Best practice

Best practice in using Sonar 4 PE

I thought that I might start a thread to ask the forum if they would like to submit what I am calling Best Practice ideas. That is the best way to accomplish a particular task in Sonar.

I am not saying that there is only one way to do something or that a particular way is written in stone. But I would like to hear what others consider the best way or the fastest way or the easiest way of tackling a particular project. I am not looking for tips as such but how one actually get things done in a proper way.

To get things off to a start, here is what I think is a best practice.

When recording audio one should strive to keep recording levels in a range of -6 to -3 dB peak if at all possible.

Best
John

P.S. If someone post a best practice that you do not agree with, do not attack them. Submit one they way you would do it, with out comment. If you must comment post it here http://www.cakewalk.com/forum/tm.asp?m=406069
P.P.S. I hope this will turn into a useful thread.

Always be very particualr to the quality of the sound and tones and levels going INTO a recording It will make your mixdown easier......

some people think "theres nothing I can't fix in the mix" when in acually there are lots of things you can't fix in the mix.........or just isnt worth fixing ..do the take over.....

I always use noise gates, with my external mixer, on every channel that I'm recording to just to eliminate any extra noise that may be getting recorded onto the track. To test to see if you have any noise on any of your channels that you are recording to, go into record mode in sonar and set the record meter to -90( which is the highest range) and you'd be surprised at how much noise you have. I hope this is useful to someone.

Good Idea John. Hope it flies. I will add:

Always save as CWP files, and set Per Project Folders in Global Options.

Only save as CWB/Bundle files when backing up or transporting your projects.

Also, along the same line:

If possible, have your Projects/audio files on a separate physical hard drive than your OS/APPS (a drive dedicated ONLY to projects and audio).

Another I would add is in regards to this thread itself:

Inevitably, someone will post inaccurate information, soooo......

I would suggest that if you wish to question someone on their post here, start a new thread and title it something like "Question to xxxxx about Sonar Best Practice Post" and discuss it there. If some corrections need to be made, the original poster can come come back here and "Edit" in the changes.

This will save this thread from being clogged with long discussions.

Using near field studio monitors is the obvious choice when monitoring. However, I suspect that most use their monitors raw. That is with out any EQ for the general environment in which they are located. My practice is to insert a hardware 31 band stereo graphic equalizer between the output of my mixer and the input of my power amp. This I adjust to compensate for various speaker placement problems and room characteristics that color the sound and the monitors themselves. Once set I leave it along. I have found that this makes a big difference in simplifying my mixing. Getting the right eq curve will take time and a bit of fine tuning but it will be worth it.
Also there is usually a “sweet spot” where most monitors produce their best sound. But listening to this alone is not the best way to monitor. One should move their head off center occasionally to hear nuances and changes in the sound image. Also get up and move around the room a bit for the same reason. This is not to say that the sweet spot is no good to use, not at all just think of it as getting a different perspective of the sound.. This can also tell where your standing waves are located. Knowing where they are in your room can be very useful by using them for quick and rough eq comparisons. This is turning a lemon into lemonade.

Best
John

Also there is usually a “sweet spot” where most monitors produce their best sound. But listening to this alone is not the best way to monitor.

Get a SPL meter and only go above 80dB in extreme circumstances. Look up 'Fletcher Munson Curves' on the Internet.

ORIGINAL: billkath

2/Once I've tracked everything I always copy the entire project. I work editing the copy. This means I always have the raw project as a safety.

I also save a copy of the entire project folder at various points like mix attempts, and rename the folder to include a description ("New Project - Mix2")

just joined up cant even work out how to place a post.....you can imagine the problems im having with producer 7

plus about 9 years.

ORIGINAL: John

Welcome to the forum. Time and hard work will get you to where you want to be Phill.

The below is from another thread. I thought it may be of use here.


Linear sequencers as a concept are very much the same. Sonar is different in the basic concept of being able to do most things within the track view. Pro Audio was a classic sequencer with various views to do simple editing. When Sonar came out it broke with that idea and implemented the "all in one" concept. Through the years CW has expounded on this idea with the in line piano roll. If you look at the Sonar interface the first thing to jump out is the bus pane at the bottom. At first with Sonar 1 I saw this as a waste of good old track space until it hit me that that space could be used to automate the bus. One little tip that I will often interject into a thread is the fact that each track is handled as if it were a child window. There is a toggle on every track that will maximize it or minimize it. The same as with any Windows app. The only thing is it can go unnoticed because Sonar is the only DAW that works this way as AFAIK. Thus people don't look for it. One reason Sonar does not have an audio editing window. It is all in front of you.

Use envelopes to achieve consistent levels throughout tracks.

ORIGINAL: billkath

1/Get in to the habit of saving your work every few minutes. A simple Ctrl+S will save mucho heartache. I have autosaves disabled.

2/Once I've tracked everything I always copy the entire project. I work editing the copy. This means I always have the raw project as a safety.

3/If you autotune, or do any destructive effects or editing-Clone the track and archive the original before starting editing. You have that to fall back on when you find you made Celine Dion sound like Prof.Steve Hawkin.

1)Get into the habit of making iterations of saves, "Project X_2-14-08_v1, v2, v3 etc." That way, you can go back if you decide to change something.

"2)" - see above.

3) If you really like a project or song you have written, render everything to audio stems. That way if your midi or softsynths crash, you are safe.

Me too except I do do a save when I first start out. After that its save as only. Yes, CW needs a save as button.

HAVE FUN!

Use ONLY subtractive EQ

A blanket statement like that is very misleading.