Community Tip: Combining the Gentle Lifter and Sustainer Compressors
 

Anderton
this is the polar opposite of Week 69’s “Lifter” compressor
And in keeping with the stompbox spirit, this has a single control

I combined the two together and it is one the the sweetest guitar compressors I've ever come across.
 

 
Thanks for yet another great tip, Craig!
 
 

Community Tip: Humanizing Drum Sounds
 
I've made a little video tutorial on how to make SI Drums sound more human-like, and also, get rid of the dreaded "machine gun" effect. This also works in Music Creator 7 and with Session Drummer 3.
 

Community Tip: Human Beat Box from Vocals
 

Demo: Hear How Upsampling Improves Synth Sound Quality
 
Synthesizer sounds with lots of harmonics that are generated "in the box" can benefit from recording at a higher sample rate or oversampling. This audio example shows how SONAR's "Upsampling" function provides the benefits of higher sample rates at projects with lower sample rates, resulting in better high-frequency response and minimized foldover distortion. 
 
The first synth figure sounds terrible - it's "undersampled" at 1/2 the project sample rate. The next one has the same sample rate as the project, while the next figure using the Z3TA+ 2's "2x oversampling" option. This provides the same result as recording at an 88.2 kHz sample rate without using oversampling.
 
The next example enables SONAR's "upsampling" function which doubles the synth's sample rate once again, providing the equivalent of 4x oversampling at the 44.1 kHz project sample rate. Note how it sounds very different, and a lot cleaner, than the previous examples.
 
Finally for comparison, the last example is the sound of recording the Z3TZ+ 2 at 88.2 kHz with 2x oversampling. Note that it's the same sound as recording at 44.1 kHz with 2x oversampling and SONAR's upsampling.
 
Now, be aware this kind of dramatic difference occurs only with synthesizers whose sounds are generated "in the box," and which generate lots of harmonics. However as you can hear, the improvement is substantial in terms of hearing what the patch is really supposed to sound like.
 

 
Q&A
 
MPH: Is there a global option in Sonar to enable upsampling for recording/playback?
 
CA: Yes, the 2X button in the Control Bar will enable upsampling with all plug-ins that have upsamping enabled.
 
MPH: Will the upsampling have a similar effect on amp sims, effects?
 
CA: It depends. Most amp sims oversample already, but I've noticed some other things...like TH2's amps sound the same, but the reverb image is "tighter" when upsampled. Some effects, particularly limiters and any effects with super-fast rise times, may benefit as well.
 
PeteL: Do the upsampling benefits pertain to sampled VSTi's? I'm assuming that by "in the box" you mean algorithmic sound generation, therefore excluding such sample playback instruments as Vienna Symphonic or Kontakt sample libraries.
 
CA: Correct. With sampled instruments, the audio has already been band-limited, so the audio will not generate high enough frequencies to interact with the clock. The dramatic effects occur with algorithmic sound generation or processing. However...I'm still finding out the fine points of upsampling, so there may be other aspects that need to be taken into account. The one thing I would avoid is upsampling all plug-ins, because it takes longer to render. Only upsample the ones that need it.

Community Tip: Vocal FX Chain
 
Excellent tip, as always, Craig, thanks! I've made a Vocal FX chain based on this tip and would like to share it with the community.
http://www.files.com/shared/578a76d3b6eea/SWVocals.zip
Note: 1/4 to 1/2 delay switch may not work as intended, due to Sonitus Delay not responding to changes in the Factor field from FX chain unless there's a mouse click in the plugin itself. Will report it to devs, maybe it can be fixed.

Community Tip: Two Tape Sim FX Chains
 
Good to see it can be useful. I've also made two tape-sim FX chains and it would be nice to get some feedback on them.
http://www.files.com/shared/578aa32696485/TapeSim.zip
Feel free to edit and update these to your liking.

Community Tip: Deciphering New Project Options 
 
The following is a post that robert_e_bone made in a thread, and I thought it was too useful to merit getting lost when it disappeared off the front page. His post explains what happens with audio when you choose one of the five different ways of creating a new project. Take it away, Robert...
 
I just created 5 new projects, with the first using New From Template, the 2nd using New Project, the 3rd using File > New, the 4th using ALT+F then N, and the 5th using CTRL+N, to see what each option did with audio.
 
1) Start Screen 'New Project' option - The project created from the Start Screen's 'New Project' option does NOT default to use Per Project Audio, and saves audio to C:\Cakewalk Projects\Audio. Doing a Save As presents the audio path for MANUAL modification, but any audio created prior to modifying that goes to the path listed above.  If you want to use Per Project Audio - I would not use this option.
 
2) File > New option - Creating a project using File > New behaves differently, and DOES present the path for the Audio to be stored in an Audio sub-folder - as the new default for Sonar has Per Project Audio turned on. The path for the Audio sub-folder is populated automatically to create a folder called Audio within the project folder, so as you type the name of the project, the path for the Audio sub-folder is modified to include whatever you are naming the project as the parent folder for the Audio sub-folder (because Per Project Audio is on by default).  This option is fine for creating projects with Per Project Audio automatically on.
 
3) Start Screen 'New From Template option - Creating a new project by choosing 'New From Template' on the Start Screen, ALSO presents the path for creating an Audio sub-folder within the project folder, and automatically adds the project folder name to the path to the Audio sub-folder (just like File > New does). This option is fine for creating projects with Per Project Audio automatically on.
 
4) ALT+F then N works the same way that File > New works, resulting in an Audio sub-folder within the project folder, and the path is automatically populated as you type in the project name.  This option is fine for creating projects with Per Project Audio automatically on.
 
5) CTRL+N option - this does NOT work like File > New. You will NOT have an Audio sub-folder created.  It will default to the global Cakewalk Projects\Audio folder, though you can change that path during Save As. Audio clips created prior to a path modification to its default will indeed be stored in the global Cakewalk Projects\Audio folder. If you want Per Project Audio is desired, I would not suggest using this option.
 
For whatever it's worth, I ALWAYS start new projects using the Start Screen 'New From Template' option, and I always end up with an automatically created Audio sub-folder, within the main project folder, and all of my audio clips properly stored within the Audio sub-folder, as a result of the default Per Project Audio option in Platinum.

Community Tip: Using the Transpose function with Diatonic math checked.
 

 

Hey, a heads-up to all you "Friday's Tip of the Week" insiders. The number of tips has gotten unwieldy, and some of them are kinda old at this point (and age has even rendered some of them inaccurate). I've been trying to figure out a solution, so here it is.
 
I'm currently working on consolidating/compiling the tips, updating them, adding screen shots, including some more tips, organizing them by categories, and basically, converting them from a bunch of forum posts into a book. Once that's available (which may be a while...depends on workload), I'm going to hit reset and start over with a new "Friday's Tip of the Week" thread. I dunno, maybe I'll call it "The Friday's Tip of the Week Strikes Back" (kidding). Until the book is done, I'll keep adding to this thread.
 
I must say that I deeply appreciate the support y'all have given this endeavor, and there are plenty more tips that need to be written so this is not going to go away unless there are circumstances beyond my control (e.g., earth being destroyed by aliens, a pack of wild dogs eating my computer, etc.).
 
I also want to give a BIG shoutout to all the people who have contributed comments, additional tips, etc. Although there are too many to mention, I'd particularly like to thank Soundwise for her ongoing contributions...but every one of your comments and suggestions has added to the value of this thread. This truly is a very special community of people, which is what provides the incentive and desire to continue writing these tips for you.

Week 122: Clean Up Your Console View
 
I've seen quite a few requests for the ability to have Track Folders in the Console View. I've thought about this, and realized it's not so much Track Folders I want; it's the ability to make tracks go away that I don't want to see, quickly and easily, make them re-appear equally easily, and not have to jump through hoops to edit them. You can do that with Folder Tracks in Track View, but you can't do the same thing in Console view...or can you?
 
For example, once an instrument's MIDI track is done (I use synth Track Folders with separate audio and MIDI tracks), the attention shifts to the audio track when you're mixing - so you don't want to see the MIDI track. Or consider a multiband distortion setup, where the different bands are in a Folder Track. If there are five bands, that's five channels in your Console view that you probably don't want to see after the initial mix setup. Granted you can hide tracks, but then if you want to dip in and do some quick editing, you need to open the Track Manager, find your tracks, unhide, click OK, etc. Besides, at that point you probably want to be dealing with the Track View, not the Console View or the Track Manager.
 
So, this is tip is about quick, temporary track hiding in the Console View - and when you want to do some editing, or get the tracks back, you'll be right where you want to be. Before you start, though, type H to bring up the Track Manager. Make sure "Keep Track/Console Visibility States in Sync" is checked. 
 
Here's part of the Console View. The Strings, Bass, and guitar Chord Library instrument tracks all have MIDI tracks next to them that we really don't need - we're mixing audio, right?
 
 

Next, note how the instrument tracks are handled in track view: the Folder Track is opened up just enough to see the fields under Audio, MIDI, Synths, and Hidden.
 

 
Click on the MIDI fields, and you can show/hide the MIDI tracks in the Console. Here's what happens from hiding the MIDI tracks...better, eh?
 

 
What's more, this can also hide tracks in a Folder Track - just click on the Audio field instead of MIDI. You won't see the Folder itself in the Console, because all the tracks will be hidden. But to make them reappear, in Track View just click on the Track Folder's Hidden field, and they'll re-appear.
 
But here's the best part in terms of workflow. Suppose you do want to do some quick MIDI edits. Go to the Track View, click on the MIDI field for your instrument, unfold the Track folder if needed, and there's your track - ready for editing. No messing with the Track Manager, and no need to mess with dialog boxes - when you're done editing, click on the MIDI field again, return to the Console view (using the cognoscenti "D" keyboard shortcut), and you're back to the cleaned up Console view.
 
I've now gotten to the point where I leave the Folder Tracks slightly open as shown. Between being able to click on the fields and alternate between Console and Track views with the D key, I can move really fast when I want to see - or not see - some, or all, of the tracks in a Folder Track when using the Console View.