Project5 question for newbie.

I only have P5 but I would say it is not a replacement for Sonar. It doesn't have the flexibility in terms of routing, mixing and audio editing. In fact P5 has no dashboards for any of these things (no built-in wav editor, no mixing window, no routing matrix) - that is part of its simplicity and one reason that people like it. What it does offer is a lot of simplicity in putting down and editing MIDI parts (in combination with samples and grooved audio), a very nice arpeggiator, and a nice feature for with live/impromptu composition called the groove matrix. It's also very easy to set up tracks with instruments, save and use favorite device chains, etc.

If you really use the full functionality of Sonar I don't think you will dump it for P5, but it's definitely worth checking out the demo (it's not the most recent version but it's representative of P5). If you are using only part of Sonar's tools then you might even find that P5 is sufficient. I like the idea of having a more full-featured DAW, but in practice P5 does pretty much what I need to do and the ease of use is great.

To expand on Bob's answer:

P5 isn't a replacement for, but a great complement to SONAR, esp. if you deal with loops and midi. Much easier to deal with those elements, since it is a pattern based DAW. I usually start projects in P5, since I do mostly midi (esp. soft-synths) and use loops. Once I get a song started in P5, I rewire it into SONAR and then bounce to audio for any acoustic recording/mixing etc.

It used to come with Dimension, which was a great selling point. Now it just has DimLe, which comes with SONAR (even the basic one, I think). Still, there are some nice effects and other synths not included - check the specs for it.

If you just are doing acoustic stuff, P5 won't add too much. However, if you do pattern based music it is really nice. Some people use it exclusively, and do some great work even outside of IMD, etc. But you already have SONAR. If you can pick it up cheap and do pattern stuff, it is a no-brainer buy.

hope this helps.

@

If you want to load the P5 precreated arpeggiator patterns into another program you cant do it except in Sonar (where you can open the native patterns directly).

However, you can load the P5 precreated arpeggiator patterns into P5 and save them as midi, in which case yes you can do what you suggest.
I cant remember the pattern folder off hand but if you use the pattern browser at the bottom of the screen you can find them easy enough.

I do:

1. Make beats in Project5

2. Record rhymes, mix the tracks, and master them in Sonar.

I don't:

1. Try to do both exclusively in one or the other.

2. Use them Rewired together except when tracking the instruments to separate channels from Project5 to Sonar (takes about five minutes).

Following this thread for an answer, I am not sure that I found it.

Here is what I am trying to understand.

Without using a Rewire into Sonar, can a simple arpeggiated pattern be saved as a midi file? I want to use P5 pre-created arpeggiator patterns to create loops that I can then use outside of P5 for other projects.

TIA

A nice way to record arpeggiated patterns is via a midi tool such as Maple VMC who is a virtual midi cable, where you can route the i/o of each cable anywhere on your machine. It shows as midi ins and outs in the midi config panel.

so assume you have a pretty complex midi sequence in P5, where you use the groovematrix, the arpeggiator, and such.

you can open P5 as a rewire app in Sonar, open the P5 project, make sure the tempos are matching.

then convert each of your P5 tracks to midi tracks, and use the maple cables as outputs.

then in Sonar, create as many tracks as you have in P5, recreate the virtual synths you used in P5 in Sonar (since P5 tracks are only sending midi data, and not playing VSTs anymore), select the midi inputs who match the maple midi outputs you used in P5, arm the Sonar tracks, record, in P5, play the arp live, trigger loops from the groovematrix, whatever, everything will be recorded as it is played.

and then you can edit everything in Sonar once it is done.

Sonar, or any other sequencer in fact...

Is Project better to use for live sets, performances, doesn't crash?

I own p5 and am thinking about getting sonar. I'll only get sonar from cakewalk if they offer some discount for p5 users.