Though I've been recording and mixing tracks for some time now, it has been just that.
I now have a whole bunch of tracks recorded and mixed and I'd like to get them onto a CD.
Problem is, I'm not clear on how to proceed. None of the tracks are mastered or in one place.
I just have a heap of .cwp files.
 
I realize that it is best to have the tracks mastered, and have read all manner of literature on what mastering is but nothing actually says how to get the tracks to the mastering and CD stage.
I assume that I should export each .cwp file as a .wav, and then import them one by one into mastering software to be mastered. Will SONAR be suitable for this?
 
After exporting each song to .wav, do I then import each song into a continuous stereo track with spaces between the songs for mastering? Is this continuous stereo track then treated to mastering, sliced into its' component songs, then burnt to CD?
 
I guess I've made my ignorance clear and hope some good people can set me straight.
 
Thanks and cheers.
 
 

The best thing is to get CD Architect from SONY.  They have the studio version - fairly cheap.  All the tools but not the effects that come w/ the more expensive version.  And Sound Forge from SONY.  It is a stereo editor, which isn't as important as CDA but nice to have.
 
What I do to "compile"  a CD is export a mix of the songs w/in SONAR at the project rates - 44.1 and 24 bits and put it w/in the project itself.  If you have Sound Forge you can import it into there, top and tail (cut the beginning and end if necessary), make sure there are no overs (you can draw the loudest hits out and raise your overall level of the track).  You can also "master" in SF, tho you can do it in SONAR too.
 
Mastering comes from the old vinyl days when tape had more dynamics and frequency range.  So they had to make it fit using EQ and limiting.  Today it means (apparently) getting the hottest sound possible - if you look at many pro songs you'll see they look like a block w/ no dynamics.  For the home studio, esp. a newby, you merely want to raise the average level of you song.  I'd stick w/ a limiter (concerte limiter from Cake is good, as is Elephant from Voxengo) and a little eq.  The EQ is there as much to stamp the same eq signature on a CD, just as the limiter should get the songs to have the same loudness between them.  Once you have the high def songs sounding good, you export them as 44.1 16 bit wav files that CD players use and save that as a separate file -d on't overwrite your project mix file.
 
Then open CDA or another CD burning program.  Line up your songs, fade between them, etc. etc.  CDA and Pyro will insert the markers your CD player reads, and you can move them or manually insert more (or take them out).  YOu can fine tune vol w/in the programs and add another layer of effects like a limiter, compressor or EQ (tho you shouldn't need those it is nice to have just in case).  Then burn your CD and listen to it.  Rinse and repeat until you are happy.  It is best to check out your Cd on various systems - bookshelf speakers, cars, etc.
 
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I use media monkey gold. Pretty cheap. You can add cd text so the song names show up on the cd player. I don't think you can add additional track markers. I add them with infinitely short fades between clips where I want the to appear as a continuous listen.

Media monkey burns and plays 24 bit flacs and waves to cd without extra steps.

I don't like media monkey mp3 encoder. I use lame.

 What I do to "compile"  a CD is export a mix of the songs w/in SONAR at the project rates - 44.1 and 24 bits and put it w/in the project itself.
 
AT, do I understand this as meaning that I bounce the mixed tracks to a stereo track within the SONAR project, and then export that new track as a .wav?

Optimus, you can export sixteen bit 44.1 wave files and burn to cd using Windows media player if you want.

24 bit is what I use for projects.  So I export a copy at the project rate and save it w/in the project as a master mix.  As high quality as the project.  CD audio is 44.1 and 16 bits (tho CDs can play mp3s, too).  But Red Book audio for CDs is 16/44.1.  You can use SONAR, but I use Sound Forge and import the high def audio into it.  In SF you can also add info like what a computer reads, both CD and mp3 info such as Song/album/artist name and notes for SF (like version - vocals up 1, cut the chorus, etc.).  Once I've done whatever I need to the high def file I save it as a CD file as well as an mp3.
 
There are other free and cheap programs that do some or all of the above, and as gswitz suggests use SONAR to export a 16 bit, 44.1 kHz file that Windows media can burn.  Sound Forge is just a pro program that has a few extras thrown in that can help in a media "house" operation.  One slot in the properties section is for engineer.
 
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Before you go much further, set down and devise a system.
 
You should have a folder to save the work files in, that's generally the default cakewalk folder, Cakewalk Projects.... create another to archive or save the old stuff, and you need at least one desktop folder to save the finished export waves in.
 
If I am compiling a CD, I will create a specific folder for those songs.  Export to 16 bit/44.1Khz wave file format.
 
When I'm ready to burn the CD, I use Roxio..... but any CD burner/player program including Windows Media Player will work.... It's a matter of selecting the songs in the order you want them and click BURN

Lots of good points in this thread and i will add my redundancy because i feel it drives the point home to hear commonality.
 
Like the rest of the people here, I never compile my cds in Sonar.  I export my 44khz/16-bit wavs to a folder specifically for the cd.  I then use CD architect to compile and burn.  CD architect has the advantage of compiling to Redbook standards.  Of coure there are othgers that do as well, but CD Architect has worked for me for years and I have no incentive to change.

optimus
AT, do I understand this as meaning that I bounce the mixed tracks to a stereo track within the SONAR project, and then export that new track as a .wav?

For each song, File-Export-Audio to 44.1 at 16 bits.  That will give you one WAV per song.  Run that through any CD writer and you will have your CD.  A nice free one is CDBurnerXP.
 

 

Optimus, I wish somebody answered you like this
 
1. select all tracks
2 export to audio
3. use mains out, if you want limiters, compressors and main mix to be and  save stereo track, you can use entire mix also, did not see difference.
4. use burn audio cd within sonar to burn.
 
 
For all other ways, bounce within sonar, would be nice to know how they do it, step by step.