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Berklee Professor Steve MacLean Talks SONAR in the Classroom

Berklee-Online-LogoHello to all SONAR users!

In efforts to empower artists and music producers it is hard for me to imagine the huge numbers of students I’ve had the opportunity to work with over a 20 year span.  This happens in every format from private one-on-one or small group classes to many years in Berklee classrooms along with the Berklee online school (teaching production techniques in SONAR).  A range of numbers somewhere between 12,000 and 20,000 students is a not so calculated guess!  The truth is that I’m grateful for every one of them as each helped teach me to be a better coach and teacher along with all of the wonderful and amazing musical rewards when students apply what they have learned.  It gives me great satisfaction to know that these people will continue making progress and developing the music careers they wanted. 

One area of confusion that constantly comes up is this: 

I often notice that the technology almost forces people to work in ways that are very unnatural for what they are trying to do.  A great example of this is when the type of musical “style” the student is pursuing vigorously is ultimately made to sound lifeless and sterile.  You might ask, how can the musical style play such a huge role in the successful outcome of various production projects?

Continue reading “Berklee Professor Steve MacLean Talks SONAR in the Classroom”

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Cakewalk's V-Studio 100 Is All That & More!

CakewalkVS100What’s sleek, compact, and all that and a bag of chips? According to The Gadgeteer.com’s David Flowers, it’s Cakewalk’s V-Studio 100!

In his latest review, David takes the V-Studio 100 on a test drive in his home studio. With his guitar in hand, David works toward the ultimate goal of using the V-Studio 100 as a stand-alone recorder, as an interface with included production software, and as a DAW control surface to complete the final mixdown. How will did the unit perform? What did his final project sound like? Visit The Gadgeteer to read David’s review, view his exclusive photos, and learn more about the V-Studio 100.

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Get Exclusive Sneak Peeks at the Next Version of SONAR

As the anticipation for the next version of SONAR continues to grow, you could be one of the first to know about it’s many new features for music creation and recording by following Cakewalk on Twitter. Every day up until the launch, we will be announcing information (possibly an image) on the new SONAR. So far, we have a number of followers and invite you to join in!

If you don’t have a Twitter account, it’s very easy to set one up! If you’d rather follow along, be sure to stop by the Cakewalk Blog and see the updates as they happen. Our Tweets are sent here via RSS FEED, see them half-way down the page, on the right-hand side bar.

Don’t miss out on all the excitement from Cakewalk! Join us on Twitter today.

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Classic Cakewalk Tip: Complete Guide to using Rewire with SONAR

SONAR & SONAR Home Studio’s ability to work with ReWire brings exciting new possibilities to already comprehensive programs. ReWire is a software technology that allows two programs to work together in a tightly integrated way. Want to use Propellerhead Software’s Reason as a rack of virtual instruments for SONAR or Home Studio? Done. How about shooting ReBirth’s cool drum and bass line modules into SONAR or Home Studio to get rhythm section ideas down fast? Easy. Care to integrate the live performance features of Ableton’s Live! with backing tracks previously recorded in SONAR or Home Studio? Sure.

Do all this and more with Craig Anderton’s Guide to Rewire at Cakewalk.com

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Live from SIGGRAPH 09: Intel Interviews Carl Jacobson & Noel Borthwick on Processor Optimizations for Music Production

At this year’s SIGGRAPH Conference in New Orleans, Carl Jacobson met with the host of Intel’s Visualize This! TV Show, Arti Gupta, to discuss Cakewalk’s advancements in it’s software performance. Some of Arti’s questions were so technical that we thought it only fair to ask Cakewalk’s CTO Noel Borthwick to add his thoughts. Watch the video and check out Noel’s comments below:

AG: Cakewalk is a member of the Intel Software Partner Program.  What challenges were you trying to solve?

NB: The bandwidth available to the typical modern DAW user using a modern CPU such as the Core I7 is astounding compared to what was available just a couple of years ago. Users expect our software to use every ounce of available CPU cycles and horsepower it can to process their audio and mix. Cakewalk has been on the bleeding edge of technology for the last 15 years, taking advantage of cutting edge capabilities of the operating system as well as available hardware resources. With multiprocessing and 64-bit computing rapidly becoming mainstream, it has become even more critical for our software to make efficient use of hardware resources.

For example, for efficient multiprocessing we try and optimize all the code paths that are used in asynchronously mixing audio. The goal is to present a multi core machine with even and distributed workloads allowing the cores to work as hard as possible. To do this, we streamline the relevant code and minimize all high latency instructions.

Some typical areas that we try and improve our performance in are:

• Multi-processor load scaling: How well does a controlled test project load across multiple CPU cores?

• 64 bit performance: How well does the 64 bit version of the application perform with multiple workloads?

• CPU use: How efficiently does SONAR play back a CPU intensive project?

• High bandwidth tests: How well does the application perform while streaming audio at high sample rates (192K, 384K, etc) and bit depths (64 bit audio, etc)?

• Low latency performance: How well does the application perform streaming audio with very small audio buffer sizes (such as 1 msec buffers)?

Continue reading “Live from SIGGRAPH 09: Intel Interviews Carl Jacobson & Noel Borthwick on Processor Optimizations for Music Production”

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V-Studio 700 Unboxing Video by Digifreq.com

Digifreq’s Scott Garrigus just received his new Cakewalk SONAR V-Studio 700; the ultimate music production system. See how the V-Studio 700 looks when it first comes out of the box. Check out all of the accessories that are included and get a quick tour of the VS-700R I/O & VS-700C control surface. Watch Scott’s unboxing video below and be sure to check out Digifreq.com for more SONAR tips and tricks!

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Cakewalk Announces the V-Studio US Summer Tour 2009

 We’re excited to announce our latest clinic tour providing in-depth demonstrations of the new SONAR V-Studio music production hardware! We’ll be holding these events at select retailers nationwide (US only) – including Best Buy and Guitar Center – and attendees can pre-register online to win a $100 gift certificate to the retailer hosting the event!

The SONAR V-Studio 100, is a one-of-a-kind product that combines a powerful Audio / MIDI interface, a control surface, a digital mixer, and an SD WAVE recorder.　Compact and portable, the VS-100 is perfect for the musician on the go. Lay down tracks or capture an idea whether you’re in a hotel room, on a tour bus, wherever.　Plus, the VS-100 works with both Mac and PC and all major DAWs, so musicians can take advantage of the VS-100’s compelling feature set no matter which platform they are using.

The SONAR V-Studio 700 is the flagship of the V-Studio product-line and will be making appearances at various stops on the tour. Matching SONAR 8 Producer with the VS-700 Console, the V-Studio 700 offers the ultimate solution for music production through a complete offering of finely-tuned and tightly-controlled hardware and software. The VS-700 also includes the VS-700R I/O, the Roland Fantom VS synth and Cakewalk’s award-winning virtual instruments, Rapture and Dimension Pro.

We’ll be adding additional tour dates regularly, so visit the tour page on our website for the updated schedule: http://www.cakewalk.com/Events/tour.asp

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Learn SONAR Online with BerkleeMusic.com

Berkleemusic.com, the online continuing education division of Berklee College of Music, offers SONAR online courses and certificate programs for all skill levels. Master aspects of multi-track recording using MIDI, audio, loops and plug-in effects using SONAR. Enrollment is now open for the Fall term which begins September 28, 2009.

Click here to learn more about the online courses and to try a free SONAR lesson!

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Using Envelopes & Automation Controls in SONAR

One of the most cutting-edge features of SONAR is the wide range of automation controls available. While Cakewalk has made use of standard envelopes – volume and pan controls – for a very long time, you can also take your project to the next level through Cakewalk’s plug-in automation.

Why are envelopes so cool? While no one would argue that envelopes and automation give you precise control over your mix with a maximum amount of visual feedback, many people overlook the more creative and non-standard uses for automation. Hopefully, this tip will give you an insight into how to creatively apply automation toyour projects to achieve things that you didn’t think possible!

Learn how to add envelopes to your SONAR mix with this great tip!

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Cakewalk Announces New Line of Studio Hardware Products

Cakewalk announces the newest additions to the growing line of affordable, high-quality hardware products, designed in conjunction with Roland. These three new USB audio interfaces, the UA-4FX, UA-25EX and UA-101, provide a simple solution for the mobile musician and/or recording studio to connect and capture audio to Mac & PC. 

ALSO Cakewalk announces a new line of powered stereo monitor speakers. The Cakewalk MA-7A Stereo Micro Monitors and MA-15D Digital Stereo Micro Monitors deliver superior audio in a myriad of settings; the home recording studio, classroom or media lab, college dorm room, even in your living room entertainment system without stressing your budget.

Click on the links above for more information on these products
Check out Cakewalk’s Youtube page to watch the new videos