Not with a guitar in your hands or at an E-Drum kit beside you desk.

 
I still tend to use the standard Windows shortcuts even when playing guitar or keyboards (which are to my right).  Most fall well under the left hand.
 
But I'm with mmorgan - I would still like a custom toolbar.  Not so much for the standard Windows commands, but to consolidate the icons I do use without having to change the module order to access them.   So personal preferences aside, it would be useful for many people even if it is for different reasons.
 

vintagevibe

mmorgan


I live in text windows all day long and have a heavy palette of short-cuts at my fingertips so to employ them  in Sonar for me is a snap. Just last week I saw a reference in a DAW manufacturers video that stated that studies have shown that keyboard shortcuts can increase your efficiency by 400%.


Regards

Not with a guitar in your hands or at an E-Drum kit beside you desk.

I'm not sure I understand this argument. If you are playing a keyboard or any instrument you are most likely recording. What is a button going to give you when what you really should be doing is making sure you get the recording recorded? In other words don't screw with the DAW when in record mode. 

I also have a Mackie Control with two foot switches with long cables.  One is for Stop and Play the other is for record. Really the only controls you need to control while recording are the transport controls. Unless you just like to have your hands on a keyboard all the time or holding a guitar. There is not much you should be doing while recording except playing the instrument. 

John

vintagevibe

mmorgan


I live in text windows all day long and have a heavy palette of short-cuts at my fingertips so to employ them  in Sonar for me is a snap. Just last week I saw a reference in a DAW manufacturers video that stated that studies have shown that keyboard shortcuts can increase your efficiency by 400%.


Regards

Not with a guitar in your hands or at an E-Drum kit beside you desk.

 There is not much you should be doing while recording except playing the instrument. 

Well lets see... 
start recording
stop recording
undo 
redo
mute
solo
change punch-in area
adjust levels... 


I do all of the above and more with a guitar or bass in my hand or at a drum kit.   A trackball is a FAR better solution than a keyboard for me but no one is trying to make you use one.

Not with a guitar in your hands or at an E-Drum kit beside you desk.

 
I often have a guitar in my hands (see avatar at left). But, as previously stated, for me keyboard shortcuts work very well (even the triads [ctrl-shift-z]). And as also previously stated: For my Sonar family members I vote for a customizable toolbar...that I can hide .
 
Regards

+1 on the customized control bar. I guess I'm old school, but I used the save icon a lot. I personally hate keyboard shortcuts, it's a PITA with one hand. Cakewalk is so gung-ho on making X2 look pretty, but has left the real issues in the dust.

mmorgan
 Just last week I saw a reference in a DAW manufacturers video that stated that studies have shown that keyboard shortcuts can increase your efficiency by 400%.

How do they work that out? Moving a mouse to a button (or even an item in a menu) and clicking is hardly the major time consuming operation, a short cut is faster assuming your hands are already at the keyboard. But even if its four times faster the minuscule amount of time saved would only be significant in continuously repeated operations where you do not need to think about what your are doing. Most of the time taken in, say, a cut and past operation is thinking what you want to past, where you want to paste it and why.
 
Shortcuts may be more efficient, but a 400% increase in efficiency come on, (the statement must be out of context). Does anybody really think you can record a song in a quarter of the time using short cuts over a mouse? If the statement was save 5 to10 minutes in a working day it would probably be closer to the truth.
 
IMHO both the case for the advantages of short cuts and for their inconveniences are being overstated in this thread.

jscomposer


+1 on the customized control bar. I guess I'm old school, but I used the save icon a lot. I personally hate keyboard shortcuts, it's a PITA with one hand. Cakewalk is so gung-ho on making X2 look pretty, but has left the real issues in the dust.

I respectfully disagree.

Most 2 fingered shortcuts are possible using just one hand, and several 3 fingered options as well.



Any user who remembers back as far as 8.5.3 should recall that Cakewalk asked us - the users, what the main thrust of the new version should take.

The vast majority of people who took the time & trouble to post their responses said a similar thing - less plugins, focus on the GUI which was creaking severely.

Jlien X



And the reason why I think Duckbar isn't the solution for everyone is....there are many Sonar users all over the world who cannot read English 

Just as a point of info... Duckbar's author is (I believe) German and he does have it available in a few (?) other languages...

Keni

mmorgan



Now can we talk about real custom colors please? 

Regards

Hi Mike...

Have you checked out Duckbar? It offers more control over colors and even graphic imagery that Sonar had even in it's grand old days pre-X...

Keni

jscomposer


+1 on the customized control bar. I guess I'm old school, but I used the save icon a lot. I personally hate keyboard shortcuts, it's a PITA with one hand. Cakewalk is so gung-ho on making X2 look pretty, but has left the real issues in the dust.

I agree with you 100%

I was far happier with the old interface in 8.5.3 as I find all the larger icons and widgets along with larger gaps between and larger groupings of buttons/widget (I never use the read/write automation buttons but I do use the freeze and archive buttons constantly.... So I must have the R/W buttons taking up important space)...

I'm good with keyboard shortcuts, but not exclusive! there are times when the mouse is easier to access... as many have mentioned sometimes hands are busy elsewhere or the keyboard might be harder to access...

The "clean-up" in the name of our "cluttered" interface was a wrong direction for me... I had no problem with all my tools always exposed and I could hide as many or as few as I wanted...

Now I'm forced to use the keyboard shortcuts which sometimes are a blessing and other times a curse....

Then along comes Duckbar and at least returns some of the convenience with a customizable toolbar... BTW, it is a totally separate program and not written by the same programmer who wrote Sonar Plus...

So I have much of the needed buttons back as well as some we didn't have even with Sonar Plus and the development of this add-on program continues to improve and grow more powerful...

I highly recommend it for any users missing the customizable toolbar approach as well as the custom coloring we lost...

Keni