User 905133

NOTE: I have successfully problem-solved the issues described in this post. Since the post stemmed from issues raised by others, it seems relevant to leave it as here in case others have similar issues. WOW. I finally decided to install this after seeing it in my iLok account. I had previously set up a McDSP account and in the process activated it per the instructions. So all I needed to do was install it (or so I thought). Found the installer setup on line which was huge because it had installers for all their plug-ins (7 GB I think for the zip file and the unzipped file, too; took over 5 minutes to download). After unzipping them all, I managed to find the EC300 individual installer in the folder. Since then, it has been a vicious cycle trying to get it to work in Cakewalk and another host. EC300.vst3 is definitely where it should be. Cakewalk scans it. However, it cannot be used unless I activate it. That cannot be done. If it worked like other iLoked activations, I could just deactivate it so it showed 0 of 1 activations and then reactivate it. But evidently that's not how activations work. [ancient image removed to reclaim space] Even though the product is active, hasn't expired, and has no "Activate By Date" restriction, it cannot be activated because it was once activated one time!!! [ancient image removed to reclaim space I wonder: (1) Can I transfer it? (2) If so, can I transfer it to myself? (3) If so, would transferring reset the one activation so I can activate it? (4) If not, (4a) can I transfer it to someone else and (4b) would they be able to activate it? Maybe when they said, "Limited time offer" they meant it was secretly a trial license that expired without having an expiration date? WOW!! UPDATE: I had been trying the vst3 version unsuccessfully in both Cakewalk and Voltage Modular. So I switched gears and tried the dll version in Voltage Modular. McDSP let me activate that. Will try try Cakewalk. If interested in the activation / installation issues mentioned, please see the follow-up post from approx. 5 hours later.

I typed up this reply yesterday with the intention of double checking it. Never got to doing that. 😞 Thanks for the additional details. On my XP I explored the use of several PC game controllers for MIDI, so I get the idea . IIRC the controllers had utilities and there was also a Windows utility (or maybe there were third-party utilities) that could be used to map the controller parameters that Windows knew to MIDI. (Its coming back to me--Pro Pad hand held game controller, Wingman stick controller, MixMan controller [definitely used a third-party utility with that for MIDI] , and even a Nascar steering wheel and pedals controller--which I thought of using to do "Autobahn.") So, I can see something like: If the gas pedal is down, the wheel, buttons, and level could send certain midi data/control certain parameters or something like that, but if the gas pedal is up, different things could happen. A few years ago with Cakewalk and my nanoKontrol [1], I very successfully used azslow3's AZController for some basic functions, but nothing as complicated as what I imagine you want--basically matrixing MIDI to extend what MIDI usually does. I defer to AZ and if you haven't looked into AZ Controller already, I would encourage you to do so! [I see he chimed in on this since I wrote my reply. I defer to AZ.] Just remembered--I also used a WACOM tablet with some third-party programs to send MIDI data to hardware synths. Hmmmm. I just remembered using an academic-oriented program called ChucK [real time scripting language kind of thing primarily intended for audio] to route MIDI data on-the-fly. Anyhow, I think I better understand. Thanks for the explanation.

Just to add to what others have said: MIDI In[put] used to be where digital data came in from a MIDI Out[put]. MIDI = Musical Instrument Digital Interface - a way that MIDI devices could communicate. To put it simply MIDI sequencers (which later became DAWs) could record and playback MIDI data -- from MIDI hardware via a computer's MIDI In[put] to MIDI hardware via a computer's MIDI Out[put]. That was back in the '80s and it has gotten more complex since then. It has gotten so that many people say "synth" or "instrument" when referring to software / virtual synths (such as VSTs, Plug-ins, etc.). MIDI routing that used to be easy to see because we all used cables is now harder to see because its all inside (hidden, under the hood, in the box, etc.). I don't have/use Kontakt but the others are giving you insights that should help get rid of MIDI feedback. Its sort of like feedback from acoustic instruments going into a mic which is going into an amp which is going back into the mic, etc. Only its MIDI data in a feedback loop inside the box. Hope this helps.

I had no idea that "Vocal Chops" was "a thing." So I googled it. Surprise!!! There seem to be a number of videos on how to Vocal Chop of different length. From the handful of videos I watched, the methods are common to many different DAWs. That being said, from the videos I have seen, vocal chopping relies heavily on sampling techniques and a FX processing. Other DAWs might be bundled with tools that are commonly used with vocal shops. Cakewalk does not come with a sampler, though a number of users have mentioned it as a feature request. You can of course use third party plug-ins in Cakewalk. @reginaldStjohnI wrote the above yesterday and was going to add more. If you google "Vocal Chops" you should see (1) its "a thing" [as in people are doing something they call vocal chop / vocal chopping] and (2) the videos seem to indicate a reasonably well-defined range of tasks / effects that make it identifiable as "a thing." A few minutes watching sections of about 3-4 videos should give you a solid idea.

I learned about 10-15 years ago that there were some settings that will cause crashes if more than one project is open, but I haven't tested it since then. For me I was syncing a sound module with a hardware sequencer (E-Mu Proteus 2500) with SONAR/Cakewalk. Sometimes I had the Proteus as the Clock Source; other times I had Cakewalk as the Clock Source (depending on the project. As I recall, without fail, if I had a project opened with one set of clock settings, then opened a second project with different clock settings, and then switched from one project to another, SONAR/Cakewalk would crash. This might not be relevant, but I solved the problem by having "Allow Only One Project at a Time" ticked to prevent me from making the mistake again. My studio is very different now so I really can't juggle stuff around to see if this would still happen with Cakewalk by Bandlab. ------------------- I do use my own Workspaces and based on my experiences I agree with others that Workspaces could cause some of the inconsistencies. Recently another user brought up an issue with a Floating Synth Rack . . . . [Your reply just came in re: Workspaces.] I will read that and see if what I was about to type up is still relevant. UPDATE: Nope; since you don't use Workspaces, nothing relevant to add that hasn't already been said.

That clarification is direct and to the point! Don't see how anyone could be confused by that! While I recognize these points and others raised, I felt that MSD's previous website presented more as an informational resource. On a number of occasions I have used the price comparisons to help make purchasing decisions. Also, I found the historical prices valuable in helping to decide if a so-called deal was really a deal. In all cases when I decided to make a purchase based on the information, I went the manufacturer directly, or to a different vendor where I would get a perk or could use rewards for the purchase, or one of the several vendor MSD listed as part of their informational service. On the other hand, there are businesses selling products that have never been contributors in any way to the forum other than to announce the products they sell. As a Cakewalk user with no official affiliation, I don't think it is my role to tell a business that they have violated the rules.

I agree that a hierarchical table of contents possibly with indented, collapsible topics and subtopics would be useful. If time is going to be spent making it happen, I would prefer it to be done in a table of contents navigation frame with the online documentation which is far more useful to many than a PDF reference guide.

PS: I just found some genuine previously digitized low-fi recordings. Though clearly not applicable to a purely Mellotron emulation plug-in, a seriously omnipresent effect plagued by many low-fi recordings is the low voltage battery effect. Do any contemporary low-fi tape emulation plug-ins emulate this? BTW, I did find an old digitization of a 3" reel and I agree that Mello-Fi could be used to simulate about 75-85% of that quality maybe more. I was intentionally hyperbolic in saying that even someone with a tin ear could hear the difference. Apologies to those who paid full price and are offended. I was intending to be humorous, not insulting. In fact, I assumed that anyone who uses Cakewalk would be able to tell the difference.

I will agree that Mello-Fi can make audio sound like a 3" reel-to-reel tape deck. Very crayonish tape emulation; not nuanced. As for the Mellotron emulation, the factory samples on IK's Sampletron 2 sound much more "Mellotronish" both with and without IK's additional Tape Effects. As for the orange crayons to apple sauce analogy, a free v. expensive comparison would be appropriate. To be clear, the Mello-Fi factory presets do not make incoming audio sound Mellotronish. As for sounding like Lo-Fi tape recordings, they are more caricatures. When I have a chance and more spare time than I have presently, I will dig out my under $100 7" reel-to-reel, some tapes, including some 3" reels done on an ancient first generation (I think) portable tape recorder (can't get more low fi than that) and assuming the mylar tapes don't squeal and the acetate tapes aren't too brittle, I will make some samples and do a good faith attempt to use Mello-Fi to simulate realistic tape effects. I could be wrong, but I think anyone with even a "tin ear" would be able to tell the difference. As I tend to do, if I am wrong, I will correct myself.

Very true!! I tried IK's Sampletron 2 with some of my own audio and thought it sounded more Mellotron "tapish" (or tape-like) than arturia did. But to its advantage, Mello-Fi works in real time (i.e., on live music as it is being played). 🙂 Sampletron 2's tapes need to dropped & dragged or loaded. So far as I can see there is no audio in to apply the tape FX. 😞 Also, I remembered as I was shutting down last night, I forgot to mention arturia's "tape stop" FX. That's a plus, but I think the Jr. H.S. hacker got a little help from a first-year college sibling who was home on spring break. 😜

I don't remember my reel-to-reel tapes ever sounding as bad as the factory presets in this Tape Distortion. I'd get out my old reel-to-reel and try doing a comparison, but by now all my tapes probably have that nasty tape deterioration / degradation squeal. At least the ones I heard the last time I tried listening to some tapes had the squeal. Now, if these new-fangled imitation tape distortion FX plug-ins simulated varying degrees of that type of squeal, they would be more realistic than the distortion-I-never-had sound the contemporary plug-ins offer. Maybe I should find a blank section of tape, record the squeal, and convert it into an IR. 🤪 A realistic reel-to-reel simulator should have several modes of mylar distortion (varying degrees of stretched tape all of which sound different, varying degrees of crumpled tape--including when it slides under the capstan and gets pulled by the take-up reel but still drags across the playback head, when the slightly stretched and twisted tape flips over for about 0.75 seconds before straightening out, etc.), as well as acetate tape artifacts such as a torn tape that either never got spliced or the splice came apart while playing back with the take-up reel spinning for a few seconds before the auto shut-off kicked in. I can't be the only one that remembers the sounds of real tape artifacts! 🤪 Sorry to be so down about this plug-in. Maybe its just that I'd rather have an FX plug-in--like yet another delay that sounds better than real delay ever did instead of a pretend effect that doesn't sound even half as good as the original artifacts. This sounds like it was done by a junior high school DSP hacker who did a science fair project, not by a professional sound engineer. 🤪 On the other hand, its free! 🙂 PS: I just dug out out the CHOW Tape Model Plug-in. Even though it doesn't have the mylar and acetate artifacts, the CHOW version (also free) has more parameters to tweak to better "tune" the distortion tape to sound more realistic. For example, here's just one set of parameters ("Degrade").

Bonus: resets Virtual Cash reward expiration date to 365 days! 🙂

Let me explain my comment. Some software synths have sounds (sometimes called "presets") that repeat (loop) when a key on a keyboard is pressed. Many software synths (sometimes called "plugins," "VSTs," "Virtual instruments," etc.) have sounds that can be used for dance music. For example, instead using loops that other have made, you can use the sounds that come with software synths. When I said "some plugin/instrument makers include loops," I meant "some software synths" available from different makers/developers/sellers have looping sounds you could use. I hope this clarifies my comment. Cakewalk's Virtual Keyboard Controller - no other devices needed!!!

I tried this in a number ways, including the number of FX (e.g., 3 plug-ins) in a track FX bin and the moment I press and hold ALT. Unless I am doing it wrong, I am finding that the method replaces the entire FX bin with a new choice. I tried this with both Audio tracks and Instrument tracks with the same results.

I thought we could do this depending on the capabilities of our hardware and software. Or are you wanting for Cakewalk to be able to override the capabilities of the hardware and software users have? EDIT: I think I figured out what you mean. Do you want (a) different things to happen (b) to a single parameter (c) based on different combinations of knob, slider, button, etc. states?

Thank you for this post!

New Test: Rebooted PC then booted CbB . Opened up a few projects in my list of recently opened files (one at a time). All opened with the floating Synth Rack. 🙂 One at a time, I opened a handful of older projects (2005 - 2015). All opened with the floating Synth Rack. 🙂 I will defer to others who are more experienced with Screensets in case they can provide a solution. Other than a default Screenset, I don't actively use them. I will also defer to others who might know if some setting somewhere might have been changed. Just for fun, I tried switching Screensets stored with a project from 2010. With the "Float Rack" Workspace, Alt+9 brought up the floating rack. Same result with the default CbB Screensets (01-10) in the test projects. Hope you can find a solution that fits your workflow.

I remember reading about this. Not sure if this is the thread I read before or if there is another thread I might have read. In either case, I tested a whole bunch of things including tweaking one of my Workspaces to have a floating Synth Rack. To test it I saved an open project in three states: (1) floating synth rack open before saving, (2) floating synth rack minimized before saving, and (3) floating synth rack closed before saving. After each, I closed CbB but didn't reboot my PC. In all cases, Alt+9 either immediately brought up the floating rack or brought it up after a second Alt+9 keypress--possibly because the projected I tested with had a synth instrument within another synth instrument that might have hidden the synth rack with the first Alt+9 keypress. Double checking now. Opened all three test files (one at a time) using my 2022-04-06 Workspace. This Workspace has the Multi Dock on the top with the Track View on the bottom. In all three cases, the file opened with the Console and the Synth Rack as tabs in the Multi Dock. Closed CbB. Booted CbB. Switched to my new (tweaked) Workspace: Float Rack. Opened all three test files (again, one at a time). I had several synths floating in such a way that I didn't see the Synth Rack when the project first opened. When I closed the floating synths (or moved them out of the way), the Synth Rack was floating. I will try to test tomorrow to see if this continues to work. I think my test cases address this. I tested the two Workspaces after saving the project (1) with the floating Synth Rack open, (2) with it minimized, and (3) with it closed.

Hope I am not derailing the discussion, but I am wondering what the advantages are of using either a Control Surface style setup or an ACT style setup over a more direct approach. For software synths, I usually just right click on a parameter control in a VST (unless the VST requires an additional parameter mapping step), select MIDI Learn in the VST's UI (assuming the manufacturer implemented it), and move the desired hardware controller on my keyboard.

Ooops. I wrote this draft yesterday, looked at what dance loops I had picked up, and never came back to it. "Dance" seems very broad. Maybe contact Bandlab and ask for some specific genres of dance? As for loops "out there," I see people selling all sorts of loops. I can't imagine there aren't different styles of dance being offered. Also, try Googling "Dance Loops;" there seems to be a lot of them available. Also, some plug-in/instrument makers include loops.

I am glad they finally got rid of those $12 (and lower) prices. I dipped into some of my BF funds a month or so ago, and those super low anniversary prices almost triggered the, "I should spend money on something I probably won't use except when I first buy it" consumerism reflex. GASaholics Unite!!!! 🙂

I seem to recall knowing how to do this, but I forgot how and can't remember the right words to find it via an Internet search. (Maybe it was possible on XP SP3 and was eliminated from Win 10 / Win 10 Pro?) IMPORTANT: I am not looking for how to change the default columns for a specific folder (and subfolders) or for all folders. I am looking for changing the default columns by file type. For example: BTW, I looked up "how to change default detail columns in windows explorer" and read through a number of "hits" that specifically mention doing this by type already. Also, looked up "how to change default detail columns in windows explorer by file type." UPDATE: It took a bit of reading through the "hits," but I found a method that works. Clarification: This method seems to work by changing the default columns for file type groups (as opposed to file type as listed in the type column). In other words, since *.mid, *.wav, *.ogg, etc. are considered part of the "Music" file type group, they all reflect my desired change.

No, thank you. Clearly you want it. That's fine, but I find it troubling that you have launched a campaign. Most people put in a feature request and sometimes bump it when they feel their request hasn't been implemented in the time frame they think it should have been implemented. "Email Cakewalk . . . and tell them we want voice commands?" I do some things with my right hand and other things with my left hand. It works fine for me. I have tried word processors that responded to voice commands. No thanks. I have used voice commands on a phone for very simple, non-time critical tasks. My mind-to-hand coordination is faster and more accurate than mind-to-verbal-processing (including trying to find the "right" word). "You want to set up a macro on the keys, where one key is left click, another is middle-click, and another is right click." No, I don't. "Realistically speaking, what if we could cut down on our Mouse usage by 20% in the near future?" I use short-cuts plus a mouse. I don't need to cut my mouse usage by 20%. If you do, that's fine, but please don't assume what will benefit your personal workflow will make others' workflows easier and quicker.

More info / details / etc. would help others to help you diagnose the two issues you mentioned: not receiving any midi signal no sound coming from instruments "loaded up" on track 1 Based on this: all anyone knows is that you have an audio track inserted into the project. There is no evidence that you have any instruments / soft synths inserted. There is no evidence that you have midi data routed / routed properly to an instrument in such a way as to produce sound. Etc. ** I am not very familiar with video tutorials, but there are a number of tutorial makers who have posted links to videos in the forum here. Not sure if those are some of the ones you looked at. Personally, I learn things from some of them, but others don't resonate with me (wrong learning style, too much stuff I know to wade through, etc.) However, there are plenty of comments in the forum that other users find the posted videos helpful. Perhaps you haven't found the right videos yet. If you haven't inserted / routed / setup VA-3 successfully, perhaps you need a tutorial on how to insert plug-ins / instruments / VSTs / soft synths, etc. Also there is a Cakewalk Reference Guide and also on-line documentation if you prefer text. **I typically use the Menu Bar > Insert > Soft Synth... method to insert an Instrument Track, but there are other methods that work (personal workflow preference).