John Speth

Thanks, Canopus. That makes prefect sense. I kinda figured I misunderstood it.

I have a need to have two CbB projects open at the same time so I can copy/paste between them. There is an option in Preferences/File/Advanced called "Allow Only One Open Project at a Time". My option is NOT checked. Why can't I open more than one project with CbB? Is it now broken? Is there another way? I'm using version 2023.09. My test method is: CbB is initially not running. Open project A by double clicking on A.cwp from Windows File Explorer. Open project B by double clicking on B.cwp from Windows File Explorer. At this point, I expect to have two CbB instances running simultaneously. Instead, what happens is project A is unloaded as soon project B is loaded, all happening from the CbB instance that was created when step 2 completed.

Yes, I do. I asked for a way to get the named driver working again. A work-around doesn't answer the question.

Thanks, Promidi, for the only non-noise answer. It's unfortunate news and I don't even use Win11. The reason I want the MS GM driver is simple. By default, Cakewalk uses the MS GM device for MIDI output when cakewalk opens a .mid file. This default behavior made it fast work to preview .mid files without any configuration hassles - just click to open and listen. That's no longer possible. I admit the MS GM sounds are not great but they're good enough to help me decide if I use the .mid file or abandon it.

Today I installed the recommended last no-cost CbB update (2023.09). It seems to have disconnected my Microsoft GM driver. Can anyone help me get it back? Minutes prior to installing 2023.09, I was listening to a project in which all tracks output to Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth. After installing, I restarted CbB and reloaded the same project. The Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth was missing and output was sent to a different audio output. I've always taken it for granted the the MS GM driver is loaded. Now I don't know how to recover it. I have ASIO mode selected. Please help! - John Speth

I'm trying to make some project comments and I just can't find out how to do that. Searching reveals I should use File Stats / Notes but I can't find out how to get there. I'm using the latest Cakewalk / Bandlab of version 28.11.0.21. Can anybody please clue me in about how to make project comments?

I've spent a few hours on the new TAL Vocoder. The new version (3.0) is certainly a great improvement in usability over the old (2.X) versions!! I think any sonic differences are nil. The user manual warns about a periodic noise sound from the vocoder output every minute for unregistered/unpaid versions. I never heard that sound in my testing. The free version seems to be 100% operational. The user manual leaves me with nothing but questions about the improved signal routing capability (a MAJOR improvement, IMO). It makes a mention with a few simple definitions and nothing more. That seems like the wrong way to explain a major new feature. It would be great if Bandlab could be added to the "Routing examples" section. Does anyone know the center frequency of each of the 11 bandpass filters? It would be nice to be able to manipulate those parameters like the "other" vocoder plug-in. I would call that a nice-to-have feature. (Perhaps that level of adjustability is not useful in practice?)

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I hadn't tried your new MIDI track idea before. I can follow your setup procedure successfully but it still didn't send mod wheel output to the SpinnerLE effect. But a lot of experimentation based on your suggestions finally got me to a solution. Here's a screen shot of the configuration that worked for me: The important points of this screen shot are these: Two tracks are used, my VL122 instrument/effect combo track and the required MIDI track (Track 2) that exists solely to send MIDI to the SpinnerLE. Track 2 output must be the SpinnerLE. Both tracks are set to the same MIDI input. Both tracks are set to Input Echo = On. Do not use the MIDI Event Filter plugin as you've shown it. In fact, using it will filter out mod wheel events thereby defeating the implementation intent. This specific instrument/effect combination has a de-facto filter. The SpinnerLE only responds to mod wheel MIDI. The VL122 does not respond to mod wheel MIDI. So both can tolerate unfiltered MIDI. Thanks for the excellent suggestion. We have solved my problem. JJS

Thanks. That's a neat trick I'll have to remember for a variety of reasons. That's the good news. Pressing the Alt key while opening the plugin GUI seems to cause a concealed BitBridge window hidden behind the GUI window. The BitBridge must be some sort of 32/64 compatibility interface. After moving the GUI window aside, the BitBridge window shows the missing VST2 menu containing Enable MIDI Input control. Unfortunately, MIDI input is still not passed to the plugin with MIDI input enabled. That's the bad news.

I have a situation in which I'd like to have an effect plugin receive MIDI input and I can't figure out how to make it happen. After some experimentation with various plugins, I've observed it's not possible enable MIDI inputs for 32-bit plugins running on 64-bit CbB because the "VST2" menu button at the top of the plugin GUI is missing. The VST2 menu will offer a working Enable MIDI Input control (that is, if the plugin supports it). Can anyone confirm that my observation is correct (no Enable MIDI Input for a 32-bit plugins running on 64-bit CbB)? Is there some other way to send MIDI input to my 32-bit effect plugin? Here's my configuration in detail: I'm running 64-bit CbB. I have loaded and enabled the 32-bit SpinnerLE leslie simulator VST2 plugin (green text in the menu) on a soft synth track with the VL122 32-bit Hammond B3 plugin. The SpinnerLE plugin is supposed to use mod wheel MIDI input to control the leslie speaker rotation speed. The instrument (VL122) takes MIDI input correctly. The effect (SpinnerLE) does not receive any MIDI input. I have this chain (VL122 and SpinnerLE) configured in the 32-bit VSTHost program and MIDI is received by the SpinnerLE plugin so I know it can work. Thanks - JJS

I tried both 32 bit (C:\Windows\SysWow64\user32.dll) vs 64 bit (C:\Windows\System32\user32.dll) and get the same result for both. My installed Cakewalk/Bandlab is 64 bits. Therefore I should use the 64 bit version at C:\Windows\System32\user32.dll, according to this Wikipedia article. It says "In 64-bit versions of Windows, the 64-bit implementation of Windows USER is called user32.dll and is located in the System32 directory, while a modified 32-bit version (also called user32.dll) is present in the SysWOW64 directory." I agree it's a 32/64 bit issue. It's probably unmaintained and presently broken. I was looking for a some hope from somebody who actually has gotten it working. Thanks - JJS

Does anybody know how to get the DLL command in CAL working in Bandlab? I keep getting a "CAL Error 018: Miscellaneous Error "MessageBeep"" error box when I run the MessageBeep example script. I know that Bandlab clearly advertises that CAL is no longer supported but instead simply included in Bandlab due to customer requests. My script: (do (DLL "C:\Windows\System32\User32.dll" "MessageBeep")) Thanks - JJS

Thanks - That advice seems to work. The methods are simpler and now make sense. - John

I noticed that if I turn on the step sequencer or matrix views for a MIDI track that I can no longer run any of the process menu items (they're grayed out). How can I reverse it so I can use the process menu items after using the step sequencer? I can copy the MIDI events to another MIDI track as a work-around to edit after using the step sequencer but that's kind of tedious and I suspect it's unnecessary if somebody can give me a better way. I'm using Cakewalk 2020.11. Thanks - John