Robert Bone

There are optional updates that may well be sitting out there for you to apply, manually. I suggest you go to Settings Update and Security, and look to see if it shows any optional updates that may need to be applied. If there are, once they finish, I suggest you then manually tell it to Check for Updates one additional time, in case there are updates to any updates you just applied. Bob Bone

Can you figure out what version of Melodyne you have currently installed? (If you open File Explorer, you can navigate to the plugin and hover your mouse over it, and it will pop-up the version of Melodyne on your system). Also, maybe skip the loading of that last instance of Melodyne, to get the project to at least open, in Safe mode, as a start. Maybe also, use the VST2 version of Melodyne?

For wharever the worth, a VST Hosting product, designed from the ground up for facilitating live performance, might give you better results. I absolutely LOVE Sonar, and the current Cakewalk by Bandlab, for their music production features and strengths, but it is not designed for handling live performance. I used to use, and loved, VST performance software from Brainspawn, called Forte, but they went away, sadly. I now use Cantabile and it meets my needs, with instant preset switching, even for multiple instances of sample-based instruments, can trigger file playback start\stop and lighting changes, and lots more. They have a free 'lite' version, not sure if a free trial on their more robust versions. I pasted a link to their version comparison page farther down in this post. I believe there are other VST Hosting software products out there on the market - I am sharing this one because it is what I use. What I do for live performance, is to load up instances of all the different synths I need, for a particular performance, into Cantabile, and load up the presets and any sample-based instruments, using a separate instance of Kontakt or Sample Tank for each sample-based instrument. Then, I can combine any number of different sounds from any of the loaded synths, for a given preset, like strings and piano for one preset, or strings/piano routed to one midi controller, and a lead sound routed to a 2nd midi controller, and a big fat Taurus Bass Pedal sound routed to my midi bass pedals controller, and save all of those combo as a single preset, and so on - like the following preset could route different combos or single sounds to each of my 4 midi keyboard controllers and the bass pedal controllers, with multiple zones for one or more of the keyboards, so that a single keyboard could split sounds into multiple playable zones, etc.... and all of the switching, and layering, and zones, and different controllers, and all of that, can all be instantly switched as different presets. VERY powerful - then you can throw in tempo-based file playback and lighting changes through midi, and it all works like a champ. So here is that link to the versions comparison page: https://www.cantabilesoftware.com/compare Again, I LOVE using Cakewalk by Bandlab for my music production needs - I just find using a VST Hosting program for live performance better suits the task of playing live. Bob Bone

I deleted the older version with no issues afterwards... Bob Bone

I deleted the older version with no issues afterwards... Bob Bone

Great. As I posted, it may be a repetitive process, but shouldn't be too annoying. : Bob Bone

Also - I only susggested you temporarily 'suspend' your antivirus (and stay clear of the internet anytime your antivirus is not active), just long enough to try opening your project, to rule out any interference with your project by something the antivirus software is doing. As soon as you know if your project opens or not in that case, you would absolutely want to tell antivirus software to be fully active again. On MY system, I have the antivirus software (Avast on my system), set to protect anything I am downloading, anything on the web that I visit, and to scan any file I open on my system. Now, since scanning of any and all files being opened or written can certainly slow down the massive amount of audio streaming that goes on with my having insane numbers of sample files for all of the sample-based instruments/synths I use in just about all of my projects, I subsequently went into my Avast user interface, and added a specific collection of folders to what Avast labels as 'Exceptions', and once those folders are added to that list of exceptions, then Avast will skip scanning any folders and the sub-folders within those folders. The reason that is an OK thing to do, is that each and every one of those files within each and every one of those folders and subfolders, were already fully scanned when I either downloaded them or installed them from DVD's, so they are already found to be free and clear from viruses and malware. Be excluding those specific folders/sub-folders/files from being scanned anytime they are accessed, I avoid any impact to the speed of streaming/reading them, from the antivirus software's otherwise analytical examination of them. MANY folks also do this, to keep the streaming audio as efficient and speedy as possible, which benefits any Cakewalk projects that rely on the files within any of those folders. So, the above is why I suggested the temporary suspension of Avast - for testing whether or not that is a factor in Cakewalk having trouble opening your project(s), and the additional information is my thoughts and recommendations on how to help keep your antivirus software from adversely affecting/impacting the streaming audio processing of the files and folders in the Exceptions list (which also would include any audio files in your projects - which would have either been created within your project, by recording audio tracks/clips, but also any imported audio you added to your project - which would have been scanned by the antivirus software whenever you had either downloaded those audio files from the web, or had ripped them from CD or DVD, or wherever you got them from, so that having your antivirus software skip various Cakewalk-related folders and your sample-based sounds, does not expose your system to malicious evil attacks. Please evaluate the above, and if any of what I tried to explain needs clarification or I simply confused or alarmed you, please just indicate so, and I (and hopefully others), will respond to make sure you understand what I posted above. My list of Exceptions in Avast (some antivirus software products use different terms, like 'Exclusions' or 'White-Listed' etc....) includes, my sample library folders, the Cakewalk Content and Cakewalk Projects folders, and 'AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\* ' for my Windows User. Lastly, here is a partial screenshot of that Exceptions dialog box in Avast:

If you have not yet done so - I suggest you click on the Install Now button, to tell Windows to go ahead and install those pending updates. When those updates finish installing - and please note that they may not all be applied in a single update pass, if any of those require a restart - which is almost certainly the case with the cumulative updates, but really, any one set of updates may require a restart prior to continuing on to any other updates - just depends on how they published them. Windows knows what to do there, so just install/restart as needed, until all of those pending installs are complete. Now, once the last of THOSE updates finishes installing/restarting, there still may be an additional set of updates to one or more of the ones you just installed, or some altogether new ones yet to be downoaded and installed, SO, even though with the above updates, it will tell you that you are Up To Date - I recommend you tell it to Check for Updates one additional time, to pick up any of the stragglers. Then, I suggest you try your project again. If it is still failing, and if it is any interest to you, I would be happy to work with you to try to get your project open on MY system, just to see what happens. (we would just need to coordinate your uploading your project to something like Dropbox, and my accessing a shared link to that project folder so I can download and try opening it). Bob Bone

Is all Windows Update maintenance applied? The error in your initial screenshot is an access violation, meaning the application is playing with memory it doesn't control or have access to. Might your antivirus software possibly be interfering? Try temporarily suspending your antivirus software and then try launching CbB, from its launch icon. Whatever is happening is almost certainly local to your computer, and therefore almost certainly solvable. Any other message when you tried launching CbB using its launch icon? Bob Bone

Good news, indeed - I still have some testing to do for it, got tied up last night and today. Will do in the mid-day tomorrow and give feedback to Noel and company.

I never run Cakewalk from Bandlab Assistant (not that I have reason not to, that I know of, I just always launch it from the Cakewalk launch icon. When I installed Cakewalk by Bandlab, from the Bandlab Assistant, it created a desktop launch icon, and I pinned that to the Taskbar. I also happen to run Cakewalk, and actually Bandlab Assistant, with the Run As Administrator option - though I don't believe it is a requirement. Anyways - try launching Cakewalk by Bandlab from its desktop launch icon, rather than from the Bandlab Assistant, and see if that works. Bob Bone

Yup - I agree - I am just trying to help work through making sure all of the plugins and system device drivers, and Windows maintenance, and application maintenance, and all that, is all up to date, as my friend is having weird crashes. SO - while looking at the version of BlueVerb he has loaded into his failing project, I happened to discover that there was some maintenance that came out, AFTER the demise of Sonar, and that maintenance is not available to anyone through simply having a Sonar license. Not the end of the world. Thanks Bob Bone

Howdy - been a while, and welcome back. Cakewalk will live comfortably and stably, right alongside Sonar Platinum - this is how I run, and have zero issues with that setup. I suggest you give Cakewalk by Bandlab a try, as they have REALLY done a wonderful job of continuing to develop and to maintain it. Bob Bone

The Bandlab Assistant program serves as the download and install manager for Cakewalk by Bandlab (formerly Sonar Platinum). SO, once you log in to the Bandlab Assistant, there will be a screen with some tabs at the top, that say: Library, Sounds, and Apps. Click on the Apps tab/button, and then you will see the Install button for Cakewalk on the bottom half of the screen for the app, and that will take you through the installation process for Cakewalk by Bandlab. Here is a screen shot of that first screen I see after I log in to Bandlab Assistant (except you won't have the couple of MP3's I recorded showing on your screen, but you will see those 3 tabs at the to I was referring to. If any problems, please post back and one or more of us will happily try to get you sorted out. Here is that screen shot:

I am testing it now - having some strange results and want to do more thorough testing. 1) My system keeps popping p a screen, for each plugin it seems to be processing, giving me the option of getting the app (VSTScan) from the Microsoft Store, or running it anyways. I had to keep hitting enter as it was dispaying the message for the handful of plugins it was rescanning. 2) I will be redoing my testing, as I want to make sure all that should be scanned are being scanned, and that only the single 32-bit plugin I have in the path I added to Preferences, is actually added. I am rerunning the testing, because I got some different counts in the Toaster popup messages than I was expecting. 3) I will also be testing the VST3 skipping logic - by adding a VST2 plugin into the Common Files\VST3 path, which should ignore it, in addition to testing the processing of a single 32-bit plugin added to a path that I first had added to Prefereces VST Settings - C:\Program Files (x86)\VST32\VSTSCANTEST32 3) I will post back details of my testing findings, when I complete my run throughs and analysis of the results. Bob Bone

Thanks. I got ready to test, and got sidelined by a friend with a CbB project mess that needed some love. He is OK now. I too will test, in about 5 minutes. Bob Bone

Thanks. I will test it in about an hour, and let you know.

By the way - CbB refers to Cakewalk by Bandlab, as opposed to Bandlab. Cakewalk by Bandlab (CbB) is the recording software's new name - it used to be called Sonar Platinum, before Gibson abandoned it and the wonderful folks at Bandlab bought Sonar and renamed it as Cakewalk by Bandlab (and thank you thank you thank you to them for not only keeping it alive, but also for continuing to both maintain and add new features to it). So, anyways, make sure to download and install Cakewalk by Bandlab, which you do once you set up a free Bandlab account and download and install the Bandlab Assistant - when you launch that, it is where you will see the button to install Cakewalk by Bandlab. Bob Bone

@Starship Krupa has a good point - It is important to know that some kinds of effects plugins are made/designed to be used during mixing/mastering, and not during recording. Just wait to insert effects like Convolution Reverb, Linear Phase (LP), or any that require a large ASIO Buffer Size to work properly, until you finish recording tracks, and have moved on to mixing/mastering. (during recording, keep the ASIO Buffer Size of your audio interface fairly small - like 128 samples or less, though too small and you might also induce some audio quality issues, and when mixing/mastering, crank up the ASIO Buffer Size to something like 1024 or even 2048 samples, as that will give enough buffer size for those more 'robust' effects to properly process the audio. I usually record with my ASIO Buffer Size at 128 samples, and mix at 1024 or 2048 samples. When considering which effects plugins to use during recording, take a look at the plugin's description, or often the name, to see if the effect says it is designed for mixing/mastering, or says it is a Convolution Reverb (ising Impulse Responses), or Linear Phase (LP), or uses 'Look-Ahead' processing, then you want to avoid using that one until you begin mixing. If you want to use a reverb or delay, during recording, there are lots of them available that don't require the large buffer size, and lots of folks use those during recording, and then swap them out for the more robust effects types once they begin mixing. Bob Bone

I have come to that conclusion, as well. BT offered folks a really good sale price on the effects, which expired some time ago, so I think that even though there was a set of updates to that bundle that came with Sonar, they are frozen in time, with regard to maintenance, as far as I can determine. Bob Bone

Glad it seems to be working for you - not at all sure what would have been going on to produce that issue, but maybe I am also not understanding what you meant by unresponsive. Were the effects active? Was the Input Echo On button active for that track? Did you accidentally hit the letter 'E' on your computer keyboard? If so, that toggles On or Off, the bypassing of all effects processing in the project, so if this happened, simply hitting 'E' again would toggle the effects processing back on. Bob Bone

I did not buy the Triton VST from Korg yet, so have not run into this. Perhaps, though, you can insert midi events to do program/preset changes that the VST would react to. Have you tried that? Bob Bone

Well, for your vocal track, you will need whatever effects you want to use, added to the FX Bin, and/or whatever else you add using the Pro Channel. Then, when you turn on the Input Echo button for that track, Cakewalk will send the processed vocal track signal, WITH the effects, to whatever track or bus is set for the Output for that track. There are additional ways of adding effects, such as using an effects send, going to an effects bus you would set up and configure to have effects there - and that is a good approach if you have multiple tracks that essentially are using the same effects - setting those up on a separate effects bus, allows you to route some signal, using effects sends, to be able to have a single instance of those effects (because they are on that single effects bus), for however many tracks you send to that effects bus, and there are lots and lots of videos on YouTube you can watch, to see how to go about doing that. In the meantime, just make sure you have the desired effects on your vocal track, and click the Input Echo On button, and you should hear your vocals and effects in real time. Bob Bone

Is it possible that you have changed which USB-connected devices are connected to which USB ports on the computer? You could try: 1) In the project having this issue, go into Preferences > MIDI > Devices > and uncheck that midi keyboard from Input Devices and Output Devices, and click on Apply. 2) Then save the project, and close the project and open it again. 3) Now, go back into Preferences > MIDI > Devices, and check the boxes to add that midi keyboard back in as an Input Device and as an Output Device, and click on Apply. 4) Then, if you can hear notes triggered by the midi keyboard, Save the project again, and you will hopefully be back in business. Bob Bone

Thanks for that info. Helpful to know. Bob Bone