acewhistle

Hello community,

First of all, completely noob about MIDI and hoping to learn MIDI with it's vast potential to create audio files from all kinds of instruments :)

I've been watching some Youtube guides about using MIDI in Cakewalk and it is really interesting to learn after my 20+ years of guitar playing and how much info and potential skills I am missing out on what it can offer to make my audio recordings move to the next level.

I just like to ask if someone would know where I can download some midipack files where I can see how a composer/writer wrote a midi for those instruments and how those notes relates to one another.

It's like listening to a song where you have no clue how certain riffs or melodies are played until you've seen it from a guitar tab / piano lead sheet and only then you will understand how/why certain notes/chords works for that particular song.

Thought this will help me accelerate my knowledge how to use MIDI for my future recordings.

Hope that makes sense.

Many thanks.

Many thanks for the suggestion 😄.

It turns out I just need to collapse the whole folder first before I can drag it to re arrange it.

Hi peepz,

Any idea how I can re arrange the track folders I created? 

As you can see from the screenshot, I want to move the track folder "Guides" where the "Instruments" folder is but it is not letting me to do so.

Many thanks.

On 2/2/2021 at 5:05 AM, bvideo said:

Audiosnap & Groove/Loop are mutually exclusive. You could bounce it then loop it -or- just loop the original. A groove clip has usually been created such that enabling looping will get it to the project tempo as well as enabling the feature of dragging it for loop purposes.

Do you have a pic/video example that you can share to me as I tried Youtube but most contents are not what I am looking for?

Many thanks.

Hi Jack,

I would recommend you watch this one as it helped me tremendously understanding what needs to be done with a mix on a simple setup.

Hope this helps you as it did to me.

Hello fellow Cakewalk users,

Noob here and want some help pls with looping a groove clip.

I set my project tempo at 115bpm 4/4 time signature and I got a bass drum loop that has got 128bpm.

I've tried using audiosnap to match the project tempo but it is way off so had to adjust the audio transients to make sure it follows the tempo.

Want to loop it, but when it I tried it via Loop construction, everything is grayed out☹️.

Any advice pls what I am doing wrong. Many thanks.

Hello peepz,

Just like to ask your advice pls on how can I create a loop with a one shot wave file (see screenshot)

I'm planning to match it with my current project tempo and time signature but no such luck using Audio snaps and Loop construction

Tempo is 51bpm with time 6/8 time signature.

Many thanks.

22 hours ago, msmcleod said:

Yes - this is a good tutorial on how to do this:

 

Thank you very much for this link. Just what I was looking for and full of useful info 😀

Hi,

Not sure if this topic has already been discussed before here in forum.

My question, is there a function in Cakewalk that I can transpose an audio file to a key that suits my audio mix? 

I was browsing on some loop packs in the Bandlab websites (see attached pic) and thought if there will be a way I can change the key of a sample loop which I will be able to fit it on the music project.

Or perhaps other software you can recommend (free preferably).

Many thanks.

3 minutes ago, scook said:

There should be a bunch of sounds to choose from in preferences

You could create your own

Or use the MIDI metronome and pick a synth to use instead of the audio files

For more info see http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Recording.05.html#1071240

 

Will give it a go

Many thanks.

Hello,

Any ideas how I can change the default sound of the metronome as it starts to get too much for me after hours listening from my projects?

Anyone got a softer metronome sound pls?

Many thanks.

Thank you very much for all of your wonderful support here.

I wouldn't have learned it if it wasn't from all your suggestions and advice.

Really appreciate for your time helping out a newbie like me.

Many thanks all 

10 hours ago, msmcleod said:

This is a pretty good video for getting you started:
 

 

Wow thank you very much for this wonderful Youtube tutorial

Just watching and learning how a simple EQ setting can make a lot of difference.

Many thanks

19 hours ago, treesha said:

No ha i am always learning myself and self taught via youtube and forum reading and  videos and experimenting. First start with how the raw recording sounds. Does it sound clear? What does the meter show you. If it is too hot or distorted you have to fix that first. Redo. Do you like the way the mic sounds?  Is the room too reverberant? I dont know what fx you have, since i got some ozone izotope stuff i have been using those on my vocals. And scheps omni channel before that. I dont know what gsnap is. I use melodyne a lot to pitch correct and phrase adjust. But first you need a recording as good as you can to start. What example of vocals is like what you want to sound like? Maybe see how the mix or master achieved that. What style? Maybe google vocals for that type music for suggestions. Its a very broad and rich topic. If you post something you are working on in the song forum you can get suggestions and feedback on your mix. Lots if experienced ppl on this forum. Have fun 

Hi Treesha,

Gsnap is a free VST for pitch correction for vocals that I learned from one of the Youtube videos I watched and can't remember who was it from. Anyway the link is, https://www.gvst.co.uk/gsnap.htm

Don't want to pay commercial stuff first until I get the hang of what each VSTs capabilities are till I fully understood how it can help with the  mixing process

Many thanks for the support

20 hours ago, John Vere said:

Exactly You got it. 

Many thanks for that John :)

1 hour ago, treesha said:

I don't see anything wrong with the way you have audio tracks containing vocals with  fx in their fx bins. Like you say you can also make a bus or busses and route the vocals to the bus and put fx there. Either way will work, it might depend on what your goals are. If I want to align various things on different tracks, I use melodyne to do that, I have studio version 5. The subject of making vocals sound clean and professional is very broad starting with recording the vocals and then everything you do to them after that. Maybe you could explain what it is that you think is wrong with them, how are they not sounding clean and professional to you as is? Clean and professional are a little broad for commenting on how to improve so more details might help you get answers on here.  I think it is common to use reverb, delay, compression,  eq, chorus maybe as fx on vocals to improve how they sound to taste. It does take time to learn stuff so just keep at it.

Hi Treesha,

Many thanks for your encouraging word

To be honest, I am still at the stage where I don't know if my understanding is correct so I am hoping to see other people's project on how they mix from voices, instrument, fx, and etc just to give me more ideas on how to improve my knowledge.

I think making it sound professional at this time sounds far fetch at my current level so just thinking of making it sound clear and crisp to begin with. So that's my target first before moving to the next stuff

Do you have in depth tutorial or blog I can learn from you?

19 hours ago, John Vere said:

You insert 2 stereo busses. One is for the drums/ percussion  the other is any other synths like bass, piano etc. 

 

So you pan one bus hard left and to other hard right. It's a simple matter of sending the drums to the left buss and all other instruments to the right. 

You could even have a bunch of sub busses if you so desire and just by panning each buss create a custom split track wave file. 

I like this because sometimes we do want a full stereo track and all I need to do is un-pan the busses. These backing tracks also get used as our bed tracks for recording full albums too.  

In my tutorials I show how to get at the master buss in the buss pane

https://sites.google.com/view/cactus-studios/part-1-midi-and-cakewalk

To insert a new buss just right click in the buss pane to open the dialog. You can name the buss anything you want. Make sure it's output is going to the Master buss. 

 

Hi John,

From your example above, sounds like I will send my drums to a bus that will be panned hard left and the other instruments into another bus that will be panned hard right.

If that what is I am thinking, is it safe to say that I should insert a bus for my click tracks and guides that will be panned hard left, and the rest of the instruments will be on another stereo bus that will be panned hard right?

Many thanks

Hello peepz,

Just starting to mix a song that I have tediously fixed for almost 2 days to get all vocals in sync and in time with the beat. 

Complete newbie if you are wondering why it took me a long time so if anyone has got advice how to get a group of vocals in sync in less time, I'm all ears

Anyway, as you can see from the pic attached, not sure if what I am doing is correct. I've setup some VX-64 and Gsnap to make the vocals sound dynamic and make it clean.

But going through some tutorial via Youtube and in here, I am not getting enough info on what to do with vocals cleanup and making them sound professional.

One thing I picked up from watching Youtube is that I need to create busses for FX so that it will be shared for the group I want to apply it to.

Is that correct? Kinda stuck now really after spending for almost a week just trying to figure what I'm suppose to do so can anyone kindly share your ideas and FX setup on how to achieve this pls.

Many thanks for your patience and effort as I slowly build up my mixing skills and knowledge.

On 10/5/2020 at 2:26 AM, John Vere said:

I play folk/ bluegrass style in a duo and we use backing tracks for bass. We only need the bass which we run to a bass amp. But I still use a simple drum track which I much prefer over a click track we run this to our monitors.  
To export the track in Cakewalk It’s a very simple matter of setting up 2  busses that feed the Master buss.  One is panned left the other right.  This is commonly called a  Split Track.  So all we need is a stereo wave file.  
 

At the gig I use a little notebook running WinAmp for playback I can use the laptops audio out, an interface or in our case our mixer is a USB interface   All work equally well.   
 

If using the 1/8 audio out I have a special cable that Y’s to the mixer and the bass amp.  With the USB mixer I don’t have the option of splitting the bass so I have to pan the USB channel In the mains to eliminate the Drums. I send both to the floor wedge using the pre fader option of the aux send   But you really only need a stereo wave file for backing tracks 

Hi John,

Many thanks for your advice.

In regards with setting up 2 busses, would you have an example how will you do it pls?

Thank you for that very useful info.

I'll try that settings this week and will come back to you.

Many thanks once again

Hi,

Newbie guy here. 

Simple question, when saving a song track that will allow me to play with a backing track and hear the click track, what must I do to ensure I will get those results once I connected it to my mixer?

Basically, I only want my click tracks and guides to be played via ear monitors but the backing track goes out to the main speakers.

I'm trying to follow this kind of setup and wondering if there is something I must do first when saving a song track using Cakewalk, 

Hope that makes sense.

Right, finally solved it.

Had to uninstall everything up to deleting the previous registry and re-install it again.

I can finally hear what I want and it is playing everything I want to play. So finally manage to past this hurdle  

So baby steps for me at the moment but will eventually get this all familiar hopefully soon enough.

Many thanks for all your support.

Hi Charles,

I've downloaded a midi song from Google just like what suggested but sadly I don't hear any sound coming out from laptop speakers. 

I've attached some screenshots of my settings and not sure if any of these are causing a havoc.

Many thanks.

Hi,

I've been trying to export an audio either as a .wav/mp3 file but all I keep getting is an error message "Windows Media Player encountered a problem while playing the file".

It is a test click track guide that I made as I am only starting to get familiar with the software. I've selected all the tracks from my project and choose "Entire mix" when I am about to save the file.

Tested with other audio programs but no sound coming out at all. Any ideas pls? Many thanks.