CakeTV (in HD) New!

CakeTV is now on the air!

We're pleased to announce four dedicated channels for your viewing pleasure. CakeTV will continue to expand and grow until it's an autonomous, sentient being bent on human destruction. Until then here's a rundown of what's currently showing.

First and foremost is SONAR University where you can dip your toes or dive head-first into a sea of SONAR knowledge. It's divided into three courses. Get Started will familiarize you with basic operation and Go Deeper will take you further into how certain features can be applied. When you're ready for more, the Master Class offers a comprehensive tour of SONAR's workflow as it relates to a particular aspect of music production.

The Artist Spotlight channel has the latest information on how the pro's use Cakewalk products and Backstage Pass gives a behind the scenes look at the various trade shows and events Cakewalk participates in all over the globe.

And if you've only got time for a snack, check out Quick Bytes for product promos, sneak peaks and more.

If for some reason you experience any trouble viewing CakeTV, here are direct links to the SONAR U videos on our YouTube channel.
 

SONAR: Get Started
Initial Audio Setup
Initial setup and configuration of SONAR. Covers setup of audio interface, project folders, and other settings to ensure optimal performance. How do the peeps at Cakewalk setup their own SONAR workstations? Find out now.

MIDI Devices and Controller Setup
Learn how to setup MIDI devices in SONAR (version 8.5 and earlier). This video covers basic configuration of keyboard controllers and control surfaces (including ACT, WAI, etc).

Plugin Manager
This Get Started video demonstrates the use of SONAR's Plugin manager to create custom plugin menu layouts that simplify your workspace.

AudioSnap 2.0
This Get Started video gives a comprehensive view of AudioSnap 2.0. It demonstrates how to quickly get working with AudioSnap, as well as explains all of the feature's parameters and settings.


SONAR: Go Deeper
PX-64 Percussion Strip
This Go Deeper video dives into the PX-64 Percussion Strip plugin. It shows each of its processors in action and explains when and how to use them.

AudioSnap 2.0 Drum Replacement
This Go Deeper video dives into one of the many useful things you can do with SONAR's powerful AudioSnap feature. Here, a poorly recorded kick drum track is salvaged by converting the performance to a MIDI triggered kick drum in Session Drummer 3.

AudioSnap 2.0 Slicing and Sampling
This Go Deeper video demonstrates how to slice audio with AudioSnap 2.0 and use those slices in Session Drummer 2.0.


SONAR: Master Class
"An Electronic Brain" NEW!!!
This Master Class shows the creation of a short piece of music. It incorporates the Matrix View, Step Sequencer 2.0, MIDI and audio recording, Browser, Track Templates and ProChannel.
Part 1
Part 2

Drum Production Episode II
This Master Class shows how to use SONAR X1's Browser, AudioSnap, Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer, Track Layers, ProChannel, and more in the context of creating, arranging, and mixing a drum part from scratch.
Part 1
Part 2
Content Pack

Drum Production Episode I
This Master Class explores writing, arranging and mixing drums in SONAR.  Spotlighted are production techniques and workflow using Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2.0, and PX-64 Percussion Strip.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Bless you!!! (Its about time!)

Haha Cool.

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

SONAR: Get Started

The Video Series

 
Work it :)
 
 

Nice!

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

SONAR: Get Started

The Video Series

Initial Audio Setup
Initial setup and configuration of SONAR. Covers setup of audio interface, project folders, and other settings to ensure optimal performance.

How do the peeps at Cakewalk setup their own SONAR workstations? Find out now. Thanks to Cakewalk Product Specialist Mike Trujillo for this video.

 
I just wish someone at CW would reconsider suggesting a 128 value for the Playback I/O buffers in Audio Options.
In the 7 years I've been participating here, I've seen so many people need to raise that to at least 256 (my own default is 512) due to dropouts, etc.
 
This video isn't going to help in that regard, as it suggests 128.  And it's one of those variables that do cause confusion to many.   It would be nice to see this and other variables like it addressed in more detail.
 
 
 
 

Hey Billy,

I don't know if I really agree. Most of us here use 128 as it makes playback much more instantaneous, even on our laptops. I would consider 256 safe (which is why it is default) and 512 to be uber-safe. I mean I guess it depends on how many tracks you are trying to play back, but I don't think suggesting 128 is out of line, especially for newer, modern drive systems like SSD as the video states.

While not going too deep I realize, the video explains that this effects how quickly play and record engage. It also suggests that you experiment with what is best for your particular computer.

We particularly wanted to cover this as a lot of people think it effects their latency and it doesn't.

While we're at it, I planned on polling the forum to see what types of things you guys would like to see, in any of the new video series. A deeper explanation of disk buffers could certainly be one.

but I don't think suggesting 128 is out of line, especially for newer, modern drive systems like SSD as the video states.

 
Brandon, I doubt many users have SSD drives yet ;)   And, sure 128 is probably good for those who know how to tweak their systems.
 
Perhaps suggesting the 'safe' approach for new users would have been, er, safer? LOL
 
But, I agree - a lot of people think it has to do with latency, so from that perspective it's good the video explains its use.
 

To be fair, 128 actually works on faster, large cache spindle drives as well (not just SSD). Especially for those using mostly VSTi's etc. I mean it's really a gray area and pretty user specific. There's actulaly always been a lot of debate within Cakewalk at what the best default value is. It's a matter of balancing lack of dropouts with speedy, hardware-like, playback.

Eiher way. we always appreciate the feedback Billy, and will strive to offer ever clearer, and ever more useful info as time goes on.

My hope also is that the subsequent discussion that is spawned by each video will be perhaps as helpful to users as the video itself.

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

To be fair, 128 actually works on faster, large cache spindle drives as well (not just SSD). Especially for those using mostly VSTi's etc. I mean it's really a gray area and pretty user specific. There's actulaly always been a lot of debate within Cakewalk at what the best default value is. It's a matter of balancing lack of dropouts with speedy, hardware-like, playback.

Eiher way. we always appreciate the feedback Billy, and will strive to offer ever clearer, and ever more useful info as time goes on.

My hope also is that the subsequent discussion that is spawned by each video will be perhaps as helpful to users as the video itself.

FWIW, I've experimented with different values, and without doubt I can use 128 easily as well; but there are always those large projects that seemed to need some further tweaking, and raising the playback i/o buffer in those cases, without fail, resulted in better performance/no dropouts.   So one reason I keep it at 512 is because there really isn't much lost in doing so.  The only real penalty, so to speak, is a tiny bit more memory used.  For me it's worth having a sweet spot that I can just leave alone.
 
And, with regard to your last sentence, this discussion has, in fact, resulted in useful info for all :)
 

Good stuff. Thanks guys.

While we're at it, I planned on polling the forum to see what types of things you guys would like to see, in any of the new video series. A deeper explanation of disk buffers could certainly be one.

 
In this regard, I submit that ACT is (again) a prime canditate.  A lot of the videos that are out there still don't seem to convey clearly enough how to actually go about using it, from all the posts I see referring to it.
 
Another would clearly be AUDIOSNAP.  Again, I think if CW would do greater detailed videos, it would serve us all well.
 
Just perusing the forum posts might give you an idea of the most needed 'help' and 'info' items that would be useful, I would think.
 
 

Audio Snap 2.0 on aligning drum tracks would be nice.  I don't think I've seen a tutorial video on this yet.

But, something that really needs to be done are videos on how to do parallel compression, two-stage compression, sidechaining, etc.  A video series like that, from beginner to advanced mixing techniques all performed in Sonar would totally rock!

Thanks for the suggestions Billy and Jose. These are definitely the types of things we have planned.

Next week should see a SONAR: Master Class video on drum production, featuring SSV2.0, PX-64, SD3 and lots of other stuff.

Awesome Sub Thread... on the top where the first post is should have some sort of a stickie with all the videos pertaining to help on certain features..Just so that it dosn't get all confusing when you go to look for help.. Can't wait to see whats in store...

Jose7822


Audio Snap 2.0 on aligning drum tracks would be nice.  I don't think I've seen a tutorial video on this yet.

But, something that really needs to be done are videos on how to do parallel compression, two-stage compression, sidechaining, etc.  A video series like that, from beginner to advanced mixing techniques all performed in Sonar would totally rock!

There are actually a ton of videos out there (YouTube, etc) that do have pretty in-depth coverage of those techniques.  The only thing is almost none of them are Sonar videos. 
 
But the techniques really are the same so I wonder if CW would better serve its customer base by focusing on features that are specific to Sonar?
 

ba_midi

Jose7822


Audio Snap 2.0 on aligning drum tracks would be nice.  I don't think I've seen a tutorial video on this yet.

But, something that really needs to be done are videos on how to do parallel compression, two-stage compression, sidechaining, etc.  A video series like that, from beginner to advanced mixing techniques all performed in Sonar would totally rock!

There are actually a ton of videos out there (YouTube, etc) that do have pretty in-depth coverage of those techniques.  The only thing is almost none of them are Sonar videos. 
 
But the techniques really are the same so I wonder if CW would better serve its customer base by focusing on features that are specific to Sonar?
 

That's true. 
 
However, most of the time you have to translate what you see in those videos to the workflow in Sonar.  Some people may not know how to do that, and that's where these kind of videos would help our user base.  Not to brag, but I personally don't need these kinds of videos (and I'm sure you don't either), so it is more for those who don't know these techniques.  It is also more exciting when you see it done in your own DAW :-)
 
Take care!
 
 

It is also more exciting when you see it done in your own DAW :-)

 
Hehe, good point ;)
 

so it is more for those who don't know these techniques.

 
Like me. :) I welcome all SONAR related videos! hehe

I just watched the first video. And I watched it knowing it wouldn't show me something I didn't already know.

Yeah I was wrong!!

I liked the HD version. I could watch it full screen. Not very much pixelation. Nice Job CW. Hope the rest are like this.

Kudos to CW, this is an excellent video, the script, voice-over and screenshots are all very clear, steady (good flow, not rushed and not too slow) basically... straight to the point :)

True there are variables (gray area) for initial setup bc NOT all PC sys' DAW setups are identical.  In this video 'Initial Audio Config' does explain the need to 'experiment', other options a lot of users would not thing about, along with good close-up screenshots of the settings/options should make it really easy for new users to follow.

From there, I suggest doing the next steps such as;
. Midi Controllers + ACT.
. Plugin Manager
. Templates
. Getting comfy with K/board shortcuts.
. Overview, Rec, Editing Tips in Trk-V
. Overview, Rec, Editing Tips in PRV

In future - SONAR releases; will these videos be added - directly accessible in the Start-Page and Help Menu?

Anyway! Keep up the excellent work CW, greatly appreciate all the efforts you guys put in.

Late Edit:
PS: I've been following CW on FB and Twitter, to keep up to date on what's happening. It's cool, whereas on these forums spam seems to get unmoderated regardless of me reporting it to CW, is the report feature broken?.

-

SongCraft


(excerpt from previous post):

In future - SONAR releases; will these videos be added - directly accessible in the Start-Page and Help Menu?

Just to extend on that; suggestion to include a fold-out (cardboard info-sheet about the size of a k/board)...

. Tips; on initial setups/configurations and more (basically what's in the 'Get Started' videos).
. On the Flip-Side; K/Board shortcuts - over a graphical image of an actual k/board.


-

I would love to see a video on how to set up key bindings and how to customize your Sonars desktop.. 
 I have learned not to touch buttons if I dont know what they do, as I have in the past and messed up things for weeks and pissed myself off. Messing with the wrong buttons can mess up everything globally and be a nightmare to get back .. I like to record and not have to tinker with settings wasting my time. If its not clear cut, no need to waste time just record and deal with a cluttered screen. all though I have never attempted to customize My Sonar Ever. But posters on here say sonar is the most customizable DAW,  Templates or videos would be great on this.. Thanks John

Video are a little slow in coming?

fitzj


Video are a little slow in coming?

You would be surprised at how much time and effort it takes to even create the short videos posted up on the web. Not the ones where people are just walking around with a pocket camcorder, but the ones that are professionally produced. They take a lot of work to do them right.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series. Get Sonar 8 Power - Today! Go to: http://www.garrigus.com/  - http://www.musictechshop.com/ - http://www.cooltechshop.com/

Publisher of DigiFreq - free music technology newsletter. Win a free SoundTech Vocal Trainer Package, go to: http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/

Publisher of NewTechReview - free consumer technology newsletter. Win a free i2i Stream Wireless Music Pack, go to: http://www.newtechreview.com/newtechreview/

I want to see a walk-through video inside of a tutorial that is part of a how-to. Preferably narrated by Leo DiCaprio with a Hans Zimmer score.

Scott's right (thanks Scott) that making a quality video really is an awful lot of detailed work. It's always surprising to a person when they first embark on the process.

Having said that, we'll have a new SONAR: Get Started video up later today and the first SONAR: Master Class by end of the week, if not sooner. (The first Master Class is somewhere around 45 minutes so you can imagine it's quite an undertaking).

...wicked


I want to see a walk-through video inside of a tutorial that is part of a how-to. Preferably narrated by Leo DiCaprio with a Hans Zimmer score.

This is a brilliant idea! We're going to fast track this one to pre-production.

As promised, a new video has been added to the SONAR: Get Started series.

SONAR: Get Started - MIDI Devices and Controller Setup

(available in 1080p)

Nice!  I like the Sonar sound :-)

Hello,
I’m running Sonar 8.3 Producers addition on a windows vista 32bit system right now. If I purchase a new computer with Windows 7, will my 8.3 version run fine on it, or will there, or have any of you run into problems.
Thanks, Peace.
Also just posting in here for the first time, so learning the ropes.

looking forward to seeing more of these

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

To be fair, 128 actually works on faster, large cache spindle drives as well (not just SSD). Especially for those using mostly VSTi's etc. I mean it's really a gray area and pretty user specific. There's actulaly always been a lot of debate within Cakewalk at what the best default value is. It's a matter of balancing lack of dropouts with speedy, hardware-like, playback.

Eiher way. we always appreciate the feedback Billy, and will strive to offer ever clearer, and ever more useful info as time goes on.

My hope also is that the subsequent discussion that is spawned by each video will be perhaps as helpful to users as the video itself.

Brandon


Just upgraded from Sonar 8 to 8.5 and I am still getting nothing but cracks and pops when recording a single audio track with session drummer.  I really appreciate the video because I usually have to call support to fix the problem every time I upgrade, but it doesn't seem to matter what setting I have on my playback and record buffers.  I have gone from 128 to 512 and it all seems to sound the same.


thanks art  

agehr1@q.com

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

To be fair, 128 actually works on faster, large cache spindle drives as well (not just SSD). Especially for those using mostly VSTi's etc. I mean it's really a gray area and pretty user specific. There's actulaly always been a lot of debate within Cakewalk at what the best default value is. It's a matter of balancing lack of dropouts with speedy, hardware-like, playback.

Eiher way. we always appreciate the feedback Billy, and will strive to offer ever clearer, and ever more useful info as time goes on.

My hope also is that the subsequent discussion that is spawned by each video will be perhaps as helpful to users as the video itself.

Brandon


Just upgraded from Sonar 8 to 8.5 and I am still getting nothing but cracks and pops when recording a single audio track with session drummer.  I really appreciate the video because I usually have to call support to fix the problem every time I upgrade, but it doesn't seem to matter what setting I have on my playback and record buffers.  I have gone from 128 to 512 and it all seems to sound the same.


thanks art  

Clicks and pops in SD3 are very likely to do with audio device latency settings rather than playback and record I/O buffer sizes.

Is the problem only with SD3?

Have you checked your system for DPC latency problems? You can check using this tool.

More information about your system will help. Some forum members include this information in their signature rather than repeating themselves.

You may want to start a new thread about your problem in the Get Started forum area.

Drum Production video series is up! Enjoy!
(Thanks to Product Specialist Seth Perlstein for this tasty smorgasbord of video goodness.)


SONAR: Master Class
Drum Production Episode I
This Master Class explores writing, arranging and mixing drums in SONAR.  Spotlighted are production techniques and workflow using Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2.0, and PX-64 Percussion Strip.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

I need to spend more time with the Step Sequencer. Learned about 4 new things on the 3rd video. Great stuff.

Excellent work, thanks to all concerned!
I learned so many little things already, aside from the topics themselves!

John

Well done cakewalk watching the drum video now.
Brandon this is what customers like and its very much appreciated I am sure by all. For awhile we felt Cakewalk had abandoned us with nothing  coming from anyone in the company. So once again keep up the good work.

Excellent Learning Resource.
Thanks CW for the effort.

Dee

Just watched the Master Class on Drums. Excellent. I haven't spent any time on the things covered in this class, but will be after watchng this set of videos. Thanks, and keep them coming.

good job..........I think I'll watch it again!

I have been enjoying the new Video's.. 2 thumbs UP.. Keep em coming Brandon..

Thank you!  Luvin' this stuff. 

Matrix View please.  Showing (not just mentioning) different setting combinations and their real-world uses (with examples of both audio and midi).  Maybe a little troubleshooting thrown in?
 
(actually, troubleshooting on just about any topic would be really helpful I think.)
 
Also, it's been my experience that a lot of problems (..."I can't hear any audio!"...) arise out of a hazy understanding of the signal path - exactly where (from what and to what) the midi or audio signal is actually travelling at any given moment.  It can get a bit confusing sometimes, especially for newbies.  So maybe include somewhere a little friendly reminder (or possibly a graphic, or even a dedicated video?), for those users to whom a clear visualization of the signal path hasn't yet become second nature.
 
Great work, Cake!

einstein36

Hi there Brandon,

I just wanted to say a big thanks for that tip on the I/O buffers tip since I just bought a new I7 custom made machine and man oh man....what a difference that makes..

I have always been 'safe' kind of guy when it comes to recording my music, but as the technology gets better and pushed harder...then awesome tips like this really do help...

Middleman


I need to spend more time with the Step Sequencer. Learned about 4 new things on the 3rd video. Great stuff.

 
 
Hope it'll help those users who still don't to finally understand how powerful the Step Sequencer can be... especially (but not only...) for electronic music (beats, basses, leads...)... the BEST TOOL AROUND...!
 
Once you get it, you can't go back...
 
LOVE it....
Edit:
The same goes for those SONAR exclusive Synth Tracks' Waveform Previews which appear in the videos...
...how useful they are for visual feedback and mixing is something people should just shout loud...!
 
The two above features themselves are enough to make SONAR stand out from the crowd...

TIP ALERT!!!

Just to let you guys know , download the video with free youtubedownloader with no conversion. The install vlc player. It plays flv files fine. But, what you can do is create a playlist with all of those parts and save it. It will creat an M3U file for streaming then you can open it in Windows Media Player and play the videos consecutively.

Stevie326


TIP ALERT!!!

Just to let you guys know , download the video with free youtubedownloader with no conversion...

Doesn't RealPlayer also have a little "Download This Video" popup when you cursor over YouTube and other web vids?  I haven't had RP in a while but IIRC the last version I had did that.

Awesome video...thanks guys and keep up the great work.

Dave

Thanks Brandon
 
I am nes to Producer. After upgrading from Home Studio a week ago. I had some problems with the vst's with no audio so I followed the Intial Audio Setup and this solved my problem.
 
Thanks
Martin

And can we have a series of similar tutorials on AudioSnap please?  Every time I try and use it I end up thrashing about and coming away thinking "I must be thick, but I just don't understand how to get what I need here". 
 
Thanks
John

Not sure... Never liked realplayer.

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

Drum Production video series is up! Enjoy!
(Thanks to Product Specialist Seth Perlstein for this tasty smorgasbord of video goodness.)


SONAR: Master Class
Drum Production Episode I
This Master Class explores writing, arranging and mixing drums in SONAR.  Spotlighted are production techniques and workflow using Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2.0, and PX-64 Percussion Strip.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Hiya Brandon,
 
I'm just back from vacation and catching up on things around here -- and I wanted to commend you all (and especially Seth) for the excellent work on these videos.
 
These are the best I've seen from CW to date.  Kudos and keep up the GREAT work!
 

I do not get any sound on the videos.  However after seeing Clash of the Tightones I think I know who is to blames.  Jackel Mikeson is really Ali Gore Videll.  The true culprit of all this sorta stuff.  So, When is Sonar 9.0 coming out?

Great videos guys, nice work!!  
 
I knew I was missing out with the Step Sequencer, just never really used it. After upgrading to Sonar 8.5 Producer from S7 Studio, and then seeing these videos, I am now so inspired to use it, awesome stuff!
 
Now if I could vote, I would like to see maybe a tutorial type-of video for Dimension Pro, video(s) for ACT, and also Audio Snap.
Those are my top 3 choices.
 
Thanks again 
 
-Rob
 

Nice. Thanks!

Might I suggest for the future?:

Mixing
EQ
Compression

Cool videos!!!

I'm loving them :-)

Thank you so much!
 
I thought I was a semi-expert Sonar user already, but the videos taught me some things that will forever improve my usage of the program.
 
Whatever feature you want to tackle next is fine with me. I'm sure I'll learn something new and valuable.

I'd love to see Audio Snap: Master Class videos too!

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

Drum Production video series is up! Enjoy!
(Thanks to Product Specialist Seth Perlstein for this tasty smorgasbord of video goodness.)


SONAR: Master Class
Drum Production Episode I
This Master Class explores writing, arranging and mixing drums in SONAR.  Spotlighted are production techniques and workflow using Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2.0, and PX-64 Percussion Strip.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Hi Brandon,

Unfortunately, the Step Sequencer doesn't have enough available resolutions in the beat/step options for it to work with a 6/8 shuffle groove song I am currently working on.