Problem Converting MIDI TO Audio With Cakewalk Version 2

Mike Freze


I still have Cakewalk Version 2. Love it! I can't seem to get the "convert MIDI files to audio" command correct.  The manual tells you to "choose or create a new destination track" in order to do this. I can't find this command anywhere when I record and call up a MIDI recording. It records and plays back fine through my keyboard (or amp) but it won't convert. Any ideas?? How can I find this command? Of course, I have no problem "exporting" audio files out to my hard drive and saving them as WAV or mp3 files. But that's when I record in audio tracks. I need help for MIDI.
 
Miike Freze

I haven't used version 2 so I'm not sure what it can do.  In later versions the command is "bounce". Just like you can bounce several audio tracks to one.  However, bounce only works when the sound source is a virtual synth inside the project, not a real hardware one.  Can version 2 even do virtual instruments ? Like DXi maybe ?

If you want the sounds from your keyboard you will have to record those into an audio track in real time.  You would have to connect the audio outputs of your keyboard to the sound card inputs and record a new audio track of the sound while the MIDI plays the part.  Is that what you are trying to do ?

By the way since you are stuck in a time warp I'll tell you that here in the future things are getting amazing, if you could see what a newer version of Sonar can do you would love it.     However, you will also need a modern computer to run it.  Sonar 4.2 was when things started getting good and now it's a monster.  Imagine all the effects, drum machines, and keyboards you need a mouse click away.  And with a decent sound card, amazing sound quality both in and out. It's a whole new world.  Studio in a box is here at last.  I used to have a room full of stuff connected with a mile of wire and now it's just the computer.

Mike Freze


Frank:

Thanks for the advise. I'll try. So it's important to record my keyboard to my computer sound card as an audio track? I'll try. I do have an "edit bounce to tracks" command in Cakewalk 2. But that really won't "convert" the MIDI tracks to a single audio track, will it? Will it only take all my separate MIDI tracks and bounce them to one MIDI track? Or should it convert at the same time?

Thanks, Frank. I'll keep in touch with you, OK? I'm a songwriter too. Let me try your suggestions first.

Mike Freze

No, if you are using your keyboard for sounds then bounce to tracks won't work. You will have to record it all as new audio tracks till you get the entire song in there as audio.  Then you can do the mix. At that point you don't even need the keyboard anymore unless you need to go back and work on the MIDI again and re-record something.  If you want each sound on it's own track it might take a few passes to get it all done.  Just mute all but the one MIDI track you need to drive that part and record the sound to a new track.

I used to have to do that back in the days when Cakewalk for DOS only did MIDI. I would record each sound to a track on the ADAT tape machines till I got the whole song done.  At some point I converted all those tapes to wav files in Sonar so I could mix then inside the computer.  I was glad I recorded all those tracks because I no longer had the keyboards and drum machines I used on some of the songs.

The way it's done now you use virtual keyboards that show up as "tracks" in Sonar and the MIDI track drive those and make the sound. You can export like that or bounce them (faster then real time !) to audio tracks for safe keeping in case you don't have those software synths some day.  It's so fast a easy it's like cheating. Also, unlike hardware you are not limited to just one instance of a software synth.  For example if I need a second sound canvas I just insert it again and I get 32 channels of sounds.... sweet.    Same for effects, you never run out now.