Variorum

Thanks Nigel! There are so many events, Cakewalk's Event Viewer locks up when I try to view them... ? Could be my poor underpowered computer. My 12 gigs are almost used up just by loading the project.

Thanks for the feedback KS! ?

Thanks jack!

I've been working on remakes of some GPO5 demos I made for my YouTube channel a few years ago. This is the first (and probably only) one I've managed to complete. It's based on the original GPO5 version, but I supplemented/replaced some instruments with free VST's that I've acquired over the years. I also put a lot more effort into it Most are still free, but Epic Strings is long past its free promotional period and costs $29 now. Watch the volume... it gets loud. Stuff: Garritan Personal Orchestra 5 Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover Spitfire Audio Epic Strings Spitfire Audio LABS - Strings 2 VSL Big Bang Orchestra SINE Player - Rotary SI-String Section

Seems someone's mangling the Doc server right now... Here's the image (since I still have some forum disk space left ?)

I don't have much experience with ethnic instruments but, coincidentally, I just got an email about this from LibreWave. Might be another one to check out... Modern Bodhrán £29.00 https://librewave.com/product/modern-bodhran/

I normally use Inkscape for vector graphics, but I've never used its output in code before. Hopefully they'll standardize the format soon?

They seem to be separate mechanisms. I think the Cakewalk documentation warns against using both on a track... I'll have to see if I can find that. It's not a huge problem since Cakewalk allows you to convert CC's to Automation Lanes and vice versa. Just something to be aware of. Having existing CC data on a track isn't a problem because the plugin eats any CC's that match the Modulated CC parameter. So, if you're modulating CC7 and there is already volume CC data on the track, the plugin will just erase and replace it.

Yeah, I considered doing that in the past, along with internationalization. There's just such a small user base for MFX that I haven't prioritized it. I've started (barely!) work on modifying my component set to be vector based/resizable 'cause that's what the cool kids are doing now. ? That may negate adding customizable skins to the components... unless I use a collection of SVG's or something. One of the reasons I made it is to automate params on my EX5. It's a quick way to experiment with movement and if I find something I like, I can modify the synth voice. You can stack a couple of these in a track and use the first one to output a wave to the second one (i.e. output a Sawtooth modifying CC 150 and Frequency set to Whole and set the Amplitude CC modifier on the second one to 150 modulating CC7 with a Sine wave). If you're lucky, you might find some cool combinations ? One word of warning... make sure you don't have an automation lane with the parameter you're trying to automate (the Modulated CC). Automation lanes and CC's are two separate things in Cakewalk and they'll clash.

Well, here's another one... I've been working on it off and on for at least a couple years. Every time I'd open the project, I'd see my TODO list. A lot of the items started "Figure out how to..." so I'd get depressed and close it ? Anyway, it spews forth CC events into your track (the CC specified in the Modulated CC box). You can modify Frequency, Amplitude, and Offset via assignable CC's in the track or from your keyboard. You can right-click on any of the four CC edit boxes and select Learn to easily assign a knob or slider on your keyboard or controller. It works with direct keyboard input too, so you can play while twiddling knobs to change the parameters. I'm not sure how useful it'll be in production, but it's fun to play with! I plan to add some functionality soon, like using the Pitch Wheel to manipulate a parameter and enabling pitch event output in addition to CC's. But... I need to take a break from it for a little while ? Try to read through the docs. I know docs suck, but they aren't too long and it'll make it a little easier to use. You can check it out here, as usual. PS - If you're a robot, please don't take offense to the check box that says "I'm not a robot". I'm not anti-robot or anything. Just contact my AI and she'll give you some alternate way to transfer it into your consciousness.

If you really don't want a computer involved, I'm afraid your only option is one of the USB Midi Hosts like the ones mentioned in your link. Go with the cheapest thing you can find... the Miditech device looks to be around $80 (ouch!). Compare that to the little DIY board (USB Host Controller Board V2.4) for around 20$ and you'll see the actual electronics involved are minimal. Any chance you're handy with a soldering iron??? ?

I tried several different Kontakt instruments, standalones and combinations from the Factory Selection and I can't reproduce the issue, even intentionally. I've tried with the same Midi channel, assigned the controls via Midi Learn... nothing makes two controls in two instances of an instrument move together. I think we'll need to know the exact instrument you're using. It may be something specific to a particular NKI ( in Kontakt Factory Library 2, which I don't have so I can't test).

Yeah... if I want the waveforms to start at slightly different positions, I'll auto-humanize, but if I want an obvious difference in the notes, I'll do it by hand.

I think random humanization can be useful in some cases, but changes in timing must be kept very small in most cases... almost undetectable. It's ok to have larger changes in velocity (volume) just because our ears aren't terribly sensitive to differences in loudness. Are we the only two people on earth still doing this? I love my SW1000XG ?

If you want a really good SF2/SFZ player I'd suggest installing the free Aria Player. It's made by Plogue (The same company that makes Sforzando) It allows you to load up to 16 SFZ's at a time. Each one corresponds to Midi channels 1-16. It also automatically converts SF2 to SFZ. If you're interested: Go to https://www.garritan.com/ Click on My Account and create an account Go back to https://www.garritan.com/ and click Support At the bottom of the page there's a section called Product Updates Click on DOWNLOAD PRODUCT UPDATES In the Product category, select Garritan In the Platform category, select Windows Click Search Click on "ARIA Player 1.959 Windows" to download Run the program to install. Make sure the VST directory specified is correct. It installs a standalone player and a VST plugin you can use in Cakewalk. When you first run it, make sure you go to Settings and set the User Files Path to the directory where you keep your SF2/SFZ files so they'll show up in the list on the left side of the window.

This link from the topic below seems to work fine...

That used to be my favorite free Bass, but I think MODO BASS 2 CS may be better. It's available here if you want to try it out.

I think he meant this one: https://www.youtube.com/@Cactus_Music_BC/playlists Good stuff there...

The MIDI file standard (.mid) doesn't have a mechanism to save anything but basic track/instrument information... just bank and instrument number (0-127). You'll have to save as a Cakewalk project file to preserve the VSTs you're using.

I'm not so sure about that...

Those are like Easter on steroids ?

Thanks Max.... Hope you get some use out of it.

A while back, I was doing some work with Melodyne on a solo trumpet from Session Horns. I noticed that there was a slight, random pitch shift going on, presumably because it was a recorded sample of a real trumpet player. That seemed to give it a "real" quality. I occasionally use VL instruments on the EX5 and they sound really good, but their pitch is perfectly constant which makes them sound fake during extended notes. I built a Breath Controller a few months ago which helps the realism a lot... but the perfect pitch was still a problem. So I thought a slight, randomized pitch curve would help. After a bit of Googling, I found @Rogério's excellent CAL script that could create such a curve (and other randomization effects). How he converted a bicubic spline interpolation algorithm into CAL's RPN language without going insane is beyond me Anyway, I decided to write a plugin that would introduce Midi pitch modulation called Waver. Because that's what it does. Here is a short sample with two trumpets from Cakewalk TTS and one EX5 trumpet. This doesn't use the plugin: ...and here's the same sample that DOES use it on all three tracks: If you use a very low amplitude setting on the plugin, it has a subtle but significant effect on the realism; almost psychoacoustic. Of course you can jack the amplitude way up if you're trying to emulate a 6th grade orchestra ? It's available on my site if you'd like to try it out.

Here's a good, rational opinion on AI (ChatGPT in particular) from Tom Scott: