User 905133

Self-fulfilling result: it was buggy, hard to use, had no significant improvements/features, therefore, it was not used. Poor excuse for not making improvements. Appealing to an academic market that uses staff notation, it could very well increase the chances that once familiar with Cakewalk and once having invested time in learning it under the guidance of teachers in academic settings, after they have no need for staff notation they will continue to use it. Of course, since Cakewalk is free, all of this is academic and therefore what compelled you to say in essence, "Bandlab, don't waste development time on fixing and improving staff notation; things like a chord track is far more important." If a user finds a bug/issue with staff notation or makes a suggestion for improvement and other users jump in to say things like, "Don't use Staff View; use the PRV. Less than a fraction of a fraction of 1% use it; It's not worthy of attention; etc." that is being disrespectful and to me makes no sense, in addition to being short-sighted.

Considering how long staff notation has been neglected while many other aspects of music were given so much attention over the decades, I find your appeal to rule by the majority problematic and offensive. What do you have to fear by the "tiny subset of users" that you felt so compelled to say in essence, "No, Bandlab, don't spend time trying to improve the Staff View. It is not worth development time?" If you look at Staff View as it existed in Windows 3.1 and as it exists now and then compare the new features and improvements with the plethora of non-Staff View new features and improvements from Windows 3.1 until now, I don't think you would find a sufficient threat to say "it shouldn't take priority in development given it is a very tiny subset of users." On the other hand, I don't think Bandlab would suffer if it devoted more attention to academic markets and to music notation.

Are you saying that therefore staff notation should be neglected? I cannot imagine orchestras, concert bands, and marching bands learning to play music together with piano view notation. Call me old fashioned.

The discussion of the new feature under development [articulation maps] starts at 18:22.

Problem: Solution:

Follow-up question related to Convolution Reverb removed.

[removed to save space since @Songroom answered more completely with his direct knowledge of the Keystation line and included excellent screenshots showing a Keystation 61 MK3]

I have never used any version of FL (and probably never will), but I learned some things that I can apply to other tools I use.

[deleted]

Based on my personal experience on my Audio PC, it really depends on your system (devices, support software, and settings--including Window's Sound settings). It can be done, though. 2020-09-15: Edited to remove references to (1) a different media player than the one mentioned, (2) a different online source of music, (3) references to a different audio device and support software, and (4) a suggestion for looking at one possible cause and possible solution for the problem mentioned.

I tried Chrome and FF before. Just tried Opera (opened quickly) and AVG's Browser (super slow to open). Hope the experiences from other users with this specific issue works for you. There might be other threads on the issue, too.

Creative Labs seems to have totally abandoned Emulator X for years with no signs that they place any value on it. Maybe Bandlab can pick it up and give it to the Cakewalk developers?

JMO: I suspect this quote from the popularity contest poll you mention might be causing more harm than good because it sets up a false expectation for many PC users who have no or limited experience with SONAR/Cakewalk. Cakewalk is a robust, extremely flexible / customizable piece of software that has many steep learning curves. ". . . you've got literally nothing to lose . . . " clearly refers to the $0.00 price tag. However, it gives a false impression that time spent learning to use the software is trivial (". . . by trying this one"). If fairness to the OP, "screwing around" with the program fits with "trying this one."

I just went there; it worked. Maybe try a different browser? I had problems like that in the past with some protection software (e.g., script blockers, etc.).

I have no knowledge about this error, but I do remember seeing other threads mentioning it. FWIW here's another thread . ADDENDUM: Evidently the link to Visual C distributables in that thread are in German. See discussion below.

If I understand you correctly, you have the current or a recent version of Cakewalk and previously created something named "Lense" which shows up as a choice along with current Workspaces. While you could delete it, you can just ignore it for now in case you want to tweak it later. I seem to recall that with changes to the Workspaces apparatus in recent months, I went through a number of my personal Workspaces (a) to see if they still worked to my satisfaction and (b) to make tweaks to conform to the new and improved Workspaces apparatus. Without going into the details, maybe you could choose one of the factory Workspaces (e.g., "Advanced", or "None" as suggested) and then test some of the issues--such as the ones you mention here--track height and synth rack disappearance. If that works, you could just tweak it and turn it into a new "Lense" by re-saving it as "Lense." I hope this helps. BTW, I agree--creating custom workflows/UIs with Workspaces is mind-boggling. I have some that work well for my needs. As I said, I came to them with lots of trial-and-error. If I were to try to create a new one for a new/different personal workflow, I am sure I would be back close to the start, though I do have some mental scars that say, "Don't try it that way; it'll turn into a dead end."

I have been trying to understand what people in different posts mean by sampler. The first sampler I used was the Emulator II [IIRC]. I was aware of some other manufacturers from that era through to the Emulator IV / EOS / Ultra series and then the software versions [Emulator X, X2, X3]. I have seen a few other software "samplers" and sample playback software ROMpler/RAMplers. Are the plug-ins/programs mentioned in paragraph 1 above sample playback programs, or (A) are they full-fledged samplers with (1) the ability to record audio from any source (analog or digital), (2) the ability to digitize/tweak/modify/edit/apply built-in functions to/etc. recorded audio, (3) the ability to load previously recorded/tweaked/etc. audio "samples" [including short waveform snippets and longer sections of audio that some might call phrases], (4) the ability to map samples (including standard techniques of layering, keysplitting, multisampling, etc.) across the full range of musical keyboard (or any part of the keyboard), and (5) the ability to build those samples into patches/presets/programs to be played in realtime on MIDI-capable devices, with (B) a complete and fully implemented multi-timbral synth engine (with a minimum of 32 midi channels, each channel having a full set of controllable parameters) including an extensive system exclusive implementation? When I have seen "sampler" used in this thread (above) and other similar threads of late, it is not clear that people have in mind the same thing that I think of as a sampler. Your explanation above is an excellent attempt to start addressing the question, "What do people here mean by sampler?" If all the proponents agree that they are requesting a fully integrated phrase sampler, that is something different. Unless I am mistaken, a major overhaul of the media browser might be useful as a "phrase sampler" with some totally new functionality including the features of a full-fledged audio recorder/wave editor. For the synth engine of this new, integrated sampler, I am not sure there has been sufficient discussion of what that synth engine would look like. Personally, I would like it to have sliders and full access to FX (not unlike Z3ta), a complete multi-channel midi implementation, and sample/preset mapping. But those are just my personal preferences. Your use case example also helps to clarify what you mean by phrase sampler (and how you might use it). The recording and editing of audio you describe and then the dropping of the audio into slots and having those mapped to single notes definitely describes some features of traditional samplers, but there are so many features not mentioned. I can imagine that with all the variations, the developers could come up with something and then we'd find out (1) its not what everyone was clamoring for and (2) it is not a complete sampler. BTW, before I discovered Cakewalk had risen from the ashes, I bought the "pro" version of another DAW that included a full-fledged sampler. Compared to the hardware and software samplers I have used, it was horrible to work with, not very good when it worked, and way over-priced. Thanks for the clarifications I cited above and for the extended list of features you'd like to see. Maybe it would help if all the possible features of a phrase sampler (or complete sampler/editor/synth package) were in a poll and people could choose the 5-10 features they felt were most important to have in an integrated sampler. If there is an option to convert samples and presets from a variety or formats used by traditional and recent software samplers/ROMplers/RAMplers, that would be one of my preferences.

I am a fan of Workspaces [formerly Lenses] because the way I choose to use it, I find it helps me take advantage of Cakewalk's extreme flexibility. That being said, it took me a lot of trial-and-error (developing different temporary custom Workspaces) to begin to understand and make use of Workspaces efficiently. I am confused by your use of "lenses" here. Do you mean "Workspaces?" Are you using an older version of Cakewalk/SONAR? Over the past several updates, there have been a number of changes to Workspaces. So, in order to understand what might be going on, what version/build of Cakewalk are you using? In a previous update, a new option was added that might help with you experiences in combination with "None" as has been suggested above. [It might be worth looking to make sure that option is off.] From the 2020.08 Feature Overview:

I have been using Cakewalk since the MS-DOS Version. Based on accumulated experience (learning + repeated usage) for me some things are extremely "intuitive"--meaning, I don't have to think: the ear-brain-hands work on "autopilot." New features and old features which I did not take the time to teach myself over the years are "less intuitive"--meaning they each have a "learning curve." Sometimes, internalizing these is more challenging for me than others (steep/sharp learning curve, overcoming years of doing it by tried-and-true ("intuitive" / "automatic" steps), mental block esp. with a feature I have never seen before, etc.). Seasoned users have given you some excellent insights above (and I expect more might follow); there are many video tutorials on line (in fact, there are ones in many different styles of presentation); etc. If you want to bail on Cakewalk, I cannot imagine anyone will fault you for it. However, as others have noted, Cakewalk is full-featured / robust / complex. In addition, there is quite a bit of customizability. Perhaps before moving on, you might want consider the comments of others.

According to the website, "Note: To sequence the field recordings you can use notes C-1 to F-1 in the Piano roll." I did not download "Serenity," but it seems to be saying that to play the different sounds, create a song using the notes from C-1 to F-1. They specify using the piano roll, but I assume you can also use a keyboard controller. Your image shows the virtual computer keyboard. Did you try the virtual music [aka piano] keyboard?

I know very little about VST2s v. VST3 and will gladly defer to others; however, recently I discovered that one VSTi I own (and like!) receives program change commands from my usb keyboard under the VST2 version but not with the VST3 version.

I sometimes use it to pull up options:

I would like a switch added to the Inspector-based Arpeggiator so I (and other users) can use an Arpeggiator to affect a single MIDI Channel. Rationale: At present (unless I am mistaken) Remote Control MIDI (MIDI Learn) does not work with the Arpeggiator. I suspect the reason is that the Arpeggiator is capable of sending data to Multiple MIDI channels. My hope is that by providing a switch on the Arpeggiator itself to set it to Single Channel Mode, Remote Control MIDI (MIDI Learn) will work properly.

According to a manual I found on line, the knobs have several modes. Do you have them set for MIDI Mode? (I found the reference in the section for "HyperControl Mode Button.")