User 905133

Thanks for the suggestion. I will try linking to an uploaded image on a hosted site, but at least I figured out that cutting and pasting in-line images results in duplicates--the in-line image and an uploaded image--with no way to delete the non-in-line image or to replace it (so far as I can see). I had better luck earlier today saving very small images (cropped to the essentials) and linking to the file on my PC. Steve

I am new to CWxBL, but have been using Music Software for a few decades. I have just started to play around with the Theme Editor to try to tweak/create visual elements that work for me. I thought I'd share what I have started doing in case others have "Aging Eyes" or other vision issues to pool ideas. Addendum: I originally raised the issue in one of Matthew White's threads by asking some questions about what can be changed. The original post and his very helpful reply can be found here:

I know old!! In fact, it didn't dawn on me when Riva asked for the file to look through my *.ins files and that I might have a more comprehensive Roland.ins file from 2011 that post-dated all my ancient (but still functioning) Roland gear. Yeah, I didn't need to look for the Juno Stage manual and read through the MIDI implementation, but it did bring back some fond memories--especially creating *.ins entries for some "Intelligent Arrangers" so I could just "dial-up" styles and other features the "normal" way--i.e., by using Cakewalk's drop down midi track parameters.

You have my curiosity--why do I have these? Hmmmmmm.

I edit *.ins files in Notepad, an old windows basic text editor. If the the file Variorum posted has what you need, you shouldn't need to edit it much based on what I saw in the manual and the Roland.ins file I have. Its just a matter of telling Cakewalk which definition from the file to use. I can't imagine it's not in the manual since *.ins files and bank switching have been around for decades. I will compare Variorum's file with the one I have and the manual I found. Maybe its a match, ergo no editing needed (if I understand what you are trying to do). Update # 1: The posted file is the exact same size as the one I have dated Dec 30, 2011. The manual for the June Stage says its from 2008. If that's what you have, its probably the file you are looking for. Update # 2: Its been many years since I did stuff with Instrument definitions, but maybe this helps: https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=Instrument_Defs.03.html Also, from the Cakewalk Reference Guide: Steve Yes, the June Stage Instrument Definitions are in there for Presets and Rhythms. I didn't see anything about switching what I know of as Modes.

I looked for my old *.ins files and found I also had a Roland.ins from 2011. It has this: That looks like what's on page 196 of the June Stage manual I looked at:

When I first saw this thread, I thought you meant it was simple/easy to use because you can press a button and play a little audio to test the audio signal. Now I am not sure.

"USER, PRST, GM, XP-A, XP-B - Selects the group to which the desired patch belongs." I have some experience with making *.ins files for some Roland gear a few decades ago. I was curious about your quandary and took a casual look at the User Manual. Sysex? CC? RPN? NRPN? Bank Switching + Program Change? From page 193: USER (User Group)User 1–128 (CC#0 = 87, CC#32 = 0 ), User129–256 (CC#0 = 87, CC#32 = 1 ) From page 194: PRST (Preset Group) Preset 001–128 (CC#0= 87, CC#32 =64 PC=1-128), Preset 129–256 (CC#0= 87, CC#32 =65 PC=1–128) Bank switching (CC#0, CC#32, followed by the Patch/Program Change) would seem to work if that's what you are trying to switch. If so, look at Roland *.ins files for a guide on how to do that. As for the others listed (GM, XP-A, XP-B), I am not sure if those are done by what used to be called mode changes in some Roland gear from a few decades ago., possibly requiring SysEx commands. Hope this helps. Steve

(1) I love this topic! Thanks for asking the question and for the insightful answers. (2) Can someone with experience with Roland sounds help put a few into perspective, particularly in terms of re-used/re-purposed/emulated samples across Roland families of gear? I have experience with: the MT-32 (and a C-64 editor!--great for sound hacking!!), the CM-64 (as noted an MT-32 plus PCM with a single slot for the U110 family of cards), the CM-32P (the C-64 without the MT-32, just the PCM portion), the U-220 (2 cards slots, plus more PCM samples than the U-110 and allegedly better sound quality), and an M-GS64 (SoundCanvas variant, with emulated/mapped CM-64 sounds, IIRC, the Edirol softsynth (that came with Cakewalk ages ago, plus an update), and the TTS-1. As I seem to recall (not 100% sure, though), the CM-64 has a cleaner version of the MT-32 sound production circuitry and a cleaner version of the U-110 sound production circuitry, comparable to the U-220. I vaguely recall thinking the Sound Canvas Samples (as found in the M-GS64 and others) were a superset of the PCM samples as found in the CM-64, U-110, U-220. I also seem to recall that the old Edirol Softsynth (VSC, IIRC = Virtual Sound Canvas) used the same (or reworked) PCM samples (based on what I remember about using some of the sax samples). I was under the impression that these were reworked into the TTS-1. Thanks. Steve

Thanks for mentioning the Track Manager. I have never used it before, I am not sure how I would use it, but it looks good to know about. I will put it on my list of things to explore. The X3 Documentation page doesn't have as much details as the Cakewalk by BandLab Reference Guide. As for using it efficiently, I did notice there are a number of shortcuts in the Reference Guide. Steve

I know making videos like this are time consuming, so kudos for undertaking and doing the project. You seem to be open to constructive feedback, so let me (1) echo earlier feedback about speaking rate and (2) add a few minor comments. Speaking rate: My listening style means that I have to either constantly stop or constantly stop and rewind this video. My patience level means that if listening to/watching a video requires too much mental energy to decipher the information, I move on to something else. For me, its not just the overall vocal rate, but the rate of rapidly uttered phrases. Possible suggestion: Start off slower and with less rapid phrasing. Once the listener/viewer has gotten accustomed to the overall (words and sentences) and internal vocal pacing (slbls),* you can pick it up a bit. JMO--others may disagree. *[slbls = rapidly uttered syllables that require additional mental processing--"wait, what did he say?"] Content level: I have seen this in other videos--a discrepancy between the level of explanations. Some explanations are clearly for beginners (which is what you intend). Some explanations presume some knowledge that beginners might not have. "Plug-Ins" seems to me as a triffle specialized. Possible suggestion: Instead of having parenthetical asides that don't add how-to knowledge of the product (e.g., the part about CW used to cost money ["free" seems sufficient to convey your real point], and the part about third-party plug-ins and then the same comment about Cakewalk plug-in), a beginner might be better served by a short parenthetical expression for "plug-Ins" -- e.g., "(additional tools you can add)"--but not as an overly rushed, choppy statement. I am sure this video (well conceived and prepared, for sure) will be good for many listening styles and various levels of beginners. I offer the above because I think the video might reach more people with some minor tweaks. Again, JMO offered because you seem to appreciate feedback intended to be helpful. Steve

old post deleted to reduce digital foot print

Related to this, I am wondering if there is (1) a text listing of all the theme-editable (and color-editable) parameters/settings/elements or (even better yet) (2) a spreadsheet of these. I am trying to make theme/color tweaks (and image revisions, if necessary) to compensate for my aging eyesight and before I create an *.ods [OpenOffice Spreadsheet] by manually typing in each parameter/setting/element, I thought, "Surely someone else (with more experience than me) 'must have' done this already." Maybe its even been posted in the forum, or is in one of the help resources I haven't found yet. Thanks. Steve Addendum # 1: Partially solved: https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Dialogs2.075.html The table there cuts-and-pastes very nicely into a spreadsheet.

Thanks for the replies/suggestions. Revisiting my various plug-ins is definitely now on my to-do list. Since I only discovered that Cakewalk was very much alive two-days ago, my catch-up list is growing exponentially! I still don't know why I didn't see it on 4-4-2018! (I only saw the web-based thing.) Plans include going back to some C-64/Dr. T/KCS tunes ported to TTS's Cakewalk for MS-DOS ages ago to update some old favorites. Steve

Hmmm. I think with SONAR 3, I started with "Producer" and then went to "Producer Expanded" whenever they introduced that, but somewhere along the way (maybe X1? or X3?), I decided that I didn't need "everything" and went to plain SONAR and SONAR STUDIO. If I recall correctly, some of the Producer and Producer Expanded versions of plug-ins worked in the less-than-Producer versions, but some didn't. Maybe that was when I started my Spreadsheet. I do remember getting messages like "not licensed for ________" with some plug-ins (i.e., some plug-ins could only be used in earlier versions). I am just starting to get back into doing music (or trying to start). So, armed with your spreadsheet, I can now revisit all my plug-ins. Thanks, too, for the link to the Documentation page! Steve

Thanks. A few years ago I started compiling a list of plug-ins I had acquired with all my Cakewalk purchases over the years in order to go through them all to see which ones worked with the latest version I then owned. I seem to recall discovering that somewhere along the line bought-and-paid-for plug-ins no longer worked in newer versions (if I remember correctly). So, thanks for sharing your list! Steve

Thanks for the detailed reply, Matthew. The clarifications and confirmations of what can be changed and what can't (as of yet) as well as the how-to explanations are helpful. Earlier, I used M-Titanium to search for and test drive a simple tweak using one of the "Background (collapsed)" module buttons. Knowing that M-Titanium had those overridden was very helpful in finding the parameters/elements. I'm not sure I like what I did or if I have the stamina to design a whole set, but it is making sense. Oh yeah, I used an old standby--MSPaint--mainly because of familiarity (no need to learn a new tool). Perhaps the other graphics tools mentioned will give crisper results. Again, thanks for the help. Steve

Thanks for raising this issue and for the insightful replies. I, too, have been struggling with readability and had been hoping there were font/text parameters that could be changed (i.e., tweaking light grey letters on a dark grey background). Evidently (if I understand the discussion correctly), it cannot be done with font/text parameters; rather, it seems that every place there is text, a new graphic would have to be created. Steve

Thanks to you and to others who have contributed themes and made insightful comments about editing themes. As of yesterday, I am new to CWxBL. My use of TTS software dates back to the '90s, but I only discovered there was a non-website-based version of BandLab yesterday. Evidently, I didn't see the standalone version back in April 2018. With recent vision issues (thanks to a former workplace), I have trouble reading Mercury and Tungsten--even after I make my display larger than recommended. Some color combinations are extremely difficult for me--such as light grey on either white or black/dark grey. Other colors distract my mind--such as vibrant red/orange, neon green, etc. I have played with the editor a bit today and understand the basics. I have downloaded some user themes and have no issues with loading them. I can probably figure out which parameters are which and which ones I need to tweak but only after after a lot of trial-and-error, and I just want to get on with making music--not searching for possible parameters to tweak. So, I am wondering if you can point me in the direction of some parameters which would let me get started. After I get these basics, I might want to tweak others, but these are the most problematic for me at the moment. Thanks!