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Yes, but in addition to extensive controller compatibility, I would recommend Live with it's live looping and sampling abilities, for actual live use over Cakewalk. So for live and studio use, you might want both. Nothing against Cakewalk, but it was not really designed for live use, although some do use it for that. Cakewalk works best as a recording studio, where Live is weak by comparison to a linear DAW, but it can be used that way. Just a matter of choosing the best tool for the job.

Great plan if you need either of these hardware devices. Get a piano for free!

From what I can see, the main drawback to Live is that it does not have a notation or staff view. ?

It's limited to 8 tracks and 8 scenes, but is a good way to try out the workflow of Live. https://www.ableton.com/en/products/live-lite/features/

The MODO Bass is probably worth it, if you have some Jam Points! I picked that up on the GB and it is cool! Or this... https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/index.php?A=sampletank-4-max&utm_source=forum&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=maxyourworkstation2020

I was lacking Amplitube 4 Max, T-Racks 5 Max, the Lurssen, and the full Miroslav. Jumped in for $104 with Jam Points! ?

+1 for MT-PowerDrumKit 2. That is a good entry level kit for free. https://www.powerdrumkit.com/ It has an internal mixer that you can use to assign the 13 kit pieces to 8 stereo audio outputs (or a single track if desired). The outputs can appear as 8 stereo audio tracks in Cakewalk, if you use insert soft synth options for the instrument as "MIDI Source & All Synth Audio Outputs: Stereo". Then in the MT mixer, If you group the hats, toms, and crashes into the same channels for each group respectively, you can fit all of the kit pieces into eight audio tracks.

I leave all of my applications entirely on my C drive (500GB SSD), except where they explicitly let me point to additional content or libraries on another path such as D (1TB SSD). I run into less weird sh*t that way. So no, I didn't see that...YMMV.

Pro has batch output, and the initial setup comes with a few batches already setup for image resize or file type. You can customize or add your own batches and optionally add preset effects that you want to apply to all images in the batch. I'm not sure if it can analyze the photos, so I assume it just runs the batch as a script, applying the same presets to each. You would probably want to run through the camera roll yourself, analyze and apply any needed corrections to individual photos, then batch any changes that would apply to all. This video covers some of the basics.

Good to know, and that makes sense as PaintShop has some plugin ability. I found this in the ParticleShop help files, so it would seem to also apply to the Corel Painter Brush Packs that work in ParticleShop:

Happy that I bought in way back at the intro price... ?

There is also the possibility to learn "Painter for Photographers", without the need for existing painting or drawing skills. Just the desire to be creative and turn your photos into works of art. Well, realizing that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, LOL! Painter for Photo Artists https://learn.corel.com/painting-tutorials/digital-painting-tutorials/Painter-for-Photo-Artists/ An example from an older version of Painter:

When you run Aftershot 3 Standard, you will get an offer to upgrade to Pro for $19.99. With Pro you get enhanced adjustments, catalogs, enhanced controls, HDR (high dynamic range), curves and histogram, advanced color correction, balance, and tint, advanced import/export, soft proofing, and more.

As far as I know, the brush packs only work in Painter and Painter ParticleShop, and they are additions to the factory brushes. These applications are bitmap editors, and the brushes let you paint pen and brush strokes and effects on bitmaps. [Edit] Since ParticleShop can also be a plug-in to other graphics apps, this is an update to correct some information previously posted. This text appears in the ParticleShop help file:

And a lot of those Brush Packs retail separately at Corel for about $29.99 each! I got about 23 of them included with the bundle!

The Addictive Keys Studio Grand that John mentioned, Steinway Model D concert grand piano, is available for a free demo in a 4 octave version, no time limit, but limited to 4 octaves and 3 microphone perspectives. It sounds good to me, but I am not a classical pianist. So try it, and judge for yourself. https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/addictive_keys/instrument/studio_grand

I'm not trying to fix mix mud in general. I'm just looking for techniques to prevent reverb induced mud, where possibly more than one reverb is involved. Best answers I've seen so far are to not run your entire mix through the reverb, as that would also also affect your bass and drums and everything else in your mix the same way, and to possibly just send select instruments to separate reverbs via busses. The busses would allow for custom EQ on each reverb bus if you used a separate bus for each instrument type.

That's a good post! Food for thought. Thanks! My motivation in asking the question was really about seeking a standard technique to reduce mud. One idea presented in that walk-through was that you could even use multiple busses with different reverbs on each as separate "spaces", and then selectively send drums to one room, strings to another, etc. That could definitely get creative with some projects! And then scook chimes in to suggest using delays instead of reverbs in some instances where delay can add space without the mush. In any case it sounds like less is more!

Does anyone have a simple rule of thumb regarding applying reverb as inserts to individual tracks or instruments vs. using a reverb bus and sending to a common reverb to get a natural "space" for the mix? If both techniques are used, then how best to avoid getting muddy when the mix is glued together? I'm not intending to get all mired down in EQ and other mixing details here, just referring to a general strategy for application of the of reverb. Off-topic, but assumed that since so many reverb lovers here, thought it a good opportunity to take advantage of some free advice! ?

Hey I remember those!

You talking about this? FX Chain module https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=ProChannel.10.html Customizing the FX Chain UI https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Mixing.36.html

This Edge info was not intended to just be a warning about a particular browser. It was just selected as an example to illustrate how hackers can exploit your system by using a specially crafted web page. There have been other exploits that are possible if you are even just using Windows, regardless of the browser. There have been a series of vulnerabilities deep in the Windows kernel, and the Windows graphics sub-system that can be used to remotely attack and compromise a user's system. It's more common to be tricked into opening a file or running a program, but the web itself can be risky when surfing with Windows. The best defense is to keep up to date with patches, because once the vulnerabilities get published they end up in exploit scripts being sold on the dark web that anybody with bad intentions can use. Be careful out there!