S.L.I.P. Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Welcome Bob. I don't play the Sax, but it is one of my favorite instruments to listen to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Anderton Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Bob contributes all kinds of useful info and insights in my forum over at Harmony Central, he'll be a great addition to the shiny new Cakewalk forum. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbo 88 Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Hey Bob, I have found that the best way to learn new apps is to just dig in and and try to what you want, then google what ever stumps you. I then write it down in a little note book, but I rarely need to go back to the note book 'cause writing it down seems to increase the chance of it getting it in long term memory. You'll find everyone here wants to answer your problem no matter how trivial, unlike many other forums where a simple question can get you some not so easy to understand answers just to belittle your question. ie...Google> Cakewalk how to activate ripple edit and the answer magically appears. Otherwise ask here and you will always get good answers and answers to things you thought you knew, but dang if there ain't someone with a better way. Good Luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Detwoen Posted December 24, 2018 Share Posted December 24, 2018 Hi Bob, Welcome to the group. Your mention of MTPro takes me back. I used to have it on the Atari ST and when I moved to PC, I went to Cakewalk Pro 9 and found it to be the closest in concept to MTPro. Even though Sonar has changed quite a bit over the years, you'll get acquainted with it real quick. All the best! Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Fogle Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Bob welcome to Band-in-a-Box, no wait, that's the wrong forum! Welcome to Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) and the new Cakewalk by BandLab forum. I'm looking forward to your insights. No one else has mentioned it so I will, if you're interested in midi or audio loops you can use the media player built-into BandLab Assistant to listen to loops of both types. If you find any you like the download is free. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyline_UK Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) Bob: "Those in the coda of life..." I hadn't realised I was enjoying my final movement! 😖😝 Edited December 25, 2018 by Skyline_UK 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnbee58 Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 (edited) Welcome, Bob. I might take you up on the offer of basic MIDI sequencing tips. I have virtual string and horn software and many times in reviews I get the "those horns (or strings) sound fake". I take this as quite discouraging as I put so much time into the arrangement and all they comment on is the "fake sound". Granted, my software programs aren't the most sophisticated (Garritan JABB 3 for the horns and Native Session Strings Pro for the strings) so I really need tips on how to make them more realistic, if you can sometime. I'm also a real sax player (and clarinet) but at my advanced age or 63 and with asthma it getting harder to blow the horns. Anyway, I don't want to make this all about me but I'm glad you joined not only to make a new friend but looking forward to any help you can give on your rather impressive list of expertise. I'll help you with anything I can but most of these other guys have more experience with at least this version (used to be Sonar PLATINUM) so they'll probably get to you first. John B, 😀 Edited December 25, 2018 by Johnbee58 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott R. Garrigus Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Welcome Bob! -- Scott R. Garrigus - http://www.garrigus.com * Cakewalk SONAR Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScottGarrigus?sub_confirmation=1 * Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks * Publisher of the DigiFreq music recording newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/ * Publisher of the NewTechReview consumer tech newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoen1xPJ Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 Hello Bob... awesome intro you wrote! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted December 25, 2018 Author Share Posted December 25, 2018 Thanks again for all the warm welcomes. It's good to see some old friends and to meet some new friends here. Every new sequence I've done since the invention of Standard MIDI files is to save them both in proprietary format AND MIDI type 1 files. Since MIDI 1 doesn't tell me which sound module I use I put notes on each track name in my own shorthand. That way if I pull up a MIDI 1 file and see acoustic bass it will tell me Acou Bass and have notes like SD (for studio Canvas) V for variation number or MT for my old MT32, TX for my old TX81z. Before standard MIDI files I had 300 files stored in a hardware sequencer that failed. A number had been saved in standard MIDI files because as soon as it was introduced, I saved in both formats, but I still lost a couple of hundred songs. Lesson learned a bit too late, I should have spent some time converting the old. The nice things to me about having hardware sound modules as opposed to software synths is that they never get orphaned with OS upgrades. The MT32 and TX81z have a lot of dated sounds on the, but still have some very good ones that aren't replicated on the ROM based synthesizers. I bought them during the Atari, DOS and Motorola MAC days. How many software synths from decades ago still work? I even have an old Akai S900 hardware sampler and a Peavey SP sample player in the mix. I sampled my own J-Bass, left/right hand snare drum hits (so rolls don't sound like a machine gun), ride cymbals hit at various distances from the bell, etc. I also like the fact that all my hardware sound modules have for all practical purposes no latency (actually I think there is about 5 to 6 msec on each). I can take one voice from my YamahaVL70m, another from my Edirol SD90, another from my Roland XV5050, or whatever on different MIDI channels and they are all in sync. Don't misunderstand this as the only way to do this. There is more than one "best way" to make music and I've changed my own 'best way' quite a few times and figure I'll be changing it again and again as time goes on. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays/Sensuous Saturnalia/Krazy Kwanzaa/Happy Hanukkah (for next year I guess since it's gone already), and/or whatever you may be celebrating. Me? I'll celebrate anybody's party as long as there are smiles and good will associated with it. I have a gig this evening for a bunch of French Canadians wintering in Florida so let me add Joyeux Noel to the above list. Time to load the gear. "Hi" to my old friends and "Nice to meet you" to my new friends. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott R. Garrigus Posted December 25, 2018 Share Posted December 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, Notes_Norton said: The nice things to me about having hardware sound modules as opposed to software synths is that they never get orphaned with OS upgrades. The MT32 and TX81z have a lot of dated sounds on the, but still have some very good ones that aren't replicated on the ROM based synthesizers. I bought them during the Atari, DOS and Motorola MAC days. How many software synths from decades ago still work? Still have my TX81z too. It's a great module. -- Scott R. Garrigus - http://www.garrigus.com * Cakewalk SONAR Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScottGarrigus?sub_confirmation=1 * Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks * Publisher of the DigiFreq music recording newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/ * Publisher of the NewTechReview consumer tech newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 The MT 32 was my "band" for a few years. The cool thing about that box was Jeff Koftinoff who worked for Roland grew up here in Grand Forks. He created the MT 32 editor which helped us take control of the box. I remember it loaded up first thing when I booted my Atari. A lot of this software is still found on Tims Atari site. http://atari-music.fddvoron.name/timidi.htm if you have an old XP computer you can run this stuff in STeam. The MT 32 is now found in a much improved state as the Cakewalk TTs-1. Everything that played through the MT 32 will play in TTS-1 either the same of much better. I still have a bunch of my old sound modules but they slowly gather dust. Hate to toss them out as it would seem someday some fool might want them as people pay money for anything that becomes vintage. My band is now: Ample P bass lite -Free Addictive drums 2 - was free with Sonar DB 33 - ( Organs) was I think under $50 and came with a whole bunch of other stuff in the AIR expand pack when on sale. Addictive Keys Demo- free if you have an account I also use Air Xpand for horns, the SI strings, Strum Session and TTS-1 for percussion and weird things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msmcleod Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 The MT-32 was my main sound module for almost 10 years, although I did add a CM-32P to it and later replaced both with a CM-64 (which basically had both modules in the one box). I wrote my own editor on the Amiga so I could create my own sounds, saving them to an Alesis DataDisk for recall live. The synthesis part was pretty powerful, even by today's standards. The MT-32 / CM-32P was used almost exclusively on my old band's album in the early 90's, with only a small amount of Kawai K1 thrown in for good measure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd7nm0MFgB0&index=4&list=PLoqf7wrOkpisFWo-d4tv2Z5klXXWzPl2o 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted December 26, 2018 Author Share Posted December 26, 2018 There are some good sounds on those old sound modules. I played with the TX81z, MT32 and Korg DDD5 drums for a while. When General MIDI came out, I added a SC-55 Sound Canvas (which I still have). I like the Ketron SD2 and the Edirol SD90 for more modern emulative sounds, the XV5050 does some nice non-emulative synthy sounds but none of my newer sound modules have those few gems that I still use from the TX and MT modules. I finally retired my Korg DS8. It has some nice FM sounds but being a full keyboard, it just took up more room than it was worth. If I ever need it, it's in its case. I think it's nice to be able to add sound modules and not lose any of the old sounds. At home I use a UPS and on the gig I always use a Line/Power Conditioner. I think this protects both the computers and synth modules on stage. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcL Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Well, it sounds all very familiar and brings those nostalgic feelings back! In the 80s and 90s I worked with a DX7II, a TR-707 and a Yamaha QX3 sequencer (they still run, but I rarely use them). Then I wrote a C program to save all my MIDI songs/tracks on the PC. My comrade in the band had also a real Jupiter 8, that's why I really like the Arturia Jup8V softsynth, a very good imitation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted December 27, 2018 Author Share Posted December 27, 2018 I play in a duo and we do a lot of 50s to 90s music. We play for an adult crowd. We also do some newer tunes that the over 50 folks like and we have a lot of Big Band Standards that we used to do when we first started cultivating this market. Most of the Big Band Jazz people are gone now and the oldest ones are the Elvis generation. We've played this same market since about 1990 when we got off the cruise ships, found it more profitable than working clubs with fewer days per week. The downside of course is moving gear every gig, but they tell us weight bearing exercise is good for us ;) Now with the night club business getting worse and worse, I'm glad we made that move when we did, as we are well established in that market and still working steadily. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Anderton Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 On 12/25/2018 at 1:48 PM, Scott R. Garrigus said: Still have my TX81z too. It's a great module. I still have it AND a TX802. Both remain two of the best synthesizers ever for MIDI guitar. I do miss some of the Ensoniq synths, too. My EPS and ASR-10 were stolen...at least I still have the EPS-M rack unit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Byrnes Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Welcome to the forum, Bob. This is a wonderful community that is always willing to help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott R. Garrigus Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, Craig Anderton said: I still have it AND a TX802. Both remain two of the best synthesizers ever for MIDI guitar. I do miss some of the Ensoniq synths, too. My EPS and ASR-10 were stolen...at least I still have the EPS-M rack unit. Hey Craig... yeah, there were some really great products launched back then. If I had the money, I would have gotten one of each of everything. I had to save up for the TX81z, JX-8P, and Emu Proteus. -- Scott R. Garrigus - http://www.garrigus.com * Cakewalk SONAR Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/ScottGarrigus?sub_confirmation=1 * Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks * Publisher of the DigiFreq music recording newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/ * Publisher of the NewTechReview consumer tech newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/ Edited December 28, 2018 by Scott R. Garrigus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 Another very good sounding synth that I think is no longer in production is the Ketron SD2. Of all the synths I own, if I were to choose one to play a General MIDI sequence, that would be it. The sounds are consistently way above average. For monophonic solo brass, woodwind, string and guitar lines it's hard to beat the physical modeling synthesis of the Yamaha VL line. The VL70m, also discontinued, may not have the best tone, although an aftermarket chip from Patchman Music improves that, but it has the ability to recreate the nuances of the instruments it emulates well. (I have no connection with Patchman other than I'm a customer). I like this one so much that when there was a rumor of it being discontinued, I bought a second one. Insights and incites by Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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