Hey everyone,
 
I posted about something similar to this a while back (w/ a different account). I sometimes compose music that's quite reliant on samples and the arrangement of individual samples. One thing that I think would help the workflow would be a way to edit the sample without having to import it into Kontakt or Reaktor in order to do all of the cool things that those plug-ins are capable of doing. Now I can envision this working using an ARA plug-in. It would be able to do a variety of things such as pitch-shifting, time-stretching, reversing, normalizing etc... Now a lot of those functions are already covered in the Process menu as well as with some key modifiers, but I think the most important difference would be the capability to modulate those parameters within the ARA plug-in using LFOs and envelopes. I only listed some functions but if any of you have any ideas of what else could be included, please chime in.
 

Renoise is releasing Redux, which seems to be able to do some of the pretty cool things I've mentioned.

Alternatively, the feature could be implemented like the Loop Construction View. When working, I sometimes wish I had some of Kontakt's functionality readily available in the Arrange window.

They need to put that capability into matrix clips.

Amine Belkhouche
Hey everyone,
 
I posted about something similar to this a while back (w/ a different account). I sometimes compose music that's quite reliant on samples and the arrangement of individual samples. One thing that I think would help the workflow would be a way to edit the sample without having to import it into Kontakt or Reaktor in order to do all of the cool things that those plug-ins are capable of doing. Now I can envision this working using an ARA plug-in. It would be able to do a variety of things such as pitch-shifting, time-stretching, reversing, normalizing etc... Now a lot of those functions are already covered in the Process menu as well as with some key modifiers, but I think the most important difference would be the capability to modulate those parameters within the ARA plug-in using LFOs and envelopes. I only listed some functions but if any of you have any ideas of what else could be included, please chime in.
 

Im not sure if you are aware that you can access an audio editor of your choice from inside Sonar itself.
There is a one time setup that only takes moments after which you can select a piece of audio inside of Sonar, choose the appropriate menu and your chosen audio editor is opened with the selected audio file opened with the specific selection highlighted. Once finished your editing the file is saved and a realtime update of the audio file completes within the projects audio folder and you're ready to continue working in Sonar.

This gives you complete access to the sophisticated editing options and plugins often available only in standalone editors.
As an example I have Sonys Sound Forge and Vegas as well as RX4 added and can use them for sophisticated audio editing and processing I could never hope to see in Sonar alone.

I was aware of it. Do those audio editors allow for modulation of parameters? I have RX4 but I always accessed it through RX Connect, so is there a faster way to access it? I am also under the impression that you can't really modulate parameters in RX4, unless it's automation of the component plug-ins. I could be wrong.
 
I just thought that integrating those options into the main window not only speed up the workflow, but allow us to not have to buy another program or look elsewhere for some relatively basic audio editing needs. I'm sure there are a lot of users who would benefit from this. Buying a pro audio editor might be overkill for their needs. In the final analysis, I wouldn't mind buying Sound Forge or Redux. Let me know what you think.

Personally I don't want to see Sonar so bloated especially when there's already software that can do things.

Think of how big Sonar or any DAW would need to be if there were no plugins. The reason they exist is to fill a need for functions that aren't provided for by the DAW.

Sonar can do a great deal of audio editing even working right down to the sample level. But, there are some procedures I just wouldn't attempt in Sonar so I use external programs like RX4 and Sound Forge etc etc.

If you're a user who's new to digital audio there is no single piece of software that has everything known. There is more than enough though in Sonar to do just about everything at that beginners level right up to full time professional. There plugins for recording, mixing and mastering with enough synths to keep you going for a long time. Of course as your skills and knowledge increase you find that you want to expand your palette of options and that means investing in more equipment which may be software or hardware.

I'm not sure I understand what it is you want to modulate but that sounds more like a plugin fx that maybe can already be achieved with the right plugin.

Let's keep the discussion going. I'm only offering a point of view. As I said I don't want to see Sonar getting bloated with features that already exist within plugin. I want the workflow enhanced and streamlined.

Well, on a basic level, I want to be able to automate or modulate (with LFOs or envelopes) the operations available in the Process menu without leaving SONAR's main window.
 
For instance, I work with sample-based music quite a bit. It's quite easy to stretch audio on the timeline with a context-sensitive modifier key, but the stretching that is done to the audio doesn't change over time. Let's say I wanted to gradually stretch and then compress that audio clip to 200% of its length then back down to 50%. The values don't necessarily matter but the ability to change those parameters over time is. SONAR already has the Loop Construction view essentially allows you in a way to automate Level, Pan and Pitch. I think it would be interesting to incorporate some of that functionality into processing samples and not strictly loops.
 
In Ableton Live, I think you can double-click an audio clip and that opens up the Ableton Sampler. The Sampler has controls that allow you to change pitch over time. So one might want to gradually pitch the sample up and then back down. Having some of those functions quickly available from the main window is a huge time saver. This would be a tremendous help to anyone who works in genres (acousmatic, metal, IDM, pop etc...) that utilize any sort electronic media.
 
As I mentioned in the previous post, it's looking like Redux might fulfill that need of mine, but I think the implementation could be quite straightforward. Let me know what you think.

FWIW, somewhere in the forum goldmines is a process Craig wrote about that takes those samples and loads them into DimPro for similar results.  
 

Here is one of the mangler threads http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3020405. Personally I would use Rapture instead of DPro. It does require moving the track/clip into a synth element.