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Money Management Group's 'One Stop Shop' 2009

This year’s One Stop Shop Producers Conference in Phoenix, Arizona will be off the chain! Hosted by Money Management Group at the Hyatt Regency Hotel from May 9th – 10th, hundreds of hip-hop producers from around the world will be representing at workshops on music publishing, artist management, studio and sound equipment, production, and artist scouting.

If you’ve got skills, join in on an extensive two-day beat battle, where the contestant with the hottest beats receives surprise gifts, music placement, the latest technology, and more. Also, Cakewalk will be on hand laying down tracks and dropping beats with the SONAR V-Studio 700 & 100 music production systems. 

Founded by Sha “Money” XL in 2002, Money Management Group has boosted the careers of beat-makers and trend-setters worldwide including 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck, Hi-Tek, and Jake One. Every year, the group’s One Stop Shop Producer’s Conference pulls together 700+ artists and producers from around the world. 

What will it take to make it or break it in tomorrow’s hip-hop scene? Stop by the conference to find out.

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ASCAP Expo 2009: Aspiring Producers & Industry Professionals Talk Trade

I guess day #2 technically starts at midnight, so I will take it from there where we were fortunate enough to land some passes to the ASCAP celebratory dinner and party at The Highlands on Hollywood Boulevard. Steve Thomas and I had a great time catching up with some CPU’s (Cakewalk Pro Users) including Vivek Maddala, Wendy Starland, Justin Lassen and Chuck Carr. 

We also got a chance to hang with our friend Jake Ottmann of EMI publishing who is overseeing our installment of the new V-100 and SONAR Producer into the EMI US Headquarters in New York City. 

ASCAP did an amazing job putting together a round of some pretty heavyweight songwriters who took turns banging out their hits in a very informal and interesting setting.  There is something so cool about hearing hit songs performed by the actual people who wrote them and not the people who you hear perform them on the radio.  It was a great night and it’s obvious that this ASCAP Expo is on its way to becoming one of the most respected music conferences in the US.

The morning came pretty quickly and just when I thought we would have a tough time matching up to the production quality of yesterday’s home studio master-class with Giovanni Lauren, in stepped Mr. Shawn Clement who scored a 30 second Land Rover spot in front of a packed house all day. 

Continue reading “ASCAP Expo 2009: Aspiring Producers & Industry Professionals Talk Trade”

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Cakewalk Tours A Retailer Near You

You’ve heard the news, you’ve seen the videos, now here’s your opportunity to check out SONAR V-Studio 700 and SONAR 8 in person. You’ll be able to twist the knobs, move the faders and learn about all of the incredible features this all-in-one system has to offer.

Whether you are interested in purchasing SONAR V-Studio 700, SONAR 8, or just want to see it the two products in action, Cakewalk Product Specialists will be at the stores to offer one-on-one training and clinics on the following dates below. More dates will be coming soon!

Guitar Center- Towson
1524 E. Joppa Road
Towson, MD 21286
(410) 821 5200
Clinic: Tuesday April 28 at 6:00pm

Guitar Center- North Dallas
4519 LBJ Freeway
Dallas, TX 75206
(972) 960 0011
Clinic: Tuesday April 28 at 6:00pm

Performance Audio
2456 S. West Temple
Salt Lake City, UT 84115
(801) 466 3196
Clinic: Thursday April 30 at 6:00pm

Alto Music
180 Carpenter Avenue
Middletown, NY 10940
(845) 692 6922
Clinic: Thursday April 30 at 6:00pm

Continue reading “Cakewalk Tours A Retailer Near You”

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Cakewalk in LA: ASCAP 'I Create Music' Expo 2009

Hello everyone.  This is actually my first blog here on The Cakewalk Blog as the new Artist Relations Manager for the company.  I’m writing this from the The Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA where I am attending the ASCAP I CREATE MUSIC Expo. I’m here with my brilliant co-workers Brandon Ryan, Seth Perlstein and Mike Trujillo and we have quite a bit going on here this week.

I got into town on Monday and I spent some time with the artist Jessica Lombard who is tracking and mixing her new EP on our new V-Studio 100 (and SONAR 8 Producer) in Torrance, CA. You will be hearing more about this young artist (13 years old) soon here on the Cakewalk blog.

Tuesday, Brandon and I spent the day with the artist Dilana and her producer/band member Erik Eldénius at her home studio near Hollywood. What a great day we had creating an acoustic version of a song on her upcoming record with the new V-Studio 700. This song is still being developed but hopefully it will be available at some point when the record comes out in the near future. You might remember Dilana from the TV show “Rock Star Supernova” as the girl with the voice that can cut through metal? Anyway; we thank her and Erik for the day and wish her all the best with the new music. 

Yesterday, we arrived at ASCAP Expo and got set up for the demonstrations we have going on throughout the week. Last night, we got a chance to swing by some post ASCAP awards’ parties including the EMI Publishing party at XIV Terrace on Sunset which was fun. 

On to ASCAP…  To begin with, we have an actual recording room where we are developing a real track throughout the day, every day. Right now as I type, one of our CPUs (Cakewalk Pro User) Gionvanni Loria (Producer/Composer) who has used SONAR to work with such artists as Black Eyed Peas, Jack Johnson and Everlast is at the V-Studio 700 with Brandon Ryan creating a great track for the artist Tawny Ellis who will be coming in shortly to lay down some vocals. Also, we have a very informative demo room where Seth Perlstein is holding down the fort and giving great one-on-one advice to a room full of music creators. Later on this afternoon I am psyched to catch up with some great CPUs including Chuck Carr, Rob King, Justin Lassen, Cheese Beats, and Jorg Kohring (from the band Orbit Monkey).  

If you are in the LA area, please come out and say hello, and if you have time tomorrow I will be moderating a great panel at 3:15 in the Mount Olympus room at the Expo with the following people and topic:

When Demos Turn Into Masters: The Importance and Relevance of Project Studio Recordings

“Spider” Ron Entwistle – Producer, Songwriter, Remixer
Alex Hackford – A&R – Sony Computer Entertainment America/Playstation
Gavin Haverstick – Lead Acoustical Engineer – Auralex Acoustics
Emanuel Kiriakou – Songwriter, Producer – “Crush,” “What’s Left of Me,” “A Million Miles,” “2 in the Morning”
Ankur Malhotra – A&R, Urban/Pop – Capitol Records
Mark Needham – Mixer, Producer – The Killers, Iglu & Hartly, Metro Station

That’s it for now and we hope to see you at ASCAP. 

Thanks for reading,
Jimmy Landry

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Belgium's Squarelectric Releases Debut Album

SquarElectric is a duo, consisting of Belgian drummer/producer Michael Schack and DJ/Electro wizz Steve Pittoors.

In the early 2000s, Steve and Michael met backstage at music festivals in Belgium and sometimes at an Antwerp petrol station filling up their cars. By 2005, they started exchanging musical ideas and their first demo track, “Sex & Death”, immediately turned heads on Broadjam.com.

Both being perfectionists and total music addicts, they continued composing, recording and tweaking their compositions, which resulted in a finished first “solo” album for both of them. Through their joint connections, this SquarElectric album features guest appearances by Chuck D (Public Enemy), Joseph Bowie (Defunkt), Hans Dulfer (Candy’s dad) and David “Tweeky” Ahlund (Stockholm, Sweden) among others. It even includes a Chinese traditional love chant, totally remade into a challenging high energy “Drum’nBass’nSynth” track named 1000 Years.

For more information on the Squarelectric’s new album and to hear their latest projects, check out: http://www.myspace.com/squarelectric

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Complete Your Projects Quickly & Efficiently with SONAR 8

T. Michael Testi, author of ‘The RAM Review’ column at BlogCritics.org, shared his thoughts about SONAR 8 in a recent software review. For those of you who are on the fence about upgrading your DAW to the latest version of SONAR, Testi lays it all out on the line. He skillfully dissects the new tools, effects, and instruments added to latest version of SONAR. Here’s a few quotes from the article we thought you might want to read:

“Keep in mind that SONAR 8 is an incredibly complete and complex software package that is aimed at the professional and the sophisticated enthusiast who wants a product that is powerful, flexible, and very configurable.”

“With all of this, SONAR 8 is a must have upgrade. If you truly want the ultimate in DAW software, then you need SONAR 8.”

Read the full SONAR 8 Producer Software Review by T. Michael Testi of BlogCritics.org.

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Artist Impression: Producer & DJ Sharkey on V-Studio 100

Sharkey has performed and produced with such heavyweights as Eminem, Everlast, Mickey Petralia, Mario Caldato Jr., Jedi Mind Tricks, The Black Eyed Peas, and Wyclef Jean. His first solo album “Sharkey’s Machine” featured guest appearances by Cannibal Ox, The Pharcyde, Grand Puba of Brand Nubian and Cherrywine from Digable Planets.

2008’s Monster Maker with C-Rayz waltz was a critically acclaimed foray into the world of alternative hip hop.  In 2009 he’s set to release Dastardly with 2009 Grammy-nominated artist Kokayi.

Based in Maryland, but doing regular sessions in NYC, Nashville, and LA, not to mention DJ sets, we thought Sharkey might appreciate a sneak peek of the V-Studio 100…but we didn’t expect him to try to walk away with it.  Watch the video to hear his impressions and more.

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Artist Impression: DJ Johnny Juice on V-Studio 100

Producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and long time SONAR expert, Johnny Juice was an original member of the Bomb Squad at the age of 15, and has been doing productions for Public Enemy, Reverend Run, and countless others ever since.

The man is always working; his credo is “sleep is for the dead,” so he’s always looking for tools that speed up his workflow, travel with him,  and sound great…and if they can combine more than one function in one device, even better.

Because of his long history with SONAR and relentless schedule, we asked Juice to put the V-Studio 100 through its paces. Watch the video to find out if it passed his test.

“This unit is ridiculous.   I can bounce with it on the road and use it for backing tracks AND recording, and then import my work when I get back to my studio right from the SD card.”

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Best of YouTube: SONAR User Tutorials

Here’s a few of our favorite SONAR tutorials created by three talented SONAR users on Youtube. Watch the videos to learn more about SONAR’s new features and tools. Just hit play on one of the clips below:

Using Beatscape and Step Sequencer:

Editing MIDI Notation:

TS-64 Transient Shaper & 3rd Party Plug-Ins:

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The :90 Music Show Interviews Platinum Producer Mark Needham

In this episode of The :90 Music Show, host Scott Austin chats with Multi-Platinum Producer Mark Needham in the Cakewalk Booth at NAMM 2009.

The pair discuss Needham’s favorite technologies on display at the show as well as his history developing artists. This year, he brought new acts, Iglu & Hartley and Divide the Day, to share in the nation’s biggest music industry tradeshow.

Mark Needham has produced and mixed award-winning albums for a wide variety of recording artists including Michelle Branch, Cake, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Isaak, and The Killers.

Click here for more episodes of The :90 Music Show.