Amberwolf

Same here; anything that requires an activation (other than a one-time serial / etc input). Long ago got tired of things suddenly deciding they need to talk to daddy before they will let me use them when I'm in the middle of something. I really prefer ones that have no installers, but just let me unzip the files into my plugins folders. I found so many free (VST mostly) plugins over the years that I have at least one of just about every type of sound emitting or processing plugin; some of them are not very good but others are good enough for my stuff. (some of hte not very good ones are useful for destroying sounds in various ways :lol: ). There are only a handful that I actually use regularly, many of those came with one version of SONAR or another. But I do collect sounds (samples, loops, etc) to hack apart to use for various bits, sometimes to build entire projects from, sometimes just to accentuate them, sometimes somewhere between. Most of those are free, too, but I did skip some groceries over the holidaze and buy a few of the super-cheap bundle sales, so I have fresh meat in some of my latest projects on http://amberwolf.bandcamp.com

A quick google for https://www.google.com/search?q=where+is+the+bandlab+installer+saved brings up a few hits, like this one; don't know if any of them are right (or current)

I usually just do CTRL-A to select all, verify that there's enough additional timeline selected to let everything fade out and not be cut off at the end, then choose the export function. In my version the What You Hear preset in the export dialog includes everything that comes out of the hardware outputs in the buses, so it sounds the same as what I hear when listening (hence the name). The format and bitrate and bitdepth chosen depend on my use for the file, but primarily I just stick them on Bandcamp and Soundclick which work fine with 44100 / 16bit wav files, so most of my exports use that. (if I need an MP3 later, I just use LamedropXP to convert the above file)

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Gareki (rubble, debris, remains) https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki 01-10-25: 010625 000001 200034j -- some rearrangements, chord changes, many timing edits, many clip/note edits, added intro. This one uses the Z3TA2+ synth for the bassline, Rapture for the CS80 synthhighs, driven by MIDI I either drew or played in. A lot of audio bits using Functionloops vocals, BlackOctopus' Funky Indian Rhythms and Ghosthack's Shymer for most of the percussion bits (though there's a lot of snipping and shifting of the pieces down to individual hits). Still work in progress, lots of stuff to add for accents, transitions, contrast, etc. Edit 1-10-25 Added artwork I have tried with both the music and the "cover art" to make something to convey the sadness, the disheartening dismay, of seeing your home destroyed, the things you live(d) with treated like junk and garbage. It's a feeling I know very very well, from the housefire a little over a decade ago. I am still figuring that out (how to express it), so this is the beginning of that. I am hoping that those that listen will tell me if it induced any emotion, and if so, what. If it isn't doing what I wanted it to, I can work on it more to try to fix that. On the artwork I tried to use the google imagefx thing to create this, but it just didn't listen to me. I ended up having to composite multiple things from that and elsewhere, using the ancient PaintShopPro6, to get something resembling what I want. It's still not quite there, either, but it's close enough for now. Hopefully it also helps convey the emotional side of what Gareki can mean to someone. I chose the "pup" for it's resemblance to Hachi, whose loss in the fire hit me worse than any of the others. The wolf I chose for it's pose; there were others with face-on facial expressions that said it better but they did not have the dejected body language I was after; this was the closest I could come. 01-09-25: 010625 000001 200030i -- assorted edits 01-10-25: 010625 000001 200034j -- assorted edits 010625 000001 300038m - assorted edits, added elven phrase " This garden you created, this forest you gave life to, is, and always will , be my home." 01-12-25: 010625 000001 300064s -- Fixed some wierd stuff that happened to several percussion sections' fades (somehow they got "faded in" as clip fades with the end of the fade several clip lengths *past the end of the clip*. I've seen this now and then over the years and I still have no idea what action I have done that causes this; it should be impossible. Many small timing and volume edits to percussion, bass, etc., to tighten up sections. Replaced a bunch of percussion right after and within the first break to change the impact of the section. 01-12-25: 010625 000001 300072v - more timing edits, cleared out a bunch of bass arp notes to make room for things to breathe. 01-16-25: 010625 000001 300082x - Fixed more of the percussion between the intro and the break-in. Added strings accents to bassline and counterpoint to short synth "solo" break near the end, using SI Strings Detache. 01-17-25: 010625 000001 300090z - Sculpted percussive transitions, cleared certain percussions to make room for things to breathe. 01-20-25: 010625 000001 400096A - intro timing tweaks; added mournful wolf howl accents under vocals 01-21-25: 011925 000001 000007 gareki pt2 - https://www.soundclick.com/amberwolf/?more=14929045 the barebones just barely started version of Gareki Part 2. For the moment it still has the same vocals as Part 1, until I work out all the changes to come. It's worth listening to, even if you just think of it as an alternate version instead of a second part. 01-27-25: 010625 000001 500128H extended slower feel - Gareki Alternate Version #2 This is a slower hopefully more emotional version, on soundclick instead of replacing the bandcamp version, especially while it's still experimental. https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14934398 Added a retro 80s versoin https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki-i-retro-80s-version Based on this advice https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/83416-if-i-should-wake-wip-looking-for-feedback/?do=findComment&comment=583948 I removed all the posts about various edits (consolidating them into the original post) except for those discussing stuff with other members. (I'll do the same in all my other threads). I can't actually delete the posts so I just made them all "." and nothing else, best I can do. To not add more wasteful posts, this one also includes a major revision of the track, making for a bigger slower feel, with hopefully more emotion. Less of the "funky indian percussion" loop sections, more handbuilt stuff from individual sounds, some new sounds, etc. The previous version is still there, after the end of the "new" one. (the previous one still has the wolf sounds under the vocals, I'm considering removing them there and leaving them only in the newer one before it...what do you think? I left the Bandcamp version alone, and added this one on Soundclick since it is likely to need significant refinement before adding to BC as an alternate version. 010625 000001 500128H extended slower feel - Gareki https://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=14934398 EDIT 01-28-25: 010625 000001 500146M Further refined the extended version, same link. Many many changes, added sounds, mix changes, timing edits, etc. EDIT 01-30-25: Considerable further refinement of extended version (at same link above), also posted to bandcamp here https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki-ii-alternate-version-cinematic-feel

Ok, here's some brand new luck for you: https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/gareki (rough WIP, but maybe by the time you can walk around again it'll be done)

Reading manuals is daunting and boring, for anything (hardware, software, etc). I don't learn sequentially very well; I do better when I jump around; I am not as bored with it, though I often have to back up a step and learn something else first to understand what I just jumped into. I have a habit it took a while to get into of either randomly clicking on a topic and reading a page or few, trying out the things it talks about in whatever random project I have open or recently worked on,, or searching for whatever word pops into my head and clicking one of the results that comes up for that, and doing the same as with the other option. This especially helps with things I really don't understand, or can't really get into, but that I have to learn anyway. (like the programming / etc I have been struggling at learning for years, for my wolfy-robotics project).

You can use a joystick for MIDI easily enough; there have been several programs / drivers for doing that. If you can assign the joystick functions you want to transport controls it would do those things. I never looked into using one for mouse / keyboard control, but I'm sure there's options for that, too. Combining them...might take more doing, but if both "drivers" / programs can recieve the joystick inputs and you can just disable anythign you don't want that one to do, it should still work.

Since we have no information on what "the engineering file" is, or what is in it or how it is setup, we can't really answer anything directly. But if the file uses plugins, you can test to see if it is a plugin in the file by opening in safe mode, by holding the Shift key while you open the project.

It's probably to keep the fur out of their dressings. That's what they always tell *me*, anyway.

Could be a plugin, or a graphics driver. Safe mode is holding I think the shift key while opening the project . EDIT, yes: https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Dialogs2.096.html#:~:text=Note%3A Safe mode is activated,the SHIFT key is pressed.

What happened just before the problem started? Was anything new installed? Were there any updates (including automatic windows updates, or trhose for *any* other software on the machine, drivers, etc)? Any new hardware? Any system changes of any kind? What specific steps have already been performed for troubleshooting, other than the two listed?

Even though there's no lock icon...is the lock (data / position) checkbox active when you doubleclick on a clip to see it's properties? If it's not active, what happens if you lock it, then Ok to the properties dialog, then reopen the properties dialog and unlock it, then ok to the dialog again? (in case it's a "stuck" property flag that is set but the clip doesn't "know" it's set, so you're toggling it to ensure it's not set...something that shouldn't happen, but....). If it weren't that bouncing the clips to new clips then works, I'd wonder if it was possible there is a quantize setting engaged that's preventing slip editing except to whatever that's set for. I don't know of such a setting at clip level in my ancient SONAR, but perhaps the newer versions have one. AFAICR, clip ends with just bottom bevels are just slip-edited to that point (vs top and bottom bevels that indicate the end of a loop of a grooved (looped) clip). If all the "broken" clips are slip-edited ones, best guess is somethign went wrong with the slipedit data somewhere behind the scenes. IN that event, bouncing them to new ones is probably the only fix. If you (like me) save every version of edit along the way as a new file, you could also go back to an old enough version that has the original un-slip-edited clips and copy/paste them into the current file, if you need any of the data that was in the hidden part of the slipedit.

I'll second the Tarilonte recommendation--they're all out of my budget but if I had the money I'd get most of what he makes. I have a multi-cd (dvd?) East West Sampler set from many years ago, which includes reduced-sample-set versions of a number of world instruments in Gigastudio format, and they sound nice enough, but not knowing how to actually play the instruments precludes me being able to use them realistically (though not from using them at all; my results just sound "different" ) . It does have some instruction on how to setup and use some of the instruments, like the HurdyGurdy. But the Tarilonte stuff *sounds* pretty far beyond the EW stuff I have. I recommend looking at these; I have them (but have barely begun to explore their potential). Some have stems for each loop or phrase, so that you can use just the specific instrument you want, or be able to use parts of one loop separately or cut in/out some of it (like having the bass percussion not start until after the tops have been going a bit during an intro, etc). : https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/deep-india/ https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/deep-india-vol-2/ https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/kv-balakrishnan-mystical-indian-percussion/ https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/funky-indian-rhythms-by-kv-balakrishnan/ https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/cinematic-indian-loops/ https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/divine-vocal-mantras-spiritual-indian-chants/ (some came in this bundle, IIRC https://blackoctopus-sound.com/product/indian-south-east-asian-holiday-bundle-10-packs-for-25/ ) This one is also useful https://www.ghosthack.de/ultimate-indian-percussions and this is good for much more than the haunting vocals in it https://www.ghosthack.de/shymer To hear what an amateur can do with them (meaning a real musician could do much better) with a few hours' work, you can check out these tracks: This one uses bits from Ghosthack's Shymer set, along with bits from assorted other Ghosthack (mostly their free ones, but some stuff out of the Ultimate Cinematic Bundle) and Cymatics libraries (mostly their free ones) and some percussion hits from older stuff that I don't recall the names of. It has three separate short segments which each share some sounds, but showcase others: https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/if-i-should-wake This one uses some of the various free Cymatics percussion, vocal, and instrument pieces, along with other stuff I built out of various things. https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/a-peek-over-the-wall This uses primarily vocals from BlackOctopus' Divine Vocal Mantras,, plus various percussion, vocals, and instrument snippets from Ghosthack, Cymatics, and BlackOctopus, along with Z3TA2+ and SI Strings, and other bits from olde assorted libraries. https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/less-like-a-whisper This one uses some of those EastWest sounds, mostly wind and string, here and there as accents. The main instruments are Z3TA2+ and SessionDrummer3, though the Taiko rolls are from the EW sounds. https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/the-skaergaard-intrusion This also uses some of the EW sounds, mostly the taiko rolls; I don't recall which other bits were, background accents though. Main instruments were Z3TA2+, SD3, SI Strings, Rapture. https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/ookami-no-kari-no-yume-wolfs-dream-of-the-hunt

Is there a lock symbol on the clips? If so, the Lock Data function may be turned on for them. You can select them, right click on them, and turn that off.

On my ancient SONAR, it's all stored in the programdata folder: C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\Studio Instruments\SI-Bass Guitar\Patterns

Just curious--what do these look like? (not a problem I've run into yet) EDIT: Nevermind, as I was typing it up (distracted in the middly by JellyBean wanting to play), the screenshot above got posted. :oops:

BTW, depending on what options exist in newer versions of the plugin manager, you may have to select the option to rescan existing plugins for it to check to see if they're still there. If it's not even checking for that, it isn't likely to remove entries for missing ones. FWIW, I despise that category 3 type--I don't want anything on the system other than the actual programs that are doing the work I need done. Anything else is just one more layer of crap to break and keep me from using the things that do my work, and one more layer of crap between me and getting them to work again. Same thing with "authorization" and "licensing" programs. If plugins or software has those, then regardless of how "good" they are, or cost (even "free"), they're not worth the heartache they're going to cause me at some point, if not immediately. I have not had *any* program using one of those schemes that did not have a serious problem at some point, causing me hours, days, or weeks of grief trying to get it fixed, usually with little or no help from the company that supplied it or made it--and for some of them that were no longer around, it wasn't even possible to fix, especially the ones that require their servers to be working and accessible to even use the program. So...I pass on all of those. Just give me files I can unzip into place and run directly, or stick in my VST/etc folders to be scanned, etc., and I'll be much much happier.

What driver are the other working programs using? What are their settings? Do any of them have exclusive access to the driver(s), and if so are any of them running (even as "inactive" TSRs) while using CbB? That could prevent CbB from accessing the drivers to get sound in or out. Are any of the drivers set to allow exclusive access in the Windows sound control panel? You might disable that if so, and see if it makes a differenc.e Keep in mind that ASIO, per Steinberg's limitations, can only use a single audio device at a time, so if you have separate in and out devices, you can only use one of them at a time in any program that is set to use ASIO. To use separate devices for in and out, you will have to use one of the other driver modes, to allow you to select multiple devices at once. If you are unable to select multiples, then first uncheck both inputs and outputs for the current driver(s). Then you can try selecting multiples; if there are any that won't let you do that, it means those drivers are written in some way that prevents access to them while the others are being accessed, which you'd probably have to take up with the hardware manufacturer. Regarding the crashes, I would guess that you have a driver called ASIO4ALL installed. It isn't a "real" ASIO driver, and is known to cause various problems. Uninstalling that completely may fix the ASIO issue, if you have a real ASIO driver to select instead. (many devices do not, and use ASIO4ALL as a "wrapper" to talk to their *real* driver...but the way ASIO4ALL works is talking to *all* audio drivers on the system, which isn't helpful when trying to access a single device, and is part of the problem).

What plugins (synths) have you already used, and what tech issues did you run across with them? (this may give us a level of experience to start the help with) FWIW, I use audio phrases and loops in my projects on http://amberwolf.bandcamp.com (some of the most recent of which have some similarity to the styles of the artists you mention) to give me the "world" sounds I'm after, since these also give me the playing style and expertise of those instrument-players (whcih I don't have and will certainly never have time to learn for all of these :lol: ). Most of mine have been the free packs from various places like Ghosthack, Cymatics, Black Octopus, etc., but I've bought a few on the holiday sales for very cheap (90%+ off!) that have enough more to be worth it, many variations, and of course I can cut, chop, stretch, squish, retune, etc., any of them. I do this partly to save frustrations with "tech issues" (including authorization and licensing-server failures, and all that stuff), and though it does place limits on what I can do with the stuff I have that would be lessened if they were the instruments instead, that has made me learn some other things and make some stuff I wouldnt' have otherwise even tried. It also gives me access to vocals, since even if I could sing (see Back to the World for an example of that problem), I don't have the right kind of voice to make any of the sounds I want.

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It should be essentially the size of your RAM, since your entire RAM state needs to fit into it, and it has to ensure there is always enough reserved space for this to happen without any intervention (user or otherwise).

Something like this almost happened with the original ATX way way back when; I don't recall why it went the other way. At some point, to make certain kinds of advances, one has to break legacy-compatibility. I dislike it even more than the next person 😉 but that's just the way things are. You can only "hack" so many things onto something else before some kind of major revamp of the system becomes necessary to improve it. There are good technical reasons to avoid wires whenever possible: --radiated noise / RFI. Shielded wires can help with this, but it increases their cost and complexity. Changing currents in the supply wires create changing radiated noise, which can be made worse by faulty / insufficient caps on the devices to filter the induced noise from operating the fast-switching high-current devices around the board(s). --every connection between any one thing and another is a potential failure point, and every one adds resistance. Eliminating the cabling eliminates every connection between the wires and their contacts at each end, and the wires themselves, reducing down to just the contacts in the inter-board connectors, and the PCB traces, and the solder connections between those, all of which would exist in either case. Then there's the cost of making the wiring harness and qc'ing it, and connecting it to the boards. Then the cost of replacing hardware that is damaged / destroyed by incorrect wiring in the harness itself, or mis-assembled connectors, or user-error.

If you don't mind another program running, you can use Herman Seib's VSTHost to pass midi to/from the Kronos port. It's not *totally* straightforward, but once you figure out the necessary routing, and save *all* the possible ways there are to save the setup from it, it can recall automatically when started, and you should be able to set it up to start with windows so you don't have to remember it. Side benefit is it also is a VST host, so you can use it to host external plugins or synths if you have any need for that.