Glenn Stanton

i'm finding i do a lot of composition in Hookpad and Musescore. or both. a rough draft in Hookpad, export MIDI and bring into Musescore to then fine tune, merge, expand, create the melodies etc. export to MIDI for CbB and any final tweaks and edits. maybe re-export from the DAW in needed to ensure my sheet music is aligned. 

it's a weird combination of "blocks" and music notation. i'm not really a fan of tabs (for me it's harder than plain old sheet music, no idea why). ?

2 minutes ago, Byron Dickens said:

Yep. Now every spam bot in the world has them.

not true, for all spambots to truly get it all, they have to buy the list from the DMV or voter rolls ? lol

15 hours ago, MozartMan said:

You can disable Windows Ink Workspace. Here is tutorial:

thanks, but in reality, the ink system is embedded in the typing system - so the "ink workspace" can be turned off, but the internals of the ink system are embedded in the typing system - so it's never really turned off from a collection of keystrokes and mouse movements. my guess -- people were using drawing to communicate on chats and meeting product whiteboards to avoid typing and therefore a means of collecting the mouse (or other drawing means) was needed to collect it. 

not sure if they track cursor key movements though. so maybe the old etch-a-sketch means of signaling could be used? (like square wave binary code or even morse code lol) ?

another thought (and what i do) is you can use the arranger as in #1 - then export a 2-track (or mono) WAV file, then import that into a new project (e.g. projectname VOX.cwp) and do all your vocals in that project: lead, comps, backing, ad libs, etc etc. then export those finished vocals and import into the main project. the arranger removes the solo (and any other sections you don't need) and the 2-track WAV file let's you do all the vocal work without the weight of all the tracks in the main project (which lightens the CPU load and let's you work with lower latency).

"artificial" or "automatic" "double tracking" ADR was invented by an Abbey Road engineer (Ken Townsend) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_double_tracking) because John was always complaining about having to do double takes on vocals. lol. Waves has a plugin (which i use often on background vocals, not so much lead vocals) which simulates that effect. https://assets.wavescdn.com/pdf/plugins/reel-adt.pdf

the double tracking technique is more than just shifting the timing but doing small (or large) variations whilst it is running to create differences which make it appear more lifelike. so in addition to shifting the time, some modulation on one or both tracks can add more realistic double tracking (or cool effects).

before i got the Waves plugin i would do as mettelus suggested as well as use the Sonitus modulation plugin on each track. or on a separate use the Sonitus (or other split delay effect) with the modulation to create a stereo split using the delay timing + modulations and then center the lead vocal. the delay + modulation was mainly for background vocals.

not really - i like to use no latency approach to recording live instruments and vocals - so the monitoring is not echoed from the DAW, but from the mixer and monitoring gear. so that also means i can specify the latency on the recording. say 100ms one-way. then after i record, i know the tracks are shifted 100ms and simply move them to the left 100ms. done. no possibilities of crackles, pops, or problems with performances impacted by latency from the DAW and IO echo. 

some folks are ok with 3, 5, 10, or even 20ms latency (roundtrip) with the DAW recording-echo approach. i think it's just simpler to accept it and move it to align the tracks. takes mere seconds to set and ready for next round of recording.

actually, if you watch the Paul McCartney @ Abbey Roads special (2011? https://youtu.be/9elQeVfrLOo?si=qm8jLR_xLK-e2T_Z) where he is demonstrating (all solo performances except audience sing & clap along) the old recording processes he (and the Beatles) used with tape, and then his tech using pro tools, you can see the tech doing the manual latency shifts in near real time after each take and before Paul begins a new track (granted much older technology but same principle).

much less complex than say trying to time align or phase align drums, etc.

so no issues for me. note that my UMC1820 can get roundtrip down to 2.3ms on my desktop, and 5.2ms on my laptop, but really, why bother with the potential for combing effects from even minor latency when direct monitoring basically solves that. and my mixers (Behringer EURORACK UB1202FX ) built-in effects like reverb and delay provide singers with some of that without using up any of my CPU processing as well.

so my path = mic / DI -> preamp -> IO -> IO USB to/from PC (record in + play out) + direct out -> mixer into headphone monitoring w/ any effects desired.  so all clean mic and DI signals in via IO, and the direct monitoring and recorded play out via the mixer/monitor.

5 minutes ago, mark skinner said:

 Glenn , Very Cool song. You did a great job with the synth voices , Very convincing. I agree with @treesha . More cowbell , or at least "some" cowbell.  Interesting , I think the female vocal when it comes in , actually sounds like Treesha.

Nice one ..   mark

thanks! maybe another song for more cowbell ? the xylophone with the Bb (which i think if louder would be too dragging) is used to make the swing between G & C slightly discordant and resolving alternately... 

cheers!

On 10/10/2023 at 4:07 PM, treesha said:

I enjoyed it, ty for posting the lyrics even if very clear in this song. The mix sounds great. I like the switch to female vocals (i think) after the solo and the chorusy singing from there on. A good song for halloween season. Since I have never had the opportunity to say this...more cowbell....

thanks! these are Synth V voices - Kevin is the lead male on the verses and singalong, and Natalie is the female voice on the bridge. both are also the backup vocals as well as a two more harmony voices - Anri and Solaria. 

https://dreamtonics.com/synthesizerv/

https://synthv.fandom.com/wiki/SynthV_Wiki

i did use a xylophone to provide a constant Bb chord throughout the verse (when i play it live on guitar, it's the Bb note on the C and G chords) which somewhat acts like a cowbell ? 

i did tweak the mix a bit yesterday to bring in the instruments a tiny bit (1db or so) more and reduce some of the bass level (as i hadn't really done a proper check across listening devices like i should have...)

i also noticed since they stopped using the SETI apps on your PC to help, erm, decode space signals, that the newer auto-wreck features on text messaging seems to find and attempts to use words which a) you never knew existed, and b) would never have used in any conversation you ever had but somehow the AI determined it was just the word you needed.

so either a) the aliens are already here and running things and use this to keep the masses busy correcting it and leveling curses at it, and/or b) they dropped something into the water/vaccines/etc which make the population so stoopid that we'll never be a threat to the rest of the galaxy...

1 hour ago, Lee Jackson said:

I've downloaded the latest Realtek audio driver from my laptop manufacturer (Sager) and installed it, just to be sure, and nope, it didn't put a MIDI driver on my system. I'm not going to be able to use TTS-1 without a MIDI driver of some sort. This is where I need some suggestions again, please.

 

couple of thoughts

-- if you're stuck using the realtek drivers for your audio out, ok, but if you have an IO device which supports better audio, i'd disable the realtek ones. and use the WASAPI shared or exclusive modes (or if the IO device has proper ASIO drivers use those).

-- you do not need a MIDI device to play MIDI via virtual instruments (such as TTS-1, SI- instruments like drums, piano, strings, bass) etc (assuming you install the SI instruments that come with CbB). the MIDI on a given track is sent to the VI and then out via your audio output.

-- in 99% of cases, people are looking to "disable" the MS GM synth as it has had a lot of issues and none have been given attention... not sure why you "lost it" from an update, but there are numerous OS updates happening and its possible one of those recent ones (e.g. i've had 6 updates in 2 weeks now) which could have disabled it (esp Edge updates are notorious for screwing things up lately)

8 hours ago, azslow3 said:

So, one indirect way converting CbB -> DAWProject already exist. First convert to REAPER (with ReaCWP), then convert to DAWproject (with ProjectConverter)

Till DAW developers put real effort to do this right (automatically or after asking user rendering/converting unsupported by export format parts of the project, like it is done for "Audio export" or saving into common formats from graphic editors), exporting to different DAW, changing there and exporting back is not going to be fluent. So one direction transfer is probably primary application for any export format in the DAWs world.

agreed. realistically, generally the object model is project -> tracks + envelopes -> clips + envelopes -> busses + envelopes -- each with settings, effects w/ settings, plus all the written notes, and then the associated audio and/or MIDI files in formats that are generally well known by now.

one inhibitor would be the envelopes data if not smoothed could be significantly sized. otherwise, most of the metadata would be fairly minimal (say <10mb uncompressed?) 

22 hours ago, sjoens said:

Since using Windows 11 I noticed foreign language letters & symbols appearing out of nowhere and words being run together without spaces when typing. 
Apparently this was because "Windows is using artificial intelligence to help you type",  which is ON by default.

and apparently everything you type, every mouse movement (the ink services you cannot disable oddly enough) and any related audio/video/electromagnetic signals (like bluetooth and wifi, NFS, credit card w/ chips, etc) are also all scanned and shared to someone on the internet to "help" make everything better.

not trying to be paranoid but the timing of these "features" in windows and apple OSes seemed to coincide with the completion of the massive NSA facility in Utah a number of years ago (when the fort meade facility couldn't handle the load and the old TRW crypto facility with the quantum processor farms (which is why encryption became mostly all allowed back in 1995) needed more storage).

7 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

... If so and if you are triggering audio samples in the plug-in via MIDI note triggers, could you have different presets/patches assigned to different MIDI channels? ...

yes, you could have a bunch of instruments all responding on the same or different MIDI channels as well as outputs - separate or combined.  even multiples of a single instrument.

part of a series of songs written during my time doing open mics at the Backstage Hotel which was all about creating and performing originals.

this one is somewhat like a Romeo & Juliet story, erm, perhaps in reverse? lol.

anyways - this is early in the mix process and i have some lead vocal phrasing i want to tweak...

feel free to leave some comments.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

she thinks about how her life has been insane
and contemplates the mysteries of eternal pain
she sings her favorite song but then she hums the refrain

she dances in the rain

her boyfriend's gone away and she wonders who to blame
on this date in the calendar she cries out his name
to the hole in the ceiling where it echoes through the frame

she dances in the rain

he crawls up to the surface like a zombie from its bed
screams this ain't no way to live to those voices in his head
but it's to that distant melody, a secret place he's led

he's walking with the dead

he rushes down that shrouded lane and he finds a clearing there
he sees a lonely figure dancing 'round a candle on a chair
it's a losing proposition you get burned if you win the game

she dances in the rain

he moves into her motion, she swirls to embrace
those raindrops sparkle on her beautiful face
the music seems fantastic but the song its got no name

she dances in the rain

[solo]

two worlds collide
they're not the same
he walks with the dead
she dances in the rain

now miles apart
in the same dark room
they pull apart the curtains
to release the gloom

they fall to their knees
to that higher power above
and they begin to pray
they say

love
shine on me

love

18 hours ago, Craig Anderton said:

I hate to see spam deleted. I come to the Cakewalk forums specifically to learn about granite countertop epoxy, custom kitchen cabinets, and how to improve my SEO with "verified user" review farms in Bengladesh. How can we possibly expect to get the most out of Cakewalk without this vitally important information?

honestly, i'm only here for the sneaker ads anyways...

46 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

Then maybe someone other than my friends and family might hear it. ?

whoa! wait! you have friends? ?‍?️

note: Will's technique of recording the input via the AUX track is how you print the effects on the WAV clip(s). otherwise, just having plugins on the input track does NOT print those effects. if you turn off the effects, you're simply left with the raw input. and which i recommend recording BOTH - so if you find the effect(s) printed on the aux track need to be adjusted, you have the source material to work with... much like re-amping - record your guitars both DI and post-amp / post-effects so you can redo the guitar amping and effects later.

23 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Use case! ?

That's the kind of scenario I think it's built for: things that start out in one DAW and just need to go to another DAW. Wouldn't you just love to see a new feature that coddles the desires of lazy clients? ?

in my case(s) - clients want the work done in the DAW their project is in ? so having several of the popular ones is the investment i made to ensure i can address those. but if there was a universal DAW project content solution, i would like to be able to import it cleanly, use just the one DAW and export it reliably into whatever format the client wanted. ?‍♀️

yeah, it depends on how many tracks you're recording at any one time. for me - i can only do 16 at the same time. so moving them is fairly quick, and regardless, all systems have some latency even if its 2.5ms, when you are adding tracks to recorded material (overdubs etc), you'll still need to accommodate that unless there is something i'm not doing correctly ? 

most pitch shifting plugins aren't great in low latency mode. i generally track without any plugins and try to use direct monitoring to avoid any latency effects in monitoring. and if someone needs a bit of reverb, i'll use the mixer built-in reverb... ? then just adjust the recorded tracks by whatever the latency setting shows (e.g. if 5ms or 10ms, then shift things left 5-10ms) and done. i've found it just safer to get recordings without any possible glitching due to plugin overhead or even mysterious system occurrences ? 

for jumping though. i simply pop open the marker list (normally at the bottom - this image for sharing idea only...)

9 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

The Gibson/Cakewalk Inc. debacle taught me to always stay versed in at least two DAW's, 'cause you never know what's going to happen.

now i'm feeling like i must be paranoid with 6 DAW applications... ? 

really though it's because some clients will only share their project file and related content and do not want to do old school export to WAV and let the mix guy do things... but for me, that's maybe 3 in 10. most will simply export their tracks (WAV or AIFF) and a sample mix or two, maybe some notes on "critical" effects they want.

yes, apologies, "audible bounce"

the SI-Piano or the free sforzando player will display the keys being pressed live or from the recorded MIDI content. 

22 hours ago, gustabo said:

Discord desktop didn’t wreak any havoc on my computer and uninstalled very easily, perhaps you had/have a virus and wasn’t aware of it.

Discord is a virus.