interpolated
Sonar keyboard would be cool. You know prepared with all the default shortcuts and take the thinking out of the process. Like the pro tools one you can buy.

I actually had one for SONAR some years ago but it's since become outdated. Some of the shortcuts has changed.

Some perspective from out there ...
 
<quote>
Can someone teach me how to better use the DAW "Studio 1" version 3 
Hi! I am looking for someone that knows how to use the DAW "Studio 1" version 3. I am a song writer trying to make quality demos for pre production. My knowledge is limited and below are the things I would like to learn from someone in a session or two to really up my skills. If you can teach the following please feel free to hit me back! Best 

A list of things I don't know how to do that would change my production abilities...
- Take a sound and make it a playable keyboard scale.
- Use effects packs from splice or built in effects to change the sound of a clip... reverb gain etc. 
- Simply setting up and using keyboard and trigger pad with studio one 3.
- Speed up or slow down a file, also pitch shift/ change key to that file without effecting the tempo.
- Auto fixing a poorly played (out of tempo in some places) recording to match up in time with the rest of the track.
</quote>

 
A couple of possible interpretations for this. 
 
1. If you've invested a considerable amount of time learning your craft, you might be (smh) and tempted to read between the lines.
> No, I don't know what I'm doing 
> Yes, I'm too lazy to RTFM
> No I can't play any instrument very well.
> Yes, I want to sound "professional". 
> No, I don't want to pay for anything. 
 
Or PERHAPS...
 
2. Technology is now capable of eliminating the tedium and drudgery of acquiring minimum skills for generating music. Who would do their maths with pencil and paper instead of using a calculator? (I've heard using one was considered "cheating" when first introduced and usage banned from final exams...)
 
If the goal is to create music, then anything to eliminate the time spent on "non-musical" activities could be viewed as a positive. IMO, one of the reasons Macs may have done better in creative work places. If you're an engineer, then have at all the details if that's what you like doing. It's absolutely a skill that makes a difference, but not every musician wants to be an engineer.  
 
It's also been stated many times that the market/revenue stream for DAWs is relatively meager and how limited resources are. If this is the case, I'm not sure I see the point of expending scarce resources on basic music skills vs. crafting best-in-class tools that can be used across a wide range of styles. Just like the real world. Guitars aren't build for EDM or rock or whatever. They are implements of musical expression limited only by the amount of effort one is willing to put in. 
....
The biggest bang for the buck imho is in system setup and mode configuration (i.e. tracking vs. mixing vs. mastering vs. live performance).
- Why should setting up an audio interface for reliable functionality appear to be a complete crap shoot (with a very few exceptions)?
- Why should a -musician- have to blindly slog through a set of trial and error values to determine buffer sizes and then switch between them depending on what they're doing?
 
A quick scan of forum posts seems to provide some evidence for this. It's a big challenge given the unlimited possibilities for PC system configuration made worse by random drive-by updates from MS. Not sure what a practical cost effective solution would look like other than the forum and quality 3rd party vendors providing known good platforms. Setup wizards could help but unsure as to the cost of maintaining them in the wild west of system configurations. 
....
There is potential with the GUI. I'm OK with breaking from "legacy hardware-centric" user interfaces for concepts such as the Skylight interface and lenses. Improved integration of touch panels/surface dial/etc open up the potential for improved work flow for traditional activities and new modes of musical expression. I get the ire from all the 8.5 die-hards but look forward to expanded capability rather than doing things "just like grandpa did". Good suggestions have already been noted in previous posts. 

- Lots of educative materials available, notably videos, most of them free or not too expensive
- An official list of projects, perhaps 10-20, with all the tracks, busses, fx and so  to play with, downloadable from Cakewalk's site / Cakewalk command center: to reference for questions, discussions, technical problems, tips and tricks, techniques (sidechaining) with other people from the community.
- Well, though out keyboard shortcut collections. The possibility to switch from Protools-like shortcuts to Cubase-like shortcuts and so forth
- Live Q&A, masterclass or guest on YouTube or Twitch, where Cakewalk people or guest can answer questions by showing on the daw. Perhaps monthly. I like the Westlake Pro Audio channel on YouTube for example, but of course, everything is almost 100% Protools related.
 
DAWs are complex products and must be used regularly to be easy to use. It's just like Photoshop or After Effects.
For these, there are tons of great video learning tools, including projects.
I cannot insist enough, it is paramount for people to have access to project files, especially, but far from exclusively, the newbies.
 
This is a reproach I would do to the Eli Kranzberg Sonar video series, where courses are too basic and too much divided by technicalities, such as the tracks views or the metronome settings. This is only a basis.
People will learn the keyboard shortcuts/mouse handling/menus  much more easily if they are used and told and shown again and again and again on projects, because people will remember the project and the technique learned. 
 
This is something that was done supremely well by Total Training for Adobe Products.
When you use the cloning tools on the skin of a model, following what the instructor does on video. You'll remember the model and the cloning tool.
When you use the perspective tool on a house, following what the instructor does on video. You'll remember the house and the perspective tool.
 
We need the same, but for Sonar and music/audio.
 

Ease the transition for those coming from other DAWs.
 
So offer guides how to do typical ProTools/Cubase/S1/Reaper tasks in Sonar !!!
 
I purchased S1 and just gave up because I cannot find out how to do my normal things in S1.

 

to me i stoped my choice on sonar 5std because the easy to use of it...
 
ps.sorry for my english..

Cedric has some points that really hit home with me. Make a one hour video, "Let's record a song with Sonar" .I know there are a jillion ways to do this (drum machine or drummer comes to mind right away).Define what you are doing ( e.g. 4 piece rock band), set it up and do it, explaining steps along the way. " Now that I have my basic song, I'm going to add some EQ and ,or compression to each track. This is what I'm doing and this is why it works." "Now let's start raising /lowering faders to mix. Automation is a great tool here, and I'm going to group these tracks together by sending them to a bus. Here's how to do it, and this is the result. Now let's polish this turd up a little using some final compression/ limiting and EQ on the master bus ."  That sort of thing.That would give any newbie some practical hands on time with some of the basic DAW tools. It's hard to learn to drive a car by reading a book about it.

Most specifically, the acknowledgement that a DAW is not its own world.. Ease of use comes from improved integration with the user and other hardware, be it interfaces, control surfaces or synths and other rack gear
 
1. More user objective oriented documentation, blogs, and particularly videos
 
2. Better control surface integration. The competition is far, far ahead of Sonar.
 
3. Better hardware integration for synths. For example, not only does CW not, and it absolutely SHOULD, have a repository for instrument definitions for synths, absolutely any discussion of said topic gets tossed into the purgatory called the hardware forum, where views are 1% of the main forum..yet the topic is clearly SONAR. Understand that the current message from CW for a new user with (say) a MicroKorg, is that not only do we not support your integration efforts, but that we don't really even care about the question....
 
4. Better hardware integration for interfaces. Other posts covered some aspects, but my 2c... Just exactly how hard is it for "move checked devices to top" to apply to audio as well as midi?.. 
 

CedricM
- Lots of educative materials available, notably videos, most of them free
 

 This is where FL Studio reigns and not having this stunted the growth of Reaper.  Most developers don't shine in this area and that's why we have SWA, Groove 3, and Mac Pro Video.  I am a fan though of paid tutorials. 
 

Help files that are actually helpful.

I’ve used Cakewalk products for 20 years and I just spent almost three hours installing a plugin. Download this, open that, install this app, run as admin, iLok hell, run Gobbler at startup, if steps 1, 2, & 3, 4, 5 doesn’t work then go to this website, license for everybody, scan plugins, re-scan plugins, check the forums for answers, (thankful for the forums) feel like a complete idiot, and maybe the plugin you paid for might work – just maybe. I can’t imagine being a noobie with all this going on. I admit I am older and not as sharp as I once was but with plugins being a huge part of a DAW this is madding. Not a fault of the DAW I know but REALLY annoying. If this was some how streamlined?