mettelus

I would recommend getting familiar with Standard before worrying about Advanced. Unless you actually are going to use the Advanced features specifically, Standard probably covers over 90% of what you will need long term.

Just to clarify, are there two guitars on that track (rhythm and lead)? If so, that is the primary hurdle due to frequency overlap, but time-based FX (delays, reverbs, etc.) tend to cause the most grief trying to separate things. If you hit a wall with it and want another to take a shot at it, shoot me a PM. I will not have time to sit until this weekend though.

This plugin requires a buffer that is base 2 (64, 128, 256, etc.) so won't function in StudioOne unless locked into one of those. I didn't worry about it when that error message popped up since it was free, but is worth noting for folks (there are three DAW settings that will cause it to fail, but I forget the other 2 offhand).

I forget now, is the original Z3ta included with CbB? In addition to the synth (instrument), that can also be inserted as an FX (can run the LFO on the incoming signal), which may be any other possibility. The automation lane mentioned above may be simplest though.

It didn't occur to me till I read this thread... wasn't Waves initially a HW-based FX system? I had to chuckle @bitflipper's comment about a case study... Harvard Business Reviews are rife with companies that buried themselves due to bad business decisions (some of the better ones are required reading for MBA's). In fact, one professor started his first class by saying, "I should be sitting on a yacht in the Caribbean, but my father ruined the company..." Turns out, that company had a stranglehold on mechanical switches for aviation (wouldn't trip under high g's), but when electronic switches were introduced he refused to adapt and weight (one of the driving factors to make anything go airborne in the first place) drove him out of business. Those who adapt to customer needs and change tend to excel, those who cannot tend to fail. DSP has long since matured, so there are not a lot of "new" things out there to begin with, yet some perpetuate products that were fine decades ago.

I cannot remember offhand exactly which, but MS and Adobe both had free text-speech readers. I think Google also has one embedded in their book reader app (forget the name now). Pretty sure they were all mobile apps as well (for hands free) rather than computer. Not used any of those more than in passing, and they will only work on certain file formats (by app). Capturing that would be another hurdle.

One thing not often mentioned with the Chord Track is you can also adjust both existing audio/MIDI to conform to changes made to the chord track (conform loops, adjust key, etc.). This was one reason I was skeptical with the EZKeys excitement. I gave a couple demos (grand pianos) a try, but bare bones they were lackluster. I ended up grabbing Scaler 2 instead. Melodyne and SO are more joined at the hip than anyone else I know of, why shifting audio around with the chord track is pretty seamless. The Projects page is another noteworthy feature for mastering and album compilation.

Another bit of sage advice... I think most of my wasted time (musically) falls into this bucket, especially for things I have and almost never use. It does have "somewhat" of a benefit in that after I have wasted that time, I will follow up with playing sans computer. Time is the one finite resource that we can exchange for many others (money, education, amusement, etc.) but can never be exchanged back. Tell that to a kid and they will give you the deer in the headlights look, so for them I often caveat that with "once you hit 40, that will make more sense to you..."

How many of the VST variants from MComplete did you install (that could be over 400 right there if you did them all)? Melda is good for GAS relief (especially FX). Every time something new (or "free") gets touted, I take a pause and think about if I already have it. Sage advice here... the enjoyment of how you spend your time is what matters most... I have spent many hours just playing without recording anything and never once felt like I wasted my time.

Therein lies much of the real challenge. Another point to keep in mind is that stem separation often defaults to five stems (some let you dig deeper). A "trick" here (especially if you want MIDI to drive a VSTi), is that the "audio quality" of that temporary stem can be destroyed for the sake of MIDI extraction. Example, aggressively removing harmonics, reverbs (high end), and inserting audio microscopes on fundamental frequencies. Audibly this now sounds like crap, but has very defined transients and frequencies for Melodyne to extract MIDI better (bake the changes into that temp stem so the CPU doesn't freak if you do an entire stem conversion). Even then you are going to need to edit the MIDI (velocities will be way off, but relative velocity might be good). For audio->midi conversion, aggressive EQ (always do this on a temp copy) can be your friend.

Side comment, since this was touched on and not sure what the OP is pursuing... There have been so many advances in things in the last decade that relying on an accurate MIDI file is almost a thing of the past, primarily because of Melodyne. In the old days the MIDI tracks would often need to be routed to an external VSTi (although using TTS-1 to initially separate it was a good choice) and you were totally locked in to the (in)accuracy of the MIDI creator; but nowadays you can run an original commercial copy through track separation (iZotope RX or Steinberg SpectraLayers) and then drag/drop those stems on a MIDI track to let Melodyne convert them. There is often a lot of touch up required afterward (further track separation, VSTi inserts, error corrections, etc.), but you also have the advantage of having the original commercial copy in the project to work against (I leave it as track 1 and mute/unmute as needed), and since that was your source, all tempo/key changes are retained in the audio->MIDI conversions (shift+drag clips to new lanes to preserve timing positions).

In addition to the above, tracks default to listening to all MIDI channels (MIDI Omni). When you start working with multiple MIDI tracks it is good practice to also set the input and output channels to specific numbers (1 through 16) so that they are paired accordingly (match output of intended source # to input of intended receiver #). You can also see that in the Track View (inputs/outputs) when the view is set to "All." It is difficult to easily trace MIDI routing in Cakewalk, so assigning channels will help you when you return to old projects so you can get back into the swing of things quickly. Another thing to consider when working is the Input Echo being activated or not. When off it only plays back what exists in the track already rather than also from input sources. Your "wavering voices" track already has MIDI data in it that it will play with the Input Echo (speaker icon to the right) off. Edit: Just noticed the bold quote at the bottom of the OP!

That would be a reason for sure. The pandemic put an end to "open mic" nights in this area, but we had a few bands that would set up their gear and let others use it. Not a lot would participate in that (so the band played most of the time), but it was awesome for playing a few songs and then going off to just socialize. Very laid back bunch of folks in one of those bands (Pat Martino gave the guy who ran it a guitar when he was recovering from a bout with cancer), but I am not sure if such a thing is really that common. I am in the boonies here, so most folks know each other at events like that.

+1, oddly enough I think I have used the Red Compressor more than any other compressor as well. It has a minimalist approach to it very much akin to a guitar pedal. There have been a few really nice apps that went to freeware at EOL. Riffstation is another useful one that comes to mind. Fortunately I downloaded that version when it was announced... I found out when updating software last year that the paid version cannot register itself anymore so the free version quickly solved that issue.

Can you expound on this? The only thing that comes to mind for me is that the installer used to not have options to unselect VST2, etc. But installation paths are choosable. As with most anything, directory junctions can bypass "set" installers so you can just let them go to defaults after the junctions have been made. I only get concerned for this with large installs, and Melda is by far one I do not care about (I own the MCompleteBundle, and the VST2 and VST3 folders are 21.2MB each... they are files updated per cycle). The sound packs are the only things HUGE; the plugins themselves are pretty lightweight. One benefit with the GUI that most do not consider is that it also makes the plugins less CPU-intensive. I totally stunned a guy once (sort of related to this) by saying "Are you interested in [making music] or playing a video game?" After that shock sunk in I said, "People who want to do things are unstoppable and focused.... they use the tools on hand and do great things. Those who don't really want to do things will find excuses or semi-related busy work to rationalize getting nothing done."

Being someone unfamiliar with EZKeys, this is a bit concerning. Can you create your own MIDI styles or are you locked to theirs (I think I read that those MIDI packs are in a proprietary format)? I definitely agree that the loyal customers are getting hosed with the buy 1, get 2 free for new users. It comes across as a customer vacuum to sell add-ons later.

Melda is sort of my litmus test to even consider other deals. There are certainly things that Melda cannot do (right now), but there are also a lot of things Melda can do. Another advantage, beyond only buying something once, is that they (mostly) have similar structure, so you are not constantly relearning GUIs to get things done. Updates are also significantly faster than many other vendors as they simply delete/replace what you own.

There are a lot of screen capture apps available, and most video software has one built in. If you get into recoding multiple inputs (desktop and camera(s)), that is where the field gets narrower.

reg files will add themselves to your registry when you double click them. Always be sure you know the source of the file before you activate one.

As a spectator, these Waves threads are baffling to me. There have only been a few vendors with epic "gripe threads" over the years, and reading those has been enough for me to steer clear of them. Just the time investment to deal with some of those issues seems a bit much.

As mentioned above, there are a lot of factors that go into the end product. You can also consider the options of isolating the input as much as possible (even by using an electric guitar, but that undermines the feel of playing an acoustic) and tailoring that signal as much as possible to be clean prior to applying any timed-based FX (the convolution reverb). Depending on the reverb, there are also a lot of tweaking options available. Acoustic IRs focus on the body resonance of a guitar (basically a hand-held cab), and even within the same model, they can react differently depending on variations in the build... for that tailoring the reverb is your friend. This link has a nice list of both loader and IR resources with a brief overview of the process. I was just putzing on that and one of his links gave me a chuckle... this guy went to town doing IRs of everything he had available it seems (some of it is good though). I never thought of adding a vacuum tube IR to a vocal before... or that anyone would ever take an IR from a vacuum tube in the first place.

For anyone not familiar with DeoxIT, it is the shizzle for cleaning electrical connections. @Ampfixer recommended that to me over 10 years ago now when I brought my amp back online. Since then I have used it more in automotive restorations than the house (and I still have the same 5oz can), until recently.... I have a 5 speaker surround system from 2004 that the power switch started acting up on, so I left the system on for over a year straight because I had to open the case and jumper the switch when I lost power. A couple weeks ago the entire system starting acting wonky (heat from being on 24/7), so remembered the DeoxIT and figured I would spray some on the switch each time I had to open it (is a tiny push button under a plastic key) but force myself to cycle power on the system when not in use. I just saturated the switch figuring it would eventually work its way down into the tiny gap and to the contacts. "Eventually" ended up being about 5 minutes, so 20 years of oxidation is gone and the system functions like new again. DeoxIT has over doubled in price (I think was $7 when I got it), but that stuff works wonders on anything... the slot in the back of a pot will let you hit the wiper blade directly so you can eliminate the static from a guitar knob and keep it that way for a long time, sliding contacts (faders, etc.)... any nook or cranny to an electrical contact... even household outlets (makes plugs go in with ease after use).

Yeah, it is still the same as the last picture it that thread. I had bought quality pots for it, but never used them. I was going to shorten the wiring run if I did replace them but have had no issues. Lesson learned for me. Before getting excited about what "might be," be sure to evaluate "what is." Focus on finishing/assembly as top priority (the stuff that is sorta permanent), then kick the tires on the finished product to check out the things you want to alter. The only thing I have left is the logo, and I lost the little guy who would run and sit in front of the amp to lymphoma in his stomach (vile disease). I want to put "Tigger" on the head stock in the Gibson font (already created the graphic), but I am still on the fence about vinyl lettering (lazy route) versus a resin inlay. I replaced a nasty plastic mouse pad on my desk with resin recently and it turned out awesome, but carving that stock is going to take some time; however, I prefer to honor the little guy with something awesome rather than cheesy because I got lazy.

I suspected that neck was drilled since there were no WTF reviews on the kit (drill presses are not a common home tool). 90% is finishing, so be patient and have fun with it.

To add briefly to the above for clarification, an IR curve is basically the structural response (resonance) of a sound impulse to isolate a specific physical setting (acoustic guitar body, guitar cab, room, etc.). They are then used in convolution reverbs to better replicate that setup. In that regard, acoustic/cab IRs are identical, just what they capture (why using more than one IR is not a bad thing). Acoustic IRs are focused on replicating the body of a guitar, and work wonders when doing acoustic work off an electric pickup (piezo especially), so that will give you a better Hummingbird sound, but you may still need to add another IR to get the playback mechanism/room response. Always work from instrument->environment with reverbs and be light-handed in their effect the further out you get.