Posted on

Shawn Clement: On A [Quantum] Quest with Intense Music

Award winning SONAR user – composer/producer Shawn Clement is at an exciting point in his “intense” career: 

  • His credentials and track record have allowed him to open an office/SONAR studio at the heart of Paramount Pictures.
  • He just had a major successful event at The Kennedy Center in DC where his music was premiered during “A Tribute to the Wounded Warriors.”
  • On July 29th he will be hosting a score party at Paramount Pictures for his original music in “Quantum Quest, A Cassini Space Odyssey 3D.”

Little did he know, when in 1996 Shawn Clement took on a “gig,” that he would be stapling a movement to the universe’s musical bulletin-board.  “Reality TV – what’s that? Who’s going to take interest in that?” These were some of the questions flying around the conference rooms of major television networks back then.  Well it just so happens that still to this day 95% of us get sucked into the inevitable antics of The World’s Wildest… The World’s Scariest…  The World’s Most… You know, those shows that catch your eye when you’re flicking through the channels and catch a quick glimpse of a Corvette being severed in half by a semi-truck; and there it is – wham – a half hour later and you have neither moved from that channel, nor your seat for that matter. Continue reading “Shawn Clement: On A [Quantum] Quest with Intense Music”

Posted on

Comic Book Heroes record “Drive On” for ESPN’s telecast of their NASCAR Nationwide season using SONAR 8.5

Last year we introduced you to Comic Book Heroes (CBH), a SONAR using artist with a pretty unique angle. While still in High School, CBH had accomplished more than many bands twice their age and on bigger labels. The guitar-driven rock quartet is manned by Steve Kowalski (bass, vocals), Collin MacGregor (drums), Ned Goldman (vocals, guitar), and Steve (Koz) Kosciusko (guitar, vocals). All are friends for years and come from musical families. They bonded over a love of music and formed the band when they were the ripe old age of 11, and have been steadily leaving their impression on the music business ever since. In 2009 the band found themselves on the Disney Top 15 charts ahead of Nickelback, The Fray, David Cook and many other well known artists with their single “Catch Me If You Can”; and they haven’t stopped making waves since.

“SONAR enables us to work through music on our own terms” stated Ned Goldman back stage at the Bitter End in NYC where the band was playing a show and accepting the 2010 Abe Olman Scholarship Award, by the Songwriters Hall of Fame which is awarded annually to five up-and-coming songwriters who have exhibited a standard of excellence and deserve to be recognized. Collin MacGregor commented, “The thing we find killer about SONAR is that it actually serves as a writing tool. It inspires the musical mind with everything that comes with it – you can do it all right inside SONAR if you want. We are on the road quite often, so to be able to fire up our laptops and start cutting realistic drums in a hotel room is huge.”

Most recently, Comic Book Heroes recorded one of their new songs “Drive On” for ESPN’s telecast of their 2010 NASCAR Nationwide season using SONAR and a V-Studio 700 at The Fusebox (Manhattan Ctr.) in NYC. We let our cameras roll and caught some great footage. Check it out and also be sure to be on the lookout for a new record from the band later this year.

For more information visit http://www.myspace.com/cbhmusic .

SONAR 8.5 gives you everything you need to start making professional recordings in any genre.  For more detailed information on SONAR please visit here.

Posted on

Jon Lee: Capitalist Turned Composer

profile picSo how does one of the top television-scoring professionals in the business get to where he is today? 

If you’re Jon Lee, first you run a hedge fund for 15 or 20 years…

Huh?

You’ll have to forgive Jon for not taking a more traditional route to the top of the film and television-scoring business. He found his true calling a bit later in life than most. But that hasn’t stopped him from making quite a name for himself in the field.

Although Jon started out in finance, it became a job he ended up “totally hating.” During his last few years in the business, he decided to do something about it and began pursuing his avocation: learning to play music. He took piano lessons, which eventually led him to composing. With the music bug firmly in his system, he soon enrolled at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, where he studied with many well-established composers.

Jon got his Graduate Certificate in Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television, marking the formal end of his career in finance, and set out to land some initial gigs. He soon connected with fellow USC alum Timothy Michael Wynn, a hardcore SONAR user who co-founded the music production company Sonic Fuel. Jon went to work with Tim and his partner Chris Lennertz for about a year, “’til they kicked me out and said ‘go get a career,’” as Jon jokingly recalls.

Continue reading “Jon Lee: Capitalist Turned Composer”

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Making Music On A Netbook at GDC 2010

Netbooks are quickly gaining ground as the viable computing option for everything, from checking email to recording and producing music. The folks at Netbooknews.com were on hand at the recent Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California to chat with Cakewalk’s Seth Perlstein about the forth-coming release of the SD-50 Mobile Studio Canvas and it’s netbook compatibility:

It’s USB-powered, comes with over 1000 sounds and effects, and includes it’s own DAW for Windows users, the SD-50 is a great interface for the musician on the go.

Posted on

Sound Design for Video Games at GDC 2010

Cakewalk’s Seth Perlstein was on hand at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, California to demonstrate SONAR’s role in sound design and sound editing for video games.

In the video above, Seth shows how to sync sound effects to video clips using SONAR 8.5’s Audiosnap time-stretching tool with the V-Studio 700 console as a DAW controller. Learn how to create your own sound effects using Cakewalk’s new A-PRO 300 keyboard along side SONAR 8.5’s arsenal of instruments and effects including Session Drummer 3, Rapture, and Perfect Space convolution reverb.

Posted on

Musikmesse 2010: V-Studio 700 & V-Studio 100 Win at MIPA

At this year’s Musikmesse International Press Awards (MIPA), Cakewalk received 4 nominations for the development of the A-PRO Series Keyboards, V-Studio 700, V-Studio 100 and SONAR 8.5 Producer. Just being nominated is quite the honor, but we were humbled last night when we won in two categories, Best Recording Hardware for the V-Studio 100 and Best Digital Audio Workstation Controller for the V-Studio 700.

    MIPA_Awards

The V-Studio 700 has now won the MIPA two consecutive years in a row, and in two different categories. Last year, the V-Studio 700 won for Best Recording Hardware, so this year’s Controller win really speaks to the VS-700’s versatility, not to mention the high regard for which it is held by the press.

Cakewalk’s Michael Hoover and Roland’s Takao Watase accepted the awards. For those of us in the business of creating products for musicians, the MIPA is the equivalent of winning a Grammy. Aside from having great customers creating great music with your products, the MIPA is the highest honor in our industry. For the 10th annual MIPA, the editorial staff of 111 music magazines from around the globe came together to choose the absolute best products in each category.
Continue reading “Musikmesse 2010: V-Studio 700 & V-Studio 100 Win at MIPA”

Posted on

New V-Studio 700 E-Book Gives You A Closer Look

eBook-V-Studio-700Cakewalk announces today the availability of a new eBook by Scott R. Garrigus – author of the “SONAR Power!” Book Series – that will cover the ins and outs of the SONAR V-Studio 700 music production system. Cakewalk V-Studio 700: A Closer Look is a free electronic book discussing basic and advanced functions of the V-Studio 700 such as: Getting to Know the V-Studio 700, Recording with the V-Studio 700, Composing with the V-Studio 700, Editing with the V-Studio 700, Mixing with the V-Studio 700 and more.

The 40+-page eBook is an easy to read overview on how to get the most from the V-Studio 700, and comes with numerous screenshots, tips, and tricks in easy-to-digest chapters and call-out sections in the style of the …For Dummies line of tutorial books.  It’s available as a downloadable PDF, with embedded hotlinks for pursuing additional information on key topics.

Cakewalk V-Studio 700: A Closer Look is available as a free download in PDF format at http://www.cakewalk.com/media/Ebook/vs700.asp.

Posted on

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.

    MIPA2010_animated

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.