Craig Anderton

I wrote this up years ago, but in the context of a substitute for an Arranger track. By marking off the different sections, I found it easier to define the parts that needed to be moved around.

The closest I come to Chicago is during June, when I do workshops at GearFest in Fort Wayne, IN, and Between the Waves, in Madison, WI. But there's nothing planned specifically for Chicago, sorry.

Hey Chuck - it's in Dedham, here are the details. Hope to see you there!

When it was announced that Reason would work as a VST plug-in from here on and not include ReWire, that kind of took the wind out my sails. Sorry.

This is an excellent opportunity to plug my book, How to Create Compelling Mixes It has been very well-received, and the basis of all the workshops/personal appearances I'm doing this year. If you're in the Boston area, I'm doing a seminar on mixing at Parson's Audio on November 15. Okay, back to our regular programming. The whole topic is very subjective but I make a distinction between mixing and mastering. To me, mixing is about achieving the best possible balance of all tracks, without any processors in the master bus. Mastering is about taking that final mix, making the changes in EQ and dynamics that really make it shine, and mastering to a consistent LUFS reading. I've mastered hundreds of tracks over the years, and ALWAYS ask clients to refrain from mixing with any processors in the master bus. Another difference is that mastering requires very subtle changes. For example, you can put +6 dB of an EQ boost on a track and get away with it. But with a master, you are essentially adding +6 dB to every track. EQ changes of half a dB are common, and make a difference. As to presets, I agree with the sentiment here that there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. However, you will find over time that some frequencies get played with more regularly than others. For example, dipping a bit around 300 to 400 Hz on a master often helps "clean up" a mix. But the exact amount, the exact frequency, and the bandwidth will differ for different songs - assuming the dip is even necessary.

I do remember that the soloing behavior was changed quite some time ago...maybe the OP is using an older version?

I'm a multi-DAW kind of guy. It's like doubling on guitar and keyboard

To be clear, is the audio panning, but the meters don't show it? Or does the audio not pan?

Thanks everyone for chiming in! I covered Lenses in February 2017; the info is still valid and online, so I probably won't cover that. There was a column on Mix Recall in February 2016, and that's online as well (although maybe it's time for a refresh). The Selection Markers and Take Management suggestions are great topic ideas. Feel free to keep those ideas coming!

As many of you know, I write a monthly column about CbB for Sound on Sound magazine. There's never a shortage of techniques to write about :), but I thought I'd ask if there were any aspects of the program where you'd like a column that went into a topic in particular depth. For example, at one point there were some threads where people were trying to make sense of all the export options, so I did a column about exporting and its many applications. Thanks!

(The following is excerpted rom page 377 in The Huge Book of Cakewalk by BandLab Tips. It describes how to do an S-shape fadeout, which unfortunately is a shape Cakewalk doesn't offer. It's common in video editors, and produces a great fadeout effect.) When you want to fade out a song using master bus automaton, you can either take the time to place nodes exactly where you want them, or save time by using this tip. I’ve been using this technique on all songs requiring a fade for the last couple months, and it works every time. Here’s the step-by-step: 1. Open the volume automation envelope on your master bus. 2. Add a node where you want the song to start fading. 3. Add another node where you want the song to have faded out, and drag this node down to zero volume. 4. Add a third node equidistant between the fadeout start and end nodes. 5. Right-click on the envelope between the fadeout start and midpoint, and then choose Slow Curve. 6. Right-click on the envelope between the midpoint and fadeout end, and then choose Fast Curve.

Or hit CTRL+D a bunch of times.

It's great to see Cakewalk has a presence again at trade shows.

I totally agree that Waves' method is better than iLok. Unfortunately, Waves is the only company that uses it. And I hear you about broken/stolen/forgotten...I doubt I would use iLok-protected stuff for live performance. I keep the iLok inside my studio computer to protect it from the outside world.

I totally get what you're saying, but recently I had to re-build my system drive. The programs with "serial-key-entered-once-and-registered" by and large went okay because I'm pretty good about keeping a record of serial numbers, but some were tied to a different email account that no longer exists. I couldn't access my account because I couldn't get a password reset for an email that doesn't exist, so I had to ask support to help out. As much as I'm not an iLok fan, these days if I have the option to do iLok, I've found that makes it really easy when it's time to re-install software. I do like the way Native Access works. I see more companies moving in that direction for paid software.

The best DAW is/are the one(s) you're using at the moment. Unless someone voting has tried ALL the DAWs in the list and done a major compare and contrast, any results are ill-informed at best. What's more, it all depends on what you want the DAW to do. Some DAWs are better for mixing. Some for songwriting. Some for loops. Etc. etc. etc. I think most popularity contests are about clicks to improve SEO for the site sponsoring the "poll." Sorry to sound like I'm in a "kids get off my lawn" mode, but polls like this are meaningless. That said - go ahead and vote for Cakewalk!!! It deserves credit for making it through some very trying times. Personally, I'm not happy about being kicked to the curb, but that's in the past...and for me, doesn't detract from the program, Noel's dedication, Meng's foresight, or the wonderful community that has coalesced around it.

Of all the ways to deal with software, this strikes me as one of the least intrusive. No dongle, no freakouts if your hard drive changes, no having to keep track of how many computers you've authorized. If all I need to do is let BandLab know from time to time that I still exist, that's okay with me.

I don't have UVI to check, but maybe you added a scan path in X2 for the VST or the content that has not been added in CbB?

https://www.usb-audio.com/ They have the chip and the driver From the site: "Ploytec's    Windows USB Audio driver and   Mac OS X USB Audio HAL-plugin driver enable buffer sizes down to 32 samples (0.73 ms) and create an ultra highspeed USB audio connection, bypassing the operating system's audio, its mixing and samplerate conversion." Looks like all you need to do is wrap a mic around it.

Then you don't need much more than a USB mic. When stuck in hotel rooms because of a missed flight connection, I've even recorded rough drafts by singing into the mic on my laptop. If she's going to go beyond the opening premise, then yes, spend the extra $$ for a more pro setup. But it sounds like you already have a pro setup, and if the song got to that level, she'd be working with you. You also mentioned that Cakewalk is OTT for what she will be doing. Don't forget you can use Lenses to make CbB less intimidating to people who would be overwhelmed by the plethora of functions.

But it doesn't sound like the OP wants a pro audio solution - just something inexpensive so a non-technical vocalist can practice against a backing track. The headphone outs on USB mics give zero-latency monitoring, so ASIO/WASAPI isn't an issue. It's even acceptable with MME, so however the computer boots up will work for the singer. Although there are plenty of interfaces for under $100, you still need to get the mic. And then you run into the interface-related issues about updating drivers, routing applets, etc. I have a 24/96 kHz USB mic in my office and use it all the time for doing scratch vocals and songwriting. It's much easier than going up to the studio and lugging down an interface, mic, and mic cable, setting gain, etc.

USB mics are painless, because you don't even have to set levels. Just be aware there are lousy USB mics designed for consumers, and good USB mics. The Audio-Technica AT-2005 USB costs under $100; I use the AT-2020 USB, which is excellent although I don't know if the $170 price qualifies as low cost. Also, although intended for podcasting, the Neat Microphones Bumblebee is a solid USB mic and also costs under $100. Both the Bumblebee and AT-2005 USB have headphone outputs with volume controls. The Neat has three different profiles for speech, music or neutral; the AT-2005 USB does XLR as well as USB.

MS Paint can also scale size to 96 x 96. I do recommend saving as PNG.

Unfortunately, I think you're out of luck. The good news is that just as TH3 was way better than TH2, the new version is better than TH3.