I would like to say thanks to certain people who answered a set of questions I had in a previous thread. I am new to Music Creator 6, and although I frequently consult the necessary documentation to find answers to my questions, sometimes the documentation simply doesn't provide the kinds of answers I need.
 
It's been a month or so since I started using the software. Here is my follow-up list of new questions. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
1) I cannot move the Cakewalk Projects folder from root. If I do, it recreates itself and asks me to create an Audio file on load. Can I force Cakewalk into organizing my projects in a more clean and efficient manner?
 
2) General MIDI playback is a half beat delay compared to Synth playback. Is this normal?
 
3) Is there any way to force the PRV Grid Resolution to 1/8th view (let alone 1/4th)?
 
4) MC6 will export to MP3, but the file doesn't play because nothing happens in Windows Media Player. EDIT: A few weeks later, when I tried this, I encounterd a message saying that "the 30-day MP3 Activator trial has ended". Are you kidding? I have to purchase this separately now?
 
5) How can I achieve a heavier bass from my Drum Kits (rather than increasing velocity or layering the bass drum?)
 
6) MC6 confuses me with several different methods of doing the same thing. For example:
........Changing volume: Track volume change vs. synth instrument volume change...same result?
........Do I need the Inspector window to perform similar tasks elsewhere in the interface?
........Adding controller effects: Track Automation lanes vs. Controller lanes...is there a difference?
 
7) What's the point of adding FX to a track's FX window? Is this just a different selection of special effects (vs. the Controllers?)
 
8) I've noticed some complications with simple tasks such as copying note events from one measure to the next. Is there a precise way of copying and pasting that works the best?
 
8) Imported MIDI files show the text in the Notes view right beside the actual notes. How can I delete that? (Specifically, when I hover over that, the cursor changes to an I-Beam but doesn't seem to offer text editing of any method.
 
9) When I save a Cakewalk project as MIDI, all synth tracks convert to different instruments (non-synth?). Can I save a Cakewalk project as MIDI or is the only available raw format Cakewalk format? And what is Cakewalk Bundle format?
 
10) Am I correct in understanding that every SoundCenter track needs its own synth instance, and every TTS-1 track can use one TTS-1 instance? How do I route several TTS-1 tracks to that synth while still addressing different channel numbers?
 
11) I still haven't figured out how to split the automation lanes from the Tracks in the Browser... (+/- buttons?)
 
12) What would you say is a SoundCenter equivalent of General MIDI patch "Lead 7: Fifths"? I really love this instrument!
 
13) What exactly is the Master Bus and what is it for?
 

I'll try to answer some of these, but the answers will be based on earlier MC versions.
 
1. Yes, but not recommended.
 
2. Maybe, if you're using the stock sound card and the Microsoft GS Wavetable synthesizer.
 
3. In MC Pro 24 and SONAR 6, there is a tool above the PRV to change the grid resolution, "Show/Hide Grid" with a dropdown arrow to select the resolution.
 
4. Cakewalk pays a fee to Steinberg to use the mp3 encoder. They recoup that extra cost by the users paying for it. But you don't have to use it; there are tons of free mp3 encoders available. You may already have one on your computer.
 
7. You may want an effect on just that one track, say a particular reverb, or EQ for an instrument that's clashing with another track.
 
8 (1). What specific complications?
 
8 (2). What text?
 
9. A MIDI file can contain only MIDI information. Since soft synths are not in that MIDI data, the patches revert to the original patch, I think.
A Bundle file contains all of the project; MIDI, audio, synths, etc. and are huge. Good for sharing your work with someone else who also uses Cakewalk software, or saving the entire project in your archives.
 
10. You can send 1 MIDI track to 1 instance of SC. TTS-1 can handle up to 16 MIDI tracks. For TTS-1, use different channels for each track.
 
13. Any bus can recieve audio from many different audio tracks. A Master bus should be used to recieve all the audio data in a project to sum the audio in one place. This will be you Master track, for exporting, saving, or burning to CD.
 
 

Lots of questions...here goes....
 
1. Don't move the folder. Simply create a new personalized folder elsewhere. I then move the song project folders out of the cake folder to my storage folders. Much simpler and easy to keep organized.
 
2. Check settings, and soundcard. if it's a factory card and the default MME driver....I recommend upgrading to a dedicated USB musical interface running ASIO.
 
3. Yes, I'm sure, but I don't work in PRV so I don't know what to tell you.
 
4. I suggest getting either the Audacity/LAME or the WAVEPAD mp3 player converter. Both are free.
 
5. EQ and compression. I use Ozone as a plug since it does this very well.
 
6. All paths generally lead to the same place. Yes, there is more than one way to do something. My recommendation...... find one way to do this every time. It will lessen the confusion and give you more consistency in your results.
 
7. FX in a track window effect only that track. Use them in a bus to effect everything in the bus. Put them in the MASTER to effect the entire project.
 
8a. In STAFF view.... you can click on the note using the RIGHT click. A note property window opens and there are many options there for copy and paste with surgical precision. In the general staff or PRV, the notes will paste in to the new position based on the grid setting and resolution. It might not be as precise as you want.
 
8b. ? I don't know.
 
9. I don't work in 100% midi files.... and the projects I do have midi in tend to save the synths and patches and samples just fine.   A bundle file is all of the information, the audio, the midi, the settings, in a bundled format. I have used this to send a project across the net as one HUGE file. I do it differently now.
 
10. Yes.... CSC is one instance per midi input.  TTS, on the other hand, will allow 16 unique midi tracks send to that one instance of TTS, using one midi track per TTS channel. On my web site, I have a page with the exact information required to set up TTS in this manner, using 3 midi tracks as an example. It's here> http://www.herbhartley.com/hh2_edited_slimmer_005.htm  if you have questions, just ask.
 
11. IDK
 
12. IDK  I don't use GM anymore.... CSC sounds much better so experiment and see what you like.
 
13. The Master is where everything ends up before going to the sound card/ interface and the speakers. I place the "mastering FX" into this bus's FX bin. Final compression, EQ, reverb, etc go here. (In my system anyway)
Tracks can be sent direct to the master or they can go to a sub-bus, in which case the sub-bus goes to the master...all by default.
 
You can place the FX in any of the bins. Either the track, the bus, or the master. I keep the master bin exclusively for FX that I want to effect the entire project.... light compression, light reverb, EQ settings. Mastering stuff only.
 
In the tracks, I try to keep the FX bins open and dry... nothing in them especially if they are going to a bus. The ones headed to the busses are empty and the FX is found in the bus FX bin. Especially vocals. Until the vox are pitch corrected and bounced, they remain 100% empty.
 
FX will be placed where they are most efficient. There is no difference (to my ears) whether the reverb is in the track or the bus. But if I only want the reverb on the voice and the guitar, and everything else dry, the reverb will end up in the track bin. If I have 3 guitars and I want them all to have a similar reverb, the reverb goes in the guitar sub-bus bin. In this case the tracks are dry. This kind of goes back to #6 in that there are many ways to do it, just find the way that works best for you so you can do it that way every time.
 
I hope this helps.

Thanks for the detailed info. Between the two of you, I've gained more understanding of this product. Altogether, I am well aware that this is MUCH more involved than Digital Orchestrator (which I used in the late 90's) and after the past two months I still have lots of studying to do.
 
The resources I have available are:
---- The retail manual (limited)
---- Cakewalk Documentation site (overwhelming, but extensive and very useful)
---- Sonar University videos (somewhat limited but useful)
---- Cakewalk MC6 forums
(The hyperlinks to this list were removed when I posted...don't know why)
 
I guess the point is, with some of these tasks being so complicated, I worry that I may never figure some of them out...especially some of the tasks I was able to perform at a certain point but suddenly forgot.  I will continue to study the resources I have and come back with any further noobie questions.
 
(It would really be nice to have like a personal or video tutor for this kind of thing! LOL)  Thanks for your expertise and for being patient with me! :)

You can look on youtube since many folks make and post videos there as tutorials on various topics related to MC6. Just a search for "music creator 6 tutorials" turned up a bunch of videos..... some by cake and some by other users.
 
Glad to be helpful.

Another operation stumped me...
 
How do I change the step value (is that what it's called?) or how many events consist of a controller? Like, to make it smoother? (i.e. more events that make up a pitch bend make it smoother?)

Are you talking about the envelope used for the event?  If so.... you can add curves, straight lines, and more nodes to the envelope.
 
If you have a control envelope that looks like a stair case from the side, you can delete the nodes in the middle and this should give you a gradual increase or decrease over that time. It can be straight-line linear, or curved.
 
I use these ones below for volume and in the top track the drop is pretty quick whereas the rest are more gradual. Some principle can be applied to wheel events because it is an envelope too.
 
I draw the envelope d nodes manually so there are very few of them. Had I done an automation write event, each of the volume changes would be filled with dozens of nodes and they would not be as "surgical".
 

Okay -- that image right there, that's exactly what I want to accomplish! :) Now, how do I do that -- up in that image there -- the exact same way for a Notes filter? I would like to do it that same way for the desired controller on either of the desired Synths... (I won't be using audio tracks, just MIDI/notes)

That picture has audio envelopes controlling the volume (the yellow lines)
 
Insert the envelope into the track. I add nodes manually by clicking on the envelope....then drag the nodes right, left, up and down.
 
You can insert the nodes and envelope into the synth track which is audio. The midi works the same way but I always put them into audio tracks.
 
This is another example on how I use them to bring certain parts of instrument tracks in and out in the mix..... the pic is the piano fills in the song The Best Christmas on my music site. I added the envelope, then placed my nodes... 4 nodes to an event..... for a faded ending, as in the first pic, 2 nodes work. Don't grab the node however..... grab the line after the node and the volume will remain at the level set by the node. if you grab the node, you will only move that one node. play with it and you will see.
 

How do I increase the amount of steps in a draw-in controller event? The most I can have is 32 per measure (according to the Snap settings). If I don't have enough steps in a pitch bend, for example, it won't be smooth enough.

Why is copying and pasting a measure in PRV so tricky? Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. How does this work?

How do I create Take Lanes?


I sometimes notice that, while a song is playing, the Now bar in the PRV window is further along than the Now bar in the Track window. Why is this happening?