mettelus

Tendon and ligament damage can take months to heal on their own. Stretching exercises are good prior to any repetitive work (sessions), but relaxing is also needed to heal (and keep warm to promote blood flow). A doctor could give you much better feedback. In my experience, they aren't as concerned if a tendon/ligament isn't severed and pretty much advise healing naturally (I had one that took 6 months). A doctor should be able to recommend surgery or not (for certain injuries that is suggested).

Couple quick questions first... are the vocals on your soundcloud yours? If so, the vocals on the "Ghosts" track left me scratching my head wondering what you are trying to do with Melodyne? (basically, your "vocals need a lot of help" comment confused me). Do you use comping on vocal takes? I would start there, so you can select the best phrases for a final take. I would recommend being light-handed with Melodyne for any touch ups desired. I tend to agree that a second totally separate track can often yield the best results (for doubling), but there are several methods to double vocals (even from one track with things such as iZotope Vocal Doubler (free)), or even embellesh a single track without doubling (i.e., a simple post production FX chain). It is fitting things into the mix where the rubber meets the road, so do not be overly critical of solo'd (dry) tracks not sounding perfect on their own.

Another perspective to consider, which has been alluded to above, is this: if a plugin has been scripted properly, any DAW supporting that format should be able to use it (where they tested it is sort of moot). I can recall countless times that Noel has gotten involved with plugin issues. He will also reach out to developers directly to resolve them. That "feature" of CbB (the bakers and their participation here) is highly underrated.

LOL, yeah, I was just getting ready to mention MXXX in response to Bit's message about Ozone being 21 plugins. Ozone Advanced is sort of a cheat since they can be separated. MXXX is the bigger cheat, since it is a shell and will embed synths if you own them. Ozone would be my vote as well if someone was going to focus on just one plugin (for purchase), with Melodyne a close second. Both were already mentioned above.

MXXX is an odd one, since it is really more of a bundle but doesn't count as one. MXXX Core is the shell, so you can use the functionality piecemeal with the plugins you own. The actual bundles have "dupes" because of this (that and all MB versions are dupes of their single band counterpart). That being said, as much as the concept of MXXX excited me, in practical use it requires a lot more thought to use. I haven't used it as much as I thought I would since a DAW FX chain using the same plugs is simpler and easier to decipher months later.

"Keyboards" have evolved so much over time, so I see it more as an tactile input vehicle. I personally have associated "keyboard" with "synth," but the sound you get out of a MIDI input these days does not need to be a synth at all. For the OP, what are you considering a "keyboard?" I also tend to associate keyboards with electronics, so a piano is always a piano for me. I came across an interesting Russian pianist (Gamazda), and she has covers of just about everything and is apparently supported very well from online performances/chatting via patreon. I noticed that she seems to play a different piano for every video too (sort of odd), so I am wondering where they all come from, but then again, her $100/month patreons are sold out, so pianos might be consumables to her.

I was going to ask how good the phantom power is on these since it is buss-powered (initial concern). The reviews don't mention this specifically (hint that it is okay), but a couple noted that the minimum gain on the inputs will still clip an old passive guitar... is that true? I didn't readily see anything about mic/inst (other than the front panel), and used to run my passives as a LINE input to my Saffire, but not sure if that is an option? Another review said it can only drive cans that are 60 ohms max (mine are 32 ohm, so not as critical).

Have you submitted a ticket so the bakers know about this?

But.. but... they include Guitar Rig 6 LE! What a weird "bundle" that is. Wow... A replacement neck is $679?? Don't but the guitar in pieces.

Check your sound devices. HELIX added a "HELIX" output sound device to my machine during the firmware update. I went into Windows sound options and disabled that device to bring things back.

The HELIX Floor update was 30 minutes (firmware). Native is a software update, so went fast. The firmware update did not overwrite patches, so the new ones will only get installed with a factory reset as @simon mentioned above. Be sure to backup first, and then you can then move patches/setlists with HX Edit.

This update was truly massive. I didn't read the release notes till after the update... "IMPORTANT! The 3.50 update process may take 30 MINUTES OR MORE TO COMPLETE. This is totally normal, as it includes significant improvements to Helix Core and thousands of IR files." 30 minutes was about right. I never had a firmware update take so long in my life. Good timing since I put 10s back on my main guitar earlier this week after using 9s for a few years! I just got done kicking the tires on the update for a few hours and it is rather nice. I spent most of my time playing with amps and the Dual Block IRs (I pretty much focused on that feature) that I didn't have time to go through all the new stuff (yet).

Very nicely written OP there Helene. Merry (early) Christmas!

I just learned an interesting piece of trivia. The first person that came to mind was Tom Scholz for "hell no" to keyboards; that was sort of the claim to fame for Boston. Then I just saw from this site: "Boston’s beginnings go back to 1969 and a band headed by guitarist Barry Goudreau called Mother’s Milk. Vocalist Brad Delp and drummer Jim Masdea were joined by a recent MIT graduate, Tom Scholz on keyboards. The band didn’t last, but its members spent time in a homemade recording studio in Scholz’s basement recording demo tapes in hopes of making a new start." Never knew that, but makes more sense in a way. For me personally it is more about how everything fits, as with all things, rather than the instruments used.

I was just looking up "Friggin in the Riggin" a few days ago and there was a version with Muppets (scenes from Muppet Treasure Island as the video). I was rolling, but not sure how the person who posted it got away with it... had like 680K views!

Mick has had hip issues for a long time, so I was always astounded by what he endured to just perform, let alone all that he did. I have nothing but respect for him. For the 40 years he has put in, he definitely deserves to remain a band member.

True, Melda forces the 32-bit versions to mitigate people not knowing which version they need. They are installed but not in my scan path (and too lazy to delete them each update).

I got one of these a few years ago for Kontakt libraries and use it for temp projects as well. Never had any issues with mine either.

Holy cow, I didn't even know they made electric stings that heavy! Those are heavier than common acoustics (on the low end), and a 25.5" scale to boot... You could go bow hunting for wild game till the lighter guage comes in ?. Definitely adjust that truss rod.

I feel for you. That is nuts. What is nuttier is that THEY recommended you bypass their own protocols to get another channel! If they suggested that to you, then they obviously realize the system is broken. Or... On a side note (possibly related)... Google took a hit from advertising losses last quarter, so there may be an underlying cost-cutting measure you are competing with. If they shave off costs from enough little guys, it helps their bottom line. Since they owe you money, I would suggest filing an FTC complaint. FTC does not respond to or investigate one-off complaints, but if enough complain about the same thing, they do. If what you are experiencing is affecting many, I would consider researching that variable, but be wary of them taking down any video on such since they own the sites.

This really should be the case, but there is no revenue stream from a "one and done" scenario. iZotope has traditionally marketed $250/year for updates. Many plugins have been "complete" for years and are still useful/functional. Audio DSP has been mature for a long time, so there is not a lot to add to things that were focused to begin with.

Many force you to install VST2 and VST3 versions as well, so I have "dupes" from that. A funnier topic would be "What plugins do you own that you never friggin use?"... that one would drive a large spike in the GAS bubble.

Have you tried rendering your MIDI file as an audio file? MIDI is simply note data, so a player is needed to make the sounds. Windows will do this, but "audio" effects need to be done to audio, and will not work on MIDI data. My hunch is that PowerPoint is simply handing all the data to the player. Alternatively, you could edit the MIDI file prior to using it with PowerPoint (depends how much editing you are doing in PowerPoint).

I am not sure why, but opening those sites always makes me cringe. The Les Paul style was one I had never owned, so I grabbed a kit from StewMac last year (they are back on sale again). The issue with Gibson's is that modifying them devalues them, but one can customize a kit to their heart's content. Many of these are simply the finish, and the kits come unfinished. The only non-kit parts I replaced were to install a roller bridge and Super Distortion in the bridge position. With a little elbow grease and patience (with complex finishing can take a few weeks to complete), they become one-of-a-kind.

That is my concern, TBH. UJAM Carbon was either a freebie (or dirt cheap) a couple years ago, but I never took to it. The sounds are sort of baked in, so you lose the flexibility of tailoring the sounds a bit. This is my bigger concern for VSTis that are "too focused." For VSTis, the articulations and samples that it comes with could be everything, since you can used those (clean) samples to feed any FX chain you choose. I have not used Heavier7Strings in so long that I forgot how complex that VSTi is. I do remember playing with that a few years ago and when you expose all the key switches, it is nuts. Probably the nicest thing is what you will want to tweak most is right on the UI, but they were very thorough with what they did. Pick attacks, muting, harmonics, doubling effect, sensitivity of each string (rare to see this one), and the algorithms they used to replicate realism are all impressive. If you expose the key switches like they did with Cubase, you can manipulate the engine as easily as they did in their videos. I need to put a full controller back on this system to get full use out of it manually, but as I was playing with that again this morning, I realized how much I appreciate what they did. I think they have a trial for it, but I cannot seem to find it (maybe need to create an account). Again, that one is overkill for chugging, but if you get into composing leads and want to use a VSTi for those, it will work in that regard as well (plus has the sampled low end). Quick edit: Once I found the trial version I remember the raucous the audio insert caused! The VSTi didn't go silent (as most do), but had an annoying wave file of people cheering. I think that was removed, but the trial is still the same it was 5 years ago (posted 25 OCT 2017).