norfolkmastering

Hi Alexey I think you maybe misunderstood. Only my mixer routing and level control will be controlled from Cakewalk. (So I will not control EQ or Comp from Cakewalk). In terms of 'dynamic' parameters, that means 24 tracks plus 8 buses, each with: Gain, Pan, Level (so 96 in total) in addition, what I call more 'static' parameters: Track to Bus Routing, Solo, Cut, Rec arm, Interleave, Source routing (maybe around 600 in total)

Hi both Thanks for exploring this topic so thoroughly. I just wanted to clarify a few points re my intended use of the Cakewalk and AZ Controllers. Remote control of parameters in my analogue mixer is only for routing and level/pan control. All the other analogue processing (e.g. EQ and Compression) is manually controlled using inserts and outboard gear As routing is primarily a session set up function, this leaves just level control which will happen 'in real time'. In terms of processing overheads within Cakewalk, there will be no software plug-ins being used. The primary reason I wanted to reduce the Cakewalk Controller Refresh Time below 25ms was for increased precision and time accuracy of fast crossfades between takes. As one example:- I recently mixed a song with four takes of a technically very difficult piano piece. I had to use fast crossfades to combine the best of the four performances. In the Cakewalk digital domain this is reasonably easy to achieve. In the future, when I am recording both to Cakewalk and to my 24 Track analogue tape machine, I will do all the mixdown rehearsal in Cakewalk and then do the final mixdown from the tape machine which is locked to Cakewalk using SMPTE (striped on to Track 24). Cakewalk will control my audio mixer so that all the rehearsed level control can be implemented in the analogue domain. If I was to use inter/extrapolated data processing within my audio mixer to gain more control precision, then I introduce another (albeit small) delay in the control chain between Cakewalk and my target VCAs. I would prefer not to do this. My VCA gain control elements have an integration time of around 7ms which takes care of zipper noise issues quite successfully. So I would like to be able to experiment with Cakewalk Controller Refresh times below 25ms if this is possible to implement. Regards Robert

Hi Mark Thanks for checking this out. I am using AZ Controller to configure and output the MIDI messages. Does that count as 'outside of Cakewalk'? If 'yes' then please let me know what would be required to get the 10ms refresh operational. Best regards Robert

Amon, in the Bandlab support team, suggested I post this topic to reach out to the development team. I have a fairly unusual application which needs a fast Controller Refresh Frequency, preferably 10ms. This allows me to record into Cakewalk and simultaneously to an external analogue recording system, all sync'd and controlled from Cakewalk. The 2020.08 release allowed the minimum Refresh Frequency to be reduced from 50ms to 25ms which was a really useful step. At that time I was told that reducing the Refresh Frequency down to 10ms would be possible but via the Cakewalk.ini. I have not been able to get this working. Although the Cakewalk.ini can be edited to 10ms and displays as 10ms in Preferences\Control Surfaces, the actual refresh frequency is still operating at 25ms. I have tested this very carefully, It would be great if the development team could have a look to see what is blocking the 10ms setting from operating and hopefully remove the blockage. I have a whole dialogue of how I test the refresh frequency which Amon has in an email. Happy to reproduce here if it would help. Regards Robert

Thanks Mark, much appreciated.

Excuse me pinging this post again. Is Mark McLeod or anyone from the Bandlab development team able to help? Regards Robert

I'm trying to implement control of the bus input pan using the excellent AZ Controller. Alexey thinks that this control is missing from the Cakewalk Control Surface API. Could I ask Mark McLeod if he could confirm if the bus input pan control is missing from the API and if so, could it be added please. Many thanks Robert

Hi Mark Alexey has been able to implement AZ Controller for individual FX bypass within a track however he cannot implement remote control of the track 'Bypass Rack' pushbutton without a hook within the Cakewalk Control Surface API. So I am asking if a hook for "FX bin enable" can be provided in the Cakewalk API please. Regards Robert

I've just downloaded three plug-ins from the Native Instruments Solid State Mix Series and none of them has a functional Host Bypass button. It is greyed out. I have asked on the NI forum and no-one else seems to have this issue (but I don't think anyone who replied is using Cakewalk). So I wanted to ask if this is a known issue with NI plug-ins used within Cakewalk?

Another ping to see if we can get a response from Mark or anyone else at Bandlab?

I raised the issue of (lack of) mono inserts with Cakewalk back in the 'Gibson' days and after some initial denial, I did get acknowledgement of the issue and it was supposed to have been put on the 'to do list'. I did contact the Bandlab team and it is a known issue to them but so far I don't think there is a timeline for getting it fixed. I use a lot of mono analogue devices in my mixdown chain and having to write off every other A/D and D/A is not great. Hopefully we will get a fix commitment with timeline from Bandlab soon.

Hi Like a lot of other folks, I am using the excellent AZ Controller plug-in to create a custom controller interface for Cakewalk. Could I ask Mark McLeod if he would be willing to add the track/buss FX 'Bypass Rack' pushbutton/function to the Cakewalk SDK please. It would be really useful to be able to control this function from an external hardware controller. Alexey is happy to add this function to the AZ Controller once he has access to it via the SDK. It would be great to hear back about this from Mark if he could respond please. Many thanks Robert

I raised this in the Cakewalk Forum but it is really a question so ... I am using Cakewalk as a master to control my analogue tape machine which is connected as a slave to Cakewalk using MTC/SMPTE timecode. The tape machine correctly follows the project time in Cakewalk during normal PLAY mode (using what is called the chase mode) but there is a problem ... When I use the Cakewalk Fast Forward or Fast Rewind transport buttons, there is no MTC output from Cakewalk during operation of those transport buttons. This seems to mirror a problem with the main time display in Cakewalk ... If I am in PLAY mode (so the time display is counting up at normal play speed), then I press e.g. the 'fast' REWIND transport button, then the time cursor moves to the left (reflecting the REWIND command) but the time display keeps counting forwards at normal play speed and doesn't update until I release the REWIND button. So during REWIND (or FAST FORWARD) operation, the time display is incorrect and does not reflect the time cursor position (which is correct). This is messing up my sync control of the analogue tape machine so I need to find a solution. Explanations and solutions most welcome. Thanks Robert

Let me try to explain again ... 1. Put Cakewalk into PLAY 2. Press and hold either Fast Forward or Fast Rewind transport buttons. 3. The NOW TIME continues to advance at normal play speed and does not reflect the position of the time cursor (but the cursor does correctly move according to the FF or REW buttons) OR 1. Put Cakewalk into STOP at any position on the project timeline. So the time display is stationary. 2. Press and hold either the Fast Forward or Fast Rewind transport buttons. 3. The NOW TIME does not change so it does not reflect the positon of the time cursor) Why is this?

Does anyone know why the time display in Cakewalk does not update correctly during fast forward and fast rewind transport operations? This has an impact on the MIDI Timecode which Cakewalk generates during fast wind operations as it also does not update correctly. Is there any setting to change this?