Cakewalk Made Easy - Simple Step by Step to Help CPA Beginners Get Started !

Right-click the links to download the .wrk file examples (egs)

MIDI

Create A New Song in GENERAL MIDI

GETTING READY

1. Open Cakewalk.
2. Choose File-New-Normal

The left side is called the TRACKS PANE.
The right side is called the CLIPS PANE.

3. Right-Click on the TRACKS PANE in Track #1. Choose Track Properties. This opens the Track Properties Dialog Box.
4. Set The MIDI Channel on #1. Choose a Patch (Instrument sound). We will choose Acoustic Grand Piano for this example. (See eg1.wrk)

In GENERAL MIDI there are 128 patches,
or Instrument Sounds to choose from.

    5. Right-Click on the TRACKS PANE in Track #2. Open the Track Properties Dialog Box, set the Channel on #2 and the Patch on Electric Bass (Finger).
    6. Repeat this procedure for Track #3. Make it Channel #3 and Acoustic Guitar.
    7. Set Track #4 for MIDI Channel #4 and Clarinet. Set Track #5 for MIDI Channel #5 and New Age Pad.
    8. Set Track #10 for MIDI Channel #10. Leave the Patch set at "none".
    9. Go to Track-Clone, make sure the Track number in the little box is set at #11, and click OK. Repeat this procedure 5 more times until there are 7 Tracks on Channel #10.

In General MIDI, The Drums are always on Channel #10.

10. Type the names of all the instruments and drums in the Name Column as in eg1.wrk
Now is a good time to save the file and give it a title.
Go to File-Save As and type in a title for your song.

You should save your work every few minutes as you go along.
To do this, either click on the Save button or hit Ctrl+S on the keyboard.

11.Shift-Click on The Grid (lower left corner of The TRACKS PANE) and choose Measure.
12. At the top of The CLIPS PANE highlight between the numbers 2 and 3, and click on The "Set Loop To Selection" button (to the right of the numbers) This loops Bar #2.
13. Click in the Source Column of The TRACKS PANE beside the Hi Hat Track.

Now is a good time to go to Tools-Project Options-Metronome,
and place a check mark beside "Recording",
and Set The Count-In for 1 measure.

14. Click The Record Button or Press "R" on The keyboard, and hit the Hi Hat (F#4) on your Controller 4 times on the quarter note to create a Count-in for the song.
This is not the same as The Count-In in The Metronome Box
This Count-In is part of your song.
Just do it. Trust me.

15. Go to View-Piano Roll. You have just opened The Piano Roll View. Now select the 4 Hi Hat notes.

There are several ways to select notes.
(First click the Select Tool - it's the little arrow at the top left)
You can hold down the Ctrl Key and click on each note,
or you can lasso the notes by holding down the mouse button and
drawing a rectangle around them. When they are selected, they will turn black.

16. Choose Edit-Quantize, set the Resolution to Quarter, leave the percent at 100 (for now) and click OK.
17. Click the Draw Tool ( the pencil) and in the lower pane, drag it along the top to set the velocities of the notes to maximum (127)
18. Exit The Piano Roll View (Click on The X at the top right).
19. Right-Click on the Hi Hat Clip and choose Properties. Type "1234" in the "Name" Window, and click the Choose Color button. Choose a pale pink shade (or whatever color you like) Click OK and OK.

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CREATING THE SONG

   1. Highlight between 3 and 5 at the top of The CLIPS PANE and Click The "Set Loop To Selection" button.
   2. Click in The Source Column beside Kick Drum. (Track #10)
   3. Press "R" on The Keyboard and play 2 bars of Kick Drum - C4. (eg2.wrk)
   4. Open The Piano Roll View, select the notes and Quantize - Resolution 16th notes at about 80 or 90%.
   5. Click in The Source Column beside Snare (Track #11)
   6. Play 2 bars of Snare (D4 or E4), Open The Piano Roll View and Quantize.
   7. Follow the same steps for Hi Hat F#4, G#4, and A#4.

There is no big rule that says you have to quantize at all -
Over Quantizing can make the music sound too robotic or machine-like.
You could try quantizing to a lower percent, like 40 or 50% !

8. To change the tempo (speed), Click on The Insert Tempo Button, just to the right of where it says 100 (the default tempo). Then you can enter a new tempo by typing in a number or clicking on the button. In this example, we have speeded it up to 124 beats per minute.
9. Now, Copy and Paste the clips by first selecting them, holding down the Ctrl key and dragging them into the next 2 bars. (eg3.wrk) Loop all 4 bars. If the Snap-To Grid is set to Measure, the clips should line up and play in sync.

10. Now, select all the clips and choose Copy. Click OK.

The Copy Command can be given by choosing Edit-Copy,
by clicking the Copy button on The Toolbar,
or by pressing Ctrl+C on the keyboard.

11. Now, Right-Click on the bar line at the end of the clips and choose "Paste"
12. In the Paste dialog box, set the Starting Time at 7:01:000, the Repetitions at 11, the Starting Track at 10, check Align To Measures, check Events/Clips, and Paste as New Clips, and Click OK. You should now have 48 measures of drums.
13. Now, Loop Bar #6, Highlight Toms in the Source Column, and play a roll on the Toms (eg5.wrk)
14. Now, Loop Bar #7, Highlight Crash in the Source Column and hit the Crash Cymbal on 1. (eg6.wrk)
15. Now, Unloop it (Click The Loop/Unloop Button) and listen to the result. (eg7.wrk)

16. Loop the first 4 measures of the song, Highlight Bass in the Source Column and record 4 bars of Bass (eg8.wrk) Open the Piano Roll View and Quantize if necessary.
Copy the clip 5 times. Select Clip #3 and choose Edit-Transpose, and choose +5. Select Clip #5, choose Edit-Transpose, and choose -5. Listen to the result. (eg9.wrk)
17. Loop the entire 24 measures, Highlight Piano in the Source Column, and Play Piano. (eg10.wrk)
18. Repeat the procedure for other instruments. (eg11.wrk & eg12.wrk)
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FINE TOUCHES

1. Select all instruments (except drums), then Copy & Paste into the next 24 measures.
2. Hold down The Ctrl key and Click in the field above The Measure 3 Line. Type "V1" (Verse 1) in the little window. Do the same above The Measure 27 Line and type "V2". These are called Markers.

To change a Marker's name, Right-Click on the little blue flag.
To move a Marker, Click on it, Hold down the mouse button
and drag the Marker to the new location.
To view all Markers - go to View-Markers.

3. Loop Measure #2 and create an intro. (eg13.wrk)
4. Loop appropriate Measures and create Drum Fills and Cymbal Crashes. (eg14.wrk)

This can be done by playing the notes on The Keyboard
or by Clicking the notes in the field in The Piano Roll View.

    5. Create a Marker on Measure 51 called "Ending"
    6. Copy & Paste the last 8 Measures. (eg15wrk)
    7. Loop the last 2 Measures and Create an Ending. (eg16.wrk)
    8. Go to View-Tempo, and using the Draw Line Tool, gradually decrease the Tempo of Measure 57 to about 11.This is called a ‘Ritard" (eg.17.wrk)

To get the right effect when doing a Ritard,
try different Tempo decreases,
using Ctrl+Z to undo each one
until you get the one that sounds right

9. To adjust the Volume of a track, Right-Click in theTrack Pane and choose Track Properties. You can change the Volume to a value between 0 and 127. Volume and other Parameters can also be adjusted in the Track Pane by Clicking and Holding down the mouse button in the appropriate box and dragging the mouse to raise or lower the value. Holding down both mouse buttons will change the values by 10s.

Holding down both mouse buttons and dragging in the "Key"column
will change the values by 12s,
raising or lowering the track by octaves.

10. Velocities of individual notes can be adjusted in The Piano Roll View, by dragging the Draw Tool in the Lower Pane.
11. Click on the numbers in The TRACKS PANE and then Right Click on the Clips. Choose Properties and type in a name for the Clips and choose a color. (eg18.wrk)
12. Choose File-Info, and type in Title, Composer, Copyright, and Song Info for future Reference. (eg19.wrk)
13. Delete unused tracks by Right Clicking on The Track in the TRACK PANE and choosing Delete Track. (eg20.wrk)

Right-click the links to download the .wrk file examples (egs)

AUDIO RECORDING

1. To enable a track to record audio, Right-Click on the track in the Source Column and choose Track Properties. In The track Properties Dialog box, make the Source the left side of your Sound Card and the Port
your Sound Card.

Your sound source (guitar, mic, mixer etc.)
must be plugged into the input of the Sound Card.

   2. Arm the Track to record by Clicking on the "R" button so it turns red.
   3. Open the Console View by Clicking on the Console icon or go to View-Console. Minimize the Console View and make the Audio track visible.
   4. Test your signal to make sure the volume level is correct. It should be just barely going into the red on the Audio Meter in The Console View.
   5.Set Loop to Selection at the starting point of recording, and then unloop it.
   6. Press "R" on the key board to begin recording.
   7. Press the spacebar to stop recording, then press it again to listen to the play back.

The output of your Sound Card must be plugged in to a mixer / amplifier. 8. To erase the take and redo it, Ctrl+Z, then R.
9. To edit an audio clip, Right-Click on it and choose Audio. This will open the Audio View.
10. Right-Click on the clip in the Audio View and a list of editing options appears.

Once you get this far, you are ready to learn about Audio Editing, and you should be able to understand the Chapter in The Manual and The Tutorial on The CD ROM that deals with it. If you have any questions or problems, feel free to e-mail us !

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