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anyone got this , just looking for a WEE REVIEW. Worth buying ?, etc. would love to get to know more about sonar , but don't want to purchase if it is not worth the money. Thanks https://reverb.com/uk/software/learning/craig-anderton/1959-ebook-the-big-book-of-sonar-tips-by-craig-anderton
Last edited by beatmaster; 01/16/19 08:41 AM.
win 10 64 bit 16gb,i7 chip, ssd 500gb, m-audio air, ,Roland BK-7M, 1000,shure sm7b,sonar,acid,mixcraft, variety of plugins.Sample tank 3,Kontakt. TC Helicon Voicelive 3 2 . https://beatmaster1.bandcamp.com/releases
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I'm not familiar with this, but Craig Anderton is probably the definitive author of SONAR tips.
For a general guide to SONAR, for well over a decade I relied on the SONAR Power! series by Scott Garrigus.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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My take.... Even though I don't have this one you refer to Craig has been around for a long time in the Cakewalk fold. The one I do have (which is packed in box since we recently moved) is a similar and quite in depth book but by Scott Garrigus during the Sonar 5 era. I think the book was a good investment...as I would think Craig's book would also be a worthy one. Scott has a good informative site in case you're remotely interested: http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/Judgment call for you....me?....I'd get it. Let us know..... EDIT: looks like Matt and I were typing simultaneously. 
Last edited by chulaivet1966; 01/16/19 09:18 AM.
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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I bought this Big Book. It shows various ways Craig handles things. He has some good ideas. A lot of the stuff in the book I was aware of. I think you need a bit of product knowledge to get the best out of Craig’s book.
However, if it is a book on understanding Sonar the book by Scott Garrigus is way better (I still have Sonar X2 power, and it is still good IMHO). His books are on older versions but most of that stuff is still relevant. Over the years I have had several issues of Scott’s book and still have Sonar X2.
Another book I have is Simon Cann’s book Cakewalk Synthesizers (From presets to power user) but it has lost some relevance. Some of the synths are not there but it covers things such as TTS, Dimension Pro, Rapture, Z3TA also SFZ et al. Having said that Simon Cann has several small books available on Kindle quite cheap that explain the various form of synthesis. These are well worth a look if you require more understanding of synthesis. Off memory “How to Make a Noise” series.
My thoughts
Tony
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The Craig Anderton Big Book is great if you already use Cakewalk but want ideas to use it more efficiently. It is essentially a combination of some of his older books on Sonar and expanded versions of the weekly tips he posted in the Cakewalk forum and covered in his monthly Sound On Sound column. In short it's not a good overview but you do get a lot of deep learning about a multitude of Cakewalk features. The +++ Sonar Reference Guide +++ is the last user manual pdf file published by Cakewalk one month prior to Gibson shutting Cakewalk down. For some reason BandLab doesn't include the pdf file as part of their Cakewalk by BandLab download. The reference guide is also available as an online resource +++ HERE +++ Another free resource is +++ Cake TV +++ which is a product video series developed in house by Cakewalk staff. It's similar in nature to the videos offered by PG Music. To me, the best introduction to Cakewalk is the +++ Sonar Explained +++ video series by Groove 3. For $23.33 US (it's on sale right now, normal price is about $30 US) you get a series of 49 videos that fully cover the DAW in 5 hours and 30 minutes. I suggest purchasing the videos as a 1.1 GB download then you can view offline or on a portable device like an e-reader, tablet or cellphone. You watch whenever it's most convenient to you. Each video is fairly short so you can break up your watching into small chunks.
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Thanks guys
Geez, big food for thought.
Off to explore the books, and the Groove videos sound worth a look.
Big thanks for the supplied links.
Last edited by beatmaster; 01/17/19 06:39 PM.
win 10 64 bit 16gb,i7 chip, ssd 500gb, m-audio air, ,Roland BK-7M, 1000,shure sm7b,sonar,acid,mixcraft, variety of plugins.Sample tank 3,Kontakt. TC Helicon Voicelive 3 2 . https://beatmaster1.bandcamp.com/releases
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Jim,
MalwareBytes blocked the link to the +++Sonar Reference Guide+++ at 4shared. I could be a false positive, but I wasn't going to allow the access.
The online manual link at bandlab is fine though.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Got to love MalwareBytes. Great software.
Regards,
Bob
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Sonar Reference Guide, Downloaded and scanned with Ashampoo no bugs etc.
win 10 64 bit 16gb,i7 chip, ssd 500gb, m-audio air, ,Roland BK-7M, 1000,shure sm7b,sonar,acid,mixcraft, variety of plugins.Sample tank 3,Kontakt. TC Helicon Voicelive 3 2 . https://beatmaster1.bandcamp.com/releases
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Notes,
I'm confident the file does not have malware. I haven't seen any posts on the (now frozen) Cakewalk or (new) Cakewalk by BandLab forum indicating anyone has experienced issues with the file provided by the Cakewalk server.
The size of the file downloaded from my Cakewalk account and the file up on 4Shared is the same down to the byte.
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Probably a false positive. I tried again with no problem, it might have been one of the ads on the site. Still couldn't download without signing in though.  Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Help! Tech S.O.S (Off topic)
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Bought the Groove 3 videos.
Thanks Jim for the info and link.
win 10 64 bit 16gb,i7 chip, ssd 500gb, m-audio air, ,Roland BK-7M, 1000,shure sm7b,sonar,acid,mixcraft, variety of plugins.Sample tank 3,Kontakt. TC Helicon Voicelive 3 2 . https://beatmaster1.bandcamp.com/releases
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Notes, I wanted to print out a hard copy of the Sonar Reference Manual until I found out how much it costs to print more than 2,000 pages! It is very comprehensive though. As Cakewalk by BandLab continues to be developed I'm sure the program will diverge enough at some point for differences between the manual and program to become noticeable. But considering the number of bug and stability fixes BandLab is providing it should be a long time.
Beatmaster, I think you'll enjoy the videos, I know I do. Substitute the term Cakewalk for Sonar and BandLab Assistant for Command Center and even video # 1 makes sense.
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Jim, I downloaded the manual, it took forever. I have a slow DSL Lite connection because I'm about 3 miles from the end of the fiber optics. So when it finally downloaded, I double-clicked to open, and Adobe informed me it was corrupted and wouldn't open.
With >2,000 pages, I wouldn't attempt to print it out. The toner and paper cost would be prohibitive. So the on-line link you provided should work fine for what I need. (Thanks)
I'm still using Master Tracks Pro for MIDI and Power Tracks Pro for Audio, but PTPro has been orphaned so I feel I need something new.
I tried a demo of Cubase and it froze my computer (Cubase LE) and I downloaded Cakewalk. I won't be installing it until after the busy tourist season is over, we have plenty of gigs and we always need new songs. I can work with MTPro very fast and until the gigs slow down I need a very fast interface so I can focus on very fine music.
I thought I could look through the manual and get some head start pointers, but the on-line one should be good enough for that.
Passport, the makers of Master Tracks Pro was purchased by Microsoft many years ago to use their technology in Power Point.
MTPro and Encore were not of interest to MS so they were purchased by GVox in I think the early 2000s and GVox did nothing but introduce a few bugs.
Then one of the GVox guys bought both Encore and MTPro, changed the name back to Passport and I think had good intentions but it's been 10 years with no support.
MTPro doesn't work at its best in Win10, and I know some day it will no longer work, so I need to learn to use something else. Power Tracks has no way to manipulate the groove, so it's out, Cubase is out, and that pretty much leaves Cakewalk.
I hate to lose MTPro. Being that it's MIDI only (no audio), it means no sub-menus or sub-sub menus. Every dialog box I need is available with one click of the menu, and everything pops up fast. It has all the MIDI editing features one could ask for too. But everything has its expiration date, and MTPro has already passed its 'best used by' date.
So come the summer slow season, I'll be digging into Cakewalk.
I registered on the Cakewalk forum, and they seem to be friendly so I'm sure if I need help, I'll get it there. I foresee no problems working with the DAW, just understanding the interface and working efficiently with it.
Insights and incites by Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Bob
Just a thought have you tried a trial version of Mixcraft? you ought to
I have and use(d)them all (plus a half dozen or more you didn't mention)
Larry
Last edited by Larry Kehl; 01/20/19 09:58 AM. Reason: more typos
Win10Pro,i9,64GB,2TBSSD+20TBHDDs,1080TI,BIAB'24,Scarlett18i8,Montage7,Fusion 8HD,QS8,Integra7,XV5080,QSR,SC-8850,SPLAT,FL21&others,Komp.14,IK suite&others, just a guitar player-AXE FX III &FM9T, FishmanTP, MIDIGuitar2, GK2/3'sw/GI20
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No, how does Mixcraft do MIDI.
I'm most interested in MIDI editing, including the way to inject a groove into the old BiaB styles with quantized drums.
Notes
Bob "Notes" Norton Norton Music
https://www.nortonmusic.com
100% MIDI Super-Styles recorded by live, pro, studio musicians for a live groove
& Fake Disks for MIDI and/or RealTracks
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
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- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
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Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Mac Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Mac & Windows Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
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