abacab

LOL!!! Where did you get that from? Lots of folks still running Win 7, and that still has Microsoft support until end-of life next year. Cakewalk by BandLab minimum specs: Windows 7 or higher (64-bit only). https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

You must have also picked up Liquid Music from WaveDNA, which is the full version of their product which includes Liquid Rhythm. https://www.wavedna.com/ I picked up Liquid Rhythm on a stupid cheap deal a while ago, and it is an interesting way to generate MIDI rhythm patterns. I never tried their demo of Liquid Music, mainly because I already had Liquid Notes and I assumed there would be an overlap.

I bought Liquid Notes a few years ago when it was on sale for $20, and I was seeking a chord track experience with Sonar, pre-"Great Gibson Shutdown". I have Studio One 4 now, with chord tracks, but I think you could still do some things with MIDI arrangements in Liquid Notes that S1 doesn't offer yet. But I'm still a novice with S1, so don't take my word for it!

I'm not aware of any shortcuts. All executables will need to installed and authorized, as needed. I remember that it took me a while with several DAWs and hundreds of plugins installed. If you already keep your content such as projects, audio, templates, and sample libraries on secondary drives, you should be ahead of the game. Then it will just be a matter of pointing your freshly installed stuff to those content paths. If you have a retail Windows license you should even be able to eventually move your Win 10 to a new machine or motherboard without re-installing, by cloning or moving the hard drive. Worst case is you may just have to buy another license if using OEM. But if you take care of Windows 10, you should not have to re-install it again.

Exactly! https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/ Just make sure that Win 10 is activated after the initial in place upgrade. I have heard that occasionally the activation servers can have a delay...

I would assume that striping with RAID for speed is made redundant by the high performance of modern SSD drives. I remember seeing the formula somewhere on the net for calculating how many tracks at a specified resolution you could run with a given disk throughput. For the average Joe, a 7200 RPM SATA III is probably fast enough.

Not sure I would want to crack the case open. Probably easier to assign CC1 to a slider, IMHO...

You can get some really unique soundscapes going with Biotek! 12 layers with 4 oskillators per layer, plus about a bazillion LFOs! However the UI and workflow for sound design is a bit fiddly and deep. It is sort of difficult to see what is affecting what. But lot's of power under that hood! Biotek 2 improved the browser and added some great new presets!

Fathers Day savings. https://www.udemy.com/mixing-masterclass/ For $11.99 until 6/17, 11:59 p.m. PDT

I did an upgrade in place from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro to claim my free Win 10 license. Then I wiped my drive immediately after and clean installed Windows 10 Pro with the MS Media Creation Tool on USB flash. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 The Win 10 license was still assigned to my PC, as a "digital license", no product key required. Activate Windows 10 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12440/windows-10-activate

Can't wait for Windows 13.

Nice article Kenny!

I think that if you played around with Live for a few weeks, that you would find some answers. The power of Live, in addition to its celebrated stability, is the non-linear approach in Session View. That is a huge paradigm change if all you have ever used is linear editors. Once you realize the power of the Session View and using "scenes" to trigger sections and/or variations of your songs, on demand, then using markers in a linear track view may seem a bit dated and old fashioned. Ableton Live Tutorial - What are Scenes? Ableton Live Tutorial - Arrangement View vs Session View Ableton Live Tutorial - How is Ableton Live Unique?

Not really. Here are some quick tutorial videos that cover Live setup and the basics of the interface. There are also truckloads of other tutorials around the net covering all aspects of Live workflow, from beginner to advanced. https://www.ableton.com/en/live/learn-live/ But just using it as a plugin host should be very easy and straightforward. Just install it, setup your audio and MIDI hardware, add your plugin scan path, and let it scan your plugins. Then you can insert audio or MIDI tracks as desired by dragging and dropping an audio clip or an instrument plugin from the media browser onto the workspace. Audio clips create audio tracks and instruments create MIDI tracks. The most different thing to learn about Live is that it is essentially like two DAWs in one. You can toggle between the two views by hitting the "Tab" key. The default is the Session View, which is like the Cakewalk Groove Matrix on steroids. You can arrange existing clips in here, or record them live, and they will loop in sync as you playback. Triggering individual clips or clip groups (scenes) from a pad controller is one of the strengths of this view. The alternate view is the Arrangement View, which is a traditional linear DAW track timeline. You can record an improvised arrangement here by setting it to record your Session View as you play with that. Or you can record, arrange, and mix tracks here in a traditional linear way.

You can buy Ableton Live Intro for $99. https://www.ableton.com/en/shop/live/ It is limited to 16 audio/MIDI tracks, but that may be enough for your situation by hosting your multiple virtual instruments live. It is also limited in the number of bundled instruments & FX that are included, but you seem to be mostly interested in bringing your own anyway, so that is probably not a big deal. Live Intro is a small step up from the Live 10 Lite that is often bundled for free with some select hardware like audio interfaces and controllers. Live Lite is limited to 8 tracks. You can download a free 30 day trial of the full Live Suite to test stability on your system.

The Structure sample library is encrypted and only accessible by and locked to Structure.

If you clean install Windows 10 you are 99.5% less likely to be that guy posting around here down the road about some weird crash or error message on their DAW. I clean installed my Windows 10 Pro three years ago, and it still runs flawlessly. It did take me about 1-2 weeks to get all of my software and plugins installed and configured, but yeah, I'd say it was worth it in the long run. I keep Windows auto updates off, and run the monthly quality and security updates about 3 weeks after they are released. I also stay one version behind on the major semi-annual version (feature) updates. This strategy allows some time for MS to fix and re-issue any bad updates that are discovered by the early adopters. My plan "B" is that I take a full system drive image before any updates. I can roll my system back in 35-40 mins at anytime. Running Win 10 Pro 1809 currently.

I wouldn't bother upgrading Win7 to Win 10. Get a new hard drive. Then just clean install Win 10 and all of your applications and plugins on the new hard drive. Keep the old drive in a safe place in case you need to fall back. You will have a much cleaner and more stable operating system as a result. No point in carrying over all of the crud that built up in Windows 7 over these past years. Start fresh!!!

It appears that they have discontinued the Reaktor Factory Selection for the Player. But you can buy Blocks Primes for $99 and get 50+ preset racks. I still have the Factory Selection R2 and Reaktor Blocks Wired that I received for free in the past. Install the free NI Komplete Start bundle and you should get some cool instruments, as well as many other sounds (includes over 6 GB of instruments, effects, loops, and samples). https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/bundles/komplete-start/ This includes Reaktor Blocks Base (24 patchable blocks and over 30 inspiring and educational racks). https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-blocks-quickstart/

You didn't mention what version of SampleTank you were using. ST4 was a crashfest with just about any DAW upon release, but has improved with the v4.04 update. There has also been some discussion around here (and on the old forums at forum.cakewalk.com) from some users were having issues with Sonar and ST3, but some of those may have been a case of using VST2 vs. VST3. I don't recall which plugin version was the trouble maker, but a forum search should reveal the answer. I also doubt that IK Multimedia tests extensively with Cakewalk, so not sure I would rely on their support saying not their problem. You also did not mention what audio interface you are running. Since you mention the Yamaha Steinberg drivers, it seems you either may be running a Steinberg audio interface, or maybe just using their generic ASIO driver with your onboard PC audio chip. I will reiterate what was mentioned earlier by @CJ Jacobson regarding the importance of drivers: As far as doing dynamic stuff live with the Cakewalk audio engine, you may be taking your chances, as it wasn't really designed with that in mind. Just playing backing tracks from a playlist should be fine, but you may get some audio engine dropouts if you push it too hard with making changes live. Not a problem in the studio, but YMMV... Ableton Live may be expensive, but there is a reason that it's popular for live use.

I can accept your opinion about Liquid Notes, but wish to clarify the comment about Java. Java is a very powerful computer language, but it does require a Java runtime to be installed in the PC host in order to execute a Java program. Running a local Java program in this runtime is no more risky than any other executable that you allow to run with privileges on your PC. Java is still one of the leading languages used for enterprise scale computing. However, most of the negative publicity surrounding Java relate to the web browser plugin, which is well deserved, rather than the runtime. I would definitely avoid the web browser plugin, and have made sure to keep it uninstalled for many years now. Running code from any external source via a web browser has always been a bad idea from a security perspective. Think MS ActiveX and Javascript exploits, as well as others. Since Java is not a compiled language like C or C++, it needs a Java runtime so that the code can be interpreted when run, in contrast to C++, which must be first compiled into an executable ".exe" to be run. So trusting a local Java app or a local Windows executable requires similar permissions. Knowing and trusting the source of the code is always the best way to avoid compromise from any program! Bottom line, imho, fear of Java is not a valid reason to avoid this useful app. With all respect, it may be a PITA for some, but nothing to fear!

SampleTank 4 SE has a few new Rick 4001 instruments. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/st4/?pkey=sampletank-4 Instruments included in SE: https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/include/st4/soundlist/SampleTank_4_SE_Instruments.pdf

I bought the complete bundle a few years ago, and agree with msmcleod regarding Structure 2. Soundwise there is a fair amount of overlap with Xpand!2, but Xpand!2 doesn't share the flexibility and complexity of a full blown sampler like Structure or others. Structure, and other samplers, can be a bit fiddly to work with. Structure has a 37+GB sound library and full multi-timbrality vs. the 4 parts per instance and 1.5GB sound library of Xpand!2. I don't have Kontakt, but I uninstalled Structure to make room for SampleTank 4 Max. Would I buy Structure just to have a sampler? Wouldn't recommend it, because there are better options. Xpand!2 is great for quickly sketching out a few instrument tracks, to be replaced later in production with higher quality sampled instruments.

I bought Liquid Notes a couple of years ago for a ridiculously low sale price. After a period where they were attempting to redevelop Liquid Notes, Re-Compose announced over a year ago that they were switching strategy towards simpler, more versatile solutions to broaden their portfolio. https://www.re-compose.com/new-tools-and-a-different-strategy-to-broaden-our-portfolio.html I am surprised to see that they are still selling Liquid Notes after they announced the end of development for it, but that's good news since it is a unique product that still has value!

For CbB, look in "Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts". You will find that "E" is assigned to "Bypass All Audio Effects". "E" only enables/disables the playlist when the playlist is in focus. If you minimize the playlist, then "E" controls audio effects.