I stumbled across a few extraordinary plugins I didn't know I already had in Sonar and Cakewalk because they were "hidden." They are hidden in Sonar and in some versions of Cakewalk. But they are great for drums and vocals and specifically designed for them. There are also a few more that are great for other things, but the vocal and drums plugins I can see using on every mix.
(I have close to 1,000 VSTS by Waves, Izotope, IK Multimedia, you name it, and these two are very, very useful additionals to the signal chain mix, with phenomenal presets.)
my songs....mixed for good earbuds...(fyi..my vocs on all songs..) https://soundcloud.com/alfsongs (90 songs created useing bb/rb) (lots of tips of mine in pg tips forum.)
I use the Sonar default fx all the time. I don;t have the Bandlab version so I don't have those.... but the old Sonar X1 has some pretty useable fx that simply get the job done.
One of these days maybe I will upgrade my gear to the 64 bit platform and get Bandlab.
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.
You will only have these if you have an older version of SONAR.
X1? Jeez, that's 11 years old. Way past time to upgrade. CbB is so far past X1 it is unreal.
Last edited by Byron Dickens; 08/09/2207:50 AM.
Byron Dickens
BIAB. CbB. Mixbus 32C 8 HP Envy. Intel core i7. 16GB RAM W10. Focusrite Scarlett 18i 20. Various instruments played with varying degrees of proficiency.
You will only have these if you have an older version of SONAR.
X1? Jeez, that's 11 years old. Way past time to upgrade. CbB is so far past X1 it is unreal.
I absolutely understand that. For me, X1 32bit running on XP Pro 32 is rock solid and it gets it done like I want and need. At some point, yep, I will upgrade to 64 bit and I'll most likely have to repurchase all of my favorite plugs and FX and synths or use J-bridge to continue using the 32 bit versions. One of these days, I will do that. That day is not today. And tomorrow isn't looking good either.
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.
But today is not that day and tomorrow It's just too far away!!!!!! Neither day is looking good Oh God, I wish they would but they never could and it's like I say today people today, or tomorrow well, just ain't that day!!!!!
--the end--
David Snyder Songwriter/Renaissance Man Studio + Fingers
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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.
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.
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