Michael Vogel

While I’m online at times, I only use the pc for music so never visit any dodgy sites. I don’t use the pc for emails so no bad links to click. I have an MS wireless keyboard and mouse combo as well as a wireless trackball. I get the flickering cursor in the exact same spot when it happens the bottom centre of screen. I have the latest drivers for the trackball and whatever the most recent graphics drivers though it’s onboard graphic with my mobo. its not predictable either. I’m thinking the only solution might be a complete rebuild but it seems so much overkill. Unless it fixes the problem of course. I’ll explore the malware possibility. Thanks for the suggestions thus far.

I think the reason they answered earlier than might have been otherwise reasonable was because of all the comments about the long time between updates. So, they told us the truth. New programs in the pipeline, on release they will continue to have CbB available free with one last release. That release will coexist with Sonar for a time to let you compare the 2 programs. At some point CbB will be no more and only a paid for version of Sonar will be available. As well as NEXT. I too have been around since 12Tone days and 5 years of a fully supported DAW for free has been a remarkable gift from Bandlab. Truly an unexpected surprise back in 2018, Very soon it will be time to pay the piper if you want to use the software. I have no insider knowledge, but I think I have very good comprehension of the written word and can repeat what the Bakers have written in these pages.

While 23.09.xxx will likely be the release number, .062 is not the final release. We will be notified when the final release is available. The current version has been released under the Early Access program. The final release of CbB will coexist in the market after the release of Sonar giving users an opportunity to make comparisons. Thats a distillation of my understanding of the numerous and pertinent posts by the Bakers.

Randomly (on my Win 11 pro PC, specs in signature) my mouse cursor starts to flicker at the bottom centre of the screen and becomes immovable by any means. I have to turn off the PC to clear it, on reboot all is fine until the next time. I’ve tried updating graphics drivers, mouse drivers, though it doesn’t seem to matter whether I use any of 2 different mice or a trackball. All drivers updated but nothing seems to prevent this weird flickering from occurring. There’s no overheating involved. I’ve tried changing out ram sticks but nothing I’ve done eliminates the problem, as eventually sometime during a session, the cursor will just start to flicker. Before I upgraded to Win 11 Pro x64 this happened on the same machine running Win 10 Pro x64. Any ideas I could explore?

Those saying they won’t update if this or that doesn’t work any longer are forgetting that any CbB version apart from the latest version, soon won’t work anymore. Only the last version will be able to be activated and then only for a yet to be announced time.

Will there be an update to the Reference Guide to include any changes and updates since the 2022 release of the guide?

Let’s go back to 4 tracks of magnetic tape and splicing, bouncing down tracks to get another track for recording, reduced SNR, head realignment. Yeh it was exciting and what we had to do to get the best sound possible at that time. You had to re-record as there was no practical alternative. Digital technology has opened the door to creativity, making it available to more people who don’t have to be electronics technicians to operate the equipment. Access to technology doesn’t make them better musicians but owning a 4 track didn’t make you a star either. In the end, good music will find a way to be heard. There was always bad music too. Mozart was a genius in his time but I bet there were others we’ve never heard of simply because they didn’t get the opportunities or their music stank.

Cakewalk (under Gibson) were actually involved in developing the ARA protocol along with Celemony and Presonus. Lots of collaboration among developers where Cakewalk gets little recognition. Noel in particular has worked very closely with companies like Microsoft on audio aspects of the OS.

Scook has a number of utilities recently updated. Beat me to it. Use the link “here” in the referenced link.

I think I understand the enormity of the undertaking that Cakewalk is implementing with this change. So if I do understand it correctly, SONAR will look the same as CbB does now but the graphic elements will have greater flexibility in how they can be manipulated behind the scenes, opening up greater options in the future. Surely there will be new features to see and play with, otherwise there is no perceived upgrade. Or have I misunderstood completely?

I’d say from what I’ve read that CbB was frozen at the current release with all development since then to be released in Sonar, otherwise what would be the point in paying for the first version of Sonar if it’s exactly the same as CbB. I’d expect there to be a years worth of significant development difference between the current version of CbB (with some bug fixes yet to be released) and new Sonar. If it’s a reasonable difference, I’d pay for that. Maybe!

It’s the same old problem. Groups meet and after many years of meeting they develop a standard. In the meantime manufacturers looking for a marketing edge develop a protocol peculiar to their own hardware/software and so we end up with numerous different so called standards that don’t coexist particularly well together. Take VST, any version, where individual developers implement the spec in different ways. Again we end up with incompatibility between plugins and different plug-in developers. Very few plugins are developed with strict adherence to the particular protocol. They should all learn music and focus on harmony.

You and me both.

Possibly ASIO4ALL was installed at sometime and was copied into the Friendly Name Field inadvertently.

Like SONAR and Cakewalk by Bandlab, NEXT will not be available as an app on iPad and Android. Bandlab however is an IOS and Android app now. to repeat; SONAR and Cakewalk by Bandlab (the current free Windows only DAW) will be available as Windows applications. NEXT will be Windows and Mac compatible . There is no IOS or Android NEXT app but there is an IOS and Android app for Bandlab. Check it in your relevant app store - Google play or Apple app store.

Thanks Noel. That’s a nifty tidbit of info about NEXT.

We’ll have to wait and see.

There was a time we were limited by the length of tape available so judicious use of overdubs, mixing and remixing had to be applied. At some time before that a composer had to assemble an orchestra to realise their musical creation. Today we can keep it all, every single note played in a recording session and put off decisions about what to keep or delete or record again. Cakewalk is at its very core a non-destructive DAW and new users would be better served learning to use that feature to the full than turn on overwrite mode and not take advantage of these exceptional features. It took a lot of coding chops to create such a rich depth of features. People expect that sitting at the helm of a complex recording facility is child’s play where in fact it takes a lot of knowledge and skill to manipulate the knobs and buttons (virtual though they may be). It takes experience and application to learn not only the software but the art of the mix engineer, producer, composer, orchestrator, musician just to mention a few of the hats people wear and then expect it should all be intuitive and come naturally. As if.

Try using the app to access the Bandlab user forum. This is the Cakewalk forum which is specifically for the PC only DAW program Cakewalk by Bandlab.

If I could do it over - I would defy my father’s wishes and follow the path to music that had been laid out for me by some of my teachers. Sadly my dad didn’t see music as a valid career choice.

Mediocrity is a female dog, that I wear proudly. * not sure if the ‘b’ word is acceptable.

CbB is free to purchase however there is a license to which you agreed when you downloaded and installed it on your computer. That together with numerous updates clearly outline your obligations to maintain that license. Activation is a very small “price” for the considerable value contained in Cakewalk and the considerable cost to the company to not only maintain the software but its ongoing development. Just because there’s been no recent release doesn’t mean the developers aren’t still working on the next version and being paid for that work. We know that’s the case because we’ve been told that’s the case. With their track record to date, there’s no need to doubt it.

I use an iPad Pro using Splashtop (free version) as a remote control for my PC. About 5 years now PC is connected to my network via Ethernet but the iPad connects via WiFi. No noticeable effect on latency or other issues but then I use Waves DIGIGRID audio hardware which also allows me to offload plug-in processing. All my pc <-> sound card audio is transmitted via gigabit Ethernet.

I know of several bands that use Cakewalk to automate their whole show from backing tracks, keyboards to running the whole lighting rig. If it can be controlled by MIDI CbB can do it. The real question is should you as you’re placing a lot of faith in the venue’s electrical system, your computer’s reliability and opening yourself up to Murphy’s law. Of course there are ways to mitigate the risks but it’s not for the faint hearted. One group in particular, Kicksville, have used Sonar extensively to do the above. Here are some links. www.kicksville.com www.kicksville.bandcamp.com www.youtube.com/kicksvillevideo The Kicksville Story.pdf

It’s really well explained in the manual. It’s such a fabulous resource, I wish more people would study it as they’d get a far deeper appreciation of all that CbB can do. Despite all the great features that have been added over the years I never tire of highlighting how big a feature Mix Recall is. The Reference guide is like a feature and there’s a reason it’s so large.