Sonar Notes
Hardware Controlled Automation; Arturia Storm; Cwenc MP3
Technique : Sonar Notes
Here's some advice on getting the best out of Sonar's automation using a hardware controller, and some pointers for working with Arturia Storm as a virtual instrument. Plus, there's the free Cwenc MP3 encoder to check out, as well as the usual selection of bite-sized sequencing tricks.
Craig Anderton
You can use a lot of different control surfaces with Sonar. The easiest way to get started, however, is to use a Sonar-compatible control surface. Well, you can program a generic surface, but it's a lot easier to get started with something for which a Sonar template already exists. Sonar comes with one pre-installed template for the Cakewalk Generic Surface. To add a specific control surface, select Control Surfaces from the Options menu. A box appears that shows all connected surfaces. To add one, click on the star icon and choose from Tascam US428, CM Automation Motormix, Radikal Technologies SAC2.2 or SAC2K, MMC, Mackie Control XT, and standard Mackie Control.
Although standard faders are useful, especially for signal processing and soft synth para
meters, for mixing you really want motorised faders. Because these follow the automation moves and are touch-sensitive, you can leave the automation enabled and the faders will follow along with whatever automation is already recorded on the track. As soon as you grab the fader and move it, new moves overwrite old ones.
Sonar Tips
If you have several projects open simultaneously, for example to drag and drop files among them, you can often make this go more easily with the Tile In Rows and Tile In Columns options available from the Window menu.
You can turn off Mute, Solo, or Arm Record for all tracks by clicking on the requisite boxes (if lit) in the strip along the bottom of the main window. If you want a reference list of keyboard shortcuts, choose Keyboard Shortcuts from the Help menu, and click on the Print icon. While in the Loop Construction window, choose the Select tool by hitting the 'S' key, and the Erase Marker tool with the 'E' key.
I've used Sonar with the Radikal Technologies SAC2.2, Peavey Studiomix, and Mackie Control (which all have motorised faders). The Studiomix is no longer made, but in retrospect it was a superb combination of compact size and most of what you want a control surface to do. The Mackie Control is great value for money, while the SAC2.2 is the ne plus ultra for this type of thing, especially if you use both Macs and PCs in your studio, as not only is it cross-platform, but it can also network between the two systems.
Mixing With Controllers
To me, the main advantage of using hardware faders is the ability to add real-time, spontaneous dynamics. I love pumping that single snare drum that hits on the offbeat just before the chorus kicks in, but there's more to dynamics than that. Adding small rhythmic 'pushes' to the level creates a more animated, lively mix. Unlike pitch discrimination, the ear isn't all that sensitive to small level changes. Thus, these small variations are felt rather than heard. Although many musicians are satisfied to draw in level changes with a mouse, they'll never convince me that the mix will have the same degree of animation as one where you make on-the-fly, spontaneous decisions about which tracks should dominate or be further back.
However, my main concern when doing these types of moves is what happens if you get the moves right, but the overall level needs to go up or down? There are two main options. To change an entire clip's level, select it (but not any envelope superimposed on it) so that all the envelope nodes are selected. Then drag up or down on any node to raise or lower all of them, respectively. However, if a node is at maximum level, the Similarly, if you want to delete multiple tracks, select the ones you want to delete, right-click on one of them, select Delete Track, and the selected ones will disappear. If a track has the focus but is not selected, it will not be deleted. However, if you right-click on the track that has the focus and delete it, not only will that track be deleted, but any selected ones will be deleted as well. Here's a cool use for focus if you're into MIDI recording. Select General from the Global submenu of the Options menu and tick Allow MIDI Recording Without An Armed Track. Now, you can record into the track with the focus without having to arm it first — just click on Record, and go.
envelope cannot be raised, nor can it be lowered if any node is at minimum. To change the level of a complete track, my preferred method is to click on the Envelope Offset mode icon, which puts little plus symbols next to all the faders. This means that any control changes will move the entire envelope up or down in level.
Track Selections: Blue Or Tan?
When you click on a track's number in Track view, its background turns blue. When you click on a track in Track view elsewhere than on the number, it turns tan. So what's the difference between these two, anyway? Blue means a track is selected for the purposes of performing some sort of operation, whereas tan means that track has the current focus. For example, if you want to mix down a selection of tracks to a mixed track, the tracks all have to be selected, as indicated by the blue background. If a track has the focus, but is not selected, then it will not be included in the bounce.
Sonar's Groove Module
Cyclone is a fun groove module, and the DR008 can make some wicked drum parts. However, Sonar has no TB303-type devices or synth/pattern-generator combinations. One solution already discussed in these pages is using Rewire to insert Propellerheads' Reason (or for that matter, Cakewalk's upcoming Project5). Lately, though, I've found a very inexpensive option: Arturia's Storm v2. For a modest sum you get 11 instruments (analogue bass line synth, modelled bass, two sound modules optimised for chord generation, five drum sets each with different kits, polyphonic synthesizer, and a 'scratching' module with two virtual turntables). I'm not counting Storm's recording modules, which are redundant with Sonar. There are also ten effects (chorus, compressor, distortion, dual delays, flanger, low-pass filter, reverb, ring modulator, sequencer filter, and vocoder).
Storm can Rewire into Sonar, but the implementation is not as flexible as when you use it as a VST instrument. Of course this means you need a wrapper like Fxpansion's VST-DX Adapter, but, honestly, that shouldn't be an issue — a wrapper is the essential Sonar accessory. Speaking of essential Sonar accessories, a two-monitor setup really helps, as you can set up Storm in its own screen.
Choose Insert / DXi Synth / VST / Storm (or the generic equivalent for your wrapper of choice), and Storm will connect into the system, with each of its four instruments grabbing four Sonar tracks. The 'primary' (master) channel also grabs a track, but this should be used only for adding in effects, as bringing it up at the same time as individual channels causes nasty comb filtering (more on this later). The insert process also creates a MIDI source track. Note that you must define some sort of region before Storm will play, as pressing Play on Sonar starts triggering Storm's loop generators. If there's no area to loop in, they get upset.
Playing The Instruments Over MIDI
The web site includes detailed instructions on how to use the program to encode MP3 files, so we won't go over that material here. The short form version is to go File / Export / Audio, select the MP3 option (leave Format as Export To Stereo File[s]' and Bit Depth as 16), click on Export, and Sonar mixes the file to a temporary WAV file. At this point the Cwenc screen appears, where you can make various adjustments to the MP3 format, including bit rate, mono/stereo, and whether to create secondary files. Note that, if you want to, you can also specify a particular input file other than what's being mixed down with Sonar, as well as its destination, thus allowing the program to serve as a stand-alone MP3 encoder. Cwenc may be free, but it offers a lot of useful parameters for those who want to get their music out in MP3 format. You can also just go with the defaults if you're not sure what will work best. Although the web site states that Cwenc has been tested with Windows 2000 and Cakewalk Home Studio, I can attest to the fact that it works just fine using Sonar XL v2.1 and Windows XP. So if you need to encode to MP3 and would rather spend your money on a good bottle of wine, then at least raise a toast to Mr Elmholdt!
Free MP3 Encoder For Sonar
Sonar can save audio in MP3 format, but only if you pay $29 to unlock the trial version MP3 encoder that expires after 30 days. This is because it's necessary to pay a license fee to use the Fraunhofer MP3 encoder, and Cakewalk doesn't absorb that cost — after all, not everyone wants or needs MP3 export capability. However, there is a free alternative available at http://cwenc.sourceforge.net. Cwenc (Cakewalk Encoder), written and copyrighted by Mikkel Elmholdt, encodes to both MP3 and Ogg Vorbis file formats. Using it is simple: download the program, run the Setup program, and Cwenc overwrites the existing Cakewalk MP3 encoder (mp3enc.exe) located in the Shared Files folder.
Now here's the really wonderful part: you can play the instruments via MIDI. Right-click on the blank part of a Storm instrument, select MIDI configuration, tick On, and choose the desired channel. Set that same channel number in the MIDI track's Ch parameter (Out should of course be set to Storm). Set the instru
ments to different channels, and select the one you want to play at Sonar's MIDI track. You may want to create additional MIDI tracks so that each instrument has its own track, with its own assignment. You can play the drums too; just clear any existing pattern and 'play in' the part.
Current Versions
Sonar/Sonar XL: v2.1.
Control-clicking on a Storm instrument knob specifies how it will respond to MIDI controller signals; you can enter the channel and controller number manually, or just click on Learn, diddle the control you want to use to drive Storm (I often use the controller knobs on my Midiman Oxygen8 — very handy) and let Storm do the hard work. If you put Sonar into record, it will faithfully reco
rd whatever control signals you put into it, thus automating Storm's sound on playback. Not enough control? You can also create envelopes in the MIDI tracks. If you want to know what value controller you should enter for the envelope, just Control-click on the parameter you want to control and it will show the existing assignment.
There are some problems with effects, though. I recommend turning all the Dry controls to zero, as that prevents any straight instrument signal from getting into the primary track. Then, use the remaining sends to determine the strength of the effect you want to add. The effect outputs will show up in the master track, and its fader can now serve as a master effects return control. What makes this all the more fun is that the send and effects parameters can be automated, as well. Storm is fairly processor hungry, so after creating a loop or section with it, I'll usually bounce the results to a hard disk track. You can solo individual tracks to save out elements of the loop individually. 
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Sound On Sound : Est. 1985