The Cakewalk Blog

Every January, thousands of gear companies, PR professionals, artists, and gear-junkies converge in Anaheim, CA for what is known as one of the world’s biggest music festivals; The NAMM Show.  If you have never been, it’s a playground for the musician where one can find everything from the latest boutique guitar amp to the newest beta software development.

As a software company that participates at the NAMM show year after year, one pattern we have seen which holds true for all companies is that you just know when you have a great product on your hands.  This year was no exception when we unveiled the new CA-2A leveling amplifier to the press, artists and gear-heads; the feedback was beyond our expectations.

The CA-2A had 3 primary points of contact with the public at NAMM:

1. On the show-floor where SONAR X2a was being demonstrated on three machines.

2. The main-stage demonstration area where Cakewalk’s Seth Perlstein (along with other artists) showed off all the features of our software.

3. The Cakewalk V.I.P suite at the Hilton where we set up a studio atmosphere to show off our newest software combines with Roland’s integrated hardware.

While the show-floor and main-stage demo area served as a platform to show our customers and retail buyers our new products, the Hilton suite was where we were able to get the CA-2A in the hands of some well-known artists, along with seasoned experienced gear-savvy journalists.  The beauty of these meetings was that we were not looking for pats on the back or hot air; this was a chance for us to get straight feedback from professional users other than our beta developers for the first time.  After 4 days filled with over 50 meetings, here are a few quotes directly from the demonstrations:

TC Spitfire (producer/songwriter/engineer – Paul Oakenfold, Cher)

“With the style of music I produce on a daily basis, I’m excited to put the CA-2A to work next week.  I absolutely have to have side-chaining capabilities with dance music, so to have that feature in this type of leveling amplifier is huge for me.”

Tim Wynn (producer/composer/musician – co-owner of SonicFuel studios specializing in Film, Television and interactive media music)

“On any given week I could be writing and producing music for feature films, TV shows or mixing music for some of the biggest titles in video games.  I think the CA-2A is going to be a big part of my plugin arsenal.  From what I just heard in direct comparison to the other leveling amplifiers, I can’t see why anyone would not pick this up.  The fact that it’s lightweight on DSP and you don’t need an external card to run many                                              instances will be a big plus for me; for anyone for that matter.”

Shawn Clement (producer/composer/musician – Clemistry Music at Paramount Studios, Hollywood, CA)

“Anyone looking for a fat classic vintage compression sound will love this thing.  It’s great that you [Cakewalk] guys modeled the R37 screw as well which works miracles on vocals.” [The R37 screw helps control the high-frequency compression.]

These were just a few out of the many folks that stopped in to hear the CA-2A up against other leveling amplifiers.  In the next week I will be uploading another blog here exemplifying the sonic capabilities of the CA-2A as I put it to the grind here in my studio in NYC.

A quick look at the CA-2A Feature Highlights:

• VST, Audio Units & ProChannel compatible (Mac/PC)
• Meticulously modeled.
• With only a few simple controls, it’s easy to use and provides instant gratification.
• Warm, smooth and natural sounding compression characteristics.
• Frequency-dependent gain reduction.
• Compressor and Limiter modes.
• Up to 40 dB of smooth gain reduction.
• Sidechain input for ducking, de-essing and pumping.
• Gain reduction CV output to modulate other effects.
• Zero latency for real-time tracking and mixing.
• Fully modeled “R37″ HF Pre-emphasis control.

See all CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier features

Availability and pricing:

The CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier is now available for $99/£79/€99 and includes VST, AU, and ProChannel Module formats.  Customers who previously purchased the PC2A (ProChannel Module) format can upgrade for $19.99/£15.99/€19.99 on the Cakewalk Store.

Download the CA-2A T-Type Leveling Amplifier

SONAR X2 Producer users rejoice. Now you can get awesome guitar tones and effects from clean and spanky to crushing metal with the new TH2 PRODUCER amp modeling plugin by Overloud!  (more…)

I finally had the chance to record and mix a full production in SONAR X2 Producer last week and one of my favorite new features is BREVERB SONAR.  I knew it was going to be good, but I didn’t know HOW good.  I found that out immediately when I sent the lead vocal track though to a bus with BREVERB SONAR and it was instant gratification.

Check out this video to see BREVERB SONAR in action on a vocal track:

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SONAR X2 Essential and Studio users rejoice. Now you can get awesome guitar tones from clean and spanky to crushing metal with the new TH2 SONAR amp modeling plugin by Overloud!  (more…)

Watch the promo video to see Z3TA+ 2, Rapture, and Stutter Edit in action.  What you hear was made exclusively with these 3 plugins!

Cakewalk and iZotope have teamed up to bring you three inspiring tools for electronic music at a price that will make you think you are dreaming! Save over 50% when you download the Electronic Musician’s Dream Bundle which includes:

• Z3TA+ 2 (regular price: $99)
• Rapture (regular price: $99)
• iZotope Stutter Edit (regular price: $249)

Regularly $447 if purchased separately, you can download this special bundle for only $199.95 through July 24th – save over 50% off the regular price.

Download it today

Z3TA+ 2 has been a huge hit with musicians since its release in August 2011 but we still get that one persistent question: When will it be available for Mac? We are happy to announce that day is coming soon.

Z3TA+ 2 will be available in VST3 and AU format for Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher and VST2 for Win7/Vista in early August 2012. Customers who have already purchased Z3TA+ 2 for Windows will receive the new Mac installer at no charge when it is released. We will have more information on Z3TA+ 2 for the Mac in the coming weeks.

If you love Z3TA+ 2 and know a friend or family member who is using a Mac, please let them know about this exciting news. They can also sign up to get updated information via email and to be notified
when it goes on sale.

Visit the Z3TA+ 2 for Mac sign up page

SONAR X1′s Active Controller Technology (ACT) allows for full control over your mix and effects via hardware MIDI controller. Not only can you control mix settings like volume and pan on tracks, ACT lets you control parameters on effect and synth plugins in real time!

Coupled with the Roland A-300PRO MIDI Keyboard Controller you can fully immerse yourself in your mixes. No more “mousing around” to draw automation for a filter sweep on a synth, grab a control and get interactive.

ACT has templates for most MIDI controllers so setup is a breeze and hardware controls are already mapped to the most common parameters in all of your plugins. Want to customize the mapping? It’s as simple as pushing one button, clicking the parameters and moving the desired hardware controls. No menus needed!

Watch ACT and the A-300PRO in action (more…)

As a lifelong guitarist and tone hound, I’ve had the pleasure of recording and playing on some of the world’s most cherished amplifiers. My sonic heaven is a set of glowing tubes spilling into a vintage Marshall 4×12 cabinet and projected out at mind numbing volume. But at 3am when I have an idea that just can’t wait and I don’t want to be arrested for disturbing the peace, I find my salvation in Native Instruments Guitar Rig 4 LE which is included in SONAR X1 Producer.

Armed with a guitar and a cable, your choice of great tones await within Guitar Rig 4 LE in just a few steps. From searing, tube style lead tones, thick and chunky metal to crystal clean majesty it’s all there! (more…)

One of the great aspects about SONAR X1 is that it’s a very diverse D.A.W.  There are so many different ways to create music and it’s great for people who like to experiment with sounds and develop unique sonic pallets.  One of the main reasons why many pro users choose SONAR is because there are a lot of veiled jewels and tools that help musicians to sculpt a unique and individualized sound.

Similar to the Beatscape Content articles that were posted, I decided to dive into another one of my favorite hidden treasures of SONAR of which some people may not be aware; the pristine and fat FX engine of Z3TA+ that can be used as a standard VST effects unit.

When I first started using SONAR I loved the fact that it came with so many great VST plugins.  It wasn’t until 6 months into using the program when someone pointed out to me that you could use the Z3TA+ synth as an actual VST effect anywhere you use regular plugins – on clips, in bins, on busses… etc.  After dragging Z3TA+ onto a track I was instantly surprised at what I heard. (more…)

Modern music production combines many different elements. Loops and samples, sequenced drums and synths, live instruments and more. In this video, you can sit in on a session where all of these elements are used to create a piece of music from start to finish with SONAR X1 Producer.

Pull up a chair, crank up the volume and see just how easy and fun it is to create music when the inspiration strikes using SONAR! After watching the video, download the content pack which includes the Track Templates and presets used in this project.

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