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Meet the Bakers: Jon S

How did you get started with music?

My dad played guitar in a cover band when I was growing up, so right from the start I knew I wanted to pick it up for myself. I played a few other instruments when I was in middle/high school as well, but really got into playing guitar and bass when I was starting high school. I remember the day my freshman year when I had an art class that let us play music- somebody brought in a Jimi Hendrix CD and it absolutely blew my mind. From there I spent most of my high school years listening and playing along with classic rock staples- Beatles, Zeppelin, Cream, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Creedence Clearwater Revival.

I was taking a couple courses on radio, and through that found that I had a real fascination with doing production work/recording. It was then that I bought my first recording software, Cakewalk Guitar Tracks 2. Eventually I decided that music production Continue reading “Meet the Bakers: Jon S”

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DAW Best Practices: How to use metering in SONAR

[Originally posted as a daily tip on the SONAR forums and reposted for viewers here on the blog.]

The Overachieving Meters

by Craig Anderton

To change resolution for any audio meter, in any view, right-click on it and choose a range of 12, 24, 42, 60, 78, or 90 dB. Each meter can have its own range. With the Console view, I set the output bus meters to 12 dB to help gauge the approximate amount of loudness maximization that may be required. For example, if the meters make it to 0 but otherwise spend very little time in those upper 12 dB, then the track will probably need to be made “hotter” when mastering. For the Track View track meters, choosing the maximum resolution (90 dB) helps reveal if there’s noise at the lower range of an incoming signal.

Vertical or Horizontal Metering

In Track View, the meters can be vertical or horizontal. Choose Options > Meter Options and select the desired option. When vertical, the meters behave more like activity/clipping indicators, because when you collapse the track to a short height, you basically see only activity and clipping. If you use the Console for mixing, this is a good choice because you can see more track parameters in the Tracks Pane, as the vertical meters don’t take up space along the bottom.

If you generally mix using the Track View rather than the Console, then you can extend the width of the Track Pane, enable horizontal metering, set them to a fairly wide playback range, and enjoy high-resolution metering. Also under Options > Meter Options, you can specify the Record, Playback, and Bus meter characteristics. Choose from Peak, RMS, or Peak+RMS (my favorite choice) response, whether playback meters are pre- or post-fader, and whether bus meters are pre-fader, post-fader, or pre-fader and post-FX.


These settings are independent from equivalent meter settings for the Console view. You can also choose whether peaks are held or locked (I recommend checking both), as well as show Peak Markers. These indicate the highest point in the track and can be extremely useful when mastering.

This kind of flexibility allows the Track and Console views to be far more than just two ways to view the same type of material. For example, the Console meters are probably better set to post-fader, so you can see at a glance which tracks are contributing the most amount of level. But in Track view, a pre-fader setting lets you monitor track activity so you can check whether a Track has signal, regardless of the fader position. The metering options are just one more reason why I tend to mix in Console view, but track and edit in Track View.

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Meet the Bakers: Josh K

I began classical piano lessons at around age 9, and at age 14 after hearing Metallica for the first time I convinced my dad to get me an electric guitar for my birthday. After that I was hooked. I jammed along to Metallica, AC/DC, and Guns N Roses record for several years before attempting to write my own songs and recruit some fellow classmates to start a band. I ended up playing originals in local bands all throughout high school.

At some point I realized I was serious about music not just as a hobby but as a career as well. I subsequently applied and got into Berklee College of Music. Once there I became fascinated with electronic music, and the music technology used to create it.

I got into artists like Boards of Canada and Bonobo, and soon started making my own tunes with the software we were given for school. I eventually got into Berklee’s Electronic Production and Design program, and proceeded to get schooled in the ways of audio engineering, sound design, and electronic composition. Since then, I’ve continued to compose and produce electronic music in a number of different genres, and am currently doing so under the name Smigonaut. Somewhere in between, I spent a few months interning at Bear Creek Studio out in my home state of Washington, where artists like Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, and the Lumineers have passed through to make records.

Eventually, I graduated from Berklee and spent my time out of school doing various freelance gigs, which included composing/sound FX for several indie films, as well as helping to create some jingles for TV ads. Several months later, I landed here at Cakewalk as a Product Support Representative. I have been here for just about a year, and it has certainly been one of the most educational and gratifying experiences of my career.

Favorite Movie: Taxi Driver

Years @ Cakewalk: Just under a year

Instrument: Guitar, Bass, Piano, Vocals

Preferred Style of Music: Alternative, Rock, Electronic

Superpower (if you could have one): Flying

Favorite Bands: Radiohead, Queens of the Stone Age, Dave Tipper

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Meet the Bakers: Lance R

My love for music started at an early age singing and dancing with my sisters in our living room listening to The Beatles, Van Morrison, Bob Marley, and the Top Gun soundtrack on Vinyl. I found guitar or maybe it found me in middle school and I was immediately hooked, leaning songs from Nirvana, Bush, & Guns & Roses.

Through middle school I was grew more interested in guitar FX, computers and hi-fi stereo systems, and from there began recording my own originals & covers at a liberal arts school for grades 6-12 where I discovered Continue reading “Meet the Bakers: Lance R”

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Meet the Bakers: Dan Gonzalez

It was right about ninth grade when I first started getting into playing guitar. Before that I was all about the Clarinet until 8th grade – when I rebelled for a couple years and didn’t want anything to do with school band. It wasn’t until I entered my Junior year of highschool when I realized that there could be benefits to playing a wind instrument as well as a stringed. So, I joined a the choir, jazz, the string orchestra (upright bass), and directed the marching band during football season. Continue reading “Meet the Bakers: Dan Gonzalez”

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Meet the Bakers: Tara Z

One of the catalysts for starting guitar lessons – me in the Gibson Showroom NYC without a clue how to play!

How did you get started with music?

I’ve actually always kind of fallen into the music scene somehow, which has felt very fortunate! In college I ended up working at the local record store, “The Sound Garden”, which was such an awesome environment to be in. Then when I moved to Boston I was hired to be Cakewalk’s Event Coordinator despite having no musical background.

The Original TLZ Photography

Since Gibson bought Cakewalk I’ve actually started playing guitar! Being surrounded by so many amazing instruments and tons of talented musicians is very inspiring (and also intimidating at times). I have only been playing for a couple months at this point, but being able to generate something that is mildly musical is so satisfying and therapeutic, it has become the driving force for wanting to continue to practice and improve!

I grew up in Rochester, NY but I have lived in Boston for 8 years. I have been at Cakewalk for 6 of those years and the friends I have made through Cakewalk are pretty close to what I would consider my Boston family. Continue reading “Meet the Bakers: Tara Z”