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Cakewalk Participates at the New Music Seminar: June 22/23 NYC

Cakewalk and Gibson Brands will be participating in the New Music Seminar this week, so if you happen to be in NYC please make sure to stop in and say hello.  The New Music Seminar is one of the most prestigious music conferences in the United States, and is held annually each June in New York City.  It originally ran from 1980 – 1995 and was re-launched in 2009 with great reception by the music community. The conference features over 150 CEOs, Presidents, Executives, and leaders in the emerging music business along with over 100 artist performances. The mission of the New Music Seminar is to grow a sustainable and better music business to allow creators the best opportunity to succeed. The NMS strives to enable more artists to achieve success and encourages new levels of investment in music and artists.

Please join Cakewalk and Gibson Brands at New Music Seminar:

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Monday June 22, 2015 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
How to Train Your Computer to be a Songwriting Partner
Gibson Showroom
421 W 54th Studio 5
New York, NY 10019

Come join a private in-studio session at the Gibson Showroom [Cakewalk] Studio 5 NYC:  In a world of zeros and ones, where does the computer fit into traditional songwriting? Songwriter/producer, Mark Hudson, (“Living on the Edge,” Aerosmith – amongst other hits) and digital pioneer, Craig Anderton, along with producer/songwriter Jimmy R. Landry will interactively cover new approaches to songwriting for the modern-day musician.

 

 

 

Tuesday June 23, 2015 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Leveraging The Relationship: Artist and Brand Alignment:
Gramercy Park Suite
Wyndham New Yorker Hotel
481 8th Ave, New York, NY 10001

With the shifting paradigm of the music industry and how artists engage with fans, the importance of relationship management is more imperative than ever. What’s the protocol for artists approaching companies and brands, and once that relationship is established how can it be leveraged for the benefit of both? This panel will dive into strategic plans for artists looking for endorsements and partnerships, while also dissecting past examples that have resulted in success.

Conductor: Jimmy Landry (Head of Artist and Public Relations, Gibson Brands)

Players: Perry Greenspan (Director of Strategy, Platinum Rye Entertainment), Elliot A. Resnick, Esq. (Attorney at Law, SAHWH, LLP), Aimee Berger (Founder/Partner Camplified/ItACampThing, Primary Wave Entertainment), Amaechi Uzoigwe (Manager, RUN THE JEWELS), Ryan Fitch (VP Sync Licensing & Brand Partnerships, MAC Presents)

 

Tuesday 2:30 pm – 2:45 pm  – NMS Intensive:

Grand Ballroom
Wyndham New Yorker Hotel
481 8th Ave, New York, NY 10001

Hi-Res Audio: So What?

Conductor: Craig Anderton (Executive Vice President, Evangelist, Gibson)

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Mix Recall Remembers Your Instrument Settings

by Dan Gonzalez

Mix Recall takes your mixing to another level by offering SONAR Artist, Professional, and Platinum users the ability to save different mix scenes of the same mix within a single project. Mix Recall saves track parameters, bus parameters, and even instrument presets. A great way to use this feature is to audition different drumkits using the included Addictive Drums 2.

 

Instruments these days are full of all kinds of choices, especially ones that are as expansive as Addictive Drums 2. When working on a track I like to take the same pattern and switch between the custom kits that I’ve made. Addictive Drums 2 and Addictive Drums 1 both let the user take pieces of all the different kits that it comes with to make your own. Mix Recall let’s you take this workflow a step further.

Original drum passage

Here we have a simple Indie Kit from Addictive Drums:

 

Saving the first mix scene

Go to the Mix Recall module in SONAR and click on Continue reading “Mix Recall Remembers Your Instrument Settings”

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Studio Makeover Month: The Ghostwriter Studio Setup

Meet the Ghostwriter – a professional songwriting machine working under contract to create music for mainstream acts and artists. He lives to create music in a simple and inspiring environment without any hiccups or interruptions. He needs a mobile setup that comes with him to collaborate with Artists, but powerful enough to craft song ideas into finished demos on tight deadlines. This Ghostwriter has to be able to do it all, and he gets results with SONAR X3 Producer.

 

The Gear:

The Ghostwriter has delicately carved out his set-up according to his Songwriting process. Everyone’s process is different but over the years he’s learned that songwriting is a skill that needs to be worked over and over again in different ways. He’s picked a powerful Dell M6800 Precision workstation as his main workhorse computer because of the expansive hard drive space, optical drive, large visual workspace, 8GB of memory, and long battery life. With 4 USB 3.0 ports, transferring and backing up his music takes a fraction of the time it does on his MacBook.

Songwriting can sometimes start with an idea that hits faster than he can reach for a recorder. Instead he flips on his Gibson inspiration cable, and works the idea out while his computer is booting up. This clever cable catches the direct signal of his guitar’s pickup and transfers it to an SD card. After that, he just pops out the card and copies it to his SONAR X3 Producer Continue reading “Studio Makeover Month: The Ghostwriter Studio Setup”

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4 Tips for Songwriters Before Entering the Recording Studio

1. Eliminate uncertainties with a pre-production demo.

If there is a single doubt in your mind about a song on your record then it’s time to sit down and work out those uncertainties before you get into the studio. Idolizing a recording studio as a creative space is only productive when you’ve booked studio time for being creative. Get that demo sounding as close to the final product as possible so that every part and idea is thought out.

SONAR X3 is ideal for experimenting with those finishing touches. For example, TH2 is a great way to easily grab an amp tone for your bass or guitar. The advanced sound behind Overloud’s flagship product allows you to change amps, input your own impulse responses, and get as close to your final product as you can. The best part about it is that it’s a virtual amp, so you don’t have to commit to your final guitar sound until you’re in your mixing stage.

 

2. Learn the songs cold.

Studio preparation should involve regular and productive practice schedules. Try to learn the songs so that you can play them all the way through without stopping. Playing full takes will get you the best possible performances of your song and allow you to think more about the other players rather than yourself. Continue reading “4 Tips for Songwriters Before Entering the Recording Studio”

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Professional SONAR users weigh in on SONAR X3 – Stability, Performance, & Workflow

X3 is being hailed as the most rock solid edition since SONAR’S inception.  Beyond the new tools and features, a lot of work was put into the core functionality of the program to make sure that even top-notch music-making professionals would find performance improvements.  From the Skylight User Interface enhancements, to audio engine improvements – and everything in between, professional users who depend on SONAR day-in and day-out for their livelihood are weighing in:

 

Timothy Wynn (Sonic Fuel Studios / SonicFuel.net) – Los Angeles, CA

Congratulations to SONAR X3 user Timothy Wynn on winning Best Score at the CineRockom Film Festival for “The Liberator” this year.  With several globally successful franchises already to his credit ranging from blockbuster video games such as Command & Conquer, Dungeon Siege, GUN, The Punisher, Red Faction, 2K’s The Darkness II, The Simpsons and Warhawk to music in the hit television series Supernatural, Tim Wynn has gained international recognition as a leader in a new generation of highly talented and versatile composers.

Most recently, Timothy used SONAR to work on the feature films “The Starving Games” and “MK Reloaded (2014),” while also scoring EA Sports Madden 25 with Chris Lennertz.

“Cakewalk software has always been great for me in general, but this round of SONAR has really been stepped up.  SONAR X3 is the most stable DAW I have ever used.   I’m running huge projects Continue reading “Professional SONAR users weigh in on SONAR X3 – Stability, Performance, & Workflow”

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EMI Publishing and SONAR X1: Some Recent Sessions in the Project Studio

Why are Major Publishing Companies such as EMI seeing such great success with project studios?  Because with modern technology, top talent and a good set of ears, a demo may turn into a master at any given time.

Over a year ago I had the pleasure of setting up a studio at the EMI building in the meat packing district of NYC after they chose SONAR X1 for their project studio.  Since then, according to Creative VP EMI Jake Ottmann “the room has been a tremendous success” with an array of well known and developing artists from all over the world engaging in music creation.

The EMI project studio facility was primarily created for the roster of EMI artists who found themselves temporarily working in New York City.  “When you’re a hit songwriter, you are traveling quite a bit and find yourself in different cities at different times,” stated Jake Ottmann.  “We built this room up for top-notch artists and songwriters that are in town and need a great place to relax and write music.  It’s been an awesome experience since its inception and we have seen some great success.  SONAR X1 and the PC Audio Labs machine which are both the heart of the room have been rock solid for these artists and writers.”

Some of the recent artists who have been working in the audio lounge include Jay Trill, Lana Del Rey, Mathew Koma, and The Glory Days.

“Sometimes it’s a few hours here and there with the X1 room just for basic writing, and other times it’s a full on technical writing/producing session that could end up on a master, just like a recent session that went down with an affiliated artist/writer/producer who was working out of here last month.”

~Jake Ottmann (VP Creative, EMI Publishing)

When putting this writing room together, EMI made a calculated decision to go with SONAR X1 and a V-Studio 100 all powered by a tailored PC Audio Labs machine.  “We were looking for a solution that covered all,” explained Richard Reuss who is head of the technical team for EMI.  “We wanted something that covered it all delivered in one box.  We didn’t want to get into purchasing plug-ins from one company, and then synths from another; we decided on SONAR X1 Producer not only for everything it comes with, but also for the way the workflow exists in the program.”  “Our writers are very unique and diverse,” added Jake Ottmann.  “SONAR X1 is not only a cutting edge recording tool, but also an amazing writing tool as well, and that was very important to us in our decision; not to mention the fact that the stock plug-ins, synths and drum modules are just as good as, if not better than anything else on the market.  It’s been working so well for us that our in-house audio team has been using it for post-house related projects as well – we’re pretty psyched to get this much mileage out of the system.”

Although EMI Music Publishing has a huge facility for office space, it was obvious to the staffers that there was not going to be a lot of square footage allocated to this music room.  “I think one of the selling points for us was the fact that we don’t have a ton of room in this spot [the room itself], so having the Pro Channel on every track to get a big console sound without the console is huge for us,” explained Richard Reuss who has been a longtime SONAR user.

SONAR X1 continues to be the choice for leading creative institutions such as EMI Publishing.  It’s also the go-to D.A.W. for many creative producers, songwriters and artists who want to be inspired by their system.  Right now, you can get a great deal with the SONAR X1 First Class Upgrade promotion that will help you to create radio-ready tracks.

 

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Austin's Next Big Thing

alpha_revAustin, TX knows a thing or two about music.

The home of musical institutions from Stevie Ray Vaughn to Austin City Limits, SxSW to Stubbs BBQ and Antone’s, the central Texas town knows music.  After all, they don’t call it the Live Music Capital of the World for nothing.

So when we tell you Alpha Rev is one of the most unique and important bands ever to come out of Austin, you can believe it.  Last March, Alpha Rev was recognized by the Austin Chronicle as one of Austin’s best performing rock bands and in May they were named Austin’s best rock band by Rare Magazine in their annual “Rareist of them All” issue.

You can chalk up much of the acclaim to band frontman Casey McPherson.  He’s well-known in these parts, having made an impression on the local scene with his previous band, Endochine.  When Endochine dissolved in 2005, it had already made its bones in indie circles by sharing the stage with the likes of Pete Yorn and Bob Schneider, and national credibility by playing with more high-profile bands like Staind and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  McPherson simply moved forward, assembling some of his former bandmates and mixing in some new blood and Alpha Rev was born.

Continue reading “Austin's Next Big Thing”

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Find Your Inspiration at ASCAP's "I Create Music" Expo 2010

Do you write your own music? Propel your songwriting career into new heights at ASCAP’s fifth annual, I Create Music Expo. Launched in 2006, the ‘I Create Music’ Expo is the first and ONLY national conference dedicated to songwriting and composing.

From April 22 to April 24 at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, attendees are invited to join in on celebrity Q&A’s, songwriting and composing workshops, publisher and business panels, DIY career building workshops, song feedback panels and state-of-the-art technology demos by leading music industry exhibitors. Over 200 panelists and performing artists are slated to attend, including keynote speakers: Quincy Jones, Ludacris, Justin Timberlake, Bill Withers and John Mayer!

Don’t miss the Cakewalk-sponsored session:

“Capturing the Moment”
with Recording Engineer and Producer TC (aka Spitfire)
Saturday April 23, 2010 at 11:10am (Runyon Room)

When you’re inspired, it’s critical that you capture the moment before it passes. Getting down an idea for a song is one thing, but wouldn’t it be amazing if what you captured were usable tracks, that sounded great and retained the energy of that first moment of inspiration?

As a recording engineer, producer, and remixer for demanding artists like Madonna, Paul Oakenfold, Michael Jackson, Shifty, and Sergio Mendes, TC aka Spitfire has made a name for himself by having what it takes to work fast and get killer results. In this special session, sponsored by Cakewalk, TC will provide practical advice on working with powerful, yet cost effective tools that you can use to capture the moment as it happens.

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IMSTA Holds Songwriting Contest: Perform Live for AKON & Win A Record Deal

HitLab LogoIMSTA (International Music Software Trade Association) has partnered with AKON’s Hitlab to give professional musicians a chance at their big break!  Submit your original tracks as high quality demos or master recordings to the  IMSTA Song Competition for you chance to win killer prizes.

Your song will be analyzed and scored based on the 78 different variables by HITLAB’s proprietary Dynamic Hit Scoring (DHS) technology. The winner of the IMSTA Song Competition will perform in front of AKON and other music industry heavyweights at the upcoming HITLAB Showcase and could win a deal with a major record label. Runners up will receive recording software bundles from the industry’s top manufacturers. The competition runs through May 31, 2010. We are pleased to bring you this special opportunity as part of our membership with IMSTA.

Learn more about the IMSTA Song Competition