The Sonitus FX suite is collection of 10 must-have FX for many of the most basic mixing needs. These classic FX plug-ins have been a staple in SONAR for many years and have received critical acclaim for their versatility and ease-of-use. Now you can use them in any VST-compatible Windows Vista/Windows 7 DAW (includes 32 and 64-bit versions). Best of all, you can download them today for only $19.99 (that’s almost $2.00 a plug-in). Continue reading “Download the Sonitus FX suite for only $19.99”
A question I am often asked is, “Just what exactly is the signal path in SONAR X1?”. You plug in your mic or instrument and the sound flows through your monitors. But what is the journey your audio signal takes in between? Let’s take a trip through the Channel strip and find out!
Continue reading “An Audio Journey Through The Signal Path in SONAR X1”
For your pleasure and edification the latest CakeTV Live webinar is now available for viewing on CakeTV. In this latest installment of CakeTV Live Brandon Ryan and I walk through the process of taking recorded, live drums from sounding, ‘meh’, to ‘larger than life’ using SONAR X1.
We explain everything from how to setup and organize a project to mixing, rout tracks to buses, fix timing with AudioSnap, setup and use parallel compression with the ProChannel, and much, much more.
SONAR X1′s Active Controller Technology (ACT) allows for full control over your mix and effects via hardware MIDI controller. Not only can you control mix settings like volume and pan on tracks, ACT lets you control parameters on effect and synth plugins in real time!
Coupled with the Roland A-300PRO MIDI Keyboard Controller you can fully immerse yourself in your mixes. No more “mousing around” to draw automation for a filter sweep on a synth, grab a control and get interactive.
ACT has templates for most MIDI controllers so setup is a breeze and hardware controls are already mapped to the most common parameters in all of your plugins. Want to customize the mapping? It’s as simple as pushing one button, clicking the parameters and moving the desired hardware controls. No menus needed!
Watch ACT and the A-300PRO in action Continue reading “Get hands on control of SONAR X1's ACT functionality with the Roland A-300PRO”
A common question I get asked when doing J.A.M. Sessions, webinars, and other events, is how to setup parallel compression in SONAR. The next asked question is usually what parallel compression is and why it should be used.
Parallel compression is a mixing technique most commonly used on drums where one signal is split into two allowing them to be processed separately, or in parallel, and mixed together.
Typically a drum bus will be split into two drum buses where one drum bus will be compressed heavily and the other drum bus will be compressed lightly, if at all.
The reason for doing this is that heavy compression on drums can sound good but can also cause a major loss of transients and attack. Blending heavily and lightly compressed drum buses yields the best of both worlds.
There are a few ways to set up parallel compression in SONAR X1 Producer Expanded so I will show you how I do it using quick grouping, effects sends, multiple busses, and the ProChannel’s PC4K S-Type Bus Compressor.
As a lifelong guitarist and tone hound, I’ve had the pleasure of recording and playing on some of the world’s most cherished amplifiers. My sonic heaven is a set of glowing tubes spilling into a vintage Marshall 4×12 cabinet and projected out at mind numbing volume. But at 3am when I have an idea that just can’t wait and I don’t want to be arrested for disturbing the peace, I find my salvation in Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 LE which is included in SONAR X1 Producer.
Armed with a guitar and a cable, your choice of great tones await within Guitar Rig 4 LE in just a few steps. From searing, tube style lead tones, thick and chunky metal to crystal clean majesty it’s all there! Continue reading “How to get great guitar tones with Guitar Rig 4 LE in SONAR X1 Producer”
Congratulations to Shawn Clement whose score for Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey has been nominated for “Best Score” at the 2012 eWorld Music Awards held at Paramount Picture Studios. The score was written and produced in SONAR X1 and then recorded with the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra at George Lucas’ legendary Skywalker Ranch.
The 2012 eWorld Music Awards is a revolutionary music awards show that celebrates cutting edge artists on the world’s biggest platform – the Internet. The awards were created to promote and support the amazing work, technology and diversity in today’s vibrant independent music world. It’s the only event of its kind celebrating truly independent music. The eWorld Music Awards honor those groundbreaking forces who’ve been influencing this movement, and iconic individuals for their unique contributions to the art of music. This year’s 2012 eWorld Music Awards will be the 4th annual awards show, and will air live from Paramount Studios in Hollywood on Saturday, June 16th 2012. Live music performances and celebrity appearances will highlight this star-studded Red Carpet event.
CW AR: How did you get yourself in the space to create music for this show and what was the technical process for pulling it all together?
SC: With any project, you first have to understand the film. Meaning, really know the story, characters and what role the score is going to play. Every production has its specific needs. Say for instance when I created the Wounded Warrior’s Hymn, this was a live performance, so what I needed to do was realize a “mock-up” version of the music so that others could hear where I was going with it. For example, I would send my “demo” off to Jon Anderson so that he could put together what he was singing on it. Keep in mind that the “demo” needed to sound as much like the real thing as possible so that anyone involved could really believe in it. Beyond that, all the tracks in SONAR would then get broken down and sent out to my orchestrator so that it could finally be realized in written music form for the orchestra to play. We had 106 players with a 247 piece choir, and Jon Anderson singing on 2 of the movements.
From TV to Film to Video Games, Clement has used SONAR to work in a wide variety of genres and styles and has built a vast resume of over 200 credits. He began his professional career helping to originate and develop the musical foundation for the voyeuristic world of reality TV, but years before the phenomena saturated the air waves. By stamping his musical presence on shows like Most Amazing Videos and World’s Wildest Police Videos, he began paving the way for other composers to follow suit.
In the new-age of reality, his music which is always created in SONAR (now SONAR X1) has been featured on American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance as well as other major television shows. One previous noteworthy score that will forever be engraved in television history was the highly-acclaimed cult series classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which he also supplied original songs as well as the score. His songs in that series were fan-favorites and helped expand the fan base for the show. Other credits include Women, a series on Showtime, The Savage Dragon, an animated series for Universal, A Rock and a Hard Place (Showtime) and One Way Out (Arrow Entertainment.)
In addition to music for major television shows, Clement is always busy using SONAR to score music for Films as well; some including:
– We Married Margo: (released by New Line and winner of the Audience Favorite Award at the HBO/U.S. Comedy & Arts Festal.) Cast included Kevin Bacon, Cindy Crawford an Tom Arnold,
– Last Chance: (winner of Best Original Drama at World Fest.)
– Bad Girls from Valley High: released by Universal (produced by Sid and Johnathan Sheinberg) with a cast that included Julie Benz, Christopher Lloyd, Johnthan Brandis and Janet Leigh.
– Finale: (released by Image)
– Virus X (released by Lions Gate)
– Play On (Sports Drama)
– Beyond the Mat (Sports Drama)
The polls are closed now, but we wish Shawn all the best at the event and hope that he brings home another award to add to his “ASCAP Most Performed Underscore Award” (alongside the other prestigious awards he has collected along the route of his musical voyage.)
Currently, Clement is busy using SONAR X1 working on music for the RAY BRADBURY Documentary, Live Forever: A Ray Bradbury Odyssey. For more information on Shawn Clement and to hear the music he creates in SONAR X1, visit www.clemistry.com.
Right now is the time to visit Cakewalk.com and participate in the “First Class Upgrade” program. From June 1st to June 30th, when you buy or upgrade to SONAR X1 Producer, Cakewalk will automatically bump you up to the flagship version, SONAR X1 Production Suite. In addition, Cakewalk is offering other great upgrades as well.
One of the great aspects about SONAR X1 is that it’s a very diverse D.A.W. There are so many different ways to create music and it’s great for people who like to experiment with sounds and develop unique sonic pallets. One of the main reasons why many pro users choose SONAR is because there are a lot of veiled jewels and tools that help musicians to sculpt a unique and individualized sound.
Similar to the Beatscape Content articles that were posted, I decided to dive into another one of my favorite hidden treasures of SONAR of which some people may not be aware; the pristine and fat FX engine of Z3TA+ that can be used as a standard VST effects unit.
When I first started using SONAR I loved the fact that it came with so many great VST plugins. It wasn’t until 6 months into using the program when someone pointed out to me that you could use the Z3TA+ synth as an actual VST effect anywhere you use regular plugins – on clips, in bins, on busses… etc. After dragging Z3TA+ onto a track I was instantly surprised at what I heard. Continue reading “Mixing and Mastering a Song Using only the Z3TA+ Effects Engine in SONAR”
Modern music production combines many different elements. Loops and samples, sequenced drums and synths, live instruments and more. In this video, you can sit in on a session where all of these elements are used to create a piece of music from start to finish with SONAR X1 Producer.
Pull up a chair, crank up the volume and see just how easy and fun it is to create music when the inspiration strikes using SONAR! After watching the video, download the content pack which includes the Track Templates and presets used in this project.
Pentagon has been around in the soft synth world for a long time. If you’re a SONAR user you’re probably familiar with its prowess as an analogue modeling synth. What you might not be familiar with, though, is that it can be used as a vocoder, too.
Check out the CakeTV video below on how to setup and use Pentagon as a vocoder.
Continue reading “Go Deeper With Pentagon, The Hidden Vocoder”
