Ready to make some sick beats and stuttered vocals with Cakewalk Sonar 8.5?

You’d better check out this video, first…..

via Cakewalk

In this official Cakewalk video, Robin Kelly gives a presentation on using Sonar 8 for creating a soundtrack to a video.

Cakewalk

Sonar 8.5 adds enhanced beat creation and arrangement tools, a new drum instrument loaded with kits and patterns, an enhanced audio timing toolset, new multi-stage effect plug-ins for drums and percussion sounds and vocal tracks, engine optimizations and stability improvements, and many additional workflow and technological advances, notably Windows 7 compatibility.

Pricing and Availability

SONAR 8.5 Producer has a street price of $499.00, SONAR 8.5 Studio $299.00, and are available at select music and sound retailers. Registered SONAR 8 Producer customers can download the SONAR 8.5 Producer upgrade for $99.00 and SONAR 8 Studio customers can download the SONAR 8.5 Studio upgrade for $79.00 directly from Cakewalk.com. All SONAR V-Studio 700 customers and those SONAR customers who purchased SONAR 8 after July 1st are eligible for a free download of the 8.5 upgrade. An upgrade DVD is also available for an additional nominal fee for those customers with slower connection speeds or who prefer physical media. Other upgrade paths are available, visit Cakewalk.com for details.

If you’ve used Cakewalk Sonar 8.5, leave a comment with your thoughts!

New features and workflow enhancements

• Matrix View—simple and flexible cell-based, non-linear audio and MIDI arranging with live triggering capability.
• Step Sequencer 2.0—the most powerful step sequencing capability in any DAW.
• Integrated Arpeggiator—trigger Arpeggiations on MIDI or instrument tracks with in-depth control over all arp parameters. Includes hundreds of presets.
• Session Drummer 3—latest version of Cakewalk’s virtual instrument for easy and fast creation of drum tracks with a new UI, stellar sounding kits and patterns from top sound designers and drummers, more.
• AudioSnap 2.0—updated audio quantizing and time shifting technology with new look and refinements to all the core controls, significantly improving workflow, plus improved offline rendering.
• Media Browser—the new hub for content access within SONAR; supports multiple formats to preview and import all your loops, grooves, and MIDI patterns; features presets to quickly grab content from your favorite locations.
• PX-64 Percussion Strip—seven-stage processor designed specifically for use with drums and percussion.
• VX-64 Vocal Strip—seven-stage processor optimized for shaping and sculpting vocal tracks.
• Windows 7 Support—tested, ready, and recommended for use.
• Engine optimizations and stability improvements for recording audio, and while looping.
• “Hotswap” audio and MIDI devices, including control surfaces, without restarting SONAR.
• VST plug-in compatibility improvements.
• Native REX loop support featured in Track View, Media Browser, and Matrix View.
• BitBridge XR—run 32-bit plug-ins in 64-bit environments, with memory access now extended up to 128 GB RAM.
• And much more.

Matrix View — With simple and flexible cell-based, non-linear audio and MIDI arranging and triggering, the Matrix offers new ways to experiment with arrangements or creating remixes of existing songs, or quickly laying down beds of tracks for new songs in any genre. The Matrix is also a perfect tool for beat-juggling and triggering one-shots and backing tracks live.

The Matrix view is easy to use, simply drag-and-drop any type of audio or MIDI clip/file/pattern from the Track view, Media Browser or desktop into an empty cell, then click individual cells or columns of cells to turn on and off playback. The Matrix provides a comfortable, trigger-anything looping environment using four trigger modes, multiple play styles, and advanced MIDI controls. Click the Capture button to simultaneously record your Matrix performance as an arrangement of audio and MIDI tracks in SONAR’s Track View.

Features:

• Cell-based view offering non-linear arrangement and live triggering.
• Sync to SONAR Transport / Track View.
• One-step capture of Matrix “performances” to Track View for more precise editing and mixing.
• Drag-drop any audio (multiple files at once) and MIDI content from the Track View or the Media Browser into the Matrix.
• Four triggering modes with measure, beat, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64 note resolutions.
• Play Styles: Global and Per-Cell modes for looping and latching (set cells to trigger from the beginning, or offset from SONAR Now Time).
• Flexible Routing: each row routes to a track, multiple rows can be routed to the same track, per row mute and exclusive solo.
• Completely MIDI controllable.

Step Sequencer 2.0 — SONAR’s Step Sequencer view is known for being the most advanced and comprehensive available in any DAW today. Step Sequencer 2.0 takes this power to a new level with increased depth of control over your sequences. Step Sequencer 2.0 was built with 3 goals in mind: to simplify the interface for an elegant and musical workflow, to design a set of useful and powerful per-lane controls, and to provide finer control over per-step adjustments.

New in Step Sequencer 2.0

• Enhanced SONAR integration: now every virtual instrument loaded in SONAR includes a Step Sequencer button to easily create patterns and sequences to work with that instrument.
• Add Flam to any step by simply double clicking it (then use the flam time knob to adjust timing).
• Easily load/save patterns from the Options button or drag and drop patterns from the Media Browser.
• New Auto-populate feature provides shortcuts to fill lanes every 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 steps.
• Redesigned Controller Pane for per row articulations and controls, including Volume, Pan, Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel, Portamento.
• Per step parameter controls for Velocity, Time Offset, Probability, Lane-based MIDI articulations, Filter Cut and Filter Res.
• Parameter values are now displayed as bars underneath steps in the controller pane, making editing per step parameters such as Velocity, Step Offset, Probability, and other MIDI articulations quick and easy.
• Exclusive Per Step Probability provides control over the probability of how often a step will be triggered. Use it to create automatic variations (make some steps only play occasionally) to keep repetitive patterns sounding fresh.
• All this is combined with the functionality from Step Sequencer 1.0 including: Step Recording, the Velocity Multiplier, Fit to Quarters capabilities, and more.

Session Drummer 3 — Session Drummer has been a mainstay in SONAR for easy and fast creation of realistic sounding drum tracks. Now, Session Drummer 3 hits the stage with an all new look, sporting a sleek photorealistic 3D drum kit, along with routing improvements, plus 12 new kits and over 700 new patterns for additional high quality drums sounds and grooves.

Features:

• Photorealistic drum kit page to load kits, programs, patterns, and tweak mappings.
• Dedicated Mixer page for fine tuning kits (12 channels each) with control over volume, pan, width, and tuning controls.
• Mix and match kit components: all kit pieces are broken down into individual components for flexibility in creating your drum sounds. Ships with over 200 different drum sounds across 20+ kits.
• Drag-and-drop drum components: build kits by dragging any WAV or OGG file from the desktop onto a pad.
• Comprehensive collection of presets and MIDI-based loop files to provide a creative jump-start for your drum tracks.
• Flexible MIDI pattern playback.
• 12 pads/12 outputs.

Content:

• 10 high-quality kits from the renowned content provider Sonic Reality ready to play in any track, along with 1 coupon for a free download of one Ocean Way Drums kit.
• 2 polished kits from Steven Slate Drums, fine tuned and tweaked to sound amazing in any mix.
• Genre-defining original samples of the classic Roland TR-707, TR-727, TR-808, and TR-909 drum synthesizers, along with kits from Sequential Circuits Drumtraks and Linn Electronics LinnDrum.
• 2 Organic kits from Smart Loops.
• Over 700 new MIDI patterns from Steven Slate Drums, Groove Monkee, and Smart Loops.
• Over 2.5 GB of drum sample content in all.

AudioSnap 2.0 — The original AudioSnap provided powerful, non-destructive, multi-track control over audio timing. AudioSnap 2.0 provides a refreshing new look and refinements to its core controls, significantly improving workflow. New features include a simplified UI, dedicated transient tool, proportional stretching mode, and multi-track audio stretch and quantization that maintains accurate phase relationships. Proportional stretching can be used both to correct unwanted timing fluctuations and provide gradual timing adjustments across several transients. In addition, rendered audio fidelity is greatly improved using the new Radius Mix Advance Mode.

New in AudioSnap 2:

• AudioSnap Palette presents all commands and options in one easy-to-read toolbar.
• Simplified transient marker appearance reduces visual clutter and enhances focus on relevant information.
• Transient Tool allows for dragging or snapping of transients without having to worry about inadvertently moving an audio clip; lasso selection allows for grouped transient edits.
• The Merge and Lock transients command is great for editing, stretching, and quantizing multi-track drums while keeping audio in phase.
• Grouped proportional stretching allows for the easy correction of fluctuations in the tempo of a performance without losing feel.
• Tab to Transients available from the Track and Piano Roll Views, follows Audio, Groove, Step Sequencer, and MIDI Groove Clips.
• Tempo detection, tempo mapping, and tempo syncing audio. New tempo detection algorithm auto-detects the tempo of all audio in SONAR and the Clip Tempo Map feature allows for easy manual tempo mapping of non-rhythmic, non-constant, or atypical audio.
• Enhanced fidelity with Radius Mix Advanced Mode: new Radius Mix settings improve “pitch coherence,” which preserves the naturalness of timbre in human speech, vocals, reed and brass instruments.

VX-64 Vocal Strip — Is a seven-stage processor designed for sculpting incredible sounding vocal tracks. Each of the VX-64’s stages have been fine-tuned to be vocal-specific, taking the work out of loading an entire chain of vocal processors. The VX-64 features a new Cakewalk technology that employs phase-coherent, multi-band saturation to avoid unwanted distortion; unique filtering to avoid artifacts at extreme high and low frequencies; and an auto-leveling circuit that prevents the tube saturation from sounding too harsh when high gain transients are processed by it. VX-64 also employs a new de-essing algorithm designed with Cakewalk’s LP-64 linear phase effect filtering technology to remove sibilance without creating any frequency smearing.

The VX-64 includes 64 go-to presets and click & drag reordering of processing stage routing, making it fast and easy to get high quality vocals in seconds.

Processing stages include:

• Input — simulates a tube pre amp.
• De-esser — removes sibilance without smearing.
• Compander — vocal compressor with expander to reduce unwanted background noise.
• Tube EQ — for adding character, ranging from subtle warmth to intense heat.
• Doubler — advanced doubling effect providing the quality of actual re-tracking.
• Delay — preset delays useful for vocal tracks with tempo sync.
• Output — provide saturation control with a built in soft-clipping filter.

PX-64 Percussion Strip — Is a seven-stage processor designed specifically for shaping drum and percussion sounds. Like the VX-64 Vocal Strip, the PX-64 Percussion Strip employs Cakewalk’s exclusive tube saturation algorithms with unique filtering and auto-leveling circuitry technologies. Combining transient shaping, compression, expansion, equalization, delay, and tube saturation in one convenient plug-in, the PX-64 Percussion Strip includes 70 go-to presets along with click & drag reordering of processing stage routing, making it fast and easy to enhance any drum or percussion track in seconds.

Processing stages include:

• Input — the Input/Gain stage simulates a tube pre amp.
• Transient Shaper — shape the audio signal’s attack phase independently of the decay/sustain phase.
• Compressor — balance the overall signal level and limit the dynamic range.
• Expander — control dynamic range by reducing levels that fall beneath a specified threshold.
• Contour EQ — 4-band EQ optimized for drums and percussion.
• Delay — adds space and rhythm to the signal with option to tempo sync to host.
• Output — output gain stage and specialized saturation control with a built in soft-clipping filter.

Integrated Arpeggiator — Each MIDI and Instrument track in SONAR now has a built-in Arpeggiator which allows you to turn even the simplest chord progression into exciting new sound textures. The SONAR Arpeggiator is a perfect tool for adding variety to any Instrument or MIDI track that repeats a number of times in a song, or for creating complimentary parts using other instrument sounds that follow your chord progression. The SONAR Arpeggiator includes hundreds of presets, patterns, and classic algorithms, and provides not only powerful controls over the rate, octave range, latch, swing, flam, velocity, duration, and pitch offset of the arpeggiation, but also control over mix, channel input, and shape.

Media Browser — SONAR’s Loop Explorer View has been updated and expanded. In its new form, Media Browser is now SONAR’s hub for content. Audio Groove Clips, Step Sequencer Patterns, REX Loops and Project5 MIDI PTN files can all be previewed in Media Browser and easily dragged into any track. As well, video files can be viewed in Media Browser and easily dragged into a Video Thumbnail Track. Users’ content folders can be stored and recalled as handy Media Browser presets. SONAR 8.5 ships with out-of-the-box presets that point directly to Beatscape REX Loops, Session Drummer 3 MIDI Drum Loops, Step Sequencer Patterns, RXP REX Loops, PTN MIDI Patterns, and MIDI Groove Clips.

Engine optimizations, leading technology innovations, and additional workflow enhancements

• Engine Optimizations — Audio interfaces, MIDI interfaces and control surfaces can now be disconnected and reconnected again or “hotswapped” while SONAR is running without the need to restart SONAR. This is particularly useful for plugging in a new MIDI controller while inspired to lay down a new part, or in the event an audio interface needs to be power-cycled. SONAR 8.5 also includes optimizations and stability improvements for recording audio, and while looping.

• Open Support — Cakewalk has been, and will continue to be, a proponent of open standards in software and hardware. SONAR 8.5 brings a variety of compatibility improvements for VST plug-ins, as well as for Cakewalk’s BitBridge technology, which allows for access to classic 32-bit “x86″ VST plug-ins in a 64-bit “x64″ environment. SONAR Producer customers can take advantage of the new BitBridge XR, which automatically provides up to 32 BitBridge servers, each capable of using up to 4GB of RAM, for a total of 128GB of RAM access from 32-bit plug-ins! SONAR also now provides native REX loop support, via the Track View, updated Media Browser, and new Matrix View.

• Windows 7 Ready — Cakewalk was a finalist in Microsoft’s 2009 Partner of the Year Awards, and as you would expect from the industry-leading Windows DAW, SONAR 8.5 is ready for Windows 7 right from the get-go. Cakewalk has been testing SONAR from early Windows 7 Betas right through to the latest Release Candidates, and we are pleased to recommend Windows 7 as a platform for SONAR 8.5. Additionally, SONAR 8.5 was evaluated at an independent Microsoft application compatibility lab and officially passed the rigorous Win7 compatibility testing.

• Freeze and Archive buttons now conveniently located on each track.
• Updated Insert Send Assistant, with matching track gain/pan while creating sends.
• Solo Button on all effects plug-in windows to quickly solo and focus on the track being processed.
• New Track View grid lines options to present grid lines behind or in front of clips.
• New option to automatically lock scrolling during playback when initiating an edit.
• The Now Time cursor can be dragged to a new position during playback.
• New FX: SONAR 8.5 now includes the Project5 effect suite, including the Alias Factor Bit Decimator, Classic Phaser (Tempo-Sync), Compressor/Gate, HF Exciter, Mod Filter (Tempo-Sync), Chorus/Flanger (Tempo-Sync), Para-Q, StudioVerb II, and Tempo Delay.
• DC Offset meter added to the Cakewalk Analyst plug-in.
• Installation has been simplified with an easy one-click install option that accepts all default settings and locations and installs the entire SONAR application, as well as plug-ins and content data.

Additional Key Features of SONAR 8.5 Producer

• Pristine 64-bit mix engine; first true 64-bit end-to-end signal path
• Customizable user interface: put favorite features right at your fingertips
• Active Controller Technology (ACT): dynamically maps effect, mix, and instrument parameters to any MIDI controller or hardware control surface, automatically remaps parameters to whatever view has focus
• Roland V-Vocal VariPhrase technology for perfection of vocal tracks through exceptional audio stretching; pitch correction; control of dynamics, phrasing, vibrato; and pitch to MIDI conversion
• Smart MIDI Tools
• World class instruments: Z3TA+ 1.5 Waveshaping Synthesizer, Dimension Pro, Rapture LE, DropZone drag & drop sampler and REX loop Editor, 1000s of instrument sounds.
• World class effects: Perfect Space Convolution Reverb, TS-64 Transient Shaper, TL-64 Tube Leveler, VC-64 Vintage Channel, Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE, Boost 11 Peak Limiter
• Linear phase mastering effects: LP-64 Multiband & LP-64 EQ
• SurroundBridge—easily use stereo effects in a surround environment
• POW-r Dithering & MPEX 3 Time Scaling
• Bus & Synth Waveform Preview
• Clip-Based Effects and Editing
• Crash Recovery safeguards projects against faulty plug-ins and other sources of crashes
• Integrated CD Ripping and Burning
• Cakewalk Publisher 2.0

SONAR 8.5 Studio

SONAR 8.5 Studio offers the best creative tools, and the most power of any digital audio workstation in its price range. Built upon the same core feature set as SONAR 8 Producer, SONAR 8.5 Studio gives you the edge in your productions—from recording audio and MIDI, composing with virtual instruments, remixing with loops, mixing with professional effects, to delivery of a polished final track—with the recognized best audio quality in the industry.

SONAR 8.5 Studio contains all of the features of SONAR 8 Producer minus the following Producer exclusives: Matrix View, Lexicon Pantheon Reverb (Studio includes Pantheon SE), LP-64 EQ, LP-64 Multiband, TS-64 Transient Shaper, TL-64 Tube Leveler, VC-64 Vintage Channel, Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE, Sonitus Surround Compressor, Dimension Pro 1.2 (Studio includes Dimension LE), DSF Classic Keys Expansion Pack & Hollywood Edge FX for Dimension Pro, TruePianos Amber VSTi, Beatscape Looping Instrument, Z3TA+ Waveshaping Synthesizer, Surround Mixing, and POW-r dithering.

International pricing

SONAR 8.5 Producer and Studio software is available in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian; English, German, and French boxed versions come with a printed multi-language User’s Guide; Spanish and Italian boxed versions come with a PDF format of the User’s Guide. SONAR 8.5 is available through Roland and Edirol distribution partners.

Europe’s recommended retail price for SONAR 8.5 Producer and SONAR 8.5 Studio are €499 and €299 RRP inc VAT respectively; U.K. pricing is £435 and £265 RRP inc VAT respectively, and are available at select music and sound retailers around the world. Registered SONAR 8 Producer customers can download the SONAR 8.5 Producer upgrade for £89, €99 and SONAR 8 Studio customers can download the SONAR 8.5 Studio upgrade for £69, €79, directly from Cakewalk.com. Registered SONAR 8 Producer customers can purchase the boxed version of the SONAR 8.5 Producer upgrade for £109 / €119 and SONAR 8 Studio customers can purchase the boxed version of the SONAR 8.5 Studio upgrade for £89 / €99 directly from Cakewalk.com or a Roland and Edirol distribution partner. All SONAR V-Studio 700 customers and those SONAR customers who purchased or upgraded to SONAR 8 after July 1st (worldwide excluding Japan) are eligible for a free download of the 8.5 upgrade.

This is an overview of the Fantom VS Synthesizer built into the SONAR V-Studio 700R interface.

The Fantom VS includes 1400 patches suited for all kinds of productions and accepts Roland’s specialized ARX expansion cards for piano, drums, brass and more.

More info at the Sonar V-Studio site.

Sunday Synth Jam: The main theme from Blade Runner was the inspiration for this atmospheric synth jam on the analog vintage Oberheim OBXa synth.

The OBXa was played in split mode. Live recorded with Sonar 8; EFX : Roland DEP-5.

via magevers

Igor Len demos the ARX-03 SuperNATURAL Brass Expansion Board during NAMM 2009.

Description:

Roland’s ARX-03 series is filled with brass instruments under the control of a custom graphic-editing interface. The card is loaded with solo instruments and ensembles, including trumpets, flugelhorns, trombones, saxophones, and more.

The ARX SuperNATURAL Expansion Boards including the ARX-03 are compatible with the Roland Fantom-G workstation synthesizers and the Cakewalk SONAR V-Studio 700.

Musikmesse 2009: Sound On Sound takes a look at the Cakewalk V-Studio 100.

via soundonsoundvideo

Driver Version 1.1 offers new functionality, including:

• Vista x64 support
• Compatibility with SONAR Producer versions 7 and 8
• RSS M-400 1.5 and 2.0 firmware support
• RSS M-48 Live Personal Monitor support

Included in this update is full support for Vista x64 operating systems and SONAR 8 Producer. REAC customers can now upgrade to the x64 version of Windows Vista to access the improved processing efficiency and extended RAM that the OS provides.

The SONAR REAC driver update also includes support for audio monitoring through SONAR V-Studio 700’s VS-700R audio interface. By combining RSS V-Mixing Systems and Digital Snakes with SONAR V-Studio 700, customers can now have a fully integrated, cost-effective, end-to-end solution that takes their productions from live events through post production and delivery.

REAC technology allows up to 40 simultaneous channels of audio to be recorded into SONAR through any RSS V-Mixing System or Digital Snake, via a single Cat5e cable to a PC Ethernet port connection. Once recording is finished, customers can simply shift into production mode to take full advantage of SONAR V-Studio 700’s extensive capabilities for editing, mixing, mastering and delivery of their productions.

Availability

The REAC Driver 1.1 update is available as a free download to registered SONAR REAC Recording System customers with Windows XP 32-bit and native Vista (32- and 64-bit) at http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/REAC/Default.aspx

Musikmesse 2009: Cakewalk announced the VS-700C V-Studio Console as a standalone control surface for SONAR 8 Producer.

The VS-700C was designed jointly by Cakewalk and Roland, and offers control over all aspects of SONAR 8 Producer’s creative, editing, and mixing capabilities. The VS-700C’s dedicated implementation of ACT (Active Controller Technology) dynamically remaps controls based on how the user is working in SONAR. Also, with the press of a button, the VS-700C provides instant control over any V-Link compatible video and imaging hardware, including the Edirol DV-7 line of direct linear video editing systems.

Details below.

VS-700C Highlights:
Channel Section

• Nine 100mm touch sensitive, motorized faders arranged in a bank of eight channel strips with a master channel
• Users can tab between fader banks and lock/unlock tracks and buses to faders for maximum efficiency when mixing large projects
• Channel Branch Mode is an innovative new mixing mode, where channel strip 1 will control the volume of a selected track while the remaining channels control the associated sends for that track
• One-level undo for all faders and encoders, using the “Revert to” feature
• Total control over SONAR 8 mute and solo functionality including Dim Solo, Exclusive Solo, and Layer Mute/Solo

EQ, Send, ACT Section

• Dedicated section of 12 continuous push-button rotary encoders which can be used for EQ, Sends, or ACT control
• When controlling EQ, the rotary encoders edit four stages of parametric EQ gain, frequency, and Q for whichever channel has the focus
• In ACT mode, encoders automatically remap to control effect, instrument, or mix parameters of whatever view or plug-in has focus within SONAR

Surround and Video Implementation

• Full surround implementation with Joystick Panner, F/R Balance, LFE Send, and Width controls
• Multifunction T-bar for surround F/R balance and video hardware control
• Automate multiple surround parameters simultaneously
• Control video mixers/editors/presenters that support V-LINK protocol

Access, Project Navigation, Editing

• Control plug-in for SONAR provides user-definable presets that change the functionality of the VS-700C depending on tasks or workflow preferences
• Access Panel provides one-button functionality to call up different views and utilities; allows custom assignments from over 45 SONAR commands
• Joystick can move plug-in windows around your screen
• In addition to F/R balance and Video hardware control, the T-Bar offers: X-Ray option to fade plug-in windows in/out to allow access to the views below and the T-Bar can also be used as a dedicated ACT controller
• Complete SONAR transport functionality not available from any other control surface, including Audition, Rewind, Fast Forward, RTZ/GTE, and Pause
• Jog and shuttle wheels and Free Edit cursors for project navigation, scrubbing and zoom; provides c omplete scroll and zoom functionality, including flyover mode which lets you navigate around a project
• Use jog wheel to move, crop and fade clip(s), as well as time-stretch
• Select clips and time ranges, even across tracks and layers
• Split and mute clips with the touch of a button
• Insert, delete, bypass and control any VST effect from the control surface
• Mackie Control protocol support, provides basic compatibility (transport, faders, jog/shuttle, etc.) with other Windows DAWs

Display

• A 2×13 LCD display for track names, parameter values, and markers
• 7 Segment LCD display for time code and now time position
• Responsive metering for each channel

SONAR V-Studio 700 and the VS-700C

The release of the SONAR V-Studio 700 system marked a new era of inspired, Cakewalk branded hardware and software music production solutions. SONAR V-Studio 700 addresses the gap between under-powered “budget” solutions and over-priced competitive solutions by offering a compelling, feature-rich music production system that is accessible to a broad range of users. SONAR customers who purchase the VS-700C can later purchase the VS-700R I/O to experience the full benefits offered by the complete SONAR V-Studio 700 system, which includes hardware control of the VS-700R from the VS-700C, 19 input channels, 8 digitally-controlled mic pres with compression on each channel, and onboard Fantom VS synthesizer featuring 1,400 patches with ARX expansion board capability, among many other features.

Pricing and availability

VS-700C console for SONAR 8 Producer will be available Summer, 2009 through Roland and Edirol distribution partners and select retailers worldwide. Local prices may vary, please check with your local Roland or Edirol distributor, or to find availability in your area using the dealer locator, please visit www.sonarvstudio.com.

Musikmesse 2009: Introducing: SONAR V-Studio 100

This is a quick overview, via CakewalkSoftware, that shows the key features of the new Sonar V-Studio 100, which combines 4 essential tools for musicians, plus music production software in one portable solution.

Musikmesse 2009: This official video, via Cakewalk Software, shows you how to record basic tracks with the V-Studio 100 without the need to connect your computer.

You can then see how to import those tracks on your Mac or PC into your favorite DAW, like the included SONAR VS, to use as the basis for a new song.

Musikemsse 2009: This is a video overview of the new Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio 100.

via musicradartv

At the 2009 Frankfurt Musikmesse, Cakewalk introduced the SONAR V-Studio 100 portable music production studio.

V-Studio 100  combines the most essential tools needed by music producers and performing musicians in a compact package.

Features:

• High Speed USB 2.0 Audio Interface
• Universal DAW Controller
• Personal Digital Mixer
• SD WAV Recorder
• VS Production Pack suite of virtual instruments and effects (Mac/Win)
• SONAR VS digital audio workstation (Win)

Details below. If you’ve used the Sonar V-Studio 100, leave a comment with your thoughts!

Description:

Customers can take control of their music productions by using the VS-100 as a 24-bit/96 kHz high speed USB 2.0 audio, MIDI interface and universal DAW controller. SONAR V-Studio 100 also includes the VS Production Pack, a powerful suite of high quality instruments and effects. The VS-100 hardware and VS Production Pack have been designed to enhance productions on both Mac and Windows in conjunction with popular DAW software including SONAR, Cubase, Logic, Ableton Live, and others. For PC customers just getting started with digital recording, SONAR V-Studio 100 includes the SONAR VS digital audio workstation.

When inspiration strikes, the VS-100 is the ideal tool to get ideas down fast, without the need to boot up a computer. In standalone mode, the VS-100 hardware functions as a personal digital mixer and SD Wave recorder. Customers can use the VS-100 to record and mix rehearsals and live gigs and can also use it to play backing tracks (even while recording). Customers can then simply transfer the stereo recordings to their favorite DAW software to use as the basis for new tracks or for further editing and sweetening, to upload to the Internet, and more.

Second product in the next generation SONAR V-Studio line

SONAR V-Studio 100 is the second product in the next generation V-Studio line of Cakewalk branded hardware and software solutions from Cakewalk and Roland. Following the release of the flagship SONAR V-Studio 700, two great music technology leaders have again combined the best in hardware and software engineering to address the varied needs of today’s modern music producers and performing musicians.

SONAR V-Studio 100 Hardware Features

High Speed USB 2.0 Interface

SONAR V-Studio 100 is a high quality USB 2.0 audio and MIDI interface utilizing world-class Roland engineering design and component technology.

• 8 in + mix / 6 out, 24-bit/96 kHz quality
• 2 mic pre-amps w/phantom Power, hi-z guitar input; MIDI I/O
• ASIO, WDM, WASAPI, Core Audio support
• Compatible with DAWs such as SONAR, Logic, Live, Cubase, and Digital Performer

Universal DAW Controller

SONAR V-Studio 100 is a universal DAW controller that supports all popular digital recording software for Mac/PC via Mackie control protocol, including Logic, Live, Cubase, and Digital Performer. Additionally, V-Studio 100 provides extended control capabilities over SONAR through the implementation of Cakewalk’s Active Controller Technology (ACT).

• 100 mm motorized, touch-sensitive fader
• 5 rotary encoders, 11 buttons and transport control
• Use with any DAW through Mackie Control protocol
• Advanced control of SONAR through Active Controller Technology

Personal Digital Mixer

SONAR V-Studio 100 is an ideal digital mixer for small groups or solo performers who need easy control of few instruments and vocals mics; DJs, MCs, and any electronic musician who needs to mix multiple sound sources. All users can enhance their live sound with the pro-quality on-board effects which offer easy routing and accessibility.

• Ideal for mixing small bands, solo musicians, DJs, home studios
• 8 inputs, 6 outputs plus headphones
• 4 types of reverb and 6 channels of EQ and Compression

Mobile SD Recorder Live Player

SONAR V-Studio 100 can capture that creative moment whenever inspiration strikes by providing high quality digital recording that can be used without being connected to computer. Record directly to the VS-100’s SD-card to capture song ideas, rehearsals, or live performances. Create backing tracks on your DAW of choice and transfer them to the VS-100’s SD-card for playback during live performance (even while recording). Likewise, recorded performances can be easily transferred from the VS-100’s SD-card for additional editing, tracking, and sweetening.

• Record away from your computer
• 2 channel wave recording and playback
• Capture rehearsals and live performances
• Play and record along to backing tracks
• Built-in metronome
• Insert markers during record and playback
• Loop a region for practicing parts or jamming
• Easily transfer audio to and from any computer via USB

SONAR V-Studio 100 Software Features

VS-100 Production Pack (Win/Mac) suite of effects and instruments includes:

VX-64 Vocal Strip is a seven-stage processor designed specifically for shaping and sculpting incredible sounding vocal tracks. Each of the VX-64’s stages have been fine-tuned to be vocal-specific, taking the work out of dialing in an entire chain of vocal processors.  The VX-64 features a new Cakewalk technology that employs phase-coherent, multi-band saturation to avoid unwanted distortion; unique filtering to avoid harsh artifacts at extreme high and low frequencies; and an auto-leveling circuit that prevents the tube saturation from sounding too harsh when high gain transients are processed by it. VX-64 also employs a new de-essing algorithm designed with Cakewalk’s LP64 linear phase effect filtering technology to remove sibilance without creating any frequency smearing.

Processing stages include:

• Input — simulates a tube pre amp
• De-esser — removes sibilance without smearing
• Compander — vocal compressor with an expander to reduce unwanted background noise
• Tube EQ — for adding character ranging from subtle warmth to intense heat to the vocal
• Doubler — advanced doubling effect providing the quality of actual re-tracking
• Delay — preset delays useful for vocal tracks with tempo sync
• Output — provide saturation control with a built in soft-clipping filter
• Order of processor stages is user definable with click & drag reordering

Channel Tools — provides easy and powerful control over individual placement of the left and right channels anywhere in the stereo field. Ideal for adjusting L/R channel placement, gain, pan/width, and phase; also provides a widening or narrowing effect to stereo recordings through adjustments to mid-side gain.

Boost 11 Peak Limiter — gives your tracks radio-ready punch through transparent peak limiting and volume maximization without additional coloring of the source material. Boost 11 employs a “look-ahead” limiter and PDR (Program Dependent Release) to provide professional results with a simple interface.

Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE — built on the latest award-winning guitar amp modeler from Native Instruments; 3 amps and cabinets, 11 effects, tuner, metronome, and over 50 presets.

Dimension LE — a streamlined version of the acclaimed Dimension Pro instrument from Cakewalk. Dimension LE features over 400 sound programs, ranging from bass, organ, and electric piano samples to cutting-edge synth sounds, rhythmic grooves, and a special edition of Garritan Pocket Orchestra.

Rapture LE — is a special version of the award winning Rapture wavetable synthesizer. It includes over 200 programs and hundreds of oscillator shapes. Rapture LE is perfect for performing the modern synthesized sounds igniting today’s pop, dance, and electronic music.

Cakewalk Studio Instruments — a collection of four virtual instruments that provide a fast and easy way to create backing tracks using a photo-realistic, interactive user interface. Instruments include a Drum Kit, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano, and String Section.

SONAR VS digital recording software (PC only) — a special entry level DAW based on the powerful SONAR 8 audio engine but offering a streamlined user interface.

Availability

SONAR V-Studio 100 will ship with the VS-100 hardware (Mac/Win), the VS Production Pack (Mac/Win) and SONAR VS (Win) software available in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian; Online Help contained in all versions in English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian; printed documentation is in English.

SONAR V-Studio 100 will be available through select music and sound retailers throughout the world beginning in June 2009. For more information on SONAR V-Studio 100,  visit www.sonarvstudio.com.

This is a tutorial on Cakewalk TS 64 Transient Shaper.

This is a reformatted excerpt from the video training course Sonar 8 – Know It All! by Digital Music Doctor.

via digitalmusicdoctor

This video tutorial looks at using Cakewalk Beatscape. Part 2 below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

via orecordings:

This one will show you how to use Cakewalk’s Beatscape with Sonar 8 Producer Edition built in step sequencer.. www.olivier-recordings.com

This video demonstrates using Pentagon as a vocoder in Cakewalk Sonar.

via sonarrules:

This video shows you how to use Pentagon, an included soft synth in SONAR, as a vocoder. You can get almost limitless results. This tutorial will take you through the basics the rest is up to you.

In this official Cakewalk video, composer, remixer and producer Justin Lassen (creator of the ‘Synaesthesia’ series) offers his impressions of the SONAR V-Studio 700 package. The Fantom VS (Roland Synthesizer) and Channel Strip / EQ controls are among his favorite features.

Recorded live at NAMM 2009.

Can you find the prog rock keyboardist in this photo?

The 2009 Winter NAMM Show has fewer vendors and visitors this year, but there’s still a ton of new gear and software to check out – and fantastic performances by musicians like Keith Emerson, above. Synthtopia is on site to bring you the latest news about electronic music software and gear. 

Here are some of the highights of Day 3 of the 2009 NAMM Show:

• Cakewalk Sonar V-Studio is out of the price range of a lot of people – but, if you’re a Sonar user it’s pretty drool-worthy; 
• A lot of people are excited about the microKorg XL, even though it’s pricey for a mini-synth (Tip for other manufacturers – it’s the vocoder!); and
• The Moog Etherwave Theremin Plus is what everybody wanted in a theremin.
• Metasonix’ new Eurorack synth modules show put vacuum tubes into new places;
• The Korg nanoSeries is now available in black; and 
• Max For Live is one of the biggest music geekfests in years. 

Check out some more highlights below. 

We got a sneak preview from the Museum Of Making Music of an upcoming exhibit on the work of Robert Moog. We’ll have more on this in a few days – but check out the photo above for a taste of the artifacts that they’re lining up for the exhibit.

There were tons of great musicians to see and friendly people to meet, like ModWheelMood’s Alessandro Cortini:

And, as always, there were some bizarre sites to see:

Kinky sex outfits or a Tonium Pacemaker demo? You make the call!

If you made it to NAMM, leave a comment and let us know what you thought!

At the 2009 Winter NAMM Show, Cakewalk announced that SONAR V-Studio 700, Cakewalk’s “ultimate solution for music production”, is now shipping worldwide.

Here are the details:

SONAR V-Studio 700 matches SONAR 8 Producer with the VS-700C V-Studio Console multifunction control surface and the VS-700R V-Studio I/O, which includes an onboard Roland Fantom VS Hardware synthesizer.

SONAR V-Studio 700 includes:

• SONAR 8 Producer Digital Audio Workstation
• The full version of Rapture Virtual Instrument
• The VS-700C V-Studio Console
• The VS-700R V-Studio I/O
• The integrated Roland Fantom VS hardware synthesizer
• VS-700C V-Studio Console

The hardware centerpiece is the VS-700C V-Studio Console.

The VS-700C, designed jointly by Cakewalk and Roland, offers deeper integration into SONAR’s editing and mixing capabilities than any off the shelf control surface. The VS-700C offers dedicated implementation of ACT (Active Controller Technology), which automatically remaps controls to what has the focus.

VS-700R V-Studio I/O

The VS-700R V-Studio I/O audio interface was designed to complement to SONAR’s internal 64-bit audio quality, and to provide extensive I/O options to take advantage of SONAR’s flexible bussing capabilities and integration with external hardware.

The VS-Studio 700 includes the best mic preamps and converter technology Roland has to offer. The preamps are also digitally-controlled. This lets you adjust preamp gain from the same control surface where you mix, and save gain settings as presets.

Roland Fantom VS and ARX expansion capability

The VS-700R also includes the Roland Fantom VS hardware synthesizer which adds to the full complement of inspiring synthesizers that are included in SONAR 8. The Fantom VS operates as a hardware VSTi instrument with complete access over all parameters accessible via a dedicated software plug-in interface and editor within SONAR.

Because the Fantom VS is DSP powered within the VS-700R I/O, it offers zero latency and CPU loading. SONAR V-Studio 700 provides even more hardware synthesis capabilities with an onboard ARX Expansion Slot. Just like with the Fantom VS, when you plug in an ARX Series Expansion Board you get a second hardware VSTi instrument that integrates seamlessly into SONAR’s workflow. Each ARX expansion board has its own dedicated custom graphic interface and powerful editor.

The ARX-01 Drums and ARX-02 Electric Piano expansion boards powered by Roland’s SuperNATURAL™ sound technology are currently available. A new board, the ARX-03 Brass, will be available March, 2009.

The SONAR V-Studio 700 system ships with SONAR 8 Producer, Rapture software synthesizer, the VS-700C V-Studio Console, the VS-700R V-Studio I/O with onboard Fantom VS synth, cables, and user guide.

Composer Vivek Maddala demos his home studio Sonar setup.