mettelus

Gotcha, thanks for that. It seems the computer is running better for you now, correct? **** Below is just babbling about storage in general **** Regarding storage, when working with multimedia files, temporary files can build up quickly. Every time you bounce a file, a new one is created, but Cakewalk doesn't delete the old one (in case you do want to keep it). For projects you have worked on a long time, it is always good to keep the entire folder as a backup (on another disc), and you can pare down the project folder by doing a "Save As..." to a new folder, and checking "Copy all audio with project" at the bottom of that dialog box. When that new folder is created only the audio actively in use by that project will copy (and only works for the open .cwp file). This is not urgent, but something to keep in mind if you notice project folders getting HUGE on you. Windows also creates temp files that never purge on their own. While you can get some of them with "Disk Cleanup" and checking the "Clean up system files" in the pop up, the ones that seems to build up quickest are in the following 2 directories: C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Temp (Windows Explorer needs "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" enabled in the Folder Options->View to see the AppData folder) C:\Windows\Temp When those directories fill up you can safely delete the contents... anything that won't delete is in use, so just skip those (those directories will fill back up over time anyway). One thing that did catch me off guard a few months back is that Windows maintains the Hibernation File even if you don't use it, and it re-enables itself with some Windows updates. I posted about how to disable that here, and the reason it caught my attention was the hiberfil.sys file was 43.5GB (and I keep my C drive running at roughly 200GB). Disabling that frees up the resources that Windows is using to maintain it (a total waste if you never use Hybernation).

Thanks for posting the specs, that helps us understand a lot better. I am still confused with the hub/external drive. Are you actively using that external drive or just for backups? Your motherboard has 5 internal drive connections (4 SATA3, 1 M.2), and with a desktop they are better choices (if actively using the data from the external to work). I use external drives for backups, but also unplug them when not backing up data (not really "necessary" but keeps the machine from trying to keep active communication with a device that it doesn't need to run). As mentioned previously, Windows needs to have USB ports tweaked so they are not allowed to go idle, and hibernation mode has always been flaky in Windows... either of those can cause an interface to disconnect/not come back online properly. Also, when working in DAW mode, if all of your computer audio is passing through your audio interface, be sure that Windows is not giving exclusive control to apps (right click and do properties in Windows Sound Control Panel on the device, and makes sure those are unchecked on the "Advanced" tab at the top... while in there, also disable the "Enhancements" and "Spatial Sound" at the top, as they feed into the Windows mixer an with interfere with DAW usage).

I read through this thread and didn't see specs on your machine. Are you running a desktop or laptop, and what are the model/specs for it? The external hard drive stands out for me, since depending on exactly what you are pulling/sending to that, it can be a choke point by itself. Sending that data through a hub just adds to the computer's confusion and increases the throughput concerns (the interface will have buffer issues if sharing any connection). If that is a USB2 connection, every time the disc is reading/writing it can potentially consume the port it is connected to (so the interface can "go offline" or the buffer choke while the drives does its thing). Windows does try to track USB connections, which is why using the same one helps. When Windows gets confused on what is plugged in where, disconnecting/reconnecting a USB connection will force Windows to check the device. If that has to be done repeatedly to make something work, dig into your hardware profile and see what USB devices Windows is seeing.

I have also defaulted to Melda products unless there is a reason I cannot. Since I posted about this in another thread on aligning live drums, I wanted to make sure that owner's of Melodyne Studio (only Studio does this) realized this was available. The Melodyne video posted in that (I just inserted it below for this post) has a very specific way to "feed" Melodyne, not only to get proper alignment performance (per the title), but also to maintain phase coherency (this might slip under the radar for some watching it, but is massively important). One neat trick with Melodyne is at the 7 minute mark (end of the video), where he changes the beat around using another reference track for timing. Melodyne Studio has some hidden gems buried deeper into it, but the phase coherence is sort of an "under the hood" perk with the proper setup.

This is something to definitely share with the bakers. The handshaking between the interface and Windows is everything. AFAIK, Sonar relies on Windows to properly see the interface, so I am not sure if there is a resolution short of the Control 2 being fixed, but the bakers might very well have insight as to the "why." I didn't even realize until someone posted a few months ago that MixControl got "dumbed down" to Control. They said something to the effect of, "If I could see what the videos of MixControl show, I would be a happy camper, but that is not there in the Control software." Even in the days of MixControl, the very last update to that was for a Mac issue, which made Windows usage do wonky things, so I had to back out to the previous version. I got spooked from that and saved multiple copies of the last driver that worked so that mine doesn't turn into a doorstop (that "Mac fix" was, in fact, MixControl's final release).

Cakewalk is one of the few apps that lets you set almost all of those in the application without needing to edit the registry. Edit->Preferences->File->Folder Locations allows you to set all of the ones that are listed right there. Simple directory junctions will accommodate the rest.

There are numerous posts in the forums with the same question over the years, and I only remember one that had detailed usage outlined (was very well done), but I cannot readily find it or remember who posted it... but is also probably 10 years old. Barring that (potentially futile) search, there have been quite a few tutorials posted, and the newer ones will include new features and bug fixes that have been done (this can be important). A tutorial from 2022 that seems to have a fairly detailed walk-through for 2 methods is at this link, but there are many others... tutorials are probably the best path to start on. Audio Snap tends to fall into the category of either you love it or you hate it; rarely is there middle ground. Also, depending on which version of Melodyne you are using (this requires Melodyne Studio) there are methods to quantize live drums there (this is a good starting tutorial for using Melodyne Studio for live drums - any tutorial by Rich Crescenti is usually the best go to for Melodyne-related things). Personally, I have shied away from Audio Snap due to past struggles, and I much prefer something "third party" so I can get the work done regardless of DAW (as long as it has ARA capability).

That file has a common name to numerous programs (each is different, but its purpose is the same) and it is embedded into the app directory which needs it. The one you reference is probably for the Cakewalk Start Screen, and defaults to being in the C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities\StartPage directory. It is possible you have a corrupted installer for CbB. Did you use an installer you had previously downloaded or download the last version released? The re-installation recommendation (or even repair if available) would be your best route to correct that. As an aside, the Shared Utilities are as the name implies, so installing older versions of software over newer versions can replace files that the newer version needs to run. This is why during re-installs that it is recommended to start with the oldest Cakewalk version first and install them in order of oldest to newest.

Quick side note with the OP database specifically. The "file creation date" is embedded in the files, and I am assuming they are the server upload dates (since there are numerous ones in massive "slugs"), but cannot verify. While the gp3/4 format was used to keep files backwards compatible (Guitar Pro 3/4), I found this interesting: Only 9 files have a creation date after 1/29/2006, and only one after 2006 (11/12/2012). 67 files are in gp5 format (Guitar Pro 5, released NOV 2005). Only one file is in gpx format (Guitar Pro 6+, GP6 was released in APR 2010). That is "Blackbird - Beatles White Album.gpx" that was uploaded on 11/12/2012. Bottom line, that database is relatively old but also unmodified. Much like MIDI files from the period, many are "as is" renditions that have carried forward in time.

I admit I was a bit confused by that comment as well. Just a word of caution... the whole purpose of the timeline is so you can visually track when events occur... if you start using other methods to "nudge" them, you will need to drill into each one to find out what is going on. Far better to be able to look at something and know when it starts and stops in relation to everything else. Here is the documentation on configuring Nudge Settings (you can easily set one of the 3 options to 50ms). Nudge physically moves the event, which you will actually prefer long term. To drill in (and set) Nudge preferences: In CbB... Edit->Preferences (default shortcut is P)... on that pop up, be sure "Advanced" is checked at the bottom, then on the left pane... Customization->Nudge. By default, the nudge commands are assigned to the number pad (1, 4, and 7 to shift things left/earlier (by nudge 1, nudge 2, nudge 3).... 3, 6, and 9 to shift things right/later (by nudge 1, nudge 2, nudge 3)). The values you set in preferences will be the default, so 50ms for "nudge 1" will shift the selected event 50ms earlier (with NumPad 1) or 50ms later (with NumPad 3). Visually you will have a much better time tracking things if they land on the timeline precisely when they start/stop.

+1, I highly suspect that the intro price was to bring the harder-core folks online to help beta test. Their forum is a better way to track progress with things going on than here. After I had jotted down several things from the initial release, I saw a post there about the modals being all wrong, then a response admitting that they were blindly pulled in from Scaler 2 and will be fixed in the 3.1 release. After seeing that one, I set my list aside and will check things out again once 3.1 hits the streets.

Like @bluzdog mentioned above, I also spot checked some files for the two links posted AFTER the OP, and they appear to be duplicates of what is posted in the OP. The advantage to both of those is that you can instantly download all the .gpx files, but by letter. Since they have to be extracted anyway, you can easily "assemble" the entire database on your own from either of those sites as well. Given this, the only "advantage" to the OP (if the other two sites are true duplicates) is that the assembly part is already done for you. I had half-considered assembling one of those other sites and running a duplicate file finder against it over the weekend; but for $9 it wasn't worth the effort, and I have wasted way more than $9 on things I never use anyway.

If you are also using the M-Track as a general playback device (for Windows), the first application to use it may be locking the sample rate and bit depth on you. Check in "Sound Settings" (in the Windows search bar)->Sound Control Panel (upper right) of that next screen. Highlight the M-Track, then right click->Properties. At the top of that next screen click the "Advanced" tab at the top, and make sure the "Default Format" matches your project. Also, uncheck both options in the "Exclusive Mode" box (this is what locks it to the first app that touches it). Also, while in there, on the "Enhancement" tab, check "Disable all sound effects," and on the "Spatial Sound" tab, select "Off" for that drop down... both of these tap into Microsoft's internal Mixer and you do not want either for DAW use. Even with the above done, if two apps are trying to use the device at different settings, the first one will lock it (i.e., your browser). When using a DAW, make sure all other apps are closed out first so your DAW can match the M-Track to the project you have open. Once that is done you "can" use your browser... unlike DAWs, browsers default to "whatever" output format is available, but a DAW must have the ability to sync the interface to the project (which it cannot do if it is locked out).

Hopefully someone who uses these can chime in on which is preferred, but there are MIDI Mapper/MIDIMapper (some need to be found without using the space) VSTs that can be inserted between a controller/MIDI track and the virtual instrument you are driving to reconfigure the data. Some are very specific on what they can modify, but a handful specifically support CC mapping.

Can you post the specs on the computer as it is now? That will help us a lot. If that computer has all spinners in it, you will see a major improvement just from swapping out the O/S drive. Samsung's Magician software will run clones easily, and for an O/S drive 500GB is more than sufficient. Reason I say this is for imaging purposes (smaller they are, faster they image/restore). Swapping data drives with SSDs will give improvement, but not as noticeable as with the O/S drive unless you have massive sample libraries you use in projects (in that case you will). I have carried forward a 3 TB HDD through 3 computers now, and it is the only HDD in my machine. I primarily use it for internal backup and download storage, but spinner drives tend to not catastrophically fail if they do go and are permanent (barring sticking a massive magnet on the disc and/or opening the enclosure). SSDs have gotten far better in this regard, but write cycles specifically will degrade longevity (so as an O/S drive they will see this... keep that in mind). SSDs primary advantage is read speed over an HDD (and the O/S drive will use this most). The only two SSDs I have had to replace (due to noticeable degradation) were both O/S drives.

I cannot even find a manual on that guy. The manufacturer's site circles back to Amazon! Something to check because I cannot find the manual, and you "should" have a hard copy... The USB capabilities of that unit are not explained well at all... it seems you can either record directly to a USB drive or connect that to a PC/MAC. It does not specify the number of channels (I assume this is the stereo mix only); but, if there are unit specific drivers for it, you can install those and connect it to your PC and see what Sonar is telling you is available from it. It is highly likely that is only a stereo mix output, but you would need to test that to actually see for yourself. As mentioned above, even higher level mixers often have limited number stereo mix outputs (and often no A/D conversion), so to get that information into a computer is going to need an audio interface capable of the task.

I drilled straight into the Def Leppard folder when I opened it up, so the three referenced above were Animal, Armageddon It, and Bringing on the Heartbreak. That format comment won't be across the board, of course, since it is 100% dependent on who made (or last edited) the file.

One interesting perk to this database came to light immediately. There are quite a few files that have both a gp3 and gp4 file formats (and when downloading them for free there is no distinction between which is in what format). Of the three sets I just checked out, the gp3 version is more accurate (by far in one case for the lead). Changes the playing field a bit when you can just double-click files and "boom" they are available to use immediately.

Sorry for the late post on this but I just noticed it! Guitar Lesson has had a free database in place for years, the only catch is that you need to wait 15 seconds for each one before it downloads. This is nice if you want to hunt and peck and only want a few. It has also has had the ability to pay them to download the entire database (link at the top of that page), which is normally $18, but is on sale for $9 through April (ends today). I finally got sick of the hunt and peck aspect, so just got it. The download is 125MB (it unpacks to nearly 1.3GB), and contains over 52K gpx files. Bear in mind these are files for Guitar Pro (but will also open in some other VSTs, like Ample Sound). As an aside, they also have a standing 10% discount on the Guitar Pro app for anyone interested, which I believe can also be used during a Guitar Pro sale event. Again, sorry for the late post on this, but the regular price is $18 anyway, so not a "massive" deal, BUT this site is a nice alternative to Guitar Pro's "My Songbook" subscription (which as far as I can tell is using this site's gpx files anyway, but not sure on that one).

Many VSTs have fixed this behavior (it is really on them, not Sonar, if this is what is occurring), but there are still ones out there that can intercept the SPACE bar if they are in focus.

Do a quick check on ALL of the inputs for the Universal Control mix you are using. The reason I say this is I was doing video work over a year ago and every other input was in 48KHz, but CbB was running in 44.1KHz. UC refused to crash (using a Revelator, no less), and it trudged along and did its thing but with a massive amount of latency/overhead. I didn't think anything like this was possible (and still function), but it did. It is almost like the "handshake" between CbB and UC was broken by the order in which things were added to the mixer. See if you have multiple inputs active on your UC Mixer and and make sure that all of the bit rates match each other there.

Sorry about the loss of the original files Unless you are focused specifically on re-mixing only, having the final mix would be something you could take to the Songs sub-forum and ask about. There are a lot of folks that do collaborations there, so it is quite possible to find someone to recreate the guitar riffs for you if you ask. Stem extractors can be frustrating, even with hi-end wav editors to supplement that work; so if you hit a wall with that, consider poking around in the Songs sub forum.

Also bear in mind that there are a handful of 32:9 (5120x1440) ultrawide monitors out there as well (roughly 45-49" wide). Mine came with a screen-split app to automatically chop up the display into sections as needed (each acting like a sub-monitor basically), which is convenient to "full screen" mode windows, then put them where you want them without fiddling with resizing (the app tells the window how big that sub-monitor is). As far as monitors themselves, refresh rate and response time tend to be the biggest differentiators these days... "true black" capability has become more standard but is also something to keep in mind (this can dramatically affect contrast capability).

In addition to this, the audio files were saved in a global audio folder... Cakewalk Projects/Audio Data (or just Audio) was the default IIRC. If far enough back they were also in 8.3 file-name formats, so some were gobbledygook. I forget now if right clicking the clip and selecting "Associated Audio Files..." will allow you to force a search for them, but it will give you the exact name of the audio file so you can manually search for it with Windows Explorer. Do you still have the Global Audio folder from when you created those .wrk files?

Barring obvious ones like Bohemian Rhapsody, this one doesn't fall into "groundbreaking" as much as it does "memorable." I was in a discussion a few weeks ago and commented, "'Simple' doesn't necessarily imply 'simplistic'," and the first example that came to mind was a song I haven't heard in over 45 years!! Not sure "why" that came to mind, but it did. I had no clue who even sang it (I was 8 at the time), but it was easy to find and I remembered it verbatim... Red Sovine's "Teddy Bear." Definitely not traditional in format, and terrible background "music," but will make you stop and listen to the words, even if you only hear it one time in your life. Reminded me that years ago @garybrun had commented about retaking the vocal from "One More Day" because his voice showed the emotion of it... I think "Teddy Bear" was the reason I had strongly agreed with leaving that in. This is not the recorded version, but I like the performance aspect and it is "close enough."