Will legacy Sonar and Home Studio owners be given access, or deep upgrade discounts to the new Sonar? I've been a faithful Cakewalk user for more than twenty years, and while I appreciate the massive improvements and free access to what is essentially a full version of Sonar Producer, I would be upset to be locked out of projects and software that I've updated with Cakewalk by Bandlab.
And no, Sonar was not created under Gibson's ownership. It was a years-long collaboration between Twelve Tone Systems (the creators of the original Cakewalk), and Roland Musical Instruments. Z3ta, Roland Groove Synth, Rapture, Dimension Pro, and Cakewalk Sound Center were all products of that partnership, as well as the sounds in TTS1 gm synth, which were built on the Roland Sound Canvas.
The CA-2 Leveling Amp, a couple compressors, several now-stock Cakewalk effects, the original Pro Channel were designed by the legendary Craig Anderton, who taught many musicians and aspiring electronics engineers to build their own effects pedals and sound equipment through his columns in Guitar Player, Keyboard Magazine and Electronic Musician, the last of which, he was creator and publisher. He also gave us the first set of guitar sounds available in CSC and Rapture, which it seems were either dropped or augmented by Gibson, in favor of Les Paul samples.
I hate to say it, but Gibson did very little for the Cakewalk community, in their 3 years, or so, of ownership. It is understandable, though, as they were going through a rather gnarly period of financial stress, themselves.
Bandlab saved Cakewalk, and for that, I am extremely grateful. I hope this evolution is beneficial to the dedicated community of Cakewalk users, and to Bandlab, as owners.
Rant over. Thanks for reading.