RexRed

Glenn that was a very precise and well thought out process of exactly how it works and what I am doing. I wish my workflow was such that my tracking was all done before I applied any effects. I get bit by the curiosity bug of, I wonder what this will all sound like under some gluey compression? ...and then I am off to the races to catch up with the latency. Glenn you explained it better than what my understanding of this all was. The part about certain effects having different latency and moving the entire project to a new timing was very informative. Things I experience but never really thought it through. I do use a lot of master busses and when i turn on Fab Filter L2 oversampling this is the most extreme case of all. Turning everything off is the work around that suits me best. If there is still a tiny bit of latency after all of that knowing the PDC (stand for, "pretty damned quick") button exists is good info too! I really wish a second audio interface would remedy this so I could just leave the effects on. I am not lazy or anything and bypassing the effects is not that big of a deal. I have a certain lead guitar player who won't come by and record anymore. He hates the latency and I think it is a kind of phobia of his or pet quirk. He is not that tech savvy and I think he distrusts my ability because of this. I think he assumes he will not have this issue with his Apple laptop. lol At first it was something that threw me for a loop and I had to always scramble to figure out how to bring the latency down. Now I can usually get a decent latency after tweaking a few things but it is usually still a bit noticeable when I have a full project loaded. I will see how the PDC button works in those situations. I assume that if I have everything bypassed and then use the PDC button that I will not encounter any syncing issues. Then I should be able to disable the PDC and then reenable my effects. I will try this. This has been a very good thread and experience for me on a quite complex and debated topic. I think beginner Cakewalk users have it really hard understanding latency and how to set it. I do not envy them during this process of learning. We need a magic bullet here. Like enabling two sound cards in Cakewalk... If two cards could sync and one could handle tracking that would be so fine! I don't think Windows will even recognize two audio interfaces at once. Last time I tried plugging two USB AIs in, if i recall correctly, one did not appear in my device manager. It will recognize two sound cards but Cakewalk will only allow one to be selected in the audio preferences. That is the part that I wish could be developed if it is even logistically possible... It seems the project would still be out of sync with the effects present in the mix. My brain is boggled by all of this. I wish I understood this more. ?

Okay, this song has consumed two more day of my life... I must say all of your suggestions were very helpful! This song was far from done and I simply dropped it and moved on. If it had not been for all of the suggestions I would probably not have gone the extra mile and finished this song. There may still be some problems but they are tiny tweaks that I can go in and fix when my ears are rested. I added a lot of complex pedal steel parts. And yes I played a piano part, it is not as "gran old opry" as I would have liked but it does have some complexity. I added different pads to each section to give the sections their own unique character. I took the flange off my vocal which was making is sound harsh and lifeless. I added real-time tuning to the backup vocals and main vocal. I also added vocal rider to all of the vocal tracks, recorded vocal rider envelopes and hand edited them. The drums may still be a bit muffled, they are improved over what they were though. I did edit them. The new bass I changed has more punch and a lot more warmth. The vocal may still be a bit up front but it is a lot better than it was. Let me know what you think. I am glad this song got more work, I think it is a nice song and really needs to be made right. Best to you all and thanks again for making me go back and fix it better.

I understand most of your points now and your request for more background seems legit. I spend less time "redoing all of my mixing and mastering" than I would constantly rendering mixes only to have to constantly go back and re-render multiple times then set up an entirely new mastering layout I can surgically insert things into the mix while mastering. That is efficient. It is not really redoing my mixing and mastering it is simply slipping in a new item which is usually filling a spot anyway. I choose to differ, I find my workflow efficient and my decision making process is not "horribly" hurt by a workflow that is static and not dynamic. It is just my opinion. I do not have to master out errors, I can mix them out and my mastering then is not fixing sub par mixes. I digress. We need Windows to allow us multiple audio interfaces with timing sync in a project and then the latency problems would be solved. One AI could be used for mixing and one for tracking. Voice Meeter Potato can use virtual sound sources, why can't Cakewalk do this too? Scook that is a great article I will be experimenting with that feature, very helpful indeed! Way back when everyone was calling ProTools the "industry standard" and everyone was buying hype and ridiculously over priced Macs and recording on 8 track cassette, I was using Cakewalk. I had to put up with a lot of sneers and insult for doing so. They referred to themselves as purists. lol I do not have 8 track cassette demos I have Cakewalk demos from all the way back to MSDOS when I synced Cakewalk to my Fostex reel to reel. through SMPTE time code. As soon as Cakewalk went midi my synth samples went hard drive based. A soon as Cakewalk went digital audio, I dropped the reel to reel, everyone was buying DAT machines and 8 track cassettes and mixers... I was buying hard drives and ram. They sneered at me and the insults flew. Eventually you will all be mixing and mastering simultaneously. I don't need to use stems, I have lush projects that contain my tracking, mixes and mastering all in one project. I have total and absolute recall and THAT, is efficiency. ? Thanks for the help on this. The technology for sound modules to sync is available, it should be used to solve the latency problem so we can monitor the recorded material and not the prerecorded material. Thanks for the insight. Because I mix and master simultaneously my mastering really in the end only requires a brick wall and or boost/leveling. When I need to bring a vocal or instrument up out of a mic I simply turn it up... Again, that is efficient. If you want to do great things set your face to the wind...

Thanks for your questions BDickens. I track, mix and master nearly simultaneously, doesn't everyone who has my setup? I usually track first but there are 'many' times when I get to the mastering phase and say, wow a piano or other instrument would sound nice in this song. That happens on nearly every song I make. When I mix and master simultaneously I am only using up about 1 to 6 % of my CPU power. My first Cakewalk I bought was Cakewalk for MSDOS, what kinds of effects? Guitar distortion/overdrive, delays, flanges, reverbs (mostly convolution), doubling, EQs, compressors, tube, console, sidechaining... I use many effects on the tacks and busses (many of them parallel). I usually only use one effect on my mastering bus, a Fab Filter L2 brick wall limiter but sometimes I use Izotope Ozone 9 too. I don't need to do much mastering when I mix and master simultaneously. My audio interface is a Steinberg UR22C. Your questions seem to miss my point... It is about a separate latency buffer for tracking during the mastering phase.

Is there a way to assign priority to one track so I don't have to shut off my effects and everything to get some good latency for midi recording, real-time guitar effects or vocal recording on a certain track? It would be nice if there was a button in Cakewalk on a track that I could click and my midi or vocal recording and effects on that track would receive priority or rather everything else would not. But then that makes me think, what good would be getting better latency out of one track if everything else would get its latency thrown off? I am just tossing this out there and seeing what others do to remedy this? I have a 12 core Intel I9 CPU with an Nvidia 3090 graphics card. It would seem there should be a special tracking buffer optimized for latency with all of this horse power available. I usually click "bypass FX racks of this type" (this throws off all of my mastering volumes) and then open my Audio Interface settings and lower the latency timing. This seems like a terrible way to have to do this every time I want to track another track. Any suggestions or comments? Thanks Cakewalk peeps!

Hey Kurt! I just changed the bass to a fatter rounder sound and I will work on the drums, also adding a lot of pedal steel. I will try an acoustic piano. I can't take out the guitar rhythms, it changes the character of the song too much and leaves a big hole. Will post something sometime today.

Due to your awesome suggestions I have decided to revisit "Let Me Be The One". I have smoothed out the vocal volume fluctuations and brought the vocal down more into the mix. It may still be a bit too hot but I brought the mix up quite a bit. Short of rewriting the song the structure will remain the same but I am putting some thought into making the instrumentation have more dramatic changes. I did turn up some of the subtle instrumentation that was probably not pronounced enough but I am thinking there is semi hollow body guitar rhythm part left and a clean Les Paul rhythm right. They go throughout the whole song. This might be causing the lackluster feel of the instrumentation. I may cut them out in places and add other instruments instead to give the song more changes. I am thinking instead of the rhythm guitars going throughout that maybe a pedal steel in places instead. The pedal steel will come in on the line, there are many roads, and cut out at the chorus line, let me be the one. I replaced the song that was there at the top of the page with the new version and I will let you know when I have another new version with some new instrumentation. Thanks for your help peeps! The suggestions were all great! Oh, and the hook is where I sing, let me be let me be let me be... (like I am saying leave me alone) and then I sing, "the one" (that is the hook) ?

Thanks for the comments and awesome suggestions peeps! ?

Thanks Kurt, the song has some issues and maybe I will go back and address some of them. I have currently moved on, some of these songs take me weeks to make and tie up a lot of my time and I simply have to put them aside and finish work on them at a later date. Thanks for the helpful critique. Best to you! ??

Thanks Jack! Your comment is much appreciated! Best to you buddy!

Hello awesome Cakewalk peeps! Here is my latest song peeps! Hope you like it. Song purchases are appreciated! ? Best to you! RexRed

New song awesome Cakewalk peeps, "Still Holding On". Please enjoy, thanks for listening and for purchases. Lots of love to you! RexRed

Thanks Jack! ??

Hey awesome Cakewalk peeps! Here is my latest new song, just finished it. Please enjoy this music... And thanks for the song purchases. ? (You know who you are) Lots of love ? RexRed

Thanks very much for the compliment Bajan Blue.

Asking splice.com to put a link to FREE Cakewalk would be a way to increase market share...

What an awesome compliment on my song Bjorn! Thanks! ????

Thanks for the nice comments Jack and David! ??? I bought the backup vocals from East West. HOLLYWOOD BACKUP SINGERS features powerful vocals from legendary singers Durga McBroom, Lorelei McBroom, and C.C. White. http://www.soundsonline.com/hollywood-backup-singers

Hey Cakewalk peeps! Here is a new tune I hope you like this piece with a slightly psychedelic edge. All the best to you! RexRed

Thanks Wookiee, disco lives! ?

Thanks Jack for the nice critique! Best to you buddy! ?

Here is my new song Cakewalk peeps! Yes, that is me singing. lol Hope you like it! Rex

Aww, thanks Freddie! Best to you! ??

Thanks Lynn! I appreciate the awesome compliment buddy! Best to you bro! ?? (I am honored you like Eternity!) ?

I just uploaded version 13 of this song a few minutes ago, I added a bit of flange and width to the snare to cut down on the crunch. This song has been rebuilt nearly from the ground up about 6 times, it's had multiple tracks changed and the vocals scrutinized. I think it is finished. I faded the organ in in the intro because, it was too stark just starting out a bit jarring. (which is often the case with intro leads) I've been working on this song for two weeks, I have also been testing out new synths and effects so it has been a learning time too. Had issues with my sound but fixed that. This song has a very silent quality to it and even the tiniest little peck stands out as if it was a brass horn blasting. Cakewalk's sound engine really shines in this piece. I am so enamored by Cakewalk's performance. This mp3 was exported from a 24bit 96khz master. This is also the first song I have finally figured out how to keep my LUFS at -14db Thanks for all the very helpful suggestions on this song Cakewalk peeps!