Posted on

Mixing and Mastering a Song Using only the Z3TA+ Effects Engine in SONAR

One of the great aspects about SONAR X1 is that it’s a very diverse D.A.W.  There are so many different ways to create music and it’s great for people who like to experiment with sounds and develop unique sonic pallets.  One of the main reasons why many pro users choose SONAR is because there are a lot of veiled jewels and tools that help musicians to sculpt a unique and individualized sound.

Similar to the Beatscape Content articles that were posted, I decided to dive into another one of my favorite hidden treasures of SONAR of which some people may not be aware; the pristine and fat FX engine of Z3TA+ that can be used as a standard VST effects unit.

When I first started using SONAR I loved the fact that it came with so many great VST plugins.  It wasn’t until 6 months into using the program when someone pointed out to me that you could use the Z3TA+ synth as an actual VST effect anywhere you use regular plugins – on clips, in bins, on busses… etc.  After dragging Z3TA+ onto a track I was instantly surprised at what I heard. Continue reading “Mixing and Mastering a Song Using only the Z3TA+ Effects Engine in SONAR”

Posted on

Second CakeTV Live Broadcast Now Available on YouTube

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.

 CakeTV Live: SONAR Music Production ‘Aike’

Continue reading “Second CakeTV Live Broadcast Now Available on YouTube”

Posted on

New Video: Z3TA+ 2 shreds on a Misa Kitara digital guitar controller

The folks at Misa Digital recently posted a few videos showing off the sounds of Z3TA+ 2 played on their flagship Kitara digital guitar.  Check it out!

“Here I connect the kitara to the cakewalk z3ta+ 2 software synthesizer. Basically, the kitara becomes an extension to the synth, as a new way to control it.

The glide/portamento of a synth is a very overlooked aspect of synthesizers, especially from a guitar synth perspective. The idea behing this video is to show how you can get a more “sequencer” type sound using the kitara’s onboard sustain functionality. Continue reading “New Video: Z3TA+ 2 shreds on a Misa Kitara digital guitar controller”

Posted on

How to Pitchbend a Chord on a Keyboard Perfectly Every Time

Have you ever tried to pitchbend a chord on a keyboard? It never works as you expect. Sometimes it would be great to transition from one chord to another gradually, like you can with single notes. But there’s a problem: you can’t bend a full chord with conventional synth pitchwheels because the same up/down range applies to every note. So usually the chord you end up bending to is out of key.

I’m about to get into some nerdy details, so some of you may want to skip right to the example to simply hear the yuckiness I’m referring to. Let’s say we’re in the key of C major. Bending a CMaj (C,E,G) chord up will produce DMaj (D,F#,A) which is out of key in this context. For this chord to bend in key, we need to bend up to Dmin (D,F,A). The second degree of the fingered chord (E) would need to be raised 1 semitone to F, rather than the 2 semitones required by the others.

Here’s an audio example of an attempt to bend triads in C Major using standard pitchbend: Continue reading “How to Pitchbend a Chord on a Keyboard Perfectly Every Time”