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How Building Cost Effective Acoustic Treatment for the Music Studio Will Help Your Music Production; Part 2: Corner Traps

So maybe you have SONAR X1 Production Suite running on a killer computer, and now you might have a sound cloud over your mix position; what’s next?  Last week I exemplified how I built and installed a hanging sound cloud and this week I will go into detail how I built corner traps to help tame my unorthodox (square) production room.  Before reading this post, you may want to visit my article from last week which goes into some detail on room shapes.

My room, unfortunately for me is dead square.  This is about the worst case scenario so I had to do some research and talk to a lot of friends who are acoustic professionals such as Gavin Haverstick of Haverstick designs.  With my room being about 13.5’ x 13.5’ and 7.5’ ceilings, he has my mix position at 62” off the front wall.  So with my positioning about right, and a sound cloud overhead to take out the first ceiling reflections, the next thing to do was try to knock out the corners of the room where bass frequencies could become a big problem.

I decided to make custom corner traps based on my personal situation.  Once again, every room and everyone’s needs are different, so if you are on a tight budget, I think it’s best to first figure out what’s important to YOU.  For my situation, here were my goals for corner traps:

  • Cost effective
  • *Less square footage (I will discuss this below)
  • Aesthetically pleasing to the eye
  • Effective bass trapping
  • Light-weight

Continue reading “How Building Cost Effective Acoustic Treatment for the Music Studio Will Help Your Music Production; Part 2: Corner Traps”

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Computers In the Studio (Part 2 – Going Online)

Computers in the Studio

Going Online

It has long been held that connecting your DAW to a network, or worse, to the internet is something you should never, ever do. But is it really all that dangerous to your security or detrimental to performance? What kinds of precautions should be taken? Let’s find out.

First of all, why would anyone want to connect their DAW to the internet?

The Advantages:

1) Maintain system updates with less hassle

2) Maintain driver updates with less hassle

3) Perform software authorization with less hassle

4) Transfer samples, mixes, projects, etc via FTP and file sharing sites for collaboration or delivery

5) Search the internet for music theory questions like how to play a diminished chord or engineering questions like how to use a multiband compressor

In other words, it’s much easier to keep your system updated , authorize software and to search and share when your your DAW has internet access. The need to download everything on another machine and then manully transfer it to your DAW goes away.

But if it’s so convenient, why do people so often recommend against it? These are the most common reasons I hear:

The Concerns:

1) You might get a virus

2) You have to run software that will bog down your system

3) Your system might become unstable

4) You might get hacked

5) Wireless drivers can have a negative effect on DPC Latency negatively (see Computers In The Studio – Part 1)

The good news is that with the proper precautions you can connect a DAW to the internet with a relatively high degree of safety while maintaining performance and reliability.

Now you’re probably wondering what these “proper precautions” are. Let’s go through them one by one.

Continue reading “Computers In the Studio (Part 2 – Going Online)”

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From the Temples of Syrinx to your drum tracks, get the sound of Rush for Session Drummer 3!

 

Sonic Reality’s Neil Peart Drums SD3 for Cakewalk’s Session Drummer™ 3 features samples of the authentic Drum Workshop® Signature “Snakes and Arrows” kit of drum legend Neil Peart from the band Rush. Recorded by producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains) this powerful stereo kit offers the ultimate high fidelity rock sound with incredible realism! Coming from the acclaimed Drum Masters 2 and Studio ProFile series Sonic Reality has now integrated this legendary kit into Cakewalk’s Session Drummer 3 format so users of SONAR X1 Producer can enjoy one of the finest sampled kits in the world. Continue reading “From the Temples of Syrinx to your drum tracks, get the sound of Rush for Session Drummer 3!”

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SONAR X1 on a Mac? Yes, you can!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A question I am frequently asked is, “Do you guys make SONAR X1 for the Mac?” The answer to which is no, SONAR X1 is made for Windows. But do not despair, there is a solution! For Macs with Intel processors there’s an application called Bootcamp which will allow you to install the Windows operating system on your Mac.Unlike some of the other applications that allow you to run Windows inside the Mac OS, Bootcamp allows you to boot exclusively into Windows or Mac OS on startup. This is the optimal method of running Windows as all of the Mac’s resources are available. Continue reading “SONAR X1 on a Mac? Yes, you can!”

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V-Studio 700 Controls Dutch Synth Master's Studio

Synth Master, Composer, and Blogger on everything synth, Michel von Osenbruggen reviews the V-Studio 700. A pro-level SONAR user, Michel especially likes its tight integration with SONAR. As hardware and software synths make up the basis of his tracks, with the V-Studio 700 console, Michel can scroll through his projects and control his various instruments and effects with ease. Watch the video below and visit Synth.nl for more on his favorite tools for synth music production.

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Special Offer: Amazing Savings on SONAR at Guitar Center

SONAR 8.5 ProducerGuitar Center’s Green Tag Savings Event is back! This weekend only, you can save $100 instantly on SONAR 8.5 Producer, plus receive an extra $50 off with coupon. Why should you upgrade to SONAR 8.5? The latest version of SONAR has all of the innovations, instruments and effects that were included in version 8 plus a host of new features including:

• Matrix View – simple and flexible cell-based, non-linear audio and MIDI arranging with live triggering capability
• Session Drummer 3 – 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
• 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

Don’t wait! Hurry on over to GuitarCenter.com to get unbelievable savings on all your music studio needs.

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Cakewalk's Portable Recording Solution for Guitarists & Singer-Songwriters

Every year at this time, Cakewalk travels to Frankfurt, Germany to attend Europe’s largest music trade show event, Musikmesse. This year, we are pleased to launch the V-Studio 20 from the show floor.

As the third product in the V-Studio line of integrated hardware and software by Cakewalk and Roland, the V-Studio 20 is an affordable, all-in-one option for recording musicians. The V-Studio 20 is designed for guitarists and singer-songwriters who want a simple way to make music on the computer with professional results. The V-Studio 20 lets users easily plug in a guitar or microphone and record their tracks to the computer with legendary BOSS effects.


Introducing: V-Studio 20 for Guitarists & Singer-Songwriters

With the V-Studio 20, you can:

– Connect your instrument to the V-Studio 20 hardware
– Dial up the perfect guitar or vocal tone using genuine BOSS effects
– Choose a backing track, hit record, and play your part
– Use the V-Studio 20 as a control surface for mixing and playback
– Master a song and then burn a CD or share your mp3 online

Click on over to our V-Studio Products page for more information on this exciting new product.

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Cakewalk Nominated for 2010 MIPA Awards

Each year, more than 100 magazines from all over the world – including Mix, Electronic Musician and EQ – come together to vote on the world’s best audio and musical instrument products for the Musikmesse International Press Awards.

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This year, Cakewalk has earned 4 nominations for the development of the A-PRO Series Keyboards, V-Studio 700, V-Studio 100 and SONAR 8.5. We are extremely honored to earn such recognition and look forward to Awards Night at Musikmesse 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany.

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Using Multiple MIDI Controllers in SONAR

cakewalk_tips-sm1Managing input from multiple MIDI devices, such as keyboard controllers and drum pads, through your DAW can be frustrating. Staying on top of all the cabling, routing and software settings is enough to make you throw in the towel and go back to point and click.

However, with SONAR, you can choose individual MIDI input ports and channels for each of your MIDI tracks. This means that you can use several different MIDI controllers simultaneously, each triggering its own synth or controller parameters. You can also choose to trigger several different synths, each on its own track, with just one MIDI controller.

The following tech tip will walk you through these common multi-controller scenarios using SONAR.

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Receive Instant Savings On SONAR 8.5

Thinking about upgrading your DAW to SONAR 8.5? Now may be the best time to do so! As a leading choice in music production software for professional musicians worldwide, SONAR 8.5 has everything you need to compose, record, edit, mix and master your music. Its extensive array of virtual instruments and audio effects, gives you the freedom to create all sorts of compositions. While its double-precision, 64-bit audio engine and unwavering Windows support, gives you more power to play!

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When you purchase SONAR 8.5 Studio or Producer during the month of March at select retailers, you will receive a $100 instant rebate. Click on over to Cakewalk’s Special Offers page to enjoy your new studio today!