Craig Anderton

I can't replicate the problem here with audio loops (which I assume is what you're talking about). When you click on the Loop Construction window loop button, do the clip corners become rounded? And when you stretch, does the waveform repeat, or is it section following the loop just a straight line? Try saving the loop to see if that helps. To close the Loop Construction window, click on the X in the tab that says "Loop Construction," below it loop construction window.

FWIW, I just wrote my next Cakewalk column for Sound on Sound, and it's about integrating Cakewalk with NI KK. No, you don't get to do everything...and the column is based on the S-series MK 2, so I don't know how the A series responds. I'm on Part 2 of my Friday Tip for Studio One about integrating NI/KK. Even for something that is well-supported, there are nuances. My big surprise was discovering that for Windows (not Mac Catalina) I could use the KK keyboards to control any plug-in or effect, NKS or not, and have parameter names that I entered show up on the keyboard's display. This even works for Cakewalk DX plug-ins wrapped in Studio One. But it took me a loooooong time to a) figure it out, and b) comes up with the steps to make it repeatable enough to write about. MIDI 2.0 with MIDI CI (Compatibility Inquiry) can't come soon enough for me!! The MIDI 2.0 spec was ratified last Sunday at NAMM, so MIDI 2.0 gear should start rolling out over the next year. (FYI - your MIDI 1.0 gear will still work with it.)

I set up a keyboard command for normalize, and I have another one for gain...speeds things up a lot. But usually, I just normalize to 0 using the shortcut, and then if needed, use the trick I've described previously for lowering clip gain. Granted it's a workaround, but the process is very fast, and was always very helpful to me when doing vocals or narration, where a consistent level is helpful.

Why not just use the Normalize command instead of guessing at the amount of Gain? However if what you're asking for is non-destructive changes and the waveform follows along, I agree that would be an improvement.

Recording MIDI automation data is independent from recording audio or MIDI data. That's so you can record automation without overwriting your part by accident. Joe is right, click W to write automation.

Hopefully this review I wrote will answer most of your questions

That's exactly the information I needed! Thank you very much. It explains the behavior I'm seeing.

Thanks...I know it's possible to use more than one controller, but I specifically need to use two of the ACT interfaces...that's what seems to be the problem, because each one requires a different MIDI port.

I suspect the answer is no, but wanted to make sure. I'm using ACT to allow an NI Komplete keyboard to control several DAW functions (Play, Loop on/off, Stop, etc.). The NI controller has three different MIDI outs (standard, external, and DAW); the ACT MIDI Controller requires the MIDI DAW output from the Komplete keyboard for (apparently) any DAW functions other than Play and Stop. I can control the NKS plug-ins as expected, and also, I can use the hardware knobs to control any non-NKS synths that have MIDI Learn. However, it seems that controlling (for example) the SI instruments, which don't have MIDI Learn, require being controlled via ACT but they need the standard MIDI Keyboard as the MIDI In, not the MIDI DAW . I've tried using one ACT MIDI Controller for the DAW functions and another for the Cakewalk effects and SI instruments, but they don't seem to get along. When changing presets on one ACT controller changed parameters in the other ACT controller. I figure they were not designed to play nicely together. But if anyone has used two ACT MIDI Controllers successfully to control different things, I'd like to hear about it.

Thanks for the props! One reason I'm doing only eBooks these days is because it keeps the price reasonable. A 411-page, full-color book like the Huge Book of Cakewalk by BandLab Tips would have been totally cost-prohibitive with the traditional publishing model. Even software benefits, because you don't need boxes and distribution media any more...just a place where you can download it. No manufacturing costs, no overstocks, no shipping. Many professional musicians aren't rich, and for others, it's a hobby that doesn't justify taking a lot of disposable income. As long as any income from a product can justify the work that goes into creating something, the lower the price for end users, the better.

I've been playing with it some more, and found out how to use some of the DAW functions as well, as well as assign buttons to features like screensets and views. It's too much info to put in a post, so I'm going to write up a complete description for my Cakewalk column in Sound on Sound magazine.

Picture is worth a thousand words, and all that...MIDI-OX is about routing as well as monitoring.

HEY!! You CAN use the Komplete Kontrol keyboard as a general purpose MIDI controller with Cakewalk! (At least I was able to do so with my S49 Mk2). Cakewalk's MIDI Device preferences should check ALL Komplete Kontrol Options: -1, EXT-1, and DAW. Install MIDI-OX, open it, leave it open, and under Options > MIDI Devices, choose Komplete Kontrol - 1 for MIDI Input and Komplete Kontrol EXT-1 for MIDI output. If you choose the Komplete Kontrol -1 input for MIDI, you can have instruments and such respond to the MIDI. You can even switch back and forth between controlling an instrument loaded in Komplete Kontrol, and something that's just loaded as an instrument in Cakewalk. To control a Cakewalk instrument (or effect), press the keyboard's MIDI button, and choose Komplete Kontrol -1 for the input. To get back to Komplete Kontrol, press the Plug-In button. Now the knobs control the instrument in Komplete Kontrol. Is this cool, or what?

I think there is a way; Cakewalk would need to premix the tracks on which you weren't recording, mute the non-premixed tracks, and open the premix in a variation of the loop library window, where only the pitch control would be exposed. You could then record to your track. Closing the "varispeed" module would pitch up what you recorded, delete the premix, and unmute the muted tracks. It seems like that would take a lot of work to pull off from a software standpoint, though, and it might not be justified by the number of people who want this feature. So far, the workaround works for me!

I have a zillion of them, and custom artwork for the knobs and buttons. I've been thinking of putting them all together into a package, and selling them on my craiganderton.com digital storefront for $4.99.