where did the name cakewalk come from?

Hi Pony-

I don't know how they decided on it, but I've always associated it with the usual definition of "cakewalk" as in something easy and "Golliwog's Cake-Walk" by Debussy. Seemed like a good choice to me!

-Susan

I get the cakewalk thing, never really a question...

What I want to know is how in the world they came up with the name SONAR??

Q: How did you do that? A: I used SONAR. Q: Really!? Are you in the Navy?

I don't really care wtf they call it. I wouldn't use anything else (other than Audition from time to time for editing). But that name is a mystery to me at least... Cheers, -Dave

ORIGINAL: Susan G

Hi Pony-

I don't know how they decided on it, but I've always associated it with the usual definition of "cakewalk" as in something easy and "Golliwog's Cake-Walk" by Debussy. Seemed like a good choice to me!

-Susan

Hmm... I've always found the name "Golliwog's Cake-Walk" to be somewhat ironic, as I find it anything but easy. Of course that's down to my own skill (or lack of it) though.

Or is the name taken from the Amercian Cakewalk fairground ride where you try to navigate a tricky walkway with a floor that keeps moving back and forth so you eventually lose your balance and fall over?

I know they've got branding recognition with Cakewalk, but the name has always struck me as silly and lightweight.

If they wanted to be taken more seriously as maker of "pro" software, perhaps they should use Twelve Tone Systems (which still is the legal name of the company, isn't it?).

I don't care, though, as long as it works. They could call it Tinkerbell Music Playtime for all I care.

Tho I love the name "Cakewalk" which appears to be "owned" by "Twelve Tones Music" ( the original company name back when "Cakewalk was the name of their first sequencer)....

But I've never liked the name Sonar tho I've been using it since Cakewalk For Windows 1.0 and have no plan to change.

I see the implication between Sonar as the use of sound to detect objects and proximity, but I really think something more musical (Or really I would have preferred Sonar 1.0 being called CWPA 10.0.... That really shows how much this program has grown!)

But what's in a name.... I accept it with little regard as the tool is brilliant.

Keni

In the old Calkwalk newsgroup, somebody (Glennbo, I think) said SONAR stood for:

Soundblaster
Ordering
Newbies
Attempt
Recording

LOL

Hey, Dave. I kinda like the old SONAR 2 saying of "Go deeper with SONAR." It has that underwater ring to it, eh?

Well! i like that, i really like that Billy!!!! That means, in my perception, that all of these so called "pros" are dancing around dressed up in Pro Tools HD while us SONAR users are mocking them I suppose, because we spent much less money, and we have amazing software that competes with HD and surpasses it it in many ways IMHO

Im glad Im not the only one that found the name cakewalk interesting...

Tell the truth, back when I had only messed with an ensoniq ASR 10 and cubase a little, I thought Cakewalk sounded kinda non-pro, but being open minded, I didnt assume it was bad, especially when a friend showed me some nice sounding work that came from Cakewalk...

Now, on the contrary, i find SONAR to be a "futuristic", well thought out, open minded name for auido software... As far as it not being a "musical" term, I think the word AONAR is cool in that it basically says, you can make music with this software, but to go further, you can do anything with SOUNd in general!!!

I likey! I really likey! :)

P.S. - any run on sentences in ther? lol

lol... SONAR sounds much cooler than RADAR INVHO hehe

but I guess a program like SONAR serves as a RADAR for overpriced software like pro tools hd...

A "cakewalk" is a slang word for something that is easy to do.

I seem to remember my mom going to fundraising events and going into a room where a "Cakewalk" was taking place. You paid your money and then circled a table where there were pies and cakes laid out. The idea was as you passed around the table, music played. When the music stopped you either got a piece of the dessert you were in front of or you won the whole thing. It was an easy event and everyone came out a winner.

I've also heard it used to describe an event that wasn't easy at all. I.e. "I was in the battle of Iwo Jima and it was no cakewalk by any means." (No, I was not in the battle. I just feel that old. )

If I remember correctly, Greg and Ron were sitting around drinking one night and Greg asked Ron how hard it would be to put together a midi sequencer and Ron said it would be a cakewalk, and thats where the name came from.......

Just kidding.

zumba

FWIW, the dictionary definition says:

cake·walk Pronunciation Key (kkwôk)
n.
Something easily accomplished: Winning the race was a cakewalk for her.
A 19th-century public entertainment among African Americans in which walkers performing the most accomplished or amusing steps won cakes as prizes.

A strutting dance, often performed in minstrel shows.
The music for this dance.

intr.v. cake·walked, cake·walk·ing, cake·walks
To perform a strutting dance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
cakewalker n.

Susan

Although slightly O.T.:

If you've never heard Isao Tomita's rendition of Golliwog's Cakewalk from "Snowflakes Are Dancing" it's an absolute treat. The whole album was a collection of Debussy pieces all done with (by-today's standards) "primitive" synths and other analog gear. Awesome.

"Clair de Lune" and "Girl with the Flaxen Hair" were incredible too. I wore out 3 vinyl copies of the album and was grateful when he re-masterd the origs in 5.1 on CD a few years back.

FWIW

Cakewalk + Sonar = Sponge Cake

That should earn this thread a one-way ticket to the Off-Topic pile.