Posted on

Hits Keep Coming for Wendy Starland & the V-Studio 100

Wendy Starland, VH1’s Best Emerging Artist, has landed numerous songs on the Billboard charts and on primetime TV. She’s currently working on a new album and is using the V-Studio 100 to record and enhance her vocal tracks.

Wendy was recently honored by The Songwriter’s Hall Of Fame for her top 10 hit song, Dancing With The Sea, her self-written & produced single which was released in Europe alongside multi-platinum artists, Norah Jones, Feist, and Edie Brickell, just to name a few. Her song landed at #8 on the charts, giving her the opportunity to tour throughout Europe to thousands of fans. She is a featured lead vocalist on multi-platinum artist Mobys Grammy nominated album, Last Night, which went to #1 on the Billboard charts.

Her songs have been heard in hit TV shows, including Las Vegas and ABC’s Regis and Kelly. Fashion diva Donna Karan, celebrity clothing line Boy Meets Girl, Mobile Vision Player, Milestone Brand beverages, and skin care/ makeup line, Beauty Society, are all using her music and image in their ad campaigns on network TV (ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX) as well as in print (Teen Vogue, Teen People, Cosmo Girl, Elle Magazine, and The New York Times).

Her new single, Love Will Come To You, is being released on dPulse / Universal, along with 4 remixes, at The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater to an audience of 12,500 people.

Posted on

Cakewalk Launches Holiday Gift Guide for Musicians

GiftGuideIt’s that time of the year again! Time to show family and friends just how much they mean to you with a gift from the heart. This year, you don’t have to go far to find the perfect present for the music lover in your life. We’ve created our own Holiday Gift Guide to make the process of gift shopping much easier.

Visit Cakewalk.com today to see our list of recommended products for singer-songwriters, DJs, record collectors and Guitar Hero fanatics. Plus, reward yourself with a treat and check out our Holiday upgrade bundles for existing Cakewalk customers.

Posted on

Win An Online Song Production Package at Studiotraxx.com

StudioTrazz ContestThink you’ve got rock solid pipes and raw talent? Submit your original recordings to Studiotraxx.com and you could win a professional Online Song Production package from major label industry pros! Cakewalk is pleased to announce that it has teamed up with StudioTraxx.com and some of today’s most sought after major label studio musicians to bring you this unprecedented opportunity! Led by world-renowned percussionist, Bashiri Johnson (Michael Jackson, Sting, Whitney Houston), this contest represents true music “give back.” These veteran studio musicians come together to provide one outstanding musician with an extensive online production, marketing, and distribution campaign:

• Sheldon Goode / Guitar, Drums, Bass / Elton John, Patti Labelle
• Jerry Barnes / Bass / CHIC
• Ira Siegel / Guitars / Bacon Bros
• Larry Saltzman / Guitar / Paul Simon
• Shawn Pelton / Drums / Saturday Nite Live
• Raymond Angry / Keyboards / Joss Stone
• Darren Moore / Head Engineer / Manhattan Center Studios

Continue reading “Win An Online Song Production Package at Studiotraxx.com”

Posted on

Mac Expert Recommends V-Studio 100, Loves Sound Quality

VS100-front-blackFormer MacWorld Editor at Large Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and it’s myriad of products for decades. As a writer and seasoned guitar player, Dalrymple tracks the latest developments in music creation and recording products on his blog, ‘The Loop’. A few weeks ago, Dalrymple  got his ‘hands on’ the V-Studio 100; plugging in his Guitar and taking it for a spin. Visit The Loop to read his review.

Posted on

The Next Version of SONAR… Is Here!

S8_Producer_3D_boxFor the past month,  we’ve been ‘tweeting’ about the new features found in the next version of SONAR. Well, the wait is finally over! Cakewalk today announces a feature packed upgrade for SONAR Producer and SONAR Studio.

SONAR 8.5 continues to innovate with new capabilities including enhanced beat creation and arrangement tools,  a new drum instrument loaded with stellar kits and patterns, an enhanced audio timing toolset, new multi-stage effect plug-ins for drums, percussion sounds and vocal tracks, engine optimizations and stability improvements, and many additional workflow and technological advances -notably Windows 7 compatibility.

Plus… for the first time ever… We’re offering it as a download!

New Features & Workflow Enhancements:

·  Matrix View—simple and flexible cell-based, non-linear audio and MIDI arranging with live triggering capability.
·  Step Sequencer 2.0—the most powerful step sequencing capability in any DAW.
·  Integrated Arpeggiator—trigger arpeggiations on MIDI or instrument tracks with in-depth control over all arp parameters. Includes hundreds of presets.
·  Session Drummer 3—latest version of Cakewalk’s virtual instrument for easy and fast creation of drum tracks with a new UI, stellar sounding kits and patterns from top sound designers and drummers, more.
·  AudioSnap 2.0—updated audio quantizing and time shifting technology with new look and refinements to all the core controls, significantly improving workflow, plus improved offline rendering.
·  Media Browser—a new hub for content access in SONAR; supports multiple formats to preview and import your loops, grooves, and MIDI patterns; features presets to grab content from your favorite locations.
·  PX-64 Percussion Strip—seven-stage processor designed specifically for use with drums and percussion.
·  VX-64 Vocal Strip—seven-stage processor optimized for shaping and sculpting vocal tracks.
·  Windows 7 Support—tested, ready, and recommended for use.
·  Engine optimizations and stability improvements for recording audio, and while looping.
·  “Hotswap” audio and MIDI devices, including control surfaces, without restarting SONAR. 
·  VST plug-in compatibility improvements. 
·  Native REX Loop support featured in Track View, Media Browser, and Matrix View. 
·  BitBridge XR—run 32-bit plug-ins in 64-bit environments, with memory access now extended up to 128 GB RAM.

Read the SONAR 8.5 press release here
Visit the SONAR 8.5 web pages for exclusive specs, images and more

Here’s the first SONAR 8.5 feature video on Session Drummer 3 to get your creative juices flowing:

Posted on

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”

Posted on

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

Posted on

Remembering the Original Guitar Hero: Les Paul

One of our heroes here at Cakewalk passed away today. Les Paul the original guitar hero, namesake of arguably the most popular guitar of all time, and the innovator of multitrack recording, succumbed to complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital. Les was 94.

In 2005, I had the distinct honor of dining with Les Paul at the TEC Awards banquet. Cakewalk had been working with Gibson on the launch of the Digital Les Paul, which included a copy of SONAR Producer, and Henry Juszkiewicz, Gibson’s CEO asked me to join him and Les for dinner. I was so psyched to meet Les, being both a guitar player and someone involved in the art of recording, he represented a double inspiration to me. And getting to sit with Les for a few hours and listen to him casually talk about all sorts of topics ranging from guitar, to recording, to women (yes he was quite flirt, even as an nonagenarian…the ladies at the table will agree) I was on cloud nine. I count that evening as one of the highlights of my career, and I feel so lucky to have experienced it before Les passed on.

Les, we owe it all to you. Beyond pioneering multitrack recording, you had the vision to introduce the world to overdubbing, phasing, delay effects, and more. And where would Eddie Van Halen, Slash, or Eric Johnson be without the techniques you introduced on the guitar.

There have been so many great songs, and countless listeners, that have benefitted from the sonic advances that you brought to the table. Thank you for everything…you will be missed.

– Carl Jacobson, Vice President of Marketing

Posted on

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!

Posted on

Boing Boing Gadgets Barely Scratches the Surface of V-Studio 100

Gadget Reviewer Rob Beschizza spent the weekend with Cakewalk’s SONAR V-Studio 100.  After hooking up the portable device to his computer via USB and plugging in his guitar through the Hi-Z input,  Rob discovered that he did not need an amp to produce great sounds. In a matter of minutes, Rob was blown away by the device’s ‘triple play’ of powerful features:

“The key point is that it’s a unique box, combining MIDI controller, portable multi-track recorder, and mixer, all in a case the size of a Harry Potter hardback.”

Rob also liked the unit’s SD Recorder function (or as he called it ‘screw software’ mode) for recording on the go; saying that it gives the SONAR V-Studio 100 an ‘aura of awesomeness’.

Read the rest of Rob’s short & sweet review and see close-up shots of the V-Studio 100 at Boing Boing.net