On running version 9 for the first time, you will be prompted whether to search for a previous version on your hard disk (if this is the case, most of your settings are migrated, which is a nice touch), to profile your audio hardware, and to select which MIDI ports you will be using. De‑installation is painless, but files and registry entries created after Cakewalk is installed are left behind: this is a limitation of InstallShield rather than of Cakewalk. There is no floppy‑disk key to lose, nor dongle for the dog to eat, so you can rest assured that when you need to reinstall the software (which will almost inevitably happen at some stage - this is Windows, after all!), you won't be left out in the cold.Īlong with a version of DirectX Media (formerly known as Quartz, DMSS, ActiveMovie, and so on) and an update to a common Windows library (which is not installed if you already have a later version), you also get the obligatory demo files (does anyone actually use these with any software?), templates, Studioware panels and the like.
This is clear even at installation: pop in the CD, run the installation routine, type in a CD key and serial number when prompted, choose which options to install and sit back and relax. One of the best things about version 9 is that, refreshingly, Cakewalk seem to have listened to their existing customers. Tab and fretboard views will win friends among the guitarists out there. So, is there anything new that version 9 can offer our jaded, pre‑millenial tastes? Oh yes. Recent versions have seen some notable features and firsts: version 6 was the first Windows sequencer to support real‑time DirectX plug‑ins, version 7 introduced an enhanced, floating‑point mix engine which massively improves mixing headroom and a 'proper' mixing console (of which more later), while version 8 came with real‑time MIDI plug‑ins and mixing envelopes (aka vectors).
The history of the Cakewalk family of sequencers on the PC goes back all the way to the dim and distant days of DOS. If Cakewalk was a cat, it'd be on its last life by now - but, as Kevin Perry discovers, the long‑established PC sequencing package shows no sign of turning up its paws just yet. At last! The multitrack piano‑roll view - note that Cakewalk intelligently handles both drums and normal instruments in the same view.
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