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Feature Request: Add Midi Sends and Midi Aux Tracks


SirWillyDS12

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As a keyboard player I record all of my keyboard tracks to Midi Tracks... I use to record them to Audio Tracks back in the day of tape recorders... Then I bought a Yamaha SY85 (93), A computer (95) and a DAW,  Cakewalk Pro Audio 7 (98) and I have recorded my Keyboards to Midi ever since... I have some projects that have 30 or more Midi Tracks and not a single Audio Clip, go to the Audio Folder and it is empty... Also have some that have all Audio Tracks and no Midi Tracks (Guitar songs...)...

On my computer I have more Midi Outputs than I have Audio Outputs... I can send an Audio Track to "any" Output, to 5 or 6 Outputs or more, to a Stereo Bus, to even more Buses, to an Aux Track, to a side chain of a plug-in, I can create a "New" Bus... But I can only send a Midi Track to "One" single Output or Soft Synth... If I want to send the same track to another source, be it a Midi Effect, a Soft Synth, another Keyboard (I have more than one...) I have to duplicate the track... And then maybe even duplicate it again and again if I an doing a large string arrangement...

It would be so nice to be able to send a Midi Track to a Midi FX on an Aux Track, or just an Aux Track or to another Midi Output or two with a little "Send" knob... Apparently Cubase has this feature, I don't know, I don't use Cubase... I have Cubase, it came with my Yamaha Motif XF ten years ago... I installed it, use it for about half of a song project and then uninstalled it... Did not like it... I love Cakewalk, been using it for about 25 years, Pro Audio 7, about the time Noel joined the Cakewalk team...

It would be great if the Bakers could add Midi Sends and Midi Aux Tracks to CflatB... Midi Tracks deserve the same respect that Audio Tracks get...

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Until the Bakers do that, one workaround would be to load a Simple Instrument Track of a vsti plugin that functions as a thru (MIDI OUT is a copy of MIDI in data)

Then for any destination MIDI tracks, set them to receive MIDI from that vsti plugin.

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Thanks scook... I downloaded all of those plugins shortly after you posted that back in September (Download Sep. 10)... I just checked my VST list and I don't think I installed them... The MidiChFilter looks good for sending midi to multiple track... But for needing to sending midi to a VST and a hardware synth at one time from one track it would end up creating more tracks... Instead of two tracks to do the job of one it would create even more...

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38 minutes ago, rfssongs said:

I have tried this as recommended (maybe by you). The problem I have is that cakewalk does not seem to remember the input setting & things have to be re-set when I reload the file. Does anybody else have this problem ?

Just did a test with midichfilter simultaneously routed to Pigments and Truepianos (that is, 3 tracks).   I saved the CbB project file and reloaded a couple of times.

Each time the settings, routings and what-not where retained.   I was able to play both Pigments and Truepianos at the same time.

I even saved the midichfilter SIT as a Track Template.  The input settings of the midichfilter SIT where retained,

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12 hours ago, rfssongs said:

I have tried this as recommended (maybe by you). The problem I have is that cakewalk does not seem to remember the input setting & things have to be re-set when I reload the file. Does anybody else have this problem ?

Yes, I have the exact same problem with midi input\output settings... The problem is caused by external usb\firewire midi drivers... If you open a project without the external synth on the midi device is not available to Windows (Not in Device Manager...)... So Cakewalk can not find the midi device so it assigns a new midi device to the input\output... Not sure how but Cakewalk uses a numbering procedure for storing midi devices in the project...  @Noel Borthwick In the early years, in Pro Audio\Sonar you had to always have your output devices listed in the same order from top to bottom... Preferences->Midi->Outputs->Move Devices to Top... If you work on a project without one of your external USB midi devices off and store the project, it stores the "New" midi drive that Cakewalk assigned... Next time you open the project your Midi Inputs\Outputs now have the "Assigned" midi device instead... This issue has been brought up in this forum before by Cakewalk users...

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3 hours ago, SirWillyDS12 said:

Yes, I have the exact same problem with midi input\output settings... The problem is caused by external usb\firewire midi drivers...  

. This issue has been brought up in this forum before by Cakewalk users...

Someone who has this issue should lodge a ticket with Cakewalk support to get this sorted. 

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  • 2 months later...
6 minutes ago, Fred Kells said:

I was astonished to find that Midi Sends/Midi Aux is not a feature of Cakewalk. (And this is a product that began life as a midi sequencer!)

Yeah, Cakewalk is astonishing in every way. I hope the astonishment changes to a good way after the implementation.

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21 hours ago, Fred Kells said:

I was astonished to find that Midi Sends/Midi Aux is not a feature of Cakewalk. (And this is a product that began life as a midi sequencer!)

Are you talking about things that are named "Midi Send" and "Midi Aux" or the abilities to send midi data from a track to other places (such as other tracks, plug-ins not on any track, plug-ins on other tracks, etc.)?

In asking this, I'm not challenging you.  I have been using an instrument plug-in from another software maker to route midi data to and from Cakewalk and want to explore other uses for the methods I use.  So, I am looking for any places where you think midi data could be sent to and from to fine tune my work flow.

Midi Send and Send Aux imply a desire for methods to route midi data from places to other places (source and destination endpoints) based on having used midi routers (such as my ancient MOTU 8 x 8 parallel port midi express, MTP AV, etc.).

Again, I'm not looking to diss this idea (yours and others) or to spark any controversies, just looking for ideas (possible data sources and destinations within CbB) to try to implement/prototype a solution with my current external plug-in workflow.   I have used midi with Cakewalk for ages, but it sounds like people want to route (and maybe filter) midi data in ways that I generally haven't done--except recently with my external instrument plug-in as a midi data processor. 

I have a long personal history with this kind of thing that dates back to processing midi data from a Casio CZ Synth sent through a Commodore 64 to modify the data and then returned to the Casio (among other methods of processing midi data). 

Yes, I totally get that people want everything within Cakewalk.  As for me, I don't mind using plug-ins for tasks that are not built-in yet.

Thanks.

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To User 905133: I simply want to apply the same Midi Fx (a vst that works well in CW) to multiple midi tracks without having to load that fx into each track. That's the identical function that exists is CW for audio tracks (where you Send each audio track's signal to a stereo bus containing the fx).

To all others: I sent the request to Bandlab. Here is their response:

"Thanks for reaching out; happy to help. Cakewalk by BandLab does not offer the feature of applying MIDI FX to multiple MIDI tracks simultaneously. However, it is worth noting that you can apply MIDI FX to individual MIDI tracks. On the other hand, the Send feature is available only for Audio and Instrument tracks. Although you may not be able to apply the same MIDI FX to multiple MIDI tracks, you can still use Send effects to route audio from multiple tracks to a single Send bus. With this technique, you can apply a single effect to all tracks that are sent to the Send bus, which can help you achieve the desired sound or effect. It's important to keep in mind the limitations and possibilities of the software features to make the most out of your music production process."

(I was particularly dismayed by the last sentence. Most businesses believe that the product should fit the customer, not the other way 'round.)

Seems that the bottom line is that this won't happen unless LOTS of users send their request to Bandlab.  Hope you will do so!

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Fred Kells said:

I simply want to apply the same Midi Fx (a vst that works well in CW) to multiple midi tracks without having to load that fx into each track. That's the identical function that exists is CW for audio tracks (where you Send each audio track's signal to a stereo bus containing the fx).

Thanks for clarifying what you meant. In essence you are asking for MIDI Merge--the ability to send midi data from several MIDI tracks to a single MIDI FX.  As I understand it, this can be done with third party plug-ins. 

I have seen some people get testy when free software doesn't include everything they want all from within the software. As for me, I don't mind using third-party plug-ins to extend what is not built-in.

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