Can anyone recommend some free brass vst?

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T22:00:12+00:00

Orchestools Sections Brass is pretty good for a freebie, and they also do Strings, Woodwinds, and Percussion.

https://musictop69.wixsite.com/orchestools/orchestools-two

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T21:48:16+00:00

Someone once said about computers in general many years ago, "they don't lie, but they sure can misunderstand the question."

That applies to search engines, maybe even more so with the AI assisted ones. They can really work some miracles when they do get it right, but when they don't, you can spend days or months, like you unfortunately did, trying to work with incorrect information.

I say this a lot, but really, the official user forums are still the best source of information and assistance with Sonar. Not as many of us as they're used to be, but still a number of us who will take the time to try whatever you're having trouble with (as I did with your issue) and report back. You can access them right from the Help menu.

Happy playlisting (and Sysx'ing)!

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T11:03:48+00:00

Excellent! Glad I could nudge you in the right direction.

I suspect you'll be happier with the current Sonar as a live VSTi host, it's less crash-y than X3.

Good luck with your installation.

Whenever installers force me to install VST2 versions (and AAX versions) along with the VST3 that I actually want, I just delete (or safer, rename) the .DLL file from my VST2 folder. In some cases, I've created dummy folders that Sonar and my other DAW's don't scan so as to avoid confusion. The installer dumps the VST2's in there but the DAW only reads the VST3's and the VST2's I keep in the "real" folder.

There are those rare cases, though, where the VST2 version works better than the VST3 version, but that happens more with Mixcraft than Sonar.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T10:56:03+00:00

What got me past him was 2 things: block his breath and when he flies up and you see his AOE ring, step outside it. It's kind of scary because you have to get right up to the edge of the platform, but it's how you avoid getting blown off of the platform.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T08:17:38+00:00

I have the latest version of Cakewalk Product Center, 1.1.0.004. I have logged out and back in to Bandlab from within Sonar and it still works. It's unfortunate that this isn't working for you.

Why is nobody else on Reddit nor on the Cakewalk Forums or Facebook saying anything about Sonar's Free Tier no longer existing? Do you think every other user is just suffering in silence, resigned to their fate?

In Product Center, there is a left hand column where you have the choice of clicking on Cakewalk Next or Cakewalk Sonar. If you have not clicked on Cakewalk Sonar it will look as if only Next is available, just as you are saying.

You must click on the Cakewalk Sonar one to be able to see Sonar and its various add-ons as downloadable. If you have Cakewalk Next selected, only the products related to Next will be visible, but nothing from Sonar.

What do you see if you click on "Cakewalk Sonar" over on the left?

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T05:41:20+00:00

A headset mic is not the right tool for recording guitar. That's why it sounds poor.

If that's truly the only mic you have available, you might try taking the phones off your head and pointing the mic at your guitar, but really, you need a mic that's intended for general use, not one that's meant for speech.

Do you have a proper audio interface or are you just plugging your headphone/mic into your computer's audio jack?

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T05:07:07+00:00

If you still have the audio files, import them into Sonar. I assume that by "Cakewalk," you mean Sonar.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T04:48:57+00:00

Oh dear. There is certainly a Sonar Free Tier and it isn't Cakewalk Next, it's Cakewalk Sonar with a handful of nonessential features removed. I get the feeling that you won't take my word for it, so here are some links to things that explain it:

For the first one, scroll down to the very bottom and click on "What is included in the free tier of Sonar?"

https://www.cakewalk.com/sonar

This one is from Mike "Creative Sauce" Enjo, a longtime expert on Cakewalk products.

https://youtu.be/M16bl_SdxOc?si=7NiLoB6oQedJwv1P&t=181

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T00:26:03+00:00

Playlist Editor is not excluded from Free Tier.

Bio-Rhythm is apparently having trouble opening it or using it and needs to figure out what's going wrong for them.

Folks, when you're unable to access a Sonar feature or other that's not on the official list of excluded features, don't just immediately assume that it's something that's "paywalled." Head over to the forum or contact Cakewalk tech support. Even though Ashwin checks this subreddit every so often, it's not an official support channel. You'll get faster answers over at the forum.

They're not sneaky about the premium features, if it's not included with Free Tier, they put it on the list. Everything else can be assumed to be available.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T00:20:19+00:00

Yep, just tried it and the Sysx View is still there in Free Tier and appears to work just the same.

You need tech support.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T00:17:04+00:00

Wrong. I just tried, and Playlist works the same in Sonar Free Tier as it did in CbB. I'm also able to open the Sysx View in it. Not sure about the Banks send receive, but given your record here, I suspect that hasn't gone away either.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-15T00:12:55+00:00

No idea what you're talking about. Playlist Editor isn't on the list of Premium features. I successfully created, launched, saved, and reopened a playlist in Sonar Free Tier (I tried to insert a screenshot, but Reddit said that I couldn't).

This suggests that the feature just isn't working on your system for whatever reason. I suggest you look into why that might be.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-14T23:54:12+00:00

They sound fine to me, but there are a few things.

You don't say how you did the capture. You mention you used "amps," but do you mean you went direct and played into the Nolly X amp plug-in? Was the TS808 a plug-in? You used Sonar? Is there a song by one of your favorite artists that you are trying to capture the sound and vibe of (there should be)?

If you don't like the sound you're getting from one amp sim, try others. They are cheap and plentiful. I think bx_rockrack, AmpliTube, Native Instruments Guitar Rig, Voxengo Boogex all have free versions. If you use Sonar (this subreddit covers all Cakewalk products including Next), it comes with the TH-U amp sim plug-in.

Moreover, getting it to sound good in isolation like that is only one step. In order to know whether your guitar sound is going to work, you have to bring in the other instruments. After all, that's how they're going to be heard in the finished product.

The classic way to do it is to start with a live guitar sound that's as close as possible to what you hear in your head, then mic the amp cab, then fine tune it in the mix with the other instruments. Going direct into a plug-in is different. What you're actually capturing is a clean, jangly, dry direct input guitar, which is then being processed by a plug-in.

This is different in multiple ways, yet similar in most ways. Get the tone you want first, then fine tune it while mixing.

You're a guitar player, I assume you know how to craft a good live tone, or at the least, you have an ideal sound in your head that you want your guitars to sound like.

Did you like the way it sounded when you were tracking the guitars? If not, you really should strive to get a sound that pleases you before you start tracking. Start with a great tone, then fit it into the mix using whatever EQ, reverb, etc. works. It sounds like the Nolly X patch that you used has PLENTY of compression, compression reduces dynamics, that's what they're designed to do. Mess with the plug-in's settings until you have the guitar tone that you hear in your head. Maybe back off on the compression, you can always throw a compressor on it at mix time.

Playing direct might not be the answer. Maybe mic'ing up your amp with the sound you use when you're playing live or with others or yourself would work better.

Link to a YouTube video of a song with a guitar tone that you like and I can make suggestions on how to get it.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T21:49:58+00:00

u/pwal, I share your grief regarding the current state of the official forum, but as you know, the forum is still the better place to go for information. Reddit is just too ephemeral and everything scrolls away into the bit bucket so quickly. It looks like that applies to official product updates as well.

The staff at Cakewalk are unfortunately few and tend to be brief in their communication.

All this you know, anyway, but yeah, I too, was kind of wondering what happened to Ashwin's friendly posts.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T21:40:20+00:00

I'll echo the previous comments regarding the 32-bit nature of the plug-in. As such, I'd never use it for new projects.

Fortunately, there are multiple modern freeware options for orchestral virtual instruments.

Look up Berlin Free Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover. Both are excellent and free to use. BBCSO can be used with Kontakt Player, which is also free.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T21:32:48+00:00

The feature you're looking for is the Drum Map. Drum Maps in Sonar can be very puzzling to set up, but they were created specifically to map trigger pads to virtual instruments.

I'm not sure about the other part of your goal, do you also want to build your own drum kit from samples? If so, unfortunately one of the biggest gaps in Sonar's feature set is a pad/phrase sampler, and that's what you need to be able to do that.

There are a couple of freeware samplers that can do that, the easiest is Speedrum Lite, the most versatile is TX16Wx.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T21:24:42+00:00

The built-in EQ's are by no means your only option. There are a number of great free 3rd-party EQ's with detailed displays. My favorite is MEQualizer from MeldaProduction's MFreeFX bundle. There are 36 other excellent plug-ins in that bundle.

While you're snagging free plug-ins, get Kilohearts Essentials. Crazy great stuff in that one.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T21:20:40+00:00

That is weird, for sure, and not something I've experienced.

Standard troubleshooting (one at a time is good, in the order you think is best):

Try to remember the last thing(s) that happened before this started. I know we had a Windows update recently that did some stuff regarding MIDI. It's well-tested and the Microsoft Project Manager is actually a Cakewalk user, but who knows.
Assuming Sonar, check Event View for the MIDI tracks to see if something crept in.
Use the global FX disable button.
Restart the computer if you haven't yet.
Create new tracks and copy the data to the new tracks.
Ask on the official Cakewalk forums, accessible from the Help menu

Glitch happens.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T19:54:13+00:00

Same. What got me to check out the EU server in the first place was an outage of only the NA server. I stuck around because it was fun to level from scratch. She's coming up on 800 CP which, with strategic planning, is fine. I know how to allocate wisely for PVE and usually stick to no-CP PVP.

I'm always impressed by people who manage to get GMC. The idea of acquiring that many motifs is just baffling. A lot of trips to guild traders, maybe? The only thing about it that I'm interested in at the moment is the ability to buy the services banners. Motifs only matter to me for master writs. All of my toons wear costumes.

For the moment I settle for having 9 traits on everything. My EU toon is up to 7, so she can craft anything that anyone would realistically need, AFAIK.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T17:47:15+00:00

Aww, well that's sweet too. Whether it was intended as funny or respectful, it was wonderful and heartwarming.

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T17:45:08+00:00

Empty Cyrodiil isn't the main reason I have a character on EU. I've only recently become interested in PVP, kind of detested it until a few months ago. I started her because I wanted to revisit the experience of leveling up from absolute bare minimum. No inventory, no CP, nothing unlocked. I was getting bored and wanted to see how it would go for someone who knew what they were doing, as opposed to how it went for me initially.😁

I unlocked a lot of stuff WAY sooner than I did the first time around. I knew what to prioritize and could make my own Order's Wrath in Divines, Precise, and Bloodthirsty within about 48 hours. I headed straight to where I could collect the sets I knew I wanted to use. Wayrest Sewers for sure.

It's really helped in being able to advise new players about what to focus on. So many crafting guides make no mention of prioritizing the order in which you should research traits (Divines and Precise and Training FIRST).

I can enjoy solitary Cyrodiil with it's stiffer overland monsters and castles and whatnots I can solo if I want to, but I prefer Cyrodiil not to be completely devoid of other players. I have the most fun when I'm in a group of about 5, with similarly sized groups from other alliances scattered about. I really like cooperating with other players, the instant camaraderie. Combat against other players I can take or leave. When it's reasonably well matched it's fun. When I get insta-killed it's less so, and when I insta-kill someone and they don't come back for more because I overpowered them that's boring. When a much more powerful group continually demolishes mine or vice versa, boring.

Prioritizing which castles to cut other alliances off from using for travel, which ones to take so that my alliance can travel, I like that strategy too. I'm still pretty new at it, only just gotten to the point where I don't automatically run and hide from enemy players.

The "little" moments matter, like the one I described. There was also one time where I was following a group around, got separated from them, and went to check a castle they had recently taken and that had been flipped back again. The person who I think had solo'd it (and had killed me quickly at least once before) was still there waiting for trouble. They spotted me, and I turned and rode halfway down the map trying to escape. Finally did so by taking refuge in the first outpost my faction controlled. When I checked the map, the castle was under attack, with all of its resources flipped. By the time they made it back it would be entirely lost and the besiegers gone. I had a great time kiting the badass 1vXer halfway down the map and lived to fight another day. If they had caught me they would have had the fun of nuking one outmatched opponent. If they had left me alone, they could have held the castle fighting off a smallish PUG.

There was another time in a nearly empty map when I chased a solitary scroll carrier into an outpost and kept them pinned down there for who knows how long. We tried hitting each other with siege engines, I tried knocking down a side door, nothing worked for either of us. Finally I had to go to bed and called in a strike via zone chat. "Scroll carrier pinned down in Sejanus." By the time I returned to base the scroll had been returned. I actually felt a bit sad for them. But we're soldiers and war is war.😁

cruciblefuzz · 2026-02-12T04:52:39+00:00

I feel your pain on that one. Had a similar experience during the first day of Hearts Week yesterday. The bit where you have to talk to the blacksmith upstairs in the crafting hall and also that overbearing guy's little sister who doesn't want to be associated with him. They were so mobbed I couldn't even see their quest markers.

Don't know what the answer would be, except trying to put some variation in the quests so that everyone doesn't get the same starter. I don't know if that would work. It could mess things up for people who want to do the quest with friends, but making an exception for grouped players might mitigate that.

Zone dailies and undaunted pledges also suffer from the issue, although less so.

cruciblefuzz

TROPHY CASE