V2 General Tip Jar

Same rules as the other thread: short & sweet, and on-topic. The exception is that this time we're looking to compile all of those little tips & tricks that have been flying through here since the V2 release. The Groove Matrix may in fact require its own Tip Jar, but drop them here and we'll redirect, if necessary.

Please feel free to grab the ones already posted and drop them in the jar, but give the original poster any due credit. Rene jumped into the 3-Dimensional Tip Jar head first, and I'd encourage all of the Bakers to add their valuable one-shots here, even at the risk of the repetition elsewhere. I'll start off with a few:

The Undo history has 64 levels of undo enabled by default. This aligns with the .pdf maual, by diverts from the 16 level default explanation in the Help file. Each additional level uses some memory to store your Undos, so you might want to lower this setting for some headroom, or clear the contents in a final saved project archive. Also, delete your unused patterns in the Editor (before saving) to save some disk space. [Maximum is 128 levels of Undo.]

The maximum range limits of Tempo in P5 have quietly been expanded from 8 to 1000 BPM. Use this with the new standalone Tempo track for some great tempo-based changes or special effects. Set the range from 8-200 BPM to 8-1000 BPM for ease of drawing. [Shift still rubber-bands straight lines.] The Tap tempo button on the interface can be bound to a MIDI message like your Sustain pedal or a note value via remote control. Double-click on the numerical readout to enter a number manually with hundredths-of-a-Beat per Minute accuracy.

The new Process menu is a great addition. Use the Process/Length command to extend or reduce your selected MIDI notes in a pattern by as high as 5000%, or as low as 1%. You can move just the Start times, the Durations, or both. Remember that you can select non-contiguous notes with Ctrl+click, so that you can extend just the notes that you want, for sustained, overlapping acoustic guitar picking, for example.

Keep in mind that most of the radio dials in Project5 [including the Process and MIDI FX, and the main GUI 'header'] allow you to sweep values with the mouse, click in increments of one with a left-click, and jump in increments of 10 with a right-click.

The Pan and Width track controls are now combined in V2. Pan as usual. but Ctrl+click to access the Width controls.

No sense in hunting around for your meticulously saved Track Patches from the 1.5 version. Go to Windows Explorer, and copy all of your track patches and custom sub-folder in the Cakewalk\Project5\Patches folder. Create a New Folder in the Cakewalk\Project5 Version 2\Device Chains folder, next to the other sub-folders there. Drop a copy of that data into that New Folder, and rename it something like Track Patches 1.5. The next time that you launch, your older saved files with be available alongside of the new offerings.

There are some new shortcut keys to learn, and some of the functions have multiple access via shortcuts. You can now toggle through the Tools in the Editor with the old "T" command, or zero in on a specific tool with Ctrl+Shift+N (for note), or +S (for Select), or +A (for automation). Ctrl+F is a handy new one for Freeze, and the Step sizes have been expanded with Ctrl+Shift+T for a triplet. Fortunately, you can still "jam" with the arrow keys. Select some notes, loop a pattern, and go wild with the arrow keys (both vertically & horizontally). Record the results in Sound Forge (or similar), and import the resulting .wav back into P5 for further manipulation.

Customize your workspace with the Save as Template command. Open up a New file, and carefully re-arrange all of the layout to reflect your personal preferences. You might want to load a specific synth as a starting point, or float the Editor, or have the Groove matix in place. Check for silly mistakes (like the default tempo, or the Now Time out of place), then go ahead and overwrite your template. Hey, if you screw up, an automatic replacement will be generated upon manual deletion [verified in 1.5 only, so far], so what do you have to lose? [Hey, the old Layouts are gone, unless ...]

Next ....?

I'm not sure if the comma key is used for any keyboard shortcuts yet, but I can only guess that Cakewalk is saving it for something really special in Version 3!

Okay, my lack of humor aside, here is an easy tip related to precisely patching in effects in the Track Inspector. As we all know, patching effects in v1 was a little unpredictable at times, but now it is really easy to do in v2.

The first time that you add in an effect using the Add FX button, the effect will be patched in to the Device Chain flow as diagrammed in the Track Inspector. You can continue adding effects in this manner, then click and drag their names to re-order them if desired.

Or, if you position your mouse exactly where you want to patch in an effect (e.g. between two previously-added effects), you will see an Insert | Audio Effect context menu that lets you place the new effect precisely where you want it to go without you having to reorder the effects afterwards.

Both approaches are big improvements over the old way of accomplishing this, from my point of view.

since we've learned that audio recording against a track loop will auto-generate new audio clips, it's very useful method for audio

but what about us midi workers
left in the dust???

not quite
midi recording against that same delimited track loop will overwrite on the same midi pattern -- it even makes an effort to display that that's what it's doing
but that can also be very useful
ex. A drum lines
-- go through on each pass and add kick, snare, hats, etc -- since they're on different note values they don't overwrite each other -- you get to audition what's already there as you layer (and clean up parts between)

OR
ex. synth lines and drums lines
just make a new track layer and arm that layer for recording
makes it very easy to play out a comp or countermelody using the same synth -- then move it to a more approriate track synth as thing sprogress
it's not as auto generating a new track as audio, but midi means manual

ok enough tips
we don't need everyone to know how cool this v2 is the 1st week

ORIGINAL: b rock

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When you load in a Device Chain (or track patch), then later decide to replace the type of synth in the setup, the original Device Chain name persists through the replacement. A quick fix is to double-click on the track name, then hit Backspace and Enter. The name of the replacement synth will pop up.......

cool i have been typing them in thanks for the tip.

Nice one, Billy. Now that's what I'm talking about. Say, does anyone know who wrote the V2 Theme Song? Not the one from the trailer; the long-ish intro song on the installation disk. Let me guess: no one let it play long enough before they clicked Install Program [that is, if you could hit that moving Flash target]. Beautiful song, as it turns out. Sounds like Tomita doing a new Lord of the Rings episode. [Rene?]

The Sonar Plugin Manager has finally come to the P5 masses. It's on the installation DVD, but it's still Version 1.0. I already had it, so I can't tell if it was automatically installed with the upgrade or not [probably not]. Keep this in mind for later, whenever you have some stubborn plugin entries that won't go away.

The DS864's Banks have gotten re-organized. The Dream Experience offering have been redistributed among the other sub-folders, like AMB, SYN, and KBD. There's a BASS folder now, and I see some new drums and the Orchestral stuff (that was once default) seemed to have remained on the DVD. You may have to do a manual install again. I can't be too sure of this, because all of the Banks get installed to the Shared DXi/DS864 folder that both 1.5 and 2.0 use. There are some redundant entries in my setup, partially because I re-organized the programs myself, and they weren't overwritten. [I wonder if they fixed the dead notes in the Flute.dp8? <g>]

The package didn't include the Keybord Shortcuts hard-copy like 1.0/1.5 did. If you didn't throw it away after unpacking, that was a great resource at your fingertips. Shortcut use is invaluable; once your hands leave one KB or the other, you're interrupting your workflow. It might be useful to print out the shortcuts [there are many changes and new additions] from the Help/Keyboard Shortcuts menu for desktop reference, until you get rolling.

In project5.ini, you can change the MIDI override behavior by changing
XOmniFollowsActiveTrack=0
to = 1

Then P5 will auto-echo that track.

ORIGINAL: Billy Buck

ORIGINAL: ba_midi
In project5.ini, you can change the MIDI override behavior by changing
XOmniFollowsActiveTrack=0
to = 1

Then P5 will auto-echo that track.

Nice one ba_midi, we have not even starting to scratch the surface of the .ini file. If it's anything like SONAR 4, you can do a lot of customizing, of P5, from the .ini

This is a setting I use all the time.

Hello Tom :) I'm always around, not always posting though ;)

Actually there are options that can only be set in the INI files as well. That XOmni setting is an example. That can't be set from within the program (yet).

Having looked through the ini file, I already stumbled on the one you posted below. And have used it already :)

And, as others have said - you're amazing with the amount of knowledge sharing you do, Tom. I have the utmost respect for you because of your generosity in that way!

ORIGINAL: b rock

Agreed. The fact that we even have an .ini file now in Project5 signals another round of experimentation and tutorials. Nice tip, Billy (Arnell). Where ya' been? Don't be a stranger ...

The Project5.ini file stores many of the options that you can easily set from withing the program itself, so those really don't need to be customized within this file. There are a lot of carry-overs from Sonar, which makes sense considering the new audio features. Some of those might need to be tweaked; we'll see how that plays out. The limitations set for the audio picture cache were increased to great effect in Sonar, and we may have to flush out those waveform drawings manually after a while.

There's some strange ones in there that are specific to Project5, and those are what piques my interest. And it's nice to know that some of the 'slimming' that's been going on in 'hidden' places has popped up here, where we can detail some less-risky procedures. I'm going to save a complete explanation for later, after the dust settles, but I'll leave you with a single mystery tip with an obvious solution:

***

The first two lines of the Project5.ini file are as follows:

NumSynthControls=8
NumFxControls=4

How many do you want? <g>

***

ORIGINAL: b rock

Screw it; I can't go to sleep. Now I'm too tired to drop off, so here's another one-shot that might not be so obvious:

***

When you're working with just a few tracks, the Track Pane remains uneffected by this procedure. But once you overrun the Track Pane vertically, either by togging in the Automation Lanes [Ctrl+T], or loading it up with some tracks, the scroll wheel [middle mouse] will now shift all of your tracks upward and downward, for easy selection & visibility.

The same goes for the Four Aux busses, the Master and the new dedicated Tempo track. It won't collapse them in the irritating way that Sonar did; the action just scrolls through the selections at their current size. Ctrl+T also acts as a 'track targeter'; opening up some white space temporarily in a crowded mix, and allowing you to focus on the details.

***

ANother ini variable we could use:

Sleep=Tylenol PM

ORIGINAL: lkingston

Processing multiple outputs independantly:

When you add a virtual instrument, there's the window that opens up on the left side of the screen with the MFX effects, virtual instrument, aux sends etc. One of the parameters on the virtual instrument is "active output". When you select a different "active output" all the settings below it change too, reflecting how that output is processed. It's not immediately obvious because the default settings are the same, but lets say you select active output 2, add an EQ and change an aux send level, then go back to active output 1, you can see that you indeed have separate processing options on each of the available active outputs.

THere is also a "spinner" on the track header as well, for a multi-out plugin. And, that area on the left is called the Track Inspector, btw.
You can also right click on the spinner to bring up options.

In project5.ini, you can change the MIDI override behavior by changing XOmniFollowsActiveTrack=0 to = 1 Then P5 will auto-echo that track.

I'd like to expand on Billy's tip here, and give a practical application of its usage. I used to do this with a Registry hack, and this one was even published by Jesse Jost at Project5.com. But now, it's even easier (and safer) to toggle this setting in the project5.ini file.

If the MIDI Override follows your active track, like it does with this .ini hack, then you can use the Qwerty arrow keys [Up & Down] to send all of the incoming MIDI data through the Override, and channel the data to different tracks on-the-fly.

If you arm several tracks for recording, each with a different synth, you can record several different patterns at once; each in it's own track or lane. A new unique pattern will pop up in each track/lane navigated to with the arrow keys, and even the Track numbers/layer numbers will "flash' to indicate the switch. This allows you to record several different synthesizer types on their own track and in their own pattern; all in one pass. Multi-tasking at its finest.

General tip #4058:

Device Chains not only hold a specific synth, mfx chain and fx chain, but they also include remote control assignments.

You can open up your favorite synth and effects (Dimension, MicroTonic, and AliasFactor are mine these days), remote control your favorite parameters for those synths (like AliasFactor's bit decimation parameter!) and then save it as a device chain. Then every time you insert that device chain into your project you automagically get remote control assignements set up for you. Quite fun.

[edit - this was way OT, so I started a new thread instead]

You can use the Arpeggiator to frequency-modulate any patch in any synth, and open up a new palette of sound colors by changing that patch's timbre. The Arp provides so many new exploration paths that I'm going to write up a complete tutoriial on just the less-obvious ones, but I couldn't resist putting out this teaser:
Open up any synth and patch, but you can start with something simple like the default Rhodes.dp8 patch in the DS864. Enable the Arp, set the Range to 1 octave, and hit the Latch for continuous preview purposes. You can select any algorithm, but note that the Rhythms Only one is a bit 'brighter' than the others for this situation.

Now hit a note, and gradually dial in increased Rate settings. At lower settings, you'll get a repeated 'tremolo'-like single note, but as you pass the 32T setting, the timbre begins to change. At it's most extreme, the 128T setting really mangles the original sound, resembling ring-modulation. This is wild enough alone, but there's more.

Since the Rate control is tied to tempo, you can modulate the 'distortion' by using a Tempo Track curve. Leave the setting at 128T, create a one bar loop in the Arrangement Pane, and set the Snap to Grid at a 16th Note. Draw in some 'quantized' tempo curves, taking care to not go too slow [<50 BPM; +/-], and take advantage of the upper 1000 BPM limit. Now playback the one-bar loop, and hit one note [still Latched in the Arp]. Wild sequencer-like pitch and timbre changes that are anything but ordinary, and an infinite amount of sounds, depending on the synth and patch that's input. And you did it with just an arpeggiator and a tempo change.

OK ok I'm not new but this tip I just found out, please dont tell me it was in 1.5 all along!!!....:-

Duplicate Patterns in tracker

Everyone knows f you hold down the Ctrl key while you drag the center of a pattern, Project5 pastes a separate copy of the pattern at
the location where you release the mouse but...

To make truly independent copies, hold both the Ctrl and
Alt keys down while you drag-copy the pattern.