I need help to convert old Cakewalk ".wrk" files.

[Tatami 53]

Hello all. Like some of you, I have a backlog of old .wrk files that I created when I used to be a PC person. I have used a MAC OS for years. I now need to access those .wrk files and convert them into midi files so I can open them in Logic (or some other program) on my Mac. It seems my options might be: 

-Install Parallel Desktop or Crossover Mac, and then install the BandLab version of Cakewalk... and cross my fingers that it might work. 

-Find a fellow musician who can convert said files for me (for which I could offer some compensation). 

That's part one. Part two is: If I (or someone) is successful at converting these old (multi-track) .wrk files, when I open them in a new program, will I have access to all the individual tracks? Or will it just convert the project into one midi file from which I will be unable to isolate the tracks? 

Even if the only thing I can do is convert the tracks and actually be able to hear them again, I could try to build them again from the ground up. 

I'd greatly appreciate response from anyone familiar with this issue. Thank you! ?

Edited August 9, 2020 by Tatami 53
Adding tags.

[Promidi]

I have plenty of old Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 WRK files going back to 2001 and I am always able to simply open them directly in Cakewalk by Bandlab.

Mine are MIDI sequences.  However, even those containing audio should open in CbB

Once open, simply save them as type 0 or type 1 MIDI files. 

[user 905133]

Did you try opening the *.wrk files up in Cakewalk by Bandlab?  I have had no problems with files that predate the Pro Audio series.  In fact, being active in the forum during the past year I have seen that the developers have worked on fine tuning compatibility with *.wrk files.  You might find that yours work, or maybe there are still some snags.  If not, perhaps some more fine-tuning could be done.  Doesn't hurt to ask.

On the other hand, if you want to pay someone else to do that for you, that's also a valid approach.    

[Tatami 53]

6 hours ago, Promidi said:

 

To Promidi and User 905133

Thank you both. The problem is I can't open Cakewalk by Bandlab because it doesn't work on a Mac computer. That's my problem. I'm hoping to find someone who can convert them to (multi-track) midi files that I can then import into Logic (or even Garage Band). 

[user 905133]

5 hours ago, Tatami 53 said:

Thank you both. The problem is I can't open Cakewalk by Bandlab because it doesn't work on a Mac computer. That's my problem. I'm hoping to find someone who can convert them to (multi-track) midi files that I can then import into Logic (or even Garage Band). 

Makes sense.  Thanks for clarifying.

[DeeringAmps]

If I understand you right, you want only the midi? You do not want the audio from the project? PM the wrk file, converting to a .mid file is a two minute project. 

Tom

[Andrew J]

I found the bandicamp Cakewalk recently and installed it. 

It will open my old CW3/4 .wrk files (never keened to pro audio) with two caveats.

1) the controls-section (left of piano roll) no longer offers the pitch shit and time-shift elements for the individual midi channels. Sadly several of my pieces utilized those features in the old Cakewalk for multi layer texturing (ex: assign three channels to a given instrumental presentation, then tweak two to slightly to expand tonality and/or provide limited midi "echo", since even with soundfonts, some music just requires a bit "more" tweaking to gain uniqueness and realism ). I even used the pitch shift in a couple cases for tone-correcting an "errant" OPL3 synth sound.  (yep, I like a few of the sounds from that ancient piece of... treated right, they sound like pro gear). Again this is with v3 and v4 files, not sure about later versions.

So while a large share of my files are now playable again (old XP computer that housed my sound cards died ~2 years ago), many have lost their stacked-instrument richness, and in some cases, their entire groove

2) lyrics. Gone. Just gone. I have dozens of songs in v3 and v4 wrk files in which lyrical information was stored. Some was simply transcribed from paper for convenience (showing the band singer the meter of the words, for instance), but some of those "poems" if you will, solely exist in those files (and yes, a time-wizened me would have copied the text *out* of cakewalk...i know now...) . But unless I'm missing some nuance of the new cakewalk, I fear those bits were lost and will be until I can patch together another XP system to load my old CW 3 or 4 installation disks into, since opening a "lyrics" window shows nothing, nor are words shown in related stave views

So those are new-user my thoughts about converting old wrk files. 

No diss on Bandicamp's flavor of Cakewalk intended. It seems pretty cool overall so far, although I think I have a pretty steep learning curve ahead of me.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Andrew J

[scook]

27 minutes ago, Andrew J said:

I found the bandicamp Cakewalk

It's BandLab not bandicamp

 

27 minutes ago, Andrew J said:

1) the controls-section (left of piano roll) no longer offers the pitch shit and time-shift elements for the individual midi channels. ...

2) lyrics. Gone. Just gone. 

1. pitch and time controls (Q in the image below) are on the instrument/MIDI track inspector. They have been there for years in SONAR DAWs before BandLab bought the software.

2. Lyrics view is available. It may be hidden due to your workspace setting. Either change to a workspace that shows the view, create  a new workspace or set workspaces to None. This too is a feature inherited from the old SONAR DAW.

[John Vere]

@scook   The OP is using a Mac so I think they are talking about the Bandlab App which I do believe works on all OS platforms. 

First thing comes to mind is you can get older PC computers for almost free. I see them in thrift stores for $20 all the time. 

Cakewalk by Bandlab will run on Windows 7 still. Problem solved.  

It' the reason many of us keep older systems running. You never know when you might need a time machine. I have a old XP only Epson printer that prints directly to CD's. So I keep this 2003 Laptop someone gave me years ago just for that. 

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by John Vere

[scook]

1 minute ago, John Vere said:

@scook   The OP is using a Mac so I think they are talking about the Bandlab App which I do believe works on all OS platforms. 

First thing comes to mind is you can get older PC computers for almost free. I see them in thrift stores for $20 all the time. 

Cakewalk by Bandlab will run on Windows 7 still. Problem solved.  

 

I responding to the user quoted in my reply not the OP.

 

[John Vere]

On 3/6/2023 at 8:29 AM, scook said:

I responding to the user quoted in my reply not the OP.

 

Whoops !dang I hate it when people high jack old threads. I still say they should be locked after 3 months. People can just add a link to the old thread if they want to continue 

[scook]

3 minutes ago, John Vere said:

Whoops !dang I hate it when people high jack old threads. I still say they should be locked after 3 months. People can just add a link to the old thread if they want to continue 

This bit of deflection is not intended as a substitute for reading the post you reply to, is it?

[John Vere]

Actually that’s a great idea. I’ll just stop replying, problem solved ?

[David Baay]

2 hours ago, scook said:

This bit of deflection is not intended as a substitute for reading the post you reply to, is it?

In John's defense I will note that you ommitted "and installed it" from your quote, which is key to understanding which application that poster was referring to. 

Having been accused recently of not reading carefully enough when I am, in fact, a very careful reader in general, I can sympathize.  Sometimes you just miss stuff.  And John's reponse seemed more of an "explanation" than a "deflection" to me.

[user 905133]

Sometimes I still just read the topic or the most recent post or two, but I am much better with checking original posts and the early posts including the dates of the thread.

While I agree that in many cases, people should not be "hijacking" threads, in a number of cases, a new post even a year or two later flows directly from the original post, is directly related to the discussion, and is not out-of-place.  For that reason I disagree that all threads should be closed/locked after a specified time.

Peace.

Edited March 8, 2023 by User 905133
Fixed typos.

[msmcleod]

You could have a look at this utility:   https://midi.org/forum/9914-wrk2mid-v1-0-0-cakewalk-wrk-to-standard-midi-files-open-source-translator-released

It'll compile on Linux or Windows, but I'm not sure it'll compile on Mac without modification.

Of course you could install VirtualBox and run a Linux distribution on that.