Robert Bone

OK - fair enough. I am happy to settle on it working now, and will save off the 'fix' of renaming the TTSSEQ.ini file. Bob Bone

Thanks - I just meant my computer, and not others, in terms of whether or not some general Windows 10 maintenance had changed something that more globally would have been reported as problematic. In other words, if some 'general' failure was due to some Windows maintenance, I would have expected to see more folks reporting similar issues. As a general observation. Bob Bone

1) The midi controller is class-compliant - it automatically downloads its drivers, as needed, when it is connected, via USB, to the computer. 2) The situation is resolved, but not understood. Renaming of TTSSEQ.ini , followed by again selecting the midi controller as an Input in the Midi>Devices dialog, made everything start properly reacting to ('seeing') midi data from the controller. I just do not understand WHY the TTSSEQ.ini file got messed up in the first place, because whatever goofed it up had ALSO goofed up the TTSSEQ.ini file in Platinum, which I hadn't used in several months. 3) Prior to things starting to work again, as noted above, I got expected sound within CBB and SPlat, when using mouse to press notes on the virtual keyboard present in both FM8 and Kontakt, and only did not get any sound PRIOR to my renaming TTSSEQ.ini in both CBB and Splat. SOOOOO = it is resolved, but I do not understand what would have goofed up TTSSEQ.ini. Bob Bone

Thanks - did so, I saw no change. Midi data IS being generated when I physically depress notes on the Roland A-800 Pro controller, but it is still not being detected in Cakewalk or Platinum. I am baffled - by the way, I also have Omni set for midi input on the midi track, and on top of the general omni setting, I also have tried selecting omni just for the controller, specifically. Neither one made any difference, I have no detection of midi controller midi data from withing Cakewalk/SPlat. Any other things I can look at or try? EDITED TO INCLUDE UPDATE: After doing the rename of TTSSEQ.ini, and launching Cakewalk, and as described above, still seeing no reaction to midi controller data in Cakewalk, I decided to look again at everything in Preferences, thinking maybe some global parameter somehow had gotten changed. Well, once in there, I opened the Midi Devices dialog, and there were no longer any midi devices selected under Inputs. I selected the A-800 Pro as a device for input, and NOW, there is behavior I would have expected all along - Cakewalk is now properly reacting to 'seeing' the midi note events from the midi controller. PLEASE NOTE - I did have the same midi device selected prior to the renaming ot the TTSSEQ.ini file, so obviously the renaming of that reset whatever was ailing Cakewalk. I am not at all understanding what in the world would have messed up that file in both Cakewalk and in Platinum. (I hadn't even used Platinum for many months, and only did so while doing analysis on why things suddenly quit reacting to midi data). I suppose some system maintenance to Windows 10 might have done something - but if that indeed can cause the types of problems I was having, I would think more folks would have had similar issues. Why just MY computer? (Windows 10 patch current, AMD Ryzen processor, tons of memory, multiple solid-states drive). Bob Bone

Hi - I am suddenly unable to have either Cakewalk or Sonar Platinum 'see' and midi data from my Roland A-800 controller, when everywhere else - Midi Ox running on desktop, stand-alone synths, VST hosting software, all other programs are properly 'seeing' and reacting to midi note on/off events transmitted by the controller. I have restarted Cakewalk, and Sonar Platinum, no change. I have physically pulled and reconnected the midi controller's USB cable to the computer, no change. Also no change turning the midi controller off/on while still connected by the USB cable to the computer. The midi controller (Roland A-800 Pro) IS selected in Midi Devices in Preferences. Again, there is no problem with the controller, as far as other programs behaving as expected and reacting to midi note events when pressing keys on the controller. Lastly, if I play notes with my mouse, in plugin synth instances with keyboards in their UI, the notes trigger proper playing of those note events, so the plugins are working properly in Cakewalk/Sonar, but NOT when I play notes on the midi controller. And, this all just started happening yesterday. I am at a loss, and HOPING you folks can help me figure out what the heck caused this, and how to resolve it. a PROFOUNDLY hopeful - Bob Bone

Someone from Cakewalk fixed something with it in my account, so it works fine now. YAY Bob Bone

All FIXED. Someone from Cakewalk fixed something with it in my account, and all is well. Wahoo!!

Not yet - cats and groceries took me away.....

Update - I saw another post, talking about Rapture Session being in Demo Mode, and following a link there by scook, to instructions for performing Offline Activation, I performed those steps for both Rapture Session and Rapture Pro, and neither one resulted in the message of being activated. Instead, after importing the Offline Activation Response file into both products, it shortly thereafter again displayed the message about Running in Demo Mode. Can SOMEONE help me keep Rapture Pro alive? I LOVE some of the sounds. Bob Bone

I have performed the Offline Activation process for Rapture Session, and after importing the offline activation response file in Rapture Session, it did NOT indicate it was activated - instead it again displayed the Running in Demo Mode message. AARGH!

I have had Rapture, and Dimension Pro since forever, and loved switching over to Rapture Pro, several years back. For some reason, Rapture Pro has now decided it is running in Demo Mode, and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to get this resolved. I have reinstalled it, both within Command Center, and outside of Command Center. I have ripped its guts out of the Registry and anywhere else it lived, and installed anew - same problem. Command Center thinks everything is hunky dory with it, but no matter how I install or launch (Admin), it is now fixated on thinking it is in Demo Mode. Any thoughts? I run Windows 10 - current maintenance, with oodles of memory and multiple SSD drives. Bob Bone

To be sure, a computer equipped with SATA III SSD's is QUITE capable of handling streaming samples - I was extremely fortunate to (for this one occasion) to be able to pour some money into building a desktop and a laptop loaded to the gills, with not only multiple Samsung SSD's, but also multiple NMVE drives. I will likely never again have the resources to build computers at that level, and I am extremely grateful to have this one opportunity to go full-out on getting maximum performance. I am pouring heart and soul into utilizing the two computers I now have with the extra performance of the NVME and SSD drives, because this might well be the last hurrah for me, as I am 59 years old, and fully disabled - with 10 herniated discs, and am degenerating. I just want this next 3-5 years (if I can play for that long) to be as productive as possible for me. I am putting everything I have into getting as much done as possible. I have my primary recording setup located next to my bed, as it is often quite painful to walk across the room. SO - back to work - so much to try to get to...

My desktop has two M.2 2280 NVME 2 TB drives, four 2 TB SATA SSD's, and a single 2 TB SATA HDD. I have samples loaded on the M.2 drives, and loading any Kontakt instrument or Play instrument, is pretty much instantaneous, compared to loading from an SSD. The difference is absolutely amazing. I also bought a laptop that has 2 ports that support M.2 2280 - and a SATA SSD. It originally had a single 128 GB M.2 SATA drive, which I removed, and replaced with a 2 TB M.2 NVME drive, added an additional 2 TB NVME drive, in the second port, and replaced the original 1 TB SATA SSD with a 2 TB SATA SSD. Now, it boots in about 4-5 seconds, and by the way, it also came with a Thunderbolt 3 port, so I picked up a UAD Arrow Thunderbolt 3 audio interface, and this is now what I use when performing live, or doing mobile recording of bass, guitar, or a single vocalist. This thing is a beast! (Alienware 17 R5, modified). I HIGHLY recommend the M.2 2280 NVME protocol and drives - unbelievable performance, period. Bob Bone

Hadn't thought of that. I will play around with that, on my next project. I will be tracking at some point in the next couple of cups of coffee, and if I get through it quickly enough, I will also try assigning key switch notes to unused drum pads on my Roland midi controller, just to see if that works, too. Thanks, Bob Bone

Kewl - experiment with them, and find something that works for you. I would like to offer an additional recommendation to the notion of keeping articulations in separate tracks than the original midi data for a given track. Like Craig, I learned that it is MUCH easier to have any articulation changes on a 2nd track. Finding the tiny little blip of a key switch change when it is merged into the same track as a full piano track, for example, is a royal pain. It's just easier to deal with on a separate track. If you find yourself drowning in the number of tracks you have - I separate audio tracks from midi tracks, with track folders, with a further classification into track folders for keys/strings/vocals/guitars/drums, whatever. So I may have the following track folders: Vocals, Guitars, Keyboards, Strings, Midi tracks, and Drums. When I am working on the midi tracks, I would typically collapse the other track folders, leaving only the midi tracks folder open. I DO have the drums midi track in with the Drums track folder, because it is imported as a giant set of audio tracks (I have a Track Template set up for each and every midi drum kit I use), one for each kit piece, with relative kit piece volumes already all set at a good starting point for the song. Anyways, whatever works for YOU, is how you will work best. Best wishes for success with all of it. Bob Bone

Well - congrats on finding a reasonable justification for new gear! WAHOO! I do understand needing the full keyboard of a 61-note controller. When I play live, I always have one of my keyboards as an 88-note controller. I don't recall where I saw it, but I think I remember seeing something about assigning key switches to be triggered by the drum pads on many controllers (I have zero other real use for those, but they ARE fully assignable, so maybe I can do that - it will be a fun exercise to try it out. If I either find doc on the internet explaining it, or manage to figure it out, I will post back to this thread on my findings, and will also shoot you a private message, as even though your shiny new 88-note controller addresses the initial situation you opened with this thread, it may help you for being able to also do articulation changes on 61-note controllers.... Bob Bone

IF you simply want access to those notes on your keyboard, and aren't really needing to change the sounds with those key switches, I suggest using an option that is FREE - instead of dealing with setting up an additional device to deal with them I figured this out when wanting to play on some of the notes that were assigned as key switches. What I do, in the above situation, is to edit the note numbers in the Kontakt instrument, for the key switches, so that their note numbers are lower than the lowest notes on the keyboard. SO, if Sustain is assigned to C2, and I wanted to be able to play notes on C1, then I might edit that key switch to be C0 or even C-1. Same goes for other key switches. I have done this for some Kontakt Factory Instruments, such as VSL Strings - after I edited the key switch note values, (to C-1, C#-1, D-1, etc), I SAVED the edited instrument, in the same library, but with the name Bob's VSL Strings. This way, any such edited instrument will all be grouped alphabetically in the "Bob's" section. While I am in an instrument, I also typically go into that instrument's Instrument Options (click on the wrench, then on Instrument Options), and under the Controller options, I remove the check for the box labeled "Accept Standard Controllers for Volume and Pan". This severs the connection between the instrument's master volume, and external controllers/knobs/faders. SO, most instruments have the volume pretty cranked, and I almost always drop that master volume to something like -12 db, and I will save those changes, again with the Bob's prefix. Then, anytime I load up one of these saved instruments, its master volume is already dropped to a reasonable level, and I can fine tune it in Cakewalk without having to drop the channel gain too much before I even begin to record that instrument. Hope that makes sense, and hope it helps. Bob Bone

OK, so I saw a link today, at Sweetwater, for a UAD PCIe card quad-core DSP accelerator, that also comes with some of their plugins, and there is an additional freebie collection of other plugins that come with purchase of the card. Here is the link to that product, if anyone wants to review it to help answer my question: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/UAD2Quad--universal-audio-uad-2-quad-core-pcie-dsp-accelerator SO, my question about this accelerator is - will this somehow also help NON-UAD plugins? If so, it seems like a pretty helpful expansion card for my computer, to take the burden of effects processing off of my CPU. I guess it still could be cool, but only when I would use the UAD plugins it comes with, plus the freebie ones they give if I buy the unit. Thanks for any help in understanding this well enough for me to make an informed decision on this purchase. I don't know how Cakewalk would know to use this thing for any effects processing, and my uneducated guess on the whole thing is that the UAD plugins may contain code that checks the presence of any such available DSP accelerator, and then routes the processing requests to the accelerator. I am hoping it can handle non-UAD plugins, as well. Bob Bone

I always hated dealing with the "Missing Samples" messages I would keep getting and browsing for the samples, every time I would load from certain libraries. Well, read the section on Batch Save, at the following link, to permanently fix this situation one time for each library this message comes up for: https://impactsoundworks.com/optimizing-kontakt-workflow-part-3/ I also just today learned about getting my 3rd-party sample libraries and instruments added to the Kontakt Libraries. For this, locate the Kontakt Factory Library, and click on the little arrow on Instruments, and then click on Open Containing Folder. You can add your 3rd-party Kontakt sample libraries to the folder structure here - I chose to create a new top-level folder called User Libs, at the same level as Band, Choir, Vintage, etc.... Then, I went through my 3rd-party libraries and chose the ones I frequently access, and copied/pasted them into my User Libs folder. A restart of Kontakt, OR doing a refresh in Kontakt, is needed, to be able to access the newly-added User Libs content. I LOVE learning kewl helpful stuff like the above, and hope some folks can make use of the above, as well. Bob Bone

I thank you - I just finished adding in the Kontakt arpeggiator, set to Retrigger at a rate of 1/16th note, and saved it all up. I then loaded an instance of Kontakt into my VST hosting software for live performance (I use Brainspawn's Forte and am transitioning to Cantabile). I then adjusted the tempo/bpm in Forte, down to 84, and BOOM, works like a champ. WAHOO! Now, I just need to learn the evil Phil laugh and build the drum pattern. Bob Bone

Thanks - I too was blown away by the capabilities of the Synthmaster plugin. It can really stretch in a bunch of directions, to provide a wide set of really different kinds of sounds - I was just amazed. I cannot afford to pick it up this month, but WILL be doing so, when feasible. In the meantime, I will continue to try to find a way to create the needed Genesis sound with the various synths I already have. Or, maybe I can do it by first creating a midi track with any synth that gives the basic short sort of sound like in the song, sequence up the repetitions of it, and then sample that audio output and map/script it into a Kontakt instrument. I have only tried anything like that once in the past, and that was quite a few years back, but I think that might work, if there isn't some easier way I can find without resorting to that. I am certainly open to ANY assistance with coming up with a way to create this sound. It doesn't seem very difficult of an undertaking, so I will keep digging into it and see what I can come up with. I GREATLY appreciate you guys helping me out with your replies.

Is there any chance either of you two could record a little snippet of whichever Mamy sound from Nori Ubukata Historical Synth Giants Collection Vol.1 emulates the repeating chord sound from Mama, and send it to me or put it online and post a link to it? I would like to hear how closely it represents that Genesis sound, prior to my laying out the cash for the Synthmaster plugin and the expansion pack. Thanks SO much, Bob Bone

OK - THANKS, first off. I have the Synth Magic Arp Quadra library for Kontakt, which is supposed to have all of the functionality of the original hardware Quadra, so in theory, I should be able to manufacture this sound within that Kontakt emulation. For sure there is an arpeggiator within this Quadra emulation, so I will try to decipher the information you provided in your post (quoted above). Perhaps I can figure out how to do this within the Quadra. I am ABSOLUTELY clueless on the Quadra architecture, and am trying to get up to speed on it all, going through the manual, etc... I may look into just picking up the Synthmaster you both were referring to, since it may well have the patches. Thanks - I will post back on my adventures, later tonight, after dishes and more dishes. Bob Bone

Hi - I have no idea how to build a preset to take the notes of a chord and repeat them as 1/16th notes, like the chord pad sound in the intro/verses of the Genesis song, Mama. In the song, Tony plays that haunting Synclavier lead sound with his right hand, while his left is holding down an Em chord, and a D, etc... and though the chords are held, the notes of the held chord are repeated like 1/16th notes, the whole time a chord is held. Obviously, I could sequence it up in a midi track, but I would like to play it live. I have the Arturia V Collection 6, Native Instruments Komplete 11 Ultimate, and some Reaktor Quadra ensembles from the user library, as well as the Synth Magic Quadra Kontakt library, as well as the EastWest Composer Cloud Plus libraries and instruments. I think Tony Banks likely used an Arp Quadra to create that repeated chord sound, but I have never done much at all with tweaking sounds on that synth (either hardware or this Kontakt instrument). Can anyone give some pointers on creating this sound? Thanks, Bob Bone

Yup - I will echo what Tim said above. Sonar, and now Cakewalk by Bandlab, has always been both feature-rich and chock full of actually useful plugins. The ProChannel modules are indeed VERY capable, and I use the sounds of Rapture Pro all the time. Bob Bone