msmcleod

I've found using a simple filter or eq plugin can work, with a very narrow eq. Basically knock out everything at 50Hz (or 60Hz if you're in the US). The free Melda MEqualizer is perfect for this. With bass however, it can get tricky... you may need to add automation to bring some of it back in on certain notes (low Bb / B for 60Hz) so you don't get quiet spots. If the bass doesn't have a low B, you might be fine tho.

Some USB MIDI interfaces have issues with long sysex messages, especially the cheaper USB "cables" you can buy on eBay. The issue lies in the (quite common) USB MIDI chip inside, which has an extremely small internal buffer size. The interface will quite happily receive MIDI data at USB speeds, but then has to send them out at 31.25Khz for MIDI, which means holding the data inside its tiny buffer while it sends the data out at the slower speed. This is why sending sysex data is smaller packets and at staggered times works. The only two interfaces I've found work without having to do these sorts of workarounds are the M-Audio MidiSport range & the MidiTech MidiFace range. I've also found that MME is far more reliable than UWP for sysex.

I've collected a fair few over the years, but at the moment I've got three that I use - all 1st Gen Focusrite Scarletts: an 18i20 in the studio, a 6i6 in the house, and a 2i2 for my laptop for portability. The 18i20 is racked along with a bunch on mic pre's, and various equipment patched into it, so I wanted something smaller I could use in the house - hence the 6i6. I actually wasn't going to go with the 2i2, but they were selling the studio bundle for a steal when the 2nd gens were released. I also have Yamaha 01x with 2 x i88x interfaces. These run on an mLAN network connected to a laptop, but the wordclock is slaved to the 18i20, and one ADAT output goes to the 18i20. This allows me to use Yamaha's mLAN software on the laptop as a patchbay to route external preamps & direct outs from my analog console to the 18i20 via the i88x's. The mLAN equipment has only just been given a second lease of life though, having had them out of use for a number of years (until recently Windows Vista 32 bit was the latest OS they'd run on). I've not recorded any new stuff with them yet. On another old laptop I use a Behringer UCA222 for sampling. It can take up to a whole weekend to sample a bank of patches from a hardware synth, so having my old laptop slaving away means my other machines aren't tied up.

FWIW, the Groove3 "SONAR Explained" video is $35 USD and is 5.5 hours long, and IMO is one of the most comprehensive guides available. I would suggest $25 USD to be a reasonable price. Oh, and excellent work on the tutorials so far

Rather than using the PRV, have you tried using the automation lanes on the MIDI track itself? Selecting MIDI from the dropdown brings up a dialog allowing you to select any MIDI CC you want, and you can then draw your envelopes in the same way that you can with automation on audio tracks.

Yup - Aberdeen by the sounds of it.

It is a good idea - it might have to be one way however - i.e. synth rack icon updates the tracks (unless you're using simple instrument tracks), as you can have many tracks feeding the one synth in the rack.

Confirmed there is an issue with Insert Time & time signature/meter changes. Due to a calculation error, time signature/meter changes will almost always result in being shifted by one measure. We've got a fix, and it'll be in the next version. Until then, the workaround is to insert one measure at a time.

As long as the controller pane is collapsed, you can select "Show Multiple Controllers" from the PRV controllers menu. This will overlay the note data with all the controller data. However when you expand the controller pane, it shows the selected controller only allowing you to focus on each controller in detail.

If you need to host more than one soft synth in a live situation, take a look at Cantable: https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/ AFAIK they still do a lite version that is free.

Has that note been accidentally assigned to a command within Keyboard Shortcuts?

I made the transition to software only synths 2-3 years ago, mainly for convenience so I had access to all my synth sounds outside the studio. I spent about 3 months sampling all my hardware synths, so now I've got a bunch of keyboards in the loft and a 19U rack full of synth modules that is pretty much permanently switched off. I'll occasionally switch it on to tweak sounds (and then re-sample), or to help keep my studio warmer in the winter Using soft synths is so convenient, I don't miss my hardware synths at all. In fact some of them actually sound better now that they're sampled, as the samples are being mixed in Cakewalks 64 bit engine rather than the internal 16 bit mixing in my 90's digital synths (or 16 bit with one bit disabled in the case of the MT-32/D110). I do find however that I'm using my old sampled sounds less and less nowadays. My go to's now are usually Omnisphere, Synthmaster, Xpand!2 or Rapture Pro.

MMcL MackieControl has now been updated to support VST instruments in the synth rack. Summary of changes: Synth Rack strip support Number of controllable plugins on MCU/C4 increased from 10 per strip to 100 per strip MCU cursor keys now used for plugin/synth navigation in plugin / synth rack mode MCU/XT display completely cleared on startup to address leftover characters on latest MCU Pro firmware Enhanced key combination support for Mackie Compatibles for navigating plugins & parameters: More details here: http://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/MackieControl-MMcL.pdf You can download the latest MMcL Mackie Control from here: http://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/MMcLMackieControlSetup.zip ...or directly from github: https://github.com/msmcleod/Cakewalk-Control-Surface-SDK/raw/master/Bin/x64/MMcLMackieControlSetup.exe Note: When controlling the synth parameters in the Synth Rack, ALL of the VSTi parameters are exposed. There can be literally hundreds of these, depending on the synth. You can use the C4Mapper to arrange and/or limit the parameters for each synth: http://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/C4Mapper.zip - remember to run as admin if you want it to update MackieControl.ini

These are the most in-depth tutorials I've ever seen on Jamstix... 4 hours worth, but well worth the watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o96TLgRjAq8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzXMingzgBw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLpmv6XwsVk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVW9H20F94Y

A lot of the tool functionality relies on having the shift/alt/ctrl key modifiers pressed BEFORE you do the operation - normally before or during a mouse move, but definitely before clicking the mouse buttons. So if you want to move a clip and retain it's horizontal position, make sure you press SHIFT first and hold it down until you've completed your drag operation.

FWIW you don't need a physical iLok for the AIR stuff. It'll authorise to your computer.

I've fixed the crash for the next version, however an interesting observation.... If you unbind the key, load a project, then bind the key again while a project is open, it will no longer crash with no project loaded.

It sounds to me like your Omnisphere upgrade from 2.0 to 2.6 hasn't been done properly - i.e. it's left your 2.0 DLL in a different location to 2.6, either that, or you may have manually copied your Omnisphere DLL elsewhere in the past. Having two copies of the same plugin can cause these sorts of issues. I'd recommend searching for Omnisphere.dll in all your VST search paths, and then again on your whole system. If I'm right, you'll find more than one. Just rename the old one to Omnisphere.dll.bak, and make sure the location of the newer one is in Cakewalk's VST search path.

@Tortoise Media Prods - I did some more testing with HUI mode over the weekend, this time using the Mackie MCU in HUI mode (I figured this would be more true to the original HUI than the other emulations). Using the new heartbeat setting, I found no issues using HUI mode. But it did occur to me this may be down to my refresh frequency settings. Can you confirm what your Control Surface refresh frequency is? Mine is set to 75ms: With this setting a heartbeat will be sent to the HUI every 750ms or so, which is close to Pro Tool's setting of every 800ms. Also, can you check you've also got no tracks sending MIDI data to the MIDI device you're using for your HUI? I made this mistake over the weekend, and wasted about 3 hours trying to work out why fader #1 was being reset on playback... only to find there was a track trying to play a piano part on it! Finally, check your MIDI prepare buffer settings. The HUI is very chatty over MIDI, so it could be that data is being lost due to the prepare buffer being too slow. Try setting your MIDI prepare buffer to 750:

There must be tempo information in the wav file you're importing. After importing, select the clip, then right click and select "Bounce to Clip(s)". This will remove the tempo information and stop it from stretching when you change tempo.

Within the Clip Properties, under the Groove Clip section, have you got "Stretch to Tempo" checked ?

I doubt it unless you've got a ProBox for it... and even then there's no guarantees.

The official Mackie MCU & MCU Pro can control VST plugins, but not VSTi instruments in the synth rack (although you can get around this by putting the synths in the effects bin of an audio track). The HUI can't control plugins within Cakewalk at the moment. From what I can see though, the Platform M+ doesn't have the buttons to put it into plugin mode. What you could do is use Icon's iMap software to define your own MIDI mappings, and then map them to synth parameters using ACT within Cakewalk. It's not an ideal solution though - the faders will be one way using this mode (i.e. they will act as if they're not motorized). Also, swapping between Mackie mode and iMap MIDI mode won't be seamless - you'll need to use iMap to flip modes, and also disable the MackieControl surface within Cakewalk. Another solution maybe to use @azslow3 's AzController: http://www.azslow.com/index.php/topic,7.0.html

It sounds like your record mode is set to comping - try setting it to sound on sound, with Takes Create New Lane:

Cakewalk will work for live use, but it's mainly focussed on playlists rather than as a synth rack. You might want to take a look at Cantable if you want something for a live rig: https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/ I'd have previously recommended Brainspawn Forte, but unfortunately they've closed shop