CAKEWALK BY BANDLAB - FREE TO EVERYONE

[azslow3]

Not sure why someone compare GM capable, lightweight, unlocked TTS-1 with middle-heavy, not GM, PACE locked Xpand.
Sure Xpand sounds better (even Cakewalk Studio Instruments sounds better), but it can not play MIDI files out of the box and as with other separate synths, at least some "mixing" required for MIDI file plays half way as expected...

I know only 3 GM plug-ins: TTS-1, Roland Canvas and Yamaha.
Canvas is not cheap and there was many reports it is buggy.
Yamaha is "gray", I mean usable version is hacked demo of never released product.
So TTS-1 from what I know is the only legal, not soundfont based and free GM plug-in.
In almost all cases I have found it sounds better then soundfont/SB when playing arbitrary MIDI files without "extra tweaking".

I am sure TTS-1 and other Cakewalk plug-ins can work without Sonar/CbB installed. But Sonar traditionally installs as a bundle. So uninstallation can remove some files/settings required for particular plug-ins. A wish to have completely separate plug-in installer exists since years and it is more actual now, CbB does not have 3d party plug-ins previous Sonars had (also happened before with Sonar versions, but just with several particular plug-ins).

Sonar/CbB is not big... in comparison to all that Windows crap which is never used but updated and hard to avoid. So, what the problem to leave it on the disk?
Also if you ever have a need to work with loops or quick fix a MIDI file, that can be the simplest way to do this.

[Goldreap]

^^^^
Thanks azslow3, good points.

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by europa_man

SONAR relaunches as ‘Cakewalk by BandLab’:
Iconic DAW now free to download for everyone!

Thanks for the heads up, Installed on secondary Win10 PC to check it out, not sure I'll use it, can't see learning another DAW, and Reaper does all I could need, I think.

I kind of like the SonitusFXWahwah FX, so I copied its 3 files over to my main Win7 PC, registered the DLL, fired up Reaper and there it is, and it works! At least I got a plugin out of it!

[Sound asleep]

I don't imagine this is possible, but is there any way to use their plugins with reaper?

I'm specifically interested in using the "drum replacer" plugin.

Also, if anyone knows of other similar plugins I could use for converting audio beats to midi data, I'd like to check that out.

Ideally the software could pick out specific types of hits from one recording, not necessarily recognizing "hihat" or "snare" but recognizing groups of hits as being similar, like all the snares would group together because of their similarities. Also picking out velocity would be important, and if it can also identify pitch that would be sweet.

[JamesPeters]

Originally Posted by Sound asleep

Also, if anyone knows of other similar plugins I could use for converting audio beats to midi data, I'd like to check that out.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=188797

Originally Posted by Sound asleep

Ideally the software could pick out specific types of hits from one recording, not necessarily recognizing "hihat" or "snare" but recognizing groups of hits as being similar, like all the snares would group together because of their similarities. Also picking out velocity would be important, and if it can also identify pitch that would be sweet.

I just tried the above plugin on a live drum recording, a stereo mix of drums played in a room (with room sound, not just proximity mics). I was able to get the plugin to recognize the kicks perfectly and have the velocity match (when triggering a drum plugin's kick) but it took running ReaEQ before the plugin such that I could bandpass only a very narrow notch of low frequency information to the trigger (filtering out everything else). That worked very well.

Snare drum, it almost worked as well once I adjusted the bandpass filter to the right frequency (where the snare's frequency is most prominent). It got some false triggers from some snappy tom hits though. Also I lost some ghost notes. But the main snare part was all there.

For ride...I had so-so results at best. There was too much ambient sound from all the kit pieces. If I'd have worked on it longer (making a more complex filter before the JS plugin) I might've gotten the ride parts better. It might take more than just a bandpass filter of the right frequency to send to the trigger. (It might take a more complex filter to remove the frequencies I don't want to send to the trigger, using something else like ReaFIR for example.)

For very distinct drum hits that sound very different, the above method will work well. If there's a lot of room sound and/or frequency overlap between kit pieces (small tom sounds a lot like the snare etc.) and/or a lot of compression on the drum file you're triggering from then you're going to have false triggers and also you'll probably end up "gating" out some of the ghost notes (to avoid lots of false triggers).

I don't expect any software to do this perfectly especially considering the wide range of possible drum mixes someone might want to work with. If there is some software that does this really well, it's probably fairly complex in how it can isolate/"recognize" the specific kit pieces.

I think most software for this kind of thing is meant to replace or augment kit pieces based on what a single mic picks up, not a whole drum mix. The typical use would be a studio recording a drummer with separate mics on each kit piece, and each recorded audio file would be used to "trigger" MIDI with plugins like this.

[azslow3]

Originally Posted by Sound asleep

I don't imagine this is possible, but is there any way to use their plugins with reaper?

Old independent DX and VST - yes. Newer integrated - no.

I'm specifically interested in using the "drum replacer" plugin.

And this one is integrated...

Also, if anyone knows of other similar plugins I could use for converting audio beats to midi data, I'd like to check that out.

I do not use it myself, but check:
https://www.xlnaudio.com/addictivetrigger

[JamesPeters]

Originally Posted by azslow3

I do not use it myself, but check:
https://www.xlnaudio.com/addictivetrigger

Ah, there's the kind of thing I was imagining. Automatically using FFT to analyze what is the hit you want to trigger from, etc.

[pipelineaudio]

Addictive's trigger is amazing in concept, Id still love to see a few things for practical purposes, but it is an awesome proof of concept and does what it needs to extremely well. And its not just for triggering, this type of thinking could do worlds of wonder for many other functions

[pipelineaudio]

Goddamn it, saw the thing about the wah, now I have to download it

How much dangerous to low latency audio junk does this install onto your computer? Seems like it has a few resident things going on

[pipelineaudio]

How do you register the DLL so reaper sees the wah? I took the dll from shared plugins in cakewalk and stuck it in my regular VST plugins directory, but reaper can't see it

[LugNut]

Hi,
Maybe just point reaper to the shared plugs?

[pipelineaudio]

I have them in the same folder as my other plugs. I guess I could try adding the cakewalk folder to it and see

[ajawamnet]

I was a Cakewalk user since the DOS days - at one point I had thirteen registrations on their website portal.

Not so sure about this...


From their page: https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/c...etting-Started

"Any retail purchases of Cakewalk products were delivered to stores prior to Cakewalk joining the BandLab family. While we cannot offer help with redeeming SONAR, we do encourage you to use Cakewalk by BandLab. Third party content included in your original bundle can be redeemed via the original manufacturer, and can be used in Cakewalk by BandLab."

This is interesting:
Will this free version of Cakewalk by BandLab eventually cost money?


With the Give What You Want system, you can decide what you think Cakewalk by BandLab is worth to you. In addition, we may include some fun gifts for those users who pay a certain amount.

And again:
"Can I download old versions of Cakewalk products?


No.

With Cakewalk by BandLab, you’ll have a brand new version that can open projects from all previous versions saved as bundle files (.bun) or Cakewalk Project files (.cwp)."

Hmmm... Dunno.

And the Assistant thing which seems to be running as a service.

My spidy senses are starting to tingle a bit...

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

How do you register the DLL so reaper sees the wah?

This is what I did,

1. Copy "FxWahwahDX.ini", "SonitusFxWahwah.chm" and "SonitusFXWahwah.dll" to a new folder on destination PC.

2. Launch Windows cmd prompt (cmd.exe) as Admin and type, regsvr32 "<path>\FileName.dll", to register the dll, use path where you copied files to obviously.
Example, regsvr32 "E:\Plugins\Sonitus\SonitusFXWahwah.dll"

3. Start Reaper, plugin should be shown in New/DX folders in FX Browser, else check DX plugins is enabled, etc,.. Preferences > ReWire/DX > Enable DX Plugins.

BTW to remove/unreg the dll, I think you just add the /u flag to the command, regsvr32 /u "<path>\FileName.dll".

HTH.

[pipelineaudio]

So these wont be vst's but DX? I don't think that is going to work out well for realtime stuff

[ajawamnet]

One thing I noticed is that BandLab Assistant is 4 times bigger that Reaper's entire installer.

Methinks - Reapers code is a bit more optimised than most other DAW's.

I'm not real keen on having to log into somewhere just to install/use a program.

Not into Clown Computing too much either...

[Jeffsounds]

What the heck are you guys talking about????? I tried to install it and it makes me sign in online and use everything online. Is that what it's supposed to do or am I missing something????

What I saw was NOTHING like a DAW so I'm guessing I missed something somewhere...

EDIT: I followed the link in the first post and I don't see anywhere on that page to download anything.

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

So these wont be vst's but DX? I don't think that is going to work out well for realtime stuff

No clue, never even tried a DX plugin before.
FWIW, 'DX: Sonitus:fx Wahwah' PDC is 0, and CPU usage is 0.11% here on v5.78 / Win7_x64 / i7-3770.

[pipelineaudio]

When you run it in reaper its a DX right? Not a VST?

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

When you run it in reaper its a DX right? Not a VST?

It says DX,(was just playing with it), seems to act/work like any other VST plugin I've used, maybe just try it.

[nicholas]

Originally Posted by Edgemeal

It says DX,(was just playing with it), seems to act/work like any other VST plugin I've used, maybe just try it.

If I'm right, DX plug-ins won't support parameter automation envelopes.

[azslow3]

Originally Posted by nicholas

If I'm right, DX plug-ins won't support parameter automation envelopes.

Well... Reaper shows all its parameter in the automation dialog

DX is just another "container", for audio effects it is technically almost the same as VST (not so for DX MIDI FXes).

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by Jeffsounds

EDIT: I followed the link in the first post and I don't see anywhere on that page to download anything.

I have horrible memory so FWIW ....

Click link on that ^ page, u go to,
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

Where you see button/text,
Get Early Access Now. Windows 7 or higher (64-bit only)

Click it, that downloads "bandlab-assistant-windows-latest.exe"

Run that exe. IIRC... it asked for my cakewalk/bandlab's account info (email & pass), then I select offline install, came back later and see downloading finished but assistant still showing its working or some BS, I close assistant. I found 2 new exe's (in win10 public downloads folder or somewhere) cakewalk.exe and instruments.exe, I ran cakewalk.exe, it installed, works offline, no need to be online.

[ivansc]

I moved to Reaper from Sonar 2.5.8 & never regretted it.
I have however always kept Sonar on my studio machine & updated it to Pro a while back. I have found X Pro to be a lot more reliable than the earlier version 2.5.8 ever was & that WAS the most reliable version up to that point.
I still wont be switching back to Cakewalk, even though I currently have all my Cakewalk Sonar plugins integrated with and working in Reaper, but it IS nice to use Sonar occasionally for MID and of course working on old projecrts, which all work fine in this new version. Dont see the point in switching to it unless you have prior expertience with Sonar though. Sure, get it because it is free and you can raid it for some nice plugins, but otherwise it is beginning to look like relatively little further development effort (unless Noel Borwick & co have more leverage than I think they do) will be done. Mind you a few bug fixes would be nice....

[jiff 41]

Originally Posted by Jeffsounds

What the heck are you guys talking about????? I tried to install it and it makes me sign in online and use everything online. Is that what it's supposed to do or am I missing something????

What I saw was NOTHING like a DAW so I'm guessing I missed something somewhere...

EDIT: I followed the link in the first post and I don't see anywhere on that page to download anything.

Hi Jeff,
The download thing is hidden,,in my pic notice to select the 'APPS' tab in Assistant & then the DAW becomes visible & you can download it!.

[colonelporridge]

This is defintely worth getting for the Matrix view which is similar the Ableton session view. Also you can access a lot of the vsti vst and DX plugins in reaper if you add the cakewalk folder to the plugin path. The cakewalk drum kit is sample based and quite nice and works fine in reaper.

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by colonelporridge

The cakewalk drum kit is sample based and quite nice and works fine in reaper.

Thanks for posting that, I basically did a manual install and only ran cakewalk.exe, so just now ran the instruments.exe, I see drums and few other instruments added now! Free cake!

[Jeffsounds]

Originally Posted by Edgemeal

I have horrible memory so FWIW ....

Originally Posted by jiff 41

Hi Jeff,
The download thing is hidden,,in my pic notice to select the 'APPS' tab in Assistant & then the DAW becomes visible & you can download it!.

Thank you both! Looks like I have things going now. Waiting on the install.

Thanks again!

[BenK-msx]

So, Is this actually worth the hassle?

Any Side benefits like loading sonar projects or cool editing tools we don't have in reaper?
As a few ok plugs plus the faff of install don't seem to appeal, on the face of it.

'change my mind'

[DeathByGuitar]

I installed this last night after reading about the software instruments included and how they can be imported into Reaper. They're actually the Cakewalk Studio instruments bundle from way back when. They sound pretty lousy by 2018 standards so I promptly uninstalled Cakewalk and everything that came with it. It was worth a shot though.

[azslow3]

Originally Posted by DeathByGuitar

I installed this last night after reading about the software instruments included and how they can be imported into Reaper. They're actually the Cakewalk Studio instruments bundle from way back when. They sound pretty lousy by 2018 standards so I promptly uninstalled Cakewalk and everything that came with it. It was worth a shot though.

Then you can probably recommend not lousy by 2018 set of free lightweight instruments with simple interface

Obviously Meng is not going to give away all Cakewalk technologies for free. I guess even in case some of them will be included into future versions, they are going to be CbB locked.

[DeathByGuitar]

Originally Posted by azslow3

Then you can probably recommend not lousy by 2018 set of free lightweight instruments with simple interface

Obviously Meng is not going to give away all Cakewalk technologies for free. I guess even in case some of them will be included into future versions, they are going to be CbB locked.

PowerDrumkit and IK Sample Tank Free are both better, IMO. And free

[azslow3]

Originally Posted by DeathByGuitar

PowerDrumkit and IK Sample Tank Free are both better, IMO. And free

Concerning PowerDrumKit vs SI-Drummer I tend to agree. I have not intensively used any of them, the first has one kit and it is asking for donations and when I have got the second I have got SD3 at the same time (I guess not included in CbB version).

But even with ST SE/RP/DimPro, I usually put SI-Bass/SI-Strings before I start to search for alternative. Yes, I am just a noob

BTW I have not seen the list with included into CbB instruments. Since I have SPlat installed on all computers, I (and all other Sonar users...) can not compose that list.

[Edgemeal]

This is what I see in Reaper on PC where I installed free cake.



EDIT: Note CA-2A plugin is not included, I already had that plugin.

[Fergler]

So I've never used Sonar, so it is pretty foreign to me. I dig the aesthetics.. mostly.. Need to see if I can clear up this ridiculously cluttered transport.

But the real winner for me is...

BandLab for android. I've been looking for a good DAW for my phone that is clean, easy to use, and has good stock features before paid add-ons. This Bandlab software is many factors better than what I found through installing a dozen apps from the market.

Imitone just released an alpha for their VST version of their audio to midi... so this has been a really good few weeks in audio land for me. Now to find time to actually use some of it.

edit:

Woah thought I was in reaper for a sec when I opened up the Settings for Cakewalk...

[Serenitynow]

Originally Posted by Edgemeal

This is what I see in Reaper on PC where I installed free cake.



I like the Strings VSTi plugin, easy to adjust, sounds OK, not impressed by others, but if I was a newb just starting out looking for inexpensive daw setup free cake is pretty nice.

Are the Vocal channel strip vx-64 and a drum one available as VST or DX? Those looked kind of interesting to me.Not really interested in much else.

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by Serenitynow

Are the Vocal channel strip vx-64 and a drum one available as VST or DX? Those looked kind of interesting to me.Not really interested in much else.

What you see in that image is it, and I don't see any vocal plugin in cakewalk either.
EDIT: Note CA-2A plugin is not included, I already had that plugin.

The four VSTi insrtuments look like the ones in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6mGhihR6YM

[Rea5]

Is there much difference between SONAR X3 Producer and the Bandlab Sonar Platinum version?

Does it upgrade my existing X3 Producer or install as a separate Platinum version?

[fdos]

Originally Posted by Edgemeal

What you see in that image is it, and I don't see any vocal plugin in cakewalk either.

The four VSTi insrtuments look like the ones in this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6mGhihR6YM

I don't see any of these instruments in my cakewalk download. Is there a certain location I need to add to the VST list?

[Edgemeal]

Originally Posted by fdos

I don't see any of these instruments in my cakewalk download. Is there a certain location I need to add to the VST list?

If you don't see them in cakewalk then you need to install them ("instruments.exe"), once the cakewalk VSTi are installed just add the cakewalk VST plugin path to Reaper's VST path list, on my pc that was, C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\VstPlugins