Mix scenes

[koshrecords]

Hello. I'm relatively new to Cakewalk - giving it a go since I love the idea of having a built-in channel strip, and was pleasantly surprised to see what used to be Sonar is now free!

Anyway, the mix scenes concept intrigued me - in Reaper I've literally been saving different versions of the project and skipping back and forth between them in tabs.

But I can't get the mix scenes to work - nothing seems to happen when I switch between them. I was trying to play two different guitar mixes against each other without having to manually adjust it each time, but nothing happens when I switch between the scenes. Am I doing something wrong? Is this not what it's for?

Related: is it possible to have two projects open, whether in tabs like Reaper or some other way? And is the file/folder clean-up function as simple as Reaper, once you've decided on a mix? 

Thanks! 

[Morten Saether]

For more information about Mic Recall, go here.

Yes, you can have multiple projects open simultaneously. Use the Windows menu to switch between open projects.

The Clean Audio Folder function was recently updated and is now much more efficient. For details, go here.

[InstrEd]

Hope the Cakewalk staff will keep an active presence on the new forum.

[John]

You can have as many Projects opened  as memory allows.  

Mix scenes are a very powerful addition to Cakewalk.  The way to use them is make one with how your project is setup say the default. Next make changes in the project. This can be for example a change in a plugin.  Then create a new mix scene. You switch between them. I ran a an experiment with it some time ago when I was trying to figure out if running BFD 3 produced a different sound using its internal mixer and one stereo out or whether if sending each kit piece to its own out in Sonar now Cakewalk made any sonic difference. It did and mix scenes was able to note how I had configured BFD 3. 

It a very useful ability of Cakewalk.   

[John]

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Posted just now

I got this from the Old Sonar manual.

I think it does a good job in how to use mix scenes.

The Mix Recall module contains the following controls:
 Mix Recall menu. The Mix Recall menu lets you select, save, load rename and delete Mix Scenes. The
name of the current Mix Scene is shown in the menu. The menu contains the following commands:
 List of Mix Scenes. List of saved Mix Scenes. Select a Mix Scene to load its mix. If the project contains
more than 10 Mix Scenes, the list is shown in a Recall Scene submenu.
 Recall Previous Scene. Load the previous Mix Scene. This allows you to quickly compare two different
mixes by toggling between the two most recent Mix Scenes. The name of the previous Mix Scene is shown
in parenthesis.
 Reset Mix. Reset all mix parameters to their default values and clear any automation envelopes. This
command only applies to the settings that are selected in the Mix Recall Settings dialog box (see “To
configure Mix Recall settings” on page 1185 and “Mix Recall Settings dialog” on page 2132).
 Save Scene. Save the current mix to the selected Mix Scene. If no Mix Scene is selected, a new Mix
Scene (and .cwm file) is created.
 Save As New Scene. Save the current mix to a new Mix Scene.
 Rename Scene. Rename the selected Mix Scene. Note: this command only creates a friendly name for
the current project; it does not rename the actual .cwm file that is stored on your computer’s hard disk since
the Mix Scene might also be used by other projects.
 Delete Scene. Delete the selected Mix Scene. Note: this command only removes the project’s reference
to the Mix Scene, it does not delete the underlying .cwm file from your computer’s hard disk since the Mix
Scene might also be used by other projects.
 Delete All Scenes. Delete all listed Mix Scenes for the project. Note: this command only removes the
project’s reference to the Mix Scenes, it does not delete the underlying .cwm files from your computer’s
hard disk since the Mix Scenes might also be used by other projects.
 Mix Recall Settings. Open the Mix Recall Settings dialog box, which lets you specify the type of data
that is applied when you load a Mix Scene or use the Recall Previous Scene and Reset Mix commands.
You can choose to restore all the mix data (default) or just a subset of the data. You can also specify if the
operation should apply to all tracks and buses, or only to selected tracks or buses. For details, see “To
configure Mix Recall settings” on page 1185.
 Save Scene . Save the current mix to the selected Mix Scene. If no Mix Scene is selected, a new Mix
Scene (and .cwm file) is created.
 Save As New Scene . Save the current mix to a new Mix Scene.
 Recall Previous Scene . Load the previous Mix Scene. This allows you to quickly compare two different
mixes. Right click the Recall Previous Scene button to open the Mix Recall Settings dialog box.

[koshrecords]

4 hours ago, Morten Saether said:

For more information about Mic Recall, go here.

Yes, you can have multiple projects open simultaneously. Use the Windows menu to switch between open projects.

The Clean Audio Folder function was recently updated and is now much more efficient. For details, go here.

Awesome, thanks. I'll have a good read and figure out where I was going wrong Cheers!

[Noel Borthwick]

Sometimes its easiest to see in a video. Here is a video showing the Mix Recall workflow:

 

And here is a user video:

 

[koshrecords]

Thanks for the videos - it seems my problem was I wasn't waiting for the whole project to reload. Is that how it's meant to work? I didn't think reloading all the VST instruments, etc was necessary - but that's what it does. 

[Craig Anderton]

2 hours ago, koshrecords said:

Thanks for the videos - it seems my problem was I wasn't waiting for the whole project to reload. Is that how it's meant to work? I didn't think reloading all the VST instruments, etc was necessary - but that's what it does. 

You can choose what to load, so if your instrument sound hasn't changed, don't reload it. 

I wrote an article about Mix Recall for Sound on Sound magazine that explores some of the creative possibilities. For example it's great for saving different versions of songs, including ones with vocals up 1 dB, down 1 dB, etc. One of the most outstanding aspects for me is being able to that you can recall certain mix elements from particular scenes - for example if the mix on the bass and drums was perfect in one scene, you can recall just that part into a later scene that got the other tracks right, but lost the recipe on the bass and drums.

Just remember that  Mix Recall is indeed that, not Arrangement Recall. If you've made changes to the arrangement itself, like added or deleted clips, Mix Recall will affect only the mix-related parameters that relate to the arrangement.

Edited December 24, 2018 by Craig Anderton

[John]

4 hours ago, koshrecords said:

Thanks for the videos - it seems my problem was I wasn't waiting for the whole project to reload. Is that how it's meant to work? I didn't think reloading all the VST instruments, etc was necessary - but that's what it does. 

I guess I'm from a computer time when it was essential to wait until everything was done before moving on to doing something else.  Example , I stop playback to make any change.  Many users like to  work on things as the project is playing. Many think its waisting time not to. I have found doing things in a rush can often end up costing a lot more time.

[Noel Borthwick]

14 hours ago, koshrecords said:

Thanks for the videos - it seems my problem was I wasn't waiting for the whole project to reload. Is that how it's meant to work? I didn't think reloading all the VST instruments, etc was necessary - but that's what it does. 

Its not necessary. If you don't want effects to be saved and loaded in a mix recall preset just deselect FX in the Mix recall settings.  When you do this it will skip attempting to restore effects. Its completely configurable.

[koshrecords]

11 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Its not necessary. If you don't want effects to be saved and loaded in a mix recall preset just deselect FX in the Mix recall settings.  When you do this it will skip attempting to restore effects. Its completely configurable.

Ah - now here's the thing I guess that might be unique to my workflow. Much of my A/B testing isn't levels - it's different FX settings, amp simulations, routing, etc. Might be a bit much for mix recall. That's OK - I've lived without it this far, just thought it would be nice. 

[Noel Borthwick]

Loading effects isn't a problem with mix recall. In most cases it takes about a second to restore a mix including effects. The exception is for cases where you have instruments with large sample banks in which case it can take longer to restore. Its still way more efficient that loading different versions of a project to A/B.

[TheSteven]

Does Mix Recall handle track changes?
For example I added an alternative bass track.  Or do I now need to create new alternative mixes?

[Noel Borthwick]

If you added tracks you should save a new scene. Older scenes won't affect the newly added tracks although you can still load them to affect the previous tracks.

 

[Grem]

Mix recall seems to be what your looking for, based on what you've told us. You just have to save a new "Scene" for any changes you want to recall. 

[koshrecords]

On 12/26/2018 at 12:08 PM, Grem said:

Mix recall seems to be what your looking for, based on what you've told us. You just have to save a new "Scene" for any changes you want to recall. 

Are they different? This could be what's going wrong... 

[Noel Borthwick]

Mix recall will only recall changes to EXISTING tracks and buses from the mix scenes. i.e if you added new tracks or buses to your project and load an older scene the new tracks will be unaffected. And vice versa if you load a scene containing tracks from a newer project into an older version, the new tracks won't come across.

Mix recall is designed to handles changes that affect the mix. It won't add or remove core tracks or buses or audio data itself.

[John]

On 12/25/2018 at 1:49 AM, koshrecords said:

Ah - now here's the thing I guess that might be unique to my workflow. Much of my A/B testing isn't levels - it's different FX settings, amp simulations, routing, etc. Might be a bit much for mix recall. That's OK - I've lived without it this far, just thought it would be nice. 

If you read my first post here you would have an idea how to use it.  Its what you change within the project that it will make note of.  Adding tracks is not the same thing. That would require new scenes.  

[Grem]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:24 PM, koshrecords said:

Are they different? This could be what's going wrong... 

Yes, each "Scene" is different. So don't overwrite a "Scene" until your sure you want to let it go. I think you can have up to 10 Scenes per project. Which is a lot when you start working with it. Mix Recall is one of CB great features. 

 

That and Comping! : )

Edited December 31, 2018 by Grem