As someone who’s never gotten into music making and just downloaded Waveform just to see what happens, this is _very_ helpful! Tysm for sticking to the basic essentials, all the other tutorials I’ve found dig into a bunch of details and terms that just confuse my brain lol
Yea it's hard to get started fresh when everyone uses methods and terms that require even a little bit of existing insight on how DAWs work. Glad I could help :D have fun making music!
I downloaded Waveform a few months back never having used a DAW before. I abondoned it quickly as all the tutorials I could find online seemed overly complex for a beginner. Your simple tutorial vid has inspired me to give it another go. Great work, very much appreciated.
I was fairly new as well and tried to explain what I learned in a way that I would understand, knowing others would be in the same situation. I'm glad to be able to help you start out! :D
Edit: I later discovered that keeping Dithering enabled was causing some strange crackling noise on a track full of low end bass notes, disabling the option on export fixed that problem. NOTE: Not sure if this was a feature when I made this video or not, but I realized with the new Waveform 12 that toggling Caps Lock will lock your computer keyboard in MIDI mode to play your music, and disabling it returns it to normal. Thought this might help some of you out! I've added incredible free premium plugins like the BBC symphonic orchestra from spitfire's website in the description, and a google doc detailing every free plugin you can find throughout the net, Have fun!
bro, maybe you don't have an idea or have an idea - you helped me a lot & who the f gives a google sheet for free plug-ins you are a legend, my dude !! if I become famous that I am going to !! I am coming for you !!
I'm glad my video helped you out :D and yes I update the description with quality free plugins I find over time. the Google doc was actually put together by Göran Wretling, he then encouraged people to add to it so it became a bit of a community file. Good luck with your future plans!
Gotta echo what everyone else is saying! You're exactly the tutorial I was looking for! I couldnt even figure how to mess around with notes! Thanks so much!
boy I must have no hope to learn how to use waveform. because if that's the made SIMPLE WAY .I HAVE NO HOPE.. HE GOES TO FAST, AND DOESN'T REALLY GET INTO DETAIL .. I WANT A TUTORIAL FROM A TO Z. NO SKIPPING, OR TALKING LIKE I UNDERSTAND THE LINGO.
I can’t hear anything on waveform! When I do a audio test I can hear it but when I try to play notes on a keyboard I don’t hear anything. My audio devices are fine so I have no idea whats gonna on. Can someone help
Is there a red plugin symbol in the top right? If there is the plugin sandbox may have crashed, if so, click on it and restart sandbox and it will take a bit to restart. If that's not the case try changing the input device on whatever plugin you're using, using something like omni or all usually works. Also waveform can use separate audio output devices from what you have set as default, make sure in settings it's set to what you want and that it's using the same Hz level as what's set in windows settings. If you're using Input & Output they both need to be set to the same Hz level. Another possibility is the notes you're playing are outside of the range of playable notes in the plugin, try hitting the keys with the plugin open to see if you're within range and the keys in the plugin move.
yea every plugin is separate, but sometimes plugins are held in a hub depending on the distributor and what kind of plugin it is, for example, if you're downloading a plugin from spitfire they have their own dedicated program hub to manage and organize all of their plugins. The same goes for many other vendors. Sometimes a plugin will be standalone, or sometimes they'll be designed to be used with a proprietary software in order to function, a popular one being Kontakt, which itself has a paid and free version. There's a wide array of compatibility and functionality, so be aware of the compatibility beforehand by checking the plugins store page. But for the plugins I've linked in the description they are all free to use either standalone, with the free kontakt player, the free soundpaint engine, or pianobook with their decent sampler.
It's an incredible library, they add to it constantly. I also recommend checking the BBCSO Symphonic Orchestra from spitfire audio, It's a completely free orchestra.
This was awesome. At first, as an honest student I opened the users manual, tried going through it. Almost gave up after a couple of minutes, then google recommended this video, and I feel like I'll be composing tomorrow. Great job. Thank you so much
I'm really glad to hear it, it's much easier when you focus on the essentials of what you need instead of the overwhelming amount of options and UI :> have fun
Informative and straightforward, thanks! Really helped me get started since Im so used to bandlab's simpler UI. I do hoever have a problem with instruments under Plugin Racks>New from preset. It seems that Im missing the required plugins etc TCompressor, TEqualizer. They seem to be default plugins but Im not sure. How do I get them?
The Racks are basically preset effects you can include for convenience, and the effects that are used to make the racks you can find in the Waveform folder, it's default with the program. Things like Compressor and Equalizer will be under Waveform > Effects, they also have Instruments and Utility sub-folders under Waveform. Note: You can also create your own custom Rack with your own plugin arrangements, both instruments and effects to get really creative and in-depth
Yes, you have to click on the small banner under the words "Track 1" where your midi device is setup for the keyboard to show up, then lock it in place.
I cannot use plugins. At first Spitfire pluggins worked, but then after downloading more there was no sound and an error after opening them up in the daw
yeah i've had issues with spitfire Labs before due to the destination folders messing up, it can be a headache when encountering issues, hopefully double checking / confirming that helps, if not then I'd say you can try to change destination by deleting them from the spitfire launcher and putting them elsewhere, then tell waveform to search there instead under settings > plugins.
How on earth are you able to route hardware synths? Is it possible/a thing to be able audio and midi on a single track? I use Linux and I can get some sound..just not consistently and on two different tracks.
I'm sorry but I don't have a hardware synth to try and test out, I wouldn't imagine being able to use hardware and midi at the same time on a single track, maybe it would be possible if you setup a rack to route both through?
How do I turn off send to master in Waveform? I like to use reference tracks and I don't want them to be mastered again. I want to keep the original signal.
I've never used a daw before, I'm Brazilian and I don't have any tutorials in Portuguese, you were the most objective guy, I understood everything easier with your video, thanks
This is the first tutorial that I have watched and actually got something set up and working. It would be helpful if the pointer was larger to follow where you are clicking in Traction Free 12.
My keyboards not popping up on bottom of screen after adding midi keyboard to track, any notes I put on are light green not grey and not vibrant green but don’t produce noise
The menu on the bottom changes depending on what you have selected, make sure you have the right track selected, and do you have a plugin set in the track to produce sound? The vibrance of the note is tied to the velocity, you can manually change the velocity of each note with the velocity option in each track after highlighting a note.
This is definitely one of the most useful tutorials I've seen yet. All of the Reaper videos jump through steps as if the viewer already knows the terminology and protocol. You went slowly, and the zoomed screens show what each parameter screen says/does. Thank you. I uninstalled Reaper because I don't want/need to customize something that I don't know how works to begin with. It has too many variable for me at this point (as a 67 year old novice who played music for 50 years). Waveform will be my next attempt. Again, thank you.
Glad the video helped, I wanted to approach the video with the idea that I'm showing somebody that has never even opened the software before how to get started. I was also fairly new to the software when making this video, and recorded it as something I would've liked to have seen as a new user.
I plugged my Casio psx3100 into my PC hoping to use the "Upright Piano" vst pluggin after installing Waveform Free 13. However I only hear my own Casio piano sound and not the "Upright Piano" sound I was hoping for. To play the "Upright Piano" sound, I have to use the virtual keyboard on my computer screen. What am I doing wrong? I want to use my Casio keyboard to play "Upright Piano" sounds.
I'm new to this issue so I was looking around on this forum: www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/19015-solved-warning-do-not-buy-px-s3000-as-a-midi-controllermidi-sound-module/ , and the user with the issue said turning off local control helped, maybe try that? I've never used a keyboard that was both standalone and midi.
Thank you. This tutorial is what I need, a step by step guide for someone with no DAW recording experience, It totally makes sense and has really helped to get me started.
I like Waveform Free, it's very convenient and easy to use. However, I wonder how to make this DAW recognize the transport buttons in my Arturia Keylab Essential 49. When I use midi learn and press one of those buttons, nothing really happens. As if Waveform didn't receive proper input from those buttons. It's worth noting that Ableton Live Lite automatically supports the transport buttons in my Arturia.
I just got my own midi controller the other day and had a similar issue :) I found this to be my solution www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8041562& , I tried to research your controller and found another forum going over a similar problem, maybe looking over it will help! www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=537835 I hope things get sorted smoothly and have fun!
Thanks, glad you liked it! I've never used sf2 files before so I researched a bit, it seems you need a plugin capable of loading sf2 files in the daw, since they aren't handled in the daw itself. I then found one supported on windows called Sforzando, check that out.
I'm guessing you mean the audio clips red on the audio bars, you can try to prevent this by adding a volume limiter with a plugin, and if you hear a sort of static noise after rendering, turn off dithering. An alternative is using volume automation and manually dipping the audio with line nodes wherever it clips. Waveform has a built-in plugin that could help if you right click > add plugin > waveform > effects > compressor/limiter, make sure that the instrument is being fed into it in the hierarchy then within the compressor/limiter you can play with the threshold and ratio until the clipping is gone.
@@MaveyReal Thanks..I'm pretty new to Waveform..still learning it..il look into it..Also when I listen back to the wav file I save, the sound doesn't sound as dynamic as when I was playing ..it's sort of flat..Is this just the way it is or can I get a more dynamic sound?
hiiiiiii i have a problem every time i press search button and choose a clip and drag it into my project, it has a little yellow triangle on the left side wich does let the clip play ( could you please make a small tutorial how to fix it would mean a world to me (been struggling with it for 3ours uhh) anyway thx for ur help)
You would see that yellow triangle if you have a track or notes present but no plugin to play them. so try inserting a plugin to play those notes on the right hand side. You can download the plugin library i provided or one of the many free plugins online from places like pluginboutique. If you don't know how to add a plugin, you just right click the right side of the track where the volume control is and find "add plugin".
I was looking over comments quick and completely forgot about an alternative solution, hopefully any future readers benefit from it. If you see those caution symbols it could also be the plugin sandbox crashing, check the top right of the program to see if the outlet symbol is red, if it is click on it and restart sandbox. Let it do it's thing and you should be good to go, it may take a minute to restart so be patient.
hey so i downloaded the spitfire labs plugin and it worked for one track but then i downloaded drums from their library and i tried putting it for another track and it gave me an error. do u happen to know how to fix that
What does the error say? I've had errors before when dealing with installation destinations and all that, so I ended up just making a music plugin folder on my desktop and throw everything in there, fixed those issues. The spitfire standalone installer itself can be tricky about that, check the instruments in the installed/not installed sections and see if the desination folders match up.
what exactly do you mean by sessions, live playing sessions? I'd imagine if all of the sound is coming from the vital plugin it could all be recorded on the single track with the vital plugin.
Trying to find a way to record two different inputs at the same time and I'm not finding ANY USEFUL information anywhere. I have a interface that is a single chanel either mic or instrument (cannot run both at the same time) and I have a USB condenser mic. Trying to record more traditional punk/rock music and I'm unable to assign them to separate tracks (one input track for the vocal mic and one input track for the interface) Waveform will only allow me to record either the mic or through the interface...not both at the same time...this makes it literally impossible for me to record anything because I cant sing in key unless I'm actually playing while singing....someone help me figure this out please
You should be able to set the inputs you want to use for each track on the left, then hit the recording button on each so they record what is played through those inputs. Going beyond that depends on whatever setup you have. But maybe I'd be able to help with more details on what you have going on
I own a Arturia MIDI Controller, the Waveform midi learn doesn’t list Manufacturers to set up your Controllers, So how do I set up my pads on my Controller to Waveforms drum editor and Sampler .. Transport button/ Faders .. etc
@@MaveyReal I have had fun making music, its 8 months later now, and I must say, I have learnt a couple of things in this period. First of all, the wonderful music making community on youtube has been of very big help. Content Creators like you are the reason creativity thrives and people are able to learn while in their own environment, its not like we are having to pay for these services, and at the same time, you people are getting promoted, xD
@@inventorsyndrome8894 I'm just glad I'm helping people get their foot in the door and make the first steps less daunting. Making music you're proud of is fun and everyone should be able to try. :D
Spitfire Labs plugins are Mac and Windows only. Thus unavailable for Tracktion Waveform 11.1 Pro running on Linux. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm having trouble finding plugin instruments for Waveform on Linux. The Tracktion VST "Collection" is my only source of instrumental sounds at present.
idk anything about linux, but I did some research and found people were using some bridging programs, kind of like adapter cables. One is called Wine, another person said reaper worked great for them. A downside they seem to bring up is that Wine uses up a decent amount of ram. It seems a little similar to how i use 32-bit plugins on waveform, since there's only support for 64-bit, by using a bridge or adapter software allowing it to work called NetVST. Hopefully you find the software like wine or reaper works for you, or at least puts you in the right direction :D good luck!
@@MaveyReal found it, but haven't installed it yet. KX Studio's Carla will run 32bit & 64bit plugins. The free Win/Mac Steinberg Labs instruments for example.
Idk if you’re still responding but the one i don’t understand is the order and where you place the plugins you placed the compressor in front of the instrument because you wanted the sound to go through it first basically right? Before hitting the instrument? Also how did you set up your plugins to where they were your desktop files?
I still respond! This video is somewhat old at this point though so some things are outdated, and I've grown as a creator since. The plugin i fed into the LABS instrument plugin was the built-in midi modifier, it's feeding the input i place within the modifier on the instrument, I used it to just transpose where the notes being played by my keyboard were. It's a very useful tool for people that don't have a full sized midi controller. As for the desktop folder situation, I just made a folder on my desktop and whenever I install any plugins or services related to it I dump them all in there and organize it internally, I then add that folder to waveform's vst plugin directory so it actively scans there along with the default folders.
@@MaveyReal thanks for kind of answering my first question i mean like if i was to add like a tape effect would it go in front of the instrument? and yeah i did the same thing for my plugins but my plugins come up separately you were able to select the desktop folder then select which plugin from there how? If you can’t answer that’s fine I’m just very organized and it seems easier than shuffling through all my plugins
@@Logan619ine-i5q The version I was using in this video is old, they just came out with the recent Waveform 12 free that replaced the plugin folder list with a search feature separated by manufacturer. For plugin order I would put post processes like EQ's after the instrument, but tools that alter the properties of the plugin before, for example things like the midi modifier and the scaler 2 plugin would go before because they change how the instrument is interacted with. Audio effects like an EQ, reverb, vinyl etc. would go after the sound being produced, so they have something to alter.
@@MaveyReal thank you so much I just started in like May after I turned 18 in February lol of course i wanna do this now when I have like no free time. I’m just trying to get as much information as i can now I started learning piano,just started guitar,vocals, and obviously sound design and music production
did you raise the tab at the bottom with the arrow? and make sure you were on a generated midi track, it will show the options for whatever you're clicked onto.
only thing I can think of is checking your screen resolution, or trying to drag segments of the software to enlarge the keyboard because I have everything at default.
That usually means that there's a mis-match, like a sample being played through a plugin, or a midi track being present without a plugin, or the controller your using having an issue for whatever reason or not being assigned properly.
@@Sebansdairycreations you'd have to figure out why it's there to begin with, has the audio engine crashed? or any of the things I mentioned above, if you're using 2 audio devices are their Hz levels matching?
so I dont have an audio interface but I have a rocksmith cable, I see the peak meter picking it up but I dont hear anything unless I record and play it back so what gives?
@@MaveyReal I have blue cat free amp and some amps from plugin alliance and I'm plugged in to input channel one so its obviously not midi so is there a way to get sound? or do I need a interface. it weird how its picking it up and recording and I'm able to play it back along with the amp plugin but that kind of pointless if I cant hear myself playing while I record
@@freewheelburning8834 only thing i can think of is if it's possible in the plugin to set live playback, or an output of some sort. Or maybe it's being sent to a headset that's plugged in?
@@MaveyReal I just thought because waveform picks it up through "input channel 1" rather than MIDI id be able to hear it I guess DAWS aren't designed to be able to do that like amplitude does I dont know guess I would have to ask a developer to understand what's going on under the hood so to speak, I tried asio4all maybe ill tinker with that a bit more and see
Audio devices in settings is set to the right device. I have the sample rate set to 48000 Hz, and checked Windows Sound System but didn't find where to set the Hz level. Still no sounds are emitted. Thanks in advance.
@@josuegueggboi hmmm, well tracktion uses the audio output you have set in settings, no matter what your pc has set to default. so make sure those match, and make sure you click on the right track you put the plugin on. So tracktion knows that's what sound to play. If you wanted to find where to set the Hz level in windows you would open the sound settings, and on the right you'd click on the sound control panel, you'd find the device, right click and go to properties, in the new window you can find the Hz levels.
I've been trying to increase the attack for some notes to create a crescendo effect, but the instrument panel (where you can edit master, delay, compression etc) and the compression plugin itself, somehow don't have any effect on the track when I alter the attack of the notes/track! Can you let me know how I can do this?
not sure what plugin's you're using, but you can go to controllers and adjust the curve with the pencil tool (with snapping disabled), or use the automation curve tool (my preferred method) at the top right of the track indicated by an "A" and from the drop-down menu, select the instrument's volume or dynamics option, then create a curve with the intended effect from the new line that appears.
@@MaveyReal Thanks for the quick reply. I am just using the default Compressor plugin that I think came with my free version (should be the latest version too). I've tried both ways you've mentioned but somehow none of the settings change anything about the track I'm trying to edit. For the controllers, I have program change, aftertouch, channel pressure and pitch wheel, tried pencilling freehand curves for each, nothing changes except pitch wheel does change the pitch of course, which I don't want :) The volume from the automated paramaters menu doesn't allow me to draw curves, it's the basic volume up/down and pan left/right tool. Is there another plugin for volume that allows me to draw the curve?
@@sophiaho3591 sorry i forgot to respond here, what plugins are you using so i can see what parameters it has? It should at least have a basic volume slider for automation. Ideally a dynamics slider.
@@MaveyReal I think I just have the standard Waveform plugins, they're grouped as follows: Effects: 1-band equalizer 3-band equalizer 8-band equalizer Chorus Compressor Delay Distortion DJ EQ DJ Filter Gate Limiter MIDI Chord Player MIDI Modifier Natural Reverb Non-linear reverb Phaser Pitch shifter Plate reverb Volume and pan Instruments: 4OSC Micro Drum Sampler Micro Sampler Rompler Utility: AB Switch Aux return Aux send Freeze Point Insert Level Meter Mid Slide MIDI CC MIDI Note Names MIDI Patch Bay Mono Switch Patch Bay Spectrum Text If it's easier to continue via email, let me know!
LABS itself is a separate program, you'd install it then you can either install the instruments you want directly from the program or from here labs.spitfireaudio.com/#category=&search=&new=true . When you load labs into tracktion, the instruments you installed should all be there. Just make sure the destination folders are set to where you want them to be, but default should work fine too.
were there any attack/release settings? I can't remember off the top of my head, but release is the setting to determine how long the note holds before it's released.
If that doesn't work I also found that having your screen at an odd resolution can cause waveform to read a second input and it's like having turbo on your inputs, if it looks like the note is playing multiple times while holding it down try changing the resolution in display settings.
I downloaded a free version of Waveform to use with a Soundcraft Ui24r mixer and a windows 10 PC. Would you tell me how to set everything up so I can record from the Ui24R capturing six inputs (2 mics vocal/4 mics for church organ). I want to record the two vocalist and organ and in Adobe Premiere Pro have the ability to edit the vocals and organ independently.
Hello :) first off, to export each track into their own individual file you'd follow the normal exporting process at the bottom left of the window, go to file then -> "export: render to a file..." then a window will open and process the track, you'll see an option to toggle "render each track into a seperate file" , that'll give you each seperate track for importing to adobe. As for the mixer, I'm not experienced much in using one but i can try assuming some things, go into settings at the top of the window then make sure your mixer is registered in the MIDI devices section, then im assuming when you go to each individual track, you'd assign your mixer as the input device (where I assigned my keyboard as the input in the video), and play the desired instrument on that track, then move onto the next one. At least that's how I'd imagine it working :D hopefully it all goes smoothly!
check your audio devices in settings and make sure it's set to the right device, and that both devices are set to the same Hz level, like 44,100, or 48,000 in windows sound settings.
I mentioned it in the video at 4:15, on the right side you would right click and select "add plugin" and find where you have them installed, they're usually in the default steinberg or other vst folders created on most installations.
LABS itself is a separate program, you'd install it then you can either install the instruments you want directly from the program or from here labs.spitfireaudio.com/#category=&search=&new=true . When you load labs into tracktion, the instruments you installed should all be there. Just make sure the destination folders are set to where you want them to be, but default should work fine too.
@@daniellagoldfine-music2127 It is fantastic :D There are other free offerings in the description to check out, especially that BBC Symphonic orchestra.
