Sonar 3 Ignite!

Rating:
Summary: Easy to learn
Review: I learn Sonar 3 in one day with this book. Easy to understand with lot of image screenshot.

Rating:
Summary: More than a quick start
Review: I've played around with Sonar for a number of years and have several third-party books on my shelf. I gave this a quick glance at a bookstore, thinking I would be way beyond its "novice" tag. However, what I discovered were lots of useful tips and tricks. Not only does this book show you helpful visuals in using Sonar, but it often explains "why" you might want to use that particular tip. I have found this book to be very helpful in filling in my knowledge gaps with this app. If you appreciate the tutorial pages of Computer Music magazine, you will probably like this approach. And you don't have to be a novice to find something of value here.

Rating:
Summary: Sonar 3 Ignite!
Review: I've read this book from cover to cover and find it very detailed and well organized. I'll point out a few reasons- first, the author uses every day english but steps into the professional music-speak when it's appropriate and helpful for people at extreme ends of the music production spectrum. Second, on every single page all of the action verbs in the text are bolded so at a glance of the page in a single second you can see what and how many steps are required and it's well spaced (text and pictures with lines connecting both) and not cluttered. Third, the author gives special attention to insert personal notes to explain the need for each step and gives you the "why" along with the "how". Fourth, the process of each function in Sonar is demonstrated using media found in the file folders that come with the program, so if you don't have much of your own material you still have plenty to get involved quickly and won't suffer missing the learning curve with lack of practice even though all steps are explained completely. I was very thankful for this. Fifth, I like the authors use of the appendix section in the book which offers a clear understanding of what MIDI and digital audio files are, each on a dedicated page. In fact I would recommend to anyone getting this book to read these pages first. Another nice thing is each step of each process pointing to the specific command in the menu it's found in. I could practically read this book without reading a word.

I believe that covers the main parts. I appreciate this book teaching me Sonar in a single day! Mission accomplished!

My apologies to the author for someone's review on this book posted as an attack to his knowledge and character. I'm glad I got the book anyway! I guess some people only concern themselves with all that's negative in the world.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty pictures, but...
Review: Sonar 3 Ignite is a decent enough book. It provides plenty of visuals, but there's not really a lot of info here. It may get you started with Sonar 3, but it won't give you everything you need to use the software.

Sonar 3 Power by Scott Garrigus, on the other hand, provides full coverage of the Sonar 3 software from beginning to end.

Save yourself some bucks and get Sonar 3 Power instead. If you get Sonar 3 Power, you don't need Sonar 3 Ignite.