Dear Drunken Newbie,
 
You love music, you write songs, you loathe a learning curve. Go to the Forums, be a noob, ask some newbie questions. In two or five years, you'll have another mediocre concept album that the world will reject and your friends will politely praise.
 
Worked for me!
 
When I see him at the next Trump rally, I'll ask him where I can get one of those Bazillobyte hard drives.
 
 
-Tom
 
 
 
 

Poor guy...his problem is he's using his AxeFx as his interface....and he probably never loaded the drivers for it. No wonder why it won't work for him. :-/
 
That said, I've always had a bit of a problem with Sonar and how I HAD to pretty much be more than just a normal PC user to make it work. I think a lot of that has changed over the years, but it was definitely a peeve of mine for a long time. Other DAW's I used didn't need the extensive set-up nor did I have to know how to edit settings on my PC just to make them work. Again though, all stuff from long ago. Thankfully, I've not had any problems with installs and consistency. If I were a n00b, I'd definitely feel the guy's pain.
 
I turned a bud of mine on to Sonar. He's not a computer novice, but he's no pro. He had a few snags installing Sonar and I had to help him out. We can't blame Sonar exclusively though...other DAW's have the same issues. And then add in all the different systems there are. The more stuff that gets added to the program, the harder it can be. I had a few guys get stuck on the whole AD2 install.
 
Though I sympathize with the guy in the video, he just didn't know WHERE 101 was. He should have looked into using his AxeFx as an interface. Without the USB drivers and the right hook-up, the "men at work" sign will be there for the rest of his life. LOL! :)
 
-Danny

I've got a friend like that. He's so technically challenged we installed remote-control software on his DAW so I could dial in and help him out from time to time.
 
He called me yesterday, complaining his SONAR projects weren't making any sound. Of course, we started chatting about politics and movies instead, and ten minutes in he exclaimed "I got it working!". He'd just been randomly clicking things while we spoke, and probably found that mute button by accident.
 
My friend has a classic creative mind. He has no idea how his clothes dryer works, but he can churn out song lyrics like nobody's business. If he can figure SONAR out, anybody can.

I hear tunes (not lyrics) when I hear the sound of white noise,like the sound of a fan.  Does anyone else do this?  I literally *hear* melodies in the  noise.

eph221
I hear tunes (not lyrics) when I hear the sound of white noise,like the sound of a fan.  Does anyone else do this?  I literally *hear* melodies in the  noise.

I'll never forget one Christmas years ago when I was about 16 and my dad drove me over to my grandmothers for a family get together and we shared a doobie in the car that was WAY too strong for me. I completely tripped out and ended up sitting in the bathroom for an hour. As I sat there trying to get my head together, I tried to focus on the radio I could hear faintly in the background. It was playing the usual stuff - top 40 hits along with inane radio banter in between. As I started to come down from the weirdness, it became apparent that what I was listening to wasn't a radio, it was the sound of air coming through an air vent. I guess when you're perceiving a sound which is ALL frequencies together, a determined mind can pick out the ones which mirror the sound you're hearing in your head. So those tunes are probably originating in your head and you're picking the relevant frequencies out of the white noise in order to externalize them. 

The weird thing about my various experiences with drugs is none of them (except alcohol of course) made me musically lubricated.  :D:D

The trick is not drugging yourself, but rather making sure it's your audience that's drugged.
 
The former just makes you think you sound great; the latter actually does make you sound great.
 

sagacious advice.  Very truthy.

Been reading this thread and thinking about Sonar and what its like to be a new user (And no I didn't watch the video but I think I have a good idea of what was said). Makes me wonder if Sonar could be made easier for noobs by simply turning things off and making them invisible.
 
Years ago, the first DAW I ever used was KRISTAL (you can still download it at http://kreatives.org/kristal/). If you look at the interface, you will see it is very basic. This is what I learned on (along with a sound board at our church). Next came Cakewalk's Home Studio, and then the X series and now Platinum. Each was a step up, each had new things to learn, but all of them built on the basics that I learned in KRISTAL.
 
What if SONAR had the ability to set up different user levels; Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Power User, etc.? When you set the level, SONAR turns on or off certain parts of the program. For the beginner, the basic DAW would be visible. For the Power User, everything is available. You could base what should be on and off by looking at the SONAR videos that are highlighted for Beginners to Master Class (http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONAR-University), at least as a starting point.
 
Often what makes things difficult for the new user is too many choices, and SONAR has a ton of choices. Its what makes SONAR the professional DAW that it is. However, if SONAR offered a way to make it easier for the new user, then step up to the more advanced versions, it might make SONAR a better, more all around DAW for a wider variety of users.
 
Just my 2-cents (and worth about as much) 

Kind of like the calculator app that comes with your computer ya?  Start it on the simple setting, then users can move on to Scientific and Programming later (or never).