Save over 50% off the exclusive PSP Pack for Cakewalk customers
We have partnered up with PSPaudioware to bring you an amazing, limited-time offer. Through May 23rd you can download the exclusive PSP Pack, created just for Cakewalk customers.
PSP 3-Pack:
PSP VintageWamer2 (reg $149): a high-quality digital simulation of an analog-style, a single- or multi-band compressor/limiter. It combines rich, warm analog processing with a straightforward user interface, and comes with a comprehensive library of presets. The plug-in processor is highly flexible and can be used for both softknee compression and brick-wall limiting. This makes it an essential tool for mixing and mastering engineers.
PSP BussPressor (reg $99): a compressor optimized for group and master buss processing. It combines the sound of classic VCA compression with wide tuning capabilities. Extra controls allow you to adjust a side chain high pass filter or apply parallel compression.
PSP RetroQ (reg $59): a unique take on a musical equalizer with unique sonic character and low phase distortion. This makes RetroQ sound smooth and musically natural. It’s shelf filters are based on fabulous-sounding VintageWarmer’s filters, and PSP RetroQ’s addition of a mid-range filter is designed using the same internal architecture.
Regularly $307 when purchased separately, you can download all three for only $149!
Recently and fortunately, I had the opportunity to attend MuskMesse in Frankfurt Germany where I demonstrated the powerful workflow of SONAR X2a. Similar to The NAMM Show, MusikMesse brings gear junkies like you and me into one centralized location to discover all the new products for anything-music-creation. The one constituent factor I noticed that sets MusikMesse apart from The NAMM Show is the undeniable international presence; both on the company side, and the consumer side.
I was able to discover some great new products as well as meet some great new artists. One artist that I was looking forward to meeting was composer/producer (and SONAR X2 user) Jochen Flach who is doing some great things on an international level based out of Germany. I was excited to meet Jochen after becoming a fan of his compositions as the music he is creating on SONAR X2 is nothing short of innovative and captivating.
As a member of DYNAMEDION – Germany’s leading game-audio company, he was awarded back in 2009 for the best game soundtrack (for the game ANNO 1404). In addition to usages in games, his music is being used for international promotion-campaigns for movies, TV-series, TV-shows as well as for soundtracks. You can find his tracks on numerous releases for the movie-trailer business of several major companies – all composed in SONAR.
I got a chance to sit down with Jochen in a somewhat controlled environment at MusikMesse and had a great conversation with him about music production, and why he chooses SONAR for his complex music compositions.
Download the SONAR X2 Producer trial today and find out why more and more award winning producers and musicians from around the world are switching to SONAR. The trial is fully-functional for up to 30-days and includes the award-winning Skylight User Interface and the innovative ProChannel.
Chuck Carr creates amazing content for Twisted Metal
Chuck Carr is a multi-faceted game audio professional and accomplished musician for over 60 games and counting. Intel has put out a new video showing how Chuck Carr used SONAR X2, an Intel® Core™-based PC and SSDs in his creative process to create the soundtrack for the hit game, Twisted Metal. It’s just one example of the amazing results that can be achieved with Intel technology and SONAR X2.
Timothy Michael Wynn Composes Amazing Content for Darkness II
Timothy Michael Wynn is an award-winning composer for films, television and video games. Hear how he uses SONAR X2 and the Intel® Core™ Processor and SSDs in his creative process.
Last day: Save 15% off anything at the Cakewalk Store thru April 30th
Enjoy incredible savings from now through the end of April. Just use the promo code APRIL2013 to take an additional 15% off every product at the Cakewalk Store. Get instant savings on anything we offer including SONAR X2 upgrades, videos, instruments, FX, expansion packs, and much more.
Last day: Huge savings on X2 Producer: Plus get 3 amazing products free
You can download SONAR X2 Producer today and save 15% off the regular price. SONAR X2 Producer has been completely redesigned to streamline the music production process. We’ve updated the Skylight user interface with over 100 enhancements. We’ve added a modular ProChannel and a Console Emulator to the mixing console making it easier to achieve great sounding mixes. Editing is now far more intuitive with the improved Smart Tool and new Smart Grid. And we’ve also included many new plug-ins like BREVERB SONAR, TH2 Producer Amp Sim, R-MIX, Rapture, and more.
SONAR X2 has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the press and user community. Future Music magazine raved that, “working in SONAR X2 feels so natural and intuitive.” Sound on Sound magazine endorses this upgrade stating, “for existing SONAR users, this is undoubtedly a worthwhile upgrade.”
In addition, when you upgrade to SONAR X2 Producer today, you also get 3 free products worth almost $100:
Get up to speed on all the new features with SWA Complete SONAR X2 Video (9 hours)
Get additional sounds with (1) AAS Sound Bank and Player
Get inspiring new FX Chains with the FX Chains Odyssey Pack
Plus use promo code APRIL2013 to get 15% off your already low upgrade price
Below are some of the new features in SONAR X2 Producer:
Skylight enhancements including Auto Zoom, Timeline Zoom and revamped NOW time
Better views including Take Lanes, Clips Pane, PRV, Loop Construction View and Matrix View
Enhanced editing tools including the improved Smart Tool and the new Smart Grid
New Automation Lanes with Latch, Touch, Overwrite, and Punch modes
Buy SONAR X2, get 9 hours of video tutorials for free ($40 value)
SONAR X2 is a huge leap forward in DAW technology. From the Skylight interface, to the Smart Tool, to the ProChannel (Producer Exclusive) – almost every part of SONAR X2 has been enhanced based on feedback from customers and professional users. In addition, SONAR X2 now includes Windows 8 and touch support in all versions, proving once again why SONAR X2 is the best choice for Windows based recording studios.
Don’t take our word for it – SONAR X2 has received overwhelmingly positive reviews from the press and user community. Future Music magazine raves that, “working in SONAR X2 feels so natural and intuitive.” Music Tech magazine declares, “it’s a DAW in the truest sense of the description: a complete production environment with a wealth of features that enable you to take your ideas from initial sketches to finished masters – and throws in things like remix and live performance tools to boot.”
There has never been a better time to make the leap to SONAR X2. In the month of April, when you purchase any version of SONAR X2, you will also receive the SWA Complete SONAR X2 video for free ($40 value). Featuring over 9 hours of video tutorials, SWA Complete SONAR X2 offers the most comprehensive look at SONAR X2 to date. Learn more
Well, ultimately that’s up to you, but there are plenty of reasons to argue that it is.
First and foremost is the legacy of Z3TA+ Classic. Released over 10 years ago, Z3TA+ set the bar for modern analog style soft synths with unparalleled tweakability and waveshaping control. Z3TA+ was pumping out synth leads and fat basses back when EDM was know to most as simply “Techno,” and Dubstep was in it’s infancy. It’s impossible to quantify the impact of Z3TA+ on the EDM/Synth universe, but from what our users tell us, there are likely tens of thousands of musicians still using their trusty Z3TA+ 1.5 waveshaping synthesizer in music today.
Secondly, Z3TA+ 2 includes over 1000 new sounds AND all 1,093 that ship with the original. Frankly speaking, Z3TA+ 2 is a preset goldmine. These sounds hold up against any synth on the market. Listen to Z3TA+ 2 sound examples for a taste.
But of course there is also the UI redesign and usability overhaul that came with the second version. Z3TA+ 2 now has the sleek, modern interface that is easier on the eyes and easier to navigate. Controls are more spread out, intuitively placed, and easy to access. Plus new controls have been added to allow even more sound design possibilities. New features for performance and playability raise the bar again for soft synths. Plus, Z3TA+ 2 is now (at last) available for PC & Mac.
You can study Berklee’s renowned music production techniques directly from their renowned faculty members, in a collaborative online community of like-minded musicians. Learn to operate SONAR X2 Producer like a pro from anywhere in the world. Sample a free lesson in SONAR, as well as other areas of music production, guitar, music theory, and more.
We all know the feature-set and workflow in SONAR X2 is world-class. It still amazes me that we can make Major Label sounding records in our homes these days as long as you have a good system, good enough ears and some good old fashion knowledge. The one feature I personally love that I think gets overlooked is the FX Chain Preset.
We live in a musical world these days where time is of the essence. While some folks have the luxury of spending as much time as needed on musical works, other folks like myself are not so lucky. I look at it as a balance between creativity/quality vs. time/money. With this being said, the FX Chains Presets have been a life-saver for me.
The beauty of FX Chains is that they are in fact a massive time-saver, but still allow you to get uniquesounds by creating your own effects.
Time-saver:
What starts to happen when you uncap the power of FX Chains? You start to build your own library of Effects where at any given point in time you can simply drag-and-drop a chain on any effect bin, bus, or even clip. For example, let’s say you are working with a certain vocalist/songwriter one week who returns back for another song a month later. If you have saved that vocalist’s chain as an effect chain preset, you can simply drag-and-drop it from the preset folder to the track in this new project. It sounds basic but it’s not; what happens over time is that you develop your own catalogue of multiple effects that are instantly available to you on any project. What is significant, is that these FX Chains presets work with any Cakewalk or third-party plug in your arsenal. Personally speaking, I don’t know what I would do without them after becoming accustomed to their ease of use. I’m constantly fighting for minutes in a day, and having the ability to fire-up FX Chains instantaneously without sacrificing any creativity has been a game-changer. In fact FX Chains presets actually inspire me to create new sounds.
Unique Sounds:
It’s simple to map multiple effects’ parameters to single knobs and switches. The uniqueness comes in to play when you start to automate the knobs and switches to get some interesting sounds. The fact that you can control multiple parameters from a single source opens countless doors of sound-character. For example, the ability to map the “left” and “right” panning sliders to one knob allows me to control where a reverb rests in a mix. Now if you take that one step further by mapping the “left” and “right” pans of a delay to another knob, you can start to split effects’ signals up. An interesting effect from here would be adding a flanger, and mapping its’ depth and speed parameters along with the delay’s feedback parameter to one more knob; so as the delay repeats more and more, the flanger effect becomes more intense.
These are just a few real-world examples of how I find the benefits of FX Chains very useful and practical. SONAR X2 ships with 48 FX Chains in Essential, 76 in Studio, and 160 in Producer. As a bonus for SONAR X2 Producer Content Club members, I’ve created a new set of 15 FX Chains that work particularly well on buses. These can obviously work on tracks as well, but I built them in buses thinking they would work well on spacious recordings that encompass vocals, clean guitars, piano and light drums or percussion. You can experiment with other types of music as well, but I think these are best suited for recordings where there is some room in the mid-range department between 600Hz and 2K.
Some of the highlighted presets in the bonus FX Chain Odyssey pack include: (Please note for demonstration purposes I have turned up the Effect Send considerably on these examples.)
Circus Buzzards – An eerie reverse reverb that is entrenched in a warm overdrive provided by TH2 and finished off with a modulation option.
Panable Ambiance – A great reverb and delay effect for vocals where you can position the reverb in the stereo field.
Smoke Stack – This is basically a button box where I have mapped overdrive parameters, wideners, and modulation to various knobs to create interesting overtones.
How to download the FX Chain Odyssey pack:
If you already own SONAR X2 Producer, the FX Chain Odyssey presets download is already in your account as a bonus treat from the SONAR X2 Producer Content Club. If you purchase or upgrade to SONAR X2 Producer by April 30th, you will be able to download the presets from your account on the Cakewalk Store.
Customize your own FX Chains:
Another cool feature about FX Chains presets is the ability to customize the skin with your own designs. You can add interesting graphics, knobs, switches and background colors to keep your eye and mind fresh for those long mixing sessions.
So with all these components packed into the FX Chains preset feature, it’s easy to get uniquely creative while staying on top of the clock. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend you get acclimated to the world of FX Chains in SONAR X2. Here is a great overview video to get you started.
While working as a Quality Assurance Engineer for Cakewalk I have the privilege and duty to test the latest builds before they are available to the public. While testing SONAR X2a and the CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier I decided to work on an MGMT inspired remix of new song written by Cakewalk Graphic Designer Dan Kaplan. Dan gave me the stems from his studio sessions and from there I remixed the song using SONAR X2 Producer, the CA-2A, and Z3TA+ 2.
When I first listened to Dan Kaplan’s song Sink or Swim one of my favorite things about the song was the dynamic between the male and female vocals. I thought it would be interesting to try and approach the song more as a duet or at least feature the female vocal more than in the original. I started by putting the original stems in one folder in SONAR and began setting up tracks for the remix in another. I created some instrument tracks for Session Drummer 3, Studio Instruments Electric Piano, and Z3TA+ 2. I then brought in sections of the bass and piano stems and began working on the first chorus trying to get the vocal dynamic working. I added Kick samples and built a pad to fade between chords using Z3TA+ 2. The Bass needed to be a lot more aggressive and the saturation knob in combination with some EQ got the sound I wanted. I used a synth sample from the original stems for the instrumental sections that reminded me of a MGMT riff and layered some different snares and claps to add more energy. Things were already moving well towards the end of the song but I needed to figure out how to get to the first chorus. I found a great background vocal sample from the end of the original track that reminded me of something the band FUN might do and thought that it would be a cool way to start the song. Using 4 different instances of SD3 I built the giant drum circle intro and added some of my own guitars using TH2. I put some rhodes and strings in the intro as well which to me kept the space that was there but left some nice texture. The strings also really helped the transition into the first chorus when the pad comes in and takes over.
I’ve always liked well planned vocal arrangements in pop music and wanted to build a 3 or 4 part vocal section for the end. I copied and moved the original chorus to the end and began playing around with other vocal samples to see where other phrases could come in without hurting the melody. It started with the female sample “There’s one more step” which besides adding to the context of the song helped setup the lead vocal when Dan repeats the same lyrics. I then used it for the bridge as well. I cut up the lyrics “Sink or Swim” that Dan sings and also layered that in a few choice spots.
I added some splashy electronic cymbal hits for added effect throughout the song and chopped some of the kick and snare samples to give it some life and not be too repetitive. I found a great long kick hit in the included sample library that I reversed for the sub swells along with reversing some other samples and sections of the guitar. Each track went through the A-Type console emulator which I think adds more air to the track and used a lot of the BREVERB SONAR plug-in for reverb on tracks and busses. To get the weird watery effect on the female vocals in the bridge I pulled out the original Z3TA+ which can be used as an audio plug-in also and found a preset to start with and tweaked it so the words were still understandable.
Exclusive offer: Save $350 off the Waves Silver Bundle
Through a special arrangement with Waves, we are offering SONAR X1 and X2 customers the opportunity to purchase the critically-acclaimed Waves Silver Bundle (Native) for only $249 – save $350 off the regular price. Offer ends March 26th.
Waves Silver, an affordable new collection, was designed with personal production studios in mind.
With reverb, compression, equalization, level maximization, and more, Silver features 16 essential plugins that will take your music to the pro level. Now, you can join the ranks of the engineers and producers that count on Waves to deliver hit after hit after hit.
The bundle includes:
TrueVerb
L1 Ultramaximizer
Q10 Paragraphic Equalizer
C1 Parametric Compander
IR-L Convolution Reverb
SuperTap
Doubler
DeEsser
S1 Stereo Imager
Renaissance Axx
Renaissance Compressor
Renaissance Equalizer
MaxxBass
MondoMod
Enigma
Paz Psychoacoustic Analzyer
No iLok required
If you are new to the Waves, this is the perfect introduction to their powerful line of plug-ins.
Recently and fortunately, I had the opportunity to attend MuskMesse in Frankfurt Germany where I demonstrated the powerful workflow of 
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