Sonar "Performer" edition vs. "Cakewalk Live"

Dear MIDI "Performers",

Several years ago, Cakewalk used to make this cool DOS application called "Cakewalk Live" designed exclusively for the live performing MIDI musician.

I used it extensively for live performances in Northern California, not only for the occasional MIDI music performance streams, but also for reseting, configuration, controlling and automating outboard equipment via MIDI.

I remember it had some unique features:

* It was a very small, text-based non-graphic application, so the program application would launch and play almost immediately, which is very important for "recovery" in a busy, distracting, live situation

* It featured unlimited playlists of seemingly unlimited length that were easly configured by creating song/set lists within text files.

* Liberally configurable options for stop/start/pause, measure count-ins

* Fast and live-sensible key/cursor navigation, not requiring mouse, but optionally allowed mouse/pointer control too if I remember correcly.

* "Next-song" preload - it would cue up the the next song into memory while the current song was playing - no wait time required between songs, unless you wanted a time delay, which was configurable.

* Visual beat count-in cues, although they were not large enough to see clearly in a busy live setting. Today's GUI interface could provide larger cues as well as other interesting features, ie, lyrics, metronome pendulum, bet coungs, other visual cues.

* The option to load the program along with a playlist set from a single batch file, allowing me to actually boot the computer and automatically loading everything to play the first live set. If you wanted to, you could actually just turn on the computer, and it could boot up, and batch file load and play a song, quickly.

* The program protected you from choosing a function that might comprimise the performance - it only had a few keys activated, which was most appropriate for it's intended purpose. Cakewalk and Sonar, while featuring playlists, have too many other features that, when in a live situation, could actually hinder, overload, or tempt unintended actions during a live performance. Cakewalk Live was stripped of extra features and contols, and only a few keys were available. (Confidence performing", perhaps?)

Over time, it seems that Cakewalk eventually replaced this stand-alone application by adding playlist features into the Cakewalk products, at least until I got my Sonar. I think that playlist features should be put back into Sonar, because there is a use for these features in the studio. But while these same playlist features could be used for live performances, I think it would be better to also have the option of an additional moderatly priced dedicated Windows application that is specifically designed for live execution of MIDI, MP3, WMA, and WAV files (audio waveform playback for during the breaks between gig sets). It would be similar to the old Cakewalk Live, but use all the new technology - Windows GUI, WDM, mp3, large visual metronomes and fonts, Lyrics, etc.

If one were a product manager of such a product, one might call it "Sonar Performer", and one could dream up a whole lot of use cases and features that would improve live session management and control, but it seems that there might not be enough interest out there for a dedicated app like this. But maybe there is some legitimate interest, and even a market (are you with me Greg H?) for this type of software ...

So, to toss another log onto the fiery pit of this awsome Sonar forum, here are some questions for some of you:

1. Does anybody else in this forum remember the DOS version of Cakewalk Live?

2. Does anybody still use the DOS version of Cakewalk Live, live, or any later versions of Cakewalk live?

3. Do any of you miss the playlist features of earlier versions of Cakewalk?

4. Does anybody wish that Cakewalk would bring back Cakewalk Live as a dedicated 32 bit Windows app?

5. What unique applied use cases would some of you have for such a product?

6. What features of Cakewalk Live for DOS do you remember that you liked?

7. What new features would be "essential" or "nice to have" for a live MIDI sequencing/performing application?

8. Do you use sequencing for live MIDI control of outboard gear?

9. Do any of you use MIDI sequencing to control stage lighting, curtain pulls, mixers, stage effects, tweaking delays and reverbs, patching/routing, transports, DMX or MMC control, etc.

10. What features would you need/want for a "Sonar Performer", edition, if I may dare may call it that? (Sorry MOTU)

11. Is Cakewalk Live dead? Or alive?

-- Roger

If one were a product manager of such a product, one might call it "Sonar Performer", and one could dream up a whole lot of use cases and features that would improve live session management and control, but it seems that there might not be enough interest out there for a dedicated app like this.

LOL....would you happen to be that product manager, seeing the "ear" avitar and Boston location <g>. "CakeLive" for DOS is a fantastic product and has helped generate a lot of income for me. I have been a Cake user since V2 for DOS and have used every version of "Live" produced. The version I use now, if I remember, came bundled with V5 for DOS. It would be hard to improve on the stability (it has NEVER crashed.. EVER) and ease of use of this product....for MIDI only of course.

What kind of mixer are you using?

Tascam MM-1, very old 20 channel rackmount mixer designed for keyboards, it has 99 snapshot memory locations, you can recall and change via midi.

ORIGINAL: Alex Westner [Cakewalk]

Sorry 'bout this! The Play List will be back in a patch release, coming soon.

Hey, the word "soon" is now defined! Just two months from this reply, and only about three months from when I returned my Sonar 3 because they were thinking about restoring the Play List "soon" but couldn't tell me when "soon" would be.

(Note the tone of sarcasm in my voice....)

Of course, we haven't seen it yet, and they just pushed the release back another week.....

Jim