User 905133

I think its great that you have taken this on. I can imagine the steps in this discussion might help others who want to rescue other old themes that have previously been shared by their original designers.

I have super high regard for those who can do full themes; I have only done a few tweaks (some of which you might have seen in the Theme Guide thread). I know I do not have the patience or the artistic skills to do a complete theme. Perhaps you could take an updated theme you like and make minor tweaks borrowed from Dark Aqua, and build it step at a time. The theme editor offers the ability to revert to the elements used by the original theme that the new one is based on. So perhaps you can: Make a copy of Dark Aqua, rename it MyTweaks, and revert elements that seem to be problematic. Load an up-to-date theme. Import MyTweaks and save it with a name like MyTheme. The idea is that you can create files of personal customizations and import them on top of other themes. Out of curiosity, what's not looking right? Maybe others here can help you locate the correct elements that need to be fixed. Based on my admittedly limited experience, finding the right element can take considerable time. Of course, the theme guide is a great help! BTW, in order not to hijack this thread, if you want to create a thread on "Updating the Dark Aqua Theme," I would delete this here and repost it there.

Good news: Surge v.1.7.1 seems to have solved the AntiVirus issue. (v. 1.7.0 still shows 5 flags at TotalVirus; 1.7.1 only shows 1 which doesn't affect my PC). Like others, I had noise [crackle] and then the dreaded audio drop with some of the Jacky Ligon patches--even after upping my audio card's ASIO buffer 3 fold!!!!! As noted above, it did not seem to be related to extreme CPU usage. Anyone know where strings are hidden? EDIT: With the new version, Surge continues to function as an FX processor--a little like Z3ta+ FX, though so far as I can see, there is no midi learn for Surge FX controls).

Maybe a virtual midi port utility might help, as suggested in the following thread (re: LoopBe)?

I used to use this for hardware and would assign instrument definitions based on midi ports and channels. Can we use this method with software synths?

I have seen this mentioned many times in the forum: Workspaces is about preserving/restoring the UI (and the functionality related to that), not about all customizable settings. So, for example, having the Event List functionality (including related keybindings) missing from the Basic Workspace is related to the UI. The count-in timer setting isn't. At one point I suggested in the forum having a "Preferences" section among options in Wokspaces [formerly Lenses], but what I mentioned was not a UI feature parameter.

Congrats, and kudos to Nigel for figuring out how the VSTi could make it happen!

I am confused by this--as long as I can remember, it was saved with the project. So, I opened a project that had 0, changed it to 2 measures, saved it, closed Cakewalk, re-opened Cakewalk, re-opened the project, and the 2 measure count-in was there. Addendum: But Wait! Maybe you meant templates? So, I opened "MyBlankTemplate" (which I have set as the New default), changed the 0 to 2 measures, saved it as a template, closed Cakewalk, re-opened it, selected New, and the 0 was indeed 2 measures.

I am only aware of some recent changes based on discussions in the current forum; not sure of earlier changes. I will look for links to some relevant discussions. See post immediately below. Also, I think Colin Nicholls has updated his themes guide; that might be helpful as well.

I know what you mean about some color combinations working for some people better than others. To me, flexibility and customizability are two of Cakewalk's huge "selling points." I was led to that theme (and others) from this thread. Hope it helps.

Just a footnote since you seem happy with your current theme, but it looks like I downloaded Dark Aqua on 2020-07-10--less than a month ago. I moved it from my download folder into Themes and took a look. It does not work well with my eyesight (mostly neon blue against solid black), but it looks like it does not have the tweaks needed (assuming 2020.07 EA has the same theme elements as 2020.05).

If this is made an option for those who want it, I would prefer the current method be the default.

Best wishes for continued good health, and thanks for the follow-up on the activation issue! It makes sense. I have a new-to-me refurbished PC that came with Win 10 Pro v. 2004. I didn't want to risk trashing the "new" HDD, so I disconnected it and connected a totally unused SSD. I did not use the license I purchased via the Computer World offer, but since I had downloaded the Media Creation Tool, I did use that. I followed the instructions and somehow, magically (at the right time), Windows 10 showed the license with the original ID that came with the refurbished PC. So, I assume part of the licensing/activation process involves dialing home (MS) to look up my specific PC. Evidently it was recognized as having a valid licence and the ID was sent to my SSD.

Maybe this site can help?

I was under the impression that the E-Mu files were from a ROMpler, but originated with bona fide E-Mu samples. I assume actual underlying samples may have been tweaked so they can be altered by the Proteus synth engine However, if they are not what you imagine in your mind's ear, it makes little difference what the source is. Also, the suggestion to look for a multisample might not be a good one. I looked at a Tubular Bells preset I have. It seems to have only two samples--a D4 and a G6. So all the notes below D4 are just pitched down.

Minor footnote: To my ear, part of the unique character of orchestral tubular bells is the varied harmonics of each tube of metal. You might want to look for a multisample rather than a single sample--unless you are just looking for a specific B. Hmmmmm. I was curious to see if there were specific Bs out there; so I Googled Tubular Bells (samples) and found this site - No Bs that I could see, but there are some Cs; not sure what octave you need.

the plugins listed are not orchestral instruments I didn't look at all of the software synthesizers on the list, but I would be surprised if there isn't at least one that can function as a sampler or a ROMpler. By the way, those are other options--hardware gear (samplers/ROMPlers). You wouldn't even need Scala!!! Many of theme have tuning tables which can be tweaked from the front panel. For example, my Proteus 2500 has 12 User Key Tuning Tables where I can fine tune each of MIDI's 127 notes. Not recommending this one for you; just saying that if you had/found hardware that had the samples/instruments you needed, old-fashioned tuning tables should meet your needs. As mentioned above, re-tuning notes is generally a function of the synth engine (software or hardware). If you want to use software samplers/ramplers, you might not even need the ability to use *.scl files. I haven't looked, but I'd think that any software instrument that implements basic tuning tables where you can adjust the fine tuning on a note-by-note basis would meet your needs.

I thought of something (a work-around) that MIGHT work, but it is complicated--not something I would do as a first choice option. Assuming you are composing the music and using staff notation, MAYBE you could put the E on its own midi channel and put a pitch bend just on that channel so it wouldn't affect other notes. Are you composing the music using the staff notation view?

I will defer to others who know more about this. I just noticed the original problem was not clear and was curious. With my limited level of knowledge, if I were doing something like this, I would (1) see if it can be done with my synth of choice; if not, (2) look for a different synth that has the ability to use *.scl files; (3) look for plug-in that would do this. I don't know about tons of plug-ins, so I don't know if there is a plugin where you can set up a note-by-note transposition table. Maybe someone else knows. If it can be done somehow using a MIDI FX plug-in, maybe someone can explain how to do it.

Thanks for the additional clarifications. Correct me if I am wrong, you are playing scales/tunings that have more than 12 divisions for each octave and you want the easiest way to encode midi notes + pitch bend information so that your softsynth of choice will consistently play those notes in Cakewalk (or another DAW). OR, are you saying you just need the pitch of one note altered in a tuning system that has 12 divisions/octave?

After reading the discussion, I went back to the original post and saw that it contained no information that I could see about the instrument and what Cakewalk recording/playback methods being used. Readers offering help are forced to make assumptions in trying to answer the question For example: Is this about playing/recording an acoustic guitar? Is this about notating microtones in the staff view or PRV? Does it involve using midi with a bona fide* synthesizer or sound module [*which some people call it "external"]? Does it involve using midi with a virtual/software** synthesizer [**which some people call a "synth]? -------------------------------- OK--as I was finishing this up, this came in: Thank you for clarifying. ------------------------------------------ A few years ago, I played around with a program called Scala. That might help you. Some software syths (e.g., VSTi's) actually have the ability to use *.scl files. Just an FYI, Scala has the ability to export tuning tables for hardware. For example, I was able to create tuning tables to load into a Proteus 2500.

Intuitively (that is, based on years of doing things more or less the same way), I thought of splitting the instrument track and testing the Midi Event Filter on the midi track. I don't recall ever having used that plug-in and, I wanted to try a new plug-in method; so, I inserted the plug-in using the Inspector. It worked!!!!! So, thanks for this Q & A!! I still need to read the details about how the midi event filter works, though. I just created a short loop and listened to the changes I had made (notes and CCs) after the loop came around.

All at 2KB. They were short tests I did. I will try a much larger project if size of the project is the issue.

Thank you for listing the steps. Any idea what the following means after trying to import using CW's menu system?

Good news! I have seen other players mentioned in the forum as well. If you get into creating/editing sounds and banks, there are some threads here that have a number of resources.