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How iLan Bluestone used SONAR Platinum on his new track "Bigger Than Love" (#1 on Beatport)

Just a few short years ago, we learned of a new up-and-coming artist who was using SONAR.  After introducing ourselves and learning more, the one thing that kept resonating were the infectious melodies and counterparts embedded into his tracks.  We were delighted to witness him working in SONAR, but at the same time very intrigued that he was using SONAR 8.5.

Soon after being in touch with iLan, we were able to catch up with him face to face in his studio just north of London for a night where we introduced SONAR X3 to him.  It was a fun night and very interesting to watch a pro’s reactions going from 8.5 to X3 considering that undoubtedly the platforms are truly different.  There were some moments of, “Whooaaah… that will save me a ton of time,” and there were moments of, “Ummm…that will take a while to get used to.”  Leaving iLan to his own devices we were really unsure where he would take it.

 

 

Toggling back and forth from 8.5 to X3 for a while, iLan finally found his stride with SONAR Platinum.  He told us, “After working on both 8.5 and X3, once I was on Platinum there was no going back.  The basic features alone like the smart tool and Mix Recall not only save me a lot of time, but allow me to create things I could not create in 8.5. With the amount of tracks I create and pace of my workflow, the fact that Platinum is rock solid and really fast means everything to me.  8.5 always allowed me to ‘not’ sound like everyone else in my genre, and Platinum just continues that path for me.”  iLan’s first full production in SONAR Platinum titled “Bigger Than Love,” a collaboration with singer/songwriter/artist Giuseppe de Luca was recently released on Anjunabeats and quickly found its way up the charts to the #1 spot on Beatport.

Continue reading “How iLan Bluestone used SONAR Platinum on his new track "Bigger Than Love" (#1 on Beatport)”

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SONAR PLATINUM ADDS Ultra Analog SESSION 2 SYNTH IN 2016.03 UPDATE

As a fan of our bakers and all the great features coming out of the Rolling Updates, I absolutely love exploring all the new things SONAR brings every month.  As a big fan of Lounge Lizard, I was really excited to learn that we would be incorporating the Ultra Analog Session 2 (UAS2) instrument into SONAR this month.  So at this year’s Namm convention I made a point of meeting up with my buddy Marc over at Applied Acoustic Systems to learn more about the synth before trying it out.

“A fun synth to play around with,” Marc explained.  And once I got my hands on it I understood what he was talking about.  Being a bit underwater with time these days, I decided to put an hour (or so) cap on diving into the synth and writing a short piece of “whatever” inspired me while first hearing and manipulating the sounds; and making use of the features.  I challenged myself a bit by using ONLY instances of this synth combined with stock SONAR Producer ProChannel modules so I could get a good feel for its capabilities.  I also thought it would be a fun test since there are no stock drum or percussion patches in the synth.  Here is what I found:

  • Useful:  In my book, you can never have enough options when it comes to sounds.  I have synths where I only LOVE a few patches but you know what? – Those patches are worth every penny having the synth in my arsenal.  I found the UAS2 to have some really great sounding vintage patches.  With 7 banks of sounds there are a lot of tones that would come in handy and will work well in certain styles of music.  I found combining these sounds with ProChannel shaping to be a great combination for creating some unique sounds.
  • Diverse:  I like the fact that for a synth with a small footprint, it crosses a through a wide array of tones.  The 5 main tonal character traits are Arpeggio, Bass, Lead, Pad, Polysynth, along with a bonus of two banks from Richard and Sean Devine that come in handy for more options.  I like the fact that there’s not a ton of overwhelming stuff here—and what’s in the box is all great and diverse for different applications.
  • Cool features:  I personally love using arpeggiation effects.  Admittedly, I love them because I am a horrible keyboard player and they make me sound like I know what I am doing… kind of;) I sometimes use arpeggiation in a way that might be different than some users—I follow no rules of arpeggiation (is that even a word?)—I throw on tons of effects… I let my ears rule both my hands and find notes and things that just sound good to me.  I often use this effect on choruses while knocking out all low end to give a song an inconspicuous lift.  The “Arpeggio” on this keyboard is cool.  It’s simple and straight forward and allows the user to combine a bit of old-school arpeggio tactics along with many syncing options.
  • A Strong Simple Synth Engine:  For someone like me who is not a synth expert, this instrument is great.  The 3 sound generators (VCO, Filter and Amp) are simple enough to navigate for those who do not fully understand the complexities of creating synth patches.  In my opinion, 10 minutes of turning knobs with this instrument is enough time for anyone to come up with some great sounds.  For example, after putting a limiter on my master bus I noticed one of my staccato parts was cutting through in a way that sounded too intense compared to the kick.  Very easily was I able to identify the “Amp Attack” as the culprit, and by simply dialing that knob back a bit the sound became what it needed to be.
  • Onboard FX:  Similar to Z3TA+, this synth carries its own FX processing right inside the synth.  Although multiple FX are not possible in one patch, the good news is that AAS didn’t skimp on the quality of the engine.  I tested all FX (Chorus, Delay, Distortion, EQ, Flanger, Phaser, Reverb) with different patches and found the available parameters to be intuitive while rendering high-quality sounds.
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How To Create Easy Tempo Maps in SONAR with Melodyne 4

Thanks to Melodyne’s advanced tempo detection and SONAR’s powerful ARA drag-and-drop integration, your projects can now follow a live recording’s tempo. Simply drag a standard audio clip (or Melodyne region effect) to SONAR’s timeline, and SONAR creates a tempo map that follows the clip tempo. Watch the new video for more information.

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MONTH-END ARTIST RECAP: 3/2016 – Wrestlemania, Croatia and More!

With South by Southwest over and the Northeast starting to thaw out, we checked in with a few of our professional artists to see what they have been up to.

Norman Matthew and Murder FM Announce New Tour and Wrestlemania

Just when we thought it could not get any more murderous, Norman Matthew of Murder FM is jumping into the wrestling ring???  Fresh off of a national tour with Drowning Pool, in support of their latest record Happily Neverafter which was produced in SONAR X3 & Platinum and doing very well, Murder FM have announced April tour dates. The shows kick off with the wrestling debut of vocalist Norman “The Gnar” Matthew, during “Wrestlemania” Weekend at the 1010 Collins Ctr in Arlington, TX! (Yes, you heard us right – Wrestlemania.)

April 1 – 3, the Trifecta of wrestling brands, Knokx Pro/ Territory League, Samoan Dynasty Wrestler “TMD” Teams up with Murder FM in Arlington, TX. Murder FM Vocalist Norman “The Gnar” Matthew takes the corner of “TMD” during WRESTLEMANIA weekend, featuring WWE Hall Of Famer “Rikishi”.

Recently we also found out Norman is using SONAR Platinum live on stage.  Next month we will be focusing an article around that setup and how he uses SONAR in a live application… [this is if he makes it out of Wrestlemania this weekend ;)]

Other New Tour Dates:

04/14 – Dubuque, IA – The Venue
04/15 – Crest Hill, IL – Bada Brew
04/16 – Springfield, IL – Capitol City
04/17 – Pekin, IL – Twisted Spoke
04/20 – Kent, OH – The Outpost
04/21 – Toledo, OH – Realm
04/22 – Chesterfield, MI – Diesel
04/23 – Battle Creek, MI – The Music Factory
04/24 – Harrison, OH – The Blue Note

For more information, please visit: www.murderfmmusic.com.

Yogi Lonich on the Loose in Croatia

What do Zagreb Croatia and SONAR have in common?  The answer to that question is one talented musician/producer by the name of Yogi Lonich.  LA based Lonich who has worked with iconic artists such as Shakira, Buckcherry, Wallflowers, Fuel and most recently Chris Cornell is on hiatus from LA and producing a few great rock artists in Croatia in SONAR Platinum.

“UP,“ is an alternative rock band formed in Zagreb Croatia by singer/guitarist Leo Angelcovich.  In 2015 Leo started recording demos by himself and caught the ear of Yogi who has now joined him in person as a producer and collaborator.  The efforts so far are focused on turning out a few singles, following an album in 2017 before world domination.  The bands influences: AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Free, Nirvana, AiC and Rage Against the Machine to name a few.

Yogi has also been working with Blues(ish) guitarist/songwriter Dario Brnad who is also located in Zagreb Croatia. “I’m so used to my SONAR rig in LA that it took a bit to get used to my mobile setup here in Croatia.  Platinum has been an inspiring creative tool here on these projects and I have been using a lot of Rapture and Dimension Pro as well.”

 

 

Chillwalker Announces New Recording Project Inspired by Mobile Recording

German artist Chillwalker has just announced the plans for what we think is a very unique project: “Holy Grounds.”  Starting in August he will be touring to 12 sacred locations to which will eventually end up in a full-length 12-track release all inspired and taking direction from each location’s character.  “With SONAR being so stable now, and the ability to create music virtually anywhere on devices that have longer battery life with core i7 processing, doing a project like this makes perfect sense to me.  I will also be preforming live during the trip to help offset some of the costs.”

After releasing close to 70 tracks and remixes, Chillwalker took a bit of a break in 2015 to rebuild his musical spirit.  He also took the time to physically build a new SONAR studio setup where he is currently working.  “Platinum has really brought my music to another level since the last record on an older version of SONAR.  I actually upgraded my Melodyne the DNA version just because of the fact that it works so incredibly well with SONAR.  The Browser is a feature I cannot live without either—it’s always open and I am constantly auditioning and manipulating sounds.  The ProChannel is another item I use all the time.  I do a lot with sidechaining for compression with it.  Finally, huge time-savers for me are both project and track templates.”

We will be checking in on Chillwalker’s interesting upcoming trip/project and will be doing a full length story on the project as he gets going.  He will be updating his information in real-time here https://www.facebook.com/Chillwalker/ .  In the meantime you can Chill[walker] here:

 

Javier Colon Anounces New Tour to Support April 15th Concord Music Group Release

NBC The Voice winner Javier Colon has been setting up for his new record to be released next week on Concord Music Group, and a few new songs are being leaked including “Giant” which was uploaded to Youtube not too long ago.  Javier wrote much of the record in SONAR Platinum in his home project studio before recording in different locations.  Along with the new full length 15 track record (yes… that’s right… 15), he has just announced an national tour for April/May/June that spans cross-country starting in Atlanta on 4/23.  The tour so far from east to west and tourdates/tickets can be viewed here on his site http://javiercolon.com/tour-dates/ .

In a recent interview, Jav told us, “A lot of the songs on this new record started right in my home studio on SONAR Platinum. The thing I like about SONAR for writing is that it’s really quick for getting ideas down.  It’s like a creative partner.  Of course it’s great for mixing and creating masters too, but for me since I was fortunate enough on this record to be working with top-notch mixing engineers, the single most important thing was getting the songs right.  The features in Platinum are great for songwriting.  Even just the loops in Addictive Drums 2 are a great starting place to generate ideas—there’s just no shortage of inspiration in the program.”

The album is for presale on Amazon and iTunes.

Gravity Tour Week 1:

04/23/16            Atlanta, GA                        Vinyl

04/25/16            Vienna, VA                         Jammin Java

04/26/16            Philadelphia, PA                World Cafe Live

04/28/16            Ridgefield, CT                    Ridgefield Playhouse

04/29/16            New York, NY                    Le Poisson Rouge

04/30/16            Carmel, IN                         The Palladium

SONAR Artist, Professional and Platinum are used by countless artists worldwide who are are taking their music into their own hands. If you are a musician who owns a PC, why not turn it into a recording studio?  Please visit the SONAR pages for more information on getting started.  No matter what stage you are in your career, there is a version of SONAR right for you.

 

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How Jerry Gerber Creates Incredible Compositions Without Ever Using the PRV

The art of “making music” in this digital age… When you really think about it, how incredible is it that as music-creators we can take something from our minds, and sculpt it into something tangible?  No matter how novice or professional you are, no matter what others think or say about the music YOU create, there’s no denying that we are living in an incredible time of opportunity for crafting music.

A while back I was introduced to a gentleman and composer working in SONAR out of Northern California by the name of Jerry Gerber.  I knew he was a great composer from his accomplished list of credentials, but what I wasn’t prepared for was being absolutely fascinated by the sonic depth of “his sound,” the detail and integrity of his tracks, and moreover—how he accomplishes all of the above mentioned.  When you listen to his work, and then hear his theoretic viewpoint of how to correctly compose and produce music, you quickly realize that this guy has tapped into something a bit deeper than most musicians.

What really made an impression on me was that without ever using the Piano Roll View (PRV), Jerry Gerber has composed and produced for some very highly-profiled films, television shows, computer games, concerts, dance and interactive media, and also back in the day wrote all of the original music for the remake of the popular children’s television show, The Adventures of Gumby.  His approach to all this is through an expert level of “MIDI Sequencing” which he explains in the newest edition of the SONAR Newburyport eZine.

I was intrigued and beyond impressed by his words in the eZine, so I decided to [self-indulgently] dig a bit deeper by reaching out to Jerry to get some insight on his methods of madness with his new record.  His words of musical wisdom make a lot of sense for anyone creating music in any genre, and I highly recommend the read; and then applying what you learn by analyzing and enjoying his new full-length composition.

[Cakewalk]:       You talked a lot about the “programming” aspect of the new record, but what was the “writing” process like for you? Continue reading “How Jerry Gerber Creates Incredible Compositions Without Ever Using the PRV”

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Anatomy of a Project: A Nontraditional Approach to a Commercial Recording

By Jimmy Landry

Last summer, Peppina—a young female artist from Finland— plunged herself into the NYC music scene for two months. With the help of renowned NYC entertainment attorney Steven Beer who discovered her, she managed to head back to Finland with a major-label sounding EP. The project was recorded in different ways, in different locations all over the city—and with budgets being slashed, these days it’s pretty much hand-to-hand combat when making a low budget recording where anything goes. But the upshot is yes, you can record a commercial-sounding record on a budget—so here are some of the techniques we employed to accomplish that goal. SONAR Platinum was instrumental in saving time on this EP. Between the Drum Replacer, VocalSync, onboard Melodyne, Speed Comping and general speed enhancements, I got to the finish line a lot faster than previous records. I highly recommend anyone who’s on SONAR XX to take a close look at what the program has brought to the table in the last year.

This all started when Steven Beer called about an artist he’d heard sing at a film festival, and invited me for a meeting at his office. Interestingly, there were two other producer/writers there as well—a bit unorthodox, but pretty much anything goes these days, so nothing really surprises me anymore. We discussed the artist’s interests, influences, and other variables, and then listened to some of my reel as well as music from the other producers. It turned out the lawyer’s master plan was to bring the three of us together to co-write, record, and mix a five-song EP before she went back to Finland in 45 days.

Peppina already had some momentum in Finland from a loop she wrote and uploaded to a site called HITRECORD (owned by actor and director Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Her upload was so popular that Gordon-Levitt flew her to California to perform the piece at the Orpheum in LA during one of the show’s TV episodes. This all sounded good to me, so I signed on to a production team that would share in the production duties and heavy lifting. As to budgets…well, there was enough there for us to take it on as a challenge.

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Project: A Nontraditional Approach to a Commercial Recording”

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5 New Features That Make SONAR Steam Edition a Great Upgrade

If you’re using Music Creator 6 or 7 on Steam, you already know how easy it is to set up and record with Cakewalk recording software. Now that you’ve gotten some experience, it’s time to take your productions to the next level with SONAR Steam Edition. A more inclusive DAW, SONAR Steam Edition combines the simple, easy-to-use layout of Music Creator with even more powerful tools and features for the ultimate recording and mixing experience.

5: Creativity Without Limits

SONAR Steam Edition follows the same mantra as any SONAR: “Creativity Without Limits.” SONAR will help you take your creations to the next level with unlimited Input/Output, Tracks, and Busses. You’ll also gain the ability to route any track anywhere with Universal Routing Technology, great for recording FX, creating submixes, and tons of other creative uses.

Feature

Music Creator 7

SONAR Steam Edition

Simultaneous I/O

8 x 8

Unlimited

Audio Tracks

32

Unlimited

Instrument Tracks

8

Unlimited

Patch Points & Aux Tracks

N/A

Unlimited

 

4: Audio and MIDI Engine Updates

Thanks to SONAR’s Rolling Updates, we’ve implemented dozens of fixes and enhancements — and that’s just to the Audio and MIDI engines! This means a cleaner, faster, smoother, and more efficient creative experience from start to finish.

SONAR Steam Edition Upgrade SMOOTHER Style Dial

3: More Audio FX

More FX means more creative potential, and when you want even more tools to shape your sound, SONAR has you covered. You’ll receive a whole new suite of VST FX, and a few upgrades on the FX you already have like TH2. And those Style Dials you’ve come to know and love? You get more of those, too.

2: Expanded Clip Libraries and File I/O

SONAR Steam Edition has a little something special that none of the other versions have. We added a whole toolset designed specifically for game developers — but anyone can use them! This means you get a free Sound FX library that can be used for any musical or post-production project. You can export clips directly formatted for RPG Maker. You can even import image files to create your own track icons for a speedier workflow!

1: Great New Instruments

SONAR Steam Edition boasts an incredible upgrade to your synth collection. You get:

  • SONAR Steam Edition Rapture Session Browser

    Session Drummer 3, a more flexible and user-friendly upgrade to SI – Drum Kit.

  • Z3TA+, a world-renowned, legendary synth whose sounds can be heard on electronic productions the world over.

  • Our newest synth addition, Rapture Session, a streamlined synth that plays back all of your programs from Cakewalk Sound Center, plus includes an 11-instrument library of select sounds from our flagship synth, Rapture Pro.

Learn more about SONAR Steam Edition here.