For your pleasure and edification the latest CakeTV Live webinar is now available for viewing on CakeTV. In this latest installment of CakeTV Live Brandon Ryan and I walk through the process of taking recorded, live drums from sounding, ‘meh’, to ‘larger than life’ using SONAR X1.
We explain everything from how to setup and organize a project to mixing, rout tracks to buses, fix timing with AudioSnap, setup and use parallel compression with the ProChannel, and much, much more.
A common question I get asked when doing J.A.M. Sessions, webinars, and other events, is how to setup parallel compression in SONAR. The next asked question is usually what parallel compression is and why it should be used.
Parallel compression is a mixing technique most commonly used on drums where one signal is split into two allowing them to be processed separately, or in parallel, and mixed together.
Typically a drum bus will be split into two drum buses where one drum bus will be compressed heavily and the other drum bus will be compressed lightly, if at all.
The reason for doing this is that heavy compression on drums can sound good but can also cause a major loss of transients and attack. Blending heavily and lightly compressed drum buses yields the best of both worlds.
There are a few ways to set up parallel compression in SONAR X1 Producer Expanded so I will show you how I do it using quick grouping, effects sends, multiple busses, and the ProChannel’s PC4K S-Type Bus Compressor.
Why are Major Publishing Companies such as EMI seeing such great success with project studios? Because with modern technology, top talent and a good set of ears, a demo may turn into a master at any given time.
Over a year ago I had the pleasure of setting up a studio at the EMI building in the meat packing district of NYC after they chose SONAR X1 for their project studio. Since then, according to Creative VP EMI Jake Ottmann “the room has been a tremendous success” with an array of well known and developing artists from all over the world engaging in music creation.
The EMI project studio facility was primarily created for the roster of EMI artists who found themselves temporarily working in New York City. “When you’re a hit songwriter, you are traveling quite a bit and find yourself in different cities at different times,” stated Jake Ottmann. “We built this room up for top-notch artists and songwriters that are in town and need a great place to relax and write music. It’s been an awesome experience since its inception and we have seen some great success. SONAR X1 and the PC Audio Labs machine which are both the heart of the room have been rock solid for these artists and writers.”
Some of the recent artists who have been working in the audio lounge include Jay Trill, Lana Del Rey, Mathew Koma, and The Glory Days.
“Sometimes it’s a few hours here and there with the X1 room just for basic writing, and other times it’s a full on technical writing/producing session that could end up on a master, just like a recent session that went down with an affiliated artist/writer/producer who was working out of here last month.”
~Jake Ottmann (VP Creative, EMI Publishing)
When putting this writing room together, EMI made a calculated decision to go with SONAR X1 and a V-Studio 100 all powered by a tailored PC Audio Labs machine. “We were looking for a solution that covered all,” explained Richard Reuss who is head of the technical team for EMI. “We wanted something that covered it all delivered in one box. We didn’t want to get into purchasing plug-ins from one company, and then synths from another; we decided on SONAR X1 Producer not only for everything it comes with, but also for the way the workflow exists in the program.” “Our writers are very unique and diverse,” added Jake Ottmann. “SONAR X1 is not only a cutting edge recording tool, but also an amazing writing tool as well, and that was very important to us in our decision; not to mention the fact that the stock plug-ins, synths and drum modules are just as good as, if not better than anything else on the market. It’s been working so well for us that our in-house audio team has been using it for post-house related projects as well – we’re pretty psyched to get this much mileage out of the system.”
Although EMI Music Publishing has a huge facility for office space, it was obvious to the staffers that there was not going to be a lot of square footage allocated to this music room. “I think one of the selling points for us was the fact that we don’t have a ton of room in this spot [the room itself], so having the Pro Channel on every track to get a big console sound without the console is huge for us,” explained Richard Reuss who has been a longtime SONAR user.
SONAR X1 continues to be the choice for leading creative institutions such as EMI Publishing. It’s also the go-to D.A.W. for many creative producers, songwriters and artists who want to be inspired by their system. Right now, you can get a great deal with the SONAR X1 First Class Upgrade promotion that will help you to create radio-ready tracks.
Modern music production combines many different elements. Loops and samples, sequenced drums and synths, live instruments and more. In this video, you can sit in on a session where all of these elements are used to create a piece of music from start to finish with SONAR X1 Producer.
Pull up a chair, crank up the volume and see just how easy and fun it is to create music when the inspiration strikes using SONAR! After watching the video, download the content pack which includes the Track Templates and presets used in this project.
Ever wondered how to use sidechaining in SONAR X1? Look no further as this step by step, how to video shows you how to achieve professional results with sidechaining using the ProChannel in SONAR X1 Producer.
Watch and listen to several different techniques of sidechaining using the PC4K Expander/Gate, PC4K S-Type Bus Compressor and the PC4K S-Type Channel Compressor modules in the ProChannel.
Examples include sidechaining a midi track to control a gate on an audio track, broadcaster style vocal “ducking”, or sidechaining the voice track to control the volume of the background music track, and more!
Learn more about the world of SONAR X1 and watch more tips and tricks videos in full HD on CakeTV
In Part 1 of this blog series, I highlighted the basic information to get the Beatscape content going in SONAR X1 Producer without using the Beatscape program. If you read that post and starting working a bit with the Beatscape content you probably found out that there’s some really good samples in there from which to draw. In this post, I will dive into a few tips and techniques and focus in on The ProChannel to show how fast and easy it is to create a more tailored sound with Beatscape content (and any other sample based content for that matter.)
For me and my style of music production, it’s all about layers and a multi-dimensional vibe. I started out like a lot of folks, on 2” tape and followed a lot of rules, but in this new digital era I rely more on my ear than I do on following fundamentals. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s more important now than ever to understand the fundamental concepts of recording and producing music, but it’s also just as important to rely on what you are hearing in relation to what you are going for. Sometimes I will start out with something that sounds quirky or not pleasing to the ear; a person in the room will look at me like I have two heads, and then within minutes they don’t even recognize what I started with.
I like to blend multiple elements together to create a “part.” In this video example by simply using the Beatscape content and The ProChannel, I will take 8 samples that sound cluttered together, and then shape them into one interesting loop that will sound more professional than where it began.
1.) I started with the basics by finding 3 kicks I liked, and 3 snares [snare and claps] I liked and shaped both using the ProChannel so that they worked well together as a groove. As you will notice, working with the ProChannel is lightning fast in terms of a workflow; everything is right there so there’s no inserting plugins or switching back and forth between screens and menus.
2.) I then arranged the snares and claps using the Smart Tool so that they created a unified part.
3.) Next, I added top loops to add depth and dimension to the groove. As you will hear, when these loops are first pulled into the mix they are very prominent and overbearing. Again using the ProChannel I was able to quickly sculpt these top loops to add character to the groove as a whole. Using the Smart Tool once again, I copied over one of the loops and reversed it to set up a dramatic effect.
4.) Finally, using the ProChannel I called up a mastering Preset which instantly added thickness, volume and control over the whole new loop.
In this video you will see and hear not only how great the Beatscape content is, but also how powerful the ProChannel is in terms of sound, workflow, speed and ease of use. There’s a solid reason behind the fact that SONAR X1 is buzzing in the music industry. There’s no other DAW on the market that covers the territory of SONAR X1 Producer. If you are serious about music creation and production, go to our Dealer Finder here and pick up an investment in yourself and your future; The SONAR X1 Production Suite.
Last week Brandon Ryan and I hosted our second CakeTV Live webinar on music production with SONAR X1. Broadcast live over the internet from Burbank, CA, this latest installment of CakeTV Live was every bit a success as the first CakeTV Live webinar. With a steady 240+ viewers this time from all over the world, we had a steady stream of great questions coming in throughout the demo.
Of course, we understand that many of you couldn’t make it to the live broadcast, so we’ve uploaded the video to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. This hefty video weighs in at one hour and forty minutes and is loaded with music production workflow techniques straight from Brandon Ryan’s bag of tricks.
Continue reading “Second CakeTV Live Broadcast Now Available on YouTube”
You’ve got SONAR X1 Producer Expanded, now expand your ProChannel with the ProChannel Pack and get four of our awesome dynamics modules for only $179! By purchasing the bundle, you save $77 off the individual prices of the modules. Continue reading “The ProChannel Pack for SONAR X1 Producer Expanded- Buy the bundle, save a bundle!”
There’s no doubt that SONAR X1 comes with a lot of great content, but one component that I think is sometimes overlooked is the Beatscape content. Beatscape originally came with SONAR 8 and it’s a great sampler machine for mixing and mashing up content. And now with the power of the Browser, Drag and Drop and the ProChannel, anyone who is looking to make creative drum beats that really stand out from the crowd can utilize all this content right at their fingertips in SONAR X1.
The Beatscape content is great for creating drum tracks from scratch, or embellishing existing drum tracks. Whether or not you have Beatscape installed does not affect the ability to utilize this content in X1. In fact I prefer to use the content in X1 without Beatscape at all. Here’s how easy it is to utilize the Beatscape content.
1. If you do not have Beatscape installed, copy all of the “Beatscape Factory Content” from your SONAR X1 install disc or from the file in your download purchase and place it somewhere on your hard drive.
*If you do have Beatscape installed, you will navigate to the Beatscape Content folder in the next step. Your Beatscape folder is usually in these locations depending on whether or not you are running a 64bit system:
If you are running a 32bit system of Windows:
“C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Beatscape\Library\Beatscape Factory Content\” or you can search for the folder easily in Windows.
If you are running a 64bit system of Windows:
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Cakewalk\Beatscape\Library\Beatscape Factory Content\” or you can search for the folder easily in Windows.
2. In the SONAR X1 Browser, navigate to where the “Beatscape Factory Content” folder is and save that location by simply clicking the “save content location preset” button. You can also rename this location by double-clicking inside the text rectangle.
3. In the “Media” tab, make sure Auto Preview, Preview at Host Tempo and Loop Preview are all checked.
4. You can preview any loop by clicking on it. With the Beatscape content file system; the word “combo” is used in the files that have the complete loop. The great thing about this content is that for most loops, the parts are broken apart so you can use them all together for the complete “combo” loop, or you can pull in just single elements of the loops. When pulled in separately you can combine them with other loops or you can pull them all in and then layer them on separate tracks.
5. Experiment with different individual loops by simply dragging and dropping them into the track view and layering them on different tracks.
You can get quite creative with the Beatscape content, and it’s just another quick and simple way to get up and running fast on SONAR X1. Next week I will show some of my favorite tips and techniques to get unique sounds from the Beatscape content using the ProChannel and other effects.
Upgrade to SONAR X1 Producer to get Beatscape and it’s massive content library.
SONAR X1 brings a lot of significant changes from previous versions of SONAR; changes like the Unified Preferences View, ProChannel, Enhanced Automation, Key Clusters, the Skylight User Interface, and so much more. All of these changes are designed to enhance workflow, which means you can get more done in less time with SONAR X1.
The video below demonstrates SONAR X1’s enhancements versus previous versions, and I suspect most of them could apply to SONAR X1 versus other DAWs, as well.
