[musictlk] A Novice Looking for Advice

Wed Jan 12 23:39:14 UTC 2011

Bill,

Thank you for all the information. I was under the impression that running
Sonar on my standard use PC was a no go. I was told that the computer
running Sonar should not even be connected to the internet. I was told that
I should have a dedicated PC with minimal other programs running on it. I am
not in need of absolutely professional results. I very much hope that the PC
I recently purchased will run the software. From the requirements you
directed me to, it looks as if it will.

I am not sure where the source of confusion was, but it sounds like what I
thought I needed to run Sonar is really only what I need for optimal
performance.

I will call Dancing Dots, and hope to speak with you soon.

Thanks,

Sean

-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Dancing Dots
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 9:12 AM
To: 'NFBnet Music Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [musictlk] A Novice Looking for Advice

Hello, Sean,

As the old saying goes: "It pays to shop around."  Other subscribers to our
list here should have some good feedback for you.  In the end, it does come
down to determining what you need to accomplish what you want to do.

I just want to point out that most of the cost of the $3,000 budget you
mentioned in your note is for a specialized digital audio workstation PC
which is optimized to function with audio production software, SONAR from
Cakewalk, with our CakeTalking for SONAR scripts and tutorial package.  Your
minimum investment for SONAR Studio 8.5 Edition, CakeTalking for SONAR 8.5,
and an the required dedicated audio hardware interface will be less than
$800. 

We at Dancing Dots are a distributor for a company that does nothing but
build PC's designed to record and playback multiple tracks of audio.  They
use components specifically dedicated to that task and they make hundreds of
tweaks to Windows itself to optimize it to support smooth, glitch-free
performance.  A good way to think about it is to consider how sometimes a
particular program or webpage may open immediately one day but another time
might take an extra second or more to respond because Windows may be busy
doing something besides what you have asked it to do.  No big deal.  But
when you are recording someone singing and Windows decides that it needs to
share the processor to perform some background maintenance task, the result
can be an audible pop or click on your vocal track which, of course, is a
big deal.  These machines are specifically designed to eliminate that
possibility.

All just to say that if you already have a PC that meets or exceeds the
recommended system requirements for SONAR, you might consider acquiring the
necessary software and audio interface hardware first.  If it all runs well
for you on your current machine, then you are set.  If it does not,  then
consider investing in a dedicated workstation PC.  Check out the System
Requirements at http://www.dancingdots.com/prodesc/CakeTalkingForSONAR.htm
which also contain a link to the System Requirements for SONAR 8.5 itself.
These System Requirements are shown in a table with three columns:
Requirement, Minimum, and Recommended.  Again, be certain that your system
meets or exceeds the value in the "Recommended" column.  

BTW, Cakewalk announced released of SONAR X-1 last month.  X-1 offers almost
no new features but repackages the features of SONAR 8.5 into a
slick-looking, easy-to-use interface.  Easy to use IF you are a sighted
person!  As usual, all the gee-whiz stuff that makes it simple for those who
can see to use a piece of software are just the things that defeat access
technology like JAWS.  Our developer will be working on making CakeTalking
work with SONAR X-1 but it may take many months to get it working as it is
essentially a rewrite of CakeTalking.  In the meantime, our friends at
Cakewalk will continue to supply Dancing Dots with copies of SONAR 8.5.
Also, at least for the next few weeks, they will include a free download of
SONAR X-1 with the copies of 8.5 they supply to us.  When there is a
CakeTalking for SONAR X-1 to offer, it will not be free but will be sold as
an upgrade to CakeTalking for SONAR 8.5.

Of course, feel free to contact us at Dancing Dots any time.  We are blind
musicians and audio producers ourselves and we can relate to your interests
and challenges.

For those of you who use JAWS and may not know about how to read tables,
here's a tip:
On any web page, type the letter T to move to a table on that page.
ALT+CONTROL+RIGHT or LEFT ARROW allows you to move from column to column in
the table. 

Regards,
Bill 

Bill McCann 
Founder and President of Dancing Dots since 1992
www.DancingDots.com
Tel: 610-783-6692  Option 1

-----Original Message-----
From: musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:musictlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Sean Whalen
Sent: Tuesday, January 11, 2011 12:39 AM
To: 'NFBnet Music Talk Mailing List'
Subject: [musictlk] A Novice Looking for Advice

Good evening,

I am a musician, and am interested in doing some recording at home to get
some rough demos of songs I eventually plan to put on a studio produced
record. I play guitar, sing, and use a Yamaha ES8 for drums, keys, and other
instruments.

I am wondering if there might be anybody on this list who knows about
accessible home studio solutions who would be willing to help point me in
the right direction. I have read about Sonar and Logic, and have heard that
ProTools is going to have, or already has, some level of accessibility. I
have spoken with people at Dancing Dots, and had a Digital Audio Workstation
and Sonar recommended to me. Being that I am only interested in recording to
get down songs and ideas and share them with others, I wonder if the $3000 I
would need to drop on a set up like that is necessary. I want to be able to
mic in vocals and an acoustic guitar, run an electric guitar line in, and
use the Yamaha as a MIDI interface. I am just interested in learning about
the different levels of functionality I might achieve at different price
points, with a view toward usability by a blind user.

Any assistance any of you could provide me would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks,

Sean

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