A Tolerable Quietude

Are you trying to get all 12 project files into the same project file now, so you can mix them as a single piece? If so, I think your best bet would be to make a copy of the first movement project file and rename it to something like "full piece". Then, with that one still open, open each of the subsequent movement projects and copy-and-paste the midi for the *shared* instruments into the new project. (You can have multiple projects open at once, and switch between them using the "Window" menu item along the top menu bar). I'd put in markers for each of the movements so you don't get lost. For the solo instruments that are unique to specific movements, you should make a track template of that instrument in the movement project, then "insert track from template" in the big project. Next you'll need to copy the midi from the original movement project to the right place in the new one (midi clips aren't saved with track templates). It would probably be a good idea to select all the clips in each track you're copying over and bounce them to a single midi clip, then drag the start and end of each to the full length of the movement, so you're not trying to find the exact place the midi clips should go in each movement. This sounds a bit tedious, but I'm not aware of a faster way to do what you're asking.

Do you mean Mixcraft can just open Cakewalk .cwp files no problem?

So I've come up with a pretty simple solution for this, which I'll put here since it might be helpful for others in the future. Go to your main Cakewalk projects folder in Windows Explorer, and right click on an empty space to choose "Open in terminal". Then in your terminal, type in: but replace TEXT with the text you're searching for. For example, if I wanted to find all my Cakewalk projects that use Guitar Rig 6, I'd type: If I wanted to find that one Cakewalk project where I was sure I'd written "A mixolydian" in the notes, I'd type: Hit enter, and findstr will search inside all the .cwp files in that directory and all subdirectories for the text you're looking for. It will then output a list of all the projects that contain the text, along with their directories. This will work for anything that's stored as plain text inside a .cwp file, which includes VST plugin names, track and bus names, and anything you've saved in the "Notes" section of the project. It won't work for specific instruments loaded into your VSTs, or patches, presets, or similar stuff internal to the VST. Findstr is a windows native command, included with the operating system. It will only search your files without modifying them at all. You can read about it here. If you're nervous about using it, you could always back up your Cakewalk projects folder beforehand. In fact, you should back up your Cakewalk projects folder regularly. If you haven't done so lately, here's your gentle reminder to do so now!

Out of curiosity, I tried opening a .cwp file in a text editor. It looks like some things are stored as plain text in there. Notably: The basic names of synth VSTs, as well as their names in the synth rack. The basic names of effects VSTs. Track names and bus names. Also, any text that's in the "Notes" field. Not stored as plain text: Any details beyond the basic name of the plugin--for example, I can see the project uses Kontakt, but not what instrument is loaded into Kontakt. Similarly, any patch names or preset names aren't available in plain text in the .cwp file (unsurprisingly). So that's a start! I suppose I could use some Windows version of grep to search for text strings in the .cwp files.

Your screenshots might be searchable actually. I think Google Drive routinely scans images for text and makes that text searchable. I've often thought it would be a good idea to have some system outside of Cakewalk for meticulously tracking project details like this, but knowing me, I fear that would just get in the way of actually making stuff.

Let's say I've just discovered a problem with a VST I use occasionally, but rarely. I want to find all the other Cakewalk projects on my computer that also use this plugin to see if the problem is there too. Or let's say I remember working on a project in A mixolydian, which I would have written in the project notes. But which project was it? Or maybe I want to delete a sample library because I've never used it in anything. At least I *think* I've never used it... In all of these cases, it would be really handy to be able to search for something inside my Cakewalk projects across my whole Cakewalk Projects directory. Has anyone got a solution for this?

I think you're right! Now that you've got me thinking of it, I realize that I just reflexively hit Ctl-Shift-A periodically as I work in Cakewalk, the same way I'd hit Ctl-S often and automatically when I'm working in software that's very prone to crashing.

It's a little cumbersome, but you can insert a bank or patch change into a MIDI clip in Cakewalk by manually adding that type of event to the event list. Here's the documentation. Your VST might have a weird way of implementing bank and program changes though, so you will probably need to dig into the VST's documentation to see what it expects. If you're just talking about articulations within a single instrument, then what you probably want is an articulation map. When you say "I can send program/patch changes to activate triggers" with the standalone app, do you mean you are sending them from a piece of hardware, like a keyboard that has pads or buttons for patch changes? If this is the case, and your VST responds to those messages when you play them from your hardware, you just need to make sure you're not filtering those messages out when you record your midi clip. Here's how to see what midi your are filtering.

These are clever suggestions! I think I've tended to leave the defaults as they are and just learned them. The one I remember doing was rebinding C to Console View, since I never want to hide the control bar which is the default. But your post has inspired me to *unbind* a bunch of defaults that just get in my way if I accidentally hit them, like all the number keys since I never use screen sets.

I'm not really sure, to be honest. Since it still works fine, I'm unlikely to notice it right away when it happens. And I haven't tried to make it happen on purpose, or nail down the exact steps and conditions where it does happen. One thing I can say, I'm definitely not renaming the bus.

I've noticed a weird behavior that seems to be cropping up more and more. When I add a send to a track, and then do an automation on the send level, the automation lane is labeled properly. For example, if I'm sending to a delay bus called "Delay", the automation lane is called "Delay Send Level." So far, so good! But then... some time later (?)... the automation lane gets renamed to "Edit Filter = Send Level". The automation still behaves as expected and controls the send level to the delay bus, but it's lost its name. What's more, the correct original name is still there with the appropriate envelope color in the drop-down on the automation lane. Here are screen shots: It's not a big problem, and it still works fine. It's just weird. Could it be the result of something I'm doing? Has anyone else experienced this? FWIW, I'm running the most up-to-date version of CbB, and I'm not sure if this is a recent issue with the latest update(s) or if I've only just started noticing it 😜

What I do is make a guitar bus, and put Guitar Rig (and any other processing) on that bus. The only thing on the guitar track(s) is the unprocessed direct out from the guitar, and all guitar tracks go straight to the guitar bus instead of the master bus. With that setup you can put Melodyne on the audio clip on the track (I use"region fx" on the clip, instead of adding Melodyne to the effects chain.) Play around all you want in Melodyne, and you can still hear it through GR on the guitar bus. When you're done in Melodyne, you can bounce to track as suggested, or you can "render" the region fx which bakes your Melodyne edits into the direct out guitar clip, and removes melodyne from the project. Works for me!

You're welcome! Glad you found it useful!

I'm not sure I understand your question. Are you trying to recover audio that you may have deleted from old projects from 10 years ago? If so, you're probably out of luck, unless you have old backups. Or are you asking how to determine which Cakewalk-generated files you can safely delete, like old audio files that are not used in any current projects?

If I'm understanding your question, you can't remove the VST2 plugins from your system from inside Cakewalk. The best you can do is hide them with the plugin manager. If you want to remove them, you can presumably delete them from wherever they were installed on your c drive, or use the plugin manufacturer's install tool to uninstall the vst2 versions if that feels safer. Then the next time you open Cakewalk, it will rescan for plugins and remove the ones you've deleted (or you can manually rescan if you've turned off the automatic scanning on startup). That said, I don't mind having the VST2 plugins around, because I've had experiences in the past with buggy VST3 versions of plugins that work fine as VST2. Although that hasn't happened to me in a while.