Kick Cakewalk Around With Me For A Minute Please

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Moshpit

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I am ready to purchase something for Midi. My needs are simple, Roland A-33 keyboard I like to play and practice plus use notation software to print out tunes. Mostly use the program to interface with a sound module hooked to my home stereo.

Question. Which do I buy:

1.) Cakewalk trial version came with the USB adapter (Midiman) I bought. I could purchase Cakewalk after the trial period expires. (Sybellius or Finale is about the same price as Cakewalk aren't they - I think they are only for notation though) Cakewalk is both sequencer and notation isn't it? Drawback, = I will have to learn Cakewalk.

2.) As I am changing all my audio from a Mac to a new Windows notebook I could upgrade my existing Mac versions of MusicTime and Master Tracks Pro software to Windows versions for $129.99. This is software I like.

3.) Or, I could just get Noteworthy Composer (notation only) for 39.95, save money and survive just fine with a very simple program.


Any thoughts on what might be the best choice for me?
 
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I will go with #1. I never used any software you mentioned, but i knew Master Track which i had the demo came with "Audible PC" book. I still use CWPA 9 with korg x5d and can do almost anything i wanted. Beleive me, cakewalk is very good. The time you take for learning won't be that long, and the lessons worthed it. You'll be able to do many things you never thought before (including write notation off course) :)
 
Go for Cakewalk. Once you start using it you won't want any other software. ;)
 
Thanks Guys

I trust your recommendations here. And, the fact that there is a lively forum on the subject is a definite plus when considering buying software.

My only reservation at this point are: 1.) the tutorials didn't work in many cases I couldn't tell what they were referring to for controls, for instance, for looping, they said to click on a control but I was not able to locate it. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. 2.) I tried to e-mail the company from their website to let them know I was considering purchasing and wanted to know how the looping feature worked - no response yet. But, how many software companies respond to e-mails. The only one good at that I know of is Adobe but they aren't into Midi (yet.) 3.) I don't know how much it is going to cost to activate the software as a registered version. If it's what I saw on the web site. it is over $200.00 and I could get Finale or Sybellius if I have to spend that much.

Just some thoughts before I take the plunge.

I would get it based on your input here.

Thanks Again,

Moshpit
 
Just a thought. I love Cakewalk, but it all depends on your needs. Sounds like you are a Midi only guy. Cakewalk's strenght is the integration of a sequencer with midi and audio recording. If notation is all you need you can get away a lot cheaper, but then you will run out of options very quickly when you want to do more.

Sonar and Cubase are the 2 flagship options out there at this time. Obviously I would recomend Sonar (this is a Cakewalk forum after all) as I have been using CW products for many years and has never run out of options.
 
Mosphit,
If you ask in a Cakewalk forum people will tell you to get c
Cakewalk ... Well, unless they are in a divorce phase.

When I settled for Cakewalk Sonar, I had already tried it. Actually I got Cakewalk version 2 with an early sound card back in 1993. Upgradeable as always. I bought the upgrade then and never used it. Then last years after having tried a little of this and that ocasionally for about a year, it was time to get serious, make a choice and actually pay for a program I really wanted to use. That was when I settled for Sonar 2.

Last year Cubase SX was just out. Everybody told me it was the most professional sequencer/midi program, and furthermore I could get it at a price never seen since over here. Yet, using Cubase felt very awkward to me. And even though Sonar at times is a bit tricky to figure out too, in my opinion it generally behaves the way you expect a Windows program to behave. Much like Word or Excel. So still not using it every week, I feel much more at ease with Sonar.

Then there is Logic which I believe is only a Mac program now. And a couple of programs so expensive that they are not for you and me.

There are, of course, a lot of cheaper or free programs. But you already have a trial version that probably is just as good as those, plus it is upgradeable to something better. So I guess that is no option.
 
Eureka!

"integration of a sequencer with midi and audio recording."

Are you saying that cakewalk will save files in other formats like .wav or .mp3? This would be great and add to the program's overall value. I just bought Adobe Audition to do file editing before burning to CD. I don't know if Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) will read midi files - most likely not.
 
Yes, cakewalk will save your files in .wav or .mp3.
You just have to create a new audio track and record what playing on your midi tracks.
I don't now CEP, but maybe you can do the same with it.

BS
 
Re: Eureka!

Moshpit said:
I don't know if Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) will read midi files - most likely not.
Click to expand...
It won't. Trust me. :)
 
On the other hand Cakewalk programs won't do the detailed wave editing you can get with CEP. Sure, you can add effects to audio tracks, adjust volume and all, but you can't go in and mark something as noise and then have that noise reduced, to give an example. Also for cut and paste, CEP will take a closer look at the waves etc. I have used this to find finger noise during acoustic guitar takes and then remove the offensive parts by reducing sound level drastically exactly where the noise appears.

I only wish there was some way to call up a wave editor from Sonar (or is there?). I did this kind of work a couple of years ago in n-tracks, restoring and making digital some reel to reel recordings from the seventies.
 
tombuur said:
I only wish there was some way to call up a wave editor from Sonar (or is there?).
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Oh yes, there is! :D

Using SONAR Utils can make any Audio-editor (or program for that matter) pop up under the Tools menu. After you've done this, just select a clip and go Tools -> Cool Edit to automaticly open the clip on CEP :)

You can edit the Registry yourself, but I've found that the SONAR Util is much easier...
 
tombuur said:
On the other hand Cakewalk programs won't do the detailed wave editing you can get with CEP. Sure, you can add effects to audio tracks, adjust volume and all, but you can't go in and mark something as noise and then have that noise reduced, to give an example. Also for cut and paste, CEP will take a closer look at the waves etc. I have used this to find finger noise during acoustic guitar takes and then remove the offensive parts by reducing sound level drastically exactly where the noise appears.

I only wish there was some way to call up a wave editor from Sonar (or is there?). I did this kind of work a couple of years ago in n-tracks, restoring and making digital some reel to reel recordings from the seventies.
Click to expand...

There is nothing that you can do in an editor that Sonar can not handle with plug-ins, with the added benefit that it stays synchronised to the rest of the project.

And yes, you can call an editor from Sonar. Most editors are added to the Tools menu when you install it. Just click on a clip and select the editor in the tools menu. Sonar handles the exporting to and importing from the editor.
 
Bummer. Haven't tried CE yet. Is there not a way that you can add it to the .ini file?
 
Okay, thanks for the tips about the adding editors to the Tools menu. It's just that in n-tracks all I had to do was double click on the clip and up came the chosen wave editor. Guess this will give you the "acidizing" editor in Sonar.

While you are at helping me with my most wanted "missing" features, is there any way I can add comments to a Sonar file? As it is I keep a Word file with the same name and notes and comments about what I have done, need to do etc. Just wish I could be inside Sonar and saved along with it.

I have tried using lyrics to make notes about individual audio tracks, what guitar played, settings and more. But it feels a little stupid using lyrics for this purpose.
 
Sorry to be so stupid. I have found out. There is space in "Info" to make comments. Writing the above post it occured to me I had only searched for "notes" in the help file. Now did a search for "comments" and found what I needed.
 
Sybellius or Finale is about the same price as Cakewalk aren't they - I think they are only for notation though) Cakewalk is both sequencer and notation isn't it?
Click to expand...

If notation is important to you, don't go for Cakewalk Pro Audio or SONAR, notation is not one of the strong features of the software. In fact, it's practically useless for that purpose unless all you want to do is occasionally see some phrases in notation view. It's useless for lead sheets or part writing or anything you would want to generate sheet music for.

Oh, and that's Sibelius, not Sybellius.
 
BloodHound said:
Bummer. Haven't tried CE yet. Is there not a way that you can add it to the .ini file?
Click to expand...
You don't really read my posts, do you? ;)
 
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