OFFER!!!... Making Waves 1.95 Win32 - Most Likely Best OT Fluid Sample Based Music Studio>>>

TalkOrBell

From 1999 & also does MIDI composing right alongside of sample instruments & loops...

Despite what this reviewer said in a 2000 SOS review-

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/making-waves


What we have here is the 'Studio' version which has full MIDI sequencing which is not available on the lesser 'Making Waves Audio' or 'Making Waves Audio Pro' the difference in those is multiple outs & simultaneous recording in. As you see here I am MIDI sequencing AXS Tracker & Sync Modular (through it's own MIDI port)...






Does MIDI quite well also with some built-in MIDI Effects to use as well...

One can step record from a MIDI keyboard as well or you can pencil in notes or if you have a virtual MIDI keyboard like Virtual MIDI Controller you can use QWERTY... There are checks to use the keyboard, record note velocities & lengths...

But it shines using single sample instruments, there is so many ways to 'effect' the sample utilizing built-in FX and transform dynamic-based FX... Pitch Bending a sample works better than most anything as well as note slides... Small organic differences from bar-to-bar can be achieved to eliminate the Bwomp-Bwomp-Bwomp-Bwomp monotonous non-music that still is prevalent as it's ever been. NOW you can achive Bwomp-Bwip-Brakk-Bwonk... Isn't that great?!!!

In 2001 a certain Daniel Bedingfield made a Hit Tune that went way up on somebody's charts apparently netting him 400 grand... This garnered awareness for Making Waves back in the day which faded as the years went on the genius developer getting sick around 2008-2009 then passing in 2011...

Here's the tune-



All FX are internal but you can draw them out with curves then there are bar levels for how much the effects influence is per bar, all organic...

Here's another review, this one is not smoking crack but something milder like pot as he mentions right off on Making Waves as DJ software which it is clearly not-

https://web.archive.org/web/20010405163033/analoguesamples.com/articleview.asp?article=33


Some more shotz-





You can specify a wave editor then when you simply RT-Click on a Track's WAV in use it will open up in it-




I could go on but you get the picture, this be old gold should run on anything down to windows 95 with a min of 16 MB RAM... Reading the above reviews may give clues to operation. The included installed HLP is marginal but the readme that's installed is much better...

This would be one of my top picks in 1999, Fruity Loops was crap in 1999 basically a screenmate drum machine...

Now once again the archive is MAKWVS195.rar and it's only 1.6 MB, so don't download anything else flung your way...

Pass is WinWorld

https://send.cm/d/w1vs

OR

https://gofile.io/d/rX3H9q



OK, A few things forgotten... This accepts 16bit WAV files stereo or mono... No to anything else I tried 24 bit which causes an error when actually using sample like playing the song but app does not crash as long as you replace the 24bit with a 16bit everything is as normal. For most part this appears quite rock-solid very well-done piece of code...

There is only one example tune, there are more here-

https://web.archive.org/web/19990501014200/pslnet.demon.co.uk/song.htm

However these tunes are just the information, not the samples which you are expected to be using the same samples that came with the Making Waves CD in which case all these tunes would work. You can still load them & replace the empty WAV instruments with your own & nowadays we all got MUCH BETTER SAMPLES then they had so much better sounding anyways>>>

BigfarT2

Looks like I will have to download this …. It reminds me of a good wavey fart 💨 ready to be released!

TalkOrBell

It's certainly not taxing on HDD space as it's a 1.6 MB installer... Lotta feature set for a small app reminds me of AXS in that way...

BTW just finished 5 new skins for AXS that now feature the updated '3.0' which the devs did not update porting to windows from DOS...



So I edited the 3.0 in & added an extra pixel row of shadow & shine but no more as too much color change messes up colors in all kinda oddball spots hard to rectify>>>

BigfarT2

Looks good 👍 talk or bell

TalkOrBell

Thanks... I think I know what the deal is with that first reviewer at the beginning. Surely he was reviewing the 'Making Waves Audio' or 'Making Waves Audio Pro' neither which have MIDI sequencing ability... ONLY the 'Making Waves Studio' has MIDI sequencing, which is what we have here for download... The reviewer seemed not to know & certainly did not delineate the differences...

TalkOrBell

Yeah, There were 3 different versions for sure but I think starting WITH version 2... Confusing>>>

Garcia

The latest version is from 2010 v6: http://www.spacehead.co.uk/download.htm
I dont know if they still sell it but it looks more or less the same... with a new skin and DX/VST support.
In the help says it can save as midi file, but need a registered version.

TalkOrBell

Yeah, They are similar for sure & I have numerous versions except for V3... The V4 & V5 had terrible plugin scanning...

Tested out this V6 beta it says it's registered as studio, plugin scanning greatly improved...Tested saving song, exporting to WAV & also making a MIDI tune exports to MID file fine... I have not finished plugin scanning because of errors but it's still better than 5.44...

Saves preset info off of My Documents/My Music/Making Waves which is different from 5.44 which saves in program dir...

If you scan for plugins you must be aware that MW grabs internal presets of plugins & saves these in it's own format... Sometimes it's able to grab more than that & depending on your plugins this could be up into several GBs of just MW presets. One machine I had it had nearly produced FIVE GB of presets!!! Boy, I had to thin those out...

Butt Hay Thanks for finding that, I'll put it to some work>>>

TalkOrBell

Here's a current page showcasing a version 5 for 19.99 pounds-

http://www.makingwavessoftware.com/


You can DL a demo tune that works in the v6 beta version on this page-

http://www.makingwavessoftware.com/downloads/

TalkOrBell

OK, That was like passing a bowling ball... Took 7 hours to finish scanning plugs. Once a plug fails then it starts all over again then that plug becomes a 'stopping point' for dialog asking to rescan it or not... Easy to deduce the farther one gets down the grim road of scanning the longer it takes to get back to where you were as it's not smart enough to simply bypass failed plugs...

If you have small amount or none at all no problem but if you have a TON then best when there is a failure then send that plug whether bare DLL or in folder to a clean recycle bin. That way MW won't be stopping on it to chat on the next scan because when the plug fails you must rescan. When absolutely everything is done & it has updated all plugs (that means it's creating native MW presets for each) you then can restore all the recycled plugins...

In my install Making Waves ended up creating 2.6 GB of VSTi presets & 115 MB of VST-DX presets plus add the 300 MB of presets I deliberately created in 5.44 for some favored plugs brings total to 3 GB of HDD space lost. Crap, I guess sample-based uses less space in this case...

Good thing is that it passes many more plugs than 5.44 would...

So there you go, You could be smart & stick with 1.95 & not pass any bowling ball>>>

Garcia

hahaha you must have a lot of VST/DX pluggins! WOw!
Thanks for the link, I didn't see that buy page because the software points to a different domain... So surprised that they still selling it, but cool... hopefully they still support it and fix bugs etc.

I played around with v6 in a win10 VM and it worked fine.
It looks like its reduced to 5/10 pounds, so that's pretty good price.


I bought the studio version just waiting on the reply with the key, hopefully the midi export will work ok

TalkOrBell

That's cool... Yeah I have no problem with MIDI export or WAV render on both the 5.44 & the 6 Beta... For me it does not make any sense to export because MW is setup very nice for integration with Yamaha XG with FX that work well for it the sound is quite nice & MW quite powerful in that way. My issue is recording the 'stereo mix' or 'what you hear' as this thinkpad doesn't have that... tried all kinda gimmick but I see that a simple patch cord from headphone jack to line-in or mic is the best bet then record those ports...In this way I can record the mix of Samples/VSTi/MIDI Device all played at same time>>>

Garcia

I'm pretty sure, windows XP can record what you hear... it's called stero mix, you just have to select it as your recording input... I dont have a winXP VM setup... here's an image from the net, you dont want the microphone input, but the strerio mix input selected:



that's in your audio properties, right click the speaker on the toolbar, if you have it there.
You might need to record using another software tool like audacity, it should work.

TalkOrBell

Yeah my 'other' computers have that but these lenovos took that out for some copy dispute thing... They are like the only ones who did that back in the day... I know what you are talking about I can find it on any other laptop except for this thinkpad R500 & the thinkpad x200 which have that stripped out... It's a lenovo thing not an OS thing...

Yes, I got a ton of plugs both DX & VSTi-VST & also MFX... Still 6 is better than 5.44 they have done improves just need to do a little more...

Should've come with more demo tunes the only one available is-

makingwavessoftware.com/download/MW-Demosong.exe


Cool beans I like the organic workflow, very ingenious... Once it scans plugs then it creates the presets so choosing instrument in bottom browser just clicking on a preset plays it with that particular plug open in the background... EVERYTHING is a track!

Garcia

strange, maybe a sound driver problem.

impressive demo song

TalkOrBell

I had hoped to explain it well enough earlier but it's not a driver problem... It's a Lenovo/Microsoft problem as Lenovo made agreements with Microsoft to leave stereo mix out of thinkpads of a certain period due to DMCA or RIAA or FBI or CIA or FEMA or other, at least one of those...

You will find tons of there on the net-

Garcia

wow, ok, I see!
very strange

TalkOrBell

Yes, Strange & irritating but a patch cord with 2 male ends solves the problem especially since there are variable 'disconnects' of the effected lenovos. Some fixes work for some but not others...

BTW for anyone interested here's the MP3 Interview with Daniel Bedingfield from 2005-

https://web.archive.org/web/20051228103250/makingwavesaudio.co.uk/media/downloads/DB&SteveTmaster.mp3

I certainly could use an extra 400 grand but it ain't gonna happen...

Garcia

pretty good interview, very inspiring lol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Bedingfield

TalkOrBell

Yup, It paid off for somebody... It brought notice to MW as well but seems like that went flaccid fairly quickly...

400 grand made off that 'Hit'... Could use that as our hot water heater went out today, man anymore those things are junk. They are warrantied for like 6 years & they might last 7. Took a shower today stringing 3 different garden hoses left out in the sun as an 'on-demand' water heater...

When we built place in 2005 HW heaters were 200 bucks now they are 500...

Garcia

I PDF'ed the .chm help file.
A lot easier to read!

TalkOrBell

NICE ONE!!!... Yeah some of those CHMs can be irritating Many Thanks>>>

Garcia

I was hoping it could export non midi tracks as midi also.
It doesnt export the sampled tracks or the plugin tracks as midi, I can only get midi tracks to export as midi...

I like the sample and chord features of this app alot, so I think it's more advanced then Traction v2 and simpler then v12, so I think I will use this.


But it looks like I'll have to redo everything I do in sample to midi manually?
Even copy and paste bars or insert bars can not help me, it looks like

@TalkOrBell would you know how to do this? or any tips I can look up in the manual?

TalkOrBell

What?... You mean playing a single sample in MW using MIDI keyboard OR piano roll? It's easiest really-




Or are you talking working up MULTIPLE samples in MW & saving to instrument? That isn't too bad either>>>

Now if you need more then make a track under & choose 'audio effect' then choose 'note settings' & there's a buncha stuff in there as well-

Garcia

Thanks for that, I will look into note settings and let you know if it works.

Garcia

I kinda figured it out, I can copy notes from one piano roll to another... I guess that's good enough

TalkOrBell

OK, Why do you need to copy notes? Even though it's single sample every track is poly so you can load SINGLE sample, go into step record & mash out 4-5-6 note chords all day long on MIDI Keyboard>>>

Garcia

I need to export the notes used in sampled tracks, to midi files.
But the app only exports midi on midi tracks, so I have to copy it manually.
It's a bit of a pain, but it works.

Garcia

This worked great with Jammer Pro!
Importing the midi file, is as simple as double clicking it in the bottom browser.

And I forgot that tracks can be changed by dragging and dropping instruments from the bottom browser, so I dont have to copy anything

So I'm thinking my workflow will be something like this:
Jammer chord progression export midi
Making waves import midi
Convert tracks to samples (using sound generator apps/vst etc.)
Finalize and render to wav

For playstation midi:
Compile sound bank (VAB) from samples.
Convert all tracks to midi using sound bank numbers
Export as midi
Convert midi to PS format
Test in emulator


It would be good if the "midi device: MicroSoft GS wavetable synth" could be updated/changed/replaced with the custom sound bank, that way the playback and midi export would pretty much be the same as on the playstation.

After a quick search, I found:
http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/virtualmidisynth
https://www.polyphone-soundfonts.com/
I'll have to try it out.

"free" SF:
https://archive.org/download/free-soundfonts-sf2-2019-04


Creating a mod file would be easier, but creating the SF2 file looks like the same process as creating the VAB.

This seems to support VAB, and I'm guessing automatically converts the SF2 to VAB
https://www.fmjsoft.com/awavestudio.html
Need to try it out, might be worth the money if it does it... not sure.



Oh and found this great midi player!
http://www.vanbasco.com/karaokeplayer/

TalkOrBell

Yeah, I have used the coolsoft thing but it interferes with ASIO & other drivers... Many ways to render out a MID Native Instruments Bandstand is real good, There are others I have not tried, Use Reason before which worked pretty good but mostly out of laziness I use The Yamaha XG which sounds great for the small size...

Garcia

Yamaha XG is in the "free" SF link above, not bad for 3MB
I liked CREATIVE_28MBGM.sf2, but the piano's arent as good as the 100+MB


The paid app, fmjsoft the trail wont do conversion, so not even going to bother with it.