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Add A 'Mixing Machine' To Your Gig Bag

vs-100-top-playrecordYour band is working on a new EP. You’ve got four shows lined up for the month of February. It would be really cool to record your performances to add a few live tracks to the new release. With Cakewalk’s V-Studio 100 you can record, edit, mix and produce those tracks without missing a beat.

The V-Studio 100 is a cross-platform, 8 in + mix/6 out USB Audio Interface that also functions as a SD Recorder, Digital Mixer and DAW controller. On stage, you can use the V-Studio 100 to play pre-made backing track, mix vocals and other instruments, and record your performance directly to an SD Card. Back in studio, dump your live tracks into your favorite DAW and start the production process. V-Studio 100 acts as a control surface for any program using Mackie Control (SONAR, Ableton Live, Logic, Record, Digital Performer). It’s 100mm motorized fader, five rotary encoders, 11 general purpose buttons and transport controls can all be re-assigned to control your DAW and soft-synths. For those musicians just starting out in digital music-making, the V-Studio 100 comes with it’s own DAW software — SONAR VS (Windows only)–  as well as cross-platform plugins (VX-64 Vocal Strip, Channel Tools, Boost 11, Guitar Rig 3 LE, Studio Instruments, Rapture LE and Dimension Pro LE).  

Check out the feature in the February issue of EQ Magazine which notes the V-Studio 100 ‘wears many hats but one says ‘mixing machine.'”

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Have Gig Bag, Will Travel or Where in the World is Carmen Rizzo?

hht back stage perm 1Carmen Rizzo checks his cell phone one last time as he boards the plane at LAX.  This is the first of several flights that will take him half way around the world over the next 24 hours – from Los Angeles to Perm, Russia .  He’s got a text message from the people he’ll be performing with in Perm; they want him to come back in 10 days for another show, and they need his commitment immediately.  He’s taken slightly aback – he’s not exactly sure what he’ll be doing onstage when he arrives this time – but he agrees to make the return trip, figuring that as long as he has the right assemblage of tools, he’ll be able to handle whatever situation is thrown at him.

This is typical for a road warrior like Rizzo.  The Los Angeles-based producer, DJ, record label owner, and radio show host is a rapidly-rising global brand, sought after for his wide range of skills that have earned him two GRAMMY nominations.   He’s worked with the likes of Seal, Coldplay, Paul Oakenfold, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alanis Morissette.  He’s a member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).  He also DJs a radio set heard by 14 million listeners each month on the highly influential KEXP 90.3 FM in Seattle.  With so many irons in the fire, he’s become extraordinarily flexible, yet fastidious in his preparation, maintaining a strict work ethic that sees him keeping regular hours in his home studio during the week and, whenever possible, not working weekends to spend time with his children.  But this last-minute request is not unusual for Rizzo.  He’ll just roll with it.

Continue reading “Have Gig Bag, Will Travel or Where in the World is Carmen Rizzo?”

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Stokes Audio Mixes Soundtrack for 'Why We Laugh'

StokesV-StudioOwner and Senior Engineer of Stokes Audio Recording & Post, Joe Stokes, is credited for his work in post-production and video editing for radio, gaming, TV and film. With SONAR and the V-Studio 700 sitting at the helm of his studio, Stokes mixed the soundtrack for his latest project, a documentary entitled ‘Why We Laugh’ for Showtime, the television network. Initially, Stokes mixed the film for launch at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival but remixed it for television airing. Earlier this year, we caught up with Joe in Tarzana, CA while he was working on the project in studio with the V-Studio 700. Click here to see our video!

Why We Laugh (produced by Robert Townsend and Quincy Newell) examines the history of African-American comedy featuring some of the most influential comics of all time – Bill Cosby, Chris Rock, Eddie Griffin and Keenan Ivory Wayans. The film is airing on Showtime 2 and will be available On Demand, throughout the month of February.

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SONAR 8.5 Goes Above & Beyond Typical Update

New features screenshotTo upgrade or not to upgrade? That is the question for many SONAR users concerning the latest product release, SONAR 8.5. Although, it’s not your typical point release, Craig Anderton calls version 8.5 “another welcome step forward, it delivers more than it promises”. With its new tools for creativity and added support for Windows 7, SONAR 8.5 gives today’s musicians the best recording environment at an affordable price.

A long-time SONAR user, Anderton gives his reasons why SONAR 8.5 is an ‘overachieving’ point upgrade in his latest review for Keyboard Magazine.

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NAMM 2010: Creative Tools for Independent Minds

NAMMJet-lagged and exhausted, the Cakewalk crew is slowly recovering from a monumental Thursday through Saturday at the NAMM Show. The weather was beautiful, the show floor was packed and the Cakewalk booth was the place to be.

Each year, the National Association of Music Merchants hosts an industry-wide tradeshow at the colossal Anaheim Convention Center.  If you’ve never been to the NAMM Show, it’s a musician’s paradise, with thousands of exhibitors, live product demos, impromptu jam sessions, and celebrity sightings galore.

The theme for our booth was ‘Creative Tools for Independent Minds.’  As our product line continues to grow from recording software to complete studio solutions, we encourage musicians on every level to take production into their own hands and have fun making music.

Cakewalk Artist Relations Manager, Jimmy Landry put together an all-star roster of artists who appeared and performed in our booth while demonstrating how they use our products on the road and in the studio.

    Cori Yarckin Acoustic Performance

One of Rolling Stone’s Top 5 Up & Coming Female Artists, Cori Yarckin, acoustically performed her hit single, Everything You Said, and recorded a vocal track in SONAR with the V-Studio 100. Cakewalk’s Brandon Ryan showed the audience how to use the VX-64 Vocal Strip to process her vocals as well as the Matrix view to creatively remix her track.

Continue reading “NAMM 2010: Creative Tools for Independent Minds”

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Sonic State Gets First Look at A-PRO Series

Sonic State was first on the scene at the NAMM Show this weekend to get an exclusive look at the new USB Keyboard Controllers. Brandon Ryan demos the 49-key controller, the A-500 PRO, along side SONAR 8.5’s Session Drummer 3 virtual instrument.

Whether you’re using SONAR, Logic, Ableton Live, Cubase, Digital Performer, Garage Band, or Pro Tools, these keyboards and the included Production Plus Pack instruments are Mac and PC compatible. If you’re using SONAR, exclusive Active Controller Technology keeps you in the flow and focused on your music. If you’re using another DAW, the keyboards ship with a variety of built-in control maps designed to get you using the A-PRO as a control surface quickly.

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"Your Music Anytime, Anyplace" Songwriting Competition Winners Announced

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This fall, Cakewalk, Intel Corporation and Ourstage set out to inspire music lovers across the country to get creative and share their musical talents for the “Your Music Anytime, Anyplace” Songwriting Competition. The most outstanding artists and engaged fans on the Ourstage circuit were outfitted with a brand new mobile music studio! Today, we are proud to announce those winners as part of the NAMM Show 2010.

Click on over to the Your Music Anytime, Anyplace Songwriting Competition page to hear the winning tracks and learn more about the industry-leading professionals – producers and A&R Executives – who leant their ears to judge the contest.

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New Products Announced At The NAMM Show 2010

NAMMThe 2010 NAMM Show is off to an exciting start as Cakewalk announces several new products to our line of fully-integrated software and hardware solutions for music creation and recording! Click the links below to learn how these products can benefit your music production needs:

New Line of Keyboard Controllers
Cakewalk introduces the new A-PRO Series, USB MIDI Controllers for Mac and PC. The A-300 Pro (32-key), A-500 Pro (49-key) and A-800 Pro (61-key) are brand new keyboard controllers developed in conjunction with Roland. The A-PRO series focuses on intuitive real-time performance and ergonomic playability, making it a must-have controller for soft-synths in a live or studio setting.  This new line gives musicians the best of both worlds: Cakewalk’s legendary ease of use and Roland’s world-class engineering and keyboard expertise.

FA-66 Firewire Audio Interface
Cakewalk introduces the FA-66, a compact and portable 6-in/6-out FireWire 400/800 audio interface designed for mobile recording and performance professionals.  This unit has two XLR/TRS combo inputs with phantom powered mic preamps, with one offering Hi-Z for recording electric guitar or bass, plus two RCA inputs — all with zero latency direct monitoring. The FA-66 package includes Cakewalk’s Production Plus Pack, featuring SONAR 8.5 LE recording software (Windows only) and 3 high quality virtual instruments for Mac & PC: Rapture LE, Cakewalk SoundCenter, and Studio Instruments Drums. The FA-66 is a must have for a wide range of applications, from recording guitar or vocals in mobile or studio settings to connecting a mixer to a computer.

New Mobile Studio Canvas
Cakewalk’s Mobile Studio Canvas for Mac and PC, and standalone performance is the first of its kind in the Cakewalk hardware family. Capable of producing over 1,000 sounds, the Mobile Studio Canvas includes the Roland SD-50 Sound Module, redesigned GM (General MIDI) 2, and Roland’s Solo Tones sounds. Fitted with a USB memory drive, the studio canvas can playback MP3, WAV, AIFF, and MIDI files without a computer. It’s a 2-in/2-out audio interface as well as a 1×1 MIDI interface that ships with SONAR 8.5 LE recording software (for Windows only), perfect for musicians looking for a multi-purpose sound source and/or playback device.

Visit the Cakewalk website to view our NAMM Press Releases

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CES 2010: Music Creator Shines During Intel's Core Processor Launch

Music Creator at 2010 CES Intel Booth Pic 2Cakewalk’s Gina Garda recently traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to take part in the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES). “Although the taxi lines were longer and the halls more crowded than last year,” remarked Gina, “the bustle of this year’s CES is a sure sign that 2010 will be a phenomenal year for the consumer electronics industry.”

From the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Intel launched their new 2010 Intel® Core™ Processor Family. As part of that launch, Intel featured Cakewalk’s Music Creator 5 running on a new Core i5 laptop.

In addition to the Music Creator software, the setup also included Cakewalk’s MA-15D speakers and UA-1G audio interface, a PCR-300 MIDI Keyboard, a Blue Microphone as well as a Les Paul guitar. The Cakewalk space was consistently full of musicians and non-musicians alike wanting to learn more about recording on the newest computers. Guitar players were particularly interested in Cakewalk’s Studio Instruments Drums and IK Multimedia’s Amplitube X-Gear software. These tools are part of the Music Creator 5 package making it easier for the solo performer to boost their sound and add a backing band to their project in just a few clicks.

Visit Cakewalk’s Flickr to see more photos from the event.

Click here to learn more about CES 2010.