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How Building Cost Effective Acoustic Treatment for the Music Studio Will Help Your Music Production; Part 1: Sound Cloud

(Part 1: Sound Clouds)

Just as important as having a killer DAW such as SONAR X1 Production Suite 64bit running on a good machine, one needs to take a good hard look at their recording and mixing environment.  If you are starting to get to the point where the word “professional” (as in making some money) comes into play, you should probably start to think about your sonic room environment as well as your environment’s presentation.

The beauty of the music industry today is that you CAN make extra money as a part time job utilizing tools such as SONAR, but there comes a point in time where you need to step it up if you have what it takes to succeed on certain levels.  In my personal situation, as a writer/mixer/producer I take on some decent paying side jobs once in a while when time permits such as recent tracks that I sold to ESPN Sports center, but I can tell you that if I didn’t have SONAR X1 Producer Expanded and a decent mixing environment, there’s no way I would have been able to deliver those tracks.

In the upcoming weeks I am going to be talking about, as well as be demonstrating how I recently treated my new music studio room with great looking acoustic treatment panels.  I built all the custom panels myself so it cost me a fraction of what it would have been to order these panels online; and in my opinion they look better because I elected to design them with exposed natural wood where the cheap ones online are just basically fabric-wrapped.

The three types of panels I built which will be discussed on this blog were wall traps, corner traps and sound clouds.  Today I will go into detail on how I built the sound cloud that goes over my mix position. Continue reading “How Building Cost Effective Acoustic Treatment for the Music Studio Will Help Your Music Production; Part 1: Sound Cloud”

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Why you need a subwoofer. Or, "What's goin' on down there?"

So your newest masterpiece is ready to be mixed in SONAR’s pristine 64bit audio engine for the rest of the world to hear, but are you really hearing the full range of your mix? If your monitoring system does not include a subwoofer, then you most likely are not.

While an ear can be trained to work with almost anything over time, a good monitoring system is crucial for making more accurate judgments in mixing. In my early days as a fledgling engineer, the studio I worked out of had a nice set of monitors but no sub. So what does that mean? Endless time wasted making (at that time) cassettes to run out to the car with so you could find out that the low end was either too high or too low or not hitting the right frequencies. Back to the board, hope your guess at the eq adjustment was right and then back to the car again. Better fire up the coffee machine, this could take all night. Continue reading “Why you need a subwoofer. Or, "What's goin' on down there?"”

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MusicTech Focus Dedicates Latest Issue to SONAR

SONAR 8 FocusEverything you ever wanted to know about SONAR is now encased in a 132-page full-color guidebook! From cover to cover, this exclusive magazine is the most comprehensive guide to SONAR in print (besides SONAR 8! Power) – a must have whether you’re a SONAR user, or thinking of becoming one!

Packed with 100% SONAR content, this magazine features exclusive interviews with A-list SONAR users – from Shawn Clement to the world famous Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee – highlighting how they using SONAR 8.5 everyday for work. From tracking to mastering, this magazine is teeming with tips and tricks on SONAR’s expansive set of features including 17 SONAR workshops on Beatscape, Step Sequencer 2.0, Session Drummer 3, Z3TA+, Media Browser, Using ACT with your favorite controllers, Film Scoring, Recording Vocals and more! There’s also a FREE DVD packed full of video tutorials, loops, demos and tutorials. 

Don’t miss out on this exclusive help guide!

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Create Record Label, High-Quality Productions With SONAR 8.5

MatrixViewFor Chris Maguire, upgrading his DAW to SONAR 8.5 was a no brainer. For $99, Chris made the move from SONAR 8.0 Producer and immediately began to see the improvements made to the DAW’s feature set and functionality.  In his review at Altsounds.com, Chris explains how he used the VX-64 Vocal Strip, PX-64 Percussion Strip and the Matrix view (the brand new mixing and arranging tools in SONAR 8.5) to create high-end, professional sounding productions.

To Chris, these three additions to SONAR 8.5 alone, “were worth the upgrade price so when you throw in all the other updates, tweaks and functionality you get for your money, there should be no question (to upgrade to SONAR 8.5).”

Read Chris’s full analysis of  SONAR 8.5 at Altsounds.com.

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Cakewalk's V-Studio 100 Tops 'Sound Guys' Holiday Wishlist

V-Studio 100The Ask A Sound Guy bloggers, Ben and Sanjay, were first introduced to Cakewalk’s V-Studio series last winter at the NAMM Show. The smaller of the two units, the V-Studio 100, impressed them so much that they included the unit in their 2009 Holiday Wishlist.

When they later got hold of a unit to review, they put the portable music studio through its paces. Ben began by recording vocals and electric guitar remotely using the V-Studio 100’s built-in XLR inputs (with phantom power). “The preamps were exactly what you would be looking for in an interface like this,” he exclaimed. “They’re quiet, transparent, and boost the signal accordingly.”

To track the project live, Ben used the V-Studio 100’s on-board EQ and Compression. And to edit and mix the project, Ben integrated the V-Studio 100 with his own DAW. “I set it up to be used inside Logic and Live, and it worked well both times. The 100mm touch-sensitive motorized fader was a really nice feature to have. It’s probably more of a personal thing, but I enjoy seeing a fader move when its reading back automation inside my DAW of choice.”

Lastly, in hopes of pushing the envelope of the V-Studio 100, Ben recorded a full band (drums, bass, guitar and vocals) in a rehearsal space situation. He placed “two mics on the drums, a SM57 on the guitar cab, condenser on the bass cab, and vocals directly into the V-Studio.” Although it was live and “sloppy rock and roll,” Ben reported that the band was pleased with the final recording.

In all, Ben recommends the V-Studio 100 to producers, engineers and musicians on a budget, looking for an “all in one” solution for music production.

Visit Ask A Sound Guy to read the full review.

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Where Work and Play Meet, SONAR Leads

When we say Cakewalk products are “created by musicians for musicians” we really mean it. Case in point, our CTO Noel Borthwick performs, records and produces music on the side. In November, Noel made an acoustic jazz album featuring Ramona Borthwick (piano, vocals) and a throng of amazing talent – Ingrid Jensen (trumpet), Johannes Weidenmeuller (bass), Adam Cruz (drums) and Noel on Guitar.

    <a href="http://music.ramonaborthwick.com/album/one-of-us">Who&#8217;s Your Mama by Ramona Borthwick</a>

The album, One of Us, was entirely edited and mixed in SONAR. Although, Noel was working on an older under-powered computer throughout the entire production process, that didnt stop SONAR from performing seamlessly.

“I was typically working with 24-32 tracks at one time, all recorded in high definition audio format at 24/96 khz, mixed in SONAR at 64-bit resolution and mastered at 24/96 khz” says Noel, “For the first part of the project I started out running SONAR 8.3.1, where I set up the initial projects, did the bussing setup and initial editing. I soon moved to SONAR 8.5 (which was in beta at the time) for main editing and mixing.”

To learn more about the ‘One of Us’ project and get exclusive tips & tricks on using SONAR as the ‘brains’ of your music production, visit Noel’s Blog.

NOTE: If you’re in the Boston area, see the band play live on February 17, 2010 at 9:00pm at Ryles Jazz Club in Inman Square, Cambridge, MA.

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Producing Live DVDs with SONAR

Trev-Wilkins--Scadge-ProducFrom time to time, Engineer and Owner of Scadge Productions, Trev Wilkins gives us a brief update on his travels on the road and in studio. Here’s the latest:

It’s been a long time since I updated the blog but (fortunately) that’s due to being very busy.

The Albert Lee and Hogan’s Heroes DVD, Live in Rome, should be on sale now (everywhere!) after being completely mixed and tweaked in SONAR.

There’s another live album still in progress for Neil Innes (the 7th Python) and his reformed band Fatso from their anniversary tour. It includes a wide range of material that I recorded during the tour including Monty Python and Rutles songs. Currently residing in a SONAR folder, it should be out early next year.

We’ve just finished part II of the Raymond Froggatt Live DVD which should be going to press very soon. The band liked our setup so much that they’ve purchased SONAR and will be recording some material for their next album in our studio.

Continue reading “Producing Live DVDs with SONAR”

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Learn SONAR Online with BerkleeMusic.com

Berklee-Online-LogoBerkleemusic.com, the online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, offers SONAR online courses and certificate programs for all skill levels. Master ascpects of multi-track recording using MIDI, audio, loops and plug-in effects using SONAR.

By the end of the course, you will learn:

– The basics of SONAR’s configuration, audio file types and user interface
– How to use soft-synths to record and mix your MIDI performance
– Professional mixing techniques using SONAR’s mixing console
– Audio editing techniques using SONAR
– How to use SONAR’s Groove Clips with MIDI and audio
– The signal flow in the SONAR mixing console
– ReWire and the benefits of using other software application with SONAR as the host.

Enrollment is now open for the Winter term, beginning January 11, 2010.

Learn more about Berklee’s SONAR course as told by the instructor, Steve MacLean.

Get a free SONAR lesson today