I don't mean to be a snotty coastal elite or music snob of any kind, but compared to the SONAR "Songs" forum, exploring the Bandlab site is pretty disappointing. I guess when the service is free and the tools are so elementary you'll attract people who are just fooling around, and wading through hundreds (thousands?) of amateurish tracks trying to find a possible partner to collaborate with or even just some original music to listen to is disheartening. By comparison, the greenest newbie on the SONAR Songs forum is producing more thoughtful, creative, listenable tracks, and the best of the SONARians are truly gifted artists. The high level of professionalism gives me something to strive for as a writer, player and producer, listening to the great work that appears here.
 
It's probably because of the expense and the learning curve -- people working with SONAR may not be in huge, expensive studios, but they have an investment in cash and effort, and they're mostly using those investments to create great music, well-produced. The financial bar is now taken away, so it will be interesting to see how SONAR is used by people who got it for free. But when this forum is taken down, we will be merged with the much larger Bandlab community, and I think we'll be overwhelmed. So far that is not looking (to me) like a good thing, so I hope the Songs forum is preserved somehow, or I can find a replacement.

Hey Larry, totally understand and respect your point of view - as BandLab has grown it's gotten harder to make sure everything is curated for the best experience and people's interests. We have nearly a million songs being created on BandLab a month right now in a wide variety of genres and the speed the community is growing at means making sure everyone has the best experience is whole new challenge every day!
 
As with all things - music (and BandLab) is best with people that you know, respect and enjoy connecting with. We have incredible SONARians here and some have started sharing their tracks on the Official Cakewalk Community on BandLab - https://www.bandlab.com/community/cakewalk_official - you may want to check that out and follow some of them so that your feed is populated with people that may be a better fit for you. We will be improving the way one searches for a musician to collaborate with, though.
 
If it still doesn't float your boat, then no worries, check back some time later. I hope it will also be a relief to know that the Songs forum will definitely be preserved when we transition to the new forum! Sharing your creative works is a very personal thing, and some people prefer this format :-)
 
 

When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too. 
Most of the new features are geared towards using loops. 
The rest of us are left in the dust. There will always be real musicians and real engineers out there but in the computer world we are fading fast.
I agree that a lot of us old timers that have used Sonar to replace our 4 track machines to produce original musical creations won't fit in with the Bandlab model. That world is overwhelmed with "beat" makers who have zero musical abilities... it horrid to anyone with taste in good music,, but I guess that's where the cash cow lives now. 
Possibly we could still congregate on say, Bapu or panups new forums they created? 
 
Edit,, looks like Meng and I were typing same time.. So looks like once again he is listening and we will still have our beloved Song Forum. 

Cactus Music
When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too. 
Most of the new features are geared towards using loops. 
The rest of us are left in the dust. There will always be real musicians and real engineers out there but in the computer world we are fading fast.
I agree that a lot of us old timers that have used Sonar to replace our 4 track machines to produce original musical creations won't fit in with the Bandlab model. That world is overwhelmed with "beat" makers who have zero musical abilities... it horrid to anyone with taste in good music,, but I guess that's where the cash cow lives now. 
Possibly we could still congregate on say, Bapu or panups new forums they created? 

Well, atleast during your lifetime and mine,  there will be enough quality musicians out there to provide the kind of music we want. For the younger generations, I dont know :)  As for software, I will use CW as a digital version of the 4 track untill I croak basically, as will you I imagine. If others wants to copy loops and chords that is fine with me, I don't have to listen to it! 

meng
Hey Larry, totally understand and respect your point of view - as BandLab has grown it's gotten harder to make sure everything is curated for the best experience and people's interests. We have nearly a million songs being created on BandLab a month right now in a wide variety of genres and the speed the community is growing at means making sure everyone has the best experience is whole new challenge every day!
 
As with all things - music (and BandLab) is best with people that you know, respect and enjoy connecting with. We have incredible SONARians here and some have started sharing their tracks on the Official Cakewalk...........
 

Thank you, sir. I didn't expect to hear from you on this. As you've no doubt noticed there are a lot of old school musicians in the Cakewalk community who are glad the DAW is still alive but spooked by some of the ancillary possibilities. For many, these forums are part of the product. Thanks again for reading and responding.

I don't know. I have heard some pretty bad tracks made on Cakewalk too. Some of them probably by me.
 
The main dilemma here is it's either all or nothing. If you limit access to only a few who are deemed to be gifted who makes that decision? Then you loose everyone.
 
The link Meng  posted looks like a good way to stay in the Cakewalk universe. I just joined, but I'm not limiting myself.

Starise
 If you limit access to only a few who are deemed to be gifted who makes that decision? Then you loose everyone.
 

Good point, who are the brain police? It can quickly turn into elitist snobbery. Music is 100% subjective in the end. To quote Frank Zappa ( who is never wrong ) :
"The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's ****in'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it'****ty."
 
** edit **
wow .. this site is ACTUALLY "bleeping" "bad" words?  lmao ... that is ... insane :) Lets resurect the PMRC while we are at it. 

Cactus Music
When ever I bring up this topic I get flamed. I guess I object to the direction music software is headed in that they are making it so people who do not take the time to develop any musical or engineering skills are pandered too.

When you and I first started making our own music, I guarantee the existing "masters" at the time thought we were ruining the art form. I found that attitude pretty offensive at the time, and now it seems we have proven them wrong anyway, so I try not to be judgemental about the new people coming up. But after 50 years, I want to work with and listen to music that is at least on my level of professionalism. The kids will take over, but not in my house.
 

Starise
I don't know. I have heard some pretty bad tracks made on Cakewalk too. Some of them probably by me.
 
The main dilemma here is it's either all or nothing. If you limit access to only a few who are deemed to be gifted who makes that decision? Then you loose everyone.
 
The link Meng  posted looks like a good way to stay in the Cakewalk universe. I just joined, but I'm not limiting myself.

Ha ha, I just went over there and the "forum posts" are limited to 250 characters. Not one of the comments in this thread would be allowed. Also, I don't want to exclude anyone, exactly. I just want to hook up online with compatible writers, singers and players. As I have mentioned in another thread, Bandlabbers don't seem to know the difference between Rock, Hip-Hop and Folk, so it's hard to find a musical genre that interests you. You're just as likely to find an epic 12-minute one-chord rap in the "Blues" category as you are a blues song.
 

tobiaslindahl
Good point, who are the brain police? It can quickly turn into elitist snobbery. Music is 100% subjective in the end. To quote Frank Zappa ( who is never wrong ) :
"The Ultimate Rule ought to be: 'If it sounds GOOD to you, it's ****in'; if it sounds BAD to YOU, it'****ty."
 
** edit **
wow .. this site is ACTUALLY "bleeping" "bad" words?  lmao ... that is ... insane :) Lets resurect the PMRC while we are at it.

I don't want to "police" it. I just want to be able to find what I'm looking for. The beat-makers and loopers don't interest me, but I don't want them deleted. Honestly (and this is a critical point for me), I don't know what the solution could be in an operation as large as Bandlab. Obviously Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. are out of control, and it looks like every huge online gathering place will get there eventually, too.
 
PS: The censor is automatic. It's been there as long as I can remember, and no one can adjust it.

 

I don't want to "police" it. I just want to be able to find what I'm looking for. The beat-makers and loopers don't interest me, but I don't want them deleted. Honestly (and this is a critical point for me), I don't know what the solution could be in an operation as large as Bandlab. Obviously Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, etc. are out of control, and it looks like every huge online gathering place will get there eventually, too.
 
PS: The censor is automatic. It's been there as long as I can remember, and no one can adjust it.

I wasn't implying you wanted to police, more of a general comment on taste I guess. My only point was that taste in music, movies, art, food whatever is entirely subjective and there really is no right or wrong. That said I am with you 100% in not having any interest in "loopers" :)  

The irony of the 'expense' thing for me is that years ago, before Cakewalk and other DAWs became available, it would have cost me a mortgage and some to be able to compose and record the number of songs I have to date using a recording studio with the same multitrack capability as Cakewalk has given me. As a result of the DAW revolution the revenue stream to existing studios must have dropped considerably. This doesn't mean to say that the people who invested in DAWs are any less talented than those who spent thousands per week in a studio. We are now in a situation where some are calling for a monetary bar to be instated to prevent people from having a similar opportunity in the modern scenario. I find this sad and elitist and rather insulting to the less well off. A great many of our current talented musicians didn't have a pot to piss in starting up and may well have used a cheap loop based program like ACID Music to get going with their demos and offerings. Thank god they had that ability and if the reborn Cakewalk allows a bit of self expression for the masses then that's brilliant as far as I'm concerned.