I would just like my staff view music duration icons back! - simple fix...
 
I've outlined reasons in the feature request section years ago!   
 
Why it hasn't been added back is beyond me ..   still use Sonar 8.5 to compose then transfer to SPLAT.
 
 
 
 

I have said this before and will keep saying it:  Music notation has been around, and evolving for over 1000 years and there are many reasons for that.   Bringing another sense, the eye, to music composition, brings more brain power to the creative process.  the greatest masterworks of classical music could not, and would not, have been written without it. 
 
The advantages of notation are numerous.  Unlike the piano-roll view, which has been around for a few decades, notation is precise, and an ingenious method of controlling and enhancing voice-leading and counterpoint.   Orchestration could not be done without it, at least not to the degree possible that notation affords us.  At present, there are only five DAWS that have a notation editor:  Sonar, Cubase, Digital Performer, Logic and Pro Tools.   Somebody told me the other day that Reaper is getting in on the game, but I am not sure.  I hope so.  
 
There are many features in Sonar I don't use, for example the PRV, many plugins that ship with Sonar, the drum editor view and others.  But I don't lobby Cakewalk not to include those aspects of the program, I just don't use them.  When I see users advocating to drop the notation editor, I think to myself, pity these poor musicians, if they knew how notation could make their music far more detailed, textured and nuanced, they might feel differently.  I am not saying that people should use the notation editor, that's for them to decide, I am saying they should stop lobbying CW to get rid of it. 
 
All professional composers, arrangers and orchestrators read and write music.  It's a given.  Sure, people can write great tunes and wonderful songs without notation and many people have.  And for improvisation, nobody needs notation, particularly for solo or free improvisation.  But try writing a concerto, a symphony, even an extended work for solo piano, or try composing a film score for a group of 10 musicians and you'll immediately see why notation is so valued and has been for centuries.   Turning on the sequencer and improvising tracks onto the hard drive will simply not yield the same degree of depth and precision, not to mention the time wasted trying to communicate to other musicians what you want them to play and how you want them to play it.
 
I hope Cakewalk gets the drift of this post and realizes that a professional DAW is for professional musicians.  The staff view is indispensable for serious (and not-so-serious) composition.  
 
Jerry
www.jerrygerber.com
 
 
 
 

I've just created another ambient masterpiece where I hold down a single note for fifteen minutes.

synkrotron
I've just created another ambient masterpiece where I hold down a single note for fifteen minutes.

Sure, and I just flew to the moon and back in my electric car.  

jsg
When I see users advocating to drop the notation editor, I think to myself, pity these poor musicians.

That's exactly what I think to myself when I hear staff view users asking for improvements .
 
 

jsg

synkrotron
I've just created another ambient masterpiece where I hold down a single note for fifteen minutes.

Sure, and I just flew to the moon and back in my electric car.  

 
haha!
 
I think you may not be telling the truth there Jerry...

Yup, the staff notation would be a massive add to what is a fine DAW. I have been a Cakewalk user for many years. The bakers have done such a great job on Platinum - so good that I don't think i will be renewing my Sonar 12 monthly pay plan when it expires. I  have no need to - the Sonar which I have does everyting I need to audio wise. The only feature i would be interested in would be an improvement/enhancement to the staff view. 

No one at Cakewalk has given up on Staff View. Among people close to Cakewalk, I'm probably the person pushing for it the most, for purely selfish reasons - I think it would make SONAR more attractive for education. But for now, it seems the priority is on enhancing the SONAR features that people use the most: Comping, load balancing, and ripple editing. I don't think anyone would argue that for the majority of SONAR users, those features would take priority; and Cakewalk is not big enough to tackle the secondary and tertiary issues...yet 

To add my two cents: I read and write notation every day. I have long hoped to see a simple and functional notation solution integrated into Sonar, similar to how Melodyne is now included. Top marks if it is easy to use, yet comprises all of the common elements that notation readers and writers use most often.
 
I would be willing to pay extra for it. 
 
I've said all this before, but hope springs eternal, or so they say! :)
 
 

Anderton

chuckebaby
thus my opinion, staff view users are a small group.

The surveys bear this out, and that's the disconnect: A small group of users wants something that takes a large amount of resources. IMO Cakewalk could likely justify it if a small group wants something that requires few resources, or a large group wants something that requires a large amount of resources.
 
Since it appears unlikely the group of users interested in staff will get larger (look at all the successful programs that include no staff view at all), then my guess is the only logical way this can happen with SONAR is if there's some option that requires resources commensurate with the amount of interest.
 

It's a large group of users who have shown a commitment to Cakewalk by buying the Platinum lifetime membership, and despite the staff users being a small part of that group, we still expect some commitment towards staff view improvement in return, even if only in some minor upgrades that have been mentioned in countless threads here.
 
If the staff view improvements were offered as a reasonable paid upgrade or add-on, maybe even a plugin, I'd venture to say that most staff view users would buy it.
I for one would commit to that.