To get started, go to Help-Help Topics, select the "Creating a Project" book, then click Open. Next, select the "Creating a Project" topic, and click Display.
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If you would like to order Cakewalk Home Studio, please visit our web site at http://www.cakewalk.com, or call 888-CAKEWALK.
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You can instantly jump to any measure in a song.
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To do so, click the Now Time box in the Position or Transport (Large)
toolbar, choose
Go-Time, or simply press F5. Then, type the measure
number and click OK/press enter.
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Want to create a new song with changing time signatures?
Home Studio lets the time signature of your songs change any
time you want.
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Choose Insert-Meter/Key Change to insert a change in time
signature, or choose View-Meter/Key to see all the time
signatures in your song.
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Want to put music on your web site? You can create RealAudio
and RealMedia files with Home Studio.
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Choose Tools-Export Audio to save audio data in RealMedia
format, or to save an entire song in RealMedia Metafile
(RTSL) format. Please note that this trial version of Cakewalk Home Studio does not let you save files.
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If you keep adding audio tracks, eventually the overall volume will get too high,
causing clipping or distortion.
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One simple solution is to make use of the Vel+ velocity offset in each audio track.
Enter a negative number to decrease the track's playback level.
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In the clips pane (right half) of the Track view, you can select tracks and
regions of time -- regardless of clip boundaries.
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To do so, hold the ALT key while clicking and dragging to select.
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If your keyboard recording playing is a little loose in its timing,
Home Studio can fix it up to be as precise as you'd like.
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Select the clip you want to modify, and then choose the
Edit-Quantize command.
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Is the song in the wrong key for you to sing along? If all the tracks contain
MIDI data, you can change the key in a few seconds!
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Choose Edit-Select-All to select all the clips in the song, and
then choose Edit-Transpose to move it up or down as you like.
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You can use the Console view to alter the balance and stereo
panning of your tracks while the song is playing.
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To do so, choose View-Console.
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You can visit our web site, which includes news, technical information, free
downloads, and lots more cool stuff.
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To do so, choose Help-Cakewalk Web Site. This will automatically
launch most Internet browsers. If yours doesn't, then start it manually
and go to "http://www.cakewalk.com".
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You can display the Now time using a large font, so that it is easier to
see. This is handy if you're not close to the computer monitor, but still
want to see the Now time.
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To do so, choose View-Big Time, right-click on the window, and choose a large font.
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You can create Markers that label specific points in your song, and then
use the Marker whenever you want to reference a particular time.
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To create a Marker, choose Insert-Marker, or press F11 while the song
is playing. To use a marker, press F5 whenever you'd normally enter
a time.
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When you record on an existing track, you can layer new
notes on top of existing notes, or replace the existing material.
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To choose, click the Record Mode button in the control bar,
or choose Realtime-Record Mode.
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Made a Mistake? You can undo virtually any change you've
made to a Home Studio project.
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To do so, type Ctrl-Z, or choose Edit-Undo.
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It's easy to create accidentals (sharps or flats) in the Staff view.
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To do so, choose the Draw tool (pencil), and drag the note while
holding down both mouse buttons.
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You can set the time signature for a new song before you start recording.
You'll want to do this before recording a waltz or tarantella.
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First, choose File-New to create a new song. Then click on the Meter
(time signature) area in the Transport (Large) toolbar, or choose Insert-Meter/Key Change.
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In any Home Studio dialog which has a time field, you can quickly enter
the location of a Marker.
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To do so, press F5. This opens a list of Markers you can pick from.
The list includes Markers you have created, plus various predefined Markers
(Now, Beginning, End, From and Thru).
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You can quickly set up a time selection in any of the graphical views by dragging
the mouse cursor over the horizontal Time ruler.
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If you first press the Snap button, the time selection will be evenly incremented
by the Snap duration.
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You can graphically edit fades made in the StudioWare and Console views.
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To do so, open the Piano Roll View and edit the fade in the Controllers pane. If you are in the Console view,
you can right-click a module, and select Edit Automation Data.
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You can now zoom in/out faster than ever in the Track, Piano Roll, and Audio views.
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To do so, simply hold the left mouse button pressed for a few seconds on the desired zoom button,
and the view will continuously zoom in/out.
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You can make sample accurate cuts of your audio.
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To do so, right-click on the audio and select Split. You can enter the sample you
wish to cut at.
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For persistent time selections, you can insert a pair of markers in any graphical
view: one at the beginning time and another at the end time.
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Clicking between the markers (in the time ruler) will now select the time range.
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You can jump to any Marker by pressing F5 twice.
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Press F5 the first time to open the GoTo Time dialog box. Press F5 again
to choose from a list of Markers. The list includes all your own Markers,
plus various predefined Markers (Now, Beginning, End, From and Thru).
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You can also jump to any marker by selecting the marker from the drop-down
list in the Markers toolbar.
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If you want to enter a track name in the Track view that starts with the letter
"R" or "W", press Enter or F2 first before you type the name.
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The reason is because "R" is the hotkey for Record, and "W" is the hotkey for
Rewind. Other characters are not special, and will automatically start inserting
text.
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Confused about which MIDI port is assigned to which MIDI device? Home Studio
lets you see which one is which.
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Choose Tools-MIDI Devices. The first selected output device is assigned to
Port 1, the second to Port 2, and so on.
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Like to have your windows arranged a certain way? You can create and
save your own custom screen layouts, and call them up any time you
want.
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Choose View-Layouts to save your current screen layout or to load
a layout you have already saved.
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You can now easily record on multiple tracks simultaneously.
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To do so, simply assign a Source and press the Arm button for each track you wish to record on.
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You can add real-time effects to your audio tracks.
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To do so, open the Console view and right-click in the Track Inserts, Aux Busses, or Master section.
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You can quickly create a Marker during playback or recording, even if
you're not in the Markers view.
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To do so, press F11. This is a shortcut for the Insert-Marker command.
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You can tell Home Studio where to look for certain types of files.
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To do so, go to Tools-Global Options, and click the Folders tab. This file determine the default directory when inserting wave files, choosing File-Open, File-Save As, etc.
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You can change the properties of any note in the Staff view or
Piano Roll view.
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To do so, click on the note with the right mouse button.
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When recording audio, you can check the input level to ensure that you are recording at an optimal level.
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To do so, open the Console View and click the (record) Arm button in the track you want to record on. Make sure the Record Meters button is pressed.
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You can choose to enable or disable the display of vertical lines in the
Clips pane of the Track view.
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To do so, click the right mouse button, and choose View Options.
Then check or uncheck Display Vertical Rules as desired.
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You can ensure that you never lose an audio take again.
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To do so, Choose Tools-Audio Options, click the Advanced tab, and enable the Take Vault.
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You can quickly apply the From and Thru times of a selection as a loop.
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To do so, select the section and then press the Copy From/Thru button in the Loop toolbar. Make sure the Loop button is pressed.
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You can Scrub on multiple tracks of Audio at the same time.
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To do so, open the Audio view with the tracks you want to hear. Next, select the Scrub tool, and drag the mouse cursor across the Time Ruler while holding the left mouse button.
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You can quickly Zoom in and out to the minimun and maximum settings in any view.
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To do so, hold down SHIFT while clicking on the magnifying glass.
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In addition, if you keep one of the zoom buttons pressed for a short moment, the view will continue to zoom in/out.
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You can free up your CPU by archiving muted tracks.
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To do so, select the track and then choose Track-Archive, or right-click the track and select Archive from the inspector menu.
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The ReadMe file has tons of great information in it.
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You can view it by choosing Help-View README.RTF.
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You can move toolbars to different locations.
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To do this, click and drag the top left corner of the toolbar you wish to move.
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You can maximize your CPU performance when running DirectX plug-ins
in real-time. To improve playback performance, you can apply the effects as offline commands instead.
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To do so, save the current effect settings as a preset. Delete the real-time effect, then apply the same effect from the Audio view Plug-in inspector menu. By selecting the preset you created, you can quickly apply the same effect settings. The track will sound the same, but the CPU won't hace to work as hard.
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You can change the Tempo of MIDI and Audio at the same time.
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To do so, go to Insert-Tempo Change. Then adjust the Tempo and
enable Strech Audio.
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In the console view, you can patch effects in any order you want; if the effects are out of order, or you want to change the order.
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To do so, simply use drag and drop to move the effects.
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You can add new tracks in the Console view.
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To do so, simply right click in the Console view, and choose Add Track. You can specify whether you want to add a MIDI or audio track.
