Tezza

Grapefruit fan here also, love it with raw sugar sprinkled on top. Doesn't make me sick. I ate a couple of large ones on Christmas day. Out of the fridge, cut in half and sprinkled with sugar and eaten with a teaspoon....yummy! We are into a Vegan Christmas this Christmas and with my fantastic meat like recipes, nobody feels like they have missed out. Some idiot brought along a cabbage roll, it should have been nice but was one of the most disgusting things I have ever tried to eat, I literally dry wretched when I put it in my mouth. What is it with people not knowing how to make vegetable based meals taste and smell fantastic. Another person wanted to boil cabbage, carrots and some other common vegetables into oblivion and pass that off as stew....disgusting!, I chopped it all down, with some potatoes, mushrooms and zuchini with seasoning and tomato paste and we ended up with a really nice soup. Some people really believe that a vegetable diet means eating stuff like overly boiled cabbage.

I think that Cakewalk is the best DAW out there for tuning it to your level of capability. Being able to change what is in the track headers for example. You really can dumb it down quite a bit but you need to know how to do that. I have mine set so it looks like Sony acid 7 most of the time. You can remove a lot of stuff you don't need to see. Knowing it's there when you need it and how to use it is the key. I've used a lot of different software, including many different DAW's and Video Editors. I don't think I've ever read the manual much on any of them because I am not a manual person and I find it a slow way to address immediate blocks. However, I drink videos like water. My recommendation is that you have to factor the cost of education in to learning any software package so that means buying video training if you want to get up to speed quickly. Youtube is a poor persons way of doing this and is disjointed. Some people are manual people, they sit down and go through the manual from back to front while playing with their DAW. I have dummy projects set up which I will use from time to time if I want to experiment with using new features. Another way of learning is to address blocks as you confront them and keep going at all cost, just google the problem. What I was doing and still do with new software, is to use it and when I came across something I didn't know, I would write it down on a piece of paper (because I am on an offline DAW) and then do something else. Then I go online afterwards and solve all the problems. You have to find a learning solution that is good for you, because not everyone learns the same way or likes learning the same way. for example, If you have higher education in your history then you know the value of education and will actively seek it out and pay for it if necessary. If you were a school dropout and hated school then your less likely to do this.

It starts with good microphone technique and that can only be achieved if you have a strong sound when monitoring in the headphones and you practice with that sound. You will find that you back off the mic in the loud parts naturally and move in a little on the soft parts and also move aside from the mic to fade out voice or during "pop" letters like "p" . Setting the right distance to the mic for the loudness is also important. The closer you are to the mic the more spiking in the waveform you will get. If there is a lot of dynamics in the song, soft and loud parts then these things are even more important. If it's one vocal blast, all the same volume then you probably want to sit back from the mic a bit. Anywhere around 4 - 8 inches is usually normal depending if you are using a pop shield or not. 6 inches seems to be the norm for many. The combination of these things should give you a vocal track that is pretty well balanced in the mix, a place to start. If this is your 4th solo CD you probably know all this already, just mentioning for others. I don't use compression for my vocal takes, just an 80hz cutoff on the audio interface and a 2.6k cut going in. When recorded, I isolate the dominant frequency(s) if there are any and pull those down a tad with eq. This can act like a compressor, especially if there is a really dominant frequency present, get rid of that and the whole waveform looks a lot smoother. After that I play it through and see if any volume cuts might be needed in specific areas and apply those through automation if necessary. Then I put a little compression on and it will be ready to mix in with small plate reverb and maybe another eq. If you've recorded an overly compressed take and don't want to do it again, then I think the best way to get rid of the breathy parts is to use volume control through automation as suggested, you can draw it in manually as well if you know the parts you want to get rid of. Depending if there are gaps between the offending parts you can also duplicate the track and cut the entire track into clips and work with each bit. If compression is too high going in, this is what can happen, it smooths out the loud too much but also amplifies the quiet too much. Listening to that song, it's a well controlled soft voice with medium dynamics, I would probably record without compression for that, you should be able to set up an excellent monitoring situation and get clarity on the vocals because there is not much going on in terms of other instrumentation. Diana is putting out the same soft volume on her high notes and low notes, that only comes with practice and having a good well controlled voice.

From what I've seen, the bakers definitely use this forum and feedback to change the recipe which is evident in the updates. I remember making a complaint about something and it wasn't discussed much in this forum but the solution appeared in the next update. I don't think there is any harm in dumping 75 recommendations here. They might not be discussed in the forum because the list is too long. I am sure they are being read by the right people though and if they think there is merit in the changes and they are able to actually do something with the software side to accomplish the changes, they will. It would probably work better in terms of forum discussions if the suggested workflow changes were delivered in smaller chunks.

I've used the Controller keyboards but in the end I went back to a straight midi keyboard, mine is the M-Audio Keystation 61 mkiii. It's small and fits on my desk better. With the transport, everything can be done from the PC keyboard anyway and since I have to use the PC keyboard anyway, I didn't see it as any advantage. The mixing controls are ok but I don't like how they line up pan and track volume, also I find them just too big for my purposes. The NI keyboards are great in terms of feel and accessing sounds, I guess it's different for different people. I don't mind using the mouse and have become pretty good with mousing in volume changes even without writing them as I go, just taking notes and drawing them in while the song is stopped. Probably not the recommended way to mix but it works ok for my purposes.

Yep, wet strings can be a pain. Been in a few fights there. Dirty, grimy strings aren't really my thing. I guess if I was doing that I'd try dumping tube compressors, distortion and/or saturation on them.

Thanks Piotr, Merry Xmas to you and your family as well. Here in South Australia, we get a small reprieve during Christmas where temps sit in mid 30's celsius. But in two days we commence our second run of 4 days straight of mid 40's in a row so far this summer. To have 2 runs of 4 straight days at mid 40 degrees this early in summer is a bit unheard of around Adelaide and surrounds. Most are used to occasional runs of 3 days in a row of mid 40 temps. Things are definitely hotting up as far as I can see.

It took 2-3 days for me to get the notification via email that it was registered to me.

This is an Iconic Australian Christmas song. Perhaps not so much mainstream but Paul Kelly was, and still is, a bit of an Icon telling raw stories from the street. Paul Kelly How to make gravy Release date: 4 November 1996 Origins of the song In 1996, Kelly was invited to record a song for an annual charity Christmas album organised by fellow musician Lindsay Field. When Kelly discovered his chosen cover song had been performed on a previous year’s compilation, Field encouraged him to write an original. With no shortage of existing Christmas songs, Kelly’s challenge was to come up with something unique and distinctly his own. “I started thinking … maybe I’ll write it from the point of view of somebody who is missing Christmas, who can’t get to Christmas,” he said. “Why can’t they get there? Maybe they’re overseas and they can’t get home. Then I thought, oh, he’s in prison. “The song wrote itself from there.” 23 years later it remains a festive favorite for many. I am watching him play the acoustic version live on morning television right now.

GAS can become a serious psychological disorder, it's like an internet addiction. it should be in the DSM manual. I did once have an addiction to the internet but as you can see, I've been cured of that. One thing to think about is to work out what you have really used over the past 12 months. I only have 2 DAW's, 1 sound editor, 2 Video editing programs, 2 image editing programs and 2 desktop publishing programs on my offline computer. With that, I can do all I need to. I have plenty of others but they don't get put on anymore. I keep them and monitor what is going on with them in case I might want to upgrade later or switch. I did the same thing with my video and audio equipment, maximum of 2 only, cameras, guitars, keyboards amps etc

I use all SSD's now. I would use the 500gig SSD for the OS etc 1tb SSD for the recordings/projects 1tb SSD for the samples 2gb HDD in an external enclosure for back up. This similar to what I have now except I only have a 250gig SSD for OS and programs. I only have NI samples and a few others. You may not be able to fit your samples on 1tb, I don't know. I then have a 1tb HDD in a USB enclosure that I use for backup, it spends most of it's time in the draw, just pull it out to archive.

I upgraded to windows 10 from 7 for free recently using that media creation tool. No problems with any software but I was using recent software. Hardware, I had to reinstall my audio drivers and graphics drivers for the card, that was about it. I took the old win 7 graphics drivers off before I did the win 10 install. Also, most of my motherboard stuff is shut down because I run an offline daw and don't need it.

I was staying at a Pub type hotel in Adelaide for a while, was there for a few years. It was good as I played acoustic sets downstairs occasionally and didn't pay rent, they put this big star on my door and I had the front balcony room overlooking the sea. I was working in my day job during the day too, so I saved a lot of money while I was there. The people were pretty friendly and once there was some students from USA and the UK staying there for a holiday. I thought I would give them a ride around Adelaide and show them the sights. We got in the car and straight away the US students locked their doors. I said, we don't do that around here and as it was a warm night, I got them to leave there doors unlocked and to wind the windows down all over the car. When I did that, the UK students put all their belongings on the floor and wanted stuff put in the glovebox. They then told me their fears about what happens when you drive around in an "unsecured car". I said that I would drive through the worst neighbourhood in Adelaide as well and we would do it with all the windows down and the doors unlocked. They were really worried. I stopped the car at some traffic lights and some guy walked across and asked if I had a cigarette, I said no I don't smoke and he walked on and said have a good night. The moral of the story, if you are in Australia and drive around in an unsecured car with the windows down, some guy might ask you for a cigarette. If you are in the UK, apparently what they do is poke their heads in and grab whatever they can off the seat or dash and then run for it. If you are in the US, they grab you, throw you out of the car and take the car.

Yep, grabbed it, mainly for the addons, I have 7 and 8 but haven't used it in a while, might be nice to see the changes, one thing that used to put me off is the way Mixcraft always assigns 2 tracks whenever I add a Kontakt instrument and how you have to click twice to get to the instrument from the track icon. I thought I had missed out on the special but got an email at the discount price so decided to get it. The Digital River payment processing always adds money to the exchange rate when you buy. Another annoying feature they don't tell you about and they haven't changed it. For example, the price of $29.00 US that you pay equates to $44.00 AUS at the current exchange rate however, they charged $48.00 . It's something to be aware of if you buy more expensive stuff from Acoustica because the gap between the current exchange rate and what they actually charge you gets bigger, the more you pay. You won't know about it until you have been charged if you use credit card (sneaky). I used Paypal and it comes up then.

I like Arturia's install and authorization procedures, there are a number of options available that are very important to me in regional Australia with wonky internet. I like that you can download their products from their site on any computer. It means I can download the product from the library on my laptop and transfer it to my offline DAW when I get home. They also have an offline authorization process option although just popping a usb into my offline DAW to authorize only is not so much an issue. But it's good to also have the option of a complete offline authorization if necessary. In addition, they give you the size of all their products. Much better for me than Native Instruments whose native access is completely unusable on my computer. I have registered and will get the reverb (234mb) , just waiting for the license.

"So what's all the free Xmas plugs I don't need that I need to get?" I totally relate to the title of this thread, I am constantly reminding others of my desperate desire to buy the things I don't need. They just don't seem to understand this for some reason.

I was never convinced Rolf Harris was guilty anyway, that was a mob hanging. They were going after that other guy in the UK, but when he died they then switched their anger over towards Rolf. While on the Aussie biopic, it would never be complete without Jimmy and Cold Chisel. This song still brings tears to my eyes as it has a special meaning to me as it does to others in different ways.

Vince Jones, best Australian jazz artist ever, vocalist that also plays trumpet and flugel. In my view he is the best male vocalist Australia has ever produced but because of his Jazz idiom, wasn't as popular as other vocalists. Was at his height in the 80's, 90's I have most of his stuff and my voice sounds very much like his, I have sung many of his songs. He is at his best with laid back romantic Jazz in my view. Many of the songs he sings come from the 40's to 50's era and are re adaptions a bit like Frank Sinatra. Gets around with a quartet of fantastic musicians, not so much big band.

A good thing when starting out, get a commercial or other song track that sounds like the song or sound you want and put it into your track, you can adjust for tempo if necessary, then get your mix or sound to sound like that, listen to where everything is sitting and how it got there and the type of reverb used and how much etc. Just mute it when you need to hear only your tracks. It's a good way to learn and get good results quickly. Otherwise, starting from scratch without training, you will be completely lost. Pro's do it as well.

I use mnemonics so if my serial number might be: 4683485322 The mnemonic might be the last 3 numbers or it could be the first etc or hidden or letters. In this case, it's the last 3 and what it is saying is: 322 = "Move the 3rd and 2nd number up 2" so the real number is: 4803485

I use Firefox, it does ask me if i want to store passwords but i always say no, I think i disable it usually. A bit paranoid probably.

So I have had a habit of not putting my passwords for anything near the internet but I can see that many don't care about that, perhaps I am being paranoid. For me the Excel sheet made up and with some blank spaces added for new ones might be the answer for me. But then, where to put it. My laptop is always out at meetings, the library etc so I wouldn't want it on there, it is my only connection to the internet. I have Microsoft Office on my offline DAW but there is only word on that computer for lyrics, I could put Excel on there and create a sheet but what happens if my computer is stolen. On my card I have a cryptic mnemonic for each password/serial number so even if people steal it, they would not know what the real passwords/serial numbers are without the mnemonic which only I know. I could do the same with the Excel sheet and just both print out a sheet and also leave it on the DAW.

I see all the great deals here but what puts me off buying them is being able to organize all the authorizations and passwords to accounts etc for each plugin or VSTi and keeping track of it all. It might be that it's just my expectations are wrong, what I think is normal isn't. At the moment, I write it down on a card and have to refer to it all the time. Is there some special way to keep track of all this information, do people put it on their computers or have some easy way to file it or access it. What is the norm for the number of authorizations/accounts for the various plugins etc that people use with their DAW's. Perhaps I just need to alter my expectations and learn to organize better, I don't know.

I have a folder called "VST Main" under program files and all my third party VST's go in there. I don't use 32 bit vst's. Sometimes the VST's are automatically installed to different folders by whatever DAW or third party vendor so I leave them there and put them in the VST scan list in the DAW. I don't care about VST 2 or 3 conflicts, I think there have been a couple of problems, I just deleted the VST 3 copy if necessary.

Does anyone know what instruments and plugs can be used outside of Mixcraft 9 in other DAW's? I know they have added some new instruments and plugs.