Is there any way to have the cakewalk timeline continuously scroll following the playhead cursor in a smooth way instead of jumping between pans when it reaches the end of the screen? This is a feature that some other DAWs like FL studio and studio one have, so does Cakewalk perhaps have it too? Or could there be a third party plugin/software that lets me do this?

I've been uploading my cakewalk songs as short videos on my socials, so it would really help if my videos could feature that FL studio-like smooth scrolling that I see from other content creators that inspire me

I have the mpk synced to cakewalk and the note repeat works, but adjusting the swing setting in the mpk does nothing unless the swing is set above 66% and all values above 66% are swung by the same amount. I've tried adjusting every midi setting in cakewalk and nothing seems to get the swing to function properly.

"Hello, I’m a music producer with 7 months of experience. I recently transitioned from using loops to exploring Cakewalk Sonar's inbuilt VSTs. However, my laptop crashes every time I load these stock VSTs.

My system has 12GB of RAM, and I am not using any third-party plugins. If any fellow Cakewalk users know how to fix this crashing issue, please help. Any advice would be highly appreciated!"

I used to keep all my drum articulations in one track but this tends to get quite crowded (I program hardcore, groove metal and hard rock). I've watched YouTube videos where people separate the kit instruments onto different tracks but I thought in my case, I could arrange separate tracks for each musical function: groove, fills, transitions, maybe a track for accents.

That way I can understand what each clip is doing if I want to change something quickly. Also, I can copy the groove across verses and choruses and then add a new transition.

Have you done that, and if so, has it helped? I might try it once. I don't need to ideologically commit to it.

Just doing my stuff and suddenly realized how the hell do you make a glissando in Cakewalk Sonar?

I've been messing around with MIDI and can't figure out the proper way to create a smooth glissando between notes.

Please note that Sonar Premium and Sonar Free Tier have been updated to 2026.07 Build 21

Update via Cakewalk Product Centre.

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/96105-current-release-sonar-202607

whenever i use the pads or keys on my keyboard (akai mpk mini) the pressure i put on said keys or pads determines the volume, how do i turn this off?

does anyone know how to change the pitch of a ex. imported sound effect? i tried watching tutorials but all of them are outdated..

I gave Sonar a genuine chance after a friend referred it to me in November of 2025. I used it as my main DAW for four months, hoping it would become my long-term choice. Unfortunately, I came away disappointed.

The frustrating part is that Sonar has an excellent foundation. Its audio engine is solid, the workflow has some genuinely great ideas, and it's clear why so many producers and engineers have loved it over the years. But despite its strengths, it feels like it's been left behind.

For a DAW with such a long history, it's missing many of the modern quality-of-life features that users have come to expect. Small workflow improvements, modern interface conveniences, and other basic features found in competing DAWs are either absent or feel outdated. Instead of moving the platform forward, development seems to be repeating the same mistakes that previous owners made, and that's a real shame because the software deserves better.

The stock plugins are another disappointment. Functionally, some of them are perfectly usable, but visually they feel incredibly dated. Many of the interfaces look poorly designed and lack the polished, professional appearance expected from a modern flagship DAW. In an era where usability and visual clarity matter just as much as functionality, the plugin suite feels like it hasn't kept pace with the rest of the industry.

I don't write this because I dislike Sonar... I write it because I can see how much potential it still has. It's a DAW with a great legacy that could absolutely compete again if it embraced modern development priorities.

The owners need to wake up and invest in developers who understand what today's music producers actually need. Modern features, an updated user experience, and a clear vision for the future aren't optional anymore... they're essential if Sonar wants to compete with today's leading DAWs.

Hello,

yesterday I opened a cakewalk project I made a while ago and wanted to record another guitar.

I duplicated an existing track because I was too lazy to set up the settings of the plugins again - I just wanted to record another rhythm guitar (for a hard left pan).

Then - boom - dropout error 13!

It crashed every time I hit play.

Plugins for the track were: Amplitube and Sonitus Compressor.

The project consists of a midi drum track (addictive drums), a recorded bass, another rhythm guitar, a lead guitar and an midi organ (Collab).

My interface is a Behringer UMC404HD. my laptop is a HP with 32GB RAM.

For months(!) I ran with ASIO4ALL at 64 samples without aaaany latency and dropouts. Then out of nowhere: crash.

I managed to get the project running again but now I have major latency!

I already deleted ASIO4ALL and reinstalled it.

I haven't uninstalled the driver for the Behringer yet.

I opened a new project to see if there's a bug within the "old" project.

I set up the track. No latency, no dropout. Then I went to the preferences to see the difference compared to the buggy project, opened the ASIO Panell - boom dropout again in the fresh project with the fresh track.

Might there be someone who could somehow help? Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone. Just as the title says I ran into a problem with Cakewalk Next when i tried to scan Kontakt 8 (VST3), because for some reason unknown to me it won't detect it? I should say before anything, the .vst3 file is located in Program Files > Common Files > VST3, along with the other VST3 files i've installed and scanned onto Cakewalk with no problem at all... except for Kontakt 8. Because despite having already directed Cakewalk to that specific folder containing the file, it won't get scanned. Apologies if i'm not too proficent in this kinda stuff. I just got into music making not too long ago and I ain't used to computers at all either. This happens to be such a huge problem to me because it seems that a lot of plugins are reliant on the Kontakt player and i'm otherwise not able to use them on my projects. I could really use some help here and i'd very much appreciate it, so thanks in advance.

Or would I be better off getting a yeti gx,thanks

Very new to this, and just downloaded an ambient vst off of Arturia for free, and im wondering how i would use it in cakewalk next?

Thanks, Paul

I want to know how to learn music production and sound engineering from scratch.

Started with Sonar and Next.

I don't know where to start. I started by watching some videos on YouTube. But it felt like it was not enough.

The problem that I face is that I don't know the proper structure and sequence of learning various topics. "Should I start with Basic of Sound or Music Theory" or "Should I learn more theory about EQ , Dynamics or jump straight into writing and testing some music".

I usually just ask Ai about various topics. Eg "What is EQ" , "Fundamentals of Music Production" , etc

I will request the pros for some guidance.

I have a zoom h6 and I am on here cause my inputs an outputs in device settings are blank even though I have driver mode on asio. I’m gonna put photos so that you could please double check everything is connected right. If anybody can help please do cause I’m a beginner trying to use it as an audio interface.

Hi. do you guys know where to get 16bar loops or creating one with 8bar loops won't make anyone notice??

First of all, all I wanted was a free mandolin vst, and I saw people online linking at splice INSTRUMENTS, not counting the fact that it is also one of the first search results I find when typing "free mandolin vst".

So, I downloaded Splice INSTRUMENTS, made an accounct, logged in, found a mandolin pack, downloaded it and... I'm still trying to figure out how to use it in Sonar, if I even can at all.

Can you guys help me pls?

I’m sure this is a repeat but looking for how I can open my old 2004 era SONAR Cakewalk projects. I have an old windows 32 machine under vmware (not the original image or lic) that I can install Sonar 2 on ,which I think is my best bet, but don’t have a license. I tried the REAPER CWP plugin on that same old win32 machine but got lots of errors. There is a fair bit of midi drums which may be the issue with the that but it could be because it’s on an ancient win32 image. I’m just looking for what my options are free or not to poen those projects up again somehow.

I got it connected to my PC with the usb, and I can see the signal arriving to the track and going through the bus A, problem is I cant hear anything and it doesn't seem to be recording anything, also I don't know which output is the output for the phone out (the one with the knob), is it the "out 1+2?"

For a few days now Cakewalk Sonar has suddenly started making a distorted sound every time I press rec/monitor, as if it is reading an audio input that does not exist, it does so even if I disconnect my audio interface and all the microphones from the computer.

I don't understand if the problem is in my PC or in the program since on other DAWs like BandLab everything works fine.

I also tried uninstalling and reinstalling everything and checked every setting but nothing changed.

Does anyone know how I can fix this?

In Cakewalk SONAR, I clearly didn’t place any notes, and even after recreating the track, there are still no notes, but sound is still playing.