Posted on

Cast Your Vote for One Stop Shop's V-Studio 100 Rap Battle

As you probably have already heard, the new SONAR V-Studio 100 by Cakewalk is taking portable music production to another level. When used with your Mac or PC you get a 24/96k audio interface with high-quality mic preamps and a DAW controller. Away from you computer you get an 8×6 digital mixer an SD recorder to play back beats at your gig or to record those inspiring moments on the road or at home when you don’t feel like firing up your computer. Plus it comes with the VS Production Pack of effects and instruments for Mac and Windows.

To prove our point, we took the V-Studio 100 to Sha Money’s One Stop Shop Conference in Phoenix, AZ and put it to work. With all the up and coming MCs and producers in attendance, we figured One Stop Shop was the best place to test this product out with the Hip Hop community. To paraphrase one of the original gangstas “If we can make it there, we’ll make it anywhere.”

Cakewalk’s resident producer Lil Shamrock recorded a beat on the spot and then threw down the gauntlet, challenging the MCs in attendance to come up and record their rhymes on the fly while the beat was playing back from the V-Studio 100’s SD card.

Watch the video below to check out the finalists, then cast your vote and let us know who’s got it.   The winner is going to receive a copy of SONAR Producer or Rapture. It’s up to you!

This contest will run through Monday July 6, 2009.

Pick your favorite MC

Big Will

monev360

Normous Child

Anthony Dollar

A-Dymondz

Just Before Dawn

Suave

Leno the beast (intro track, no video footage)

sheepskin boots

Just imagine that if we could do this quickly in a tradeshow environment, what you could do in your creative space.

Learn how the SONAR V-Studio 100 will help you make your music anytime, anywhere

Read more about Cakewalk’s activities at One Stop Shop 2009

Posted on

Day 2: The Future Producers of Hip-Hop Battle It Out

Live From One Stop Shop Music Producers Conference Phoenix, Arizona, Day 2 (May 9th… 1am overlooking Phoenix city lights from a Jetblue red-eye to NYC)

Hope everyone had a Happy Mother’s Day! Day 2 technically starts at 12:00am from yesterday so I will pick it up from there. We found ourselves at Club PHX with Sha Money and many of the talented producers and artists who attended One Stop Shop. I have to admit, I had no idea that Phoenix was such an after-hours kind of town. The club was packed and as always when hanging with a bunch of musicians after midnight, the conversations flowed candidly about gear, projects and the state of the music industry.  Everyone I spoke with agreed that no matter how much turmoil the music industry is facing, it’s an amazing time for musicians who want to take control of their own music (and future) by empowering themselves with tools such as Cakewalk. As you will read later, this proved to be true from the OSS Beat Battle.

My wakeup call rang early. Seth Perlstein and I caffeinated up and prepared for what was to going to be a very busy day. The second day of the “V-100 Challenge” brought new talent early and with fury as MC’s jumped on the Cakewalk mic like it was nothing. I was amazed with some of these cats when I asked them if they wanted to hear the beat first…  or warm up… or something…  nope – these dudes would just step up to the mic and throw lyrics like they had been there all night practicing. Today we had some MC’s representing Boston, Phoenix, Florida, Dallas, Queens, Brooklyn and even Mississippi.  I’m glad I’m not the one deciding on who is walking away with SONAR 8 Producer. Thanks to all the cats that participated and please check Youtube this week for a V-100 video montage.

In between the action of the rap battles, we were pretty psyched to connect with some great producers in the game who stopped by to say hello and get a 1 on 1 taste of the new V-700, that is creating quite a buzz in the Hip Hop world. Neither Seth nor I had ever met Pete Rock and it was a pleasure to connect with him as well as Don Cannon, Just Blaze and Drumma Boy.  Throughout the day there were some pretty heavy panels going on as well.  Sway moderated a panel I caught in the afternoon with RZA, Just Blaze, Pete Rock, Steve Lobel, and many other pioneers in the game.  It was interesting to hear these guys comment on modern production and the state of the music industry.

Later on in the afternoon, we were approached by Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Arif Gursel, along with Sha Money who offered us an opportunity to demonstrate the V-700 right before dinner in front of all the conference goers.  It was a bit of work breaking down our booth and setting back up on stage but it was well worth it.  Seth Perlstein took the stage and did a great job going through some of the main features of the controller, interface, phantom synth and also fielded some questions from the crowd.

In the evening, I interviewed Lee Bannon who has been using SONAR and Project 5 on his recent project with Talib Kweli. Then we checked out the finals of the beat battle and it was crystal clear to me that we are in the middle of a music revolution.  Basically, any undiscovered producer could submit beats for this competition and it was ridiculous how crazy-good the final four contestants were.  Some of these new age producers are really thinking outside the box, that is outside the box with how they are constructing the beats, and the sounds were very refreshing to say the least.

Thanks again to Sha Money and I definitely recommend this conference to any up and coming Hip Hop producer for two main reasons:

1) It’s a great place to easily network with some name brand guys because the vibe is “we’re all in this together”.

2) It’s a great place to get your work out there if you really have an amazing talent.

Posted on

The Future of Hip-Hop At One Stop Shop

A big WHAT IS UP from Phoenix, AZ !!!

I have to say there’s a common thread of goodness here in Phoenix AZ this weekend; Sha Money (and staff), amazing weather, and great people all pooled together for one reason – the spirit and the state of Hip Hop and creating music.

My co-worker and Cakewalk Product Specialist Seth Perlstein and I rolled into town yesterday and we hit the ground running preparing our Cakewalk booth and demonstration area.  On a lighter note, we showed up at 7:30am and were well prepared for the day but there was one problem…  we failed to realize that we were on “Hip Hop time” and what was supposed to be a 10am start turned into a noon-time launch.  It’s all good? I utilized the time tapping into the wealth of SONAR knowledge that Seth has to offer.  That guy has more SONAR tricks than a magician has rabbits – thanks Seth!

What a great day we have had so far showing people the new V-Studio 100 as well as the V-Studio 700 and SONAR.  I’m getting a great response from artists who are digging the fact that you can throw the V-100 in your suitcase with a laptop and make a record when you land.

A few of our many friends and fans that have stopped by to say hello so far today include Che Vicious who is working on the new Dr. Dre record, Grammy winning producing team Play N Skillz, Q-tip, and Sha Money, but I think the show stealer was Che Vicious’s 6 year old son who logged about an hour of studio time with Seth, and then busted out a monstrous pose with the V-100 (I think we found a new spokesman).

On the plane ride into Phoenix I was thinking about ways to get people engaged with the new V-100.  So instead of just telling everyone how good the mic pre’s are I decided to trigger a way for them to hear it for themselves by having a weekend long contest called the “V-100 Challenge”.

Any willing, rap-battling street soldier can walk up to our booth and throw down a verse over a beat we created in SONAR.  When the weekend is over, we’ll (Cakewalk) take a listen back to all the tracks. The flow-fighter with the most convincing rap will have a shiny new copy of SONAR 8 Producer to make great music with.  So far, it’s been a blast and I think it’s going to be a tough decision.  We have heard some crazy talent step up to mic with representation from Hawaii all the way to Phili!

We were fortunate enough to get an invite to the conference party tonight at club PHX which should be a great time. A sincere Happy Mother’s Day to all from everyone at Cakewalk, and thanks for reading.

Jimmy Landry
Cakewalk Artist Relations

Posted on

Bonjour! Roland Europe & SONAR V-Studio Systems Visit France

Across the pond, Roland Central Europe has been very busy showing the new SONAR V-Studio 700 and 100 systems to potential dealers and aspiring producers. On April 23rd, Roland’s Cedric Verchere visited the world-renown school for multimedia, the SAE Institute in Paris, France.

French R & B Producer, Zoheir Mokkedem, was on hand giving live demonstrations, showing the audience how to make beats in SONAR 8.  Zoheir is most known for his work with French chart-topper, Nadiya.  He co-wrote, programmed and produced two songs on her platinum-selling, breakthrough album, Flashback. Both songs were tracked in SONAR.

Also in attendance was Loic, the founder of the first French SONAR users community, www.sonarfrance.com. Cedric was glad to finally meet him.

Like Zoheir and Loic, professional producers and musicians worldwide choose SONAR for its 64-bit audio engine, intuitive user interface, ease of creating tracks and beats, and ability to control EQ, effects and synths with ACT for their music production needs.

Roland Central Europe will make two more stops in France this spring. Check out the schedule below for more details:

Univers Clavier Percu
3, Rue du General de Gaulle
Brumath, FR
Clinic: Monday, May 25 at 3:00pm
+03 88645911

Aux Guitares
63 Avenue de Belgique
Illzach, FR
Clinic: Tuesday, May 26 at 3:00pm
+03 89464638

ALSO…  Watch for Nadiya’s new album, Electron Libre, featuring former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland and the “Latin Casanova,” Enrique Iglesias.

Posted on

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”

Posted on

NAB 2009: SONAR & V-Mixing System Wow Crowds

For more than 80 years, The NAB Show, produced annually by the National Association of Broadcasters, has served as the premiere event for broadcast technology professionals. But there’s more to the show than just tv and radio broadcasting, it’s the ultimate educational experience! Technology professionals and solutions providers from every corner of the world, come to the show each year to explore every stage of the audio / visual content lifecycle, from creation to consumption.

Cakewalk is one of this year’s exhibitors showing off their state-of-the-art creations at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada from April 20 through April 23. Follow along with Robin Kelly live from the show, here on The Cakewalk Blog.

Here’s his first post:

At the Roland Systems Group booth, Zac Kenney and I were presenting the SONAR V-Studio 700 as the mixing and editing solution to the V-Mixing system. At the heart of the system, is the M-400 Digital Mixing Console from RSS by Roland. Add to that the personal monitoring system, allowing each live performer to have up to 40 individual monitor mixes and the digital snake whick allows up to 40 channels of audio over a single CAT-5 cable, and you have an extremely impressive live mixing setup.

So how does Cakewalk’s SONAR integrate into this system? You can split the signal coming down the CAT-5 cable and connect it to the network card on your PC. Using the REAC driver, you then have 40 discreet inputs going into SONAR to record each channel individually to their own track.

After the live show the VS-700 becomes the platform for mixing and editing the 40-track live performance. From live venues and houses of workship to broadcast customers, the feedback was extremely good. They were all impressed with the flexibility and depth the SONAR V-Studio System provides. Add to that the ability to harness and control all the power of SONAR via a hardware inferface, and you have a ‘perfect solution’. The Fantom VS is an added bonus as this provides the added ability to add extra synth tracks after recording. The ARX slot was also wowing the customers when the ARX-01 Drum card was added.

In Las Vegas, people seem just about willing to bet on anything, but one thing no one I spoke to today was willing to gamble on was their audio. All through the day, customers were coming up to me explaining bow they prefer to mix in SONAR because it ‘just sounds better’ than other programs. Of course, it is always nice to hear such positive compliments about our flagship DAW but in a way it is extra special to hear this coming from folks who have very high (if not limitless) budgets, allowing them to choose any audio platform they wish. Even with that they are still using SONAR because of it’s quality.

It makes sense if you think about it. SONAR has a 64-bit double precision audio engine, multiple gain stages, and 64-bit/convolution plugins to sweeten the mix.

So YES. In Vegas, people will gamble on just about anything, anything but their audio quality!

That’s it for now. Day 2 starts tomorrow!

Robin Kelly
Cakewalk’s Director of Worldwide MI Sales

Posted on

Musikmesse Day 3: Das Brauhaus

Well Day 3 came upon us quite quickly. So much has happened in the last couple of days. This was the last day of the retailer part of the show. Tomorrow is the public day, where Musikmesse is open to the public.

Remember that I mentioned our European counterparts rocked out a bit more during their product demonstrations? I found some evidence online today as I was typing this. MusicRadar shot some video on their handycam of one of their pre-demo performances in our booth. Sorry for the audio quality, but it was shot from the show floor. Edirol did some professional filming with audio from the board and we’ll get those online soon. For now, here’s a taste of ‘Rockstar’:

*Video edited on 4/8/09*

We had a second meeting with more of our new distribution partners. Brandon, Robin and I welcomed them to the Cakewalk family giving them an introduction to our product line and our marketing resources. This second group was just as enthusiastic as the first and I am very excited to have such strong representation in so many new areas of the world.

Pictured here with Greg Hendershott of Cakewalk are Kwan-Ki Min of Cosmos Corporation (Korea), David Leo of PT. Citra Intirama (Indonesia), Frank K.T. Lee of Tom Lee Music (Hong Kong), Pham Van Kim of Viet Thuong (Vietnam), Ali Sungurlu and Mehlih Aytug of Zuhal Dis Tic (Turkey), and Kittipong Techayuenyong of Theera Music (Thailand).

Later in the day, Gina Garda and I had a meeting with our new strategic marketing contact at Intel, Kimia Poursaleh. In case you missed it, Intel is currently running a big feature on Cakewalk and SONAR on their new Content Creation microsite. It was a real pleasure to finally meet Kimia in person.

As the day ended, the entire Cakewalk and Edirol crew along with some key people from Roland Japan set out for a traditional German dinner at Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus to celebrate our successes at the show. The food and beer was amazing (maybe the beer was too amazing) but was even better, was having everyone together for a celebration. Here are a few pictures highlighting the evening’s festivities:

The taxis start to arrive and our friends gather outside the Brauhaus.

Robin, Brandon and Michael make their best attempt at a band photo.

Michael Hoover of Cakewalk and Simon Lowther of Edirol Europe.

Robin and I enjoy a couple of the Brauhaus’s finest.

Cakewalk’s Gina Garda and Roland’s Masahiro Minowa get ready to enjoy a good meal.

Despite the fact that I’m a vegetarian, I can’t miss a good photo opp.

Roland’s Managing Director Mr. Kondo gave a rousing toast. He’s flanked by Edirol Europe’s Managing Director Massimo Barbini and Cakewalk’s Founder and CEO Greg Hendershott. Phil Palmer and Dan the VJ look on.

As the night wore on, much hilarity ensued. I suppose you had to be there, but I can tell you that we got a special visit from the pretzel man!

That’s it for now, tomorrow is the BIG public day.

Gute Nacht,

Carl

Posted on

Musikmesse Day 2: Continued

Day 2 of Musikmesse started out real well. I opened up the tradeshow daily to see that we had gotten a write-up on page 2 about the fact that the V-Studio console was going to be available to SONAR 8 customers as a stand alone control surface.

I think one important point that was missing from the article, and I couldn’t expect it be written there, was that this is another example of Cakewalk listening to our customers. Some SONAR 8 users told us that they have spent quite a bit of money on their I/O and that you really only need the best control surface possible for SONAR.

We listened, and with just a little bit of work on our part, we will now be able to give them what they asked for, starting this summer. I still personally feel that if anyone had the full experienceof using the entire SONAR V-Studio 700 system together with the I/O and Fantom Synth, they would rethink their decision to only buy the console, but I guess I’m biased.

I kept reading the daily and I also found this nice photo of Ben Klempel and Massimo Barbini posing with the V-Studio 100. Massimo is the Managing Director of Edirol Europe, our distributor in Europe, and a really inspiring guy… I’m gald he’s on our side.

Brandon of course, was in his usual form, knocking out the crowds with his V-Studio 700 Demos.

There’s another good video from the show online. In this video, which should play after an ad, Sonic State interviews Julian from Edirol Europe about the V-Studio 100 and the VS 700C.

Also, the video I wrote about in the blog a couple of days ago, that Craig Anderton shot is now available online at Harmony Central.

When you get to the page, click on ‘Preview Video’ to watch Craig’s pre-show coverage. Alex, Steve, Brandon and I stage a mock argument about what’s important about the V-Studio 100 at around 4:20. You might get a laugh from it.

Signing off,

Carl Jacobson

Posted on

Musikmesse Day 2: O Fortuna

Ok… I can’t contain myself so we’re going to have blog dessert first and jump right to the end of the day. SONAR V-Studio 700 won the MIPA award for Best Recording Hardware!

If you’re not aware of what the MIPA is or what it means to Cakewalk, just imagine that you won a Grammy award. Over 100 music products magazines worldwide come together each year to vote on what they feel are the best and most innovative products of the last year. So it is such a incredible honor that SONAR V-Studio 700 was selected for this!

Greg Hendershott, Cakewalk’s Founder and CEO and Mr. Kimitaka Kondo Managing Director of Roland Corporation were hand to accept the award.

I’ve uploaded a video clip from the event of our winning the award and Greg and Mr. Kondo’s speech:


SONAR V-Studio 700 Wins MIPA 2009
Uploaded by CakewalkInc

And here are some more pictures from the night:

Greg and Mr. Kondo accept the award.

The stage was filled with many happy people, as they called up the winners of all categories.

Charly Steinberg won a Lifetime Achievement award tonight for his work over the years to move music technology forward. It was a moment of sheer transcendence for me to see Greg and Charly together. Cakewalk won a MIPA tonight in a category that beat out Steinberg’s latest offering, and Charly the founder of that same competitor was honored for his life’s work.

Despite how fiercely we have competed over the years, the two of them greeted each other like old friends and had a genuine, warm moment congratulating each other. It really reminded me that we’re all in it for the same reason… to make music and to help people make music. And maybe we shouldn’t forget that are competitors are just like us in that regard. In alot of ways, they help us make better products for you, because we have to continue to innovate to stay competitive with each other.

Anyway enough of the philosophical ramblings. Here’s another photo from the evening, it features some of my favorite people, members of the Cakewalk and Roland team.

From left to right: Masahiro Minowa, Michael Hoover, Robin Kelly, Koichi Mizumoto, Greg Hendershott, Alex Westner, Carl Jacobson (me), Steve Thomas and Brandon Ryan.

Those are genuine smiles you’re seeing in this picture. This team and many other people back in the offices of Cakewalk and Roland, put in a tremendous effort over the last couple years to make SONAR V-Studio 700. To be recognized with a MIPA for that work, really made it all worthwhile.

Well, I need to run to a meeting. Part 2 of Day 2 will be coming soon.

Signing off,

Carl Jacobson

Posted on

News from Germany: Musikmesse 2009

It’s the first day of the Musikmesse Show in Frankfurt, Germany. It’s the world’s biggest tradeshow for musical instruments, live music and the music business.

Cakewalk is excited to share some major product news from this year’s show. Follow along on the Cakewalk Blog from April 1 to April 4, 2009 to get all the latest coverage:

The New Portable Music Production Studio: The SONAR V-Studio 100 Is Here

The second product in the SONAR V-Studio line of integrated hardware and software from Cakewalk and Roland provides a compact, feature rich, music production studio that enables musicians to create, record, produce, and perform music with or without a computer. The new SONAR V-Studio 100 integrates a USB 2.0 Audio Interface, DAW Controller, Digital Mixer, SD Recorder, and VS Production Pack for Mac & Windows!

Visit the SONAR V-studio 100 Website

See the full Press Release

Now Going Solo: The SONAR V-Studio Console (VS700C) for SONAR 8 Producer

In response to customer demand, the VS-700C V-Studio Console, the centerpiece of SONAR V-Studio 700 production system, will be made available separately as a standalone control surface for SONAR 8 Producer.

See the full Press Release

Now Shipping: New Line of Portable Cable-Based Interface Products

The new Audio Interface and three new MIDI Interfaces, announced at NAMM in January, are now available. These interfaces allow musicians of all levels to easily connect instruments to their computer via USB and are Mac and PC compatible.

See the full Press Release

SONAR REAC Recording System Driver Gets New Updates

The Roland Ethernet Audio Communication (REAC) Driver Version 1.1 for SONAR REAC Recording System provides Vista x64 support and compatibility with SONAR 8 Producer. The driver update also provides monitoring support through SONAR V-Studio 700’s VS-700R I/O.

See the full Press Release

New Rapture 1.2 Update

Free download for registered customers includes new Envelope Generator and Tempo features, Vista x64 support, and many usability enhancements. The free Rapture 1.2 Update will be available to registered Rapture customers ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­late April, 2009 at www.cakewalk.com.

See the full Press Release

Cakewalk® Expands Worldwide Distribution

New distribution arrangements extend the company’s reach in Asia, Australia, Latin America, the Middle East, South America, and other regions worldwide.

See the full Press Release