Sonar (software)

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sonar
Basic data

developer Cakewalk Inc.
Current  version Platinum, Professional, and Artist (monthly updates)
(September 2015 (monthly updates))
operating system Windows Vista / Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10
programming language C ++
category Music software
License Proprietary
Cakewalk.com

Sonar is a MIDI - sequencer and a Digital Audio Workstation that the company Cakewalk Inc. (previously Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. ) has been developed.

History and Purpose of SONAR

Sonar is based on the Cakewalk MIDI sequencer for MS-DOS. With the option of integrating audio tracks, the product, now under MS Windows, was initially continued under Cakewalk Pro Audio , and finally renamed Sonar .

There are currently program variants Platinum, Professional and Artist. Artist is the variant with the smallest range of functions, including a limitation of 64 audio tracks and buses and a limitation of the audio effects per project. The Professional Edition removes this limitation and has a largely identical range of functions as the Artist Edition, which is particularly evident in the editing options for audio material and the ability to create surround mixes. The Platinum Edition offers the maximum range of functions, with a modular channel strip on all audio and instrument tracks and a much more extensive selection of included plugins.

There is also a "mini version", which is not available for sale, called Sonar LE . This is usually supplied as an addition to music hardware and instruments from various manufacturers and contains a minimal range of functions.

The Platinum and Professional versions in particular currently offer a complete production environment for recording, arranging and producing pieces of music and for setting film material to music. Virtual instruments (VSTi plugins) can be used or external audio signals can be recorded using a suitable audio interface . A mixer view is available for the mixing process , the structure and signal flow largely based on an analog mixer , in which the individual signals can be mixed and given effects . Virtual (VST) effects or, via an input / output loop on the sound card, external hardware effects devices, including compensation for system latency, can be used.

Various editors can be used to edit MIDI data. These are the so-called piano roll view (display of MIDI events as a bar), the event list (display of MIDI events in tabular form), the score view (display as notes) and the step sequencer view (view for creating drums Rhythms in the form of a stylized step sequencer ).

Sonar has been available on Steam since 2013 . Buyers of the current version receive updates and premium support for twelve months, after which they have to purchase a new season pass via Steam, which extends this phase for a further twelve months.

On November 17, 2017, Gibson, the parent company of Cakewalk Inc., announced that it was discontinuing work on all Cakewalk products, including sonar. The Cakewalk servers are to remain online so that all online functions of the software can still be used. However, there will be no more updates.

At the beginning of 2018, Cakewalk was sold to the Singapore-based start-up company Bandlab, which now offers the software free of charge under the changed name "Cakewalk by Bandlab" and has thus given up the long-term name "Sonar".

Supported file formats

  • Audio file formats:
WMA, WAV, W64, ASF, AIFF, CAF, SD2, FLAC, RAW, OMFI, ACID-Wave, Rex, Rex64, MP3
  • Video file formats:
AVI, Quicktime, WMV, MPEG (import only), ASF (import only)

Supported plug-in and protocol standards

  • VST2.4 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • VST3 (32-bit and 64-bit)
  • DXi (DirectX instrument / effect)
  • MFX (MIDI effects)
  • ReWire (32-bit and 64-bit)

Version history of sonar

  • 1987: Cakewalk Professional 1.0 for DOS; Cakewalk Professional 2.0 for DOS
  • 2000: Cakewalk Pro Audio 9
  • 2001: Sonar 1: Native DXi support ( DirectX interface for virtual instruments and effects). VST instruments and effects can only be integrated via adapter programs.
  • 2002: Sonar 2
  • 2004: Sonar 3: Integrated VST to DXi adapter
  • 2005: Sonar 4; Sonar 5: 64-bit support as the first MIDI and audio sequencer.
  • 2007: Sonar 6: Native VST support; Sonar 7: New features mainly in the MIDI functions
  • 2008: Sonar 8
  • 2009: Sonar 8.5: Support for Windows 7
  • 2010: Sonar X1: completely redesigned surface, integration of a channel strip into the mixer of the producer version
  • 2012: Sonar X2: Support for Windows 8 and touch screens
  • 2013: Sonar X3: Comping, ARA integration, various new integrated VSTs and VSTis
  • 2015–2017: Sonar: partial subscription model, monthly updates for subscribers
  • 2018: Cakewalk Sonar switched to BandLab. All versions are now free of charge.

copy protection

Copy protection has existed since July 2005, which means that Sonar can only be activated by entering a product key.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ GIBSON BRANDS ANNOUCEMENT REGARDING CAKEWALK, INC. Retrieved November 22, 2017 .
  2. ^ Cakewalk Announcement - The Cakewalk Blog . In: The Cakewalk Blog . November 21, 2017 ( cakewalk.com [accessed November 22, 2017]).
  3. ↑ Bandlab releases free DAW Cakewalk. Heise Medien GmbH & Co. KG, April 11, 2018, accessed on April 11, 2018 .