Tracktion Waveform 12 - Request New Features and Fixes

[Aofsmith]

Oh, not cool. Is the a well know bug then? Hopefully the developers will iron that one out as it seems an excellent feature, should be implemented in every DAW really.

[lmv]

Hi guys is WF12 capable of this type of trick, abletons envelope follower plugin. Seems pretty amazing.

I'm almost sure I've seen a plugin that does that. It was many years ago so there is not a chance I can remember its name. I am not very fond of the idea of DAW developers spending time and effort on things that can be achieved with plugins instead of improving the DAW's strictly DAWish features.

[lmv]

One feature I always wanted to have in DAWs is note taking and/or better audition tools.

I often write a tune on a generic piano then audition instruments (usually synths) to choose the one instrument that will bring the magic to the track. That is very time consuming, can take days, but I see it as inevitable.

As I audition instruments, I jot down the plugin and preset names in a text editor so I can audition just those later and pick a winner.

That is far from ideal. But it could be better if the track/project could have notes attached to it, in an easily accessible way. For example, that's how it's done in Geany:

https://0x0.st/HLPQ.mp4

The Surge synth has an interesting solution: you can create a preset folder and add "favorites" to it. So you can for example create the "Project Name" folder then audition the presets and add the ones you like to it. But Surge is just one among hundreds or synths out there so that's not enough.

A DAW sometimes can display the name of the currently selected preset. So it can be captured. So can the name of the plugin. So I imagine pressing some key combination that will bring up a dialog that already has the plugin and preset names and maybe some room for additional notes. Then of course you can open a list of saved notes for a project where each item has a button (or keyboard shortcut, even better) that will immediately add that preset to the currently selected track, hopefully while the track (or a MIDI loop) is playing so I can browse the sounds.

It's an idea. At least I tried.

[nowgad]

Hi guys is WF12 capable of this type of trick, abletons envelope follower plugin. Seems pretty amazing.

I am not very fond of the idea of DAW developers spending time and effort on things that can be achieved with plugins instead of improving the DAW's strictly DAWish features.

I don't like to use plugins for this, because these plugins need to compensate for the delay. Built-in modifiers have already been developed and it remains to fix the bug. I like that with one modifier you can affect many parameters of other tracks, plugin parameters on other tracks, in this way very good smoothness, seamlessness is achieved, or vice versa - brightness and sharpness, do as you please.
With plugins, you can't modify more than 2 tracks at the same time, and that would be a sidechain. Built-in modifiers give more options.

One feature I always wanted to have in DAWs is note taking and/or better audition tools

What prevents you from using the built-in Text plugin, or similar plugins from other developers, to create notes for this?

You can also save presets using Waveform, specifying the project and characteristics in the name and then easily call them up. The name can be long. It all depends on how flexible you are. And how do you build your workflow. Waveform is absolutely wonderful in this regard, a lot of built-in features give you many ways to implement your plans.

[lmv]

What prevents you from using the built-in Text plugin, or similar plugins from other developers, to create notes for this?

I only know the built-in Text plugin and another called Extra Notes. Both are awful. Just text, they don't even give focus when launched and the font is tiny tiny tiny. Also no font color option and the built-in Text plugin is very hard to read with that light blue font. Of course, it's probably readable in the inevitable gothic dark themes that all the rad kids seem to dig these days. I use a light theme so no dice.

Is there any other you can recommend?

You can also save presets using Waveform, specifying the project and characteristics in the name and then easily call them up. The name can be long.

That is a little clumsy. My suggestion streamlines the process.

[nowgad]

Is there any other you can recommend?

https://www.codefn42.com/vstnotepad/index.html

That's what first came to mind. The plugin is working. You can also look at the rest - all the plugins are good, and as far as I remember the developer supports them, even though they were released a long time ago.
Here's another:
https://www.fananteampro.com/anytext
https://non-lethal-applications.com/products/snapshot - I haven’t tried this one, but I’m interested in it myself, although the built-in one is enough for me
There are a lot of them, on bpb they recently published a free one with many functions, etc.

[Peter Widdicombe]

I just looked at the vstnotepad and built-in text.
built-in you can put a NAME in there, so you can label it in your block of VST's .
VSTnotepad you can play with fonts, colors, etc.

Adequate for putting hints/notes per track (both of them). Little stickies within the track might be nicer ?

[lmv]

Is there any other you can recommend?

https://www.codefn42.com/vstnotepad/index.html

That's what first came to mind. The plugin is working. You can also look at the rest - all the plugins are good, and as far as I remember the developer supports them, even though they were released a long time ago.
Here's another:
https://www.fananteampro.com/anytext
https://non-lethal-applications.com/products/snapshot - I haven’t tried this one, but I’m interested in it myself, although the built-in one is enough for me
There are a lot of them, on bpb they recently published a free one with many functions, etc.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Sadly, none of them works for me. Of course, they are not made to run on Linux. Most Windows plugins will work fine on Linux, but these ones didn't.

That reminds me of an old idea that Waveform (or some other DAW) might want to implement in the future: a lyrics plugin.

Everybody seems to mix up the idea of a lyrics plugin with that of a notes plugin. It should not be the same. A lyrics plugin would work like this:

You create a note in the MIDI grid and adjust its length. The plugin window displays the lyrical content of that "note" i.e. the words that will be sung during that length. How long each "note" will be and what words it will contain is up to you. Whether you prefer to enter individual syllables (yuk!) or full phrases at a time is none of the plugin's business. You are in control. Of course, the words are always editable. During playback, the plugin window displays the corresponding words of the "note" that is being played.

A lyrics plugin could double as a generic notes plugin, but it's not quite the same.

I've seen several people ask for/about a lyrics plugin. There is interest in it.

[Ally007]

I haven't used TW for very long, but love it in most respects. However, one change I would love, is add a way to disable automation of track parameters, because for me, it keeps happening when I don't want it. Also, I would also find it useful if there was a way to slow down the playback speed, when editing.

[lmv]

I may have found a bug in Waveform 12.5.5 Linux:

- Select an audio clip.
- Go to Loop Properties.
- Enable Warp Time.
- Disable Warp Time.
- Enable Warp Time.
- Disable Warp Time.

Yes, nothing happens. Let's try again:

- Select an audio clip.
- Go to Loop Properties.
- Enable Warp Time.
- Click Undo. Warp Time is disabled.
- Enable Warp Time again.
- Audio Engine crashes.

I can reproduce this as many times as I want. Never fails.

BTW, using Warp Time seems very difficult because it doesn't have its own needle. It's very hard to find my way around the clip.

[chandig]

Not sure if this is a bug or if there has been a change on Waveform 12.5 but I am having issues importing wav files into Waveform Pro 12.5 (trial). When I import wav files, they show up on the track as playing faster (higher-pitched) than normal and are subsequently "shorter" in duration on the timeline. When importing into Waveform 11 (free), the wav files import as expected. I am using 44.1khz files and project setting. Any suggestions?

[elcalen]

Not sure if this is a bug or if there has been a change on Waveform 12.5 but I am having issues importing wav files into Waveform Pro 12.5 (trial). When I import wav files, they show up on the track as playing faster (higher-pitched) than normal and are subsequently "shorter" in duration on the timeline. When importing into Waveform 11 (free), the wav files import as expected. I am using 44.1khz files and project setting. Any suggestions?

There is a setting (under General/Editing) to "detect tempo of imported audio files". Maybe this is causing your issue?

[chandig]

Yes, unchecking "detect tempo of imported audio files" fixed the import problems. Thanks for that suggestion!

[pough]

Imported audio since 12.5 is set to auto-detect tempo by default. Waveform scans the audio and tries to find the tempo, then matches the imported audio to the tempo of the Edit.

This can be confusing.

To restore an audio clip to normal, first open the Control Panel at the bottom to "Useful Mode" or select the Actions tab of the Browser. If an audio clip is selected, the Control Panel will have a "Loop Properties" tab that includes a check-box for Auto-Tempo. The same check-box is available in the Actions tab. After it is un-checked you may still need to stretch the audio clip to its proper length using the empty arrow at the top right of the clip.

To stop this from happening again, go to Settings -> General -> Editing and de-select the "Detect tempo of imported audio files" setting.

You can always turn the Auo-Tempo on when you want that to happen. You can also use the settings in the Control Panel to make adjustments if Waveform doesn't scan the tempo correctly. I find that I sometimes need to change the number of beats to get the correct tempo.

[lmv]

Two things bother me:

1. What I exposed here. It really bothers me a lot.

2. Whenever I want to change the BPM, I have to make sure I am clicking the gauge precisely on the current measure before dragging it or else the gauge jumps to some very high or very low number. It's very unintuitive. I always forget that so it gets me every time. I think it should never jump. If my current BPM is 90, the initial measure should always be 90 no matter where I click, then increase or decrease as I drag it.