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”
Recording and making music on your computer can seem overwhelming when you are just getting started. You have the musical ideas in your head but you need to get them down and into a finished song format. This post will walk you through device setup, recording audio, playing virtual instruments, working with loops, and more. But first let’s go through some questions and make sure you have all the ingredients to begin recording.
What do I need to create high quality recordings on my Windows computer?
The simple answer is that you will need three basic things to begin building a Windows based computer recording system.
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Is my Windows computer good enough for recording music and audio?
Cakewalk recommends the following minimum system specs for Continue reading “How to Record Music on a Windows Computer – A Free Video Guide”
Last week Brandon Ryan and I hosted our second CakeTV Live webinar on music production with SONAR X1. Broadcast live over the internet from Burbank, CA, this latest installment of CakeTV Live was every bit a success as the first CakeTV Live webinar. With a steady 240+ viewers this time from all over the world, we had a steady stream of great questions coming in throughout the demo.
Of course, we understand that many of you couldn’t make it to the live broadcast, so we’ve uploaded the video to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. This hefty video weighs in at one hour and forty minutes and is loaded with music production workflow techniques straight from Brandon Ryan’s bag of tricks.
Continue reading “Second CakeTV Live Broadcast Now Available on YouTube”
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.
During this Holiday season, we would like to take some time to personally assist you with any questions you might have about our products.
During the coming week, our technical sales representatives will be at select music retailers across the country with the sole purpose of helping you learn more about SONAR 8.5, V-Studio 100, V-Studio 700, our audio and MIDI interfaces, desktop monitors and more.
Find a location near you on Cakewalk’s Tour page.
We look forward to meeting you!
In the Autumn issue, Computer Music magazine gets to the bottom of the new point release for Cakewalk’s flagship DAW, SONAR 8.5. As stated in the article, chock full of new features and engine optimizations SONAR 8.5 is ‘far from just a collection of under-the-hood tweaks.’
The new version packs a wealth of plug-ins including two seven-stage processors for treating drums and vocals, a non-linear cell based Matrix view and a fully-loaded Arpeggiator (based off of tools in the now extinct Project5) plus a Media Browser that supports a variety of files (REX, anyone?) which can be used natively in SONAR’s track view. Also available in SONAR 8.5 is a tool called Bitbridge, allowing SONAR to use 32-bit plug ins in a 64-bit environment and guaranteed compatibility with Windows 7 (release date: Oct 22, 2009).
SONAR 8.5 is available for purchase as a download and as a boxed copy with a variety of pricing and upgrades options to fit every musician’s budget.
Pick up the latest issue of Computer Music to see the news article
Seth Perlstein shows you how to add haunting sound effects to your audio project using Cakewalk’s SONAR 8 and SONAR V-Studio 700! This clip was the final step in the digital content creation pipeline demo at SIGGRAPH 2009. Seth show’s you how to get greater control over your entire scoring, syncing and mixing process as well as how to access more tracks and more effects with ultra-low latency by using SONAR’s latest enhancements.
In part 2 (seen below) Seth adds environmental sound effects and convolution reverberations. Watch Seth ‘geek out’ as he explains how to build an audio studio with audio equipment small enough to fit in your backpack.
The holidays are just around the corner and to celebrate, we’re bringing back Cakewalk’s Holiday Bundles! This is your chance to upgrade to the software you want at prices we can only offer once a year.
We’ve put together a Cakewalk Holiday Bundle for everyone on your list, for every budget. Plus, we’re offerng free shipping through December 30th on orders of $99 or more! Browse our eStore to pick the perfect bundle!
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!
Cakewalk celebrates 20 years in the music software industry! Employees, partners, and supporters take a look back on past experiences working with Cakewalk and it’s products; sharing fond memories and hopes for the future. An entertaining eye-opener of who and what’s brewing behind the scenes at Cakewalk.
