Q: I want to know more about SONAR.
Can you do the same things with it that people do with Pro Tools?
A: You certainly can do many of the things that people do with Pro Tools,
including recording and playback of many tracks, and sophisticated editing.
The main difference is that the expensive pro tools systems handle the
actual audio processing on their special hardware, while Sonar is a
"host-based" system that uses the computer's CPU to handle the audio
processing. If you have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on a
fully blown out pro tools system, you certainly would be able to use nearly
limitless effects without taxing your computer. However, pro tools is only
accessible on the Mac using Alva's outspoken (no longer available for sale),
and the Mac operating system version 9, now considered to be becoming
outdated. Cakewalk SONAR on the other hand, is very accessible with the
CakeTalking scripts.
Q. How can I record more than one instrument at a time with SONAR?
A. You want to have the ability to record from several inputs at once.
There are soundcards that easily allow you to do this. The m-audio delta 44
has 4 inputs and 4 outputs, while the delta 1010 has 8 of each. See
http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/soundcards.htm
for pricing and ordering information. With cakewalk SONAR, it is quite simple to mix down all of your
tracks to a stereo pair of outputs. As a matter of fact, many SONAR customers
use multiple inputs on an audio interface, but only use one pair of outputs
since all of the mixing is done right from within SONAR. Dancing Dots sells
custom built workstations specifically designed to work with the SONAR recording
software, along with the screen reader JAWS and our special set of JAWS scripts,
called Cake Talking. You can find out more about our accessible workstations at
http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/workstations.htm.
Q: Does SONAR have its own effects processing?
A: Yes. SONAR comes with many high quality effects, including a lexicon
reverb and a suite of high quality effects from Sonitus, including compressor, e q,
chorus/delay, Waahwaah, and more.
Q: What kind of sound card would I need to make it work?
A: The answer will depend on the type of recording you want to do. If you
are going to be recording one track at a time, you can do just fine with the m-audio
delta 44, or if you are really on a tight budget, the m-audio audiophile
2496 is still very good. If, on the other hand, you are going to be
recording many tracks at once, for instance, a whole band, you may want to
consider the m-audio delta 1010 or the Mark of the Unicorn 2408. Dancing
Dots carries the full line of Delta M-audio sound cards at discounted
pricing.
Q: Is the audio produced with SONAR comparable to other programs like
Logic?
A: Yes. The audio engine in SONAR is very stable. Combined with all of the available effects and productivity features of SONAR with CakeTalking, you can produce final mixes of the highest quality. Think of SONAR as an excellent grand piano. As well made as that piano may be, the quality of the music it produces depends on the skill of the player.
Q: Does the sequencer in SONAR come with different drum loops?
A: Yes, you do get a library of drum loops with Sonar. SONAR Producer Edition ships with an excellent feature called Session Drummer which allows you to add natural-sounding drum loops in a wide variety of styles to your projects.
Q: I am interested in recording myself singing with mp3 or CD karaoke files,
then saving the recording as an mp3 and burning it onto a CD. Would I be
better off using Cake Walk or sound forge to accomplish this?
A: You would be much better off using SONAR to do this. Sound Forge is really
a stereo mastering program, you can't overdub on an existing track like you
can in SONAR. In addition, since you can have nearly limitless tracks in
SONAR, you will be able to sing multiple takes, saving each on a separate
track so that you can then pick the best verses, choruses, bridges, etc. and
cobble together that seamless perfect
performance you are striving to get. Add to that the ability to include
just the right effect on your voice, and you'll be well on your way.
Q: Is it possible to run JFW through my soundcard on my computer while running
my music through my external sound card?
A: You should use your low-end sound card which may be built onto the PC's mother board,
to produce JAWS speech. You can use your Delta card or other high-end soundcard to play
audio from Cakewalk SONAR. You can tell Windows to use the low-end card as the preferred
audio device and you can make sure that Cakewalk does not know about the low-end card but
only about the Delta card. From now on in this little tutorial, "Delta card" will stand
for any high-end soundcard.
Use the following strategy under Windows XP. If you're using a different version of Windows,
this strategy should work but the exact steps may be somewhat different.
Telling Windows about your Low-end Card
- Press the Windows Key to go to the Start Menu.
- Press S until you hear Settings.
- Press c for Control Panel or just press ENTER.
- Press the letter S until you hear Sounds and Multimedia.
- Press ENTER.
- Press CONTROL+TAB until you reach the Audio tab.
- Make sure that your low-end soundcard is selected as the preferred play back and recording device.
- You probably also want to choose your low-end card for MIDI play back too, at least for now.
- Tab to "Use only preferred devices" and be sure that it is checked.
- Tab to the Apply button and press ENTER.
- Tab to the OK button and press ENTER. At this point, Windows is set properly.
- Reboot your PC.
Setting Cakewalk SONAR to Know about Your High-end Card
- Run SONAR.
- Press ALT+O, then the letter o to set Audio options.
You'll probably come right up into the "General Tab" dialog but, if not, press
CONTROL+TAB until you're there.
- Make sure your Delta card drivers are selected for both the Playback Timing Master
and the Record Timing Master.
- Press CONTROL+TAB to move to the Drivers page. Again, make sure that your Delta drivers are
checked for input and output. In this dialog you will use the space bar to check only those
drivers which you want SONAR to use. You should check all Delta drivers shown for input and
output and make sure that the drivers listed for your low-end soundcard are not checked.
- If you see an option to allow you to use the ASIO drivers under the Advanced tab, you should definitely check it.
- Find the OK button in any of the Audio pages and press the space bar to select it. SONAR may tell
you that the changes you have made will not take effect until the next time you start SONAR. Press
ENTER and close SONAR with ALT+F4. Re-boot your system. Restart SONAR and try playing the SONAR
Audio and MIDI DEMO2.cwb file (see below).
- Note: with certain soundcards, you will need to unload and restart JAWS on booting up your system.
Otherwise, you may hear JAWS speech coming through your high-end soundcard despite setting up your
Windows audio options properly in the Windows Control Panel as shown above. This un-loading and
reloading may even be necessary on systems that have had the jaws.ini file revised to list the
low-end soundcard as synthesizer 1.
Do you have some speakers connected to your Delta card? If not, you can try using a pair of headphones.
You must have some way of listening to the audio signal from the Delta output. If you do, try opening
the SONAR Audio and MIDI DEMO2.cwb file which you will find in the SONAR Sample Content folder. All
of the instruments in this project file are recorded on audio tracks which you should hear through
your Delta card once you have followed the instructions above. Only Track 4 is assigned to MIDI
percussion which you should hear through the low-end soundcard's MIDI output unless your low-end
card has no MIDI output facility. If you don't hear that wood block ad other percussion on Track 4,
you'll need to set your MIDI options with ALT+O and the letter M. But don't worry about that until
you've corrected your audio set up.
BTW, you will find excellent information on setting up your MIDI and audio hardware in Lessons 46-54
of the main CakeTalking tutorial. From your Windows desktop (WINDOWS_KEY+M) type the letter C until
you hear CakeTalking... Press ENTER. Type T until you hear "Tutorials" and press ENTER. Type C
until you hear: "CakeTalking Tutorial For Sonar 4.doc". Review the Table of Contents for the Lesson
you wish to read. Ideally, you should eventually read this tutorial document in its entirety.
Q: While using CakeTalking for SONAR 5 with SONAR 5 Studio or Producer, Why do triple presses of
the S key and M keys fail to un-solo and un-mute all as they should?
A: It may be that you have your display settings incorrectly configured.
Make certain that your Themes and Appearance settings are set to "Windows classic".
See the multi-page dialog under Windows Start Menu | Settings | Control Panel | Display.
It is a good practice to have your video display connected and powered on when making changes
to video display settings even if you are a JAWS user who usually keeps the video monitor turned off.
Q. I am running SONAR 6 with CakeTalking. Whenever I insert an instance of Dimension Pro into my project, (and press enter to load a program bank) I receive the message that says: "External VST Window" and I am unable to use any of the Dimension Pro sounds. How can I correct this problem?
A. Dancing Dots has learned that, at least on some systems, the Check Windows Settings utility available from CakeTalking's submenu on the Start Menu, reports that all Windows settings have been configured correctly even though
the DPI setting is actually still incorrect. Refer to the document entitled "1SettingsXP.rtf" found in the Setup folder of the CakeTalking for SONAR 6 folder in your My Documents folder for all details of required Windows configuration for optimal use of CakeTalking. All of these settings should be manually reviewed and changed if necessary. Here's an excerpt from the current version of that document that refers to configuring the Display setting found in the Windows Control Panel:
f. In the Display page, the screen resolution should be 1024 by 768. The color setting should be 32 bit.
g. Press Enter on the Advanced button of the Display page. In the General page that pops up, the DPI setting should be Normal size (96 dpi).
h. Control Tab to the Adapter page, and press the List all Modes button. In the list all modes page, the setting should be 1024 by 768, 32 bit, 60 Hertz.
Note: It is a good practice to have your video display connected and powered on when making changes
to video display settings even if you are a JAWS user who usually keeps the video monitor turned off.
Q: If I try to toggle a record or playback click on using the SHIFT+M or
CONTROL+M hotkeys, SONAR tells me that I do not have a usable MIDI device.
A: If you don't have a MIDI keyboard or a MIDI sound module to use with SONAR, you can still set up an
audio click via your PC's soundcard. Try the following:
- Run SONAR and load your project or create a new one.
- Press ALT+O, P or click on Options | Projects
- Press CONTROL+TAB until you reach the "Metronome Page"
- Tab to the field that says: "use MIDI Note" and press the up arrow key until it says "Use Audio Metronome".
Tab to OK and press ENTER.
- If the resulting metronome click is unsteady and erratic, you most likely need a better soundcard!
Dancing Dots carries top quality soundcards at competitive prices which we know will work well with SONAR and JAWS.
See Sound cards for details.
Q: Why might you use both a pre-amp and an audio mixer?
A: If you are using a mixer that has a separate set of auxiliary outputs in addition to the main outputs,
such as the Mackie 1202 vlz or some of the higher end boards by other manufacturers, then a separate mic
preamp won't be necessary, although good stand alone mic preamps will give you better quality than those
found on most mixers. If, on the other hand, you are using one of the lower end behringer mixers, for example,
then you would want to use a separate mic preamp to plug your vocal mic into and feed the input of your sound
card with it, while using the mixer to take input from the sound card's outputs and any of your midi gear.
Q: When exporting files and converting to MP3 format, I received an error message that my MP3 encoder is locked.
What do I need to do?
A: The mp3 encoder is an additional $19 unlock and can be downloaded from the Cakewalk website:
http://store.cakewalk.com/product.asp?ed=100.
Q: What do I do when using a Dongle with Jaws?
A: Some customers using the dongle with Jaws have experienced audio glitches and excessive dropouts when using Sonar.
We strongly recommend that you switch to the ILM authorization instead.
Q: What is DirectiXer? Why might I want it? Where can I get it?
A: DirectiXer (pronounced "Directizer") is a third party utility that "wraps"
VST plug-ins (effects and software synths) so that they can be used in Sonar, which natively uses the DXI format. It is available at www.directixer.com for around $50. VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology, a format developed by Steinberg to be used with their Cubase program, which is another musical production environment similar to Cakewalk SONAR, though not accessible for the blind at this time. Since the VST format has been around for quite some time now, there are many more plug-ins available for it, including many very impressive freeware ones. DirectiXer enables sonar users to take advantage of them, and, in addition, includes a feature called "use generic interface." This feature replaces the normally inaccessible user interface of the plug-in with a text list box of many of its parameters, along with standard sliders which can be controlled from the computer keyboard. This enables the blind user to gain the ability to customize synthesizer sounds or effect settings, which, for the most part, would be impossible without this feature.
Q: Is the VST native support in SONAR 5 accessible and would I want to use it instead of a stand-alone VST wrapper like DirectiXer?
A: While the native VST support in SONAR 5 does not include the "use generic interface" option, it does expose plug-in parameters in SONAR's track inspector.
Parameter values can be changed with the normal value change key strokes.
However, only four parameters are shown at one time, so each "widget" must be reassigned to show a different parameter. This can be accomplished quite easily,
however, and in many cases, it is quicker to find the desired parameter using this method because first letter navigation works inn SONAR's "assign parameter"
context menu. Since many software synths contain hundreds of parameters, this can simplify the process of finding something specific. In addition, the Cakewalk
native support makes it easy to automate any parameter you want, so that you can do things like control a filter or the decay of a reverb in real-time during a
project. Our experience has shown that there is no hard rule of thumb when deciding which method is better for a given situation.
Users should be encouraged to experiment to see which is more comfortable for their needs.
Q: Can I use CakeTalking for SONAR on my laptop PC?
A: Yes, you can. If you use CakeTalking on a laptop PC you must set the JAWS Keyboard Layout to "Desktop" (Jaws/Options/Basics/Use Keyboard Layout).
For best results when using CakeTalking on your laptop, Dancing Dots strongly recommends that you use a full-size PC Keyboard as many
important CakeTalking functions are controlled by keystrokes from the num-pad. USB or wireless PC keyboards are relatively inexpensive. Some
customers have had success with auxiliary num-pad attachments but others have not.
You will need a second, high-end soundcard for your laptop. See our sound cards page for cards which
Dancing Dots sells and supports that will work well on your laptop.
Q: How do I make a CD or audio file from my SONAR project files?
A: Once you have finished preparing all necessary tracks in SONAR, press ALT+F | E | A to open the Export Audio dialog. Type the name of the audio file. Then tab once > and choose
the output format you desire. Before you can create a CD or mp3 file from your audio projects, you will need to record any midi tracks that are using hardware
synthesizers as audio tracks. Make sure the midi hardware you want to record, e.g. keyboard, drum machine, etc. is connected to your
sound card's inputs either directly or through your mixer. Refer to all Lessons
on setting up your audio and MIDI hardware to ascertain that your system is capable of successfully accomplishing the mix-down process. One option for converting MIDI to audio tracks is to solo the midi track, arm an empty audio track, and record it. When you are done,
un-solo and then mute the midi track, and unarm the audio track. Repeat this process for all of your hardware midi tracks. Note that if you want to create an mp3 file you may have to license a third-party mp3 encoder application to do so.
For important information on techniques for preparing your final mix for export, see the Lesson entitled "MIXING DOWN. DISTRIBUTING YOUR PROJECT" in the CakeTalking tutorial document. Also use the find command to read references to "Bounce To Tracks" for more information on converting MIDI tracks to audio tracks and applying audio effects before exporting your project. If you are looking for an easy-to-use and economical CD burning software program,
you may want to consider winamp pro. You can purchase winamp pro by going to http://www.winamp.com and clicking on the "gopro" link. It costs only $20,
and has a very straight-forward user interface When you install Sonar, you will have a trial version of cakewalk's mp3 encoder on your computer
which will allow you to convert a limited number of projects to mp3 format. You can get the full version from www.cakewalk.com .
