More Sounds, Features, & Better Performance in SONAR 8 & V-Studio 700 Updates

Cakewalk today announces free updates for SONAR 8 Producer, SONAR 8 Studio, and SONAR V-Studio 7.

The updates, for Windows XP and native Vista (32bit and 64bit), are available as FREE downloads to registered SONAR 8 and SONAR V-Studio 700 customers.

The SONAR 8.3 update adds classic Roland sample content for Dimension Pro and Dimension LE, drum kits for Session Drummer 2 and new usability enhancements and engine optimizations. The SONAR 8.3 update also addresses performance issues reported by customers after the initial release of SONAR 8.

Sound On Sound highlights a few of the latest improvements to SONAR 8 including Snap Presets, an External Insert facility and new content for Dimension Pro and Session Drummer 2.

Additionally, since the initial Winter NAMM update announcement, numerous enhancements are now included in a version 1.1 software update for SONAR V-Studio 700 and a firmware update for its onboard Fantom VS hardware synthesizer.

Click on the following links to download the SONAR 8.3 Update and SONAR V-Studio 700 1.1 updates.

The NAMM Show 09': Coverage by Cakewalk

For those of you off to Anaheim Convention Center, stop by Booth #6800 to see Cakewalk live in action. If you’ve chosen to stay at home this year, get everything you need to now right here on the Cakewalk Blog. We’ve made a dedicated NAMM Page featuring posts from the exhibition floor, new product information, and media to keep you informed! Check back throughout the weekend to see it all.

To learn about our new products, view the official press releases here.

Here’s a quick overview of the artists stopping by to say hello at NAMM 2009:

Top TV and Video Game music producer, Shawn Clement, best known for scoring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Batman: Vengeance, hosts a live demo on Video scoring.

World-renowned composer, engineer, & producer Craig Anderton will demo his brand new Electronic Guitars  Expansion Pack for Rapture and Rapture LE. Watch preview here.

Legendary turntablists, DJs Faust & Shortee, will be mixing it up at the booth.

Cakewalk’s Brandon Ryan hosts a live panel discussion on “Music For Video Games” featuring these four industry professionals:

Chuck Carr is the music supervisor for SONY Computer Entertainment (PAIN, Gran Turismo 4, and Twisted Metal: Head On)

Doyle W. Donehoo, the video game extraordinaire, is best known for his work in (America’s Army, Savage, Savage II, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II)

Timothy Michael Wynn is an award-winning television, film, and video game music producer and his company, Sonic Fuel, has provided cutting edge music for clients including BMW, Energizer, Gatorade, Mazda, Nike, and others.

Rob King has won numerous awards for his work as sound designer, music composer, and dialogue director (Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam, Reservoir Dogs, Heroes of Might & Magic V, Scarface: The World is Yours, Jade Empire).

View SONAR 8 Clinic Today

If you missed our Inaugural Webinar on SONAR 8, here’s your chance to catch up! Watch the footage below and be sure to make our Justin.tv page a ‘favorite’ for future Live Broadcasts!

If you couldn’t make it to our 2008 Music Production Tour, you don’t want to miss this Tour Recap video hosted by Cakewalk’s Product Specialist Seth Perlstein!

Seth will show you many of the new features in SONAR 8 including:

Newly-added instruments: including Beatscape, Dimension Pro, and TruePianos Amber VSTi

New features: such as Loop Explorer 2.0, higher track counts with lower latency, single instrument tracks, Anytime Recording, and more

New plug-ins: including the TS-64 transient shaper, TL-64 Tube Leveler, Channel Tools, and more

New creative content: maximize your creative potential with SONAR’s massive collection of loops, samples, and presets

Also, here’s a first glimpse of the new SONAR V-Studio 700, the groundbreaking new hardware/software solution from Cakewalk by Roland.

Visit the SONAR V-Studio 700 website to watch exclusive videos and get in-depth product information. More details will be unveiled at NAMM 09’ in January!

Cakewalk's Music Production 08' Tour

Cakewalk is coming to a city near you, starting Tuesday October 14, 2008! Join us to explore the latest in digital audio workstation technology- with SONAR 8 (and complimentary products) plus a sneak preview of the new SONAR V-Studio 700 Production System.

Cakewalk’s Product Specialists will be on hand to demo many of the new features in SONAR 8 including:

Newly-added instruments– including Beatscape, Dimension Pro, and TruePianos Amber VSTi

New features– such as Loop Explorer 2.0, higher track counts with lower latency, single instrument tracks, Anytime Recording, and more

New plug-ins– including the TS-64 transient shaper, TL-64 Tube Leveler, Channel Tools, and more

New creative content– Maximize your creative potential with SONAR’s massive collection of loops, samples, and presets

Also, get a first glimpse of the new SONAR V-Studio 700, the groundbreaking new hardware/software solution from Cakewalk by Roland. Visit www.sonarvstudio.com to watch exclusive videos and get in-depth product information.

These events are FREE and open to EVERYONE, from new users to long-time Cakewalk customers.

For a complete listing of Tour locations and information, check out the Music Production 08′ Tour Page!

For dates, times, and locations of all Cakewalk Events please visit the Cakewalk Events Page Or call 888-CAKEWALK and choose Option #2 to speak with a customer service representative.

Live from AES: V-Studio 700 Debut

Live from AES 2008: SONAR V-Studio 700 Unveiling
Uploaded by CakewalkInc

Cakewalk’s founder and CEO Greg Hendershott, Executive VP of Products Michael Hoover, and Director of Product Evangelism Brandon Ryan give a product presentation in the unveiling of SONAR V-Studio 700 at the 125th AES Conference in San Francisco, California.


Cakewalk’s Executive VP of Products Michael Hoover gives TechBreakfast an early morning product demonstration at the Cakewalk Booth on SONAR V-Studio 700.

Take Control with V-Studio 700

Cakewalk announces the release of SONAR V-Studio 700: The Ultimate Solution for Music Production.

SONAR V-Studio 700 provides the “ultimate solution for creative music production” through a complete offering of finelyy-tuned and tightly-integrated hardware and software.

– Sonar 8 Producer
– VS-700C Control Console
– Vs-700R 1/0 Module
– Onboard Roland Fantom VS Hardware Synthesizer
– V-Link Support for editing and control of EDIROL video hardware

It will be today at the Cakewalk demonstration booth at the 125th AES Conference in San Francisco, CA.

For more information, check out our SONAR V-Studio 700 Website, available in 6 different languages.

Artist Spotlight: Malik Williams

Wearing the Many Hats of a Busy Synthesist

Songwriter, engineer, actor, and film & t.v. music producer Malik Williams

By Randy Alberts

If some commercial jingle writers’ first gigs were in garage bands, fewer still of those went on to also write and produce music for film, reality t.v., the Web and hip-hop, pop, dance, rap, R&B and rock artists. It takes a lot of control room savvy and musical chops to wear that many hats. But from this even smaller group of first-call music and audio professionals, there may be just one—Malik Williams—who can say they’ve written a song for a movie in which they’ve also starred.

“Yeah, I’m a real Hollywood kind of guy,” jokes the 41-year-old Williams, a Bostonian since birth who values his role as father and family man over his Sunset Boulevard connections. “What I mean is that I feel real comfortable in front of the camera doing these bit parts. It’s not really something that I’m pursuing as a career. I’ve just stumbled upon this acting thing, but so far it’s been a positive stumble.”

Malik Williams plays a convincing cop with Donnie Brasco star Robert Miano on the set of Boston Girls

Malik’s song contribution and bit part as a cop in Boston Girls, a “dark horror comedy” film released this year, are two recent entries to an impressive credits list. His unique balance of old and new school music writing and production skills have been tapped for a host of song and album (Charlotte Church, Bobby Brown, Elton John, Mya, Britney Spears, Danity Kane, Tyrese, Earth Wind & Fire), feature film (Sony Pictures, Miramax, Disney, Lionsgate, Stage 6 Films) and television (CBS, ABC, MTV, VH1, TruTV, Showtime, HBO, E!, Bravo) productions. If you’ve seen Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Tila Tequila’s A Shot At Love, Pimp My Ride, Cribs and Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew or happened upon some of his various ad spots running on numerous channels, chances are you’ve heard some of Malik’s music, too.

“When you think of all the types of projects I work on—film, t.v. shows, ad jingles and hip-hop, pop and rap albums,” says Williams, “you’ll see my music and audio production tastes are all over the place.”

Continue reading “Artist Spotlight: Malik Williams”