Starship Krupa

With as much as he does, It's not the worst thing to see him take a break, esp. if it's in the service of burnout prevention.

MacOS only.

"The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and was confronted with what remained of the Ladeks. The last of them had been rounded up and confined inside a barbed wire fence. But the royal family (Queen Redhorn, Prince Consort 95, twin Princesses 25 and young Princess 15) had survived! The vacation he had promised Ace was not to be."

Do you use a separate graphics card or the video that comes with your CPU? Is your graphic card AMD, nVidia? Can you give us the names of some of the plug-ins that are having the problem and some that are not?

It's been discussed by the Cakewalk devs, and believe me, they would love to be able to trap errors before they take down the whole DAW. According to them, the issue isn't that it's "difficult," it's that it adds overhead. To "sandbox" (keep their operations contained) plug-ins enough to trap errors before the errors can crash or corrupt the host requires so much overhead that it would increase latency and of course resource usage. Think of how long it took Microsoft and Apple to get their OSes to be able to trap application errors and recover from them without the whole OS crashing or becoming corrupted. Windows had its Blue Screen of Death and I forget what the Mac equivalent was. Part of this was because it was, yes, hard to do, but another was that processors had to get fast enough and RAM had to get cheap enough for the overhead to be acceptable. And those conditions haven't been 100% eliminated. Remember when if one program crashed, best practice was to restart the computer entirely, even if it didn't take the whole thing down? Anything that happens between a program asking a CPU to do something and the CPU doing it (such as considering whether what it's just been asked to do will mess something up), takes time (latency). And as far as computer applications go, DAW stuff is some of the most critical as far as latency. Whatever it is that REAPER is supposedly doing, where I see so many people claiming that "I tried it in REAPER and it didn't crash," coupled with REAPER's reputation for being able to run at low latency, I'm sure the other DAW companies would love to know what it is. One of the things I dislike about the situation is the perception of finger-pointing it leads to in situations where you're trying to help someone. While it's true that "99% of the time it's a plug-in," it isn't true that it's the plug-in's "fault." The VST spec is loosely enough written that it's quite possible for both a VST host and a VST plug-in to be completely compliant with the spec, yet still not work together.

I disable the nVidia HD Audio device using Device Manager.

For me, the big advantages to doing the FreeFX upgrade are getting access to the multiparameters/modulators, the internal oversampling, and the styles (I really like to customize the colors). Access to the internal preset manager is not a big deal if you have a host like Cakewalk that has its own preset system. It's nice to be able to access their Online Preset Exchange, but not essential. That Melda feature is one that I think has a lot of potential that isn't being used enough. Also, if your host can oversample plug-ins (Cakewalk can), you're taken care of there. By design, their stuff doesn't exhibit much of the kind of stuff that oversampling is supposed to eliminate in the first place. They're designed not to color the sound except when you tell them to color the sound. They are "mojo" free. You can sidechain MCompressor without doing the upgrade. So we're left with cosmetics, and multiparameters/modulators, which, although I really like the idea of, I have yet to take much advantage of for my own presets. The always visible red nag bar is a little too obtrusive for my taste, but it didn't bother me that much. I used the FreeFX bundle for years before I dropped $25 on the upgrade. I don't consider them "crippled" because the features that get unlocked are advanced ones unique to Meldaproduction that most people don't use. Maybe we use them, but we're advanced users.

Oh, right, you can use the entire Meldaproduction line for 15 days as a trial, and whaddaya wanna bet it worked fine for 15 days and then these registration notices started popping up.... Yeah, wait for the Black Friday sale on Meldaproduction and upgrade the FreeFX bundle to the pro versions for $25. Sign up for their newsletter, use another Meldaproduction user's referral code and you can get the FreeFX bundle upgrade for about $10.

The free Orchestools instruments are pretty good. They allow plenty of sound shaping and have FX built in. But what everyone else has said about learning how to use orchestral instruments is key. Even a freeware instrument can sound pretty good if you use it well, and the priciest sample library will sound robotic if you don't use it well.

Seriously, though, if the OP can at least remember the email address they used when they (presumably) purchased their Meldaproduction licenses, I'm sure they can contact Meldaproduction and get it sorted out. And this time, write the password down. A password protected spreadsheet is a good place to store less-sensitive passwords. Name it "Family Recipes." Whenever you install your Meldaproduction plug-ins on a new computer, registration happens via their server (although it's possible to get a license file for offline use), using the email address and password you used when you bought the licenses.

I think a more pressing issue is that you have your studio monitors pointing at your ankles rather than your head.

I'm skeptical about this. I've run tests, and Meldaproduction processors are consistently the least CPU-hungry in whatever category. If whatever program's "performance bars" aren't reliable indicators of CPU use, Windows has native tools like Task Manager and Resource Monitor that can spot trouble. Increasing the ASIO buffers should just give the processor more time to do its thing, or my understanding of it is way off. But maybe they're right, it's time to dump this unfamiliar "Bandlab" software and try one of the supported programs on their list like AudioMulch* or Hindenburg Journalist (the humanity!). Maybe you can find a copy of Mackie (sic) Tracktion? *I looked at AudioMulch's forum, and back in 2020 Ross, the developer, teased a 64-bit version on Twitter, so maybe by this time he's had a chance to update it.

There is a language barrier here. Can you explain further what "I want to take the samples from the basslines" means? Now "change the bars to the notes/chords I want." I think maybe "measures" instead of "bars" would make it clearer. So, you have a measure, and it has a chord in it, represented by 3 or 4 MIDI notes sounding at the same time. What do you wish to do with the notes in this measure? Trade places with a different measure that has a different chord? Transpose the notes to a different chord? Change the order of the notes in (invert) the chord?

CbB supports 64-bit DX effects. If your old DX effects were 32-bit, it won't see them. Obviously, if they're missing from the system it won't see them either. "Volume" and "Simple Delay" sound like things that you could easily find free replacements for. ReaDelay from Cockos is free and has a minimalist GUI that makes it look sort of like a DX effect.

I admire your self-restraint. Sounds like you have a pretty cool business set up. I've always done my own websites, but if I decide to start another business I'll PM you. I went freelance over 20 years ago and have done a variety of things since then.

Seems like they're doing one of these a week? I'll keep an eye on it, I have many A|A|S soundpacks and Chromaphone and would buy any of them I don't have for 8 bucks.

I admire your self-restraint. Sounds like you have a pretty cool business set up. I've always done my own websites, but if I decide to start another business I'll PM you. I went freelance over 20 years ago and have done a variety of things since then. At the end of my 9-to-6 office employment, I took a look at what elements of my job I liked. That was building things, solving problems and helping people. I didn't like sitting there waiting for something to break. So freelance was the way to go.

What do you have your eye on? I just upgraded from my trusty GT 1030 (which may now be had for under $50) to a GTX1070 for $100. The price bubble seems to have finally burst, and people are dumping their older cards. I got the 1070 to be able to run Red Dead Redemption 2 at higher settings, which it does fine, I'm getting 60 FPS with VSync turned on, and that's with no special uberklokking (although I do overclock my i7-6950X CPU). Anything in the 10 series is going to be very affordable, even into the 16's. I know people go on about "future proof," but if your onboard graphics are handling everything but gaming, yer already there. Since my interests are in indie games rather than AAA sports/FPS, the 1070 with its 8G of RAM will do me for years. If I hadn't gotten a nice inheritance last month, I'd still be fine with the GT 1030.

Anything with MYST in the name (except for the 2021 remaster, which, like Obduction, uses the Unreal engine) should fly with your onboard graphics, but of course the only way to find out is to try. Also, for anyone getting this who wants to play MYST: Chronicles of Uru, I suggest not even bothering with the version that comes with the bundle. Rather, go to mystonline.com and play it there, where it is the same game for free and has much better graphics (and will run like a bat no matter how antique your system). And don't worry about the collaborative aspect; like BandLab, it's optional (although I do find MYST Online to be a great deal of fun with help from the others who are online). My handle on there is Superabbit and my Hood is Musicians Guild (which I founded).

Meldaproduction has a lot of products and it can be tough to sort out which ones cover what functions. The first individual processor of theirs that I bought was MModernCompressor, and if I had understood the product and the product line in general, I might have spent my money on something else from their line. Generally speaking, the "Turbo" suffix connotes that the effect tries to loosely emulate classic effects in its category. MTurboComp, MTurboEQ, MTurboReverb, MTurboAmp, MTurboDelay all seek to provide you with dozens of different models of classic whatevers in one plug-in. The idea is never to try to make it sound exactly like some old processor or other, but rather to sound like idealized versions. For the categories of dynamics, EQ, and reverb, there is overlap across different price points. MDynamics can do everything that MCompressor and MModernCompressor do, but not the other way around. And MModernCompressor is 1/3rd the price of MDynamics. They've been around a while now and have never discontinued a product, and they also do "Swiss Army Knife" and "does one thing very well" tools. In addition to that, there's some stuff they do that doesn't really fit into standard processor categories. MDynamics is a "Swiss Army Knife," meant to be the only single band precision compressor/expander/gate/limiter you need. Its capabilities are a superset of MCompressor and MModernCompressor (and one or two of the limiters, not sure which). It does have the "devices," that add prettier UI's to the processor, but it also has its traditional mode where you can edit every last parameter and even make multiple parameters editable with the same control (what they call "multiparameters"). MTurboComp is a collection of analog-style compressors with different characteristics in one package. MSpectralDynamics is a different critter. MLimiterX is a limiter. Another good Chandler video tries to make sense of the various "MStereo" processors. I find it hard to remember which of them does what. $21 is a steal for their top of the line Swiss Army Knife dynamics processor. And although buying it from Audiodeluxe is only $19, buying it from Meldaproduction is much preferred if you think you might ever want to own a bundle license that includes MDynamics.

Since I haven't played the 2021 remaster, I'd have to read some reviews. It would have to be really good to top realMYST: Masterpiece, but I'm sure it's capable of being really good. It's like having Revolver in mono, stereo, CD, and remastered CD. They're all great. Congratulations, and there's no need to wait: Obduction is the only game in the package that would exercise a GPU in the slightest. I played Obduction on an i7-3770 with GTX 550Ti and it ran great (not at ultra settings, but it still looked fantastic). Think of what a "powerful" system was when these games came out. Even Obduction is made to run on a merely above average computer of 2016. For those too young to remember, or just not into games at the time, MYST was the first point-and-click exploration/puzzle game. It made a lot of other firsts at the time as well, like being the first computer game that collected a substantial fanbase that included women and people over 30. It was the first video game for people who had never been interested in video games. It was also notable for being the first video game to have a soundtrack that was worthy of a separate release, and the soundtrack by itself sold multiple platinum. Not everyone loved it, some of the video game press of the time and some of the established gaming community thought it was a snooze. But for a lot of other people it introduced the idea that video games could be a form of art. Before MYST, the idea of a game requiring a professional composer to create its soundtrack was unheard of. It's responsible for creating a lot of work for musicians and composers, really for the whole job title of "video game music composer."

It is a SMOKIN' deal. If all it had was realMYST Masterpiece and Obduction it would be way worth it. It has every game that Cyan ever released, not including Firmament, which just recently shipped. They're are no doubt doing this to pique interest in Firmament. If you decide you can live without the 2021 MYST remaster, it's only $10, which makes it acephalic. I haven't played the 2021 version, but I can say that realMYST: Masterpiece, which is MYST ported to the Unreal engine for 3-D, looks and plays great. Warning: this bundle may induce Game Acquisition Syndrome. I hadn't played a computer game in 20 years, then bought the 11 item $10 bundle when it came up for sale in December 2021. Started off with realMYST: Masterpiece Edition (which is the version I'd recommend, it looks great and has an extra Age), then went to MYST III: Exile, which I was in the middle of playing 20 years previously. Then ripped through the rest of the MYST series and went on to Obduction, which is what pushed me into Gamer territory. Obduction really is spectacular. In the year and a half since I got the bundle, I have added at least 50 games to my Steam library (see my post on the Steam Summer Sale from a couple of weeks ago). If you like Cyan/MYST type games, I have several to recommend. There's even a guy right now who's preparing a MYST-alike game (Neyyah) and doing the sound and music with his Steam'd copy of SONAR.

Yes. At this point, Cakewalk's support for 32-bit plug-ins is hanging by a thread. I consider it to only be there to allow people some time to replace their FX with current technology. Considering that you were having trouble with it 6 months ago, and apparently still are, is this obsolete reverb plug-in really worth it the hassle?

One of those cases being if you want to be able to access the big ol' library of loops.... I tend to forget that the BandLab Assistant has uses other than messing up Cakewalk installs.