Amazed,

I think you're pretty much right on the money...It never ceases to amaze me how many folks who've never done any actual serious recording decide to immediately buy SONAR Producer thinking it's the "panacea" or "push a button and I make great music" sort of application. I think it's reasonable for CW to expect a reasonable amount of knowledge by users who purchase the Studio/Producer versions; that's why they also offer the Home Studio alternative.

I am not, in any way, trying to discourage newbies from buying SONAR Producer but offering a "Caveat Emptor" that suggests if you are really new to the world of recording in the DAW realm and know nothing about signal chains, audio cards/interfaces, etc., then you're in for a very steep learning curve...

Amazed:
Are you referring to Scott Garrigus? I have his book, Sonar 8 power, and it is very helpful now that I have the basics down. Where would I find this pdf you are referring to?

Papa:
I don't regret purchasing Sonar producer, it will take me a few weeks to get past the road bumps of figuring out a new and powerful program as it will with any other program. I am already making music, thanks to all your help, so thank you! (I made a cover of a beyonce song, my first creation, the day Susan explained the tracks > property > output command.)

The problem I had again was the fact that the user's guide neglects to instruct you to insert a soft synth and imply that it should work without one. That is a serious oversight given that they are basically supposed to be giving step  by step instructions in the tutorials.

My Sonar 8 producer and Studio User's Guide: Tutorial 9 - Drum Maps. 

Exporting, CD burning etc is in Tutorial 8 for my guide... Weird.

Thanks again, all!

Where would I find this pdf you are referring to?

It's on Install Disc #1 in the \Documentation folder

-Susan

papa2005


Amazed,

I think you're pretty much right on the money...It never ceases to amaze me how many folks who've never done any actual serious recording decide to immediately buy SONAR Producer thinking it's the "panacea" or "push a button and I make great music" sort of application.

Buy or download?

daveny5

papa2005


Amazed,

I think you're pretty much right on the money...It never ceases to amaze me how many folks who've never done any actual serious recording decide to immediately buy SONAR Producer thinking it's the "panacea" or "push a button and I make great music" sort of application.

Buy or download?

Or just really great salesmen somewhere .

I'm still using Sonar 6 PE, it's been working a threat for us (still on xp though). Really thinking about upgrading to 8 (drools!). I never had to ask any questions as the manual was straight forward enough. Maybe some folks these days are getting lazy?

Thalberg - hope you're not implying that I am lazy because I asked a question? I read the manual...

I bought Sonar, and at the same time bought a $3000 computer from ADK who specialize in making computers for music making. (Most of you I am sure know them.) I guess what I am trying to say is that I believe I have found my calling, and am committed to become an expert, no matter how much difficulty or ridicule I may encounter. For some, $3000 (plus the Sonar price) may be a small amount of money to spend, but for me it was not trivial!

Thanks again to all who gave helpful comments, I am progressing through the Garrigus guide and becoming more and more of an "expert" everyday!

Awinant please understand that we see more of this kind of post then we think we should. Its not you.  Its a frustration with very basic stuff that is not known by new users. Nor is it about CW or Sonar but about fundamentals that for some reason seem not to be understood by a growing number of users. We see this as a good thing for CW because CW is clearly appealing to new users. At the same time many of us studied for years learning MIDI and audio recording and didn't have these questions or think those that are this new need to do the work first and foremost in order to understand a very complex program aimed at users that need its power.

You have every right to ask questions and I hope you continue to ask. You are very welcome here and I hope you can see the other side to this.

Think of it this way you are taking an advanced course in English literature those providing the course shouldn't have to teach one how to read too. 

At the same time we need to be less frustrated when someone needs an answer no matter what the question is.   

Take care and have fun learning Sonar. We really are here to help.

I agree the Tutorials are in need of a serious update especially the ones that explain using MIDI. I don't think the Tutorial files have been updated in 10 years. They should have one Tutorial file that has the TTS-1 already loaded in the synth rack so people can get some instant gratification and so we wouldn't have to read through the endless string of "No MIDI Sound" posts we get every day.

I wonder how much pressure it would take off the support services if the manuals and tutorials were accurate and updated. I was shocked to hear that the manuals for, say LE version, include the stuff for the big versions. What is more frustrating than a totally unreliable manual!?

I'm also not a fan of video tutorials, because when things don't go the way they show (and I think that happens a lot) you have no guidelines for troubleshooting. In a full manual you can follow the described workflow and try to be logical, IF the manual is any good that is.

Besides being active here at the Sonar Forum, I'm also a moderator and frequent poster at Gary Garritan's Forums at Northern Sounds.  Over there we get a lot of posts from newbies who have no experience with soft synths and recording with a computer, "No sound" being the most frequent topic.

So I'm very familiar with how initially over-whelming and confusing all of this stuff can be.  I know that newbies can be directed to Help files and manuals, but their eyes glaze over at the huge amount of info, unable to extract the bits they need most first.

However, after reading this thread, I had to take a look at the Help files inside Sonar to refresh my memory:

When you first click Help, the first screen is "Getting Started."  There's a lot of info there, and I've heard it suggested before that the order of basic tutes could be changed, and I agree that would be helpful.

But even though the order of tutes isn't ideal, and causes confusion, Tutorial #8 is "Using Soft Synths," and is the one we should always be pointing out to newcomers.  It describes very clearly how to insert a synth and play/record a MIDI file - the steps are exactly what Susan condensed so well on this thread.

With the emphasis on soft synth use nowadays, it would be better for that tute #8 to be the first tute.  But at least it's there, and if actually read and followed, exlains it all - and it uses the TTS-1 synth as an example, which is a perfect choice, as Susan pointed out.

rbowser