[CLOSED] Cakewalk 2021.01 Early Access

[Morten Saether]

We're pleased to announce Early Access for 2021.01! This release introduces Arranger enhancements, SSO (Single Sign-On) for activation, import and export improvements, optimizations, and over 40 bug fixes.

We'd love for you to check it out before we drop the official public version. 

Please note that Early Access installers are update installers, which only update from a specific version. To install the 2021.01 Early Access build, you must be on the latest public release of 2020.11. The 2021.01 Early Access build can be downloaded and installed from within Cakewalk by going to Help > Check for Updates, then clicking the Download Now link in the "Early Access Available" toast notification.

Download Cakewalk 2021.01 EA installer

Should you need to revert to the 2020.11 release, you can download the Cakewalk 2020.11 Rollback installer.

If you haven't already done so, please read about the Early Access Program before participating.
Please keep responses specific to problems or comments on this release. Unrelated bugs or feature requests should be posted in other threads or the feature request channel.

Thanks again for your participation!
The Bakers

 

---

 

2021.01 Highlights

 

New features

Arranger section inclusion of outlying MIDI notes

When dragging sections or committing arrangements, Cakewalk has logic for dealing with leading/trailing MIDI notes that overlap section boundaries.

In the following example, section 2 is selected. The underlying MIDI clip contains note events that start slightly before section 2 and end slightly after section 2. By default, selecting section 2 will ignore the portions of overlapping note events that fall outside the section boundaries. Cakewalk now lets you optionally include the full duration of overlapping note events.

Notes that overlap section boundaries:

Leading/trailing notes are often created in the following scenarios:

• The recorded performance is unquantized and notes appear slightly earlier than the section start.
• When using a sound with a slow attack, and the notes have to be played early to make up for the attack time.
• Leading notes as part of a lead-in phrase, or droned notes that overlap with the section boundaries.

You can specify the threshold that determines which overlapping note events are included when moving sections. 

To do so, click the Track view MIDI menu and point to Arranger Section Event Overlap Threshold, then select one of the following options:

• Off. Ignore overlapping notes.
• Note value (Whole – 1/256 Triplet). Only include notes that overhang by a duration equal to or less than the selected value.
• Any Overlap. Include overlapping notes of any duration.

When overlapping notes fall within the threshold set, those notes are included in the section move/copy and the clip start/end is automatically resized (slip-edited) to accommodate the notes. The moved notes are also removed from the neighboring sections. This requires Non-destructive Editing to be enabled, and works best with Split MIDI Note enabled.

The Arranger Section Event Overlap Threshold setting affects all arranger drag operations, delete, commit arrangement, and Duplicate from the section context menu.

 

Absolute time in Arranger tracks

The time base format for each Arranger track can be set to either Musical or Absolute. The time base format determines what happens to sections when you change the project tempo.

To toggle between musical and absolute time, click the icon to the left of the Arranger track name in the Track view:

• Musical .  A section’s M:B:T position stays constant, and its absolute position shifts.
• Absolute .  A section’s absolute position stays constant, and its M:B:T position shifts. Absolute time is useful for scoring to film/video. The Arranger track tooltip shows time as H:M:S:F and samples.

 

When committing an arrangement, the following rules apply:

• If all the sections came from absolute time Arranger tracks, the committed arrangement track will be absolute.
• If the sections came from musical Arranger tracks (or a mixture of musical/absolute), the committed arrangement track will be musical.

 

SSO (Single Sign-On) for Cakewalk activation

Cakewalk supports SSO (Single Sign-On) for activation, which allows you to log in via any service supported by BandLab as your sign-in authority. Google, Facebook, Apple ID, mobile phone and BandLab user/password credentials are currently supported.

SSO is only used for Cakewalk activation, and under normal circumstances you will only need to sign in once. Cakewalk will attempt to refresh your activation status silently and automatically on occasion during start up. Use the SSO login as you have done with your BandLab account in the past.

Note that BandLab Assistant is still required for requesting offline activation of Cakewalk on computers that don’t have an Internet connection.

 

Enhancements

Cancel VST scan

You can now cancel an in-progress VST scan with the new Cancel Scan button in Edit > Preferences > File - VST Settings or via the Cancel option in the VST Scan toast notification.

The next scan operation will resume where the canceled scan left off, starting with the plug-in it was last scanning. If the last scanned plug-in was a shell plug-in (such as Waves WaveShell), the scan will resume from he first plug-in in the shell).

 

Auto termination of VST scan

Shutting down Cakewalk will now automatically terminate any scan in progress. This allows in-app updates to work properly even if a scan was in progress when the app was shut down to perform a new install.

 

Zoom to Fit Project Horizontally shortcut

The new Zoom to Fit Project Horizontally key binding zooms to fit the entire project in the Clips pane, without affecting the height of tracks. The default keyboard shortcut is CTRL+ALT+F.

 

Improved selection with Arranger sections

• If there are gaps between a range of selected sections, the unselected clips remain unselected.
• You can now unselect fully selected clips from a selection and they will not be moved with the section.

 

Cutting Arranger section deletes hole

Cutting an Arranger section with Ripple Edit enabled now deletes the hole to make it consistent with the Delete command.

 

Clicking on an articulation section now triggers keyswitch events

Clicking on an articulation (without modifiers), or changing an articulation’s type or MIDI channel now sends any triggered MIDI events associated with the articulation.

 

Control Bar Select module changes

Four new buttons have been added to the Control Bar’s Select module in Large mode:

• Select Track Envelopes with Clips . When enabled, selecting a clip will also select any overlapping track envelopes.
• Select Track Articulations with Clips . When enabled, selecting a clip will also select any overlapping track articulations.
• Select Events with Sections . Enable/disable automatic selection of track events when selecting Arranger sections. By default, clicking an Arranger section also selects underlying track events. Clicking again de-selects track events, while retaining selection of the section.
• Select Sections with Time Ruler . When enabled, making a time selection in the time ruler will also select any overlapping Arranger sections. Right-click or keep the mouse button pressed for a brief moment specify if sections should be selected in all Arranger tracks, or only the active Arranger track:
  • Select Sections with Time Ruler (Active Arranger Track). Making a time selection in the time ruler will also select any overlapping Arranger sections in the active Arranger track.
  • Select Sections with Time Ruler (All Arranger Tracks). Making a time selection in the time ruler will also select any overlapping Arranger sections in all Arranger tracks.

The four buttons are linked to the corresponding menu items within the Track view Options menu, and work in exactly the same way.

The previous Large mode for the Select module is now the Medium mode.

 

Moving clips between lanes on the same track obeys Auto Crossfade setting

Moving clips between Takes lanes on the same track now obeys the Auto Crossfade setting.

 

Insert Instrument track behavior

When selected from the track context menu, the Insert Instrument command now inserts the instrument before the current track rather than after the last track. The Add Track button and Insert > Soft Synth command will continue to append after the last track.

Similarly, the Append Instrument Track command in the track context menu will append the new per-output instrument track directly below the current track. Selecting Append Instrument Track from the Synth Rack context menu will continue to append after the last track.

 

Phase/Interleave buttons on Instrument tracks

Phase  and Interleave  buttons are now available in the Track view and Inspector for Instrument tracks.

Tip: You can show and hide controls in track and bus strips in the Track view, and even create presets for your favorite control layouts. To show or hide the Phase and Mono/Stereo Interleave buttons in the Track view, open the Track Control Manager and specify the visibility of the Interleave/Phase group.

 

Option to only use external MIDI inputs

MIDI track’s that have their Input control assigned to All Inputs receive MIDI data from both external (i.e. hardware) inputs and any soft synth outputs from other tracks.

When inserting a soft synth, Cakewalk defaults to enabling MIDI output if it is supported by the synth. As a result, MIDI output from Instrument tracks may be inadvertently played/recorded on all other MIDI tracks if the tracks are armed for recording or have MIDI Input Echo enabled.

To address this, MIDI tracks now have a new All External Inputs input option, which only appears when at least one soft synth with a MIDI output is present in the project. All External Inputs means any MIDI input that isn’t an output from a soft synth, such as hardware MIDI ports and virtual controllers.

In earlier versions, switching the active MIDI track would normally select All Inputs. This behavior has changed to:

• If the track previously included soft synth outputs in its inputs, then it will show as All Inputs.
• If the track previously only had hardware inputs, then it will show as All External Inputs.

 

Export to Standard MIDI File respects selection

Export to Standard MIDI File (File > Export > Standard MIDI File) now respects the selection. If there is no selection, the whole project is exported.

 

Updated LAME MP3 encoder

The integrated LAME MP3 encoder has been updated to version 3.100. This includes bug fixes and stability improvements to MP3 encoding and also speeds up the encoding process. Additionally, Cakewalk has been updated to now handle discarding padding samples when importing MP3 files. i.e imported MP files will not contain extra data at the beginning of the file.

 

Updated libsndfile encoders

The libsndfile library used for import and export of various audio formats has been updated to version 1.0.30. This fixes numerous issues with handling BWF, Wave64, AIFF, FLAC and Ogg files.

 

Optimizations

Dynamic plug-in parameter optimizations

Cakewalk 2021.01 introduces improvements in responsiveness and memory footprint when loading and editing projects with lots of tracks and high parameter count plug-ins.  In previous versions of Cakewalk, plug-in automation parameters for all listed plug-ins were always created up front. This could result in a significant performance and memory hit when using plug-ins that expose hundreds or thousands of parameters, especially in projects that contains many tracks.  

Internal parameter objects are now created on demand when a parameter is actually used, either by modifying a parameter or by creating an automation envelope for it. A track’s Edit Filter menu no longer lists hundreds of parameters for plug-ins but instead only shows in-use parameters. To select other parameters in the Edit Filter menu, point to the plug-in name and select Choose Parameter to open the Choose Plug-in Parameter dialog box.

 

Improved handling of ProChannel automation

Automating the ProChannel Enable parameter would previously only work if the ProChannel UI was visible. ProChannel bypass automation is now UI independent and also buffer accurate. ProChannel bypass will also properly enable/disable with automation during fast bounce and freeze operations.

 

Bug fixes

Stability

• Crash when running onboarding more than once
• Crash when attempting to load new sample in Drum Replacer
• Hang on project load while VST scan is running
• Redo of crop then move of Articulation crashes
• Automation crash on project close

UI

• Step Sequencer Clips intermittently fail to show notes
• Step Sequencer Beat Counter fails to repeat on Groove clip repetitions
• PRV does not display repetitions of Step Sequencer loops
• Track names show incorrectly in plug-ins after 2020.11 update
• Transport fails to roll with Realtime Bounce when freezing
• Cursor moves unexpected after cancel of Kind in Event List
• After deleting last event in Event List, selection should go to previous event
• Assignable parameters not created for FX Chains on project load
• Project Editing Time displays inconsistently in File Stats

Arranger

• Ripple Edit Cut not shifting Arranger sections as expected
• Section/Arrangement titles missing in 2020.11

Articulation Maps

• Allow drag move/copy of multiple articulations
• Mouse cursor gets moved/stuck on articulation events in Event List
• Scaling PitchWheel events gives incorrect results

Automation

• Cannot bounce or freeze ProChannel Enable automation unless it is done in realtime
• Selection becomes stuck unexpectedly when selecting envelopes
• Bus envelopes from multiple buses not copied correctly in duplicate clips/arranger operations
• Toggling track interleave causes plug-in automation to lose sync
• ProChannel automation cannot be reassigned to plug-in automation in tracks
• Automation read/write not being acknowledged for newly created FX parameters
• Copying and pasting FX automation envelopes create orphaned envelopes until parameters pre-created
• FX Chain Input/Output Gain envelopes controlling incorrect parameter in FX Chain UI
• Synth Rack automation not shown when changing synth parameters 

Misc.

• Allow adding of additional per-output instrument tracks via Synth Rack context menu
• Add Track inconsistent Insert Track behavior
• Projects with multiple instances of plug-ins with high parameter counts become very sluggish trying to close/remove instances
• UseGlobalSnapForStaffView variable stops working after opening older project
• Imported .wav file has clicks from time stretch
• Drum Maps are saved unexpectedly with Track Templates
• VST Scan does not close with the app
• Control Surface Refresh value does not change as expected below 25ms

 

[Mark Morgon-Shaw]

First thing I noticed is the font on the PRV Folder tracks looks huge !

[petemus]

Quote

First thing I noticed is the font on the PRV Folder tracks looks huge !

Can't be right. Seems like the dreaded Windows "System" font, a default font that's selected if you don't specify a font.   ?

Edited January 15, 2021 by petemus

[scook]

On 1/14/2021 at 2:17 PM, Morten Saether said:

To address this, MIDI tracks now have a new All External Inputs input option, which only appears when at least one soft synth with a MIDI output is present in the project. All External Inputs means any MIDI input that isn’t an output from a soft synth, such as hardware MIDI ports and virtual controllers.

The "All External Inputs" option appears when any plug-in (FX or soft synth) has "Enable MIDI Output" turned on.

[scook]

On 1/14/2021 at 2:17 PM, Morten Saether said:

Control Bar Select module changes

Four new buttons have been added to the Control Bar’s Select module in Large mode:

 

This requires attention when running a user theme.

Until the user themes are updated consider using Mercury or Tungsten.

[Toma Johnson]

It looks good. I'm just really glad you guys are still working on it. I've been using since 2006!!

[django]

First of all, thank you to all your team❤️?

[django]

Thank you for helping us survive without a vaccine?

[django]

I have been working with Sonar for many years and I expect more progress

1-Worked better cpu

2-support komplet Native Instruments

3-Better quantization

4-Variety in coloring

5-sidechain Comfortable

6-Metronome sound?

 

[django]

Thank you for accepting us

[bitman]

The insert synth right there and not at the end of the tracks is welcome.

I just figured that's how things were.

 

[User 905133]

8 minutes ago, django said:

I have been working with Sonar for many years and I expect more progress

Just a guess, but you wanted the request-new-features/improvements section.  From what I have seen this thread is for reporting successes and problems specifically with the current Early Access release.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by User 905133

[Jan van Schalkwyk]

2 hours ago, django said:

I have been working with Sonar for many years and I expect more progress

Where have you been the last 3 years?
You expected more progress?
Have you seen the list of improvements almost very month for the past 3 years?

[Bruno de Souza Lino]

Even after the update, CbB is unusable. Type 1 audio dropouts every few seconds of playback, tweaking plugin parameters causes dropouts, sometimes pausing playback causes dropouts...In the current project I'm working, it takes me a few minutes to EQ a single track because you tweak a setting during playback, it causes a dropout, you go back play, then a random dropout occurs...I'm already running at the maximum latency I can.

[solarlux]

8 hours ago, Mark Morgon-Shaw said:

First thing I noticed is the font on the PRV Folder tracks looks huge !

I like it i can better see.

[Александр Кулаев]

Спасибо за Cakewalk. Считаю эту программу самой удобной и комфортной для работы в студии.
Начал с 1996 года с Cakewalk 3.0 и до сих пор только с этой программой делаю профессиональные результаты.
с 2003 года написано 3 296 аранжировок, сведено и выпущено более двух сотен проектов.

[Promidi]

3 hours ago, Bruno de Souza Lino said:

Even after the update, CbB is unusable. Type 1 audio dropouts every few seconds of playback, tweaking plugin parameters causes dropouts, sometimes pausing playback causes dropouts...In the current project I'm working, it takes me a few minutes to EQ a single track because you tweak a setting during playback, it causes a dropout, you go back play, then a random dropout occurs...I'm already running at the maximum latency I can.

This is definitely going to be an issue with your PC, driver or a third party plugin rather than a specific Cakewalk by Bandlab issue.

Cakewalk by Bandlab has been super usable on my lowly PC (see my signature for me specs) and I have never experienced the issues you have described.

Maybe drop a note Cakewalk support at https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000025633

[Viktor Lab]

1 hour ago, Александр Кулаев said:

Спасибо за Cakewalk. Считаю эту программу самой удобной и комфортной для работы в студии. 

Согласен почти абсолютно!  :-)
Смотри в ВК...

[Lyubomir Yordanov]

Love the new "Clicking on an articulation section now triggers keyswitch events" feature, have been really missing it and even switched to using the notes instead sometimes. 

[Jesse Jost]

2 hours ago, Milton Sica said:

Installation of the Portuguese version hangs.

HI @Milton Sica

Thanks for your report. Can you please try running the installer without an Internet connection and let us know if that works?

Thanks!
Jesse