My Honest Review of InstaComposer in Cakewalk by Bandlabs

[GTsongwriter]

Everyone wants to tell you all the good things about InstaComposer, but I just bought it and I'm about to load you down on the stuff you need to be aware of.

TRIAL VERSION:

First: The trail version really is horrible as the trail version was limited to 10 button presses and 2 tracks.  I think they don't want you to "really use it" ... just see if it runs in your DAW.

The version you downloaded for the trail version is the version you'll activate.

FULL VERSION:

In Cakewalk by Bandlabs, I finally found a reason to use Matrix View.   InstaComposer will create a theme, I can drag the midi onto Matrix View, then create a new theme with InstaComposer and drag that into the Matrix View.   I can then use Matrix View to "record" a performance that way much faster.

Even though InstaComposer is a great concept, I wish they would fix somethings.   A major issue is not having a global undo / redo button.   Without this global undo / redo button, life in InstaComposer is not worth it.

Activating InstaComposer was a nightmare.  It kept telling me I had no internet.  I recommend restarting windows after install.

Here are problems I have with InstaComposer:

 - New Chord Prog needs a undo / redo button  ---> If you click "New Chord Prog" there is no way to undo this function.  You either have to remember the chord sequence or try to figure out the chord sequence from the current tracks you have.  (Maybe I should have bought Scaler 2 or Tonic?)

 - be allowed to click on chords to play them as a group  ---> You can't click on any of the chords on the interface to hear just those chords.

 - Chord Progressions should be allowed to be extracted from tracks --->  Sometimes I change the chord progression for a track, the other tracks don't change.   I would like to be able to extract the chord progression for any track, save it or apply it now.

 - InstaComposer needs to be able to import midi into each track separately ---> You can't currently import midi tracks into it.

 - Presets should be allowed to have multiple sub folders inside folders inside folders ---> Yes they have presets, but If you create a folder inside a folder inside a folder and then put your preset in there, it InstaComposer can only see the first folder of presets.  There are no sub-menu system in InstaComposer for presets.

 - click on a track box for menu, then click reverse track  ---> Yes, I know I could drag and drop the midi into the DAW to work around this, but it would be much better if InstaComposer would do this for you.

 - there should be a "global undo / redo" buttons on the top right of the screen... left of W. A. Production   ---->  I know there's 1 undo / redo button that's in the View: Editor, but it's hidden and does not work globally.

As I continue to use InstaComposer, I'll add to this list.

 

Best Regards!

Edited October 31, 2022 by El Diablo
edited because of misspelling of trial, thanks Google Swipe :(

[craigb]

3 hours ago, El Diablo said:

Everyone wants to tell you all the good things about InstaComposer, but I just bought it and I'm about to load you down on the stuff you need to be aware of.

First: The trail version really is horrible as the trail version was limited to 10 button presses and 2 tracks.  I think they don't want you to "really use it" ... just see if it runs in your DAW.

The version you downloaded for the trail version is the version you'll activate.

In Cakewalk by Bandlabs, I finally found a reason to use Matrix View.   InstaComposer will create a theme, I can drag the midi onto Matrix View, then create a new theme with InstaComposer and drag that into the Matrix View.   I can then use Matrix View to "record" a performance that way much faster.

Even though InstaComposer is a great concept, I wish they would fix somethings.   A major issue is not having a global undo / redo button.   Without this global undo / redo button, life in InstaComposer is not worth it.

Activating InstaComposer was a nightmare.  It kept telling me I had no internet.  I recommend restarting windows after install.

Here are problems I have with InstaComposer:

 - New Chord Prog needs a undo / redo button  ---> If you click "New Chord Prog" there is no way to undo this function.  You either have to remember the chord sequence or try to figure out the chord sequence from the current tracks you have.  (Maybe I should have bought Scaler 2 or Tonic?)

 - be allowed to click on chords to play them as a group  ---> You can't click on any of the chords on the interface to hear just those chords.

 - Chord Progressions should be allowed to be extracted from tracks --->  Sometimes I change the chord progression for a track, the other tracks don't change.   I would like to be able to extract the chord progression for any track, save it or apply it now.

 - InstaComposer needs to be able to import midi into each track separately ---> You can't currently import midi tracks into it.

 - Presets should be allowed to have multiple sub folders inside folders inside folders ---> Yes they have presets, but If you create a folder inside a folder inside a folder and then put your preset in there, it InstaComposer can only see the first folder of presets.  There are no sub-menu system in InstaComposer for presets.

 - click on a track box for menu, then click reverse track  ---> Yes, I know I could drag and drop the midi into the DAW to work around this, but it would be much better if InstaComposer would do this for you.

 - there should be a "global undo / redo" buttons on the top right of the screen... left of W. A. Production   ---->  I know there's 1 undo / redo button that's in the View: Editor, but it's hidden and does not work globally.

As I continue to use InstaComposer, I'll add to this list.

 

Best Regards!

So, we shouldn't go down that path (er, trail? ? ).  Got it! ??

Ok, ok.  I know you meant trial, but a good job on the review regardless! ?

[GTsongwriter]

11 hours ago, craigb said:

So, we shouldn't go down that path (er, trail? ? ).  Got it! ??

Ok, ok.  I know you meant trial, but a good job on the review regardless! ?

The review is of the full version.

I'm only making a short paragraph about the trail version.

I'll edit the post to make that more clear.  Thank you!

Edited October 31, 2022 by El Diablo

[craigb]

6 hours ago, El Diablo said:

The review is of the full version.

I'm only making a short paragraph about the trail version.

I'll edit the post to make that more clear.  Thank you!

No, no...  The review was fine, but I did have a little fun at your spelling.  It's "trial" not "trail."  ?

trial

verb

    1. test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance.

     "all seeds are carefully trialed in a variety of growing conditions"

 

trail

noun

    1a(1): a track made by passage especially through a wilderness

         (2): a marked or established path or route especially through a forest or mountainous region

[GTsongwriter]

3 hours ago, craigb said:

No, no...  The review was fine, but I did have a little fun at your spelling.  It's "trial" not "trail."  ?

trial

verb

    1. test (something, especially a new product) to assess its suitability or performance.

     "all seeds are carefully trialed in a variety of growing conditions"

 

trail

noun

    1a(1): a track made by passage especially through a wilderness

         (2): a marked or established path or route especially through a forest or mountainous region

I rely highly on Google Swipe.