CAKEWALK sonar x3 User Manual
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CAKEWALK sonar x3 User Manual

CAKEWALK sonar x3 User Manual

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SONAR X3
USER GUIDE

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  • Page 1 SONAR X3 USER GUIDE...
  • Page 2 Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commit- ment on the part of Cakewalk, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accor- dance with the terms of the agreement.

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Table of contents Preface ........... 5 About this manual.
  • Page 4 3 Getting Started ........33 Creating, playing and saving projects.

  • Page 5: Preface

    The ReadMe file contains information that was not available at the time of this printing. On SONAR’s Help menu, click View Readme. • Access videos at http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV. • Visit the peer-to-peer Cakewalk forums at http://forum.cakewalk.com. • Visit the SONAR Support page at http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/product.aspx/SONAR-X3. •...

  • Page 6: Conventions Used In This Book

    Conventions used in this book The following table describes the text conventions in this book: Convention Meaning Bold Text that appears in bold is a command in SONAR. For example: Click OK. Right angle bracket A right angle bracket is a menu item separator and represents a level in (File >...

  • Page 7: Installation, Registration And Basic Setup

    Installation, registration and basic setup In this chapter, you will learn how to install and register SONAR, and also how to connect and configure your audio and MIDI equipment. In this chapter: Installation ..............8 Running SONAR for the first time .

  • Page 8: Installation

    Your SONAR serial number. Your serial number is located on the sticker on the DVD-ROM sleeve. If you purchased your copy as a download, your serial number will be available either through your Cakewalk.com store account by logging in and clicking on the “My Registrations” link, or it was delivered to you via email.
  • Page 9 Windows 7: Click the Start button and choose Control Panel. If your view is by Category, click Uninstall a program under Programs. If your view is by Large Icons or Small Icons, click Programs and Features. Select SONAR X3 and click Uninstall. Installation, registration and basic setup Installation...

  • Page 10: Running Sonar For The First Time

    Double-click the SONAR X3 icon on your desktop. • Windows 8: Click the SONAR X3 tile on the Start screen. Windows 7: Click the Start button, and choose Programs > Cakewalk > SONAR X3 > SONAR X3 (Producer or Studio). Configuring your audio device The first time you start SONAR, it automatically attempts to detect and configure any ASIO audio devices on your computer.
  • Page 11 Figure 1. The MIDI - Devices section. At the top of the window, you will see the MIDI Inputs. Make sure that all devices in this window are checked. If a device is not checked, click on the square next to it. At the bottom of the same window, you will see the MIDI outputs.

  • Page 12: Basic Audio Setup

    • Windows 8: Click the SONAR X3 tile on the Start screen. • Windows 7: Select Start > All Programs > Cakewalk > SONAR X3. When SONAR opens (and especially if this is the first time you open it), you will be presented with several different dialogs.
  • Page 13 Select the desired Input Driver. Depending on your computer's configuration, you may have multiple options available. Your Input Driver is typically your computer's sound card or audio interface’s input. You will want to set this to the device that you plug your microphone, guitar, keyboard or other input device into.
  • Page 14 Figure 3. The Audio - Driver Settings section. For more information and the recommended settings for specific models of sound cards, visit the SONAR support site at http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/product.aspx/SONAR-X3. Installation, registration and basic setup Basic audio setup...

  • Page 15: Connecting Your Equipment

    Connecting your equipment There are several types of audio interfaces (sound cards). CardBus (PCI), USB/USB2 and FireWire are the most common. Laptops can use an audio PCMCIA card (PC Card). Many audio interfaces also have MIDI inputs and some have built in MIDI synthesizers as well. This section covers the various audio connection options.
  • Page 16 The following table describes the various types of analog and digital connections you may encounter. Cable Type Description 1/4 inch TRS Balanced analog connection Balanced analog connection Microphones, professional audio equipment 1/4 inch TS Unbalanced analog connection Guitar cable, “Hi-Z” 1/8 inch “Mini”...
  • Page 17 Connect an electric guitar to your computer Computer Sound Card Headphones or Speakers Guitar DI Box (or external audio interface) Connect a microphone to your computer Microphone input Computer Sound Card Headphones or Speakers Microphone (or external audio interface) USB connection Computer Sound Card Headphones or Speakers USB Microphone...
  • Page 18 Connect a MIDI interface or controller to your computer USB connection USB MIDI Keyboard Microphone input Computer Sound Card Headphones or Speakers (or external audio interface) Microphone MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the way computers communicate with keyboards and other electronic instruments. The term “MIDI” refers to both the type of cables, connections, instruments and controllers and the “language”...

  • Page 19: Opening A Demo Project

    Click File and then select Open. This will bring up the Open dialog box, which is used to open Cakewalk projects that are saved on your computer. The Open dialog box functions like any other dialog in Microsoft Windows.

  • Page 20: I Can't Hear The Demo Project

    Select the file by clicking on it so it is highlighted and then click the Open button, to open the demo project. Note: If prompted to unpack the bundle, accept the default locations and click OK. When the project opens, the File Information window appears. This window can be used for storing notes, comments, credits and other helpful information about a project.
  • Page 21 I can see meters moving in SONAR, but I don't hear anything • The most likely cause of this is the volume for sound device is simply too low. You can check the volume of most devices right in Windows by double-clicking on the speaker icon that appears in the system tray in the lower right corner of the screen, next to the clock.

  • Page 22: Registering Sonar

    To register anytime, log onto http://www.cakewalk.com/register, call 888-CAKEWALK (U.S.) or +1 (617) 423-9004 (outside U.S.) between 1 PM and 6 PM Eastern Standard Time. If you live outside of North America, please visit our distributor's page at http://www.cakewalk.com/Dealers/global.aspx...

  • Page 23: Sonar Tour

    SONAR Tour In this chapter, we will explore the basics of SONAR to get you started. Be sure that you have completed all instructions in the “Installation, registration and basic setup” chapter. For more in-depth information about specific SONAR features, please see the online Help. In this chapter: Getting around .

  • Page 24: Getting Around

    Getting around The project is the center of your work in SONAR. A project may contain a number of different elements, including audio, MIDI, video, etc. All of these elements are organized into tracks, clips and events within a project. Tracks are used to store the sound or music made by each instrument or voice in a project.

  • Page 25: The Control Bar

    The Control Bar Much of your time in SONAR is spent recording and listening to your project as it develops. The Control Bar contains the most important tools and other pieces of information you will need to record, edit and play back your project. The Control Bar consists of several modules that each contain various related controls.

  • Page 26: Skylight

    Skylight Skylight introduces a next generation workspace and presents a new level of simplicity by providing an intelligent interface that moves beyond contemporary, single-window design and layout clutter. You can hide, dock, collapse or expand any of SONAR’s views instantly. Figure 6.

  • Page 27: The Track View

    The Track view The Track view is the main window that you use to create, display, and work with a project. When you open a project file, SONAR displays the Track view for the project. When you close the Track view for a project, SONAR closes the file. To switch to the Track View, choose Views >...
  • Page 28 The Clips pane shows the clips in your project on a horizontal timeline called the time ruler that helps you visualize how your project is organized. Clips contain markings that indicate their contents. The Clips pane lets you select, move, cut and copy clips from place to place to change the arrangement of music and sound in your project.

  • Page 29: The Console View

    The Console View The Console View is where you can combine the sounds on all the different tracks to create the final mix of your song or project. Use the Console view to adjust the levels of sound for the different tracks in your project, to change the stereo panning, and to apply real-time effects to an individual track, combinations of tracks, or the final mix.

  • Page 30: The Browser

    right pane contains main channel strips. You can drag the pane splitter bars to resize the panes. • Channel strips. Each track, bus and main in the project is represented by its own vertical channel strip. Use the channel strip controls to mix and process tracks, buses and mains. •...

  • Page 31: The Inspector

    The Inspector When working on a project, you will frequently need to access track and clip parameters and mix controls. The Track Inspector and Properties Inspector provide easy access to relevant settings for the selected track(s) or clip(s). To expand or collapse the Inspector, choose Views > Inspector view or press I. Figure 10.
  • Page 32 SONAR Tour The Inspector...

  • Page 33: Getting Started

    Getting Started In this chapter: Creating, playing and saving projects ..........34 Creating a new project .

  • Page 34: Creating, Playing And Saving Projects

    Creating, playing and saving projects Understanding and managing project files is central to your workflow in SONAR. In this tutorial, we are going to cover the basics of getting started with project files and some of the operations that can be performed with them. Whenever you write or record music in SONAR, you are writing it to be saved into a project.
  • Page 35 Open a Project. Use this button to open a standard File Open dialog, which lets you select the project that you want to open. Open a Recent Project. Click the drop-down list to show the most recent projects that have been opened in SONAR.
  • Page 36 Let’s explore some of the things you can do in this window. Note: The list of available project templates shown may vary depending on your version of SONAR (Producer, Studio or base version). Name. Type the name of your project in the Name box. For this exercise, let’s name your project Tutorial 1.

  • Page 37: Opening Project Files

    Cancel. Click Cancel to close the New Project File dialog. Help. Click Help to open the online Help topic for the New Project File dialog. Click OK now to move forward with this tutorial. Congratulations, you have just created a new project in SONAR! Opening project files Next, we are going to cover how to open existing project files.

  • Page 38: Playing Project Files

    Help. For this tutorial, we want to open one of the sample project files that are included with SONAR. Navigate to the Cakewalk Content folder (default location is C:\Cakewalk Content\SONAR X3 [Producer or Studio]\Tutorial Projects\Audio Tutorial Project) and locate the project named SONAR_AudioDemo.cwb.
  • Page 39 Let’s start with the Bass track. Locate the track named Bass in the project. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the track’s controls. If the track controls are not all visible, you may need to expand the track to see them all. To expand a track to make all of its controls visible Point the cursor to the bottom edge of the track.
  • Page 40 Locate the drop-down list for Output and click the small arrow to show all available outputs. Select the output that your speakers or headphones are connected to. If you can’t find the Output drop-down list, make sure you have expanded the track fully by dragging it down. Note: Your options will be different from the preceding image.
  • Page 41 Experiment with the Mute and Solo buttons on each track. If you solo multiple tracks you will hear all of the soloed tracks. If you mute any tracks, they will not be heard. Tip: You can also use your keyboard’s SPACEBAR key to start and stop playback in SONAR. Once you are done listening, click the Stop button Saving project files SONAR offers you many options for saving your work.
  • Page 42 Cakewalk Bundle files are much larger in size than regular Cakewalk Project files because they contain all of the audio data for a project, so try to avoid using this format unless you need to move a project between computers. When opening a Cakewalk Bundle file, SONAR will “unpack”...

  • Page 43: Recording Audio Into A Project

    Recording audio into a project One of the most important aspects of creating music in SONAR is digital audio recording. This is the process of taking the sound from a microphone or an instrument and recording it to an audio track.

  • Page 44: Getting Ready To Record

    5. Click the Output drop-down menu to select the track’s output. The available outputs for the track are displayed. 6. Select the output port that you want the audio track to play through during playback. This is how you ultimately route the audio to your speakers. You will usually choose 1 and 2, because these are most commonly the outputs that speakers or audio monitors are connected to.

  • Page 45: Recording Your Performance

    Figure 11. The record meter shows the input level. Input may be too low Input is too loud Recording your performance Now that everything is set up, let's record something! Go to Edit > Preferences > Project - Metronome to configure the metronome (or click the Metronome icon in the Control Bar’s Transport module).
  • Page 46 Getting Started Recording audio into a project...

  • Page 47: Troubleshooting

    Simply press F1 or click the Help button in any dialog box to find the information you need. If you are new to recording and editing music on your PC, see the online Help topic “Beginner's Guide to Cakewalk Software” for an introduction.
  • Page 48 Troubleshooting...

  • Page 49: Index

    Index Audio Getting around 24 types of inputs 15 Audio setup 12 Inspector 31 Installation 8 Browser 30 Microphone Clips 24 connecting 17 MIDI controller Console view 29 connecting 18 Control Bar 25 MIDI devices setting up 10 MIDI interface Demo project connecting 18 opening 19...
  • Page 50 Registration 22 Time display 24 Time ruler 24 Track view 26 Tracks 24 Updates 47...

  • Page 51: License Agreement

    (the "Product") on one personal computer at a time. If you want to use the Product on more than one personal computer at a time, or if you want to network the Product, you must obtain separate licenses from Cakewalk by calling (617)423-9004.
  • Page 52 9. TERMINATION. This License Agreement will terminate immediately if you breach any of its terms. Upon termina- tion, you will be required promptly to return to Cakewalk or to destroy all copies of the Product covered by this License Agreement.
  • Page 53 COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE LICENSE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND CAKE- WALK WHICH SUPERSEDES ANY PROPOSALS, OR PRIOR AGREEMENT, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN YOU AND CAKEWALK RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.

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