# What to do with Sonar?

Category: Jam Session

## Post 1 by mat the musician (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Friday, 23-Jul-2010 14:34:39

Hi all, I'm going to go to Guitar Center in a few days, and stack myself with Sonar 8.5 producer. I've heard that CakeTalking is the better of the Sonar screen readers, but sadly, I can't afford it. So I'l have to stick with J-Sonar for now. I know it's not as good, but... what can I do? I'm wondering if any of you awesome profesional musicians could give me tips on J-sonar, and how to get around Sonar with it. I'm also wondering what to do with an instrument definition file for my Motif Xs. How do I get it into sonar? What should I install after finishing with the instalation of Sonar? Should it be J-sonar or Hot Spot Clicker. Does J-sonar support other Virtual instruments like Omnisphere, or does it only have Dimension Pro, Rapture, Z3ta+? Could you also give me help on Keystrokes? I know J-sonar has a help section, but I'd rather talk to a person about it, rather then a computer. Kelly Sapergia did a review about working with Sonar, but it went pretty fast and I was Kind of confused. I have a Soundblaster soundcard in my PC, but I don't want the latency to bug me. Are there any Low latency sound cards under $80? I researched some, but they're to pricy.
Any help would be strongly apreciated.
Matthew Shifrin

## Post 2 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Friday, 23-Jul-2010 22:20:11

Jsonar and caketalking both have their advantages I have been using jsonar myself with out much in the way of issues for the most part. Jsonar it self doesn't support any of the plug ins HotSpotClicker does and yes there is sets for some of the third party VSTI like omisphere and trilogy or whatever the bass synth is called. there is too many hot keys to list so its a matter of where u want to begin. if you don't mind an internal card the emu o4 o4 should do the trick for $80 or less, don't confuse that with the emu 04 04 usb which is the usb version. if u are looking for something USB wise the emu 0202 usb is around $100 and is probably gonna be your least expensive bet for something decent.

## Post 3 by mat the musician (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Saturday, 24-Jul-2010 7:27:38

Thanks. I'l look it up. I looked at the clicker sets on the Hot Spot Clicker website, but I didn't find a set titled omnisphere.hsc or trilian.hsc. How do I make Hot spot clicker work with them?
Matthew

## Post 4 by mat the musician (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Saturday, 24-Jul-2010 7:57:35

I looked everywhere - amazon, sweetwater, musicians friend, but I can't find the o4 o4. I can only find the 04 04. Where else should I look and what should I do?

## Post 5 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Monday, 26-Jul-2010 2:20:34

the 0404 is the one i was talking about there is teh 0404 whichis PCI or PCI Express now i think and the 0404usb which is the usb version sorry about the type p on taht one . i am pretty sure if you download the full all sonar 6 and beyond sets that omisphere and the other set is included .. ibelieve they may also be included in the jsonar install as well but not sure . You have to install the hotspot clicker sets and then when u load the plug in in sonar there is a short cut key taht will give u the list of short cuts to use to navigate the plugin.

## Post 6 by mat the musician (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Tuesday, 27-Jul-2010 20:48:46

Thanks! I'm going to buy Sonar and a good soundcard. I'l either go with the M-audio delta series of soundcards that the J-sonar website reccomends, or I'l go with your suggestion. I was also wondering, an article on the J-sonar gives a number of toolbars and options that have to be checked and unchecked as the article directs you to do. Can I check them after J-Sonar has been installed? Or do I have to install Sonar, and have a sighted friend check and uncheck them, and then install J-sonar? Do you have any Expansion libraries for Omnisphere? How do I import an .ins instrument definition file that I need for my Motif xs to run with sonar? Do I install Hot spot clicker first or J-sonar first?
Some RNB hip-hop and pop songs, (such as Taio Cruse's Dynamite) take a word and then play it realy fast a lot of times but do not increase the pitch. Can such things be done with Drop Zone, or V-sampler? My teacher says that in Visual samplers you zoom in on the sample to make it smaller. The word speed up sounds kind of like a scratched CD.
Thanks for all the awesome and informative info,
Matthew

## Post 7 by monkeypusher69 (I'll have the last word, thank you!) on Wednesday, 28-Jul-2010 13:45:08

you install sonar j sonar and hotspotclicker before you have to go in and chek and uncheck boxes. i am a straight up audio guy and don't use any midi stuff so i couldn't answer the other questions for you .

## Post 8 by guitargod1 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Wednesday, 28-Jul-2010 19:46:02

again matt, I can setup your system and get you trained on the basics in person. I already tossed you my number so get in touch after you talk to your folks if you'd be interested in that. this is a lot for a novis to accomplish.

## Post 9 by mat the musician (Help me, I'm stuck to my chair!) on Wednesday, 28-Jul-2010 21:22:29

Thanks, Cameron, I will. First, I gotta talk to my folks and install the software and read the Readme's and such. If I get into ANY trouble I promise I'l call you, and we'l set something up. But for now, I'l have to get the thing first. Kinda wierd that I'm asking so many questions before even buying the product?

## Post 10 by guitargod1 (I'm going for the prolific poster awards!) on Saturday, 31-Jul-2010 12:19:57

it's good to do your research before buying any sort of hardware or software. so good job.