I'm sure you're just exaggerating, unless you were severely ripped off. The pro version of Cakewalk (now Sonar) never costed more than about $420. I've had every version since about 7.0, and Sonar now. I got CW 8.0 bundled free with my SoundBlaster Live!, but I never use it. =P | |
Spuzzum wrote:
I'm sure you're just exaggerating, unless you were severely ripped off. The pro version of Cakewalk (now Sonar) never costed more than about $420. I've had every version since about 7.0, and Sonar now. I had that bundle when I got SBLive too, but it's not the full version. Still fun to play with, though! I hated the SB, though. It sure was noisy for DAW application! | |
LordJR wrote:
Opps.. I meant that collectively... Also I got tons of FX plug-ins as well. True, those will get you. I have a bunch of plug-ins too, but a lot of them were freebies. A few others I got from Ebay. What kind of sound card are you using? | |
Well I thought I had a good card but now I want a SB LIVE, just from some of the on-board effects I've seen it do.
On this PC I've got a SB64AWE Gold LJR | |
LordJR wrote:
Well I thought I had a good card but now I want a SB LIVE, just from some of the on-board effects I've seen it do. Some advice... the SBL card is tempting because of its price, but I would not reccommend it for any serious audio uses. I owned the "platinum" version for awhile. It is a very noisy card, as in very low S/N ratio, especially on outputs, but noticeable on inputs too. The Audigy by the same company is supposed to be a step in the right direction, and still cheap, but I have not heard it myself. There were also a lot of compatability issues with the drivers, but that's probably fixed by now. It comes down to how much you are willing to spend on sound. I got a Delta 66 with the Omni Studio breakout box, and I love it to death. Not cheap, though. Many pro cards come bundled with some great software, too. There are a lot of reviews of pro cards out there. You might want to check out prorec.com, and go to the Find an Article dropdown and list by topic. | |
So I'm chugging away now with Anvil Studio. It's doing pretty well, but there are a few things I wish I could control better that I can't. Harmonies, for instance: It always does 4-part harmony. I'd also like to be able to split it up so one track is the melody, one is harmony, and so on.
Anyway, I figure my best shot at figuring this out would be knowing how harmony works, or if there are any other programs that can generate a 2- or 3-part harmony from a basic melody and a key. (Knowing very little about keys, I told Anvil Studio my melody was in E flat major, which seems to be right; in that key everything fits the scale.) So, if anyone could point me toward some good resources on understanding harmony (and keys), or small utilities that will get the job done separately, I'd appreciate it. Lummox JR | |
Dude your kinda asking for music lesson here now! :P
Getting a bit off the game making path are we?? Naw.. actually you just need to learn about whats call chords. A simple 3 finger chord to begin with is C, E, G. Play those at the some time and then increment each notch up or down. The full scale of an octive is: C, D, E, F, G, A, B Of course with black keys you have your sharps/flats as well. Check out there on the net I'm sure there must be some websites that teach you basic chord building, also they may have WAV sample files you can play to see if thats the chord your looking for. Its much easier actually having a piano or keyboard at hand to try them out on the fly. Good Luck! I wanna hear this tune or tunes once your done. LJR | |
Skysaw wrote:
I just happen to have a page of resources just for you! Hrm. But sadly they're not online resources; they're Amazon links. I don't have enough time to delve into full textbooks, I'm afraid, even if I was willing to shell out for more than one or two. I need some kind of Web page that can give me the gist quickly, or something close enough to a gist to struggle along. I don't expect to learn to become a master musician in a handful of 10K documents, mind you, but something extremely succinct would be quite helpful. Lummox JR | |
Lummox JR wrote:
So, if anyone could point me toward some good resources on understanding harmony (and keys), or small utilities that will get the job done separately, I'd appreciate it. As a music teacher I feel compelled to help you out! I did a quick search on google: music theory tutorial Loads of great links popped up. The Yahoo directory has a dedicated page for music theory: http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Theory/ This one was quite interesting: http://www.chordwizard.com/theory.html Of course, if you have any specific questions just mail me. /Andreas | |
Those are nice links. I guess if I were going through the training today, I would be looking to the web as well. I just did it long enough ago that books were the only way. Burned through a ton of 'em, too. :-)
| |
Skysaw wrote:
Those are nice links. I guess if I were going through the training today, I would be looking to the web as well. I just did it long enough ago that books were the only way. Burned through a ton of 'em, too. :-) Well, I have no aversion to books. But I don't want to become an expert on the topic; I want a smattering of knowledge in the least time it will take to get it. With the learning curve involved and the time/money I have to commit to it, the Web is a much better choice. Lummox JR | |
Skysaw wrote:
Some advice... the SBL card is tempting because of its price, but I would not reccommend it for any serious audio uses. I owned the "platinum" version for awhile. It is a very noisy card, as in very low S/N ratio, especially on outputs, but noticeable on inputs too. The Audigy by the same company is supposed to be a step in the right direction, and still cheap, but I have not heard it myself. There were also a lot of compatability issues with the drivers, but that's probably fixed by now. Right mate! I want something that can also be my VoX FX box as well I need real-time voice modulation and FX like pitch, delay, etc.. Do you know any software other that can do this with my current card?? LJR | |
This one was quite interesting: >http://www.chordwizard.com/theory.html Heh.. whats with the random bolding on that page? "Every musician needs a solid understanding of music theory to reach their full playing potential. It also makes playing much easier and more fun! This tutorial concisely covers the essential concepts of music theory from the absolute fundamentals right through to the use of advanced chords and scales. At each step you can hear the sounds as you read the text. Along the way, your understanding of music will rapidly improve as the mysteries of music all start to make sense." -AbyssDragon | |
Heh.. whats with the random bolding on that page? This is, of course, obviously a secret code for some vast and far-reaching conspiracy. One can only ponder upon the sinister machinations of this elusive cabal seeking to dominate the world through music theory pages. | |
LordJR wrote:
Right mate! I want something that can also be my VoX FX box as well I need real-time voice modulation and FX like pitch, delay, etc.. Do you know any software other that can do this with my current card?? Real-time signal processing requires one of two things: 1. Effects built in to hardware. SBL has a couple of these, though they're rather tame... reverb, etc. 2. WDM drivers, and cards that can use them. With that, you'll need software that can take advantage of it. Sonar does this, and if you already have Cakewalk, the upgrade shouldn't be too painful. It's a lot of fun to hook in a bunch of plug-ins, and make noise in real-time. Sonar comes with a great amplifier simulator, for example... I can plug a guitar directly into the computer, and make it sound like it's wailing out of a number of different models of amps and cabinets, and played in almost any kind of room you can think of. | |
Some advice... the SBL card is tempting because of its price, but I would not reccommend it for any serious audio uses. I owned the "platinum" version for awhile. It is a very noisy card, as in very low S/N ratio, especially on outputs, but noticeable on inputs too. The Audigy by the same company is supposed to be a step in the right direction, and still cheap, but I have not heard it myself. There were also a lot of compatability issues with the drivers, but that's probably fixed by now. Just to add my two cents, the standard SBLive!, in my observations, is far less than what you attested to with the Platinum. Everyone has suggested that the SBLive! Platinum is crap and I agree, but a plain old SBLive!, though next to impossible to find, is better. You'd have a really difficult time finding a standard SBLive! in department stores, though -- only ones that carry 'em now are low-budget/non-chain computer stores. | |
Yeah man I just started using Cakewalk a I think last month?
I had it sitting on the PC doing nothing for the longest.. so decided to put it to use to write my MIDI. I'm thinking there is a way to plug in my own sound effects for the Sound Bank right? Any idea where I can find that? Calkwalk is a little overwealming for 1st timer, but I can already produce songs so I'm that far. LJR | |
I'm sure you're just exaggerating, unless you were severely ripped off. The pro version of Cakewalk (now Sonar) never costed more than about $420. I've had every version since about 7.0, and Sonar now.