Sonar? Buggy? Compared to Pro Tools? Pro Tools is the buggiest piece of s*** you can find anywhere. I was forced to use it for a sound design class, and it was a nightmare from beginning to end. I will never use Pro Tools again. Sonar is the best DAW around, period.

I think everyone is being a little "politically correct" with their responses. Allow me to be on the nose with it:
Sonar is a great DAW!
 
1. Your track sounds awesome!
2. Most people follow the crowd and feel intimidated when presented that is better than theirs. (Kinda like penile envy)
3. Your track sounds awesome!
4. Please share some of your technique old great one!

Anderton

doment500
I think everyone is being a little "politically correct" with their responses. Allow me to be on the nose with it:
Sonar is a great DAW!
 
1. Your track sounds awesome!
[snip]
4. Please share some of your technique old great one!

Are you referring to my stuff, or the multitude of cool music found in peoples' sigs? If mine, I can share techniques. Ifothers...you'll have to ask them 

Mr. Anderton... You know are the G.O.A.T. with Cakewalk! I love all the knoweledge you share with us all! 
PJH, if you are willing to share, I'm all hears!

I guess it never bothered me much. I do like it when I get a semblance of recognition when I mention I use Sonar. All that means is I don't need to explain what it is. Most of the time no one knows what it is. However, I must say I find it great when I run across a fellow traveler. I had a conversation recently with a gal that knew what Sonar was because her brother uses it. He is a known composer and pianist.
 
That said it makes little interest to me that someone uses a different DAW.      

JohanSebatianGremlin
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe a file created in a text editor, should open just fine in pretty much any other text editor. That's not the case with DAW project files, so collaboration becomes an issue, or at the very least an additional challenge, when your friends are on a different platform.

 
If the collaboration is about mixing an existing recording, then this may be an issue. However for musical collaborations where the different contributers work on different parts of a song, then the ability to share audio files is usually sufficient. All DAWs can import and export WAVs. If musical collaborations depended on the different contributers having the same software, then there would be a lot less collaborations happening in the world.

dwardzala
If they are a guitarist, just tell them that they should be playing a Fender or Gibson (whatever they're not playing) to be Pro and then walk away.  Or ask them how they play so well on a guitar that's not a Fender or Gibson.
 
its not the tool, its the carpenter!

 
I was thinking of the exact same analogy.
How can you play so well... with a guitar that's not a $5000+ Custom Shop model?
How can you play Fender, when John Suhr builds a better guitar?
 
For those who remember DAW software "back-in-the-day", cracked versions of Cubase were in heavy circulation.
On forums, you'd hear a lot of grumbling about how unstable Cubase VST was...
"Bug-infested pile of rubbish!"
Enough folks repeated this line... and it became "accepted truth".
Well... the legit copy of Cubase VST was not particularly unstable.
 
Just recently built a machine for Fred Coury (composer for TV/Film in LA - drummer for Cinderella).
When Fred is hired to compose, clients don't ask/care which tools are used to produce the music.
Fred is hired for his skills/results... not because he uses a particular software/tool.
 
If you like Sonar and it works well for you... then it's an effective tool.
 
If you admire a particular artist/musician, it *is* interesting to hear the details about what they're using... and how they create.  That's a completely different discussion.
 
 
 

joel77

PJH
 
...........
 
Since having the review go out I've received quite a number of emails from readers and the overwhelming question is:
"How did you manage to achieve this using SONAR???"
 
...........

It still amazes me how many people think a great production is about the tools we use, when it's been shown time after time that a talented musician/arranger/producer can accomplice amazing results using SM57s and Garageband!
 
It's not about your tools, it's about your talent. And you obviously have talent in spades!! Great job!! Love the song.
 

Thanks, Joel, 
 
Your comments are much appreciated. Glad you enjoyed the song.
 
Cheers
 
Peter.

Out of what some online polls have listed as the top 20 DAW's for 2016 / 2017 ....
I was surprised to find out that I have 12 of them ...I should feel great ..but I don't ....
What I have learned from the whole experience is one main reoccurring thought that I have had to confront and accept .
I found out that I was Jack of all of them DAW's and not a Master of even one of them  
Yeah OK , the truth hurts huh ? anyway I'm cool with it .
I'm over here busy working on it ....
 
Kenny

greg_moreira

kennywtelejazz
Out of what some online polls have listed as the top 20 DAW's for 2016 / 2017 ....
I was surprised to find out that I have 12 of them ...I should feel great ..but I don't ....
What I have learned from the whole experience is one main reoccurring thought that I have had to confront and accept .
I found out that I was Jack of all of them DAW's and not a Master of even one of them  
Yeah OK , the truth hurts huh ? anyway I'm cool with it .
I'm over here busy working on it ....
 
Kenny

this is why I just stick with sonar.  My workflow is pretty ironed out.  I know what I like to do and I dont expect any substantial changes.  On a project by project basis, sure I might toss some elements of the workflow out.  And in the future I may stumble across some nice new things to add to my template.  But I cant think of anything that I really wish I could incorporate into my process that is simply impossible in sonar.  It does what I want.
 
  What I find is no matter what daw you give me....  Im simply going to try and replicate what already works for me.  Id just be recreating the same chain in all of them.
 
now usually i find myself stopping to think too much and banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to do it with other DAW's.  Not because they arent good.  
 
But simply because I dont know them nearly as well.
 
And I dont see any point in trying to know them nearly as well when all the effort will simply be spent in trying to organize my workflow in the same fashion I already have going in sonar.

Sure I understand exactly what you are saying . Your point of view makes perfect sense ...
Find a workflow that works for you while using SONAR and stick too it 
I happen to agree with you pretty much and in theory ,
SONAR does come with just about everything any professional producer / musician could possibly need up to a point 
 
You won't get an argument from me as far as how ahead of the curve SONAR is compared to much of the competition that's out there ... 
The thing is I'm also a firm believer in using what I do have to the best of my ability and then build it up from there ...
 
Regarding the time it takes to get good and the infinite amount hours of learning it takes to get fluent w a DAW such as SONAR or another top name  DAW  ....
I don't view it as any different than my journey playing the guitar ...there's always a lot to learn there too.
My running Joke is when SONAR 's learning curve starts kicking my butt to the point where I feel hopeless ,
I run to my guitar and just take out my frustrations there
I get frustrated a lot so here's what I'm working on now ....a SONAR song project that happens to be  a work in progress
https://soundcloud.com/guitarist-kenny-wilson/song-for-my-father
 
nice rapping w you
all the best,
 
Kenny
 
 

Recently i made this track with SONAR for a client https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y50qUTrHdUA she never was really interested on what DAW i chose to work with her, the thing that she really cared about is how i design the sounds and atmosphere she wanted in the song, so what it matters is the final product, SONAR let me compose, produce and design sounds in a very comfortable space, that's all i care about  

P.S. Maaan your song reaaally rocks i liked a lot keep going and don't pay attention to the SONAR haters

Awesome job!

This is like people who have Harleys and scorn people who ride Hondas.  Seriously, who cares?  They are both motorcycles with different features (and prices). Hey, your bike is cool.  His cost $6,000 less.  Whatever, dude.
 
One of my best music friends is a Logic Pro X user.  We share tips all the time and have never discussed a technique that didn't have a comparable function in both DAWs.  (Yesterday it was about marking transients and syncing audio with the wrong tempo to a current track.  I pulled stereo tracks of a group of people singing off my old VS-1680 to add to a new version of the song in Sonar that was at a slightly faster tempo.)

stevec
After reading this entire thread all I can say is +1 to most of the comments.  I use SONAR, others do not.   OK...  Next!  
 
And after listening to the tune, all I can say is that I wasn't the least bit surprised.   Peter's work is always top notch and this is certainly no exception.  Completely enjoyed every minute. 
 
 
PS... I'd love to know how it would sound better in Logicubastudioreapbase Tools.  
 

Thanks for your kind comments, Steve.
Much appreciated.
Cheers.