One thing I like to do is hang out in other music forums as well as here.

The Cakewalk forum is a great place to hang out and learn things, and since I use Sonar, it's a natural. In the cakewalk forum, there is a sub forum called SOFTWARE. I like to drop in there every so often and read the postings. That is where people discuss the latest and the greatest new offerings from various companies....

It was in such a posting that I was able to pick up a FREE copy of one of the East West synths with a limited but excellent sample library. E/W is one of the better sample libraries out there and they are priced above Kontakt. I could not believe EWQL was giving that thing away, but they certainly did because it came from their web site. It didn't last long before they took the offer away. You have to be paying attention and act quickly on some of the deals.

Just this morning I found 2 FREE sample libraries for the Kontakt player... drum loops and heavy guitar all sampled.... I may never use them but then again, I just might.

I have discovered other cool freebies in this same forum. Plug ins for mastering, and samples..... all sorts of things and of course, the "No-Brainer" deals on VSTi's and FX..... super low crazy prices..... all the good inside scoop.

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.