Gswitz

I remain undeterred. There may be reasons not to use cakewalk for live performances, but inability to compress or limit isn't one of them. Any compressor can be overdriven, before or after adc. If you are wanting to print the compressed track instead of the initial input you can using patch points and aux tracks. This is really no different than using the rme compressor except the round trip to the interface. To save clipping you have to properly set your gain. Once done, everything else you ask for you can have. Failing to properly use preamp gain will not be avoided by having external gear. I find external gear is subject to all the same gain staging criteria as internal gear. You can absolutely use cakewalk to create beautiful live mixes with eq, compression and limiting. To do so, you must set inputs low enough to avoid clipping. You can still maximize output though, targeting your favorite crest factor.

I'll make a video. Yes, I'm saying you can use that compressor to impact what you hear through headphones or speakers.

The sonitus compressor is very low latency.

Just in case I was crazy I just did it with the Sonitus compressor. I have my sample buffer at 64 which gives me 4.1 MSec round trip. So from the time I say a word to the time it comes out of the speakers is 4.1 MSecs. It's equivalent to having the speakers 4 feet further away. This is totally workable live. I just tried with a 48 sample buffer and this gets me down to 3 MSecs. I'll grant that I don't record through Sonar because when Sonar drops out it stops. I never want the recording to stop during a live performance so I use RME Digicheck. Digicheck will clip all tracks by a sample buffer if the computer can't keep up, but it never stops recording. To me, this is preferred. If you are using a laptop with DPC issues, you will have to set the sample buffer much higher and this could be too high for live performance. But, we can probably help you resolve DPC issues so you can run at a lower sample buffer. Even on a cheap laptop, recording a heap of tracks with no (or only a couple) of FX is usually no issue at all. It's another thing if you're going to drive the processors hard with soft synths etc. Then I raise the buffer as much as I can stand.

Just to add to Bit, if you sing loud loud, the dynamic will sound better. Being soft and breathy into a dynamic hurts. It brings out the words of the mic. Being good and loud it will sound much better. Also, if you are good and loud, your level will be more consistent. It will help you compress yourself as it were. When you sing softly then get really rolling the variance is much more significant than when you go from louder to loudest. Long ago I made a soft recording with a dynamic and it sounded drastically different from my ribbons. Then, with the amp cranked, noticed the difference is much less obvious.

No, I'm talking live. You sing... it goes into channel 1... into Cakewalk... compressed... sent to the master out... limited there... out to the interface... out to the mains. Why does this not work live? The only problem would be not being low enough latency. Latency would be driven by your computer and interface and choice of compressor/limiter. I have at least 10 options personally that work fine for this with low enough latency to perform live. So do all the other people trying to advise you. Most folks here may have better gear now. So, for example, my RME interface has compressors on input and output so I could do it without going through the daw. Same with delay and verb. But I could go through the daw. No problem. So can you. Back me up here, Bit? Anyone?

Congrats

Just put the effect of your choice on the channel. Preferably a low latency one. I don't understand why this is hard. Reduce the input gain and raise it with vsts before sending to the mains. Now you don't clip and it sounds great. You might use the cakewalk compressor on the track and the same with a high ratio for a limiter on the master out.

Omni directs any midi to your synth. When you have multiple midi inputs that go to different synths you don't want omni. For each midi channel you want to select the correct input. Don't forget there are midi only plugins like filters and delays and other cool things.

Lower the gain on your interface input tho reduce clipping. Raise gain with a compressor or limiter by adding them to the fx bin. You can also raise the gain on the track without risking clipping the input. You can still clip the output however.

Twenty thousand hertz podcast is interesting. The mastering show with Ian Shepherd runs a distant second. Any others worth checking out?

Is there any chance your midi device was assigned to a control surface in preferences?

Out of line, but want to turn you on... It is like the coolest tempo syncd multi voiced pad ever. One of the loudest bands I've seen.

Melda. I bought the everything package on sale. In part, I decided learning one plugin set was easier. I also had the cash. For years I've had their mastering bundle. They gave me a further discount for the plugins i already own. Honestly, i didn't know they had a drum synth [pretty fun]. They also gave a synth synth that sounds cool. Really, I've been starting slowly getting into them all. So many creative choices.

@craigr68You don't have to use pcs to automate thu anyway. Just use notes. Works fine. I can make a video demonstrating if you really need it. I have some around thu and the fcb1010 i know. Whether they spell out the answers to your exact questions idk. Search YouTube for gswitz101 and you will turn them up. @Noel Borthwick sorry for the final off topic post. Ty for being awesome and fixing the bug. Craig and i can take this offline or start a new thread.

I use thu with vst3 and i change banks and patches with my fcb1010. What are you trying to automate that you can't? I suppose i do save my usual patches in a bank to make it easy to shift through them. I have not tried mapping sets of commands to a single stomp or having specific stomps bringing up specific sounds. I can bring up any patch i like and use fixed stomps so no matter what patch i get, my reverb stomp toggles reverb and delay toggles delay etc.

If you open the markers view you can select a range between any two markers. When you have no markers between your start of timeand end of tune markers you can select all and then click the ruler between the markers. If you are exporting a clip you bounced just click the clip.

Sure. You can mix to a surround output if you want. You could choose some content for center, some for left and right you could even do a brief delay before the rear speakers if you want. It's hard to make it sound good without listening on a surround system of your own (even if you have to burn it to DVD and listen in your living room or a friend's living room. But, yes, you make a stereo mix 'surround'. You'll still have to pick music for each of the 5 channels. Front left and right should be easy enough. You can set rear left and right to the same or give it some small off-set. You will have the biggest struggle with the center channel I think. Channel tools plugin might help there.

This is almost exactly what i use except mine are slightly lifted off my ears.

I use a phone app called Chord! http://getchord.com/ It has all the chords, shapes, positions, scales... You can enter any set of chords and it will recommend scales to use.

They oughta hold a follow up to the G7 summit a week later and call it the C Major Summit...Maybe that would resolve everything!

You are at another level from me. I feel silly for having chimed in. I love playing jazz tunes but I am mostly terrible. I've been working on God Bless the Child most recently. I usually get distracted and just noodle for hours. ? I have a 'How to learn keyboard' program from a million years ago that's awesome and teaches shells. I'd never heard of them before I started using that app. It makes a ton of sense to divide the 1+5 to the left hand and the 3+7 to the right on a keyboard. I find it hard to be so organized on the guitar.

Hey Bill, don't forget to look for walking lines between the changes. Those can help it groove a little and also distinguish the A parts from each other in AABA patterns. By this i mean look for cases where you can walk a III of one chord to a VII of another for example... Either up or down... Chromatic is always a choice too.

If you can, you might. If you can't you may never know what you might have done with the power. For me, i love to play my guitar through midi synths with high voice count pads selected. This works fine when i play slowly but as i quicken the pace, i cause issues because all the voices stick on one processor, usually the first. So, i let go and don't use it. I use weak second choice stomp boxes that aren't close to being as cool.

With phantom, preamps matter less. That's part of the idea around ribbons that take phantom... Any preamp works. Different pres make a difference, but none as much as the Mic. Don't forget shock mounts for the mics too.