I Hope the Songs Forum Will be Preserved

Hey Larry, totally understand and respect your point of view - as BandLab has grown it's gotten harder to make sure everything is curated for the best experience and people's interests. We have nearly a million songs being created on BandLab a month right now in a wide variety of genres and the speed the community is growing at means making sure everyone has the best experience is whole new challenge every day!
 
As with all things - music (and BandLab) is best with people that you know, respect and enjoy connecting with. We have incredible SONARians here and some have started sharing their tracks on the Official Cakewalk Community on BandLab - https://www.bandlab.com/community/cakewalk_official - you may want to check that out and follow some of them so that your feed is populated with people that may be a better fit for you. We will be improving the way one searches for a musician to collaborate with, though.
 
If it still doesn't float your boat, then no worries, check back some time later. I hope it will also be a relief to know that the Songs forum will definitely be preserved when we transition to the new forum! Sharing your creative works is a very personal thing, and some people prefer this format :-)
 
 

Cactus Music
When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too. 
Most of the new features are geared towards using loops. 
The rest of us are left in the dust. There will always be real musicians and real engineers out there but in the computer world we are fading fast.
I agree that a lot of us old timers that have used Sonar to replace our 4 track machines to produce original musical creations won't fit in with the Bandlab model. That world is overwhelmed with "beat" makers who have zero musical abilities... it horrid to anyone with taste in good music,, but I guess that's where the cash cow lives now. 
Possibly we could still congregate on say, Bapu or panups new forums they created? 

Well, atleast during your lifetime and mine,  there will be enough quality musicians out there to provide the kind of music we want. For the younger generations, I dont know :)  As for software, I will use CW as a digital version of the 4 track untill I croak basically, as will you I imagine. If others wants to copy loops and chords that is fine with me, I don't have to listen to it! 

I don't know. I have heard some pretty bad tracks made on Cakewalk too. Some of them probably by me.
 
The main dilemma here is it's either all or nothing. If you limit access to only a few who are deemed to be gifted who makes that decision? Then you loose everyone.
 
The link Meng  posted looks like a good way to stay in the Cakewalk universe. I just joined, but I'm not limiting myself.

Cactus Music
When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too.

When you and I first started making our own music, I guarantee the existing "masters" at the time thought we were ruining the art form. I found that attitude pretty offensive at the time, and now it seems we have proven them wrong anyway, so I try not to be judgemental about the new people coming up. But after 50 years, I want to work with and listen to music that is at least on my level of professionalism. The kids will take over, but not in my house.
 

Starise
I don't know. I have heard some pretty bad tracks made on Cakewalk too. Some of them probably by me.
 
The main dilemma here is it's either all or nothing. If you limit access to only a few who are deemed to be gifted who makes that decision? Then you loose everyone.
 
The link Meng  posted looks like a good way to stay in the Cakewalk universe. I just joined, but I'm not limiting myself.

Ha ha, I just went over there and the "forum posts" are limited to 250 characters. Not one of the comments in this thread would be allowed. Also, I don't want to exclude anyone, exactly. I just want to hook up online with compatible writers, singers and players. As I have mentioned in another thread, Bandlabbers don't seem to know the difference between Rock, Hip-Hop and Folk, so it's hard to find a musical genre that interests you. You're just as likely to find an epic 12-minute one-chord rap in the "Blues" category as you are a blues song.
 

tobiaslindahl
Good point, who are the brain police? It can quickly turn into elitist snobbery. Music is 100% subjective in the end. To quote Frank Zappa ( who is never wrong ) :
"The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's ****in'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it'****ty."
 
** edit **
wow .. this site is ACTUALLY "bleeping" "bad" words?  lmao ... that is ... insane :) Lets resurect the PMRC while we are at it.

I don't want to "police" it. I just want to be able to find what I'm looking for. The beat-makers and loopers don't interest me, but I don't want them deleted. Honestly (and this is a critical point for me), I don't know what the solution could be in an operation as large as Bandlab. Obviously Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. are out of control, and it looks like every huge online gathering place will get there eventually, too.
 
PS: The censor is automatic. It's been there as long as I can remember, and no one can adjust it.

The irony of the 'expense' thing for me is that years ago, before Cakewalk and other DAWs became available, it would have cost me a mortgage and some to be able to compose and record the number of songs I have to date using a recording studio with the same multitrack capability as Cakewalk has given me. As a result of the DAW revolution the revenue stream to existing studios must have dropped considerably. This doesn't mean to say that the people who invested in DAWs are any less talented than those who spent thousands per week in a studio. We are now in a situation where some are calling for a monetary bar to be instated to prevent people from having a similar opportunity in the modern scenario. I find this sad and elitist and rather insulting to the less well off. A great many of our current talented musicians didn't have a pot to piss in starting up and may well have used a cheap loop based program like ACID Music to get going with their demos and offerings. Thank god they had that ability and if the reborn Cakewalk allows a bit of self expression for the masses then that's brilliant as far as I'm concerned.

Cactus Music
When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too. 
Most of the new features are geared towards using loops. 
The rest of us are left in the dust. There will always be real musicians and real engineers out there but in the computer world we are fading fast.
I agree that a lot of us old timers that have used Sonar to replace our 4 track machines to produce original musical creations won't fit in with the Bandlab model. That world is overwhelmed with "beat" makers who have zero musical abilities... it horrid to anyone with taste in good music,, but I guess that's where the cash cow lives now. 
Possibly we could still congregate on say, Bapu or panups new forums they created? 
 
Edit,, looks like Meng and I were typing same time.. So looks like once again he is listening and we will still have our beloved Song Forum. 

Agree 100%..............................

I'm ever so sorry Larry, I hadn't read your post so my opinion wasn't aimed at you directly. I would have said so or quoted you if that was the case.

For the sake of this post I will refer to the music 99.9% of the world will agree as being "bad Music" we'll leave it at that . 
 
I think the history of music would explain why some of us feel the way we do.
Go back 100 years. If there was not a real musician in the room there was no music. 
And that musician most likely had to read music as that was the only way a  popular song generally could be found, sheet music. So there was not much Bad music, just good music sometimes played poorly. 
 
Later someone figured out how to capture music on a wax cylinder. And onward ho through the next decades of Tape machines right up until the 90's. Not much "Bad" music found it way on to recordings because there was always someone deciding what got recorded. So still we had a good ratio of Good Music available. It will be looked upon as the Golden Years. 
 
This was the filter we are now lacking. The ratio of good music to bad music has been growing expediently as the cost of being able to record it came down. 
Some Bad Music was being recorded because someone had the money to spend in a studio. But that bad music was put on Tapes and then CD's which no one had to listen too. Good music was still the mainstay of our Car Stereos and the Radio airwaves. But the ratio was growing and a trip to the Thrift shops CD and Tape bins will reward you will hundreds of copies of albums that nobody wanted to keep.  
 
Now making music can be done for almost free, and it can be published  to the whole world to listen too. 
We can thank software for this as well as the free hosting websites. But yes, it's a double edge sword because a lot of great music can be made by those with the skill to do so at a hobby level but-- but it gets overshadowed by the now overwhelming ratio of BAD music. 
 
Bandlab is an example, but I found the same true of Soundcloud etc even years ago. 
 
So I get it , everybody has the right to make music, good or bad. But as Larry is pointing out,,, how do we find the good stuff now? It swamped in the muck. 
 
So I propose a solution to this. 
We simply have a forum called " Good Song Forum" - Please post here if you actually play an instrument or sang. 
 
The other forum would simply be called "Bad Song Forum" Please post here if you use loops and don't know what A minor is. . .. 
I hope this doesn't offend people using loops... :? 

It's all in good fun. I won't feel bad if it offends someone, It's a good day to rattle the cage :) 

Cactus Music
So I propose a solution to this. 
We simply have a forum called " Good Song Forum" - Please post here if you actually play an instrument or sang. 
 
The other forum would simply be called "Bad Song Forum" Please post here if you use loops and don't know what A minor is. . .. 

I dunno. What if I don't make the cut?