Amberwolf

I downloaded this and will try it out at some point.

If anyone needs an alternative (not free, though):

For guitar (and my rare vocal attempts to control MIDI), I've used JamOrigin's MIDIGuitar (and MIDIBass) https://www.jamorigin.com/products/  as a standalone app pretty successfully.   I'm not doing anything fancy with what I input as audio, as I can't play well enough for that, but it lets me do stuff with the guitar strings/etc that I can't physically manage with a keyboard so I don't have to manually draw in a bunch of control envelopes or CCs.  ) 

(I use a MIDI loopback driver to connect MIDIGuitar to SONAR to get the MIDI into SONAR; I'm not usually worried about getting the audio in when I do this but if i need to I  can use the ASIOLinkPro driver from O Deus (was made freeware a while back; it's complex to setup but works once you get it "wired in".  https://give.academy/ASIO-Link-Pro-Tool-Saga/  https://web.archive.org/web/20180318082455/https://o-deus-audio.com.au/ASIOLinkPro   

 ).  

1 hour ago, Mr No Name said:

Cheers folks, its an hmtl player, you copy/paste the link, a player opens up

That may happen for you locally, because it's on your  computer.  

But it won't happen for anyone else that's not actually at your computer; the link you posted 

file:///E:/Reaper%20Saves/project%202/Mr%20No%20Name%20-%20Boy%20named%20Sue%20(remix).mp3

is only to your local E: drive, which can't be accessed by us.  To be a file accessible from the internet, it would require a domain name or IP address first (to the network it is hosted on), and then a path that is accessible from the internet (permissions given, etc). 

if the file is less than 4.88mb you may be able to attach it directly to your post, if .mp3 is an allowable file type on this forum (I haven't looked for the list, and the attachment section doesn't say). 

Otherwise you'll need to upload the file to a place that hosts music files, ideally a streaming service so people don't have to download the whole file before they can listen to it.   (such as one of those I previously listed). 

14 minutes ago, Jahrika! said:

A ECHO, YES!!!! exactly what I want. How could I do that? Is there a vst I need? Or is there a built in way to do it through cakewalk?

What happens if you perform the actions suggested?  What do you see in the list?

If you want a literal echo, with no other effect, you can do it entirely without fx plugins.   Copy the clips you want an echo of, and paste them into the same track at the point you want the echo to happen.  Sometimes you want a musical amount of time (like a quarter note, or eighth note) between echoes (that's what I usually do in my projects), and sometimes you want something more like a slapback very very short delay before the echo, so only a few milliseconds. 

Changing the volume of the clips (like with clip gain envelopes) changes the volume of the echo, so you turn them way down (by 20-30dB, or more) for a tiny echo.  

You can even clone the entire track to a new track, then use the time+ function in the track controls to do the shifting of the new track and the volume control of the track to turn the echo down.  

If you want more than a single echo, you can make multiple clones of the track, and time+ each one further down the timeline.  

You can pan each clone left or right some amount to make the echoes appear to bounce from side to side.

Delay plugins can usually do all those things in an easier way. 

.

26 minutes ago, T Boog said:

file:///E:/Reaper%20Saves/project%202/Mr%20No%20Name%20-%20Boy%20named%20Sue%20(remix).mp3

Awesome. Glad u finished it. I'd love to hear it but I don't know how to use this link. Forgive my ignorance. Do I need Reaper or another app to access this file?

That's just a file on his local harddisk; no one but him can access it. 

To give us the ability to access it, he'd have to upload it somewhere.  Soundclick, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Youtube, etc. 

Some audio interface drivers don't like it, but I use Hibernate in Windows for leaving a system "running" the way I left it if I won't be back to it for a hour or few.   If I just get dragged away (usually by the dog(s) ) for a bit, I just turn off the audio engine and click off the SONAR window (so the dog(s) not with me can't nose the keyboard or trackball buttons and edit something accidentally). 

12 minutes ago, Jahrika! said:

 the problem is I want the SLIGHTEST bit of reverb/echo and I cant figure it out for the life of me.

Do you want reverb, or an echo (quieter delayed copy of the original)?  Often they are different effects.  Sometimes they are both used. 

In either case, if you right click in the FX bin of the audio / synth track (not the MIDI FX bin), you can choose from whatever audio effects you have installed already.  I don't know which ones came with your Cakewalk version (or which version you have), but there are probably the basic included.  

If none are, there are plenty of free VST effects you can download and install, and then have Cakewalk scan for them, and then "insert" the effect by the method previously described.

Once it's inserted, a window will usually come up with the options for that effect (plugin).  Some have presets you can choose from, and some you have to tweak the knobs yourself.   

If you need effects, we can suggest various ones depending on what you want.  Some old ones I've used for years are the ones at https://www.voxengo.com/group/free-vst-plugin-download/ and at https://web.archive.org/web/20220201063306/http://mda.smartelectronix.com/ (original site seems unreachable at the moment). 

Some others: These were recently posted about, and I have downloaded them all for future investigation, but I haven't tried any of them yet https://flowstoners.com/quilcom .   I've seen this listed before, but haven't tried them either https://www.kvraudio.com/product/free-effects-by-dead-duck-software .

There are also plenty available for purchase, but I'd start with free ones and work your way up as you discover you need things they can't do. 

2 hours ago, Kevin Kuchta said:

I recently purchased a used Nektar LX88+. As fas as I can tell,  I did my initial setup correctly.  It appears that the controller is sending data to cakewalk project,  because the meters jump. However there is no audio playback.  I cannot tell if this is an issue with the controller,  the cakewalk program,  or possibly my laptop, (which is running an up to date version of windows 11).

I know I must be missing something,  but I don't know what it is.  Anyone else have any ideas?

Are the meters the ones on the MIDI tracks, or on the audio tracks? 

What sound sources do you have setup in the project, to create audio from the MIDI input?

Exactly how do you have the project setup, including tracks, buses, audio ins and outs, and what is connected to your audio interface outputs for speaker playback (and its' volume level)?

Without knowing the path you have setup for audio, and how the MIDI gets to that audio, it's tough to guess what's wrong. 

Well, the whole point of read-only is that nothing can write to it, so it protects the stuff inside (folders or files).  

If you don't want something to be written to, that's what R is for (read only).  

If you want to write to it, then you don't want to set it to read only.

It's a file system thing, and programs can't override the file system unless they literally do that by changing the file or folder attributes.

It's possible to write a program such that it could do that anytime it saves a file (first remove any readonly attribute), but that's usually a bad idea to allow...what if you had a version of a file  you had set to read-only on purpose to protect it from being written over, to preserve it?  A program that could write to it would then destroy what you had in it, probably without any notification to you, and you'd only find that out later when you open it again.

9 hours ago, Old Joad said:

Cool, sounds good☮️

Thanks!    

Depending on the "smarts" of the scripting language, there are macro / script programs that run in the OS itself that might do what you want with minimal user interaction.  Some computer (text) keyboards come with software to do this kind of thing; some of those only run in the OS, and some create macros stored inside the keyboard itself (not sure how many of these are still made). 

You can view multiple tracks in PRV in at least two ways.

If you are in track view, and select multiple tracks, then open PRV either from the main View menu or from the track context menu, all those tracks will be open in PRV.   On the right side you will see each listed, where you can choose to hide or view each one, or mute/solo them to see but not hear, etc. 

If you are already in PRV, you can go to the Tracks dropdown button to select which track(s) you're looking at.  Usually Ctrl-clicking on tracks adds them to the existing selection. 

.

Unfortunately Quantize MFX isn't automatable, or you could enable it in some parts and not in others, as a track fx.

But if you use it in the clip fx bin, you can swing just the clips that need it, and still be able to adjust it. 

Not the most elegant solution, but it does a version of the job, without changing the way the notes look on screen. 

I haven't looked for any other MFX that can do swing, but maybe there's an automatable one out there.   Or something that can be used for that, even if not intended for it.  Maybe something from TenCrazy, Viramor, or perhaps Azslow has something? 

Sorry for the possible OT....

I was going to suggest (for experienced users, rather than newbies that wouldn't know about the function) using the Menu Editor (if the current Sonar still has that option), but I found that at least in my ancient version there isn't apparently a way to add items to at least that menu (the Process menu in my version, if you are referring to the main menu bar, vs the one in the actual clips pane).   

I usually use keybindings, so I hadn't tried to edit the menus in this way for a very long time, and had forgotten this (if I ever knew it).   The only use I know I made for the function was to hide certain menu options (like Save, since I *only* use SaveAs, and even changed the keybinding CTRL-S to point to SaveAs instead of Save).  

So...anyway, yes, this is probably a good change to make--I remember long ago looking for the Split menu option and not finding one there, where I expected it should be (but I was also already a keybindings user, and not a newbie to cakewalk,. so I already had solutions for things). 

Only semi-related to your topic: Would be nice to be able to actually *edit* the menus, for real, to move items between them, add things that aren't in them (but are in some other menu, or otherwise is a function that already exists that can be called up this way). 

/OT 

To remove audio from a project permanently, and avoid a missing file error, you have to delete the audio clips in the project itself.

If you want to remove *everything* in the audio track(s) in question, first save the project as a new file (in case you make a mistake, so you can go back), I usually use version numbers for each save as (I never use save, and actually changed the keybinding CTRL-S to Save As instead of Save, just to force-remind me to save it as a new version, so I can always go back to any stage of the project if something goes awry later on, be it technical or musical). As long as you save in the same folder, then even if you use per-project audio folders (which I do) it doesn't fill up your drive with extra audio.   

Then go to the auido tracks you recorded things in that you no longer want, select those clips, and delete them. then save as the project again (to a new file).  

Before you do this, if you really want to you can open the properties for each audio clip and note down the file names for each clip, so you can delete the actual audio files themselves.  I don't delete any audio clips directly unless they're broken or really terrible, because I might use them for someting else later, but I know most people aren't like that.

FWIW, the Z3TA+2 is a nifty synth; I wish they could make it available for purchase again for new users.

I already have it from (what feels like) ages back; I use it in virtually every project for one thing or another, some using existing presets (usually modified in some way), some "scratch" sound creation.   

My one beef with it (and every other RGC synth I've ever used, and some others like Algomusic) is that it doesn't respond to the panic button (the old kind, in my ancient SONAR version before the new panic options were added), and I have to turn the arp on and off in each instance to kill stuck notes.  (there are other things I would love to change about it, especially in the Arp UI, but that's the only really annoying / problematic one). 

I don't know a way to do it to a whole project, only individual MIDI clips or MIDI tracks.

There is (or at least used to be) an MFX plugin included with Cakewalk / SONAR called Quantize, which has a swing option.  Inserting this into the Fx bin of the track in question (or just a clip Fx bin if only some parts of the track need it) will let you add swing to the track.  Then once that is setup the way you want it, create a preset in the Quantize plugin, and then load the same preset in each other instance you insert into each track, to save time setting them up.

It's not as easy to do as you want, but it does get you the eventual end result. 

The displayed MIDI doesn't change, only the output.   If you want the MIDI itself to change, you can apply the Fx, or bounce the track or clip, etc. 

"plugin requires an internet connection to generate basslines".  

Pass.

5 hours ago, craigb said:

Ok, since most of my posts start off hidden requiring approval, I'm done with this thread and anything in the Deals forum.

Is this something that applies to everyone here?  Just asking because I haven't seen anything of mine that needed approval after I posted it; it just showed up wherever I posted?   (unless we can always see our own posts even if they're not really "there" yet?)

Maybe sink some deep deep posts around the house with cables from them up over the roof as a "net" to keep it on? 

14 hours ago, User 905133 said:

In a way, it's like riding a bicycle--I still remember how, but at my age, some things are not as safe to do without taking precautions.  😉

That's why I built a trike instead. 

(still have a pile of parts in the shed to rebuild the old bike version as a backup, but dunno if I'll ever be able to get back to it). 

9 hours ago, Mr No Name said:

I am thinking a dedicated "studio space" has to be an integral part of the creative process ?

Doesn't have to be; it all depends on your own needs and desires.

These days I do almost all my stuff sitting or laying in bed, most often just drawing things into the tracks rather than playing them in, because I don't have the energy or time anymore to use the big ASR88 keyboard at the "workstation", or the piano on the other wall, or even the guitars hanging over the piano.  Sometimes the dog(s) come over and "help". 

Sometimes I'll grab my little Rockband Keytar (cheap from Goodwill some years back) to play stuff in, or if I need a two-handed input the even older MK-4902 (also cheap from goodwill even more years back), but it's a bit heavy and awkward compared to the keytar and has a worse feel and less consistent response.  But both lean on the shelf nearby within reach...   For the most part I listen to it all with a Vizio soundbar (cheap from Goodwill a few years back...you might notice a pattern) glued to the top edge of my big "TV" monitor (can't see the regular size computer monitors well enough anymore) that's on a swingarm so I can move it where I need it depending on how I'm positioned.

I used this process for the current WIP here: https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/track/the-skaergaard-intrusion where the only part played in so far was the "guitar"ish piece (a synth played in using that MK-4902), while everything else was drawn in or modified from copies of what was played in on that track, or from percussion clips I'd already made  using various methods in previous projects, and the "bassline" from a modified arp pattern from Z3TA2+ dragged into a midi track and edited significantly to make what you hear.  Took just a few hours to get it basically in there, and it's just been details since then. (most of my projects take a lot longer than that, but some "just work"). 

I used to use the workstation (which has a bunch of stuff in a rack, the multiport audio and midi interfaces, the ASR88, TG33, etc) all the time, but have developed better ways of working entirely within the computer.   You can hear the difference in how I work now vs then, if you listen to stuff like my recent ones from http://amberwolf.bancdamp.com posted up in the Songs subforum vs the older stuff like what's in The Elder Sounds I album on Bandcamp, or the older stuff I have at the bottom of the ~120 listings on my  http://soundclick.com/amberwolf page; up to about the ones dated 2017 and earlier. 

3 hours ago, KSband said:

Nice groove man.

Thanks! 

 The "bassline" / synth originally started out as a (factory preset) arp pattern from Z3TA2+, but received significant alterations and edits throughout the song once I dragged the pattern from Z3TA into the MIDI track.   Especially because it came out as all velocity 100, which must not have been at all the velocity it uses inside the synth and doesn't make the synth sound anything like it was supposed to--I had to bring them all down nearly to zero to get that sound back, for whatever reason. 

IIRC it's the DanceBass1 preset with various tweaks to get the sound you hear. 

 The wind instrument is MiniDizi's ChineeWinds DiziBass1, for now.  There's a better sound for this on my old Ensoniq ASR88, which includes various styles of playing that would better fit this song (it's the same flute you can hear in various tracks on my Uncommon Ground album from 1996 over here; https://amberwolf.bandcamp.com/album/uncommon-ground-full-album , though there's only a couple notes here and there that use one of the short percussive styles I want for this one).   I have a way to convert the instrument into something I could use on SFZ; have to try it out to see if it still sounds the same that way.   

There's also something on my ancient set of Rare Instruments GS cd's that someone here sent me many years ago (Jerry Gerber?) that will probably help, but i can't recall the name of the instrument; I'll have to poke thru them if I can dig out the cd's and load the .gigs into Vsampler. 

.