The SONAR 2017.08 update includes the following:

• Discover Tab
• New Demo Projects
• Start Screen Improvements
• Simplified Help Menu
• 30th Anniversary CA-X Amps
• Tech+Music
• Fixes and Enhancements

How to Download the SONAR 2017.08 Update

1. Open Cakewalk Command Center. If you don’t have the latest installer, Command Center will prompt you to download and install it. Cakewalk highly recommends that you do this. (Also remember that you can always download the latest version from the Cakewalk Command Center page.)
2. Update SONAR Core by selecting SONAR Platinum/Professional/Artist, then clicking Install.
3. Update Boutique FX Suite by selecting it, then clicking Install
4. Install Demo Projects by selecting it, then clicking Install

Discover Tab

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

The Start Screen will now display new notifications through the Discover Tab. In this tab you’ll see news about Cakewalk and SONAR, new Expansion Packs, free content from our 30th Anniversary Celebration and be able to find all the latest issues of Tech+Music.

New Demo Projects

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

When the Demo Projects installer is installed onto the computer, the Start Screen will now display a Demo Projects tab. The Demo Projects installer will be available for all versions of SONAR including SONAR Artist, Professional, and Platinum. The Demo projects are a great way to get started with SONAR for first time users but can also be used to experiment with new features. We’ll be continuing to add new news as well as periodically refresh them with new content.

Start Screen Improvements

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

Using Ctrl+N or Ctrl+O, it is now possible to create a new project from the Start Screen as well as open an existing project. Clicking the New Project tab will now display templates and in this update we have streamlined the templates that are installed. New users will now see 6 templates installed for each version of SONAR; Empty Project, Basic, 4-Track, 16-Track, Guitar Amps, and Vocals. 

To remove older templates, you can navigate to the Cakewalk Content folder and select your version and open the Project Templates folder. 

Simplified Help Menu

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

The help menu in SONAR previously had many things in there and could sometimes be confusing to navigate. We have simplified this greatly and made the menu much more straightforward.

30th Anniversary CA-X Amps

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

These 30 TH3 based virtual amps pay homage to classic amp sounds without the limitations. They have loads of personality and provide a simple drag-and-drop solution to different guitar tones.

Learn More

Tech+Music

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

This month's issue covers the latest SONAR 2017.08 updates, uses one of the new demo projects to show how to get better vocals, reviews the unique “Aroma” plug-in for mixing and mastering, describes a fascinating “Anatomy of a SONAR Project,” provides expert tips on mastering in the “You Mix, We Master” monthly feature, and gives full descriptions of the 30 free amp sim FX Chains that are part of the 30th Anniversary Celebration.

Read it Now

Fixes and Enhancements

Artist, Professional, and Platinum

General

• Paste Special did not respect Destination Track in some situations during Paste
• Creating FX Chains previously not add parameters to a control unless it was added twice

Stability

• Dithering to 24-bit when exporting FLAC previously could cause unexpected crackles in the exported file
• Resolved an issue where SONAR may crash on OMF Export

Track View

• Drag reordering a bus would was off by 1 when moved to a new position
• Editing minimized Track View clips was previously difficult to slip-edit/crop on the right edge.

Piano Roll View

• The Transform Tool no longer bounces clips together when doing velocity changes
• The Transform button now reflects Hard or Soft mode in the button when switching
• The Transform Tool’s Mask mode will now respond to Hard and Soft mode when Drawing through the Transform box
• Transform Tool now responds correctly when “Show Velocity on Selected Notes Only” is selected
• Transform Tool did not display preview correctly in certain conditions