A little over a month ago we featured Javier Colon on our blog the day before “The Voice” premiered. I don’t think anyone had a doubt that he would be anything less than stellar on the show, but I don’t think anyone realized the impact he would have on viewers around the world. If you have seen the show you know what I am talking about; Javier’s voice is undeniable, and combining that with his first-class demeanor and composure has authentically gained him millions of fans around the world. Since the premier, Javier has been on a whirlwind ride and we have been fortunate enough to keep in touch with him even though his schedule has changed… just a bit;) Continue reading “Cakewalk Artist Javier Colon Making His Mark on "The Voice"”
Grammy Nominated Luigie Gonzalez on SONAR X1
Friday, May 13 – Los Angeles, CA
In the Cakewalk Artist Relations Department we have the honor of working with many producers, songwriters, mixing engineers, composers and musicians on a daily basis. As we all know (or we should all know), the beauty of SONAR is that not only does it stand out as the premier top-notch Digital Audio Workstation, but it’s also an inspirational and creative workhorse. Many recording artists and producers looking for a more creative environment turn to SONAR and never look back. The ability to customize just about anything you want, combined with a complete sonic package of content, plugins, virtual synths and other instrumentation really gives SONAR its award winning edge. Continue reading “Grammy Nominated Luigie Gonzalez on SONAR X1”
There's Been a Murder (FM) on SONAR X1
Friday, April 8 – Dallas, TX
“Deep in the Heart of Texas,” a song you most likely will not hear at a Murder FM show, but it is a location where you will find the band pounding out amazing material using SONAR X1. In terms of work ethic and sheer determination, one will rarely find a band more in tune with what it takes to be a successful organization.
Based out of Dallas, TX, Murder FM (comprised of Norman Matthew, J6, Matt X3r0, and Brandon Arpin) has been performing sold out shows from coast to coast in the The United States while sharing the stage with some other notable bands such as Korn, The Used, Dope, Sick Puppies, Cavo, Red, Domain, 69 Eyes, The Birthday Massacre and Trapt amongst others. Lead singer/guitarist (and producer) Norman Mathew has been relentless in the past recent years setting up and maintaining the bands success. 
“It’s a real balancing act nowadays,” Norman says. “It’s a lot different than it used to be where you could just work on your music and let things fall into place. Now it’s a matter of working on your music just as hard, but on top of that you have to be on your promotional and business game as well. That’s why I have been so stoked on SONAR for my career because it really allows me to zoom in quickly and efficiently on my creativity.” Continue reading “There's Been a Murder (FM) on SONAR X1”
I Can See for Miles: The Journey of Universal/Decca Artist Raul Midon
SONAR user Raul Midon likes to take chances to find that next new thing that will inspire him, make him complete, to drive him in a new direction; as an artist, it’s simply what he does. Taking chances has paid off as you can see here with his amazing performance on The David Letterman Show. Today, on a beautiful day in Boston’s Faneuil Hall, he took a chance on the suggested oyster appetizer and it paid off. “Man, that’s Rock and Roll!” he said after the seasonings kicked in. After all, uncooked seafood is always a crap shoot even in the best and cleanest eateries, but to Raul Midon, taking chances is a way of life that has paid off on many levels.
Continue reading “I Can See for Miles: The Journey of Universal/Decca Artist Raul Midon”
Introducing SONAR X1
SONAR: Reimagined
SONAR has evolved and so can the way you make music. Imagine the power and maturity of an industry standard DAW combined with the cutting edge creative tools essential for today’s music – all wrapped up in one of the most modern and (dare we say) beautiful user interfaces available.
First winners announced for "Intel Superstars Competition"
The voting results are in and the fans have selected the top 5 artists in the categories of Rock, Pop, and Country. The first round of the “Superstars” songwriting competition invited artists to submit original music in the Rock, Pop, and Country genres. The submitted tracks were judged by fans of Intel’s Facebook page with five winners from each genre winning prize packages including Intel® Core™ -processor based computers, Cakewalk SONAR Producer Software, V-Studio 100 & V-Studio 20 recording solutions. Additionally, the first round winners could be in the running for the $10,000 cash Grand Prize that will be awarded at the conclusion of the contest in January 2011.
Here are the winners:
ROCK:
The Strange Kind- “The Last Time”
Brave Chandeliers- “Sinking Ship”
John Allred- “Let Somebody In”
Jules Larson- “Falling for the First Time”
Joker to the Thief- “Butterflies”
POP:
Jason Eaton- “Furious Love”
The Girlfriend Season- “Butterflies”
Lauren Barrett- “Last Time”
Matt Brouwer- “Writing To Remember”
Sara Lindsay- “Best of Me”
Country:
Chicken Grease- The Road I’m On
Michael Sonders- Your Pretty Face
Aria Summer- Sweet Summertime
Lauren Strange- Jump
MDB- Man Behind These Eyes
New Go Deeper Video, PCAL DAW, and CakeTV
by Seth Perlstein
Another week is done and another video is produced. This time its a Go Deeper video about PX-64 Percussion Strip, which should make a nice compliment to the PX-64 Get Started video and the Drum Production Master Class.
In fact, the video you see in the link above is rendering on my PC Audio Labs workstation while I write this. As I ease back into my studio chair and swing my feet up onto my ottoman, I can’t help but think what an essential piece of gear that computer is to my workflow.
The seamless configuration of the system and the sheer muscle of the Intel i7 965 CPU in the PCAL DAW are what make it possible. I’m able to run SONAR, Vegas, and Camtasia all at the same time in Windows 7. Having all those apps open at once means I have instant access to them so I can move between music writing, sound design, screen capture, recording voice over, and video editing seamlessly.
I shudder to think what a nightmare this would have been on my first PC, a now ancient Pentium III which had a whopping 384 megs of RAM. Heck, there’s more processing power in my mobile phone than there was in that once beloved but now aged dinosaur.
Ultimately my hope is that our videos will inspire you to make music and help you get better results than you’ve ever gotten before. And I want the Go Deeper – PX-64 video to be no exception, which is why it’s fast paced, action packed, and loaded with information.
When you’re done watching Go Deeper – PX-64 check out our other new Go Deeper video. Its about AudioSnap 2.0 Drum Replacement and was done by fellow Cakewalker Mike Trujillo. It’s not finished at the time of publishing so I can’t provide a link at the moment. However, it should be up on our YouTube Channel sometime this weekend.
On tap for next week is something brand new and totally awesome; CakeTV. I can’t give away too many details just yet but I can say its shaping up to be the hub for all things Cakewalk.
Stay tuned.
Seth Perlstein is a Product Specialist for Cakewalk, Inc. He is also a huge fan of the NFL and looks forward to a great 2010 season. Go ‘Niners!
SONAR: Master Class on Drum Productions
SONAR 8.5 includes world-class tools, instruments, and effects that will allow you to achieve amazing drum tracks. We have put together a SONAR: Master Class video series that shows off these amazing features. This Master Class explores writing, arranging and mixing drums in SONAR. Spotlighted are production techniques and workflow using Session Drummer 3, Step Sequencer 2.0, and PX-64 Percussion Strip.
The AristoTrax on SONAR
The setting is your typical California day; the type you see on TV all the time. The sun, the cars, the people and the sand leading to the famous Santa Monica Boulevard which is filled with a plethora of interesting characters. Just another typical day? Really? Not for R1CKONE; actually there is no such thing as a “typical day” for R1CKONE. On this California day, a Wednesday, R1CKONE starts off as he usually does with a trip out of Santa Monica to one of the many studios he works out of to engage in what he does best, make beats and produce music. Today he happens to be working with credit-worthy producer Alex Cantrall where he will proceed to walk into a studio, again, and shock everyone with what he calls his “Hit Box Mobile”. Now you might ask, “what the H&!! is a Hit Box Mobile?” His production partner Lance Jones who is part of the AristoTrax with R1CKONE will tell you: “These are boxes [computers] I built for me and R1CKONE, and they are basically packed in with the best software and hardware utilizing SONAR 8.5 and Intel Core i7 technology at the helm. We can take these anywhere and plug them into any studio and it’s off to the races. As music creators, SONAR really gives us an edge when we work with other producers and artists. The workflow is ridiculous and it has the tools in the box which allow us to take our music away from the norm.” (See video for more on the Hit Box Mobile.)
Converting and Recording MIDI into Audio
MIDI files function like sheet music. Sheet music contains all the information an instrumentalist needs to make music. If the instrumentalist does not play what’s written on the sheet music, you hear nothing. Like sheet music, MIDI does not transmit audio signals (digital or analog). Meaning, if you were to plug your MIDI cable into a loudspeaker or audio device, you wouldn’t hear anything.
Therefore, you need to convert a MIDI file into an audio file in order to hear what it really sounds like. There are several ways you can playback MIDI in Cakewalk and several ways you can convert or record MIDI to audio. Follow the link to Cakewalk’s support pages for more information.