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SONAR 8.5 Earns Excellent Ratings in EM Review

sonar-main-460-80Electronic Musician’s Brian Smithers highlighted just some of SONAR 8.5’s many strong suits in his latest review, stating that “although SONAR was already a strong platform for groove manipulation, its new arpeggiator and Matrix view, along with the improved step sequencer and AudioSnap function, bring it to a new level of flexibility and power.” Smithers goes on to say “add to that the Session Drummer 3 improvements and the PX-64, and SONAR 8.5 is sure to bring a smile to the drummer in you.” Additionally, the review sings the praises of the Matrix view touting “Project5 users will feel right at home, as will Ableton Live users. The ability to have cell-based (nonlinear) triggering of audio and MIDI loops within SONAR’s sequencing environment brings significant new workflow possibilities.”

Read the rest of EM’s SONAR 8.5 Review on their website.

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Cakewalk Rocks for MusiCares Foundation

Save the Date! Two weeks from Sunday, Cakewalk hosts it’s 1st annual fundraising event for the MusiCares Foundation. Throughout the event, Cakewalk employees will show off their talents, performing in a diverse line up of bands and DJ’s. A charity raffle will be held with a chance to win a Cakewalk V-Studio 100-powered Recording Bundle featuring a Cakewalk V-Studio 100 portable music production studio, a Fender Stratocaster with a face plate signed by Blink 182, and Shure headphones.

CakewalkRocks_blog

One hundred percent of the proceeds raised at this event will be donated to the MusiCares Foundation.

Join us at the Lansdowne Pub (next to Fenway Park) in Boston, MA. A $5.00 cover will be charged at the door and Boston’s 93.7 Mike FM will MC the event, all for a great cause!

Visit our MusiCares Event page for more information on the night’s set list and raffle prizes.

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Video: Sound On Sound's Fast Facts on the V-Studio 20

One of the world’s top publications for music recording and technology, Sound on Sound, visited the Cakewalk booth at Musikmesse 2010 to get a close look at the V-Studio 20. Watch the video below to get the facts on Cakewalk’s new portable, USB recording device for Guitar players and Singer-Songwriters:

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Doing Heavenly Work With the V-Studio 100

Dale Ramsey - Great GatheringDale “Rambro” Ramsey is one of the most respected producers and engineers in the business.  His RamTrax Entertainment studio in Atlanta has worked on projects for some of the biggest names in music, from Justin Timberlake to Stevie Wonder to P. Diddy.  His client list reads like a Who’s Who of musical talent, and it keeps Dale hopping.

But sometimes he has a client with a somewhat ‘higher calling.’

Early this month, Dale traveled to Columbia, SC with his V-Studio 100 to record a major religious event called “The Great Gathering.”  For the first time in more than 45 years, the three major Methodist denominations within the African-American community met collectively, holding a three-day conference to discuss and address some of the major issues currently plaguing our nation.

From March 1-3, congregations from the African Methodist Episcopal (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) and Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Churches met at the Carolina Coliseum with the goal of “Focusing on solutions. Change through the heart for the earth and humanity.”

“I was working in my studio with Dr. Greg McPherson, the music director for the opening day of the conference,” Dale explained, “and he mentioned a three-day event that might take place the following week up in Columbia.  He said he might be able to use my help in recording an orchestra on the first day.  I didn’t have a lot of details and it wasn’t set in stone at that point, but I said I’d help if he needed me.”

Continue reading “Doing Heavenly Work With the V-Studio 100”

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Create Record Label, High-Quality Productions With SONAR 8.5

MatrixViewFor Chris Maguire, upgrading his DAW to SONAR 8.5 was a no brainer. For $99, Chris made the move from SONAR 8.0 Producer and immediately began to see the improvements made to the DAW’s feature set and functionality.  In his review at Altsounds.com, Chris explains how he used the VX-64 Vocal Strip, PX-64 Percussion Strip and the Matrix view (the brand new mixing and arranging tools in SONAR 8.5) to create high-end, professional sounding productions.

To Chris, these three additions to SONAR 8.5 alone, “were worth the upgrade price so when you throw in all the other updates, tweaks and functionality you get for your money, there should be no question (to upgrade to SONAR 8.5).”

Read Chris’s full analysis of  SONAR 8.5 at Altsounds.com.

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Musikmesse 2010: V-Studio 700 & V-Studio 100 Win at MIPA

At this year’s Musikmesse International Press Awards (MIPA), Cakewalk received 4 nominations for the development of the A-PRO Series Keyboards, V-Studio 700, V-Studio 100 and SONAR 8.5 Producer. Just being nominated is quite the honor, but we were humbled last night when we won in two categories, Best Recording Hardware for the V-Studio 100 and Best Digital Audio Workstation Controller for the V-Studio 700.

    MIPA_Awards

The V-Studio 700 has now won the MIPA two consecutive years in a row, and in two different categories. Last year, the V-Studio 700 won for Best Recording Hardware, so this year’s Controller win really speaks to the VS-700’s versatility, not to mention the high regard for which it is held by the press.

Cakewalk’s Michael Hoover and Roland’s Takao Watase accepted the awards. For those of us in the business of creating products for musicians, the MIPA is the equivalent of winning a Grammy. Aside from having great customers creating great music with your products, the MIPA is the highest honor in our industry. For the 10th annual MIPA, the editorial staff of 111 music magazines from around the globe came together to choose the absolute best products in each category.
Continue reading “Musikmesse 2010: V-Studio 700 & V-Studio 100 Win at MIPA”

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New V-Studio 700 E-Book Gives You A Closer Look

eBook-V-Studio-700Cakewalk announces today the availability of a new eBook by Scott R. Garrigus – author of the “SONAR Power!” Book Series – that will cover the ins and outs of the SONAR V-Studio 700 music production system. Cakewalk V-Studio 700: A Closer Look is a free electronic book discussing basic and advanced functions of the V-Studio 700 such as: Getting to Know the V-Studio 700, Recording with the V-Studio 700, Composing with the V-Studio 700, Editing with the V-Studio 700, Mixing with the V-Studio 700 and more.

The 40+-page eBook is an easy to read overview on how to get the most from the V-Studio 700, and comes with numerous screenshots, tips, and tricks in easy-to-digest chapters and call-out sections in the style of the …For Dummies line of tutorial books.  It’s available as a downloadable PDF, with embedded hotlinks for pursuing additional information on key topics.

Cakewalk V-Studio 700: A Closer Look is available as a free download in PDF format at http://www.cakewalk.com/media/Ebook/vs700.asp.

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Cakewalk's Portable Recording Solution for Guitarists & Singer-Songwriters

Every year at this time, Cakewalk travels to Frankfurt, Germany to attend Europe’s largest music trade show event, Musikmesse. This year, we are pleased to launch the V-Studio 20 from the show floor.

As the third product in the V-Studio line of integrated hardware and software by Cakewalk and Roland, the V-Studio 20 is an affordable, all-in-one option for recording musicians. The V-Studio 20 is designed for guitarists and singer-songwriters who want a simple way to make music on the computer with professional results. The V-Studio 20 lets users easily plug in a guitar or microphone and record their tracks to the computer with legendary BOSS effects.


Introducing: V-Studio 20 for Guitarists & Singer-Songwriters

With the V-Studio 20, you can:

– Connect your instrument to the V-Studio 20 hardware
– Dial up the perfect guitar or vocal tone using genuine BOSS effects
– Choose a backing track, hit record, and play your part
– Use the V-Studio 20 as a control surface for mixing and playback
– Master a song and then burn a CD or share your mp3 online

Click on over to our V-Studio Products page for more information on this exciting new product.

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Education Profile: Doherty Middle School – Andover, MA

Jeff Buckridge directs the General Music program at the Doherty Middle School in Andover, MA. Besides being a well-known and accomplished guitarist in the New England area, Jeff is also an experienced music educator. His classes include General Music for all students, Intro to Guitar and Electronic Music as elective courses. SONAR Home Studio is used in the classroom to teach the basics of music and composition to his General Music students.

Jeff Buckridge, Director of Music, Doherty Middle School Andover, MA
Jeff Buckridge, Director of Music, Doherty Middle School Andover, MA

Students learn about rhythm, melody, chords and song forms and SONAR Home Studio is a key component to the curriculum because it allows for hands on learning. The Track View is invaluable for showing song forms in a visible format and the Notation View helps Jeff to demonstrate how key signatures, time signatures and rhythm works.

Key concepts are demonstrated with project files that students can use as a starting point or play along to.

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Intel's Core i7 980x Processor Brings Unbelievable Performance to Computer Music-Making

Slow and steady may win the race but it does not make creating music on the computer any easier!

Accelerate your music-making experience on the PC with more power and better stability, check out Intel’s new Core i7 Extreme Edition Processor. Code-named “Gulftown” the Core i7 980x is the first 32nm, six-core processor with 12 computing threads! In short, it brings a whole new level of performance to your computer’s workload. See the video below, produced for the Core i7 980x’s launch, at last week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA.

“The Core i7 Extreme and SONAR 8.5 equals UNBELIEVABLE performance.”