We had a great day
of demos to the Messe audience. A number of years ago, when I first started
coming to Messe, it seemed that the German’s
had hardly heard of Cakewalk or our software by the handful of people
who would attend each demo. Now today, people are waiting for demos even
before they begin, and they have scores of attendees. We’ve really
made headway over here. It would be naive for us to think that this can
only be attributed to the high quality of our products. Of course that
is necessary for success in any market, but it’s not a guarantee.
Our success here can be largely attributed to the amazing work of our
distributors Edirol & Roland. I think distribution can be a thankless
job, and I just wanted to take a moment to publicly acknowledge their
contribution in getting the word, product, and support out here for our
European customers. They are a great group of people and I feel lucky
to get to work with them.
The big news of the day was Cakewalk’s 20th Anniversary Cocktail
Hour. Yes, you heard right…Cakewalk is almost old enough to drink.
Seriously though, we’ve hit a major milestone and we’re looking
forward to the next 20 years. Greg Hendershott started Cakewalk in April
of 1987, and it’s amazing to think of where we are today. Over
a hundred of our friends and partners from all areas of the industry
attended, and warm wishes were expressed by all.
Greg gave a touching
speech to the attendees thanking them for their support over the years,
and he also talked about his proudest moments
in the company’s history. These include everyday events such as
signing a product release form, to more special occasions such as awards,
in particular the one we received for our accessibility from the American
Foundation for the Blind, to getting to work with legends such as Ray
Charles. But he said the highest of these moments are those when he gets
to hear from customers about how our products have helped them realize
their dreams. I have to say I share that last one…it’s what
we are here to do, our common mission to help you succeed as musicians.
The
night was a blast, below are a handful of photos from the event.
Greg Speaks
A Rapt Audience
Edirol’s
Mr. Kondo with Greg
Michael
Hoover & RSG’s Christian Delfino raise their glasses
Roland’s Paul McCabe & Mike
Kent
Craig Anderton, by Invitation Only
Sonic State in the house
St Brandon of Los Angeles
Day 2—Das Bestes Groove Tool
Well today ended
quiet nicely. Steve Thomas and I attended the PPV Medien Leser-Awards…I know, phonetically that doesn’t sound very
good in English, but in translation it is quite an honor. Leser in German
means “Reader” so these awards are essentially the reader’s
Choice Awards from the publishing group who put out some of the top German
publications including Keys, DrumHeads, Tastenwelt, and Soundcheck. We
had three products nominated in all, SONAR 6 Producer Edition, Rapture,
and Kinetic 2. We were honored just to be nominated with three products,
but we were very pleased to have Kinetic 2 walk away with Das Bestes
Groove Tool from Keys magazine. I think if we reprint the box, I just
might make that the new tagline for the product.
Steve Thomas and Carl Jacobson
Rapture is also nominated for a MIPA (Music Industry Press Association)
award as well, which is also a big honor, being selected from over 100
music industry publications world wide. The ceremony is tonight and we’re
hoping for the best.
Brandon Ryan was interviewed today by Gearwire.com
today. The interview mostly focused on our industry leading support for
Windows Vista, and
Brandon walked the interviewer through all the steps you would need to
go through in order to make the transition. Once the interview is posted
we’ll be sure to send it out in the Cakewalk Newsletter.
Brandon Ryan chatting with GearWire.com
If you’re not familiar with GearWire.com, you should check them
out. They have numerous tutorial videos on SONAR, in fact here’s
a posting from just yesterday that shows a process for creating impulse
responses for SONAR Producer Edition’s Perfect Space reverb. Check
it out.
Day 1
Guten Morgen, Guten Abend, or Guten Nacht, depending on what time
you are reading this.
Cakewalk has returned to Musikmesse, Hall: 5.1, Walkway
C, Stand: 65,
ready to rock. Germany is in the pleasant awakenings of spring, which
I suppose is a good time of year to launch new products. We only have
a couple of announcements at the show this year, but that doesn’t
mean there isn’t a lot going on. We had some big announcements
at NAMM, and those products are getting close to shipping, but we don’t
like to announce what we’ve already announced, if you follow my
train of thought.
SONAR Power Studio with version 6 software, and the long
awaited Project5 Version 2.5 are getting close. Before I hopped on the
plane for Germany
I got to see some of the work on Project5.com, and I think you’re
going to love the new site.
Our announcements are: Z3TA+ 1.5 is now available,
and the first expansion pack for Session Drummer 2 has now been released.
Everyone
knows that Z3TA+ is one of the most monstrous virtual instruments out there,
but great sounds sometimes come with a great price (or at
least a CPU hit). If you are a Z3TA+ junkie, get the download now,
the efficiency improvements are amazing, plus you also get Stand Alone
functionality,
Vista & x64 Support, and advanced
MIDI Learn functionality. Read the
press release for more details.
Drum roll please…Session Drummer fans, we’re now offering
a whole new dimension of Hip Hop sounds for your palette. With the Session
Drummer 2 Hip Hop Pack you can choose from 16 different multi-sample
kits representing different eras in Hip Hop—from classic 80’s
Rap to modern day Top 40 and R&B hits. Samples, recorded by the pro’s
at SmartLoops, range from dry and unprocessed to extreme FX, and include
kicks, snares, toms, and a variety of cymbals which you can mix and match
to create your own sound. The Hip Hop Pack also includes 242 MIDI patterns
that were created to work with the included kits. You’ll never
be lacking a beat again.
You can read more here...or
better yet, take a listen below to some of the sounds. If you’re
ready…it’s up for sale today
on the Cakewalk estore.
(click play to listen)
Of course we’ll be filming demos at the show…but what if
you can’t wait? In an 11th hour feat, Brandon Ryan surprised us
last night with a new Rapture video that goes through a number of the
great sounds and new features found in Rapture 1.1. It’s essentially
the demo you would see if you were at the show, but in the privacy of
Brandon’s studio. Check it out below and save yourself the flight
to Frankfurt.
