Cakewalk

What a ride it’s been for Sonar/Cakewalk in 2018! The Windows-only DAW, which has been around in one form or another for over 30 years, was sold, along with much of the development team, to Singapore-based BandLab Technologies by imploding then-owners Gibson around the start of 2018.

At first, it wasn’t clear what the future held for Sonar, as it was then known, but a couple of months later, BandLab dropped a sizeable bombshell on the music software landscape by relaunching the flagship version, Sonar Platinum, as Cakewalk by BandLab, and making it completely free.

Make no mistake, this really is the full enchilada, albeit minus the third-party content that came with Sonar Platinum (Melodyne, for example) – although all of that is still compatible for those who already have it. All of the technological innovations for which this supremely adaptable and power-packed DAW has become known are present and correct, including multitouch support and the Pro Channel, and BandLab promise “an aggressive feature roadmap ahead”. Sure, you have to install BandLab’s client software to use it, which draws your attention to their other services, but there has to be something in it for them, right?

Although the situation might, of course, feel a little galling for those who have invested significant money in Cakewalk/Sonar over the decades, it’s surely a huge relief that their music production platform of choice has not only been rescued from what at one point looked like its imminent demise, but is now under the stewardship of a company who certainly do appear to be sincere in their good intentions for its future development.

It’s also great news for PC musicians more generally, as it means that everyone can now get to know this amazing DAW without dropping a dime.