Cactus Music Cakewalk Tutorial Series.

[John Vere]

Update note Sept 2023. This is now finished and I will not be adding any more videos to this series. I will wait and see what Sonar or Next has to offer and then see If more videos are even necessary. All the basics for new users should be here including step by step on recording a song. My series is made for singer Songwriters and how to record an cover tune or original song and then prepare it for dilivery to 

26 Tutorials for Cakewalk. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7YqVth30eGsURWrKGeu-fFyg3ETjF-Ox

 

 

Edited September 15 by JohnnyV

[Eric Parsons]

Exciting news! 

[John Vere]

What I find interesting is that nobody ever looks at this sub forum.  It’s kinda like a bottom drawer in a spare bedroom.  
So I could actually say just about anything here and nobody will ever see it . Cool. 

 

Edited June 21 by JohnnyV

[Jim Fogle]

Great video set John.  I'm very glad to see you decided to update and repost your original videos.  That is a lot of work.

While the tutorial section does not get many views I believe the tutorial section is one of the most important forum sections.  I'm confidant it is one of the first sections visited by users new to audio production and Cakewalk by BandLab.

[John Vere]

Actually very few views of my videos originate from this forum. You can track your videos and where the the view originated from.  The majority are Google search of topics, then You Tube links , Facebook then subscribers. You will notice why people like Mike don’t bother posting here. 
This forum is still the ultimate source for information but it is not visited anywhere near  as much as Facebook. 
I support this forum, not Facebook so even though it’s not going to net me much traffic overall I don’t care. I do the videos for this forum, not Facebook.  

Edited July 12 by JohnnyV

[Byron Dickens]

Should be a sticky

[John Vere]

I applied to get the beta test version of Next. I should be able to start planning tutorials for it. That will be a great project for hopefully this fall.  But seems at this point Christmas is coming and no word from above.  I’m optimistic that Next will be just that for me.  
It’s what Noel said the other day about learning from the mistakes made creating Cakewalk that spiked my interest in it. Sonar will just be a continuation of those mistakes. But Next will be a clean slate.  

[Teegarden]

7 hours ago, JohnnyV said:

It’s what Noel said the other day about learning from the mistakes made creating Cakewalk that spiked my interest in it. Sonar will just be a continuation of those mistakes. But Next will be a clean slate.  

I thought the same thing. However, the focus seems to be significantly different:

• Next focus: creation centric features (Easily turn your ideas into songs, offers easy to use yet powerful tools for creators of all stages)
• Sonar focus: production centric features (The ultimate music production package for creative minds, continued commitment to serving core audio production needs and providing the best all-around audio solution for Windows).

Why keep wasting resources on a DAW that has a "complicated" code legacy while you've created an entirely new one with the legacy issues ironed out if it has not its own important place in the portfolio? 
If it is just to please Sonar and CbB DAW users, they might as well just provide the promised final update and leave it at that. You can keep using that one for years to come and if you want something better you just change to the Next (which you can keep next to your legacy DAW).

I've got the impression that most new DAWs are more focussed on EDM and use of loops and samples vs real playing and recording of VSTs and line/mic recorded instruments. My impression from the very limited info so far is that Next is more in line with the former. 

So I wonder for a composer/singer/songwriter that is focused on writing pieces for bands, creates orchestral pieces, etc. (someone who is not mainly cutting, pasting and manipulating loops and samples) which one of the two is most advised.  

@Noel Borthwick any suggestions?

[John Vere]

3 hours ago, Teegarden said:

So I wonder for a composer/singer/songwriter that is focused on writing pieces for bands, creates orchestral pieces, etc. (someone who is not mainly cutting, pasting and manipulating loops and samples) which one of the two is most advised.  

Very good point and at first I was thinking the same. I was not at all going to look at Next because the initial promo reads like that. But other snippets of info started me thinking that even if it’s curb appeal is focusing on none musicians they are still creating a DAW.  
My needs are singer songwriter and backing tracks. Backing tracks are pure midi and my original songs are just those same backing tracks with guitars and vocals added. 

All DAWS are very capable of these tasks but it’s always been about that workflow and how quickly I can get what I want finished with out fussing with technology.  And cost.
Playing live shows requires I prioritize my limited budget on hardware, not software.  I’m very frugal with my software purchases. 
So Next might be a DAW that easily meets my requirements and hopefully retaining some of Cakewalks workflow.  
I would be shocked if it doesn’t contain Midi and Audio with full editing capabilities.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  
 

Sonar might be more suitable for my workflow  but if they do unlock CbB it would need some giant improvements to make me buy it. I’m totally fine with Cakewalk the way it is. I have zero interest in more features.  But then I said that 6 years ago and look who’s using them now! 

[Herky Acuff]

I have been appreciating your video series. A lot of the information I already know but they serve as a good refresher - and who knows, there is always something I don't know that I pick up on. Thanks again.