looking for help. Skype? screen share? need "tutor." pay by hour

[stewlyons]

1. support from tracktion told me to try kvr forum. is this the right place? kvr is related to tracktion?
2. having serious troubles getting going with daw/tracktion/biotek stuff. just don't understand enough basics to make headway. the support i get from tracktion is not enough. they just answer an email/ticket/support request in simple terms, once every few days. doesn't really help much. they suggested i check in kvr, see if anybody would "tutor" me, via Skype, or some sort of screen share or something, charge by the hour. anybody? i'm so frustrated. really want to give up. but my tenacity is making me struggle on. but i would probably pay for some real help.

thanks

[jabe]

1. KVR is a general website for all things related to modern music creation and production. The Tracktion forum is just one of many forums. Most of the forums allow users to give assistance, advice, information, etc, to other users.

2. Tracktion doesn't have the numbers of staff to provide tuition or time-intensive help. There is a manual and YouTube (and the Tracktion website) contains many video tutorials. This forum has threads going back more than 15 years and is searchable. Most users are very helpful. Some create videos and on specific topics and post them on YouTube.

I'm glad to hear that you have tenacity. It's a steep learning curve and will take time, but hopefully we can you started with some basic recording and editing. Someone might be able to provide the help you've requested. In the meantime, you might start with the Waveform 9 videos on YouTube (in this instance, click the link rather than watching the video here).


I'll see if I can provide you with a short overview here to help you on your way:

A DAW is software which allows the recording/creation, playback, and manipulation of audio and MIDI data. MIDI data is not audio but is rather digital instructions that can pass instructions to software versions of keyboards, drum machines, effects, etc (the list is endless) telling them what sounds to make and how to process those sounds. These software versions are known generally as plug-ins, or sometimes, more specifically as VSTs (for effects) and VSTis for instruments. VST is merely the name of a convention invented by Steinberg over 20 years ago allowing a standard for plug-ins and passing data between them.

BioTek is an example of an instrument plug-in or VSTi. An example of an effects plug-in might be one that adds reverb or distortion. Effects are traditionally applied to audio, but there are also some very useful ones that can be applied to MIDI data.

I hope this is some use and wish you luck in getting started and progressing up that learning curve.

[stewlyons]

thank you thank you. i have watched a lot of tracktion instructional vids. they all seem pretty straight forward when i'm watching them but when it comes time to do something myself it seems like i can't figure anything out. i appreciate your basic overview. i will check out the link and the vids you suggest. i hate to ask you any more questions b/c i know your time is valuable too, but let me be bold: the problem i was having last night was the i wanted to use biotek in waveform. basically experiment with creating sound. so i put a blank midi clip in a track then put biotek 2 as a plugin in that track. hit play. nothing. and from my experience in the last few days i think i know i can not put an audio clip in a track and then have biotek 2 "effect" it. that's right, right? so i think i've narrowed it down to biotek will only work as a plugin when there's a midi clip in the track, right? (i have discovered that i can render an audio clip to a midi clip and then biotek can "effect" that sound. but i won't go into details about this issue now.) so i'm not a midi guy at all. i believe i understand that i can use the midi editor to put midi data in the midi clip and then i would have a midi clip that biotek 2 could "effect." i do have a keyboard that has midi that i can connect via a little interface i have to my mac, and that seems to give me midi data in the track. then i could use biotek 2 to "effect" that midi clip.

does all that sound basically correct?

thank you.

[stewlyons]

just looked at the vid in your link and i'd watched that vid before. specifically, at 4:50 or so, getting into track loops. i can't find them in my waveform. i'm looking in SEARCH and there's no tag for Track Loops. and then when i SEARCH Loops, i don't get any that say Track Loop. i thought i bought everything i would need with the bundle i got from tracktion. are these loops a part of, or come from, Collective? (last night i think waveform told me Collective didn't download or install correctly? or maybe i need to download/install them separately?)

are loops audio or midi?

thanks,

[Peter Widdicombe]

Biotek may not be where you want to start - sort of like learning to drive in an 18-wheeler...
Collective has many capabilities, but you can "select" a patch more simply; there are other free "simpler" VST to start with. (not sure if Waveform now includes a basic, simple ready-to-use tone generator any more; actually I think there is an FM synth...).

VST's are either effects (reverb) or tone generators, converting MIDI notes into audio.

Easiest might be to learn basic functionality with an audio track. Even microphone/speaking will let you see how to select track and input device, arm a track, see input levels, playback.

THEN try MIDI - same thing. Select another track, select midi input device, and watch the input "meters" register that there is actually note traffic. Drag a VST into the first slot of the output for the track (right, just before the output level meters). Open the VST, select a patch, and you should then be able to hear as you play your midi keyboard.

[stewlyons]

thanks. i really appreciate it. it's funny. i mean, i'm basically ok with (meaning, i understand and can handle) the techniques you guys have mentioned. but it's always when i go in and actually try to implement or do something that something comes up, something causes and obstacle, some basic obstacle (that it would take many screen shots and lots and lots of typing to describe). so anyway, thank you.

[jabe]

There must be MIDI data on the track in order to get sounds from BioTek. I haven't bought the same package as you, so I don't know what MIDI items it includes. If, for the time being, your interest is in trying out sounds in BioTek, you could Google "free MIDI files" - perhaps including the name of an artist - and download such a file, then insert it onto a MIDI track and add BioTek as a plug-in on that track. You can set it playing and experiment with the BioTek settings.

[stewlyons]

thanks. cool. will do.

[jabe]

[quote="stewlyons"]let me be bold: the problem i was having last night was the i wanted to use biotek in waveform. basically experiment with creating sound. so i put a blank midi clip in a track then put biotek 2 as a plugin in that track. hit play. nothing./quote]

The MIDI track needed data to tell BioTek what notes to play and a blank MIDI clip would not pass any note information to the plug-in.

The most basic of MIDI information consists of the Note On and Note Off pair of messages. These can be thought of as the press of a key on a synth (or other instrument) and the release of that key. MIDI is passed as messages. A Note On message begins with a character that identifies the message as a Note On message, along with a channel number, a note number (from 0 to 127), and the volume for the note (know as "velocity"). Something like BioTek will start playing that note as soon as it is asked to. When it receives a Note Off message (a Note Off message identifier, the channel, the note number, and the velocity), it will stop playing the note.

I haven't told you what the channel is; for now it's unimportant.

MIDI can also send other message about how notes are played. For instance, many synths have a pitch wheel, and there are messages to change the sound in that manner. Many keyboards allow aftertouch, which means that you can press down harder on notes you're already playing, and it will change the sounds in some way. Another common message is the "program change" which asks the plug-in to play a different soun, such as changing from violin to piano, or whatever. All possible via MIDI.

When MIDI emerged in the early 1980s, people - especially performers - may have had multiple instruments, and MIDI allowed them to play sounds on one from another. Some "instruments" came without keyboards, but they could be played via MIDI from a main keyboards, perhaps.

There are MIDI specification documents on line that you can look at in the future to get a more complete idea of what is possible.

[stewlyons]

thanks. really. one day, i will get a little closer, to being able to use this stuff. i would give up but now i've kind of accepted it as a challenge or experiment. or just determination, to get a little better at it every day. (if you're interested in "tutoring" me, for hourly rate, via Skype or screen share, let me know. thanks.

[jabe]

A new set of Tracktion 7 videos has appeared on YouTube to help those who've downloaded it now it's free. There's a lot in T7 that's still in Waveform, so it may be useful for those starting on W8 or W9, and I've added a link here for anyone that wants to watch them. They're all 3-10 minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... ALgm1nXNyG

[stewlyons]

ok. i can’t get collective to work.

i have downloaded it and installed it. it shows up in my finder. i have collective inserted into a track as a plugin. i have midi content in the clip in the file. but whenever i click on the plugin i get the message that the preset instruments…could not be found. it says download and install. (already done that.) it says check the locations in the global menu…i assume that means the global menu there on the collective interface? i go to that location in finder and i see content in there. i’ve rescanned and i’ve rescanned. so what’s going on? why am i unable to use/operate collective?

i am sending this to tracktion support and kvm forum. any answers will be very very helpful.

thank you.

stew

[stewlyons]

i will also add another question "about collective:" i don't like that the collective window stays in front even if i click on a window behind it!
1. how do i change that?
2. can't tell what clicking on the "thumb tack" or push-pin or whatever it is in the upper right corner does? how it affects things. would seem obvious. but it's not to me. sorry.

thanks,

[Watchful]

I might be able to help on the Collective presets. This bit me pretty bad earlier this year.

I'm doing this from memory, so forgive me if I give wrong advice here.

In the Collective window, click on the settings gear wheel (that's in Collective, not in Waveform), and ensure the file paths to the content are present and correct. For some reason, these were blown away mysteriously for me, and I had to repoint Collective to the location of the content files. After that, it worked perfectly and has ever since.

[stewlyons]

thanks. i was just about to re-post saying i'd figured it out. yes, i don't know how exactly i did it but i guess it was just getting the content in the correct folder/location. so i'm good, for now! thanks.