The duplication method needs to improve in Cakewalk

[Ewoof]

First thank you guys for making Cntrl D be duplicate by default and the other editing features that you have added. I have noticed that there are some issues I have seen which needs to be fixed to further improve the experience of editing in Cakewalk. Here are the three main issues.

• The first issue I have with the duplicate is that it when you give a definite space in the track using the selection feature, it follows the space created for the first duplication but ends at the end of the audio for the second duplication. This also applies for midi as well in the track view and piano roll. This makes it difficult to duplicate one shots quickly and are forced to use the . I have tried other daws such as ableton, studio one logic, fl and realised that none of them have this issue only Cakewalk.

 

 

• For the second issue the first issue needs to be fixed first to fix the second one. The second issue is not allowing duplication when on playback.  It technicaly allows you to but it follows the playback timeline instead of the selection created. That means that I have to pause then duplicate what I want instead of  duplicating while in playback. Following the playback line is unnecessary. Again, no other daw I've used has this issue except for Cakewalk. 

 

•  The third is for midi editing in the piano roll. The clip outline in track view is unnecessarily important when editing in the piano view. For example, if you create three notes and you remove one note. For some reason the clip outline created by the third note is still there. This makes duplication harder because in the piano you do not see this space even though it shouldn't be there in the first place. Again only seen this in Cakewalk.

 

 

 

Even though these issues are slight, there seriously impact the experience of editing efficiently it Cakewalk. I hope I was detailed enough.

 

[Jim Fogle]

@E-Wolf Music

The videos helped me to understand your suggestions.  They are good suggestions and I support them 100 percent.

Perhaps someone has explanations for the way Cakewalk presently works and the explanations will make sense.

[GreenLight]

Hi @E-Wolf Music!

I love the Duplicate Clip feature and was a very vocal promoter for it to be implemented, so I love when people have opinions about it.

1. To get what you're looking for in Cakewalk, you have to enable "Use Current Snap Settings on Duplicate Selected Clip(s)" in the Preferences / Customization / Editing. Then the Duplicate Clip feature follows your snap settings. I believe what most people usually want when duplicating clips is what you get with snap set to Snap By Whole. That way, empty space in the beginning and in the end of clips is retained. Check out the documentation here.
   
   I'm a bit torn by Duplicate using snap. It makes Duplicating both flexible and... slow. I think duplicating is supposed to be super fast and something you can do without thinking, and without adjusting a lot of snap settings. "Oh, I had it set to 16ths. Dang, it was set to To. Ah, now it works."
    
2. Good find! I had not tried this myself, but Duplicating while playing does not work as expected at all. It would be really nice if it would work! 👍
    
3. I can see why you're frustrated. In Cakewalk, deleting notes has actually never automatically trimmed the end (or beginning) of the midi clip the note is in. The Bounce  to clip(s) command (keyboard shortcut CTRL + B for me, I'm not sure if that's default) is therefore something I press all the time, almost without thinking. Until this behavior has changed, I think it's what you need to do as well... 😬

All that said, Duplicate Clip has been giving me some unexpected behavior for me at times, but I haven't yet had the time to investigate it more.

But all in all, for me, this small command is one of the biggest additions to Cakewalk for the past 5 years!

Edited June 17, 2020 by GreenLight
Added info about setting for following snap settings