A way to automate effects in Cakewalk Next?

[Lonk]

I'm trying to use a plugin called Axon for drum beats, but it's not controlled by midi, and I want a way to better control it. 
Is there a way that I can automate effects themselves, independent of midi notes? That way, I could simply automate a limiter to bring it down to nothing around the start of the song, and fade it in; it would also be nice for a lot of other effects and circumstances. 
I feel like this is something that should be possible, but I don't know how to go about it, especially since I'm still really new to all this, so any help would be appreciated. 

If it helps any, I'm running on Windows 11, and here's the plugin I'm using: 
https://plugins4free.com/plugin/3728 
Thanks!

Edited Sunday at 08:58 PM by Lonk

[Amberwolf]

44 minutes ago, Lonk said:

I'm trying to use a plugin called Axon for drum beats, but it's not controlled by midi, and I want a way to better control it. 

 

Does Axon itself support automation for the specific things you want to do?

If not, you can't control it via automation.

 

It does state that it has a full MIDI learn mode, so you *can* control it via MIDI.  Since it has an internal mixer, you can automate that via MIDI after doing it's learn function, to do whatever mixing you like to do, even if the host you're using it doesn't have direct automation functions. 

 

44 minutes ago, Lonk said:

That way, I could simply automate a limiter to bring it down to nothing around the start of the song, and fade it in

If you just want to fade it in, you could just use volume automation to fade in, if the host you're using suports that, in it's audio output track.  

Or render it out to audio and then use the host's methods for fading audio files.  (clip fades, etc). 

[Lonk]

What do you mean by host? I'm just using Cakewalk Next, I'm still very new to music production. 
I am trying to see if there's a way to use a volume automation, I don't know how I would go about it. If there's something in Cakewalk, could you please send a screenshot of where I look for it?

[Lonk]

I've tried doing this, but it has no effect on it, because the way it's currently running, it doesn't take midi input, and idk how to configure it so it does 

[Amberwolf]

Since that shows a piano up the side, I'll assume that you're doing that in the piano roll view.    That would mean you're using a MIDI CC.  

If you have not first done the MIDI Learn inside Axon per however it's manual tells you to do that, so that whatever CC you're using for the Volume there (probably 7, that's most common), is then assigned inside Axon to control whatever volume control you want it to.

You may also have to setup the correct MIDI routing (channel, port, etc) to ensure it can get to Axon, either inside Axon or your host (Next, in this case).  That you'd have to check the manual for the host and Axon to be sure that's done right.  

Some synths can be inserted as a synth, with a MIDI track feeding them and then the synth outputting to an audio track, or as an effect in an audio track's bin.  In the latter mode some of them may not be able to get MIDI input, so you may ahve to be sure it's setup the first way--see it's manual to find out which way it works. 

 

Alternately, you can simply use normal volume automation on the audio track the synth outputs to, which doesent' require any of the above complications.   I'm assuming Next has track automation for audio if it does for MIDI (I haven't used it, just ancient SONAR / Cakewalk from a couple of decades back and before...but even they have it, so....). 

 

If you can't control it's volume that way, then you can insert a limiter, eq, compressor, etc., plugin that supports automation into the fx bin of the audio track Axon feeds, and then automate that fx.   (almost any fx has a volume control built in, sometimes defined as gain, sometimes input and output separately, so you can use almost anything to control just volume). 

 

If there is no automation available in your host then you can't use automation to control anything...but as long as there is, you just have to use the right kind of automation in the right place to control the right setting for what your'e after.  Sometimes it takes a bit of drawing out your routing for audio to find out where to stick a control.