John Vere

I had nothing but trouble with those plug ins so I did the smart thing and moved on. They really don’t do anything that common eq, compressors and whatever do. Best to learn the tried and true tools that don’t crash and are much lower CPU hogs and move on

If you read the announcement about the upcoming changes you will see that Cakewalk by Bandlab will no longer be supported but it is still free. We are not sure how long it will remain available. But installing CbB you can come up to speed with the many bug fixes and updates since Splat. CbB is Sonar. They just reverted the name to the original. The Cakewalk installer is not a bare bones installer. It is the latest version of Sonar. It includes everything but the instruments and Melodyne.

Also beware of checking the 64 bit double precision box. Most of us avoid that and I can’t remember why but it’s something I would disable for now when troubleshooting. As Tim has said it is best to track audio with minimal effects. I always bypass them using the toggle in the Control bar.

It not only takes a lot of time to learn how to use any DAW. It also takes time to learn the language we use to describe things. My advice is to open the Help Module shortcut is Y. Now when you point the cursor at something it will tell you want it is and then you can use the documentation to read up on that feature. Sometimes there’s a “Learn More” tab in the help module to take you directly to the correct page. I prefer the PDF version. You won’t learn how to do anything much in any DAW by diving in blind. They are not intuitive at all. You either read the documents or watch tutorials. Still worth watching are the official ones you will find pinned to the top of the Tutorials sub forum here. They are very outdated but the Sonar/ Cakewalk interface hasn’t changed much so they are still OK .

Of course it can be done thousands of users create projects with midi and audio. Actually trying to use hardware as a midi sound source is more complicated than using VST instruments. Insert a soft synth and point the midi track at that. To explain the details of how Cakewalk works is a huge detailed process. As well as the videos Try the PDF document found at the top of the page here. Everything you need to know is clearly explained

The answer to that will most likely be in the user manual. Roland usually supplied real good manuals. They might even have videos. It will definitely need you to install the driver as it is a dedicated audio/ midi interface. As far as Cakewalk goes once you install the drivers it should show as both a midi device as well as it will be your audio interface so all audio will be going through the keyboard. I would imagine that the output jacks are then connected to your studio monitors. But as I say it’s all going to be clearly explained in the manual.

You realize a compressor used in the way you are describing will not control the clipping of the mixer. Are you using it for levels or as a effect? And you also need to realize there might be a lot of latency in the output.

I spent my last 5 years before retirement working in a care facility as an Activity worker. I know at lot more about dementia than most people would. Music was definitely the one thing even the most far gone souls could hang on to. I had people who were none verbal sing along with me. It was a weird and wonderful job. My Mom got true Alzheimer’s at only 62 years old. My Dad about 10 years later had strokes which is different but same sort of symptoms. I was the prime Caregiver for my Dad, he kinda looked after Mom. But that’s what caused his strokes, the stress. Their diet was terrible and they were both obese sat around didn’t do much. You need to keep a very close eye on you folks if you are their only contact and support. People fall through the cracks. Old folks can put on a good front and fool you into thinking everything is just fine. Defiantly check the fridge for rotten food. So my advice if you want to dodge the bullet is stay healthy by eating right and keep busy. Take up new hobbies. Don’t watch TV. That definitely leads to brain rot.

OK got it, when I googled it, the pictures looked like items that were sort of like PA power amps and would weigh 80lbs. SO can you run that without a speaker cab, like in the studio?

I just turned 70. I still love playing live. Last night at 7PM the owner of the local Brewery called to ask were I was? I said you booked me for next week, not tonight,,, pause, and then she said oh my god you are right,,, any chance you can still make it? I said sure why not. She said they would set up their house PA. OK I grabbed my Guitar, laptop and my road case that still had everything from the last gig in it ( hopefully) and by 8PM I was playing. The house PA was a old Yamaha Box mixer and a set of even older Roland 10" speakers. Oh well, not much low end. It's a supper noisy brew pub all echo's anyhow nobody will notice. They were super impressed that I could show up totally unprepared and jump right in with out any issues other than desperately trying to squeeze something nice out of the PA. But that's what comes with 48 years of doing this stuff. I didn't have time to create a playlist so I played my list in alphabetical order. I skipped songs I didn't want. It's an interesting way to make a set list. IT worked. Started with All my lovin and ended with Whiter Shade of Pale. It's not just to keep your brain active I think it fends off arthritis in the fingers as well. My hands look gnarled up but they still do the trick. Muscle Memory.

I am sort of a 20 watt guy. And 20 Lbs. The whole idea behind this modelling stuff is to do away with a guitar amp. I think it sort of works better for people who use a lot of distortion and effects. The tones that always miss the mark are the Tube Overdrive as used in the Blues. Basically any older Fender tube Amp cranked to 11. It's not a distorted overdrive it's just fat and smooth. Smaller amps work the best as that lowers the stage level . Funny you mentioned Laney because I traded my Laney 100 watt head for my G&L Tribute Astat. It was from 1994 all tube. Made a great Bass amp too.

Use the Playlist feature. It will load as many project one at a time as you like. You start a playlist from the File Menu choose New and this dialogue will open. You see it is the second on the list. Open and add your projects to the list and save it. It was designed for live performance but can also be used to pre view a collection of projects for say an album. Just don't move the projects.

There are lots of free reverbs. This shows 8 pages in a simple search. https://plugins4free.com/search?term=reverb This has been my go to for a long time now. As you say reverb is not a critical part of a Rock song. This one does the job and it's free. Very low CPU. You got to like the interface. https://acondigital.com/products/verberate-basic/

You might have the BASIC workspace selected which hides those dialogue boxes. Choose the Advanced Workspace or None. It's gotta be the craziest plan someone ever came up with. Oh Lets make the default for our software hide most of the features so pour little Johnny won't be overwhelmed by all those boxes. Little Johnny has to go on the Forum and ask why everything is missing. I sure hope they fix this with the new Sonar. Make the Default "None" simple.

The installer is stored in your download folder. Just go to the web site and re download.

+1 to what @Bristol_Joneseysaid that was my first thought when I read this. I always mute the Master bus and you’ll be surprised how many times I found something still playing. Also solo your vocal bus. You mentioned having your vocals going to multiple buses? Another long shot would be the reverb is receiving automation or a midi Learn function.

With the old export I always used “Select None” before choosing to export. CTRL-Shift-A What I like about the new dialogue is that Right hand select box that shows you at a glance if there’s a track selected and you can uncheck it with out having to close the export dialogue. I shouldn’t have called the Task option buggy.It just makes extra work for most export options. I can see using it to export a project in multiple formats with one click but that’s not something many people would do. I find if I use 48/24 that covers everything these days. Even the upload sites like Sound Cloud except that format. And if I do burn a CD Nero converts it to 44.1/16 automatically. The internet has come a long way and MP3 are now obsolete. 44.1 is also obsolete. I’m not even sure why new DAWs continue to have it as an option for recording?

I have a Blackstar amp that has a lot of stuff built in. I use a little laptop to control it using the Insider software. It's cool. Sounds great in the studio.. But then I go and do a gig I always end up using my stomp boxes because they are so bullet proof and the Blackstar does not cut it for some reason. I put my pedal board up on a my table I use and that way I can dial in the changes on the fly. It put it where my right hand can reach and smash the on /off buttons. I use the Blacksatr as the Amp right now because my 68 Fender Princeton needs an overhaul. But Every time I've tried to use anything else it always flops on it's face. I think it's the Latency of digital. A Tube amp responds to your pick attack immediately. The formula that works is Humbuckers- Basic stop boxes - Tube Amp- Mike into PA. I'm sure a Kemper would be good but I'm not paid that much.

What is windows 11? I'm on 13!

I found Tasks sort of buggy so stopped using them, Instead I just created pre sets for for different scenarios. It always works now. It's like in the old dialogue if you select none it always was more dependable than selecting all. So I make sure all is actually not checked before I export.

That is an interesting thought. I think it was shortly before Gibson dumped us Thayer was this free version of Home Studio available through a magazine . I remember grabbing it as well as posting the links in the old Forum. I still have that file in my collection of Cakewalk files. Now you got me thinking it might be as you say. This is all just a backup plan to if things go wrong with this new development. Like most here I will most likely anti up and pay for Sonar. As Jesse just said it’s way to early to get our shorts in a knot about it.

The copy of the download folder not only backs up all of the plug ins and software it makes reinstalling to a new computer super fast. Run the Command Center install and then don’t install anything. Now copy the content of the backup file to the new download folder. Now everything goes fast.

Just click on the name field and rename them. If you are asking if you can bulk rename- no.

If you read my post you will see I said “ Other than Splat “ Sonar Platinum , Splat, was the first version to require servers. And once activated never needs the server again until you install it to a new machine or change your C drive. X3 and backwards as well as Most of the add ins came with there own installers and serial numbers. Worst case scenario for me would be returning to using X3. I’ll do that before I change DAWs.

What I'm not understanding is the worrying about the Gibson activations?? Other than Splat, all old Sonar version do not need the internet or any on line activations. As well as all the add on's. I can install any of that old stuff off line from my back up copies of all the software and plug ins. I have all my serial numbers and registration codes. I have all the installers. If you haven't backed all your stuff up from your account I have no pity for you on the day the Music Dies. So don't complain about servers anymore, you don't need them. Store it locally. The big question still unanswered is the same as for Splat, will they unlock CbB so those who don't wish to upgrade can carry on.