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How Dutch Producer Sander Veeken used SONAR for the new Lange Frans Record

One of the greatest things about working for Cakewalk besides the comradery with colleagues, is the fact that I get to meet and interact with many different SONAR users around the world. I’ve found that from Japan to California and everywhere in between, there are some very talented SONAR users creating music on their own terms.  Since we’ve been part of Gibson we have thankfully had the benefit of a great Entertainment Relations team helping us out with meeting some of these artistic musicians.

Not too long ago on a trip over to Europe, I was introduced through one of the Gibson Entertainment Relations Representatives to a Dutch producer/musician by the name of Sander Veeken who had been visiting our relatively new Amsterdam facility.  The rep had wanted to me to meet Sander because he knew he was a SONAR user, so as you can imagine we had a lot to talk about.  Immediately we started talking about his work and his history with SONAR, but he also mentioned a specific artist he had been working with by the name of Lange Frans.  I had heard of Lange before, but what I didn’t know is how incredibly popular this artist was—I’m talking tens of millions of views popular—on multiple outlets such as YouTube to name one. Continue reading “How Dutch Producer Sander Veeken used SONAR for the new Lange Frans Record”

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Using Cakewalk Drum Replacer: The “Right” Way and The “Other” Way

The “Right” Way:

There’s more than one way to use Drum Replacer to trigger your drum sounds. Which of these you choose will depend on the material, as well as your preferred outcome and workflow. First, let’s take a look at some of the intended, more traditional uses of Drum Replacer.

A mixed drum track or loop

A fairly standard Drum Replacer use is to augment or altogether change the drum sounds on an already-mixed drum track. The examples below play an unprocessed SONAR drum loop, followed by the same loop reinforced by Drum Replacer.

Filtered Drum ReplacerWith the built-in filter mechanism, it’s easy to isolate each piece of the drum kit and replace it individually. For this particular loop, focusing the filters to 67 Hz for the kick and 673 Hz for the snare ensured replacing the right sound. I wanted to soften this already-punchy loop by replacing the kick and snare sounds with something a little more “airy,” then blending these with the original. I chose the included WholeLotta Kick and WholeLotta Snare samples for their lighter, more pillowy qualities and blended them roughly 70/30 with the original drum track. Combined, they create a pleasantly complex, tight-yet-sustained sound.
Continue reading “Using Cakewalk Drum Replacer: The “Right” Way and The “Other” Way”

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Is Your Project Ready For CD Manufacturing? A DIY Album Release Checklist

This post originally appeared on Disc Makers’ blog. Reprinted with permission.

– Before scheduling your album release, plan for the steps that lie between songwriting and disc manufacturing –

Releasing a CD is a big deal for any artist. This is your baby, your calling card, the result of a lot of hard work, and your best chance to earn revenue. You spend a lot of time writing, rehearsing, and recording — and that’s all just leading up to the CD manufacturing process.

Before you gather your materials to submit for CD manufacturing, there’s rehearsing, recording, audio mastering, designing your package — and all these processes can take longer than you might expect. Then there are the numerous music promotion and sales activities, and much of your PR may require your Continue reading “Is Your Project Ready For CD Manufacturing? A DIY Album Release Checklist”