Cakewalk

Understanding how to program SFZ files opens up lots of ways to better exploit what Sonar's bundled soft synths have to offer. Don't panic: it's easier than you might think...

When is a soft synth not just a soft synth? When it's also an effects processor...

Side-chain inputs on software processors can open up a whole new world of control possibilities — and now Sonar 7's plug-ins have this facility. We show you some ways of using it in your music.

Why take two digital audio programs into the studio, when you can optimise Sonar to do many of the common tasks you'd expect to need a dedicated audio editor for?

When it comes to the Sonar mixing console, you don't have to simply take what you're given, because there are lots of ways of making it fit your working methods. We explain how, and pass on some handy shortcuts along the way.

Sonar includes many effects that are useful for bass guitars, and also offers bass-friendly features that help speed up the recording process.

Sonar was one of the first DAWs to take looping seriously — which means that you'll find plenty of tools for making loop-based music easier.

There's more to dynamics than compression and expansion, and now transient shaping is part of Sonar 8, courtesy of the TS64 Transient Shaper plug-in.

With Sonar 7 just out, it's time to tweak all our preferences to perfection, before they're transferred over into the latest version of the software.

How can you improve a MIDI + Audio sequencer thats already as comprehensive as Sonar? Cakewalk have added some impressive new plug-ins, but theyve also gone back to basics to take MIDI editing to new levels of flexibility.