n00b user: Accessing & editing Sonar 7 CWB files?

[Bryan K Borgman]

I used Cakewalk and Sonar for decades but stopped making new music in 2017 when my wife's cancer really took hold. I am interested in getting back in but my old desktop PC with Sonar 7 is long gone and now I've discovered Sonar is also long gone. I am trying to understand BandLab but so far no real results.

I have figured out how to upload an old CWB and listen to it but when I hit Mix Editor is gives me just one audio track and not the separate tracks of loops and live instruments.

Is there a way to access and edit my old files and pick up where I left off?? If so, how??

TIA!

[rsinger]

Bandlab has a number of products - two of which are Bandlab and Cakewalk. Cakewalk is just the latest version of Sonar. You download Cakewalk and open your projects in it. I haven't used Bandlab, but my understanding is that it's an online tool that you need to upload your stuff to. I suspect you want Cakewalk by Bandlab. If so you need to download it and install it on your computer. It's not clear from your post what you're writing about.

[OutrageProductions]

2 hours ago, Bryan K Borgman said:

I used Cakewalk and Sonar for decades but stopped making new music in 2017 when my wife's cancer really took hold. I am interested in getting back in but my old desktop PC with Sonar 7 is long gone and now I've discovered Sonar is also long gone. I am trying to understand BandLab but so far no real results.

The current version of Cakewalk by Bandlab is very similar to Sonar (5 to Platinum) so you will recognize most of it. It has lots of new features, but the core is identical. 

 

2 hours ago, Bryan K Borgman said:

I have figured out how to upload an old CWB and listen to it but when I hit Mix Editor is gives me just one audio track and not the separate tracks of loops and live instruments.

If your old CW Bundle files contained separate MIDI & Audio tracks, they should expand and be available (sans plugins & other minor items), if you open one and it only contains a single 'mixdown', then that was the way it was saved years ago.
If an opened CWB appears usable to you, immediately save it as a standard CWP (project) file and get to work!
Good luck!

[Starship Krupa]

Cakewalk doesn't require any "uploading," nor does it have any feature called "Mix Editor."

Cakewalk is the name for the latest version of the software that was once called SONAR. If you want to work with old SONAR files, you need to download and install Cakewalk, or as it's known by its full name, Cakewalk by BandLab.

The relationship between Cakewalk and BandLab is that BandLab is the parent company. They have an online DAW, also named BandLab. The online DAW can't directly open Cakewalk/SONAR CWB files. If you want to work with those you need to download and install Cakewalk, which is free.

Cakewalk is able to export files in a format that the online BandLab DAW can open if you later wish to work with the online DAW, but Cakewalk is a standalone program. You don't have to do anything with the online DAW unless you want to.

[User 905133]

On 7/17/2022 at 11:01 AM, Bryan K Borgman said:

I have figured out how to upload an old CWB and listen to it but when I hit Mix Editor is gives me just one audio track and not the separate tracks of loops and live instruments.

On 7/17/2022 at 1:47 PM, OutrageProductions said:

If your old CW Bundle files contained separate MIDI & Audio tracks . . . .

Two bits says @OutrageProductions has it right: CWB refers to *.cwb files [Cakewalk Bundle files] not Cakewalk by Bandlab.

FWIW, I just opened a pair of *.cwb demo files (one from 2002 and one from 2011) from Windows.  CbB successfully opened all of the tracks.

Edit:  On second thought, I stand corrected: the OP seems to be trying to open a Cakewalk file by uploading it directly to Bandlab the WebApp. 

Edited July 22, 2022 by User 905133
correction

[scook]

On 7/17/2022 at 10:01 AM, Bryan K Borgman said:

I have figured out how to upload an old CWB and listen to it but when I hit Mix Editor is gives me just one audio track and not the separate tracks of loops and live instruments.

This describes using the web-based app called BandLab run from BandLab Assistant.

To work with old TTS/Cakewalk files use the Cakewalk Installer (direct link) near the bottom of this page to install Cakewalk by BandLab.

If you had any experience with Cakewalk products released in 2011 or later, the interface should look familiar.