Customer Reviews

SONAR 3 Power!

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wow! I don't know what book that other reviewer (Ilia) read, but it definitely wasn't Sonar 4 Power. I found this to be an excellent book and I always refer to it first whenever I have a question about Sonar 4. I read it cover to cover (I like to be thorough) and I really like Garrigus' writing style. It's not boring at all, which is what you might find in other books of this type. I found it very insightful and educational. Here's my take on the various sections of the book:

Chapter 1 - A basic chapter that introduces the reader to MIDI and digital audio. This isn't something I needed, but for complete beginners it's a nice intro. And Garrigus even provides a useful link to Cakewalk's free MIDI and audio e-book that provides more in-depth info on the topic.

Chapter 2 - This is where things start to get interesting. I love the fact that Garrigus takes the time to summarize all the new features in the latest version of the software. He also lets you know where to find the detailed info about these features in the book. Very helpful. In addition (for those that need the extra help), Garrigus goes over the components you need for a basic home studio setup and even describes some of the equipment that he uses in his own studio. Very cool.

Chapter 3 - In this chapter, you'll find detailed info about how to customize Sonar and make it work the way you want it to work. Topics include Organizing Files, Customizing the Workspace, Customizing MIDI Settings, and Optimal Audio Settings. Not every single Sonar setting is covered here, but Garrigus intersperses info about some of the others throughout the book. I kind of like have all pertinent info in the same place, but then again, I can simply look in the index if I want to find something specific.

Chapter 4 - This chapter talks about opening projects, creating new projects, and saving projects. The most interesting part is where it talks about templates and how to create your own. This can save you a lot of setup time in the studio.

Chapter 5 - Talks about how to navigate throughout a Sonar project. You'll find all the info you would expect here.

Chapter 6 - You'll learn all about recording and playback with Sonar here. Garrigus details all of the various ways to record MIDI and audio in Sonar including how to setup all the initial parameters for recording. And other topics: Audio Track Recording and Playback, Multiple Track Recording and Playback, Loop Recording, Punch Recording, Step Recording, Importing MIDI and Audio files, and synchronization basics. The sync section could be a bit more detailed, although this isn't something I really needed so it wasn't a problem for me.

Chapter 7 - Garrigus talks about the various views in Sonar... Track view, Piano Roll view, Event List view, and Tempo view. He explains in detail what they are used for and how to use them.

Chapter 8 - This chapter explains Advanced Data Selection and Advanced Audio Editing. It includes info on all of the offline editing features. I admit that reading through this chapter can be a bit tedious, but hey, this is a book about a computer software application. It's not a novel. There's a lot of info to cover and Garrigus is very thorough, which is great for me because if I ever need detailed info about a function in Sonar, I can find it in this book. That's one of the reasons I bought it.

Chapter 9 - One of my favorite chapters because it talks about composing with audio sample loops. Not only that but provides a very nice loop composing exercise and Garrigus even provides a file download (on his site - garrigus.com) so you can load up the finished song in Sonar and play around with it.

Chapters 10 and 11 - Two more of my favorite chapters because unlike the manual, Garrigus provides detailed information about each and every software synthesizer and effect plug-in that comes included with Sonar. The manual just provides general information about the overall use of synths and effects. It doesn't provide any details about the individual synths and effects.

Chapter 12 - This chapter covers mixing, but here is where the book could use a little improvement since it covers all the Sonar mixing features and how to use them, but it doesn't actually teach you how to mix. Then again, mixing is a very large topic and there are whole books written about it, so maybe trying to squeeze that type of info into a single chapter would be too much.

Chapter 13 - I'm just getting into surround sound, which made this chapter very valuable to me. Garrigus covers setting up your studio for surround, setting up Sonar for surround, surround sound mixing (with some examples), surround sound effects, and exporting a surround project. Very helpful to the beginning and intermediate users. And even advanced users who are not familiar with these new features in Sonar will find it useful.

Chapter 14 - This chapter covers the notation features in Sonar. It covers everything you would expect, although Sonar's notation features leave a lot to be desired. But that's not the fault of this book. For notation I usually end up using Finale.

Chapters 15, 16, and 17 - Covering StudioWare and CAL, I really enjoyed how Garrigus explained that anyone (even beginners) can use these advanced features of Sonar. He even details how to use each CAL program that comes included with Sonar for editing MIDI data. This is definitely not found in the manual.

Chapter 18 - The book ends with information about how to covert your tracks to a stereo file and burn it to CD using either Cakewalk's MediaWorks or Pyro or Windows XP. Personally, I use Nero, but I understand why each and every CD burning application couldn't be included here.

The Appendices cover backing up your project files, producing projects for multimedia and the web, and Sonar resources on the Web. This information rounds out the book nicely. There are quite a few Sonar books on the market now, but for the most well-rounded and best overall reference, Sonar 4 Power is the book to have. Even if you plan on buying some other books, you should definitely include this book in your Sonar 4 library. And I just want to say thanks to Scott for writing such a great publication and I look forward to the next! In the meantime, I'm enjoying your free home recording newsletter at digifreq.com.

I started learning Sonar back at version 1, I bought Scott's first book and it helped me go from nothing to preparing music for my website! Then, Sonar 2 became available. I wanted to learn even more so I bough Scott's Sonar 2 Power book. It offered even more examples of how to do things you would actually encounter in a real life situation. So many manuals give you all the facts but they never apply the information to how you can use it for your purposes.I fianlly got Sonar 3 and then I orderd Scott's Sonar 3 power. I am not through reading it yet but that is the beauty of Scott's books. You can only look up what you need when you need it. It is an excellent reference tool whenever you have a specific question. It is indexed very well and everything is easy to find quickly.Thank you Scott for all your efforts. SO many newbies (I was a year ago!) appreciate your help! I am anxiously awaiting your tutorial cd roms!Dave

Although Cakewalk's Sonar manual is the best in the biz, it does not take you through enough real-world scenarios or give "power-user" recommendations. This book fills in those holes and then some. It takes you through everything from Sonar Customization, to making an effective and usable drum map, to exploring CAL (Cakewalk Application Language). There were many features (like MIDI Device definitions) that I never realized Sonar did until I read this book. Thank you Mr. Garrigus for writing it!

I recently got into Cakewalk software with Sonar 4 Producer Edition. I tinkered with it and played around with some features; having plentiful prior recording experiences, I got the hang of most basic audio functions. MIDI, while nice, didn't concern me as much - I'm a performer, not an electronic musician.

Sonar has a large number of features, many of which are "just below the surface" and you sort of have to know how to tweak Sonar in some instances. In most cases, you can get away with knowing how to use the compressor (for example) because in Sonar it functions pretty much identically to the hardware unit.

For a beginner, this title is more or less appropriate - although I caution that it's a tiresome read that requires great amount of concentration. There are no helpful markings, everything is pretty much plain text in identical font (bold/italic here and there), in relatively long paragraphs spanning pages upon pages. The content is ok, but could have been presented better by orders of magnitude.

Additionally, I found some introductory chapters on MIDI helpful here and there. As a MIDI novice, I did learn a few new things, but many dots were left unconnected, as far as Sonar MIDI applications go.

The author is kind enough to provide a CD with examples of what he's talking about. He references them throughout the text to illustrate some points - it gives the novice reader something to play with as an opportunity to get a feel for using recording/mixing software in general.

But the reason I decided to get this book was to get some insight into the "advanced" features of Sonar - perhaps a few hints, some insight into application of audio-editing effects (other than "3dB louder makes your selected data 3dB louder!"). As such, Mr. Garrigus's book fell short of my expectations on many levels:

1. This is not an easy-to-access reference books. The technical writing, once again, is atrocious - everything is straight text. To cover a chapter, or any feature, you basically have to read the entire chapter through (sometimes other chapters as well). Some diagrams are helpful, but they're mostly screenshots of Sonar - you get that in the online help anyway. The author constantly points you back to what he just said ("See previous section on more about this feature" etc).
2. AT THE SAME TIME, the features covered are so on a very basic level. The book might look large, but consider this: every function described contains steps such as "Open Edit->Feature1->Option3 menu" and "Click OK". Having been forced to read each chapter from beginning to end anyway, I really didn't need that reminder. It takes up space and takes away from the content.
3. AND YET STILL, reading about any particular feature will give you only the bare protocol for executing its functions. Parameters are (very) briefly explained (all within the procedural steps), but most times the instructions are something along the lines of "Go try this out" or "You'll see how this is different from the previous function once you start using it". If that's all I needed to do in the first place, I WOULDN'T HAVE GOTTEN A BOOK!
4. Most sections containing "hints, tips and tricks" refer you to web sites, many of which are not created or maintained by the author or his affiliates. That's what we use search engines for nowadays, isn't it?

Plus, if you want to get into advanced features of Sonar (such as CAL programming), or if you need guidance on WHY (not how) to use the different tools - don't get this. Get a different book, that's specific to what you want. This book barely scrapes the surface, telling you nearly nothing about almost everything.

Beyond that, all this book does is state the self-evident. I would recommend researching the market for other literature before going with this selection.

It takes a few versions for a company to get the software right. The initial package is issued, it does wonderful things, but then the customers start saying, "you package is great but it should do ..." And of course some other customers are saying, "when I do this, and then this, your software crashes." By the third or fourth edition they get it down pretty good.

It's kind of the same with computer books. The first editions cover the first versions of the software, but things are left out and a few things are even wrong. Now Sonar is at version 4 and so is this book. Together they make quite a package.

Like most manuals, the Sonar manual tells you everything that the software will do, but somewhat terseley and with little background so that you don't really know just what is possible. This book starts out saying, "I know you want to get started right now, but let's talk just a bit about MIDI first." You wind up getting a much more complete understanding of what the whole thing is all about.

Well written, complete coverage, easy to understand, what more can I say.

I was getting real flustered, when someone suggested Sonar4 Power.
What a tool! I can't imagine how much time and agony it's saved me.

If you use, or intend to use Sonar 4....you MUST have this book! This book fills in the holes the manual doesn't, showing you everything you need to know about mastering this software. It is the ultimate Sonar 4 Desk refrence, and I keep in nearby for EVERY recording session, both in my home studio and live.

For those familiar with Scott's previous works with earlier versions of Sonar, you can expect the same delightful thoroughness here as in earlier book. The man has a comprehension and mastery of this software that few end users possess. I can say without hesitation that I have used his books since the original Sonar Power Release (That's Sonar 1.0), and they have been invaluable in my recording endeavors with Sonar.

Considering the many advancements in Sonar 4 from previous versions, this book is a MUST for power users and newcomers alike. Every aspect of the program's capabilities are thoroughly explored and explained. Thank you once again Scott for an indespensible refrence for the recording musician.

James Meyerhoffer
Ogresound Productions
Richmond, Virginia

If your new to Sonar Home Studio 4, then you definitely need this book, I'm still learning something new everyday!

The book provided with the software can give you a hard time if you don't have experience with midi and computer recording technology.
That's where Sonar 4 Power offers help.
If you are a beginner, this is the book for you.

Scotts books are a must have addition to your manual. Thank goodness for Scott Garrigus. He has helped me use features and expand my knowledge of an already fine product. Scotts' books give you the keys to unlock the doors. Since ProAudio 9, SONAR 2.2XL and now SONAR 4, Scotts' power books have brought me to a new level of inspiration and production I never thought possible! Thanks Scott ! Ed.