Glenn Stanton

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...

yeah i had to dig out some old DVD install disks to find the Sonic Timeworks products and the old Lexicon plugin. ?

while waiting (if you don't already have a tool for bulk rename) i recommend StExBar as an option - it's a context menu set of tools and the rename feature can use RE as well as plain text to quickly rename files. https://github.com/stefankueng/tools/releases/tag/StExBar_1.11.2 i use it when people send me files in bulk with weird naming and symbols embedded. also when i'm prep'ing for shipping files to remove extraneous info from my exports.

correct

i leave my pan law to 0db centered. then my sends on mono tracks to other mono tracks via patch points don't seem to know... i seldom ever use panning on sends unless i have some reason to position something (e.g. reverb buss to position something in the reverb field)

there are some midi libraries which have just about every possible chord variation, i haven't seen ads recently for them but a search should get your there. the better ones are not free - i'm guessing because of the # provided as well as related documentation. those should be able to be viewed via the browser, or maybe come with their own app/vst. one thing i've been using - HookPad (also not free) but it's allows me to drag chord onto a simple measure based view. can also use melody lines as well. then i export as MIDI and import into CbB. some melodies form the basis for auto-strum guitar parts, and the chords are, er, chords ? the other is band-in-a-box which has some nice auto generate features and ability to export MIDI as well as a vst plugin (which i don't use, no reason, just i don't)... agreed it would be nice to use the native CW chords though...

the Roland Katana series is pretty nice. good range of output wattage, USB for controlling patches via computer, and not bad price wise.

what if you set the "nudge" keys to 100ms? (or other values - mine are set to1ms, 1/32nd note, and 10ms respectively) i know it works for audio.

agreed, i like the idea behind it. it would be good to operate this as "splits" as well so it uses ranges as well as notes.

yes, it's definitely counter-intuitive in the split mode operation ?

if i select "SPLIT" i see "16" in the box. however, i do get a massive amount of tracks - so this is definitely a bug @Noel Borthwick, it's launching itself 16 times each with 16 tracks. edit: worst case the split function should result in 2x16 = 32 tracks if split is intended to create 1 midi track for each audio output track. honestly - i never use this function or am likely too, but it should get fixed ?

hmmm. if i add the powerkit with either the instrument per output mono or the all synth outputs mono, i'm only seeing "1" as the number choice, but "max available is checked. and either way i'm only getting the maximum number of tracks. maybe this only happens when you do an add track versus insert soft synth? and it generates the 16 instrument tracks, same as the insert soft synth dialog. i'm definitely not seeing 256 tracks being generated ?

so, if you have 16 outputs on the instrument and you select instrument track per output, you don't want 16 you want 1? but if you want 4 you would go to the # control and enter 4? you could also go to the # control and type 1. when i use this, i check that box because i want all the outputs, i'll adjust later based on the need for all 16 or 12 or what have you.

as an alternative, you can use the CAL script which splits the MIDI track into individual tracks based on notes (and some scripts do it on ranges like bottom 3 notes, top 3 notes, etc) and there also splits on velocity and i think one on CC value/range. so even for something old like CAL it's still has some neat functions.

hmmm. just checked -> the -3db setting is still there after doing all the steps. are you opening a default project/template - automagically? or just a blank console, no project or template set to auto-open?

hmmmm. for me, if i set it to -3db setting, then create a new project using the no tracks or busses in the new... dialog, the setting is the same, and if i create new using one of my templates, it switches to 0db, but then another new via the dialog it's the global setting. so maybe the stock templates use the 0db setting?

ah, resurrection of an old thread whereby the answer should have been RTFM, and then again ?

did you check your preference -> audio sections to ensure the interface is selected? for example, your usb interface may have been deselected when you knocked the wire out, and now you just need to reselect it, and then make sure your busses are then using that interface as then may have been set to none when you disconnected.

you could set the volume faders to unity (0 on the console) and adjust gain knob to until you're peaking at -3db, or lower. then you can raise and lower as needed. as a note: the 0 mark on the meters does not indicate clipping on volume (as you noted), but you can still clip if the gain is too high. one option is to set your playback meter to "pre fader" which would exclude the level of the volume fader but would show you how the gain control and other in-line processing are effecting the gain.