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Now here's some stuff for the MIDI nerds... MIDI Programming - A Complete Study Part 1 - MIDI File Basics http://www.petesqbsite.com/sections/express/issue18/midifilespart1.html

And "the man behind the curtain" has been revealed! I have always suspected that there was some special hocus pocus going on when opening a GM file in Cakewalk! Thanks, scook!

Here are the improvements made to CbB since BandLab took over. All I see is a focused effort on improving the quality of the software, without needing to focus on releasing the "new feature of the month". That is what many users were asking for even back in the Gibson days, after the fast release monthly Platinum update cycle began. Current release notes: https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/whats-new See previous release notes here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFOe_zJrd3x2EnaZ_Jc3iSbZPG2WANiCD4_RP83OjlA/edit?usp=sharing

Meng has already stated that Cakewalk will always be free. So there should be no fear that he will suddenly hike the price for us.

+1 for Nori Ubukata Historical Synth Giants Collection Vol.1 (and anything else programmed by Nori). He nails some classic synths with his sound design. That bank has some great Floyd and Genesis sounds! Since I have that bank in my SynthMaster, I was already starting to search my patches when I saw the post above from @msmclead with the spoiler about those two "Mamy" patches. Time saver! Thanks! In SynthMaster, Nori recreated it with using one oscillator with a an unidentified asymmetrical single cycle wave from the synth oscillator library. Then it runs through a single low pass virtual analog filter, and finally uses the SM arpeggiator as a step sequencer to cause the notes to retrigger while being held. The volume envelope is a fast attack, with medium linear decay, no sustain, and a fairly short release time. The filter envelope settings are a close match with the volume envelope, but with a bit of added sustain. I don't see any synth FX being used here. I think the sound could use some minor tweaking, maybe some FX, to be closer to the sound in the recording. But the arp sequencer pattern works well. Now that lead sound seems very close! I like that one!

SONAR Platinum/Professional/Artist Offline Activation https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013384/Offline-Activation#SONAR

What’s the difference between MIDI Type 0 and MIDI Type 1 files? https://www.sweetwater.com/sweetcare/articles/what-difference-between-midi-type-0-midi-type-1/

That was an in your face version of Purple Haze that I've never heard before! Good find! I ran across an interesting interview with Jose, where he spills a few of his secrets... Jose Feliciano talks acoustic guitars and a lifetime of making music https://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/jose-feliciano-talks-acoustic-guitars-and-a-lifetime-of-making-music-567096

Voxengo Span is good, as is Melda's free MAnalyzer. https://www.meldaproduction.com/MAnalyzer

For anybody with concerns about the free software model, take a look at Red Hat Linux. They give away the open source software, and sell support for it. Revenue nearly 3 Billion last year, with net income 2.58 Million. Free software. Yup. https://www.redhat.com/en https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/rht/financials

Well I am a synth guy, not a pianist, so I will defer to the real piano players for their opinions. But I wouldn't write it off as a $20 piano. It has a relatively small footprint, loads fairly quickly, and to my ears sounds about as good as the other pianos I have. Plus it was part of the Avid Pro Tools bundled instruments for years, so I assume it was acceptable with that crowd.

At the time of the Great Shutdown, much expert opinion was expressed that Cubase was the best alternative option to Cakewalk for Windows users who are heavy users of MIDI hardware. Now that Cakewalk lives, the original (and maybe best option for MIDI hardware users) is back on the table, and free!

I have the AIR Mini Grand, the AIR Velvet, and the AIR DB-33. I agree that the Mini Grand is a very decent piano. Velvet is a nice Rhodes and Wurli emulation. And the DB-33 gives you a nice set of B-3 tonewheel sounds. All in all a good VST keyboard collection, especially if you haven't yet invested in go-to virtual keyboards. And as far as the AIR synths go, the trio of Vacuum Pro, Hybrid 3, and Loom cover subtractive, hybrid, and additive synthesis, respectively. You can cover a lot of sonic ground with these instruments for cheap, if you get the complete AIR bundle upgrade.

If you have both the PC built-in audio and your audio interface enabled, you can configure Cakewalk to use either device as the "master" output. You can also have Windows configured to use either audio output as the default for Windows and other application sounds. But you will need to have either your headphones, or powered speakers, connected to your chosen outputs to hear anything. Some folks use two sets of speakers, or as was mentioned, just switch one set of speakers between the audio outputs in use. If you do this you can assign the built-in audio to Windows sounds, and assign the dedicated audio interface exclusively to your DAW, such as Cakewalk. On my setup, I have disabled the built-in audio in my system and assigned my audio for both Windows and my DAW to use my audio interface and one set of powered monitor speakers. To send your recording files over the internet for somebody to hear, you should use a file format that the recipient has a player for. The simplest way to let someone listen to your songs is to export them in MP3 format. Then preview them with an MP3 player on your computer to make sure you are not exporting a blank audio file. Read the help files relating to track selection for the export process.

Why? World domination, obviously! Just remember what happened to Netscape Navigator (paid web browser) after Microsoft gave away Internet Explorer with Windows, and the "browser wars" began ... https://www.engadget.com/2014/05/10/history-of-netscape/

Do you think it matters as much if somebody only needs to record a piano accompaniment track, and not a soloist?

Take a look at courses from this instructor, Jason Allen. https://www.udemy.com/user/janthonyallen/

This has been a sore subject on the old forum for a long time. My impression was that the bakers were reluctant to engage in a do-over. Staff view has been stuck in time as is, but has been a part of Cakewalk since forever, so removing it was out of the question...

IMHO the manual is invaluable as an "encyclopedia" for scanning through to get an overview of a product, and looking up commands and how to use them. But I like videos that show me how-to techniques that manuals rarely explain. There is a need for both! I agree that watching videos just to get an overall view of a product can be painful and time consuming.

I don't seem to have that one, yet my account goes back to Sonar 1.x Could that have been a one-off that Cakewalk gave away, or you had to buy at some point?

+1 for the creative potential! I find that I can drop chords into the PRV in this thing faster than with any other tool. For example, handy for quickly building up a MIDI chord progression in one track, then adding a matching bassline to it in another track.

I also like the Overloud REmatrix, for a conventional convolution reverb with a library of IRs. But I only have the Player version. https://www.overloud.com/products/rematrix Here is how to move REmatrix Solo into REmatrix Player. https://www.overloud.com/node/180 You can follow these steps to install your copy of REmatrix SOLO Library: https://www.overloud.com/installation-rematrix-lib.php?p=2210

+1 for the Waves H-Reverb. https://www.waves.com/plugins/h-reverb-hybrid-reverb#greg-wells-on-using-h-reverb-for-vocals https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/waves-h-reverb

Some additional resources for DB-33: Review – DB-33 by AIR Music http://soundbytesmag.net/db33byairmusic/ Exploring the DB-33 in Pro Tools https://ask.audio/articles/exploring-the-db-33-in-pro-tools