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Computer Music Magazine Reveals 11 Un-Missable SONAR Power Tips

Get more out of your favorite DAW with this list of the 11 Un-Missable SONAR 8 Power Tips by Computer Music Magazine. These tips explain the benefits that the latest enhancements made to SONAR’s audio engine and user interface provide to it’s users; with faster performance and more intuitive control. Featuring tips on Cakewalk’s new loop performance instrument, Beatscape, as well as SONAR’s new tools for arming and disarming tracks during recording and playback, this list will surely enhance the way you make music in SONAR.

Read Computer Music Magazine’s 11 Unmissable SONAR 8 power tips as seen on MusicRadar.com.

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Cool Videos on Making Music for Video Games

Composing music for video games is a growing industry and an increasingly important part of our customer base. At NAMM 09′, we hosted a panel discussing this very topic with some of the best known composers around. Many of our customers, such as Stephen Hanson and Diwa Deleon, use SONAR for sequencing and recording music to their favorite video games. We recently came across their Youtube videos and thought you would get a kick out of their creativity:

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Artist Impression: Joe Stokes Talks Post Production with V-Studio 700

Joe Stokes specializes in Post Production Sound and Video Editing. He worked for several years in theater as a production manager, in corporate television as a producer and later as a visual effects production manager for POP on films such as Independence Day, What Dreams May Come, and Star Trek: First Contact.

He is the founder of Stokes Audio, Recording & Post located in Tarzana, CA. Recently, Cakewalk’s Steve Thomas visited Stokes’ studio with the SONAR V-Studio 700 music production system. Joe shares some of his favorite features and a few production tips & tricks:


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InfoComm 2009: Live Sound Engineers Love V-Studio 700 & REAC Recording Systems

Welcome to hot and rainy Orlando, Florida! Rich Curtis here, alongside Roland Systems Group at InfoComm 2009, to show off the fabulous features of the VS-700 / REAC system and to get a nice tan.

The traffic here was heavy, despite the rumor going around that less than 50% of registered attendees showed up this year as compared to last. If the economy is bad, you’d never know it standing in there!

Many integrators, consultants and representatives were there checking out the VS-700 / REAC system and loving it! Many people were pleased to see Cakewalk with the V-Studio 700 system in tow. Everyone wanted to hear the VS-700 story and how it came to be. Important people from all around the world attended, ranging from Saudi Arabia to Toronto. These people were excited to see SONAR and REAC in action right before their eyes.

Continue reading “InfoComm 2009: Live Sound Engineers Love V-Studio 700 & REAC Recording Systems”

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Elliott & The Untouchables Serve Up Southern 'Stew'

This South Carolina blues band, Elliot and The Untouchables, spice up their vintage blues sound with the release of their latest album, Voodoo Stew (BluePoint Records).

Elliott New (vocals, guitar), Mike ‘Naz’ Nazarenko (harmonica), J.T. Anderson (bass), Sonny “D” Dickey (saxophone) and Jim Heidenreich (drums) showcase their blues fusion sound around the world, performing at various music festivals and opening for music legends such as Van Morrison at the Rhythm & Blues Festival in Ireland.

Their latest album features 12 original songs, recorded and produced in SONAR, and covers a variety of blues styles from jumpin’ swing to the gritty ‘Mississippi swamp’ blues. To incorporate the traditional bluesy sound with the new, Elliot started experimenting and building his own diddley bow, cigar-box guitars which the band uses in 4 tracks on the new CD.

Listed among the Top 5 Best Self-Produced CDs by the International Blues Challenge and Top 100 U.S. Blues Releases by Real Blues Magazine, ‘Voodoo Stew’ is the band’s 5th top-selling release under the BluePoint label. Suggested tracks include: Voodoo Stew (title track), Blues Came Callin’, A Girl Like You, and Toss n’ Turn.

To hear clips from the new album visit Elliot & The Untouchables official website

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Creating Music In The Classroom With Cakewalk

On June 15 2009, Cakewalk Product Manager Samara Krugman discussed music production in the classroom with Keith Mason, coordinator of Music Technology at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and producer for the Music Tech For ME podcast.

In this episode, Samara explains how Music Creator 5 can benefit the music student. It’s simple interface and getting started tutorials guide users through the process of recording, editing, and mixing their first tracks. Students can add sound effects and backing tracks to their projects with hundreds of high-quality instrument sounds, loops and samples built right into the software studio. With these tools, plus Music Creator 5’s various project views and assistant features, students will learn basic music composition techniques as they work toward arranging and printing their own sheet music.

Visit Music Tech for ME online to hear the interview.

Music Tech For ME covers all aspects of incorporating music technology into the K-12 school curriculum, advising music educators across the globe on the latest advancements in creating and teaching music. Even if you’re not a music educator, you can learn a lot about the numerous technological tools and resources that are available on the market today just by listening to the show.

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Turn Your Riffs Into Hits With Guitar Tracks Pro 4

Cakewalk announces a clean, new look to the guitar-based software title for PC with Guitar Tracks Pro 4 and Guitar Tracks Pro USB!

Designed for guitarists and singer-songwriters, Guitar Tracks Pro 4 is the recording solution that takes your music from riff to hit! You get an amazing virtual guitar amp, a backing band of virtual instruments, precise editing tools, mixing console, over 2GB of sounds and effects, and more -for less than a few hours in the studio.

New Features Include:

• A simplified multi-track recorder interface makes it easy to record, edit and mix your music

• Create, edit and print your own notation and tablature; an included fret-board view makes it easy to match notes to the guitar neck

• A suite of pro effects including Cakewalk’s Boost 11 Peak Limiter and Native Instrument’s Guitar Rig 3 LE to give you an arena sized sound right in your own studio

• Over 2GB of audio loops and samples spanning rock, blues, country, and bluegrass from Smart LoopsTM, Digital Sound FactoryTM, and Groove MonkeeTM

• Perfect your chops with a collection of Guitar World instructional videos featuring: Steve Morse, Dave Mustaine, Jimmy Herring, Paul Gilbert, Joe Bonamassa, and others.

• Play along with loops recorded by world class drummers including: John Blackwell (Justin Timberlake, Prince), Jerry Marotta (Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel), Nick D’Virgilio (Genesis, Tears for Fears), Ed Greene (Steely  Dan, Barry White) and Danny Gottlieb (Sting, Pat Metheny Group) courtesy of Sonic RealityTM

• Burn CDs and upload your finished projects directly to the web with Cakewalk Publisher; share your music with friends and family on websites, blogs or social networking sites

PLUS Guitar Tracks Pro USB includes our portable, high quality audio interface, the UA-1G. Optimized for guitarists, the UA-1G features a special 1/4″ jack with Hi-Z option for recording and 24-bit/96-kHZ Stereo I/O for playback!

For more information:

Watch a Live Demo From Sonic State

See the full Guitar Tracks Pro press release

Please visit Guitar Tracks Pro 4 and Guitar Tracks Pro USB online

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Artist Impression: Producer Giovanni Loria Talks Recording With V-Studio 100

Giovanni “Gio” Loria is a Los Angeles-based professional music producer and musician (multi-instrumentalist) who wears many musical hats creating on a wide variety of musical stages. He is no stranger to pop, hip-hop, rock, orchestral and jazz as well as other genres. He has played, recorded and produced with artists such as The Black Eyes Peas, Jack Johnson and jazz phenomenon Brad Mehldau, to name a few. Overall, Giovanni had the rare ability to be at home in any musical situation, finding a way to support and shine as a leader.

Having traveled much of the world making music with SONAR, we thought Giovanni would be a perfect artist to give us some first impressions of the new SONAR V-Studio 100. Take a look at the video we taped, when we caught up with Gio in Los Angeles in between projects.

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NAB 2009: Robin Answers The Most Common SONAR & V-Studio 700 Questions

As the NAB Show wraps up, it’s a good time to reflect:

I have to say that for a product that has only been on the market for 2 years, I was amazed at just how many people I met, who have adopted the SONAR REAC Recording option for the V-Mixing system (Digital Snake and/or M-400).

As mentioned before, the REAC sends 40 channels of digital audio down a CAT-5 cable. Connect the cable to your PC’s network card and the Cakewalk REAC driver will pump the audio into SONAR. Many live venues, houses of worship and rental companies are taking advantage of the recording option. Using this option, the tracks record directly into SONAR. Once in SONAR the ‘live’ tracks can now be mixed, edited and mastered for either DVD, CD, web, or other formats. Obviously, this opens up a whole range of possibilities as you essentially have a 40 track recording studio at every live event whether it is a sermon or an outdoor rock festival.

Aside from the REAC recording customers, I spoke with many people who were in disbelief of the power and functionality SONAR has. I never like to say ‘no’ to customers, so NAB has been a great show and here’s a few examples why:

Customer: Can I use SONAR’s 64-bit internal audio engine on a 32-bit operating system?
Me- Yes , you can!

Customer: Do you have 64-bit audio plugins for mastering?
Me- Yes, we do and they’re included in SONAR.

Customer: What if my other plugins are 32-bit, I can’t use them right?
Me: Actually, SONAR has something called Bit Bridge which allows you to run 32-bit plugins on a 64-bit system.

Customer: Does Cakewalk support SONAR and/or the VS-700 running under Bootcamp?
Me: Yes, we do.

Customer: If I have a multitrack project that is in stereo, is it possible to convert it to surround?
Me: Yes! Just add a surround bus and route your tracks to it.

Customer: What about a surround mix to stereo?
Me: Of course, just reverse the steps and assign the tracks to a stereo bus.

Continue reading “NAB 2009: Robin Answers The Most Common SONAR & V-Studio 700 Questions”

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Cakewalk Hosts Masterclass at ASCAP EXPO 2009

ASCAP’s Annual “I Create Music” EXPO is a three day event taking place next Thursday April 23 through Saturday April 25 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA. It is the one place where serious songwriters, composers and producers alike can connect face to face at panels, workshops, performances, exhibitor demos, one-on-one sessions and networking events.

This year, Cakewalk is hosting live demonstrations on the new SONAR V-Studio 700 given by Product Specialist Seth Perlstein and an exciting new masterclass in a fully-functional on-location studio!

Cakewalk Modern Music Creation & Demo Room

 Expert producers and music creators will be using the award winning SONAR V-Studio 700 to exemplify different techniques, tips and tricks for the modern recording musician. Cutting edge technology is allowing creative people to take control of their music and turn demos into finished masters; this is the place to ask questions and learn.

The Home Studio Master ClassIn sessions taught throughout the day, pieces of music will be recorded by a producer and engineer and developed in a fully-functional on-location studio. Featured studio tools and products to include Auralex Acoustics, Behringer, Blue Microphones, Cakewalk, Gibson, iZotope, NightBird Studios, Roland, Solid State Logic and West LA Music. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get a close-up view of the Home Recording process.

Thursday: Constructing & Recording a Unique Track that Cuts Through the Pack with Producer/Composer Gionvanni Loria

Friday: Composing & Producing for Film & TV with Producer/Composer Shawn Clement and Producer/Musician Justin Lassen

Saturday: Writing, Producing, & Recording a Contemporary Pop-Rock Song with Producers Jimmy Landry, Brandon Ryan and Jorg Kohring (from the band, Orbit Monkey) as well as Guest Artist Cori Yarckin

ASCAP EXPO 2009: Schedule of Events