Jimbo 88

Ok forgive me, there is a lot to wade thru here, I might understand the issue, I might not.

I do a lot of audio design, vo recording, sound effects etc..to picture or absolute time, then score (compose) music to picture (or even just the audio).  I change tempos all the time.  Some audio i want to stay right where it's at and other elements i want to follow the new tempos (tempi?).

So the trick is choosing an element's time base.  Is it musical or absolute.  you can change that in the clip and track properties on the left.  So let's say I have placed a musical audio clip in the timeline as part of the composition, say a rhythm guitar.  It starts in measure "X", but now the tempo has got to change.  I "bounce to Clips" the guitar part making sure the clip is exactly at the start and end of a measure.  I can change the tempo any way I want, then time stretch the guitar part back to the end of the measure that it was at.  I have done this many times always successful.   If the time stretched audio is what I like.. I bounce it to clips again, cause i found that working with a lot of time stretched elements will cause  apps to crash...this is true in Protools, Cubase, etc.

What I think your are trying to do is create a scenario where CbB detects beats in all your audio clips and adjusts everything to match a new tempo...that might work if you convert all your audio to a groove clip.  that seems to be fraught with issues.  I have seen this work, but never always successful ...in many other Daws.

I hope I helped and did not waste your time.

Best! Good Luck.

CbB is fine if you are working music that is not to complicated.  I actually prefer composing in Cake, it keeps my sketch simple and I can work quickly. If the project needs real, complex notation I export an XLM file into other software.  I can make my compositions sound real in CbB, I have a tough time listening to my pieces in any notation software. 

As others have said, and I agree, Musescore is good....and free (big bonus).   I use Seblieus because I can rewire it with CbB and Dorico because I feel that is going to be the future of pro notation programs.   Big learning curves in all the notation apps.  CbB is pretty easy to learn. maybe I'm biased 'cause I started DAWs on Cakewalk.

Creating a Vocal and Piano lead sheet should work out fine in Cake.  If you add other instruments other than keyboards you are going to need other apps,  Staff View just does not have enough articulations .

So do your project in Staff View and get good at it.  When you need more,  your experience will help you understand and move up into more sophisticated notation apps.

Best!

7 hours ago, Tim Smith said:

I think it works well. One word- Transiberian orchestra. In their case a little more rock that orchestra but still...............

Yep,  just like them...bringing people together one tune at a time (Geetar Players and Fiddlers)

Ok, let's get this straight, I ain't no doctor, but have studied up a little on audio because of the work field I'm in,  There is a theory that your ear generates tones and uses phase to tell you where things are.  That is how/where tinnitus supposedly comes from. Anyway, to me, what you are describing is a form of that.

Fatigue, age, wear and tear all play a part in that.  Also I suspect wax build up or "dirt" for the lack of a better word, could be part of it.  Things I would try:

1) take a long hot shower and cup your hand over your ear to suction out potential foreign substances,

2) Relax, and try natural things that might pop your ears ...like if you are a swimmer head to a swimming pool and spend time in the deepest end under water.  Take a trip on an airplane(ha!)

Good Luck, I'm close to your age and I hate things like these, cause you always worry they are permanent, but tend to not be:)

Do you think high schools would allow a "Rock" guitar player to stand in front of an orchestra?  I  wrote this medley arrangement for just that.

What do you think?  Would it work?  Or cause a riot ? Might make Christmas concerts a lot more fun...

Special thanks to Cary Drake for Vocals, Harry Hmura (best know for his guitar work on the game "Halo")...Merry Christmas!

This sounds really good.   I know those old cassette tape decks would add a lot of hiss and noise.  Did you use any Izotopes noise reduction plugins?  I can't hear any kind of noise that would ding my ear.  The acoustic guitar has a little of that phasing sound,  but if you had not said anything about an old cassette deck.  I would not have noticed.

--NICE 

Hey so I started a podcast.  Recorded and mixed in Cakewalk.  The ripple edit is a God send for editing this thing.  I love working with Cake and am so grateful for these forums.   You can find it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or the Acast website here:

https://shows.acast.com/almost-world-famous-original-music-jam

I talk about original songs with a couple of other composers, audio guys and music teachers...

Thanks everyone for all the help I have received over the 15+ years I have been hanging out here!!

I don't have a song to post, but what about a podcast with multiple original songs?

The "Almost World Famous Original Music Jam" podcast.  Recorded and mixed in Cakewalk. 

https://shows.acast.com/almost-world-famous-original-music-jam/episodes/christmas-is-almost-here

Yes to what john is referring to.  Also  make sure all your tracks are assigned to the master bus or the same output.  You might not be monitoring your mix and it's outputs correctly.

Perhaps your vocals sound boom-ie because of your listening environment.  You might have frequencies that boom out in your room.  Try headphones and mixing down and listening to mixes in other places. 

Try using the "workspace" function on the top right side.  I'm sure someone can be more help than I.

No, audio quality will not suffer if all your setting and levels are set up correct.  Usually the default settings.

I send pic references for mixes all the time.  I use to do it the way the others describe,  it use to be the most efficient way with Cake doing the audio rendering and a video app rendering the picture.  That rendering process was the quickest and I had more flexibility choosing the video format for my clients who mostly worked with Macs. But recent cakewalk updates have made that unnecessary.  I wish I could help you with the codes thing, but I'm just a button pusher when it comes to that stuff.   

All I know now, is that I export a video file from Cake, choose export MPEG4 video and everything works...and works well.

Thank you Cakewalk bakers again!

Man, I've been working on this dang software for almost 30 years non-stop and it never ceases to amaze me what I learn when I show up here. 

agreed...I save multiple versions when I suspect I might wanna undo later.

But It would be nice tho.

1 hour ago, bitflipper said:

Question for the sax players: does this apply to altos specifically, or to all saxophones?

I've long marveled at the way my band's sax player can quickly transpose in his head. I'm too lazy to even try. Fortunately, I play keyboards and there's a button for that. But if he's using different rules when switching between, say baritone and tenor (which he sometimes does mid-song) that would be an even more impressive skill.

 

Alto and Bari are Eb instruments,  Soprano and Tenor are Bb...so there is that craziness.

Same for me Bitflipper.  I'm amazed how some horn players transpose on site.  I have hired a lot of horn players and I am so grateful that I can sketch out a horn arrangement and have the players read it with no problem. I do know a couple of guys who play / bring all of the saxes to a session and transpose with little thought.

I use a trumpet player and if you give him an alto part he will transpose from Eb into his Bb. Generally if you get jazz guys they pick up that skill.

I guess the point here is if you are going to learn alto or any sax, best learn how to transpose also.

On 7/4/2021 at 10:20 AM, Lord Tim said:

You *can* force CbB to import a still picture (File > Import Video; set the file type to All Files) but I found I couldn't get it to export any workable video from it at all. So I guess if you want a still image for the duration of the song while you mix, and you only intend to play back audio, it works? Kind of useless though.

 

Not really useless...I do what you described above all the time.  I make a Gif or Jpeg lead sheet from paint and import it as a video into Cake.  When I record a singer the words are up on screen all the time or if I'm playing jazz in a bar with backing tracks from Cake I have the lead sheet up for me to look at...so a lot of good uses for the trick.  It helps me 'cause the lead sheet gets saved with the Cake file and is one less thing for me to manage.

This post made me think that it might be cool to set up the loop function and have the option to program the number of loops.

Also maybe it would be cool to set up 2 sections that can loop.

--Just musing, don't mind me.

no problem on my system...

Good luck tho,

Just my 2 cents...I find it much easier to edit in piano roll while looking at Staff View

Yes, adding lyrics in staff view is the way to do that, but you have to have the melody notated to do so.   If you add lyrics to a melody and export a midi file, the lyrics will transfer with it.

One trick I use...type lyrics out in a word processing doc. Use the "snipping" app available in Windows to take a snap shot and save as a .gif or .jpg file.  Load this into CW  by importing a video (you  tell CW to look for all files not just video).  You will have a window that shows your lyrics,  although they wont follow the music.

If I need lyrics to follow the music, use the "snipping" tool to create a line or two at a time and create a movie in any simple video editing program. Render a  .avi file and load that into CW.

I do this a lot.  You do it once and becomes very easy and fast.

I love this forum...no matter how many hours I have spent inside "Cake", someone always comes along and shows me something really cool

Yes, more notation related updates please,  how about something like piano roll view that looks like this photo I stole from someone many years ago:

Here's the thing,  If you work with the same audio track for hours on end, as I have been forced to do in my career,  you have a chance to hear the difference between 48K and 44.1, 16 bit vs 64.  After hours and hours you might hear the difference, but a week later you won't be able to pick out which one is which.  I have tested this out myself not because I really wanted to, or was trying.

If you start your project at say 96K,  64 bit you will notice your recordings sounding better and your plugins responding better. That will translate.

In the old days 48K stayed in sync better with picture, but that's not an issue anymore.

Since you recorded at 44.1 , 16 bit there will be no improvement in sound by resampling at a higher rate.  Added plugins might perform better. Things like reverb, pitch correct etc... But the difference will not be very perceivable.

I recommend sticking with your current rates, they are fine.  I'm guessing you will end up mixing down to MP3 in the end anyway.