"The Huge Book of Cakewalk by BandLab Tips" Is Now Available
Given that SONAR is officially not around any more, it's time for another book
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The Huge Book of Cakewalk by BandLab Tips.
This one combines "The Big Book of SONAR Tips" and "The Second Big Book of SONAR Tips," but takes out the material that's not relevant to Cakewalk by BandLab. It weighs in at over 400 pages, so it's available only as a PDF. There have been some tweaks to the material but if you already have the previous SONAR books, you don't really need this (unless you want something with better copy editing, LOL). However for those who didn't get the first two books, the two combined cost $24.90, so at $19.95 I think the new book is a pretty good deal (scroll down for the contents).
Here's the contents:
Contents Author’s Preface 9
Feature Comparison: SONAR Platinum, Cakewalk by BandLab 10
CHAPTER 1: ADVANCED WORKFLOW TECHNIQUES Inspector / Console View Synergy 13
Gridlock: Everything You Wanted to Know About Snap 14
Everything You Wanted to Know about Audio Scaling 16
See Lots of Sends at Once 18
A “Peak Hold” Mastering Trick for Making Files Sound Louder 20
Fun with the Magnifying Glass Zoom 21
Synth Folder Track Coolness 22
“Dual Defaults” for Control Settings 23
Take Advantage of Different Browser Views 25
Adjust Crossfade Start and End Times Simultaneously and Symmetrically 27
Dim Solo Meets Comping 29
Easy Arranging in Cakewalk by BandLab 30
Soft Synths—Beyond MIDI Learn 33
Stupidly Simple Track Pane Resizing 36
Order out of Chaos with Cakewalk by BandLab’s Plug-In Manager 37
Neaten Clips Spread over Multiple Take Lanes 39
MIDI in Audio Take Lanes? Yes! Here’s Why 43
The Virtual “Back of the Tape Box” 45
The Third Way to Back Up Projects 48
Track Sorting 51
Preset Management and the Plug-In Header 52
Future-Proof Backup 54
Fast and Easy Real-Time Effects Control 56
Get MONDO HUGE Layered Sounds with Take Lanes 58
Cross-Track Modulation with Sidechaining 60
Independent Left/Right Processing for Stereo Files 62
The Overachieving Meters 64
Transferring Files to Other Hosts 66
Clean Up Your Console View 73
Console Emulator Workflow Tip 77
An Efficient Workflow for Pre-Masters 79
Four Quick Automation Tips 82
Re-Discovering Cakewalk by BandLab’s Audio Waveform Editor 84
Let’s Get Punchy: Punching in Cakewalk by BandLab 86
Linking, Unlinking, and Copying Clips 88
Wireless, Hands-Free Control 95
CHAPTER 2: PATCH POINTS AND SYNTH RECORDING Universal Routing Technology 101: Improve Your Workflow with Patch Points 98
Unlocking the Aux Track’s Creative Potential 101
Video Application for Synth Recording 108
CHAPTER 3: SIGNAL PROCESSING AND DSP The High-Performance Graphic Equalizer 111
The Customizable Virtual Pop Filter that Really Works 113
Cakewalk by BandLab’s Secret Auto-Panner/Tremolo/Vibrato Plug-In 117
A Better Gated Reverb 119
Duck! (As in, Reverb) 121
Beef Up Your Beats with ProChannel Signal Processing 124
The Big, Bad Drum Reverb Sound 128
Ethereal Pads and Choirs with TH3 Cakewalk’s Parallel Processing 130
Godzilla Drum Sounds 131
“Parallel” Mastering 132
Preserving Dynamics with Saturation 133
The “Sizzle” Bus 135
Fixing the “Remove Silence” Function 137
Make Your Electric Bass Hugely Big 140
Better Vocals with Gain Changes 141
Synthesize Your Own Convolution Reverb Impulses - Easily! 143
Understanding the QuadCurve—Why Noise Is Your Friend 145
Modeling a Vintage Wah 147
Understanding the “Rule of Half” 151
“Percussivate” Your Parts 153
Cakewalk by BandLab’s Incognito Lo-Fi Plug-In 165
The Gourmet Flanger 167
Cakewalk by BandLab’s “Secret Weapon” Convolution 169
The Case for Bass Multiband Compression 171
Multiband Sidechaining 174
CHAPTER 4: FX CHAINS Create the “Harmonic Phaser” 185
The Super-Gentle “Lifter” Dynamics Processor 188
Build a “Virtual Stompbox” Sustainer 190
The Instant Compressor 192
Serial Reverb for Vocals 194
The “How Does It Sound in a Car?” Tester 202
Build a “Virtual Room Mics” FX Chain 204
Here’s Your “Harmonic Tremolo” 207
The Modeled Guitar Tone Control 210
CHAPTER 5: MIDI Taming the Scary Find/Change Dialog 213
Super-Fast MIDI Pattern Auditions for SI Drums 218
Compressorless Dynamics Compression 220
Cakewalk by BandLab’s Real-Time Auto-Correction Features 222
Cakewalk by BandLab’s Other Echo Plug-In 224
A MIDI Footpedal for Your Processor 226
Change Tempo with External MIDI Clock 228
Create a MIDI Chord Track 231
Convert PRV Controllers to Track View Automation 234
Random Bass Line Creator 237
Jamstik Meets Cakewalk by BandLab 240
Using BLE-MIDI (Bluetooth MIDI) Devices in Cakewalk by BandLab 243
MIDI Velocity “Compression” with the Transform Tool 247
Drawing the Perfect Pitch Bend 249
Transform Tool Tips 250
Better MIDI Bass Parts 252
About Instrument Definitions 254
CHAPTER 6: STEP SEQUENCING, BEATS, and PERCUSSION Piano Roll View/Step Sequencer Conversion and Synergy 260
Cakewalk by BandLab’s Audio (Yes, Audio!) Step Sequencer 262
The Paradox of Sophisticated Humanizing with Step Sequencers 266
Perk Up Percussion with Probability 267
Create “Faux” REX Files in Cakewalk by BandLab 270
The Real-Time Beat Machine 272
SuperKick! Tune and Enhance Your Kick Drum 274
The Humanized MIDI Hi-Hat 276
End Boring MIDI Drum Patterns! 278
More Expressive Electronic Drums 283
CHAPTER 7: LOOPS The Multitrack Loop Browser 286
How to Keep Groove Clips “Groovy” When Processing Them 287
Have Groove Clips Follow Pitch 289
29 Things You Need to Know About Using Loops in Cakewalk by BandLab 291
Big Fun with “Loop Legos” 304
How to Loop Pads without Gaps, Glitches, or Clicks 307
Edit Your Way to (Much) Better Loops 309
Dealing with Loop Clicks 312
A Beautifully Deranged Timbre-Shifting Application 314
The Matrix View—Reloaded 316
The Matrix View Sampler You Can Trigger with MIDI Tracks 319
REX File Pitch Transposition 321
Cut Audio Groove Clips Into Slices—Easily 322
Cakewalk by BandLab Audio Stretching Options Explained 324
CHAPTER 8: AUDIOSNAP High-Quality Warping and Beat-Matching 328
Tweaking AudioSnap’s Transient Map 330
Audio Quantizing Made Easy with “AudioSnap à la Carte” 333
Locking Bass to Drums 335
CHAPTER 9: AUTOMATION Get Even More Out of Mix Recall 338
Add Dynamics and Feel with “Rhythmic Automation” 340
Re-Discovering Snapshot Automation 342
Fast Clip Automation Gain Edits 344
CHAPTER 10: CONTROL SURFACES Using the Avid Artist Series Controllers 347
Remote Control and Viewing 352
CHAPTER 11: TEMPO AND PITCH-SHIFTING Les Paul’s Double-Speed Tape Trick 355
Slow Down a Song so It’s Easier to Play Along 358
Tempo Tricks 361
Variable-Speed Background and Applications 363
The “Fine-Tuning” Pitch Transposition Window 366
How to Change an Entire Project’s Tempo 368
CHAPTER 12 RECORDING TECHNIQUES Why You Don’t Want to Compress the Master Bus 372
What Is the Sound of Two Hands Clapping? 374
The Perfect Fadeout 377
Converting Dual Mono Into Stereo 378
Tempo Change “Time Traps” for Extra Drama 379
Super-Long LFO Waveforms 380
CHAPTER 13: COLORIZATION Create More Vibrant Track and Console Colors 384
Make Your Meters Look Really Cool 387
Meet the Theme Editor 389
CHAPTER 14: WINDOWS Cakewalk by BandLab Meets Bluetooth 395
Potential Glitch Reduction/Latency Improvement 398
APPENDIX A: Digital Audio Basics 401
APPENDIX B: How to Be a Power User 408