Can't believe me!

[galestermusic]

Today I ordered Sonar X2 and got an Alesis QX49 keyboard controller. Wish me luck lol

If anyone has any hints or advice let me know.

Greg

correction this is what controller I bought: Roland A500PROR MIDI Controller

[Rata-tat-tat]

Sounds cool Greg... I'd like to get a midi keyboard someday, but that won't be for a while. Be sure to post sumthin up... I'll be checkin it out for sure.

[SteveB]

Greg -

Tips:

Bookmark 'Cakewalk Forums' and prepare to be bewildered.

Download PDF edition of Sonar X2 manual. It's over 1900 pages so you'll never be bored. 

There are already two X2 updates to consider.

A decent audio interface will be needed to connect midi keyboard/recording set-up to computer.

Keep sizable, soft object close by, to beat the sh*t out of when frustration strikes. Oh yes, you'll need this!

Good luck.

[#gpmproject]

I'm working with X2 producer and I can say, it's a best DAW I ever had. Don't forget, you need strong PC for smooth run. I'm on i7 3,6Ghz quad core, 8GB RAM.

[galestermusic]

Thanks Steve. Lubo I have a 3ghz dual core 2GB RAM. Can upgrade to 4GB I think. Hope I didn't get in over my head. Been using BR 800 and Audio INterface. I see balloons popping every where. lol

[Facemask93]

Ive dipped my toe in also , only I've gone for Logic Pro 9 with an Apogee Duet 2 interface & a Macbook pro i5 with 8GB ram , the results so far have been excellent , not saying anything bad about the BR series , but i wanted something that was purely an interface with a DAW , i like to see what I'm doing regarding the recording process , i recorded AK's 6x6 with Sonar 8 & the BR-800 as an interface & was very pleased with the outcome , but wanted an interface that was just that , an interface with good mic pre's , & not something that i had to turn this off or that off to get to where i wanted to be before i started recording , I'm probably talking total bollocks especially when you listen to the likes of Greeny or Geir or so many others who use BR products & get unbelievable results.
Let us know how you get on Les 

[64Guitars]

I prefer a hybrid approach. I record my drums and keyboards as MIDI tracks in Rosegarden (a free DAW for Linux) and/or Hydrogen. Since those sounds originate on the computer anyway, it makes sense to record them there. And recording them as MIDI sequences means I can edit the performance to fix mistakes or try them with different synth voices or drum kits without having to re-record. But I use my BR-864 for recording all of my guitar and bass tracks. Then I export the individual tracks from the BR as WAV files and bring them into Rosegarden or Audacity for mixing with my drum and keyboard tracks. I don't sing, but if I did, I'd record all the vocal tracks on the BR too. I don't see any advantage to recording audio tracks on the computer. To me, it makes more sense to use the BR for those tracks. The advantages of the DAW are in mixing and production, which you can still do by importing the tracks from the BR.

Some people might like to use plugins on their guitar or vocals. That's fine, but you don't have to record the tracks in the DAW to use the plugins. Instead, you can record them dry on the BR, then import the tracks to the DAW and apply the plugins during mixing. A great advantage of this approach is that you don't have to commit to a certain plugin during recording. Because the track is recorded dry, you can experiment with different plugins on it without affecting the original track. If you later change your mind and decide to use a different plugin, it's no problem.

[galestermusic]

What started this entire thing with me was playing with the x2 trial and the sounds I could get with a soft synth plugin. I do like your hybrid approach 64. When I get it set up I may post of video of how I do it. But I think I'm screwed when it comes to the roland keyboard controller. I may have to by a USB hub

[64Guitars]

But I think I'm screwed when it comes to the roland keyboard controller. I may have to by a USB hub

Why? Don't you have any USB ports available on the computer? The A-500PRO can be plugged directly into any USB port. It can even get its power from the USB port, so you don't need the power adapter when you connect via USB.

[Auroran]

Thanks Steve. Lubo I have a 3ghz dual core 2GB RAM. Can upgrade to 4GB I think. Hope I didn't get in over my head. Been using BR 800 and Audio INterface.

I'm really happy with the BR-800 as an interface.

I've been using Cakewalk/Sonar since the Herbert Hoover administration. If you need any assistance I'd be happy to help, I'm on 8.5 but I've been using Sonar basically every day for years. Dimension Pro ( I assume it comes with X2) is a very cool vst, I use it a lot. It can be a resource hog with sustained patches so bump that RAM up if you can. The percussion, strings, dulcimer, 12 string guitar are some of the standouts.

Channel Tools is a good plugin, it does a nifty widening trick.  Vintage Channel is good too, it has lots of nice presets. Congrats on your purchases!