Mixdown audio in Pro 9 Cakewalk

Hmmm, well I still have Pro Audio 9 on my machine, even though I do most of my work in Sonar Home Studio 4XL now. It's useful that PA9 has the MP3 capability.

Your post is brief and I'm not sure I have a clear picture of your problem, but I assure you it's not because you've mixed the MIDI down to audio--you Have to do that. And it doesn't make sense wanting to "change this back."

Two things--Have you mixed these tracks down to a 2 track master? And have you made sure you're selecting the tracks you want to export?

If not--then you need to first make the 2 track mix, and then you need to select just that master mix and then once again try exporting it as an MP3 file.

Let me know how it works out.

Randy
rbowser

Hello again--My head is swimming after reading that COnvoluted problem and your work-around solution. None of that should be necessary. Something isn't right about what you're doing inside the PA9 program.

For reference I have my PA9 open on another computer as I write this. I opened a project which simply consists of a 2-track .wav file mix-down of a bigger project. I go to Tools>Mixdown Audio> and Export to Files is availalable. If I click that, I then proceed to choose the option of exporting the recording as an MP3.

Do you have MIDI tracks still in a project when you try to export? Have you really mixed everything down to a 2-track master? Because you can't export all the tracks of the project as a single MP3 file-you wouldn't want that of course, you want the 2 track mix.

So, if this is the case, and your MIDI tracks are still there with the MIDI data--be sure you are only selecting the .wav file--the 2 track mix.

I'd go on, but I'm suspecting something like what I'm describing above is where you're going on.

Lemme know--Here on the Forum is good, because the info may be useful to someone else in the future.

Randy
rbowser

Hello again--A few minutes ago I sent you another direct email, but am here also to say this process has become 100 times more complex than it needs to be.

I want you to start over with importing the MIDI files, playing them on whatever synths you're using so that you have normal .wav audio files. Then mix them to a 2-track master. When you have that, then the MP3 export will be available.

Randy
rbowser

OH MAN! Clyde---You got it. I have been thinking Scarlett had her MIDI files as audio because of using synths. You're right.

BUT--the rest, I'm afraid is wrong. Scarlett is using Pro Audio 9. That's the last sequencer Cakewalk made before going Sonar--and PA9 cannot use VST. Not even with the adaptor. Trust me, I know that For Sure. I'm a PA9 user and upgraded, finally, to a Sonar program because of that lack.

The MP3 situation is different with PA9 also--It has a great built in MP3 burner. It's the main reason I keep my PA9 on my computer still.

Scarlett, there are other ways rather than using soft-synths, which unfortunately aren't available for PA9. Do you have any hardware synths, or some available to you? You'll have to have some kind of synth for playing and recording those MIDI files--NOT the standard MIDI synth on your computer's sound card.

THis will produce the .wav files you need for mixing, exporting etc.

THANK YOU CLyde for picking up on something I totally over-looked and made assumptions about.

Randy
rbowser

footnote--I sent more info to Scarlett in an email. She Can use the computer's sound card for a sound source in PA9 and bounce these MIDI tracks from within the sequencer that way---but as I told her, I know we all shudder to think what that could end up sounding like. Better than this thing of using the media player though!

Scarlett has a keyboard--I've encouraged her to drive it with the MIDI files from PA9, the keyboard's outs going into audio tracks to do a recording that way. PA9 has the built in MP3 burner--I hope she does that. Just an evening or so of work and they'd have much better tracks.

Randy
rbowser

hehe--the drama continues. Scarlett and I are also communicating through email--I just now told her--GREat--she has a faboo sound card, so forget the disparaging remarks. It's also already set up in PA9. Great. She's trying to go straight to exporting without bouncing first to audio tracks. I just talked her through what to do in an email.

This is like a soap opera, ain't it folks?

Stay tuned to see how it all turns out!

Randy
rbowser

ORIGINAL: scarlettmoon

Ok...did what I think is right...highlight the tracks

It's been a long time since I've used PA9 but when you say "highlight the tracks" do you mean:

a) I clicked on the clips in the track view.

or

b) I clicked on the actual track numbers on the left-hand side of the Track View.

UPDATE!

I hung in there last night, having an email conference with Scarlett, trying to lick this problem she reported here. But we were running around in circles, because I was simply too rusty on the details about using Pro Audio 9.

I'm posting this here for the sake of other Pro Audio users who may find this in a topic search.

It's been over a year since I last recorded in PA9--how soon we forget. I already knew the program is pre-VST, and so unable to use even the Cakewalk VSTS adaptor. That's the main reason I finally upgraded to Sonar software.

Back when I Was using that program, only rarely had I recorded any tracks using my old computer's sound card. In an emergency when I needed one or two more sounds available, I'd use it.

Scarlett is basically just trying to get some audio tracks out of her imported MIDI tracks, using her sound cards synth since she says it sounds pretty good.

I kept trying to have her Bounce the tracks--WRONG.---That's what I mean about "how soon we forget."---I kept thinking of all the bouncing I'm accustomed to doing now in Sonar--But in recording a sound card synth in PA9, one has to simply solo the MIDI tracks and record IN REAL TIME on to a new audio track. DUH ME--I was totally stuck in the wrong hole as I tried to help Scarlett last night.

After recording some audio tracks from those MIDI tracks, her next step is to simply export them as MP3 files. PA9 has a great MP3 burner built in to it, and that part is super simple. She'll have what she needs in no time.

End of the Scarlett Soap Opera. Now, for a commercial break.

Randy
rbowser