Glenn Stanton

true enough, but if i'm doing a mix for someone and they've sent me stereo (dual mono) files, i will strip off one side so i'm working with a mono source (the original files are kept intact) because they're paying me to mix, not worry over silly export mistakes or technical clean up details. pretty sure i've never heard a client mention they wanted loud lip smacks or breath noises on the final ready to master output ? of course if there is an odd note out of place which needs moving, i'll prep a short segment so they can hear the before and after and decide... i always keep in mind what "You Are So Beautiful" would have been if the engineer hadn't fought to keep the dry mouth recording of Joe Cocker on the end, versus the "perfect" second take the producer wanted...

yeah, i exclude all my audio apps from scanning and other protection features when running. also turn off any backup and replication functions (like OneDrive and Drive) to ensure no conflicts with file locks...

actually one of the documentaries had the video clip of John saying "he isn't even the best drummer in the Beatles" after a reporter asks "are you the best drummer in the world"? and of course they're all joking around. Ringo himself in another documentary mentions how he was working with 3 frustrated drummers and his work was the result of trying to mediate them - again mainly in jest... what i found really cool is: he's a lefty who plays on a right hand kit. which is why most of his rolls are confusing to right hand drummers trying to emulate him... him being the greatest drummer after Rich and Peart ?

never used the import as mono function - so it would need some testing to determine if its simply stripping one side off or it's combining (which then runs the risk of increasing the audio file level and possible clipping). technically, if it simply strips off one side, it should be the same as SF doing that work. and if you're getting 80 tracks of drum stems for one song, maybe they need a better drummer ? just sayin' ?

CW doesn't have a true audio edit function where you can delete one side or the other. you could send one side to a mono track and record that to make a mono clip. but i think as part of the overall pre-mix session prep - why not just do the work there while cleaning up noise, etc - start with making it a mono track at the original level - clean up and otherwise prep, then do any volume leveling you like to do before importing into CW.

if you use an audio editor (i use sound forge) you can just remove one of the stereo sides and leave it as a mono file. (as always, do this on copies of the original files as this is a "destructive" process). the only reason to leave it as the "stereo as mono" track is because there are effects on the source mono which are extended into stereo (in which case this is really a stereo file...). if the effects are the same on both channels, then as Will said, merging will have consequences - some of which may be unintended such as volume levels now causing clipping being one of the worst.

maybe use the old 60's trick of the invisible guitar. record the electric performance, then record a second using an acoustic. then mix the acoustic in just behind the electric so it's almost audible. adds a bit of brightness and body (presuming the acoustic is recorded that way) to the electric without seeming like there is an acoustic at all. and sometimes, this is useful in reverse for acoustic songs, a bit of electric can add some mids and articulation (presuming you record it that way) to the acoustic without being obvious. both a separate tracks and acoustically different enough that you should have minimal phase effects even when using Haas tricks and so on.

faster internet? i have 300mbs fiber and its almost instant ?

if your snare is disappearing, it may be a case of frequency masking - what instrument when we squash the range is now the dominate frequency which is causing the compression to trigger? for example, if your guitar is substantially the same frequency as the snare resonance, you may find the guitars constant audio versus the snare transient is causing the compression (or limiting) to squash everything and the snare transient gets lost. side chaining a dynamic EQ or compressor to lower the volume slightly on the offending instrument (assuming you don't want full time EQ cuts or volume reduction) could be enough to duck the guitar and let the snare transient though. sometimes a multiband compressor can help. or as Will pointed out a few posts back, multiple things may be needed to get the balance right. in some old school mixing, there are the attempt to get 1 thing at a time to come through at the top. be it vocal, solo instrument, or band. imagine everything as serial notes and only 1 makes it to the top or is played (some jazz genres are like this) at a time. this all will be at the right level at the right time. much harder than it sounds ?

as far as i know, there is no specific "spitfire" plugin, there is LABS and (for me at least) the BBC Orchestra (Discovery Version). i don't see a "spitfire" plugin anywhere, on the name of the content i'm using, or the LABS.

maybe the export should include options for including project name, track name, clip name, and track number so people can select how they want exported files to be named. i would go further and add tempo (or avg), sample rate, bit depth, stereo/mono, and time code as options as to make it more compatible with the Grammy file naming specs.

maybe an export option "Selected Clips Only" and the "Entire Mix" would automatically assume All Clips to be exported.

hmmm. i have the DISCOVER package under My Products: and under BBC Orchestra in Orchestral category

quick and dirty backing track i haven't gotten to vocals or elaborating the end lead solo no Third Sun from the Rock yet... ?

since HDMI carries both video and audio, i know when i plug my laptop into the TV via HDMI, the HDMI shows up as an audio playback device. before configuring, my audio would switch to HDMI and if the TV volume was muted, no sound. so selecting the playback device in the Windows setting and also in CbB let me use my normal USB audio device while still using the TV as a monitor.

is the installer asking for the VST path or the sound file path? when i install it, the VST goes to my default (C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\VSTPlugins and i select D:\Cakewalk Content\Audio Library\Spitfire for the data/sound/etc files. maybe re-run the install and use the defaults to verify?

did you check your Windows and CbB settings to ensure you're not trying to use the HDMI audio instead of the Scarlett?

interesting. i had seen a old mastering video (like back in the early 2000's) where the engineer using outboard gear use the automation in SAW (an older DAW product) to do several iterations where each pass has some different tweaks to the gear. so maybe some EQ and light compression, then more EQ, then some more compression and some reverb, then more EQ and limiting. today i just get a really clean output on the CbB WAV export, then run it through a chain of Izotope Ozone 9. if the master is not balanced, and i can't tweak it with MB compression or dynamic EQ, i go back to the mix and correct it, then repeat export and Ozone.

no preset, but i noticed while editing there is some "sticky" to the second window note selection... this is a very handy workaround!

also consider slightly raising the input level (or output level) but raise the threshold to say -6db, and yes adding some multiband compression (looking for 2-3db GR) may be helpful as would be removing any really low frequency not really needed.

the the case from @Light Grenade, i name my audio tracks "I01 Kick" "I02 Snare" "I03 HH" and MIDI as "Z01 Drums" "Z02 Bass" etc so i can use the track sorting function within CbB. and then when i export, i get "projectname-trackname-tracknum.wav" which - strip out track name with the StEx rename function: and if i need to i can strip out the I0# bit as well using the same regular expression. pretty straightforward. but then i lose the sorting by numbers... ?

and that's the crux of the matter... so some experimentation might be needed. for example, if you "master" your song @ -10 LUFS, and you upload it to Spotify, what happens to it? does it really get cut -6 LU? (50%?)... this is where an experienced master engineer is worth their weight because they can a) spot issues with the mix that will be problematic in just about any situation, b) any negative impacts from online platform normalization schemes, c) do the work to ensure best competitive levels on your material to work across platforms...

in listening to Ian Shepard and other master folks - it's ok to have the LUFS higher than the online service suggests they're normalizing too - but it depends on the dynamic range and frequency content which will determine if it remains competitive or potentially is negatively impacted by the service (hence the reason for the loudness penalty app by Ian). i don't think you have to master for every service, but then again if you have a budget for it... as a note, in the 90's, LUFS didn't exist ? that said, using mainstream material from the late 90's and early 00's is likely not a great reference in terms of levels for online as much of it is damaged goods from the loudness wars... i'd suggest that 8-10LUFS for a CD with a dynamic range of 5-6 would be loud and probably still decent to listen to... for online targets - 12-14 LUFS and 6-8 dynamic range would the be good where service is targeting 16 LUFS. of course its really material dependent.

i just updated my VS2019 yesterday afternoon as the update came through on my work machine...

as a note: the update noted as "July 13, 2021—KB5004237 (OS Builds 19041.1110, 19042.1110, and 19043.1110)" - update has a bit over 53K files in it so i suspect the install that happened the day before i installed 053 was the culprit ? might not be the redistributables but it definitely impacted the system ?