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cakewalk and Roland A300 pro midi controller


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Ok I downloaded the contol surface plug in.  Abacab, can you re redirect me to your original posting 4 years ago. Its no longer in this thread. Nothing has changed. I'm wiling to manually assign each bank rotary fader transport and pad to the parameters I want to control ( pan, track volume, rewind beginning last marker next marker stop play pause record, track volume. downloading the control surface plug in had no effect. Even in act mode. Ad its a dll file, not an exe file. I need more detailed instructions.

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11 minutes ago, Mickey Monster said:

Ok I downloaded the contol surface plug in.  Abacab, can you re redirect me to your original posting 4 years ago. Its no longer in this thread. Nothing has changed. I'm wiling to manually assign each bank rotary fader transport and pad to the parameters I want to control ( pan, track volume, rewind beginning last marker next marker stop play pause record, track volume. downloading the control surface plug in had no effect. Even in act mode. Ad its a dll file, not an exe file. I need more detailed instructions.

 

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On 10/13/2021 at 10:49 PM, Mickey Monster said:

Ok I downloaded the contol surface plug in.  Abacab, can you re redirect me to your original posting 4 years ago. Its no longer in this thread. Nothing has changed. I'm wiling to manually assign each bank rotary fader transport and pad to the parameters I want to control ( pan, track volume, rewind beginning last marker next marker stop play pause record, track volume. downloading the control surface plug in had no effect. Even in act mode. Ad its a dll file, not an exe file. I need more detailed instructions.

You probably need to register it:
1. Make sure you copy the DLL to C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Surfaces
2. Right click on the DLL and select properties and unblock it if necessary
3. Run cmd as administrator ( for this, I normally create a shortcut on the desktop pointing to cmd.exe  then right click->Run As Administrator).
4. Type the following:

regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Surfaces\APRO.dll"



 

4 hours ago, Mickey Monster said:

still no DAW control. ACT doesnt work. Contol survace plug in doest work. Only thing I can do is use it as a keyboard not a control surface. Lets all find a way to individually assign parameters . 

 

Are you using the correct MIDI ports?  There should be an additional pair of MIDI ports for the DAW control part, which is separate from the normal keyboard MIDI ports.

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  • 2 months later...

M-audio Oxygen Pro mini 32 vs Roland A300 Pro

Colleagues, help me decide on the choice of a midi keyboard for writing electronics (ambient, lo-fi) 🙌
- M-audio Oxygen Pro mini 32
- Roland A300 Pro
The price tag is about the same, but what will be more convenient for CakeWalk?

M-audio has more spinners and settings, but there are fewer keys. But it also takes up less space.
In Roland A300 Pro, the keys are full-sized, and, as far as I understand, it's a lot more friendly with CakeWalk. There are also a lot of faders and knobs, navigation in the mixer is convenient. But it also takes up more space.

Of course, I am a keyboard player so-so)))) But I want to buy a keyboard to make it convenient.
My Novation Launchkey mini is for Ableton. I can't really work with it in CakeWalk.

I don't write bits, I'm not going to perform live in the near future)))

What do you say, colleagues? Which one to buy?

Edited by Asato Maa
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23 minutes ago, Asato Maa said:

What do you say, colleagues? Which one to buy?

I would vote for the Roland A300 PRO, just for the full sized keys (32)... :)

If you plan on setting up a controller for Cakewalk, the A-PRO is probably your easiest route. The keyboard was designed back when Roland originally owned Cakewalk, and the control surface maps for Sonar should still be good, via the Roland A-PRO series control surface plugin for Sonar. Don't forget to download both the driver and the plugin from Roland. https://www.roland.com/us/products/a-300pro/downloads/

And it wouldn't hurt to read the manual. First time setup can be a bit fiddly. https://www.roland.com/us/products/a-300pro/support/

The sliders and knobs are good, but the pads are rather small. So you may need to consider an additional pad controller if that feature is a priority for you.

For any other brand of keyboard, forum members have reported varying degrees of success with Cakewalk. None are 100% ready for plug and play out of the box as control surfaces. Suggest searching the forums for past threads with knowledge about making a specific model work with Cakewalk. Bottom line is that any generic MIDI keyboard will send MIDI notes to Cakewalk, and most virtual instruments will respond to generic MIDI CC commands sent by the knobs and sliders. But getting the DAW control surface setup requires some digging and patience.

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17 hours ago, abacab said:

I would vote for the Roland A300 PRO, just for the full sized keys (32)... :)

Thank you for the detailed response!!!
What do you think about Novation Launchkey 37 vs Roland A300 PRO for CakeWalk?

I'm tired to find 'ideal' midi-keyboard for me 🤧

Edited by Asato Maa
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1 hour ago, Asato Maa said:

What do you think about Novation Launchkey 37 vs Roland A300 PRO for CakeWalk?

Designed for Ableton, works with any major DAW https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/LaunchK3-37--novation-launchkey-37-mk3-37-key-keyboard-controller

Quote

Many musicians at Sweetwater use Ableton and love the streamlined workflow they get from Novation’s Launchkey controllers. That’s because Novation designed the Launchkey’s controls to integrate immediately and seamlessly with Ableton Live. All the controls are completely assignable, however. And if you do use another major DAW, the Novation Launchkey 37 will instantly map to it. Launchkey has full integration with Logic and Reason, plus native functionality with other major DAWs, including Studio One, Cubase, and Pro Tools, via HUI.

The catch is that Cakewalk is not listed as a major DAW here. So you would be on your own to integrate it. Other than that, it looks like a fine keyboard on paper... :)

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3 hours ago, Asato Maa said:

I'm tired to find 'ideal' midi-keyboard for me

You probably should describe in specific goals what you need or expect the MIDI keyboard to do for your workflow. Like I mentioned earlier, any MIDI keyboard will send MIDI notes and CC controls to the DAW and virtual instruments without being "integrated". Make music!

But being "integrated" typically means that in addition you will have "mouse-free" access to a control surface with control over the DAW transport controls and track selection, and maybe a few other DAW specific tricks.

For strictly DAW control, there is always something like this!

https://www.presonus.com/products/FaderPort-8

Edited by abacab
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12 minutes ago, abacab said:

You probably should describe in specific goals what you need or expect the MIDI keyboard to do for your workflow. Like I mentioned earlier, any MIDI keyboard will send MIDI notes and CC controls to the DAW and virtual instruments without being "integrated". Make music!

Thank you very much for the clear request about the midi keyboard on my part!
I want to work less with my computer keyboard and mouse in CakeWalk:

  • when switching from track to track
  • when adjusting volume and panning
Edited by Asato Maa
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9 minutes ago, Asato Maa said:

I tried to use Korg nanoKONTROL 2 in CakeWalk. It was a bad experience for me (((
Maybe using Roland A300 PRO will be better choice )))
Or I need to begin study Ableton ))))))

Well good luck in your quest! In the end it is up to you how much time, effort. and money you wish to invest! The comment above from msmcleod should be taken as credible, as he is a Cakewalk staff member.

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7 minutes ago, Asato Maa said:

@abacab
And what about my request? You are an expert for me!
Is Roland A300 PRO good for this?

I had the A300-PRO successfully hooked up to Cakewalk Sonar at one time some years ago, but switched over to Studio One and Ableton Live when Gibson shut Cakewalk down. I now use an Arturia Keylab 61 MKII as my main controller. And still keep Cakewalk around for old times sake and a few old projects. :)

I would say that if you are willing to read the manual, download the driver and control surface plugin from Roland, then configure Cakewalk for it, you should have success with the A300-PRO in Cakewalk.  So it's a bit more work than "integrate immediately", but it should still be  good for this.

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