IMO this is what BandLab needs to do.
 
Sonar should not be a Jack of all trades, master of none. But it should be a Master of some and Jack and of a few. A master of Mixing, Arranging, Sequencing and recording. Which I think it's  close to, only hindered by stability issues.
 
Integrate with the current BandLab set up, and adopt some of its functions. I wn't pretend t know much abut BandLabs current tools, but getting BandLab users to see Sonar as the natural progression is clearly the business idea here.
 
Matrix view should be overhauled. Live will always be the master, but to do Live's core function with the same ease, s that those using Live or wanting to, but also wanting more of  Full Daw capabilities will consider Sonar t be the ther option. Working with Novation so it's Pad integrates well. Meaning those with Live and the Novation Pad will see Sonar as a good option because of it's supported integration. This could help its reputation with younger users drawn like moths to those flashing ights.
 
ACTs needs to be foolproof. There are so many controllers now, this was left behind as a function.
 
Staff View needs it's overhaul. Partly to regain the faith of old users that waited and waited, and almost got it, party because no set of functions users have paid for should be ignored for a decade. But because the school educational market is  another way to attract new users. Schools tend to be PC based, so that was a strength for Sonar before. BandLab als received a NAMM 2018 Education App award (or similar such title), so clearly BandLAb valuse this market too.
 
Update Step Sequencer. It's great its a key function for me. I thought of some tweaks, but saw other users say, 'but have you seen Geist's'. I couldn't see what it could do more, s I didn't. Then I lked at Geist's sibling Tremor, and thought, woah, that s simple and obvious. To overhaul step sequencers and have users saying 'But have you seen Sonars new step sequencer, it does A, B,C...... and integrates seamlessly'. 
 
Chord tracks. Ease of composing is clearly BandLabs goal, and this is a tool that can help do that. We want mre interesting music,  and chords and the harmony are the foundation if that.
 
Mac version. I'm never buying a Mac, it's not in my interest to request this. How many of BandLabs users are using BandLAb on an iPad. So to be a natural progression for BandLab's current user base, means including them all.
 
Youtube Videos. It's 2018, Youtube is central to Media Communications. Instructional Videos are not just existing users, they are promotions of how good your product is, what it can do, and how easily. Manuals are great, but it's not the only way. Users shouldn't pay third party companies for these, especially when things are continually changing. When a new function is created, tell the world, dn't wait until a significant amount of them are achieved that a third party feels it's worth doing a new set of videos. Be all over Youtube, shared on Facebook, linked in forums.
 
 
 

Kamikaze
Matrix view should be overhauled. Live will always be the master, but to do Live's core function with the same ease,

 
Yes.  And even if SONAR will never be the primary live performance platform, the Matrix view can be a key component in HIGH-VELOCITY COMPOSITION, and that's Bandlab's mission as I see it.  Not everybody is trying to make the perfect ripoff of some Eagles tune with their DAW.  I very often do scratch tracks or tracks that serve a useful purpose but will never hear it on radio or see it on CD Baby.  VELOCITY is important.

Kamikaze
Chord tracks. Ease of composing is clearly BandLabs goal, and this is a tool that can help do that. We want mre interesting music,  and chords and the harmony are the foundation if that.

This is very important.  This is a major feature of Cubase that has escaped the attention of most people.  It really is impressive, both as a compositional aid (by helping find harmoies that will work and be cool) and as a production tool (by allowing MIDI to follow the chords -- you have to experience that to really understand the power there.)
I assume Bandlab will want things like that in the front-end tools (mobile and cloud), but Cubase proves it has an important place in the back end.
 
And to take that one step farther, let's say I can use a Bandlab app on my phone to harmonize my song by selecting chords.  And then those chords find their way into a SONAR chord track.  Once there, those same chords can automatically (optionally) force the MIDI for the bass and lead synth to conform to those chords.  And then maybe I change the chord in the cloud, causing my SONAR bass line to update itself as the information is all synchronized.
 
How cool would that be?
 

To be totally honest, the only thing I'm really interested in at this point is the promised offline activation patch for Sonar. With the recent news that the Gibson trainwreck is about to run headfirst into a mountain side, the odds that the activation servers are long for this world are dropping at a rapid pace, regardless of all the positive messages and promises to the contrary. I'm reserving judgement on any "new" incarnation of Sonar until it arrives, (and I actually can see and try it out), but in the meantime, I have work to do, and that work depends on Sonar not dropping into "DEMO" mode unexpectedly. 

looneymusic
To be totally honest, the only thing I'm really interested in at this point is the promised offline activation patch for Sonar.

see http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3731449

scook

looneymusic
To be totally honest, the only thing I'm really interested in at this point is the promised offline activation patch for Sonar.

see http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/373144

That would be the promises and positive messages I was referring to. Don't forget, at the end of the day, no matter the "public face" that is presented, a business is in it for the money. It's easy for someone from Gibson, or Cakewalk, or Bandlab, to say, "Don't worry, nothing will change", and they might even believe that themselves. But the instant the "bean counters" do the numbers, and say something along the lines of "You know what, supporting customers of legacy software, who have no interest in upgrading to the new product, (that could be me, but I'm keeping an open mind), is not really cost effective," everything will change. 

So, even if Bandlab has taken control of the activation servers, and even if they claim those servers will remain operational forever, I won't rest easy until I know for sure that the version of Sonar that I own and use every day will work, every single time I double-click that icon. 

Will I check out a "new" version of Sonar? Sure. If one is ever released.

But from what I've seen of Bandlab, and the product/services they currently offer - so far at least, it's not Sonar, so I'm not interested. 
 

cparmerlee
 
 
And to take that one step farther, let's say I can use a Bandlab app on my phone to harmonize my song by selecting chords.  And then those chords find their way into a SONAR chord track.  Once there, those same chords can automatically (optionally) force the MIDI for the bass and lead synth to conform to those chords.  And then maybe I change the chord in the cloud, causing my SONAR bass line to update itself as the information is all synchronized.
 
How cool would that be?

ARA2 has some abilities regards transferring details to Chord tracks, which has given me some hope that chrd tracks wil become mre of a DAW norm with mre DAWs lined up to adopt ARA, so this could be around the corner

looneymusic

scook

looneymusic
To be totally honest, the only thing I'm really interested in at this point is the promised offline activation patch for Sonar.

see http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/373144

That would be the promises and positive messages I was referring to. Don't forget, at the end of the day, no matter the "public face" that is presented, a business is in it for the money. It's easy for someone from Gibson, or Cakewalk, or Bandlab, to say, "Don't worry, nothing will change", and they might even believe that themselves.

The fact is the authentication method has not changed. It is no different than when the SONAR 2015.01 started selling. If all you are interested in is an alternate method of activating SONAR 2015.01 through 2017.10 beyond what is available today, it may be unwise to expect a change as long as the activation servers are running. Noel's statement is consistent with the only commitment ever made regarding activation.




 
 

looneymusic
 
............"Will I check out a "new" version of Sonar? Sure. If one is ever released.

But from what I've seen of Bandlab, and the product/services they currently offer - so far at least, it's not Sonar, so I'm not interested"......... 

I can see where you're coming from LM .......(Truly).....been in a large company myself (ie: REAL JOB)..an Airline ........'Ansett Australia' ........The Aussies here will know to what I'm referring to.  With the decline of Ansett the retrenchments were ironically decided by those who didn't provide any $ returns for service or produce a single      $ widget. In fact , when such a company would close down.........the accountants kept their jobs till the bitter end so they could in reality....turn out the lights!
Notwithstanding, Accountants / Finance Advisors are decent people just like the rest of us...my Bro is one. :) They are needed.....heck I hate adding up.....different answer each time LOL :). But I'm a creative......just like you ,.............however financial numbers are a necessary annoyance. :(
 
Yes 'At The setting Of The Sun' .........the Ole $ will indeed RULE........simply based on the fact that no one wants to lose..............let alone bleed money.
I, (again like you I suspect), feel like I have one foot on the accelerator and the other on the brake.
Will this all work out ?
If I may Indulge..........
For My Money ...............................I have a serious hunch Meng has immensely more financial resources than any of us imagine and I suspect ( as I myself would perhaps in his position) be looking far broader than $ returns for his investments.
Success in one's life is subjective..............granted.
But a measure of one's success in life is not always measured by the $ return.
&....I have a 'Gut' feeling Meng is also of this view.
 
Cheers................Frank
 
PS: Prove me wrong Meng :) .....Hello .........
Meng !!..............Testing.... 1,2,3 ...............I know you're out there :)

ch.huey
Thank you but I'm not a lover of long posts myself, I mostly find them a pain in the rear.

You’re joking, right? You have 4 posts. They’re ALL long!!
 

ch.huey
- I DON'T FEEL SCREWED THAT I LIKELY WON'T HAVE LIFETIME UGPRADES/ROLLING UPDATES ANYMORE THAT I PAID $399 FOR. Well, I do a little. I still blame Gibson, but I get it. The IP was bought, not the program. I understand the difference. The program will run for a while, hopefully a few updates more at least, but it will eventually become a new program from the code and as long as I can crossgrade to a Sonar with a different name, I won't feel like I got screwed by the lack of lifetime upgrades I paid for because it's 'technically' not Sonar anymore, though that lifetime option would be nice to buy if it comes with rolling updates/upgrades. Again I blame Gibson for what seems like a crass attempt to milk... I'll stop there but you get my point. Glad Sonar is away from Gibson, even if it won't be the same program as I bought into.

Can we PLEASE, once and for all, dispel the myth that Gibson came up with the “Lifetime Updates” idea? They didn’t. Cakewalk came up with the Lifetime Updates, not Gibson. Don’t believe it? Ask Noel Borthwick or Craig Anderton.

ch.huey
I talked to a friend a while back, and she told me her teenage son was in his room creating music. I asked if he was playing his bass, and she said 'Playing his bass? No, he's making music, he has his (beatstep?) out and is using loops to find something he likes.' She went on in a little more detail but I got the picture - he didn't even need to play an instrument to make music, despite playing one. He wants stuff to show his friends as soon as he finishes it. I can understand that.

I asked if he ever sat down with an instrument, wrote music and lyrics, figured out an arrangement, then used his software as a tool to record his composition, revise it and then improve it. He hadn't. I guess it hadn't occured to him that he could do that, or that anyone ever did that at any point..

I find this incredibly hard to believe. How did he think the loops he was using were made?? Is he blessed with magical thinking? Did you actually have a conversation with him about his thoughts on musical creation, or with his mom? What program could he possibly have used that would magically close his mind to the reality of, oh I don’t know…, who made the loops he was using, and how they were made? He’s never heard of a recording studio?
 
 
I’m not picking on you. I just found your posts……………interesting
 
I find the future possibilities of the flagship BLDAW to be utterly fascinating. I can’t wait to see what the BandLab team cooks up.
 
 
 
 
 

sharke

iRelevant
Bravo Mr. ch.huey, very enjoyable reading. Applause :) 
 
My main interest in the DAW is it's MIDI features. I hope that the Preferences section get's a streamlining when it comes to the MIDI part. It would be nice if it was easier to select devices formerly associated with Cakewalk ... you would expect it to be just a matter of ticking off the right boxes to select say the VS-100 or the A-Pro Keyboard Series. It's a bit weird how it's quicker to get the A-Pro keyboard to work in Fruity Loops than in Sonar. 
It would also be nice to have easy integration of contemporary control surfaces and keyboards.

What problems have you had with your A-Pro in Sonar? I had no problems or confusion setting mine up, it was pretty much plug 'n' play!

I'm not able to get the "control surface" part of it to work (PLAY/REC etc). I've tried the automatic setup wizard ... without luck ... Trying to do it manually in hasn't worked either. In Preferences\MIDI\Control Surfaces, I select "Cakewalk Generic Surface" and APro2 as input port and APro as output post. But nothing happens. 
I also briefly tried the ACT option, but from what I read I don't want to go to deep down that road. The APro is setup on default control map 0 for Sonar. How did you do it ?