John Vere

This is a weird one. The guy who commented on my Video was right. He went to install Free Sonar and got full version at a discount. I assumed the $99. I wanted to see if I had Cakewalk installed which of it's included content would port over to Sonar. I used my laptop for this as I don't like installing anything I don't need on my main Daw. After installation when I opened Cakewalk an Orange toast said "Sonar is your next Step- Explore the free tier or get the full access for a year with an exclusive offer just for you" being curious I clicked the link and the below screen showed me I could get a year for only $49. So I guess this is a push to win over the holdouts. It would seem this deal is only available once again to new members and is targeted directly at Cakewalk users.

It is identical to using Cakewalk with the only obvious exception of a Nag bar infer the menu bar. It is a vastly improved version that is totally supported. Only negative to some is the graphics are not to everyone’s taste and there is no theme editor to fix this. i switched to Sonar over a year ago and I really never noticed after a week. We are just sorting out questions of if certain add ins included with Cakewalk that are not included in this version will be ported over. So far it’s a very short list of things missing mostly plugins. Why? Because it’s a very good marketing tool. Example it has me thinking that I can return to using Sonar. And already on my Video’s comments someone said that they installed it and they decided to buy a membership. Free software leads to sales.

Pretty sure this is included and if you already have them they most certainly are available in the Free version. If you install the Cakewalk Product Centre you will see the installers for all the add on s including SI packs. Items with Crowns are available only with membership. pro Channel has a crown. But then as example Drum Replacer doesn’t have a crown so I downloaded it. When I tried to install it a box told me that it couldn’t proceed because it couldn’t find a legitimate version of Sonar. Hmm? Because I installed Platinum and all my Legacy stuff using CCC I have SI instruments. I don’t have Cakewalk and I don’t want it on my new build. But if someone who has Cakewalk could install Free Sonar and post back that Drum Replacer, SI Instruments and all the pro channel stuff are available in Sonar then that’s good news for Cakewalk users. So far I only see a few things missing that are totally not important to me. Im not sure why Drum Replacer is missing but if it was included as an option from CCC I might not have installed it because I don’t use it. It never works properly for me. Today I will start a test project and see what happens. At this point Im finding zero difference between my paid version I used up until this March, and the free version other than the Nag screen. Oh and I noticed that the Concrete Limiter was missing but that’s because it is in the add on pack and Splat doesn’t have it. I redid my W11 OS so Im starting fresh.

My video already helped sign someone up! Read the comments. Offering this free version is a brilliant idea and will help bring people back. It will also help move people away from Cakewalk as now they have a supported and vastly improved version to use under the same conditions. It also is incentive for me to make new videos. It’s a sign that possibly they do have a marketing strategy. Haven’t seen anything yet unfortunately. This is a sign now to me that is a game changer.

Im just working this out. So far all I found missing was the Drum Replacer and the concrete limiter. Im sure this is what is the main difference. It seems it’s really Sonar with a bunch of plug ins missing. Plug ins are not an issue really because there’s enough free stuff out there to make anyone happy. The software is a huge improvement and has many features that Cakewalk doesn’t have.

Just released on June 18th.

I'm afraid Session drummer is not free. It's included with Membership Sonar. Sorry I can't think of free multi sample players off hand but hopefully someone else has a recommendation.

Exactly what @Colin Nicholls said. Example I have a Membership to Bandlab good for another month, I download and install Sonar I would then Log in with that account ( Sock Monkey) Sonar would be 100%. But I just installed Sonar ( this is a brand new OS re do ) and I logged in using my John Vere Account and Sonar is in evaluation mode with Nag screens. So far all I found missing was Drum Replacer. Then the missing effects and the new sampler etc. Otherwise it's Sonar. Cool. I'm happy.

Speaking of helpful Tutorials. I made a video to show everyone how easy it is to install it. It's actually the normal Sonar installer, not a separate one. That was my problem! So here I unlock the mystery of the hidden treasure. It's absolutely very good news. Good move Bandlab and Sonar team!

When I can’t find a vst I look for a sample in wave format. then you use a sample player and I use Session Drummer for percussion. I couldn’t find a good wire brush sample so I recorded my own. I also made a hammer hitting a railroad spike once. I don’t own a Cajon but the music store would let me use one. You could use an iPhone or a hand held recorder like a Zoom. Just record a few minutes hitting it in various places and then you chop them up into samples, normalize them etc.

I never left. John was booted out last July, I then was SockMonkey , he got booted out last March ( you’ll see him marked as Guest) and so now im back and trying really hard to behave myself!

The following is offered as constructive criticism. You guys REALLY need to fix Sonars web presence. I had a heck of a time finding out about installing this free version.

Yes that was a great feature of Session Drummer. It’s it think the only drum vst that lets you use most formats of audio. I don’t have Next installed but for sure it had a multi sampler I think it is called the pad sampler. Funny Sonar doesn’t share the Next effects. Session drummer has come with every version of Sonar for a long time. It just didn’t come with Cakewalk.

I only use 2 workspaces, One screen, Two screens. And I use the view shortcuts a lot. I dabbled in screensets a few times and got mixed up. The only one I'm not sure anyone sorted out was per project console view strip sizes. Example small project, big strips, large project small strips. Or a mixture. I am positive this can be done per project with screensets but never got it going.

Exactly. So with Workspace you only have to customize your settings once. With screen sets you have to manually re do them for each project. And you can use both if you wish. I think you have to set the workspace to None to use screen sets? Never tried that.

Sort of kept secret from the public for now but this is good news for those of us long time fans who have changed Daw’s due to the Membership fiasco. I would love to continue using Sonar but due to not having confidence in the future I was not going to renew my membership next month. I also am not interested in Cakewalk as it’s unsupported and could be deleted any time. So this situation had me reluctantly returning to Platinum. This new option will give me access to the supported version. I was hoping that someday Sonar would come available as a lifetime option but this is a very good solution for me. Thank you who ever came up with the idea. Having a free version ( not Cakewalk) is a great way to get new users involved. Waveform has this option. I would imagine that the next step is to remove Cakewalk as I don’t see any point in keeping it now.

You’re posting in the wrong forum then. This is the free Cakewalk version forum.

Check the System Exclusive and event list for midi commands

It was my understanding that no updates were available for the free Cakewalk software. All updates are for Sonar. The only updates that they have applied to Cakewalk since the fall of 2023 are what they called maintenance and a few minor bug fixes. It seemed to be mostly changes to the activation stuff.

Learn the basic shortcuts for all the views. Example D is the multi dock. B is browser I is Inspector Set up the sizes of the various views the way you want and save that as a new workspace. I call mine “One Monitor “ Then use the shortcuts to open and close the multi dock or the browser etc. I then have a workspace for 2 monitors with the multi dock on second monitor. You can update your workspace anytime if you need to.

Wouldn’t that new sampler they added do this? I used the one included with Next which for sure played drums , never tried the Sonar version.

Yes saving a workspace should do that.

I have a Motu M4 and since day one it has had an issue with Cakewalk and Sonar which caused it to record distorted sound. Re booting my computer solves this problem every time. The distortion happens when I have had the computer running for a few hours and have used the internet. My other interfaces don’t have the same problem.

Yes it’s a well documented CPU hog! It seems to not be as much of a problem for the Mac folks.

Yes I was referring to the DAW Waveform formally called Traction. It is as old as Sonar and still owned by the original developer. It has a free version. I bought the full version for only $59 on sale. It has a great tool tip function built in that is like having a teacher looking over your shoulder telling you what each feature is. If those tool tips can provide audio feedback then you should be able to navigated the software easily. It has an excellent midi interface. it is the only legitimate solution to the free version of Cakewalk.