Sonar / Cakewalk

Ever wished you could use your favourite control surface to change not just mixer controls, but effects plug-in parameters and virtual instrument settings? Apparently someone at Cakewalk has too...

Sonar's Session Drummer has evolved from a MIDI plug-in to a sophisticated tone module that also includes pattern playback capabilities. We take a look beneath the surface.

Sonar's Audiosnap time-stretching tools offer some mind-boggling possibilities, including REX-like beat slicing and sophisticated audio quantising.

One of the biggest new additions in Sonar 6, Audiosnap, is a powerful time-stretching audio toolkit promising better-quality stretching and enhanced controllability. This month we'll explain the basics of using the new tools, following up next month with some real-world applications.

Sonar 6's new 'channel strip' offers multiple routings that enable techniques such as parallel compression, frequency-conscious dynamics control and side-chaining.

Another major upgrade for Cakewalk's DAW software adds powerful new features, and provides hands-on control at a touch.

Sonar seems to get more customisable with every version, and the newly released Sonar 6 is no exception, allowing you to tweak various aspects of appearance and operation until the program looks and feels just the way you want it.

As video becomes more accessible, Cakewalk have taken notice, adding a lot of video-friendly features to Sonar 5. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to combine the worlds of audio and video within the program.

The Pentagon I soft synth bundled with Sonar 5 is a powerhouse that even offers vocoding facilities. If you've overlooked it so far, remedy the situation with our tips, tricks and programming guide.

Sonar offers several ways to mix, but is that a benefit or a source of confusion? Learn what the various mix modes do and you can choose the one that's right for your project.

If you never venture into Sonar's off-line DSP section, now could be the time to check it out, following Cakewalk's v5 revamp of these useful functions.

The technology for easily achieving an expensively produced effect when recording guitars is becoming more and more accessible. We take a look at what Sonar has to offer in this department, and examine other tools for creating killer guitar sounds.

In a program as complex and feature-rich as Sonar, it's almost inevitable that there are useful little facilities that could make your life easier, which you have somehow overlooked or forgotten. We turn the spotlight on some of the best.

Now that the RXP REX-file player is bundled with the Producer Edition of Sonar 5, the creative possibilities of REX files have really opened up for Sonar users. We take a tour around RXP and discuss its features and uses.

Take the trouble to discover the ways of moving around your project quickly and efficiently: it saves time and improves workflow.

The Cyclone 'groove sampler' DXi, bundled free with Sonar, is a powerful tool that allows loops of all kinds to be dissected, manipulated and generally bent to your will...

The new version 5 sees Cakewalk's Sonar becoming a more complete production package than ever, with the addition of new synths, a convolution reverb, 64-bit support and Roland's celebrated Variphrase vocal processing technology.

Cakewalk have strengthened the MIDI side of Sonar 5 considerably, in recognition of the rise of software synths that benefit from enhanced MIDI controllability. We run through some of the new features and suggest how you might want to use them...

With Sonar Home Studio, Cakewalk have made the core features of their flagship sequencing application available at a bargain price.

When the version number's most significant digit increments, you know something big is going to happen — what's inside Version 5?

This modest little soft synth has been bundled with Sonar since version 1.0 and is very kind to your CPU resources, yet many Sonar users are still unaware of just how much you can squeeze out of it. We present some evidence.