Starship Krupa

When I start a new project from a template, the project is now up to the name "Untitled Project 23." I'm used to the number only incrementing if there's an existing "Untitled Project" in my Cakewalk Projects folder. I've done a search of all of the drives in my system and can't find a file with "Untitled Project" in its name anywhere. Knowing how these things are, there must be an upper limit, maybe 256 or 999 and I'm used to seeing "Untitled Project2" as an indication that there's a stray "Untitled Project1" in my Cakewalk Projects folder. How does this number get incremented and how do I reset it? (Using Sonar, not CbB these days)

I only install the VST2 versions of plug-ins when I want to be able to use them in another program, such as Vegas Pro, that was late to support VST3's. One note: for existing projects Cakewalk will want to use whichever version you originally used in the project. It will throw a warning message about a missing plug-in if the project used the VST2 version and only the VST3 version is installed. Fortunately, you can have both installed but hide one from being available in new projects by using Plug-In Manager to exclude whichever version you don't wish to be available for new projects. In very few cases, the VST3 version of a plug-in will have some kind of issue with Cakewalk whereas the VST2 version will work just fine. I have 2 such plug-ins. Other than these gotchas, there is no reason to install the VST2 version when a VST3 version is available.

Straw man fallacy: who, exactly, in "the audio industry" is saying that you "need to buy a whole bunch of different EQ plug-ins to get the different flavors because some sounds might sound better with that EQ and some sounds might sound better with this other EQ?" I don't recall a plug-in manufacturer saying that you "need" a bunch of different EQ plug-ins. They make a bunch of them, and write ad copy about how they emulate old hardware, and to pique people's curiosity, but they don't directly say that you NEED to own half a dozen of them. If anything, the "audio industry" message is "find one you like and get really good with it." They make half a dozen different ones so that you can choose your favorite. On the contrary, when I've watched "how to EQ" this or that source videos, the person making the tutorial uses one with a straightforward UI, if not their DAW's stock one then something with the now-standard parametric UI. One that allows you to set half a dozen nodes of a variety of types, and adjust the Q and gain. I can't recall seeing such a tutorial where the instructor chose a Pultec emulation or the Lindell TE-100 or whatever. I've always viewed the "character" EQ's, the ones with the knobs and skeuomorphic UI's and and analog circuitry emulation as something fun to use that might nudge me away from my ingrained habits. If whatever "mojo" is programmed in by the developers makes the track sound better, even if it only makes me think it sounds better, then that's great. My favorite EQ is the one that allows me to get results the fastest. I've done some EQ "shootouts" using Plug-In Doctor to help me duplicate the EQ curves and determined that for the most part, I can't hear the difference when switching between a vintage emulation type and a precision type once I have the curve copied. But who cares? The "character" one might take me in a different, useful direction. Even here, where having 20-50 different EQ plug-ins is probably not unusual, I don't see anyone making claims like that. We might use this or that EQ when we're in the mood to look at different graphics, but for the most part, if someone said that they couldn't mix to their full potential unless they could use Fab Filter Pro Q, I suspect that most of would think they were silly/lame. Someone might be happiest using a certain EQ plug-in, but would any of us claim that they could get superior results using different ones on different source material? Like "bass guitar sounds so much better through TRackS EQP-1A than through Fab Filter Pro Q?" Maybe using the Pultec emulation lets you dial in a pleasing bass guitar EQ curve more quickly, but would anyone claim that it does a better job of the audio processing part? Maybe so, but I sure wouldn't. Give me the MeldaProduction free bundle and Kilohearts Essentials and I'm ready for anything. Having the fancier ones around just makes things more fun. And if I'm having fun, then the product is likely to sound better than if I'm bored.

The thing here is that it's now Rain Maker 2

The "Turbos" are different animals. They go against the grain of the usual MeldaProduction stuff, which usually feature tons of power and configurability and all-business UI's, with no nods to emulating classic hardware. Although in the past couple of years, they introduced "devices" in many of their products, which allow for creating more skeuomorphic UI's with pre-configured knobs that control multiple parameters. The Turbos are all about these devices, and make nods to classic hardware units, at least in look and layout. You call them up, turn the knobs and get results. They're not meant to be slavish recreations, but rather the results of studying the controls and response of vintage hardware and then doing it their way. In some cases, machine learning was used for creating devices. Each features a solid collection of them. MTurboComp has Melda's takes on 19 classic compressors, including the Distressor, Fairchild, dbx 160, etc. MTurboEQ does a similar thing for 12 EQ's, giving their take on the Pultec, Massive Passive, SSL board EQ, Neve, etc. MTurboDelay doesn't nod to specific vintage units, rather giving you 41 different configurations that behave like analog, digital, tape, shimmer, and on and on seemingly forever. It's really a Swiss Army knife of delays, everything you can think of and more. Multitaps, tape style, it's hard to find a delay effect that it doesn't cover. Even Glitchmachines/Unfiltered Audio glitchy things are available. Oddly, what's missing is just a basic delay with just time, feedback, mix and modulation controls, but for that I have many other options. MTurboReverb takes a similar route, although there is an attempt to sound similar to the Bricasti, and that emulation is my favorite in the bunch. It's the only reverb I've heard that equals the Exponential Audio Phoenix/Nimbus/Stratus algorithm. And it goes beyond that, of course. It can analyze an IR file and create an algorithm to approximate it. Stuff that's way way over my head. There are too many devices to count. If I could have only one reverb, it would be this one. Springs, plates, it has it all. MTurboAmp is of course a guitar amp simulator, and it goes the emulation of classic gear route. I'm not a great fan of MTurboAmp, partly because for whatever reason, they omitted cabinet simulation. Who leaves cab emulation out of a guitar amp plug-in? You have to get MCabinet to get the cab sims. And the devices so far don't excite me. But I'm a harsh judge of amps sims and plenty of people seem to love MTurboAmp. In my opinion, the best way to get the best of them (MTurboDelay and MTurboReverbLE plus MTurboCompLE) is to spring for the MEssentialsFX bundle when Melda runs a 50% off everything or 50% off bundles sale. In addition you get 7 other FX including MAutoDynamicEQ and MAutoAlign. As far as the difference between the LE versions and the standard versions, the standard versions allow you to open the hood and do things like designing your own reverb algorithms, which I have no interest in doing at this point. The ones that come with it are amazing enough and life's too short. So IMO you're missing nothing with the LE versions. Around my house, the ones that see use are MTurboDelay and MTurboReverb, because my classic analog EQ and compressor needs are met by T-RackS.

Believe me, I don't ask here until I've checked there. I had a hard time parsing "The Follow Project Pitch option transposes the loop, if necessary, to the key of the project. A loop recorded in the key of A, used in a project in the key of C, would be transposed up three semitones if the Follow Project Pitch check box was checked." As with a lot of things in there, to get it you have to already know a bunch of related stuff that I didn't know about, like pitch markers. There's nothing on p. 801 that says what Project Pitch is. Thanks to Mark, now I know that it has to do with the key markers. Anything having to do with warping or slicing audio and the like happened while I was away from making music on the computer. I'm still playing catch up.

This guy: The tooltip says "Follow Project Pitch." What is "project pitch?" All I did was open a project, then drag the "04 Drone Guitar 1" sample from the Big Fish Audio Cinematic/Eclipse 2/04 065 G folder into an audio track. I've tried hitting it just for laughs and it doesn't seem to do anything to the audio. After I press the button, though, I can pull down the menu that says "A" and it shows a checkmark next to "G." Before I pressed the button I couldn't pull the menu down. No idea what the "A" menu is for. So far, when I ask about Loop Construction View, people mostly tell me that for the things that it's supposed to be for, I should use some other tool, but I'm curious about the various features of Sonar and Loop Construction View has so far been a big mystery.

Respect for a good apology and making amends when you realized your faux pas. We all screw up from time to time. The better of us do what we can to set things right.

I have MPS 5, and I'm not sure I can see much that MPS 6.5 updates save for RX. Shine some light? Of course, if you're into iZotope, that plus more licenses for Stratus and Symphony are worth it. I glitched in on that $149 thing late last year, and I have to confess, most of it has just sat there while I've used my MeldaProduction and Plugin Alliance FX. Don't get me wrong, not a bit of buyer's remorse; having the whole MPS shebang, even laying in wait, is something I'd not have dreamed possible a year ago. It's my woodworking tools analogy: my Hitachi miter saw can sit for years without being touched, but when I need it, it pays for itself every time.

https://www.kiiveaudio.com/products/xtmax In their words: "Make your drums explode with this renowned, gritty compressor, and make use of its 3 release modes to add edge and punch to any mix." "XTMax may be XTComp's (Plugin Alliance Exclusive) little brother, but it's more than capable to stand on its own for any mix!" It looks from the copy that it came out of research into what's so great about Distressor, so if that piques your interest, get it.

And you subsequently lucked back into getting what it said on the tin. IMO, it's a better product now than if it had continued under Gibson management. Mucho respeto for those (and even I was one, 25 years ago) who invested in Cakewalk/SONAR back in the day. CbB and Cakewalk Sonar would not have existed without our buy-ins.

XTMax is a free compressor from Kiive Audio. In their words: "Make your drums explode with this renowned, gritty compressor, and make use of its 3 release modes to add edge and punch to any mix." "XTMax may be XTComp's (Plugin Alliance Exclusive) little brother, but it's more than capable to stand on its own for any mix!" It looks from the copy that it came out of research into what's so great about Distressor, so if that piques your interest, get it.

Did you maybe intend to post this in the Songs forum? Is it yours?

Okay, just grabbed a new d/l and now I can see String It is in Swatches, but not Exodus. Either I downloaded the wrong thing earlier, or installed from an old installer or something, because now we match, and "String It" is the newest one. I remember getting the email about "Exodus".... Are you going to write them?

Same here. I'll try downloading it again and see if the missing ones show up.

Hold up. Rather than just going by what the website had been telling me, I just checked A|A|S Player and I don't have sounds from Velvet Chic, Split Personality, Exodus, String It, Real Illusions, Bass Factory, Hop Riffs, or Love Lost.... What the hell is up with that?? Every time one comes out, as I said I check the page to see if they've put in the latest sample sounds and I only download if they do. I guess I should tell them. Maybe they have the wrong build up on the website.

Yes, a month or two ago, or whenever it was that Exodus was released. Once a soundpack is released it's unusual for them to wait to include a dozen of them in Swatches and announce the new version. Whenever they send me email saying a new soundpack has shipped, I go straight to the Swatches product page and check to see if they've put the treats in there for downloading and I can't remember ever being disappointed that they hadn't done it yet. At this point, if I sat down with Swatches and spent only 30 seconds auditioning every sound in it, I think it would take me 4 hours or so to finish, if my math is right.

Free powerhouse instrument A|A|S Swatches has been updated to include sounds from their new String It soundpack. Swatches is over 730 sounds from across their range of modeled instruments. IMO one of the best free virtual instruments out there.

Some of them are probably redundant, but I just installed them anyway to make the toasts go away. They do no harm.

I listened on headphones and I concur. Great-sounding track, nothing I would change except for maybe one thing. I was especially impressed with the drum programming, and I'm a drummer. On your hard-panned guitars, have you used any ambient reverb? Bu this I mean a full stereo reverb that's in a bus rather than the instrument's FX rack so that it isn't hard panned. The reason I ask is because during the few times when one or the other is heard in isolation, there's something odd about the soundstage. They sound isolated, which may be deliberate, but I mean isolated not in the sense that there's an imaginary space with a hard-panned guitar in it, but more like one side of my headphones cut out. If that's deliberate, then, well, you nailed it. But if it's not, I'd try maybe sending a little bit of guitar to a reverb bus.

I suspect that's a "look the other way" thing. After all, they're charging little to nothing for the license to begin with in the hope that you'll someday move up to S1 Pro or at least do as I did and drop $50 on an update.

Albini was a gold-plated jibber-jabberist, so it's appropriate. It's a loss to the long-winded, opinionated "everybody listen to me" community. Page after page of how we feel about it is what he would have wanted.?

Even if all it had was Meldway Grand..... Be sure to download the presets from the Online Exchange. There's some great stuff in there, and it's the only way I know of to get 3rd-party presets for Melda's synths. I think it's up to 280 or so for MSF, over 400 for MPowerSynth.

I was going to suggest that Larry check his VST scan paths....