starise

I guess I still need to do that.

Well this thread is a little dated like a few other son the site. That's a good thing really to see how time might have changed things for some. For me personally I have stopped using Cakewalk which has been Cakewalk by Bandlab now for awhile. They are going to have a paid tier once again. I'm actually surprised it hasn't been taken that way much sooner. I bought Cubase pro last year. Amazing DAW. Eventually though it has been Ableton for me recently mainly because of the way I work. When I finally figured out I could, create audio ideas in small blocks, rearrange them and then record them as a unified whole on the linear section of the software that was all it took. It does everything I need it to do and it doesn't get in the way. I still go by the Cakewalk forum under a different name because those guys are the best I have found in terms of musicians just stopping by to chat with some hanging around. That core is significant to me, but it has zero to do with that DAW. I still have it on one of my computers but don't remember the last time I booted it up. The other thing I really like about Ableton as well was the stability. My moving back and forth in DAWS has been like almost everything else in my life. I moved around before settling on something. This isn't to say they all aren't amazing. If the tool helps to get the job done in the most efficent least problematic way, and becomes almost invisible in the process, this is the best I could hope for. I recently tracked on my laptop remote guitar and vocals. Using only the plugins in Ableton I was able to make a good mix.

All depending on one's age I suppose old and new could be different. I still refuse to call myself old. I have little interest in new music, or at least the promoted music. Why? Because most of it is a packacged product only intended to sell. There are some really creative talented people who are not promoted.

Yeah, I wonder where he ended up. Easy mistake to make Bridget. I have done it here.

Welcome!

Well that's pretty close to the fart library Soundiron makes. Yes I have it. I am mostly kidding here. I have heard them played well. Not often

It's a miracle there are any

I glad you jumped in here because I don't use PT. Sorry I pointed you the wrong way there. Maybe I'll suggest to the UNIFY team they should look at that format. My hunch is it's copy protected in some way. Either that or there is some kind of a technical hurdle. The good news, at least I think, is that any of the good pluging catering to the larger professional sector of the industry SHOULD have AAX for their plug ins. I know Waves does. And higher tier plugins like Fabfilter.

I would be addressing windows computers here. One very common folder for many manufacturers is "Steinberg" as a folder. They install plugins into that folder presumably because they were the original designers of the standard, so I guess that makes sense. I think having options sometimes confuse at installation time and allowing a user to select their own folder can be a problem if a person isn't organized. In Windows there is a vst program files and a vst program files 64 where most manufacturers have a sub folder. If a 64bit plugin gets installed into the older system 32 folder it may not be scanned. AAX is the pro tools standard and then the apple standard. Those are generally offered.It's funny because when I look at instructional videos the users as 'assuming' we all use apple computers. Should we select both vst 2 and vst 3 if offered? I generally do but in some DAWS you may need to reconfigure your plug in scan folders. It's probably less cluttered to just select vst 3 and be done with it. Ableton is finicky in telling it where your plug in folders are if they are in numerous folders. It wants to see only new shiny 64 bit plugins. Since I had used Cakewalk and since there was a bunch of Cakewalk plugins before it went to Bandlab, it was a default folder in my computer for plugins. The entire Nomad collection was once a part of that DAW. Also had Addictive drums in it, and other stuff. When I would install plugins I didn't realize that many of them were going into that folder. There are also ways an manufacturer who has made deals with a plug in company tie those plugin specifically only to that daw. This made for all sorts of issues when I went to Ableton as I liked those older plugins. In some DAWS like Studio One my nomad plugins worked while in Ableton they didn't. Maybe in conrast to many DAWs , Studio One actually has a channel strip that can be used in any DAW. I relocated the positions of a bunch of them into more common plug in folder VST under Program files, and for the most part that works unless you used a manufacturer portal that identifies the folder location and flags you. That happened with Toontrack and I had to contact them. They worked with me to get it all to work again. Since many manufacturers are now using a portal download system it's important to know what you want up front in terms of plugin locations. Several use PACE and the newer itinerations of it allow the option to store the license either on your computer or on their usb stick. I prefer having the info on their dongle. In some computer options a server is dialed up to make sure you are legit. What if you aren't connected to the web? Not a very good system. Worst case, if I made a mess of everything I would simply uninstall, contact the maker and reinstall the product after I deleted everything from before. That's really not something I ever want to to unless I am building a new computer.

This was an older vst that no longer is for sale to my recollections Was from Bolder sounds I think. I still have it. It had a unique stereo field that was more than one bagpipe, so it sounded like multiple pipers all playing. When I listen back to it I would agree with you that it was a little too abstract and could have had more of a motif. There is English traditional acoustic music too but I never learned much of it. Most modern Irish have the top 40 radio just like the rest of the world. Maybe only in the local pubs will you hear the traditional music. Lots of them have no interest. The bug bit me when I went to Ireland and then playing in session here I learned a lot of the music. One of the world renowned fiddlers is really an englishman who moved to Ireland. Kevin Burke. I have a pic of us together at one of his concerts which are usually smaller venues.I was able to talk with him some. Down to earth and talented beyond belief. I could go on and on about what makes that music attractive to some people. It really takes quite and effort to play a lot of it to speed and those guys know like 100 tunes by memory.

@GregB I very much appreciate your offer to help. I'm sure I only scratched the surface of the program . I plan to try these suggestions out. My guitar playing while in time, tends to be very different since I don't play with a pick.My rhythm comes through a down or upstroke like a pick but often not as apparent. I can see why the AI would not be able to match a down beat on me. Even so possibly those suggestions may help. My acosutic mixes tend to only need light drumming in the background. I've even been ok with UJAM's ONE for that, just shakers and things, which is why a lot of this will be overkill on me. I still make denser more rock like mixes and that's where this will really shine, and I don't see any harm in having a drum part I like and building on it instead. The issue for me sometimes lies in a tune I've already recorded trying to fish around for a matching rhythm. Sure I could hand drum it on the keyboard I guess. The very best thing for me is a matching set of midi loops intro, verse 1&2, chorus, fills and ending. I have already mixed and matched but I don't prefer that. @john That's hilarious I know we like to pick on certain instruments, but I really like bagpipes when they are played well, which in my areas isn't very often. Here's one I did that's a sort of dream thing but I like that bagpipe vst.

Well, it was mostly musicians here and it was really only two individuals who didn't get on with me. I regularly debate now as a part of what I do. I like to call it discussion that doesn't always agree, so really they were probably a typical sampling if I had walked into Manchester where one is from or a state here in the US and picked anyone on the street. It's really a sampling of most people nowdays who have a view they are comfortable with and are confident they can rationalize it to themselves, but when pressed they can't so they resort to other measures. The people I talk to now are really friends so we don't have a problem disagreeing and still being friends. I wouldn't dare go there here any more as this isn't the place for it. I liked it though because all of the facade was stripped away and we seen each other in a more real way. I like real, not socially presentable If a person doesn't dislike that kind of friction which I think can also be helpful and if there is a set of rules such as, talk about the subject and not about the person. That's where most of those types of things degrade. For instance if I generalize a group of people and call them all morons, I see that as a negative stereotype generally associated with someone who has a world view they don't agree with. By default any person in that group is a moron supposedly. There are the red herrings and the straw man arguments too. That's really what brought that thread down IMO. No matter what a person percieves about another group I don't think it can be accurately said that all memebers of that group or similar groups which may number in the millions, are the same or are in the group for the same reasons, or that I even have a good grasp of the group or groups itself as I might not have a total grasp of the group I'm attacking. I have a friend. He has made many many albums. He regularly tours the US and abroad. I will accompany him the next tour. I have begun to get his input. He is very gracious so he drops the hammer gently lol. I think we need to face one thing here that may come off as cocky, but really it isn't. Some people lack self confidence and feel a need for affirmation through their music. If our music is a big part of who we are, there can be a thin shell to criticism. To affirm is to encourage. To find fault is to tear down for them. It's human nature really. Some people place their intrinsic value in what they make, so if what they make is not that good they feel useless. A person can easily wind up continually changing things someone else thinks need to be changed and spend years in critique threads instead of finding their own way. The main thing is do I like it? If I like it then why am I putting it on a critique thread? This isn't to say newbs don't need basic mixing skills in a home studio, and none of that has to be overly complex. I wish. John will tell you because I interviewed at least one person here who was at the time probably the "star" of the site so far as popularity and plays on SC.The engineers would probably remember me. I am on X as recording hound with that old logo. I should have saved the audio files in the chance that I might restart in the future, but unfortunately I didn't. I know. I could kick myself. 👍I am similar in that I don't go as to technical areas and I end up in lounges instead. I took a very long hiatus for varying personal reasons from here. I think we all have our favorites. Those two DAWS are excellent and if you like working in them and you know them why move to anything else? Ableton is moving to version 12 so I'll probably upgrade it from 11. I went through a process when I tried many of them. I have Studio one. It is packed with many nice features including an excellent mastering suite, Cubase is nice and has a lot of great plugins included. Instruments not so much. When I began on Cakewalk it was a DAW with many instruments included that were all pretty good. It was payed then. A very linear way of making music similar to many others. I'm glad I went to Ableton because Cakewalk is tied to Bandlab and has a nag screen. Still ok, but not as stable overall as Ableton which is also cross platform. Ableton is really like two DAWs in one with those two screens one more abstact and the other linear, so you can build the arrangement on the first screen and then record it to the linear section.I have two monitors so it's dope. For me, I don't think there is a better arrangement tool on the planet, in addition ot it's excellent time stretching features once you know how it works.I love it! Interesting. I'm glad you are here and like it. The forum has been through many revisions. I came here to get mixing advice originally, but not so much any more. Many of those who frequented here no longer come by for various reasons. I hop around to three of four forums of different types, so I guess this isn't as much of a mainstay for me any more. I do like a lot of the things and people here though. Well I hope I made the grade lol. The more you know me the less I'll probably interest you, so there's that I don't have an off button for anyone, but I realize that some people are caustic and so they are not the kinds of people I would surround myself with. A true friend is always honest. I don't see that as caustic. They want to be helpful. 👌 This isn't the only forum around that is slow from what I've seen lately. There tend to be slumps. I think part of it is people are more into social media and sites with media, Facebook, Tictoc,X,Youtube. Youtube is probably my favorite. I imagine myself coming here for the first time. I would be like, no I don't need that, I don't want that, where is the actual forum?? Oh wait, there's a lounge and people are talking about recording and DAWs! For everyone else that answer will likely be different. If a person comes here looking for education and there is a course offered, they will compare it with other similar courses and make a decision. In that respect it's more of a vendor thing to them maybe? LIke I have this tune I made, how good is it?? and if it is ok, then how can I promote it? I know for a fact it's a jungle out there. Say I have a tune and I put it on a hosting site that puts it out to all the major places Amazon, Spotify, Youtube etc. One of my friends who is a very good musician does that and gets pennies for it. If financial viability is what a person is looking for you almost need to tour and sell merchandise.Even then you ain't typically rich. Prolly make more as a Nashville studio musician doing recording gigs on the side. Yes John has a vision. Best to him. A lot of my music is intended for specific groups, so most anyone else isn't going to get it. And it's funny because I was part of a team that had to dismiss a guy from a site and one of his parting comments was " Oh and I went to your website, your music is the worst effing stuff I have ever heard". TBH I didn't loose any sleep over it as I knew he was hurt. In a song trade situation where I'm giving you critique and you are giving me critique, I believe probability is high that good comments come and bad comments are often subdued. Not always, but noone wants commentary from "that guy". I remember wanting to hear there is a bug on the windshield that needs to be wiped off,or my tail pipe is hanging and this person wanted me to rebuild the car. After spending hours on a mix to have someone wanting you to rearrange your song or make major changes to it is an impossibility for me. Not to mention reworking something I like. Intrinsically I don't have any desire to change it that much. If I'm writing a tune with you or someone else, then yes, you have that ability to make those suggestions. I will listen at that stage, but not after the tune is completed. And if it isn't that great. I move on to make something better. I'm always moving forward. I did make some major revisions to one lately and I'm still not happy with it, but I decided that what I didn't like wasn't going to kill it, so off it goes and on to another. I was a salesman a few times in my life and I ended up pointing them to the place down the street because I knew it was better When someone comes to me and is looking for something, I hope there's nothing in it for me because then I won't be tempted to point them to a decision based on me.

Well I've seen a few of those easy to make forums popping up here and there. They generally die a slow death or only have a few who drop by. You stuck with it when things were like that, so I think you deserve some return on that effort. Sometimes it's a butt hurt member who decides to strike it out on their own and finds that it isn't as easy as it may seem. For one thing you have Google on you side in this in all of the searches. Hopefully it isn't articles from 2002. Sometimes these are the kinds of things that get hits because the tag is searched. I want to encourage you in all of it. The reality is also hundreds of videos are posted on recording in YouTube every day by high level engineers. Lord only knows what they get from it. I mean an ego stroke only goes so far when you're on video number 1346 and you need new content at least every few days to stay relevant. Some of it is subsidized by vendors I would guess. When I had my podcast I was asking a year into it who the next peformer or engineer was going to be. It takes more than a passing interest in it to keep it going as they get about the same kind of thanks you get over time. Staying the course will bring something. I stumbled on the fact that advertising entities were reaching out to me to endorse a client. I learned it was an entry into another world where deals are made to position clients, and any author has interest in a podcast where that review will be online for years to come. I got out of it for various reasons. I had a decent radio voice and could have kept going with it. It's a lot like I thought I would love the restauraunt business and imagined running such a place. That would be cool. Wait a minute, I would be making food and hiring and that basically is a non stop job. You can't just turn it off over the weekend. No thanks. You can delegate of course but then you need competent reliable people. If you are looking for volunteers I can see where that could be a challenge. On modding, yeah people often feel they have more freedom online. At that other forum we have methods for giving them a fair chance. Thankfully there is a team, so it works pretty well. I am attempting to find relationships between what I do or did and what you are doing. Maybe there really aren't as many. I haven't had a lot of time to be around. This looks to be a busy year. It doesn't take long to make a post here, so it isn't an all day thing. Paying something for server costs is understandable but might be wasted on me. I say might. I throw something at that other site to help in costs. I think they use the same software you do. My income is due to drop this year as I am retiring young, so I will have an adjustment period to see what I need to do. I have a lot of monthly fees but most are small. I don't rent plug ins. Spotify and I pay like 12.00 a month for wifi in my Tesla. I believe my wife subscribes to Amazon music. Some other small stuff like charities and stuff like that. I don't think it's unreasonable, just not sure if I'll be here that much. Maybe ? I'm certainly not the main criteria, I wish you the very best and hope it all works out well for you.

John was gracious enough to have an anything goes thread which I liked. All of that ended in name calling. I don't remember calling any names. I have better learned how to handle those things since then, so I handle those things differently. Most forums don't allow name calling. My skin has grown much thicker since then. I would laugh those guys off now. Musicians are typically a liberal bunch and I knew that going in, basically anything goes but I think everyone has a limit to that especially if it steps on someone else. The outcome of those discussions was probably expected. I have no idea what happened to all of those guys. One is on my FB but maybe he blocked me. For the record I don't argue or enjoy arguing, so it wasn't really fun to go there any more and John closed it down. The other one who referred to himself as a walking gut bag, not sure. There are two reasons anyone goes to a critique area and at one time I didn't know what I liked so I was open to letting someone else suggest things. I still am to some extent, but I don't feel I need approval. I could nit any of the top ten hits and find errors. I think there's a page somewhere that has all of the little mistakes hits had in them. AC/DC made some drasitc tempo changes which would not fly today. Most of the time when I upload something I hear all of the stupid things in it. I just made changes recently and I'm not finished yet to a few of my recent ones. That's really what works best for me. Just listening to it and trying to decide if what I heard was bad enough to warrant correction. Since mixing is a bit of an art there are lots of ways to mix an given song in addition to the artistic music decisions. Chances are if I released something in one mix at midnight I will be very sorry the next day, but it's a snap shot of where I was then and shows room for improvement. My music is in between showcase and critique so I don't post a lot here lately. I was honored to interview two of the most famous mixing engineers on the planet and have autographed books from both of them. MIke Senior and Bob Katz inventor of the K system. I have read everything in those books and was glued to SOS for years, plus lots of trial and error. I know there's always something new to learn so I'm not saying I am above that, but neither am I by any means an amateur. Well it's nice to meet you here! I would probably not be on forums as much if I were not working a computer job that has frequent times of intermission in waiting for programs to load etc. A forum is a great way to draw in persons we assume have similar or the same interests. I had something like 30,000 posts on the cakewalk forum when bandlab bought them. That's the DAW I cut my teeth on.When the site changed I lost my post count. I'm still there but not as much since I adopted Ableton as my main DAW, and unfortunately Ableton has a terrible forum area IMHO. Maybe similar to Cubase. Like the girl you knew lived down the street you never gave much thought to, and then later got a crush on her, that's how Ableton grew on me. At first I didn't get the concept. Now I won't work in much of anything else. Cubase has lots of capability and I was using it successfully as well, but then I figured Ableton out. I always maybe falsely assumed forums were more about community. I mean really I don't come here for anything other than discussion and sometimes I'll put a track up. I don't need anything here. I suspect most music gear is now sold to hobbyists. Same with a forum. A subset of members might be interested in courses. I like a basic forum. I just want to go where I want to go. I don't need anything flashy or necessarily "different". What is a successful forum? Young people ( that's me too) well sort of They need a vision.They think they can do it, they just need the tools and those willing to show them. We can't be selling them wind. There is a reality about all of this. If a person likes making music none of those things will really matter. They can be guided, but ultimately it's up to them. Sounds about right to me I would not say a person who doesn't want criticism is weak in some way. If they come here though and post in the songs area they are likely looking for other opinions. It was at one time a habit to come here and post my songs. I can't sell anything. Probaby because I have no desire to do so. Success and control- Money and power? Look what that does to most people.

I shared a few of my musician things to non musicians and yeah, none of them got it.