantage of CLAP is future proofing, especially for developers. I am not sure that there is a clear advantage yet for end users.

Correct, except possibly for MPE users. 

1 hour ago, mibby said:

I've never used these, and briefly looking at these drummer VIs I can't tell - can you separate the individual drums onto their own tracks, or is it just a stereo output from the VI?

I have UJAM Solid, and from the virtual drummer 2 user manual, there are multi outputs described, although I have never used them:.

You can choose to send any Instrument and Ambience Channel either to the Master Section (default) or to an Individual Output that will be fed to an Aux bus in your DAW. This way, you can use the full multi-channel mixer functionality of your DAW with Virtual Drummer if you want to go deep, or just route individual signals into special effects processors.

The order in which Channels are sent to the DAW is fixed as follows:

• Master
• Kick
• Snare
• Clap (VD HOT only)
• Tom
• HH
• Ride
• Crash
• Overheads
• Room

The exact setup of a multi-output Virtual Drummer will depend largely on your DAW, so we recommend to check out the corresponding instructions in your DAWs user guide. Usually, what you have to do is …

• Instantiate a multi-output version of Virtual Drummer. This usually happens when selecting it from a menu of available virtual instruments.

11 hours ago, Jesse Wolfe said:

My .02 for the chord track wish-list... personally, I would use it to sketch out chord progressions first and then improvise/record another track real time. To make this easier, the chords names need to be at least as large as the Arranger track labels so you could easily see what chords are coming. Marker labels are just too tiny.

Chord track is probably still on the to-do list, but probably not very high up. The devs are likely getting to the most requested feature requests first, as time and resources permit. As well as prioritizing the easier ones first as well, i.e., the "low hanging fruit".

In the meantime, go check out Scaler 2. It's probably the most feature rich plugin for sketching out chord progressions, and much more. Then just drag them into your Cakewalk tracks! Of course, you would still need workarounds for visualizing the chord changes in the Cakewalk timeline. See the Scaler 2 details here: https://www.scalerplugin.com/

The other DAW related stuff like an updated staff view is a different challenge. Probably another huge uphill climb. That's been on the to-do list since way back in the Sonar days.

As far as feedback here goes, I think that Noel and the other devs would need enough information from users to first develop a defined feature request "scope" for what is needed in Cakewalk, before even getting started on this. I think the lack of feedback here probably implies that this isn't the highest priority for the majority of CbB users.

Oh no, he didn't!

Start speculation on the demise of Cakewalk again,  3...2...1...go! 🤣

47 minutes ago, Sander Verstraten said:

I have to check that out. Though I still have to figure out what the CLAP advantages are outside or Bitwig and its modulators. 

Read Urs Heckman's (u-he) comments about CLAP in that u-he link https://u-he.com/community/clap/.

It's essentially an effort to unseat VST3 with an open plugin standard. With the possibility of a few other goodies in the implementation. There is more, so the quote below is just what is most relevant to musicians...

Quote

 

Here are some immediately useful advantages of CLAP:

Better Performance From Modern CPUs

• Developed with modern CPUs in mind, CLAP takes multi-thread management to a new level, with a clear and efficient allocation of roles between plug-in and host. Specifically, CLAP allows collaborative multicore support between plug-in and host through a so-called "thread-pool", also allowing hosts to manage CPU-threading for plug-ins that provide their own multicore support. Preliminary tests show significant performance gains compared with current solutions.

Better and Faster Organization

• CLAP hosts can read plug-in metadata and help organize your plug-ins. As CLAP hosts can retrieve information from plug-ins without having to wait for them to initialize, plug-in scans can be much faster.
• Furthermore, we're currently finalizing an extension which lets plug-ins tell the host which files they need (e.g. samples or wavetables), and the host can consolidate those in the project file. That means you'll never lose a sample while transferring a project between systems!

Better Modulation

• The CLAP standard promotes new ways to create music with automation, modulation, and expressions. Here are a few examples:
• CLAP supports per-note automation and modulation (in accordance with the recent MIDI 2.0 specifications).
• Going one step further, CLAP's parameter modulation concept allows for temporary parameter offsets. Parameter modulation is non-destructive, so as soon as the modulation has finished, the target parameter will return to its original state.
• CLAP makes it possible for polyphonic plug-ins to have their per-voice parameters modulated for individual notes ("MPE on steroids").
• With this new standard we aim to inspire host developers to add exciting new features to their products. Initial implementations by Bitwig, u-he and the Surge project demonstrate just a few of the possibilities.

 

19 minutes ago, Paul Young said:

I use it to audition synth presets and midi files. 

As far as I am concerned, Cakewalk is still the best in the biz at opening or previewing MIDI files, especially GM...

30 minutes ago, lawajava said:

I agree!

I use a combination of many of the UJAM virtual drummers and EZDrummer 3.  The sound from the UJAM drums, whichever one I pick for a song, always works and sounds great.

I like the UJAM basses the best, followed by the UJAM drummers. Great for jamming! The guitars maybe not so much, but are interesting... YMMV...

The Toontrack stuff is awesome, especially with how the EZbass or EZdrummer can match up with an imported clip!

11 minutes ago, daveiv said:

Because Cakewalk is subscription-based, costing $0/month for now.

Just FYI, but the BandLab CEO committed to keeping the Cakewalk DAW free forever. It's posted on the legacy Cakewalk forum if you are interested...

It's very cool that Cakewalk gets these incremental updates on a regular basis, for free!

By contrast, Studio One 6 is dropping soon, meaning that the current Studio One 5 will be forever stuck where it is, with no more bug fixes. 😢

53 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

I really like Oscillations and Pastel Punch, but that's personal.  Have you listened to the demos? 

Oscillations is the main driver of this video, although I used a lot of other tools for the drums, including Butch Vig

Hey Reid, enjoyed the groove! 👍

Edited the OP today to add that Vital v1.5.3 is now available for all Vital users. Previously, the Early Access was for Pro and subscription users only.

18 hours ago, abacab said:

I'm just about to embark on the ARK for the first time. Any recommendations for the best place to start? It looks massive!

Never mind. I could not get it to run without installing BattlEye Anti-Cheat. Uninstalled... 😢

2 hours ago, Pragi said:

I 'm mainly using cakewalk and studio one.

Same here. I picked up a cheap crossgrade to Studio One Pro back when Gibson dumped Cakewalk.

Then Cakewalk made a great comeback. Stuck with both now LOL!

9 minutes ago, John Maar said:

I'm on a 4K display, but running Win11 at 200% scaling, so I've turned an expensive laptop display into an old 1080p display. But some apps don't scale, and I'm stuck with fonts I can't read even with 3x reading glasses. I was looking at 32" 4K monitors, but they're stupid expensive, so I'm sticking with the 4K display built into my P17.

That's why I use only external displays with my laptop. No laptop screen suits my eyes anymore, except for maybe checking email when traveling. At this point I am still fine with 2x 24" 1080p screens.