abacab

That's always a fun way to practice with your DAW! I do it myself from time to time. The first two most important points are (1) to always "open" the MIDI file with Cakewalk (to preserve tempo info), never import it, and then (2) save the song as a Cakewalk .cwp project file, otherwise saving it as a .mid file again will cause you to lose a lot of your Cakewalk changes related to the project. You can always export a .mid of the song later, but as long as you intend to work on the song in Cakewalk, keep it in Cakewalk file format. I took a look at that file you linked, and it should be a good example for a first attempt. It opens up in Cakewalk with 10 MIDI tracks, and one instrument track with the GM synth Cakewalk TTS-1 as the sound module. There are no rules, so here is how I usually go about it: Part A: Initial setup I opened the .mid file in Cakewalk, and since it was GM it opened up the default TTS-1 GM synth and loaded the sounds specified in the file. There are instrument sounds in TTS-1 assigned to the first 6 tracks. It uses track 10 for the drum kit. Tracks 7-9 are unassigned and can be ignored. Those first 6 MIDI tracks are assigned to the first 6 slots in TTS-1, respectively. and track 10 is assigned to slot 10 in TTS-1 for the drums. This info is visible if you open up the TTS-1 GUI. The next thing to do is rename your MIDI tracks in the track pane so you know what you are working with. You will be keeping these MIDI tracks around even after you start replacing MIDI instrument sounds, so get comfy with them. 1. Distortion Gt 2. Distortion Gt 3. Picked Bass 4. Distortion Gt 5. Brass 1 6. Fretless Bs 10. Drums 11. Cakewalk TTS-1: This is the instrument track that generates the sounds based on the data in the MIDI tracks above. The output is a stereo audio output with all the sounds mixed down in the synth. By default this is routing directly to your DAW audio hardware outputs 1 & 2. Optionally you can create a master bus, and other busses later later, if you wish to have more control over output. Tracks 1-6 are using MIDI channels 1-6 that correspond with slots 1-6 in the synth. Track 10 is using the default MIDI channel 10 for drum sounds. You will probably want to open up the Console View so you can adjust levels, especially after you start adding new instruments. They will each be sending their own audio output back to the main mixer, and they will probably not be balanced like the audio mix from TTS-1 was. Part B: Replacing instrument sounds It will be up to you to obtain suitable replacement instrument plugins for the guitars, basses, and brass synth. The drums aren't terrible, so I would leave them for last. But to begin let's first create an example with an instrument you already have on hand. So lets start with the Picked Bass on track 3, and replace it with the Cakewalk Studio Instruments Bass. Then you can just repeat this example with appropriate substitutions for the other instruments as needed. You can use the menu command "Insert > Soft Synth" or the add track (+) button in the track view, and browse to the Cakewalk "SI-Bass Guitar". You want to basically create a new simple instrument track containing the SI-Bass Guitar plugin. Now look at the top of the track header area and set the track control layout to I/O so that you can see the inputs and outputs available in the track headers. Go up to track 3 (Picked Bass) and examine the output for that track. You may need to expand the height of the track to see all the settings in the track header. Click on the arrow by the output dropdown box and you will see TTS-1 is checked. You will also see a second choice in the dropdown menu, SI-Bass guitar. Choose that instead of TTS-1. That's it! The TTS-1 has been replaced by the SI-Bass Guitar. You can replace the rest of the instruments in the same way. If you don't have them on hand yet, you may need to do some hunting. Good luck!

The Tracktion Collective synth (bundled with Waveform) has a number of very good "moogy" synth leads based on ELP and Yes songs, by sound designer Dave Polich. There is one called "Luckiest Man", as well as "Fanfare Lead", Karneval Lead", and "Welcome Back". He seems to have created the lead sound of Lucky Man with 3 detuned pulse oscillators and a low pass filter, and the others mostly with a pair of detuned saws and a low pass filter. For his "Classic Mini" lead, he uses a pair of saw waves and one pulse wave. And he always uses a legato glide for his leads. Then some light EQ, a bit of delay and reverb.

V-Vocal was integrated with the installation of Sonar 5 thru Sonar X2.

Here is a good example that I use all the time: Setting up a Drum Map for Addictive Drums 2 in SONAR This page has a link for the download file that contain a Drum Map file and Cakewalk Track Templates for Addictive Drums 2. Very handy! https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013364/Setting-up-a-Drum-Map-for-Addictive-Drums-2-in-SONAR

BandLab owns the copyrighted intellectual property (software code) that was Sonar, and much of that is carried forward into the Cakewalk by BandLab software release. So really doubt they are going to be inclined to give away proprietary technology, beyond the free use of their current product. So not really abandoned, and ownership is clear. I'm not sure what the legal standing of your software license agreement with the former Cakewalk company would be at this point, but I would consult a lawyer before attempting anything shady. BandLab probably acquired those rights too, but that would just be my guess.

I've wondered about that myself, because I have never been able to do that. Here is the documentation for using the Synth Rack. https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Browser.11.html It would be nice to be able to organize them, but I'm not sure that syncing by track order would be meaningful in all cases, especially when you are using multiple MIDI and audio tracks with multi-timbral instruments. You might have your tracks organized in folders according to groups of instrument sound types, rather than what synth they connect to. But still, I would vote for this as a FR. I would like to be able to group all instances of the same synth together, like Dimension Pro 1, 2, 3, then z3ta+ 1, 2, 3, etc.

Reaper and Ableton Live seem to have implemented this feature in a useful way in their media browsers. You view a preview waveform in the browser that you can click anywhere on to begin playback from that point. Looping the preview playback is also an option. I would probably give the edge to Reaper on this one because the wave preview is much larger and more detailed, plus you can click+drag and highlight a region to play. This would be a useful workflow enhancement for Cakewalk.

Huh? What could be simpler than dragging and dropping a wave file onto the Session Drummer GUI? You can place a different sample on each pad of the kit. That should provide for a simple percussion sampler. For layering multi-samples and creating multi-sampled instruments, you will likely need a real sampler, such as the previously mentioned TX16Wx.

Just for the record, these are the included plug-ins that come with CbB: https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Plug-ins.1.html If you have an older version of Sonar, you can install that before installing CbB, then your old plugins will be available to use in CbB as well. You can also use any 3rd party plugins you may already have. I think that some great suggestions have been made, and it will never hurt to ask for things that could improve the product or make it more relevant. You never know when they might be listening!

Yep, I was aware that it was not included in CbB, but the OP mentioned having Session Drummer, so I figured they should know about that feature. Also, this is a mixed crowd in this forum. As long as it is relevant, and made clear what is and is not included so as to lessen confusion, it is on-topic. Are you in need of a sampler, and if so what are your needs? The step sequencer is still included with CbB, so you can trigger any synth or sampler that you can get your hands on with patterns in that. It does seem that CbB is very lean in the included instruments department, but that is probably going to be expected with a free DAW. Sort of a "bring your own instruments", roll your package kind of deal. Get the DAW for free, but buy or bring your instruments and plugins. Expecting totally new instruments to be developed and distributed for free, while maybe a nice idea, is probably going to be an unrealistic expectation.

Also you can open the "Help Module" window from the "Views" menu. Then when you float your cursor over any widget on the UI, the help module should tell you what it is.

I was a hold out on X3 until late 2016, and even then I had a lot to catch up on. Many of the articles, especially the eZines in that "Whats New" link were helpful in getting me caught up! But it was very smooth transition, because the changes made were incremental, and not disruptive to workflow. Many new features were things that had been on the feature request list for a while, so were welcome additions. I think a few of my favorites are direct synth recording, patch points, and aux tracks. Ripple editing was also a big deal for many!

As Cactus says, it's usually the case with mono-timbral instruments that they receive midi data as Omni (any channel). Changing the MIDI track channel will filter the MIDI data received from an external controller, and can be used to affect which instrument channel in a multi-timbral setup, such as Kontakt, will respond to the controller. The MIDI data in a MIDI clip also has MIDI channel info, and this will not be affected by changing the track input channel. You can examine/edit this channel data in the Event List. Are you working with MIDI files and data, or are you trying to set up external MIDI controllers? If you are working with MIDI data, it will be easier if the instruments each have their own MIDI tracks. That way each MIDI track can have its own channel 1, and not conflict with any other.

Love my SynthMaster with the Nori Ubukata sound sets. Have all of the Historical Synth Giants volumes. Nori has worked as a sound designer for several big companies, including Arturia. http://soundbytesmag.net/noriubukatainterview/ He has also worked with Yamaha and Korg.

Dude. You made your point clearly on the first page of the thread, and several of us agreed that we need both. But since then, if you haven't noticed, the staff has moved this thread into the tutorials forum. The thread topic is "Cakewalk By BandLab Video Tutorials".

I don't believe that it's normal to see them all checked. I can only check one input at a time. Checking the "All Inputs" box should make all midi inputs active.

Maybe you were unaware, but Session Drummer will let you load your own samples, drag and drop, directly onto any pad in the drum kit. Then set up your pattern in the step sequencer, and trigger those samples.

You are only licensed for two computers with XLN products. To fix this, you simply sign onto your XLN account at their website and remove one of the older activations. Then you can activate your current computer. Somehow it is recognizing your computer as a new one.

You could write a book just about the feature additions and improvements in Sonar through the years of Platinum in 2015-2017. But the good news is that the core workflow and UI has not changed significantly on the surface, so you can jump right in and feel at home with the latest CbB! But if you are curious about what was added during the Platinum years, it is all documented here: https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Whats-New#start

It may not be necessary to replace the computer, if you can just swap out the slow hard drive for an SSD, and maybe bump the RAM to at least 8 GB. After those upgrades, the main limiting factor on that laptop will be the CPU, as the clock speed maxes out at 2.0GHz. You will probably be OK with audio tracks, as they are not that CPU intensive by themselves, but that clock speed will limit the number of plugins you will be able to use. Audio will mostly be dependent on hard drive throughput, and that is where an SSD will help. So I would just try an SSD first and see how that works. If all else fails, you can always use it with another computer! There are some great deals available for < $100 on 500GB SSD drives these days! https://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&amp;DEPA=0&amp;Order=BESTMATCH&amp;Description=500gb+ssd&amp;N=100011693 600038463&amp;isNodeId=1

Just install Platinum and the Platinum add-ons from Command Center. Then re-install Cakewalk by BandLab. CbB should pick up Session Drummer with the VST scanner, along with the rest of the Platinum plugins. Or, like Chuck said, just install Session Drummer from the Sonar X1, X2, or X3 disks if you have them. No need to perform a clean install of everything!

You can still install and use Sonar X1 Producer offline and use it like you always have. But Sonar is no longer sold, supported, or updated. Your X1 download is still available in your old Cakewalk.com account. Cakewalk by BandLab is an updated version of Sonar Platinum that is owned and distributed by BandLab. It is currently supported and updates are periodically issued. You will need to go online to get it installed using BandLab Assistant, and then periodically go online to prevent it reverting to demo mode. But it is free, and always will be. Get Cakewalk by BandLab here: https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

This is on sale for $29 USD. https://www.waves.com/plugins/cla-2a-compressor-limiter

SWA Complete Sonar X2 - a playlist of 50 video tutorials. This is an older version of Sonar, but much of these core features will still apply to CbB. YouTube Playlist Chapter Contents (1-50) and length (click the YouTube link to directly access chapters from the YouTube playlist: 1. Audio Interface Setup - 7:24 2. Audio Interface Options - 8:20 3. MIDI Device Setup - 8:58 4. MIDI Clock & Sync - 10:19 5. Control Surface Setup - 14:20 6. File Options - 10:08 7. Plugin Manager - 6:44 8. Instrument Definitions - 10:09 9. GUI & Track Overview - 14:48 10. The Browser - 8:58 11. Multidock & Control Bar - 11:41 12. Inspector & Control View - 7:02 13. Piano Roll View & Screensets - 10:05 14. Project, Track & Bus Templates - 14:02 15. Exploring the Track - 14:35 16. Exploring the Track (Pt.2) - 14:50 17. Exploring the Track (Pt.3) - 13:55 18. Exploring the Track (Pt.4) - 7:52 19. MIDI Synths - 13:03 20. MIDI Synths (Pt.2) - 5:47 21. Session Drummer & Drum Maps - 12:13 22. Audio Routing - 13:06 23. Working with Video - 4:02 24. Audio & MIDI Basics - 23:26 25. MIDI Advanced - 10:46 26. The Matrix - 16:15 27. Step Sequencer - 12:03 28. Editing Basics - 11:47 29. Editing Basics (Pt.2) - 11:45 30. Editing Basics (Pt.3) - 16:17 31. Editing MIDI - 11:22 32. Editing MIDI (Pt.2) - 8:50 33. Staff View - 6:22 34. Comping and V-Vocal - 17:22 - (V-Vocal not in X3) 35. Groove Loops (Clips) - 12:32 36. Working with Tempo - 10:24 37. Working with Audiosnap - 8:47 38. Working with Audiosnap (Pt.2) - 8:26 39. Working with Audiosnap (Pt.3) - 9:34 40. Working with Audiosnap (Pt.4) - 6:23 41. Console View - 9:32 42. Clean Up & Bouncing - 8:25 43. Control Groups & Gain Control - 10:24 44. Pro Channel & Side Chains - 12:56 45. Working with FX & FX Bins - 11:31 46. Working with FX Chains - 10:30 47. Working with Automation - 7:58 48. Working with Automation (Pt.2) - 10:53 49. Working with Automation (Pt.3) - 13:04 50. Exporting - 8:05

That's a quality introduction, and should be required reading for anybody installing a DAW!