Cakewalk by BandLab

Discussion:

Cakewalk by BandLab

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Allan Higdon

2024-12-03 15:36:22 UTC

"Cakewalk provides you with everything needed to easily compose complete songs and performances with creative songwriting tools and instruments for free.

This app is pretty complex, and we recommend checking out some of the videos that Bandlab has, as there are far too many details to outline in a short description adequately. That said, you can produce professional-quality media all from this app. You can create your media directly in-app, or you can import (and export) MIDI, audio files, audio CDs, and video content.

Some of the features included are:

Record
Capture inspired performances with pristine quality and unlimited audio and MIDI tracks

Edit
Fix mistakes, arrange parts, and manipulate pitch, time, and any other aspect of your recordings

Mix
Achieve pristine pro-studio sounds and create big, clear, dynamic mixes with advanced mixing tools

Master
Polish your finished mixes to perfection with built-in mastering tools

Share
Export and publish your songs directly to YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, and more"

https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cakewalk.html

Updated to Version 2024.11

Home Page
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/

What's New
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/whats-new

Softpedia Review
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Players/Sonar.shtml

VanguardLH

2024-12-03 17:02:07 UTC

Permalink

Post by Allan Higdon
"Cakewalk provides you with everything needed to easily compose complete songs and performances with creative songwriting tools and instruments for free.
This app is pretty complex, and we recommend checking out some of the videos that Bandlab has, as there are far too many details to outline in a short description adequately. That said, you can produce professional-quality media all from this app. You can create your media directly in-app, or you can import (and export) MIDI, audio files, audio CDs, and video content.
Record
Capture inspired performances with pristine quality and unlimited audio and MIDI tracks
Edit
Fix mistakes, arrange parts, and manipulate pitch, time, and any other aspect of your recordings
Mix
Achieve pristine pro-studio sounds and create big, clear, dynamic mixes with advanced mixing tools
Master
Polish your finished mixes to perfection with built-in mastering tools
Share
Export and publish your songs directly to YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, and more"
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/cakewalk.html
Updated to Version 2024.11
Home Page
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/
What's New
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/whats-new
Softpedia Review
https://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Audio/Audio-Players/Sonar.shtml

The Cakewalk product name jostled an engram about the program. I found:

https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021858293-What-happened-to-the-old-SONAR-What-happens-to-everything-I-paid-for
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_Sonar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_by_BandLab

I thought Cakewalk used to get bundled with the software package for
Creative Labs sound cards. It was probably a reduced feature set
(crippled) of the full Cakewalk program that was payware.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/
"While Cakewalk by BandLab will continue to receive essential
maintenance updates, no new feature development is planned, as we
prioritize advancements in Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk Next."

Since they are discontinuing Cakewalk is why it is free. When I go to
https://www.bandlab.com/, and click on the Products link in the navbar,
Cakewalk is listed under "Other products". Clicking on it takes you to
https://www.cakewalk.com/ which is the old domain acquired by Bandlab.
A banner at the top says there is a sale on Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk
Next ($71). No link to download the old Cakewalk (no suffix). At
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/, it says "Cakewalk by BandLab
is free". That would be the old Cakewalk code they acquired in 2018.
Cakewalk aka Cakewalk by BandLab was paid subscriptionware.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_by_BandLab#Licensing

You sure what you're promoting isn't trialware aka lureware? That a
download is free, or it has a trial, or is nagware requiring relicensing
does make it freeware.

VanguardLH

2024-12-03 17:14:18 UTC

Permalink

Post by VanguardLH

https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021858293-What-happened-to-the-old-SONAR-What-happens-to-everything-I-paid-for
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_Sonar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_by_BandLab
I thought Cakewalk used to get bundled with the software package for
Creative Labs sound cards. It was probably a reduced feature set
(crippled) of the full Cakewalk program that was payware.
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/
"While Cakewalk by BandLab will continue to receive essential
maintenance updates, no new feature development is planned, as we
prioritize advancements in Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk Next."
Since they are discontinuing Cakewalk is why it is free. When I go to
https://www.bandlab.com/, and click on the Products link in the navbar,
Cakewalk is listed under "Other products". Clicking on it takes you to
https://www.cakewalk.com/ which is the old domain acquired by Bandlab.
A banner at the top says there is a sale on Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk
Next ($71). No link to download the old Cakewalk (no suffix). At
https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk/, it says "Cakewalk by BandLab
is free". That would be the old Cakewalk code they acquired in 2018.
Cakewalk aka Cakewalk by BandLab was paid subscriptionware.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_by_BandLab#Licensing
You sure what you're promoting isn't trialware aka lureware? That a
download is free, or it has a trial, or is nagware requiring relicensing
does make it freeware.

^^^^
doesn't

Allan Higdon

2024-12-03 21:24:01 UTC

Permalink

Post by VanguardLH

^^^^
doesn't

The download link for their Freeware version is the "Cakewalk Installer" button on the Home Page.
The setup file does have to download all the files before installation.

The License Agreement displayed before installation does confirm that it is Freeware.
"6.1. The Product is made available to you free of charge."

The program does require activation.
https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/900006746466-Activation-FAQ

VanguardLH

2024-12-03 23:40:25 UTC

Permalink

Post by Allan Higdon
The download link for their Freeware version is the "Cakewalk Installer" button on the Home Page.
The setup file does have to download all the files before installation.
The License Agreement displayed before installation does confirm that it is Freeware.
"6.1. The Product is made available to you free of charge."
The program does require activation.
https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/900006746466-Activation-FAQ

The program also requires re-validation every 6 months, or less.

"After [installation], the license must be validated at least once every
six months through an Internet connection or it will revert to “demo
mode” and project saving will be disabled until it can be validated
again."

So, every 6 months, or less, you have to re-validate the license. You
need to create an account to get it. They want to track your usage.

Since Cakewalk [no suffix] was discontinued, I suspect the re-validation
will eventually fail. Since what you install is a web installer, that
will likely cease when old Cakewalk gets dropped. Sometime after the
introduction of Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk Next (both already
available), the old Cakewalk stops getting supported. Current users of
old Cakewalk are concerned the web install ceases to function whenever
BandLab drops old Cakewalk. There has been no announcement when old
Cakewalk gets dropped, or how long old Cakewalk will be supported after
the release of Cakewalk Sonar and Cakewalk Next.

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/69725-future-re-install-of-cakewalk-after-sonar-is-available/

Will Cakewalk by BandLab be discontinued?

Yes, eventually. We will continue providing community support and
maintenance for Cakewalk by BandLab until Cakewalk Sonar becomes
publicly available. At some point after the release of Sonar, Cakewalk
by BandLab will no longer be supported.

Cakewalk Sonar was released in September 2024. Development on old
Cakewalk (now free) ceased when Sonar got released in August 2024.

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/topic/80860-sonar-202408/

Since Sonar has been released, support for old Cakewalk ceases. Since
all you get is a web installer, the question is how long before BandLab
yanks the downloads retrieved by the web installer. Could be a few
month, or a few years. Meanwhile you have to re-validate its license
every 6 months, or less.

If old Cakewalk is something with which you are familiar with prior use,
having it free means you can get up to speed quickly. If you are new to
[old] Cakewalk by BandLab, it could take you longer to learn the program
than when re-validation eventually fails.

Per the FAQ page you cited:

Does Activation Expire?

Yes, but if you are signed in to BandLab and your system is online, no
intervention will be required, and Cakewalk by BandLab will stay
permanently activated. If your system is offline, however, activation
will last for up to 6 months. Activation may also be required if you
make major changes to your system like installing a new OS, changing
the motherboard, etc. You will see an Activation message before it
expires, but we recommend keeping the program up to date, which will
also reactivate it automatically.

If you keep running BandLab Assistant, you get automatically
re-validated. Else, activation expires in 6 months. Besides the
concern they yank their licensing server support for old Cakewalk, their
web installer might fail when they drop old Cakewalk, and you need to
reinstall it.

To me, the repeated re-validation smacks of a means for them to yank the
"free" licenses sometime after Sonar and Next got released. It's free
until they decided to pull the plug whereupon its users have become
dependent on it, so they manage to gets a percentage of the freeloaders
to upgrade to the Sonar or Next payware. Time will tell when they yank
support, including using the web installer for [re]installs and when
licensing no longer re-activates, for whether this "free" version is
actually lureware.

BandLab announce in June 2023 that old Cakewalk would be discontinued,
and replaced with payware. Although you might get a "free" web
installer for now, and [re]licensing of old Cakewalk works for now,
doesn't look promising.

https://www.makingascene.org/bandlab-discontinues-free-version-of-cakewalk-by-bandlab-daw/

BandLab kept old Cakewalk free despite they announced to drop it. The
free version may very continue to function -- while you can reactivate
its license.

2024-12-04 01:49:20 UTC

Permalink

Post by VanguardLH
I thought Cakewalk used to get bundled with the software package for
Creative Labs sound cards. It was probably a reduced feature set
(crippled) of the full Cakewalk program that was payware.

Yes, it was bundled with some Sound Blaster sound card models. To be
precise, the Express version as: Cakewalk Express. With pre Sound Blaster
Live! cards, it was Cakewalk Express v3.x - a 16-bit Windows version. With
Sound Blaster Live! card, it was Cakewalk Express Gold v6.x - a 32-bit
Windows version, but it uses 16-bit installer (use Universal Extractor to
extract [i3comp method]).

IMO, I prefer Cakewalk Express Gold than BandLab one, in terms of
dependency, usability, privacy, and resource usage. Though it will require
some time to manually set it up properly.

2024-12-04 01:49:24 UTC

Permalink

Skip the official "installer", which is just a downloader of the REAL
installer.

Get the offline installer and other goodies which they don't want you to
know, from below.

https://bandlab.github.io/cakewalk/versions.json

Get the production version. Not the beta or early-access ones. Unless you're
curious.

Allan Higdon

2024-12-04 12:50:12 UTC

Permalink

Post by JJ

Skip the official "installer", which is just a downloader of the REAL
installer.
Get the offline installer and other goodies which they don't want you to
know, from below.
https://bandlab.github.io/cakewalk/versions.json
Get the production version. Not the beta or early-access ones. Unless you're
curious.

Thanks.
The link for the offline installer of the latest production version is
https://downloads.bandlab.com/cakewalk/CbB/29.09.0.120/Cakewalk_by_BandLab_Setup_29.09.0.120(Rebuild_1).exe