bitflipper

Well, I may have my doubts about God but I do believe in the power of COVID-19. Not many bands have survived it, resulting in a surplus of players now looking for something to do. We posted an ad on Craigslist last night and already have four people lined up for auditions on Sunday. I am encouraged.

It's unlikely that a MIDI device would gobble up much RAM. More likely, the message is misleading and the real issue is contention between two programs for the MIDI ports. Could be that the software you're using is trying to get exclusive access to ports already claimed by another process. Maybe it's got a a setting for that, similar to Cakewalk's option to allow applications to share audio devices.

Agreed, 1600 is a lot. Anything over a thousand we measure in "bapus"; you've got 1.6 bapus' worth of plugins. I have way too many plugins, but I only come in at ~0.5 bapus. However, the plugin count shouldn't really matter much unless you're doing a full reset/rescan. If you're only scanning new plugins the perceptible difference between 200 and 2000 ought to be negligible. How much time are we talking about, Lee? Several minutes? Whatever the reason, I wouldn't expect it to be due to issues with the scanner itself. Yes, it's had some updates (mine is dated 28 Oct, so still shiny from the box). But the basic function of the scanner is fairly simple and straightforward. Most of the run time happens within the plugins themselves. The scanner then just gathers information about them and adds them to the list after they report success. Consequently, one plugin can bog down the whole scan. Any new plugins added since before the slowdown began? Any Waves stuff? Anything with Pace or Pace-like copy protection? Both scanner and plugins access the registry, as Noel notes. Could you maybe have an antivirus utility that gates access to the registry, or that scans DLLs before they can be opened? Whatever A/V you use should have the ability to whitelist (exclude) specific paths. Nobody's ever been infected by a VST, so it's safe to exclude every folder in your scan path.

It's rock 'n roll. It's supposed to be a little messy.

Yeh, the 800-mile commute might be an issue, though.

Nope.

I actually did that for five years, because back then it was my full-time job and the money split better between three people than four. Over time, playing bass with my left hand became second-nature. But at best it was a kludge that audiences could overlook. I couldn't possibly imbue the performance with any real expression and still do justice to piano/string/organ/synth parts - which often require two hands by themselves. We have an entirely different outlook nowadays. When the singer asked me how I felt about adding a horn player, I said we're never gonna make any money at this anyway, so let's just make the best band we can. The sax turned out to be a wonderful addition. I actually wouldn't mind adding a percussionist or second guitar, but we have trouble squeezing the six of us onto some smaller stages as it is.

Well, the decision was made for me last night. A band member accidentally sent a text out that wasn't meant to include the bass player, in which he said we needed to play gigs sober. He didn't mention the bassist by name, but he figured it out and fired back an "I QUIT" text. So we won't be playing out in November, or learning new material. Instead we'll be auditioning bass players. I've contacted two people who'd run ads on Craigslist, which is a crap shoot at best. Wish me luck.

Sounds like you're pretty much loaded for bear already. So never mind. You don't need Omnisphere. btw, if you like The Resonator and The Steel, check out Delta Blues Slide Guitar. It's my favorite of the bunch. Well, if you don't count Renaxxance. But that's a whole 'nother animal.

^^^ Should be along any decade now. abacab, although you can't test drive Omnisphere you can certainly hear it. Watch Avatar, or a BBC nature documentary. It's all over the place. As for justifying the price tag, consider that it can replace every synth you have. Or ever wanted to have. I'd still rate Kontakt the better investment, but put the two together and you're pretty much set for VIs.

He's not the lead singer, but he's the only baritone in the band and the few songs he does sing lead on are among our strongest numbers that I'd hate to drop. I've had to replace band members before, but it's a whole lot easier when you have money to offer. We only play out once a week and the money isn't even minimum wage after you take into account travel, load in/out and rehearsal. Our only reward is the fun factor, and our only mission is to be the best band we can be. I do it to get out of the garage, interact with non-virtual people and - most important - to keep my chops up. My fingers start to rust when I'm restricted to just composing at the DAW. So along with the usual prerequisites of knowing how to sing and play, it also requires the willingness to work hard for little compensation beyond the joy of making music. And doing it sober. Gigs do come first. We have upcoming gigs on the calendar, including one venue that we've been particularly looking forward to playing. Another is one that we had to cancel last summer when our guitarist got Covid, and they were nice enough to reschedule. We're building a circuit despite overall having fewer places to play than in past years. I don't want to lose any of those venues. btw, the last time we auditioned bass players we heard plenty of good bass playing. But none of them were singers. We're already a six-piece band, and it's a tight fit on some stages, so adding another member isn't practical. I'd love to have a percussionist or a second guitar. Or a couple go-go dancers. But they'd have to be willing to haul gear, which is hard to do in a mini-skirt.

Two posts, both recommending the same loop library. I think User 905133 is right, this is someone making money through referral links, and is probably not even a Cakewalk user. "Her" email address is suspiciously nothing close to "Helen Aoki". That doesn't mean the library isn't worth $10. It actually doesn't sound bad, if building EDM songs out of canned loops is what you call "composing". If this user keeps posting the same links he/she/it (could be a bot) will be banned.

Last night's gig was on an island and the ferries had stopped running before it was over. As is our custom, we all crashed at the sax player's house on the island. My head hit the pillow around 2:00 AM. Exhausted, I put on headphones and was drifting off to the sounds of Hans Zimmer, when the drummer came in - furious and threatening to quit the band if we didn't do something about the bass player. The issue is that the bassist drinks too much. He's a great player and a good singer, scores points with me by helping to set up the PA as well as hauling gear in and out. But when he drinks his timing goes all to hell and he makes stupid mistakes like starting a song in the wrong key. The rest of us have all agreed to not drink during a gig, which has been my own policy since forever, in every band I've ever been in. He doesn't seem to be able to go along with that, making me think he's an alcoholic. Plus he's "sick" a lot. Plus he gets very argumentative whenever the subject comes up. I've known enough alcoholics to recognize the symptoms. Not sure how to proceed. Do I confront him and demand that he stop drinking at gigs, knowing it will probably be fruitless and just engender resentment? Or do I start advertising for a bassist and hope I find one as good as him but without the psychological baggage? (Insert bass player joke here. Ed?) Singing bassists are surprisingly hard to come by.

Electrical engineers actually have to deal with propagation delay, what we'd call latency, based on the lengths of conductors. Actually, it's about the inductive reactance that every conductor has. However, this only becomes a significant factor at very high frequencies, not at audio frequencies. You'd have to have a VERY long cable to get any noticeable delay. Inductance is also a factor in high-power transmission lines, but that's about synchronizing the 50/60Hz waveforms across multiple sources. There are, however, practical considerations when dealing with long audio cables. If they are coiled, their inductance will increase. If in a bundle, they will have inductive crosstalk. Then there is the distributed capacitance between the two internal conductors, which increases linearly with length. These don't affect timing, but they do affect frequency response. Standing waves affect the overall impedance and can cause a nonlinear attenuation and impedance mismatches. Then there are the electrical properties of inductive sources (guitar pickups) that also become part of the circuit. These are the reasons for recommending the shortest cables you can practically use. It has virtually nothing to do with latency. That said, a nice long 14-gauge power cable can be used as an improvised towing rope when the band van has slipped off a snowy road enroute to a gig. True fact.

Sheesh, they've sent me at least six emails about this. They are sure determined to give me Elements! Ironic that their thank-you for already buying Ozone 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 is a free copy of Ozone Elements. Can I exchange that for something useful, maybe a free upgrade to RX9?

Note how in Cactus' screenshot above soloing the MIDI track ("Kick") also solos the instrument it's driving ("SI-Drums"). Sometimes I'll use this as a quick way to check routing in a complex project where the audio and MIDI tracks aren't right next to each other. You should see the same thing when you solo your MIDI track: a companion audio track should also be automatically highlighted. If you don't, then that MIDI track may be mis-routed, e.g. to an instrument that's been deleted.

Dither is noise. Every time you dither, you add noise. So it's best to avoid it when it's not necessary. In your situation, it's really only necessary for that final 16-bit export. There is no advantage to working in 16 bits throughout, beyond saving some disk space. There are good reasons why we do most of our work on 32-bit files.

Good point. I had to check its specs because I couldn't believe such a relatively expensive (for a 2-input interface) device didn't include a jack for an external power source. It doesn't. You can also run into issues with inadequate current if you use a USB breakout box. For example, my keyboard has two very handy USB ports built into it. But I cannot plug in a second device if either my external backup drive or a DVD are already plugged in. Not enough current. There are also some mics that require quite a lot of current to operate correctly (e.g. Earthworks) that simply wouldn't be compatible with a USB-powered interface. I'm a fan of Focusrite, but I would not want this one.

Allows for multiple users/profiles. Makes it harder for malware to mess with it. Keeps things tidy with hierarchical organization. One database to back up everything. Common programmatical interface with built-in O/S support. There are a few good reasons for the registry. But yeh, there are times when I wish for a good old ini file.

Could be a corrupt registry. Make sure you're clicking Reset and not just rescanning.

This is a long-forgotten blues guy named PJ Proby. What makes the recording historical isn't PJP, but rather the backing band, who went on to form a pretty successful combo. They are John Paul Jones, John Bonham, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant (harmonica). I was unable to find out who played piano, could have been JPJ. It was the first time all four had been together in the studio. At first I wondered if this might contradict the popular story wherein Plant was found via an ad in Melody Maker, and that he'd had no prior professional experience. But the 1968 session date suggests that the band was already in formation, given that the first LZ record came out in the summer of 1969, IIRC.

Gotta agree with Carlos. I'm certain it's high quality; duh, it's from Spectrasonics. But $149 apiece does seem a bit steep, considering you already have to own Omnisphere to use them. For comparison, Indiginus' Renaxxance may not have 328 patches, but it's $59 and a damn fine nylon guitar. Mark, aren't you supposed to be on vacation? Get out of the hotel, man, and see the sights.

Here's a good introduction:

I have an NT1-A, too. It's actually a fairly bright mic. But back when I first got it (it was my first condenser) I did in fact accidentally record into the back side of it more than once because looking at it, it isn't obvious which side's which. So I got into the habit of singing into one side and then the other as a test, to make sure I had it the right way around. Another thing about the NT1-A is that it has a strong proximity effect and it's easy to overload it with plosives. It's a mic that likes to keep its distance, so you'll probably get better results by simply backing away from the mic a bit. Assuming, of course, that your room sounds OK and you have a little acoustical absorption in place. If the room sounds bad, standing further from the mic won't be an option. I, too, use a Focusrite interface. Not the same one you have (it's the Firewire version of Byron's 18i20) but with the same type preamps. They're pretty transparent and work well with the NT1-A. Their only limitation is they lack sufficient gain to do well with ribbons, but condensers like the Rode put out plenty of signal.

When I read "low end boominess in vocals" I assumed your issue was with the proximity effect. Standard mitigation tactics are a) use a low-pass filter, preferably one that's built-in to the microphone, and/or b) sing further away from the mic. Or use a different kind of microphone, e.g. a ribbon ($). But then you said that you could identify specific notes that boom, which points to possibly being an entirely different problem. One that's caused by room acoustics, and for which mitigation is not a simple process. First step is to experiment with different mic positions, but you've tried that already without success, suggesting that the room may just not be a good place to record vocals. Even applying acoustically absorptive materials may not help because you probably don't have enough space to apply the kind of treatment that absorbs low frequencies. Assuming, then, that the vocals won't ever get a whole lot better, we're down to fixing them in the mix. It sucks, because filtering resonances is a tricky business and rarely works well. But it may be where you need to start. The magic plugin you'll use for that is a dynamic equalizer. The best one I've found to date for fixing vocal resonances (yes, even better than FabFilter ProQ3 for this application) is MDynamicEQ from Meldaproduction. It's $84 but often goes on sale for half price. Get on the Melda mailing list so you'll get notified when it does, and snatch it up. (Skip the fancier MAutoDynamicEQ, you don't need it.)