Adam Posted Sunday at 02:05 AM Share Posted Sunday at 02:05 AM Hi all, I've been experiencing a frustrating and increasingly frequent issue in Cakewalk by BandLab where record-enabled tracks seem to be tracking during recording but disappear once I hit stop. The issue isn't consistent across all tracks—sometimes, I’ll record multiple tracks simultaneously, and while some tracks capture properly, others fail to record at all. A few key details: The issue occurs intermittently but has become more frequent over the last six months. There are no punch-in points set elsewhere in the project that could be interfering. The waveform appears while recording, as if the take is being captured, but as soon as I stop recording, the affected track(s) are empty. There is no record of the track in the recording folder when I checked afterwards. It happens across different projects and isn’t tied to a specific template or setup. I'm working in a professional studio environment, so this is becoming a serious problem for sessions. Has anyone else encountered this? Are there any known fixes or workarounds? I’d appreciate any insights or troubleshooting steps you can recommend. Thanks! Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 02:08 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 02:08 AM Follow-up Update: I’ve done some further troubleshooting and noticed something strange: When I open the comping lanes on an affected track, it actually does not show that it's recording—it looks like it’s just playing back. However, when comping lanes are closed, the track appears to be recording normally, showing a red waveform during tracking. My current workaround has been to disarm and rearm the record button before each take or delete the affected track and create a new one. Sometimes this resolves the issue, but not always. Has anyone else seen this behavior? I’m wondering if this is a bug or a setting I might be missing. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 02:13 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 02:13 AM Follow-up Update & Additional Findings After digging through older posts, I found that this issue has been reported as far back as 2020, with users experiencing similar intermittent recording failures where takes disappear after stopping. Some possible causes mentioned in those threads include: Issues with Punch Points (though not applicable in my case) Possible plugin interference (Positive Grid plugins were flagged before) Background processes interfering with file writing (like antivirus software or cloud sync services) Problems with the waveform picture cache Given that this has been an issue for years with no clear resolution, has anyone found a reliable fix? Are there specific steps that can help narrow down what’s causing the recording to fail intermittently? Would love any additional insights or possible debugging steps. I can't afford for this issue to continue! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 02:14 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 02:14 AM @Noel Borthwick - would love an update on this issue and happy to trouble shoot with you; I really need to rectify this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted Sunday at 03:08 AM Share Posted Sunday at 03:08 AM I had similar (maybe not the same) once. Suggestion below solved situation for me, never happened again. User Lord Tim suggested: "Pictures corrupt sometimes. Try right-clicking the waveform and choosing Associated Audio Files, then press the Recompute Pictures button. Failing that, it's safe to close Cakewalk and then delete everything inside the Picture Cache folder (typically that's at C:\Cakewalk Projects\Picture Cache ). When you open your project next, it'll just recreate all of the waveform pictures again and should solve the issue." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 03:11 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:11 AM Thanks, MIsha. Yes: I remember this picture corrupt issue. This isn't relevant to this problem. There is no waveform to click: when recording, a waveform looks as though it is being written, but, once I hit stop, the waveform never appears. Nothing is left in the session folder either. I've just upgraded to Cakewalk Sonar: had no idea there was a new version. I'll see if that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misha Posted Sunday at 03:16 AM Share Posted Sunday at 03:16 AM (edited) "Nothing is left in the session folder either." random uneducated guess... maybe folder doesn't have correct privileges? There was/is one bug that sometimes FIRST take lane gets muted for no reason. Last time I've seen it 2 days ago... but I doubt this is it. What is strange that your project folder is, as you say - empty... Edited Sunday at 03:22 AM by Misha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 03:25 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 03:25 AM no: that's not the issue. This issue is random and intermittent. I can be recording 12 tracks simultaneously, and, 1 or maybe 2 just won't have created a file and an empty lane has been left. So, for example, I'm recording a vocalist with an acoustic guitar; vocals have one channel for a mic, guitar has 4 mics (mid side and rooms mics for example). An issue that might happen is the 3 of the 4 guitar mics record, but, one doesn't, and, perhaps, the vocal doesn't record. So, my client has completed a take as far as they know, and, I have to ask them to do it again as two channels didn't capture anything! It's about as serious a problem as one could have, and, has left me red faced many times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sock Monkey Posted Sunday at 03:50 AM Share Posted Sunday at 03:50 AM So why are you using a free Daw for professional recording! I don’t think you would have this issue with Sonar. Or any other Daw. Cakewalk has been abandoned and is not supported. Just say in’ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 04:07 AM Author Share Posted Sunday at 04:07 AM Hey Sock Monkey, I have been using Cakewalk in its many versions since 2006. The current Cakewalk by BandLab is descended directly from the SONAR code base as acquired by BandLab. I had all the bells and whistles from my previous paid version of Sonar Platinum that transferred directly into Cakewalk by Bandlab. However, I did not realise a new version had been released until today. I've just installed it and will perform some tests and see if I have the same issues. So far, it definitely feels like its running more efficiently than Cakewalk by Bandlab. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Mackay Posted Sunday at 08:12 AM Share Posted Sunday at 08:12 AM 3 hours ago, Adam said: Hey Sock Monkey, I have been using Cakewalk in its many versions since 2006. The current Cakewalk by BandLab is descended directly from the SONAR code base as acquired by BandLab. I had all the bells and whistles from my previous paid version of Sonar Platinum that transferred directly into Cakewalk by Bandlab. However, I did not realise a new version had been released until today. I've just installed it and will perform some tests and see if I have the same issues. So far, it definitely feels like its running more efficiently than Cakewalk by Bandlab. You mean the updated version runs better than the one you were using? 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Borthwick Posted Sunday at 01:18 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:18 PM CbB has not been in development for over 2 years other than receiving a few updates for breaking issues. Please try this in Sonar and if you encounter the issue contact us. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwalpwal Posted Sunday at 01:37 PM Share Posted Sunday at 01:37 PM anything in event viewer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 08:11 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 08:11 PM @Noel Borthwick thanks for that. Not sure how I missed that: never received a notification! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 08:12 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 08:12 PM 11 hours ago, Nigel Mackay said: You mean the updated version runs better than the one you were using? 🙂 Thanks, smart ***** 😜 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Arwood Posted Sunday at 09:57 PM Share Posted Sunday at 09:57 PM I think I had this issue 10+ years ago. I think it was something to do with the ins and outs of the channel. I’m not sure it’s been so long ago. So, is Sonar working for you now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Sunday at 11:17 PM Author Share Posted Sunday at 11:17 PM @Noel Borthwick I'm using the latest version of Sonar now and the problem is still occurring. Should I start a new topic in the 'Cakewalk Sonar' forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Monday at 12:25 AM Author Share Posted Monday at 12:25 AM 2 hours ago, Max Arwood said: I think I had this issue 10+ years ago. I think it was something to do with the ins and outs of the channel. I’m not sure it’s been so long ago. So, is Sonar working for you now? Hey Max: unfortunately not. Same problem in Cakewalk by Sonar too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted Monday at 12:26 AM Author Share Posted Monday at 12:26 AM topic moved here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Arwood Posted Monday at 12:42 AM Share Posted Monday at 12:42 AM https://www.google.com/search?q=cakewalk+looks+like+it's+Recording+but+nothing's+there&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS797US798&oq=cakewalk+looks+like+it's+Recording+but+nothing's+there&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDkwNzhqMGo0qAIBsAIB4gMEGAEgXw&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8 sorry about that long link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now