We have new videos up from CeBIT 2011, a consumer electronics show in Hannover, Germany. Roland was demonstrating SONAR X1 with two members from the German band The Black Sheep. 

Here are the links ... 
 
Back Stage Pass: CeBIT 2011 – The Black Sheep “Break Me Down”

Back Stage Pass: CeBIT 2011 – The Black Sheep “Hypocrisy”

Back Stage Pass: CeBIT 2011 – The Black Sheep Impromptu Jam Session 1

Danke, Larry!

Also, the CeBIT videos are now live on CakeTV ... http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/backstage.aspx

New 2-part Master Class video is available for your viewing pleasure. It shows the creation of a short piece of music incorporating the Matrix View, Step Sequencer 2.0, MIDI and audio recording, Track Templates and the ProChannel.

Thanks to Mike Trujillo for putting this video together.

Watch on CakeTV
SONAR: Master Class - "An Electronic Brain"

Or watch on YouTube
(Part 1) SONAR: Master Class - "An Electronic Brain"
(Part 2) SONAR: Master Class - "An Electronic Brain"

Yeah thanks for the new videos. I just wish I could put the MV to good use. Just a lack of talent, not tools in Sonar.

very cool vids. thanks!

I believe that anyone who has upgraded to Z1 gets the Videos. At least I did and I purchased back i December. Sut go into your my account page and there should be 3 new downloads available to you.

Skyline_UK


I REALLY wish the Reference Guide could be made available as a printed version.  It would be especially useful for me with the change to X1 as I'll be wanting to do some serious studying and it's a pain doing it on a screen.  Yes, I've ordered Scott's 'Power' book but I'd also pay for a printed version of the Guide, and I'm sure a lot of others would.  How about it Brandon?   
 
John 

Most print shops will convert that PDF file into a lovely printed manual for about the same cost CW would charge to ship you one.  Unless you live in a rural area with no print shops, I don't see the problem.

And even  if you do live out in the middle of nowhere, I imagine there are online print shops in your country that will do the conversion and ship the manual to you for a nominal charge.
 

...or get a Kindle and load the pdf into that?

What's interesting to me is that the Electronic Brain video actually shows off a couple of flaws in the matrix and step sequencer that have annoyed me:
1) The matrix often cuts off the beginning of loops when first triggered, especially MIDI/step sequences. You can see when he first triggers the drum sequence, the first bass and snare hit don't sound properly. (If you record to transport and then play back from the transport, it plays ok, but this kills most of the usability of the matrix view for live performance imo).
2) Adding new sounds to the step sequencer is really cumbersome -- you can see in the video, the automatically added instruments didn't include the one he wanted, and he had to know the exact midi note number to put it in. This gets annoying really fast, especially if using something like a Dimension Pro percussion set that doesn't have names for the notes. A "midi learn" function would be ideal (just hit the note you want on your keyboard), plus a drop down list so you don't have to scroll around in a bunch of numbers.

And yes I've submitted bug reports/feature requests for both of these.

Seth Perlstein [Cakewalk
]

Four new SONAR: Get Started videos are are now live on YouTube. They cover the very basics from setting up an audio interface to recording an audio track. 

SONAR: Get Started - ASIO Configuration


SONAR: Get Started - Control Surface Configuration


SONAR: Get Started - MIDI Configuration


SONAR: Get Started - Recording an Audio Track



Stay tuned; more to come ...

The above videos have been added to CakeTV ... http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONARU.aspx/Get-Started

...wicked

PenguiN42
What's interesting to me is that the Electronic Brain video actually shows off a couple of flaws in the matrix and step sequencer that have annoyed me: 

Plus, you can't build in the Matrix View, so he uses up timeline space to build his parts, dumps 'em into the Matrix, and when he wanted to record his performance back to the timeline he has to start at some totally random measure out in the weeds. That's an awkwardness I've always wondered about. 

I don't think it was random - I thought it was where those parts start in the song. Either way though you can build your parts on tracks and simply hide or mute those tracks. The Matrix can be recorded anywhere on to the timline that makes sense for the music. It won't mess up your timeline/Track View space as long as the Matrix rows are routed into new tracks.

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]
It won't mess up your timeline/Track View space as long as the Matrix rows are routed into new tracks. 

Oh, good point. That's quite true.


But you've got to admit being able to construct parts on a separate timeline ala Ableton makes for a tidier workflow. The Matrix View being a somewhat separate animal means the main timeline can serve as a workshop area, but going in and out the Matrix creates a "finishing" area need where you bounce out the sequenced parts. 


I've only used the Matrix a couple of times but it's always been to write stuff in the Track View, load up the bits in the Matrix, and then record the results out. But then you need to clean up the workroom (so to speak) to slide or finalize your arrangement. It's, like, paradigms and stuff man (insert bong hit sound here)

Great stuff Seth! Please keep 'em coming- very helpful.

Vic

Seth Perlstein [Cakewalk
]

Hello everyone,

The new Go Deeper - Browser video has been added to CakeTV and YouTube. This one's 14+ minutes of in depth Browser tutorial and is packed with techniques, tips, and tricks. 


SP

Seth - the BEST video to date! Really nice job and learned a bunch of new stuff. Thank you very much for the effort!

Thanks for the kind replies, all!