Starship Krupa

This was a song that when I heard it as a kid gave me "future memories." It resonated with me so much it was like I knew that someday I'd understand exactly what he was singing about and my future self was telling me to pay close attention. If that makes sense. Subsequent romantic failures confirmed this, unfortunately. (James Taylor's "Fire And Rain" was another one like that. I eventually experienced all of the things that he sings about. Recovery from drug addiction, breakup of a band due to drug issues, deaths of friend(s) due to drugs and depression. It's amazing how many people don't know that song is actually about really horrible things. I think they listen only to the chorus and not the verses?)

Toto's first big hit. "Mow the LAWN! Love isn't always on tiiiime...."

Yep, Ardour suffers greatly from "not invented here" syndrome. Cakewalk much less so. I've run up against a brick wall or two in the 5 years I've been using Cakewalk and making feature requests, but I've also made multiple feature requests that are now incorporated in the program. The devs are resistant to changing how existing features work due to the huge existing user base who are used to the way it works now. They are much more open to making something available via an option. One of my early successes was gaining the ability to turn off the numeric indicator in Aim Assist that overlays the Ruler. I knew enough not to request that it be removed, I just wanted to be able to turn it off if I desired. We dislike an existing feature. We agree on how we would like that feature to work instead. The devs are not going to change the existing feature to suit how we want it to work, because there is a (silent) majority who are fine with how the existing feature works. This is assumed since nobody but 5 of us in this topic are speaking up about it. The best thing to do is just add a new feature that functions as we would like it to. What good does it do to go round and round about the name of the existing feature and how it was implemented 20 years ago? Just add a new one and get on with it. The only thing worthy of debate at this point is what to call the new feature.

This is for people who can't always do that. Some people have creative states where their minds kind of wander. I'll sometimes be noodling around and come up with something that sounds cool but by the time I stop and arm the track and hit record, I can't remember it exactly. Sometimes I come up with things via slop, a finger hitting the wrong key but in so doing it turns the chord or melody into something more complex and interesting. Sometimes my process is "hear it in my head, figure out what to make my fingers do, play it" but more often it's just letting my fingers kinda wander around on the keys until I happen upon something that sounds interesting, then I build from that. As far as coming to a consensus on how it should work, I'll suggest that thanks to ProTools, Digital Performer, Ableton Live, Cubase, Studio One, Logic Pro, FL Studio, Samplitude and Waveform already having implemented it that part wouldn't be terribly difficult. It's only the developers who have to agree on it after all. The input of the user base, while valued I'm sure, is merely advisory and not binding. ?

We're in a forum for a product that a lot of people have used successfully for a long time. The program was designed a ceertain way, and it uses certain terminology. Most users either fine with the way it works or, like me, have developed workarounds. Someone speaks up and says it doesn't make sense, it's pretty natural for the others not to "get" what their problem is with it and assume they just need it explained. Probably inevitable that it seems condescending. It works one way, you (and I) want it to work another way. No need to debate about whether the current feature is misnamed or misdesigned or whether some other program(s) does it better, yada yada. What would be nice would be a new option with a new name.

I agree with you (except I'd make it so that it's whatever's being sent to the hardware outputs due to not wanting the setting of the hardware faders to affect the exported track's level), but it's been done differently under the term "Entire Mix" for so long that changing it would throw too big a spanner into too many works. What you describe but call it "What You Hear" or something. The feature would be great, but the name is already taken. I set up an extra bus for Export and just go from there, but due to the whole "oops I had a track selected" thing I get either a silent or single track export on my first try about 50% of the time. The rendering process in Cakewalk is way too fraught with ways to mess it up. As a matter of fact, I screw things up due to having something selected that I didn't want selected so often that I bound a single key (~) to "Select None" and hit it reflexively every so often, like checking to make sure I have my keys and phone, and checking my zipper after coming out of the men's.

Note: even on my 1st gen iPad mini, I didn't need to do steps 1 and 2. MIDI Controller Pro says that it works on iOS 5.1 and later. That goes waaaay back. Also, here is the manual on the developer's web site: https://www.turboirc.com/mcp/manual.htm

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/forum/35-tutorials/

This is great news and a great tutorial! It might be helpful to people if you post a link to it in the Tutorials forum. I didn't need to do your steps 1 and 2. MIDI Controller says in the App Store on my iPad that it's compatible with iOS 5.1 or later, which covers a LOT of ground. Even my 1st generation iPad Mini can run it no problem.

It sounds a lot better than the demo might suggest. The demo video sound kinda "MIDI-ish." (the robotic clipped "all notes at velocity 100" with too short attack and release that I used to hear in General MIDI demos).

A couple of suggestions: A|A|S Swatches is a promotional freeware plug-in instrument that contains a dozen or so patches from each of their soundpacks. This includes patches from their virtual guitar, Strum. They're modeled rather than sampled, but IMO, sound pretty realistic. Also, anyone interested in freeware instruments should check out this forum topic (there is a corresponding topic for freeware FX):

There are 2 sets of download links for each of his products. Scroll down. The second, alternate set is Google, which may work without throwing a warning.

There were also surround versions of Phoenix and Nimbus. We're really trainspotting here!

Okay, I figured out how to access help in the app. Tap on Connections and then "For instructions click here." Also: https://www.turboirc.com/mcp/

The best instructions on how to connect to your DAW used to be on their website, but it looks like the developer has taken it down. I do remember that you need to change your MIDI driver mode to UWP.

Nice. Free saxes are rare. Mr. Hardiman has a good selection of other freeware instruments. Monster Drums was a favorite before I got access to MDrummer.

Yes, it works a treat, and it's FREE. The free bundle also comes with over 30 other useful FX, including a reverser and a pitch shifter.

I have an iPad Mini running iOS 12.5.7 and I'd say a good one to get and mess about with is MIDI Controller Pro. It's free, runs on older versions of iOS.

Phoenix did come in a surround version. Who knows. I’m tickled that one of my favorite musicians/producers would share my taste in reverbs, especially if he’s using Phoenix rather than Nimbus or Stratus (both of which I also have). I still listen to the first Buggles album to this day. He’s a ferocious bass player.

I'm trying to find where he lists them. Phoenix (and its successors, Nimbus and Stratus) Reverb is the best sounding reverb I've yet to hear.

Sonically, I also use them to "glue" similar elements together with similar processing. For instance, let's say I have rhythm acoustic guitar doubled with the same thing played on an electric. I'd send both tracks to a bus and put something like Cakewalk's PCA2 compressor on them so that they share similar dynamics, and use a reverb send from the bus rather than the individual instruments. This helps to create the sonic illusion of a band all playing in one space. I use the heck out of them for "rock band" type recordings, especially on the tracks that come from the 4 mics I use on my drum kit. I don't use them as much with my electronic pieces. With those, it's pretty much the Master bus and that's it.

Well, given that DAW's such as Studio One 6 are still copying features that Cakewalk/SONAR has had for years, I don't think that protecting the competitive advantage is a negligible consideration. ? Check this out: "Customizable user interface The all-new Customization Editor lets you view only the tools you need for the task at hand by creating a custom user interface that works for you, and you can save your unique customization settings for instant recall. Beginner Customizations Default customizations are available for essential workflows so you can start with only the functions you need and add new tools as you’re ready to learn more. Advanced Customizations Create our own customizations from the default options and hide nearly every tool or feature you don’t need to clear away distractions at any time." So now in Studio One 6 you can have different....spaces....in which to....work, I guess. ?? Nice to have the sincerest form of flattery bestowed upon our favorite DAW.

Okay, I took my files, and using a tool recommended by @John Nelson, HOFA 4U+ Blind Test, I was able to do a blind listening test. Drawback to the tool: it's a plug-in, so you wind up listening through a DAW's playback engine. At least I used a DAW that didn't automatically copy and convert imported audio files (I know Cakewalk can be set up like that). Results: I couldn't reliably pick a favorite. Conclusions, lessons learned: For the It Is Carved In Stone: All DAW's Sound Alike crew you can add it to the "some guy on a forum tested it" file, I suppose. For me, who is kinda agnostic on the matter (I believe that it is possible for two different DAW's to sound different), my conclusions are that first, it is really hard to come up with objective ways to test this. You can use sine waves, square waves, impulses, whatever. But it's also really hard to get two DAW's to sound alike. Which suggests that in practice, given similar projects produced using different DAW's, they will inevitably sound different in ways that have nothing to do with how the programmers chose to implement Fourier's theorems. This way and that, they nudge you in certain directions. So another conclusion is that if you sit down and compose and mix an ITB electronica project, doing it with FL Studio vs. say, Ableton Live! will produce sonically different results. Same with a band recording. Even the way the meters look and respond will influence decisions you make about setting levels and so forth. If you're in doubt, it's easy enough to just try it: download the free or trial versions of the software you're considering and mess around with the kind of project you usually do and pay attention to how they sound. If one stands out, there ya go. It's your ears that need to be pleased, even if it's ultimately down to a placebo effect. Hit records and audiophile material have been created in a dozen different DAW's. Some people with very talented ears claim to be able to hear a difference; Ray Charles famously chose Cakewalk SONAR out of all the ones he listened to. Mr. Charles certainly wouldn't have cared what the program looked like. Another lesson (not so much learned as confirmed) is that when doing a final mixdown and render of any project that includes randomized elements like arpeggiators, glitch FX, even (or maybe especially) reverb, multiple renders will be different. So do what I've been doing since day one: render once to lossless, convert as needed. If you do a render for each format you wish to distribute, they will all differ from each other, even if it's just subtly. But I don't think anyone wants the MA4 to sound different from the FLAC which sounds different from the MP3. For the conversion task, I like to use MediaHuman Audio Converter. I'm also investigating AuI ConverteR 48x44. And for heaven's sake, although nobody has ever paid attention to me on this, when you're listening to your rendered files, use a music player that can at least use WASAPI Exclusive, preferably ASIO. Music Bee, AIMP, Foobar, etc. Windows' internal mixer is known to have a negative effect on audio that's sent through it, and it's best to bypass it (as we do in our DAW's).

Binney, could you tell us what settings you had to change or what program(s) you had to disable to get your results? It would benefit future searchers.

It will stand a greater chance if you submit it to Support. The devs do participate in the forum but they don't read everything, and zombie topics like this one are some of the least likely to be noticed.