Product Description

Cakewalk's software synthesizers are some of the most powerful and most widely used in the market. Until now, there hasn't been one comprehensive resource to help users harness the power of all of these amazing tools. Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User will show you how to operate and get the best results from Cakewalk's complete range of synths, from those that are bundled with Cakewalk's main products (including SONAR, Project5, and Kinetic), to the rgc:audio synthesizers (such as Z3TA+), to Cakewalk's newest synthesizers, including Dimension Pro and Rapture. The book begins by diving into the general theories about synthesis and creating sounds with the featured synthesizers. From there, the chapters focus on each distinct synthesizer, its range of uses, the tools that are available with it, and how to set it up for day-to-day use. In addition to looking at all of the different synthesizers and how to use them in your productions, the book also discusses filters, envelopes, effects, the sfz format, how to make sounds and create patches, and much, much more. Also included with the book is an interview with the creator of many of the synthesizers, as well as sound design master classes from several leading synthesizer programmers. Chances are, you won't have every synthesizer covered in this book. That's okay, because this book has something for everyone, whether you own all the synths covered or you only use the ones that come with your host program. It's also useful if you just want to learn about synthesis. Simply put, this is the ultimate guide to learning about synthesizer programming and to understanding and using all of Cakewalk's synthesizers!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #88044 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-06
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

About the Author
Simon Cann is a writer based in London, and is the author of a number of music-related and business-related books. Before turning his attention to full-time writing, he spent over 15 years as a management consultant where his clients included global music industry, entertainment, and broadcasting companies, as well as companies in the financial services, aeronautical, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries. He is the author of Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career and Cakewalk Synthesizers: From Presets to Power User, and Project5 Power! all published by Course Technology, as well as How to Make a Noise and Sample This!

Customer Reviews

If you are a CakeWalk Sonar user, Buy this book NOW!
Let me amend that; if you make music with a DAW Buy "cakewalk synthesizers" now!
First off, I am a guitar player NOT a keyboard player. Oh my father tried to have me trained to play the piano, and I can still play blues solos in the key of C, but I never mastered the keyboard. I own several hardware synths but I have never been able to tweak the presets to create new or more appropriate sounds. Now I can! In "cakewalk synthesizers" Simon Cann walks you through the synthesis process, and has you creating and tweaking sounds right from the get go. The principles and techniques apply to any synth; hardware or software. Each of the synthesizers bundled with Sonar and Project 5 and CakeWalk's new stand-alone synths; Z3TA+, Dimension Pro, Rapture, are covered in great detail. The book alone is well worth the price of admission, but when coupled the downloadable chapters and content, buying this book is a no-brainer. If you make music in the digital world, you need this book! Every guitar player knows that his tone is his signature. Virtual instruments are here to stay and everyone producing music today needs to know how to take control of the tools of the trade. Why sound like everyone else when you can be creating your own signature sounds immediately.
Thanks Simon!

Excellent resource!
I have needed this book for years. Step by step, thorough instructions that have helped me to really explore the deep possibilities in Cakewalk synths. The accompanying downloads make the value of this book increase exponentially. The section on Z3TA+ is worth the price of admission and then some. Thanks!

Cakewalk Synths: Thumbs Up
This book has a lot of useful information that is very hard to find elsewhere, from the basics of synthesis to descriptions of all the Cakewalk synthesizers. I especially liked the web material that accompanies the book - the extra chapters and pointers to download free tools like Triangle 2 (which I used to learn the basics). I am mostly a beginner at using Sonar and this book was a significant help. My only criticism is that the book is already out of date - e.g. the chapter on Session Drummer 2 says "at the time of this writing, it was so new that only a release candidate version was available" - but Session Drummer 2 has been available for a while (in both Sonar 7 and 6). Also some of the user interfaces to the programs have changed since the book was published.

Learning Sonar is tough (hey, Cakewalk - please have non-engineers review your tutorial material!) - this book is helping.