Imagine: All your MIDI gear centrally controlled by one music workstation! Oh, and did we mention Pro Suite can export audio to Internet delivery formats like MP3, RealSystem G2 and Windows Media? It can.
At the heart of it all is Cakewalk's flagship multitrack music software, Pro Audio 9. Designed from the ground up exclusively for the Windows platform, Pro Audio 9 offers such rock-solid stability and seamless integration of digital audio MIDI, it has become the #1 selling music software for Windows in the U.S. One reason for its success is the "views" menu, a powerful navigation system that functions and feels like it was designed by musicians, not programmers. In fact, views are a great way to get to know Pro Audio 9 without reading the manual. Easily accessible from small desktop icons, views include piano roll, MIDI events, staff notation, audio editing, lyrics, mix console, tempo, video and more. There's even a new multitrack piano roll that lets you edit MIDI notes, draw volume changes and edit controller data for multiple tracks simultaneously.
Pro Audio 9 handles more tracks than you'll probably ever use - 256 to be exact. That's 256 combined digital audio and MIDI, and 256 real-time effects. Wow, anyone recording a symphony with individual mics on each instrument?
Okay, let's be realistic for a minute. You're under the gun to record and mix a fully produced song by Monday. First task: Lay down a killer groove. First choice? Cakewalk's new Session Drummer, a full-featured drum machine that lets you select or create a loop and modify it in real time. After checking its generous library of professionally recorded MIDI drum grooves, you find some great-sounding Latin and Hip-Hop you combine for a main beat. You slow down a dance groove for the intro, modify a jazz loop for the bridge, make some chaos for the end and drag and drop it into a song arrangement window. Trial and error goes a long way here, and real-time editing helps you zero in on exactly the grooves you want. Once you hear it in the whole mix, a second edit is just as simple as the first.
The MIDI bass track goes down next, then vintage synths, funky percussion hits and some way-out sound effects. Next you record lead and rhythm guitar, lead and background vocals (all in stereo, of course) and start experimenting with some of your soundcard's DSP effects, patching and aux bus controls, and SMPTE options. By providing advanced support for AudioX, the industry standard, Pro Audio 9 gives you simplified, direct control over all the latest features in audio hardware.
Time for editing: Setting and labeling markers for overdubs, song sections, and whatever else suits your fancy is not something you need to skimp on, since you've got 256 of them at your disposal. Pro Audio 9's powerful navigational tools include unlimited color and text labeling of audio and MIDI tracks, or sections of tracks. For example, you could assign a different color to each instrument if you're dragging a lot from track to track. Or each song section if you're moving parts between song sections. Or frequency range if you're trying to balance your mix. You get the idea - It's flexible enough to work however you choose.
Okay, you make some mistakes when playing and editing. Experiment without fear! Pro Audio 9 lets you undo as much or little as you want, so if you made a mistake an hour ago, you can scroll down and rewind your editing session to that or any other editing point in the session.
You think you've got style? Now you've got more: Introducing the industry's first Style Enhancer. This MIDI plug-in's advanced performance-modeling algorithms do far more than change the feel of a groove with velocity and timing. The Style Enhancer actually adds and subtracts MIDI events and notes to morph your song into a wild range of styles and genres. Like what you hear? Keep it, edit it-the creative time you save is all yours.
Pro Audio 9's audio section has been thoroughly revitalized for robust realtime playback, mixing and effects processing. A key part of the upgrade is Cakewalk's WavePipe technology, which optimizes the performance of Windows audio cards for extremely low latency. This means when you move an onscreen fader there's no annoying time delay, an essential for real-time editing of your effects and mix parameters.
Pro Audio 9 provides StudioWare panels for direct control over your synths, sound modules, drum machines and more. For example, you can play or record vocal or guitar tracks on a Roland VS-880 using a functional onscreen faceplate that looks just like - you guessed it - the VS-880. Same for the Line 6 Pod guitar effects unit, Roland GR-30, E-MU Orbit and a growing collection of old and new gear. You can even improve on the manufacturer's design by changing or rearranging the faceplate buttons and knobs to better serve your needs.
Pro Suite comes packaged with all of Cakewalk's renowned library of 32-bit, floating-point audio effects: Audio FX 1, 2, and 3. It also seamlessly incorporates those of other manufacturers by supporting industry-standard DirectX audio and MFX MIDI plug-ins. So are you ready to mix that tune yet? Expanding the low-level vocal intro, compressing and chorusing your rhythm guitar and limiting your background vocals is a breeze with Audio FX1: Dynamics Processing. Just right-click on a track and audition the full range of dynamics effects using friendly graphical controls that are often easier to use than the outboard units. Remember that lead guitar riff you fixed? Listen to it now with FX2: Vintage Tape and Amp Simulation. Try amps like British Crunch and American Lead, or see if a single 12" best fits your mix, or maybe four 10" speakers with some presence and EQ. Still too digital? Simulate what it would sound like on an analog tape recorder at a tape speed of 7.5, 15 or 30 IPS; add warmth (saturation) and even hiss to taste.
Audio FX3: Soundstage Design for Custom Reverb is about to change the world of reverb forever. When you first open FX3. it looks like something out of Star Wars, with a 3D room simulator you easily manipulate and view from any angle. Raise the roof 50 feet, add high frequency damping, move the mic position, move the performer, change how the room absorbs sound. The only thing that can match the FX3's exciting new reverb sounds is the cool way you get to zero in on them.
Pro Audio 9 comes with a full notation program ready to print out scores with up to 24 staves on a page, complete with lyrics, chord symbols, dynamics markings and more. Guitarists will love the new onboard guitar tuner and full-featured guitar tablature and notation. Print your songs in tab or record and edit them by clicking onscreen strings. For practicing or teaching, just load any MIDI file and watch the fingering and tablature together in real time. To learn new parts, just slow down the tempo.
Last, and certainly not least, Pro Suite users are sure to be impressed by its built-in NemeSys GigaSampler LE. Yes, it handles gigabyte samples. Yes, it's easy to use. And yes, it integrates with Pro Audio 9 for real-time sampler/synthesizer playback, a critical feature not provided by any competing synthesizer plug-in. No more racks of outboard equipment, long waits while samples load or strict limits on sample size. This full-featured sampler and editor loads huge samples in seconds, not minutes, and sounds better than most outboard units. At the heart of the GigaSampler revolution is the GSIF (GigaSampler Interface), the fastest PC audio hardware interface on the market. Other software-based synthesizers rely on loops and patterns because of latency problems. Not GigaSampler. It bypasses RAM and streams samples in real time directly from your hard drive. A single sample voice can be as large as 4.3 GB, while 48-voice polyphony and full looping capability are standard. Supported formats include .WAV, Giga, and Akai, the latter of which can be imported with all its performance parameters.
With Cakewalk's new Pro Suite, your PC becomes a complete Windows workstation for multitrack recording, real-time mixing with effects, and hard-disk sampling. All the top standards, including 24bit/96khz sampling, are included as standard features - there's no tiered offering to get you to spend extra money. With so many extras surrounding its flagship Pro Audio 9, Cakewalk's Pro Suite has clearly set the new standard for music on the PC. By now, you're probably ready to own Pro Suite, so call your Sales Engineer for additional information and (of course) your special low Sweetwater pricing!