wglmb wrote:I use Mixcraft (relatively cheap, powerful, and easy to learn!).
I know it'd be easier to do what I want in Mixcraft, but my normal workflow is to get all the instruments sounding how I want them in Notion, then export them as audio and import them into Mixcraft, where I do
tiny adjustments and add vocals.
So it's really just force of habit that makes me want to do it this way! Sill, I know

I visited the Mixcraft website, and there is a comparison chart that shows all the stuff it does compared to Cakewalk and Cubase Studio 5, Cakewalk SONAR Home Studio 7 XL, and Acid Pro 7, so it looks like Mixcraft is a full-featured DAW application . . .
Mixcraft supports automation, and there is an example of a track with something being controlled by automation, where the automation is done as a line that has an arc of points in the middle, which typically indicates that the level or whatever is lower and then gradually increases and decreases (the arc of dots), followed by returning to the original level . . .
This also suggests that there are "drawing" tools for editing automation lines, which is very important, since the "drawing" tools allow you to make everything work smoother than simply recording the particular control as you move it . . .
As noted, I use the Notion 3 Mixer to adjust levels and panning when I am working on music notation and need to hear everything in playback, but once I am happy with the music notation and the VSTi instruments, I save the project, and then I set all the tracks to 0dB and remove all the effects, including the Notion 3 Reverb on the Master stereo output track, after which I assign ReWire channels; and then do a "Save As" where I append "ReWire" to the file name . . .
This way, I have two version of the score--one of which has the ReWire channels, tracks at 0dB, and so forth . . .
Then, I close Notion 3 and start Digital Performer 7, which is the DAW I use . . .
In Digital Performer 7, I create new tracks and assign them ReWire channels to match the ReWire channels of the Notion 3 score, and then I start Notion 3, where I use Digital Performer 7 as the ReWire host for purposes of recording the Notion 3 generated audio via ReWIre as Digital Performer 7 soundbites . . .
And based on various experiments, I avoid using channels 1 through 10, so I start with the 11-12 pair of channels, since the pairs are 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, and so forth, where the number pattern is odd-even . . .
Additionally, I limit Notion 3 scores to 25 instruments, where 5 of them are common to all the subscores for a song . . .
Using subscores requires a tiny bit more work, as well as keeping all the subscores in a common folder and using a naming convention for the file names, but this is not difficult to do, and it works very nicely, since most of the VSTi instruments I use are "heavy" in terms of application and system resources, so keeping them in subsets of 25 avoids problems . . .
The reasons I do all the effects work in the DAW (Digital Performer 7) are (a) that there is more control and (b) that I can have more "heavy" VST effects in Digital Performer 7 than in the Notion 3 Mixer, which is important since some of the effects plug-ins (VST) I use are vastly "heavy", where two examples are AmpliTube 3 (IK Multimedia) and Panorama 5 (Wave Arts) . . .
And I like to use a lot of individual components from T-RackS 3 Deluxe (IK Multimedia) on drumkit tracks, bass tracks, vocal tracks, and any instrument that needs a stronger level, vacuum-tube blur, punch, or whatever . . .
Whatever! The T-RackS 3 Deluxe components also are "heavy" but not quite to the extent of AmpliTube 3 and Panorama 5, and there is a limit to how many of them the Notion 3 Mixer can handle, which generally is in the range of 10 or so when T-RackS 3 Deluxe also is used for mastering the Notion 3 Master stereo output track . . .
Explained yet another way, I treat Notion 3 as if it were a musician or singer, and the goal is to record it dry at a strong level . . .
The only adjustments I make and keep in the ReWIre version of a Notion 3 subscore is panning that is done to create what I call "sparkles", but for the other tracks in Notion 3 I set their panning to the full range, which makes it easier to work with panning in Digital Performer 7 once the Notion 3 generated audio has been recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer 7 . . .
Again, this certainly can appear to be a bit confusing, but once you do it a few times, it is not the least bit confusing . . .
And the reason for mixing everything in Digital Performer 7 is that by not placing arbitrary restrictions on the Notion 3 generated audio tracks--other than the panning settings for "sparkles"--this provides the most flexibility and control over the instruments for purposes of ensuring that the instruments do not overpower the singing, which for the most part is not something that I can determine until I actually record the singing and decide how I want to enhance it with custom echoes and so forth . . .
The problem with doing instrument mixes is that some of the instruments inevitably will dominate, which is fine when it is an instrumental song, but when there is singing the general rule is that the singing dominates, except during instrument breaks, where for example the lead guitar becomes the dominate force . . .
And from this perspective, it is much easier to do all the mixing in the DAW, which is the way I do it . . .
Overall, it requires more work, but this is the way it is done by major studios for hit records, so I think it makes sense for me to do it this way, since I want to have hit records . . .
At first, I tried doing everything with real instruments, but I never was able to get good levels, which mostly is a matter of not having a lot of stellar microphones, so after doing some experiments with Notion 3 and VSTi instruments I realized that this strategy is much better and the levels are excellent . . .
I continue to do real rhythm and lead guitar, for which it is easy to get good recording levels, and I do real singing, which also is easy with respect to getting good recording levels, since I have two reasonably good microphones and I do a lot of post-processing with the Melodyne Editor (Celemony) . . .
As an example, this is the first song done (a) with music notation and VSTi instruments in Notion 3 that are recorded in Digital Performer 7 via ReWire as soundbites and (b) real singing done in Digital Performer 7, and it is a headphone mix, which is what I do when I am working on a song, as is the case with this song, since I have not added the real lead guitar solos and backup vocals . . .
http://www.surfwhammys.com/Im-Going-Goo-Goo-Over-Ga-Ga-11-28-2010-2-DP7.mp3 Once everything is recorded, I switch to doing loudspeaker mixing, but for now it is a headphone mix, which is fabulous . . .
Fabulous! 