Sonar and mash ups?

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The trick with your basic mash up, as I'm sure you know, is getting the two (or three or whatever) tracks you're combining to be at the same tempo and in the same key.

Sonar can absolutely do this, one way or the other, but it's not, in my opinion, the most elegant tool for this kind of work. It comes into it's own if you want to go further than that; if you're going to be adding your own drums and other sounds, then the initial awkwardness of the process is worth the hassle.

I've done a few of these for DJing purposes, and I've generally done the pitch shifting parts of the job in Sound Forge, and the tempo matching in Sonar.

check out the tutorials from 1 to 9 (I think)  it will give you an overview of SONAR's capabilities.

If you look at the Table of contents you'll also see the various topics covered and the instruments which are available that may help you too. All found in the Help file and the Reference manual.

i'm guessing by your first phrase that you don't have SONAR already. If not then download the demo version which will allow you to play with everything albeit with a limited palette of addons like synths etc. It will certainly give you a good idea of what you can do. If you have the full version of SONAR then you have access to all the help files etc.

Also check out the SONAR University and the various links in the sticky posts at the top of page 1 of this forum

me too mike..love the comments  :)

"Why on earth does a mash up have to have the same tempo and key?"

Nice one, Mike.

regards
Glenn

Love Melodyne Editor!!

A great book on this is the Audio Mash-up Construction Kit:
 
http://www.amazon.com/Audio-Mashup-Construction-Kit-ExtremeTech/dp/0471771953/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1312943177&sr=1-7
 
This book is by DJ Earworm, a well-know mash-up artist.  Check out his work on YouTube.
 
The book uses Acid, but you can do all of this and more with Sonar as well.

As others have pointed out, there are indeed many tools in SONAR that you can use to create Mashups. For example ...

- Time Stretching Cltrl + drag the edge of a clip to time-stretch it to the nearest measure which will make it lock to the project's tempo. Then change the Track Properties in the inspector to use the appropriate  iZotope algorithm (Producer only) when bouncing to a clip or rendering the project.

- AudioSnap Use the Edit Filter to show AudioSnap transients which allow you to adjust the timing of audio as well as have clips follow the project's tempo automatically or via beatmapping.

- Matrix View Drop in audio and MIDI loops of all kinds to create arrangements or one-shots which can be triggered via mouse or a learned MIDI key, pad, or other controller. Loops in the Matrix are automatically synced to the project's tempo.

- Groove Clips Select any clip in the Track View and hit Ctrl + L on your QWERTY keyboard to turn it into a loop. Then grab the edge of the clip and roll it out to repeat is as many times as you want. Not only will the clip lock to the project's tempo, but its pitch can be raised or lowered by semitones with by selecting the clip and hitting Alt + Plus and Minus keys on your keyboard, or by accessing the Clip properties in the Inspector.

- V-Vocal If you have an a capella and need to change its key, use V-Vocal by selecting a clip and hitting Shift + V. in VV you can edit the pitch of individual notes, or just select everything and change the key of the entire clip.

So, really, its not just one tool in SONAR or one feature, but rather all kinds of stuff you can use depending on what you want to do when doing mashups, remixes, or just integrating samples, loops, or other types of audio into your project.

SP

I was going through the Craig Anderton Sonar X1 video last night, and one of the techniques he shows is brilliant for loop mashing -- it involves a very cool way of deriving envelopes from one track that can be used for envelope-driven automation on other tracks.

The technique -- which obviously can't be shared out here w/out Mr Anderton's permission -- makes use of a plug-in functionaility that, as far as i know, is pretty much unique to Sonar (does anyone know for sure whether this is true?).

I went nuts trying it out earlier, and my appreciation for Sonar X1 -- i'm a fairly new Sonar user -- has taken a huge jump.

Regards
Glenn

While Seth makes a good point that your needs might be met in the pitch and formant shifting department by VVocal...and they might...Melodyne is head and shoulders above all other programs that alter pitch, formant and timing (i.e. Autotune, VVocal, Waves Tune etc...) with the possible exception of Flux Trax which, while an incredible program, is not nearly as intuitive as Melodyne is.  Maybe you should try VVocal first (as it comes with Sonar Producer) and if it works, great!!  And, if not, then take a look at getting Melodyne Editor.  There's really nothing quite like Melodyne.  It's simply the best.

Hi Glenn,

Thanks for the tip, i just ordered one online here in Holland.

A lot of mashup artists use Ableton Live too. 

Geeze Coprine, ol pal, have you got a year or two?  Just joshin.  There are many, many VST effects and plugs that I (and others) prefer to the ones that come bundled with X1.  For instance, comparing Dimension Pro and Kontakt 4 is like comparing a Corolla to a Lexus.  But that doesn't mean that you can't make decent music with Dimension Pro.  The included Sonitus effects with X1 are very good.  My suggestion is almost always to explore and use what comes with X1 first...if you are new to DAWs and such...and then, and only then, think about going out and spending more of your hard earned money on third party plugs.  But that said, I'll give you one fail safe tout:  You cannot go wrong with ANYTHING FabFilter sells.  Their Eq, Compressor, Gate, Limiter, Filter and Delay are all top shelf.