Cakewalk (company)
| Formerly | Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Company type |
|
| Industry | Software |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Greg Hendershott |
| Fate | Company dissolved; currently a brand owned by BandLab Technologies |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Area served | Global |
| Products | SONAR Music software |
| Owner | BandLab Technologies |
| Parent | Gibson (2013–18) |
Cakewalk, Inc. was a developer of music production software based in Boston, Massachusetts, now functioning as a brand under the Singapore-headquartered BandLab Technologies. Its leading product was the professional-grade digital audio workstation (DAW) software known as SONAR, which combined multi-track digital audio recording with MIDI sequencing and editing capabilities. The company’s offerings also featured Pyro Audio Creator, a tool for managing digital music libraries, and Dimension Pro, a software-based virtual instrument.
After being acquired by Gibson in 2013, Cakewalk’s development activities were discontinued in 2017 under Gibson’s management. Subsequently, in 2018, BandLab Technologies purchased significant assets and intellectual property rights to revive SONAR development as part of its suite of free DAW products.
History
Founded in 1987 by Greg Hendershott under the name Twelve Tone Systems, Inc., he remained CEO until July 1, 2012. The company initially gained recognition for its MIDI sequencer called Cakewalk, operating as "Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. DBA Cakewalk" to capitalize on its established brand identity.
The first version of the Cakewalk MIDI sequencer debuted for MS-DOS in 1987 and later expanded to Windows 3.0 by 1991. Early releases required devices operating in intelligent MPU-401 mode but transitioned to UART mode to support a wider range of hardware. As the software advanced, it was rebranded as Cakewalk Pro and subsequently Cakewalk Pro Audio with added digital audio recording functionality.
SONAR, the company’s DAW software, allowed users to develop projects integrating digital audio tracks, MIDI sequences, lyrics, and notation. Its user interface included visual representations such as audio waveforms, sheet music views, and mixing consoles. SONAR supported exporting stereo .WAV files suitable for CD production or other distribution formats.
In January 2008, following Roland Corporation’s acquisition of a majority stake, product branding shifted to "Cakewalk by Roland". The corporate entity officially adopted the name Cakewalk, Inc. in September 2008.
On July 1, 2012, after leading the company for a quarter century, Hendershott stepped down as CEO and was succeeded by Michael Hoover, previously EVP of Products.
Roland divested its ownership interest to Gibson Brands on December 6, 2013. Under Gibson’s stewardship, development continued at Cakewalk’s Boston facility with ongoing partnerships such as with TASCAM until November 17, 2017, when Gibson announced it would halt all Cakewalk product development. This marked the end of operations after approximately thirty years.
On February 23, 2018, BandLab Technologies acquired selected assets along with all intellectual property rights from Cakewalk with the intent to continue advancing SONAR—rebranded as Cakewalk by BandLab—within its collection of complimentary DAW software solutions.
Products
The firm's range of products features sequencers and digital audio workstations, with Cakewalk by BandLab being the prominent current software. Previous releases encompass multisample synthesizers such as Dimension Pro and Rapture Pro. The company also delivers a variety of instruments, effects processors, and other consumer-oriented tools designed for music production.