Michael Elliott

Slight OT, as I don't have a solution to anything regarding drum-specific views, but a thought to consider: I use the regular PRV notes pane (or PR view in tracks of view) rather than any drum view that shows just diamonds because I don't always want to play the full drum note, and I want control over the length of the note directly. If your drum synth or source doesn't just always play the full sound out regardless of how long or short the note fed to it is, you may find it helpful on occasion to be able to play less than the full note.

Somewhere here I have a more detailed post about it, but: Because of a complicated situation where I cannot add new plugins to my system and have them show up in SONAR--something was damaged in the VST scanner, probably when I tried Platinum (and later CbB) way back, and I've never been able to fix it. Even after I removed each, it took a very long time to manually repair the system so that my existing projects would (mostly) work again. I spent so long without being able to work on stuff (which is my best way to retain what sanity I still have ) that I cannot risk breaking the system again, so I can't use newer stuff than I had working from when I made the backups. I acquired a duplicate computer but have yet to be able to set it all up and try out new things. I had intended to clone my existing drive to a backup, and put that backup into the new one, then reinstall things until stuff worked again, but I can't get clones to work (even though all drives involve test fine even with Spinrite), so I have to reinstall everything from scratch, and set them all up the way I need them to work, all of which is *at least* months of work (which is why I didn't do it on my "working" system). So...someday...but no idea when I will be able to get to doing that. If someone had a way to read out the VST "ID Code" that is used in the registry entries, I could probably manually add new VSTs to the registry the same way I put the backups back in, but I don't know how to find the ID Code each VST uses. Or if there was an external VST-DX wrapper (like the unavailable ancient DirectiXer) that didn't touch the Cakewalk VST registry entries in ANY way, and just made them all show up as if they were DX/DXI stuff, then I could use new things. So, until one of those things happens, I just use stuff in external VST hosts (like H.Seib's VSTHost) or as standalone applications, with loopbacks to SONAR, or having them create files I then import into SONAR, etc.

If you mean a way to show or hide individual synths in the rack, then, no there isn't. You can enable or disable (connect / disconnect) them individually, and you can open their separate interface windows (GUIs), etc., but there's no way to show or hide (or rearrange) them in the synth rack view. If you have minimized a synth's GUI, then CTRL-Tab will take you to it, as you switch between all the views / subwindows you have open in SONAR, by holding CTRL and then pressing and releasing Tab until it gets to the one you want. If you have closed the synth's GUI, then you'd have to reopen it to access it. That can be done in SRV, or in Track View (probably Console view but I don't use that). Within Synth Rack View, then AFAIK there's no keyboard access except for: --up and down arrows to "select" a synth, which then highlights the tracks in Track view that use it, --P to bring up the selected synth's GUI window --M to mute or S to solo the selected synth, --F to bring up the Freeze options dialog, --O to bring up the Insert Synth Options dialog, (thats' all I remember) I don't know any way to do most things in Synth Rack view with the keyboard; it appears to require the mouse for most operations. If there is any key access to it, I've never found it, but I don't normally use SRV for anything other than inserting the synths in the first place, and very occasionally setting up automatable parameters, or renaming the synths, etc; pretty much all these things require using the mouse AFAIK. I don't know what "F6" is setup to do on your system, so I don't know why it would be asking you to press it. If it is used to switch between windows like CTRL-Tab, then it would make sense that it asks you to do that if you're trying to get to the synth's window.

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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 ).

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).

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.

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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).

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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?