Glenn Stanton

<dr evil on> i'll sell you mine for one million dollars <dr evil off>

if the clips are identical, why not fix one then copy? or groove clip it? can you use the silence function to set the threshold on the weak kick and have it removed? or eq it out? or selecting the clips, then ctrl key and drag edge to shorten?

i'd try to do updates until the DPC check comes back clean. the video drivers, audio drivers, network drivers etc all can cause issues with latency. also device specific drivers (Dell, HP - you know what i'm talking about) and finally OS updates. then a nice clean install of the CW software to ensure all the runtimes are at the right levels (i've found a few times the RT from other products and even the OS seem to overwrite with older or otherwise incompatible versions which then had to be reinstalled to get things working properly).

as a note: only if you install the software and agree to the license. the purchase and resale of un-opened (or un-installed) software has no binding on the purchaser (or resellers wouldn't be able to resell the products even if authorized by the vendor) because of the non-transfer agreed only when clicking the accept button or checking the accept box. the exception would be if you signed up for a constraint solely on the purchase. with modern digital online software, they circumvent the problem by assigning the license to an individual account versus having it attached to the CD (or DVD) case. so without advocating any copyright violation, the old hard license versions, if unused and not bound by a purchase license restriction, could be resold (we know because resellers do it all the time) but modern software, especially subscriptions, are now controller by user accounts (imho a much better approach since it also makes it possible for software to be portable across systems if that is an option).

also turn all "audio enhancement" features in the windows sound control because if you leave any of them enabled it will skew the results you listen to.

i know in editor i can open the files directly and process in Melodyne. i've forgotten is the essentials version provides a standalone UI. otherwise i tend to just use it as a region FX and also take a copy of the MIDI generated (never know when that will come in useful - sax solos based on vocals. etc). the Region FX is applied to the audio clips - when you create it - Melodyne creates a bunch of files called "separations" which it uses to manage what you see in the UI. then once you're happy with the edits in the region, render it. this saves the clip with the updates and cleans up the separations. then it's saved as a normal audio track in your project and you can do your other work - eq, effects, etc - same as any other project.

seems like you have 3 or 4 audio drivers involved. i doubt this has anything to do with Cakewalk. i suggest uninstalling or disabling every audio driver except the default Windows WASAPI drivers. then test. and if that works, then use WASAPI Shared with CW to allow it to cross-operate with other audio apps. skip the ASIO4ALL, VoiceMeeter, etc as they're often problematic if not properly configured.

render the region fx (same menu as create region fx)

the melodyne essentials will do a decent job of monophonic fixes. lots of power there. i have the Editor version which is single track polyphonic which is quite nice (but as you noted $$$). i also have Waves Tune which i have only used a few times and (to me) it seemed easy enough to use (dragging notes, etc) but i didn't try out the automatic features or custom scales etc. maybe some quality time with the Waves Tune manual, or some youtube videos, will get you working. i know i learned a lot of tricks for melodyne watching the Celemony content.

have you tried the Melodyne that comes with the CbB?

C# is in the D major scale ? TTSTTTS (tone - semi)

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...

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.

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?