I would concur with Craig's post above - I am a keyboard player, who plays some guitar and sings backup vocals at church.  
 
I almost always am focused on dealing with MIDI, and only marginally do I go into anything fancy on the resulting audio - some levels, EQ, reverb, delay, compression - all standard stuff.
 
There are GIANT swaths of Sonar that I just never ever deal with, comping, take lanes, screen sets, and I likely will never end up dealing with any of those areas, despite having worked with Sonar since it was in DOS form.
 
Whenever I DO see something come along that looks beneficial to MY needs, it is at THAT point that I will invest the time needed to work with that piece of things.
 
My advice is to always review any new features that come along, because any given month may well bring something to benefit YOUR ways of doing things, and make sure you have reviewed all of the features that are already there - not from so much a stand point of learning all of those features - just making sure you know what those features bring to the table - in case any of them might help you with what you are doing and how you are working.
 
Here is an off the top of the head analogy - you enroll in a college, and are taking music courses there - the school offers degree programs in astrophysics, and biology.  Would you feel a need to take any of those courses just because the school featured them?  Nope - you would take the courses needed for you to get the training in music.  And even with the music courses - I wouldn't take a bunch of classes in singing, if I played the clarinet.
 
Bob Bone
 

bokchoyboy

Anderton
 I'm hoping the re-launched eZine will help people sort out what they need from what they don't.

I'm also looking forward to the relaunch!!!

+1 here

So glad to hear that others are hitting the same wall I am beating my head against. Here are my thoughts ... I'm brand new to Sonar, and to using any DAW, for that matter. I am finding it extremely difficult to find ANY basic instructions or tutorials that speak to my level of experience. This software program is extremely complex, and it feels like the entire Cakewalk approach to tutorials and introducing their complex platform is geared toward the techno-geek crowd. They seem to assume that the viewing audience already has the same level of technical experience that they have. It's a classic mistake. It's as if I have purchased an expensive helicopter, and whenever I approach the thing, wanting to learn how get it off the ground and to maneuver it, the training pilot grabs my arm and takes me to the engine, and starts to recite all the new features in the guts, speaking as quickly as he can, and at the level of a master aviation mechanic. So very frustrating!! I'm afraid Cakewalk is headed for disaster soon. With all the latest technology available, and with the direction music is headed lately, I envision a huge throng of upcoming artists (read "customers") with their noses pressed against the glass, looking for a DAW that is intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to assimilate, while inside the store, the Cakewalk staff are focused on the smaller ecosystem of experienced producers, heads buried in the advanced technical wizardry that most people will never need. Maybe it's a tactical strategy, in their part. But it doesn't bode well for their future, IMHO. Rather, I'd like to hope it's simply the classic mistake of not relating to one's audience, nor being able to view the world from outside one's own base of experience. Frustrating! Makes me want to abandon Sonar, and look for a more friendly platform.

DaveMc
Frustrating! Makes me want to abandon Sonar, and look for a more friendly platform.

Sorry to hear you're frustrated. I wouldn't argue that Cakewalk could use more user-friendly resources for those just starting out. But might it be more productive to tell them how they could better serve you instead of what they're doing wrong?
 
Have you already tried the online documentation? There are tutorials there, but perhaps they're not basic enough.
 
Here's another resource that might be helpful?
https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2016000041/BEGINNING-YOUR-FIRST-DAW-SONAR-FAQ
 
Maybe you prefer videos, books, or courses, but whatever the case, I would let Cakewalk know what you want.

DaveMc
So glad to hear that others are hitting the same wall I am beating my head against.
 
Here are my thoughts ... I'm brand new to Sonar, and to using any DAW, for that matter.
 
I am finding it extremely difficult to find ANY basic instructions or tutorials that speak to my level of experience.
 
This software program is extremely complex
 
Frustrating! Makes me want to abandon Sonar, and look for a more friendly platform.

Hello DaveMC ,
 
Lets take a look at some of your quotes to see if we can find something that may be of help to you .
 
OK lets say there is a wall . A quick look at this forum on the surface clearly shows that many of our  users here do encounter sticking points and personal areas of frustration along the way ...To say other wise would be untrue .
 
What I do take into account is many of us here are coming from different areas of ability and familiarity with how to use the program productively in a constructive manner to achieve our personal musical goals in the real world ...
 
So Yes, it may be somewhat true to a degree that many of us do indeed hit the wall .IMHO the really cool thing is we are all not banging our heads on the wall at the same brick ( I will exclude staff view for now )
 
I happen to feel that it is very important to mention that point because most of the help I have gotten ever since I have been a member here was from another forum member ...
Those of us whom have asked for help have quickly found we help each other out a lot around here 
 
Being new to SONAR and using a DAW is actually a wonderful place to be at .
When I was new to it all , a lot of my first steps seemed to be mostly uphill .
Thankfully the scenery has changed a little bit for me over time and I have come to understand that this whole process of learning SONAR or a DAW has been a growth process that has lead me on a pathway to personal empowerment 
Regarding this personal empowerment I do have to mention that I choose not to compare myself or my progress to other folks that use SONAR or other DAW's ...
I'm in my own orbit and I'm trying to learn how to do my own thing .
 
If I was to go there , I know I would only end up giving myself the short end of the stick because going there  would be used as a way to try and figure out where I may be along in my music journey compared to others
Lets face it , I'm no Craig Anderton , Andrew Scheps or any one of those Top Tier Music guys that get to hang out at The Top of The Mountain trading music tips with The Burning Bush .....it's only lil ole me
 
What does it take to get good at learning SONAR ?
I feel that may be different for each and every person here .
 
It is my humble opinion that the process of learning a DAW has taught me things in areas of my life that I had a lot of growing up to do ....
Early on my expectations were unreasonable and I had a real knack for becoming frustrated easily  ... 
In my case I had to learn how to mange my expectations head on and find a way to make lemonade out of the lemons...
 
your quote ,
"This software program is extremely complex " .
Yes I agree w you . This program is extremely complex ..
SONAR has been around for a real long time. There has been a lot of ground breaking features that have been added to SONAR along the way over the course it's development . I think that it is important to mention here that what we have now in SONAR are features and workflows that many of the users have been asking for for years ...
In all fairness I'm keeping the focus on many of the positive features ..not a few things that are longstanding things that need fixing and a little TLC
 
We are on a user based forum so there are a lot of ways to ask for help here where a person doesn't have to feel stupid for having asked 
 
The Techniques sub section of the forum is great for starting threads asking questions about thing such as ....
Audio techs ,  how to edit , how to master , how to gain stage levels, how to do automation read and write, also topics such as how to use compressors , EQ , side chaining ..ect ect ...
 
The Instruments sub forum is great place for asking questions about any of the bundled Cakewalk instruments that are bundled in SONAR  including all the 3 rd party gifts ...
 
The Software sub forum is excellent if you want to find out about how to use other instruments , plugs , and DAW's from non Cakewalk companies and vendors ... 
 
The Computer & Hardware sub forums are great if you are having issues with your computer or any of your peripheral hard ware ...ex...sound card , control surfaces, external HD and hardware ...
 
The Deals sub forum ...hhhmmm stay away from that section of the forum  ....I have tried to warn you
That place is the main reason I'm driving a car that is old enough to be legal to take out on a date 
 
The Main Sonar forum ...of course that is the main forum with the most traffic and there is a lot of help to be gotten there ...
 
As far as finding a friendlier DAW ?
I'm one of these people that would say hey man go for it . Keep in mind you may be surprised at what you may find out 
In a worst case scenario it could be just like switching seats on The Titanic  .
In a best case scenario you may find something that clicks for you and you may enjoy using it ..
In my case I have a number of DAWs for both PC and Mac...the bulk of them are up there right in the same league as SONAR as SONAR's direct competition ...
FWIW , I have never considered it a waste of time learning how to accomplish workflows in these other DAW's 
A number of them do have great tutorials and u tube support ..so good in fact I have learned a thing or two from them and found my way to having achieved the same workflow in SONAR ...
I had learned something last night using another DAW that I have always wanted to be able to do in SONAR ..
For some odd reason it clicked for me ...I did my little happy dance and said wow this is great ...I'm gonna use this DAW instead of SONAR ...
10 mins later I said to myself hey let me see if I can do this in SONAR ...sure enough not only was I able to do this in SONAR FINALLY ...I was able to do it with much more control and SONAR had much better features ....
 
Now what's the real lesson here ?
I learned something I have always wanted to do for years ...
I had the ability to do it for years using SONAR Yet I just didn't know how to approach cresting the learning curve  until last night ...
 
I hope you have found something useful in all this ,
 
Kenny
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

DaveMc
Frustrating! Makes me want to abandon Sonar, and look for a more friendly platform.

 
Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find it. I read a bunch of reviews on Amazon about Studio One Artist, the simplest version of Studio One, and it got one- and two-star reviews because people said it was so user-hostile and difficult to figure out. But you'll see the same kind of comments for all computer-based recording programs. It is simply not that easy to learn what is essentially a complete recording studio that would have cost half a million dollars not that long ago. In hardware days, just figuring out the patch bay would make your head explode...it's no easier to get up and running with computers. SONAR did the "Add Track" thing to try to simplify getting started, but that's just one piece of the puzzle. 
 
Don't get me wrong; all recording programs could do a better job of onboarding. But it's like learning an instrument. There's no easy "onboarding" for guitar...in fact your fingers will hurt 
 
I consulted to Sony at one point and they wanted an app note on how to transfer songs from Acid Pro to an MP3 player. They said I could get it done in a hour, it only needed to be three steps. When I sent in the document, Sony was NOT happy because there were 23 steps. "We asked for something simple, why did you do so many steps?" I said tell me which steps I can take out, and I will. They couldn't. As soon as a computer gets involved, matters get complicated.
 
The friendliest platform is something like a TASCAM or Zoom all-in-one "Portastudio"-type recorder, but even though you can get up and running on those fast, you still need to learn recording, mixing, etc. 

Anderton

DaveMc
Frustrating! Makes me want to abandon Sonar, and look for a more friendly platform.

 
Unfortunately, I don't think you'll find it. I read a bunch of reviews on Amazon about Studio One Artist, the simplest version of Studio One, and it got one- and two-star reviews because people said it was so user-hostile and difficult to figure out. But you'll see the same kind of comments for all computer-based recording programs. It is simply not that easy to learn what is essentially a complete recording studio that would have cost half a million dollars not that long ago. In hardware days, just figuring out the patch bay would make your head explode...it's no easier to get up and running with computers. SONAR did the "Add Track" thing to try to simplify getting started, but that's just one piece of the puzzle.

Craig makes a good point here, because most musicians are not engineers.
 
I don't think anybody who is just starting out with recording software is going to find it easy today.
 
I ran across some comments by Pro Tools Expert, Russ Hughes.  He has done some good reviews and videos on various products.  He got to preview AIR Ignite at NAMM before it was released.  http://www.airmusictech.com/product/ignite
 
Russ said: "I remember standing in the Hilton Hotel at NAMM 2012 when I first had the vision of Ignite shared with me. ‘Musicians are not engineers and we need to enable them to make music in a way that makes sense’ was how Ignite was pitched. It wasn’t even called Ignite then, it went through several cringe worthy iterations of a name before its final moniker, but discretion forbids me from outing them.
Of course the vision for Ignite makes sense, trying to make music with the average DAW is becoming more and more challenging, as layer upon layer of technology barriers are added with feature creep."
 
I picked up Ignite for cheap last year, hoping to find a decent scratchpad for musical ideas.  I like the concept!  Some may call it limiting, but I think they removed a lot of the "too many choices" from the product deliberately.   So you can freely focus on arranging and grouping musical ideas as clips, without regard to a project timeline, or having to deal with tracks, busses, etc.  No VST support, but it includes 275 instruments, many taken from Strike, Structure, and Velvet.  You can export audio or MIDI, to take things into a DAW.
 
I wish there had been something like this when I was just starting out ...
 
Demo from Russ: