Had a pentum 200 sb live card and CAkewalk pro audio 8.

My first sequesncer of any kind was when I was 12-- 1982 I think -- I had a roland tb-303 bass line -- took me forever to learn how to sequence it as a 12 year old-- i think it was hard for a lot of adults too -- and it wasn't able to sync with anything except for -- ahhh i forget the name of the drum machine it was built to sync with --- anyway, last year I dug it out of my closet after i found out i could sell it on ebay for one thousnad bucks -- actually I got $950 for it -- I guess house musicians like them - so i took my 950 I made from it and bought a mackie control surface --- although I took some pics of the roland 303 before i sent it off -- had some found memories of it as a kid-- it still worked like new -- imagine that!!

My first sequencer was on an Apple II GS. I got it over a x86 machine because it had a "deluxe" sound card built into the system. I almost even sprung the extra $400 for a 20MB hard drive. Later, I went to Cakewalk Pro 3 on a $1500 PackardBell 486 SS 33MHz system that I got at Walmart.

ORIGINAL: Mooch4056
last year I dug it out of my closet after i found out i could sell it on ebay for one thousnad bucks -- actually I got $950 for it -- I guess house musicians like them

I had a vintage Yamaha KX-5 strap-on keyboard controller (1986 vintage, to be exact) that I hadn't played (actually, "worn") for maybe 10 years. Great memories, though. As a project, opened it up and modded it to get power up the MIDI cable (no more batteries). I cleaned up the key contacts with Caig DeOxIt, and put the whole enchilada on eBay, complete with flight case. It went for over $700, which is more than double what I paid for it in 1986. Bidding was lively... I guess the stap-ons must have had a comeback. I took the money and got a Roland AX-7 <g> and some other goodies.

- so i took my 950 I made from it and bought a mackie control surface

Nice upgrade.

In reply to Mooch4056

-- ahhh i forget the name of the drum machine it was built to sync with ---

Linked tot the TR 606 TB 303

No offense ...

I think I am the oldest experienced music composer in here . 1988
Amstrad 1512 using the resistor speaker to reproduce music with Gw- Basic .
Oh , sorry you were talking about Cakewalk ?
yes...
Using Adlib soundcard to compose music with Adlib composer back in 1991 .
Oh my I cant make it still to Cakewalk, they are so young people :)
and then again using Scream Tracker ver 2 - 3 in Dos and Soundblaster Deluxe capable of doing 16 khz 8 bit recording maximum. then moved to Fasttracker and then Cakewalk v 3 .

Have a nice day people !

Respect !

ORIGINAL: Pavlos
I think I am the oldest experienced music composer in here . 1988
Amstrad 1512 using the resistor speaker to reproduce music with Gw- Basic .
Oh , sorry you were talking about Cakewalk ?

I think you may have skipped some of the posts - including my own. Cakewalk was around in '88 btw.

My first music making attempt on computers (which I left out in my earlier post) was early 80's on Luxor ABC80's, learned it on an electrical engineering/computer course - later I made a couple of softwares (internal synth programmer + a step sequencer) and a VC-interface for this:

http://www.computermuseum.li/Testpage/Spectravideo1983.htm

Started with Cakewalk 1.0 in the early/mid 80's. It was awful... Still remember the HELP function! Had a Roland MPU401 interface and a CMS A/B Box and a CMS 19" Rack with an 4,77 Mhz professor and best of all: Yamaha TX81z. Also had a sequencer called Texture and Prolib. I still have it all but only TX81z is in use....

David

Started with Cakewalk for Windows version 3. Before that, had a Commodore 64 sequencer, but it had insufficient memory most of the time. Still have Yamaha QX-5, Tapco spring reverb, cassette decks, and other old gear. Might use the Tapco spring reverb for surf sounds....

I think I am the oldest experienced music composer in here . 1988
Amstrad 1512 using the resistor speaker to reproduce music with Gw- Basic .

Are you sure you meant 1988?

That certainly could not be the "oldest" user of computer technology for music, unless you meant the oldest living composer here.

I wrote music using assembly language on the motorola 6502 processor and I am sure many others have been doing computer aided composition earlier than that.

Not a big deal really as this all for fun anyway...right?

Best Regards,

Trankonia

Ok fellas, I started out in recording on a Ampex 440 2 track doing live mixes with as many as 15 mics. (Dukoff Recording Studios Miami, Fl.) I was elated when the owner decided to buy an 8 track version of the 440 and we could record the string section on one track, drums on another etc.
When it was time for me to go digital, I purchased Cakewalk's 3.0 in DOS and held on to my 24 track analog machine until SONAR 3 when I finally found the combination of it and M Audio's sound cards along with Mackie firewire coupled with a tube mic and tube preamps to offer the sound in digital I had in analog.
Digital is for editing, IMHO, and now that the engines and dithering are up to par, I can combine all in one.
My Studer has been mothballed and I am fuly digital now. (I can however, at any time, open the closet door, and revive the 24)
It's been a fantastic journey and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Your mention of Texture brought back memories. Great little sequencer. Used it back in the 1993-94 timeframe with an MQX-32M card(still have it in a box here). SMPTE synced to a TASCAM 8 track cassette recorder. I think my next step(misstep?) was to "Powertracks Pro Audio". I switched over to CWPA 7 when it came out...hung on for 8 and 9 where it finally started getting good. Used a Midiman Dman2044 until about 2001, then switched to Yamaha DSPF's which I still use. Have upgraded to every version of SONAR when it came out....still miss the simplicity of Texture...

i,m a composer and computer engineer ,cake 3 was my first ,now i use both sonar and cubase ,sonar is my home,but i use cubase to some benefits i don,t find in sonar ,i made with sonar 28 albums in egypt ,i,m not joking i wish to make sonar the first host in the middle east and asian countries
so our dreams in the next update is...(can some registerd owners help me to send my ideas for updates to sonar teamwork?)
1-warp time(stretching the tempo grid manually from any point to follow audio or midi events with the ability to snap to the nearest event).

2-draw tool(to draw audio events such as in soundforge,wavelab,cubase and many more

3-the loop construction view(for each slice enable gate,fade,quantize,snap,layring(to make copy,paste,replace,move and remove time or slice)).

4-multi channel loop synth.(can read the acidized files direct from sonar (not only the external rex files) and the ability to export the midi grooves to sonar midi tracks,and also the ability to copy, paste each key to the empty keys to add filters and amp. works for each key, e.g(attack,decay,pan,volume,pitch),and finally the ability to make effect inserts and sends for each channel with the automation.

hint some people prefare to work direct with loops while the others prefare to work with loops modules

5-micro tuner (a midi effect with many presets from the hole world to work with the modules have that abbility like steinberg modules (halion,hypersonic and many more)and try to make the others abble that.

6-general midi arranger(comes as one complex midi effect with many complet styles(intro,variations,fills and end) from the hole world, and the ability to make our styles from midi patterns or real time midi recording.
this arranger comes with a separate drums and instrument sections channels can be activated,linked or not.
this arranger should follow midi events in a midi track and the real time midi recordings with a lift hand changing
style variations by midi keyboard keys,and the ability to hear the styles at stop mode.

7-some effects like vocoders have a midi output,some other hosts reads that automatically,but sonar vst adapter make that manually by enabling as dxi.

8-some vst modules and effects still make errors with the vst adapter and can,t read.

9-some vst modules (like groove agent,broomastick bass ) have input to midi tracks to make the track records their patterns,some other hosts reads that but sonar doesn,t.....!

10-the automation envelops doesn,t appear in the output audio track of a module if we open that module from the synth rack but when we open the module from an audio track insert ,the automations appears.why...?

11-real time audio input bus(to make sonar the best multitrack i have ever seen).

12-the event inspector if we changed the value of some event and if we add anoter events and pounce the midi clips the added events can,t take the same value unless when giving new value and return to the last.

thanks for your patient
mostafa alswefi
composer,computer and sound engineer
EGYPT-CAIRO
MOPILE\0020101866430
www.alswefi_composer2006@yahoo.com

Hi guys,

This will perhaps amuse some of you, but i still use version 3 of CW (released in 91 i think) and has never had any problem with it whatsoever. Before that, i used to have an expanded 1040st (Atari) running Dr T:s KCS (which i miss dearly even today).

Yesterday i bought and received the E-mu production bundle as part of a campaing for Proteus/Emulator X owners and (of course) fired up Sonar right away. I must say that i became shocked by the much to cluttered interface and many panes in this more modern version. I am sure it is very powerful compared to other modern sequencers (not to mention my old version 3 ).

I think it is by far more difficult to do simple things like selecting midi-interface/channel, quantising, calling up the velocity window, etc compared to older versions. My (probably daft) question is:

My question for you CW gurus is this:

Is it possible to "change skin" or modify the interface of Sonar so that it resembles older, "classic" versions?

Kind regards

Daniel

Started with Cakewalk Dos3, Fostex 8 track reel to reel, and two 6' high racks with 300 connectors. Used an Opcode midi adapter. My other choice besides cakewalk was Voyetra. Cake synked to the 8 track by SMPTE. All kinds of cheap rack synths and effects, and patch bays.

All my mixes had huge tape compression, but I did not really know it at the time.

The most painful era was when other vendors could ship audio recorders and Cake was only MIDI. I REALY wanted to get rid of the 8 track.

Came close to buying SAW, but Bob Lentini's personality put me off. Big time.

Back then the turtle beach stereo sound card was $1,200.

Digital Audio Labs had the V8, but I don't remember why I didn't get it.

I almost bought the Digidesign Session 8, but it was $4,000 and I was married at the time. Besides, the Digidesign salesman was too snooty.

Pro tools was really expensive- couldn't even look at it.

I waited for Metalithic Digital Wings to ship. Remember them?

Finally Cakewalk started shiping audio.

I used two linked turtle beach consumer audio stereo cards. Toss the 8 track but keep the analog mixer and most of the racks.

Then to a Yamaha O3d with 8 channels ADAT, two spdif, and two analog into a Korg 1212.

Now a Roland VM-7200 with 24 channels ADAT. The only thing racked is power amps and a headphone amp. Everything is computer.