I think learning daw is hard because actually writing interesting music requires you to appreciate various kinds of musical cultures.  I usually try out my efforts in Band and a box with midi files so I can throw my plugIns on them and than mix the tune together in Cakewalk.  I also have all of groove monkee's drums and it is considerably harder just to throw out a load of chorus drum patterns then try to imagine links between each of them.  It's basically Trial and Error writing then I have 6 guides to Cakewalk between VTC using a discount coupon and Safari ONline books which explain how to use Cakewalk to come out with something that is interesting that is not commercial music.  Anyways.  I do keep learning.  But this is my basic thought explorations as to how I use Cakewalk.  

John

jimfogle
 
2) Signal chains.  In the seventies I bought a Teac A-3340 reel to reel tape deck.  I got pretty good at recording but I couldn't achieve my goals because I had no outboard gear and had no idea of what gear I needed.  I started thinking the Peggy Lee refrain, "Is that all there is?"  Luckily my wife gave me a hardware DAW as a present.  The hardware DAW includes nine software algorithms that emulate various insert signal chains for recording acoustic and electric instruments or vocals.  It also has a send/receive parallel buss to add reverb and delay.  Now I know what I was missing!  Why can't software DAWs have algorithms that emulate a variety of basic signal chains that beginners can use and learn from?

There are a number ways to reply to this. 
Plugins are the software answer to the built in FX in a hardware DAW. Sonar added the ProChannel protocol. A simple yet powerful kind of channel strip made up of simple and powerful plugins. With this versatility comes complexity. There is no way around it. Not only will a new user need to understand the host but also each plugin. Add to this the available plugins from large and small developers a new user is facing a very daunting learning curve. To me the answer is study one thing at a time. Accumulate knowledge one step at a time. Don't be afraid of experimenting and trying new ways to do a task. However, do so with a solid basic understanding of how a software DAW works.     

Something like Toontrack EZMix 2 might be worth looking at.
 
I normally don't like these preset multi-effect type plugins, as it hides a lot of the detail from you, but for beginners and/or a quick solution, it pretty much fits the bill.

Everything is hard in the beginning just remember when you started driving for the 1st time.  Now, most of us drive unconsciously. When I started to do photoshop and After Effects, I thought I will never learn this.  Bit by bit you learn.
If you don't have a good understanding of how windows work then it's even harder.

I used to have your video's but since Version X2 it seems as if they disappeared.   The sequencer I like the least is RealBand.   I haven't figured out how to add multiple instances of the same VST.  But Biab I love.  How much of Dr T's Keyboard sequencer level II is put into cakewalk.  Can cake duplicate almost all of that? ... ahead of its time program?  I think both Biab with its video's and Reaper surprisingly answers a lot of topics when you type in a question.  Cake response  doesn't understand as many questions a newbie would have.  I think it's also more powerful than Reaper though so that is part of it.  I am working with a version 5 Cakewalk Tutorial and there aren't as many templates as there used to be and with the layouts it seems like there use to be more choices.  But even way back than I am still learning aspects I never knew this software would do.   Then I look for the revised aspects of Cake.   I have probably 32 hours of Cakewalk instruction, that is very deep.  Even with that it only goes up to X1.  and with your new book and Scotts I'll have a complete understanding.