Cakewalk-band lab

I've been using Cakewalk/Sonar for years and now that my desktop quit working, I'm going to need to start all over on a different computer. I had plenty of files in Sonar and was just working on a project before my desktop stopped working. I went to cakewalk.com home page expecting to download the most current version/upgrade and found out that a new company had taken over. Sound Lab from Singapore took over Cakewalk/Sonar and is giving a free download to the new version. I had to download the soundlab assistant which after installing the app, asked me to sign in with either my face book account or Google account.

I chose my Google account as it was already open. I could not log in and just kept getting "please try logging in again" with no success. I tried contacting band lab only to go thru the same B.S. as it asked me to log in to my e-mail account. I found an e-mail address for band lab Admin@bandlab.com only to find that my e-mail came back to me. The reason? "We're writing to let you know that the group you tried to contact (Admin) may not exist, or you may not have permission to post messages to the group"

So...I'm wondering why is it that I can't even contact these people? Is Cakewalk by Sound Lab just a scam? I think that I will find another DAW to download as this one has definitely been disappointing!

All those great reviews you see on the internet regarding the DAW are probably phony! There are too many so called good reviews and not one reveling any negative aspects. Let's face it I've never come across a perfect software program yet alone a DAW . 

I decided to give it one more try at it, this time using my Facebook account and it worked. I was able to download the actual program and install it. There were a few problems in getting the right driver set up as it recognized an Asio driver and not the MME. There was no sound until I discovered the MME driver and switched it.

It's got nothing over on my Sonar 8.5 Producer DAW and for me it was a bit disappointing. To me, the new Cakewalk is perhaps a mediocre version without too many frills. I had installed 27 vst plugins and none of them were recognized. I did manage to record a new tune on it using 5 tracks and using some fx on the tracks and the Master Bus. I decided to export my new made tune as a .wav file but lo and behold it allowed me to export it as an mp3 file.

So far my observation is that the new Cakewalk by soundlab maybe okay for the beginner but I need something with a bit more meat to it.

I finally got a hold of support@cakewalk.com and have been corresponding with them regarding my issues with the DAW. I received some suggestions and after completing it and re-scanning for VST plugins, it shows that I have 162 of them. I have no idea where they are as they don't show up in the fx section nor in the insert softsynth area. The only ones that show up there are the plugins that came with the program.

The DAW is unstable and keeps crashing. Yesterday, it crashed 4 times. It's frustrating when you are in the middle of a project and the program crashes and then you have to start all over. Thus far this DAW is nothing more than mediocre at best with little help from support. I tried contacting support again only to find out that they put me on the spam list and now have no way of contacting them. I even tried to sign up for their forum only to find out I've been banned from their site. Ha Ha I guess I' m on my own! That's what I get for trying to solve some issues with Cakewalk's DAW. The DAW has a lot of potential to be a good one like Sonar but what do you expect from a DAW that was free?

There are a few good points in the DAW. Some of the softsynths, such as the drum and bass are awesome. There is even a string synth which I use often. The cakewalk default  softsynth which we saw in Sonar has been improved with some better sounds. My favorite is the jazz guitar. You can even add an amp simulator that comes as an fx to make it sound even more realistic.

There is also a piano softsynth which is missing the acoustic piano but the electric piano is okay and needs a bit tweaking which you can do. There's a couple of other softsynths which I haven't gotten into because I don't use them nor do I need them, however I will check them out and give you my thoughts on them a bit later.

How well does Canson's water color paper work with acrylics

I had run out of my usual paper for acrylic/oil paints and stopped in my local Walmart to get another pad. Naturally, they had run out but had the water color paper. Since on the inside cover, Canson give this paper 2 stars and an excellent rating for acrylics and it was a little heavier weight paper, I thought I'd give it a try.

When I got to my studio I was eager to see how well it performed. I was disappointed! I
don't know where they came up with 2 stars out of 3 as I would only give it 2 out of 5 mediocre. The edges began curling and the center buckled and got worse the more I painted on it. After a while things leveled off after the paint dried up along with the paper.

I figured out how to eliminate some of the issues I had using it and am about 80% successful in doing so. I still get some curling edges initially with some buckling in the center but once the paper dries I have an easier time painting on it.

I prep both sides of the paper with either gesso or a thin coat of acrylic paint. I use water to thin either down even more than it is it and let both sides dry. To hurry things along, I use a blow drier. The paper is okay in a pinch, a bit larger than their acrylic/oil:11"x15" and a bit heavier #140.

I'm not one to waste anything nor my money so I continue using the water color paper until I run out. Later I found my normal paper at the same store and decided to hold on to it until I run out of the water color paper.

So....what was the outcome of my paintings after sealing them? Here, judge for your self.

acrylic painting on 11"x15" water color paper

acrylic painting on 11"x15" water color paper

Yup, all I use is AppleBarrel acrylic paints and gesso.

Yes, yes U can

So the question is; can I use a polyurethane to seal my paintings? I contacted Rust-o-leum and they recommended using their Ultimate Water-based Polyurethane to seal my acrylic paintings. I was a bit skeptical at first but decided to give it a try anyway on a throw away painting so I went to my local home-improvement store and bought an 8 oz matte finish can of the Ultimate water-based Polyurethane. Make sure that it is the the Ultimate Polyurethane water based as below because there are many different Poly's which will damage your painting.

gloss can of Ultimate Polyurethane

It also comes in Gloss, semi gloss and Satin. There is an 11.5 oz. spray as well. I prefer not to use sprays because the spray gets into the air and spreads everywhere not only that but I end up breathing it in. I'm already battling cancer and don't need to add to it. The can stuff is milky white as I opened it and rather than shaking it, stirred was preferred. Read the label. I noticed only a light odor. Even though the color in the can is white, it brushes on clear. It won't yellow nor darken your painting in time.

I applied it to my painting that was on art paper with a brush and, wow!,the results were the same as if I used  known water based sealers acquired from art stores. I only put on two coats rather than 3 as recommended for use on wood. I figured that it would suffice for my purposes and made sure that it covered all of my painting well. I would normally have used this on my hard board panels but for my experiment I used special paper for art, I like the 11"x14" but below is a 9"X12".

pic of 9"x12" art paper

It did not change the color of my painting nor did it leave a film on it making my painting dull. It made the colors stand out rather than blending in as acrylics often do when using similar colors. The sealer actually brought out the colors and I could see them as individual colors.

The sealer dried within 5 minutes rather than the 2 hours stated on the can but waited the 2 hours anyway to put a second coat. I was impressed by the lack of strong lingering odor other sealers have. The little odor is tolerable and disappears within a couple of hours.

I'm very impressed by the Verithane Water Based Ultra Polyurethane as it did exactly what I was hoping for and recommended to me by Rust-o-leum. The stuff is however toxic before it dries so you don't want to inhale the fumes. I didn't have a problem with it as it was at my waste level all the time and the fumes stayed low to the can. Clean up was easy, just a rinse with water did the trick. I should point out that I used the sealer indoors and the furnace was just behind the door eight feet away.

I ended up sealing about 10 painting with the same results. I am impressed! I should point out that there is an oil based Ultra Poly as well which I will check out at another time. Try the water based poly on one of your throw away painting and see if you agree. The cost of it for an 8 oz can was under $5 at Menards. I would have never thought that I would be using a polyurethane as a sealer for my paintings. It's a keeper!

Here's a few paintings I did on paper using Ultimate Poly:

a painting with a Polyurethane sealer

a painting with a Polyurethane sealer