I am just starting to use CEP. Any advice?

[zenpeace69]

I like it so far. It is better than most freeware as it is more intuitive than alot of crap out there and seems fairly stable as well. Anyhow, is there any advice you could give me. Something you wish someone told you before you made that certain mistake?

thanks

[dobro]

It's a great recorder and mixer.

The compressor's a bit unintuitive, but you can figure it out eventually.

The only heads up I'd give someone is this: when you've recorded and saved a session, and then go back into it later and start deleting tracks and moving tracks around, be very VERY careful how you do it. It's very easy for Cool's session information to get screwed up and think a track's there when it actually isn't, and if that happens, it's a headache.

If that happens try this: use Save Session As and save the screwed up session as an entirely new session with a new name in a new folder. (Oh yeah - make sure you keep each session in its own folder.)

[Chrisjob]

Well, I don't know if I'd call CEP a GREAT mixer, but its pretty good


It IS a great multitracker, and fantastic sample editor...and the included effects are pretty impressive (but watch that compressor)

Lots of Luck
Chris

[dobro]

Yeah, you're right - I meant it's a great editor for doing mixes and mixdowns.

[James Argo]

Yeah guys...
I used it for audio editing so far rather than multi tracking. Let me say, it's superior noise reduction is second to nothing. Greatest among others. And it's the fastest audio editor I've known ever. Stick with it.


Jaymz

[scottboyher]

Just make sure you install it on the best computer and soundcard you can afford.

[zenpeace69]

Will it work on a linux OS? I have decided to get rid of microsoft xp forever.

[James Argo]

No. It won't run on Linux.

I've tried doing audio thingee with RedHat, but I think it's loooongg waaaayyyy to be there. IMHO, let the Linux for the server for now, will ya ?


Jaymz

[BrettB]

Close waves after you close a session to avoid complications.

Be carefull with saving and opening files that are allready in the session. Before you know it you'll have the dreadful (2) after a wave file and it fucks up your whole session.

[dobro]

"The Dreadful (2)".

LOL

[rats]

I like Cool Edit because of the way it makes me feel.

[chrisharris]

1. CLOSE NON-SESSION WAVES A LOT - If you tend to do a lot of takes of any particular instrument, where you just record over the same spot until you get it right, then after you finally get a whole track down (a vocal, for example), select "Close All Non-Session Waveforms" and when it asks you if you want to save whatever tracks are NOT in your multitrack session, choose "No To All." This makes eventually saving the session a lot simpler, and it makes my computer run faster...it also seems to decrease the odds of a meltdown in mid-session.

2. SELECT 32 BIT ON EVERY OPTION YOU CAN - This is actually a very big deal to me now. I used to record and mix everything in 16 bit, b/c for some reason, that's how my first version of CEP was setup to record by default, and I didn't know any better. I won't get into it too much now, but the WAY CEP works is in 32 bit, no matter what you've got your options set to, so if your options are set to record and mix in 16 bit, then CEP has to convert the file 2 or 3 times for each "thing" you do to it...like if you add reverb to a vocal, it INTERNALLY converts your 16 bit file to a 32 bit file, then adds the reverb, then converts it BACK to a 16 bit file. The conversions involve a "dithering" process that I know almost nothing about, but I know that the cumulative effect of this is to dull the overall sound (attenuates the highs), and there are some waves that I might run through 8-10 processes (compression, EQ, reverb, chorus, etc.)...so w/o even knowing it, I was basically forcing my tracks to undergo 20 unnecessary conversions before they ever got mixed down in a final file. It was this forum that straightened me out, and my mixes IMMEDIATELY improved about 10 fold...Man, I felt like a dufus. THAT'S SOMETHING I WISH I'D KNOWN.

So go into your settings RIGHT NOW and go through each panel, and everywhere you see an option to select between 16bit or 32 bit, select 32 bit...some examples would be "open files as 32 bit" or "mixdown 32 bit" or "submix 32 bit"...every damned one you can find.

The ONLY time you should use 16bit is when you've finally got your final mix that you want to burn to CD...at that point, you have to convert it to 16bit in order to burn it to CD.

Those were the 2 things that probably tripped me up the most.