Review: Cakewalk Project 5 Version 2

Cakewalk

Posted 2005-05-31

Being a long time Windows PC based user, and having a love affair with songwriting and music composition, almost predicates that you are also a long-time Cakewalk user. Sure, there have been other products out there at higher and lower price points, but for the longest time the Average Joe didn’t have many choices in a price range that is attractive to the home recording enthusiast. After all, if you weren’t a Mac user but still wanted to write and record your own music – you were sort of out of luck.

Even back in 1995 when Cakewalk released Pro Audio, combining MIDI functionality with digital audio recording capabilities, there weren’t many players on the PC platform. You basically became a Cakewalk user out of necessity and whether you embraced the plethora of features and learning curve that many experienced or not, you had no choice but to take the time to study the program and familiarize yourself with it.

Fast forward 10 years and the landscape changes slightly. Although there are many players in this market space, there is still only one leader at a price point that’s so attractive to a broad base of professionals, hobbyists and enthusiasts. Without taking advantage of the dominance that Cakewalk has enjoyed over the years, they’ve continued to improve upon and expand the toolset. The fascinating thing is, the product continues to get easier to use!

Without dating myself I will tell you that my child-like abilities to “learn like a sponge” are starting to wane. So is my patience level and my capacity to spend hours upon hours trying to learn and master a product. In addition, with laptops, mp3 players and other portable tech gadgets gaining wide market saturation I’m looking for a flexible solution that I can use in the home environment, but also take on the road with me if I’m looking to drag my mates up to the mountains for a weekend of relaxation and recording bliss.

Enter Project 5 Version 2

At a price point that never seems to increase much, Cakewalk has once again released a product that bridges so many features and functions into a package that you can install and be productive with in minutes. Gone are the days of studying the manual and pulling your hair out, Project 5 Version 2 is intuitive and efficient – just what the doctor ordered. In addition, Version 2 is better than ever with some new features that include audio recording, an updated and more streamlined interface, ReWire hosting, audio playback from disk without size limitations. They’ve also thrown in real-time Groove triggering (for playing live), editing and exporting capabilities for the Groove clip functionality, the PSYN II instrument, and… drum roll please… the multi-mode sampling synthesizer - Dimension. Cakewalk has effectively taken an already great product and bumped it to the next level.

For the full press release for Project 5 Version 2, and all of the details on what is included in this new product, please click on the link below:

Cakewalk Project 5 Version 2 MUSIKMESSE 2005 Press Release

My Personal Experience

As I may have mentioned, I’m mostly into the digital audio recording scene. I’m a guitarist first and foremost and my first exercise is usually to set up a nice groove with a drum track, funky bass line and start laying acoustic and electric guitar tracks over it. Working in this manner can be somewhat laborious however, since you are constantly laying down tracks, re-playing and re-recording tracks, tweaking, etc. In addition, if you lay down a 3-minute guitar track and screw up one section, you typically have to redo the whole track.

So guess who is a big fan of the groove functionality and acidized loop creation now? Yep – me. Now, I can take Project 5 Version 2 from Cakewalk and really fine tune a phrase or loop section to perfection before using it in the final construct of my song. This gives me the ultimate palette for building the entire song and the flexibility to cut and paste loops and grooves in and out of the song to my liking. And, if I screw up, I just record one phrase or loop over again and put it back into the mix.

After several hours with the product experimenting with groove and loop creation, effects and sampling I can honestly say this is one of the easiest to use Cakewalk releases in years. I would have to think the goal of any good software developer is to bring a product to market that is easy to get in and be productive with immediately, but that takes time to master. It’s a balancing act, if you ask me, and in my opinion Cakewalk has nailed it with Project 5 Version 2.

If you are somewhat like me though, a guitar player who really hasn’t delved too deeply with MIDI and soft-synth functionality, do yourself a favor. Pick up an inexpensive MIDI controller at your local music store or online and be prepared for a whole new creative experience. If you really want to play to the strengths of this software, you HAVE to learn to use the built-in synths. I spent nearly an entire day experimenting with Dimension. I probably could have spent a month or longer. For someone who hasn’t taken a lesson in over 20 years, the plethora of built in patches and tones made me sound like a pro. After building a great groove, creating some cool loops of guitar licks and laying down some sweet synth tracks you will have a big cheesy grin on your face. This could explain my recent recurring dreams of accepting the best soundtrack award at the Oscars, but then again eating before bedtime doesn’t help with those crazy dreams either.

As far as comparisons to hardware go, I’ve been fortunate to spend some time with high-end desktop workstations from manufacturers such as Yamaha and Roland. I’ve always been blown away by these units – and still am, but what I’m seeing here is that the line is getting blurred between what you can and can not do with a software based solution such as Cakewalk and one of these workstation units. If you’ve already got a decent laptop with a CD-burner, all you need is a decent USB MIDI controller and a copy of Project 5 Version 2 to take your studio on the road with you. Certainly much cheaper than spending thousands of dollars on a portable unit that usually has a screen so small it’s difficult to work with.

Gee Chris, Are You On The Cakewalk Payroll?

Seriously, folks, this truly is a great product. And no, I’m not on the Cakewalk payroll. As a matter of fact there was one thing that I really missed about this product that would have ushered me past the cheesy grins and brought tears to my eyes. A guitar amplifier plug-in. Probably the only thing I can think of that’s not included in this package is a quality amp simulator that can model various amps, cabinets and guitar effects – live – while recording your tracks. Cakewalk includes IK Multimedia's Amplitube LE in the Guitar Tracks 3 product, but it would have made a nice addition here as well. As a matter of fact, I just may have to purchase it so that I have a complete set of tools at my disposal. Keep in mind, I’m reviewing this product from the guitar players standpoint so this is not a knock on Project 5 Version 2, just a personal preference.

Bottom Line

Forget my tendency to be redundant for a moment and listen up. Cakewalk Project 5 Version 2 is the most flexible, feature-rich product for recording and live performance at price point that just about anyone can afford. Throw in the fact that the learning curve is significantly reduced due to the intuitive design of the user interface and you have an application that will provide years of creative production for amateurs and professionals alike. In addition, the plug-in capabilities provide an expansive array of choices when it comes to upgrading.

For new users, Project 5 Version 2 will run you about $300 on the street. Existing Project 5 users and registered Cakewalk users can upgrade for a significantly lower prices on the Cakewalk site.

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Review: Cakewalk Project 5 Version 2

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