SONAR 8 Reference Guide Cakewalk User's Referenceguide

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Cakewalk SONAR
Reference Guide
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Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commit
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license agreement or nondisclosure agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accor
dance of the terms of the agreement. It is against the law to copy this software on any medium
except as specifically allowed in the agreement. No part of this document may be reproduced or
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ers.

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Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Registering SONAR Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Conventions Used in this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
About SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Music Composition and Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Remixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Game Sound Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Sound Production and Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Web Authoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Film and Video Scoring and Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Publishing Music on the Internet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Burning Audio CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Computers, Sound, and Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Audio Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
MIDI Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Starting SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
SONAR Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
SONAR File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Opening a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Working on a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Windows Taskbar Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Screen Colors and Wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Color Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Starting to Use SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Installing SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

2 Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
The Now Time and How to Use It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Now Time Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
The Track View Now Time Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Displaying the Now Time in Large Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Other Ways to Set the Now Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
The Time Ruler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Controlling Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Handling Stuck Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Using the Large Transport. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Track-by-Track Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
The Playback State Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Silencing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Soloing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Inverting the Phase of a Track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Changing Tracks’ Mono/Stereo Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Changing Track Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Setting Up Output Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Assigning Tracks to Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch) . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Adding Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Table of Contents

Adjusting Volume and Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113
Configurable Panning Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .114
Adjusting Volume Trim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Assigning a MIDI Channel (Chn) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .115
Adjusting the Key/Transposing a Track (Key+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116
Adjusting the Note Velocity (Vel+) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117
Adjusting the Time Alignment of a MIDI Track (Time+) . . . . . . . . .118
Other MIDI Playback Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI Echo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Local Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123
Playing Files in Batch Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
The Play List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124
Video Playback, Import, and Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
Inserting and Playing Back Videos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
Exporting Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .130
Optimizing Video Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .131
Using the Video Thumbnails Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .132
Video Playback on a FireWire DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135
Exporting a Project to a FireWire DV Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .136
Synchronizing External Video Playback to Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . .137
Locating Missing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
The Find Missing Audio File Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Restoring Missing Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .138
Managing Shared and External Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .139

3 Tutorials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Tutorial 1—The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Opening a Project File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .142
Preparing for Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .143
Playing the Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146
Restarting the Project Automatically. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150
Changing the Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152
Muting and Soloing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .154
Changing a Track's Instrument. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156
Playing Music on a Keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157
Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Creating a New Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Recording a MIDI Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .159
Saving Your Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Loop Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164
Punch-In Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .167

Table of Contents

Tutorial 3—Recording Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Setting the Sampling Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Setting the Audio Driver Bit Depth and Recording Bit Depth. . . . . 169
Open a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Setting Up an Audio Track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Checking the Input Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Recording Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Listening to the Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Recording Another Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Input Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Loop and Punch-In Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Recording Multiple Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Tutorial 4—Editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Transposing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Copying Clips with Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Editing Notes in the Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Slip-editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Drawing MIDI Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Converting MIDI to Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Tutorial 5—Editing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Opening the Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Importing a Wave File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Moving and Looping the Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Slip-editing a Clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Automatic Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Bouncing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Tutorial 6—Using Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Adding Groove Clips to a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Looping Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Changing the Pitch of Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Changing the Tempo of Your Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Creating Your Own Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Tutorial 7—Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Adding Real-time Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Automating an Individual Effect’s Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Grouping Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Automating Your Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Exporting an MP3 File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Inserting Cakewalk TTS-1 into a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Playing MIDI Tracks through a Soft Synth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Table of Contents

Tutorial 9—Drum Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
Create a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
Creating a Drum Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .208
Create a Drum Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Map Drum Notes to Different Outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210

4 Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Using Per-Project Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Creating a New Project File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .214
Setting the Meter and Key Signatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216
Setting the Metronome and Tempo Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .217
Setting the Audio Sampling Rate and Bit Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .220
Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Preparing to Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .221
Recording Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .222
Choosing an Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Arming Tracks for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226
Auto Arming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Recording Music from a MIDI Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Input Quantizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .228
Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
Tuning an Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232
Confidence Recording and Waveform Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .234
Input Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235
The Audio Engine Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .239
Loop Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .240
Punch Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .242
Step Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .245
Step Record Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252
Step Pattern Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253
Recording Specific Ports and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254
Input Filtering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256
Importing Music and Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Importing Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Importing Audio CD Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .259
Importing Material from Another SONAR Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260
Importing OMF Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261
Importing MIDI Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .263
Saving Your Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .264

Table of Contents

Using File Versioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Labeling Your Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
File Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

5 Arranging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Arranging Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Changing the Order of Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Inserting Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Configuring the Display of Tracks in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Copying Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Erasing Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Track Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Track Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Configuring Track View Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Arranging Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Displaying Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Using the Navigator View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Opening Views by Double-clicking Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Selecting Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Moving and Copying Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Locking Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Nudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Nudge Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Working with Partial Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Markers and the snap grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Showing Gridlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Defining and Using the Snap Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Snap Offsets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Creating and Using Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Working with Linked Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Splitting and Combining Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Take Management and Comping Takes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Clip Muting with the Default Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Clip Muting with the Alternate Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Audition (Selection Playback) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Isolating (Clip Soloing). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Track Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Adding Effects in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Changing Tempos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Table of Contents

Using the Tempo Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .328
Using the Tempo Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329
Using the Tempo View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .332
Undo, Redo, and the Undo History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .336
Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338
Using Slip-editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .338
Slip-editing Multiple Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341
Fades and Crossfades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341
Using Fades and Crossfades in Real Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .341

6 AudioSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
What is it Exactly?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .347
How Does it Work? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348
Why Would I Use It? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349
Extract Timing Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .355
Fixing Timing Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .358
Synchronizing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .365
Doubling Sounds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .370
Changing a Project’s Tempo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .372
Snapping Edits to Audio Beats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
Splitting Beats into Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .376
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase Relationships . . . . . .380
Algorithms and Rendering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .386
Enabling AudioSnap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .388
The AudioSnap Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .390
Transient Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393
Displaying Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393
Disabling and Enabling Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .394
Marker Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
Editing Markers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .396
The Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .399
Keyboard Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .401
Groove Quantize and Quantize to Pool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .402
Copying Audio Rhythms as MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .404
Adding Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .404
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .405

Table of Contents

7 Using Loops. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
The Loop Construction View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
Loop Construction Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
The Loop Explorer View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Folders Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Contents List Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 418
Working with Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Working with Groove Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
How Groove Clips Work in SONAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
Using Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Creating and Editing Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Editing Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 426
Saving Groove Clips as Wave Files/ACIDized Wave Files . . . . . . 427
Using Pitch Markers in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
MIDI Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Exporting, and Importing MIDI Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Importing Project5 Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

8 Editing MIDI Events and Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
Event Inspector Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
The Piano Roll View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Note Map Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Drum Grid Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 438
Notes Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Controller Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Track List Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Opening the View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
Working with Multiple Tracks in the Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . 440
Note Names. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
Displaying Notes and Controllers (Piano Roll View Only) . . . . . . . . . . 443
Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Selecting Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
Editing Notes with the Draw Tool and the Select Tool . . . . . . . . . 446
Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
Adding Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Selecting Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Editing Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
The Inline Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Displaying the Inline Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
The MIDI Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 460

Table of Contents

Displaying Notes and Controllers in the Inline Piano Roll View . . .462
Selecting and Editing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
Copying and Pasting MIDI Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .463
Transposing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .464
Inserting Time or Measures into a Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .466
Stretching and Shrinking Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .469
Reversing Notes in a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .472
Adding Crescendos and Decrescendos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .473
Changing the Timing of a Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .474
Quantizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .474
Fit Improvisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .485
Snap to Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .486
Searching for Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .491
Event Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .492
Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and
Automation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .497
The Event List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .500
Event List Buttons and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .502
Selecting Events in the Event List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .505
Event List Display Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .505
Editing Events and Event Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .506
Additional Event Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .508
MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510
MIDI Effects Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .510
Quantizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .511
Adding Echo/Delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .512
Filtering Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .513
Adding Arpeggio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .514
Analyzing Chords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .515
Changing Velocities with the Velocity Effect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .517
Transposing MIDI Notes with the Transpose MIDI Effect. . . . . . . .518

9 Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 521
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522
Creating and Editing a Drum Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522
The Drum Map Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .522
Working in the Drum Map Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .524
The Map Properties Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .525
Saving a Drum Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .525
Using Drum Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .526

Table of Contents

Assigning a MIDI Track to a Drum Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Opening a Drum Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Displaying Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
Velocity Tails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Editing Note Velocities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
Previewing a Mapped Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 528
The Note Map Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
Changing Mapped-note Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
The Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
Grid Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
The Pattern Brush Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
How the Pattern Brush Tool Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532
Creating Custom Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534

10 Editing Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
Digital Audio Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Basic Acoustics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Example—A Guitar String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Waveforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 540
Recording a Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542
The Decibel Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543
Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
Managing Audio Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Basic Audio Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Editing Clip Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 546
Moving, Copying, Pasting and Deleting Audio Clips . . . . . . . . . . . 547
Audio Scaling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
Splitting Audio Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 552
Bouncing to Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553
Scrubbing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 554
Basic Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
Using the Normalize and Gain Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 556
Reversing Audio Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Advanced Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Removing Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Removing DC Offset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 560
Applying Fades and Crossfades Offline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Audio Effects (Audio Plug-ins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564
Applying Audio Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565
Directly Applying Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Table of Contents

11 Software Synthesizers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 567
Synth Rack View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .568
Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .569
Inserting Soft Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .569
Opening a Soft Synth’s Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .573
Synth Rack Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .573
Playing a Soft Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .574
Muting and Soloing Soft Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .577
Multi-port Soft Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .577
Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .578
Using the Assignable Controls Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .579
Automating Controls from the Synth Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .580
Displaying Synth Rack Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581
Remote Control of the Synth Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .581
Drawing Soft Synth Automation in the Clips Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . .581
Soft Synth MIDI Output Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .582
Recording a Soft Synth’s MIDI Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .582
ReWire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .583
ReWire Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .583
Inserting a ReWire Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .585
Routing MIDI Data to ReWire Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .587
Mixing Down ReWire Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .587
Automating ReWire Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .587
ReWire Troubleshooting Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .588
Stand-alone Synths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .589
Playing a Stand-alone Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .589
Recording a Stand-alone Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .590

12 Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593
Preparing to Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .594
Configuring the Console and Track Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .597
Mixing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600
Mixing a MIDI Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600
Converting MIDI to Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .601
Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .603
Sidechaining Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .605
Routing and Mixing Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .606
Stereo Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .607
Surround Buses (Producer Edition Only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .608

Table of Contents

Main Outs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
What the Meters Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Hiding and Showing Meters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611
Changing the Meters’ Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612
Segmented and Non-segmented Meters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 614
Changing the Meters’ Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
Peak Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 616
Waveform Preview for Buses and Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 617
Freeze Tracks and Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
Using Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623
How to Use Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 624
Presets and Property Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
Effects on Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 629
Organizing Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
VST Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 632
V-Vocal Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Using V-Vocal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 636
Playing Back V-Vocal Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 638
Pitch Editing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639
Editing Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643
Editing Formants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 644
Editing Dynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Context Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645
Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 646
Using the Per-track EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
Applying Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 651
Applying MIDI Effects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Using Control Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Quick Groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656
Using Remote Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658
Using the Learn Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 660
Bouncing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Preparing to Create an Audio CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 664
Preparing Audio for Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665
Exporting OMF Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672
Dithering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673

Table of Contents

13 Surround Mixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 675
Surround Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .676
Configuring SONAR for Surround Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .676
Using Surround Format Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .676
Choosing a Surround Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .679
Surround Buses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .681
Routing in Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .681
Downmixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .682
Panning in Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .684
Controlling Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .686
Automating Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .691
Joystick Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .691
Surround Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .692
Bass Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .693
Surround Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .694
The SurroundBridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .694
Effect Property Pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .694
Effect Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .695
How to Patch and Configure Surround Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .695
Importing Surround Mixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .697
Exporting Surround Mixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .698

14 Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 701
Quick Automation Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .702
The Automation Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .703
Automation Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .703
Automation Read and Automation Write Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . .704
Recording Individual Fader or Knob Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . .705
Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .706
Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .708
Dotted Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .711
Using the Envelope Draw Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .711
Drawing Envelopes on Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .713
Showing or Hiding Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .714
Deleting Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .714
Copying and Pasting Envelopes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .715
Resetting Envelopes and Nodes to Current or Neutral Values . . .716
Envelope Mode and Offset Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .716
Converting MIDI Envelopes to Shapes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .719
Snapshots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .720

Table of Contents

Adding Nodes at a Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721
Automating Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722
Automating Individual Effects Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722
Recording Automation Data from an External Controller . . . . . . . 723
Reassigning Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
The Envelope Editing and Node Editing Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 724
Automated Muting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726

15 Layouts, Templates and Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 729
Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 730
Floating Views and Dual Monitor Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 733
Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734
Template Example: Three MIDI Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 735
Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 736
Importing Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
Exporting Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 740

16 Notation and Lyrics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 741
The Staff View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 742
Opening the Staff View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743
Staff Pane Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744
The Staff Pane Right-Click Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744
The Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 746
Fretboard Popup Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 747
Basic Musical Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748
Inserting Notes on the Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748
Inserting Notes with the Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
Selecting Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 750
Moving, Copying, and Deleting Notes on the Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . 751
Moving Notes from within the Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 752
Auditioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Changing Note Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 753
Deglitch Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 754
Working with Triplets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
Beaming of Rests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Changing the Way Notes Are Displayed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 756
Using Enharmonic Spellings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 758
MIDI Channels and the Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 760
Chords and Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761
Adding Chord Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 761

Table of Contents

Adding Expression Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .765
Adding Hairpin Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .767
Adding Pedal Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .768
Tablature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .769
Tablature Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .769
Changing Fretboard Texture and Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .771
Quick TAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .771
Regenerate TAB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .772
Entering Notes from the TAB Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .773
Single Note Editing from the TAB Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .773
Editing Chords or Groups of Notes from the TAB Staff . . . . . . . . .774
Editing Notes and Chords from the Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .774
Working with Percussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .776
Setting Up a Percussion Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .776
Setting Up a Percussion Staff or Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .777
Ghost Strokes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .779
Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .780
The Meter/Key View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781
What Is Meter? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781
What Is Key? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .782
Opening the Meter/Key View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .783
Adding and Editing Meter/Key Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .784
Music Notation for Non-concert-key
Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .785
Working with Lyrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .786
Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Staff View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .787
Opening the Lyrics View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .788
Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Lyrics View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .789

17 Instrument Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791
Assigning Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .792
Importing Instrument Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .794
Creating Instrument Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .795
Creating and Editing Patch Name and Other Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . .799
Copying Name Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800
Assigning the Bank Select Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800
Assigning Patch Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .802
Assigning Note Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .803
Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .806
Instrument Definition Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .807
Why Use Instrument Definitions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .807

Table of Contents

What Can They Do and Not Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808
Where Do Instrument Definitions Come From?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808
Start of Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 808

18 System Exclusive Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813
What Is System Exclusive? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
Sysx Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
Using the System Exclusive View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 814
Sending Sysx Banks at Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815
Importing, Creating, and Dumping Sysx Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816
More about Dump Request Macros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 818
Editing Sysx Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
Sysx View Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Send . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Send All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Receive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Clear Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 820
Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Edit Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Load Bank and Save Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821
Transmitting Banks During Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 822
Real-time Recording of System Exclusive Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823
Sysx Echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 823
Sysx .INI File Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 824
Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 825

19 Synchronizing Your Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 827
Synchronization Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 828
Choosing Clock Sources: SONAR as Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829
MIDI Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 831
SONAR as the Slave . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 832
SONAR as the Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 833
Using MIDI Sync with Drum Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 834
Troubleshooting MIDI Sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
SMPTE/MIDI Time Code Synchronization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 835
Playing Digital Audio under SMPTE/MTC Sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 840
SMPTE/MTC Sync and Full Chase Lock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 841

Table of Contents

Troubleshooting SMPTE/MTC Sync. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .842
MIDI Machine Control (MMC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .843

20 Audio File Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 845
The Project Files Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .846
Project Files and Bundle Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .847
Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .849
Global Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .849
Per-project Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .850
Imported Audio Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .852
Backing Up Projects with Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .853
Deleting Unused Audio Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .855

21 Improving Audio Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 857
System Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .858
The Wave Profiler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .858
Enabling and Disabling Audio Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .859
Sampling Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860
Bit Depths, and Float Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .861
Bit Depths for Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .862
Bit Depths for Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .863
Bit Depths for Importing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864
Bit Depths for Exporting Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .864
Bit Depths for Rendering Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .865
Preparing Higher-quality Audio for CD Burning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .865
SONAR Project File Compatibility Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866
Improving Performance with Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .867
Getting the Most Out of Your PC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .867
Mixing Latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .870
ASIO Drivers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .871
Queue Buffers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .871
Status Bar/CPU Meter/Disk Meter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .872
24-bit Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .873
Dropouts and Other Audio Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .875
Optimized Picture Cache Redrawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .885

22 External Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 887
Edirol PCR Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888
Connecting and Disconnecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .890
ACT MIDI Controller Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .892

Table of Contents

Using the ACT MIDI Controller Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893
Presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894
Assigning Controls on Your Controller/Surface to Cells in the
ACT MIDI Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 894
Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895
Loading Presets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 895
Assigning Faders and Knobs to Control SONAR Parameters . . . 896
Controlling Different Tracks or Groups of Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 900
The Cakewalk Generic Surface Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 901
The WAI Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 909
OPT Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 911
Working with StudioWare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
StudioWare Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 912
Using Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 914
Grouping Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916
Recording Control Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 919
Control Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 922
StudioWare Panel Drawing Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923

23 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 925
Audio dropouts or crash when playing back large files at
maximum latency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
When I Play a File, I Don’t Hear Anything . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 926
I Can’t Record from My MIDI Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 928
When I Play a File Containing Audio, the Audio Portion Doesn’t Play. 929
I Can’t Record Any Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 930
The Music Is Playing Back with the Wrong Instrument Sounds. . . . . . 931
My Keyboard Doubles Every Note I Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 931
I Don’t See the Clips Pane in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
Why Can’t SONAR Find My Audio Files? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
Why Do I Get Errors from the Wave Profiler? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 932
My Track or Bus Fader is Maximized, But There’s No
Sound or Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933
How Do I Use SONAR to Access All the Sounds on My
MIDI Instrument? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 933
I Hear an Echo When I Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 934
Dropouts Happen in High Bit-depth or High Sample Rate Audio. . . . . 935
Patching an Effect into SONAR Causes a Dropout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935

Table of Contents

I Can’t Open My Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .936
Audio Distorts at Greater than 16 Bits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .936
No Sound from My Soft Synth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .936
My Pro Audio 9 Files Sound Louder/Softer When I Open Them
in SONAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .937
SONAR Can’t Find the Wavetable Synth or MPU401. . . . . . . . . . . . . .938
I Get an Error Message When I Change a Project to 24-bit Audio . . . .938
Bouncing Tracks Takes a Long Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .939
The GUI is not Smooth During Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .939

24 Hardware Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 941
Connect Your MIDI Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .941
Set Up to Record Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .944

25 View Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 949
Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .949
SONAR Empty View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .958
Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .958
Piano Roll View Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .959
Note Map Pane. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .961
Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .962
Notes Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .962
Controller pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .962
Track List pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .962
Step Sequencer View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .962
Step Sequencer Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .963
Event List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .969
Staff View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .970
The Staff View Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .971
Synth Rack View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .974
Lyrics view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .976
Console View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .976
Video View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .981
Tempo View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .982
Meter/Key View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .984
Markers View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .984
SYSX View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .985
Loop Construction view. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .985

Table of Contents

Loop Explorer View . . . . .
Tree View Pane . . . . .
Contents List Pane . .
Navigator View . . . . . . . . .
Play List View. . . . . . . . . .
Surround Panner . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 992
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 993

26 New features in SONAR 8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 995
TS-64 Transient Shaper plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 999
TL-64 Tube Leveler plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1000
Beatscape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1001
Dimension Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1002
Channel Tools plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003
Native Instruments Guitar Rig 3 LE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004
TruePianos Amber Module VSTi plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004
Digital Sound Factory Volume 2 Classic Keys for Dimension Pro . . . 1005
Hollywood Edge FX for Dimension Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
Dimension Pro expansion packs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006
Assign tracks to mono hardware outputs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007
Enhanced CPU performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008
Audio driver changes without restart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1008
Minimize driver state changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1009
Vista audio enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010
WASAPI support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1010
MMCSS task profile support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011
WaveRT updates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1012
Instrument track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1013
Loop Explorer enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1017
Auditioning audio files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1019
Auditioning MIDI files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1020
Arm tracks during playback/recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1022
Insert Send Assistant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1022
Exclusive Solo mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1027
Solo Override . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1028
Live input bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1028
Clip selection groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1029
Editing clips in a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1032
Enhanced editing with keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1034

Table of Contents

Navigating with a keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1036
Selecting with a keyboard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1038
Editing with a keyboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1040
Aim Assist line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1042
Free Edit Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1043
Quick Group enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1044
Edit tools enhancements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1044
Transport enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1044
Pause button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1044
True Rewind and Fast Forward buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1045
Audition button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1045
Control surface enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1046
Synchronizing channel strips between SONAR and
control surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1046
Control surfaces keep MIDI port assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047
Display logical VST parameter values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047
MIDI out port assignments are retained when adding/removing
MIDI devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047
Audio Option configuration settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1049
Limit number of plug-in sidechain inputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1050
Select all AudioSnap/SlipStretched clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1051
SurCode Dolby Surround encoders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1051
QuickTime 7 import/export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1051
Updated ACT mappings and presets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1051
Step Sequencer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1052
Step Sequencer Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1052
Flexible Piano Roll Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1072
The PRV Tool Configuration Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1072
Default PRV Tool Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1080
Piano Roll View Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1083
Multiple Automation Controller Lanes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1083
Piano Roll Microscope Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1087
Note Event Colors Based on Velocity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1091
Hiding Events in Muted Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1091
Adjust Velocity without Changing the Display Type . . . . . . . . . . .1092
Select Controllers within Note Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093
Show Velocity on Selected Notes (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1094
Selection Sensitive Velocity Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1095
Note/Controller Painting (freehand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1096
Note/Controller Painting (linear) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1096

Table of Contents

Controller/Velocity Painting (freehand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1096
Controller/Velocity Painting (linear) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097
Note Split . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1097
Note Glue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098
Drag-Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1098
MIDI Event Mute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1100
New Erase Tool Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101
Note Hit Testing Improvements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1101
Velocity Audition Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102
V-Vocal Pitch-to-MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103
MIDI Activity Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104
Dimension LE Synth with Garritan Pocket Orchestra . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104
Rapture LE Synth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1105
DropZone Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106
Z3TA+ Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1106
Rename Synths in the Synth Rack View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107
Delete Synth Safeguards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107
Reload Instrument Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1107
Sidechaining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1108
Sidechainable Sonitus Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1109
Sidechainable Vintage Channel VC-64 Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Audio I/O Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1111
LP-64 EQ Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114
LP-64 Multiband Compressor Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1114
External Insert Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1115
Copying EQ Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1119
Dim Solo Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120
Allow Playback with No Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1122
Reduce GUI Updates to Improve Playback Performance . . . . . . . . . 1122
Auto Fade when Starting/Stopping Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1123
Real-time Bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1124
Modification to Track Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126
64-bit timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1127
Sony Wave-64 Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1128
New Audio File Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1130
New Import Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1130
New Export Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1131
Encoding Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1132

Table of Contents

Preview Bus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1135
Integrated Audio CD Ripping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1136
Cakewalk Publisher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1136
Burning Audio CDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1137
Revert Clip(s) to Original Time Stamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1138
Import Audio / MIDI Files from Clips Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1139
Enable Input Monitoring when Arming Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1139
Euphonix EuCon Control Surface Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1140
Patch Browser Keyboard Shortcut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1140
File Recovery Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1141
User Account Control (UAC) Update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1143
Status Bar Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1144

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1145
LICENSE AGREEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1179

Table of Contents

Preface
The SONAR Reference Guide is designed to help you learn and use SONAR. This Guide explains
how SONAR works and how to use it to create, edit, produce, and perform. The SONAR Reference
Guide is both task-oriented, and reference-oriented, providing information for basic procedures, and
descriptions of the various parts of the interface. The Reference Guide also includes a
comprehensive index that you can use to find information on any specific topic.

Registering SONAR Today
New Cakewalk products will require product registration. When you register your product, you
provide some information including your name and email address, as well as the serial number for
your product.
Product registration can be done quickly on the internet or by phone.
To register anytime log onto http://www.cakewalk.com/register, or call 888-CAKEWALK (U.S.) or
+1 (617)-423-9004 (outside the U.S.) between 9 AM and 8 PM Eastern Standard Time. If you live
outside of North America, please visit our distributor’s page at www.cakewalk.com/Dealers/
International.asp to get the telephone number of your local distributor.
You’ll need to supply your serial number, your name, and a valid email address. In return for this
information, we’ll email you a registration code that will allow you to keep using the software forever.
We recommend you write this registration code on the serial number sticker for safekeeping.

Conventions Used in this Book
The following table describes the text conventions in this book:

Convention...

Meaning...

Bold Italics

Text that appears in bold italics is a command in
SONAR.

hyphen (File-Open)

A hyphen represents a level in the menu hierarchy. For
example, File-Open means to click on the File menu
and select the Open command.

SMALL CAPS

Small caps are used for file extensions (.MID) and file
names (AUD.INI).

Getting Help
In addition to this Reference Guide, SONAR includes online help that can provide you with quick
reference information whenever you need it. Simply press F1 or click the Help button in any dialog box to
find the information you need. If you are new to recording and editing music on your PC, see the online
help topic “Beginner’s Guide to Cakewalk Software” for an introduction.
If you need more information than you can find in the SONAR Reference Guide or the online help, here
are two great places to look:

•

Check the Support page of our Web site (www.cakewalk.com) for updated technical
information and answers to frequently asked questions.

•

Post messages to the SONAR user community using one of the Cakewalk forums. For
more information about the newsgroups, visit www.cakewalk.com.

You can also get technical support directly from Cakewalk. In order to obtain technical support, you must
register your product. You can obtain technical support for this product in the following ways:

•

Visit http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/SONAR/SR7.asp.

•

Call Cakewalk Technical Support at +1 (617) 423-9021 on weekdays, 10:00 AM to 6:00
PM, Eastern time. Be sure to have your serial number ready when you call.

Technical support hours, policies, and procedures are subject to change at any time. Check our Web site
for the latest support information.

Preface

Conventions Used in this Book

Introduction
SONAR is a professional tool for authoring sound and music on your personal computer.
It’s designed for musicians, composers, arrangers, audio and production engineers,
multimedia and game developers, and recording engineers. SONAR supports Wave,
MP3, ACIDized waves, WMA, AIFF and other popular formats, providing all the tools you
need to do professional-quality work rapidly and efficiently.
SONAR is more than an integrated MIDI and digital audio authoring software package—
it’s an expandable platform that can function as the central nervous system of your
recording studio. With drivers for common high-end audio hardware, full support for audio
plug-ins, software synthesizers, MFX MIDI plug-ins, and MIDI Machine Control (MMC) of
external MIDI gear, SONAR can handle your most demanding projects.

In This Chapter
About SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Computers, Sound, and Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Starting SONAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
SONAR Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Windows Taskbar Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Screen Colors and Wallpaper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Installing SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

About SONAR
SONAR is the flagship product of the Cakewalk line of integrated MIDI and
digital audio sequencers for the Windows platform. SONAR has a
comprehensive feature set that makes it the single most productive tool for
sound and music authoring. Here are some of the ways you can use
SONAR.

Music Composition and Exploration
SONAR is a powerful music-composition application, providing tools to
record your own musical performances; enhance or improve the quality of
those performances; and edit, arrange, and experiment with the music.
With a few simple clicks of the mouse, you can arrange, orchestrate, and
audition your composition. Fully integrated sequencing allows you to
combine the convenience and flexibility of MIDI composition with the highquality sound and subtlety of digital audio sound recording and
reproduction. Change the feel of a piece by locking it to a musical groove,
or add delicate delays, anticipations, or echoes that add richness to the
music.
SONAR displays and lets you edit your music using standard musical
notation and guitar tablature, so you can adjust individual notes, add
performance markings, and print individual parts or full scores. You can
graphically draw tempo and volume changes, or add lyrics to display onscreen or to include with printed scores.

Remixing
SONAR’s Groove clips allow you to import, create, export and edit loops,
making it possible to quickly change tempos and keys for an entire project.
The Loop Explorer view lets you preview loops in the project’s tempo and
key before dragging and dropping them onto a track.

Game Sound Development
There’s no better tool than SONAR for composing music for electronic
games. Clip-based sequencing lets you create and reuse musical themes
freely, so you can associate musical sections with game characters,
locations, objects, and actions. Your creations can be saved and replayed
using the compact MIDI file format, which adapts its sound automatically to
the target hardware for the best possible sound reproduction.

Introduction

About SONAR

Sound Production and Engineering
If you want to produce music CDs or master tapes, SONAR has virtually
everything you need from recording to mixing and mastering. Multichannel
recording lets you capture studio or live performances track by track.
Reconfigurable buses provide full control over your mix. Real-time stereo
effects like chorus, flange, reverb, and delay/echo can be applied as track
inserts, in effects loops, or to the master mix. SONAR supports 44.1 KHz
sampling for CD-quality sound, 24-bit/96 kHz sound for DVD-quality sound,
and lets you choose from lower or higher sample rates as well. All audio
effects are 32-bit floating point for faster processing and high-quality sound
reproduction. Many effects now support 64-bit processing for pristine
quality.

Web Authoring
SONAR is the ideal tool for developing and producing music and sound for
the World Wide Web, because it lets you save your work in the formats that
are most commonly used on web sites: MIDI, MP3, and Windows Media
Advanced Streaming Format. Any SONAR project—musical composition,
audio clip, commercial spot, jingle with voice-over—can be stored in a webcompatible format with a few simple mouse clicks.

Film and Video Scoring and Production
SONAR has many of the tools you need to execute audio post-production
projects quickly and efficiently. SONAR provides chase lock sync to time
code for frame-by-frame accuracy when synchronizing audio or MIDI to film
or video. Or, you can turn chase lock off to conserve CPU power. SONAR
provides high-quality time stretching and sample-accurate editing with zerocrossing detection so you can make the fine adjustments you need very
quickly and easily. In addition, SONAR’s support for video files gives you
convenient synchronized access to digitized video, making film and video
scoring easier than ever.

Publishing Music on the Internet
Cakewalk Publisher allows you to easily present and share your music
online. With Cakewalk Publisher, you can create a customized streaming
music player with a playlist of your music, upload it to your personal or
band's website, and embed it in any other website. You can also update
your playlist with album art, links (URLs), and artist, track, & album
information.

Introduction

About SONAR

Burning Audio CDs
SONAR has integrated Audio CD burning, which allows you to write your
audio tracks to an audio CD that can be played in any standard CD player.

Flexibility
SONAR works the way you want to work—you can customize screen
layouts, toolbars, and audio and MIDI system configurations to make your
work more efficient. SONAR integrates with other sound editing tools so
you can access them in an instant without leaving SONAR. There are
custom software modules to support specialized audio devices from Roland
and Yamaha. SONAR’s unique StudioWare technology provides software
interfaces for common studio hardware.

Computers, Sound, and Music
This section provides some background on the different ways that
computers store and play sound and music. Computers work with sound
and music in two different forms: MIDI and digital audio.

MIDI
MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the way computers
communicate with most sound cards, keyboards, and other electronic
instruments. MIDI refers to both the type of cables and plugs used to
connect the computers and instruments, and to the language those
computers and instruments use to talk to each other. The MIDI standard is
accepted and used worldwide. Almost any electronic instrument you buy
today will have MIDI connectors and can be used with other MIDI
instruments and with your computer’s MIDI interface. To record MIDI in
SONAR, you have to have a MIDI cable connecting the MIDI OUT port on
your MIDI instrument to a MIDI IN port on either your sound card or your
MIDI interface. You must also make sure that you have installed the
software MIDI driver that came with your sound card or MIDI interface.
The MIDI language conveys information and instructions, both from the
computer to the instrument and from the instrument to the computer. For
example, if your computer wants your keyboard to play a note, it sends a
MIDI “Note On” message and tells the keyboard which note to play. When
your computer wants the keyboard to stop playing that note, it sends
another message that stops the note from playing.
The MIDI language has many other instructions, such as messages to
change the sound that is used to play the notes (the bank and patch),

Introduction

Computers, Sound, and Music

messages that enable working with the sustain pedal and the pitch-bend
wheel, and others. By sending the right messages at the right times, your
computer can control your electronic instrument and make it play music.
MIDI information can be sent on 16 different channels. You can set up your
MIDI equipment to listen for messages on all channels or on only a few.
MIDI files contain all the MIDI messages and timing information that are
needed to play a song. MIDI files can be read and played by many different
programs, including SONAR, and can even be played by programs on other
types of computers. MIDI files have the extension .MID.
There are several important advantages of the MIDI format:
•

Large amounts of music can be stored in a very compact form

•

Different parts of a piece can easily be assigned to any instrument you
can imagine

•

The music contains information on notes, tempos, and key signatures
that makes it possible to display and edit the piece using standard
musical notation

The primary disadvantage of MIDI is that the quality of the sound a listener
hears will vary depending on the MIDI equipment the listener is using. For
example, MIDI usually sounds much better on an expensive synthesizer
than it does on an inexpensive sound card.

Digital Audio
Digital audio (frequently referred to here as just “audio”) is a simple way to
record and play sounds of any type. It works like a tape recorder—you
record something, then later play it back. Digital audio stores the sound as a
long series of numbers. To record audio in SONAR, you have to have an
audio cable connecting the audio output of your electronic instrument to the
audio input on your sound card or audio hardware. If you’re recording
vocals or an acoustic instrument, you need to connect a microphone to the
audio input on your sound card or audio hardware.

Sound Waves

Sound waves are vibrations in the air. Sound waves are generated by
anything that vibrates; a vibrating object causes the air next to it to vibrate,
and the vibration is passed through the air in all directions. When the
vibrating air enters your ear, it makes your eardrum vibrate, and you hear a
sound. Likewise, if the vibrating air hits a microphone, it causes the
microphone to vibrate and send electrical signals to whatever it's connected
to.

Introduction

Computers, Sound, and Music

These vibrations are very fast. The slowest vibration frequency you can
hear is about 20 vibrations per second, and the fastest is around 16,000 to
20,000 vibrations per second.

Recording Digital Audio

To record digital audio, your computer monitors the electrical signal
generated by a microphone, an electric guitar, or another source. At equal
intervals of time (for CD-quality sound, this means 44,100 times a second),
the computer measures and saves the strength of the electrical signal from
the microphone, on a scale from 0 to 65,535.
That's it. Digital audio data is just a long series of numbers. The computer
sends these numbers, in the form of electrical signals, to a speaker. The
speaker then vibrates and generates the same sound that was recorded.
The primary advantage of digital audio is the quality of the sound. Unlike
MIDI, a digital audio recording is very rich, capturing all the nuances,
overtones, and other characteristics of the sound exactly as performed. The
main drawback of digital audio is that it takes up a lot of disk space. To
record a 1-minute segment of stereo, CD-quality digital audio, you need
about 10 megabytes of disk space.
On the PC, digital audio is usually stored in Wave files (extension .wav).
There are many programs available that let you create, play, and edit these
files. SONAR reads, writes, and lets you edit Wave files.

Setup
You can install SONAR on any computer that runs Windows XP or x64 and
has a sound card or built-in sound module. If you want to hook up other
devices, like a MIDI keyboard, an electric guitar, or a microphone, you need
the right cables, and you need to find the right connectors on your
computer.
Before you install SONAR, take a minute to register the software so we can
let you know when updates become available and provide you with
technical support. To register anytime log onto http://www.cakewalk.com/
register, or call 888-CAKEWALK (U.S.) or +(617)-423-9004 (outside the
U.S.) between 9 AM and 8 PM Eastern Standard Time. If you live outside of
North America, please visit our distributor’s page at www.cakewalk.com/
Dealers/International.asp to get the telephone number of your local
distributor. You’ll need to supply your serial number, your name, and a valid
email address.

Introduction

Setup

To connect a MIDI keyboard to your computer, you need standard MIDI
cables or a MIDI adapter cable (joystick connector), such as the one
available in Cakewalk’s PC Music Pack. One end of the adapter cable
should have two 5-pin DIN connectors that connect to your keyboard or
other MIDI device. At the other end, you need a 15-pin connector to connect
to a sound card through its MIDI/joystick port.
If you have a dedicated MIDI interface, lots of electronic music gear, or work
with many different music software packages, see see the online help topic
“Hardware Setup.”
Before you attach or detach any cables from your computer, you should
shut down your computer and turn off the power to all your equipment. This
greatly reduces the chance of electrical damage to your equipment while
plugging and unplugging cables.

User Accounts
Previous versions of SONAR required a user to have Windows
Administrator status. This is no longer the case. Any level of user can now
install and run SONAR. Only one copy of SONAR per machine is necessary
for multiple users to run SONAR with each user’s personal settings.
There is now also a new folder structure for personal settings (presets, .ini
files, etc.). Each user account gets its own Application Data folder (this
folder is called App Data in Vista). The first time SONAR is launched under
a new user account, a new application data folder is created for that
account, and all the data in the C:\Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Cakewalk folder is copied to the new user account’s
application data folder—C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\Cakewalk. For Vista users the folders are
C:\Progarm Data\Cakewalk and C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk.
Data in the Program FIles folder will be common to all users.

Introduction

Setup

Audio Connections
There are several types of audio interfaces (soundcards). CardBus (PCI),
USB/USB2 and FireWire are the most common. Laptops can use an audio
PCMCIA card. Many audio interfaces also have MIDI inputs and some have
built in MIDI synthesizers as well. This section covers the various audio
connection options.

Analog and Digital Inputs
There are two basic types of audio inputs, analog and digital. Analog inputs
allow you to connect a guitar, mic or other instrument to your computer
directly. The audio interface converts the analog input to digital. Digital
inputs allow other digital devices to connect directly to your computer.
Common digital inputs include external analog to digital converters, popular
guitar processors like the Line 6 POD, and other digital recording systems
like the ADAT decks. Analog inputs are very common, and are standard in
virtually all consumer sound cards (the ones that come with your PC).
Digital inputs are becoming more popular and are very common on
professional and mid-level, “prosumer” interfaces. Analog inputs allow you
to record a mono or stereo signal (assuming you have a stereo input) while
digital inputs allow you to record 1 to 8 signals depending on the type of
digital connection.
The following table describes the various analog inputs and outputs:

Type of analog input/output...

Description…

Balanced (XLR, phono or RCA)

a mono input/output

Unbalanced (TRS)

a stereo or mono input/output

The following table describes the various digital inputs and outputs:

Introduction

Setup

Type of digital input/
output...

Description…

S/PDIF

Sony/Philips Digital Interface—capable of
carrying a stereo signal, S/PDIF is transmitted
via RCA, Toslink or more rarely BNC jacks
(single-pin cable-TV connections)

ADAT Lightpipe

Up to 8 channels of simultaneous transfer. If
you want to import your old ADAT material
without any signal degradation, this is the
connection you should use.

TDIF

Tascam Digital Interface—up to 8 channels of
simultaneous transfer.

AES/EBU

Often referred to as simply AES, this type of
digital connection uses a modified XLR cable
to transfer a stereo signal.

Read your hardware documentation carefully to determine what kind of
digital connections, if any, you have on your audio interface.

To Connect an Electric Guitar or Keyboard to Your
Computer
•

If your sound card has a 1/8 inch input jack (built-in sound cards that
come with your PC usually do), plug your 1/4” mono guitar or audio
cable into a 1/8” stereo adapter, and then plug the 1/8” adapter into the
microphone input or line input jack on your computer sound card. If you
are connecting a keyboard, the audio cable must go from the
keyboard’s audio out or line out jack to the sound card input jack. 1/8”
stereo adapters are available at consumer electronic supply stores.
Or

•

If you use a professional or “prosumer” sound card, there is probably a
1/4 inch input jack on your sound card or audio hardware interface that
you can plug your guitar cable or audio cable into.

Introduction

Setup

To Connect a Microphone to Your Computer
•

If your sound card has a 1/8 inch input jack (built-in sound cards that
come with your PC usually do), and your microphone cable has a 1/4”
plug on the end, plug the mic cable into a 1/8” stereo adapter, and then
plug the 1/8” adapter into the microphone input jack on your computer
sound card. 1/8” stereo adapters are available at consumer electronic
supply stores.

•

If you use a professional or “prosumer” sound card, there is probably a
1/4 inch input jack on your sound card or audio hardware interface that
you can plug your mic cable into.

•

If your mic has a cable with an XLR plug on the end, and your sound
card or audio hardware interface has a 1/4 inch input jack, plug the mic
cable into an XLR-to-quarter inch adapter, and then plug your mic cable
into your audio hardware. If your audio hardware has an XLR input, of
course it’s better to use that.

•

You can also plug your mic into a mixer or pre-amp, and connect the
mixer or pre-amp to an input jack on your audio hardware. This is
usually the best method.

That's it! Now that your instruments are all set to go, you can restart your
computer and turn on your keyboard, guitar, and microphone.
For a complete description of audio input options, see the online help topic
“Hardware Setup.”

MIDI Connections
There are three types of MIDI cables in common use. Here’s how to
connect each of the three types:

•

USB cable—this is extremely common. Many electronic keyboards and
stand-alone MIDI interfaces use this type of connection. To use this
type of connection, simply plug one end of the USB cable into the USB
jack on your MDI keyboard or stand-alone MIDI interface, and plug the
other end into your computer. If you are using a stand-alone USB MIDI
interface, you then need to connect standard MIDI cables between your
MIDI keyboard and your stand-alone MIDI interface (see the next
procedure, below). If you haven’t already installed the software MIDI
driver that came with your keyboard or interface, make sure you do so.

•

Standard MIDI cable—this is also very common. MIDI keyboards
usually have jacks for these cables even if they have a USB
connection. You need two of these cables. To use this type of cable,
use one cable to connect the MIDI OUT jack on your MIDI instrument to

Introduction

Setup

the MIDI IN jack on your stand-alone MIDI interface or sound card, and
one to connect the MIDI IN jack on your MIDI instrument to the MIDI
OUT jack on your stand-alone MIDI interface or sound card. Many
stand-alone MIDI interfaces and audio interfaces use this type of
connector.
Standard MIDI cable—use this if your MIDI interface has standard 5-pin input and output
ports

•

Joystick connector—this is becoming less common. This is the type of
connection seen on older SoundBlaster type sound cards. To use this
type of connection, find the end of one of the MIDI cables that is labeled
OUT. Plug this connector into the MIDI IN jack on your electronic
keyboard. The other 5-pin connector on the MIDI cable is labeled IN.
Plug this connector into the MIDI OUT jack on your electronic keyboard.
Plug the 15-pin connector on the MIDI cable into the MIDI/joystick port
on your sound card. If you have a joystick, unplug it, plug in the MIDI
cable, and plug the joystick into the pass-through connector on the MIDI
cable.
Joystick connector—use this if your MIDI interface is the joystick port on your sound card.

C
B

A. Insert this MIIDI IN plug into the MIDI OUT port on your MIDI instrument B. Insert
this MIIDI OUT plug into the MIDI IN port on your MIDI instrument C. Insert this plug
into the joystick port on your sound card

Introduction

Setup

Starting SONAR
There are many different ways to start SONAR. Here are a few:
•

Double-click the SONAR icon on your desktop.

•

Click the Start button, and choose Programs-Cakewalk-SONAR 8
(Studio Edition or Producer Edition)-SONAR 8 (Studio Edition or
Producer Edition).

•

Click the Start button, point to Documents, and choose a SONAR
project from the menu.

•

Double-click the SONAR program or any SONAR document from the
Windows Explorer or the Find menu.

When starting SONAR, you will see the Quick Start dialog box.

The Quick Start dialog box has several options:

Option...

How to use it…

Open a Project

Choose a project from the Open File dialog
box to open it

Open a Recent Project

Select a project from the list, and click this
button to open it

Introduction

Starting SONAR

Option...

How to use it…

Create a New Project

Click here to create a new project.

Getting Started

Click here to view the Getting Started topic in
the help file. This topic has links to a glossary
of terms, as well as some basic procedures.

If you don’t want to see the Quick Start dialog box in the future, uncheck the
box at the bottom of the dialog box, and click Close. You can see the Quick
Start dialog box later by choosing Help-Quick Start.

Migrating Preferences

If you have a previous version of Cakewalk installed, SONAR will detect it
and give you the option of migrating certain preferences from a single
earlier version.
When you choose to migrate preferences, SONAR migrates the following
settings from an earlier Cakewalk version:

Setting...

Description…

Global Options

Settings in the Global Options dialog. Open by
selecting Options-Global.

Key Bindings

Your customized key bindings for controlling
SONAR using your MIDI keyboard or computer
keyboard.

Instrument Definitions

Files used to control specific MIDI instruments.

Audio data directory (WaveData
folder) and Picture Cache
directory locations

SONAR uses the Data directory and Picture
Cache directories from the previous Cakewalk
version for storing project wave files and their
waveform image files.

Introduction

Starting SONAR

Running Wave Profiler

The first time you start SONAR, it automatically runs the Wave Profiler
utility. Wave Profiler determines the proper MIDI and Audio timings for your
sound card and writes them to a file that SONAR refers to when using the
card. Wave Profiler does not change the sound card’s DMA, IRQ, or port
address settings.
Wave Profiler detects the make and model of your sound card, which
determine the card’s audio characteristics. If Wave Profiler finds a card that
has a WDM driver, it only profiles that card. If you want to use more than
one sound card at a time, and they don’t both have WDM drivers, you must
force the one with the WDM driver to use that driver as an older, MME
driver. It is not necessary to run the Wave Profiler for a sound card using an
ASIO driver. For more information about Wave Profiler, WDM, and MME,
see the online help topic The Wave Profiler. When Wave Profiler
determines the kind of card you have, always accept the default settings.
Note: You can run the Wave Profiler again at a later time (for example, if
you install a new sound card or driver) by choosing the Options-Audio
General tab command and clicking Wave Profiler.

Setting Up the MIDI In and MIDI Out Devices

When you start SONAR for the first time, it checks your computer to find all
the MIDI input and output devices you have installed (such as sound cards
and MIDI interfaces). However, sometimes you need to tell SONAR exactly
which devices you want it to use. If you’re not getting sound from your
sound card or MIDI keyboard, or if you just want to change the MIDI outputs
and devices that you are using, follow the steps in this section.
Choose Options-MIDI Devices to open a dialog box in which you select
the MIDI In and MIDI Out devices that SONAR will use. Each item in the list
is a MIDI Input or MIDI Output from drivers installed using the Windows
Control Panel.

Introduction

Starting SONAR

1. Select Options-MIDI Devices. You will see the MIDI Devices dialog
box, which lets you choose instruments on MIDI inputs and outputs.

2. Look at the top window. Notice that it shows devices on MIDI Inputs;
make sure that all devices in this window are checked. If a device isn’t
checked, click on it once to select it for MIDI Input.
3. Look at the window on the bottom. Notice that it shows devices on MIDI
Outputs. SONAR numbers its MIDI Outputs by the order of the devices
in this window. The device on top is on Output 1, the one below it is on
Output 2, and so on.
4. Check one device at a time in the Outputs window and click Move
Selected Devices to Top to change its order. Then check all the devices
that appear in the window to select them for output.
Tip: Be sure to enable (check) MIDI output devices in the MIDI Devices
dialog (use the Options-MIDI Devices command). If you don’t do this, you
won’t hear any of your MIDI instruments when you play songs in SONAR.

Introduction

Starting SONAR

Using MIDI Devices After Making Driver Changes

If you later add or remove drivers using the Drivers icon of the Windows
Control Panel, SONAR reacts in the following way:
•

If you remove a Control Panel driver, SONAR will not use the device it
belongs to the next time you run the program. Any other devices you
had selected using the Options-MIDI Devices command will remain
selected.

•

If you add a driver through the Control Panel, SONAR does not
automatically use it. You must use the Options-MIDI Devices
command to enable the new driver in SONAR’s list.

Note: After you add or remove a driver with the Drivers icon in the Windows
Control Panel, you must restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Defining Your MIDI Instrument or Sound Card
Once you have selected your MIDI Input and Output devices, SONAR, by
default, plays back MIDI sequences using a General MIDI instrument
definition. If you are using a synthesizer or sound card that does not adhere
to the General MIDI standard, you may want to define that instrument. See
the online help topic: Instrument Definitions for more information.

SONAR Basics
SONAR’s menus and toolbars give you quick access to all the features of
SONAR. Some menu choices and tools display dialog boxes that let you
choose among various options, or type in the values you want. If you click
in most views, in time rulers, or on certain other items with the right mouse
button, you see a popup menu that provides quick access to many common
operations.
The project is the center of your work in SONAR. If you’re a musician, a
project might contain a song, a jingle, or a movement of a symphony. If
you’re a post-production engineer, a project might contain a 30-second
radio commercial or a lengthy soundtrack for a film or videotape production.
By default, every project is stored in a file (known as a project file). The
normal file extension for a SONAR work file is .CWP.
SONAR organizes the sound and music in your project into tracks, clips,
and events.
Tracks are used to store the sound or music made by each instrument or
voice in a project. For example, a song that is arranged for four instruments
and one vocalist may have 5 tracks—one for each instrument and one for
the vocals. Each project can have an unlimited number of tracks. Some of

Introduction

SONAR Basics

these tracks may be used in your finished project, while others can hold
alternate takes, backup tracks, and variations that you might want to keep
for future use. Each track can be made up of one or many clips.
Clips are the pieces of sound and music that make up your tracks. A clip
might contain a horn solo, a drum break, a bass or guitar riff, a voice-over, a
sound effect like the hoot of an owl, or an entire keyboard performance. A
track can contain a single clip or dozens of different clips, and you can
easily move clips from one track to another.
Groove clips are audio clips which have tempo and pitch information
embedded within them, allowing them to follow changes to the project
tempo or project pitch. You can click on either edge of a Groove clip and
drag out repetitions in the track.
Events are MIDI data (in MIDI tracks) or automation data.

SONAR File Types
Projects in SONAR can be saved as a project file with the extension .CWP or
as a Bundle file with the extension .CWB.
For a complete description of the differences between project files and
bundle files, see the online help topic Project Files and Bundle Files.

Other Types of Files
SONAR lets you create and work with several other types of files, in
addition to project (.CWP) and bundle (.CWB) files that store your projects:

File type…

Description…

MIDI files (extension .MID)

Standard MIDI files.

Template files (extension .TPL)

Templates for new files you create

StudioWare (extension
.CAKEWALKSTUDIOWARE)

To control external MIDI devices from
SONAR

OMF (extension .OMF)

Open Media Framework format files.

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SONAR Basics

Opening a File
Use the following procedure to open a file.

To Open a File in SONAR
1. If you haven't already done so, start SONAR.
2. Choose File-Open.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the directory where the project you
want to open is located and select it.
4. Click the Open button.
5. If you are opening an OMF file, the Unpack OMF dialog appears. Set
the initial tempo and specify the directory where you want to save the
file and its audio. For more information about opening OMF files, see
Unpack OMF dialog in the online help.
SONAR loads the project.

Views
SONAR displays your project in windows on the screen that are known as
views. You can have many views open at once, all showing the same
project. When you edit a project in one view, the other related views are
updated automatically.

The Track View
The Track view is the main window that you use to create, display, and
work with a project. When you open a project file, SONAR displays the
Track view for the project. When you close the Track view for a project,
SONAR closes the file.
The Track view is divided into several sections: toolbars (at the top), the
Navigator pane, the Video Thumbnails pane, the Track pane, the Track/
Bus Inspector, the Clips pane, and the Bus pane. You can change the
size of the panes by dragging the vertical or horizontal splitter bars that
separate them.

Introduction

SONAR Basics

A. The Track Pane B. The Clips Pane C. Clips D. Splitter bars E. Show/hide bus
pane F. Track/Bus Inspector G. Minimized tracks H. Expanded track I. The Video
Thumbnails Pane

All of the current track’s controls, plus a few that are only available in the
Console view, are contained in the Track/Bus Inspector which is an
expanded version of the current track’s controls located on the far left side
of the Track view. You can hide or show the Track/Bus Inspector by
pressing i on your keyboard (see “Track/Bus Inspector” on page 49, for
more information).
The Track pane lets you see and change the initial settings for each track.
By default, the current track is displayed in gold. To change the current
track, move the highlight using the mouse or the keyboard as follows:

Introduction

SONAR Basics

Key…

What it does…

Left/Right Arrow

Moves the highlight to the next or previous
control.

Up/Down Arrow

Moves to the same control in the adjacent
track, or the next track of the same type if the
control only applies to a specific track type (for
example, the Patch control only applies to
MIDI tracks).

Page Down

Displays the next page of tracks.

Page Up

Displays the previous page of tracks.

Home

Moves the focus to the first track.

End

Moves the focus to the last track.

The current track’s controls are contained in the Track/Bus Inspector.
The Clips pane shows the clips in your project on a horizontal timeline
called the Time Ruler that helps you visualize how your project is
organized. Clips contain markings that indicate their contents. The Clips
pane lets you select, move, cut and copy clips from place to place to
change the arrangement of music and sound in your project.
The Bus pane shows the buses in the project, and also shows any editing
views that are in tabbed (docked) format. The Show/Hide Bus pane button
allows you to show or hide the Bus pane at the bottom of the Track view.
The Navigator pane displays a large part of your project so you can see an
overview of your song. The Navigator pane displays all of your project’s
tracks.
The Track view makes it easy to select tracks, clips, and ranges of time in a
project. These are the most common selection methods:

Introduction

SONAR Basics

To…

Do this…

Select tracks

Click on the track number, or drag over several
track numbers

Select clips

Click on the clip, or drag a rectangle around
several clips

Select time ranges

Drag in the Time Ruler, or click between two
markers

Select partial clips

Hold down the Alt key while dragging over a
clip

As with most other Windows programs, you can also use the Shift-click and
Ctrl-click combinations when selecting tracks and clips. Holding the Shift
key while you click adds tracks or clips to the current selection. Holding the
Ctrl key while you click lets you toggle the selection status of tracks or clips.

Track/Bus Inspector

The Track/Bus Inspector makes it easy to adjust the current track’s (or
bus’s) controls, because it’s a greatly expanded version of the current
track’s controls that is located on the left side of the Track pane.
In addition to the controls that a track or bus displays in the Track view, the
Track/Bus Inspector also contains a built-in 4-band EQ. See the online help
topic “Using the Per-track EQ” for more information.
The following graphic shows most of the Track/Bus Inspector’s controls
(there may not be room to display all of a track’s controls on the Track/Bus
Inspector, depending on the resolution of your monitor):

Introduction

SONAR Basics

Track/Bus Inspector for an Audio Track

Track/Bus Inspector for a MIDI Track

Most controls
can be shown
or hidden.

B
C

G
H

I
E

A. Audio icon B. Output routing C. Track name D. Display menu E. Module menu
F. MIDI icon G. Output routing H. Track name I. Display menu J. Module menu

You can hide or show any of the Track/Bus Inspector’s controls, and use it
to display the controls from any track or bus. The following table shows you
how:

Introduction

SONAR Basics

To do this…

Do this…

Hide or show the Track/Bus
Inspector

Press i on your keyboard.

Display a certain track’s or bus’s
controls in the Track/Bus Inspector

Click the track or bus to make it current, or
choose the track or bus in the track/bus
dropdown menu that’s at the bottom of the
Track/Bus Inspector.

Hide or show any of the Track/Bus
Inspector’s controls

Click the Display menu or Module menu,
and choose options.
Note: you can not display a MIDI track’s
Time + or Key + controls in the Track/Bus
Inspector.

Reassign MIDI controller sliders in a
MIDI Track’s Fx bin

Right-click the slider you want to reassign
and choose Reassign Control from the
popup menu, choose the new parameter,
and click OK.

Display the parameters of a different
automatable effect

Click the name of the effect you want to
select.

Assign a control to a group, arm it for
automation, take an automation
snapshot, or set up remote control

Right-click the control and choose options
from the popup menu.

Bypass the FX bin

Right-click the FX bin and choose Bypass
Bin from the popup menu.

The Console View

The Console view is where you can mix the sounds on all the different
tracks to create the final mix of your project. While the Track view provides
most of the same controls, you may want to use the more familiar interface
of the Console view for mixing.
You use the Console view to adjust the levels of sound for the different
tracks in your project, to change the stereo panning, and to apply real-time
effects to an individual track, combinations of tracks, or the final mix.
The Console view contains several groups of controls. There is one module
for each track in your project, and one module for each bus. You can use
bus sends to direct certain tracks to special modules that are known as
buses.

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SONAR Basics

A. Audio module B. MIDI module C. MIDI velocity D. Bus out E. Main out F. Show/
hide strip controls buttons G. Widen all strips H. Show/hide for tracks, buses, mains

As in the Track view, you can change track settings or record new music or
sound in the Console view. You may choose to use one view or the other, or
the choice you make may depend on which project you are working on.

Other Views

SONAR has a number of other views you can use to display and work on
your project. To display these views, select one or more tracks, by Ctrlclicking their track numbers and:
•

Click the icon for the view in the Views toolbar
Or

•

Choose the view you want from the View menu

The Piano Roll view
: shows the notes from a MIDI track or tracks as
they would appear on a player-piano roll. You can move the notes around,
make them longer or shorter, and change their pitches by just dragging
them with the mouse. You can also use the Piano Roll view to display and
edit MIDI velocity, controllers, and other types of information. The Piano
Roll view also contains the Drum Editor, which allows you to “paint” drum

Introduction

SONAR Basics

patterns using the Pattern Brush tool and play different drum modules from
a single track.

The Staff view
: displays the notes from one or more MIDI tracks using
standard music notation, similar to the way the notation would appear on a
printed page. You can add, edit, or delete notes; create percussion parts;
add guitar chords and other notation markings; display guitar tablature;
display the Fretboard pane; and print whole scores or individual parts to
share with other musicians.

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SONAR Basics

I
J

A. Dynamics and markings B. Time and pitch locator C. Editing tools D. Zoom out
E. Zoom in F. Snap to Grid G. Show/hide track pane H. Fretboard display I. Track list
pane J. Fretboard pane

The Loop Construction view
: allows you to create and edit Groove
clips (SONAR loops that “know” the tempo and key in which they were
recorded), and export these clips as ACIDized files.

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SONAR Basics

The Loop Explorer view
: allows you to preview ACIDized files and
other Wave files; and drag and drop them into your project.

The Event List view
: displays the events in a project individually, so
that you can make changes at a very detailed level.

SONAR has several other views that are used for very specific purposes:

View…

How you use it…

Meter/Key

To change the meter (time signature) or key
signature, or to insert changes in the meter or
key signature at specific times in a project.

Big Time

To display the Now time in a large, resizable
font that you can read more easily.

Markers

To add, move, rename, or delete labels for
parts of your project that make it easier to
move from one point to another.

Lyrics

To add and display lyrics for a track.

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SONAR Basics

View…

How you use it…

Video

To display a loaded video file.

Synth Rack

Manage your soft synths

Navigator

Manage the Now Time in a project

Surround Panner
version only)

(Producer

Pan a surround track

Sysx

To create, display, store, and edit System
Exclusive MIDI messages used to control
instruments and other gear that are MIDI
capable.

Tempo

To view and edit the project's tempo changes.

Zoom Controls

Many of the views contain Zoom tools that let you change the horizontal
and vertical scale of the view:

A
B
C
D
E
H

A. Zoom Clips pane out vertically B. Vertical Zoom fader for Clips pane C. Zoom
Clips pane in vertically D. Zoom Bus pane out vertically E. Vertical Zoom fader for
Bus pane F. Zoom in horizontally G. Horizontal zoom fader H. Zoom out horizontally

The Track view toolbar contains the Zoom tool:
The zoom tools are used as described in the following table:

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SONAR Basics

Tool…

How you use it…

Zoom out (Clips pane or Bus
pane)

Click to zoom out incrementally, or press Shift
and click to zoom all the way out

Zoom in (Clips pane or Bus pane)

Click to zoom in incrementally, or press Shift
and click to zoom all the way in

Zoom fader

Click and drag to zoom continuously

Zoom tool

Click to arm, then click and drag in the view to
select the zoom area. Click the dropdown
arrow to display a menu of zoom and view
options.

You can also zoom with the keyboard:

Key…

What it does…

Ctrl+up arrow

Zoom out vertically

Ctrl+down arrow

Zoom in vertically

Ctrl+right arrow

Zoom in horizontally

Ctrl+left arrow

Zoom out horizontally

Go to (center) the Now time, without zooming

Hold down Z

Arm the Zoom tool

Undo the current zoom

Fit tracks to window

Show all tracks

Shift+F

Fit project to window

Shift+Double Click a clip

Maximize track height

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SONAR Basics

Docking Views

You can dock any view other than the Console view in the lower-right
corner of the Track view by enabling a view’s Enable Tabbed option. You
can have as many views open in tabbed format as you want. You can
toggle through the different views by clicking the tab of the view you want to
see (or use the Ctrl+Shift+Left/Right Arrow shortcut). You can also
maximize the pane to do detailed work in a view, or drag the splitter bar at
the top of the view to enlarge the tabbed view area. For step-by-step
instructions, see the procedures below.

A. Maximize pane B. Scroll left or right to view tabs C. Active view D. Tabs

To do this…

Do this…

Display a view in tabbed
format

Click the upper left corner of a view, and choose Enable
Tabbed from the popup menu

Disable tabbed format
for a view

Right-click the view’s tab, and choose Disable Tabbed
from the popup menu.

Enable or disable
tabbed format for all
open views

Use the View-Enable Tabbing for Open Views
command.

Maximize a tabbed view

Click the Maximize/Restore button
left of the tabs.

Restore tabbed view

Click the Restore button
that’s in the lower left
corner of the view that you’re restoring.

Close a View that is in
Tabbed Format

Right-click the view’s tab, and choose Close from the
popup menu

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SONAR Basics

that’s just to the

Locking Views

By default SONAR allows only one instance of each view, but you can lock
the contents of most views, preserving the current view by forcing a new
instance of the view to appear if necessary. Locking views is the only way
you can have multiple instances of the same view open. Only the Track and
Console views cannot be locked.
To lock a view, just click the lock button at the top right of the view. An
unlocked view looks like this , and a locked view looks like this . A view
can be locked automatically by pressing the Ctrl key when opening the
view.

Floating Views

When a view is float enabled, you can move it outside of the confines of
SONAR. This is particularly useful if you take advantage of SONAR’s dual
monitor support. Using dual monitor support, you can keep the Track or
Console view on one monitor and “float” other views to the other monitor by
dragging them to the second screen.
For more information, see the online help topic “Floating Views and Dual
Monitor Support.”

X-Ray Windows

The X-Ray Windows feature eliminates the need to constantly minimize,
move, or close windows in order to work in other windows. It works by
decreasing the opacity of the current window enough so that you can see
and work with the window that’s behind the current window. You activate the
feature by pressing a keyboard shortcut (default shortcut is Shift+X) when
the mouse cursor is over a window you want to x-ray. You can choose to XRay whichever window is underneath the mouse cursor, or automatically XRay all FX/synth property pages in one step (note: the mouse cursor does
not need to be over any plug-in property pages).
The X-Ray Windows feature works on the following windows:
•

AudioSnap palette

•

Synth Rack

•

Piano Roll view (when float-enabled)

•

Snap To Grid dialog

•

Plug-in effects and synths

•

Controller/Surface plug-ins

To Select Key Bindings for X-Ray Windows

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SONAR Basics

1. Use the Options-Key Bindings command to open the Key Bindings
dialog.
2. If you want to use currently unassigned keys or key combinations,
scroll through the options in the Key window until the Global Key
Assignment field that is just under the window reads Unassigned. It’s a
good idea to find two unassigned options that are next to each other or
easy to remember.
Note: for best results with X-Ray Windows, avoid using Alt key
combinations.
3. Once you’ve decided on two keys or key combinations that you want to
use, select Global Bindings in the Bind Context field, and scroll to the
bottom of the list of commands that are in the window below that field.
4. In the Key window, highlight the key or key combination that you want
to use for the X-Ray command, then highlight X-Ray in the function
column of the list of commands, then click the Bind button to bind them
together.
5. Now highlight the key or key combination that you want to use for the XRay All FX/Synths command, then Highlight X-Ray All FX/Synths in
the function column of the list of commands, then click the Bind button
to bind them together.
6. Click OK to close the dialog.
To Use X-Ray Windows
1. Use the Options-Global command to open the Global Options dialog,
and on the General tab, make sure that the Enable X-Ray checkbox is
enabled.
2. Make sure that the view windows you want to X-Ray are in the Floatingenabled state: to check this, click the view or fx icon that’s in the upper
left corner of a window, and select Enable Floating from the dropdown
menu. If Disable Floating is in the menu, then the Floating option is
already enabled.
Note: all FX/Synth/Control surface property pages are float-enabled by
default.

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SONAR Basics

3. To X-Ray or un-X-Ray a single window, move the mouse cursor over
the window, and press the keyboard shortcut (default is Shift+X) for the
X-Ray command. The window does not need to have focus (does not
need to be the highlighted window).
4. To X-Ray or un-X-Ray all plug-in windows at once, press the key
binding for the X-Ray All FX/Synths command.
Note: if a window has focus, and the window’s Give All Keystrokes To Plugin button
is enabled, X-Ray keyboard commands won’t work.
To Adjust X-Ray Windows Options
1. Use the Options-Global command to open the Global Options dialog.
2. On the General tab, you can adust these options:
•

Enable X-Ray—enable or disable this checkbox to turn the X-Ray
Windows feature on or off.

•

Opacity—adjust this value by typing in a value, or by clicking and
holding the + or - button to adjust the final opacity percentage value
that an X-Rayed window reaches.

•

Fade Out Time—adjust this value by typing in a value, or by clicking
and holding the + or - button to adjust the amount of time that an XRayed window takes to reach its final opacity percentage value.

•

Fade In Time—adjust this value by clicking and holding the + or button to adjust the amount of time that an X-Rayed window takes
to restore its original opacity.

3. Click OK to close the dialog and accept your changes.
To Exclude a Plug-in from X-Ray Capablity
Some plug-ins (very few) use DirectDraw to create their windows. These
windows appear jittery when X-Rayed.
To exclude a plug-in from X-Ray Capablity, follow these steps:
1. Open the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager: use the Tools-Cakewalk Plug-in
Manager command.
2. In the Plug-in Categories window, select the category that the plug-in
you want to exclude is in.
3. In the Registered Plug-ins window, select the plug-in that you want to
exclude.

Introduction

SONAR Basics

4. If the plug-in is a DirectX effect or an MFX, write down (or select and
copy) the CLSID value that’s in the CLSID field at the bottom of the
dialog.
5. If the plug-in is a VST or VSTi, write down the VST ID value that’s in the
VST ID field at the bottom of the dialog.
6. Close the Plug-in Manager dialog.
7. Open the XRAYEXCLUDE.INI file that’s in your SONAR program folder
(use Notepad).
8. At the end of the file, find the [EffectProps View] section.
You will see entries such as the following:
; Waves SSL EQ Stereo
XRayExclude11=1397510483
XRayExclude12={E451379E-F7E1-4E82-98D9-BEB87AC45E90}
9. Exclude your plug-in by creating a blank line below the last entry in the
[EffectProps View] section, and then typing:
;[name of your plug-in, but withour brackets]
XRayExclude[type the next available number in XRayExclude list, but
without brackets]=[VST ID number, with no brackets, or CLSID number,
with curly braces at start and finish]
For example, if the last entry in the [EffectProps View] section was:
; Waves SSL EQ Stereo
XRayExclude11=1397510483
XRayExclude12={E451379E-F7E1-4E82-98D9-BEB87AC45E90}
And you wanted to exclude the Cakewalk FxDelay from the X-Ray
Windows feature, after creating a blank line you would type:
; Cakewalk FxDelay
XRayExclude13={985DAF67-589F-4B8D-8BBC-D7AD651B9022}
If there was also a VST version of the Cakewalk FxDelay, you would
add another line:
XRayExclude14=[some VST ID number, with no brackets]
10. Save and close the XRAYEXCLUDE.INI file, and restart SONAR to
implement your changes.

Introduction

SONAR Basics

Customizable Menus

All main menus and context menus are customizable. You can fine-tune
your workflow by hiding menu items that are rarely used and reordering
commands that you use frequently. You can even design and save menu
layouts specific to different tasks.
Caution: you can move commands completely out of their default menus.
For example, you can move commands out of the Edit menu into the
Process menu. Keep in mind that this manual describes commands by their
original menu locations, so if you’re looking for help about the ProcessNudge command, and you’ve moved the Nudge command to the Edit
menu, the documentation for this command will still refer to the command
as Process-Nudge. You can always load the default menu layout to restore
the original command structure.
•

To open the Menu Editor dialog, choose Options-Menu Editor.

•

In the Menu Editor dialog, to choose a menu to edit, select one from the
Menu dropdown list.

To do this…

Do this…

Hide items in a menu

Click a Menu Item (Ctrl-click to select multiple items)
and press the Hide button.
The hidden command(s) will only be visible in the
submenu that is automatically created at the bottom of
the menu. You can display the submenu by clicking one
of the arrows at the bottom of the menu.

Show items in a menu

Click a Menu Item (Ctrl-click to select multiple items)
and press the Show button.
The command(s) will reappear in its original location.

Reorder items in a
menu

Click and drag Menu Items up or down to change their
position in the menu order.
Note that you can click and drag Menu Items in and out
of submenus as well.

Introduction

SONAR Basics

To do this…

Do this…

Create a new submenu

Right-click an item in the Menu Items list and select
Create Submenu. That item will now appear in its own
new submenu.
Or
Select one or more items from the list and press the
Create New button in the Submenus section of the
dialog.

Rename a Menu Item or
submenu

Right-click a Menu Item or submenu and select
Rename, then enter a new name.
Or
Select a Menu Item and press F2, then enter a new
name.

Create a new separator
bar

Right-click a Menu Item and select Insert Separator.

Remove a submenu or
separator bar

Right-click the submenu or separator and select
Remove Submenu or Remove Separator.

Save a new menu
layout

Enter a new name into the Menu Layout field and press
the Save button.

Delete an existing menu
layout

Select the menu layout you wish to delete and press the
Delete button

Edit a menu layout

Launch the Menu Editor and choose the menu layout
you wish to edit from the dropdown menu, then make
your changes.

Load a different menu
layout

Launch the Menu Editor and choose a different Menu
Layout from the dropdown menu, then close the dialog.

The separator bar will appear above the Menu Item you
right-clicked.

OR
Use the Options-Menu Layouts command, and select
a layout from the available options.

Note 1: Keep in mind that the factory default menu layout cannot be
overwritten. If you want to change this layout, save your changes under a
new layout name.
Note 2: If you change your menu layout so much that you can’t find some
commands, you can always load the factory default menu layout.

Introduction

SONAR Basics

Altering your menus may affect your menus’ hotkeys, which allow you to
navigate through the application’s menus without using a mouse. You can
view the hotkeys in your menus by pressing Alt and observing the
underlined letters. Pressing the underlined letter on your keyboard will
launch that menu command. In order to ensure you have no duplicates
hotkeys in your customized menu, do the following.
1. Launch the Menu Editor and select the menu or submenu you wish to
check for duplicate hotkeys. Right-click the Menu Item and select
Check Hotkeys. The Menu Editor will then report back if duplicate
hotkeys are found, or if a command has no hotkey at all.
Note: the Check Hotkeys command examines only commands on the
menu that you right-clicked, at the menu level that you right-clicked. It
does not examine submenus of that menu.
2. If missing or duplicate hotkeys are found, right-click again and select
Generate Hotkeys. New non-duplicate hotkeys will be assigned for
each item in that menu or submenu (but only on the menu level where
you right-clicked, not on any submenus of the menu or submenu that
you right-clicked).
Note: Hotkeys are indicated within the Menu Editor by ampersands
(“&”) in each menu item’s name. The ampersand is placed directly
before the letter that represents the menu item’s hotkey. If you wish to
assign hotkeys manually, you can do so by when you rename a hotkey
by placing the ampersand before your preferred hotkey letter for that
command or submenu.
3. If necessary, re-save your layout to preserve these changes.

Customizable Toolbars
You can customize each toolbar in SONAR. You can hide or reorder each
component of a toolbar, or add buttons to a toolbar from other toolbars. You
can create up to three new toolbars from components of other toolbars. You
can also hide or show all toolbars with a single command, and dock
toolbars vertically if you want.
•

To choose what toolbars you want to see, use the View-Toolbars
command, and check the toolbars that you want to see in the dialog
box.

•

To hide or show all toolbars, use the View-Show Toolbars command.
This command is available in the Key Bindings dialog (Options-Key
Bindings command).

To customize a toolbar:

Introduction

SONAR Basics

1. Right-click the toolbar that you want to customize, and choose
Customize from the popup menu to open the Customize Toolbar
dialog.
2. In the Available Toolbar Buttons field, select a component that you want
to see in the toolbar, and click the Add button to move the component to
the Current Toolbar Buttons field.
3. Repeat step 2 for any additional components you would like to display.
4. In the Current Toolbar Buttons field, select a component that you do not
want to see in the toolbar, and click the Remove button to move the
component to the Available Toolbar Buttons field.
5. Repeat step 4 for any additional components you would like to remove.
6. If you would like to move a toolbar component to a different location in
the toolbar, select the component in the Current Toolbar Buttons field,
and click the Move Up button or the Move Down button to change the
button’s location in the toolbar.
7. Repeat step 7 for any additional components.
8. If you want to restore the toolbar to its default appearance, click the
Reset button.
9. Click Close when you want to close the dialog.
To create a toolbar:
1. Use the View-Toolbars command, and check one of the User “n”
options.
A toolbar appears, with a default set of controls.
2. Right-click the toolbar, and choose Customize from the popup menu to
open the Customize Toolbar dialog.
3. Customize the toolbar the in the same way as the previous procedure.
To rename a toolbar:
1. Right-click the toolbar, and choose Rename from the popup menu to
open the Rename Toolbar dialog
2. Fill in the New Name field, and click OK.
Now when you open the Toolbars dialog, the name you chose is listed in
the dialog.
To dock or undock a toolbar:

Introduction

SONAR Basics

•

To dock a toolbar horizontally, drag it to the top or bottom of the
interface.

•

To dock a toolbar vertically, drag it to the left or right side of the
interface.

•

To undock a toolbar, drag it to the part of the interface where you want
it, or entirely away from the interface.

Layouts
You may spend a lot of time making sure that all the views are laid out on
the screen just the way you want. When you save your work, you can save
the screen layout along with it. You can also save the layout by itself and
then use the layout with other projects. For more information, see the online
help topic “Layouts.”

Working on a Project
Much of your time in SONAR is spent recording and listening to your project
as it develops. The Transport toolbar, shown below, contains the most
important tools and other pieces of information you’ll need to record and
play back your project.
Every project has a current time, known as the Now time. As you record or
play back a project, the Now time shows your current location in the project.
When you create a project, the Now time is set to the beginning of the
project. The current Now time is saved with your project.
You control recording and playback using tools on the Large Transport
toolbar (press F4 to show or hide), which work a lot like the ones on your
tape deck or CD player:

F E

D C

A. Play B. Record C. Click to move ahead one measure D. Auto-punch toggle
E. Drag Now Time to any desired position F. Click to jump to the end G. Click to back
up one measure H. Click to jump to the beginning

Introduction

SONAR Basics

As you work with a project, you can use SONAR’s mute and solo features
to choose which tracks are played, or you can create loops to play a
particular section over and over again. You can also create markers, which
are named time points you add to your project to make it easy to jump to a
particular location.

Windows Taskbar Indicators
When SONAR is running, you’ll normally see two indicators in your
Windows Taskbar, right next to the clock.
The MIDI activity monitor
contains two lights that indicate MIDI input and
output. When you play your MIDI keyboard, the first light flashes when each
note is pressed, and it flashes again when each note is released. When you
play back a project that contains MIDI, the second indicator lights up.
The volume control
is used to control the playback and record volumes
on your sound card. Double-click on this indicator to open a dialog box that
lets you control the levels for audio, MIDI, CD playback, and record.
The volume control is available only if your sound card is using a native
Windows driver. If your sound card does not use a native Windows driver,
no volume control will be displayed in the taskbar. In this case, your sound
card probably came with a separate program to control input and output
levels. See your sound card documentation for more information.

Screen Colors and Wallpaper
SONAR lets you customize the colors that are used for virtually all parts of
the program using the Options-Colors command. This command also lets
you change the background bitmap that is displayed in the SONAR window.
For any SONAR screen element, you can assign a color in two ways:

•

Choose one of the colors that is part of your Windows color scheme.

•

Assign a custom color.

Introduction

Windows Taskbar Indicators

To Assign Custom Colors

1. Choose Options-Colors to display the Configure Colors dialog box.
2. Choose the screen element whose color you want to change from the
Screen Element list.
3. Assign a color to the screen element in one of two ways:
•

To use a color from the Windows color scheme, choose one of the
options in the Follow System Color list

•

To use a custom color, check Use Specific Color, click the Choose
Color button, and select the color you want

4. To save these changes from session to session, check the Save
Changes for Next Session box.
5. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR uses the colors you have chosen.

To Restore the Default Colors

1. Choose Options-Colors to display the Configure Colors dialog box.
2. In the Screen Elements window, select the elements that you want to
restore; you can Ctrl-click or Shift-click to select multiple elements.
3. Click the Defaults button.
4. Click OK.
SONAR uses the default colors for all selected screen elements.

To Change the Wallpaper
1. Choose Options-Colors to display the Configure Colors dialog box.
2. Choose the desired wallpaper according to the table:

To do this…

Do this…

Use the default wallpaper

Check Default in the Wallpaper list

Not use any wallpaper

Check None in the Wallpaper list

Use a custom bitmap

Check Custom, choose a bitmap, and click Open

3. Click OK when you are done.

Introduction

Screen Colors and Wallpaper

Color Presets
Once you create a color arrangement that you like, you can save it as a
preset, and then load it whenever you want to use that arrangement. You
can also load any of the many factory presets, some of which duplicate the
colors of earlier versions of SONAR. You can also import and export color
arrangements in the form of .CLR files so that SONAR users can share color
layouts. And you can back up or export all of your presets with a single
command, and import a group of presets that you or another SONAR user
created.
Note: both single color presets, and collections of presets use the file
extension .CLR, so when you export either the current color arrangement, or
all of your presets at once, give the exported file a name that clearly labels it
as either a single preset, or as a collection of presets.
Configure Colors dialog

Presets menu

Import and Export
buttons

Introduction

Screen Colors and Wallpaper

To Load a Color Preset

1. Open the Configure Colors dialog by using the Options-Colors
command.
2. Click the dropdown arrow on the Presets menu to display the list of
presets, then click the name of the preset you want to load.

To Save a Color Preset

1. Open the Configure Colors dialog by using the Options-Colors
command.
2. Adjust the color settings you want to save.
3. Type a name for your preset in the Presets menu.
4. Click the floppy disk icon
your preset.

that’s next to the Presets menu to save

To Export the Current Color Arrangement

1. Open the Configure Colors dialog by using the Options-Colors
command.
2. Arrange or load the color arrangement you want to export.
3. Click the Export Colors button
dialog.

in the Configure Colors

The Export Color Set dialog appears.
4. Navigate to the folder where you want to store your new color set file.
5. Type a name for your color set file in the File Name field.
6. Make sure that the Export Current Color Set checkbox is enabled.
7. Click the Save button.

To Import One or More Color Presets

1. Open the Configure Colors dialog by using the Options-Colors
command.
2. Click the Import Colors button
dialog.

in the Configure Colors

The Import Color Set dialog appears.
3. Navigate to the folder where the color set file you want to import is. Both
single presets and groups of presets are stored in color set files, which
use the .CLR file extension.

Introduction

Screen Colors and Wallpaper

4. Click the file that you want to import.
5. Click the Open button.
6. If your preset menu in SONAR already contains a preset that is
included in the preset collection file you are importing, SONAR asks
you if you want to overwrite the file. This happens for each file that has
the same name as a preset in the preset collection you are importing.
Click Yes or No for each file in question, or Yes All or No All to either
overwrite or protect all of your current preset files.

To Export All Your Color Presets

1. Open the Configure Colors dialog by using the Options-Colors
command.
2. Click the Export Colors button
dialog.

in the Configure Colors

The Export Color Set dialog appears.
3. Navigate to the folder where you want to store your the exported file.
This file will contain all or your color presets.
4. Type a name for your file in the File Name field. Use a file name that
you will recognize as a collection of presets, rather than as a single
color arrangement.
5. Make sure that the Export Color Presets checkbox is enabled.
6. Click the Save button.
Note: a file of color presets can be large, and might take a minute or so to
export.

Introduction

Screen Colors and Wallpaper

Starting to Use SONAR
This chapter has provided you with an overview of SONAR and basic
information on how to install the software and configure your system. To get
started with SONAR, try the Tutorials in Chapter 2.

Installing SONAR
SONAR is easy to install. All you need to do is choose the folder where the
program and sample project files should be stored.Before you start, make
sure you have your serial number handy. Your serial number is located on
the back of your DVD case.
Installation note: If you choose to not install the Sample files, you will not
have the necessary content to use the tutorials in Chapter 2.

To Install SONAR

1. Start your computer.
2. Close any open programs you have running.
3. Place the SONAR installation disc in your disc drive.
If you have autorun enabled, the SONAR AutoRun menu opens
automatically, showing you a dialog box with several buttons. If autorun
is not enabled, you can open the SONAR AutoRun menu by selecting
Start-Run and entering d:\AutoRun.exe (where d:\ is your disc drive).
4. Click the Install SONAR button.
Note: If you exit Setup without completing the installation, choose StartRun, type D:\AutoRun.exe (where D:\ is your DVD drive), and click OK. This
will reopen the AutoRun window, and you can click Install to start installation
again.
5. Follow the installation instructions on the screen.
You can also install SONAR by choosing Start-Run and running the
application named SETUP.EXE from the DVD.

Uninstalling SONAR

When you installed SONAR, the setup program placed an Uninstall icon in
the Start menu. To uninstall SONAR, click the Start button and choose
Programs-Cakewalk-SONAR 8 (Studio Edition or Producer Edition)Uninstall SONAR 8..

Introduction

Starting to Use SONAR

Introduction

Installing SONAR

Controlling Playback
When you play your SONAR project, you have full control over the tempo or speed of
playback, which tracks are played, which sound cards or other devices are used to
produce the sound, and what the tracks sound like. You can access most of the playback
functions from the Large Transport toolbar.
SONAR’s multi-MIDI enhancements give you the ability to play multiple synths or tracks
from a single keyboard or controller, or let multiple performers play the same or different
tracks. You have total control over MIDI echo (MIDI echo refers to where MIDI input
signals are sent once SONAR receives them).
Note: SONAR has a button called the Audio Engine button
in the Transport toolbar
which you click to stop any feedback you may experience if there is a loop somewhere in
your mixer setup. Whenever you play a project, SONAR automatically enables the audio
engine, which you can tell by watching the Status bar—whenever the audio engine is
running, the Audio Running indicator in the Status bar lights up.

In This Chapter
The Now Time and How to Use It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Controlling Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Track-by-Track Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Changing Track Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI Echo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Local Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Video Playback, Import, and Export. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Locating Missing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

The Now Time and How to Use It
Every project has a current time, known as the Now time, which keeps
track of where you are in a project. The Now time appears as a vertical line
in the Track view and is displayed in both the Large Transport toolbar and
the Position toolbar, in two formats.
The measure, beat, and tick number (MBT) identifies the Now time in
musical time units. Ticks are subdivisions of quarter notes and indicate the
timebase of the project. For more information about the timebase, see
“Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution” on page 221. The other time format is
the SMPTE format, expressed in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

A. The current measure, beat, and tick B. The current time in hours, minutes,
seconds, and frames C. Meter Key Signature display

Here are some examples of times expressed in measure, beat, and tick
(MBT) format:

Time...

What it means...

1:01:000

First beat of the first measure

9:04:000

Fourth beat of the ninth measure

4:02:060

The 60th tick of the second beat of the fourth
measure

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

The hours-minutes-seconds-frames format is commonly referred to as the
SMPTE time. SMPTE is the acronym for the Society of Motion Picture and
Television Engineers. In this format, time is measured in hours, minutes,
seconds, and frames. It’s not necessary for a project to begin at time zero in
this format—any time can be used to represent the start of a project. If you
are synchronizing SONAR with an external device whose start time is not 0,
you must offset SONAR to match the external device’s start time. For more
information, see Chapter , Synchronizing Your Gear.
Here are some examples of times expressed in this format (assuming that
zero is the start time):

Time...

What it means...

00:00:00:00

The beginning of the project

00:05:10:00

Five minutes and ten seconds from the
beginning of the project

01:30:00:00

One hour and thirty minutes into the project

00:00:00:05

Five frames into the project

SONAR provides many ways to set the Now time. Here are just a few:

To Change the Now Time
•

Click the desired time on the Time Ruler in the Track view, Piano Roll
view, or Staff view

•

In the Navigator pane, click anywhere in the view while holding down
the Ctrl key to change the Now Time to that location

•

Click on the Now time in the Large Transport toolbar, enter the desired
time, and press Enter

•

Choose Go-Time or press F5, enter the desired time, and click OK

•

Click on an event in the Event List view

You can also set the Now time by right-clicking in the Clips pane if you
enable the Right Click Sets Now option in the Track View Properties dialog.
Right-click a an empty area of the Clips pane, and select View Options
from the menu that appears to open the Clip View Properties dialog.

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

When entering a time in MBT format, the beat and tick values are optional.
You can use a colon, space, decimal point, or vertical bar to separate the
parts of the Now time:

You enter…

The Now time is set to…

2:01:000

420

4:02:000

9:01:000

5|1:30

5:01:030

When entering a time in SMPTE format, you can enter a single number
(hour), two numbers (hour and minutes), three numbers (hour, minutes,
and seconds), or all four numbers.
If you click in the Time Ruler while the snap grid is enabled, the Now time
will be snapped to the nearest point in the grid. By setting the grid size to a
whole note or quarter note, you can easily set the Now time to a measure or
beat boundary.
You can also use the buttons and the scroll bar in either the Transport
toolbar or Large Transport toolbar (shown below) to adjust the time.
When playback or recording is stopped, the Now Time either remains at the
point where the project stopped or snaps back to the Now Time Marker.
This behavior is controlled in the General tab of the Global Options dialog.

The Now Time Marker
In the Track view, the Now time appears as a black vertical line. When you
set the Now time in the Track view a green triangle called the Now time
marker appears in the Time Ruler. This marker represents the point at
which the Now time will snap back to after you stop playback or recording.
You can change the Now time marker behavior so that the marker moves to
the current Now time when playback or recording is stopped (use the
Options-Global command; on the General tab uncheck On Stop, Rewind
to Now Marker).

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

To Change the Now Time Marker Behavior
1. Select Options-Global from the SONAR menu.
The Global Options dialog appears.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Uncheck the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option to have the Now
time marker move to follow the current Now time when you stop
playback.
Or
Check the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option to have the Now time
snap back to the Now time marker when you stop playback.
4. Click OK.

The Track View Now Time Display
The Track view displays the Now Time above the track strips in a large and
configurable format.

Click the display to display the following time formats:
•

M:B:T (Measure:Beat:Tick—example: 8:01:000)

•

SMPTE (Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames—example: 00:00:21:00)

•

Frames (example—629), only available if project contains video

•

Milliseconds (Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds—example:
00:00:21:000)

•

Samples (example: 926100)

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

You can also right-click the display, and choose time formats from the
popup menu.
The popup menu also lets you choose the following display options:
•

To hide the time display, choose None.

•

To show the time display, right-click the empty area and choose one of
the available time formats from the popup menu.

•

To choose font, size,color, or resizing options, choose Font... from the
popup menu to open the Font dialog. Enabling the Automatically
Resize to Window option causes the display to automatically shrink
the display to fit the available space.

•

To choose alignment options, choose Align-Left, Align-Center, or
Align-Left from the popup menu.

You can also configure the color from the Configure Colors dialog
(Options-Colors; "Track View Header Time Display"). The color is saved
with color presets.
The time display settings are global and persist between sessions.

Displaying the Now Time in Large Print
SONAR can display the Now time in large print so that it’s easier to see
when you are far from your monitor (for example, when you’re at your
keyboard or another instrument) or when several people need to read the
Now time from a distance. Here’s how:

To Display the Big Time View

1. Choose Views-Big Time to display the Big Time view.

2. Change the settings according to the table:

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

To do this…

Do this…

Switch time format

Click on the view to toggle between MBT and
SMPTE time

Change font or color

Right-click on the view, choose the font and color
you want, and click OK

Change the size of the view

Drag any corner of the view to change its size

Note that SONAR ignores font styles and effects such as strikeout and
underline.

Other Ways to Set the Now Time
There are a variety of commands and keyboard shortcuts you can use to
set the Now time:

Command...

Shortcut...

What it does...

Go-Time

Lets you enter the Now time in the Position
toolbar or in a dialog box

Go-From

Sets the Now time to the From time (the start
time of the current time selection)

Go-Thru

Sets the Now time to the Thru time (the end
time of the current time selection)

Go-Beginning

Ctrl+Home

Sets the Now time to the beginning of the
project

Go-End

Ctrl+End

Sets the Now time to the end of the project

Go-Previous
Measure

Ctrl+PgUp

Sets the Now time to the start of the current
measure if the Now time is not on a barline,
or to the start of the previous measure if the
Now time is on a barline.

Go-Next Measure

Ctrl+PgDn

Sets the Now time to the start of the next
measure

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

If your project has markers, you can use the Marker toolbar to set the Now
time:

To do this…

Do this…

Skip to the next marker

Click
on the Markers toolbar (or press
Ctrl+Shift+PgDn).

Skip to the previous marker

Click
on the Markers toolbar (or press
Ctrl+Shift+PgUp).

Jump to any marker

Click
on the Markers toolbar to open the
Markers view. Click on the marker you want to
jump to in the Markers view.

For more information about markers, see “Creating and Using Markers” on
page 305.

The Time Ruler
The Time ruler appears in the Track view, Tempo view, Staff view and Piano
Roll view. It has several functions, including:
•

Making a time selection—the Time Ruler follows the Snap to Grid
settings, if enabled.

•

Changing the Now time

•

Adding loop, punch, and pitch markers—you can right-click in the Time
Ruler to add markers.

In the Track view, the Time Ruler has the following time display options or
formats:

•

Measures, Beats and Ticks (M:B:T)

•

Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Frames (H:M:S:F—also called SMPTE)

•

Samples

•

Milliseconds

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

A
B
C

E
F

A. M:B:T B. H:M:S:F C. Samples D. Milleseconds E. Add Musical Snap to transient
snap pool (see AudioSnap) F. Minus and Plus buttons

The M:B:T setting follows your settings in the Meter/Key view. If you project
is set to 4/4 time, you have four beats in the Time Ruler for each measure. If
your project is set to 6/8 time, you have six beats in the Time Ruler for each
measure.
If there is only one format displayed in the Time Ruler, you can switch the
format by right-clicking in the Time Ruler and selecting the format you
prefer.

To Switch the Time Ruler Format to M:B:T
1. Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2. In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format-M:B:T.

To Switch the Time Ruler Format to H:M:S:F (SMPTE)
1. Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2. In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format-H:M:S:F.

To Switch the Time Ruler Format to Samples
1. Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.
2. In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format-Samples.

To Switch the Time Ruler Format to Milliseconds
1. Right-click in the Track view Time Ruler.

2. In the menu that appears, select Time Ruler Format-Milliseconds.
Additionally, you can add or remove Time Ruler formats using the plus/
minus buttons located just outside the right edge of the Time Ruler.
Note: If only one Time Ruler format is being used, only the plus button is
displayed.

Controlling Playback

The Now Time and How to Use It

To Add or Remove Time Ruler Formats Using the Plus/
Minus Buttons
•

Click the Plus button and select a Time Ruler format you would like to
add from the popup menu.

•

Click the Minus button and select from the popup menu to remove an
active Time Ruler format.

•

Right-click in the Time Ruler and move the cursor to Time Ruler Format
in the popup menu. A list of all Time Ruler formats appears. Active
formats are checked, inactive formats are unchecked.
•

Click a checked format to move it down one row.

•

Click an unchecked format to replace the topmost displayed format.

Controlling Playback
To control playback, you have your choice of tools, menu commands, and
shortcut keys for most common operations.
When you start playback, the Now time updates continuously to show the
current time. When you stop playback, the Now time rewinds to the Now
Time Marker. When you start playback again, it continues from the same
point.
If the Now time is advancing but you don’t hear any sound, see
Troubleshooting. If you are using MIDI sync or syncing to MIDI time code,
SONAR waits to receive external timing data before it begins playing. If the
various views are not updating during playback, make sure the Scroll Lock
key on your computer keyboard is not enabled. For more information, see
Chapter , Synchronizing Your Gear.
Note: If your Windows setup uses any system sounds that are associated
with any typical activity, such as minimizing a window, etc., you should
disable these sounds. They can sound extremely loud through your
monitors, and also interrupt playback and recording, if you open any dialog
boxes or do anything that has a system sound attached to it while a project
plays. The quickest way to disable all system sounds is to open the Control
Panel (Start-Settings-Control Panel), double-click the Sounds icon to
open the Sounds Properties dialog box, and in the Schemes field select No
Sounds. Click Apply, and then click OK.

Controlling Playback

To Start and Stop Playback

To do this…

Do this…

Start playback

Press the Spacebar, click
, or choose
Transport-Play, or double-click in the Time Ruler

Stop playback

Press the Spacebar, click
Transport-Stop

Rewind to the start of the
project

Click
, press the w key, or choose TransportRewind

Skip to the end of the
project

Click

, or choose

Note:The default behavior for the Now time when you click the Stop button
is for it to return to the Now time marker where playback began. If you want
the Now time to remain where it is when you stop playback, you can use the
keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Spacebar. If you want to change the default
behavior, select Options-Global and click the General tab. In the General
tab, uncheck the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option.

Handling Stuck Notes
Under MIDI, the events that turn notes on are separate from the events that
stop notes from playing. Normally, when you stop playback, SONAR
attempts to turn off all notes that are still playing. Depending on how your
equipment is configured, it’s possible for notes to get stuck in the “on”
position. The Transport-Reset command is used to stop all notes from
playing. The Transport-Reset command also stops feedback from input
monitoring.
Note: You can control the MIDI messages that are sent by the TransportReset command by changing the Panic Strength variable in the
cakewalk.ini file.

To Clear Stuck Notes
•

Choose Transport-Reset, or click

Controlling Playback

on the Large Transport toolbar.

Looping
Sometimes you want to listen to one portion of a project over and over,
either so you can play along and rehearse or because you want to edit that
section of the project while it is playing and hear the results as you make
changes. SONAR has a playback looping feature that makes this simple.
Looping is defined in the Loop/Auto Shuttle toolbar, as shown here:

C
E

A. Click to turn looping on or off B. Click to copy the selection (From and Thru)
times C. Click to open the Loop/Auto Shuttle dialog box D. Loop End time E. Loop
Start time

To set up a loop, you do three things:
•

Set the start time of the loop

•

Set the end time of the loop

•

Enable looping

From then on, SONAR will automatically jump back to the start of the loop
when it reaches the end.
When looping is enabled, the loop times are indicated by special markers in
the Time Ruler.

A. Loop From B. Loop Thru

To Move a Loop in the Time Ruler

1. Click the yellow bar that connects the two loop markers
The cursor becomes a horizontal double-headed arrow.
2. Drag the loop to the desired location in the Time Ruler.

Controlling Playback

The Loop/Auto Shuttle dialog box, which appears when you use the
Transport-Loop and Auto Shuttle command or click the Loop and Auto
Shuttle button
in the Loop toolbar, contains two additional settings that
affect the details of how looping operates:

Option...

How it works...

Stop at the end time

Playback does not proceed beyond the end of
the loop

Loop continuously

When playback reaches the end of the loop
and rewinds to the start, playback continues
automatically (this option is on by default)

With the default option settings, SONAR will play the loop over and over
again, continuously.
If you start playback before the loop start time, SONAR will play until the
loop end time is reached, then jump back to the loop start time.
Note: If you stop playback while looping is enabled, the Now time jumps to
the Now time marker. If you disable the On Stop Rewind to Now Marker
option in the General tab of the Global Options dialog, the Now time stays
wherever you stopped playback.
The Rewind command operates slightly differently when looping is in effect.
The first time you rewind, the Now time is set to the start of the loop. If the
Now time is already at the start of the loop, Rewind takes you to the
beginning of the project. From then on, Rewind switches back and forth
between the loop start time and the start of measure 1.

To Set Up a Playback Loop
1. Set the loop start and end times in one of the following ways:
•

Drag the mouse between two points in the Time Ruler of the Track
view, Staff, or Piano Roll view to select a range of times, then click
in the Loop/Auto Shuttle toolbar to copy the selection time to the
loop time.

•

Click between two markers in the Track, Staff, or Piano Roll view to
select a range of times, then click
in the Loop/Auto Shuttle
toolbar to copy the selection time to the loop time.

Controlling Playback

•

Type the loop start and end times directly into the toolbar.

•

Select a range of times, then right-click in the Time Ruler and
choose Set Loop Points (this method makes the second option
unnecessary).

Looping is automatically turned on when you use the Set Loop to Selection
command.

To Change the Loop Settings
1. Click
, or choose Transport-Loop and Auto Shuttle to display the
Loop/Auto Shuttle dialog box.
2. Check the options you want to use.
3. Click OK.

To Cancel a Playback Loop
•

Click

on the toolbar to disable looping.

Using the Large Transport
The Large Transport consists of six sections, each of which can be shown
or hidden according to the needs of your project. Right click anywhere in
the Large Transport, and deselect any section from the popup menu that
you wish to hide. The six sections are Markers, Record, Transport, Loop,
Tempo and System.

G
H

K
J

A. Markers section B. Punch In/Out section C. Transport section D. Loop section
E. Tempo section F. System section G. Click to move ahead one measure H. Autopunch toggle I. Drag Now Time to any desired position J. Click to jump to the end
K. Click to back up one measure L. Click to jump to the beginning

Controlling Playback

The Large Transport toolbar differs from the Transport toolbar in that it
displays a Markers section (numeric keypad), the Now time (which you can
set by entering numbers into the display fields in either MBT or SMPTE
time), a CPU and Disk Cache Performance meter, and the Time/Key
Signature display. The Time/Key Signature display shows the current meter,
key signature, and tempo. You can edit the meter and key signature by
clicking the display to open the Time/Key Signature dialog box. You can
display the Large Transport toolbar by selecting the Views-Toolbars
command to open the Toolbars dialog box, and checking Transport (Large).
You can also display and hide the Large Transport toolbar by pressing F4.

Using the Markers Section

You can store up to 12 markers in the Markers section, making it easy to
navigate through your project. Assign markers to milestones in your project
using the Insert-Marker command or by pressing F11 when the now time is
in the desired location for your marker. When your cursor hovers over a
button in the Markers section, the name you assigned to the marker is
displayed as a tooltip.
B
A

C
D
E

A. Marker buttons B. Record options C. Set punch in time D. Set punch out time
E. Set punch points to selection

To Use the Punch In/Out Section
1. Click the Record Options button

The Record Options dialog box appears.
2. Select between Blending existing data with new data, or Overwriting
existing data with new data.
3. Select between storing looped takes in a single track or storing looped
takes in individual tracks.
For more information see “Loop Recording” on page 240. You can also set
Auto-punch from the Record Options dialog.

Controlling Playback

To Use Auto-punch in the Punch In/Out Section
1. Activate Auto-punch by clicking the Set punch points button

2. Click the Punch In M:B:T meter and enter the Punch In time using the
spinners or keying in the desired M:B:T.
3. Click the Punch Out M:B:T meter and enter the Punch Out time using
the spinners or keying in the desired M:B:T.
4. Set the Now Time far enough ahead of the Punch In point for you to be
ready for it.
5. Click the Record button on the Large Transport or press R on your
keyboard.
SONAR plays the project, and begins recording on the selected track at the
Punch In time you entered, then stops recording at the Punch Out time.

Buttons in the Transport Section
•

Rewind

•

Stop project

•

Play project

•

Fast-forward to end of project

•

Record

•

Toggle Auto-punch

•

Reset MIDI

•

Now Time measured inM:B:T, H:M:S:F

•

Now Time slider

To Use the Loop Section
1. Clip the Loop On/Off button

2. Set the Loop Start time in the M:B:T meter either manually or by using
the spinner. Set the Loop End time in the M:B:T meter either manually
or by using the spinner.
You can also set a loop from the Large Transport toolbar by highlighting a
section of your project in the Time Ruler and then clicking the Set Loop
Points to Selection button
.

Controlling Playback

Reading the Key Signature, Time Signature, Tempo and
System Display

The Large Transport displays a variety of information about the project you
are working on, including tempo, key, meter, metronome settings, and CPU
and disk cache performance.
.
B

A
G

F
C
E

A. Tempo B. CPU performance meter C. Disk cache performance meter D. Time
signature E. Key signature F. Metronome on/off during record G. Metronome on/
off during playback

Track-by-Track Playback
SONAR lets you play back any combination of tracks at one time by
changing each track’s status. You can control the status of each track with
the individual controls that are on every track, or with the global controls on
the Playback State toolbar or the Status bar that’s at the bottom of the
SONAR window. For more information about the Status bar, see “Status
Bar/CPU Meter/Disk Meter” on page 872. For more information about the
Playback State toolbar, see “The Playback State Toolbar” on page 93.
There are several different status settings for each track:
Status...

What it means...

Normal

The track plays unless one or more of your
other tracks is soloed.

Muted

The track is not played, but you can turn it on
while playback is in progress.

Controlling Playback

Track-by-Track Playback

Status...

What it means...

Archived

The track is not played, and you must stop
playback to re-enable it. Archived tracks do not
tax your CPU during playback so they can be
used to store alternate takes.

Soloed

Only those tracks that are designated as solo
tracks are played; all others are muted.

Armed

The track is armed for recording.

Mono/Stereo

The track plays back in either mono or stereo,
depending on what the individual track setting
is, and whether the Play in Mono button in the
Playback State toolbar is depressed.

Phase normal or inverted

If a track was accidentally recorded out of
phase with another track, the Phase button lets
you reverse the phase of a track.

While playback is in progress, you can mute and unmute tracks in any
combination, which means you can hear only the tracks that you want. You
can change the status of a track in the Track view, the Console view, the
Track menu, or the Playback State toolbar.
If a track is both muted and soloed, it does not play. Mute has precedence.
The track status is saved with the SONAR project file. If you save a SONAR
project as a Standard MIDI File, however, all tracks are saved without mute,
solo, or archive indicators.

Controlling Playback

Track-by-Track Playback

The Playback State Toolbar
To display the Playback State toolbar, use the Views-Toolbars command to
open the Toolbars dialog box, and make sure Playback State is checked.
The Playback State toolbar is a global control that allows you to mute or
unmute, solo or unsolo, arm or disarm, and toggle the input echo status of
all tracks.
A

B C D

A. Drag to reposition B. Mute C. Solo D. Arm E. Input echo or MIDI echo
F. Solo Dim

Silencing Tracks
When a track is muted, SONAR processes the track while playback is in
progress so that you can unmute the track without stopping playback. If you
have lots of muted tracks, this can place a heavy load on your computer.
Archived tracks, on the other hand, don’t place any load on your computer.
Therefore, if there are tracks you want to keep but don’t need to play, you
should archive them instead. Archived tracks are indicated by the letter A in
the Mute button that is displayed in the Track and Console views.
When you mute or unmute a track while playback is in progress, there may
be a slight delay before you hear the effect of the change. This is to be
expected and does not indicate a hardware or software problem.

To Mute or Unmute Individual Tracks
•

To mute or unmute a track, click its M button in the Track or Console
view.

•

To mute or unmute several tracks at once, select the tracks and choose
Tracks-Mute, or select the tracks, right-click, and choose Mute from
the popup menu.

To Unmute All Tracks
•

Click the M button in the Playback State toolbar or the Mute label in the
Status bar.

Controlling Playback

Track-by-Track Playback

To Mute All Tracks
•

If no tracks are currently muted, click the M button in the Playback State
toolbar.
Or

•

Select all tracks, and then use the Tracks-Mute command.

To Archive or Unarchive Tracks

1. Select one or more tracks in the Track view.
2. Choose Tracks-Archive, or right-click and choose Archive from the
menu to toggle the archive status of the selected tracks.

Soloing Tracks
Sometimes you want to hear a single track, or a few tracks at once, without
having to mute all the other tracks. You can do this by soloing the tracks
you want to hear.
As soon as any track is marked as a solo track, SONAR ignores all mute
settings (unless a soloed track is also muted—mute takes precedence over
solo) and plays only the track or tracks that are set to solo. Any number of
tracks at one time can be marked as solo. All these tracks will play together.
As soon as the solo status of the final solo track is turned off, SONAR once
again plays back tracks based on their mute settings.

To Solo or Unsolo Individual Tracks
•

To solo or unsolo a track, click the Solo button in the Track or Console
view

•

To solo or unsolo several tracks at once, select the tracks and choose
Tracks-Solo, or right-click, and choose Solo from the popup menu.

To Unsolo All Tracks
•

Click the S button in the Playback State toolbar or the Solo label in the
Status bar.

To Solo All Tracks
•

If no tracks are currently soloed, click the S button in the Playback State
toolbar.
Or

•

Select all tracks, and then use the Tracks-Solo command.

Controlling Playback

Track-by-Track Playback

Inverting the Phase of a Track
A waveform’s exact opposite is called an inversion. It is a shift of 180
degrees. A waveform and its inversion cancel each other out completely, so
it is usually not desirable to have two track recordings of the same source if
one is phase inverted. It can lead to reduced volume, lowered or distorted
response in certain frequencies, or even silence in the case of two tracks
which are exactly identical (i.e. cloned tracks).
Occasionally, for example when recording a source using two microphones,
one of the microphones may be recording an inversion of the other, the
resulting tracks may, to some degree, be cancelling each other out. SONAR
allows you to invert the phase of a track to match another.

To Invert the Phase of a Track
1. Open the Track view or Console view.
2. In the track you want to invert the phase, click the phase inversion
button
.

Changing Tracks’ Mono/Stereo Status
SONAR has a mono/stereo button in each track module in the Track and
Console views. The buttons in the track modules force each track to play in
either stereo or mono, but preserve the tracks’ pan positions in the stereo
mix.
The Mono/Stereo button in each track forces the track’s audio signal to
enter any patched plug-ins as either mono or stereo, whether or not the
tracks are mono or stereo. This allows you to use either mono effects on a
stereo track or stereo effects on a mono track.
Note: You may lose important stereo data by using mono effects with stereo
tracks because your stereo tracks are summed to mono in order to pass
through the effect. If you never want your stereo data to be summed to
mono, select stereo.

To Use a Track’s Stereo/Mono Button
1. Display the Track view or Console view.

2. In the track you want to force to either mono or stereo for processing
effects, click the Stereo/Mono button
to the desired position:
•

Speaker icon pointing left—This choice means that you manually
selected mono for this track.

•

Speaker icon pointing left and right (as pictured above)—This
choice means that you manually selected stereo for this track.

Controlling Playback

Track-by-Track Playback

Changing Track Settings
Each track in a project contains MIDI or audio information and has a variety
of settings (also called parameters) that determine how the track sounds.
By changing these parameters, you can change the sound of your project.
For audio tracks, you control parameters such as volume, stereo panning,
and the output device that is used to produce the sound. For MIDI tracks,
you control many additional parameters, including the type of instrument
sound that is used to play the notes stored in the track. Both kinds of tracks
contain an Automation Read button and an Automation Write button, which
enable or disable automation playback and recording, respectively.
Note 1: You can control all sliders and knobs in the Console and Track
Views by clicking a control, then hover over it with the mouse and
manipulate the mouse wheel. If you move the mouse cursor away from the
slider or knob while using the mouse wheel, you will lose control of the
slider or knob you are adjusting
Note 2:You can hide, reorder, and visually group the controls in tracks and
buses. You can also control how the display tabs at the bottom of the Track
pane function. See “Configuring Track View Controls” on page 282 for more
information.

Audio Track Parameters

The following pictures illustrate the parameters that audio tracks have. The
pictures are of an audio track that is located in the Track view, however
most of these parameters can also be adjusted in the Console view:

An audio track

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

Audio track header controls
B

D
E
F

A. Strip selector B. Header icon C. Track name D. Show layers button E. Maximize
track F. Minimize track G. Peak value H. Track number

Audio track interior controls
A

M
L
K
J
I
H
G

F
E

A. Input echo B. Volume slider C. Send pan D. Send level E. Mono/stereo switch
F. Phase button G. Send enable H. Send destination I. Input trim J. Output
K. Automation Read and Write buttons L. Input M. Pan slider

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

Audio track FX bin, meter, and track scale
A

B
C

A. Currently patched effect B. FX interleave indicator C. Track scale D. FX bin

Here is a summary table of the different audio track parameters and how
they are used.

Parameter...

What it means...

Strip selector

Click this to add a track to a Quick Group, which means that
certain controls in tracks that are in the Quick Group are
grouped.

Number

A sequential track number used for reference

Name

A name that you assign the track for easy reference. Note that
if you do not assign a name to a track, the default name is
the track number. This track number will change if you
change the order of your tracks.

Mute

When enabled, mutes the track

Solo

When enabled, solos the track

Arm

When enabled, arms the track for audio recording.

Input Echo

Turns input monitoring on or off.

Automation Read and
Write buttons

Enable/disable automation playback and recording,
respectively

Peak value

Displays the Peak value, which is the amplitude of the latest
audio peak in the track.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

Parameter...

What it means...

Show Layers button

Hides or shows track layers.

Minimize/restore track
button

Collapses track to minimum possible height, or restores it to
the size it was before it was minimized.

Maximize/restore track
button

Expands track to maximum possible height, or restores it to
the size it was before it was maximized.

Vol (volume)

The current volume level for the track, ranging from -INF
(silent) to +6 dB (maximum volume).

Pan

The stereo distribution of the output, ranging from 100% left
(hard left) to 100% right (hard right); a value of “C” indicates
sound that is centered left-to-right. On stereo tracks, pan acts
as balance.

Trim (volume trim)

Volume Trim is a pre-fader control which allows the fine tuning
of a single track’s volume.
For example, let’s say you have four tracks, three tracks have
their volume fader set to 0 dB while the fourth track’s fader is
set to +10 dB. You want to group the faders and do a slow
fade out, but the slightly higher level of the fourth track causes
its volume to be higher in relation to the other tracks towards
the end of the fade out. To balance the fader levels, reduce the
fader level for the fourth track to 0 dB and raise the Volume
Trim value for that track to +10 dB. The resulting volume levels
for the project are the same, but now you can group the faders
and perform a fade out with no track standing out
disproportionately at the end of the fade out.

Input

The input source for the track, used in recording

Output

The output bus through which the track is played

Send Enable

Activates a send module, which sends a copy of the track
signal to a bus.

Send Level

Controls volume of audio data sent by this send module.

Send Pan

Adjusts the send pan setting.

Send Pre/Post switch

Pre (pre-fader) means that the Send signal goes to the bus
prior to the track’s volume fader; post means the Send signal
goes to the bus after the volume fader.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

Parameter...

What it means...

Send destination

Displays name of bus that the Send is sending data to.

Mono/Stereo

A switch that determines whether a track’s signal enters an
effect or chain of effects as mono or stereo, regardless of the
nature of the track.

Phase In/Out

A switch that inverts the phase of the track.

Effects bin

The patch point for a track’s plug-ins or soft synths.

Meters

The recording and playback levels are displayed in the
Playback and Record meters.

MIDI Track Parameters
The following pictures illustrate MIDI track parameters:
A MIDI track

A
B

C
D

A. Output menu B. Channel menu C. Bank menu D. Patch menu E. Dropdown
arrow to display menu

100

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

MIDI track header controls
A

D
E

G
H

A. Strip selector B. Track name C. Show layers button D. Maximize track
E. Minimize track F. PRV Mode button G. Header icon H. Track number

MIDI track interior controls
Q

P
O

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I

N
M

J
K

A. Volume slider B. Trim C. Input D. Output E. Channel F. Bank G. Patch H. Key +
I. MIDI chorus J. Snap to Scale On/Off K. Snap to Scale root note L. Snap to Scale
scale type M. MIDI reverb N. Time + O. Pan slider P. Automation Read and Write
buttons Q. Input Echo button

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

101

MIDI track FX bin and track scale

A. Track scale B. MIDI FX bin

Here is a summary table of the different MIDI track parameters and how
they are used:

102

Parameter...

What it means...

Strip selector

Click this to add a track to a Quick Group, which means that certain
controls in tracks that are in the Quick Group are grouped.

Track number

A sequential track number used for reference

Track name

A name that you assign the track for easy reference. Note that if
you do not assign a name to a track, the default name is the
track number. This track number will change if you change the
order of your tracks.

Mute

When enabled, mutes the track

Solo

When enabled, solos the track

Arm

When enabled, arms the track for audio recording.

Input Echo

Controls whether the track will echo MIDI data or not.

Automation Read
and Write buttons

Enable/disable automation playback and recording, respectively

PRV Mode button

When enabled, displays a track in Inline Piano Roll view mode.

Show Layers
button

Hides or shows track layers.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

Parameter...

What it means...

Minimize/restore
track button

Collapses track to minimum possible height, or restores it to the
size it was before it was minimized.

Maximize/restore
track button

Expands track to maximum possible height, or restores it to the
size it was before it was maximized.

Vol (volume)

The current volume level for the track, ranging from 0 (silent) to 127
(maximum volume).

Pan

The stereo distribution of the output, ranging from 100% left (hard
left) to 100% right (hard right); a value of “C” indicates sound that is
centered left-to-right.

Velocity trim

The change in velocity (volume) that will be applied to notes in this
track on playback; ranges from –127 to +127

Input

The input source for the track, used in recording

Output

The output device through which the track is played

Ch (channel)

The MIDI channel through which the notes will be played

Bank

The set of patch names available for the track

Patch

The instrument sound that will be used for playback.

Time+

An offset applied to the start time of the events in the track

Key+

The number of steps by which the notes in the track are transposed
on playback (e.g., 12 to transpose up one octave)

Chorus

Adds MIDI chorus effect to the track

Reverb

Adds MIDI reverb effect to the track

Snap to Scale
scale type

Displays current scale for Snap to Scale feature

Snap to Scale
root note

Displays root note of current Snap to Scale scale

Snap to Scale on/
off

Turns Snap to Scale feature on or off

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

103

To Change a Track Name

1. Double-click on the current track name.
2. Enter the new track name.
3. Click Enter.
The default track names (Track 1, Track 2, etc.) are not actually names, but
placeholders until you name a track. If you reorder the tracks these
placeholders change.
You can rearrange and resize the panes in the Track view as shown in the
following table:

To do this...

Do this...

Change the width of the Track
pane and Bus pane

Drag the divider that separates the Track pane
from the Clips panes to the left or right

Change the height of the Mains/
Buses pane

Drag the divider that separates the Track and
Clip panes from the Bus pane up or down

You can customize which tracks are displayed or not displayed, and
enlarge or maximize individual tracks while other tracks remain minimized.
You can also manually set the exact size of a track’s display. The following
table shows how to customize the appearance of tracks in the Track pane:

104

To do this...

Do this...

Hide or show a track

Open the Track Manager dialog (press M), and
check or uncheck a track’s checkbox in the
dialog.

Maximize a track

Click the Maximize button in the track

Restore a track to its original size
(before it was minimized or
maximized)

Click the Restore button in the track

Minimize a track

Click the Minimize button in the track

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

To do this...

Do this...

Change the height of a track
using splitter bars

Move the cursor over the gap below a track
until the cursor looks like this
. Click and
drag until the track is the size you want.

Lock or unlock the height of a
track

Right-click an empty area in the track’s
controls and choose Lock Height from the
menu.

You can display subsets of the Track pane’s interior controls (the titlebar
controls are always displayed) by selecting one of the tabs located at the
bottom of the Track view. To choose which controls are displayed on each
tab, see “To Configure Track and Bus Tabs” on page 283.

Changing Audio Track Settings in the Track Pane
You can change the values in the Track pane in a number of ways:

Control

How to change the setting

Volume, Pan, Volume Trim, Send
Output Level, and Send Pan

Click on the control and move your cursor left
or right to adjust values, or press Enter and
type a value.

Input and Output

Click on the black arrow on the right of the
control and select a driver from the menu that
appears, or double-click on the control and
select a driver from the menu.

Buttons

Click to enable or disable

Changing MIDI Track Settings in the Track Pane

Control

How to change the value

Channel

Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and
select a channel from the menu that appears, or
double-click on the control and enter a value.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

105

Control

How to change the value

Bank

Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and
select a bank from the menu that appears, or doubleclick on the control and enter a value.

Patch

Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and
select a patch from the menu that appears, or doubleclick on the control and enter a value.

Volume, Pan, Volume
Trim, Chorus and Reverb

Click on control and move your cursor left or right to
adjust values, or double-click on the control and enter
a value.

Key+ and Time+

Double-click the control or click on the black arrow on
the right of the control and enter a new value, or
double-click on the control and enter a value.

Input

Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and
select a MIDI channel from the menu that appears, or
double-click on the control and select a driver from the
menu.

Output

Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and
select a driver from the menu that appears, or doubleclick on the control and select a driver from the menu.

Buttons

Click to enable or disable

You can change numeric values in MIDI tracks as shown in the following
table:

106

To do this...

Do this...

Change the value by 1

Press the - or + key on your numeric keypad,
or click on the spinner control

Change the value by 10 (for
Key+, by 12)

Press the [ or ] key, or right-click on the spinner
control

Enter a new value

Press Enter and type the new value using the
keyboard, and press Enter

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

For numeric fields, you can press and hold both mouse buttons to change
the value by increments of 10 (12, a full octave, for Key+).
You can also edit Track properties in the Track Properties dialog box. To
open this dialog box, right-click on the Track bar and select Track
Properties.

You can change the value of a track parameter for several tracks at once
using commands on the Tracks-Property menu. For example, to assign a
group of tracks to the same output, select the tracks you want to assign,
then choose Tracks-Property-Output. These menu commands can also
be used to change the settings for individual tracks.
All track parameters are saved with a SONAR project. However, if you
export a project to a Standard MIDI File, several of the parameters (Key+,
Vel+, Time+, and Chan) are applied to the MIDI data as the file is being
exported. Other parameters, including Input, Output, Mute, Solo, and
Archive, are lost when you export the project to a MIDI file.
The following sections contain more information about many of the
parameters in the Track view. For more information about the track inputs
and the track Arm button, see “Preparing to Record” on page 221.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

107

Setting Up Output Devices
The output setting for a track determines which piece of hardware or
software synthesizer will be used to produce the sound stored in your
project. In a very simple equipment setup, you might have only a computer
equipped with a basic sound card. In this case, you want to play all MIDI
and audio output through the sound card on your computer.
If your equipment setup also includes a MIDI keyboard attached to the MIDI
port on your sound card, you can choose to route MIDI data directly to the
sound card or through the sound card MIDI port to the keyboard. If you
choose the former, the music will play from your computer speakers. If you
choose the latter, the sound will play from the speaker attached to your
keyboard. You can even choose to send some MIDI information to each of
these devices so that they both play at once.
You can purchase MIDI interfaces that plug into your parallel, serial, or USB
port to add MIDI ports to your computer. For more information about
complex system configurations, see the online help topic: Hardware Setup.
If your computer has several MIDI outs, choose the ones you want to use
and put them in a particular order using the Options-MIDI Devices
command. The order in which your MIDI devices appear in the Output
menus in the Track and Console views is based solely on the order in which
the selected outs appear in the MIDI Devices dialog box. As a result, the
order in which your devices appear in a track’s output control may not
match the port numbers that appear on your external multiport MIDI device.

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Changing Track Settings

A. These devices are not selected

When you first run SONAR it asks you to select MIDI devices. You may
want to chan ge these selections in the future. You can do so by selecting
different devices in the MIDI Devices dialog box.
Your computer is usually equipped with at least one audio device—your
computer sound card. Your setup may have several different audio output
devices, or you may have a multichannel sound card that presents itself to
your computer as though it were several different devices, one for each
stereo pair. In SONAR, audio tracks are assigned to main outs or buses.
Each main out represents a hardware device. You use the Output control to
assign a track in a project to the main or bus you want to use.
While you need to choose the MIDI output devices you want to use before
you assign them to tracks, all of your audio devices can be assigned to
tracks freely. You do not need to configure them the way you do MIDI
devices. If you have a voice modem or speakerphone in your computer,
however, you might want to set up SONAR so that it won’t use those
devices. Also, note that some dedicated audio equipment has specific setup
requirements. For more information, see Chapter , Improving Audio
Performance.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

109

To Choose MIDI Devices

1. Choose Options-MIDI Devices to display the MIDI Devices dialog box.
2. Click on any MIDI device in the Outputs list.
3. To move any device to the top of the list, deselect all other devices and
click Move to Top to move the selected device to the top of the list.
4. When all devices are selected in the order you want, click OK.

Creating Friendly Names for MIDI Output and Input
Devices

You may find that a name you make up yourself for a MIDI device is easier
to remember or more descriptive than a device’s original name. The friendly
name for a MIDI device is the name you will see places such as MIDI track
input and output menus, and the Controllers/Surfaces dialog, if you enable
the Use Friendly Names To Represent MIDI Devices checkbox at the
bottom of the MDI Devices dialog.
To make up a friendly name:
1. Choose Options-MIDI Devices to display the MIDI Devices dialog.
2. Double-click the name of a device in the Friendly Name column, type a
new name, and press Enter.
3. Enable the Use Friendly Names To Represent MIDI Devices checkbox
at the bottom of the MDI Devices dialog.
4. Click OK.

Assigning Tracks to Outputs
You assign each track to a MIDI or an audio output using the Output
dropdown in the Track view. From then on, material on that track will be
sent to the appropriate output device.
Note: If you rearrange your MIDI output devices after making output
assignments, you may find MIDI information being sent to different
instruments than you expect. Also, SONAR allows you to define
instruments that are associated with certain outputs and channels. If you
use this feature, the name of the output will change to reflect the instrument
you have chosen.

110

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

To Assign a Track to an Output

1. Click the Output dropdown of the track you want to assign.
2. Select the output you want to use.
To change the output setting for more than one track at a time, select the
tracks you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Output.
Note: Outputs that are used by the External Insert plug-in (see “External
Insert Plug-in” on page 1115) cannot be assigned to track and bus outputs.
The only exceptions are master buses that have other instances of the
External Insert plug-in routed to them.

Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and
Patch)
Electronic keyboards and synthesizers often contain hundreds or
thousands of different sounds. Each sound is known as a patch. The name
comes from the early days of synthesizers, for which you physically rewired
(using patch cords) the oscillators and modulators to produce different
sounds. Patches are normally organized into groups of 128, called banks.
Most instruments have between 1 and 8 banks, but MIDI supports up to
16,384 banks of 128 patches each (that’s over 2 million patches).
The bank and patch settings in the Track view control the initial bank and
patch of a track during playback. Every time SONAR starts playback at the
beginning of a project, the bank and patch settings for the track are set to
these initial values.
Many instruments have descriptive names for their banks and patches.
SONAR stores these names in an instrument definition. If you are using an
instrument that supports General MIDI, your patch list will contain the 128
sounds that are defined by the General MIDI specification.
Note to experts: Different MIDI instruments use different types of
commands to change banks. SONAR supports four common methods for
changing banks. For information about the bank selection method you
should use with your MIDI gear, see your MIDI equipment’s documentation.
Tip: If your bank name is too long to fit in the bank field, hold your cursor
over the bank name. A tooltip appears with the complete bank name.
Note that a single MIDI channel can only play one patch at a time on each
instrument assigned to that channel. Therefore, if two or more MIDI tracks
are set to the same output and channel but have different bank and patch
settings, the patch of the highest-numbered track will be used for all the
tracks.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

111

In some projects you want the sound played by a track to change while
playback is in progress. You can accomplish this using the Insert-Bank/
Patch Change command. When you start playback in the middle of a
project, SONAR searches back through the track to find the correct patch to
use—either the initial bank and patch or the most recent bank/patch
change. Note that the Track view only shows the initial bank and patch,
even while a different bank and patch are being played back. The only way
to see and edit a bank/patch change is in the Event List view. For more
information, see “The Event List View” on page 500.

To Assign an Initial Bank and Patch to a Track

1. Right-click on the Track titlebar (the top of the track which contains the
track name) and select Track Properties.
The Track Properties dialog box appears.
2. In the Track Properties dialog box, choose the desired bank and patch
from the dropdown lists.
3. To search for a patch containing specific text, click the Patch Browser
button to the right of the dropdown lists. You can also open the Patch
Browser by right-clicking a bank or patch control in the Track or
Console views.
4. Click OK.

Another Way to Assign a Patch to a Track
1. Select the patch you want from the Patch dropdown.

To change the bank and patch settings for more than one track at a time,
select the tracks you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Bank or
Tracks-Property-Patch.

To Insert a Bank/Patch Change
1. Highlight the track whose bank and patch you want to change by
clicking on the track number.
2. Set the Now time to the time at which you want the change to occur.
3. Choose Insert-Bank/Patch Change to display the Bank/Patch Change
dialog box.
4. Choose a bank and patch from the lists.
5. Click OK.
SONAR inserts a change in bank and patch. When you play back the
project, the initial bank and patch shown in the Track view will be used to

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Changing Track Settings

the point at which the bank/patch change takes place. You can remove a
bank/patch change in the Event List view.

To Choose Patches with the Patch Browser

1. In the Track view or Console view, right-click the patch name in the
track module you want to change patches in.
The Patch browser dialog box appears, displaying a list of all the
Instrument patch names that have been installed.
2. Search for a patch name, if desired, by filling in text in the search field at
the top of the dialog box.
3. When you find the right patch, click its name and click OK.
SONAR changes the patch of the track you selected.

Adding Effects
You can add both MIDI and audio effects directly from the Track view.
SONAR adds these effects in real-time, preserving your track’s original
data.

To Add an Audio Effect in the Track Pane
•

In an audio track, right-click in the FX field, choose Audio EffectsCakewalk, and select an effect from the menu that appears.

Adjusting Volume and Pan
The Volume and Pan settings control the initial volume and pan of a track
during playback. Every time SONAR starts playback, the Volume and Pan
settings for the track are set to these initial levels. SONAR allows you to
choose different panning laws if you want (see“Configurable Panning Laws”
on page 114).
In some projects you want the volume or panning of a track to change while
playback is in progress. You can accomplish this by drawing a volume or
pan envelope in the Track view, or by recording automation. For more
information, see the online help topics “Automation”, and “Editing MIDI
Events and Controllers.”

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

113

To Set the Initial Volume Setting

1. Move your cursor to the Volume control of the track you want to
change.
2. Click and drag to the left to lower the volume or the right to raise the
volume.
You can also change the volume settings in a variety of other ways, as
described on page 105. To change the volume settings for more than one
track at a time, select the tracks you want to change and choose TracksProperty-Volume.

To Set the Initial Pan Setting

1. Move your cursor to the Pan control of the track you want to change.
2. Click and drag to the left to adjust the pan to the left or to the right to
adjust the pan to the right.
Hard left is 100% left. Hard right is 100% right. Pan is centered at C.
You can also change the pan and volume settings in a variety of other
ways, as described on page 105. To change the pan settings for more than
one track at a time, select the tracks you want to change and choose
Tracks-Property-Pan.

Configurable Panning Laws
You can choose from six different panning laws, if you want. A panning law
is the mathematical formula that a sequencer or mixer uses to control
panning.

To Change Panning Laws

1. Use the Options-Audio command to open the Audio Options dialog.
2. On the General tab, in the Stereo Panning Law field, choose one of
these options:

114

•

(Default) 0 dB center, sin/cos taper, constant power—this choice
causes a 3 dB boost in a signal that’s panned hard left or right, and
no dip in output level in either channel when the signal is center
panned.

•

-3dB center, sin/cos taper, constant power—this choice causes no
boost in a signal that’s panned hard left or right, and 3dB dip in
output level in either channel when the signal is center panned.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

•

0dB center, square-root taper, constant power—this choice causes
a 3 dB boost in a signal that’s panned hard left or right, and no dip
in output level in either channel when the signal is center panned.

•

-3dB center, square root taper, constant power—this choice causes
no boost in a signal that’s panned hard left or right, and 3dB dip in
output level in either channel when the signal is center panned.

•

-6dB center, linear taper—this choice causes no boost in a signal
that’s panned hard left or right, and 6dB dip in output level in either
channel when the signal is center panned.

•

0 dB center, balance control—this choice causes no boost in a
signal that’s panned hard left or right, and no dip in output level in
either channel when the signal is center panned.

3. Click OK.

Adjusting Volume Trim
Volume Trim acts like the trim control on a mixer, raising or lower the level
prior to the volume fader. Volume Trim is useful for calibrating your faders to
match a dB reference level or for aligning your faders for grouping. The
Volume Trim control has a range of -18dB to +18dB. Raising or lowering the
Volume Trim raises or lowers the apparent volume of the track by that
amount without affecting the actual fader level.

To Set the Volume Trim Level
1. Move your cursor to the Volume Trim control of the track you want to
change.
2. Click and drag to the left to lower Volume Trim level or to the right to
raise Volume Trim level.

Assigning a MIDI Channel (Chn)
MIDI transmits information on 16 channels, numbered 1 through 16. Every
MIDI event is assigned to a particular channel. Some MIDI equipment can
accept MIDI information on only a single channel. This channel may be
preassigned, or you may be able to change it. Other MIDI equipment,
including many electronic keyboards and synthesizers, can accept
information on several different MIDI channels at once. Usually, these
devices use a different instrument sound for each channel.
On playback, the channel number is used to direct the MIDI information to a
particular piece of equipment.

Controlling Playback

Changing Track Settings

115

The Chn parameter in the Track view redirects all events in the track to the
specified channel, ignoring the channel number stored with each event. If
this parameter is left blank, all events in the track are sent to their original
channels.
This parameter does not affect the channel information that is stored with
each MIDI event. When the track is displayed in other views, like the Piano
Roll or Event List view, you will see the original channel that is stored in the
file. You can edit the channel values in those views or use the ProcessInterpolate command.

To Set the Channel for a Track

1. In the track you want to change, click on the black arrow to the right of
the Chn field and select the channel you want to use.
To change the channel assignment for more than one track at a time, select
the tracks you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Channel.

Adjusting the Key/Transposing a Track (Key+)
Each MIDI note event has a key number, or pitch. On playback, the key
offset (Key+) parameter transposes all notes in the track by the designated
number of half-steps. The value can range from -127 to +127. A value of 12
indicates that notes will be played back one octave higher than they are
written.
This parameter does not affect the note number that is stored for each note
event. When the clip is displayed in other views, like the Piano Roll, Staff, or
Event List view, you will see the original notes as they are stored in the file.
To permanently change the pitches, you can edit them individually or use
the Process-Transpose command.
If the key offset value transposes the key number (MIDI note) outside the
allowable MIDI range (0–127), the key number will be transposed to the
lowest or highest octave within that range.
You can use the Key+ parameter to assist in preparing scores for
instruments whose music is written in something other than “concert” key
(such as Bb trumpet). For more information, see “Music Notation for Nonconcert-key Instruments” on page 785.
When you edit the Key+ parameter, pressing [ or ] changes the value by 12
instead of by 10. This makes it easy to transpose by octaves.

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To Set the Key Offset for a Track

1. In the track you want to change, click on the Key+ control.
2. Enter a value (1 = a semitone), or press the + or – key to change the
key by a single semitone. Use the [ or ] key to change the key by 12
semitones (one octave).
To change the key offset for more than one track at a time, select the tracks
you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Key+.

Adjusting the Note Velocity (Vel+)
Each MIDI note event has a velocity, which represents how fast the key was
struck when the track was recorded. On playback, the velocity offset
parameter adjusts the velocity data for all notes in the track by the
designated amount. The value can range from -127 to +127. The effect of
changing velocities depends on the synthesizer. Some synthesizers do not
respond to velocity information. For others, the effect varies depending on
the sound or patch you have chosen. Normally, higher velocities result in
louder and/or brighter-sounding notes.
This parameter does not affect the velocity that is stored for each note
event. When the clip is displayed in other views, like the Piano Roll view,
Staff view, or Event List view, you will see the original velocities as they are
stored in the file. You can edit the velocity values in those views, or use the
Process-Scale Velocity or Process-Interpolate command.
Velocity is different from volume in that it is an attribute of each event, rather
than a controller that affects an entire MIDI channel. Here’s an example of
where this distinction might be important. Suppose you have several tracks
containing different drum parts. All of these parts would probably be
assigned to MIDI channel 10 (that’s the default channel for percussion in
General MIDI). If you change the volume setting for any track that uses
channel 10, all the different drum parts—regardless of what track they’re
in—would be affected. If you change the note velocity for one drum track, it
will be the only one whose volume is affected.

To Set the Velocity Offset for a Track
•

In the track you want to change, click and drag the Vel+ control to the
desired setting.

To change the velocity offset for more than one track at a time, select the
tracks you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Vel+.

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Changing Track Settings

117

Adjusting the Time Alignment of a MIDI Track
(Time+)
Each event takes place at a known point in the project. On playback, the
time offset (Time+) parameter adjusts the times for MIDI events in the
track by the designated amount. The value can be as small as a single
clock tick or as large as you want.
This parameter can be used to make a part play behind the beat or in front
of it or to compensate for tracks that sound rushed or late. The time shift
can be used to create a chorus or slap-back echo effect by making a copy
of a track and then applying a small offset to the copy. You can use larger
time offsets to shift a track earlier or later by several beats or measures.
Note that you cannot shift any event earlier than 1:01:000. For example, if
the first event in the track starts at 2:01:000, you cannot shift its start time
earlier by more than one measure.
This parameter does not affect the time that is stored for each note event.
When the clip is displayed in other views, like the Piano Roll, Staff, or Event
List view, you will see the original times as they are stored in the file.

To Set the Time Offset for a Track

1. In the track you want to change, click on the Time+ control.
2. Enter a value, or press the + or – key until you reach the value you
want.
To change the time offset for more than one track at a time, select the
tracks you want to change and choose Tracks-Property-Time+.

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Other MIDI Playback Settings
Two other MIDI settings can affect what happens when you play back your
project, as described in the following table:

Option…

How it works…

Zero Controllers When
Play Stops

If this option is enabled, SONAR zeroes (resets) the pitch
wheel, the pedal Controller, and the modulation wheel
Controller on all 16 MIDI channels whenever playback is
stopped. It also sends a “Zero All Continuous
Controllers” MIDI message, which turns off other
continuous Controllers on newer synthesizers. If you
experience frequent stuck notes when playback stops,
try checking this option.

Patch/Controller
Searchback Before Play
Starts

If this option is enabled, SONAR searches for and sends
the most recent patch change, wheel, and pedal events
on each output and MIDI channel before starting
playback. This ensures that all these settings are correct,
even if you start playback at an arbitrary point in your
project.

To set these options, choose Options-Project and click the MIDI Out tab. If
you have set up a playback loop, enabling either of these options can cause
an audible delay when the loop is restarted.

Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI
Echo
When you play your MIDI keyboard or controller, the sound that SONAR
produces is determined by what hardware or software synth SONAR sends
the incoming MIDI data to after SONAR receives the data. This is called
MIDI echo. By default, SONAR sends the data to the MIDI output or
software synth listed in the Output field of the current track. The current
track is the one whose titlebar has the lighter color—press the up and down
arrows on your computer keyboard and watch each track turn lighter in
succession as you change different tracks into the current track (you can
also click any of a track’s controls to make it current).

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Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI Echo

119

However, you can echo MIDI data to much more than just the current track,
or turn echoing off on the current track if you want. With a single keyboard
or controller, you can echo MIDI data to as many MIDI tracks as you want,
meaning that you can simultaneously play as many hardware and software
synths as you can hook up to your MIDI interface or run on your computer.
You can also have multiple performers on different controllers sending MIDI
data to either the same synth or multiple synths. Each SONAR track allows
you to select what MIDI input ports and channels the track will respond to.
The Output field of the track determines what instrument will sound when
the track receives the data. Each track’s Input Echo button determines
whether the track echoes MIDI data.

The Input Echo Button

Each MIDI track has an Input Echo button, which controls whether the track
will echo MIDI data or not. The button has three states: on
, dimmed
,
and off
. When the button is on, the track echoes MIDI data. When the
button is dimmed, the track echoes MIDI data because the track is the
current track. When the button is off, the track does not echo any data, even
if it is the current track. The off position on a current MIDI track is only
available if you disable the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option in the
General tab of the Global Options dialog (Options-Global command). The
dimmed position becomes unavailable with this setting.
There are several ways to turn Input Echoing on:
•

Click a track’s Input Echo button so that it is on.

•

Click a track to make the track the current track (if the Always Echo
Current MIDI Track option on the General tab of the Global Options
dialog is enabled). In this situation (which is the default), if the track’s
Input Echo button is not on, it appears dimmed, to show that this track
echoes data because it is the current track.

•

If the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option on the General tab of the
Global Options dialog is disabled, make a track the current track, and
use the Tracks-Input Monitor/Echo command (or click the track’s
Input Echo button).

Storing Favorite Configurations
If you want a track to respond to more than one port or channel, you must
create a preset input configuration. If you create some favorite
configurations of MIDI input options, not only will they be stored with the
project you created them in, but you can save each one as a preset to load
in any MIDI track in any project you want. Clicking the dropdown arrow in a
track’s Input field displays the Inputs dropdown menu, which has the

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Manage Presets choice that allows you to create and store your favorite
combinations of MIDI input choices.

To Play One Synth at a Time from One or More MIDI
Keyboards
•

Since this is SONAR’s default behavior, simply use the Up or Down
arrow keys on your computer keyboard to choose the current track (the
current track has a gold titlebar), and choose the synth you want to play
by using the track’s Output, Bank, Patch, and Channel fields. With the
default behavior, all MIDI input from all ports and channels is merged
and sent through the current track. Notice that the track’s Input field
says Omni.

•

If you’ve disabled the default behavior (see next procedure), you must
make sure that the current track’s Input Echo button is lit up (on) before
you can play the synth that the track is patched to.

To Disable the Default MIDI Echo Setting
•

If you want to turn off the automatic MIDI echoing of the current track,
disable the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option in the General tab
of the Global Options dialog (Options-Global command). If you then
turn off the current track’s Input Echo button and play your keyboard,
SONAR will not produce sound.

To Play Multiple Synths from a MIDI Keyboard
1. Choose a synth for each track that you want to play by using each
track’s Output, Channel, Bank, and Patch fields.
2. In the Input field of each track that you want to play, click the dropdown
arrow and choose the MIDI input port and channel that you want the
track to respond to from the following options:
•

None—this option actually sets the Input field to Omni: with this
setting the track will respond to any MIDI input coming in on any
port (MIDI interface input driver) on any channel.

•

(name of MIDI input driver)-MIDI Omni—choosing this option
causes the track to respond to any MIDI channel coming from the
named MIDI interface input driver.

•

(name of MIDI input driver)-MIDI ch 1-16—choosing this option
causes the track to respond ONLY to whatever MIDI channel you
choose coming from the named MIDI interface input driver.

•

Preset—if you’ve created any preset collections of input ports and
channels, you can select one here.

Controlling Playback

Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI Echo

121

•

Manage Presets—if you want to create or edit any preset
collections of input ports and channels, you can select this option
(see following procedure).

3. Make sure that the Input Echo button on each track that you want to
play is turned on.

To Create or Edit a Preset Input Configuration

1. In the Input field of a track that you want to select inputs for, click the
dropdown arrow and choose Manage Presets from the dropdown
menu.
The MIDI Input Presets dialog appears.
2. In the Input Port column, find the input port that you want to use for this
track (if you only use a single-port MIDI interface, you’ll only see one
choice).
3. To the right of the input port, select the MIDI channels that you want this
track to respond to on this MIDI port.
4. Select channels for any other MIDI port that’s listed, if you want to use
channels on that port also.
5. If you want to save this configuration, type a name for it in the window
at the top of the dialog, and click the disk icon to save it.
Now, when you choose inputs for other tracks, you can choose the preset
you saved by clicking the Presets option in the track’s Input dropdown
menu. If you want to edit a preset, select it in the top window of the MIDI
Input Presets dialog, edit it, and click the disk icon. If you want to delete a
preset, select it in the same dialog and click the X button to delete it.

To Use Multiple Performers on Multiple Tracks

1. For performer number 1, click the Input dropdown menu(s) of the
track(s) you want that performer to play, and choose the port and MIDI
channel that performer 1’s keyboard is sending data to SONAR on.
2. Repeat step 1 for all other performers.
3. If there is any track that you want more than one performer to play,
create a preset of the input ports and channels that you want that track
to respond to (see previous procedure).
4. Make sure the Input Echo button is on for each track you want to play.

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To Turn MIDI Echo (and Input Monitoring) On or Off for
All Tracks
•

In the Playback State toolbar (to display, use the Views-ToolbarsPlayback State command), click the Input Monitor button (last one on
the right).

Local Control
You should normally disable the Local Control setting on your master
keyboard to prevent notes from being doubled when you play your
keyboard. If you disable Local Control, your keyboard sends notes that you
play to SONAR, which echoes them to the synthesizer, which plays them
only once.
When SONAR starts, you can have it send a special MIDI message that
attempts to disable Local Control automatically. Most modern synthesizers
respond to this message. If yours does not, you will need to disable Local
Control every time you turn it on for use with SONAR.
If your synthesizer does not let you disable Local Control (this is rare), you
can use the Local On Port setting in the Input tab of the Project Options
dialog box to indicate the number of the output port connected to your
synthesizer. SONAR will then refrain from sending MIDI echo data to that
port. In this configuration, you may need to turn your synthesizer’s volume
control up and down from time to time to avoid hearing it play along with
your other modules. If this situation doesn’t apply to you, the Local On Port
should be set to 0.

To Automatically Disable All Local Control Whenever
You Launch SONAR
1. In the directory where SONAR is installed, double-click on the
TTSSEQ.INI file to open it.
2. In the Options section, add the line:
SendLocalOff=1
3. Save the file and close it.
4. When you launch SONAR, it automatically sends a Local Off message
to your keyboard.
Note: Not all keyboards respond to this message.

Controlling Playback

Local Control

123

Playing Files in Batch Mode
SONAR allows you to play several files in sequence automatically using the
Play List view. You can use this feature in live performance applications or
just for fun.
SONAR’s Play List view lets you create and work with a series of project,
MIDI, and bundle files. As each file plays, SONAR loads it and displays it in
the Track view and other views like any other project file.

The Play List View
The Play List view lets you create, edit, and save a play list (or set) of up to
999SONAR projects. Once you’ve created the list, you can play back the
entire sequence automatically. You can even program the list to pause
between songs for a fixed amount of time or to wait for a keystroke before
proceeding.
The Play List view looks like this:
A

B
E

C
D
H

A. Switch to the next song B. Repeat the list C. Add a song D. Drop a song E. Set a
delay F. Display full path G. List of songs H. Enable the play list

Play lists can be saved for future use. Play list files have the extension
.SET.

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Playing Files in Batch Mode

To Create and Edit a Play List

To create and edit a play list in the Play List view, follow the instructions in
the table:
To do this…

Do this…

Open an existing play list

Choose File-Open, choose Play List from the Files
of Type list, choose the file you want and click Open

Create a new play list

Choose File-New, choose Play List Set from the
list, and click OK

Add songs to the play list

Click
or press Insert, choose a file from the Add
Song to Play List dialog box, and click Open

Set the delay after a song

Click on the song in the play list, click
delay you want, and click OK

Change the order of songs

Drag the file to a new location in the play list

Copy a song to another
location in the play list

Ctrl-drag the file to a new location in the play list

Remove a song from the
play list

Select the song and click
key

Save the play list

Choose File-Save; or choose File-Save As, enter a
file name, and click Save

, enter the

or press the Delete

To Play Files from the Play List View
To play back files from the Play List view, follow the instructions in the table.

To do this…

Do this…

Activate the play list

Click
in the Play List view toolbar so that the
button is pressed. If this button is not pressed, only a
single file will play when you start playback.

Choose the starting song

Double-click the file you want to start with. The project
is opened and displayed as usual.

Start playback

Click
, choose Transport-Play, or press the
Spacebar.

Controlling Playback

Playing Files in Batch Mode

125

To do this…

Do this…

Stop playback

Choose Transport-Stop, or press the Spacebar.

Skip to the next file

Click

Loop continuously over
the play list

Click the

button in the Play List view toolbar.

Show or hide file name
extensions and folder
names (path)

Click the
folders.

button to enable or disable the display of

in the Play List view toolbar.

Video Playback, Import, and Export
Video files play in the Video view in real time as your project plays. You can
also view your video on an external DV device connected to an IEEE 1394
port (“FireWire”).
The File-Import-Video command lets you include the following video file
types in your project:
•

AVI (also called Video for Windows)

•

MPEG

•

Windows Media Video

•

QuickTime (.MOV files only)

Note: some .MOV and .AVI files contain no video. You can’t import these files
with the File-Import-Video command. You must use the File-Import-Audio
command instead, and set the Files of Type field to All Files.
The File-Export-Video command lets you export your audio tracks and
your imported video as the following file types:
•

AVI (also called Video for Windows)

•

Windows Media Video

•

QuickTime

SONAR also has a Video Thumbnails pane at the top of the Track view,
which shows individual frames of your video at different places in your
project (See below for more information).
You open the Video view by using the Views-Video command. The Video
view displays the Now time (as in the Big Time view) and the video itself.
The display in the Video view is synchronized with the Now time, giving you

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convenient random access to the video stream. This makes it easy to align
music and digitized sound to the video.
Commands in the Video view’s right-click popup menu let you set the time
display format, the size and stretch options for the video display, the video
start and trim times, and other options.

Inserting and Playing Back Videos
Here are step-by-step procedures for inserting and playing back videos:

To Load a Video File Into a Project

1. Choose File-Import-Video, or choose Insert from the Video view’s
popup menu.
The Import Video dialog appears.
2. In the Files of Type field, select the kind of video file you’re looking for.
3. Select a file.
4. Check the Show File Info option to display information about the file in
the File Info section of the dialog.
5. Check the Import Audio Stream option if you want to load the file’s
audio data.
6. Check the Import As Mono Tracks option if you want to import the file’s
audio data as one or more mono tracks.
7. Click Open.
SONAR loads the video file and displays it in the Video view. If you choose
to import audio data, SONAR inserts a new track above the currently
selected track, and puts the audio data in a clip or clips on the new track.
Note 1: when you save a project that contains video, SONAR saves the
project’s video file by reference only; the actual video data remains in the
original file. Video data is not saved in bundle files, so it must be backed up
on its own.
Note 2: after you load a video file into a project, you can play it back either
in the Video view, or on an external DV device through a FireWire port. See
“Video Playback on a FireWire DV Device” on page 135 for more
information.

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

127

To Play a Video File in the Video View

1. Open the Video view by choosing Views-Video.
2. Press the Spacebar to play or stop video playback.
3. To change the display size of the video, right-click in the Video view and
choose Stretch Options-[desired size] from the popup menu.
Note: When you play a video file that has high temporal compression, such
as movies optimized for web delivery, playback may not be smooth unless
you disable video thumbnails, (see “Using the Video Thumbnails Pane” on
page 132 for more information).

To Delete the Video From the Project

1. Open the Video view by choosing Views-Video.
2. Right-click in the Video view and choose Delete.
SONAR removes the video from the project. Note that imported audio data
is not deleted.

To Enable or Disable Video Playback
1. Open the Video view by choosing Views-Video.
2. Right-click in the Video view and choose Animate.
If your computer is not fast enough to play back video efficiently, you can
get better performance by temporarily disabling video animation during
playback.

To Set the Time Display Format
•

Click the time display to cycle between MBT, SMPTE, Frames and
None
Or

•

128

Right-click in the Video view and choose an option from the Time
Display Format menu:

To do this…

Do this…

Select a time format

Choose MBT, SMPTE, Frames or None

Change font or font color

Choose Font and select new font characteristics

Turn off the time display

Choose None

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

To Adjust the SMPTE Time

1. Move the Now time to the place where you want SMPTE time to be
either 00:00:00:00, or a number you can enter.
2. Use the Transport-Set Timecode At Now command to open the Set
Timecode At Now TIme dialog.
3. If you want to set SMPTE time to 00:00:00:00 (the dialog’s default
value) at the current Now time, click OK to close the dialog. If you want
to set SMPTE time to some other value at the current Now time, type
that value into the SMPTE/MTC Time field, and click OK to close the
dialog.

To Choose a Frame Rate

1. Use the Options-Project command to open the Project Options dialog.
2. On the Clock tab, under Timecode Format, choose the frame rate you
want from the six choices, and then click OK (for more information, see
SMPTE/MIDI Time Code Synchronization“SMPTE/MIDI Time Code
Synchronization” on page 835).

To Set the Video Display Format
Right-click in the Video view and choose an option from the Stretch
Options menu:
To do this…

Do this…

Display the video in its original size

Choose Original Size

Stretch the video to fill the Video view

Choose Stretch to Window

Stretch the video as much as possible while
preserving the original aspect ratio

Choose Preserve Aspect Ratio

Make the video display as large as possible,
but only enlarge by integral multiples

Choose Integral Stretch

Display the video in full screen mode

Choose Full Screen

SONAR adjusts the video display according to the selected option. The
stretch option is used to recalculate the video display size whenever you
resize the Video view.

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

129

To Set the Background Color
•

Right-click in the Video view and choose a color option from the
Background Color menu.

To Set the Start and Trim Times

1. Right-click in the Video view and choose Video Properties.
2. Set options as described in the table:

Option…

What it means…

Start Time

The time in your SONAR project at which you want the video file
to start playing

Trim-in Time

The time in the video file at which you want video playback to
start

Trim-out Time

The time in the video file at which you want video playback to
stop

SONAR synchronizes the video to the project according to the specified
Start and Trim times.

Exporting Video
After you’ve mixed your audio tracks the way you want them, you can
export the inserted video file together with your audio tracks to create a new
video file.
When you export a video, any changes you’ve made to the Start, Trim-In, or
Trim-Out times determine how long your new exported video is compared
to the original video that you inserted into your SONAR project.
Note: if you’re exporting an AVI file, the No Compression option in the
Video Codec field of the AVI Encoder Options dialog is a good choice. This
choice does not change or compress your source video material. If you
want your exported AVI file to be compressed, the Cinepak option will
create an AVI file that plays back smoothly with decent quality. The MJPEG
option will create an AVI file that does not play back as smoothly, but is a
high quality format to archive a file in.

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Video Playback, Import, and Export

To Export a Video

1. Make sure your audio tracks are completely mixed, and your video Start
time, Trim-In time, and Trim-Out time are set the way you want them.
2. Use the File-Export Video command.
The Export Video dialog appears.
3. In the File Name field, type a name for your new video.
4. In the Files of Type field, choose the kind of video file you want the
exported file to be.
5. Click the Encoding Options button to open a dialog of encoding options
for the kind of file you’re creating. Some codecs do not work: click the
Help button in the dialog for help choosing options.
Note: if you’re exporting an AVI file to either a 24-bit audio format or to a
multi-channel (surround sound) format, set the Audio Codec in the AVI
Encoding Options dialog to No Compression.
6. Click the Audio Mixdown Options button to open a dialog of audio
mixdown options. Click the Help button in the dialog for help choosing
options.
7. Click Save to export your video.

Optimizing Video Performance
Here are a few tips to optimize video performance:
•

Viewing your video in on an external DV device will significantly
decrease the processor load on your computer if the video stream is a
DV AVI file. See “Video Playback on a FireWire DV Device” on page
135 for more information.

•

If you intend to do a lot of seeking around or looping and editing while a
video file is loaded, make sure that your video file has sufficient
keyframes. Since each frame has to be computed from the last
keyframe encountered, if you have very few keyframes in the video,
performance may be slow. To change the number of keyframes, you
may recompress the file using the File-Export Video command and
specify more frequent keyframes. Choose a suitable video compressor
such as Cinepak and change the KeyFrame Rate parameter to a
number between 1-5. A value of 1 makes every frame a keyframe, and
higher numbers insert a keyframe after that many frames.

•

Changing the video properties of an AVI file, such as Trim and Start
time, can make realtime performance slightly slower. You can make

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

131

these changes permanent (and thereby reduce the load on your CPU)
by using the File-Export Video command, and then re-importing the
file.
•

Playing videos at a resolution (video size) of 320x240 is usually a high
enough resolution to monitor the video while you’re composing a
soundtrack. You can still choose to stretch the video to full screen at
this resolution. You set the video size on the Render Quality tab of the
Video Properties dialog. Using a higher resolution can bog down your
computer if you’re processing audio tracks at the same time.

Using the Video Thumbnails Pane
At the top of the Track view in SONAR is the Video Thumbnails pane, which
displays individual frames of your video at certain time intervals of your
project. The time interval between displayed frames is determined by the
zoom level you choose. If you zoom in far enough, you can view each
individual frame of your video.
Note 1: if you’re playing back a highly compressed movie (not many
keyframes in the file), it can take about a minute to redraw video thumbnails
when you’re playing the movie or resizing a window.
Note 2: some Windows Media videos do not report their frame rate to
SONAR. SONAR can play these files, but cannot create thumbnails from
them, so no thumbnails appear in the thumbnail pane.
Video Thumbnails pane
A

A. Show/hide frame numbers button B. Show/hide thumbnails button C. Show/hide
video pane button D. Splitter bar E. Frame number F. Video track strip

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Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

Here are the various commands and functions of the Video Thumbnails
pane:
•

You can show or hide the pane.

•

You can show or hide the video thumbnails.

•

You can display absolute frame numbers.

•

You can resize the thumbnails while preserving the aspect ratio by
dragging the splitter bar.

•

The video track strip at the top of the Track pane has display fields for
Video File Name, Start Time, Trim-In Time, Trim-Out Time, Duration,
and Current Frame, as well as a toggle buttons to show/hide the
thumbnails (without hiding the Video Thumbnails pane), and to show/
hide frame numbers on individual frames. You can edit the Start Time,
Trim-in Time, and Trim-Out time fields.

•

SONAR saves the size and state of the Video Thumbnails pane on a
per/project basis.

•

The Video Thumbnails pane zooms horizontally when you use the
standard Track view commands for horizontal zooming. You control the
height of the Video Thumbnails pane by dragging the splitter bar up or
down that’s at the bottom of the Video Thumbnails pane.

For step-by-step instructions, see the following procedures:

To Hide or Show the Video Thumbnails Pane
•

Drag the splitter bar that separates the Video Thumbnails pane from the
Clips pane.
Or

•

Use the Views-Video Thumbnails menu command.
Or

•

Click the Show/Hide Video button

in the Track view toolbar.

To Turn Video Thumbnails On or Off
1. Right-click the Video Thumbnails pane or the Video Thumbnails track
strip.
2. Choose Show/Hide Thumbnails from the popup menu that appears.
Or
•

Click the Show/Hide Thumbnails button

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

in the Track view toolbar.

133

To Hide or Show Frame Numbers on Frames
•

In the video track strip, click the Show/Hide Frame Numbers button

To Open the Video Properties Dialog
•

Double-click the video track strip.

To Open the Video View
•

Double-click the Video Thumbnails pane.

To Move the Now Time to a Thumbnail
•

Click the thumbnail.

To Change the Start Time
•

In the video track strip, click the Start field, type a new number in
Measure/Beat/Tick format, and press Enter. The start time is the time in
your SONAR project at which your video starts to play.

To Change the Trim-In Time
•

In the video track strip, click the Trim-In field, type a new number in
SMPTE format, and press Enter (you can press the Spacebar instead
of typing colons, if you want, and you can type single zeros instead of
double zeros). The trim-in time is the time in your video file at which you
want to start video playback.

To Change the Trim-Out Time
•

In the video track strip, click the Trim-Out field, type a new number in
SMPTE format, and press Enter (you can press the Spacebar instead
of typing colons, if you want, and you can type single zeros instead of
double zeros). The trim-out time is the time in your video file at which
you want to stop video playback.

To Use the Video Thumbnails Context Menu

1. Right-click the Video Thumbnails pane or the Video Thumbnails track
strip.
2. Choose any of these options from the popup menu that appears:

134

•

Show/Hide Thumbnails

•

Display Absolute Frames

•

Open Video View

•

Insert Video

•

Delete Video

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

•

Export Video

•

Video Properties

Video Playback on a FireWire DV Device
You can view your video projects on an external FireWire DV device.
Note: this feature will decrease the processor load to your computer if the
video stream is a DV AVI file. If the stream is not DV AVI, the CPU load will
significantly increase, compared to playing back onscreen with SONAR’s
Video view.

To Convert a Video Project to DV AVI Format
1. Use the File-Export Video command.
The Export Video dialog appears.
2. In the File Name field, type a name for your new video.
3. In the Save as Type field, choose Video for Windows.
4. Click the Encoding Options button to open the AVI Encoder options
dialog, and choose DV Video Encoder in the Video Codec field. Click
OK.
5. Click the Audio Mixdown Options button to open a dialog of audio
mixdown options. Choose the audio options you want, but remember
that if you plan to save the project to DV tape, choose the following
audio format:
•

Channel Format—choose Stereo.

•

Sample Rate—choose 48000.

•

Bit Depth—choose 16.

6. Click Save to export your video.
Once you save the video file, it can be re-inserted into a project (see
“Inserting and Playing Back Videos” on page 127). If the project will
ultimately be exported to tape, that project will need to have an audio
sample rate of 48 KHz playing back at 16 bits.

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

135

To Play Video on an External DV Device

1. Connect your external FireWire device. Make sure Windows
recognizes the device, and displays the device’s icon on the Windows
taskbar.
2. Launch SONAR and open your video project.
3. In SONAR’s video view (Views-Video command), right-click the Video
view and choose External DV Output-[name of external DV device]
from the popup menu.
4. Play your SONAR project.
The video disappears from the Video view and appears on your
external monitor or camcorder. Leave the Video view open so that you
can move the Now Time frame-by-frame with the Video view keyboard
shortcuts.
If the Video view is the active window, you can use keyboard shortcuts to
advance by a frame or a frame increment. The +/-, and left/right arrow keys
move forward/backwards by a single frame. If you hold down the Ctrl key,
then the frame increment value is used (default = 5 frames). You can also
use the [ and ] keys to seek by the frame increment.

Exporting a Project to a FireWire DV Device
Once your project sounds the way you want it to, you can export the video
and audio together to an external FireWire DV device. This is called
“printing to tape,” if your external device uses tape.

To Export a Project to an External DV Device
1. Use the File-Export-Video command to open the Export Video dialog.
2. In the Save as Type field, choose AVC Compliant Device. You might
see a different name in the dropdown menu, depending on what type of
external device you are using.
3. Click the Audio Mixdown Options button to open the Audio Mixdown
Options dialog.
4. In the Audio Mixdown Options dialog, choose the following options, and
then click OK:

136

•

Channel Format—choose Stereo.

•

Sample Rate—choose 48000.

•

Bit Depth—choose 16.

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

5. In the Export Video dialog, click the Encoding Options button to open
the property page of your external device.
6. In the property page, use the transport controls to position the tape in
your external device to a blank area for recording.
7. Close the property page, and click the Save button in the Export Video
dialog to start exporting. If you’re printing to a device that uses tape, the
tape stops rolling when the export process is finished.

Synchronizing External Video Playback to
Audio
Because there is more latency in FireWire video playback than in PC digital
audio playback, video playback on an external device will probably be
playing back later than the audio tracks in SONAR.

To Sync External Video to Audio

1. Right-click the Video view and choose Video Properties from the
popup menu to open the Video Properties dialog.
2. On the Render Quality tab of the dialog, under External DV Output,
enter an offset number in the Video Sync Offset field. The number you
enter here causes the Video to start playing sooner than the audio. It’s
helpful if your video has some pre-roll footage that contains a visual
sync point.
Note: The offset is accurate to 3 decimal places, e.g. 1 ms (a
thousandth of a second). One frame of video is approximately 33 ms
long for NTSC and 40 ms for PAL; the offset will typically be less than 1
second.
3. Click OK to close the dialog. Play your video, and readjust the Video
Sync Offset number as needed.

Controlling Playback

Video Playback, Import, and Export

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Locating Missing Audio
If you try to open a project and SONAR is unable to locate all the audio files
that the project references, the Find Missing Audio dialog appears. The
Find Missing Audio dialog helps you find any missing audio in your project.

The Find Missing Audio File Dialog
Use the Locate Missing Audio File dialog to find missing audio in your
project. The following is a brief description of the options you have in this
dialog:
•

Open—Click this button once you have searched for and found the
missing audio file.

•

Skip—Click this button to move to the next missing file. When you skip
and audio file your project opens without that piece of missing audio.

•

Skip All—Click this button to skip all missing audio files. When you skip
all missing audio files, you project opens without those pieces of
missing audio

•

Search—Click this button to begin a search of all available hard drives
for your missing audio file.

•

After locating the file Options—You can choose to either move an
audio file to the project’s audio data folder, copy an audio file to the
project’s audio data folder, or leave an audio file in its current folder.

Restoring Missing Audio Files
When you open a project file that references audio files which SONAR can
not find, the Locate Missing Audio dialog appears. Use the following
procedure to restore the missing audio files to your project.

To Restore Missing Audio Files

1. In the Locate Missing Audio dialog, click the Search button.
The Search for Missing Audio dialog appears and SONAR begins
searching all available hard drives for the missing file or files.
2. When SONAR is finished searching, the files that it has found appear in
the dialog.
3. Select the file or files that SONAR has found and click OK.
The Locate Missing Audio dialog appears.
4. Select one of the following options:

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Locating Missing Audio

•

Move file to Project Audio Folder—Use this option if you are sure
that no other projects are referencing this file in its present location.

•

Copy file to Project Audio Folder—Use this option if the missing
file is shared with another project and you want to keep all of your
project’s audio files together.

•

Reference file from present location—Use this option if you want
to leave the missing file in its current location now that SONAR
knows where it is.

5. Click Open.
SONAR moves, copies or references the missing file or files as you
instructed.

Managing Shared and External Files
You may want to share files between projects. The files you want to share
may be frequently used sound effects or drum loops. SONAR allows you to
choose whether to copy imported audio files to your project’s audio data
directory or to link to them in their current (external) location.
Note: External files are defined as any file not in the project’s audio data
folder (or a subfolder within the project’s audio data folder).

To Configure SONAR to Always Copy Files to the
Project Audio Data Folder
Use this procedure if you want to keep all of your project’s audio in one
folder (your project’s audio data directory).
1. Select Options-Global and click on the Audio Data tab.
2. In the All Projects section, click the Always Copy Imported Audio Files
option.

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To Configure SONAR to Share External Files

SONAR allows you to share external files (files not in the project’s audio
data directory). There are some exceptions, however. Files that have a
different sampling rate or bit depth are always copied to the project’s audio
data directory. Also, if the Always Copy Imported Audio Files option in the
Audio Data tab of the Global Options dialog is checked, imported audio is
always copied to your project’s audio data directory.
Do the following to ensure that you are sharing files:
1. Uncheck the Always Copy Imported Audio Files option in the Global
Options dialog.
2. In the Open dialog, when importing audio, make sure the Copy Audio to
Project Folder option is unchecked.

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Tutorials
The following tutorials will give you some hands-on practice in playing, recording, and
mixing your projects. If you have not already done so, you may want to refer to “SONAR
Basics” on page 44 to get the most out of these tutorials.
Note: If, during installation, you chose in the Select Components dialog not to install the
Tutorials folder (part of the Sample files), you will not have access to the sample tutorial
files needed to follow the tutorials in this chapter. If you didn’t install these files, insert your
product disc and copy the files to your hard drive.

In This Chapter
Tutorial 1—The Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Tutorial 3—Recording Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Tutorial 4—Editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
Tutorial 5—Editing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Tutorial 6—Using Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Tutorial 7—Mixing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Tutorial 9—Drum Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

Tutorial 1—The Basics
The first tutorial teaches you the basics of SONAR. You'll learn how to:
•

Open and play a project file

•

Make the project repeat automatically

•

Use markers

•

Speed or slow the tempo

•

Mute a track and play a track solo

•

Change a track's instrument

•

Play a track on a MIDI instrument

If you have not already done so, please read at the very least “MIDI” on
page 32, “Digital Audio” on page 33“Digital Audio” on page 33, and “Setup”
on page 34 in the Introduction chapter. If you have little or no experience
with music software, read the Beginner’s Guide to Cakewalk Software in
the online help. If you have time, also read the Introduction chapter for
basic background information about projects, tracks, clips, the Track view,
and the Console view.

Opening a Project File
As you learned in Chapter 1, SONAR stores MIDI and digital audio data in
project files. The first thing you need to do is load a project file.

To Open a Project File

1. If you haven't already done so, start SONAR.
2. Choose File-Open.
3. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the directory in which you installed
SONAR, double-click the Tutorial folder to open it and select the file
TUTORIAL1.CWP.
4. Click the Open button.
SONAR loads the project and opens the Track view. Feel free to move and
resize the Track view to better fit your screen.

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Preparing for Playback
Before you can play a project, you must choose the outputs for both MIDI
sounds and audio sounds. By choosing the outputs, you are telling SONAR
from which outputs you want to hear the sounds.
You may have a sound card with a built-in synthesizer, or a MIDI keyboard
that produces sounds. We will discuss using these with a project later on in
the tutorial. First we will explore using a software synthesizer to hear a
project’s MIDI tracks. A software synthesizer is a software program that
produces various sounds through your audio interface or sound card when
the soft synth program receives MIDI data from a MIDI controller or
sequencer program. When you insert a software synth, you need to assign
the output of the MIDI track to that software synth.
The software synthesizer itself must be routed to one of your audio outputs
in order for you to hear it. Your project might also contain audio data,
perhaps vocals, that you have recorded. To hear the audio data playing
back, you need to choose an output for the audio track that contains the
audio data. The output you choose for both the software synthesizer and
the audio data will be the one on your sound card that you have connected
to an amplifier and speakers, or to headphones.
Let’s insert a software synthesizer, Cakewalk TTS-1, to the tutorial project
file.

To Insert Cakewalk TTS-1 into a Project

1. Use the Insert-Soft Synths command and click Cakewalk TTS-1 on
the popup menu.
The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog appears.
2. In the Create These Tracks fields, deselect MIDI Source, because we
want to patch the pre-existing MIDI tracks into Cakewalk TTS-1.
3. Verify that the First Synth Audio Output option is checked. We’ll need
this track to route Cakewalk TTS-1 to our chosen audio output. The new
synth track will have Cakewalk TTS-1 already patched as an audio
input.
4. In the Open These Windows fields, select only the Synth Property
Page. This option opens Cakewalk TTS-1’s property page (interface).
5. Click OK.
SONAR opens the TTS-1 interface, and inserts a synth track that has the
Cakewalk TTS-1’s output 1 as an input. Feel free to look over the Cakewalk
TTS-1’s interface, but we will not be making any adjustments here in this

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tutorial. Close the TTS-1 property page (interface) by clicking X in the
upper-right corner of the window.
Now that you have a software synthesizer available for use, you can
continue preparing the project for playback. We now need to direct our MIDI
tracks to the Cakewalk TTS-1.

To Choose MIDI Outputs for Your Project’s Tracks

1. In the Track view, click the dropdown arrow in the Output dropdown
menu
in a MIDI track to display the track’s Output
menu. MIDI tracks display a MIDI icon just to the right of the track
number:
A

A. MIDI icon B. Restore Strip Size button

You may need to enlarge the track to show the Output control: In Track
1, click the Restore Strip Size button to expand the track. Also, you may
have to click the All tab control that’s at the bottom of the Track pane to
display all the controls in the track.
After you click the dropdown arrow in a track’s Output menu, a
dropdown menu appears, containing a list of enabled MIDI outputs.

A. Output menu B. Dropdown arrow to display menu C. Focus rectangle (green
outline)

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A. All tab control—click this to display all the track controls. Click the other tabs to
display smaller groups of controls

2. Select the output you want to use for that track—select “Cakewalk TTS1 1 Output 1.”
3. For all the other MIDI tracks, you’ll also want to choose the “Cakewalk
TTS-1 1 Output 1” option: press the down arrow on your computer
keyboard to move the “focus rectangle” to the Output field for the next
track, press Enter to display the track’s Output menu, and choose the
Cakewalk TTS-1 again.
4. Repeat step 3 for each track.
Each MIDI track is now routed to the Cakewalk TTS-1. Next we need to
enable the audio output we’ll use to hear the sounds the software
synthesizer produces.

To Enable Audio Outputs

1. Select Options-Audio from the menu.
The Audio Options dialog box appears.
2. Click the Drivers tab in the Audio Options dialog box.
3. In the Output Drivers field, check the drivers you want enabled. All
enabled drivers appear with a checkbox filled in. Be sure to enable the
driver of the audio device connected to your speakers or headphones.
4. Click OK.
Your desired audio output will now be available for selection in your synth
track’s Output menu.

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To Choose an Audio Output for your Synth Track

1. In the Track view, click the Output dropdown arrow in the Cakewalk
TTS-1 synth track. Synth tracks are distinguished by the synth icon to
the right of the track number.

A. Output dropdown arrow B. Synth icon

2. From the Output dropdown menu, select the audio output that is
connected to your speakers or headphones.
Let's play the project!

Playing the Project
Buttons in the Large Transport toolbar, shown in the following picture, can
control most of SONAR’s basic playback functions.
If you don’t see the Large Transport toolbar, then choose Views-Toolbars
and check Transport (Large), or press F4.
A

F E

D C

A. Play B. Record C. Click to move ahead by measures D. Auto-punch toggle
E. Drag Now Time to any desired position F. Click to jump to the end G. Click to back
up by measures H. Click to jump to the beginning

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To Start Playback
•

To play the project, click the Play button

, or press the Spacebar.

Do you hear music? If you don't hear anything, see the online help topic
called Troubleshooting for some troubleshooting tips.
The next several topics describe some playback options to give you a lot
more control over how you want to play back your project. If you want to see
a slightly more advanced tutorial about using software synthesizers, see
“Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths” on page 204. This tutorial also shows how
to convert soft synth tracks to audio tracks, and then export your project as
a wave file. Exporting each project as a stereo wave file is how you create
audio CDs. After your projects are exported as stereo wave files, you can
use your favorite CD-burning software to make an audio CD from the
collection of wave files.

The Now Time
The Now time is the current time in the project—the time where playback is
occurring, or where playback will start up again if playback is stopped. The
Now time is indicated in the Clips pane by a vertical black line, which moves
as your project plays to indicate what part of your project is playing. When
playback is stopped, at the top of the black line you will see a green triangle
. This triangle, known as the Now time marker, represents the point at
which the Now time will snap back to after you stop playback or recording
(you can change this behavior in the Global Options dialog—select
Options-Global, click the General tab in the Global Options dialog, and
uncheck the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option).

A. Now time B. Now time marker

The Now time is also shown in the Transport toolbar, both in MBT
(measure/beat/tick) format and in time code format (hour/minute/second/
frame). During playback, the Now time increases in accordance with the
progress of the project.

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You can set the Now time of the project by clicking in the Time Ruler in the
Clips pane, or (when playback is stopped) by dragging the Now time slider
in the Large Transport toolbar.
While you are playing the project, you may want to keep an eye on the Now
time. The Big Time view displays the Now time in a large font so you can
more easily see it from a distance. To open this view, choose Views-Big
Time. You can change the time format displayed in the Big Time window by
clicking on it. You can change its font by right-clicking on it.

To Restart the Project

When SONAR gets to the end of the project, it stops. By default SONAR will
rewind to the Now Time marker after you stop playback or recording. To
play the project again, do the following:
1. If the Now time marker is at a measure other than the first, click the
Rewind button

, or press w to go back to the first measure.

2. Click the Play button, or press the Spacebar.

To Pause Playback
•

To temporarily pause playback, hit Ctrl-Spacebar. By default, hitting just
the Spacebar or Stop
or Play
will rewind the project to the Now
time marker rather than pausing at the current Now time. However, you
can change the Now time marker behavior so that the marker moves to
the current Now time when playback or recording is stopped (use the
Options-Global command; on the General tab uncheck On Stop,
Rewind to Now Marker).

Certain SONAR functions can only be used when the project is paused. If a
function or command does not seem to work, try pausing the project
For more information about the Now time and Now Time marker, see the
online help topic “The Now Time and How to Use It”.

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Starting from a Marker

Markers make it easier to find certain points within the project. You may
want to set markers at the beginning of each section of your project or at
times with which some event must be synchronized. The Markers toolbar
lets you move the Now time to a marker, add a new marker at the Now time,
and edit the marker list. If you don’t see the Markers toolbar, then choose
Views-Toolbars and check Markers.
A

A. Open Markers view B. Default Groove clip pitch C. Insert marker D. Next marker
E. Previous marker F. Markers list

The current project contains several markers. Let’s try starting playback
from the marker labeled C:
1. If the project is playing, pause playback by clicking the Stop button

2. In the Current Marker dropdown menu in the Markers toolbar (the larger
dropdown menu, on the left), select the marker labeled C. The Now
time moves to the start of measure 17.
3. Click the Play button

You can jump to the next or previous marker by pressing Ctrl+Shift+ Page
Down or Ctrl+Shift+Page Up.
For more information about markers, see the online help topic “Creating
and Using Markers.”

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Restarting the Project Automatically
Wouldn’t it be easier to practice your solo if you didn't have to restart the
project each time it ended? Rather than manually rewinding and restarting
the project, you can make SONAR automatically jump back to the
beginning and keep playing.

Looping Over the Entire Project
To control looping, use the tools in the Loop/Auto Shuttle toolbar. If you
don’t see this toolbar, choose Views-Toolbars and check Loop/Auto
Shuttle.

A. Loop On/Off B. Loop start time C. Loop end time D. Set loop to selection time
E. Loop/Auto Shuttle properties

To loop over the entire project, do the following:
1. In the Loop toolbar, click the Loop Start time. The time display changes
to an edit box with spin controls.
2. To loop over the entire project, the loop must start at 1:01:000. If the
Loop Start time is not already set to 1:01:000, use the keyboard or spin
controls to enter this value. To set it to 1:01:000, click the Loop Start
time, enter 1 and press Enter.
3. In the Loop toolbar, click the Loop End time.
4. Press F5 to open the Markers dialog box.
5. Select the marker named and click OK. The Loop End time is
set to the end of the project.
6. Click the Loop On/Off button

to enable looping.

7. Click Play.
When looping is enabled, the Time Ruler displays special flag markers that
indicate the loop start and end times. You can drag these markers to
change the loop start and end times.

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A. Loop Start B. Loop End

To turn looping off, click the Loop button again.

Looping Over a Section of the Project
Maybe you would like to practice one section of the project over and over.
Or, maybe you'd like one section played repeatedly so you can practice an
extended solo. In either case, you need to set the start and end times of the
loop section. Let's have SONAR loop over the section between markers C
and D:
1. In the Loop toolbar, click on the Loop Start time.
2. Press F5 to open the Markers dialog box.
3. In the Markers dialog box, select marker C and click OK. The loop start
time is set to the marker time (17:01:000).
4. In the Loop toolbar, click on the Loop End time.
5. Press F5 to open the Markers dialog box.

6. In the Markers dialog box, select marker D and click OK.
7. Click the Loop On/Off button

to enable looping.

8. Click Rewind. The project rewinds to the Loop Start time.
9. Click Play.
A quicker way of selecting the loop times in the preceding example would
be to simply click in the area between the markers at the top of the Clips

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pane, then click
to copy the selection start and end times to the Loop/
Auto Shuttle toolbar.
A

A. Click here to select the portion of the project between markers C and D

Changing the Tempo
If the project is having trouble keeping up with you (or if you're having
trouble keeping up with the project!), you can easily speed up or slow down
the project since it contains only MIDI data. There are two ways to do this:
you can change the tempo, or you can change the tempo ratio, which
determines the tempo by multiplying it by a user-defined amount. The
controls for either method are found on the Tempo toolbar. If you don’t see
this toolbar, choose Views-Toolbars and check Tempo.

A. Drag here to move toolbar to new location B. Tempo C. Insert tempo D. Tempo
ratio 1 E. Tempo ratio 2 F. Tempo ratio 3

Setting the Tempo

Let’s pick up the pace a little. Do the following:
1. With the project playing, click on the tempo value in the Tempo toolbar.
The tempo will be highlighted and spin controls will appear.
2. Use the spin controls to increase the tempo to 100 beats per minute.
3. Press Enter. The project will play a little faster.

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Changing the Tempo with the Tempo Ratio Buttons

By default, the Tempo Ratio buttons let you play the project at half or double
tempo. Try this:
1. Click Button 1
. The project slows to half its normal tempo. Note that
the displayed project tempo has not changed.
2. Click Button 3

. The project speeds to twice its normal tempo.

3. Click Button 2

. The project returns to its normal tempo.

Note: The Tempo Ratio buttons do not function in projects containing audio
clips. Also, the clock source setting on the Clock tab of the Project Options
dialog (Options-Project command) must be set to Internal.

Setting the Tempo Ratios
Tempo ratios can be changed by Shift-clicking on them in the Tempo toolbar
and entering a new number in the dialog box. By default, tempo ratios are
set to 0.50, 1.00, and 2.00, respectively.

Advanced Tempo Control

This project is a special case in that it has only one tempo for the entire
project. If you need to vary the project’s tempo, SONAR lets you insert
tempo changes. Tempo changes can be inserted individually so that
different sections can be played at different tempos, or they can be inserted
graphically in the Tempo view. For more information, see the online help
topic “Changing Tempos.”
Tempo ratios affect the entire project, even if there are tempo changes.
SONAR always multiplies the current tempo in the project by the tempo
ratio to determine the playback tempo.

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Muting and Soloing Tracks
Muting a track causes it not to sound when you play your project. Soloing a
track mutes all the tracks except the ones that are soloed.
You can change a track’s mute or solo status while your project is playing.

Muting a Track
Frequently you will want to temporarily turn off one or more instruments in
your ensemble. SONAR makes it easy to mute the parts you don’t want to
hear.
For example, suppose that you are practicing the piano part for this project
and want to hear only the other instruments. Let’s mute the piano part. With
the project playing, do the following:
1. In the Track pane, click the Mute button
in the Piano track (track 1).
The button turns yellow, and the piano part drops out of the project.
2. To turn the piano back on, click the Mute button again.
Note that the yellow MUTE indicator lights up in the Status bar whenever a
track is muted (the Status bar is located at the bottom of the SONAR
window). This can be very helpful if there are muted tracks that aren’t
visible.
Let's try using a different method to mute two tracks simultaneously:
1. In the Track pane, click the track number (the left-most column) of the
Piano track. The track is selected.
2. While pressing Ctrl, click the track number in the Sax track. The Piano
and Sax tracks are selected.
3. Use the Tracks-Mute command. Both tracks are muted.
You can also mute or unmute tracks by using the popup menu:
1. In the Track pane, click the track number of the Piano track.
2. While pressing Ctrl, click the track number of the Sax track. The piano
and sax tracks are selected.
3. Right-click on either track to bring up the popup menu.
4. Choose MSR-Mute (which should have a check mark beside it).
SONAR unmutes the tracks. You can also unmute all tracks by clicking the
Mute indicator on the Status bar.

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Playing a Track Solo

If you want to hear one track by itself, you could mute all other tracks. But
there’s a quicker way to do it—the Solo button. For example, to play the
drum part by itself, do the following:
1. Click the Solo button
solo!

in the Drum track (track 5). Voila, a percussion

2. To let the other instruments back into the project, click the Drum track's
Solo button again.
Solo is not exclusive—you solo as many instruments as you like. Notice that
the green SOLO indicator lights up in the Status bar (located at the bottom
of the screen) whenever a track is soloed.
Let’s use a different method to solo all three percussion tracks:
1. In the Track pane, click the track number in the Drums track. The track
becomes selected.
2. While pressing Shift, click the track numbers in the Shaker and Triangle
tracks. All three percussion tracks become selected.
3. Choose Tracks-Solo.
When you want to let the entire ensemble back into the project, click the
Solo indicator on the Status bar
to unsolo all the tracks, or select all
soloed tracks and choose Tracks-Solo. As a third option, right-click in a
track strip
to bring up the popup menu, and turn off
the solo from MSR submenu (be sure to right-click in the Track pane, not
the Clips pane).
Note that Mute takes priority over Solo. If both buttons are enabled in a
track, the track does not play.

Mute and Solo in the Console View

The Console view contains Mute and Solo buttons identical to those in the
Track view. The two sets of buttons are synchronized. To see this, do the
following:
1. In the Console view, mute the Bass, Sax, and Drums tracks.
2. Solo the Piano track.
3. In the Track view, check that the first track is soloed and that tracks 2, 3,
and 5 are muted. Click the enabled Solo and Mute buttons to return the
tracks to normal.

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Changing a Track's Instrument
If the sound card synthesizer or software synthesizer you are using is like
most, it is capable of producing at least 128 different instrument sounds,
plus several dozen percussion sounds. Now you'll find out how to get some
of those other instruments into the act. Let’s try changing the instrument
playing the piano line.

Changing the Patch in the Track View
With the project playing, do the following:
1. Solo the Piano track so you can hear the piano part more clearly. To do
this, click the Solo button
in the Piano track (track 1).
2. Loop the project, or a part of the project and click Play.
3. Click the righmost button in the Piano track to restore the track size to
display all of the information for that track. You will see a list of controls
starting with "Omni". The Patch control is directly under the Bank
control. Click the down arrow that is at the end of the patch name (the
patch name should be something like Acoustic Grand Piano).
4. To change the patch, select a new patch from the menu that appears.
SONAR closes the menu and immediately starts playing the piano part
with that new instrument.
5. Have fun trying all the different patches!
6. Click the Solo button in track 1 again to unsolo the Piano track.
You can change the patch at other times in the project besides the
beginning by using the Insert-Bank/Patch Change command:
1. Stop playback.
2. Select the track in which you want to insert a patch change by clicking
on its track number.
3. Move the Now time to the place where you want to insert the patch
change.
4. Use the Insert-Bank/Patch Change command.
The Bank/Patch Change dialog box appears.
5. Choose a patch from the Patch field and click OK.
SONAR inserts the patch change that you selected at the Now time.

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6. Move the Now time to a place before the patch change and play the
project so that the Now time moves through the place where you put the
patch change. You may want to solo the track to hear it clearly.
7. Listen to the sound change when the Now time reaches the patch
change.
You may want to experiment with changing all the instruments used by the
project. One thing you should know: Changing the instrument on a
percussion track (such as the Drum, Shaker, and Triangle tracks in this
project) may have no effect. For many synths, percussion instruments are
played on MIDI channel 10, which in General MIDI is dedicated to
percussion. The note determines the instrument, and the patch is irrelevant.

Changing the Patch in the Track/Bus Inspector

You can also change a track’s patch in the Track/Bus Inspector (see “Track/
Bus Inspector” on page 49), which is a vertically expanded version of the
current track’s controls at the far left side of the Track view. Click a track to
make it the current track. For example, to change the Piano track’s patch,
click the Patch button in the Piano track’s Track/Bus Inspector and choose a
new patch from the menu. The Patch button is just below the Bank button.
You can hide or show the Track/Bus Inspector by pressing i on your
computer keyboard.

Playing Music on a Keyboard
If you've connected a MIDI keyboard (or another instrument) to your
external MIDI interface or the MIDI interface of your sound card, you can
play one or more parts of the project on the keyboard instead of the sound
card’s internal synthesizer. For instructions on connecting a keyboard to
your computer, see “To Connect an Electric Guitar or Keyboard to Your
Computer” on page 37. For this section, we assume that you want to
connect the keyboard to the MIDI In and MIDI Out of your sound card.

Checking Your MIDI Device Settings

First, let’s make sure that SONAR is set up to send MIDI output to your
keyboard.
1. Choose Options-MIDI Devices to open the MIDI Devices dialog box.
2. In the Outputs field, two devices should be selected. The first should be
your sound card synthesizer device; the second should be the MIDI
output your MIDI device is connected to (it should say something like
“SB Live MIDI Out”). The uppermost selected device will correspond to
Output 1, the second device to Output 2, and so on. For help with these
settings, see the online help topic “Setting Up Output Devices.”

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157

3. Click OK.

Routing MIDI Data to the Keyboard

Let’s play back the Piano track through your MIDI keyboard. First, turn your
keyboard on and make sure it is set up to receive MIDI input on channel
one. Then, do the following:
1. In the Track view, in the Piano track (track 1), click the Output field to
open the menu of outputs.
2. Select the output that your keyboard is attached to.
3. Click the Play button or press the Spacebar to play your project.
SONAR plays the piano part through your keyboard.
Or, if you prefer, the procedure is similar in the Console view:
1. In the Console view (to display, use the Views-Console command),
click the Output button in the Piano module to open the menu of
outputs. The Output button is just below the volume fader.
2. Select the output that your keyboard is attached to.
3. Play your project.

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Tutorial 1—The Basics

Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI
This tutorial teaches you how to record MIDI data with SONAR. You’ll learn
how to:
•

Set up the metronome

•

Record MIDI tracks

•

Use loop recording

•

Use punch recording

Creating a New Project
If you haven’t already done so, the first thing you need to do is create a
project file:
1. Start SONAR.
2. Choose File-New.
3. In the New Project File dialog box, enter Tutorial2 in the Name field.
4. Select the MIDI tracks template from the template list.
5. Click OK.
SONAR opens a new project named Tutorial2, containing only MIDI tracks.

Recording a MIDI Track
Let’s record a new MIDI track in the project.

Setting Up the Metronome

Musicians often use a metronome to keep track of the beat. SONAR’s
metronome is more versatile than most real metronomes. You can configure
it to sound on playback or recording; it can count off any number of lead-in
measures or beats; and it can use audio clips or MIDI notes to produce
sounds. It also quickly and accurately follows any tempo changes that
happen in the project.
You can set up the metronome with the Metronome toolbar. If you don’t see
the Metronome toolbar, choose Views-Toolbars and select Metronome.

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159

B C

D E

A. Record count-in B. Measures C. Beats D. Metronome during playback
E. Metronome during record F. Use Audio Metronome G. Use MIDI metronome
H. Metronome settings

Let’s set up the metronome to play audio for two count-in measures when
recording. Here's what to do:
1. In the Metronome toolbar, click in the Count-in box.
2. Use the + or - buttons to set the count-in value to 2.
3. Click the Count-in Measures option

to select it.

4. Deselect the Metronome During Record option
5. Select the Use Audio Metronome option

By disabling the Metronome During Record option, you cause the
metronome to turn off after the count-in measures. If you would prefer to
hear the metronome during the entire project while recording, enable this
option instead.
In this example, the metronome counts in for recording, not for playback.

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Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI

Setting MIDI Inputs

Let's make sure that SONAR is set up to receive MIDI data from your
instrument.
1. Choose Options-MIDI Devices to open the MIDI Devices dialog box.
2. In the Inputs column, select your sound card's MIDI In device or the
MIDI In for your external MIDI interface. For help with these settings,
see the online help topic “Setting Up Output Devices”.

3. Click OK.

Setting Up Playback

During recording, SONAR will play the rest of a project as usual. Depending
on what instrumental part of the project you are going to record, you may
want to mute one or more tracks, or solo certain tracks. For example, if you
are going to record a new piano part, you might want to mute the old piano
part so that you're not competing with it while recording. To mute any track,
click the track's Mute button
.
Since this is a new project, there is no need to mute or solo any track.
You can also set other playback options, such as the tempo ratio, to make
your recording session easier.

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161

Recording MIDI

Now you'll record a track in the project. Do the following:
1. Make sure your instrument is turned on and set up to transmit MIDI
data.
2. If you don’t have an unused MIDI track in the project, create a new MIDI
track by right-clicking in the Track pane and selecting Insert MIDI
Track from the menu that appears.
3. In a MIDI track, click the Arm button
(arming a track automatically
sets the Input field to MIDI Omni, meaning that this track will record
incoming MIDI data from any channel).
4. On the Transport toolbar, click Record

, or press r.

The metronome counts off two measures, then SONAR starts
recording.
5. Play your MIDI instrument.
6. When you finish recording, click the Stop button
Spacebar.

, or press the

If you've played any notes, a new clip appears in the Clips pane in the track
you recorded on. If no new clip appears, see “I Can’t Record from My MIDI
Instrument” in the Troubleshooting section of the online help for some
troubleshooting hints.

Listening to the Recording

Let’s play back your performance on your sound card. For an added
dimension, we’ll open a few other views in the process. Do the following:
1. Display the controls of the track you recorded by clicking its Restore
Strip Size button , or by dragging the Vertical Zoom control that’s
located at the lower right corner of the Clips pane. You may need to
click the All tab at the bottom of the Track pane to display all the
controls.
2. Click the Output dropdown arrow to display the menu of available
outputs.
3. Select your sound card’s MIDI synthesizer (if you don’t see the outputs
you expect to see, use the Options-MIDI Devices command and
enable the correct outputs—see “Preparing for Playback” on page 143).
4. In the Ch field, click the dropdown arrow to select a MIDI channel, and
select an unused channel.

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5. In the Patch field, select any patch.
6. Choose Views-Piano Roll to open the Piano Roll view.
7. Choose Views-Staff to open the Staff view.
8. Choose Views-Event List to open the Event List view.
9. Choose Window-Tile in Rows to tile the views.
10. To return to the start of the project, click the Rewind button, or press w.
11. Click Play

or press the Spacebar.

It’s almost as easy to listen to your performance on your MIDI instrument.
For instructions on how to play a track on a MIDI keyboard, refer to Tutorial
1.
The Piano Roll, Staff, and Event List views all show the same basic
information—the notes that you recorded. The Piano Roll view displays the
track as a player-piano roll. The Staff view shows notes in traditional music
notation. The Event List view lists all MIDI events for the track. When you
need to edit a track, you can work in any of these views. On different
occasions you may have reason to use different views. More information
about the Piano Roll, Staff, and Event List views can be found in later
chapters of this manual or in the online help.
When you're ready to continue, close the Piano Roll, Staff, and Event List
views.

Recording Another Take

Maybe your first attempt at recording resulted in a perfect performance, but
maybe not. If you'd like to remove your first take and try again, do the
following:
1. Choose Edit-Undo Recording or press Ctrl+Z to undo your recording.
2. Click Rewind
, or press w. The track is still armed for recording, so
you don't need to re-arm it.
3. Click Record

, or press r.

4. When you finish recording, click the Stop button in the Transport toolbar
or press the Spacebar.
Alternatively, you could record your next attempt on a new track. That way
you can keep all the takes and select the best one later (or combine the
best parts of each!). If you record on a new track, be sure to arm the new

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163

track for recording and to disarm the previous track. See “Loop Recording”
on page 164 for a convenient way to record multiple takes.

Saving Your Work
When you have something you’d like to keep, you can save the project by
doing the following:
1. Choose File-Save As.
2. In the File Name box, type a new file name, such as my project.
3. Click OK.
SONAR saves the project under the new name. From now on, you can click
the Save button
to save this project.

Loop Recording
If you'd like to record several takes successively, you can set up SONAR to
loop over the entire project, or just some section of it. SONAR will record a
new take during each loop, storing that take in a new clip. You can set
SONAR to place each clip in a new track or to pile all clips in one track.
Let's try recording a few takes of the first four measures of a project, placing
each take in a new track.

Setting Up Looping
First, let's set up SONAR to loop over the first four measures:
1. Click the down arrow in the Snap to Grid combo button
to open the
Snap to Grid dialog box. If the Snap to Grid button is not visible in the
Track view toolbar, use your mouse to drag the vertical splitter between
the Track pane and the Clips pane to the right.
2. In the Snap to Grid dialog box, click the Musical Time button and select
Measure from the list of durations. In the Mode field, select Move To,
and close the dialog box.
Now you can only select exact one-measure blocks of time in the Time
Ruler, which is located at the top of the Clips pane.
3. In the Time Ruler, drag through the first four measures to select them.
4. In the Loop/Auto Shuttle toolbar, click the Set Loop to Selection button
to set the Loop Start and Loop End times.
Clicking

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enables looping automatically.

Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI

Setting Up the Tracks

Now let's set up the first of the tracks where the takes will be stored:
1. Arm a MIDI track by making sure its Arm button

is red.

2. Click the track’s Output field to set its output to your sound card's MIDI
synthesizer.
3. Use the track’s channel field to set its channel to an unused channel.
4. Use the track’s Patch field to select any patch.

A
B
C
D

A. Output menu B. Channel menu C. Bank menu D. Patch menu E. Dropdown
arrow to display menu

As usual, you could set the tracks to play back on your MIDI keyboard
instead by specifying the appropriate output and channel.

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165

Loop Recording

Finally, let's record our takes:
1. Choose Transport-Record Options to display the Record Options
dialog box.

2. Choose the Store Takes in Separate Tracks option to store each new
take in a separate track. Each time a new take starts, the settings from
the first track will be copied to the new track.
3. Click OK.
4. Click Rewind
5. Click Record

.
.

SONAR loops over the designated section and records your takes to
successive tracks. If you want to erase the most recent take during loop
recording, choose Transport-Reject Loop Take.
6. To stop recording, click Stop

, or press the Spacebar.

Now you can listen to each take individually by muting the other ones.
Alternatively, you could set your loop recording options to Store Takes in a
Single Track and display them all within one track. After you finish recording
several takes, press the Track Layers button
on the track strip. The track
will then expand to show all clips on separate layers that can be muted and
soloed individually.
For more information about Track Layers, see the online help topic “ Take
Management and Comping Takes.”

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Punch-In Recording
Imagine that one of your takes was close to ideal, except for one or two
notes in one measure. Rather than recording another full take, you'd prefer
to keep the take but replace that measure.
Punch-in recording lets you replace a section of a track. This is how it
works: first, you set the start and end times of the punch to the section you
want to replace, and turn on punch recording. Then, you arm the track and
start recording. You can play along with the original take to get the rhythm
and feeling. However, nothing will be recorded until the Now time reaches
the punch start time. During the punch, the material already in the track will
be replaced with what you record. When the punch ends, the project will
continue to play, but recording will stop.
Let's try it. Suppose you want to replace several measures in the recording
you made earlier in this tutorial.
1. Display the Record toolbar by choosing Views-Toolbars-Record.

C D

A. Punch In Time B. Punch Out Time C. Click here to set punch times to the
selection start and end times D. Auto-punch on/off E.Record mode F. Step record G.
Click to open the Record Options dialog box

2. In the Record toolbar, click the Punch In Time.
3. Type the number of the measure at which you want to begin punch
recording and press Enter.
4. Click the Punch Out Time.
5. Type the number of the measure at which you want to end punch
recording and press Enter.
6. Click the Auto-Punch On/Off button to enable punch recording.
7. Select Overwrite from the Record Mode dropdown menu.
8. Arm the track in which you want to punch record.
9. If looping is still on, click the Loop button

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Tutorial 2—Recording MIDI

to turn it off.

167

10. Click Rewind
11. Click Record

.
.

Play along until you are past the punch end time, then click Stop
.
Replay your take to hear the difference. If it's still not right, try again!
An alternative method is to select measures by dragging in the Time Ruler.
Then right-click the Time Ruler and choose Set Punch Points. This
automatically enables punch recording.
You can combine loop recording with punch recording; see the online help
topic “Punch Recording” for details.
When Auto Punch is enabled, the Time Ruler displays special markers that
indicate the punch in and punch out times. You can drag these markers to
change the punch in and punch out times.

A. Punch In B. Punch Out

Tutorial 3—Recording Digital Audio
To record digital audio, you need some sort of device hooked up to your
sound card's line or mic input—an electric guitar, a preamp, or a mixer, for
example. If nothing else, try playing or singing into a microphone!
If you have never connected an instrument to your sound card, see “To
Connect an Electric Guitar or Keyboard to Your Computer” on page 37.
This tutorial covers these procedures:

168

•

Setting the sampling rate

•

Setting the audio driver bit depth and recording bit depth

•

Opening a new project

•

Setting up an audio track

•

Checking the input levels

•

Recording digital audio

•

Listening to the recording

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Tutorial 3—Recording Digital Audio

•

Recording another take

•

Input monitoring

•

Loop and punch-in recording

•

Recording multiple channels

Setting the Sampling Rate
Each SONAR project has a parameter that specifies the sampling
resolution for all digital audio data in the project. You should set this rate
before recording any digital audio.
To set the sampling rate:
1. Choose Options-Audio to open the Audio Options dialog box.
2. Click the General tab.
3. Under Default Settings for New Projects, select a Sampling Rate. For
CD-quality sound, use 44100 Hz.
4. Click OK.
Lower sampling rates will save disk space but will result in lower-quality
audio. Before embarking on any major project, consider what media your
project will eventually be stored on, and what sampling rate is best for that
media.

Setting the Audio Driver Bit Depth and
Recording Bit Depth
The drivers for most sound cards use anywhere from 16 to 24 bits to play
back recorded data. CD’s use 16 bits. You can possibly get better sound
quality by recording at a higher bit depth and converting to 16 bits when it’s
time to master your project, but keep in mind that 24 bit audio takes 50%
more memory than 16 bit audio, possibly straining your computer’s storage
capability and speed of operation. Your sound card’s documentation could
have some advice on choosing an audio driver bit depth.
You can record audio data at 16 or 24 bits. It usually makes sense to record
and play back at the same bit depth.
To set the audio driver bit depth:
1. Use the Options-Audio command to open the Audio Options dialog
box.
2. On the General tab, find the Audio Driver Bit Depth field and select one
of the options.

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169

3. Click OK.
For more information about audio driver bit depth, see the online help topic
“Bit Depths for Playback.”
To set the record bit depth:
1. Use the Options-Global command to open the Global Options dialog
box.
2. On the Audio Data tab, find the Record Bit Depth field and select one of
the options.
3. Click OK.

Open a New Project
Let’s open a new project for this tutorial.
1. Select File-New from the menu.
2. In the New Project File dialog box, enter Tutorial3 in the Name field.
3. Select the Normal template from the template list and click OK.
Note: In the New Project File dialog you can also confirm where your
project and project audio will be stored when you save a new project. Do so
by adjusting the paths in the Location and Audio Path fields. For the
purpose of these tutorials, however, the default locations should be
acceptable.

Setting Up an Audio Track
Let’s set up a track for digital audio:
1. Insert a new track by doing the following: in the Track pane, right-click
below the last track, or wherever you want to insert a track, and choose
Insert Audio Track from the popup menu.
SONAR inserts a new audio track.
2. In the track’s Output field, click the dropdown arrow and select an audio
output from the menu.
3. In the track’s Input field, choose an audio input. Usually you select the
left channel of one of your sound card’s inputs to record a mono track,
or the stereo input to record a stereo track.
The Normal template has several audio tracks in it already, which you could
use to record with. You don’t have to insert a new audio track to record with
if your project already has one or more empty audio tracks.

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Checking the Input Levels
Before trying to record, you need to check and adjust the audio input levels.
If your audio input is too low, it will be lost in the background noise. If it is too
high, it will overload the input channel and be distorted/clipped. Before you
check input levels, make sure that the record meters are set to be displayed
in the Track view. Click the right arrow next to the Show/Hide Meters button
and in the menu that appears, select the Track Record Meters
command if it is not already checked.
You may need to drag the splitter bar that separates the Track pane from
the Clips pane to the right to see all the buttons in the Track view toolbar.
Note: SONAR has a button called the Audio Engine button
in the
Transport toolbar, which you click to stop any feedback you may experience
if there is a loop somewhere in your mixer setup. Whenever you play a
project, SONAR automatically enables the audio engine, which you can tell
by watching the Status bar—whenever the audio engine is running, the
Audio Running indicator in the Status bar lights up. The Status bar is located
at the bottom of the SONAR window.
To check the audio input levels:
1. Click the Arm button
in your new audio track. The track’s meter
becomes a record meter.
2. Perform as you would during recording. Watch the meter respond to the
sounds you produce. If the meter does not respond, you may need to
raise the volume of your plugged-in instrument. Also, make sure that
the Audio Engine button

in the Transport toolbar is enabled.

If you still don't see any movement of the audio meters, you may have
an audio input problem. .
3. If the input level meter never comes even close to the maximum,
increase the input level by using the Windows mixer or your sound
card’s software mixer (or if you are recording your instrument through
an amplifier or mic preamp, turn up the amp or preamp).
4. If the meters overload or clip (indicated by red), decrease the input
level.
The idea is to try to get the input level to rise as high as possible, but
without ever reaching the maximum. That way, you get the strongest
possible signal without distortion.
SONAR’s meters are extremely adjustable for the kind and range of data
they display. For more information, see the online help topic “Metering.”

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171

Recording Digital Audio
It's time to record!
1. If you haven’t already set up the metronome, follow the directions in
“Setting Up the Metronome” on page 159 to set the metronome for a
two-measure count-in.
2. The track is already armed for recording.
3. In the Transport toolbar, click Record
keyboard.

, or press r on your computer

You’ll hear two measures counted in by the metronome, then playback
and recording begin.
4. Go ahead and perform!
5. When you finish recording, click the Stop button
Spacebar.

, or press the

A new clip appears in the Clips pane. Also, right-click in the Clips pane and
choose Views-Options to open the Track View Options dialog box—make
sure Display Clip Names and Display Clip Contents are checked.

Listening to the Recording
Let's play back your performance. Do the following:
1. In the track’s Output field, click the dropdown arrow to display the menu
of available outputs, and select a pair of your sound card’s stereo
outputs (if your sound card only has two outputs, just select the name of
your sound card).
2. To return to the start of the project, click the Rewind button.
3. Disarm your audio track by clicking its Arm button again—this changes
the track’s meter to a playback meter. The track is disarmed when its
Arm button is not red.
4. Click Play

5. Watch the track’s meter. If the level is not what you want, record your
track again.

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Recording Another Take
If you'd like to delete your performance and try again, do the following:
1. Choose Edit-Undo Recording to undo your recording, or press Ctrl+Z
(Undo).
2. If necessary, click Rewind

or press w.

3. Make sure the track is still armed for recording.
4. Click Record

5. When you finish recording, click the Stop button
Spacebar.

, or press the

Alternatively, you could record your next attempt on a new track, or in the
same track. If you enable a track’s Track Layers button , you can display
alternate takes in different “lanes” in a single track. To avoid erasing each
take, enable Sound on Sound (Blend) mode in the Record Options dialog
(Transport-Record Options command), and make sure that Create New
Layers On Overlap is enabled in the same dialog.

Input Monitoring
SONAR has a feature called input monitoring, which allows you to hear
any instrument that is plugged into your sound card whether you are
currently recording the instrument or not. You can hear your instrument,
including any plug-in effects, whenever input monitoring is enabled and the
Audio Engine button
in the Transport toolbar is depressed. You can
enable or disable input monitoring on an individual track by clicking the
track’s Input Echo button
, and you can enable or disable input
monitoring on all tracks at once by clicking the Input Echo button that’s on
the Playback State toolbar (to display, use the Views-Toolbars-Playback
State command).
Caution: If you have any kind of a loop in your mixer setup that causes the
output of your sound card to be fed back into the input, you can get
feedback. Input monitoring can make it very intense because both the direct
signal and the processed signal are coming out of your sound card. Turn
your speakers off whenever you enable input monitoring, and then try
turning them up very gradually to try it out. If you hear feedback, click the
Audio Engine button
in the Transport toolbar to turn input
monitoring off.
For more information about Input Monitoring, see the online help topic
“Input Monitoring.”

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Loop and Punch-In Recording
Loop and Punch-in work the same for digital audio recording as they did for
MIDI recording. For more information, see the online help topics “Loop
Recording” or “Punch Recording.”

Recording Multiple Channels
If you can gather the entire band around your computer, and if you have the
proper equipment, you can record a full multiple-instrument performance all
at once. If you have several MIDI instruments, you can route their input into
your sound card through a MIDI merger—data that arrives on different MIDI
channels can be routed to different tracks. Likewise, a typical sound card
can record audio on both right and left channels—each can be recorded on
a different track by choosing the right channel as an input for one track, and
the left channel as an input for another. Multiple sound cards and multi-I/O
sound cards can expand the number of possible inputs. For more
information, see the online help topic “System Configuration.”
That completes the audio recording tutorial. Now you’ve learned the basics
of playing and recording material for your projects. In the following tutorials
you'll learn about basic editing techniques for both MIDI and audio.

Tutorial 4—Editing MIDI
SONAR has too many powerful MIDI features to look at in one tutorial, so
let’s look at some of the most basic features and also cover some exciting
new ones, such as slip-editing and MIDI envelopes.
In this tutorial, start by opening the file TUTORIAL4.CWP in the Tutorial folder
where SONAR is installed. We will be doing the following tasks:

174

•

Transposing

•

Copying Clips with Drag and Drop

•

Editing Notes in the Piano Roll View

•

Slip-editing

•

Drawing MIDI Envelopes

•

Converting MIDI to Audio

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Tutorial 4—Editing MIDI

Transposing
Here are two ways to transpose MIDI data in SONAR:
•

You can apply the Transpose command to selected data (see the
procedure below).

•

You can use the Key+ control for a specific track—the Key+ control is
located with the other track parameter controls in the Track pane. This
method causes a track to play higher or lower by the number of half
steps you enter in the Key+ control. This is a non-destructive form of
editing that leaves the pitch of the original data unchanged, but adds an
“offset” when the track plays back.

To Transpose our Tutorial File

1. Select all the notes in the bass track by clicking the bass track’s track
number. The track number should appear highlighted when it is
selected.
2. Select all the notes in the organ track by Ctrl-clicking (holding down the
Ctrl key while you click) the organ track’s track number. Ctrl-clicking
allows you to make multiple selections.
3. Use the Process-Transpose command to open the Transpose dialog
box.
4. Enter -2 (negative 2) in the Amount field and click OK.
5. Ctrl-click both track numbers again to deselect them.
SONAR transposes the selected data down a whole step (2 half steps).
Choose MIDI outputs for your tracks and play the project. You can undo the
transposition by pressing Ctrl+Z, and redo the transposition by pressing
Ctrl+Shift+Z.

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175

Copying Clips with Drag and Drop
The first clip in the bass track is two measures long; we can easily dragcopy it to make it eight measures long. When we drag-copy some of the
clips, we can make them into linked clips. When you edit a linked clip,
SONAR performs the exact same edits on all other clips that the clip is
linked to.

To Copy Clips Using Drag and Drop
1. In the Track view toolbar, click the Snap to Grid button’s down arrow to
open the Snap to Grid dialog box.
2. Make sure that the Musical Time radio button is selected, and in the list
to the right of it, select Measure.
3. In the Mode field, select Move By and click OK. Now we can only move
clips in the Clips pane by distances of an exact measure or measures.
4. While holding down the Ctrl key, drag the first clip in the bass track to
the right and release the mouse when the start of the clip is at measure
three. The Drag and Drop Options dialog box appears. Click OK—
SONAR places a copy of the clip in measures three through four. Ctrldragging a clip copies and moves it, while dragging without holding
down any extra keys moves a clip without making a copy of it.
5. Now let’s make a linked clip copy of the new clip in measure three: Ctrldrag the clip from measure three to measure five. When the Drag and
Drop Options dialog box appears, click the Copy Entire Clips as Linked
Clips checkbox and click OK. SONAR places a linked clip copy into
measures five and six. The two linked clips have dotted outlines to
show they are linked.
6. Make another linked copy of one of the linked clips and place it in
measures seven and eight. Because this copy overlaps the clip that’s in
measure 9, make sure that the Blend Old and New option is checked in
the Drag and Drop dialog box. Because none of the notes in the two
clips overlap, blending the two clips does not change any of their data.
Now you have linked clip copies in measures three through eight: when you
edit any of these three clips, SONAR performs the exact same edits on the
other two.

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Editing Notes in the Piano Roll View
SONAR’s Piano Roll view gives you complete control of individual note
properties. Let’s edit a couple of notes.

To Edit Notes in the Piano Roll View
1. Open the Piano Roll view of the first bass clip by double-clicking the
clip. In the Piano Roll view, you may have to use the Up Arrow and
Down Arrow keys on your computer keyboard to display the note data
(the Right and Left Arrow keys scroll the display in the horizontal
direction).
2. Drag the Piano Roll’s Horizontal Zoom control in the lower right corner
of the Notes pane to make the note data large enough for easy editing
(see following picture).
3. In the Piano Roll toolbar, click the dropdown arrow on the Snap to Grid
button
to open the Snap to Grid dialog box (Snap to Grid settings
in each view are independent of each other).
4. Make sure the Musical Time check box is selected, and in the window
to the right of it, select Eighth.
5. In the Mode field, make sure that the Move By radio button is selected
and click OK. Now we can only move data in the Piano Roll view by
exact distances of one or more eighth notes.
6. In the Piano Roll toolbar, click the Draw tool

to activate it.

7. Find the note that starts at the beginning of measure three and move
the cursor over the beginning of the note so that the cursor becomes a
cross. Drag the beginning of the note to the left by a half beat, and
release the mouse.

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177

A. Beat 1 of Measure 3 B. Drag horizontal zoom C. Drag note from here

SONAR moves the note to the left by a half beat and lengthens the note
by a half beat, and also performs the same edits on the identical notes
that are at the beginnings of the other two linked clips.
8. Close the Piano Roll view when you finish editing.
If you want to unlink clips when you’re through editing them, select the
clips you want to unlink (in the Track view), right-click one of them, and
choose Unlink from the Clips pane popup menu. Select Independent, Not
Linked At All in the Unlink Clips dialog box and click OK.
When you move the Draw tool over a note, it changes into one of 3 different
editing tools, depending on what part of the note you move it over:

178

•

If you move the Draw tool over the beginning or end of a note, the Draw
tool changes into a cross. When you drag one end of a note with the
cross icon, the other end of the note stays put, thereby changing the
duration of the note as you move the opposite end.

•

If you move the Draw tool just inside the beginning of a note, the Draw
tool changes into a horizontal, double-ended arrow. When you drag the
beginning of a note with this icon, the other end of the note moves with

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the beginning of the note, thereby keeping the duration of the note
constant.
•

If you move the Draw tool over the middle of a note, the Draw tool
changes into a vertical, double-ended arrow. Use this tool to drag the
note up or down in pitch.

Slip-editing
Now let’s take advantage of one of the most convenient features of SONAR:
slip-editing. Slip-editing lets you drag the beginning or ending borders of a
clip to hide the notes or other MIDI data that are in the area that you drag
through (slip-editing also works on audio clips). SONAR does not delete
these notes or data, but does not play them either. As soon as you drag the
clip borders to display the data again, SONAR plays them again. slip-editing
is a very fast and convenient way to try out different sounds without
destroying any data. You can also leave the clip borders unchanged and
only drag the data that’s within the clip. This changes the rhythmic
placement of data without changing the clip’s borders.

To Slip-edit TUTORIAL4.CWP

1. Drag the horizontal zoom controls in the Clips pane so that a space of
about 2 measures fills up the Clips pane.
2. Click the down arrow in the Snap to Grid combo button to open the
Snap to Grid dialog box, change the Musical Time resolution to Eighth,
make sure Move By is selected in the Mode field, and close the dialog.
Now we can only drag the borders of clips by units of eighth notes.
3. In the organ track in the Clips pane, move the cursor over the right end
of the first clip until the blue vertical line (clip handle) appears. Drag the
right border to the left until the MIDI data at the end of the clip is hidden.

Hide this region

Like this

Now you can’t hear those notes.
4. Drag the end of the second clip to the left until just the “tail” or glissando
of the data is hidden.

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Hide this region

Like this

5. In the third clip, hold down both the Alt and Shift keys and drag only the
data inside the clip to the left by about one eighth note.
You can experiment as much as you want with slip-editing, all without
destroying any data!

Drawing MIDI Envelopes
MIDI envelopes are lines and curves you can draw on MIDI data in the Clips
pane. Each envelope produces continuous control over one of the following
track parameters: volume, pan, chorus, reverb, automated mute, or a MIDI
controller. You can show or hide any envelope you create, but the envelope
still functions when it is hidden. For our tutorial, let’s create a MIDI volume
envelope.

To Draw and Edit a MIDI Volume Envelope

1. In the Clips pane in the organ track, make sure that the PRV mode
button

is off.

2. Right-click in the organ track and choose Envelopes-Create Track
Envelope-Volume (default Ch. 1) from the Clips pane popup menu.
SONAR creates a line through the organ track, with a small round dot
(a node) at the beginning of the line. The line shows the initial volume
of the track, if it has an initial volume. Otherwise, it shows a default
value.
3. Scroll the Now Time to the next marker by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Page
Down; the marker is called Verse, and is located just before measure
nine. Drag the Horizontal zoom control so that the beat markers are
visible in the Time Ruler.
4. At the fourth beat of measure eight, add a node to the envelope by
moving the cursor over it until a double-ended, vertical arrow appears
under it, right-clicking to open the Envelope Editing menu, and
choosing Add Node from the menu. A shortcut to add a node is to
double-click the line.

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5. At the start of measure nine, add another node.
6. Move the cursor over the newest node until a cross appears under it,
and drag the node downwards until it’s just below the MIDI data that’s at
the start of the clip.

A. Drag second node to here

7. At the fourth beat of measure twelve, add another node and drag it up
to the top of the track. Now you have a gradual volume increase in the
organ track for almost four measures.
8. At the start of measure thirteen, add another node and drag it
downward just below the MIDI data at the start of the measure.
9. Right-click the line that’s between the last two nodes, and choose Slow
Curve from the Envelope Editing menu. SONAR changes the line to a
curve. Now the drop in volume is a little more gradual.
Now you have some interesting dynamics in your track. You can add a lot
more to your envelope, and add more envelopes if you wish. You can also
copy and paste envelopes. For more information, see the online help topic
“Automation Methods.”

Converting MIDI to Audio
When you finally get your MIDI project into the shape you want, you can
convert the MIDI tracks to audio for export as Wave, MP3, or other file
formats. If you are using external MIDI modules, just record the outputs of
your modules into your sound card. If you are using soft synths, use the
File-Export-Audio command, or the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command. If
you are using the built-in synthesizer in your sound card to produce MIDI
sounds, you can use your sound card’s “What You Hear” or wave capture
function to convert the MIDI tracks, if your sound card can function this way.
See the following procedure:

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181

To Convert MIDI to Audio

1. Pick a destination audio track (or create a new one) and set the Input
field to Stereo (name of your sound card).
Note: If you have more than one sound card installed, select the one
that has the built-in synth that your MIDI tracks use.
2. Arm the destination track. Make sure its Input Echo button is off, so you
won’t hear an echo when you’re recording.
3. Mute any tracks that you don’t want to record to the destination track.
4. Open your sound card's mixer device. This is normally done by doubleclicking the speaker icon on your Windows taskbar, or by choosing
Start-Programs-Accessories-Entertainment-Volume ControlOptions-Properties.
Note: Some sound cards have their own proprietary mixer. If yours has
one, please use it instead.
5. If you’re using the Windows mixer, use its Options-Properties
command to open the Properties dialog box, click Recording (in the
Adjust Volume For field), and make sure all boxes in the Show the
Following Volume Controls field are checked.
6. Click OK, and locate the slider marked MIDI, Synth, Mixed Input, or
What You Hear. Check the Select box at the bottom, then close the
window.
7. In SONAR, rewind to the beginning of your project, click the Record
button, and click the Stop button when you’re done recording.
SONAR records all the MIDI tracks that are assigned to your sound card
synth as a stereo audio track.
After you finish recording, mute the MIDI tracks that you just recorded so
you don’t hear them and the new audio track at the same time.

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Tutorial 5—Editing Audio
In this tutorial we will be editing a Cakewalk bundle file (file extension .CWB)
with drums, bass, guitar and organ. We will add some additional
percussion, and edit some of the existing tracks. This tutorial covers the
following:
•

Importing wave files

•

Dragging and looping clips

•

Slip-editing

•

Using automatic crossfades

•

Bouncing tracks

Opening the Project
1. In SONAR select File-Open from the menu.
2. In the Open dialog, select TUTORIAL5.CWB and click OK.
3. The Unpack Bundle dialog now appears. This dialog lets you specify
where the project and project audio will be stored if you save the file.
For the purpose of this tutorial, the defaults should be acceptable: click
OK.
The audio data is loaded into SONAR and TUTORIAL5.CWB opens.

Importing a Wave File
Now that you have the file open, click the Play button to hear the project.
The project contains drums, bass, and two guitar tracks. Let’s import an
organ track:

To Import a Wave File

1. Click the down arrow in the Snap to Grid combo button located in the
Track view toolbar.
The Snap to Grid dialog appears.
2. In the Snap to Grid dialog, click the Musical Time check box, select
Measure from the list of durations and close the dialog.
3. Make sure the Snap to Grid button is enabled.
4. Right-click the track number and select Insert Audio Track from the
popup menu.
5. Click the track number of the new track to select it.

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183

6. We want to insert the new part at measure 18, so click in the Time Ruler
at measure 18. The Time Ruler is at the top of the Clips pane above the
drum track.
7. Select File-Import-Audio from the File menu.
The Open dialog appears.
8. Open the Tutorials folder located in the directory where SONAR is
installed.
9. Select ORGAN.WAV and click Open.
A new clip appears in the selected track at the specified Now Time—
measure 18.
10. Double-click the track name, and type in a new name: “Organ,” and
press Enter.
11. Move the Now time to the beginning, insert another audio track, import
the file MARACAS.WAV, and name the track.
AFTER YOU IMPORT MARACAS.WAV, notice that the clip has beveled or
rounded corners instead of sharp ones. That means it’s a Groove clip,
and contains tempo and pitch information. We’ll learn more about
Groove clips in the next tutorial.
12. Insert another audio track, import the file CONGAS.WAV (WHICH IS ALSO A
GROOVE CLIP) and name the track.

Moving and Looping the Clips
When you drag and drop clips in the Clips pane, the Snap to Grid setting
determines the resolution to which the clips “snap to.” If your Snap to Grid
setting is Measures and you drop a clip between two measures, the clip
appears aligned to the closest measure.
We have just dropped two percussion clips into our project, and we could
have dropped them where we wanted, but then we wouldn’t get a lesson on
how to move clips in SONAR.
Let’s move both clips to the 18th measure of the project.
1. Click and drag the maracas clip to measure 18 (the Snap Grid is still set
to Measure).
2. The Drag and Drop Options dialog appears. The Drag and Drop
Options dialog box has options for how the clip you are dragging affects
existing clips. Since the clip we are dragging is not being moved onto

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an existing clip, we can just accept the default setting. Click OK to
accept the default settings.
The clip now appears at the 18th measure.
3. Now move the congas clip to the 18th measure by using the same
method.
Now let’s loop the two percussion clips to make copies of them by using
their Groove clip characteristics:
1. Move the cursor over the end of the maracas clip until a blue line (clip
handle) appears at the edge of the clip and the cursor looks like this
.
2. When the cursor changes, click the end of the clip and drag it to the
right until you have created repetitions of the clip through the end of
measure 28.
3. Copy the congas clip the same way until it reaches the end of measure
28.

Slip-editing a Clip
Solo the two guitar tracks and listen to the project. We are going to combine
these two tracks and create an automatic crossfade between them. Before
we do, we have to hide the beginning of the second guitar part so it doesn’t
affect the crossfade. We’ll do this using slip-editing.
1. Click the Snap to Grid button to turn off Snap to Grid. The Snap to Grid
settings control slip-editing as well as drag and drop.
2. Move the cursor over the beginning of the second guitar clip.
3. When the cursor turns into a rectangle and a blue line appears at the
edge of the clip, click and drag the beginning of the clip until you have
reached the beginning of the waveform.

A. Drag to here

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185

The beginning of the clip is now hidden. The data is not lost, as you will
see if you drag the beginning to where it was originally. Slip-edited data
is still in the project, but it is not seen or heard.

Automatic Crossfades
Let’s combine these two tracks and create a crossfade.
1. Enable automatic crossfades by clicking (depressing) the Enable/
Disable Automatic Crossfades combo button
Snap to Grid button on the Track view toolbar.

located next to the

2. Click the down arrow on the Enable/Disable Automatic Crossfades
combo button, select Default Crossfade Curves and select a
crossfade curve.
3. Make sure no clips are currently selected by clicking in the Clips pane
outside of any clips.
4. Hold down the Shift key and drag the second guitar clip on top of the
first guitar track and drop it there; make sure that Blend Old and New is
selected in the Drag and Drop dialog box before you click OK. Shiftdragging ensures that a clip can only move vertically and not
horizontally, so you don’t need to enable the Snap to Grid button to
keep the same exact rhythmic placement of a dragged clip.
The two clips appear on the same track with a crossfade marker on the
overlapping data. The first guitar track fades out as the second guitar fades
in. For more information about crossfades, see the online help topic “Fades
and Crossfades.”

Bouncing Tracks
When you finish editing a certain number of audio tracks, you can conserve
memory and simplify your mix by bouncing (combining) some tracks down
to one or two tracks. You can choose to include any effects and automation
in the new track that are on the tracks that you want to combine, greatly
reducing the load on your CPU.
Let’s bounce, or combine our two percussion tracks together:
1. Make sure no time range is selected by clicking in the Clips pane
outside of any clips.
2. Select the tracks that you want to combine: in this case, Maracas and
Congas. To select multiple tracks, hold down the Ctrl key while you click
each track’s track number. You can also solo tracks instead of selecting
them.

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3. Click the Snap to Grid button to turn it on (the Snap to Grid setting is still
set to Measure).
4. In the Time Ruler, select measures 18 through 28.
5. Use the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command to open the Bounce to
Track(s) dialog box.
6. In the Destination field, choose <8> New Track.
7. In the Source Category field, choose Entire Mix.
8. In the Channel Format field, since our two original percussion tracks are
in stereo, choose Stereo. This way we preserve their stereo quality.
9. In the Source Bus(es) field, make sure the name of the sound card that
the relevant tracks use to play back on is highlighted.
10. In the Mix Enables field, make sure everything is checked. By checking
the Track Mute/Solo option, you make sure that SONAR only mixes
down the unmuted tracks. If any tracks are soloed, this option causes
SONAR to mix down only the soloed tracks.
11. Click OK.
SONAR creates a new, stereo track that combines both percussion tracks.
Now you can archive the old percussion tracks so that they don’t consume
memory. Do this by right-clicking each track number and choosing MSRArchive from the popup menu.

Tutorial 6—Using Groove Clips
Groove clips are audio clips that “know” their tempo and root note pitch.
SONAR uses this information to stretch the clips to match changes in tempo
and to transpose the root note pitch to match the project’s pitch and pitch
changes. SONAR also has MIDI Groove clips that work much the same as
audio Groove clips.
You can create repetitions, or loops of Groove clips simply by dragging their
ends in the Track view, creating as many repetitions as you want.
You can change the pitch of your Groove clips by inserting pitch markers in
the Time Ruler. The default project pitch for Groove clips in a new project is
C. The root note of your Groove clips is transposed to the default for any
part of the Groove clips that come before the first pitch marker, or if you do
not have pitch markers in your project. You can change the default pitch of
the current project in the Markers toolbar.

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187

You can create and edit Groove clips in the Loop Construction view.
This tutorial covers the following:
•

Adding Groove clips to a project

•

Looping Groove clips

•

Changing the pitch of Groove clips

•

Making Groove clips follow the project tempo

Adding Groove Clips to a Project
There are two ways to add a Groove clip to your project. Let’s use both.

To Import a Groove Clip
1. Select File-New to create a new project.
2. In the New Project File dialog box, enter Tutorial6 in the Name field.
3. Select the Normal template from the template list and click OK.
4. Set the default pitch to E by clicking the dropdown arrow in the Markers
toolbar and choosing E (if you don’t see the Markers toolbar, use the
Views-Toolbars command and check Markers).

A. Click here

5. Click the Rewind button in the Transport toolbar to move the Now Time
to the beginning of the project.
6. Select track 1 by clicking its track number.
7. Select File-Import-Audio from the menu.
The Open dialog appears.
8. Navigate to the Tutorial folder in the directory where you installed
SONAR.
9. Select 100FX.WAV and click Open.
The clip appears on the track at the beginning of your project—the clip’s
corners are beveled instead of sharp, indicating that it is a Groove clip.
Before we import another loop, let’s give this track a name. In the track
titlebar, double-click on the track name and enter the name Sound Effect
and press Enter.

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Let’s add some more Groove clips:

To Drag and Drop a Groove Clip into a Project

1. Click the down arrow in the Snap to Grid combo button located in the
Track view toolbar.
The Snap to Grid dialog appears.
2. In the Snap to Grid dialog, on the Clips tab, select the Musical Time
check box, and the duration Measure.
3. In the mode section, select the Move To radio button.
4. Close the Snap to Grid dialog.
5. Make sure Snap to Grid is on. When Snap to Grid is on, the button
appears blue.
6. Open the Loop Explorer view by clicking the Loop Explorer icon in the
View toolbar

7. Navigate to the Tutorial folder in the directory where you installed
SONAR.
8. Select 100ONETWO.WAV and drag it into the Clips pane below the Sound
Effect track at measure 3.
Repeat step 8 by dragging 100BEAT2.WAV below Track 2 at measure 7 and
100ORGAN.WAV below Track 3 at measure 1, and close the Loop Explorer
view. SONAR automatically creates any necessary audio tracks when you
import audio data.
You now have a four track project. If you haven’t done so yet, click the play
button to take a listen to your project before we begin to arrange the clips.
Your project should look something like this:

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189

Looping Groove Clips
Here’s where Groove clips get fun. You need only drag the beginning or end
of a Groove clip to create repetitions or loops.
First, though, lets copy the Groove clip in Track 2.

To Copy a Groove Clip

1. Press the Ctrl key and click and drag the clip until the beginning is at
measure 8 and release.
The Drag and Drop Options dialog appears.
2. Make sure the Copy Entire Clips as Linked Clips option is not checked
and click OK.
A copy of the Groove clip now appears on the same track at measure 8.

To Loop a Groove Clip

1. Move the cursor over the end of the first Groove clip in Track 2 until a
blue vertical line appears at the edge of the clip and the cursor looks
like this
.
2. When the cursor changes and the line appears, click the end of the clip
and drag it to the right until you have created one repetition of the clip
(through the end of measure 6).
You can also create a partial loop of a Groove clip if the Snap to Grid setting
is set to less than one measure. You can create a partial loop as small as
the Snap to Grid setting allows. For example, if your Snap to Grid setting is
set to quarter notes, you can create partial repetitions as small as a quarter
of a measure.
Now lets edit the clip we copied on Track 2.

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To Crop a Groove Clip

1. Click the dropdown arrow on the Snap to Grid button to open its dialog
box, set the Musical Time duration to Quarter, and close the dialog box.
2. Move your cursor over the beginning of the second clip in Track 2 until a
blue line (clip handle) appears and the cursor looks like this
.
3. “Crop” the beginning of the clip one and a quarter measure (you may
want to expand the Clips pane a little by dragging the Horizontal Zoom
slider that’s in the lower right corner).
Like this:

4. Crop the end of the clip by one quarter measure.
Like this:

5. Click on the clip and drag it one measure to the left.
Like this:

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191

The Drag and Drop Options dialog appears.
6. In the Drag and Drop Options dialog, click Blend Old and New and click
OK.
You have added Groove clips and edited them. Your project should look like
this:

Let’s listen to what we have. Click the Play button in the Transport toolbar.

Changing the Pitch of Groove Clips
Now that you have heard what your project sounds like, let’s change some
pitch settings.

To Set a Groove Clip to Not Follow the Project Pitch
1. Double-click on the Groove clip in Track 4.
The Loop Construction view appears.
2. Deselect the Follow Project Pitch button

3. Close the Loop Construction view and listen to your project again.
It sounds different because the Groove clip on Track 4 is no longer
following the default project pitch of E, instead it follows its own root
note of C.
Next, let’s add some pitch markers.

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To Add Pitch Markers
1. Click the Solo button

in Track 4 to solo the track.

2. Right-click in the Time Ruler at the beginning of measure 1 and select
Insert Marker from the menu.
The Marker dialog appears.
3. In the Groove Clip Pitch dropdown, select C and click OK.
4. Create another pitch marker at the beginning of measure 2, this time
selecting F from the Groove Clip Pitch Change dropdown.
5. Double-click on the clip in track 4 to open the Loop Construction view.
6. In the Loop Construction view, click the Follow Project Pitch button to
enable it.
Listen to the project. Because the default pitch of the project is now C at
measure 1, the clip in track 4 sounds at its original pitch, because its
original root note is C. When the Now time reaches measure 2, the
project pitch changes to F, which forces the clip to transpose all of its
data up a perfect 4th, from a root note of C to a root note of F.
Now let’s change the tempo of the project.

Changing the Tempo of Your Project
Groove clips follow the project’s tempo, so we can change the tempo, either
for the entire project or just one part, and still have all our clips playing in
time with each other.

To Change the Project Tempo

1. Select Insert-Tempo Change from the menu.
2. In the Tempo field, enter 110 and click OK.
The project’s tempo is now 110.
Play your project. Do you hear the difference? Try other tempos.
Now that we have created a project that uses existing Groove clips, let’s
take the next step and learn how to create our own Groove clips.

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193

Creating Your Own Groove Clips
Any audio clip (of a reasonable size) can be a Groove clip.
We are going to take a clip, slip-edit it so that it contains just the parts we
want, and open it in the Loop Construction view to add tempo and pitch
information to it.

To Create a Groove Clip (example 1)
In this example we will import a short clip of a bass guitar, slip-edit it and
convert it to a Groove clip.
1. Select File-New to create a new project.
2. In the New Project File dialog box, enter Tutorial6B in the Name field.
3. Select the Normal template from the template list and click OK.
4. Right-click the Snap to Grid button to open its dialog box, set the
Musical Time duration to Measure, and close the dialog box.
5. Click

in the View toolbar to open the Loop Explorer view.

6. In the Explorer view, navigate to the Tutorials folder in the directory
where you installed SONAR.
7. Drag and drop the BASS.WAV file into the new project at measure 1.
8. Double-click the clip.
The Loop Construction view appears. You see that there is silence at
both the beginning and end of the clip. We are going to slip-edit the clip
so that the clip begins with the attack of the first note and ends as the
last note tails off.
9. Move you cursor to the beginning of the clip.
10. When the blue line appears and the cursor changes to look like this ,
drag the beginning of the clip until you reach the edge of the first rise in
the waveform and release the mouse.
11. Slip-edit the end of the clip until you reach the end of the last note’s
decay. You may need to scroll the scrollbar at the bottom of the Loop
Construction view a little to the right to see the end of the loop.
Note: You can not slip-edit a clip that has its Groove clip characteristics
enabled. You can turn a clip’s Groove clip characteristics on or off either
in the Loop Construction view, or in the Clips pane. In the Clips pane,
right-click the clip and choose Groove-Clip Looping from the popup
menu.

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Your clip should look something like this:

12. Click the Enable Looping button
on the Loop Construction view
toolbar to enable the clip’s Groove clip characteristics.
SONAR automatically slices the clip and assigns in a number of beats.
Notice that SONAR has sliced this clip at eighth note intervals. This is a
clip with a waveform that does not have dramatic transients (sharp rises
in volume). For clips like this, markers at beat intervals work best.
The clip is now a Groove clip, and it looks like this:

The bass track is now a Groove clip, so you can move it where you want
and create repetitions by dragging it out.
Let’s create another Groove clip.

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To Create a Groove Clip (example 2)

For this example we are going to use a clip that does not need to be slipedited.
1. In the Explorer view, navigate to the Tutorials folder in the directory
where you installed SONAR.
2. Drag and drop the DRUMS.WAV file into the new project below your bass
track at measure 1.
3. Double-click the clip.
4. Click the Enable Looping button

SONAR automatically slices the clip and assigns in a number of beats.
Notice that SONAR has sliced this clip at eighth notes and at the
beginning of some transients. This has dramatic transients. For clips
like this, transient markers work best.
The clip is now a Groove clip, and it looks like the following picture. You
can click the zoom buttons in the lower right corner to get a better view.

The markers in the Loop Construction view are used to tell SONAR where
to preserve timing. The idea is to preserve the clip while being able to
change the tempo. When a clip has a lot of transients, as this one does, it is
a good idea to make sure that the slicing markers fall at the beginning of the
transients, thus preserving their timing. This clip has several markers which
can be fine tuned to give better results. Let’s move some markers to better
preserve the timing of this clip.

To Fine Tune the Slicing Markers in a Groove Clip
1. Identify the markers which are close to the beginning of a transient.
An example of transients that should be moved:

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A
B

A. Slicing marker B. Slicing marker which should be moved C. Transients

2. Click the Select tool

3. Click and drag the slicing markers that need to be fine tuned so that
they are at the very beginning of the transient.
Like this:
A

A. Slicing markers which have been edited. Edited slicing markers appear in blue
B. Slicing markers now appear right next to the beginning of the transients

Use the two projects you have created to experiment with Groove clips
further. Try new loops, change tempos, add pitch markers, record clips and
use them to create your own loops. For more information about Groove
clips, see the online help topic “Using Loops.”

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Tutorial 7—Mixing
SONAR has an almost unlimited number of tools to help you mix down. You
can automate almost any knob, fader, or button by using any of several
methods. You can even automate the internal settings of some effects—not
just the bus controls, but the controls of some individual effects. When your
project sounds the way you want, you can save it and export it in Wave,
MP3, or Windows Media Advanced Streaming format.
Let’s do some more work on TUTORIAL5.CWB, and explore the following
tasks:
•

Adding real-time audio effects

•

Automating an individual effect’s settings

•

Grouping controls

•

Automating your mix

•

Exporting an MP3 file

Adding Real-time Audio Effects
Let's add some flanging to the first guitar track in TUTORIAL5.CWB:
1. Add the flange effect to a guitar track by right-clicking its FX field, and
choosing Audio Effects-Cakewalk-FxFlange from the popup menu.
You may have to expand the track vertically to see the FX field.
The effect’s dialog box appears.
2. Choose a preset flange setting from the Presets field.
3. Play the project to hear what it sounds like. You can continue to adjust
the effect while the project plays; there is a slight delay before your
adjustments are audible.
Close the dialog box. You can add effects to buses with the same method
(right-click the FX field in a bus, and choose an effect from the popup
menu).
You can delete an effect from an FX field by right-clicking the effect’s name
and choosing Delete from the popup menu. Instead of moving the controls
manually, let’s automate them by drawing an envelope in the Clips pane.

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Automating an Individual Effect’s Settings
Let’s draw an envelope to automate one of the flanger’s controls
1. In the Clips pane, right-click in the first guitar track (the track you added
the FxFlange effect to) and choose Envelopes-Create Track
Envelope-FxFlange 1 from the popup menu.
The FxFlange1 dialog box appears.
2. Let’s create only one envelope, even though we could create many: in
the Envelope Exists field, check the Voice 1 Feedback option to create
an envelope that controls the level of feedback on voice 1 of the
FxFlange effect.
3. Click OK (you could choose a color for the envelope before you click
OK by clicking the Choose Color button).
A solid line with 2 nodes (round dots) appears on top of the guitar clip,
one node at the beginning and one at the end of the last clip in the
project. The dotted line after the project ends means there is no
automation data in that area of a track—only nodes and solid lines
represent actual values.
4. Let’s add a node at measure 17 of the guitar track: move the cursor
over the line at measure 17 until a vertical, double-ended arrow
appears under it, and right-click the line.
The Envelope Editing menu appears.
5. Choose Add Node from the menu.
A new node appears on the envelope at measure 17.
6. Move the cursor over the node until a cross appears under it, and drag
the node up to the top of the track. Now you have a gradual increase in
the level of Voice 1 Feedback. Notice that the line between the two
nodes is solid, indicating that there is automation data everywhere
between the two nodes.
7. Change the straight line between the two nodes, which is called a
Linear shape, into a Slow Curve shape, by moving the cursor over the
straight line until the vertical, double-ended arrow appears, then rightclicking the line and choosing Slow Curve from the Envelope Editing
menu.

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B
A

A. Node B. Node C. Slow curve

Now you have a gradual, but not linear increase in the Voice 1 Feedback
level of your flange effect. You can drag linear and curve shapes vertically,
but not horizontally. To change their horizontal positions, drag the node at
either end of a shape. You can drag a node in any direction.

Grouping Controls
To assist in manipulating the controls, you can tie faders to one another. For
example, if you want to increase the volume level on several tracks at the
same time, you can assign them to a group. Then, when you move one
volume fader, you move them all. You can even have the controls move in
opposite directions. For example, you can fade one track in and another
out.
To group faders:
1. In the Track view (you can use the Console view if you want), right-click
the volume fader for track 2 (bass).
2. In the popup menu, choose Group and select A from the dropdown list.
This assigns the fader to group A. A red marker appears next to the
volume fader, indicating that it belongs to group A, whose color is red.
You could also create your own customized group name and color by
choosing New.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for tracks 3 and 4.
Now you’ve grouped the volume faders of three tracks. When you move
one fader, all of the others follow. If you want to move a single fader
independently of the others, hold the Ctrl key while moving the fader. To
ungroup a fader, right-click it and choose Remove From Group from the
popup menu.

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Automating Your Mix
You can record the fader movements of the mix, which is called automating
them. Let’s automate the volume fader of track 4. To do so:
1. Rewind to the beginning of the project.
2. Make sure the Write Automation button

is enabled on track 4.

3. Display the Automation toolbar by using the Views-ToolbarsAutomation command.
4. Make sure that the Enable Automation Playback button
in the
Automation toolbar is in the depressed position and lit blue.
5. Start playback, and while your mix is playing back, move the volume
fader on track 4.
6. Stop playback by clicking the Stop button or by pressing the Spacebar.
You’ve now automated the volume fader of track 4 of your project—SONAR
draws a graph (an envelope) of the automation in the Clips pane of track 4.
You can hide or show envelopes by using the dropdown arrow located on
the side of the Envelope tool button
in the Track view toolbar, or by
using the Clips pane popup menu, or the Envelope Editing menu. Now let’s
listen to the project again and watch the fader move automatically:
1. Rewind to the beginning.
2. Press the Spacebar to start playing the project.
You’ll see the fader move just the way it moved when you recorded its
movements. You can compare this mix to a mix with no automation by
clicking the Enable Automation Playback button
and playing your project
again. Clicking the Enable Automation Playback button toggles the
automation off and on.
You can disable all automation write-enabled controls by clicking the Clear
All Automation Write Enables button
in the Automation toolbar.

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Exporting an MP3 File
When your project finally sounds the way you want, you can export it in any
or all of several file formats, including:
•

Wave (CD format)

•

MP3

•

Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format

When you export a file from SONAR, you can choose to include any or all of
the effects, automation, and mute and solo settings that your project
contains.
Let’s export our project as an MP3:
1. Make sure all the tracks you want to export are unmuted and
unarchived. If you only want to export one or two tracks, it’s easier to
solo these tracks instead of muting all the others.
2. Make a time selection, if necessary. If any tracks use real-time effects
such as reverb or delay, select your whole project plus an extra
measure or two at the end so you won’t cut off the reverb “tail.”
3. Choose File-Export-Audio to display the Export Audio dialog box.
4. Select a destination folder using the Look In field.
5. Enter a file name.
6. Choose MP3 from the Files of type dropdown list.
7. In the Channel Format field, select one of the following options:
•

Mono—All exported tracks are mixed down to a single mono file.

•

Stereo—All exported tracks are mixed down to a single stereo file.

•

Split Mono—All exported tracks are mixed down to two mono files,
left and right.

8. In the Bit Depth field, select the bit depth that you want your exported
file to use. For MP3s use 16.
9. In the Source Bus(es) field, select a sound card or sound cards from
the list. If you select more than one, you can select the Each Source to
Separate Submix checkbox to create separate files for each device
selected in the Source Bus(es) field.

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10. If the Outputs of the tracks you are combining are the same (if they
have the same thing listed in their Output fields—they should in this
tutorial example), you can ignore this step. Otherwise, in the Separation
field, choose from these options:
•

Each Bus to Separate Submix—if the tracks you are combining use
different buses in their Output fields, choose this option if you want
to create separate files for each different output that the tracks use.

•

Each Main Out to Separate Submix—if the Outputs of the tracks
you are combining go to different Main Outs, choose this option to
create separate files for each different Main Out that the tracks use.

•

All Main Outs to Single Mix—if the Outputs of the tracks you are
combining go to different Main Outs, choose this option to create a
single new file that combines the output data from all the Main Outs.

11. In the Mix Enables field, select the effects you want to include in your
new file—usually, you select all the listed options.
Note: Selecting the Track Mute/Solo option causes muted tracks to be
left out of the exported mix, and soloed tracks to be the only tracks
exported.
12. Click Export.
The Cakewalk MP3 Export Options (Trial Version) dialog box appears.
13. Choose the options you want for your new MP3 file—for help choosing
options click the Help button in the dialog box.
14. When you finish choosing options, click the OK button.
SONAR compresses and mixes your project to a file with the extension
.MP3 that is located in the folder you chose in the Look In field of the Export
Audio dialog box.

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Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths
A software synthesizer is a software program that produces various sounds
through your audio interface (also called a sound card) when the soft synth
program receives MIDI data from a MIDI controller or sequencer program.
SONAR supports all major varieties of software synthesizers, including DXi,
ReWire, and VST Instruments. SONAR has a Synth Rack view to make
inserting a soft synth a one-step process.
Cakewalk TTS-1 is a great example of a soft synth, so let’s use it for our
tutorial. Because this soft synth supports the multi-output format, it has
multiple outputs (4). You probably installed Cakewalk TTS-1 when you
installed SONAR. To make sure, open a project that has at least one audio
track, right-click the FX field of an audio track to open the plug-in popup
menu, and look under Soft Synths. You should see Cakewalk TTS-1 listed.
If you don’t, insert your SONAR CD into your CD drive, install the software
synthesizers including Cakewalk TTS-1 to your hard drive, and restart
SONAR.
This tutorial covers the following:
•

Inserting Cakewalk TTS-1 into a project

•

Playing MIDI tracks through a soft synth

•

Converting soft synth tracks to audio

Inserting Cakewalk TTS-1 into a Project
Inserting a soft synth into a project means that the name of the soft synth
appears in the dropdown menus of MIDI track Output fields and audio track
Input fields.

To Insert Cakewalk TTS-1 into a Project

1. Open a MIDI project—for this tutorial use TUTORIAL8.CWP.
2. Use the Insert-Soft Synths command and click Cakewalk TTS-1 on
the popup menu.
The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog appears.
3. In the Create These Tracks fields, deselect MIDI Source, because we
want to play some pre-existing tracks through Cakewalk TTS-1.
4. Select All Synth Audio Outputs because we’re going to use a different
synth track for each of Cakewalk TTS-1’s 4 outputs. The new synth
tracks have Cakewalk TTS-1 already patched to them as audio inputs.

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5. In the Open These Windows fields, select both Synth Property Page
and Synth Rack view. These two options open Cakewalk TTS-1’s
property page (interface), and the Synth Rack view, respectively.
6. Click OK.
SONAR inserts 4 synth tracks that each have one of Cakewalk TTS-1’s
outputs as an input (notice that these tracks have the soft synth icon next to
their track numbers), inserts a synth audio track to produce the sound from
the 4 synth tracks, opens the Synth Rack view with Cakewalk TTS-1
displayed in the first row, and opens Cakewalk TTS-1’s property page. Click
a track in the Track view to put the focus on the Track view, and then press
F on your keyboard to fit all the new tracks into view.
Notice that the Output field of each synth track is labeled Cakewalk TTS-1
1. The “1” means that this is the first instance of Cakewalk TTS-1 that you
have inserted into this project. If you use the Insert-Soft Synths command
to insert another instance or copy of Cakewalk TTS-1 into this project, its
label will be Cakewalk TTS-1 2, and it will function as a totally separate
synth. MIDI data in tracks that use Cakewalk TTS-1 1 as an output will have
no effect on MIDI tracks that have Cakewalk TTS-1 2 as an output.

Playing MIDI Tracks through a Soft Synth
Now that you have verified that Cakewalk TTS-1 is installed, let’s try some
of its sounds on some pre-recorded MIDI data.

To Play MIDI Tracks through Cakewalk TTS-1

1. Drag the Cakewalk TTS-1 property page out of the way for now, and in
the first MIDI track (Guitar 1), click the dropdown arrow in the track’s
Output field, and choose Cakewalk TTS-1 as an output.
2. Set the Output fields in all the other MIDI tracks to Cakewalk TTS-1.
Note: When the cursor is in the Output field of one track, pressing the
Up or Down arrow key moves the cursor to the same field in the next
track. You can then press Enter to open the menu, and click the menu
item that you want to select.
3. Let’s insert a patch change in track 1: click the track number of the
Guitar 1 track to select it, and move the Now time to the Verse 1 marker
by clicking the Next Marker button
once (the Next Marker button is
in the Markers toolbar; if you don’t see it, use the Views-Toolbars
command and check Markers).
4. Use the Insert-Patch/Bank Change command to open the Bank/Patch
Change dialog box.

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5. In the Bank field, select 15488-Preset Normal 0, and in the Patch field,
select Overdrive Gt, and click OK.
Now you’ve routed your MIDI tracks through Cakewalk TTS-1, and inserted
a patch change. Rewind the project and play it to hear the project through
Cakewalk TTS-1.

Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio
Once your project sounds the way you want it, it’s extremely easy to
convert your soft synth MIDI tracks to either new audio tracks, or wave,
MP3, or other exportable files.
You can also do a temporary conversion, called freezing. See “Freeze
Tracks and Synths” on page 619 for more information.

To Convert Your Soft Synth Tracks to New Audio
Tracks
1. Mute all tracks that you don’t want to convert; make sure you don’t
mute the synth track(s) that the soft synth is patched into, or the MIDI
track(s) that you are using as a source.
2. Let’s set our MIDI tracks to use different outputs on the TTS-1: in the
TTS-1 interface, click the System button to open the System Settings
panel, and click the Option button in System Settings to open the
Options dialog.
3. On the Output Assign tab look in the Tone Name column, and click one
of the four Output buttons next to each name in the Tone Name column.
This assigns your individual MIDI instruments to different audio outputs
from the TTS-1. Click the Close button.
4. Use the Edit-Select None command to make sure nothing is selected.
5. Use the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command.
The Bounce to Track(s) dialog box appears.
6. In the Source Category field, choose Tracks.
7. In the Channel Format field, choose mono if you want mono tracks, and
stereo if you want stereo tracks.
8. In the Source/Buses field, make sure all 4 outputs are selected. This
will create a separate audio track for each selected output. If you
wanted to combine your MIDI tracks into just one audio track, send all
the MIDI tracks through just one output (Step 3), and select only that
output in the Source/Buses field.

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9. In the Mix Enables field, make sure all choices are selected.
10. Click OK.
SONAR creates new audio tracks from the outputs you selected. When
you’re through converting, don’t forget to mute your MIDI tracks so you
won’t hear them and the new audio track(s) at the same time.

To Export Your Soft Synth Tracks as Wave, MP3, or
Other Type Files

1. Mute all tracks that you don’t want to export; make sure you don’t mute
the synth track(s) that the soft synth is patched into, or the MIDI track(s)
that you are using as a source. If you converted your soft synth tracks to
new audio tracks in the previous procedure, mute the new audio tracks
so that you won’t be exporting two copies of each track.
2. Use the File-Export-Audio command.
The Export Audio dialog box appears.
3. In the Look in field, choose the location where you want the exported
file to be.
4. Type a file name in the File name field.
5. In the Files of Type field, choose the kind or file you want to create. If
you want to create a CD from this project, choose RIFF Wave.
6. In the Source Category field, choose Tracks if you want to create
separate files for each MIDI track, or choose Entire Mix if you want to
create one file. If you want to create a CD from this project, choose
Entire Mix.
7. Choose a channel format. Don’t choose Split Mono in the Channel
Format field if you want to export a single file. If you want to create a CD
from this project, choose Stereo.
8. In the Source/Buses field, select all outputs if you chose Tracks in Step
6, or accept the default if you chose Entire Mix.
9. In the Sample Rate field, choose if you want to create a CD, choose
44100.
10. In the Bit Depth field, if you want to create a CD, choose 16.
11. In the Dithering field, choose None for this tutorial. Dithering is an
advanced topic that you can read about in other sections of the manual.
12. In the Mix Enables field, make sure all choices are selected, including
64-bit Engine.

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13. Click OK.
SONAR creates a new audio file or files of the type you specified. Find the
file(s) in the folder you specified, and double-click each file to listen to it.

Tutorial 9—Drum Maps
In SONAR drum maps allow you to assign a single MIDI track to multiple
outputs. MIDI drum tracks appear in the Piano Roll view’s Drum Grid pane.
In the Note Map pane you can map pitches to notes in any number of
software or hardware outputs.
In this tutorial we are going to create a drum map, create a MIDI drum track
using the Pattern Brush, and use the drum map to map drum notes to
several different outputs.

Create a New Project
First, we need to create a new project.
1. Select File-New from the menu.
2. In the New Project File dialog box, enter Tutorial9 in the Name field.
3. Select the Normal template from the template list and click OK.

Creating a Drum Map
Drum maps allow you to map note pitches from the same track to different
output devices, either hardware or software.
Note: Before you begin, make sure you have some MIDI devices selected.
To check, select Options-MIDI Devices.

To Create a New Drum Map

1. In a MIDI track, click the Output dropdown menu and choose Drum
Map Manager from the menu that appears.
The Drum Map Manager dialog appears.
2. Click the Create New Drum Map button

A new drum map appears in the Drum Maps Used in Current Project
field.
3. Click the Presets dropdown arrow and select GM Drums (Complete
Kit).

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4. In the Out Port column, click one of the down arrows, hold down the Ctrl
and Shift keys, and click the name of the port or instrument that you
want to hear drums on.
All the Out Port entries change to the port or instrument you selected.
Later, we’ll start sending individual notes to different outputs.
5. In the Chn column, make sure all entries are set to 10, or whatever MIDI
channel your drum sounds are on.
6. Close the Drum Map Manager.

Create a Drum Track
You can use any blank MIDI track for your drums. If you don’t have a MIDI
track, create using the Insert-MIDI Track command.

To Assign a MIDI Track to a Drum Map
1. Display the Track view if it is minimized.

2. In the track you want to assign to a drum map, click the Output
dropdown and select DM1GM Drums (Complete Kit) from the options
in the menu that appears.

To Create a Drum Track Using the Pattern Brush
1. Select the track you have assigned to a drum map and select ViewsPiano Roll.
The blank drum track appears in the Drum Grid pane of the Piano Roll
view.
2. In the Piano Roll view, click on the down arrow to the right of the Pattern
Brush tool
and select Kick+Snare Patterns (R-T)-Stacy 7.
3. Click the down arrow again and select Use Pattern Polyphony. This
option tells SONAR to use the original pitch values when “painting”
notes in the Drum Grid pane.
4. Click on the Pattern Brush to select it.
5. Starting at the beginning of your track, click and drag the Pattern Brush
tool for a few measures in the Drum Grid pane.
A series of notes, at different pitch values appears in the Drum Grid
pane. If you don’t see any notes, scroll down in the Drum Grid to see
the notes.
6. Click the Pattern Brush down arrow again and select Cymbal Patterns
(C-F)-Fill 4.

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7. Repeat step 5.
8. Listen to your drum track. Make a mental note of the drum sounds your
hear, because they are about to change.
Now it is time to mix things up a bit. Lets send some of your drum sounds to
a different output.

Map Drum Notes to Different Outputs
First, we need to create an output to use, so let’s open Cakewalk TTS-1
and use that soft synth for this part of the tutorial.

To Open Cakewalk TTS-1
1. Select Views-Synth Rack from the menu.
2. Click the Insert Synth button
in the Synth Rack toolbar and select
Soft Synths-Cakewalk TTS-1 from the menu that appears.
The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog appears.
3. Make sure that the MIDI Source option in the Create These Tracks
section is unchecked.
4. In the Create These Tracks section, check the First Synth Audio Output
option. This option creates a single synth output track.
5. In the Open These Windows section, check the Synth Property Page
option. This option opens Cakewalk TTS-1 when we close the Insert
Soft Synth Options dialog.
6. Click OK.
7. An synth output track for the Cakewalk TTS-1 appears in the Track
view and the Cakewalk TTS-1 appears. If you don’t see the track, scroll
down in the Track pane to find it.
Now, we can map notes to different outputs.

To Map a Note to a New Output

1. Select your drum track and open the Piano Roll view by selecting
Views-Piano Roll from the menu.
2. Right-click in the Note Map pane (the list of drum names on the far left
of the Piano Roll view) and select Drum Map Manager from the rightclick menu.
The Drum Map Manager appears.

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3. In the Drum Map Manager, change the Out Port for the In Note 46 (Bb3)
to Cakewalk TTS-1.
The new Port/Channel pair Cakewalk TTS-1 1 / 10 appears in the Port
and Channels field at the bottom of the Drum Map Manager.
4. In the Bank column for the Port/Channel pair Cakewalk TTS-1 1 / 1
select 15360-Preset Rhythm.
5. In the Patch column for the Port/Channel pair Cakewalk TTS-1 1 / 1
select Standard Set.
6. In the Drum Map Manager, change the Out Port setting for In Note 38
(D3) to Cakewalk TTS-1.
7. Close the Drum Map Manager and play your project to listen to the
different drum sounds.

To Change Other Drum Map Settings

You can open the Drum Map Manager from either a MIDI track’s Output
menu, or with the Options-Drum Map Manager command.
Change map settings in the Drum Map Manager as described in the
following table:

To do this…

Do this…

Add a row (a mapped pitch)

Click the Add New Drum Map Entry button

Change In Note value

Double-click in the appropriate cell and enter a new
value, or click on the right side of the cell, and when
the cursor changes to an up and down arrow, drag it
up to increase the value or down to lower the value.

Change the Name setting

Double click on the appropriate cell and enter a new
name.

Change the Channel setting

Click the appropriate channel cell’s down arrow and
select a channel from the menu that appears.

Change the Out Port setting

Click the appropriate Out Port cell’s down arrow and
select an output port from the menu that appears.

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To do this…

Do this…

Change the Vel+ setting

Change the V Scale setting

When you are happy with the drum sounds you have mapped, you can mix
down to an audio file.

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Recording
You can add sound or music to a SONAR™ project in many different ways. You can
record your own material using a MIDI-equipped instrument, use a microphone or another
audio input to record digital audio information, or import sound or music data from an
existing digital data file. With the input monitoring feature, you can hear your audio
instruments exactly how they sound in SONAR, including any plug-in effects (effects are
not recorded, however). When you record audio or MIDI tracks, SONAR displays a wave
preview of your recorded data as you record it.
You can also input new material using your computer keyboard or mouse using the Piano
Roll view, the Staff view, or the Event List view. For more information about entering music
using these views, see the online help topics: The Staff View, The Piano Roll View, and
The Event List View.

In This Chapter
Creating a New Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Preparing to Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Recording Music from a MIDI Instrument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Recording Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Confidence Recording and Waveform Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Input Monitoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
The Audio Engine Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Loop Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Punch Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Step Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Recording Specific Ports and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Importing Music and Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Saving Your Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Creating a New Project
You can add music and sound to an existing project or to a new project.
Just as in any Windows program, you open an existing project file using the
File-Open command, and create a new project file using the File-New
command.
When you create a new SONAR project, there are some additional
parameters you can set to make it easier to work on your project. These
include:
•

Meter and key signature

•

Metronome and tempo settings

•

Audio sampling rate

•

MIDI timing resolution

Using Per-Project Audio Folders
For ease of backing up your audio files in a project, SONAR allows you to
use a separate audio folder for each project. This feature is off by default.

To Enable Per-Project Audio
1. Select Options-Global.

The Global Options dialog appears.
2. Click the Audio Data tab.
3. In the Audio Data tab, click the Use Per-Project Audio Folders option.
4. Click OK.
Note: If you use the default project that is created when you open SONAR,
you are not using per-project audio. You must use the Copy All Audio with
Project option in the Save As dialog to create a per-project audio folder. For
more information, see “To Save an Existing Project Using Per-project
Audio” on page 851.

Creating a New Project File
When you create a new project you are asked to choose a template to use
for your new file. If you have per-project audio folders enabled (for more
information, see the online help topic Using Per-Project Audio Folders), you
are also asked to specify a file name, the folder where you want to store the
file, and the folder where you want to store the file’s audio. You can override

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per-project audio by unchecking the Store Project Audio in its Own Folder
option.
SONAR includes a set of templates you can use to create a new project.
These templates include common types of ensembles, such as rock
quartets, jazz trios, and classical full orchestras. When you create a new
project using one of these templates, SONAR creates a project that has
MIDI settings predefined so that one track is set up for each of the
instruments in the ensemble. SONAR also includes a template with two
MIDI and two audio tracks (called the Normal template). If you are creating
a new project that will contain only audio material, use the Audio Only
template. If you are creating a new project that will contain only MIDI
material, use the MIDI Only template.
You can create your own template files and use them as the basis for other
new projects. For more information, see “Templates” on page 734.

To Create a New Project File
1. Choose File-New to display the New Project File dialog box.\

2. If you have the per-project audio folders option enabled, enter a file
name, set the folder where you want to store the new file, and set the
folder where you want to store the new file’s audio.
3. Choose a template from the list.
4. Click OK.
SONAR creates the new project file and displays it with the Track view
open.

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215

Setting the Meter and Key Signatures
By default, a new SONAR project is in 4/4 time and the key of C major. You
can change these settings to any desired Meter or key. These settings
apply to all the tracks in a project. You cannot set different meter or key
signatures for different tracks.
The meter or key signature of a project can change at any measure
boundary. To insert changes in the meter or key signature, use the ViewsMeter/Key command to display the Meter/Key view, or use the InsertMeter/Key Change command.
If you are creating a new project that will contain only audio material (no
MIDI material), you do not need to set the meter and key signature.
Note: Groove clips do not follow your project's key. Groove clips follow the
project pitch (in the Markers toolbar and pitch markers in the Time Ruler.
For more information, see “Working with Groove Clips” on page 420.
The key signature controls how SONAR displays notes in the Staff view, the
Event List view, and elsewhere. The meter tells SONAR the number of
beats per measure and the note value of each beat. Common meters
include:
•

2/4 (two beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)

•

4/4 (four beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)

•

3/4 (three beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)

•

6/8 (six beats per measure, each eighth note gets a beat)

The top number of a meter, the number of beats per measure, can be from
1 through 99. The bottom number of a meter is the value of each beat. You
can pick from a list of values ranging from a whole note to a thirty-second
note.
The meter determines the following:
•

Where the metronome accents are placed

•

How the Now time is displayed

•

How the Staff view is drawn

•

How grid lines are displayed in the Piano Roll view

To Set the Meter and Key Signature

1. Display the Views toolbar by choosing Views-Toolbars-View.
2. Click

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on the View toolbar to open the Meter/Key view.

Creating a New Project

3. Click

to open the Meter/Key Signature dialog box.

The Meter/Key Signature dialog appears.

4. Enter the top and bottom meter values in the Beats per Measure and
Beat Value fields.
5. Choose the key signature from the Key Signature list.
6. Click OK.
You can also set the meter and key signature in the Large Transport toolbar
display, or by using the Insert-Meter/Key Change command.

Setting the Metronome and Tempo Settings
The metronome counts off each beat in a measure, so you can hear the
tempo of your project. You can choose to have the metronome sound during
recording, during playback, or both. When you start recording, SONAR can
play any number of beats or measures of metronome clicks before
recording begins. This can help you “get in the groove” before you start
performing. These beats or measures are called the count-in.
When you create a new project, you should set the metronome to play
during the count-in and while recording. If you are adding material to an
existing project, you might only need the metronome for the count-in.
You can customize the metronome sound to use audio or any note on a
MIDI instrument. By default, SONAR uses a hi-hat cymbal sound from a
General MIDI drum kit for the MIDI metronome, but you can change this
setting to anything you like by changing the MIDI output, MIDI channel, and
duration. You can also choose the note and velocity (volume) to use for the
first beat of each measure and for all other beats. The metronome settings
are stored separately with each project, so you can use different settings for
each one.
Most metronome options can be set in the Metronome toolbar:

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217

B C

A. Record count-in B. Measures C. Beats D. Metronome during playback
E. Metronome during record F. Use Audio Metronome G. Use MIDI metronome
H. Metronome settings

If you don’t see the Metronome toolbar, use the Views-Toolbars command
to open the Toolbars dialog box, and check the Metronome checkbox. The
metronome MIDI note parameters must be set in the Metronome Settings
dialog box.
Note: If you are synchronized to an external clock source, you cannot use
the count-in feature. For more information, see “Synchronizing Your Gear”
on page 827.

To Set the Tempo and Metronome for a New Project
1. In the Metronome toolbar, select the Metronome during Recording
and Metronome during Playback

options.

2. If you want to hear a count-in before recording begins, set the count-in
to 1 or more. Select Count-in Measures
3. Select Use Audio Metronome

or Count-in Beats

and/or Use MIDI Metronome

.
.

4. Arm at least one track.
5. Press r or click
to start recording. The count-in will play, and the
Now time will start to advance.
6. If necessary, stop playback and adjust the tempo using the tempo
controls in the toolbar and restart playback. Repeat until the
metronome plays the tempo you want.
7. Press the Spacebar or click
8. Press w, or click

to stop recording.

to rewind to the beginning of the piece.

Your tempo and metronome settings are now ready. When you save the
project file, the metronome and tempo settings will be saved as well.

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Creating a New Project

To Change Your Metronome Settings

1. Open the Metronome Settings dialog box in one of the following ways:
•

Click Metronome Settings

in the Metronome toolbar.

•

Choose Options-Project and click the Metronome tab.

2. Change the metronome settings as indicated in the following table:

To do this…

Do this…

Enable the metronome during
playback

Check Playback

Enable the metronome during
recording

Check Recording

Enable the count-in

Enter the number of clicks for the count-in
in the Count-in box, and select Measures or
Beats

Use the audio

Check Use Audio Metronome

Use a MIDI note as the sound

Check Use MIDI Note and choose the
output, channel, and other settings

3. Click OK.
Your metronome settings will be saved with the project file.

To Set the MIDI Metronome Sounds from your MIDI
Instrument

1. Select a track in the Track view that is assigned to the MIDI device you
want to use for the metronome sound.
2. Click Metronome Settings
Project Options dialog box.

in the Metronome toolbar to open the

3. Make sure that the settings in the Output and Channel fields match
those for the track in the Track view.
4. Click on the Key box in the First Beat or the Other Beats section.
5. Play a note on your MIDI instrument. The note number is entered
automatically. The velocity is not updated.

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Creating a New Project

219

6. Click OK.
Your metronome settings will be saved with the project file.

Setting the Audio Sampling Rate and Bit Depth
Each SONAR project has an audio sampling rate and an audio driver Bit
depth that indicate the level of accuracy with which audio data are sampled
and processed. The same parameters are used for all the digital audio in a
project. When you create a new project, if you do not want to use the
default setting, you must choose a sampling rate before you start recording
audio.
SONAR lets you choose from several different sampling rates: 11025 Hz,
22050 Hz, 44100 Hz, 48000 Hz, 88200 Hz, 96000 Hz, 176400Hz, and
192000 Hz. The default used by SONAR is 44100 Hz, the same rate as
audio CDs. However, you may choose a higher rate and later mixdown to
44100. You can also enter any hardware-supported value in the Sampling
Rate field. Consult your hardware documentation for supported sampling
rates.
A higher sampling rate produces better quality sound. However, a higher
sampling rate also means that each audio clip takes up more memory and
disk space and requires more intensive processing by your computer. If you
have an older computer, or a slow hard drive, you might be better off with a
lower sampling rate. For more information, see “Improving Performance
with Digital Audio” on page 867.
By default, the audio driver bit depth of audio data is 16 bits. If your sound
card supports 18, 20, 22, or 24 bit audio, you can choose to take advantage
of these higher resolutions.
If you are creating a new project that will contain only MIDI material (no
audio), you do not need to set the audio sampling rate or bit depth. If you
import audio from a Wave file or another digital audio file, the sampling rate
and audio driver bit depth of the wave file are converted to your default
setting, if necessary.
Note: If you are planning to move your project to a Digital Audio Tape (DAT)
or to some other media via a digital transfer, set your sampling rate and bit
depth to match the target unit. For example, use 44,100Hz/16-bit for a
project that will be mastered to a CD, so that no sample rate conversion is
required.

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To Set the Sampling Rate and Audio Driver Bit Depth for
New Projects
1. Choose Options-Audio to display the Audio Options dialog box.

2. On the General tab of the dialog, select a value in the Sampling Rate
dropdown menu, and a value from the Audio Driver Bit Depth dropdown
menu.
3. Click OK.
The sampling rate and audio driver bit depth are saved with the project file.

Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution
Each SONAR project has a setting for the timing resolution, or timebase,
that indicates the resolution of MIDI data. This resolution is measured in
ticks or pulses per quarter note and is often abbreviated as PPQ. The
default resolution is 960PPQ, which is accurate enough for most
applications. In this timebase, each quarter note is represented by 960
ticks, each eighth note by 480 ticks, each eighth-note triplet by 320 ticks,
and so on.
In some projects you may need a different timebase. For example, if you
wanted to use eighth-note septuplets (7 eighth notes per quarter note) and
represent them accurately, you would need to have a timebase that is
divisible by 7, such as 168PPQ. SONAR uses the timebase you choose for
a project to determine the range of tick values in the Now time.

To Set the Timebase for a Project
1. Choose Options-Project and click the Clock tab.
2. Choose the timebase you want from the Ticks per Quarter Note list.
3. Click OK.
The timebase will be saved with the project file.

Preparing to Record
To prepare for recording, you need to do the following:
•

Set the recording mode.

•

Choose your input(s).

•

Arm one or more tracks for recording.

•

Check your recording levels (audio only).

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Preparing to Record

221

•

Tune your instrument if necessary (audio only).

•

Set the Now time to the point where recording should start.

•

Start recording.

After you record, you can use the Edit-Undo command to erase the most
recently recorded material. You can use the Edit-Redo command to restore
the recording and toggle between Undo and Redo as many times as you
like.
If you are using MIDI Sync or time code sync for the clock source, SONAR
waits to receive external timing data before it begins recording. For more
information see Chapter , Synchronizing Your Gear.

Recording Modes
Any material you record is stored in a new clip. If you record into several
tracks at once, one clip is created in each track. If you record into a track
that already contains clips, you can choose one of three recording modes
to determine what happens to those clips. When you save your project, you
also save whatever recording mode you choose together with that project:

222

Recording mode…

How it works…

Sound on Sound

The new material is merged with any existing material.
This means that any existing clips on the track are left
unchanged and all newly recorded material is stored in
new clips. While recording, you will be able to hear
material from existing clips.

Overwrite

The new material replaces (overwrites) any existing
material. This means that portions of existing clips may
be “wiped clean” to make room for newly recorded
material. While recording, you will not be able to hear
material from existing clips.

Auto Punch

Recording only takes place between the punch-in and
punch-out times. You can use Auto Punch in either
Sound on Sound or Overwrite mode.

Recording

Preparing to Record

To Choose a Recording Mode
•

Select a mode from the dropdown list in the Record toolbar.
Or

•

Choose Transport-Record Options or click
to display the Record
Options dialog box, then select the desired mode.

SONAR saves your recording options with each project, so you can save a
different recording mode with each of your projects.

Choosing an Input
To record into a track, you must choose an input for the music or sound to
be recorded. Usually, you choose All Inputs - Omni to record material from a
MIDI instrument, or the left or right channel of a digital audio device (such
as a sound card) to record audio material, or stereo if you want to record
stereo audio in a single track. The input for each track is displayed in the
track’s Input field and at the top of each module in the Console view.
When you choose All Inputs - Omni as the input for a track, SONAR merges
material from all MIDI inputs and instruments. This means you don’t have to
worry about input, channel, or other MIDI settings. Sometimes, you may
want to record different MIDI channels into different tracks. To learn how to
do this, see “Recording Specific Ports and Channels” on page 254.
While each track can have a different input, it is also possible for several
tracks to have the same input.

To Choose a MIDI Input in the Track View
1. Click the dropdown arrow of an Input field of a MIDI track (an Input field
has this icon to the left of it:
).
A dropdown menu of MIDI inputs appears.
2. Choose an input from the following:
•

None—this option actually sets the Input field to Omni: with this
setting the track will record any MIDI input coming in on any
enabled port (MIDI interface input driver) on any channel.

•

All Inputs-(MIDI Omni or MIDI ch 1-16)—with this setting the track
will record any MIDI input coming in on any enabled port (MIDI
interface input driver) on any channel, unless you choose a
particular MIDI channel instead of MIDI Omni. Then the track will
only record input that’s on the MIDI channel you chose.

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Preparing to Record

223

•

(name of MIDI input driver)-(MIDI Omni or MIDI ch 1-16)—
choosing this option causes the track to record any MIDI channel
coming from the named MIDI interface input driver, unless you
choose a particular MIDI channel instead of MIDI Omni. Then the
track will only record input that’s on the MIDI channel you chose,
from the named input driver.

•

Preset—if you want to record multiple data from multiple ports and/
or channels, you need to select a preset collection of those ports
and channels. You can select one here (to create presets, see next
line).

•

Manage Presets—if you want to create or edit any preset
collections of input ports and channels, you can select this option
(see “To Create or Edit a Preset Input Configuration” on page 256).

To Choose an Audio Input in the Track View

1. Click the dropdown arrow of the Input field of an audio track (an Input
field has this icon to the left of it:
).
A dropdown menu of audio drivers appears.
2. Select the audio driver for the sound card you want to record with from
these options:
•

None—This choice ensures that you do not record to the track in
question.

•

Left (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to record
a mono signal on the left channel of your sound card.

•

Right (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to record
a mono signal on the right channel of your sound card.

•

Stereo (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to
record a stereo signal.

If your sound card has more than one pair of inputs, a pair of numbers
appears after the name of each audio driver to indicate which pair of inputs
the driver is attached to.
Note: Inputs that are used by the External Insert plug-in (see “External
Insert Plug-in” on page 1115) cannot be assigned to track inputs.

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Preparing to Record

To Choose an Audio Input in the Console View
1. At the top of an audio track module, click the Input button.
A popup menu of audio drivers appears.
2. Select the audio driver for the sound card you want to record with from
these options:
•

None—This choice ensures that you do not record to the track in
question. It also turns off input monitoring for this track.

•

Left (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to record
a mono signal on the left channel of your sound card.

•

Right (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to record
a mono signal on the right channel of your sound card.

•

Stereo (name of your sound card)—Choose this if you want to
record a stereo signal.

If your sound card has more than one pair of inputs, a pair of numbers
appears after the name of each audio driver to indicate which pair of inputs
the driver is attached to.

To Choose a MIDI Input in the Console View

1. At the top of a MIDI track module, click the Input button.
A popup menu of MIDI channels appears.
2. Choose an input from the following:
•

None—this option actually sets the Input field to Omni: with this
setting the track will record any MIDI input coming in on any
enabled port (MIDI interface input driver) on any channel.

•

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Preparing to Record

225

•

Manage Presets—if you want to create or edit any preset
collections of input ports and channels, you can select this option
(see “To Create or Edit a Preset Input Configuration” on page 256).

Arming Tracks for Recording
SONAR lets you record any number of tracks at one time. You indicate the
tracks you want to record by arming the tracks. You can arm a single track
or several tracks at one time. Each track records material received though
its selected input. Whenever a track is armed, not only does the track’s R
button turn red, but the Clips pane that’s to the right of that track’s controls
turns a reddish hue.

To Arm One or More Tracks for Recording
•

To arm a track in the Track view, click

Or
•

To arm a track in the Console view, click
(to see the Arm button in
the Console view, the MSR button on the left side of the Console view
must be depressed).
Or

•

To arm several tracks at the same time, select one or more tracks in the
Track view, then right-click and choose Arm from the popup menu.

A track’s Arm button turns red to indicate that the track is armed for
recording.

To Disarm All Tracks at Once
•

Click the red Arm label that’s located in the Status bar at the bottom of
the SONAR window.
Or

•

226

Click the red Arm button in the Playback State toolbar, which you can
display by using the Views-Toolbars command and checking Playback
State in the Toolbars dialog box.

Recording

Preparing to Record

Auto Arming
You must arm tracks in order to record. To safeguard your data, there is no
automatic arming of any tracks.
If you want to record MIDI tracks without arming a track, choose OptionsGlobal, and select the General tab. Click the Allow MIDI Recording without
an Armed Track checkbox.
This feature lets you start recording a new track simply by making it the
current track and pressing R or clicking the Record button in the toolbar.
Auto-arming makes it possible to inadvertently record over existing material
in the current track, however.

Recording Music from a MIDI
Instrument
Once you have set your tempo and metronome, and armed one or more
tracks, you are ready to start recording.

To Record MIDI

1. Set the Now time to the point in the project where you want to start
recording.
2. Click
, press r, or choose Transport-Record. If your metronome
count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in.
3. Play or perform the material you want to record. As you record, SONAR
displays a clip containing the new material in the Clips pane (unless
you’ve turned off this option on the General tab of the Global Options
dialog—Options-Global command).
4. Click
, press the Spacebar, or choose Transport-Stop to stop
recording.
To listen to the new material, set the Now time to the start of the clip and
press the Spacebar or click
. If you’re not happy with the recording, use
Edit-Undo or press Ctrl+Z to erase the new material.
When you stop recording, if you do not see a new clip in the Clips pane, you
may have a problem with MIDI input. See the online help topic
“Troubleshooting” for more information.

Recording

Recording Music from a MIDI Instrument

227

Input Quantizing
Input quantizing allows you to automatically quantize MIDI input during
recording. You can see the results immediately, and hear the results as
soon as a track is looped.
Note: input quantizing does not destroy your original recording. If you press
Ctrl+ Z after you finish recording with input quantizing enabled, the
quantized clip is deleted, and the original unquantized clip appears, just as
you recorded it. If you are using loop recording in Sound On Sound mode,
all the quantized clips are deleted.
You control input quantize options for single tracks from the input quantize
controls in MIDI track strips. The input quantize controls appear in Track
strips by default just before the Input field when the All tab is selected (see
picture below). You control input quantize options for multiple tracks from
the Record toolbar, and from the Tracks menu. The toolbar and menu
commands affect selected tracks. If no tracks are selected, they affect ALL
MIDI tracks.

Input Quantize enable/
disable button

Input Quantize resolution
menu

You can set the input quantize options for either a single track or for multiple
tracks.

To Turn Input Quantizing On or Off

228

•

To turn input quantizing on or off for a single track, click the track’s
Input Quantize enable/disable button.

•

To turn input quantizing on or off for selected tracks, select the tracks
that you want to turn on or off, then use the Tracks-Input QuantizeEnable/Disable Input Quantize command, or click the Enable/Disable
Input Quantize button in the Record toolbar.

•

To turn input quantizing on or off for all tracks, make sure no tracks are
selected (or press Ctrl+A to select all tracks), then use the TracksInput Quantize- Enable/Disable Input Quantize command, or click
the Enable/Disable Input Quantize button in the Record toolbar.

Recording

Input Quantizing

To Set the Resolution
•

To set the resolution for a single track, click the track’s Input Quantize
resolution menu, and choose a resolution from the dropdown menu that
appears. You can also click Quantize Settings in the resolution menu
to open the Input Quantize dialog, and type a number of ticks in the
Resolution field.

•

To set the resolution for selected tracks, select the tracks that you
want to configure, then use the Tracks-Input Quantize- Quantize
Settings command or click the Quantize Settings button in the Record
toolbar to open the Input Quantize dialog. Then choose a value in the
Resolution field, and click OK.

•

To set the resolution for all tracks, deselect all tracks (or select all
tracks), then use the Tracks-Input Quantize- Quantize Settings
command or click the Quantize Settings button in the Record toolbar to
open the Input Quantize dialog. Then choose a value in the Resolution
field, and click OK.

Note: to quantize to a custom resolution value, open the Input Quantize
dialog, and type a custom number of ticks in the resolution field.

To Set Options
•

To set options for a single track, click the track’s Input Quantize
resolution menu, and choose Quantize Settings to open the Input
Quantize dialog, or right-click the resolution menu. Then choose
options in the dialog, and click OK.
Note: to get explanations of the options in the Input Quantize dialog,
press F1 when the dialog is open.

•

To set options for selected tracks, select the tracks that you want to
configure, and use the Tracks-Input Quantize- Quantize Settings
command or click the Quantize Settings button in the Record toolbar to
open the Input Quantize dialog. Then choose options in the dialog, and
click OK.

•

To set options for all tracks, deselect all tracks, then use the TracksInput Quantize- Quantize Settings command or click the Quantize
Settings button in the Record toolbar to open the Input Quantize dialog.
Then choose options in the dialog, and click OK.

Recording

Input Quantizing

229

Visual Indicators

You will see the following visual indicators when Input Quantizing is
enabled:
•

The Enable/Disable Input Quantize button in the Record toolbar
changes.

Enable/Disable

Quantize Settings

•

The red swath that appears in a track in the area where recording is
taking place changes color. You can choose a color for this in the
Configure Colors dialog (Options-Colors command) by choosing Clips
Pane in the Color Category menu, and changing the entry for Input
Quantize Record Preview Background.

•

The Arm button
in a track that has Input Quantizing enabled
changes color when it is armed, and displays Q instead of R.

Key Bindings

You can choose key bindings for Input Quantize commands by opening the
Key Bindings dialog (Options-Key Bindings command), choosing Global
Bindings in the Bind Context menu, and scrolling to the Tracks | Input
Quantize commands.
To set key bindings for note resolutions, choose Track View in the Bind
Context menu, and scroll to the Input Quantize Resolution commands.

Recording Audio
Before you record audio, you should check your input levels. If the levels
are too low, you may end up with too much hiss and background noise in
your recording. If the levels are too high, your recording will be inaccurate
or distorted. To check your audio levels, use the audio meters in the either
the Track view or Console view. To adjust the input levels, you must use
your sound card’s software mixer program (or the Windows XP mixer) or an
external hardware mixer for certain sound cards.
The audio meters indicate the volume at which the audio will be recorded,
in units called decibels (dB). The meter values range from -INF (silent) to
0dB (maximum volume). You can change many options in the way

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Recording Audio

SONAR’s meters display data: see “Metering” on page 610. To maximize
the dynamic range of your recording, you want to set the levels as high as
possible without clipping.
When the audio level exceeds 0dB, some of the audio information is lost.
This is known as overload. Many sound cards use clipping to deal with an
overloaded signal, but clipping can distort the audio signal. As a result, you
should avoid letting the meter level exceed 0dB.
Note to Experts: Because SONAR is a digital recorder, a level of 0dB
indicates digital zero. Digital distortion will occur at 0dB. You will not get
analog compression or warmth from pushing the input levels. If you are
transferring data from a DAT or another device, you may want to calibrate
the input levels of your sound card with the output levels of other devices in
your studio. This will ensure that 0dB on one unit will appear as 0dB in
SONAR.

To Check the Input Levels
1. In the Track view, choose the inputs for the tracks you want to record,
and arm the tracks for recording. Make sure that the Show/Hide All
Meters button at the top of the Track view is enabled.
2. The default meter range is from 0 dB to -60 dB. To change the range,
right-click on the meter and choose a new range from the menu.
3. Perform at the loudest level at which you plan to record.
Watch the meters respond. Increase the input volume as high as
possible without ever letting the meters move all the way to 0dB, even
for an instant, or letting the Clipping indicator turn red. If either of these
things happen, reduce the input volume just enough to avoid them
during the entire performance. Note that some kinds of audio, such as
percussive or plucked musical instruments, can produce very short,
high-level “transients” when struck or plucked aggressively, which can
lead to clipping if the input volume is set too high. Consider the
possibility of these transients when examining the meters and setting
your record level.
Note: If the Clipping indicator is illuminated, click on it to reset.
Once you have set your sampling rate and input levels, you are ready to
start recording. If the meters do not move, check your sound card software’s
mixer program and make sure that you have the proper input enabled for
recording.
When you record audio, SONAR stores each audio clip in a separate file.
These files have the same format as a Wave (.WAV) file, but they have

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231

special names and are stored in a separate directory on your hard disk.
SONAR automatically manages these audio files for you, making it easier
for you to manage your projects. If you want to work with these files directly,
or to learn more about how SONAR stores audio data, see “System
Configuration” on page 858.

Tuning an Instrument
SONAR Chromatic Tuner analyzes any input signal from the sound card
and displays the intonation (in cents) on the meter. The tuner automatically
determines which string/pitch you are trying to tune, so that you can keep
both hands on the instrument while tuning. The VU Meter shows how loud
your input signal is–a strong signal is essential for accurate tuning.
The Tuner works just like an effect and each track can have its own
instance.
With a microphone, you can also tune acoustic instruments.

To Tune an Instrument

1. In the track you want to record your instrument on, right-click in the
Effects bin.
2. From the menu that appears, select Audio Effects-Cakewalk-Tuner.
3. Click the track’s Input Monitor button. If you don’t click the Input
Monitor button on the track the Tuner is patched into, you will not be
able to use the tuner.
4. With your instrument plugged into your sound card and turned up, play
a note.
The Tuner displays the intonation reading on the cents meter and the
name of the note you played between the three arrows. One of the
three arrows lights up, indicating one of the following:
•

Up arrow indicates the note is in tune.

•

Right arrow indicates the note is sharp.

•

Left arrow indicates the note is flat.

5. Adjust the pitch if necessary and repeat for the rest of the pitches you
need to tune.

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To Record Audio

1. Choose the audio inputs for the track(s) you want to record.
2. Arm the tracks for recording. The Clips pane next to each armed track
turns a reddish hue when the track is armed.
3. Set the Now time to the point in the project where you want to start
recording.
4. Click , press r, or choose Transport-Record. If your metronome
count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measures or beats.
5. Play or perform the material you want to record.
As you record, SONAR displays a waveform preview of the new
material in the Clips pane, unless you’ve turned off the Display
Waveform Preview option on the General tab of the Global Options
dialog (Options-Global command). If you’ve turned off the option,
SONAR displays a red swath along the area of the Clips pane where
you’re recording.
6. Click
, press the Spacebar, or choose Transport-Stop to stop
recording.
SONAR displays a clip containing the new material in the Track window. To
listen to the new material, set the Now time to the start of the clip and press
the Spacebar or click
. If you’re not happy with the recording, use EditUndo to erase the new material.
If you do not see a new clip in the Clips pane, you may have a problem with
audio input. See the online help topic “Troubleshooting” for more
information.
Important: Make sure you have enough space on your hard disk when
recording digital audio. Running out of hard disk space when recording can
lead to unpredictable results.

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233

Confidence Recording and Waveform
Preview
When you’re recording audio or MIDI data, SONAR gives you many visual
cues that tracks are armed and that SONAR is recording data.
When one or more tracks are armed:
•

The R button in each armed track turns red.

•

The Clips pane next to each armed track gets a reddish hue.

•

The R button in the Playback State toolbar is depressed (to display the
toolbar, use the Views-Toolbars-Playback State command).

•

The Status bar displays the red Arm message.

While you’re recording, SONAR displays these cues:
•

Audio tracks display a waveform preview in the area in the Clips pane
where you’re recording. This is actually a visual record of the record
meter’s progress. When you stop recording, SONAR displays the
actual waveform, which is slightly different from the preview. The
preview is a snapshot taken at certain time intervals, while the actual
waveform represents all the data that is recorded.

•

MIDI tracks display the actual data that they record, both in the Clips
pane and the Piano Roll view (not the Staff view).

•

Automation envelopes and nodes are drawn in real time as the
automation data is being recorded.

If you want to turn off the real-time display of audio clips, see the following
procedure.

To Turn Off Waveform Preview for Audio Recording

1. Use the Options-Global command to open the Global Options dialog.
2. On the General tab, uncheck the Display Waveform Preview While
Recording option, and click OK.
Now when you record audio tracks, a red swath appears in the Clips pane
in the area you’re recording.

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Confidence Recording and Waveform Preview

Input Monitoring
Being able to hear plug-in audio effects applied to a live signal is an exciting
feature of SONAR. However, there are two issues that users commonly
stumble upon when using the input monitoring feature. The first is that the
monitored signal seems to have an echo associated with it. The second is
that live input monitoring can lead to nasty feedback problems, particularly if
you have an outboard audio mixer, or you record from a different sound
card from the one you are playing back with.
SONAR has several buttons to control input monitoring:
•

Per-track Input Echo button
—each audio track has an Input Echo
button that turn’s that track’s input monitoring on or off.

•

Global Input Monitor button—the Playback State toolbar (to display, use
the Views-Toolbars-Playback State command) has the Input Monitor
button on the right end, which turns input monitoring on or off on all
audio tracks with one click.

•

Audio Engine button
—clicking this button so that it’s in its up
position turns all audio activity in SONAR off, which includes input
monitoring.

Note: When you use input monitoring, make sure that the track you’re
playing through uses the same audio interface (sound card) for both input
and output. Using different audio interfaces for a track’s input and output
can produce distortion during input monitoring.

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235

To understand the echo and feedback problems, let’s look at how audio
signals travel through your sound card, the drivers, and SONAR. The
following diagram depicts a simplified version of this signal flow.

The bottom block of the picture represents the sound card. The shaded
area above it represents the audio drivers. The unshaded area at the top
represents the main environment of the operating system.
As the diagram shows, analog audio flows into the card's line input (on the
left), and is immediately split in two. One branch goes up through the
analog-to-digital converter (ADC), where the audio is digitized, buffered and
fed to the driver (labeled Wave In in the diagram).
The digital audio data buffers are read by SONAR from the Wave In driver,
processed, and then sent out to the Wave Out driver. The driver passes the
digital audio buffers through a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), where the
audio data is converted back to an analog signal.
Finally, this analog output signal is mixed with the original branch of the
input analog signal, and the summed result is presented to the sound card's
line output.
With this information in hand, let's follow a simple audio signal through the
system to understand how echoes get introduced into the input monitor
path.

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Input Monitoring

say “1”

Suppose you are counting "1, 2, 3" into your sound card very quickly. When
you say the first "1," this sound immediately appears in all the places
indicated in the illustration above. In other words, the analog audio signal is
pure electrical signal traveling at the speed of light, so it is immediately
present across all analog audio paths inside the sound card.

say “2”

Next, you say "2." In the time it takes you do that, the ADC has converted
the "1" to digital form and the Wave In driver has fed it to SONAR for
processing. SONAR processes the buffer right away and passes the
processed data right back to the Wave Out driver.

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237

say “3”

Finally, you say "3." By this time the original "1" has been converted back to
analog audio by the DAC, and that analog signal is mixed in with the "3" you
have just said. The ultimate result is that you hear a "1" and "3" mixed
together at the line output of card—seemingly sounding like an echo, but
actually just an artifact of the signal flow through the system.
You can eliminate the echo by muting the line-in from playing back (see “To
Eliminate the Echo from Input Monitoring” on page 239); you’ll send only
the processed signal to the sound card outputs. This technique introduces a
little extra latency to what you hear coming out of your sound card, but if
you use WDM or ASIO drivers with your sound cards, the latency is
negligible.
The feedback problem results whenever you have a loop in your mixer
path: the output of your mixer is patched into the input of your sound card.
Feedback can happen with or without input monitoring, but since input
monitoring can add several levels of gain to the signal flow, it’s of greater
concern when you have input monitoring enabled. Input monitoring is
disabled by default when you install SONAR, and you enable it with the
following procedure.

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Input Monitoring

To Enable Input Monitoring
•

Turn your speakers down, and on an audio track that you want to
monitor, click the Input Echo button so that it’s lit up (on)
. To disable
monitoring for this track, click the button off.
Or

•

Turn your speakers down, and on the Playback State toolbar (to display,
use the Views-Toolbars-Playback State command), click the Input
Monitor button so that it’s lit up—this enables input monitoring on all
tracks. To disable monitoring for all tracks, click the button off.

Now you can hear your instrument in real time with any plug-in effects that
you want to patch into the current track. You might also hear an echo,
because the dry signal is coming out of your sound card slightly ahead of
the processed signal. To eliminate the dry signal, see the next procedure.

To Eliminate the Echo from Input Monitoring

1. Open the software mixer that controls your sound card. If your sound
card uses the Windows mixer, open the mixer by using the StartPrograms-Accessories-Entertainment-Volume Control command,
or double-clicking the speaker icon on the Windows taskbar.
2. In the Play Control window of the mixer, check the Mute checkbox in the
Line-In column, or in the column of whatever jack your instrument is
plugged into, and close the mixer window.
Now you can hear only the processed sound when you use input
monitoring. Using WDM or ASIO drivers for your sound card keeps latency
to a negligible amount.
Note: This procedure does not eliminate feedback from your system, only
the echo. If you experience feedback, you have a feedback loop
somewhere in your mixer setup.

The Audio Engine Button
SONAR has a button in the Transport toolbar called the Audio Engine
button
. This button lets you turn SONAR’s audio engine off if you’re
getting distortion or feedback and want to cut the sound off. When playback
or recording are in progress, SONAR enables the button automatically—
however, the button appears greyed-out during playback or recording
because you can’t control the button at that time. Whenever the button is
enabled, the Audio Running message lights up on the Status bar that’s at
the bottom of the SONAR window.

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The Audio Engine Button

239

If you experience feedback during input monitoring, you can click the Audio
Engine button to turn off the audio engine. However, if playback or
recording are in progress, the button is unavailable, and you should click
the Reset button
that’s just to the right of it instead, or else stop
recording or playback first and then click the Audio Engine button.
You may experience slightly better playback and recording performance by
turning the Audio Engine button off before you press the Play or Record
buttons. This happens if your computer’s resources are already stretched to
the limit. When you start recording or playback with the audio engine
already functioning, there is still some processing that SONAR has to do
that’s left over when you start the transport. This places an extra load on
your system that can cause dropouts if your system is already stretched
thin. A more effective solution than disabling the audio engine before
starting the transport is to reduce the load on your system by hiding some
meters, increasing latency slightly, reducing the number of plug-ins and/or
tracks, etc.

Loop Recording
When recording a vocal or an instrumental section, you might want to
record several different takes so that you can choose the one you like best.
You might even want to record several takes to double a part or merge the
best parts of each.
Normally, to record each take you would have to arm a track, start
recording, perform the take, and then stop recording. You can record
multiple takes more easily using a feature called loop recording. Loop
recording lets you start recording and record as many takes as you like, all
in a single step.
SONAR loops between the loop start and loop end time, allowing you to
record one take on each pass. SONAR creates a clip for each take. You
have three choices for where these clips are stored:

240

•

All clips can be recorded in Sound on Sound mode and stored in a
single track, where they are stacked on top of one another.

•

All clips can be recorded in Overwrite mode in a single track, where
each take is successively muted except the last one.

•

Each clip can be recorded to a different track. SONAR automatically
places each take into a new, empty track. No existing tracks are
changed in any way.

Recording

Loop Recording

When you finish recording, you can use the Edit-Undo command or Ctrl+Z
to erase all your takes in a single step.

To Use Loop Recording

1. Choose the input for the track(s) you want to record, and arm the
track(s) for recording.
2. Set the loop start and end times in either the Loop/Auto Shuttle dialog
box or in the Loop toolbar.
3. Choose Transport-Record Options, or click
to display the Record Options dialog box.

on the Record toolbar,

4. Choose to stack all takes in a single track or to store them in separate
tracks.
5. If you choose to stack all takes in a single track, choose either Sound
on Sound or Overwrite mode.
If you use single track and Sound on Sound with Track Layers enabled,
checking the Create New Layer on Overlap checkbox will create
another track layer if your new clip overlaps an existing clip.
6. If you stack all takes in a single track, you can audition them later by
using the Track Layers button
in the right of the Track pane (each
take will have its own Mute and Solo buttons).
7. Click OK to close the Record Options dialog, and set the Now time to
the point in the project where you want to start recording.
8. Click
, or press r, or choose Transport-Record. If your metronome
count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measure.

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241

9. Play or perform the material you want to record. At the end of the loop,
SONAR will return to the start of the loop and you can record the next
take.
10. If you want to erase the most recent take while loop recording is
underway, choose Transport-Reject Loop Take.
11. Click
, or press the Spacebar, or choose Transport-Stop when you
want to stop recording.
The takes are stored in the manner you requested.

Punch Recording
Suppose you are happy with most of a track but want to replace some
sound or add new material in one small section—perhaps as small as a
couple of notes. This is where punch recording comes in handy, because it
lets you record new material only within a specified range of times.
For example, suppose you recorded a 32-bar keyboard solo but made
some mistakes in the 24th and 25th bars. With punch recording, you can
play the entire solo again, so you make sure you can get the feel you want.
However, only the bars you want to correct are actually recorded. That way,
you don’t have to worry about introducing new mistakes elsewhere in the
recording.
To use punch recording, follow these steps:
•

Enable punch recording.

•

Set the start and end times of the punch.

•

Choose Sound on Sound mode or Overwrite mode.

•

Start recording by pressing r or clicking the
toolbar.

button on the Transport

The Record toolbar shows the punch settings, as shown here:

C D

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Punch Recording

When punch recording is enabled, the punch times are indicated by special
markers in the Time Ruler, which is at the top of the Clips pane:
A

A. Punch In B. Punch Out

After you punch record, choosing Edit-Undo both discards any new
material you recorded and restores the original material that had been
deleted.
You can also combine loop and punch recording to record several takes of a
punch. Say you are working on that perfect take of a guitar solo and you
need to hear a couple of bars of the project as “pre-roll” before you punch
in. By combining looping with punch, you can have each take begin before
you start to play and still have the solo cut in at the appropriate instant.
In the example mentioned previously, you could loop from bar 17 to bar 26
but record only bars 24 and 25. Here’s what this looks like:

A. The loop starts and ends here B. The punch starts and ends here

To Punch Record

1. Choose the input(s) for the track(s) you want to record, and arm the
track(s) for recording.
2. Enable the Auto Punch button in the Record toolbar (the button is red
when enabled).
3. Set the start and end times in one of the following ways:
•

Enter the times directly on the toolbar

•

Select a range of time and click

•

Select a range of time, then right-click in the Time Ruler and choose
Set Punch Points

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Punch Recording

on the Record toolbar

243

4. Choose either Sound on Sound or Overwrite from the Record toolbar
(or in the Record Options dialog—use the Transport-Record Options
command to open the dialog).
5. Set the Now time to a point where you want to start playback.
6. Click
, or press r, or choose Transport-Record. If your metronome
count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measures or beats.
7. Play or perform the material you want to record.
8. Click
, or press the Spacebar, or choose Transport-Stop to stop
recording.
The material you play during the punch time is recorded in the chosen
track, either replacing any existing material (Overwrite mode) or blending
with it (Sound on Sound mode).

To Use Punch While Looping

1. Choose the input for the track(s) you want to record, and arm the
track(s) for recording.
2. Set the loop start and end times.
3. Set the punch start and end times, as described previously.
4. Choose Transport-Record Options, or click
to display the Record Options dialog box.

on the Record toolbar,

5. Choose to stack all takes in a single track or to store them in separate
tracks.
6. Set the Now time to the beginning of the loop.
7. Click
, or press r, or choose Transport-Record. If your metronome
count-in is turned on, it will play the count-in measures.
8. Play or perform the material you want to record. At the end of the loop,
SONAR will return to the start of the loop and you can record the next
take.
9. If you want to erase the most recent take while loop recording is
underway, choose Transport-Reject Loop Take.
10. Click
, or press the Spacebar, or choose Transport-Stop when you
want to stop recording.
The takes are stored in the manner you requested.

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Punch Recording

Step Recording
Step recording is a method of recording MIDI notes one note or chord at a
time. It’s a very easy and precise way to record, but can sound mechanical
if used in the wrong situation. You use step recording in its typical form by
choosing a step size, such as a quarter note, and then playing a note on
your MIDI keyboard. When you play the note, SONAR records the note, and
moves the insertion point forward by the distance of the step size (moving
the insertion point every time you press a note is the default behavior). You
can then record more notes of the same duration by playing notes on your
keyboard, or you can change the step size while you’re recording and
record different size notes. You can also choose how long the notes you
play will sound, as a percentage of the step size. For example, even though
you record some notes that have a step size of a quarter note, if you set the
Duration field to 50%, the notes will be recorded and displayed as a series
of eighth notes, each followed by an eighth rest. The insertion point for each
recorded note in this example moves by a quarter note (the step size) each
time you record a note. If the duration is longer than the step size, the notes
will overlap with the notes recorded at the next step.
SONAR displays your step-recorded notes in the Staff view, Piano Roll
view, Event List, and Clips pane in real time as you step record them.
SONAR also lets you:
•

Use other commands while step recording
Note: SONAR doesn't respond to sync signals while the Step Record
dialog is open and enabled.

•

Change tracks while recording

•

Add two step sizes together by pressing the + key between each step
size selection

•

Delete as many step-recorded notes as you want, while moving the
insertion point back through the steps you delete

•

Configure step recording key bindings (see Step Record Keyboard
Shortcuts)

•

Make any kind of tuplet

•

Create a custom step size lasting any number of ticks (ticks are
divisions of a beat—SONAR uses 960 by default); SONAR will
remember the custom step size until you change it

•

Move the insertion point by beats, measures, or step size

•

Link the position of the Now Time to the insertion point

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245

•

Offset the insertion point by the number of ticks that you specify

•

Randomize duration

•

Record notes with constant pitch, and/or velocity, and/or channel

•

Hold notes across steps

Tip: with the new keyboard shortcuts, you can leave your left hand on your
MIDI keyboard to enter notes with, and control most step recording
functions with your right hand on the NumPad.
MIDI data is recorded using step record even if the track is not armed. Loop
markers are ignored. And step recording always uses the Sound on
Sound (blend) record mode, regardless of the current record mode.
With Auto Advance disabled, you must click Advance each time you want to
advance to the next step. While this requires more effort, it also provides
you with more flexibility. For example, with Auto Advance disabled, you do
not even need to play the notes at a single step at the same time! You can
play any number of notes one at a time, and they will all be recorded at the
same step until you click the Advance button. You can even record notes of
different durations at the same step—simply record the notes of one
duration, change the duration, and play more notes, without clicking
Advance.
The Step Record dialog has two modes: Basic (smaller with fewer options),
and Advanced (larger, more options). To use Basic mode, click the Bas./
Adv. button so that the Adv. button is displayed. To use Advanced mode,
click the Bas./Adv. button so that the Bas. button is displayed.
Here’s a picture of Basic mode:

246

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Step Recording

A. Insertion point location B. Position slider C. Basic/Advanced button D. Step
Record Toggle button to enable/disable step recording E. Click to move insertion
point by step size. F. Total step size display G. Custom tick size field

Here’s a picture of Advanced mode:

A. Randomize durations field B. Step pattern recording field C. Click to move
insertion point by single beat D. Click to move insertion point by single measure

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Step Recording

247

To Use Basic Step Recording

1. Open the Step Record dialog by using the Transport-Step Record
command, or by clicking
in the Record toolbar to display the Step
Record dialog box, or press Shift+F4.
2. Make sure that the Basic mode of the Step Record dialog is displayed
(the Adv. button will be showing if the Basic mode is displayed; if the
Bas. button is showing, click it).
3. Set the insertion point by doing one or more of the following:
•

Click the Step Advance button
to move the insertion point
forward by the current step size, or click the Step Backwards button
to move the insertion point backward by the current step size.
SONAR displays the insertion point location in the insertion point
location field (see Basic mode picture above).

•

Drag the position slider left or right to move the insertion point one
measure at a time.

•

Type a location in MBT (Measure-Beat-Tick) format in the insertion
point location field.

4. Choose a step size by doing one of the following:
•

For common step sizes, click one of the notehead icons to choose
a step size as large as a whole note

or as small as a 64th note

. You can increase the step size you choose by 50% or 75% by
clicking the dot icon
, or double-dot icon
, respectively. You
can add different step sizes together by holding down the Ctrl key
while you click extra icons, or by pressing the + key on the
NumPad.
•

For a tuplet step size, click a notehead icon to choose the “tuplet
unit” (for example, for eighth-note triplets, choose an eighth note).
Then enable the Tuplet checkbox and fill in the “n” in time of “n”
fields. For example, if you want quarter-note triplets, click the
quarter-note icon
, enable the Tuplet checkbox, and fill in 3 in
the time of 2, which means 3 quarter notes in the time of 2 quarter
notes. If you want eighth-note triplets, click the eighth-note icon
,
enable the Tuplet checkbox, and fill in 3 in the time of 2. If you
wanted 5 notes in one beat, click the quarter-note icon, enable the
Tuplet checkbox, and fill in 5 in the time of 1.

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Step Recording

•

If you want to create a custom step size, click the N button
fill in the number of ticks in the ticks field.

, and

5. Choose a duration by doing one of the following:
•

If you want duration and step size to be the same, enable the
Follow Step Size checkbox.

•

If you want duration and step size to be different, disable the Follow
Step Size checkbox and fill in a percentage value in the % of Note
Value field.

6. Choose a destination track for your recording in the Destination Track
field.
7. If you want the insertion point to advance automatically when you play
your MIDI controller, enable the Auto Advance checkbox.
8. Play a note or chord on your MIDI controller. When you release the
note(s), the insertion point moves by the step size, if the Auto Advance
checkbox is enabled. If Auto Advance is not enabled, you can release
the notes and record more notes, or you can use the Navigation
controls to advance the insertion point. If you are still holding down a
note or notes when you advance the insertion point, the step size of the
held notes is extended by the current step size.
9. Continue recording notes of the same step size and duration to the
same track, or change any of those parameters and continue recording.
To create a rest, advance the insertion point without playing any notes.
To delete notes on previous steps, you can press Ctrl+Z for each
recorded step. If you want to delete previous steps and move the
insertion point back at the same time, check the Delete on Back Step
Checkbox, and click the Step Backward button.
10. When you’re finished recording, close the dialog by clicking the X icon
in the upper right corner, or by pressing Shift+F4.
You can press Ctrl+Z during or after recording to undo your recording one
step at a time.
Note: options that you choose in Advanced mode, such as Link to Now
Time, are still in force when you use Basic mode.

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Step Recording

249

To Use Advanced Step Recording

The procedure for Advanced step recording is the same as for Basic, but
with these extra options, which become available when you click the Bas./
Adv. button in the Step Record dialog so that it displays Bas.:

To do this…

Do this…

Randomize the note duration

Disable the Follow Step Size checkbox, enter a number
into the % of Note Value field (leave it at 100 if you want to
follow step size), and enter the maximum duration that the
step size should be randomized in the Randomize By
field.

Choose a constant pitch and/or
velocity and/or MIDI channel for
the recorded note(s)

To choose a constant value for pitch, velocity, or channel,
disable the Use Input checkbox next to the desired field,
and fill in the value you want to use for that particular
parameter.

Add two step sizes together

See “To Add Two Step Sizes Together” on page 251

Link the insertion point to the
Now Time

Enable the Link to Now Time checkbox.

Enter notes at an offset
distance from the displayed
insertion point.

Enter a positive or negative number of ticks in the Offset
field.

Move the insertion point back
or forward by one beat.

Click the Beat Backward button

or the Beat Advance

button.
Move the insertion point back
or forward by one measure.

Click the Measure Backward button
Advance

Use step pattern recording.

250

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Step Recording

or the Measure

button.

See “Step Pattern Recording” on page 253.

To Add Two Step Sizes Together

1. Choose your first step size. If desired, use any combination of tuplet
and dotted values.
2. Press the + key on the Num Pad.
A plus sign appears after the value in the Step Size “n” Ticks field.
3. Choose your second step size. If desired, use any combination of tuplet
and dotted values.
The total step size appears in the Step Size “n” Ticks field.
4. Press the note on your MIDI keyboard that you want to enter.
The new note appears in your track, and the Now Time moves the distance
of the two combined steps that you entered. To toggle the plus sign on or off
in the Step Size “n” Ticks field, press the + key on the Num Pad. To clear a
large value from the Step Size “n” Ticks field, click a smaller value, or use a
keyboard shortcut for a smaller value.

To Use Other Commands While Step Recording
•

Use the mouse to click the command you want to use.
or

•

Click the Activate Step Recording button
in the Step Record dialog
so that the button is not red. This disables step recording, allowing you
to use both the mouse, and any keyboard shortcuts that the Step
Record dialog uses, for other commands.

By default, opening the Step Record window will automatically enable step
recording. Shift+R is the default shortcut to open the Step Record dialog.
Once the Step Record window is open, you can enable/disable step
recording at will without closing the Step Record window: just click the
Activate Step Recording button
in the Step Record dialog, or press
Shift+R.

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251

Step Record Keyboard Shortcuts
The default keyboard shortcuts for step recording are on the NumPad, so
that you can keep one hand on your MIDI keyboard to play notes with, and
use the other hand on the NumPad to use shortcuts.
To configure your own shortcut, use the Options-Key Bindings command
to open the Key Bindings dialog, choose Step Record in the Bind Context
field, select a key and a function you want to bind, and click the Bind button
to bind them together. Bind additional keys and commands as needed.

252

Default setting or
option…

Default shortcut…

Whole note

NumPad 1

Half note

NumPad 2

Quarter note

NumPad 4

Eighth note

NumPad 8

16th note

NumPad 6

32nd note

NumPad 3

64th note

NumPad 7

Custom step size

NumPad 9

Tuplet

NumPad /

Dot

NumPad *

Double dot

Shift+NumPad *

Add next step size to previous
step size

NumPad plus key “+”

Toggle the Delete on Back Step
option

NumPad minus key “-”

Follow step size

Ctrl+Num Lock (does not change Num
Lock state)

Step backward

NumPad 0

Step advance

NumPad Enter

Beat backward

Shift+NumPad 0

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Step Recording

Default setting or
option…

Default shortcut…

Beat advance

Shift+NumPad Enter

Measure backward

Ctrl+NumPad 0

Measure advance

Ctrl+NumPad Enter

Auto Advance

NumPad Period “.”

Toggle step recording

Shift+ R

Step Pattern Recording
The Pattern option lets you define a repeating rhythmic pattern of notes and
rests so that you can use step recording more efficiently. For example,
suppose your project is in 4/4 time, and one track has a pattern that is two
measures long: quarter notes in the first measure and on the first two beats
of the second measure, followed by a half-note rest on the last two beats.
This pattern has six quarter notes followed by two quarter-note rests.
When you use step recording with Auto Advance, you can play the six
quarter notes and SONAR will automatically advance to the next step.
However, to skip over the rests, you need to click the Advance button two
times.
With pattern recording, you define a pattern that indicates where the rests
appear in the pattern. SONAR will then skip over the rests automatically, so
you don’t need to click the Advance button at all.
SONAR displays patterns as a combination of digits (which represent beats
that contain notes) and dots (which represent beats that contain rests). The
pattern described previously looks like this:
123456..

Here is another example:
12.4

This pattern automatically skips over every third beat; SONAR interprets
this pattern as “one, two, rest, four.”
Here is one final example based on 4/4 time, with a step size of eighth-note
triplets (twelve steps per measure):
1234.67.90.2

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253

No matter how you enter a pattern, SONAR displays the digits in sequence,
with periods replacing digits at each step where a rest would occur. You can
create patterns with up to 64 steps.

To Use Pattern-Based Step Recording

1. Choose Transport-Step Record to display the Step Record dialog box.
2. Set the insertion point where you want to start recording.
3. Click in the Pattern field.
4. Press any number key to indicate a beat at which notes will be played.
5. Press the Spacebar, period, or the letter r to indicate a beat on which
there is a rest.
6. When the pattern is complete, click elsewhere in the dialog box.
7. Step record as before.
From now on, after you record each step, SONAR automatically advances
past all rests to the next step on which notes will be played. If you change
step sizes while recording, the size of each rest changes also. To stop
pattern-based step recording, simply delete the pattern from the Pattern
box. SONAR stores up to 10 patterns in the Pattern field.

Recording Specific Ports and Channels
Most MIDI instruments are capable of sending information on several
different channels at once. By default, SONAR merges all incoming MIDI
data and records it on whatever MIDI tracks are armed. However, SONAR
also allows you to control which MIDI input ports and channels each track
will record. Here are some examples of when this feature might be useful:

254

•

There are several performers, each playing a different MIDI instrument.
By setting each instrument to transmit MIDI on a different channel and/
or port, you can record each player’s performance into a separate
track, even though they are all playing at the same time.

•

You are using a MIDI guitar controller and want to record the notes
played on each string on a separate track.

•

Your electronic keyboard has a built-in auto accompaniment feature
that plays a drum part and an accompaniment while you play lead. You
want to record each of these three parts into a different track in a
SONAR project.

•

You have a MIDI sequence stored on your synthesizer’s built-in

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Recording Specific Ports and Channels

sequencer, and you want to record each channel onto a different track.
Note: You can use external MIDI synchronization to automate the
process of loading multichannel sequences from other MIDI devices.
For more information, see Synchronizing Your Gear.
You can choose MIDI inputs for a track by using either the Inputs field on
each individual track, or by using the Tracks-Property-Inputs command to
display the Track Inputs dialog box.
SONAR allows you to filter MIDI input so that you can record only certain
kinds of MIDI data (see “Input Filtering” on page 256), and also allows you
to automatically turn off the Local On setting of your master keyboard.

To Assign Input Ports and Channels to MIDI Tracks
1. Click the dropdown arrow on an individual track’s Input field to display
the Input dropdown menu (jump to step 4, below).
Or
1. Use the Tracks-Property-Inputs command to display the Track Inputs
dialog box.
2. In the Track column, select a MIDI track or tracks that you want to
choose inputs for.
3. Click the MIDI Inputs button that’s at the bottom of the dialog to open
the MIDI inputs dropdown menu.
4. Choose track inputs from these choices:
•

None—this option actually sets the Input field to Omni: with this
setting the track will record any MIDI input coming in on any
enabled port (MIDI interface input driver) on any channel.

•

Preset—if you’ve created any preset collections of input ports and
channels, you can select one here.

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255

•

Manage Presets—if you want to create or edit any preset
collections of input ports and channels, you can select this option
(see following procedure).

5. Click OK.
SONAR shows new track inputs in the Input fields in the Track pane.

To Create or Edit a Preset Input Configuration

1. In the Input field of a track that you want to select inputs for, click the
dropdown arrow and choose Manage Presets from the dropdown
menu (this menu is also available from the MIDI Inputs button in the
Track Inputs dialog).
The MIDI Input Presets dialog appears.
2. In the Input Port column, find the input port that you want to use for this
track (if you only use a single-port MIDI interface, you’ll only see one
choice).
3. To the right of the input port, select the MIDI channels that you want this
track to respond to on this MIDI port. Clicking the OMNI button in this
row of MIDI channels clears or fills all the checkboxes in this row.
4. Select channels for any other MIDI port that’s listed, if you want to use
channels on that port also.
5. If you want to save this configuration, type a name for it in the window
at the top of the dialog, and click the disk icon to save it.
Now, when you choose inputs for other tracks, you can choose the preset
you saved by clicking the Presets option in the track’s Input dropdown
menu. If you want to edit a preset, select it in the top window of the MIDI
Input Presets dialog, edit it, and click the disk icon. If you want to delete a
preset, select it in the same dialog and click the X button to delete it.

Input Filtering
SONAR lets you filter out specific types of MIDI messages or filter the MIDI
input stream channel by channel. Any MIDI information that is filtered out is
neither recorded nor echoed to any other MIDI devices.
You can use the message type filter to screen out resource-intensive MIDI
messages like key and channel aftertouch. By default, SONAR records all
types of events except these two.
You can use message-type filtering to record short System Exclusive (Sysx)
messages in real-time. These will end up in the track as Sysx data events,
which can hold System Exclusive messages up to 255 bytes. Leave the

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Buffers setting at 128 unless you experience data not being recorded. For
more information about Sysx, see Chapter , System Exclusive Data.

To Filter Event Types

1. Choose Options-Global and click the MIDI tab.
2. Check the message types you want recorded.
3. Click OK.
From now on, SONAR records only the types of events you have chosen.

Importing Music and Sound
While recording is perhaps the most common way of adding material to a
SONAR project, there are several other methods you can also use. SONAR
lets you import music into a project from several different types of digital
data files, including MIDI files; audio files in Wave, MP3, AIFF, and other
formats; audio CD tracks and other SONAR project files.

Importing Audio Files
SONAR lets you insert digital audio information into any track of a project. If
the audio file you are importing is in stereo, then it can be imported into a
single stereo track, a pair of mono tracks or a single mono track.
The File-Import-Audio command supports the following digital audio file
types:
•

Wave (extension .wav)

•

MPEG (extensions .MPEG, .MPG, .MP2, and .MP3)

•

Apple AIFF (extensions .AIF and .AIFF)

•

Active Streaming (extension .ASF)

•

Next/Sun (extensions .AU and .SND)

The sampling rate and bit depth for a project is set based on your default
settings in the Audio Options dialog. If the sampling rate from the Wave file
does not match the sampling rate in your project, then it will be converted to
the current project’s sampling rate and bit depth.

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257

To Import an Audio File

1. Set the Now time and current track to indicate where the audio should
be placed.
2. Choose File-Import-Audio to display the Open dialog box.
3. Choose the audio file you want to import. SONAR displays information
about the file at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Click Play to listen to the audio file before importing.
5. If the new file is stereo, check the Stereo Split option if you want to
insert the file into two separate tracks.
6. Click Open.
SONAR loads the audio data from the audio file and places it in the
selected track at the Now time.

Broadcast Wave Files

Broadcast Wave files are wave files with some additional information stored
in them. Broadcast Wave files have the following information:
•

Description—A brief description of the contents of the Broadcast wave.
Limited to 256 characters.

•

Originator—The author of the Broadcast wave. This information is
taken from the Author field in the File Info dialog.

•

Originator Reference—A unique reference identifier created by
SONAR.

•

Origination Date—The date the file was created.

•

Origination Time—The time the file was created.

•

Time Reference—The SMPTE time stamp for the beginning of
broadcast wave.

To import a Broadcast Wave file:
1. If you want SONAR to import Broadcast Wave files always at their
timestamped location, select Options-Global, click the Audio Data tab
and check the Always Import Broadcast Waves At Their Timestamp
option. Otherwise, set the Now Time and current track to indicate where
the audio should be placed.
2. Choose File-Import-Audio to display the Open dialog box.
3. Choose the audio file you want to import. SONAR displays information
about the file at the bottom of the dialog box.

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4. Click Play to listen to the audio file before importing.
5. If the new file is stereo, check the Stereo Split option if you want to
insert the file into two separate tracks.
6. Click Open.
If the Always Import Broadcast Waves At Their Timestamp option is
selected in the Global Options dialog, the imported Broadcast Wave file
appears at its timestamp on the selected track. Otherwise, the file appears
at the Now Time on the selected track.

Importing Audio CD Tracks
The File-Import-Audio CD command lets you import tracks from audio
CD’s into any track of a project.
Audio tracks on a CD always have a bit depth of 16, but you can choose to
import the tracks at a higher bit depth if desired.

To Import a track from an Audio CD

1. Set the Now time and current track to indicate where the audio should
be placed.
2. Insert an audio CD into the computer’s CD drive.
3. Choose File-Import-Audio CD to display the Import Audio CD Tracks
dialog box.
4. Make sure the correct CD drive is selected in the Target Drive
dropdown list.
5. Choose the audio track you want to import. SONAR displays the length
and size of all audio tracks.
6. Click Play to listen to the audio track before importing.
7. If you wish to import the audio with a different bit depth than the original
audio track, choose the desired bit depth from the Import Bit Depth
dropdown list.
8. Click OK.
SONAR loads the audio data from the audio CD and places it in the
selected track at the Now time.

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259

Importing Material from Another SONAR
Project
You use the Edit-Copy and Edit-Paste commands to import material from
one project to another using the Windows clipboard. The project that
contains the material you want to import is the source project. The project
into which the material is imported is the target project.
Normally, if you copy material from several different tracks to the Windows
clipboard, the information will be pasted back into separate tracks. You can
choose to paste all the material from the clipboard into a single destination
track in the target project.
You can also copy material from one project to another by displaying the
Track view for both projects side by side, then using drag-and-drop editing.

To Import Material from Another Project

1. Open the source project, or click in the Track view for that project.
2. In the Track view, select the material you want to import.
3. Choose Edit-Copy to display the Copy dialog box.
4. Make sure that Events in Tracks is checked. If you don’t want to import
tempo changes, meter/key changes, or markers, uncheck those
options. Click OK.
5. Open the target project, or click in the Track view for that project.
6. Set the Now time and current track to indicate where the material
should be placed.
7. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box.
8. Check Paste to One Track if you want all material imported into the
current track (not recommended if you’re importing both MIDI and audio
data).
9. Click OK.
SONAR imports the material and displays it in the Track view.

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Importing OMF Projects
With OMFI (Open Media Framework Interchange) support & Broadcast
WAVE support SONAR lets you collaborate and exchange project files with
users of other programs and platforms. Support for OMFI and Broadcast
Wave files provides cross-platform compatibility with OMFI host
applications such as Pro Tools, Avid and Logic systems. SONAR also
exports projects as OMF files that you can open in Pro Tools and other
audio software.
SONAR now allows you to select sample rate and bit depth during OMF
import.
A few general guidelines for preparing OMF files for import into SONAR:
•

OMF version 2 is preferred.

•

AIFC can take slightly longer to open, as the data must be converted to
WAVE on read, so WAVE is the best choice.

•

If exporting from Avid Xpress DV, select "embed" (not "link") when
exporting the OMF file, and don't include any video.

OMF Explained

The OMF format, or OMFI (Open Media Framework Interchange, means
the same as OMF), is a file format that can be read by many professionallevel audio programs. OMF files contain two basic types of information:
•

Audio and/or video files, referred to as media

•

Information needed to put the media data in sequence—known as the
Composition

The OMF file supplies the following data and information:
•

Tracks

•

Clip positions—an OMF file's EDL edit resolution can be either frame
accurate or sample accurate. SONAR can read either, but always writes
sample accurate. The clip position is specified in absolute samples.

•

Slip edits

•

Fades and crossfades (as destructive edits)—SONAR renders any
fades when it writes OMFs, creating separate clips for any fade-ins or
fade-outs. SONAR slip-edits the original clip to make room for the fadein and fade-out clips. If you export to an audio program that supports
slip editing, the user can delete the fade clips and roll out the original
clip to return to the original raw audio (without fades) if desired.

•

Sample rate and audio bit depth, but only if the media are embedded in

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261

the OMF
The OMF file does NOT supply the following data and information:
•

Volume and pan envelopes—OMF does actually support limited
automation. However, as with Nuendo and most other OMF host
programs, gains and pans are ignored (on both read and write) in
SONAR as they are only supported on MONO tracks (OMF limitation).

•

Plug-in effects.

•

MIDI data

•

Tempo

Whoever supplies the OMF file that you want to open in SONAR should
also send along a text file containing all pertinent information about the
project, especially tempo.

To Open OMF Files in SONAR

1. Use the File-Open command, which opens the Open dialog.
2. In the Files Of Type field, select OMF File.
3. Navigate to the folder that contains your OMF files, select the OMF file
you want to open, and then click the Open button, which opens the
Unpack OMF dialog.
4. If you know the exact tempo of the file, enter it into the Initial Tempo
field. It is always preferable to know and enter the project tempo at this
point. If you don't know the project tempo you can open the file at the
default tempo and then change the file's tempo later, but this will cause
the clips to move.
5. The Sample Rate field displays the sample rate of the imported audio (if
the audio is embedded in the OMF). Use this field to change the
sample rate, if you need to.
6. The Bit Depth field displays the bit depth of the imported audio if the
audio is embedded. If the audio is external, the Bit Depth field defaults
to the Original menu option, which will import the audio at the bit depth
the audio is currently using. If you want to import the audio at a different
bit depth, you can choose the bit depth in this field.
7. If you have previously enabled SONAR's Use Per-Project Audio
Folders option, which is located in SONAR's Global Options dialog,
then the Store Project Audio In Its Own Folder checkbox is already
enabled, and the fields under it are available. If you want to use this

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option, fill out the fields below the checkbox; otherwise, disable the
checkbox.
6. Click OK.
7. SONAR opens the OMF file.
You can also export SONAR projects as OMF files (File-Export-OMF
command).
See “Exporting OMF Files” on page 672.

Importing MIDI Files
You can create a new SONAR project from a MIDI file simply by opening the
file. SONAR takes material from the file and places it into one or more
tracks in the Track view.

To Import Data from a MIDI File into a Project
1. Open the MIDI file as a new, separate project.
2. Choose Edit-Select-All.
3. Choose Edit-Copy to display the Copy dialog box.
4. Make sure that Events in Tracks is checked. If you don’t want to import
tempo changes, meter/key changes, or markers, uncheck those
options. Click OK.
5. Open the target project, or click in the Track view for that project.
6. Set the Now time and current track to indicate where the material
should be placed.
7. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box.
8. Check Paste to One Track if you want all material imported into the
current track.
9. Click OK.
SONAR imports the material and displays it in the Track view.

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263

Saving Your Work
Like most Windows programs, SONAR has a File-Save command and a
File-Save As command to save your work. Normally, you save your
projects in the standard project file format, with a file extension of .CWP. This
file contains all your MIDI data and all your project settings. Any digital
audio that is part of your project is stored in a separate file, as described in
“System Configuration” on page 858.
SONAR also lets you save files in several other formats, as described in the
table:

File type...

Format...

Explanation...

Standard MIDI

.mid

Used to transfer MIDI-only projects to other software
products that support Standard MIDI files.

Bundle

.cwb

A single file that includes all the material in your
project: MIDI data, project settings, and audio data.
This format is used for projects that contain digital
audio, when you want to back up your work or
transfer a project to a different computer. See
“Backing Up Projects with Digital Audio” on page 853
for more information. Note: Bundle files do not
save video data.

Template

.cwt

A file that is used as a pattern to create another.
Templates make it easy to create and configure new
projects. See Chapter , Layouts, Templates and Key
Bindings for more information.

If you have made changes to a project and then attempt to close the
project, either by closing the Track view or by choosing File-Close, SONAR
asks if you want to save the changes you have made. This prevents you
from accidentally losing your work. You can tell whether changes have been
made to a project by looking for an asterisk (*) after the project name in the
SONAR title bar.
SONAR has an Auto Save feature that periodically saves your work into a
special backup file. You can request automatic backups at fixed time
intervals or every time a certain number of changes have been made to the
file. When the limit is reached, the file is saved automatically. If your original

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project is called MYPROJECT.CWP, the Auto Save version is called AUTO SAVE
VERSION OF MYPROJECT.CWP .
If there is a power failure or if you make a significant mistake, you can
recover the last-saved version of your project by opening this file. You
should then save your project under a different name by using the FileSave As command.

To Save a Project

1. Choose File-Save As to display the Save As dialog box.
2. Choose the type of file you want to save from the Save as Type list.
3. Enter a file name and click Save.
SONAR saves the file. You can also use File Versioning instead of
using Save As. For more information, see “To Use File Versioning” on
page 266.

To Change the Auto Save Settings

1. Choose Options-Global and click the Autosave and Versioning tab.
2. To enable Auto Save, set the number of minutes and/or the number of
changes between saves.
3. To disable Auto Save, set both values to zero.
4. Click OK.
From now on, your projects are saved automatically according to the
settings you entered.

Using File Versioning
SONAR can be enabled to keep previously saved versions of your project in
a temporary file. You can revert to any of these saved versions or use the
default of the most recently saved version.
When file versioning is enabled, SONAR retains a list of previously saved
project files in your project folder. The most recent version retains the
original name of the project. Previously saved versions are saved with a
time stamp following the original project name in order of most recently
saved.

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265

To Use File Versioning

1. Choose Options-Global and click the Autosave and Versioning tab.
2. Check the Enable Versioning Of Project Files check box.
3. Use the spinner to select the number of versions of your project you
would like SONAR to keep.
Note: If you exceed the maximum number of saved file versions selected in
Step 3, the oldest version is discarded.

To Revert to a Previously Saved File
1. Choose File-Revert.

A dialog box appears containing a list of dates and file sizes for all
previously saved versions of the current project.
2. Select the file version you want to work on.
3. Click OK.
Note: If the current project is unsaved at the time you choose File-Revert,
you will be prompted with a warning that reverting the project will cause all
unsaved changes to be lost. When the reverted project is loaded, the
timestamp is stripped off, and the reverted project assumes the project’s
original name.

Labeling Your Projects
SONAR lets you attach subtitles, composer credits, copyright, and other
information to your projects, as shown in the following table:

266

Label

Description

Title

The title for your project; prints automatically at the top of a
Staff view printout.

Subtitle

For a subtitle or dedication; prints directly below the title in
a Staff view printout.

Instructions

Use for performance instructions; prints flush left in a Staff
view printout.

Author

Put your name here if you are the composer. Prints flush
right in a Staff view printout.

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Label

Description

Keywords

Put keywords describing the project here for future
reference.

Comments

Free text comments. Type as much as you like. You can
enter approximately the same amount of text as you can in
Windows Notepad.

This information is shown in the File Info dialog box, which is displayed
using the File-Info command. If the File Info window is open when you save
a file, then this window is displayed automatically the next time the file is
opened. This is useful if you:
•

Share files with others and want them to see special instructions when
they open the file

•

Want your copyright information to be displayed automatically

If the File Info window is closed when you save the file, it will not be
automatically displayed the next time the file is opened.
Although you cannot use Edit menu commands while working in the File
Info window, standard Windows hot keys like Ctrl+X, Ctrl+C, and Ctrl+V can
be used to cut, copy, and paste text.

To Display and Edit Project Information
1. Choose File-Info to display the File Info window.
2. Edit the information as desired.

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267

3. If you want the File Info window to display automatically, save the file.
4. Click Stats to see statistics about the contents of the file.
5. Choose File-Print Preview if you want to print the project information
6. Close the File Info window.

File Statistics
To open the File Statistics dialog, select File-Info and click the Stats button
in the File Info dialog. The File Statistics dialog box displays the following
information about the contents of the project file:

268

Statistic...

What it means...

Created

The date the project was first saved.

Editing time

The total time you’ve had the project open,
from the time it was created to the last time it
was saved. This does not include time spent
editing the project since you last saved it. If
you want to update this value, save the
project.

Revision

Each time you save a file that has been
changed, this number is incremented. If you
open a project, make no changes, then save it,
the revision number is not changed.

Events

The total number of events in the project.

Sample rate

The sample rate for digital audio.

Bit depth

The audio driver bit depth of digital audio.

File version

The SONAR version number.

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Saving Your Work

Arranging
The Track view makes it easy to arrange and mix your projects from a single view. From
one location, you can select, copy, move, mix, and rearrange the parts of your project,
using menu commands or drag-and-drop tools. You can add real-time audio and MIDI
effects from the Effects bin and buses. Markers provide easy-to-use reference points and
labels for the different parts of your project, and the snap grid makes it easy to align your
clips to the desired time points. Slip-editing allows you to non-destructively change the
start and/or end time of a clip, just by dragging its borders. With Groove clips, you can
easily create repetitions of your clips using your mouse. Both the Track view and Console
view have a full set of record and playback meters, which you can configure in several
ways. SONAR™ also has a variety of tools and commands for changing the tempo of your
project. Composite tracks allow you to keep all your takes in one track if you want, and
selectively mute and solo the various clips in the track. Track folders let you edit multiple
tracks at once and conserve screen space.

In This Chapter
Arranging Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Arranging Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Nudge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Working with Partial Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Markers and the snap grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Working with Linked Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Splitting and Combining Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Take Management and Comping Takes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Track Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Adding Effects in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Arranging Tracks
SONAR provides a variety of commands that let you work with the tracks in
your project. Here are some of the things you can do:

You can…

Here’s why…

Rearrange the tracks in the
Track view so that they appear
in a different order

This makes it easier to see and work with a
subset of tracks, like the rhythm section, or the
vocals and vocal backing tracks, or all muted
tracks.

Hide individual tracks

This makes it easier to work in a large project.
You can display only the tracks you want to see
at a given time.

Move tracks into a track folder

Lets you group tracks by function, edit several
tracks at once, hide groups of tracks easily, and
mute, solo, archive, arm, or input monitor a
group or tracks with one click. See “Track
Folders” on page 322 for more information.

Make copies of a track

Copying a track and then adding a time offset or
changing the patch is an easy way to double a
part. You can also copy and then transpose a
track to add harmony.

Erase or delete a track

Tracks and clips that you are no longer using in
your project are distracting and take up space in
your project file.

All the commands you use to arrange tracks work on selected tracks. The
current track (the one with the lighter titlebar) is always selected. You can
select additional tracks as shown in the table:

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To do this…

Do this…

Select a track

Click the track number (click the right side of
the track number; the upper left corner of the
track number is for grouping tracks) in the
Track view. The track is selected, and all
other tracks—except the current track—are
deselected.
When a track is selected, both the track
number and all the data in the track appear
highlighted.

Select several adjacent tracks

Click the track number for the first track in the
group, drag the mouse to the last track
number in the group, and release the mouse
button.

Select/deselect all tracks

Double-click a track number.

Add or remove a single track from
the selection

Hold the Shift key and click the track number
to add it to the selection; hold the Ctrl key and
click the track number to toggle its selection
status.

Changing the Order of Tracks
There are several ways you can change the order of tracks in the Track
view:
•

Drag a track to a new position in the Track view.

•

Use the Tracks-Sort command to rearrange the tracks in order based
on the track name, status, or other setting.

To Drag a Track to a New Position

1. Position the mouse just to the right of the track number, over the track
icon of the track you want to move.
The cursor changes to an up/down arrow.
2. Drag the track to its new location, and release the mouse button.
SONAR rearranges and renumbers the tracks.

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271

You can sort the tracks in a project based on several parameters, in either
ascending or descending order:

Sort by…

What happens…

Name

Ascending puts track in alphabetic order,
descending puts them in reverse order

Size, output, or channel

Ascending puts them in increasing numeric
order, descending puts them in decreasing
numeric order

Muted, archived, selected

Ascending puts qualifying tracks at the end,
descending puts them at the beginning

No matter how you sort, blank tracks always go to the end of the list.
Note that track numbers are used for reference only. When you re-arrange
the order of tracks, they are automatically assigned sequential numbers
based on the order in which they are displayed in the Track view.

To Sort the Tracks

1. Choose Tracks-Sort to display the Sort Tracks dialog box.
2. Choose the attribute by which to sort from the Sort By list:

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Attribute…

How it works…

Name

If you choose this attribute, SONAR puts the tracks into
alphabetical order, either ascending or descending,
depending on what you choose in the Order list.

Muted

If you choose this attribute, SONAR puts all the muted tracks
at either the top or bottom of the Tracks window, depending
on whether you choose descending (top) or ascending
(bottom) in the Order list.

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Attribute…

How it works…

Archived

If you choose this attribute, SONAR puts all the archived
tracks at either the top or bottom of the Tracks window,
depending on whether you choose descending (top) or
ascending (bottom) in the Order list.

Selected

If you choose this attribute, SONAR puts all the selected
tracks at either the top or bottom of the Tracks window,
depending on whether you choose descending (top) or
ascending (bottom) in the Order list.

Size

If you choose this attribute, SONAR puts the tracks in order
by size, either in descending or ascending order.

Output

If you choose this attribute, SONAR sorts the tracks by
output number, either in descending or ascending order.
SONAR considers non-numbered outputs to have lower
numbers than numbered outputs.

Channel

If you choose this attribute, SONAR sorts the tracks by
channel number, either in descending or ascending order:
•

If you choose ascending order, SONAR puts all MIDI tracks at
the bottom of the Tracks window, with the lower channel
numbers first.

•

If you choose descending order, SONAR puts all MIDI tracks at
the top of the Tracks window, with the higher channel numbers
first.

3. Choose the order in which to sort from the Order list.
4. Click OK.
SONAR sorts the tracks according to the settings you chose.

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273

Inserting Tracks
You can insert new tracks by a variety of methods. When you insert multiple
tracks, you can set track output properties at the same time. If you want
new audio tracks to always use the same output bus, you can set that bus
as the default bus.
For step-by-step instructions, follow these procedures:

To Insert a Single Track
•

Click the Insert New Tracks or Buses button
that’s in the Track View
toolbar, and choose options from the popup menu.
Or

•

Right-click in the Track pane at the place where you want to insert a
track, and select Insert Audio Track to add an audio track or Insert
MIDI Track to add a MIDI track.
Or

•

Press Insert to add a track of the same type (audio or MIDI) as the
current track.

SONAR shifts the current track and all tracks below it down by one, and
inserts a blank, new track at the location of the highlight.

To Insert Multiple Tracks
1. Use the Insert-Multiple Tracks command to open the Insert Tracks
dialog.
2. If you want to insert audio tracks, do the following:
•

Fill in the number of audio tracks you want to insert in the Audio
section’s Track Count field.

•

Pick a main audio output for the tracks in the Main Destination field.

•

If you want the main output that you chose to be the default output
for new audio tracks, enable the Set as Default Bus checkbox. You
can also choose the default bus by right-clicking a bus, and
choosing Set as Default Bus from the popup menu.

•

If you want your new audio tracks to contain a Send module that
outputs to a specific bus, choose the bus in the Send field. If you
choose None, the new audio tracks will not contain a Send module.

3. If you want to insert MIDI tracks, do the following:

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•

Fill in the number of MIDI tracks you want to insert in the MIDI
section’s Track Count field.

•

Pick a MIDI output for the tracks in the Port field.

•

Pick a MIDI output channel for the tracks in the Channel field.

4. Click OK to insert your tracks, or click Cancel to cancel the operation.
Your new tracks appear below any pre-existing tracks, with new audio
tracks appearing above new MIDI tracks.
Note: you can also choose the default output bus for new audio tracks by
right-clicking a bus, and choosing Set as Default Bus from the popup
menu.

Configuring the Display of Tracks in the Track
View
There are several commands in the Zoom tool dropdown menu that allow
you to configure the appearance of your tracks in the Track view. You can
use these commands to zoom in or out, show or hide any combination of
tracks, and revert back to previous display settings. The following table lists
each of these commands and provides an explanation of each:

Command…

Description…

Shortcu
t…

Show and Fit
Selection

This command hides all tracks which are not
selected. The remaining tracks are adjusted
in size vertically and horizontally to fit in the
Track view, without scrolling if possible. All
track selections are lost after this command
is executed.

Shift+S

Fit Tracks to
Window

All currently displayed tracks are adjusted in
size vertically to fit in the Track view, without
scrolling if possible.

Fit Project to
Window

This command resizes all tracks both
vertically and horizontally to fit in the Tracks
view.

Shift+F

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275

Command…

Description…

Shortcu
t…

Lock Height

This command maintains the track’s height
when you use a zoom or fit command. See
“To Lock or Unlock the Height of a Track” on
page 276.

Show Only
Selected Tracks

This command hides all tracks which are not
selected. The remaining tracks are adjusted
in size vertically.

Hide Selected
Tracks

Hides all selected tracks.

Shift+H

Show All Tracks

Shows all tracks in your project, including
these hidden using the Track Manager.

Track Manager

Opens the Track manager dialog. For more
information about the Track Manager dialog,
see Track Manager dialog.

Undo View
Change

This command restores the view to its
previous state. There are up to 16 levels of
undo.

Redo View
Change

This command restores the view to the state
prior to the Undo View Change command.

Shift+U

Vertical FX Bins

Changes track FX bins from vertical position
into horizontal FX fields located with other
track property fields.

To Lock or Unlock the Height of a Track

1. Right-click an empty area in one of the desired track’s controls to
display the Track Pane context menu.
2. Choose Lock Height from the menu.
When a track is locked, the Maximize Strip button in the track appears filledin:
A

A. Maximize Strip button

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When you lock the height of a track, its height does not change when you
use a Zoom or Fit command. When a track’s height is locked, you can still
drag the track strip’s lower border to adjust the track’s height. After you drag
the border, the altered track height becomes the track’s locked height.

Copying Tracks
When you copy one or more tracks using the Tracks-Clone command, you
can choose any of the following options:
•

What to copy: events, properties, effects, sends

•

Repetitions: how many copies of each selected track

•

Starting track: where you want the first new track to appear

To Copy Tracks

1. Select the tracks that you want to copy.
2. Choose Tracks-Clone to display the Clone Track(s) dialog.
3. Check the Clone Events, Clone Properties, Clone Effects, and/or Clone
Sends boxes to indicate which items you want to copy.
4. If you want copied events to become linked clips, check the Link to
Original Clips checkbox.
5. Select the number of repetitions of each selected track that you want to
create.
6. Select the track number where you want the first new track to appear.
The other new tracks appear right after it.
7. Click OK.
SONAR copies the tracks and pastes the selected tracks, with the first new
track appearing at the track number you selected. All tracks appear
consecutively.

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277

Erasing Tracks
You can easily delete an entire track, including all of the track properties
and all of its clips and events. Sometimes, you only want to erase, or wipe,
the contents of a track, leaving the track properties as they are. If you
delete or wipe a track by mistake, you can use Edit-Undo to restore the
deleted material.
When you delete or wipe a track, the track information is not placed on the
SONAR clipboard. To remove material from a track and place it on the
clipboard, use the Edit-Cut command instead.

To Delete Tracks
1. Select the tracks you want to delete.
2. Choose Tracks-Delete.
SONAR deletes the selected tracks. You can also right-click individual
tracks and choose Delete Track from the popup menu.

To Wipe Tracks

1. Select the tracks you want to wipe.
2. Choose Tracks-Wipe.
SONAR deletes all clips and events from the selected tracks, but leaves the
track properties intact.

Track Templates
You can create an unlimited number of track templates for quickly recalling
your most often used track settings including the following:

278

•

Track type (MIDI or Audio)

•

Mute, Solo and Record state

•

Hardware input

•

Output destination

•

Bus send settings

•

Track parameters

•

Track icons

•

Effects and their settings

•

Instrument and Bank/Patch

•

Track name

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To Create a Track Template

1. Select the track or tracks you want to save as a preset.
2. Select File-Export-Track Template from the main menu.
The Save As dialog appears.
3. Enter a name for the template and click Save.
Track templates use the file extension .CWX.

To Insert a Track or Tracks from a Template
•

Select Insert-Insert From Track Template-[track template name] or
select More Track Templates if you don’t see the one you want on the
menu.
Or

•

Right-click in the Tracks pane and select Insert From Track Template[track template name] or select More Track Templates.

This inserts tracks that are exactly like the template. If you don’t want to use
all of the track characteristics that are in the template, you can filter the
characteristics that you don’t want by selecting Import Filter from the
popup menu. This opens the Track Template Import Options dialog, which
allows you to specify what track characteristics you want to import.
Note: if the template you insert contains buses, using the Edit-Undo
command after you insert the template will remove the new tracks, but not
the new buses. If you don’t want to insert buses, deselect buses in the
Track Template Import Options dialog before you insert a template. You
can delete a bus by right-clicking just left of the bus name, and selecting
Delete Bus from the popup menu.

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279

Track Icons
Track icons allow you to quickly identify a track’s contents by instrument.
You can assign a new track icon, create your own track icons, and save an
icon as part of a track template.

To Show or Hide Track Icons
•

To show or hide Track Icons in all views, use the Options-Icons-Show
Icons command.

•

To show or hide Track Icons in a specific view, use the Options-Icons[name of desired view]-Show Icons- command.
Or

•

To hide a track icon, right-click a track icon in the desired view, and
choose Show Icons from the popup menu. This option is not available
in Track view headers.

To Configure Track View Icons
•

To show standard track icons in the header of each track in the Track
view, use the Options-Icons-Track View-Show in Header command.

•

To show custom track icons in the header of each track in the Track
view, use the Options-Icons-Track View-Show Custom In Header
command.

•

To show track icons on the left side of the track controls of each track in
the Track view, use the Options-Icons-Track View-Show In Strip
command.

To Change the Size of Track Icons
•

Right-click a track icon in the desired view, and choose Small Icons or
Large Icons from the popup menu.
Or

•

Select Options-Icons-[name of desired view]-Small Icons or Large
Icons from the main menu

4. Select Small Icons or Large Icons from the menu that appears.

To Change a Track Icon

1. Right-click on the icon you want to change.
2. Select Load Track Icon from the menu that appears.
The Open dialog appears.
3. Select an icon and click Open.

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Or
1. Put the focus on the track you want to change.
2. Use the Tracks-Property-Icon-Load Icon command.
The Open dialog appears.
3. Select an icon and click Open.
Note: the right-click option is not available when you right-click a track icon
in a track header in the Track view. However, you can load a new track icon
into a track header by Alt-clicking the track icon to display the Open dialog,
and then choosing a new icon. You can Alt-click a track icon in any view to
display the Open dialog.

To Reset a Track Icon to its Original Icon
1. Right-click on the icon you want to reset.
2. Select Reset Track Icon from the menu that appears.
Or
1. Put the focus on the track you want to change.
2. Use the Tracks-Property-Icon-Reset Icon command.

To Create a Track Icon

1. Create or edit a graphics file in .bmp format, preferably 128 by 128
pixels.
You can use any image as a track icon. You can use any size image,
but for best results scale the image to 128 pixels square. Images must
be in the .bmp format.
2. Save the image as a .bmp file in the Track Icons directory in your
SONAR program folder.

Track Icon Size(s) and Transparency

You can configure the size of small and large icons in CAKEWALK.INI. By
default, small icons are 32x32 pixels and large icons are 48x48 pixels. Use
the following INI variables to change the default size:
[WinCake]
SmallIconHeight=32
LargeIconHeight=48
If you wish to create custom track icons, we recommend that you author
them as 96x96 pixel 24-bit bitmaps (.BMP).

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281

The top left pixel in the BMP determines the transparent color. If you prefer
to not have transparent icons, add the following variable to CAKEWALK.INI:
[WinCake]
IconTopLeftPixelTransparent=0
When transparency is enabled, the global color entry (Options-Colors)
called "Track View Icons Background" determines the background color
("Console Strips Icons background" does the same for the Console view
and Track Inspector).

Configuring Track View Controls
The Track view strips no longer have a special header section:
•

The Number, Name, Peak Meter Indicator and Size buttons still have
fixed placements in the top row of the strip.

•

All other parameter controls now flow over the full available space in
the entire strip.

As a result:
•

The MSR buttons (and the Automation Read/Write) buttons follow the
same layout rules as any other parameter widget.

•

The Vertical VU meter spans the full height of the strip. So even when a
strip is minimized, you can still see a 22 pixel high meter.

•

The min track height has been slightly increased from 18 to 22 pixels.

•

Shift-clicking on the minimize or maximize buttons in a Track view strip
resizes that strip to its default height.

You can hide, reorder, and visually group the controls in tracks and buses.
You can also control how the display tabs at the bottom of the Track pane
function.
Changes you make to tracks affect tracks of the same kind in all projects. In
other words, the way you configure a MIDI track controls the display of all
MIDI tracks in all projects. The way you configure an audio track controls
the way all audio tracks appear in all projects. The way you configure a bus
controls the way buses appear in all projects. Synth audio tracks follow
audio track configuration, and synth MIDI tracks follow MIDI track
configuration.
You can reorder each individual control with the exception of AUX controls:
these all move as a group. For tracks with more than one send, all send
controls move as one.

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To Reorder a Track or Bus Control

1. Hold down the Alt key, and drag the control that you want to move. A
rectangle appears around the control you are dragging.
A small vertical insertion line appears just to the left of the area where
the control will be placed.
2. Release the mouse button at the location where you want the control to
appear.
The control moves to the location where you dropped it.

To Restore the Default Order
•

Right-click the kind of track that you want to restore to the default order,
and choose Restore Default Widget Order from the popup menu. If
you want to restore buses to the default order, right-click a bus.
Surround buses are separate from stereo buses.

To Configure Track and Bus Tabs

1. Right-click a tab, and choose Widget Tab Manager from the popup
menu.
The Widget Tab Manager dialog appears.
2. In the Tab Name field, choose the tab that you want to configure, or
choose , and type a name to create a new tab.
3. In each of the four Strip columns (Audio Strip, MIDI Strip, etc.), check all
the controls you want to see on this type of tab in each track or bus type
(Audio track, MIDI track, Bus, Surround Bus).
4. To select all available controls, click Select All Widgets; to select the
default controls, select Restore Tab Defaults (this will delete any new
tabs you’ve created).
5. To configure a different tab, select it in the Tab Name field.
6. Click OK to implement your changes, or Cancel to delete them.
The order that a control (also called a widget) appears in is the same for all
tabs in the same strip type. For example, if the pan control appears first on
the Mix tab of audio tracks, it also appears first on any other tabs for audio
tracks that display the pan control.

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283

To Change the VU Meter to Horizontal or Vertical
Display
•

Click the dropdown arrow next to the Show/Hide Meters button

and choose either Horizontal Meters or Vertical Meters from the
menu.

Arranging Clips
The Track view provides many ways for you to rearrange, copy, and paste
clips to arrange your music the way you want. The easiest is to select the
clips or portions of clips you want to arrange and then drag and drop them
wherever you want. You can drag and drop clips in the Track view even
while playback is in progress. You can also arrange clips via the clipboard
using the Edit-Cut, Edit-Copy, and Edit-Paste commands, which work like
those in almost all Windows programs.
The snap grid enables you to move clips to or by an exact amount of time,
such as a quarter note or whole measure. See “To Change the Snap
Options” on page 303.

Displaying Clips
Clips are displayed as rectangles in the Clips pane. Their position and
length show you at a glance their starting times and lengths. You can
control four aspects of their appearance:
•

Color—By default, each track’s clips are drawn in a different color. The
clip colors restart at the tenth track. You can customize the default
colors of clips in the Configure Colors dialog or change the color of any
individual clip in the Clip Properties dialog.
Note: In audio clips, the waveform changes color, unless no clip
contents are displayed. In MIDI clips, the clip background changes
color.

284

•

Name—You can also assign each clip a descriptive name, which is
displayed in the upper-left corner of the clip.

•

Contents—At your option, clips can be displayed with a graphical
representation of the events in the clip. The effect is slightly different for

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MIDI and audio information as shown below:

A. A MIDI clip shows each event; by looking at the clips, you can “see” the notes that
are being played B. An audio clip shows the actual waveform C. Controller or
automation data are also displayed

To inspect the clip contents more closely, use the zoom tools to increase the
size in which clips are displayed. Note that displaying the contents of each
clip makes your computer work a little harder. As a result, if your computer
has an older, slower CPU you may want to turn off the display of clip
contents.:

A
B
C
D
E

The Track view toolbar contains the Zoom tool:

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285

To Zoom Horizontally
•

Click the horizontal zoom buttons to zoom in or out by a fixed
percentage each time you click.
Or

•

Drag the horizontal zoom fader to zoom in or out by the amount you
drag.
Or

•

Hold down the Ctrl key and press the right arrow key (to zoom in) or the
left arrow key (to zoom out).

To Zoom Vertically
•

Click the vertical zoom buttons to zoom in or out by a fixed percentage
each time you click.
Or

•

Drag the vertical zoom fader to zoom in or out by the amount you drag.
Or

•

Hold down the Ctrl key and press the up arrow key (to zoom out) or the
down arrow key (to zoom in).

To Zoom into a Selected Area
•

Use the Zoom tool to drag-select an area of a clip or clips that you want
to zoom to. When you release the mouse, the area you selected
expands to fill the Clips pane window.

Zoom command keyboard shortcuts:

286

To do this…

Use this shortcut…

Zoom in vertically

Ctrl+down arrow

Zoom in horizontally

Ctrl+right arrow

Zoom out vertically

Ctrl+up arrow

Zoom out horizontally

Ctrl+left arrow

Undo Zoom

Redo Zoom

Shift+U

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To do this…

Use this shortcut…

Turn On Zoom tool (use the
Zoom tool to select the area
to zoom to)

Hold down Z

Display Now Time in Center
of Clips Pane

Fit project to window

Shift+F

Fit tracks and buses to
window

To Zoom Using the Mouse Wheel (Fast Zoom)
•

Hold down the Alt key and roll the mouse wheel forward to zoom in,
backward to zoom out.

•

Hold down Alt+Shift to intensify mouse wheel zoom effect.

•

Hold down Alt+Ctrl to adjust track scale (Track View Clips Pane only)

To Select Fast Zoom Options

1. Select Fast Zoom Options from the Zoom tool dropdown menu.
The Fast Zoom dialog box opens.
2. Select the intensity of the Zoom effect in Zoom Factor by using the
spinners or manually entering a value.
3. Select the vertical and horizontal Zoom focus.
4. Check or uncheck Simultaneous Vertical and Horizontal Zoom.
The default is for Simultaneous Vertical and Horizontal Zoom to be
checked. If you uncheck it, Fast Zoom exhibits the following behaviors.
•

Alt+Mouse Wheel zooms vertically

•

Alt+Shift+Mouse Wheel zooms faster vertically

•

Ctrl+Alt+Mouse Wheel zooms horizontally

•

Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Mouse Wheel zooms faster vertically

5. Click OK.

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287

To Display Clip Names and Contents

1. Right-click in the Clips pane, and choose View Options from the menu.
2. Check the Display Clip Names option to show clip names, or leave it
unchecked to hide them.
3. Check the Display Clip Contents option to show clip contents, or leave
it unchecked to hide them.
4. Click OK.
SONAR modifies the clips pane to show the information you want.

To Change Clip Names

1. Select the clips you want to rename.
2. Right-click on one of the selected clips and choose Clip Properties.
SONAR opens the Clip Properties dialog box.

3. Enter a name for the selected clips, and click OK.
SONAR renames the selected clips.

To Change Clip Colors

1. Select the clips whose color you want to change.
2. Right-click on one of the selected clips and choose Clip Properties.
SONAR opens the Clip Properties dialog box.

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3. Choose a color as follows:

To do this…

Do this…

Use the default color

Check the Default Color box

Use a custom color

Click the Choose Color button and pick a color from
the Color dialog box

4. Click OK.
SONAR changes the color of the selected clips.

Using the Navigator View
The Navigator view displays a large part of your project so you can see an
overview of your song. The Navigator view is a floating version of the
Navigator pane found at the top of the Track view.

Track Rectangle

The Track Rectangle appears as a green rectangle within the Navigator
view. The Track Rectangle indicates the section of your project which
appears in the Clips pane of the Track view. You can move the Track
Rectangle or change its size.

To Move the Track Rectangle

1. Position your cursor inside the Track Rectangle until the icon changes
to look like this:

2. Click and drag the rectangle where you want and release.

To Change the Size of the Track Rectangle
1. Click one of the nodes on the rectangle border.
2. Drag to change the rectangle size.

To Change the Now Time in the Navigator view
1. Hold down the Ctrl key.

2. Click where you want the Now Time to be.

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289

Opening Views by Double-clicking Clips
By default, double-clicking a MIDI clip in the Clips pane opens a Piano Roll
view for that track, and double-clicking an Audio clip opens the Loop
Construction view for that track.

To Open a View From a Clip
1. Right-click in the Clips pane, and choose View from the popup menu.
2. Choose the type of view you want to work with from the submenu.

Selecting Clips
Before you move, copy, edit, or delete clips you need to select them. There
are several ways to select whole clips, as shown in the table:

290

To do this…

Do this…

Select a single clip

Click on the clip in the Clips pane.

Select several clips at once

Drag in a rectangular pattern that touches
each clip.

Select all the clips in a track

Click on the track number in the Track view.

Select a portion of one or more
clips

Press and hold the Alt key and drag across the
clips. The Snap to Grid setting determines the
size portion you can select.

Add clips to the selection

Hold the Shift key and either click on the clips
or drag a rectangle around the clips.

Add or remove clips from the
selection

Hold the Ctrl key and either click on the clips or
drag a rectangle around the clips.

Add or remove all clips in a track
from the selection

Hold the Ctrl key and click on the track
number.

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Arranging Clips

Moving and Copying Clips
You can copy or move clips using drag-and-drop editing or the Cut, Copy,
and Paste commands. If you copy or move clips into tracks that contain
existing material, you need to let SONAR know how to combine the two.
You have these options:

Option…

How it works…

Blend Old and New

Events in the copied or moved clip are placed into a
new clip that overlaps with the existing clip. This is
the same effect as sound-on-sound recording.

Replace Old with New

Events in the copied or moved clip are placed into a
new clip, and any overlapping events in the existing
clip are erased. This is the same effect as overwrite
recording.

Slide Over to Make Room

The existing clips are shifted in time to make room
for the new clips, so they will not overlap. If you
check the Align to Measures option, shifted clips are
always aligned to measure boundaries; otherwise,
the clips are placed end to end.

When you use the Edit-Paste command to add information to a track that
contains existing material, there is one final option you can choose.

Option…

What it means…

Paste as New Clips

New clips are created containing the events on
the clipboard, exactly as described in the
preceding table.

Paste into Existing Clips (MIDI
clips only)

The events on the clipboard are merged into
any existing clips that occupy the same region
of time. This means you will never end up with
clips that overlap.

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291

Note that if you copy or move clips to new, empty tracks, you don’t have to
worry about these settings. In this case, the track properties that go with the
clips are automatically applied to the new track.
When you use drag-and-drop editing:
•

You can set the above options every time you perform an edit, or you
can set them once and have the same settings carry over automatically.
Check or uncheck the Ask This Every Time box in the Drag and Drop
Options dialog to indicate your preference. Open the Drag and Drop
Options dialog by right-clicking in the Clips pane and choosing Drag
and Drop Options from the popup menu.

•

If you drag to the edge of the Clips pane, it will scroll automatically in
the direction you drag.

•

If you change your mind while dragging clips, press the Escape key to
cancel the operation.

SONAR also lets you move and copy clips between projects.

To Move Clips Using Drag and Drop
1. Select the clips you want to move.

2. If you want to move the clips by an exact amount of time, enable the
snap grid (see “To Change the Snap Options” on page 303).
3. Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.
4. Press and hold down the left mouse button. A rectangle is displayed
around the selected clips.
5. Drag the clips to their new location, and release the mouse button.
6. If necessary, choose the options you want from the Drag and Drop
Options dialog box (use Options-Global and open the Editing tab, or
right-click in the Clips Pane and select Drag & Drop Options from the
menu that appears), and click OK.

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SONAR moves the clips to their new location.
Note: Moving an audio clip (other than a Groove clip) to a part of your
project that has a different tempo changes the size of the clip.

To Move Clips Using Cut and Paste
1. Select the clips you want to move.

2. Choose Edit-Cut to display the Cut dialog box.

3. Choose the options you want and click OK. SONAR cuts the clips from
the project and places them on the Windows clipboard.
4. Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips
should be pasted.
5. Set the Now time to be the time at which the clips should be pasted.

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293

6. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box.

7. Choose the options you want and click OK.
SONAR places the clips in their new location.

To Choose a Specific Start Time and/or Length for a
Clip
1. Select the clip you want to edit.

2. Right-click on the selected clip and choose Clip Properties. SONAR
opens the Clip Properties dialog box.
3. Choose the units you want to use for the new start time and/or length
by clicking one of the radio buttons:
•

M:B:T—click this if you want the clip to begin and end on a specific
measure, beat, or tick.

•

Samples—click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a
specific sample.

•

H:M:S:F—click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a
specific hour, minute, second, or frame. This is also known as
SMPTE time, and lets you start the clip at an absolute-time-based
(as opposed to musical-time-based) point in your project.

•

Seconds—click this is you want the clip to begin and end on a
specific second.

4. Enter a new start time and/or length, or use the spinners or keyboard to
change values.
5. Choose a value in the Time Base field—choose one of the two options
in this section to control what happens to the clip’s start time when you
change the tempo:

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•

Musical (M:B:T)—if the clip is set to the Musical time base, the clip’s
M:B:T position stays constant, and its Absolute (SMPTE) position
shifts.

•

Absolute (SMPTE)—if the clip is set to the Absolute (SMPTE) time
base, its Absolute position stays constant, and its M:B:T position
shifts.

Note: the length of a clip may also change when you change the
tempo—audio clips maintain their absolute (SMPTE) length, while a
MIDI clip will follow the value in the Time Base field. If a MIDI clip is set
to use musical time, the clip maintains its M:B:T length. If a MIDI clip is
set to use absolute time, the clip maintains its absolute length.
6. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR adjusts the clip to the values you chose.
Note: the Snap Offset field is for audio clips only. The value of this field is
the snap offset of the selected clip, in samples. When you set a snap offset
value for a clip, and then drag the clip, the left edge of the clip does not snap
to the current snap resolution--the clip snaps to a point on the clip that is the
distance from the left edge of the clip to the snap offset value. For example,
if you set the snap resolution to move to a measure, and the snap offset of a
clip to 1500 samples, when you drag the clip, instead of the left edge of the
clip moving to a measure line, the spot on the clip that's 1500 samples right
of the beginning of the clip moves to the measure line.

To Copy Clips Using Drag and Drop
1. Select the clips you want to copy.
2. Enable the snap grid, if desired.
3. Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.
4. Press and hold the Ctrl key and click and hold the left mouse button. A
rectangle is displayed around the selected clips.
5. Drag the clips to the new location, and release the mouse button.
6. If necessary, choose the options you want from the Drag and Drop
Options dialog box, and click OK.
SONAR copies the clips to their new location.

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295

To Copy Clips Using Copy and Paste
1. Select the clips you want to copy.

2. Choose Edit-Copy to display the Copy dialog box.
3. Choose the options you want and click OK. SONAR copies the clips to
the Windows clipboard.
4. Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips
should be pasted.
5. Set the Now time to be the time the clips should be pasted.
6. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box.
7. Choose the options you want and click OK.
SONAR copies the clips to their new location.

To Delete Clips

1. Select the clips you want to delete.
2. Do one of the following:
•

Choose Edit-Delete, which brings up a dialog box—choose
options and click OK.

•

Press the Delete key.

SONAR deletes the selected clips.

Locking Clips
You can lock a clip so that it can’t be accidentally modified or deleted. You
can lock the clip’s position and/or its data.

To Lock or Unlock a Clip’s Position and/or Data

1. Right-click the clip, and choose Clip Properties from the popup menu
to open the Clip Properties dialog.
2. In the Clip Properties dialog, click the Lock checkbox.
3. If you’re locking the clip, use the dropdown menu next to the Lock
checkbox to choose what clip attributes you want to lock:

296

•

Position and Data—this choice locks position and data, and
causes a lock icon to appear on the clip .

•

Position Only—this choice locks position only, and causes a
yellow lock icon with the clasp unlocked to appear on the clip

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Arranging Clips

•

Data Only—this choice locks data only, and causes a blue lock
icon with the clasp unlocked to appear on the clip .

4. Click OK.
Or
1. Select a clip.
2. Use one of the following commands:
•

Edit-Clip Lock-Lock Position—in lock mode, this choice locks
position only, and causes a yellow lock icon with the clasp unlocked
to appear on the clip, If data is already locked, then both position
and data become locked, and a “locked” lock icon appears on the
clip. In unlock mode, if both position and data are locked, and you
unlock position, then the blue “unlocked” lock icon appears on the
clip, meaning that only data is locked.

•

Edit-Clip Lock-Lock Data—in lock mode, this choice locks data
only, and causes a blue lock icon with the clasp unlocked to appear
on the clip. If position is already locked, then both position and data
become locked, and a “locked” lock icon appears on the clip. In
unlock mode, if both position and data are locked, and you unlock
data, then the yellow “unlocked” lock icon appears on the clip,
meaning that only position is locked.

Or
1. Right-click a clip.
2. From the popup menu, choose one of the following commands:
•

Clip Lock-Lock Position—in lock mode, this choice locks position
only, and causes a yellow lock icon with the clasp unlocked to
appear on the clip. If data is already locked, then both position and
data become locked, and a “locked” lock icon appears on the clip.
In unlock mode, if both position and data are locked, and you
unlock position, then the blue “unlocked” lock icon appears on the
clip, meaning that only data is locked.

•

Clip Lock-Lock Data—in lock mode, this choice locks data only,
and causes a blue lock icon with the clasp unlocked to appear on
the clip. If position is already locked, then both position and data
become locked, and a “locked” lock icon appears on the clip. In
unlock mode, if both position and data are locked, and you unlock
data, then the yellow “unlocked” lock icon appears on the clip,
meaning that only position is locked.

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297

Note: if a clip’s position is locked, and you change tempo, what happens to
the clip’s position depends on what option the Clip Properties Time Base
field is set to: Musical (M:B:T), or Absolute (SMPTE). If the clip is set to the
Musical time base, the clip’s M:B:T position stays constant, and its Absolute
position shifts. If the clip is set to the Absolute time base, its Absolute
position does not move, but its M:B:T position shifts.

Nudge
Nudging is moving a clip or a MIDI note by a small amount to the left or right
or up and down. There are three customizable settings for the Nudge
feature. You can also nudge clips (in the Track view) or notes (in the Piano
Roll view) up or down, and you can use keyboard shortcuts (see “To Nudge
a Clip Using Keyboard Shortcuts” on page 300).

Nudge Settings
The Nudge tab in the Global Options dialog allows you to set the three
Nudge settings.

To Nudge a Clip Left or Right

Use the following procedure to nudge a clip.
1. Select the clip you want to nudge.
2. Select Process-Nudge Left(1-3) from the menu to move the clip left or
Process-Nudge Right(1-3) to move the clip right.
The amount the clip or note moves is determined by the settings in the
Nudge tab of the Global Options dialog.

To Nudge a Clip Up and Down

Use the following procedure to nudge a clip (in the Track view) or MIDI note
(in the Piano Roll view) up or down.
1. Select the clip or note you want to nudge.
2. Select Process-Nudge-Up to move the clip or note up or ProcessNudge-Down to move a clip or note down.
Clips move up or down one track at a time. Notes move up or down one
pitch at a time.

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Nudge

To Change Nudge Settings

1. Select Process-Nudge-Settings to open the Nudge tab in the Global
Options dialog box.
2. In one of the three Nudge groups, select one of the following:
•

Musical Time—Select a note length setting.

•

Absolute Time—Select one of the following absolute time options
and a number in the first field:

Absolute time
setting…

Description…

Seconds

Whole seconds.

Milliseconds

Thousands of a second.

Frames

Number of frames. The default frame count is 30
frames per second. The number of frames varies
depending on the setting in the Project Options
dialog’s clock tab.

Samples

A very small amount of time. For CD-quality audio
there are 44,100 samples per second, so a value of
1 here would not move a clip by a perceptible
amount.

Ticks

The number of ticks per quarter note varies
depending on the setting in the Project Options
dialog’s clock tab. The default setting is 960.

•

Follow Snap Settings—Moves the clip or note by the current snap
setting.

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Nudge

299

To Nudge a Clip Using Keyboard Shortcuts
1. Select the clip you want to nudge.

2. If necessary, turn on Num Lock (press the Num Lock key on your
keyboard).
3. Press the appropriate Num Key.
•

Left 1—NumPad 1

•

Right 1—NumPad 3

•

Left 2—NumPad 4

•

Right 2—NumPad 6

•

Left 3—NumPad 7

•

Right 3—NumPad 9

•

Up—NumPad 8

•

Down—NumPad 2

Working with Partial Clips
SONAR lets you select, copy, move, and delete portions of a project even if
they do not match clip boundaries. There are two ways to do this:
•

Directly select portions of one or more clips.

•

Select a range of times and one or more tracks. SONAR automatically
selects the portions of clips that are in both the selected time range and
the selected tracks.

You can then copy, move, or delete the material the same way you do with
whole clips.
When you select portions of a clip, SONAR may round off the start and end
times of your selection based on the snap grid. For more information, see
“Defining and Using the Snap Grid” on page 302.

To Select a Portion of a Clip
1. Press and hold the Alt key.

2. Drag the mouse across part of a clip.
SONAR highlights the selected portion of the clip. You can edit this portion
of the clip using all the normal editing commands.

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Working with Partial Clips

To Select a Portion of Several Clips
1. Press and hold the Alt key.

2. Drag the mouse across part of several clips in adjacent tracks.
SONAR highlights the selected portions of all the clips. You can edit these
portions of clips using all the normal editing commands.

To Select Partial Clips Using Time Ranges and Tracks
1. Select a range of time in one of the following ways:
•

Drag the mouse in the Time Ruler.

•

Click between two markers to select the time between the markers.

•

Use the F9 and F10 keys to set the beginning and end selection
times.

•

Select a clip (SONAR selects the range of time covered by the clip).

•

Choose Edit-Select-By Time, enter the start and end time, and
click OK.

2. Select one or more tracks by clicking, Shift-clicking, or Ctrl-clicking on
the track numbers in the Track view.
3. To adjust the start and end time of the selection, hold the Shift key while
clicking on the Time Ruler.
The relevant portions of clips in the selected tracks are highlighted. You can
edit these portions of clips using all the normal editing commands.

To Clear the Partial Clip Selection
You can clear the time-restricted selection in any of the following ways:
•

Click in an empty area of the Clips pane to completely clear the
selection.

•

Choose Edit-Select-None or press Ctrl+Shift+A to completely clear the
selection.

•

Click on a single clip in the Clips pane to clear the time selection and
select the clip.

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301

Markers and the snap grid
SONAR has a collection of features you can use to simplify and speed the
work you do arranging your projects. Here are a few of the most important
things you can do:
•

Show gridlines on measure boundaries in the Track view.

•

Define and use the snap grid to make drag-and-drop editing more
accurate.

•

Create markers to identify and work with key time points in your project.

Showing Gridlines
Displaying gridlines, or vertical rules, in the Clips pane of the Track view
makes it easy to see at a glance how clips align with each other, how they
align with measure boundaries, and when they start and end.

To Show or Hide Gridlines
1. Right-click in the Clips pane and choose View-Options from the popup
menu.

2. To show gridlines, check the Display Vertical Rules box. To hide
gridlines, make sure the Display Vertical Rules box is not checked.
3. Click OK.
SONAR displays the Track view as you requested.

Defining and Using the Snap Grid
SONAR lets you define a snap grid that makes it easier to arrange clips,
select time ranges, and control envelope shape drawing. To use the snap
grid, enable the Snap to Grid button and set the grid resolution to an
interval of musical time, such as a whole note, half note, or quarter note; a
unit of absolute time: a number of frames, seconds or samples; an event;

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the start or end of a clip; a marker; or audio transients. The grid can use
multiple resolutions at the same time, such as a whole note, and audio
transients. When the Snap to Grid button is enabled, if you move or paste
clips or markers, items will be snapped to the nearest point on the snap
grid.
You can also use the snap grid to move clips by a certain interval, rather
than snap them to the interval. Moving by an interval can be useful during
drag-and-drop operations, if your data are not exactly aligned with measure
or note boundaries.
The snap grid in each view is independent. For example, you can enable
the snap grid in the Track view without enabling it in the Piano Roll or Staff
views. You can also enable the snap grid in several different views, with
different grid intervals in each one.
In the Clips pane, the snap grid in the Inline Piano Roll view is independent
from the snap grid in Clips view. When you open the Snap to Grid dialog in
the Clips pane, the dialog has separate tabs for Clips view and Inline Piano
Roll view (called PRV mode in the dialog).
Magnetic snap—Cakewalk’s snap grid has an option (on by default) called
magnetic snap. This means that when you’re dragging the boundary of an
object, you can move the boundary freely until the boundary gets within a
certain number of ticks from the snap target. The closer the object gets to
the snap target, the more strongly the object is pulled to the target. You can
set the strength of magnetic snap to low, medium, high, or off. Note that if
you are zoomed out a certain amount, the time boundary around the snap
target will appear to be quite small, and you might think that the snap grid is
not functioning. If this is the case, zoom in closer to enhance your editing
experience. If you’re dragging a whole clip, magnetic snap is not in effect.

To Enable or Disable the Snap Grid
•

To toggle the Snap to Grid button
button.

on or off, Press N, or click the

To Change the Snap Options
1. Click the down arrow in the Snap to Grid combo button
or rightclick on the Time Ruler and select Snap Properties from the popup
menu to display the Snap to Grid dialog box.

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303

2. If you open the Snap to Grid dialog in the Track view, the dialog
contains two tabs: one for the Inline Piano Roll view (the PRV Mode
tab), and one for the Clips pane (the Clips tab). Click the tab of the area
that you will be editing in.
3. Select one or more of the following resolution options:
•

Musical Time—note intervals (whole, half, etc.)

•

Absolute Time—a number of samples, frames, or seconds set by
you (choose the units in the dropdown menu on the right)

•

Events—any data in a clip

•

Clips—the start or end of any clip

•

Markers—any marker in a project

•

Audio transients—these are represented by vertical grid lines,
which you can display by using the AudioSnap Palette.

•

Snap to Audio Zero Crossings—this option automatically snaps
edited audio clips to the nearest zero crossing of the waveform, the
point at which there is no volume, to minimize the glitches that can
happen when waveforms are spliced together.

4. Select Move To to align data to the grid, or Move By to move data by
the grid resolution.
5. If you want to change the magnetic snap strength, or turn off magnetic
snap, select one of the buttons in the Magnetic Strength section.

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6. If you’re using the Snap to Grid dialog in the Track view, you can leave
it open or close it while you edit. If you’re using it in another view, click
OK to close the dialog.
All time selections and drag-and-drop editing operations use the new snap
grid resolution(s).

Snap Offsets
Snap offsets allow you to set a point other than the beginning of a clip as
the “snap” point used by the Snap to Grid. A snap offset is the number of
samples from the beginning of the clip. Snap offsets affect all edits that obey
the Snap to Grid setting. Once the snap offset is added, you can set the
Timer Ruler to SMPTE or MBT time.
Note: You cannot set a snap offset for a Groove clip.

Creating a Snap Offset

Use the following to add a snap offset to a clip:
1. Locate the place in the clip where you want to put the snap offset, and
set the Now Time to that location. Use the Scrub tool if necessary.
2. Right-click on the clip and select Set Snap Offset to Now Time from
the menu that appears.
Edits to that clip, when the Snap to Grid button is depressed, now snap to
the snap offset rather than the beginning of the clip.

Deleting a Snap Offset
1. Right-click on the clip and select Clip Properties from the menu that
appears.
2. In the Snap Offset field enter 0 (zero) and click OK.

Creating and Using Markers
Markers are a way of associating a name with a time point in your project.
You use markers to name sections of a project, to mark hit points in a film
score, or simply to provide a shortcut for working with any time point in a
project. Markers make it easy to:
•

Jump to a specific time point in a project

•

Select a portion of a project

•

Enter a time in any dialog box, by pressing F5 and choosing the marker
you want

You can see and work with markers in four ways:

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305

•

They are displayed in the Time Ruler at the top of the Track, Staff, and
Piano Roll view.

•

The Markers toolbar lets you add markers and jump to specific marker
locations.

•

The Markers view displays all markers and lets you add, edit, and
delete markers.

•

You can press F11 while playback is in progress to add a marker on the
fly.

The time associated with a marker can be expressed in musical time or as
a locked SMPTE time. If a marker has a musical time (measures, beats,
and ticks), the marker stays at that musical time regardless of changes in
tempo. If a marker has a locked SMPTE time (hours, minutes, seconds, and
frames), the marker stays at the same time even when the tempo is
changed. Locked markers are useful for projects that require you to sync
the music or sound with film scores or multimedia presentations. See “To
Add a Marker” on page 307.
SONAR takes the current snap grid settings into account when you move or
copy markers. For example, if the snap grid is set to even measure
boundaries, any time you move or copy a marker, the marker will be
snapped to the beginning of the nearest measure. You are allowed to have
any number of markers at a single time point.
To display the Markers view, choose View-Markers or click
on the
Views toolbar. From the Markers view, you can use the File-Print and FilePrint Preview commands to print a listing of markers.

You can add markers while playback is stopped or while playback is in
progress (on the fly). When you add a marker while playback is stopped,
you can enter a name for the marker and either use the Now time or enter a
different time. When you add a marker on the fly, the marker is named

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automatically and assigned the Now time. Using the Markers view, you can
edit the names and times whenever you want.

To Add a Marker

1. Open the Markers dialog in one of the following ways:
•

Click

in the Markers toolbar.

•

Press F11.

•

Choose Insert-Marker.

•

Click

•

Ctrl-click in the marker section of the Time Ruler.

•

Right-click in the Time Ruler and select Insert Marker.

in the Markers view.

SONAR displays the Marker dialog box.

2. Enter a name for the marker in the Name box.
3. The time is set to the Now time. If you want, use the spinners to change
the time or type in a new marker time.
4. Check the Locked to SMPTE box if you want to lock the marker to the
SMPTE time.
5. Click OK.
SONAR adds the marker and displays it in the Time Ruler, the Markers
view, and the Markers toolbar.

To Add a Marker on the Fly
•

Click

in the Markers toolbar, or Press F11.

SONAR adds a marker at the Now time and displays it in the Time Ruler,
the Markers view, and the Markers toolbar.

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307

To Edit a Marker

1. Either right-click on the marker in the Time Ruler, or choose a marker in
the Markers view and click
. SONAR displays the Marker dialog box.
2. Change the marker name, time, or other settings as desired.
3. Click OK.
SONAR updates the marker in the Time Ruler and the Markers view.

To Copy a Marker

1. Press and hold the Ctrl key.
2. Drag a marker in the Time Ruler of the Track view, Staff view, Tempo
view, or Piano Roll view. SONAR displays the Marker dialog box.
3. Enter the desired marker settings and click OK.
SONAR copies the marker and displays it in the Time Ruler and the
Markers view. You can also cut and paste markers directly from the Markers
view.

To Lock or Unlock Several Markers

1. In the Markers view, select one or more markers. Use the Ctrl and Shift
keys if necessary to modify the selection.
2. Select or deselect

SONAR updates the markers.

To Move a Marker
•

Drag the marker in the Time Ruler.

SONAR updates the marker time and shows it at the new location.

To Delete a Marker

1. Press and hold the left mouse button while pointing to a marker in the
Time Ruler.
2. Press Delete, and release the mouse button.
SONAR deletes the marker. You can use Edit-Undo if you make a mistake.

To Delete Markers from the Markers View
1. In the Markers view, select one or more markers. Use the Ctrl and Shift
keys if necessary to modify the selection.
2. Click

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or press Delete.

Markers and the snap grid

SONAR deletes the selected markers. You can use Undo if you make a
mistake.

To Jump to a Marker

There are many different ways to jump to a specific marker:
•

Choose a marker from the dropdown list in the Markers toolbar to jump
to that marker.

•

Click the Now time in the Position toolbar, press F5 to display a list of
markers, choose the marker you want, and click OK.

•

Press F5 twice to display a list of markers, choose the marker you want,
and click OK.

•

Click on a marker in the Markers view to set the Now time to that
marker.

•

Click
or
marker.

•

Choose Go-Next Marker or Go-Previous Marker to jump to the next or
previous marker.

in the Markers toolbar to jump to the next or previous

To Select a Time Range Using Markers

You can select a range of times by clicking in the marker section of the Time
Ruler:
•

Click to the left of the first marker to select the time between the start of
the project and the first marker.

•

Click to the right of the last marker to select the time between the
marker and the end of the project.

•

Click between two markers to select the time between the markers.

•

If looping is enabled, click to the right of the Loop Start marker to select
the loop region

•

If punch recording is enabled, click to the right of the Punch In marker to
select the punch region

Tip: If you press Tab or right-click while holding down the left mouse button
over the markers, you can toggle through which of the overlaid markers
you'd like to move.
For example, if the Now Time marker, a regular Marker, a Loop point, and a
Punch point are all at measure 5, pressing Tab (while holding down the left
mouse button) toggles through T (Now Time), M (regular), L (Loop), and P
(Punch). If you want to change the regular marker, simply drag the mouse

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Markers and the snap grid

309

when M is displayed; if you want to adjust the position of the Loop point, tab
through to L, and so on.

Working with Linked Clips
SONAR makes it easy to repeat a pattern over and over using a feature
called linked clips. Linked clips always have the same contents, name,
and display color. Any change you make to the internal contents of one of
the clips, such as adding or editing notes or effects, automatically applies to
all of them. Any number of clips may be linked with each other.
To create linked clips, copy the clips and when pasting, check the linked
clips option in the Paste dialog box or the Drag and Drop Options dialog
box. Linked clips are displayed with a dotted border, so they are easy to
spot. You can also identify linked clips using the Clip Properties dialog box
or the Select All Siblings (available in the Clips pane popup menu)
command.You can easily unlink linked clips, and then edit them individually.
You have two options when unlinking linked clips:

Option…

How it works…

New linked group

The clips you selected will still be linked to
each other, but won’t be linked to any clips that
are not selected

Independent

Every selected clip will be completely
independent

Once you have unlinked linked clips, you cannot re-link them except by
using Edit-Undo.
If you attempt to copy only a portion of a linked clip, the copy will not be
linked to the original. Copies of a clip can be linked to the original only when
you select and copy the entire clip.

To Make Linked Copies of a Clip Using Drag and Drop
1. Right-click in the Clips pane and choose Drag & Drop Options to
display the Drag and Drop Options dialog box.
2. Check the option labeled Copy Entire Clips as Linked Clips.
3. Click OK.

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Working with Linked Clips

4. Select the clips you want to copy.
5. Position the mouse over one of the selected clips.
6. Press and hold down the Ctrl key.
7. Press and hold down the left mouse button. A rectangle is displayed
around the selected clips.
8. Drag the clips to their new location, and release the mouse button.
9. If necessary, confirm the options in the Drag and Drop Options dialog
box, and click OK.
SONAR creates copies of the selected clips that are linked to the originals.
Any change you make to one of the clips is applied to all linked clips,
including the original clip.

To Make Linked Copies of a Clip Using Copy and Paste
1. Select the clips you want to copy.

2. Choose Edit-Copy to display the Copy dialog box.
3. Choose options as desired and click OK. SONAR copies the clips to the
Windows clipboard.
4. Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips
should be pasted.
5. Set the Now time to be the time at which the clips should be pasted.
6. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box.
7. In the Paste dialog, choose one of two options:
•

Linked Repetitions—If you choose this option, only the new copies
of the original clip are linked together. Edits you make to the new
copies do not affect the original, and vice versa.

•

Link to Original Clip(s)—If you choose this option, the new copies
and the original clip are linked together. Edits you make to any of
the linked clips, including the original, affect all other linked clips in
the group.

8. Choose the other options you want and click OK.
SONAR creates copies of the selected clips that are linked in the way you
chose.

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Working with Linked Clips

311

To Unlink Linked Clips

1. In the Clips pane, select the clips you want to unlink.
2. Right-click on any selected clip and choose Unlink from the popup
menu. SONAR displays the Unlink Clips dialog box.
3. Choose the unlink option you want, and click OK.
SONAR unlinks the clips and updates the Clips pane accordingly. From
now on, any changes you make to one of the clips are applied only to
remaining linked clips, if any.

To Select the Clips That Are Linked to Another Clip
1. Select one or more clips in the Track view.

2. Right-click on any selected clip and choose Select All Siblings from
the popup menu.
SONAR selects any clip that is linked to one of the currently selected clips.

Splitting and Combining Clips
SONAR provides several commands that are used to split and combine
clips. Specifically, you can:
•

Split a clip into several smaller clips

•

Create a new clip from a selected portion of an existing clip

•

Combine adjacent or overlapping clips into a single, longer clip

The following table summarizes the commands you can use:

312

To do this…

Use this
command…

Notes…

Split clips into parts

Edit-Split

Works on all selected clips. You can
also press the s key to split all selected
clips at the Now Time.

Combine several
clips into one

Edit-Bounce to
Clip(s)

If the selected clips are in separate
tracks, one clip is created for each
track. All clip automation is applied
destructively to the new clip.

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Splitting and Combining Clips

Note: Combining a stereo and mono clip always produces a stereo clip.
The Split command lets you split clips four different ways:

Option…

How it works…

Split at Time

Splits selected clips at a specific point in time.
By default, the split occurs at the Now time, but
you can choose any time you want.

Split Repeatedly

Splits selected clips at regular intervals,
beginning at a specified time, with a specified
duration. For example, you could split a long
clip into 4-bar clips starting at measure 5.

Split at Markers

Splits selected clips at any marker location.
This option is available only if your project has
markers.

Split when Silent

Removes “silent” stretches of one measure or
more from selected clips. The presence in a
measure of any event—including those that
make no sound, such as a patch change or
lyric event—will cause that measure to be
retained.

While the Split command works for both MIDI and audio clips, for audio
clips, the Split command provides sample accurate editing and snap-tozero capability.
Note that the Edit-Undo and Edit-Redo commands work with all three of
these editing commands.

To Split Clips into Smaller Clips
1. Select the clips you want to split.

2. Right-click on any selected clip, and choose Split from the popup
menu. SONAR shows the Split dialog box or press the s key to split the
clip(s) at the Now Time.
3. Choose the Split option you want to use, and enter the settings you
want to use.
4. Click OK.

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Splitting and Combining Clips

313

Or
1. Select the clips you want to split.
2. Set the Now Time to the time you want to split the clips.
3. Press the s key.
SONAR splits the selected clips according to your instructions.

To Combine Clips

1. Select the clips you want to combine (the clips must be on the same
track).
2. Right-click on of the clips and select Bounce to Clip(s) from the popup
menu.
SONAR combines the selected clips into a single, new clip.

Take Management and Comping Takes
By default, SONAR stacks any overlapping clips on top of each other, but
you can choose to display them in separate layers (lanes) in the same
track. When you store clips in separate layers, it’s easy to mute and solo
them individually and eventually come up with a composite take, with only
the best clips playing back. You can also mute and solo whole layers.
When you use loop recording, you can store all your takes in the same
track, and then use the Mute tool or Audition (Selection Playback) to hear
only the ones you want.
If you enable a track’s Show Layers option, SONAR stores the track’s clips
in separate layers whenever any of the following happens:
•

You use loop recording in Sound on Sound mode, and choose to store
takes in a single track.

•

You record over some pre-existing data while in Sound on Sound
mode.

•

You enable the Tracks-Show Layers menu option for a track that
contains at least one overlapping clip.

Note 1: you can create as many layers as you want.
Note 2: a multi-layer layer track has only one set of track automation
envelopes.
For step-by-step instructions, see the following procedures:

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Take Management and Comping Takes

To Enable or Disable the Multi-layer Option
•

For single tracks, you can right-click the Track Scale, and choose Show
Layers from the popup menu, or use the Layers-Show Layers
command on the Track pane right-click menu, or click the Track Layers
On/Off button.
A
B

A. Track Layers On/Off button B. Track Scale before showing layers

•

For multiple tracks, select the tracks you want to configure by Ctrlclicking the track number of each track, and use the Tracks-LayersShow Layers menu option.

When the option is first enabled, SONAR moves all overlapping clips in the
affected tracks to separate layers, and displays mute and solo buttons on
the Track Scale for each layer.

After the option is enabled, you can move clips on top of each other without
creating new layers. To move overlapping clips back into separate layers,
use the Rebuild command (see below).
Note 1: if you want to move a clip to the exact same time placement in an
adjacent layer, hold the Shift key down while you drag.
Note 2: if the Automatic Crossfades button is enabled, SONAR adds a
crossfade between any newly overlapped clips that are on the same layer.

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Take Management and Comping Takes

315

To Mute or Unmute One or More Layers
•

On the Track Scale, click the M button that’s at the same vertical level
as the layer you want to mute or unmute. You can drag across multiple
mute buttons to mute or unmute multiple layers.

Note: if you mute a layer and then disable the Show Layers feature, the
Track Scale displays a small blue indicator to show that a hidden layer is
muted:
A

A. Hidden layer mute indicator

To Solo or Unsolo a Layer
•

On the Track Scale, click the S button that’s at the same vertical level
as the layer you want to solo. You can solo one layer at a time.

Note: if you solo a layer and then disable the Show Layers feature, the
Track Scale displays a small yellow indicator to show that a hidden layer is
soloed:
A

A. Hidden layer solo indicator

To Rebuild Layers
•

To rebuild layers (move overlapping clips to separate layers) in a singletrack, right-click the Track Scale and choose Rebuild Layers from the
popup menu.

•

For multiple tracks, select the tracks you want to rebuild, and use the
Tracks-Layers-Rebuild Layers command.

To Remove Empty Layers
•

316

To remove empty layers in a single-track, right-click the Track Scale
and choose Remove Empty Layers from the popup menu.

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Take Management and Comping Takes

•

For multiple tracks, select the tracks you want to compact, and use the
Tracks-Layers-Remove Empty Layers command.

To Add an Empty Layer to a Track
•

Right-click the Track Scale at the position where you want the new
layer, and choose Insert Layer from the popup menu.

To Delete a Layer from a Track
•

Right-click the Track Scale at the position where you want to delete a
layer, and choose Delete Layer from the popup menu.

To Select a Layer
•

Right-click the Track Scale at the same vertical position where the
desired layer is, and choose Select Layer from the popup menu. You
can de-select the layer by clicking an empty area of the Clips pane.

To Loop Record Multiple Takes into Separate Track
Layers

1. Use the Transport-Record Options command to open the Record
Options dialog.
2. Under the Recording Mode options, choose Sound on Sound (Blend).
3. Under Loop Recording, choose Store Takes in a Single Track, and click
OK.
4. Make sure that the armed track has its Show Layers option enabled.
5. Set your loop boundaries and start recording multiple passes through
the looped area.
6. Stop recording.
When you finish recording, SONAR displays all your takes in separate
layers in the recording track.

To Crop Overlapping Clips to Eliminate Overlap
1. In a multi-layer track, move either the Select tool or the Mute tool
between two overlapping clips until the cursor turns into the overlap
cropping tool.

A. Overlap cropping tool

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Take Management and Comping Takes

317

2. In the space between the clips, click the spot where you want the first
clip to end and the second one to begin. SONAR crops both clips so
that they no longer overlap.

Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing)
Together with multi-layer tracks, clip muting and isolating (clip soloing)
make it easy to build a composite take from multiple takes.
With the new Mute tool
two styles of clip muting:

, that’s in the Track view toolbar, SONAR offers

•

Default style—after you activate the Mute tool, you can drag through
time ranges to mute all or part of a clip: dragging through the bottom
half of a clip mutes the time range you drag through; dragging through
the top half of a clip unmutes the range you drag through. The default
setting in the Mute tool dropdown menu produces this behavior (you’ll
see a checkmark next to Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag
Behavior). If you want to temporarily switch to the Alternate style (see
below), hold down the Alt key while you click.

•

Alternate style—use the Mute tool to mute or unmute entire clips by
clicking clips instead of dragging through time regions. A clip that is
completely muted displays the Mute icon
in its upper left corner. You
can choose this behavior by choosing Mute Entire Clips under
Click+Drag Behavior in the Mute tool dropdown menu. If you decide
you want to temporarily switch to the Default style, hold down the Alt
key while you drag.

In addition, you can also play back only selected data if you want by
pressing the Shift key and the Spacebar at the same time.

Clip Muting with the Default Style
When you choose Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu, you can use the following procedures to mute all
or parts of clips. This is the default behavior.

To Enable or Disable the Mute Tool
•

318

Click the tool or press K on your keyboard. The Mute tool turns blue
when it is enabled.

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Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing)

To Mute a Time Range Using Default Style

1. Make sure that Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. If you want to mute a precise amount of time, enable the Snap to Grid
button and set its menu to an appropriate value.
3. Using the Mute tool, drag inside the lower half of a clip.
SONAR mutes the area you dragged through and displays the muted
waveform or MIDI data as a dotted line.

A. Muted area of clip

To Unmute a Time Range Using Default Style

1. Make sure that Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. Using the Mute tool, click inside the upper half of a clip in the muted
area.

To Mute or Unmute an Entire Clip Using Default Style

1. Make sure that Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. Using the Mute tool, Alt-click anywhere in the clip (hold down the Alt key
while you click).
When a clip is currently muted, SONAR displays the Mute icon in the upper
left corner of the clip.

A. Mute icon

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Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing)

319

Note: if the clip you’re muting or unmuting with this method already has one
or more muted time ranges, these time ranges remain muted while you Altclick the clip, so you don’t lose any precise mute edits you’ve performed. To
completely unmute the clip in the picture below, first Alt-click the clip to
remove the Mute icon, and then drag through the upper half of the clip in
the muted area(s).

Clip Muting with the Alternate Style
When you choose Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu, you can use the following procedures to mute all
or parts of clips. This is the alternate style.

To Enable or Disable the Mute Tool
•

Click the Mute tool or press K on your keyboard. The Mute tool turns
blue when it is enabled.

To Mute or Unmute an Entire Clip Using Alternate Style
1. Make sure that Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. Using the Mute tool, click anywhere in the clip.
SONAR displays the Mute icon in the upper left corner of a muted clip.
Note: if the clip you’re muting or unmuting with this method already has one
or more muted time ranges, these time ranges remain muted while you Altclick the clip, so you don’t lose any precise mute edits you’ve performed.

To Mute a Time Range Using Alternate Style

1. Make sure that Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. If you want to mute a precise amount of time, enable the Snap to Grid
button and set its menu to an appropriate value.
3. Using the Mute tool, Alt-drag inside the lower half of a clip.
SONAR mutes the area you dragged through and displays the muted
waveform or MIDI data as a dotted line.

320

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Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing)

To Unmute a Time Range Using Alternate Style

1. Make sure that Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. Using the Mute tool, Alt-click inside the upper half of a clip in the muted
area.
You can mute or unmute a clip without using the Mute tool if you want.
Pressing Q on your keyboard toggles the mute status of all selected clips.
Any muted time ranges remain muted.

Audition (Selection Playback)
The Transport-Audition command plays back only selected clips and/or
time ranges.
To use the command, hold down the Shift key and then press the Spacebar.
Only the selected data plays back.

Isolating (Clip Soloing)
Isolating works by muting all the clips in a track in the same time region
except the ones that you want to hear. Just like clip muting, isolating has
two styles:
•

Default style—after you activate the Mute tool, you can Ctrl-drag
through time ranges to isolate all or part of a clip. The default setting in
the Mute tool dropdown menu produces this behavior (you’ll see a
checkmark next to Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior). If
you want to temporarily switch to the Alternate style (see below), hold
down the Alt key along with the Ctrl key, and click whole clips instead of
dragging through regions.

•

Alternate style—use the Mute tool to isolate entire clips by Ctrl-clicking
clips instead of dragging through time regions. You can choose this
behavior by choosing Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior
in the Mute tool dropdown menu. If you decide you want to temporarily
switch to the Default style, hold down the Alt key along with the Ctrl key,
and drag through the regions you want isolated.

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Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing)

321

To Isolate a Region with the Default Style

1. Make sure that Mute Time Ranges under Click+Drag Behavior in the
Mute tool dropdown menu has a check mark.
2. Using the Mute tool, hold down the Ctrl key and drag through the region
of a clip or clips that you want isolated (soloed).
Any overlapping regions become muted. To de-isolate the isolated region,
release the Ctrl key, and drag through the upper half of any muted regions.
If you want to temporarily switch to the Alternate style of isolating (see
procedure below), hold down the Alt key along with the Ctrl key, and click
whole clips instead of dragging through regions.

To Isolate Clips with the Alternate Style

1. Choose Mute Entire Clips under Click+Drag Behavior in the Mute
tool dropdown menu.
2. Using the Mute tool, hold down the Ctrl key and click the clips that you
want isolated.
Any overlapping clips become muted. To de-isolate the isolated clips,
release the Ctrl key, and click any muted clips.
If you want to temporarily switch to the Default style of isolating, hold down
the Alt key along with the Ctrl key, and drag through the regions you want
isolated.

Track Folders
A track folder contains tracks in the Track pane of the Track view. Track
folders make larger projects much easier to manage—you can group
different types of tracks in their own folder: vocals, soft synths, ReWire
instruments, drums, etc.
The main characteristics of a track folder are:

322

•

You can edit all the tracks in the folder as if you were editing a single
track—especially valuable for drum tracks. The track folder displays a
composite clip in the Clips pane of all the clips in the folder. Selecting a
time range in the composite clip selects data in all the enclosed tracks
in the same time range; now you can edit all the tracks in the folder by
editing the selected area of the composite clip.

•

You can hide tracks in a folder, freeing up space on your screen.

•

A folder can contain any type of track—you can put MIDI, audio, and
synth tracks in the same folder.

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Track Folders

•

You can archive, mute, solo, arm, or input monitor all the tracks in a
folder with one click—just click the A, M, S, R, or Input Echo button on
the track folder.
E

D
C
B

A. The tracks in a track folder are indented B. Description box C. Track folder info
D. Open/Close folder E. Track folder—click here to select all data in track folder F. A,
M, S, R, and Input Echo buttons G. Selected area of composite clip H. Composite
clip

To Create a Track Folder
•

Right-click in the Track pane of the Track view, and choose Insert
Track Folder from the popup menu.
Or

•

Use the Insert-Track Folder menu command.
Or

•

Right-click a track that’s not in a track folder and select Move to
Folder-New Track Folder from the popup menu.

A new track folder appears in the Track pane.

To Add a Track to a Track Folder
•

In the Track view, move the mouse cursor just to the right of the track
number of a pre-existing track until the cursor turns into a black, doubleended arrow, and then click and drag the track’s titlebar onto the track
folder. Release the mouse.
Or

•

Insert a track when a track within a track folder has focus.
Or

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Track Folders

323

•

Right-click a track that’s not in a track folder and select Move to
Folder-Track Folder “n” from the popup menu.
Or

•

Select the tracks you want to add to the folder, right-click on the folder
and select Add Track(s) to Folder from the menu that appears.

The added track appears in the track folder, and is indented a little to show
that it’s inside the track folder.

To Remove a Track from a Track Folder
•

In the Track view, move the cursor just to the right of the track number
of a track until the cursor turns into a black, double-ended arrow, and
then click and drag the track’s titlebar out of the Track Folder. Release
the mouse.
Or

•

Right-click the track and select Remove From Folder from the popup
menu.

To Add Multiple Tracks to a Track Folder
1. Select the tracks you want to add.
2. Right-click a selected track and choose Move to Folder-Track Folder
“n” from the popup menu.

To Remove Multiple Tracks from a Track Folder
1. Select the tracks you want to remove.

2. Right-click a selected track and choose Remove From Folder from the
popup menu.

To Delete a Track Folder

1. In the Track view, right-click and select Delete Track Folder from the
menu that appears.
2. SONAR asks you if you want to delete all the tracks in the folder along
with the track folder—click Yes or No.
SONAR deletes the track folder. If you didn’t choose to delete the tracks in
the track folders, SONAR moves these tracks to the top level.

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Track Folders

To Open or Close a Track Folder
•

Click the folder icon that’s just left of the track folder’s name.

To Select or Deselect all the Tracks in a Track Folder
•

Click just to the left of the folder icon.

To Rename a Track Folder
•

Double-click the track folder’s name, type a new name, and press
Enter.
Or

•

Right-click the track folder, choose Folder Properties from the popup
menu, type a name in the Name field of the Folder Properties dialog,
and click OK.

To Add a Description to a Track Folder
•

Double-click the Description box, type a description, and press Enter.
Or

•

Right-click the track folder, choose Folder Properties from the popup
menu, type a description in the Description field of the Folder Properties
dialog, and click OK.

To Select all Clips in a Time Range
•

Hold down the Alt key while dragging a selection on the composite clip.

Now you can edit, move, cut and paste all the selected clips by editing the
selected part of the composite clip.

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Track Folders

325

Adding Effects in the Track View
You can add both MIDI and audio effects directly from the Track view.
SONAR adds these effects in real-time, preserving your track’s original
data.

To Add Effects in the Track View
1. Right-click in the FX bin of the track you want to add effects to. You may
have to click the FX tab or the All tab that’s at the bottom of the Track
pane to display the FX bin, and also expand the track pane a little.

A. Right-click here to add an effect

An effects popup menu appears. SONAR displays MIDI effects if you
are editing a MIDI track, and audio effects for an audio track.
2. Select an effect from the menu.
The name of the effect appears in the Effects bin and the effect’s
property page appears. To delete the effect, right-click the effect name
and choose Delete from the popup menu.
3. Set the effects parameters or choose a preset.
Play your track and listen to the effect(s).
Note: If you use the same effects for more than one track, it’s more efficient
to add the effects to an bus. See “To Patch a Track Through a Bus” on page
608.

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Adding Effects in the Track View

Changing Tempos
Your project can incorporate all kinds of tempo changes, including step
changes from one tempo to another, gradual increases (accelerandos) or
decreases (ritardandos), and almost any other type of change you can
imagine. The tempo changes you add to your project become part of the
project and are saved with the project file.
You can add tempo changes to your project in the following ways:
•

Using the Tempo toolbar

•

Using the Insert-Tempo Change and Insert-Series of Tempos
commands

•

By drawing tempo changes graphically in the Tempo view

•

Inserting tempo changes in the Tempo view’s Tempo List pane

The Process-Fit to Time and Process-Fit Improvisation commands can
also be used to introduce tempo changes into your work file. For more
information, see “Stretching and Shrinking Events” on page 469 and “Fit
Improvisation” on page 485.
When you change the tempo of a project that contains audio, SONAR
allows you to stretch or shrink audio clips when you have converted them to
Groove clips and have enabled the Follow Project Pitch option in the Loop
Construction view. Otherwise, the MIDI tracks will speed up or slow down
while the audio tracks will play at the same speed. For more information
about Groove clips, see “Working with Groove Clips” on page 420. Audio
clips that are not Groove clips change in size when moved to a part of your
project that has a different tempo.
Sometimes you don’t want to adjust the speed of your audio. Here are
some examples:
•

If your project contains background music and a voice-over, you might
want to change the tempo of the background music without altering the
voice-over.

•

If you’re trying to modify the speed of some MIDI tracks to match a
sampled drum groove, you want to leave the audio unchanged.

When you change the tempo of your project, clips having stretching enabled
change tempo along with the project, while those that do not have
stretching enabled do not. For more information about stretch-enabling
clips, see “Enable Stretching” on page 413.

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Tempos set when the clock source is set to MIDI Sync do not have any
effect, because SONAR follows the external tempo. For more information,
see Chapter , Synchronizing Your Gear.

Using the Tempo Toolbar
The Tempo toolbar displays the current tempo and lets you change the
tempo as shown below:
A

A.Click to insert a tempo change B. Tempo ratio buttons C. Click to enter a new
tempo

When you enter a new tempo directly in the toolbar, you change the most
recent tempo setting in the project.
The tempo ratio buttons temporarily change the speed of playback, without
affecting the actual tempo that is stored with your project (see Note, below).
During playback, the tempo is multiplied by the current tempo ratio. By
default, the three tempo ratios are 0.50 (half speed), 1.00 (normal speed),
and 2.00 (double speed). You can change the tempo ratios that are
associated with each button.
Note: Tempo ratios can only be used in projects that contain no audio
tracks and cannot be used when using any form of synchronization. For
more information, see Chapter , Synchronizing Your Gear.

To Change the Current Tempo in the Tempo Toolbar
1. Enable Groove clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove clip Looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove clip Looping
enabled.
2. Click the current tempo in the Tempo toolbar.

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Changing Tempos

3. Type a new value and press Enter, or use the spinners to change the
tempo value.
SONAR changes the current tempo to the desired value.

To Set the Tempo Ratio

You can set the tempo ratio in several ways (remember, this function is not
available if you have audio clips in your project):
•

Click one of the tempo ratio buttons.

•

Choose Transport-Tempo Ratio 1, 2, or 3.

•

Press Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2, or Ctrl+3.

SONAR changes the speed of playback.

To Change the Tempo Ratio
1. Shift-click one of the tempo ratio buttons to display the Tempo Ratio
dialog box.

2. Enter a new value for the tempo ratio.
3. Click OK.
From now on, that tempo ratio button uses the ratio you entered.

Using the Tempo Commands
The Insert-Tempo Change and Insert-Series of Tempos commands can
be used to change the existing tempo of a project or to introduce one or
more tempo changes at various points in a project. You can enter tempo
values directly, introduce smooth increase or decreases in tempo, or even
use your mouse to tap out the tempo you want for some portion of a project.

To Insert a Tempo Change

1. Enable Groove clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, right-clicking
a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the popup
menu. Each clip that has Groove clip Looping enabled has beveled

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329

edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables Groove
clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove clip Looping enabled.
2. Click
in the toolbar or choose Insert-Tempo Change to display the
Tempo dialog box.

3. Check the Insert a New Tempo box.
4. Enter a new tempo in one of the following ways:
•

Type a value in the Tempo field.

•

Click the arrows to change the value.

•

Tap a new tempo in the space indicated in the dialog box.

5. Enter a starting time for the new tempo.
6. Click OK.
SONAR inserts a tempo change at the designated time.

To Insert a Series of Tempos

1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove clip looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Choose Insert-Series of Tempos to display the Insert Series of
Tempos dialog box.

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3. Enter a starting tempo, ending tempo, and step size.
4. Enter a starting and ending time for the series of tempo changes.
5. Click OK.
SONAR erases any existing tempo changes between the starting and
ending time, and inserts a series of tempo changes that change smoothly
between the starting and ending time. This command never inserts more
than one tempo change on the same clock tick. Audio clips which you want
to follow tempo changes can also be converted to Groove clips in the Loop
Construction view.

To Modify the Most Recent Tempo Change

1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, right-clicking
a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the popup
menu. Each clip that has Groove Clip Looping enabled has beveled
edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables Groove
Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Choose Insert-Tempo Change to display the Tempo dialog box.
3. Check the Change the Most Recent Tempo box.
4. Enter a new tempo in one of the following ways:
•

Type a value in the Tempo field.

•

Click the arrows to change the value.

•

Tap a new tempo in the space indicated in the dialog box.

5. Click OK.
SONAR changes the most recent tempo to the new value.

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331

Using the Tempo View
The Tempo view provides a graphic display of the tempo. In the Tempo view
you can use your mouse to draw tempo changes directly onto the graph.
Choose View-Tempo or click
on the toolbar to display the Tempo view
The Tempo view provides both a graphic display of the tempo and a list of
all tempo changes in your project. In the graphical display you can use your
mouse to draw tempo changes directly onto the graph. In the tempo list,
you can insert, edit, and delete individual tempo changes. Choose ViewTempo or click
on the toolbar to display the Tempo view. Click the
Tempo List button
to display or hide the tempo list.

If an entire project has a single tempo, the graph shows a straight horizontal
line, and a single tempo in the list.
The graph has several tools you can use to add or modify tempo changes:

Tool…

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Name…

What it’s for…

Select

Drat the Select tool in either the Tempo list or graphic
display to select tempos to edit

Draw

Draw a custom curve indicating changes in tempo

Line

Draw a straight line indicating a steady increase or
decrease in tempo

Changing Tempos

Tool…

Name…

What it’s for…

Erase

Eliminate tempo changes already in place for some
portion of a project

snap grid

Controls how often you can insert tempo changes—for
example, every measure, every eighth note, every 3
samples, etc.

If you make a mistake using any of these tools, you can use Edit-Undo to
correct the error. When you use the Draw tool, the speed with which you
drag the mouse determines the density of tempo events. To insert a larger
number of relatively small tempo changes, move the mouse slowly. To
insert a smaller number of relatively large tempo changes, drag the mouse
quickly.
The Tempo List Pane has its own tools for editing tempo changes:

Tool…

Name…

What it’s for…

Insert Tempo

Insert a new tempo change

Delete Tempo

Delete a tempo change

Tempo Properties

Edit a tempo change

To Insert a Tempo Change in the Tempo View

or the

tool.

3. Click in the Tempo view at any desired time point and tempo level.
SONAR introduces a tempo change at the indicated point.

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333

To Steadily Increase or Decrease the Tempo in the
Tempo View

1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove Clip Looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Select the

tool.

3. Drag a line in the graph from the starting time and tempo to the ending
time and tempo.
SONAR introduces a linear series of tempo changes.

To Draw a Series of Tempo Changes in the Tempo View
1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove Clip Looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Select the

tool.

3. Drag the cursor across the graph, adjusting the tempo level as you
move left to right.
SONAR introduces a series of tempo changes.

To Erase Tempo Changes in the Tempo View
1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove Clip Looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Select the

tool.

3. Drag the mouse over the graph to highlight the region you want to
erase.

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4. Release the mouse button.
SONAR deletes all tempo changes in the area you marked. The last tempo
setting prior to the erased region is now in effect in that region.

To Insert a Tempo Change in the Tempo List in the
Tempo View

to display or hide the tempo list.

3. Select any tempo change in the list.
4. Click Insert Tempo

to open the Tempo dialog box.

5. Set the tempo, time, and other properties.
6. Click OK.
SONAR inserts the new tempo into the list.

To Edit a Tempo Change in the Tempo View

to display or hide the tempo list.

3. In the tempo list, select the tempo change to be edited.
4. Click Tempo Properties
the Tempo dialog box.

or double-click the tempo change to open

5. Edit the tempo properties as desired.
6. Click OK.

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335

To Delete a Tempo Change from the Tempo List in the
Tempo View

1. Enable Groove Clip Looping on any audio clips that you want to follow
the tempo changes. Do this by selecting one or more clips, rightclicking a selected clip, and choosing Groove-Clip Looping from the
popup menu. Each clip that has Groove Clip Looping enabled has
beveled edges instead of sharp corners. The same command disables
Groove Clip Looping on any selected clip that has Groove Clip Looping
enabled.
2. Click the Tempo List button

to display or hide the tempo list.

3. In the tempo list, select the tempo change to be deleted.
4. Click Delete Tempo

, or press Delete.

SONAR deletes the selected tempo change. You cannot delete the first
tempo in the list.

Undo, Redo, and the Undo History
SONAR provides very powerful Undo and Redo commands that let you
move forward or backward through any portion of an editing session. Every
project has its own independent undo history. This means you can return to
any open project and use the Undo and Redo commands, even if you’ve
spent the last hour working on a different project. The undo history of a
project is lost when you close the project.
Remembering everything that is necessary to undo the changes you have
made can use a lot of memory. If a change you are about to make requires
too much memory and cannot be undone, you will be advised that the
operation is too big to undo later and asked if you want to go ahead
anyway. If you do choose to perform the operation, you will not be able to
undo it. Therefore, you may want to save your project first.
The Edit-History command displays a complete history of the commands
and actions you can undo for the current project. The Undo History dialog
box looks like this:

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Undo, Redo, and the Undo History

A. Most recent change B. Click to clear the undo history C. Adjust the number of
steps you can undo

The History command is grayed out until you make a change to the current
project that can be undone.
The History list is updated every time you make a change to a project. For
example, if you insert a new note into a project using the Piano Roll view,
that action is added to the History list. This entry remains on the list—even if
you undo the change—so that you can redo the change later on. If you
delete the note, this change is added to the History list.
You can click the Clear button in the Undo History dialog box to erase the
undo history for the current project and free up some memory. If SONAR is
low on memory, it may offer to erase the History list.
To revert to an earlier version of a project, highlight the entry in the History
list that represents the point to which you’d like to return, and click OK.
SONAR performs the necessary undo or redo actions to take you to that
point. Once you edit the project (for example, by inserting a note), the
History list is truncated at that point. Then, as you do further work, the
History list grows again. Any events occurring before the event you
highlighted remain on the list.
By default, SONAR keeps a history of up to 128 editing actions for each
open project. Once that limit is reached, each new action pushes out the
oldest item from the History list. You can raise or lower that number in the
Undo History dialog box.

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337

Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing)
Slip-editing allows you to non-destructively hide or reveal the beginning of a
clip, the end of a clip, or both. The hidden material in a clip is not heard
during playback. All hidden material remains intact and can be restored. All
slip-editing movements correspond to the current snap to resolution. For
more information about the snap to grid, see “Defining and Using the Snap
Grid” on page 302.

A
B

A. Clip handle B. Slip-edit cursor

Important: Like any clips, slip-edited clips can be combined with other clips
using the Bounce to Clip(s) command and slip-edited clips in a track can
be mixed down to another track. When a slip-edited clip is combined with
another clip or an effect is applied to a clip using the Edit-Apply Audio
Effects command, any slip-edited data (audio clips or MIDI events that are
cropped from view) is overwritten.

Using Slip-editing
SONAR makes it easy to edit audio and MIDI clips by way of prominent clip
handles that appear as your cursor comes close to the edges of clips. The
clip handles are easy to see and are equipped with broad functionality for
fade-ins, fade-outs, and crossfades, as well as non-destructive editing of
the beginning and end of clips.

To Slip-edit a Clip
1. Set the Snap to Grid

to an appropriate interval.

2. If you’re slip editing an audio clip, right-click the clip to open the Clip
Properties dialog. Select the Audio Stretching tab, make sure the
Enable Looping checkbox is unchecked, and click OK.
3. Move the cursor over the beginning of the clip until the clip handle
appears.

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Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing)

A. Clip handle

4. Click and drag the clip handle until the unwanted information has been
removed.

The hidden information in the slip-edited clips remains intact but is not
heard during playback.

To Move Data Without Moving its Clip

1. Hold down Alt+Shift while moving the cursor over the middle of the clip
you wish to edit.
The cursor changes to look like this

2. Click and drag the clip to the left or right as desired.

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339

As in the case of slip-editing, the hidden information in the clip remains
intact but is not heard during playback.

To Move Data and the Clip Edge
1. Hold down Alt+Shift and move the cursor to the edge of the clip you
wish to edit.
A clip handle appears at the edge of the clip you are editing.

2. Click and drag the edge of the clip to the desired location.

The hidden information in the clip remains intact but is not heard during
playback.

To Permanently Delete Slip-edited Data
1. Select the clips that contain the slip-edited data you want to delete.
2. Select the Edit-Apply Trimming command.
SONAR permanently deletes the slip-edited data from the clips you
selected.

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Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing)

Slip-editing Multiple Clips
You can slip-edit multiple clips at the same time.

To Slip-edit Multiple Clips at Once
1. Make sure all clips are not loop-enabled.
2. Select the clips you want to slip-edit.
3. Move your cursor over the beginning or end range of the selected clips
until the blue clip handle appears.
4. Drag the boundary to the desired location and release.

Fades and Crossfades
Fades are a gradual increase or decrease in volume at the beginning (fadein) or end (fade-out) of a clip. A crossfade is when one clip fades out while
another fades in. There are two ways to create fades and crossfades in
SONAR: offline (destructive) and real-time (non-destructive). To create
fades and crossfades offline, see “Applying Fades and Crossfades Offline”
on page 562.

Using Fades and Crossfades in Real Time
You can create real-time fades and crossfades in the Track view’s Clips
pane. Real-time fades and crossfades do not change the data in the clip.
SONAR reads the fade-in, fade-out, or crossfade in the clip and adjusts the
gain accordingly. You can edit the crossfade’s start time and end times. You
can set the type of fade-in or fade-out you want to use as a default:
•

Linear—A straight line, raising or lowering the volume at a steady rate.

•

Slow Curve—A curved fade which starts to change the volume slowly at
first and then rapidly increasing (fade-in) or decreasing (fade-out) the
volume.

•

Fast Curve—A curved fade which starts to change the volume quickly
at first and then rapidly decreasing (fade-out) or increasing (fade-in) the
volume.

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341

To Choose the Fade Type
1. Click the dropdown arrow located at the right of the fade tool
2. Choose fade-in, fade-out, or crossfade from the drop-down menu by
hovering your cursor over the type of fade you want to make.
A second menu of available fade-in, fade-out, and crossfade envelopes
appears.
3. Click the envelope you want as your default.

To Create a Real-time Fade-in in a Clip
1. In the Track view’s Clips pane, move your mouse over the top part of
the beginning of a clip until the cursor looks like this:
appears at the edge of the clip.

, and a red line

A filled red triangle appears at the top of the red line indicating the fade
marker is ready to be dragged.
A

A. Filled red triangle

2. When your cursor changes and the filled red triangle appears, click and
drag to the right until you reach your desired fade-in length.
As you drag your mouse, a fade-in appears on your clip, and the red
line moves with the mouse to mark the end of the fade-in.

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Fades and Crossfades

To Edit a Fade-in in a Clip
•

To move the entire fade-in to a later point in the clip, drag above the
blue horizontal line located a quarter of the way up the blue vertical line

A
B

A. Cursor above horizontal blue line B. Horizontal blue line

•

To move only the starting point of the fade-in, drag below the horizontal
blue line.

•

To delete a fade-in from an audio clip, simply drag the triangular fade
handle
to the front edge of the clip.
The filled blue triangle at the top of the clip handle indicates that
dragging the top edge of the clip handle will move the fade along with
the crop. The filled blue rectangle at the bottom of the clip handle
indicates that dragging the bottom of the clip handle will slip edit the
edge, but leave the end of the fade-in where it is.

To Create an Automatic Crossfade (Real-time)

1. In the Track view, click the Enable/Disable Automatic Crossfades
combo button located next to the Snap to Grid button or press the x key.
2. Click the down arrow on the Enable/Disable Automatic Crossfades
combo button, select Default Crossfade Curves and select a
crossfade curve.
3. Select and drag an audio clip so that it overlaps another audio clip. You
should overlap the clips by the length you want the crossfade.

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343

4. When you have the clip positioned where you want it, release the
mouse button to drop the clip.
The Drag and Drop Options dialog appears.
5. In the Drag and Drop Options dialog, check the Blend Old With New
checkbox and click OK.
6. The two clips now overlap with a crossfade, looking something like this:
A

A. First clip B. Fade-out C. Fade-in D. Second clip E.Crossfade

You can edit fade-ins and fade-outs. You can change the start, end and
position of a fade. The following procedures all demonstrate edits to a fadein, but fade-outs work exactly the same.

To Change an Existing Fade

1. Move your cursor over the beginning of a fade-out or the end of a fadein, until your cursor looks like this:

2. Right-click to and select the desired fade type from the menu that
appears.

To Change an Existing Crossfade

1. Move your cursor over the region where the crossfade is.
2. Right-click and select the desired crossfade from the menu that
appears.

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Fades and Crossfades

To Edit or Create Fades from the Process Menu

1. Select the clip or clips in which you want to create or edit fade-ins and/
or fade-outs.
2. Select Process-Fade Selected Clips.
The Fade Selected Clips dialog appears.
3. Adjust parameters according to the following table:

Parameter...

Description...

Fade In (mS)

Select the number of milliseconds you want the fade-in to
last.

Fade Out (mS)

Select the number of milliseconds you want the fade-out to
last.

Fade In Curve

Choose a fade-in type. Options are linear, slow or fast curve.

Fade Out Curve

Choose a fade-out type. Options are linear, slow or fast
curve.

Alter Existing
Times

Select this option if you wish to change the existing fade
lengths. You don’t need to check this option if you’re creating
new fades.

Alter Existing
Curves

Select this option if you wish to change the existing fade
types. You don’t need to check this option if you’re creating
new fades.

Only Show if
Pressing Shift

Select if you want to apply previous dialog settings without
opening the dialog. Hold shift when selecting command to
override this option.

4. Click OK to close the dialog.
SONAR creates or edits the fade(s) according to the options you chose in
the dialog.

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345

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Fades and Crossfades

AudioSnap
SONAR’s AudioSnap engine and tempo analysis features give you unprecedented
rhythmic and tempo control over your audio. Employing sophisticated transient detection
technology, the AudioSnap engine automatically analyzes all recorded and imported audio
files for rhythmic content to determine where the beats are in the music. AudioSnap can
be enabled/disabled on a per-clip basis.
AudioSnap is completely non-destructive, similar to Groove clips and V-Vocal clips.
AudioSnap, V-Vocal, and Groove clips are mutually exclusive. Groove clip markers are
typically placed at a zero-crossing point before a transient; AudioSnap markers are placed
where musical changes occur, but may not be exactly at a zero crossing.

What is it Exactly?
AudioSnap is not a single feature, but rather a collection of different tools that can be used
for different tasks. The AudioSnap Palette ties it all together in a task-oriented layout.
AudioSnap does several things, in a variety of ways:
•

Stretches audio clips to fit project tempo or for quantizing

•

Changes project tempo to fit audio or MIDI clips

•

Copies audio rhythms for groove quantizing or doubling sounds
AudioSnap Palette

How Does it Work?
AudioSnap works by finding the transients in audio clips. Transients are the
areas in an audio clip where the level increases suddenly. These make
good locations to shrink, stretch, or split a clip, without changing its sound
quality too drastically. SONAR contains a variety of high-quality stretching
Algorithms for different kinds of material. You can choose a lower-quality
algorithm for real-time playback of your edits, and then choose a better
algorithm for bouncing to track.
Also, SONAR let's you define the default online and offline algorithms via
the AudioSnap palette, and you can override the default algorithm(s) on a
clip-by-clip basis from the Clip Properties dialog.
The transients also make it possible for SONAR to calculate a clip’s tempo.

Audio clip

Audio clip showing transient markers
after enabling AudioSnap:

AudioSnap finds transients automatically, but the transient markers don’t
always appear exactly where you might want them for the kind of editing
you want to do. You can edit the markers by moving them to new locations,
adding markers, filtering out markers, deleting markers, and promoting
markers (protecting them from being filtered).

348

AudioSnap
How Does it Work?

Why Would I Use It?
Here are some common uses for AudioSnap:
•

Aligning measure lines and tempo to audio or MIDI tracks that were
recorded without a metronome

•

Fixing timing errors

•

Synchronizing the rhythms of out-of-sync tracks

•

Doubling existing sounds with other sounds

•

Changing the tempo of existing projects

•

Snapping both audio and MIDI edits to audio beats

•

Fixing multiple tracks while maintaining phase relationships

•

Making multiple clips/tracks groove together

Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo
Imagine you have some audio tracks that were recorded without a
metronome, and you decide to add some MIDI tracks to the project. You
need to create a tempo map and align the measure lines (also called bar
lines) so you can add MIDI. There are two AudioSnap commands you can
use to adjust your project’s tempo to your audio: the Extract Timing
command, and the Set Measure/Beat At Now command. The Set/Measure
Beat At Now command allows you to create new bar lines to fit your project.
It also works with freely-played MIDI data.
Note: if you already have MIDI tracks in a project, and you want to use the
Set Measure/Beat At Now command to conform the bar lines to some audio
tracks, the pre-existing MIDI tracks won’t adjust to the new bar lines. This is
so that you can also use the command on freely-played MIDI data. The idea
behind the command is that the bar lines should adjust to the data, not the
other way around. If you want to adjust bar lines to audio tracks, and you
want pre-existing MIDI clips to maintain their positions within the bar lines,
select all the MIDI clips, right-click one of them, and choose Clip LockLock Position from the popup menu.
Let’s demonstrate the Set Measure/Beat At Now command.

AudioSnap
Why Would I Use It?

349

Set Measure/Beat At Now Tutorial:

1. Let’s open a new project, and import a couple of tutorial files from the
SONAR 6.2 download or disc: the DRUMSNAP.WAV file and the
BASSNAP.WAV file. After importing, let’s make sure the drums track is
Track 1 so it will be right under the Time Ruler. If the drums track isn’t at
Track 1, click the drum track just to the right of the track name, and drag
it to the top position.

Drag from here to change track order

2. Let’s enable AudioSnap on the drum clip in Track 1, and see where the
transient markers line up: right-click the drum clip in Track 1, and
choose AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable from the popup menu (or
select the clip and press F12).
The drum clip displays its transient markers, and the AudioSnap palette
appears.

350

AudioSnap
Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo

3. To use the Set Measure/Beat At Now command, you need to be able to
identify where you want to put the downbeats of each measure, and
possibly where you want to place some other beats of the measure, if
the tempo varies a lot. Let’s zoom in on the drum track, listen to it, and
decide if we need to edit any markers:
Time Ruler

4. AudioSnap found the 3 quarter note pickup notes at the beginning of
the clip, and then seems to have found a steady eighth note rhythm
after that, corresponding to the hi-hat in the drum clip. Since these
markers are so regularly spaced, we don’t need to edit them to set up
our bar lines.
Notice the ellipsis (3 dots)
next to some of the markers. The ellipsis
means that there is another marker just to the right of it, but that you
need to zoom in closer if you want to see it. Since we can see enough
markers to set bar lines, we don’t need to zoom farther in just now.
5. Play the track through and notice how the markers correspond to the
current bar lines in the Time Ruler. You’ll see that the bar lines and
markers are almost aligned at the beginning of the tracks, but gradually
get farther out of sync as the track plays. Let’s fix the bar lines:
•

In the AudioSnap palette, make sure that the Align Time Ruler radio
button is selected.

AudioSnap
Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo

351

•

In the AudioSnap palette, click either the Move to Next Transient
button
or the Move to Previous Transient button
as many
times as necessary to move the Now Time to the first transient
marker (or press Tab, and Shift+Tab).

•

Click the Set Measure/Beat at Now button to open the Measure/
Beat Meter dialog (or press Ctrl+ M).

•

In the Measure/Beat Meter dialog, enter 2 in the Measure field, and
1 in the Beat field, and click OK. SONAR attempts to guess the
correct measure/beat, so you usually can just click OK to accept
the default values.

The bar line of measure 2 should now line up with the first transient in
the drum clip:

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AudioSnap
Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo

6. Now click the Move to Next Transient button
3 times (or press Tab 3
times; Shift+Tab moves in the other direction) to move the Now Time to
where the hi-hat starts up:

7. Click the Set Measure/Beat at Now button to open the Measure/Beat
Meter dialog, enter 3 in the Measure field, and 1 in the Beat field, and
click OK.
The bar line at measure 3 now lines up with the transient marker.

8. Now you can click the Move to Next Transient button
(or press Tab)
enough times to move to the transient where you want the next
measure to line up, click the Set Measure/Beat At Now button (or press
Ctrl+M, even if the AudioSnap palette is not visible), and continue in
similar fashion until all the measures line up.

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Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo

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9. After you have set the measures the way you want them, open the
Tempo view (Alt+9) click the Tempo List button
, and take a look at
the Tempo list to see what tempo adjustments AudioSnap has made:

10. The tempo list shows that your tempo map is fairly smooth, so you
could probably leave it the way it is.
Play back the tracks and see how the bar lines conform to the clips.
So far, no audio has been stretched—only the project’s tempo has been
changed to accommodate the audio clips. If you wanted to completely
smooth out the tempo, however, you could right-click the bass clip and use
the AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable command, then select both clips, and
click the AudioSnap Auto Stretch button
in the AudioSnap palette. This
will enable the 2 clips to conform to any new tempo changes you introduce,
stretching the clips to conform to the new tempo.
Let’s smooth out the tempo of this project:
1. Right-click the bass clip, choose the AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable
command (or select the clip and press F12).
2. Select both clips, and click the AudioSnap Auto Stretch button
AudioSnap palette (or press Alt+F12).

in the

The AudioSnap icon in both clips displays the Auto Stretch arrow icon
to show that the clips are Auto Stretch-enabled:

3. Now, in the Tempo List of the Tempo view, let’s drag through all the
tempo changes except the first one to select them:

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4. And press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the selected
tempo changes.
The two AudioSnap-enabled clips stretch to fit the new tempo. Now that you
have stretched the clips, you may have changed the sound somewhat. You
could make up for that by “rendering” them (bouncing to track), and
choosing a high-quality stretching algorithm to use during the rendering
process. See “Algorithms and Rendering” on page 386 for more
information. For more information about the Set Measure/Beat At Now
Command, see “The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command” on page 405.
Let’s look at AudioSnap’s other tempo command, the Extract Timing
command:

Extract Timing Tutorial
AudioSnap’s Extract Timing command does not stretch or alter your audio
clips in any way—it only adjusts your project’s tempo to your audio.
This command works best when the markers in your clips are very regular,
and need little or no editing. Then you can use the command, and instantly
set your project’s tempo to conform to the clip. If the audio material doesn't
have steady beats (if it has skipped beats, syncopated rhythm, etc.), the Set
Measure/Beat At Now command may produce better results.
Let’s try out the Extract Timing command with one of our tutorial files:
1. Open a new project.
2. If you’re not working with a new project, it’s very important that there are
not already many tempo changes near the same locations you plan to
add new tempo changes. Either start a new project, or at least clear the
tempo map:
•

pen the Tempo view (Alt+9) click the Tempo List button
display the Tempo list.

AudioSnap
Aligning Measure Lines and Tempo

355

•

Drag through all the tempo changes except the first one to select
them:

•

And press the Delete key on your keyboard to delete the selected
tempo changes.

3. Use the File-Import Audio command, and navigate to the Tutorials
folder in the folder where you installed SONAR.
4. Select the AUDIOSNAP1.WAV file, and click Open.
The AUDIOSNAP1.WAV file appears as an audio clip in Track 1 of your
project at beat 1.
5. Enable AudioSnap on the audio clip: right-click the clip and choose
AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable from the popup menu (or select the
clip and press F12).
The AudioSnap icon and transient markers appear on the clip, and the
AudioSnap palette appears.

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6. Let’s zoom in a little so we can see all the markers on the clip. Markers
gradually disappear as you zoom out from a clip--markers that aren’t
showing are represented by an ellipsis next to a marker that is showing.

7. The clip has transient markers for every cymbal hit, but if we want to
synchronize the project tempo to this clip, we should disable all the
markers except the ones on the downbeats. Do that by dragging the
Threshold slider in the AudioSnap palette until the markers at softer
transients are disabled.

Drag the slider so that the clip looks like the above picture. Notice that
only the markers at the loudest transients retain their original
appearance. The disabled markers display only the head of each
marker, and in a different color.

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357

8. Now that only the four markers at the four downbeats in the clip remain,
you can extract the timing, and automatically change your project
tempo to the tempo of the clip: in the AudioSnap palette, select the
Align to Time Ruler radio button, then click the Extract Timing button.

Now the beats in the Time Ruler line up with the markers, and project
tempo should now be approximately 110. When you align project tempo to
an audio clip, the clip is not changed in any way. If you want to smooth out
the tempo map after AudioSnap has made some tempo changes, you can
set your audio clip to follow any new tempo changes by selecting the clip,
enabling the Auto Stretch button
in the AudioSnap palette (or pressing
Alt+F12), and then smoothing out the tempo map.

Fixing Timing Errors
AudioSnap gives you a lot of ways to fix timing errors in audio clips:

358

•

You can drag individual markers or groups of markers to new positions.
This gives you complete control over where each transient ends up, but
can be tedious.

•

You can quantize to a particular note resolution. This can be a very
quick way to fix a clip, if your markers are fairly close to where you want
them to end up.

•

You can quantize to another clip’s markers, by adding that clip’s
markers to the “Pool,” and then quantizing to the Pool. The Pool is the
set of transients that govern the rhythm/groove of the song/project.

•

You can slip-stretch the clip, to make it fit a larger or smaller block of
time. This is a very quick way to adjust a clip that has good timing, but
whose tempo may be a little different from the project you want to use it
in.

•

You can combine techniques: slip-stretch a clip to fit a new tempo, then
quantize or drag any markers that are out of sync.

AudioSnap
Fixing Timing Errors

Let’s import a short clip that has some timing errors, and try out several
ways to fix them.

Slip-stretching Tutorial

1. Let’s import the CYM100.WAV file into a new project: open a new project,
make sure the tempo is 100, and use the File-Import Audio command
to locate the CYM100.WAV file. This file is part of the SONAR 6.2
download or disc, and is located in the Tutorials folder on the disc.
2. After you’ve imported the clip, right-click the clip, and choose
AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable from the popup menu.
3. The beats in the clip all occur before the corresponding bar lines. The
performance for this clip may have been rushed, or it may have been
recorded at a slightly higher tempo than the project.
Beat 2

Beat 3

Beat 4

4. Let’s slip-stretch the clip to make the end of it reach bar 2:
•

Press Shift+ N to open the Snap to Grid dialog, and on the Clips tab
make sure that Musical Time is enabled, and that Measure is
highlighted in the right-hand menu. Also make sure that Move To is
chosen in the Mode section. You can also set Magnetic Strength to
Off.

•

Hold down the Ctrl key, move your mouse cursor over the end of
the clip until the cursor changes into the slip-stretch icon , and
drag the end of the clip to the measure 2 bar line, and release the
mouse.

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359

5. Your clip should now look like this, with the amount that you stretched it,
“102%,” displayed at the lower right corner.
Beat 3

Stem of Beat 3’s marker

6. The markers at beats 2 and 4 line up well with the bar lines now. The
marker at beat 3 is a little early, still, so let’s do a quick fix: press N to
turn off the Snap to Gird, then drag the stem of beat 3’s marker to the
right just enough to line up with the bar line at beat 3.
The marker moves, and stretches the audio on both sides of it, between
the preceding and following markers. Notice that the marker’s
appearance has changed also: the diamond shape is filled in, and an
arrow on one side indicates which way the audio was stretched.
Beat 3’s marker

Play the clip and listen to the timing. It might be acceptable the way it is, or
you might want more precise time correction. Let’s try a different method of
error correction: quantizing.

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Quantizing Tutorial

Beat 3

Beat 4

4. The AudioSnap quantize command is a relatively quick way to edit all
the markers in this clip:

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Fixing Timing Errors

361

•

Each beat in this clip has 3 cymbal hits in it. They occur at the start
of the beat, half-way through the beat (at the 8th note, or upbeat),
and just before the next beat (a 16th note triplet just before the
beat). We can only quantize to one rhythmic value at a time, so we
need to disable some transient markers so that the quantize
command doesn’t move them to a rhythmic placement where they
don’t belong. Because the last hit in each beat is a little softer than
the other hits, we can drag the Threshold slider in the AudioSnap
palette to disable these markers. Drag it to the right just past the
40% reading, until every 3rd marker is disabled, and your clip looks
like this:

•

Now we only have active markers on the downbeats and upbeats.
We can quantize to an 8th note resolution:

•

Make sure the clip is still selected, and in the AudioSnap palette, in
the Task section, choose the Quantize radio button, and then in the
Actions section, click the Quantize button:
opens the Quantize dialog.

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. This

•

In the Duration menu, choose Eighth, and in the Change section,
enable AudioSnap Beats. For this demo, we won’t edit the other
options. Click OK to close the dialog.

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Fixing Timing Errors

363

5. Now the active markers are located an exact 8th note distance apart.
The audio at the disabled markers moves also, because that audio is
now part of the audio slice between two active markers. The clip should
now look like this:

Play the clip. The timing is probably acceptable the way it is, but you
can quantize the 16th note triplets now, if you want:
•

Re-enable all the markers by dragging the Threshold slider all the
way to the left (0%). Now that the downbeats and upbeats are
safely quantized, we can quantize to a smaller resolution without
worrying that the downbeats and upbeats will end up in the wrong
place:

•

. This

In the Duration menu, choose Sixteenth Triplet, and in the Change
section, enable AudioSnap Beats. Click OK.

The 16th note triplets move to the correct placement. Listen to the clip for
both rhythm and sound quality. If stretching the clip has altered the sound
too much, you can bounce the clip to another track, and use a higherquality stretching algorithm while you do. See “Algorithms and Rendering”
on page 386 for more information.
You may not want to quantize a clip this completely, but you usually can if
you want to. Occasionally, you may move a marker as far as it can go, in
which case the marker appears red. This could happen when the marker is
moved anywhere from 25 to 200%; the range depends on characteristics of
the underlying audio data.

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AudioSnap
Fixing Timing Errors

Synchronizing Clips
A common problem arises when two or more clips aren’t quite in sync with
each other. You can fix this with AudioSnap if the sync errors aren’t huge.
The AudioSnap command that is most helpful in this situation is the
Quantize to Pool command. The way it works is you decide which clip has
the correct rhythm, you add that clip’s markers to the Pool, and then you
quantize the other clip’s markers to the Pool. If you don’t want such a oneto-one correspondence between the two clips’ markers, instead of
quantizing to the Pool, you could drag some but not all of the second clip’s
markers to line up with the Pool. Because AudioSnap is non-destructive,
you can undo your edits, and try things both ways if time permits.

Quantizing to Pool Tutorial
1. Open a new project, and set the tempo to 130.
2. Use the File-Import Audio command, and navigate to the Tutorials
folder in the folder where you installed SONAR.
3. Select (Ctrl+click) both Hi Hat 16THS 130.WAV, and KICK 8THS 130.WAV,
and click Open.
The two clips appear on separate tracks: Track 1 and Track 2 at beat 1.

4. Play the project, and listen to the timing. The kick drum is a little rushed
on the upbeats.
5. Enable AudioSnap on both clips by selecting them, and then rightclicking one of the clips and choosing AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable
from the popup menu.
The AudioSnap icon and transient markers appear on the clips, and the
AudioSnap palette appears.

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365

6. Let’s zoom in a little so we can see all the markers on the clips.

7. In the cymbal clip, because the loudest transients are on the upbeats,
AudioSnap is not detecting the small transients on the beginnings of
each beat (see the 3 circled areas). The decay from the loud transients
is masking it.
Since we’re going to quantize the kick drum clip to the cymbal clip, we
need markers at these locations:
8. Disable the Snap to Grid button, and click the cymbal clip just before
the place where the first marker needs to be (the first circled area),
which is approximately at beat 2 of the measure:

Click the left edge of the circled ares to place the Now Time

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9. Add a transient at this location by clicking the Insert Transient Marker
button
in the AudioSnap palette (or press Ctrl+Alt+I). Your clips
should then look like this:

New marker

10. Add transients at the two other circled locations:
Add markers here and here

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367

11. Your clips should now look like this:

The markers you added display the square diamond head shape to
show that they were added manually.
12. Let’s filter out (disable) the 16th note transients in the cymbal part so
that we can quantize to only downbeats and upbeats (quarter notes and
eighth notes):
We can’t reliably use the Sensitivity slider on the cymbal clip, because
we haven’t quantized the clip. We also can’t reliably use the Threshold
slider to disable the softer transients, because the transients on the 8th
notes have the same volume level as the transients on the 16th notes.
What we can do is manually disable the transients on the 16th notes:
•

To select the transients, hold down the Ctrl key, and click the middle
transient in each group of 3, so that your clip looks like this:

Selected markers are blue

•

Now right-click one of the selected markers, and choose Disable
from the popup menu (or press Ctrl+Alt+D).

13. Now add the markers in the cymbal clip to the Pool, so we’ll have
something to quantize to:

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•

With only the cymbal clip selected, click the Add Transients to Pool
button
in the AudioSnap palette (or Ctrl+click the clip’s
AudioSnap icon, or press Ctrl+F12).

The markers in the cymbal clip create lines across the Clips pane, and
also in the kick drum clip:

Pool lines

14. Notice that there are no Pool lines where the disabled markers in the
cymbal clip are. Now you can quantize the kick drum clip to the Pool:
•

Select the kick drum clip.

•

Enable the Quantize to Pool radio button in the AudioSnap palette.

•

In the Max Distance to Pool menu, leave the default value of
Quarter selected (all the kick drum clip’s markers are within a
quarter note’s distance from Pool markers), leave the Quantize
Window and Quantize Strength sliders at 100%, and click the
Quantize to Pool button

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369

The markers in the kick drum clip now line up with the Pool markers:

Play the clips and listen to the timing. The kick drum clip is now in sync with
the cymbal clip.

Doubling Sounds
AudioSnap’s Extract Groove-Copy As MIDI Notes command makes it easy
to double or replace sounds in an audio clip, or to notate the rhythm of an
audio clip.
Let’s try it out:
1. Open a new project, and set the tempo to 130.
2. Use the File-Import Audio command, and navigate to the Tutorials
folder in the folder where you installed SONAR.
3. Select KICK 8THS 130.WAV, and click Open. Your clip should look like
this:

370

AudioSnap
Doubling Sounds

4. Select the clip, press F12 (the default shortcut) to enable AudioSnap
and open the AudioSnap palette.
5. Now let’s copy this clip as MIDI notes:
•

With the clip still selected, click the AudioSnap Options button
in the AudioSnap palette to open the AudioSnap Options dialog.

•

In the dialog, in the Convert to MIDI Note field, choose C3. This is
the note most drum synths use for the bass drum. If your favorite
synth uses a different note, choose it now. Click OK to close the
dialog.

•

With the clip still selected, click the Add Transients to Pool button
in the AudioSnap palette.

•

Enable the Extract Groove radio button in the AudioSnap palette,
then click the Copy As MIDI Notes button
adds the extracted groove to the Windows clipboard.

. This

6. Now you can paste the clipboard into a MIDI track:
•

Click the track number of a MIDI track to select it.

•

Move the Now Time to the measure where you want the data (we’ll
use measure 1). Tip: if you want the MIDI notes to align perfectly
with the audio data, press F7 to move the Now time to the
beginning of the selected audio clip.

•

Press Ctrl+V to paste the data. Your clips should look like this:

7. The MIDI notes are all the same pitch, and the tails of the preceding
ones are reaching the following ones, so you can’t see the actual

AudioSnap
Doubling Sounds

371

rhythm. Let’s select the MIDI clip, and use the Process-Length
command to open the Length dialog. In the Length dialog, disable the
Start Times checkbox, enable the Duration checkbox, and type 50 in
the Percent field. Click OK to close the dialog. Then click the PRV
Mode button in the MIDI track (you can see the rhythm if you enable
the Inline Piano Roll view and zoom in).
Your clips should look like this:

You can see that the MIDI rhythm matches the audio, with the exact same
(sloppy) timing as the audio clip.
Now you can use the MIDI clip to drive a drum synth.

Changing a Project’s Tempo
Changing a whole project’s tempo is simple with AudioSnap, if the tempo
change is not drastic. After you change the tempo, you may want to bounce
some or all of the tracks to new tracks with the Radius algorithms to correct
any unwanted change to each track’s sound.
Let’s try it:
1. Use the File-Open command to open Tutorial5.cwb from your Tutorials
folder.
2. Use the Edit-Select All command.
3. Press F12 to enable AudioSnap on all the clips and open the
AudioSnap palette.
4. Zoom in (or press F) to get a better look at your clips.

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Changing a Project’s Tempo

Your project should look something like this:

5. With all clips still selected, enable the Auto Stretch button
AudioSnap palette.
All the clips display the Auto Stretch icon

in the

, and will now conform to

any new or future tempo changes.

6. In the User1 toolbar, or the Tempo toolbar, click the tempo value
, type 110, and press Enter.
All the tracks stretch to conform to the new tempo. Listen to the project as a
whole, and also solo each track to hear how different the sound is after
stretching. The bass track has the most problems. You could bounce it to
track and choose a Radius algorithm, or you might have to re-record this
part. The other tracks survive the tempo change pretty well, and could be
bounced with an appropriate algorithm and still be usable.

Snapping Edits to Audio Beats
The Snap to Grid dialog has an Audio Transients checkbox on the Clips tab
that allows you to snap edits in the Clips pane to Pool lines. You can toggle
this checkbox on and off from the AudioSnap palette by clicking the Snap to
Transients button
(or pressing Ctrl+Atl+N). The same checkbox is on
the PRV tab of the Snap to Grid dialog, but the Snap to Transients button
does not toggle that checkbox.
Here’s how to use the feature:

AudioSnap
Snapping Edits to Audio Beats

373

To Snap to Audio Transients

1. Enable AudioSnap on the clip whose rhythm you want to snap to
(select the clip and press F12).
2. Open the Snap to Grid dialog (Shift+N), and enable the Audio
Transients checkbox on the Clips tab and/or the PRV Mode tab.
Deselect Musical Time and all other options.

3. Click your AudioSnap-Enabled clip to make sure it is selected, and then
enable the Add Transients to Pool button
on the AudioSnap palette
to display the clip’s transients in the Pool. Make sure that the Show
Pool button

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in the AudioSnap palette is also enabled.

AudioSnap
Snapping Edits to Audio Beats

4. In this example, we’re using the Inline Piano Roll view: to enable it, click
the MIDI track’s PRV Mode button . Zoom in enough to see where the
edits need to be. Make sure that the Audio Transients checkbox on the
PRV Mode tab of the Snap to Grid dialog is enabled.

These notes don’t line up with the pool

5. Drag the misaligned data to line up with the Pool lines. The dragged
data will snap to the Pool lines.

AudioSnap
Snapping Edits to Audio Beats

375

Splitting Beats into Clips
Clicking the Split Beats Into Clips button
on the AudioSnap palette
splits a selected AudioSnap-enabled clip into new clips starting at every
enabled transient marker. The main reason you might want to do this is to
align a clip with a new tempo or quantize it, without stretching the audio.
Once you split a clip at its transients, you can move the new clips by
dragging or quantizing so that they are aligned the way you want them to
be. The advantage is that moving clips instead of transient markers does
not stretch any audio, so that the original sound quality is unchanged. The
possible disadvantage is that you can create gaps between the new clips
when you move them. However, the Quantize, Groove Quantize, and Fade
Selected Clips dialogs all have an option to automatically fill in the gaps.
This is the “Fill Gaps, XFade between Audio Clips” option in the Fade
Selected Clips dialog, and is the “Auto XFade Audio Clips” option in the
Quantize and Groove Quantize dialogs. Filling the gaps is accomplished
automatically by “rolling out” the first clip’s right edge and the second clip’s
left edge to create a crossfade. This option will often be used when
quantizing drum parts, which results in smooth-sounding audio without
introducing phase problems.
When you align clips on multiple tracks, it is necessary to split and/or
quantize all clips at the exact same position in order to avoid phase
problems. In order to do so, it is necessary to establish a common, or

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Splitting Beats into Clips

master, transient pool all tracks can reference. The Apply AudioSnap Pool
Transient Markers command will use the transient pool as a reference,
and insert identical transient markers on all selected clips.
You can then use the Split Clip(s) at AudioSnap Pool command to split
clips at Pool lines. For step-by-step instructions, see the following
procedures:

To Add Markers at Pool Lines

1. Make sure that the Pool contains markers from at least one clip, or from
the Time Ruler.
2. Select the clips that you want to add markers to.
3. Right-click a selected clip, and choose AudioSnap-Apply AudioSnap
Pool Transient Markers from the popup menu.
Markers appear on the selected clips at Pool lines.
Note: if a selected clip is not AudioSnap-enabled, choosing the Apply
AudioSnap Pool Transient Markers command will automatically enable
AudioSnap for the clip.

To Split a Clip at Pool Lines

1. Make sure that the Pool contains transients from at least one clip, or
from the Time Ruler (see “The Pool” on page 399 for more information).
2. Select the clip(s) that you want to split. The clips do not have to be
AudioSnap-enabled, and Pool lines do not have to be showing.
3. Right-click one of the selected clips, and choose Split Clip(s) at
AudioSnap Pool from the popup menu.
The selected clips split at the Pool lines.

To Split a Clip, Quantize It, and Fill In the Gaps

1. The following picture shows a clip whose transient markers don’t line up
with the measure lines:

AudioSnap
Splitting Beats into Clips

377

2. If we quantize it, the audio will stretch and we may or may not like the
resulting sound. Let’s try splitting it, and quantizing the clips instead of
the transients: click the Split Beats Into Clips button
on the
AudioSnap palette. The clip splits at the transients, and only the first
new clip is still selected:

3. Let’s quantize the clips: drag through the clips to select them, make
sure that the Quantize radio button is selected in the AudioSnap
palette, and click the Quantize button
AudioSnap palette. The Quantize dialog appears:

in the

4. Make sure that Audio Clip Start Times is selected, and that (for this
example) Sixteenth is selected in the Duration field. Leave the Auto
XFade Audio Clips option unchecked for now, and click OK. Let’s zoom
in and look at the quantized clips:

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Splitting Beats into Clips

5. The start of each clip now lines up where we want it to, but there are
gaps between some of the clips. Let’s undo what we just did (press
Ctrl+Z), and quantize again. This time, however we will enable the Auto
XFade Audio Clips option in the Quantize dialog, and click OK:

Crossfades

6. Where the gaps were between clips, we now see crossfades. The
default length of the crossfade is 20 milliseconds, but you can change
that by entering a number in the XFade ms field in
the dialog.
7. If you don’t want wide gaps to be filled in, you can enter a number of up
to 200 milliseconds in the Max Gap field. Any gap that is wider than the
number in this field will not be filled in.
If we wanted to drag the clips to new locations instead of quantizing them,
we could fix any resulting gaps by selecting the clips that have gaps, and
using the Process-Fade Selected Clips command.
The Fade Selected Clips dialog has the Fill Gaps, XFade between Audio
Clips radio button, the XFade ms field, and the Max
Gap field.

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Splitting Beats into Clips

379

To Fill in Gaps with the Fade Selected Clips Command
1. Select the clips that have gaps you want to fill.

2. Use the Process-Fade Selected Clips command to open the Fade
Selected Clips dialog.
3. Enable the XFade between Audio Clips radio button, and set any
options you want in the XFade ms field, and Max
Gap field.
4. Click OK.

Fixing Multiple Tracks While
Maintaining Phase Relationships
When you fix timing errors in multi-tracked drum parts, you will frequently
need to adjust all the drum parts in exactly the same way, because drum
parts often contain “bleed”—the sound of other drums in the track of the
drum that you are trying to record. For example, if your snare mic also picks
up some of the hi-hat sound, you can’t move hi-hat clips around without
also moving the snare clips in exactly the same way, because if you don’t,
the sound of the hi-hat in the hi-hat track will conflict with the sound of the
hi-hat in the snare track.
AudioSnap’s Add Transients to Pool command and Split Beats into Clips
command allow you to slice your drum tracks at identical locations, so you
can then drag or quantize whole clips without stretching any audio. This
method of aligning clips does not change the phase relationships between
the clips, as long as you move all the clips identically.

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Let’s take a look at some multi-tracked drum parts, and see how to quantize
them all in exactly the same way.
1. The following project uses 10 mics, including room mics and overhead
mics:

2. Let’s create a guide track to serve as a master timing reference: select
all the tracks, use the Edit-Bounce to Tracks command, select Main
Outputs in the Source Category field in the Bounce to Tracks dialog,
and click OK.
The new guide track looks like this:

Guide track

3. Now:
•

Edit the transients in the guide track (use the Threshold slider,
disable some transients, move others, etc.) so that there are no
extraneous transients.

AudioSnap
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase

381

•

Use the Set Measure/Beat At Now command to align measure
lines with the guide track, and establish a tempo map.

The project’s measure lines line up with the transients in the guide
track:

4. Select the guide track, and click the Add Transients To Pool button
in the AudioSnap palette. Now the Pool lines are aligned with the
transients in the guide track:

382

AudioSnap
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase

5. Let’s split the tracks at the transient markers:
•

Select all the drum tracks except the guide track.

•

Right-click a selected clip, and choose Split Clips at AudioSnap
Pool from the popup menu.

The clips split at the Pool lines:

AudioSnap
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase

383

The room mics and overhead mics are much farther from the drums
than the close mics, so the transients in their tracks occur a little later
than the close mic tracks. However, the transients in the guide track
begin at the transients in the earliest tracks (the close mic tracks), so
when you split clips at the guide track transients, you don’t cut off any of
the other transients.
6. Now we can quantize all the clips at the same time. Let’s quantize this
example to eighth notes:

384

•

Select all the clips that you want to quantize.

•

Use the Process-Quantize command to open the Quantize dialog.

•

In the Duration field, choose Eighth (for this example).

•

Make sure that the AudioSnap Beats checkbox is disabled, and
that the Audio Clip Start Times checkbox is enabled:

AudioSnap
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase

•

Also make sure that the Auto XFade Audio Clips checkbox is
enabled, and the XFade and Max Gap values are set at their
default values, and click OK:

After some processing time, the clip start times move to the eighth note
boundaries:

7. Some clips now overlap, and some clips have small gaps between
them. Because the Auto XFade Audio Clips checkbox was enabled,
and the XFade and Max Gap values were set at their default values,
crossfades have been automatically added between clips, and any
gaps that were smaller than the Max Gap value have been filled in.
Let’s zoom in to take a closer look:

AudioSnap
Fixing Multiple Tracks While Maintaining Phase

385

Crossfades

Now the clips line up with eighth note boundaries, no audio has been
stretched, and phase relationships have been maintained.

Algorithms and Rendering
When you stretch an AudioSnap-enabled audio clip, AudioSnap uses a
particular formula, or algorithm, to stretch the audio. The best algorithms
take the most computing time and power to complete, so if AudioSnap
always used the best available algorithms (the iZotope Radius algorithms),
you would not be able to play back your clip in a reasonable amount of time
to listen to the timing. That’s why you can choose a quick algorithm for
“online” rendering (real-time playback), and a different algorithm for
“offline” or non-real-time rendering. Offline rendering in an AudioSnap
context usually means bouncing to track, but it also refers to other offline
processes such as freezing tracks and applying effects. When you do any
of these mixdown operations such as bouncing, exporting, or freezing,
AudioSnap-enabled clips use the offline rendering algorithm you have
chosen for them.
Typical algorithm choices for an AudioSnap session work like this:

386

•

Do your AudioSnap time stretching, error correction, etc., with a quick
algorithm: choose either Percussion or GrooveClip.

•

After your AudioSnap editing is finished, bounce to track with a better
algorithm: choose one of the Radius choices, or for drum tracks,

AudioSnap
Algorithms and Rendering

Percussion is usually the best choice.
The following table describes the available algorithms:

Algorithm...

Description…

GrooveClip

Good all-around algorithm to use while
stretching audio

Percussion

Gives a better sound on percussion clips while
stretching audio

iZotope Radius Mix

Best all-around choice when bouncing to track
with audio clips that contain a mix of different
sounds

iZotope Radius Solo

Best choice when bouncing to track with audio
clips of a solo instrument. Although a guitar

is a "solo" instrument, if you play chords
instead of single notes you may want to
select "Radius Mix" instead.

Tip: if a clip/track contains a mixture of
polyphonic and monophonic parts, you may
wish to split the parts into separate clips and
experiment with different algorithms for each
clip.
iZotope Radius Solo (Bass)

Best choice when bouncing to track with audio
clips of a bass instrument

iZotope Radius Solo (Vocal)

Best choice when bouncing to track with audio
clips of a solo voice

To Choose Default Algorithms
1. Click the AudioSnap Options button
open the AudioSnap Options dialog.

in the AudioSnap palette to

2. To choose a default online algorithm, find the Online menu in the
Default Stretch Algorithm section. Choose one of the options.
3. To choose a default offline algorithm, find the Offline Rendering menu
in the Default Stretch Algorithm section. Choose one of the options.

AudioSnap
Algorithms and Rendering

387

4. Click OK to accept your changes.
Every AudioSnap-enabled clip that you stretch or bounce uses the settings
you choose for default stretch algorithms, except clips that you choose
individual settings for. You can choose algorithms for individual clips:

To Choose Algorithms for an Individual Clip

1. Right-click the clip, and choose Clip Properties from the popup menu
(or select the clip and press Alt+Enter).
2. In the Clip Properties dialog, click the Audio Stretching tab.
3. To choose an online algorithm, find the Online Algorithm menu in the
AudioSnap section. Choose one of the options.
4. To choose an offline algorithm, find the Offline Rendering Algorithm
menu in the AudioSnap section. Choose one of the options.
5. Click OK to accept your changes.

To Bounce an AudioSnap-enabled Clip
1. Select the clip you want to bounce.

2. Use the Edit-Bounce to Tracks command to open the Bounce to
Tracks dialog.
3. In the Destination field, choose the track where you want your new
audio clip to go.
4. In the Source Category field, choose Tracks.
5. Choose the Channel Format and Dithering options you want.
6. Enable all the options in the Mix Enables section.
7. Click OK.

Enabling AudioSnap
AudioSnap commands only work with AudioSnap-enabled clips. Enabling
AudioSnap on a clip doesn’t change the clip or the project in any way—it
only allows AudioSnap editing to be done on the clip.
You can enable or disable AudioSnap on single or multiple clips.

To Enable or Disable AudioSnap

1. If you’re enabling or disabling multiple clips, first select them.

388

AudioSnap
Enabling AudioSnap

2. Right-click a clip and choose AudioSnap-AudioSnap Enable from the
popup menu (or select the clip and press F12).
The clip or clips display their transient markers, and show the AudioSnap
clip icon when AudioSnap is enabled (see icon examples, below).

To Hide or Show Transient Markers
•

Click the AudioSnap icon (see examples below), or click the Show
Transient Markers button
in the AudioSnap palette.

The AudioSnap icon appears on clips that are AudioSnap-enabled, and has
the following states:

Icon style...

Description…

Red

Normal/default: AudioSnap is enabled, but no
transients have been stretched

Green border

AudioSnap is enabled, and some audio has
been stretched

Red on purple

AudioSnap is enabled, and clip is included in
the pool

Arrow

Auto Stretch/Follow Tempo is enabled

Grey

Markers are hidden; AudioSnap is still
enabled. You can hide the markers by clicking
the icon when it is orange.

White

Markers are hidden and no transients are
stretched

Green

Markers are hidden and some transients are
stretched

Combinations of above

A clip can have combinations of the above
characteristics

AudioSnap
Enabling AudioSnap

389

The AudioSnap Palette
The AudioSnap palette appears when you right-click a clip and choose
AudioSnap-AudioSnap Palette from the popup menu, or use the
Process-AudioSnap Palette command (default shortcut is Shift+A).
You can also use the AudioSnap toolbar (Views-Toolbars-AudioSnap
command) to access the main AudioSnap buttons in a smaller space.
Except for the AudioSnap enable/disable command, the AudioSnap
palette’s controls apply to the currently selected AudioSnap-enabled audio
clip or clips.
Snap to Transients
Insert Marker
Reset

Show Transients
Enable/
Disable
AudioSnap

Add Transients to
Pool
Auto Stretch

Split Beats
into Clips

Go to
Previous or
Next Marker
Audition
Beat

Show Time
(transient
location)
Show
Pool

Options

The AudioSnap palette has the following controls:

390

•

Enable/Disable AudioSnap—this button enables or disables AudioSnap
on selected audio clips. When AudioSnap is enabled on a clip, the clip
displays the AudioSnap Clip icon.

•

Show transients—this button shows or hides the transient markers on a
selected audio clip or clips.

•

Add transients to the Pool—this button adds or deletes the clip’s
transient markers from the Pool. The markers do not have to be visible
to be added to the Pool. See “The Pool” on page 399 for more
information.

•

Auto Stretch—this button enables or disables Auto Stretch (Follow
Tempo): a clip property that causes the audio clip to automatically

AudioSnap
The AudioSnap Palette

follow any new project tempo changes; the clip will not automatically
follow existing tempo as Groove Clips do.
•

Sensitivity—this slider is available when a clip’s transient markers are
showing. The slider disables markers based on their time location. This
clears out unwanted markers to make editing easier. Dragging the slider
to the right creates a bigger time window, based on musical time values,
which preserves markers that are closest to the displayed musical time
value, and disables others. Works on selected clips.

•

Threshold—this slider is available when a clip’s transient markers are
showing. The slider disables markers based on their volume. This
clears out unwanted markers to make editing easier. Dragging the slider
to the right creates a bigger volume threshold, which disables markers
that are fall below that threshold. Works on selected clips.

•

Go to Previous/Next Transient Marker—these 2 buttons move the Now
Time to the previous or next transient marker in selected clips.

•

Audition Beat—this button plays the current transient/beat.

•

Reset—this button resets all selected markers to their original location.
Tip: to select all transient markers in a clip, select the clip and press
Shift+Alt+A.

•

Insert Marker—this button inserts a new marker at the Now Time in all
selected AudioSnap-enabled clips.

•

Split Beats into Clips—this button splits a clip at each transient marker
into multiple clips.

•

Snap to Transients—this shortcut button enables/disables the Audio
Transients checkbox on the Clips tab of the Snap to Grid dialog. When
you’re dragging audio or MIDI data in the Clips pane or the Inline Piano
Roll, you can display the Pool, and your edits will snap to the Pool lines
if you enable the Audio Transients checkbox on the appropriate tab of
the Snap to Grid dialog. Note: When you move a marker, magnetic
snapping is active regardless of whether the Track view Snap to Grid is
enabled (unless you try to move a marker onto another marker in the
same clip, which isn’t allowed).

•

Show Pool—this button hides or shows the Pool lines.

•

Show Time—this button hides or shows the display of the project time
at each transient marker on all AudioSnap-enabled clips. You can
change the format that the displayed project time is in (independent of
the rest of the application) by using the dropdown menu that’s on the
side of this button.

AudioSnap
The AudioSnap Palette

391

•

Options—this button opens the AudioSnap Options button. This dialog
has its own help topic, which appears when you click its Help button.

•

Align Time Ruler—enabling this button displays the Set Measure/Beat
at Now button, the Extract Timing button, the Expected Pulse menu,
and the Find a Steady Rhythm check box. These tools change the
tempo of your project to fit the selected audio.

•

Set Measure/Beat at Now—this button opens the Measure Beat/
Meter dialog, which allows you to change the tempo so that a
certain measure or beat in a measure begins at the current Now
Time. The tempo will ramp up/down from the previous tempo
change in order to arrive at the required tempo.

•

Extract Timing—this button produces tempo changes so that the
transients in the selected audio will fall on the beats or parts of
beats that you choose in the Expected Pulse Duration menu.

•

Expected Pulse Duration—set a value in this menu to specify what
note duration the enabled transient markers are supposed to
represent.

•

Find a Steady Rhythm—if the clip has a steady rhythm whose
transients don’t all conform to a certain note duration, select the
note duration that describes the basic pattern, but also enable the
Find a Steady Rhythm check box. For example, if your clip is a
bass drum playing on every beat, but containing a short pickup
note before certain beats, this option can distinguish between the
sounds that are on the beat, and those that are pickups.

Quantize—this button displays the Quantize button and the Groove
Quantize button.
•

Quantize—this button opens the Quantize dialog, which has
options to quantize AudioSnap Beats and Audio Clip Start Times,
and also to set automatic crossfade options.

•

Groove Quantize—this button opens the Groove Quantize dialog,
which has an option to quantize AudioSnap Beats, and controls to
set automatic crossfade options.

Quantize to Pool—this button displays the Quantize to Pool button, the
Quantize Strength slider, and the Quantize Window slider.
•

392

Quantize to Pool—clicking this button quantizes the selected clips
to the Pool, using the settings from the Max Distance From Pool
menu, the Quantize Strength slider, and the Quantize Window
slider.

AudioSnap
The AudioSnap Palette

•

Max Distance From Pool dropdown menu—this value in this menu
determines which notes are affected by the Quantize to Pool
command. For example, if you choose Quarter in the menu, notes
that are farther than a quarter note from a Pool line are not
quantized.

•

Quantize Strength—this slider controls quantize strength, which
determines how closely the selected notes move to the Pool
markers.

•

Quantize Window—this slider fine tunes the value in the Max
Distance From Pool menu. A window of 100 percent includes all
markers that lie within the Max Distance From Pool value.

Extract Groove—this button displays the Save As Groove button and
the Copy As MIDI Notes button.
•

Save As Groove—this button opens the Define Groove dialog,
which lets you save the groove to a file. The groove can then be
applied to other AudioSnap-enabled clips or MIDI clips.

•

Copy As MIDI Notes—this button saves the selected audio as a
MIDI clip, which you can paste from the Clipboard into a MIDI track.
You select the MIDI note that the transients in the audio clip will be
converted to in the AudioSnap Options dialog, which opens when
you click the Options button.

Transient Markers
Transient markers show where the transients of a clip are (areas where the
level increases suddenly), and are used to edit the timing of AudioSnapenabled clips.

Displaying Markers
Transient markers appear on audio clips that are AudioSnap-enabled, and
that have the Show Transients button enabled on the AudioSnap palette.
To hide or show transient markers on a clip:
1. Select the clip; display the AudioSnap palette: right-clip the clip, and
choose AudioSnap-AudioSnap Palette from the popup menu.
2. Do one of the following:
•

In the AudioSnap palette, click the Show Transients button

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

393

Or
•

Click the AudioSnap icon that is on the clip.

Note: hiding the transient markers does not disable AudioSnap.

Zooming Out

When you zoom out in the Track view, markers gradually disappear. This
dynamic thinning ensures that the Clips pane never gets overwhelmed with
transient markers. An ellipsis (three dots) is displayed next to any marker
that is adjacent to any hidden markers. The ellipsis basically tells you that
there are more markers than you can currently see—zoom in to see them.

Disabling and Enabling Markers
It’s sometimes necessary to disable some of the markers so you can extract
a clearer groove, or snap or quantize data to only the more important
markers. Disabling markers is a way to thin the data so that it creates a
clearer time grid to work with. It also avoids stretching any transients that
you don’t want to stretch as a result of quantizing audio. Disabled markers
are not deleted, but are ignored by all AudioSnap functions. Only the head
of a disabled marker remains visible.
There are several ways to disable/enable the markers in a selected
AudioSnap-enabled clip:
•

The Sensitivity slider in the AudioSnap palette—this slider works by
disabling markers based on their time placement. Dragging the slider
to the right creates a larger time boundary, so that markers that fall
between the current time boundary that the slider defines are disabled.

•

The Threshold slider in the AudioSnap palette—this slider works by
disabling markers based on their volume. Dragging the slider to the
right creates a larger volume threshold, so that transients that fall below
the current volume threshold that the slider defines are disabled.

•

The Marker Menu—you can right-click a marker, and choose either the
Enable or Disable commands from the Marker menu.

•

Pressing Ctrl+Alt+D disables or re-enables all selected markers.

If you want to protect a marker from being disabled by the Sensitivity slider
or the Threshold slider, you can right-click the marker and enable the
Promote option from the Marker menu. You can also promote a disabled
marker to ensure that it never becomes enabled by the Sensitivity slider.

394

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

Marker Appearance
Each transient marker changes its appearance when it is selected, moved,
new, disabled, or has certain other characteristics.
Note: marker colors are configurable. The default colors may be different
from those listed below.
The following table lists the variations in appearance that a marker can
display:
Marker appearance...

Description…

Hollow diamond shape;
default color is orange; you
can change the default
colors in the Colors dialog:
Options-Colors command

Standard active marker

Blue

Selected

Grey; only the head of the
marker is visible

Disabled

Max stretch color

Any given transient can only be stretched or
shrunk to 25-400% of original length. The
marker head will dynamically change color to
indicate how close it is to the max stretch
position (red = cannot be stretched any
further).
Note: An important difference between
quantizing MIDI and audio is that two or more
audio transients can never collapse on top of
each other like MIDI notes can.

Filled diamond shape with
arrow

Moved marker and stretched audio (a small
arrow within the marker head indicates in
which direction the audio has been stretched)

Filled diamond shape without
arrow

Moved marker without stretched audio

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

395

Square shape

Promoted marker; a promoted marker is never
disabled by the Sensitivity slider or the
Threshold slider in the AudioSnap palette.

Pointed square

User marker: a manually added marker

Combinations of above

Markers can have multiple characteristics, for
example, promoted and stretched.

Editing Markers
Most AudioSnap commands edit your markers automatically as a result of
an editing operation, but sometimes you’ll get the best results by editing the
markers manually.
You can drag a marker from either the head or the stem of the marker, with
the following results:

To Drag a Marker Without Stretching Audio
•

Set a Snap to Grid value, then drag the head of a marker. This is useful
if SONAR didn't automatically place the marker at the desired location.
Note: you cannot move the head of a marker that has been stretched.
Head
Stem

To Drag a Marker and Stretch Audio
•

Set a Snap to Grid value, then drag the stem of a marker.

When you drag and drop the stem of a marker, the marker moves to the
place where you drop it, and the audio that is located between the
preceding marker and the following marker stretches. Note: there is a limit
to how far audio can be stretched.
You can find additional marker editing commands on the marker menu.

396

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

To Select Markers
•

To select a single marker, click it.

•

When you double-click a marker, markers on all AudioSnap-enabled
clips that fall within the same time window as the double-clicked marker
become selected. You can set a value for the Pool Transient Window in
the AudioSnap Options dialog, which opens when you click the
AudioSnap Options button
on the AudioSnap palette.

•

To select multiple markers, Ctrl+click individual markers, or if the
markers are contiguous, click the first marker and Shift+click the last
marker.

•

To select all markers in a clip, right-click the clip and choose
AudioSnap-Select-All from the popup menu (or select the clip and
press Shift+Alt+A).

•

To deselect all selected markers in a clip, click within the clip
boundaries away from any markers, or right-click the clip and choose
AudioSnap-Select-None from the popup menu (or press Shift+Alt+C
to clear the selection).

•

To select all markers of a certain type in a clip, right-click the clip and
choose from the following options from the popup menu:
•

AudioSnap-Select-Moved

•

AudioSnap-Select-Stretched

•

AudioSnap-Select-Disabled

•

AudioSnap-Select-Enabled

•

AudioSnap-Select-Promoted

•

AudioSnap-Select-User

Selecting all markers of a certain type makes it easy to perform operations
such as resetting only the stretched markers, or promoting only the disabled
markers, etc.

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

397

To Insert a Marker

1. Disable the Snap to Grid button if the place you need the marker is not
on a convenient snap location.
2. Select the AudioSnap-enabled clip or clips that need the marker.
3. Move the Now Time to the place where you want the marker.
4. Click the Insert Marker button
Ctrl+Alt+I).

in the AudioSnap palette (or press

The marker appears in the selected clip(s) and displays a pointed square at
the head to show that it is a manually created marker:

Note: you can also add markers at Pool lines with a single command. See
“To Add Markers at Pool Lines” on page 377.

Marker Menu
The marker menu appears when you right-click a marker. The command
you choose from this menu acts on the marker that you right-click, and
most commands also act on any markers that are selected. This menu
has the following commands:

398

Command...

Description…

Reset

Moves a marker back to its original position.
Shortcut for selected markers is Ctrl+Alt+R.

Disable

The marker is ignored. Shortcut for selected
markers is Ctrl+Alt+D.

Promote

By “promoting’ a marker, you can set
emphasis on certain beats and prevent the
marker from becoming disabled when you
adjust the Sensitivity or Threshold sliders.
Shortcut for selected markers is Ctrl+Alt+P.

AudioSnap
Transient Markers

Delete marker

Only available for manually added markers;
the command is greyed-out if you right-click an
automatically generated marker. Shortcut for
selected markers is Ctrl+Alt+Backspace.

Snap (stretch) to nearest transient

Moves marker to nearest Pool marker.

Snap (stretch) backward

Moves marker backward to nearest Pool
marker

Snap (stretch) forward

Moves marker forward to nearest Pool marker

Stretch to

Moves the marker to the project time that you
enter in the To Time field, and stretches the
audio that is between the previous and next
markers

Move to

Moves the marker to the project time that you
enter in the To Time field

Audition Beat

Auditions the clip up to the next marker.
Default shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar.

Split Beat

Splits the beat at the marker

AudioSnap Palette

Opens the AudioSnap Palette. Shortcut is
Shift+A to show (but not hide) the palette.

The Pool
The Pool is a collection of transient markers that can be extracted as a
groove, and also function as snap locations. In order to extract a groove, at
least one AudioSnap-enabled clip must belong to the Pool. You add clips to
the Pool by selecting them, and then enabling the Add Transients to the
Pool button in the AudioSnap palette. You can also Ctrl+click a clip’s
AudioSnap icon to either add the clip to the Pool, or remove it (or press
Ctrl+F12).
A transient marker that belongs to the pool is displayed in the Clips pane as
a solid line within the parent track, and as a dotted line outside the parent
track. Hovering the mouse over a dotted line will display a tooltip containing
the parent track and position. You can show or hide the dotted pool lines by
clicking the Show Pool button in the palette (or press Ctrl+Alt+F12).

AudioSnap
The Pool

399

Pool lines

Solid line
Dotted line
Tooltip

The Track view Time Ruler can be added to the Pool. To the right of the
Time Ruler is a small button that looks like an AudioSnap clip icon
.
Enabling this button adds the current Musical Time snap resolution to the
pool, and also displays dotted pool lines in the Clips pane. This can be
useful as either a basic visual guide, or for adding the Musical Time to an
extracted groove, or to fill in any transients that may be "missing" in a
syncopated or sparse section.

To Add a Clip’s Transients to the Pool
•

Select the an AudioSnap-enabled clip, and enable the Add Transients
to the Pool button
in the palette. You can remove a clip’s transients
from the Pool by disabling the button.

You can also add the AudioSnap clip to the pool from the Clip Properties
dialog, from the Clips pane right-click menu, or by pressing Ctrl+F12.

To Hide or Show the Pool
•

In the palette, click the Show Pool button
or press Ctrl+Alt+F12.
Transient markers on individual clips do not have to be visible to see
the Pool.

To Add the Time Ruler to the Pool

1. In the Snap to Grid dialog, set the Musical Time value to the resolution
you would like to add to the Pool.
2. Enable the Add Musical Snap to Transient Snap Pool button
at the right end of the Track view Time Ruler.

To Add Transient Markers at Pool Lines

that’s

1. Make sure that the Pool contains markers from at least one clip, or from
the Time Ruler.
2. Select the clips that you want to add markers to.

400

AudioSnap
The Pool

3. Right-click a selected clip, and choose AudioSnap-Apply AudioSnap
Pool Transient Markers from the popup menu.
Markers appear on the selected clips at Pool lines. When aligning clips on
multiple tracks, it is necessary to split and/or quantize all clips at the exact
same position in order to avoid phase problems when quantizing audio. In
order to do so, it is necessary to establish a common, or “master”, transient
reference pool which can be applied to all tracks. The Apply AudioSnap
Pool Transient Markers command will use the transient pool as a
reference, and insert identical transient markers on all selected clips.
Note 1: if a selected clip is not AudioSnap-enabled, choosing the Apply
AudioSnap Pool Transient Markers command will automatically enable
AudioSnap for the clip.
Note 2: adding markers at Pool lines can add a lot of markers to a clip. If
you later decide that you want to work with the clip’s original markers, you
can remove only the markers that you added by right-clicking the clip, and
choosing AudioSnap-Select-User from the popup menu, and then rightclick a selected marker, and choose Delete Marker from the popup menu.

Keyboard Shortcuts
All the AudioSnap features become much more efficient if you use keyboard
shortcuts. You can find the default AudioSnap keyboard shortcuts in the
online help under Help-Keyboard Shortcuts. Look for the AudioSnap
section.
AudioSnap shortcuts are also listed in the Key Bindings dialog (OptionsKey Bindings command): select Track View in the Bind Context menu of
the dialog to view or edit the default bindings.

AudioSnap
Keyboard Shortcuts

401

Groove Quantize and Quantize to Pool
You can use two kinds of groove quantizing on audio clips: the groove
quantize command aligns transients with a groove that’s on the Clipboard,
and the quantize to pool command aligns transients with the Pool.
When you use the groove quantize command, you can align a clip with a
pre-existing groove, or you can extract a groove from another clip.

To Extract a Groove
1. Select the clip that you want to extract a groove from.
2. Disable any transient markers that you want to exclude from the groove
(use the two sliders in the palette, or right-click the ones you want to
disable).
3. Add the clip’s markers to the Pool by enabling the Add Transients to
Pool button

while the clip is selected.

4. In the AudioSnap palette, click the Extract Groove radio button, which
displays the Save As Groove button.
5. Click the Save As Groove button. The Define Groove dialog appears.
6. In the File field, choose a file to save the pattern in, or type a name to
create a new file.
7. In the Pattern field, type a name for the pattern, and click OK.

To Groove Quantize an Audio Clip
1. Select the AudioSnap-enabled clip that you want to groove quantize.
2. In the AudioSnap palette, click the Quantize radio button, which
displays the Groove Quantize button.
3. Click the Groove Quantize button. The Groove Quantize dialog
appears.
4. In the Groove File field, select the file that the groove pattern you want
to use is saved in.
5. In the Groove Pattern field, select the groove pattern that you want to
use.
6. Select the Resolution value that you want to quantize to.
7. Make sure that the AudioSnap Beats check box is enabled.
8. Click OK.

402

AudioSnap
Groove Quantize and Quantize to Pool

To Quantize to the Pool

1. Select the AudioSnap-enabled clip or clips that you want to include in
the pool.
2. Disable any transient markers that you want to exclude from the Pool
(use the two sliders in the palette, or right-click the ones you want to
disable).
3. Make sure that the Add Transients to the Pool
Transients buttons

, and Show

are enabled in the palette.

4. Select the clip(s) that you want to quantize to the Pool.
5. In the AudioSnap palette, click the Quantize to Pool radio button, which
displays the Quantize to Pool button.
6. Choose a value in the Max Distance From Pool dropdown: this value
determines which notes are affected by the Quantize to Pool command.
For example, if you choose Quarter in the menu, notes that are farther
than a quarter note from a Pool line are not quantized.
7. Adjust the Quantize Strength and Quantize Window sliders, if
necessary. The Strength setting determines how closely selected notes
move to the resolution value, or “grid.” The Window value fine tunes the
value in the Max Distance From Pool menu. A value of 100 percent
quantizes every note that is within the Max Distance From Pool value.
8. Click the Quantize to Pool button.
The transients in the selected clips are quantized to the Pool.

AudioSnap
Groove Quantize and Quantize to Pool

403

Copying Audio Rhythms as MIDI
If you want to double an audio rhythm with a MIDI instrument, or align lyrics
with an audio rhythm, you can copy the audio rhythm as MIDI.

To Copy an Audio Rhythm as MIDI
1. Select the audio clip whose rhythm you want to copy, and make sure
AudioSnap is enabled.
2. Do any necessary quantizing, and disable any markers that you don’t
want to produce notes in the MIDI clip.
3. In the AudioSnap palette, click the Options button
AudioSnap Options dialog.

, which opens the

4. In the MIDI Extraction section, choose the MIDI note that you want the
extracted rhythm to use.
5. Choose a Note Velocities option: either accept the extrapolated
velocities in the audio clip (the Vary With Pulse Level option), or set a
constant velocity for the notes in the Set All To Same Value field, and
click OK.
6. In the AudioSnap palette, click the Extract Groove button, which
displays the Copy As MIDI Notes button.
7. Click the Copy As MIDI Notes button. This copies the audio rhythm to
the Clipboard as a MIDI clip, with the same pitch assigned to each note.
Now you can paste the Clipboard contents into the Clips pane, Piano Roll
view, or Staff view.

Adding Automation
If you have an automation envelope on a track, you can add nodes to the
envelope at Pool lines. This makes it easy to add special processing at
transient locations.

To Add Nodes at Transients

1. Make sure the clip’s markers belong to the Pool.
2. Right-click an automation envelope on the clip, and choose Add Nodes
at Transient Markers from the popup menu.
Now you can easily edit your envelope at transient locations.

404

AudioSnap
Copying Audio Rhythms as MIDI

The Set Measure/Beat At Now
Command
This command does not stretch audio. It works by adjusting tempo so that
measure lines line up with audio transients or MIDI data. If you have audio
tracks that were recorded without a metronome, and you need some
measure lines in your project in order to add MIDI, or to quantize to the
Time Ruler, this command can solve your problem.
The basic procedure for using the command is to move the Now Time to an
audio transient that should line up with a particular beat, or fraction of a
beat, and then fill in the measure and beat number in the Set Measure/Beat
At Now dialog. This feature can frequently guess the correct beat, so you
usually only need to click OK after you open the dialog. After you click OK,
the project tempo adjusts so that the measure/beat you want to see at that
point aligns properly.
Note 1: if the tempo adjustment at a particular point is out of range, an
“Invalid measure and/or beat” error message appears. It will instruct you to
remove some tempo entries in the Tempo view around the desired time, or
enter a correct measure and beat.
Note 2: because the Set Measure/Beat At Now command can also be used
with MIDI clips, if you have any existing MIDI clips in a project, and you
introduce tempo changes by using the Set Measure Beat At Now
command, the MIDI clips will not adjust to these tempo changes. The
intention of this command is to adjust measure lines to clips, not clips to
measure lines. If you want existing MIDI clips to retain their current M:B:T
positions, select the clips, right-click one of them, and choose Clip LockLock Position from the popup menu.

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

405

To Use the Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

1. Select the AudioSnap-enabled clip that you want to align measure lines
to (if you’re using a MIDI clip, see the procedure after this one).
2. In the AudioSnap palette, click either the Move to Next Transient button
or the Move to Previous Transient button
as many times as
necessary to move the Now Time to the first transient marker that you
want to align a measure line to (or press Tab, and Shift+Tab).

3. Click the Set Measure/Beat at Now button to open the Measure/Beat
Meter dialog (or press Ctrl+ M).

4. In the Measure/Beat Meter dialog, enter the desired measure number
in the Measure field, and the desired beat in the Beat field, and click
OK. You can enter fractions of a beat in the Beat field: for example, a
value of 1.500 would mean the 8th note after beat one (if the meter is
using a quarter note per beat):

The measure and beat in the Time Ruler should now line up with the
desired transient marker in the clip:

406

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

5. Now click the Move to Next Transient button
(or press Tab;
Shift+Tab moves in the other direction) to move the Now Time to where
the next measure and or beat you want to align is:

6. Click the Set Measure/Beat at Now button to open the Measure/Beat
Meter dialog, enter the measure and beat values, and click OK.
The measure and beat in the Time Ruler line up with the Now Time:

7. Now you can click the Move to Next Transient button
(or press Tab)
enough times to move to the transient where you want the next
measure to line up, click the Set Measure/Beat At Now button (or press
Ctrl+M, even if the AudioSnap palette is not visible), and continue in
similar fashion until all the measures and beats line up.

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

407

So far, no audio has been stretched—only the project’s tempo has been
changed to accommodate the audio clips. If you wanted to completely
smooth out the tempo, however, you could then select all your audio clips,
enable AudioSnap, and click the AudioSnap Auto Stretch button
in the
AudioSnap palette. This will enable the selected clips to conform to any
new tempo changes you introduce, stretching the clips to conform to the
new tempo. Now you can smooth out the tempo in the Tempo view, and the
stretch-enabled clips will conform to the new tempo(s).

To Use the Set Measure/Beat At Now Command with
MIDI Clips

1. Display the MIDI clip that you want the measure/beats to align with in
the Inline Piano Roll view: click the MIDI track’s PRV Mode button .
Zoom in enough to see the MIDI data clearly (you could also use the
regular Piano Roll view).

2. If you want other MIDI clips that exist in the project to retain their
current M:B:T positions, select the clips, right-click one of them, and
choose Clip Lock-Lock Position from the popup menu.
3. Turn off the Snap to Grid button, and use the PRV Select tool
(it’s in
the Track view toolbar) to click the MIDI clip at the place where you
want to set a measure or beat. The Now Time cursor moves to the
place you clicked:

Now Time cursor

4. Press Ctrl+M to open the Measure Beat/Meter dialog.
5. Enter the desired measure and beat values, and click OK.

408

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

6. Move the Now Time to the next desired beat (click the start of the next
note), press Ctrl+M to open the Measure Beat/Meter dialog, enter the
desired values, and click OK.
7. Repeat step 6 until the Time Ruler is correctly aligned.
After you align the Time Ruler to your clip, you can smooth out the tempo
changes in the Tempo view, and your clip will retain its M:B:T position.

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

409

410

AudioSnap
The Set Measure/Beat At Now Command

Using Loops
Loops are short digital audio clips which are often designed to be repeated over and over
or “looped,” although some loops, called one-shots, are intended to play just once. Groove
clips, often used as loops, are digital audio clips that “know” their tempo and pitch
information. Groove clips automatically respond to changes in a project’s tempo and can
have their root note pitch adjusted using pitch markers. In SONAR, you can import
ACID™ loops, or digital audio clips and convert them to Groove clips. You can also record
your own audio and create Groove clips. To download more Groove clips and loops, visit
www.cakewalk.com.
Note: Groove clips and ACIDized loops are loaded into RAM, and can take up a lot of
memory. Copying them does not increase the amount of memory they take up, but loading
the initial copy does.

In This Chapter
The Loop Construction View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
The Loop Explorer View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417
Working with Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Working with Groove Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 420
MIDI Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Importing Project5 Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433

The Loop Construction View
The Loop Construction view is where you create and edit Groove clips.

The Loop Construction view toolbar has tools for editing slicing markers
and controls for previewing loops.

Loop Construction Controls
The following is a list of the tools and controls in the Loop Construction
view, followed by a description:

Save Loop as WAV

This button opens the Save As dialog. The clip in the Loop Construction
view is saved as a Groove Clip/Wave file that has tempo and pitch
information stored in it, and can be opened in SONAR or ACID™. For more
information, see “Saving Groove Clips as Wave Files/ACIDized Wave Files”
on page 427.

Enable Looping
The Enable Looping button allows a clip to be looped by dragging in the
Track view. Loop-enabled clips follow changes in the project tempo. Click
the Enable Looping button to loop clips in the Track view by dragging the
left or right side of a clip with your mouse. When you loop-enable a clip it
automatically snaps to the nearest beat boundary (at 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 etc.
beats). SONAR calculates the appropriate beat number. Change the
number in the Beats in Clip field if you want to change the total number of
beats in the clip.

412

Using Loops

The Loop Construction View

Enable Stretching

The Enable Stretching button allows a clip to follow a project’s tempo as it
changes. It instructs SONAR to stretch or shrink the clip to fit the project’s
tempo. SONAR uses the Original BPM parameters to make the change.

Beats in Clip

The number of beats in the clip.

Original BPM
The tempo at which the clip was recorded.

Follow Project Pitch

The Follow Project Pitch option transposes the loop, if necessary, to the
project pitch which you can set in the Markers toolbar. A loop recorded in
the key of C, used in a project with a default project pitch of A, would be
transposed down three semitones if the Follow Project Pitch checkbox was
checked. You can also insert markers in the Time Ruler which change the
project pitch. These markers, called pitch markers affect only Groove clips
with Follow Project Pitch enabled.

Root Note

The Root Note represents the key in which the loop was originally recorded.
The Follow Project Pitch feature uses this information, when checked, to
transpose the loop to match the project’s default project pitch and pitch
markers.

Pitch (coarse)
You can set the transposition of a clip, independent from the project pitch,
using the Pitch (Coarse) field. A positive number transposes the clip up by
that number of semitones. A negative number transposes the clip down by
that number of semitones. Remember that, if the Follow Project Pitch option
is checked, the clip follows the project’s pitch. Any transposition changes to
the pitch with this option checked are changes to the project pitch, not the
clip pitch.
An example: The project key is C. The clip key is D. If the Follow Project
Pitch is enabled, the clip is transposed down by two semitones. A value
entered into the Pitch (coarse) field adjusts the pitch from C. If you enter “-1”
the pitch would be transposed down by one additional semi tone to B.
Another example: The clip pitch is E. The desired clip pitch is D. If the
Follow Project Pitch option is not enabled, and a value of “-2” is entered in
the Pitch (coarse) field, the clip is transposed down two semitones to D from
the original pitch of E.

Using Loops

The Loop Construction View

413

Pitch (fine)

The Pitch (fine) field allows you to make tuning adjustments or to transpose
the pitch of a clip up to 50 cents. There are 100 cents in one semi tone. A
Pitch (fine) setting of “1” adjusts the pitch up one hundredth of a semi tone.
The Pitch (fine) option can “fine tune” a slightly out of tune clip so that it is in
pitch with the remaining clips in a project.

Slices Menu

The Slices menu sets the resolution for the creation of markers, or the
“slicing” of the looped clip. This menu uses note lengths, so the settings
are:
•

Whole notes

•

Half notes

•

Quarter notes

•

Eighth notes

•

Sixteenth notes

•

Thirty-second notes

The automatic markers appear at the note resolutions according to the
slider setting. At the eighth note setting, there are eight markers per
measure.
This control works well for slicing audio that has more subtle changes in
volume with few dramatic transients.
The markers in a loop clip preserve the timing of the audio at that moment.
Too few or too many markers can cause unwanted “artifacts” when a loop
clip is stretched.

Trans Detect (%)

The Trans Detect control senses transients in your audio clip and assigns a
marker at the beginning and end of each one it finds. As the you increase
the sensitivity (by using larger numbers) smaller transients are detected
and the number of markers increases.

Stop Preview

Stops loop preview playback.

Preview Loops
Plays the current loop repeatedly. Use the Stop Preview control to stop
playback.

414

Using Loops

The Loop Construction View

Enable Slice Auto-Preview
Plays a slice when you click on it.

Click Auto-Preview Loop

Repeatedly plays a selected slice.

Preview Bus
Select the output through which you want to listen to the clip.

Properties

The Properties button opens the Clip Properties dialog.

Select

Use the Select tool to move markers in the Markers bar.

Erase
Use the Erase tool to delete markers in the Markers bar.

Default All Markers

The Default All Markers tool restores all automatically generated markers to
the original position and enables all those that were disabled. Manually
created markers remain as is.

Previous Slice

Moves slice selection to the previous slice. Click on a slice to select it.

Next Slice
Moves slice selection to the next slice. Click on a slice to select it.

Show/Hide Gain Envelope

Clicking this button shows or hides the clip’s gain envelope. Each slice of
the clip has its own segment of the envelope, which you can adjust by
dragging the segment up or down.

Show/Hide Pan Envelope

Clicking this button shows or hides the clip’s pan envelope. Each slice of the
clip has its own segment of the envelope, which you can adjust by dragging
the segment up or down.

Show/Hide Pitch Envelope
Clicking this button shows or hides the clip’s pitch envelope. Each slice of
the clip has its own segment of the envelope, which you can adjust by
dragging the segment up or down.

Slice Gain

Changes the selected slice’s gain.

Using Loops

The Loop Construction View

415

Slice Pan

Adjusts the selected slice’s pan. Negative is left and positive is right.

Slice Pitch

Adjusts the selected slice’s pitch. The first field is in half steps, the second
field is in cents.

Slicing Markers
There are two types of slicing markers in the Loop Construction view:
automatic and manual. Automatic markers appear in red and are
automatically generated by SONAR when you loop enable a clip. The one
exception to this is if you import an ACIDized wave file into SONAR.
ACIDized files always appear with manual slicing markers. Manual markers
appear in purple. If you add a marker or move an automatic marker, it turns
purple to show you that it has been edited. For information on editing slicing
markers, see “To Edit the Slicing Markers in a Groove Clip” on page 425.

Audio Scaling

Audio scaling is the increase or decrease in the size (scale) of the
waveform in clip. Audio scaling allows you to make detailed edits by
zooming in on the parts of the waveform closest to the zero crossing
(silence) while preserving the track size. By showing just the quietest parts
of a clip, you can make very precise edits.
The Audio Scale Ruler is located on the far left of the Loop Construction
view.

A. Audio Scale Ruler B. Clip

There are three right-click display options in the Audio Scale Ruler:

416

Using Loops

The Loop Construction View

•

Percentage—shows audio scaling by percentage. For example, if the
highest percentage in the Audio Scale Ruler reads 2.0%, then only the
parts of the waveform which are within 2% of the zero crossing appear
in the clip.

•

dB—shows audio scaling by dB. For example, if the highest dB in the
Audio Scaling Ruler reads -36, then only the parts of the waveform
which are 36 dB below 0 dB appear in the clip.

•

Zoom Factor—shows audio scaling by a factor. For example, if the
Zoom Factor reads 10, then the waveform is zoomed in by a factor of
10.

The Loop Explorer View
SONAR’s Loop Explorer view allows you to preview your Wave files before
you drag and drop them into the Track view. If you preview a Groove clip, it
plays back at tempo and in the key of your current project.
You can open the Loop Explorer view in any of the following methods:
•

Select Views-Loop Explorer from the menu.

•

Click the Loop Explorer icon

•

Press Alt+1

on the Views toolbar.

The Loop Explorer view toolbar has the following controls:

Tool...

Using Loops

Name...

What It Does...

Move Up

Opens the folder one level above the active
folder.

Refresh

Refreshes the active folder.

Windows Explorer

Opens Windows Explorer at the same
directory being viewed in the Loop Explorer
view.

Play

Plays the selected media file.

Stop

Stops the playback of the selected file.

The Loop Explorer View

417

Tool...

Name...

What It Does...

Auto Preview

Automatically preview files when you click
on them in the Loop Explorer view. If the
selected file is a Groove clip, it plays back in
the project tempo and key.

Views

Allows you to change the way the files are
viewed in the list view:

Preview Bus

•

Large icons

•

Small icons

•

List

•

Details—displays the file size, date and
when the file was created and last modified

Select the output through which you want to
listen to the loop.

Folders Pane
The Folders pane shows all of the available files and folders in the selected
drive.

Contents List Pane
The Contents List pane displays the folders and files contained in the active
folder.

To Preview a Groove Clip

1. Click the Auto-preview button in the Loop Explorer toolbar.
2. Click on a Wave file in the Content List pane.
Each successive Wave file you select is previewed. You can also select
multiple files and play them simultaneously.
Or
1. Select a Wave file in the Content List pane.
2. Click the Play button in the Loop Explorer toolbar.
3. Click the Stop button to stop playing the selected Wave file.
When you preview a Groove clip in the Loop Explorer view, the clip plays in
the project key and at the project tempo.

418

Using Loops

The Loop Explorer View

To Drag a Loop into a Project

1. Click and drag the Wave file from the Loop Explorer view to the Track
view.
2. Drop the Wave file in the track and at the time in which you want it in
your project. If you drop the file after the last track in your project, a new
track is created for the file.

To Drag Multiple Loops into a Project

1. Select a Wave file and select additional by holding down the Ctrl key
and selecting them.
2. Drag the Wave files from the Loop Explorer view to the Track view.
3. Drop the Wave files into the Track view at the time in which you want
them in your project.
The Wave files appear on consecutive tracks in the Track view at the time
selected.

Working with Loops
You can make any audio clip into a loop by checking the Enable Looping
checkbox in the Clip Properties dialog. Once looping is enabled, you can
drag out loops to create multiple repetitions. There are several other ways
to enable looping:

To Enable or Disable a Clip for Looping
1. Double-click on the clip you want to loop.
The Loop Construction view appears.
2. In the Loop Construction view, click the Enable Looping button

Or
In the Track view, select a clip and press Ctrl+L or select Edit-Groove
Clip Looping.

Using Loops

Working with Loops

419

To Create Repetitions of a Loop

1. Set the Snap value if you want the loop to repeat at precise time
boundaries.
2. Move the cursor over the end of the loop-enabled clip until the cursor
looks like this
.
3. When the cursor changes, click the end or beginning of the clip and
drag it to the right (if you are dragging out from the end) or left (if you
are dragging from the beginning).
The clip repeats itself until you stop dragging.

To Create Partial Repetitions of a Loop

1. Move the cursor over the end of the loop-enabled clip until the cursor
looks like this
.
2. When the cursor changes, click the end or beginning of the clip and
drag it to the right (if you are dragging out from the end) or left (if you
are dragging from the beginning).
If the Snap to Grid button is on, you can create a partial loop as small as the
Snap to Grid setting allows. For example, if your Snap to Grid setting is set
to quarter notes, you can create partial repetitions as small as a quarter of a
measure.

Working with Groove Clips
Groove clips are .WAV files that behave similarly to Sonic Foundry’s
ACIDized loops (SONAR also has MIDI Groove clips—see “MIDI Groove
Clips” on page 429). Groove clips contain information about the audio
content, including the original tempo, original reference pitch, number of
beats in the loop, and audio transient information.

How Groove Clips Work in SONAR
Groove clips have information saved within them which allow them to adjust
to changes in tempo and pitch. Groove clips can read a project’s tempo and
tempo changes, and can adjust their root note pitch when they read pitch
markers. You can add pitch markers in the Track view’s Time Ruler to
transpose the Groove clip. As your project passes over a pitch marker,
SONAR transposes your Groove clips based on the clip’s root note
reference pitch. If you insert no pitch markers in your project, there are no
pitch changes in your Groove clips. The default project pitch is C.

420

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

Note 1: When working with Groove clips, it is important to know the
difference between key and pitch. Your project’s key signature has no
effect on Groove clips. The pitch of your Follow Project Pitch-enabled
Groove clips is dictated by pitch markers in the Time Ruler. If there are no
pitch markers in your project, these Groove clips play at the pitch set in the
Markers toolbar (the default is C).
Note 2: Groove clips must be at least one beat in length. If you try to loopenable a clip of a shorter duration you may experience distortion or artifacts.

Using Groove Clips
Groove clips are easy to use because they automatically adjust to your
project’s pitch markers and tempo. You can import existing loops or create
your own, using the Loop Construction view.

To Import a Groove Clip into Your Project
1. Select a Track in the Track view.

2. Set the Now Time to the place you want the clip to begin.
3. Select File-Import-Audio from the menu.
The Open dialog appears.
4. Navigate to a directory that contains Groove clips and select one.
5. Click Open.
Or
1. Open the Loop Explorer view.
2. Navigate to a directory that contains Groove clips.
3. Drag and drop a clip into the Track view, or double-click it to insert it at
the Now Time.
4. The clip appears on the track and at the time in your project where you
drop it, so if you want the clip on a new track, drop it after the last track
in your project.
By default, Groove clips are loop-enabled and transposed to match the
project’s pitch.

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

421

Setting the Default Project Pitch

1. If necessary display the Markers toolbar by selecting Views-Toolbars
to open the Toolbars dialog. In the toolbar dialog click Markers and OK.
2. In the Markers toolbar, click the Default Groove Clip Pitch dropdown
menu and select a pitch.
Your project now uses the root note of your clips to transpose to the project
pitch. Use Pitch markers at different points in your project to change the
pitch. For more information about Pitch markers, see “Using Pitch Markers
in the Track View” on page 428.

Creating and Editing Groove Clips
Any audio clip can be converted to a Groove clip. Groove clips contain
tempo, beat, and pitch information which SONAR uses to stretch and
transpose the clips to match the project. Most Groove clips are loopenabled, meaning that you can use the mouse to drag clip repetitions in the
Track view. Groove clips can be either loop-enabled or not, although they
usually are. When a Groove clip is loop-enabled, its edges appear beveled.
It is sometimes desirable to create clips that follow the project’s tempo and
key, but are not intended to loop. The following is a list of the attributes
contained in a Groove clip:
•

Beats in clip—The number of quarter notes in a clip. A four measure
clip in 4/4 time should have 16 beats. When you enable looping for a
clip, SONAR calculates the number of beats in the clip using an
algorithm. This calculation is very often accurate, but in some cases, for
instance when the clip has a very slow or very fast tempo or if the clip
has an unusual number of beats, then the number of beats in a clip may
have to be edited manually in the Beats in clip field.

•

Original tempo—The original tempo of the recording. SONAR uses the
original tempo to adjust to your project’s tempo. The original tempo
must be specified for stretching clips.
Note: When you loop-enable a clip, SONAR calculates the original
tempo of the clip, and unless the clip’s length is in exact beat or
measure increments, the original tempo that SONAR calculates may
vary from the recorded tempo. These fluctuations are usually quite
small and do not affect the quality of the Groove clip you create.

•

Reference note—The original key of the recorded clip. SONAR uses
the Reference note when it transposes Groove clips to match your
project’s pitch.

These attributes can be edited in the Loop Construction view.

422

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

To Set the Number of Beats in a Groove Clip

When you open a clip in the Loop Construction view, SONAR determines
the number of beats in the clip. In some cases the beat value may not be
correct. The beats in clip value can only be changed if the clip is loop
enabled.
Do the following to change value in the Beats in Clip field.
•

Click the plus or minus button to the right of the Beats in clip field until
the correct value is displayed.

To Change the Loop Construction View Time Ruler
Display

You can display the Loop Construction view Time Ruler in measures or in
samples. To toggle between the two modes, double click the Time Ruler.

To Set the Tempo of a Groove Clip

When creating a new Groove clip, SONAR sets the clip’s tempo to the
current project tempo. To ensure proper stretching behavior you must set
the value in the Original BPM field to the tempo at which you recorded the
clip. The tempo value of a clip can only be changed if the clip is stretchenabled.
Do the following to change the value in the Original BPM field.
•

Click the plus or minus button to the right of the Original BPM field until
the correct value is displayed. For more precise tempos you can
double-click in the Original BPM field and enter a tempo.

To Slice a Groove Clip

1. Double-click on a clip in the Clips pane.
The clip appears in the Loop Construction view.
2. Slice the clip using one or all of the following methods:

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

423

To do this…

Do this…

Slice the clip on note
divisions

Move the Basic Slicing slider to the note resolution
you want. The Basic Slicing slider’s settings range
from whole notes to 64th notes. Selecting quarter
notes, for example, would create four markers per
measure.

Slice the clip at transient
peaks

Enter a value into the Transient Detection (Trans
Detect %) text field or use the increment/decrement
buttons. The larger transients in the clip will be
flanked by markers.

Slice the clip manually

Move your mouse to the space above the Time
Ruler and double-click to add a marker. Click and
drag the marker, if necessary, so it aligns with the
beginning or end of a transient.

3. Play your project and adjust the slicing of your clip as necessary.
Note: You can use any or all of these methods to slice a clip. If you adjust
both the Slices and Trans Detect menus, two markers may be placed right
next to each other. If these markers are too close, the markers will
automatically merge. Manual markers will not automatically merge.

To Transpose a Groove Clip to Match Your Project’s
Pitch

Follow this procedure to force the Groove clip to follow the project’s default
pitch.
1. Double-click the clip you want to transpose to the project’s pitch.
The clip appears in the Loop Construction view.
2. Click the Follow Project Pitch button.

To Transpose a Groove Clip by Semitones

Follow this procedure to transpose a Groove clip by any number of
semitones.
1. Double-click the clip you want to transpose to the project’s pitch.
The clip appears in the Loop Construction view.
2. If the Follow Project Pitch button is enabled, click it to disable it.

424

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

3. In the Pitch (semitones) field, enter the number of semitones you want
to transpose the clip by. A negative number in the Pitch (semitones)
field transposes a clip down. A positive number in the Pitch (semitones)
field transposes the clip up.

To “Fine Tune” a Groove Clip

Follow this procedure to make slight pitch changes to a clip.
1. Double-click the clip you want to transpose to the project’s pitch.
The clip appears in the Loop Construction view.
2. In the Fine Pitch (cents) field, enter the number of cents you want to
adjust the pitch. You can enter a number from -50 (transpose the pitch
down by a quarter tone) to 50 (transpose the pitch up by a quarter
tone).

To Edit the Slicing Markers in a Groove Clip

The table below describes how to create and edit the slicing markers in the
Loop Construction view.

To do this…

Do this…

Add a slicing marker

Move the mouse cursor to the Markers bar, at
the beginning of a transient and double-click.

Delete a slicing marker

Select the Eraser tool
marker.

Move a slicing marker

Click and drag a marker

Reset slicing markers to original
positions

Click the Default All Markers button

and click on a

For more information about slicing markers, see “Slicing Markers” on page
416.

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

425

Editing Slices
Each slice (space between the slicing markers) can be adjusted in the Loop
Construction view. You can adjust the following slice attributes:
•

Gain

•

Pan

•

Pitch

To Preview a Groove Clip Slice

1. Double-click on a clip to open the Loop Construction view.
2. Click the Enable Slice Auto-preview button.
3. Click a slice to hear it.

To Adjust a Groove Clip Slice Gain
1. In the Loop Construction view, select the slice on which you want to
adjust the gain.
2. In the Slice Gain field, click the plus or minus buttons to change the
gain value.
Or
Click between the plus and minus keys until the cursor becomes a
double arrow and drag up to increase the value or down to decrease
the value.

To Adjust a Groove Clip Slice Pan
1. In the Loop Construction view, select the slice on which you want to
adjust the pan.
2. In the Slice Pan field, click the plus or minus buttons to change the pan
value. Negative is Left pan and positive is right pan.

To Adjust a Groove Clip Slice Pitch (Half Steps)

1. In the Loop Construction view, select the slice on which you want to
adjust the pitch.
2. In the first Slice Pitch field, click the plus or minus buttons to change the
pitch value.

To Adjust a Groove Clip Slice Pitch (Cents)

1. In the Loop Construction view, select the slice on which you want to
adjust the pitch.
2. In the second Slice Pitch field, click the plus or minus buttons to change
the pitch value.

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Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

To Adjust Slice Gain, Pan and Pitch Using Slice
Envelopes

You can change an envelope’s gain, pan and/or pitch settings by dragging
the envelope up or down in that slice.

Saving Groove Clips as Wave Files/ACIDized
Wave Files
Once you have created a Groove clip in SONAR, you can save the clip as a
Groove Clip/Wave file, compatible with ACIDized wave files.

To Save a Groove Clip as a Riff Wave File/ACIDized
Wave File
3. If you have not already done so, create a Groove clip. In the Loop
Construction view, click the Save icon.
The Save As dialog appears.
4. Use the toolbar in the Save As dialog to navigate to the location where
you want to save the file.
5. In the File name field, enter a name for the file.
6. Click the Save button.

To Drag and Drop a Groove Clip Into Another
Application

You can drag and drop clips from SONAR to another application or to a
directory in Windows. When you drag a file from SONAR, the source file is
copied and the copy is placed in the new directory or application.

Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

427

Using Pitch Markers in the Track View
Pitch markers change the pitch at which Groove clips sound. All Groove
clips in SONAR that have the Follow Project Pitch option enabled adjust
their pitch as they encounter pitch markers in SONAR. If there are no pitch
markers, all Groove clips play at the default project pitch, unless the Follow
Project Pitch parameter is disabled.

A. Pitch marker: Groove clips with Follow Project Pitch enabled play with the Root
Note transposed to C B. Time Ruler C. Pitch marker: Groove clips with Follow
Project Pitch enabled play with the Root Note transposed to D

To Enable a Clip’s Follow Project Pitch Option

1. Right-click the clip and choose Clip Properties from the popup menu.
The Clip Properties dialog appears.
2. On the Groove Clips tab, check the Follow Project Pitch checkbox.
3. Make sure that the Reference Note field is correct. When your project
reaches a pitch marker, SONAR transposes each groove clip that has
the Follow Project Pitch option enabled by the difference between the
clip’s Reference Note and the current Project Pitch.
4. Click OK to close the dialog.

To Change Your Project’s Default Pitch

1. Display the Markers toolbar, if it’s not already displayed, by using the
Views-Toolbars-Markers command.
2. In the Default Groove-Clip Pitch dropdown menu at the right end of the
toolbar, choose your project’s default pitch.
SONAR transposes each groove clip that has the Follow Project Pitch
option enabled by the difference between the clip’s Reference Note and the
current Project Pitch. Your project’s pitch changes wherever you insert a
pitch marker. If you don’t insert any pitch markers, your project stays at its
default pitch.

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Using Loops

Working with Groove Clips

To Create a Pitch Marker

1. In the Track view, right-click in the Time Ruler.
2. Select Create a Marker from the menu that appears.
3. The Marker dialog appears.
4. In the Groove Clip Pitch dropdown, select a pitch.
5. Click OK.

To Move a Pitch Marker
•

Click and drag a pitch marker to a new location on the Time Ruler.

MIDI Groove Clips
MIDI Groove clips are MIDI clips that you can roll out like audio Groove
clips, and you can also choose to have SONAR transpose MIDI Groove
clips when your project reaches a pitch marker.
You can change any MIDI clip into a MIDI Groove clip (or back into a regular
MIDI clip) by selecting the clip and using the Edit-Groove Clip Looping
command. A MIDI clip that has its Groove clip feature activated appears
with beveled edges in the Clips pane.
Here are some other features of MIDI Groove clips:
•

You can roll out copies in either direction (just like audio Groove clips).
The Snap-to-Grid setting determines what beat boundaries (if any) you
can roll to.

•

You can edit individual repetitions without altering any other copies
(unlike audio Groove clips). Note: If you then roll the edge of your MIDI
Groove clip back over the area you edited, you will lose your edits.

•

All new repetitions are based on the first clip (just like audio Groove
clips). However, if you split a repetition from its original source clip, the
repetition becomes independent: if you copy this clip, SONAR treats it
as an original clip.

•

You can import MIDI Groove clips from the Import MIDI dialog, the Loop
Explorer view, and by dragging and dropping from the Windows
Explorer.

•

You can preview MIDI Groove clips in the Import MIDI dialog.

•

You can edit MIDI Groove clips wherever you can edit regular MIDI
clips.

Using Loops

MIDI Groove Clips

429

For step-by-step information, see the following procedures, and also
“Exporting, and Importing MIDI Groove Clips” on page 431.

To Enable or Disable a MIDI Clip’s Groove Clip Function
•

Select the clip and press Ctrl+L.
Or

•

Select the clip and use the Edit-Groove Clip Looping command.
Or

•

Right-click the clip and choose Groove Clip Looping from the popup
menu.

A MIDI clip that has its Groove clip feature activated appears with beveled
edges in the Clips pane.

To Create Repetitions of a MIDI Groove Clip
1. Set the Snap value if you want the clip to repeat at precise time
boundaries.
2. Move the cursor over the end or beginning of the clip until the cursor
looks like this
.When the cursor changes, click the end or beginning
of the clip and drag it to the right (if you are dragging out from the end)
or left (if you are dragging from the beginning).
The clip repeats itself until you stop dragging.

To Transpose a MIDI Groove Clip
1. Select the MIDI Groove clip.
2. Hold down the Alt key, and press the + or - key on your computer
keyboard to raise or lower the clip’s pitches a half-step at a time. You
don’t have to stop playback.
Or
1. Right-click the clip and choose Clip Properties from the popup menu.
The Clip Properties dialog appears.
2. On the Groove Clips tab, in the Pitch (semitones) field, choose the
number of half-steps you want to transpose the clip by: choose
negative numbers to transpose down, or positive numbers to transpose
up.
Either method transposes the original clip and all repetitions. The original
clip displays a positive or negative number in parentheses showing any
transposition value you’ve added to the clip.

430

Using Loops

MIDI Groove Clips

If you use pitch markers to transpose a clip, any transposition value you add
to the clip by the above two methods changes the final pitch by whatever
transposition value you’ve added.

To Transpose a MIDI Groove Clip with Pitch Markers

Use the same method you use for audio Groove clips: see “Using Pitch
Markers in the Track View” on page 428.

Exporting, and Importing MIDI Groove Clips
You can not export MIDI Groove clips by saving your project as a Standard
MIDI File—Standard MIDI Files do not contain MIDI Groove clip data, such
as transposition value, etc. When you import MIDI Groove clips, you can
preview them in the Import MIDI dialog.
There are two methods for exporting MIDI Groove clips:
•

Using the File-Export-MIDI Groove Clip command

•

Dragging a MIDI Groove clip from SONAR to the Windows Explorer

There are three methods for importing MIDI Groove clips:
•

Using the File-Import-MIDI command

•

Using the Loop Explorer view

•

Dragging a MIDI Groove clip from the Windows Explorer to a MIDI track
in SONAR

For step-by-step information, see the following procedures:

To Export MIDI Groove Clips with the File Command
1. Highlight the MIDI Groove clip that you want to export.
2. Use the File-Export-MIDI Groove Clip command.
The Export MIDI dialog appears.
3. Navigate to a folder where you store MIDI Groove clips.
4. Type a name for the clip in the File Name field.
5. Click the Save button.
SONAR exports the MIDI Groove clip, which contains the information
displayed in the Clip Properties dialog, on the Groove-Clips tab, except for
the Pitch (semitones) field, which does not get exported.

To Export a MIDI Groove Clip with Drag and Drop
•

Drag the MIDI Groove clip that you want to export to the folder in the
Windows Explorer where you want to keep it.

Using Loops

MIDI Groove Clips

431

To Import MIDI Groove Clips with the File Command

1. Move the Now Time to the place where you want to import the clip.
2. Highlight the track you want to import the clip into.
3. Use the File-Import-MIDI command.
The Import MIDI dialog appears,
4. Navigate to a folder where you store MIDI Groove clips. Make sure that
the Files of Type field is set to MIDI File.
5. Highlight the file you want to import—the File Info field displays the file’s
MIDI Groove clip data, if any.
6. If you want to preview (listen to) the highlighted file, click the Play
button in the Import MIDI dialog. When you decide to import the
highlighted file, click the Open button.

To Import MIDI Groove Clips from the Loop Explorer
View

1. Make sure that the Snap-to-Grid setting is appropriate for what you
want to do.
2. If the Loop Explorer view is not open, use the Views-Loop Explorer
command to display it.
3. Navigate to a folder where you store MIDI Groove clips.
4. Do either of the following:
•

Drag the file you want to the track and time where you want it.

•

Move the Now Time to the place where you want to import the file,
highlight the track you want to import the file into, and double-click
the file.

To Import a MIDI Groove Clip with Drag and Drop
1. Make sure that the Snap-to-Grid setting is appropriate for what you
want to do.
2. In the Windows Explorer, navigate to a folder where you store MIDI
Groove clips.
3. Drag the MIDI Groove clip to the track and time where you want it to go.

432

Using Loops

MIDI Groove Clips

Importing Project5 Patterns
Project5 is Cakewalk’s pattern-based soft synth work station that has its
own library (pattern bin) full of MIDI and audio patterns, stored on disk. If
you have Project5 MIDI patterns on your hard disk, you can import them
directly into SONAR.

To Import a Project5 Pattern
1. Move the Now Time to the place where you want to import the pattern.
2. Highlight the track you want to import the pattern into.
3. Use the File-Import-MIDI command.
The Import MIDI dialog appears,
4. Change the Files of Type field to P5 Pattern.
5. Navigate to a folder where you store Project5 MIDI patterns.
6. Highlight the file you want to import.
7. To import the highlighted file, click the Open button.
SONAR imports the pattern to the selected track at the Now Time.

Using Loops

Importing Project5 Patterns

433

434

Using Loops

Importing Project5 Patterns

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers
SONAR lets you edit the events in your projects in dozens of different ways. The Piano
Roll view lets you add and edit notes, controllers, and automation data interactively, using
a graphic display. SONAR’s many editing commands can improve the quality of recorded
performances, filter out certain types of events, and modify the tempos and dynamics of
your projects. The Event List view lets you see and modify every detail of your project.
Finally, you can apply a variety of effects and filters to enhance your MIDI data.
SONAR has many additional commands and features for working with audio. For more
information, see “Editing Audio” on page 537.

In This Chapter
Event Inspector Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
The Piano Roll View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
Selecting and Editing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Changing the Timing of a Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
Searching for Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and Automation Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
The Event List View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500
MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 510

Event Inspector Toolbar
The Event Inspector toolbar is available from the View menu by selecting
Views-Toolbars and checking Event Inspector in the Toolbars dialog. The
Event Inspector has the following:
•

Time

•

Pitch

•

Velocity

•

Duration

•

Channel

To Display a Note’s Properties in the Event Inspector
Toolbar
•

Select a note.

If you select multiple notes, the Event Inspector toolbar displays the
note value if all selected note values are the same. If the note values
are different, the Event Inspector does not display anything.

To Change a Note’s Properties Using the Event
Inspector Toolbar
1. Select a note.

2. In the appropriate Event Inspector toolbar field, change the value. See
the table below for a description of valid value entries for each field in
the Event Inspector toolbar.

436

Event
Inspector
Field…

Valid Values…

Time

Any valid M:B:T time value. Separate values with a colon or a
space. For example, measure 2, Beat 3, Tick 720 would be
written as 2:3:720.

Pitch

Note names (C0 through G10) and note numbers (0 through
127) are valid in this field. Also, you can use a modifier to raise
or lower the value by a number of half-steps. To raise the pitch
by 2 half-steps, type +2 and press enter. To lower the pitch by 2
half-steps, type -2 and press enter.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Event Inspector Toolbar

Event
Inspector
Field…

Valid Values…

Velocity

A velocity value or modifier value are valid in this field. Valid
velocity values are 0 through 127. Valid modifier values are +/0 through 127.

Duration

A PPQ value.

Channel

1 through 16.

The Piano Roll View
The Piano Roll view displays all notes and other events from one or more
MIDI tracks in a grid format that looks much like a player piano roll. Notes
are displayed as horizontal bars, and drum notes as diamonds. Pitch runs
from bottom to top, with the left vertical margin indicating the pitches as
piano keys or note names. Time is displayed running left to right with
vertical measure and beat boundaries. The Piano Roll view makes it easy to
add, edit, and delete notes from a track.
A single-track version of the Piano Roll view is available in each track in the
Track view. This view is called the Inline Piano Roll view, and replaces the
Clips pane in any track that you choose to display in Inline Piano Roll mode.
The Piano Roll view consists of the Note Map pane, the Drum Grid pane,
the Notes pane, the Controller pane, the Piano Roll view toolbar, and the
Track List pane.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

437

A
B

C
D

A. Show/Hide MIDI Events menu B. Edit MIDI Event Type menu C. Note Map pane
D. Drum Grid pane E. Notes pane F. Controller pane G. Tooltip shows cursor
position and editing data while you edit an event H. Track List pane I. Selected track
J. Toolbar

Note Map Pane
This pane displays your drum map settings. You can mute or solo individual
pitches, and preview individual pitch sounds. For more information about
the Note Map Pane, see “The Note Map Pane” on page 529.

Drum Grid Pane
In the Drum Grid pane you can add, delete, and edit notes and note
properties in any MIDI track(s) assigned to a drum map. You can also edit
controllers in this pane if you choose to hide the Controller pane.
For more information, see “The Drum Grid Pane” on page 531“Adding and
Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll” on page 453.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

Notes Pane
In this pane you can add, edit, and delete notes in any MIDI track(s) not
assigned to a drum map. You can also edit controllers in this pane if you
choose to hide the Controller pane.

Controller Pane
This pane displays controller events, which you can edit. You can show or
hide this pane by clicking the Use Controller Pane button
that is in the
Piano Roll view toolbar, or by pressing C. When the Controller pane is
hidden, all controller events appear in the Notes pane.

Track List Pane
The Track List pane is home to a list of all tracks currently displayed in the
Piano Roll view. In this pane you can enable and disable editing of a track’s
data; mute, solo and arm a track; and show or hide the track’s data in the
Notes pane or Drum Grid pane. Track numbers, names and output ports
appear in the Track List pane. You can show or hide the Track List pane by
clicking the Show/Hide Track Pane button
in the Piano Roll view toolbar.
If you see an error message saying that you have masked the active track,
it means that the active track is not visible at the moment. To unmask the
track click the track’s Show/Hide Track button
in the Track List pane so
that the button appears in color.

Opening the View
There are several ways to open the Piano Roll view:
•

In the Track view, select the track you want to see, then choose ViewsPiano Roll or press Alt+5

•

In the Track view, right-click on a track and choose Views-Piano Roll
from the popup menu

•

Double-click on a MIDI clip in the Clips pane

Each selected track is displayed. You can always switch to a different track
or tracks—simply click the
button (or press T) and choose the track you
want.
The Piano Roll view lets you edit notes and controllers during playback or
recording, in real time. This means you can loop over a portion of your
project and hear any change you make on the next loop. The Piano Roll
view also shows notes on-screen as you record them.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

439

Like the Track view, the Piano Roll view includes zoom tools that let you
change the vertical and horizontal scale of the view. The Piano Roll view
also has a Snap to Grid
button. For more information about this
feature, see “Defining and Using the Snap Grid” on page 302.

Working with Multiple Tracks in the Piano Roll
View
You can view as many tracks as you want in the Piano Roll view. When you
display several tracks at the same time in the Piano Roll view, you control
which track(s) you can see and/or edit by using the buttons in the Track List
pane. You can show or hide the Track List pane by clicking the Show/Hide
Track Pane button
in the Piano Roll view toolbar.
If you want to edit the data in a track, you must make the track you want to
edit the current track. The name of the current track appears highlighted in
the Track List pane. To display the Track List pane in the Piano Roll view,
click the Show/Hide Track List pane button
. The following shows three
tracks in the Track List pane:

Track disabled for track editing
Track’s data shown in
Notes pane

Output

Track’s data hidden in Notes pane
Mute

Track enabled for track editing

Current track
Arm
Solo

To make a track the current track in the Track List pane, click on the track.
When a thin dotted line surrounds the track, it is the current track.
Tip: Clicking a note will make the note’s parent track the current track.
The following is a list of ways to optimize the multiple track functionality in
the Piano Roll view.

440

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

Selecting Tracks to View

Use the Pick Tracks combo button
to assign tracks to the Track List
pane. Click on the left side of the Pick Tracks combo button to open the Pick
Tracks dialog box. Click on a track name to select it. Hold down the Ctrl key
and click more track names to select additional tracks. Click on the right
side of the Pick Tracks combo button to show the Show Previous/Next
Tracks popup menu. Selecting Show Previous Track(s) moves the track or
range of tracks down by one track number. Selecting Show Next Track(s)
moves the track or range of tracks up by one track number. For example, if
you have tracks 2, 3 and 7 displayed in the Track List pane and you select
Show Previous Track(s), the Track List pane displays tracks 1, 2, and 6.

Display

If the notes of two tracks overlap, the notes of the topmost track in the Track
List pane appear over the notes of the other track. You can move a track up
or down by in the Track List pane by clicking and holding on the track and
moving the track to the desired position.
All tracks ending in the same digit (2, 12, 22, etc.) share the same color.
The default colors can be changed using Options-Colors.

The Enable/Disable Track Editing Button

The Enable/Disable Track Editing button
sets whether or not you can
edit the notes of a track in the Piano Roll view. When the button appears
white, editing is enabled and the track appears in color. When the button
appears gray, editing is disabled and the track appears in gray.
Note: The Enable/Disable Track Editing button only disables the Piano Roll
view tools; other editing commands are still operational.

The Show/Hide Track Button
The Show/Hide Track button
controls whether or not a track appears in
the Notes pane. The button appears in color when toggled on, white when
off.

The Invert Tracks Button

If you use the Show/Hide Track button to hide any tracks in the Track List
pane, you can show all these tracks and hide the ones that are currently
displayed by clicking the Invert Tracks button.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

441

Note Names
You can change the instrument definition for the active track in the Piano
Roll view. Right-click the piano keys in the Notes pane to open the Note
Names dialog where you can use note names that are defined as part of
any instrument definition. For more information about instrument
definitions, see the online help topic: Instrument Definitions.

To Change the Active Track’s Instrument Definition
1. Right-click the left side of the Notes pane (where the piano keys or note
names are displayed) to display the Note Names dialog box.

2. To use the note names from the assigned instrument (the default), click
Use the Assigned Instrument Settings. Click Configure to change the
instrument definitions.
3. To override the default setting, click Use These Settings Instead, and
choose the note names and mode you want to work with.
4. Click OK when you are done
The Piano Roll view is updated with the settings you request.

442

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Piano Roll View

Displaying Notes and Controllers (Piano
Roll View Only)
The Show/Hide MIDI Events button
in the Piano Roll view lets you
quickly hide or show any combination of the data in a MIDI track or in
multiple MIDI tracks. This button is independent of the Show/Hide MIDI
Events button in a track’s Inline Piano Roll view (see also “Displaying Notes
and Controllers in the Inline Piano Roll View” on page 462)).
The Show/Hide MIDI Events button is located in the upper left corner of the
Piano Roll view.

To Hide or Show Data in the Piano Roll View
1. If you want to display the data from multiple MIDI tracks, first choose
and configure the tracks from which you want to display data (see
“Working with Multiple Tracks in the Piano Roll View” on page 440).
2. Click the dropdown arrow on the Show/Hide MIDI Events button
to display the menu of MIDI data in the current track (the track
that is highlighted in the Track List pane, or in the Track view).
3. Choose from the following menu options:
•

To hide or show notes for all displayed tracks, click Show Notes.

•

To hide or show the outline(s) of the clip(s) you’re looking at,
choose Show Clip Outlines.

•

To hide or show a controller type for all displayed tracks, click the
name of the controller.

•

To hide or show the edit handles on controllers, click Show
Controller Handles.

•

To hide or show the velocity columns on all tracks except the active
track, click Show Velocity on Active Track Only.

•

To show all controllers in all displayed tracks, click Display All
Continuous Events, or just click the left side of the Show/Hide
MIDI Events button
. The button turns white when all
controllers are hidden, and blue when all controllers are showing.

4. After you choose an option, the menu closes. You can repeat steps 2
and 3 to choose more options.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Displaying Notes and Controllers (Piano Roll View Only)

443

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano
Roll
You add notes in the Piano Roll view or Inline Piano Roll view by first
choosing a note duration in the Piano Roll toolbar (or in the current track’s
Note Duration menu if you’re using the Inline Piano Roll view), and then
clicking in the view with the Draw tool at the pitch location and time location
where you want the note to go. The pitch locations are marked by grey rows
for the sharps or flats, and white rows for naturals. Octaves are labeled on
the keyboard display on the left side of the Piano Roll view, and by the MIDI
Scale in the Inline Piano Roll view. You can display different octaves by
dragging the vertical scroll bar that’s on the right side of the Piano Roll view,
or by dragging the MIDI Scale in the Inline Piano Roll view. The time
locations are marked by the measure numbers in the horizontal time ruler
that’s at the top of the view, and by the vertical grid lines that mark the beats
in the measure. The Snap to Grid menu determines how precisely you can
place your notes in time.
You can edit notes by a variety of methods:
•

Select notes, and then use editing commands from the Edit menu, the
Process menu, or the Event Inspector toolbar

•

Move single or groups of selected notes with the Select tool

•

Edit the pitch, location, duration, start time, and velocity of individual or
groups of selected notes with the Draw tool

•

Delete notes with the Erase tool, or by holding the Alt key down while
you use the Draw tool

For step-by-step procedures, see the following topics:

Selecting Notes
There are several ways to select notes in the Piano Roll view and Inline
Piano Roll view:

444

•

Click and drag in the Piano Roll view’s Time Ruler to select notes (and
other MIDI events) that start playing within the time range that you
select.

•

In the Inline Piano Roll view, click and drag in the Track view’s Time
Ruler to select notes (and other MIDI events) that start playing within
the time range that you select. This selects data in the current track, or
all selected tracks.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

•

Click notes or drag around them with the Select tool

•

In the Piano Roll view only (not the Inline Piano Roll view): click or drag
the piano keys to the left of the Notes pane or the drum map rows in
Note Map pane to select all notes of the desired pitch(es).

•

In the Inline Piano Roll view: Shift-click or Shift-drag the piano keys on
the MIDI Scale to select all notes of the desired pitch(es).

To Select Notes with the Select Tool
1. Activate the Select tool by clicking it in either the Piano Roll view toolbar
or the Inline Piano Roll toolbar (depending on which view you’re
working in).
2. Select notes as shown in the table:

To do this…

Do this…

Select a single note

Click on the note

Select several notes at once

Drag a rectangle around the notes you want to
select

Add to the selection

Hold the Shift key while selecting notes

Toggle the selection

Hold the Ctrl key while selecting notes

Select notes in a certain
time range.

Set the desired Snap to Grid value in either the
Piano Roll view or the Inline Piano Roll view
(depending on which view you’re working in), and
drag in the Time Ruler of the appropriate view.

Selected notes are highlighted (50% gray mask).

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

445

To Select All Notes of Certain Pitches (Piano Roll View
Only)
Click the piano keys on the left side of the Notes pane or the drum map
rows in the Note Map pane as shown in the table:

To do this…

Do this…

Select all notes of a single
pitch

Click on the piano key or drum map row

Select all notes of several
pitches

Drag across the keys or drum map rows

Add to the selection

Hold the Shift key while clicking on a piano key or
drum map row

Toggle the selection

Hold the Ctrl key while clicking on a piano key or
drum map row

To Select All Notes of Certain Pitches (Inline Piano Roll
View Only)
1. Zoom the MIDI Scale in far enough to see the keys clearly (left-click
and drag on the MIDI Scale).
2. Shift-click a piano key to select all the notes of that pitch, or Shift-drag
through multiple notes to select them.
Ctrl-clicking to select multiple non-adjacent notes is not possible in the MIDI
Scale.

Editing Notes with the Draw Tool and the
Select Tool
You can edit notes in the Piano Roll view and the Inline Piano Roll view with
the same methods. The Draw tool and the Select tool are useful for quick
note editing. You can do the same edits with commands in the Process
menu (Length, Slide, Transpose). If you want to edit multiple notes at the
same time, first select them with the Select tool.
MIDI notes display their velocity value as a wide or narrow column. You can
drag the column up or down to edit the note’s velocity. Holding the Draw
tool over the middle of the note in the upper third of the note displays a

446

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

small velocity column on the Draw tool to show that the tool is in the target
zone.

A
B

A. Draw tool in velocity-edit mode B. Tooltip showing cursor position C. Velocity
column

Tooltips give you a constant readout of the cursor position, how much
you’ve edited the selection, and how many notes you’re editing.
In the picture below, the tooltip lists the current location of the cursor, how
far the selection has moved from its original location (1252 ticks to the
right), the current pitch level and MIDI note number of the cursor (E8 100),
how far from the note’s original pitch the cursor has moved (1 half-step
higher), and how many notes are in the selection.

When you drag multiple notes, if you enable Polyphonic Note Audition in
the Edit MIDI Event Type dropdown menu, the Piano Roll view “auditions”
them, so you can hear all of them as they pass through different pitch levels.

To Edit Notes with the Draw Tool

1. If you want to edit multiple notes at the same time, select them with the
Select tool. Editing any of the notes in the selection edits all the
selected notes in the same way.
2. Click

to select the Draw tool. If the Draw tool button is in Auto-Erase

mode, it looks like this:
. If the Draw tool is in Auto-Erase mode, use
the dropdown menu that’s next to it to disable Auto-Erase mode, unless
you want to delete notes.
3. Set the Snap to Grid to the desired value (if you’re editing in the Inline
Piano Roll view, make sure you use the PRV tab of the Snap to Grid
dialog).

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

447

4. Edit notes as described in the table:

To do this…

Do this…

Change the start time, but
not the duration

Drag the left edge of the note in either direction.

The start time of the note is moved to the new
location.
Change the pitch

Drag the middle of the note up or down.

Move the note horizontally

Move the cursor just inside the left edge of the note
until it looks like this:
Then drag left or right.

448

Change the duration

Drag the right edge of the note in either direction.

Copy and paste notes

Hold the Ctrl key down, and drag notes so as to
either move them horizontally or change the pitch
(see above), and release the mouse at the desired
location.

Add a note

See “To Draw Notes” on page 449.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

To do this…

Do this…

Edit velocity

See “To Edit Velocity” on page 450.

Delete notes

Enable the Draw tool’s Auto-Erase mode (in the
dropdown menu next to it), and click notes. When
the Draw tool’s Auto-Erase mode is enabled, a
small eraser icon appears at the bottom of the Draw
tool when the Draw tool approaches notes from
below. Alternatively, click the Erase tool to enable it,
and click each note that you want to delete, or drag
through multiple notes.
Tip: hold the Alt key down to toggle the Draw tool’s
Auto-Erase mode, or to temporarily turn the Erase
tool into the Draw tool.

To Draw Notes
1. In the Edit MIDI Event Type menu in the Piano Roll view, or the Inline
Piano Roll view (depending on which view you’re working in), select
Notes/Velocity.
2. Enable the Draw tool in the Piano Roll toolbar, or the Inline Piano Roll
toolbar.
3. Choose a duration for the note by clicking a note-head button in the
Piano Roll toolbar, or the Note Duration menu in the track controls if
you’re using the Inline Piano Roll view.
4. Set the Snap to Grid to the desired value (if you’re editing in the Inline
Piano Roll view, make sure you use the PRV tab of the Snap to Grid
dialog).
5. Click in the Notes pane at the pitch and location where you want the
note; pitch locations are marked by grey rows for the sharps or flats,
and white rows for naturals. Octaves are labeled on the keyboard
display on the left side of the view (this is called the MIDI Scale in the
Inline Piano Roll view). You can display different octaves by dragging
the vertical scroll bar that’s on the right side of the Piano Roll view, or by
dragging the MIDI Scale in the Inline Piano Roll view. The time locations
are marked by the measure numbers in the horizontal time ruler that’s
at the top of each view. You can display vertical grid lines that mark the
beats in the measure by clicking the Show/Hide Grid button
in the
Piano Roll view, or by right-clicking the Clips pane (not the Inline Piano

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

449

Roll view), choosing View Options from the popup menu, and checking
the Display Vertical Rules checkbox.

To Use the Erase Tool
1. Enable the Erase tool
(make it turn blue) by clicking it, or by
pressing e when the Piano Roll view has focus.
2. Click or drag through the notes or controllers you want to delete.
3. To turn the Erase tool into the Draw tool temporarily, hold the Alt key
down.

To Edit Velocity

1. If you want to edit multiple notes at the same time, select them with the
Select tool. Editing any of the notes in the selection edits all the
selected notes in the same way.
2. Make sure Velocity has a checkmark next to it in the Show/Hide MIDI
Events menu.
3. Enable the Draw tool.
4. Move the cursor over the upper third of the middle of the note. When
you reach the target area, the Draw tool displays a small velocity
column to show that you have enabled velocity editing (this only
happens if you’ve hidden the Controller pane).
5. Drag up or down to edit velocity. The tooltip shows you the velocity
value that the cursor is passing through, the difference from the original
value, and how many notes you’re editing. If you want to hear the
changes in velocity as you make them, enable Velocity Audition in the
Edit MIDI Event Type dropdown menu.
Note 1: instead of moving the cursor over the upper third of the note to
activate velocity editing, you can hold down the Ctrl key instead. This allows
you to drag the Draw tool horizontally to draw the desired velocity level(s).
Note 2: if you prefer to edit velocity in the Controller pane, display the
Controller pane (press C), and use the Draw tool to drag horizontally
through the vertical lines in the Controller pane that represent the velocity of
each note. You can also use the Draw tool or the Select tool to drag the tip
of a vertical line up or down. While you drag, a tooltip displays velocity and
location data.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

To Edit Notes with the Select Tool

1. If you want to edit multiple notes at the same time, select them with the
Select tool. Editing any of the notes in the selection edits all the
selected notes in the same way.
2. Set the Snap to Grid to the desired value (if you’re editing in the Inline
Piano Roll view, make sure you use the PRV tab of the Snap to Grid
dialog).
3. Edit notes as described in the table:

To do this…

Do this…

Change the start time, but
not the duration

Drag the note left or right

Change the pitch

Drag the note up or down.

Move selected notes, or a
single note only vertically, or
only horizontally

Hold the Shift key down, and move the Select tool
over a note so that the cursor displays a horizontal
double-ended arrow (if you want to drag
horizontally) or a vertical double-ended arrow (if you
want to drag vertically), and then move the note(s).

Copy and paste notes

Hold the Ctrl key down, and drag notes horizontally
and/or vertically, and release the mouse at the
desired location.

Delete notes

Press the Delete key.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

451

To Change Note Properties

1. Right-click a single note to display the Note Properties dialog box.
2. Edit the desired start time, pitch, duration, velocity, or channel.
3. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR updates the note event accordingly. Note that you can also edit
note velocity in the Notes pane and the Event Inspector toolbar. For
information on changing note velocities in the Drum Grid Editor, see
“Editing Note Velocities” on page 527. For more information, see “Velocity,
Pitch Wheel, and Aftertouch” on page 500.

To Scrub (Audition) Tracks in the Piano Roll View
1. Click

or press B to select the Scrub tool.

2. Press and hold the left mouse button in the Piano Roll view. SONAR
displays a vertical line and plays any notes that are underneath the line.
3. Drag the line to the left or right, at any desired speed.
Note that the Mute, Solo and Arm buttons do not affect Scrub. If the track is
hidden, however, you do not hear notes in that track.

To Audition Notes
•

452

To audition multiple notes, select them, make sure that Polyphonic
Note Audition is selected in the Edit MIDI Event Type dropdown menu,
and move the notes with either the Select tool or the Draw tool. You can
also click one of the selected notes with the Draw tool, if you first move
the Draw tool to the center of a selected note so that the Draw tool
cursor becomes a double-ended vertical arrow.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll

Adding and Editing Controllers in the
Piano Roll
Controller events (MIDI continuous controllers, pitch wheel, NRPN’s, and
RPN’s) appear in either the Notes Pane or the Controller pane, depending
on whether you choose to display the Controller pane or not. Each
controller event has an edit handle at the top, which you can drag to edit,
and a tail under the edit handle, which graphically demonstrates the
controller event’s current value. The tail changes colors to show whether
you can edit a particular type of controller, and also turns dark to show that
the controller event is selected. Controller events appear in different colors
so you can differentiate them when you’re displaying multiple controller
events, possibly in multiple tracks.
Note: only the current track and current events appear in a solid color. All
other tracks and events appear in de-saturated colors.
A single controller event
A

A. Edit handle (also called Controller handle B. Controller tail

To show which events belong to which track, and which ones are the
“current” events (the ones you can edit), and which events are selected,
controller events use the following color patterns:
•

Controller tail—uses the same color as the edit handle when the
controller can be edited (in other words, when the controller is selected
in the Edit MIDI Event Type menu). You can automatically enable a
controller type for editing by clicking its edit handle with the Draw tool.

•

Selected—if a controller event is selected, both the edit handle and the
tail darken in shade the way that selected notes do.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll

453

Adding Controllers
When you add a new controller type to a track, the controller type is
automatically chosen in the Show/Hide MIDI Events menu, so that you can
see it. For help showing and hiding all the other MIDI data you may have in
your track or tracks, see “Displaying Notes and Controllers in the Inline
Piano Roll View” on page 462, “Displaying Notes and Controllers (Piano
Roll View Only)” on page 443, and “Working with Multiple Tracks in the
Piano Roll View” on page 440.

To Add Controller Data with the Draw Tool
1. Click the Edit MIDI Event Type menu
Value Type from the popup menu.

, and choose New

The MIDI Event Type dialog appears.
2. Choose options from the following fields:
•

Type—choose the type of controller you want to add (for example,
choose Control if you want to edit volume).

•

Value—this field is greyed-out if you choose Wheel or ChanAft in
the Type field. If you choose Control, RPN, or NRPN in the Type
field, choose which Control, RPN, or NRPN you want to add. For
example, to edit volume, choose 7-Volume in this field if you chose
Control in the Type field.

•

Channel—choose a MIDI channel for the controller if you want. If
your track has a MIDI channel listed in the Ch field, all MIDI data in
your track uses the listed MIDI channel.

3. Click OK to close the dialog.
4. Activate the Draw tool in either the Piano Roll view toolbar or the Inline
Piano Roll toolbar (depending on which view you’re working in), and
add your controller values by using one of the following methods:
•

Depress the mouse at the point where you want your controller
messages to start, and drag the Draw tool to draw the kind of curve
you want your controller messages to follow. A tooltip appears
when you depress the mouse, and constantly reports the controller
name, channel, value, and location of the controller value that you
are entering. Release the mouse where you want your curve to
end.

Tip: to draw a straight line, hold the Shift key down while you draw.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll

•

To add one controller event at a time, click each place that you want
to add a controller value. A tooltip appears when you click, and
reports the controller name, channel, value, and location of the
controller value that you are entering.

The controller events you added appear as vertical lines, each with an edit
handle at the top that you can drag. Each different type of controller event
appears with a different color.
When you use the Draw tool, the speed with which you drag the mouse
determines the density of controller events. To insert a larger number of
controller events with relatively small changes in value, move the mouse
slowly. To insert a smaller number of controller events with relatively large
changes in value, drag the mouse quickly.

To Insert a Series of Controllers

1. Choose Insert-Controllers to display the Insert Series of Controllers
dialog box.
2. Choose the controller type from the Insert list.
3. Choose the controller number or type from the Number list.
4. Use the spinners or enter the desired MIDI channel.
5. Enter a starting and ending value in the Begin and End boxes.
6. Enter a starting and ending time in the From and Thru boxes.
7. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR inserts a series of controller events with values that change
smoothly over time from the starting to the ending value indicated in the
dialog box. This command never inserts more than one event on the same
clock tick. If any controllers of the type you have selected already exist in
the time region, SONAR deletes these before inserting the new ones.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll

455

Selecting Controllers
To perform many editing procedures on controllers, you first need to select
the controller events you want to edit. A selected controller event turns dark
when it is selected. You can select a single controller event, multiple
controller events of the same type, or all controller events.

To Select Controller Events of the Same Type
1. Click the Edit MIDI Event Type menu
, choose the type of
event you want to select from the popup menu.
2. Activate the Select tool in the Piano Roll toolbar or the Inline Piano Roll
toolbar (depending on which view you’re working in), and select one or
more controller events by using the following techniques:
•

Drag a rectangle around the edit handles of the controller events
that you want to select.

•

Shift-click or Shift-drag to add other controllers to the selection.

•

Ctrl-click to or Ctrl-drag toggle the selection state of a controller.

•

Click and drag in the Time Ruler.

Editing Controllers
Each controller value appears with a handle at the top of it, which you can
drag vertically with the Select tool or the Draw tool, or horizontally (Select
tool only).
Activate the Select tool or the Draw tool by clicking their respective icons in
either the Piano Roll view toolbar, or the Inline Piano Roll toolbar,
depending on which view you’re working in.
Tip: you can assign the Inline Piano Roll view tools to key bindings.

To Edit or Delete Controller Events with the Select Tool
1. Select the type of controller events you want to edit by clicking the Edit
MIDI Event Type menu
type from the popup menu.

, and choosing the controller

The controller events you chose change shade to show that you can
edit them.
2. Drag the edit handle of each controller event that you want to edit
vertically and/or horizontally. A tooltip appears when you depress the
mouse, and constantly reports the controller name, channel, value, and
location of the controller value that you are editing. Release the mouse
where you want your controller value to be.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll

3. To delete controller events, select them, and press the Delete key.

To Edit or Delete Controller Events with the Draw Tool

1. Select the type of controller events you want to edit by clicking the Edit
MIDI Event Type menu, and choosing the controller type from the
popup menu.
Or
1. Click an edit handle on the type of controller events you want to edit.
This automatically chooses the controller in the Edit MIDI Event Type
menu.
The tails of the controller events you choose change to the same color
as their edit handles to show that you can edit them.
2. Edit the controller by using any of the following methods:
•

To edit a single event, drag an edit handle vertically.

•

Redraw a series of controller events by dragging a new curve
through the events.

•

Delete a single controller event by activating the Erase button, and
clicking a controller’s edit handle. You can override the Erase
button (temporarily reverse its current state) by holding down the Alt
key while you click.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll

457

The Inline Piano Roll View
The Inline Piano Roll view lets you edit note and continuous controller
events for a single track directly in the Track view. Clicking the PRV Mode
button in a track changes the Clips pane for that track into a single-track
Piano Roll view which displays all the track’s MIDI data, including data from
all track layers. If a track uses a Drum Map, the Inline Piano Roll view for
that track displays the Drum Map’s note names on the track’s MIDI Scale
(see “The MIDI Scale” on page 460 for more information).
In this view, you can:
•

Edit notes and controller events

•

Edit multiple notes or events

•

Display multiple controller types simultaneously

•

Choose which MIDI events you want to display

•

Use separate Snap to Grid settings in the Clips pane mode and Inline
Piano Roll mode

You control the Inline Piano Roll view with controls in the Inline Piano Roll
toolbar, the MIDI Scale, and four buttons found in the Track strip controls of
each track: the PRV Mode button, the Show/Hide MIDI Events button, the
Edit MIDI Event Type button, and the Note Duration button. These three
buttons appear when you enable the PRV Mode button.
The Inline Piano Roll toolbar is part of the Track view toolbar.
See the following two figures:

458

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Inline Piano Roll View

Track strip in PRV mode

B
A
E

A. Edit MIDI Event Type menu B. Note Duration menu C. Show/Hide MIDI Events
button D. PRV Mode button E. MIDI Scale

Inline Piano Roll toolbar

A B

C D

A. PRV Select tool B. Draw tool C. Draw tool Auto Erase menu D. Erase tool
E. Show/Hide Notes F. Show/Hide Controllers G. Show/hide velocity tails (on drummapped tacks) H. Fit Content I. PRV Mode

To draw and edit notes and controllers in the Inline Piano Roll view, see
“Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll” on page 444 and “Adding and
Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll” on page 453

Displaying the Inline Piano Roll View
Use the following methods to hide or show the Inline Piano Roll view.

To Hide or Show an Individual Track’s Inline Piano Roll
View
•

In the Track pane, click the PRV mode button of the track that you want
to display in Inline Piano Roll view mode.
Or

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Inline Piano Roll View

459

•

Double-click a MIDI clip in the Clips pane, if Inline Piano Roll Mode is
selected in the MIDI Clips field of the Clip View Options dialog. To open
the Clips View Options dialog, right-click in the Clips pane, and select
View Options from the popup menu.

To Hide or Show All Tracks’ Inline Piano Roll Views
•

In the Inline Piano Roll toolbar, click the PRV mode button. The Inline
Piano Roll toolbar is part of the Track view toolbar.
Or

•

Use the Tracks-In-line PRV-PRV Mode command.

The MIDI Scale
MIDI tracks have a control called the MIDI Scale. This control displays a
vertical ruler labeled with MIDI values (in 7bit Values mode) or MIDI notes
(in Notes mode), giving you a visual guide for editing notes and controllers.
The MIDI Scale is also a vertical zoom control. If a track uses a Drum Map,
the MIDI Scale for that track displays the Drum Map’s note names on the
track’s MIDI Scale (in Notes mode).
MIDI Scale in Notes mode

A. MIDI Scale

To Zoom Vertically with the MIDI Scale

1. Put the MIDI Scale into notes mode by right-clicking the MIDI Scale and
choosing Notes from the popup menu.
2. Hold the mouse over the MIDI Scale so that the cursor changes to a
small vertical keyboard, and drag upward to zoom in. The Inline Piano
Roll view zooms in.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Inline Piano Roll View

Note: in Notes mode, if the track is zoomed-out too far, there is not
enough room in the MIDI Scale to display the keyboard. To see the
keyboard, you need to zoom in far enough to display the keyboard.
3. To zoom out, drag downward on the keyboard display.
You can also zoom by using the Track view zoom controls.

To Scroll Vertically with the MIDI Scale
•

Right-click the MIDI Scale and drag up or down to scroll.

To Fit a Single Track’s Content into its Inline Piano Roll
View
•

Right-click the MIDI Scale and choose Fit Content from the popup
menu.
Or

•

Ctrl-double-click the MIDI Scale.

To Audition and Select Notes
•

To audition and select a note, Shift-click the note’s pitch in the MIDI
Scale.

•

To audition and select all notes within a certain range, Shift-drag
through the notes’ range of pitches in the MIDI Scale.

To Fit All Tracks’ Contents into their Inline Piano Roll
Views
1. If you only want to use this command on certain tracks, select the tracks
first. If no MIDI tracks are selected, or if all MIDI tracks are selected, the
command works on all MIDI tracks.
2. Do one of the following:
Use the Tracks-In-line PRV-Fit Content command.
Or
Click the Fit Content button on the Inline Piano Roll toolbar. The Inline
Piano Roll toolbar is part of the Track view toolbar.

To Change the MIDI Scale’s Display Mode
•

Right-click the MIDI Scale to display the popup menu, and choose
either 7bit Values (this displays MIDI values), or Notes (this displays
the keyboard).

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Inline Piano Roll View

461

Displaying Notes and Controllers in the Inline
Piano Roll View
Every MIDI track in the Track pane displays a Show/Hide MIDI Events
button when the track is in Inline Piano Roll mode. These buttons work
independently in each track, and are also independent from the Show/Hide
MIDI Events button in the Piano Roll view.

To Hide or Show Data in Individual Tracks

1. Click the dropdown arrow on the Show/Hide MIDI Events button
to display the menu of MIDI data in the track.
2. Choose from the following menu options:
•

To hide or show notes, click Show Notes.

•

To hide or show a controller, click the name of the controller (for
example, click CC: 1-Modulation (Chan: 2)).

•

To show all controllers in the current track, click Display All
Continuous Events, or use step 4 below.

•

To show or hide all the outlines of any clips in the track, click Show
Clip Outlines.

3. After you choose an option, the menu closes. You can repeat steps 1
and 2 to choose more options.
4. To hide or show all controllers, click the left side of the Show/Hide
MIDI Events button. The button turns white when all controllers are
hidden, and blue when all controllers are showing.

To Hide or Show Notes in All Tracks
•

Click the Show/Hide Notes button in the Inline Piano Roll toolbar.
or

•

Use the Tracks-Show/Hide Notes command.

Both of these commands override the Show/Hide MIDI Events buttons in
individual tracks.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Inline Piano Roll View

To Hide or Show Controllers in All Tracks
•

Click the Show/Hide Continuous button in the Inline Piano Roll toolbar.
or

•

Use the Tracks-In-line PRV-Show/Hide Continuous Events
command.

Both of these commands override the Show/Hide MIDI Events buttons in
individual tracks.
Drawing and editing notes and controllers in the Inline Piano Roll view is the
same in the Piano Roll view, with a few minor exceptions (noted in the
appropriate topics). To draw and edit notes and controllers in the Inline
Piano Roll view, see “Selecting Notes” on page 444, “Editing Notes with the
Draw Tool and the Select Tool” on page 446, “Selecting Notes” on page
444, “Editing Notes with the Draw Tool and the Select Tool” on page 446,
“Adding Controllers” on page 454, “Selecting Controllers” on page 456, and
“Editing Controllers” on page 456.

Selecting and Editing Events
SONAR has many editing commands that you can use to modify the events
that make up your project. Here are some of the things you can do:
•

Transpose events, clips, tracks, or an entire project to a different key

•

Shift events to an earlier or later time

•

Stretch or shrink material to a different length

•

Reverse the notes in a clip to create new arrangements

•

Modify the note velocities

The following sections describe these editing commands and how to use
them. SONAR also has some special commands you can use to modify or
clean up a performance or to search for or select events that meet certain
criteria. For more information, see the following sections of this chapter.

Copying and Pasting MIDI Data
You can copy and paste both notes and controller data in SONAR.

To Copy and Paste MIDI Data with the Copy/Paste
Commands
1. Select the data you want to copy.
2. Use the Edit-Copy command, or press Ctrl+C.

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3. Use the Edit-Paste command, or press Ctrl+V.
The Paste dialog appears.
4. Fill in options, and click OK. Click the Help button in the dialog for an
explanation of each option.
SONAR pastes the copied data to the desired location.

Transposing
The Process-Transpose command transposes the pitches of selected
note events up or down by a fixed number of steps. It does so by changing
the MIDI key numbers of note events. Simply enter the number of halfsteps—a negative number to transpose down, a positive number to
transpose up.
SONAR can also perform diatonic transposition, which shifts all the notes
up and down the major scale of the current signature by the designated
number of steps. For instance, if you specify an amount of +1 and the key
signature is C-major, a C becomes a D (up a whole step), an E becomes an
F (up a half step), and so on. Diatonic transposition assures you that the
transposed notes fit with the original key signature.
As an option, you can choose to transpose selected audio clips along with
any selected MIDI clips. SONAR uses pitch-shifting (a plug in for changing
audio pitch) to perform the transposition. You can transpose audio only a
single octave in either direction (-12 to +12), and you cannot transpose
audio when you are using diatonic transposition.

To Transpose Selected Events

1. Select the tracks, clips, or events you want to transpose.
2. Choose Process-Transpose to display the Transpose dialog box
.

3. Use the spinners or enter the number of semi-tones to transpose.

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Or
Use the + and - keys on your keypad to go up or down by one or [ and ]
to go up or down by octaves.
4. Check Diatonic Math if you want to transpose along the major scale of
the current key.
5. Choose Transpose Audio if you want to pitch-shift selected audio
clips. If you check this checkbox. SONAR transposes any selected audio data
up or down, but only by half-steps, not diatonically. When this checkbox is
enabled, the following two options become available:
•

Type—choose the type of audio data you're transposing. Choose
options based on the source material: single voice or instrument
versus a group of instruments (ensemble or polyphonic), and how
long you want to wait for processing to finish: better quality can take
a long time if you're processing several tracks.

•

Formant scaling—possible values range from -2.000 to 2.000
octaves. Formants give a voice its characteristic sound. You can
use the Formant Scaling value to offset the pitch transposition
you're applying. For example, if you're transposing the pitch down,
you can raise the formant to try and maintain the characteristics of
the sound.

6. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR transposes the selected events.

Shifting Events in Time
The Track view lets you move entire clips forward or backward in time by
using drag and drop editing or by changing the start time of selected clips.
The Process-Slide command is slightly more flexible—you can use it to
shift individual events and markers (or selected events and markers) either
forward or backward in time. This has an effect that is similar to the Time+
parameter in the Track view. However, the Process-Slide command
modifies the time stored with each event, while the Time+ parameter simply
applies a temporary change during playback.
You can also use the Process-Slide command to move markers located
within the selection. If you have selected any locked markers, SONAR will
ask whether they should slide, too.

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To Shift Events in Time

1. Select the events and/or markers you want to shift.
2. Choose Process-Slide to display the Slide dialog box.
3. Check the types of event you want to slide (events and/or
markers).
4. Enter the number of measures, ticks, seconds, frames or samples to
slide. Enter a negative number to shift material earlier. Note that you
cannot slide any event earlier than 1:01:000. For example, if the current
selection starts at 2:01:000, you cannot slide events earlier by more
than one measure.
5. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR shifts the selected events and/or markers. You can also use the
Process-Nudge command to move events. See “Nudge” on page 298 for
more information.

Inserting Time or Measures into a Project
The Insert-Time/Measures command lets you insert any number of blank
measures, ticks, seconds, or frames into a project. You can insert the blank
measures (or other period of time) into all tracks or into one or more
selected tracks. If you insert the blank time into the entire project, all events
in each track—markers, meter and key settings, and tempo changes—are
shifted automatically by default. If you insert the blank time into one or more
selected tracks, only the events in those tracks are shifted by default. You
can always choose which types of events should be shifted.

To Insert a Single Blank Measure into a Project
1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A or select Edit-Select-None to make sure that no
track or time range is selected.
2. Set the Now time to the place where you want to insert the measure.
3. Choose Insert-Time/Measures to display the Insert Time/Measures
dialog box.

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4. Verify that the settings are correct and click OK.
SONAR inserts a blank measure at the Now time.

To Insert Blank Time or Measures into a Project

1. Select Edit-Select-None to make sure that no track or time range is
selected.
2. Select the range of time you want to insert by dragging in the Time
Ruler.
3. Choose Insert-Time/Measures to display the Insert Time/Measures
dialog box.
4. If necessary, adjust the time at which blank space will be inserted.
5. If necessary, change the length of time to insert by entering a number
and choosing the units you want from the list.
6. Choose the types of events that should be shifted automatically from
the Slide list.
7. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR inserts the desired amount of blank time into the project.

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To Insert Blank Time or Measures into Selected Tracks
1. Select the range of time you want to insert by dragging in the Time
Ruler.
2. Select one or more tracks by Ctrl-clicking on the track numbers.
3. Choose Insert-Time/Measures to display the Insert Time/Measures
dialog box.
4. If necessary, adjust the time at which blank space will be inserted.
5. If necessary, change the length of time to insert by entering a number
and choosing the units you want from the list.
6. Choose the types of events that should be shifted automatically from
the Slide list.
7. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR inserts the desired amount of blank time into the project.

Deleting Measures or Time from One or More Tracks
There are two methods for deleting time or measures:
•

If there is any audio or MIDI data in the area you want to delete, you
can use the Edit-Delete command to delete the area that you select.
Portions of MIDI clips may have no data in them: they have boundaries
but no dark lines inside—if that’s the case, use the following method.

•

If there is no data in the area you want to delete, you can simply drag
any clips that come after the empty area to their proper destinations.
You can also use this method if there is data in the area you want to
delete—you just have to choose whether you want to replace the data
in the deleted area, blend it with the data you’re moving, or slide it over
to make room.

To delete time when there is audio or MIDI data in the area you want to
delete:
1. In the Track view, select the track(s) you want to delete measures or
time from by doing one of the following:
•

Select a single track by clicking the track number.

•

Select multiple tracks by Ctrl-clicking the track numbers.

2. Set the Snap to Grid value to the unit of time you want to delete. For
example, if you want to delete whole measures, set the Snap to Grid
value to a whole measure.

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3. In the Clips pane, select the measures or time you want to delete by
dragging in the Time Ruler located just above the first track.
4. Select Edit-Delete.
The Delete dialog box appears.
5. Click the following checkboxes:
•

Events in Tracks

•

Delete Hole—if you want the data that comes after the hole to retain
its same placement in a measure, check the Shift by Whole
Measures option.

6. Click any of the other options you want to delete.
7. Click OK.
SONAR deletes the time or measures you selected.
To delete time when there is no audio or MIDI data in the area you want to
delete (or if there is data, but you like to drag and drop):
1. Set the Snap to Grid value to the unit of time you want to delete. For
example, if you want to delete whole measures, set the Snap to Grid
value to a whole measure.
2. In the Track view, select the clips you want to move.
3. Drag one of the selected clips to its proper destination—the Drag and
Drop Options dialog box appears.
4. Choose options and click OK.
All the selected clips move by the amount that you dragged the mouse.

Stretching and Shrinking Events
The Process-Length and Process-Fit to Time commands can be used to
stretch or shrink a portion of a project. Process-Length lets you stretch or
shrink the selection by a fixed percentage and makes the adjustment by
altering the individual events. A value of 200 percent, for example, stretches
the selection to twice its original length, while a value of 50 percent shrinks
the selection to half its original length.
Process-Fit to Time stretches or shrinks the selection so that it ends at a
specific time, expressed in either measure:beat:tick (MBT) or
hours:minutes:seconds:frames (SMPTE) format. This command gives you
a choice of modifying the events or modifying the underlying tempo. This is
useful when you want a portion of a project to have an exact length. The

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start time of the selection does not change, but the end time is altered as
necessary to fit the required time interval.
Both of these commands offer the option to stretch audio clips along with
the MIDI information. Sometimes you don’t want to adjust the speed of your
audio.
Here are some examples:
•

If your project contains background music and a voice-over, you might
want to change the tempo of the background music without altering the
voice-over

•

If you’re trying to modify the speed of some MIDI tracks to match a
sampled drum groove, you want to leave the audio unchanged

•

If your audio consists solely of sound effects, you most likely do not
want to adjust them

Audio can be stretched or condensed up to a factor of 4 (e.g., it can be
shrunk to as little as 25 percent of its original length, or expanded to as
much as 400 percent of its original length).
You can also use the Process-Length command to alter only the start
times or the durations of notes. For example, changing the durations of
notes to 50 percent of their original length can create a staccato effect.

To Stretch or Shrink Using Percentages
1. Select the events you want to change.

2. Choose Process-Length to display the Length dialog box.

3. Choose to change the Start Times and/or Durations of selected notes
by checking the boxes.
4. If you want to stretch selected audio clips, check the Stretch Audio box.
When this checkbox is enabled, the following two options become available:

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•

Type—choose the type of audio data you're stretching. Choose
options based on the source material: single voice or instrument
versus a group of instruments (ensemble or polyphonic), and how
long you want to wait for processing to finish: better quality can take
a long time if you're processing several tracks.

•

Formant scaling—possible values range from -2.000 to 2.000
octaves. Formants give a voice its characteristic sound. If you find
that changing the length of your audio changes the timbre too
much, you can raise or lower the formant to try and maintain the
characteristics of the sound

5. Use the spinners or type in the desired percent change in length.
6. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR modifies the length of selected events.

To Stretch or Shrink to a Specific Length
1. Select the events you want to change.

2. Choose Process-Fit to Time to display the Fit to Time dialog box.

3. Enter the desired end time in the New Thru box. Click Format to switch
between MBT and SMPTE format.
4. Choose one of the following:
•

Tempo Map–Choose this option if you want the tempo to change
but not the duration of notes and events. For example, if your clip
contains quarter notes, and you want those notes to stay quarter
notes even though the elapsed time of the clip changes, choose
Tempo Map. SONAR alters the tempo but not the events in the
track.

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•

Event Times–Choose this option if you want the tempo(s) to remain
unchanged while note durations and event start times change.
Important note: This option is unavailable if your selected data
includes any Groove clips.

5. If you want to stretch selected audio clips, check the Stretch Audio box.
The following options become available:
•

Type (disabled unless Stretch Audio is checked)—choose options
based on the source material: single voice or instrument versus a
group of instruments (ensemble or polyphonic), and how long you
want to wait for processing to finish: better quality can take a long
time if you're processing several tracks.

•

Formant Scaling (disabled unless Stretch Audio is checked)—the
possible values range from -2.000 to 2.000 octaves. Formants give
a voice its characteristic sound. If you find that changing the length
of your audio changes the timbre too much, you can raise or lower
the formant to try and maintain the characteristics of the sound

6. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR modifies the length of selected events or changes the tempo map,
as you requested.

Reversing Notes in a Clip
The Process-Retrograde command reverses the order of events in a
selection. If one or more clips are selected, then the events within each clip
are reversed. If several clips are selected from the same track, then the
order of the clips is also reversed. You could use this command, for
example, to take a scale or other long run of notes and reverse the order in
which they are played. The Process-Retrograde command does not
reverse the contents of audio clips. It only changes their start times. You
can use the Process-Audio-Reverse command to reverse audio clips.

To Reverse the Sequence of Notes or Other Events
1. Select the notes you want to reverse.
2. Choose Process-Retrograde.
SONAR reverses the order of the selected events.

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Adding Crescendos and Decrescendos
The Process-Scale Velocity command lets you create crescendos and
decrescendos on those instruments that respond to MIDI velocity. Most
such instruments map changes in velocity to changes in note loudness.
Many synthesizer patches alter the timbre of the sound as well, so that
higher velocities produce brighter, as well as louder, sounds. Changes in
velocity also affect the playback of audio clips.
This command lets you set a starting and ending velocity for the entire time
range of the selection. SONAR scales the velocity of each event to create a
smooth linear change in velocity. As an option, you can enter a starting and
ending percentage; existing velocity values are modified by the designated
percentage.
You can also edit note velocities in the Notes pane of the Piano Roll view,
which lets you draw shapes other than straight line changes. For more
information, see “Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll” on page 444.

To Scale Velocities

1. Select the events whose velocity data you want to change.
2. Choose Process-Scale Velocity to display the Scale Velocity dialog
box.

3. Enter the starting and ending velocity values.
4. Check the Percentages box if the values are percentages.
5. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR alters the velocity of selected events.

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Changing the Timing of a Recording
When you record a performance, there may be problems you’d like to
correct. For example, the note timing may not have been as accurate as
you would like. Or, you may have recorded without using a metronome and
strayed from the tempo in one direction or another.
SONAR has two types of commands that you can use to modify the timing
of a clip. The Quantize commands alter the timing of the notes in your
recording so that they fit a time grid.
The grid can have fixed time intervals or intervals that are based on some
existing note pattern. The Fit to Improvisation command, on the other
hand, sets up a series of tempos that fit the material you have recorded.
Here’s a summary of when to use each type of command:

Use this
command...

To do this...

Quantize

Change the timing of the notes you’ve recorded to fit with
the tempo of a project

Fit to Improvisation

Change the tempos of a project to fit with the
performance you’ve recorded

These two types of commands are discussed in the following sections.

Quantizing
Quantizing is one of the most important editing functions in SONAR. You
use this feature to correct timing errors you make when recording from a
MIDI instrument or to adjust the timing of audio clips.
Very few musicians are capable of performing in perfect time. As you play,
you are likely to strike some notes slightly before or after the beat or to hold
some notes slightly longer than you intended. The Quantize commands
can help to correct these types of timing mistakes.

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SONAR has two different quantize commands:
Command...

How it works...

Process-Quantize

Adjusts the start time and duration of selected notes so
that they line up with a fixed size grid

Process-Groove
Quantize

Lays a grid over an existing piece of music (the groove
pattern), and then adjusts the start time, duration, and
velocity of selected notes so that they line up with the grid

\These commands have quite a few settings, making them very flexible and
powerful. In addition, both of these commands lets you create, save, and reuse presets. This means that once you find the settings you like, you can
save them and then apply them to other projects in a consistent way.

Resolution

The resolution indicates the spacing of the grid. You can use any value
from a whole note down to a thirty-second note triplet. You can also specify
resolution in clock ticks. A rule of thumb is to select a resolution that
matches the smallest note in the region you are quantizing. If you are
quantizing a run of sixteenth notes, use a sixteenth note as the resolution. If
you are quantizing a mix of sixteenth and eighth notes, you should still use
a sixteenth note. At the default timebase of 480 PPQ, 480 clock ticks is
equal to quarter-note resolution.
When you use Groove Quantize, SONAR creates a grid at the desired
resolution on top of the notes in the groove. For example, if the groove
contains only quarter notes but you choose sixteenth-note resolution,
SONAR builds the grid by dividing the space between each quarter note
into four equal sections. In places where the groove file contains no notes,
SONAR builds a fixed grid of the desired resolution.

Offset

Normally, the resolution grid is aligned evenly with the start of measures
and beats. As an option, you can shift the grid earlier or later by any desired
number of clock ticks. If the resolution is a quarter note and you’ve set the
offset to +3 ticks, then a note that is originally near 1:01:000 would be
moved to 1:01:003—three ticks beyond the beat boundary.

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Duration

As an option, SONAR can adjust the duration of note events so that each
note ends one clock tick before the start of the nearest resolution-sized
note. This ensures that the notes do not overlap, which can cause problems
on some synthesizers. The adjustment may lengthen the duration of some
notes and shorten the duration of others.
When you use Groove Quantize, the duration adjustment compares the
note length to the duration of the sample note in the groove. If no duration
information is available, SONAR uses the distance to the start of the groove
event closest to the end of the note.

Velocity

The velocity adjustment, which is only available with the Groove Quantize
command, adjusts the note velocity to the velocity of the corresponding
notes in the groove.

Strength

The human ear is tuned to the slight “imperfections” we hear from most
musicians. If you quantize a project so that all notes are perfectly in
position, it may end up sounding mechanical or rigid. To avoid this, SONAR
lets you adjust the strength of the adjustment. A strength of 100 percent
indicates that all notes are moved so that they are in perfect time, while a
strength of 50 percent means that all notes are moved half-way towards the
desired position. This lets you “tighten up” the timing as much as you want,
without going too far.
The Groove Quantize command also lets you control the strength of
duration and velocity adjustments. As you work with this command, you will
notice that the note start time has a greater effect than the duration on the
rhythmic feel of the track. For this reason, changing the starting times (time
strength close to 100 percent) has a more noticeable effect than changing
durations (duration strength close to 100 percent). However, there are
situations in which you might want to change both to avoid ending up with
notes that overlap or with unwanted rests.

Swing
Many projects do not have notes positioned on a perfectly even time grid.
For example, projects with a swing feel, though they may be written entirely
in eighth notes, are often played more like eighth-note triplets, with the first
note extended and the second one shortened. The swing option lets you
distort the timing grid so each pair of notes is spaced unevenly, giving the
quantized material a swing feel.

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A swing value of 50 percent (the default) means that the grid points are
spaced evenly. A value of 66 percent means that the time between the first
and second grid points is twice as long as the time between the second and
third points. The figure below illustrates the effect of the swing setting on the
timing grid:

Swing = 50%

Swing = 66%

Swing = 33%

Window

When you quantize some portion of a project, you might not want to adjust
notes that are very far from the grid. The window, or sensitivity, setting lets
you choose how close to the resolution grid a note must be located for
quantize to move it.
A window of 100 percent includes all notes and guarantees that all notes
will be shifted to lie exactly on the grid. The window extends half the
resolution distance before and after the quantization point. A window of 50
percent extends only a quarter of the way toward the adjacent quantization
points.
When you use Groove Quantize, you can also perform adjustments on outof-window events. There are four options:

Option...

How it works...

Do Not Change

Notes outside the window are not changed.

Quantize to Resolution

Notes outside the window are snapped to a regular grid of the
specified resolution.

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Option...

How it works...

Move to Nearest

The window or sensitivity setting is ignored—all notes are
moved toward the nearest reference event, regardless of how
far off the grid they are located.

Scale Time

SONAR finds the two closest events before and after the event
in question that are within the window sensitivity and adjusts
any bracketed out-of-window events so that their relative
timing is the same. This option can uniformly speed up, slow
down, or shift out-of-window events.

Other Settings
If you want, you can restrict the types of events that are affected by the
Quantize commands to only notes, lyrics, and audio clips. If you choose
this option, SONAR will not modify other events, like controllers.

To Use the Quantize Command

1. Select the material you want to quantize using any of the selection tools
and commands.
2. Choose Process-Quantize to display the Quantize dialog box.

3. Choose one of your own presets from the list, or enter the settings you
want according to the table:

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Setting…

What to do…

Resolution

Choose a note size or enter the number of clock
ticks

Change

Check the event types and characteristics you want
to change

Options

Enter values for Strength, Swing, Window, and
Offset

4. Click Audition if you want to hear how the quantization will sound; press
Stop to stop auditioning the change.
5. Make adjustments as necessary.
6. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR quantizes the selected MIDI information and audio clips. You can
use Undo to restore the material to its original state.

To Use the Groove Quantize Command

1. Select the track or clip you want to quantize, using any of the selection
tools and commands.
2. Choose Process-Groove Quantize to display the Groove Quantize
dialog box.

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3. Choose a groove file from the Groove File field.
4. Choose a groove pattern from the Groove Pattern field.
5. Use the following fields to configure your pattern:

Setting…

What to do…

Resolution

Choose a note size or enter the number of clock
ticks

Window Sensitivity

Enter the window sensitivity value (percentage)

If Outside Window

Choose what should happen to events outside the
window

Only Notes, Lyrics and
Audio

Check to prevent MIDI controller, aftertouch, and
xRPN data from being adjusted

Stretch Audio

Check to stretch audio clips to adjust their duration

Strength

Use the sliders or enter values for Note strength,
Duration strength, and Velocity strength

6. Click Audition if you want to hear how the quantization will sound; press
Stop to stop auditioning the change.
7. Make adjustments as necessary.
8. Optionally, type a name in the preset field (located at the top of the
dialog box) and click the Save button to save your settings.
9. Click OK when you are done.
SONAR quantizes the selected MIDI information and audio clips. You can
use Undo to restore the material to its original state. If you saved your
settings, you can apply them to any pattern you want by selecting the
pattern and choosing a preset from the preset field. To delete a group of
settings, select the group from the preset field and click the Delete button.

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Defining a Groove

To use the groove quantize feature, you must create or choose a small
snippet of music—the groove pattern—for SONAR to use as the timing and
accent reference. You can use either of the following:
•

A track, clip, or portion of a clip stored on the Windows clipboard

•

A groove stored in a SONAR groove file

Any MIDI data that you place onto the Windows clipboard can be used as a
groove pattern. With a carefully defined groove pattern, you can give an old
project an entirely new feel. If you like the groove pattern you have created,
you can save it to a groove file.
Groove files can store one or more groove patterns. SONAR supports two
types of groove files:
•

DNA™ grooves, which contain only timing information but are
compatible with some other MIDI sequencer software products

•

SONAR’s native groove format, which stores timing, duration, and
velocity information and can handle longer patterns and longer gaps
between quantization points

You can add groove patterns to these files from the Windows clipboard, edit
existing patterns, or delete patterns you do not want to keep. There is no
limit to the number of groove patterns that can be stored in a single file. You
can organize your grooves into several files or keep them all together in a
single file. Groove files have an extension of .GRV.
A groove pattern can be as short or long as you like. If the groove pattern is
shorter than the material to be quantized, the pattern will be repeated as
many times as necessary.

To Define a New Groove

1. Select the music that defines the groove using any of the selection tools
and commands.
2. Choose Edit-Copy to place the music onto the Windows clipboard.
You can now use the Groove Quantize command with the clipboard as the
“Groove File.”

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To Save a Groove Pattern

1. Select the music that defines the groove using any of the selection tools
and commands.
2. Choose Edit-Copy to place the music onto the Windows clipboard.
3. Choose Process-Groove Quantize to display the Groove Quantize
dialog box.
4. Choose the Clipboard as the groove “Groove File.”
5. Click the Define button to display the Define Groove dialog box.

6. Select an existing groove file, or enter the name for a new groove file.
7. Enter a pattern name, or choose an existing pattern to replace.
8. Click OK.
9. If you are replacing a groove, verify that you want to delete the existing
version.
10. Click Close when you are done to return to the Groove Quantize dialog
box.
SONAR stores the groove in the file and chooses the new groove as the
current groove source.

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To Copy an Existing Groove

1. Choose Process-Groove Quantize to display the Groove Quantize
dialog box.
2. Choose the groove file and groove pattern you want to copy.
3. Click the Define button to display the Define Groove dialog box.
4. Select an existing groove file, or enter the name for a new groove file.
5. Enter a pattern name, or choose an existing pattern to replace.
6. Click OK.
7. If you are replacing a groove, verify that you want to delete the existing
version.
8. Click Close when you are done to return to the Groove Quantize dialog
box.
SONAR stores the groove on the Windows clipboard and chooses the new
groove as the current groove source.

To Delete a Groove

1. Choose Process-Groove Quantize to display the Groove Quantize
dialog box.
2. Click the Define button to display the Define Groove dialog box.
3. Select the file containing the groove to delete.
4. Select the pattern name of the groove.
5. Click the Delete button, and confirm that you want to delete the groove
pattern.
6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 for each groove you wish to delete.
7. Click Close when you are done to return to the Groove Quantize dialog
box.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Changing the Timing of a Recording

483

Groove Quantize Tips

Here are some tips to help you with groove quantizing:
Aligning sloppy tracks with a good one. Select the portion of the “good”
track that you want to apply to the “sloppy” tracks and copy it to the
Clipboard. Select the portion of the sloppy tracks you want to modify.
Choose Process-Groove Quantize, choose the Clipboard as the groove
source, and click OK.
Accenting beats in each measure. Create a sample measure containing
note events at the desired accent points. Give the notes on the accented
beats a greater velocity and the others a lesser velocity. Select the
measure, copy it to the Clipboard, and then choose Process-Groove
Quantize. Set the velocity strength as high as necessary so that the notes
get accented the way you want.
Stealing that feeling. Suppose you have a dry piece that was composed
and entered into SONAR with a rigid sense of timing (for example, using
step recording). You’ve recorded a bass line that has exactly the off-beat
rhythmic dynamic you want for the dry piece. You’d like to force your other
tracks to share that feel. Copy the bass track to the Clipboard; from the
Groove Quantize dialog box, select the Clipboard as the groove source;
choose a resolution value roughly on the order of the duration of the bass
notes and a window of 100 percent. SONAR aligns the melody note events
with the nearest bass notes.
Synchronizing rhythm and solo tracks. If you want to preserve the
unique rhythm of each track but want to synchronize them together in time,
try a larger resolution value and a smaller window. For example, suppose
you have one track with a highly stylized drum beat and another track
containing a jazz solo with some very nice runs in it. The drum beats fall
primarily on quarter notes, but the solo consists of runs of fast notes that
aren’t quite sixteenth triplets. Copy the drum track to the Clipboard, and
groove quantize using a quarter-note resolution and a window of perhaps
10 percent. SONAR aligns the solo notes near the quarter-note drum beats
but maintains the feel of the solo during the fast runs of notes in between.
Correcting off-tempo tracks. Suppose you have both rhythm and melody
tracks recorded, but the melody was played erratically. First, copy the
rhythm track to the Windows clipboard. Then use groove quantize with a
whole-note resolution, a window of 25 percent or less, and with the Scale
Time option selected. The Groove Quantize command will synchronize the
melody track with the groove source at roughly measure boundaries, while
maintaining the relative timing of the notes in each measure.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Changing the Timing of a Recording

Fixing a bad verse. Copy a good verse to the Clipboard. Then change the
selected range to cover only the bad verse. Perform a groove quantize
using the Clipboard contents as the groove source. The rhythms of the two
verses then match.

Fit Improvisation
SONAR lets you record music from a MIDI controller without requiring that
you use a fixed tempo. In fact, if you record without using a metronome, you
are very likely to end up with a recording that does not fit onto a fixed tempo
grid.
The Process-Fit Improvisation command lets you take a recording and
create a tempo map (with measure and beat boundaries) that fits what you
played. Your performance is not changed in any way, even though the note
start times and durations are adjusted to fit the new tempo map. This is
important if you later want to use any of SONAR’s editing features that
depend on a proper tempo map for best results.
To use this command, you must record a reference track containing a single
clip that matches your original track or tracks but has only a single note on
each beat boundary. You should make sure that the reference track has one
event for every single beat, with no extra beats or missing beats. The first
beat of the reference track should be at 1:01:000. You can use any editing
command to adjust the reference track.
If you want, you can use other types of events as markers on the reference
track, such as a sustain pedal. Remember, however, that MIDI sustain
pedals generate one event when the pedal is pressed and another when it
is released. So if you want to use the sustain pedal for the reference track,
keep this in mind. Click down, up, down, up, for one, two, three, four.
Remember that the better the quality of your reference track, the better job
the Fit Improvisation command can do. You want each of your reference
track events to be as close as possible to the beat of the music. Note that
some keyboards transmit aftertouch events when you record your reference
track. These extra events will prevent Process-Fit Improvisation from
working properly. Therefore, you should delete these events before using
this command, or filter them out when recording the reference track (using
Options-Global-MIDI).

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Changing the Timing of a Recording

485

To Fit Tempos to an Improvisation
1. Record the reference track.
2. Select the reference track.
3. If necessary, combine all clips in the reference track into a single clip
using the Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) command.
4. Choose Process-Fit Improvisation.
SONAR adds tempo changes as necessary to fit the tempo grid to the
reference track. When you’re done, you should mute the reference track,
since the reference track events are not rescaled.
Note: if the resulting tempo grid exceeds 250 beats per minute, you will see
an error message. If this happens, you can shorten the start times of each
event using the Process-Length command, decrease the tempo to
compensate for the change, and then try again.

Snap to Scale
When Snap to Scale is enabled, any notes that you draw in the Piano Roll
view (or Inline Piano Roll view) stay within the selected scale. Also, any
notes that you move with the Select tool stay within the selected scale.
When Snap to Scale is enabled, both Piano Roll views display grey rows at
the pitch levels that are not in the selected scale. Also, both the Select tool
and the Draw tool display a tuning fork icon when you create or modify
notes to show that Snap to Scale is enabled.
You can create custom scales, modify existing ones, and choose how
SONAR handles non-scale notes.

To Enable or Disable Snap to Scale for a Single Track
•

486

In the Track view, in the track that you want to affect, click the Scale
Snap button.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Snap to Scale

A
B
C

A. Scale menu B. Scale Snap button C. Root Note menu

Or
•

In the Piano Roll view, in the Track List pane, right-click the track that
you want to affect, and choose Enable Snap to Scale from the popup
menu.

To Momentarily Bypass the Snap to Scale Feature
•

Hold down both mouse buttons while you edit.

To Enable or Disable Snap to Scale for Multiple Tracks

1. Select the tracks in which you want to enable or disable Snap to Scale.
2. Use the Tracks-Snap to Scale-Enable/Disable Snap to Scale
command.

To Choose a Root Note for a Single Track
•

Do either of the following:
•

In the Track view, click the dropdown arrow in a track’s Root Note
menu, and choose a root note from the menu that appears.

•

In the Piano Roll view, right-click a track’s name in the Track List
pane, and choose Root Note-(name of root note) from the popup
menu.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Snap to Scale

487

To Choose a Scale for a Single Track
•

Do either or the following:
•

In the Track view, click the dropdown arrow in the track’s Scale
menu, and choose a scale from the menu that appears. The scale
options in the menu contain both factory-supplied scales and ones
that you create and/or edit.

•

In the Piano Roll view, right-click a track’s name in the Track List
pane, and choose Scales-(kind of scale)-(name of scale) from
the popup menu.

To Choose a Root Note and/or a Scale for Multiple
Tracks

1. Select the tracks for which you want to choose root notes and/or
scales.
2. To select a root note for the selected tracks, use the Tracks-Snap to
Scale-Root Note command, and select the desired root note from the
submenu.
3. To select a scale for the selected tracks, use the Tracks-Snap to
Scale-Scales command, and select the desired scale from the
submenu.

To Create a Scale
1. Open the Scale Manager dialog by clicking the dropdown arrow in the
Scale menu, and choosing Scale Manager from the menu that appears
(you can also use the Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Scale Manager
command, or the right-click menu in the Piano Roll view’s Track List
pane).
2. In the Scale Family field, click the scale family that you want your scale
to appear under when your scale appears in the Scale menu.
3. Click the Create New Scale button

The Scale Manager displays a default name (New Scale “n”) for the
new scale, and automatically selects C as the root note of the scale.
Note: all scales in the Scale Manager dialog use C as the root note.
4. Edit the name of the new scale by clicking the default name (New Scale
“n”) where it appears at the very top of the Scale: field, and then typing
a new name for the scale.
5. Include or exclude individual notes for the scale by clicking either the
keys in the keyboard display, or by clicking the scale degree buttons

488

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Snap to Scale

under the Scale Degrees field. Included notes appear as blue dots in
the keyboard display, as depressed scale degree buttons, and as scale
degrees in the Scale Degrees field.

A. Keyboard display B. Scale degree buttons

6. When you’re through choosing scale degrees, click the Close button to
save your changes. If you want to delete your scale, just highlight it in
the Scale: field, and click the Delete button

To Edit or Delete a Scale

1. Open the Scale Manager dialog (click the dropdown arrow in the Scale
menu, and choose Scale Manager from the menu, or use the Track
menu command, or the right-click menu in the Track List pane of the
Piano Roll view).
2. In the Scale Family field, click the scale family that the desired scale is
filed under.
3. Select the desired scale by clicking the scale’s name in the Scale: field.
If you want to delete the scale, click the Delete button

4. Include or exclude individual notes for the scale by clicking either the
keys in the keyboard display, or by clicking the scale degree buttons
under the Scale Degrees field. Included notes appear as blue dots in
the keyboard display, as depressed scale degree buttons, and as scale
degrees in the Scale Degrees field.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Snap to Scale

489

A. Keyboard display B. Scale degree buttons

5. When you’re through choosing scale degrees, click the Close button to
save your changes.

To Restore a Scale or Scales to Factory Settings
1. Open the Scale Manager dialog.
2. If you want to restore a particular scale to factory settings, select it in
the Scale: field, click the Defaults button, and in the Scale Defaults
dialog, select Restore Current Scale (if factory), and click OK.
3. If you have deleted a factory-supplied scale and want to replace it with
the original version, click the Defaults button, and in the Scale Defaults
dialog, select Restore Any Missing Scales, and click OK.
4. If you want to restore all factory-supplied scales to factory settings, click
the Defaults button, and in the Scale Defaults dialog, select Restore All
Factory Scales, and click OK.

To Choose How SONAR Handles Non-scale Notes

1. Open the Snap Settings dialog by clicking the dropdown arrow in the
Scale menu, and choosing Snap Settings from the menu that appears.
You can also use the Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Snap Settings
command, or the right-click menu in the Track List pane of the Piano
Roll view.
2. Choose one of the following options:
•

490

Adjust to Next, Higher Note—if you choose this option, SONAR
moves any non-scale note that you move to the next higher note in
the selected scale.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Snap to Scale

•

Adjust to Previous, Lower Note—if you choose this option, SONAR
moves any non-scale note that you move to the previous, lower
note in the selected scale.

•

Adjust to Nearest Note—if you choose this option, SONAR moves
any non-scale note that you move to the note that is closest in pitch
in the selected scale.

Searching for Events
The events in a project have many different parameters. For example, all
MIDI notes have a channel, starting time, pitch, velocity, and duration.
Controllers have a controller number and value. SONAR makes it simple to
find, select, and modify events that have certain values for specific
attributes.
Here are some of the things you can do and the commands that you would
use to do them:

Action...

Command...

Search through a project to find the first event that
has specific attributes, and then search again to find
the next such event

Go-Search, Go-Search
Next

Select all the events in a project that have the
specified attributes

Edit-Select-By Filter

Modify an existing selection to keep only those
events that have the specified attributes

Edit-Select-By Filter

Replace all events that meet specified attributes with
modified versions of the events

Edit-Interpolate

These capabilities can help you find problem spots or errors in a project or
make systematic changes to events that have particular attributes. All of
these capabilities rely on the use of an event filter, which lets you choose
the types of events you want to work with and the range of values in which
you are interested.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

491

Event Filters
When you select individual clips, or select portions of clips by dragging the
Time Ruler, you automatically select all the events that fall within the
designated time range. Sometimes you need finer control over which
events are selected. For example, you might want to:
•

Select the notes that are played in a certain octave, so you can copy
them to another track

•

Select and boost the velocity of notes that have a velocity below a
certain threshold

•

Find the first patch change event on a particular track

•

Select and change the duration of all notes that occur on the third beat
of any measure

The Event Filter dialog box looks like this:
A

A. Check to include this type of event B. Enter the range of values for the events
you want

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

Different types of events have different parameters, as shown in the table:

This event type...

Has these parameters...

Note

Pitch, velocity, and duration

Key Aftertouch

Pitch and pressure value

Controller

Controller number and value

RPN/NRPN

RPN/NRPN number and value

Patch Change

Bank and patch numbers

Channel Aftertouch

Pressure value

Pitch Wheel

Value

The event filter only accepts events that meet all the specified ranges. This
means that a note event must fall within the pitch range, the velocity range,
and the duration range in order to be included. The event filter can also be
used to accept events that occur in a range of channel numbers, beats, and
clock ticks.
You can choose either to include or exclude the events that meet the
specified criteria. To exclude events within the designated range and select
the ones outside the designated range, check the exc checkbox for that
value range.
The event filter can also be used to identify several special event types:
audio, System Exclusive events, Lyrics, MCI commands, envelope shades,
and a few others. You do not enter a range of values for these special
events; SONAR finds all events of the types you choose.
The All and None buttons help you set up the event filter the way you want:

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

493

Click this button...

To do this...

All

Set the event filter to include all events. You can
then modify the value ranges to narrow down
your search or uncheck the types of events you
want to exclude.

None

Set the event filter to not include any events.
Starting from a blank slate, you can check off the
types of events you want to find or select and
enter the desired ranges of values.

In any place in the event filter where you would normally enter a pitch
string, you can also enter the pitch by pressing a key on your MIDI
keyboard. Also, you can use the question mark in place of the octave
number as a wild card. This lets the event filter accept a single note,
regardless of the octave. For example, the pitch string C? will match a C in
any octave.

Searching for an Event
The Go-Search command is used to find the next event (searching forward
from the Now time) that meets the criteria you lay out in an event filter.
Once you have found the first such event, you can find the next event that
meets the criteria using the Go-Search Again command (or by pressing
F3).

To Search for an Event

1. Choose Go-Search to display the Event Filter dialog box.
2. Set up the event filter to find the events you want.
3. Click OK.
SONAR finds the next event that meets the criteria and sets the Now time
to the start time of that event. To find the next occurrence, press F3 or
choose Go-Search Again.

Selecting Events

The Edit-Select-By Filter command is used to refine a selection by
applying an event filter to an initial selection. You can use this command
any number of times to refine the selection even further. Before using this
command, use any of the selection commands and tools to create an initial

494

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

set of selected event. You can use the Edit-Select-All command to select
all events in the current view.
The Track view cannot display individual selected events. As a result, the
Edit-Select-By Filter command will not necessarily change the
appearance of the Track view. SONAR applies the event filter rule, but the
change is not visible. However, once you change the selection in any way
(for example, by clicking on a track number or by clicking in the Time Ruler),
the effects of the event filter are erased. If you want to use the filter, you
must choose Edit-Select-By Filter again and click OK to use the same filter
values.
Note: The shading of a clip in the Track view indicates how many of the
events in the clip are selected. If the clip is shown in solid black, all events in
the clip are selected. If a portion of a clip is shown in medium gray, all the
events in that time range are selected. If the clip is shown in light gray, only
some of the events in the shaded time range are selected.

To Select Events Using the Event Filter
1. First, select an initial set of tracks, clips, or events.
2. Choose Edit-Select-By Filter to display the Event Filter dialog box.
3. Set up the event filter to find the events you want.
4. Click OK.
SONAR searches the currently selected events and weeds out those that
do not meet the requirements of the event filter.

Example: Splitting Left-Hand and Right-Hand Parts

Suppose you recorded a keyboard riff on Track 1 but want to split the left
and right hands apart into separate tracks so you can edit them separately.
Suppose that all the right-hand notes are above C4. Here’s how to proceed:
1. Select all of Track 1 by clicking on the track number in the Track view.
2. Choose Edit-Select-By Filter to display the Event Filter dialog box.
3. Click the None button to clear the dialog box.
4. Check the Note checkbox, and enter a minimum value of C4. The
maximum should already be set to C9.
5. Click OK. SONAR selects all the notes from C4 up.
6. Choose Edit-Cut to move the selected notes to the clipboard.
7. Choose Edit-Paste and paste the events to a different track.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

495

Process-Interpolate

The Process-Interpolate command is an extremely flexible way of
manipulating the data parameters of events. It works something like the
search-and-replace function in a word processor but with scaling rather
than simple replacement.
This command uses two event filters. The first event filter lets you set up
your search criteria. The second event filter is used to define the
replacement value ranges. When an event satisfies the search criteria, its
parameters are scaled between the search ranges and the replacement
ranges. This permits transposition, inversion, key signature changes, and
other operations to be accomplished with this one simple command.
In the second Event Filter dialog box, the checkboxes and value ranges for
beats and ticks are ignored. Only the replacement value ranges for the
selected event types are used.
The Process-Interpolate command understands a wild card octave
number in the second event filter to mean, “replace the original note with a
different note in the original octave.” Using octave wild cards for both the
search and replacement event filters lets you, for instance, change all Eflats to E-naturals, preserving the octave of each note.
A few examples will illustrate some of the many uses of the ProcessInterpolate command. These examples apply to the note event type,
though the command can be used on any type of event.

496

Parameter...

Search
range...

Replacement
range...

Effect...

Pitch (key)

From C2 to C4

From C4 to C6

Transposes all notes in the
search range up two octaves

Pitch

From E2 to E2

From Eb2 to
Eb2

Converts all Es in octave 2 to
Eb in the same octave

Pitch

From E? to E?

From Eb? to
Eb?

Converts all Es in all octaves
to Eb in the same octave

Pitch

From E? to E?

From E? to Eb5

Converts all Es to Eb in
octave 5

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Searching for Events

Parameter...

Search
range...

Replacement
range...

Effect...

Pitch

From C1 to C8

From C8 to C1

Inverts all the notes in the
specified range

Velocity

From 0 to 127

From 80 to 127

Compresses the velocity
values into a narrower range

Velocity

From 0 to 127

From 127 to 0

Inverts the velocity values
(makes loud notes soft, and
soft notes loud)

Duration

From 0:01:00
to 0:02:000

From 0:01:000
to 0:01:000

Converts all notes that are
between a quarter note and
half note in length, and
makes them all quarter notes

Channel

From 1 to 1

From 2 to 2

Changes all events on MIDI
channel 1 to MIDI channel 2

Channel

From 1 to 16

From 4 to 4

Reassigns all events to MIDI
channel 4

Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and
Automation Data
SONAR projects contain a lot more information than the notes and digital
audio files that are at the heart of your work. Controllers, RPNs, and NRPNs
(xRPNs, for short) are special types of events used by MIDI software and
hardware to control the details of how MIDI music is played. Automation
data are used to adjust volume, pan, and other parameters of MIDI and
audio tracks on the fly while playback is in progress.
SONAR lets you enter or edit controller, xRPN, and automation data in
several ways:
•

Using envelopes in the Track view

•

Using the Piano Roll view and Inline Piano Roll view

•

Using the Insert-Controllers command

•

Editing controller events in the Event List view

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and Automation Data

497

Editing data in the Track view’s Clips pane or the Piano Roll view gives you
great flexibility. You can examine the controllers in graphical form and edit
them even while recording or playback is in progress. This means you can
loop over a portion of your project and hear any change you make on the
next loop.
Note: MIDI envelopes you create in the Piano Roll view and MIDI
envelopes you create in the Track view Clips pane are actually separate
envelopes, even if they control the same parameter. Both kinds of
envelopes are visible in the Clips pane, and should generally not be used to
control the same parameter. You can convert Piano Roll view envelopes to
Track view envelopes by selecting the time range and tracks that the Piano
Roll envelopes occupy, and using the Edit-Convert MIDI To Shapes
command.
For more information about automation, see the online help topics
“Automation,” and “Mixing.” For more information about the Event List view,
see “The Event List View” on page 500.

Controllers
Controllers are the MIDI events such as volume, sustain pedal, and pan
that you use to change the sound while you're playing. You can enter
controller data from within SONAR, or record them from external devices
such as MIDI keyboards.
Controllers let you control the detail and character of your music. Say you’re
playing a guitar sound on your synthesizer, but it sounds lifeless and dull.
That’s partly because a guitar player doesn’t just play notes one after
another—he often bends or slides on the strings to put emotion into his
playing. You can use controllers in the same way, creating bends, volume
swells, and other effects that make sounds more realistic and more fun to
listen to.
Your computer can work the controllers on your electronic instrument by
sending MIDI Controller messages. The MIDI specification allows for 128
different types of controllers, many of which are used for standard
purposes. For example, controller 7 is normally used for volume events,
and controller 10 is normally used for pan. Every controller can take on a
value ranging from 0 to 127.
The Piano Roll toolbar contains several dropdown lists that let you choose
the controller you want to see and edit. The contents of these lists depend
on the output and channel settings and on the instrument assigned to that
output and channel. Different instruments use controllers in different ways.
See the online help topic: Instrument Definitions.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and Automation Data

Note: SONAR has automatic searchback for all continuous controller data
to ensure that the correct controller values are in effect regardless of where
you start playback. Suppose you start playback halfway through a project.
SONAR searches back from that point to find any earlier controller values
that should still apply.

RPNs and NRPNs

RPNs (Registered Parameter Numbers) and NRPNs (Non-Registered
Parameter Numbers) are similar to controllers, except that both the
parameter number and data value can be any number between 0 and
16,383.
When RPNs and NRPNs are transmitted via MIDI or stored in a standard
MIDI file, they are converted into four separate controller messages.
SONAR detects incoming xRPN messages from MIDI inputs or files and
reassembles them into a single RPN or NRPN event. This provides the
convenience of single RPN or NRPN events in SONAR plus compatibility
with existing files, equipment, and software. The following table shows the
controller numbers SONAR uses for RPN and NRPN events:

Message...

Parameter
number
MSB
Controller...

Parameter
number LSB
Controller...

Data value
MSB
Controller...

Data value
LSB
Controller...

RPN

101

100

NRPN

Automation Data

The Track and Console views allow you to record automation data that
define changes in volume, pan and many other parameters throughout a
project. The automation data can include step changes recorded using the
snapshot button or continuous changes recorded while using the knobs,
faders, and buttons.
The Track view allows you to create envelopes to adjust several
parameters. For more about automation, see the online help topic
“Automation.”

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and Automation Data

499

Velocity, Pitch Wheel, and Aftertouch

SONAR lets you display and edit several other types of data the same way
you do controller data. These data include:
•

MIDI pitch wheel or pitch-bend messages

•

MIDI channel aftertouch (ChanAft) values

•

MIDI key aftertouch (KeyAft) values

Remember that note velocity is an attribute of each note and not a
completely separate event. You cannot add or remove velocity events in the
Notes pane, but you can use the draw tool to adjust the velocity values for
existing notes. You can also edit velocities with the Edit-Scale Velocities
command. For more information, see “Adding Crescendos and
Decrescendos” on page 473. You can edit individual note velocities in the
Note Properties dialog box, described in “Changing Note Properties” on
page 753.

The Event List View
The Event List view shows events in a list format. You can insert, delete, or
modify any kind of event, including notes, pitch-wheel data, velocity, MIDI
controllers, patch changes, Wave files, lyrics, text strings, MCI commands,
System Exclusive meta-events, and more.
There are three ways to open the Event List view:

500

•

Select one or more tracks and choose Views-Event List

•

Select one or more tracks and click

•

Right-click a clip in the Clips pane and choose Views-Event List from
the popup menu

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

in the Views toolbar

A
B
C
D

Event List view

F
E

A. Toolbar B. Track C. This event is selected D. Event time E. Event channel F. Event
type

D E

Event List toolbar

A. Hide different kinds of events buttons B. Event Manager C. Show events outside
slip edit boundary D. Insert E. Delete F. Pick Tracks

The events in the selected tracks are listed one per line, from top to bottom.
As you move the highlight through the event list, SONAR updates the Now
marker (time display). During playback, the event list scrolls to display the
events at the current time. The current event is centered in the Event List
during playback, and the highlight is on the correct event when playback
stops. Any time you change the Now time, the event list is updated and the
highlight is moved to the event that will be played next.
When the Event List view includes more than one track, events are mixed
together in chronological order. For example, if you select tracks 1 and 3
when you open the Event List view, you see a single list of intermingled
events from tracks 1 and 3. You can have any number of Event List views,
each containing any number of tracks, open at the same time. You can

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

501

change the tracks shown in the Event List view by clicking the
and choosing the tracks you want.

button

Event List Buttons and Overview
Each line of the Event List view shows a single event along with all of its
parameters. There are many different types of events. All share the
following parameters:
•

The time of the event, displayed in SMPTE
(hours:minutes:seconds:frames) format

•

The time of the event, displayed in MBT (measures:beats:ticks) format

•

The event type, or kind of event

The remaining parameters vary by event type. You can hide or show each
kind of event by clicking its button in the Event List toolbar or by checking its
checkbox in the Event Manager dialog box. Here is a summary listing of the
parameters that apply to each type of event.

502

Short name
and display
button...

Type of event...

Parameters...

Note

MIDI note

Pitch (MIDI key number), velocity (0127), duration (beats:ticks or simply
ticks), MIDI channel (1-16)

KeyAft

MIDI key aftertouch

Pitch (MIDI key number), pressure
amount (0-127), MIDI channel (1-16)

Control

MIDI controller change

Controller number (0-127), controller
value (0-127), MIDI channel (1-16)

Patch

MIDI patch change

Bank select method, bank number,
number or name of the patch, MIDI
channel (1-16)

ChanAft

MIDI channel
aftertouch

Pressure amount (0-127), MIDI channel
(1-16)

Wheel

MIDI pitch wheel
position

Wheel position (-8192 to 8191, where
the center is 0)

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

Short name
and display
button...

Type of event...

Parameters...

RPN

Registered Parameter
Number

Parameter number (0-16383),
parameter value (0-16383), MIDI
channel (1-16)

NRPN

Non-registered
Parameter Number

Parameter number (0-16383),
parameter value (0-16383), MIDI
channel (1-16)

Sysx Bank

System Exclusive data
bank

Sysx bank number (0-8191)

Sysx Data

System Exclusive data
message

Sysx message up to 255 bytes long

Text

Lyric

Text (a single word or syllable)

MCIcmd

Windows Media
Control Interface (MCI)
command

MCI command text

Wave Audio

Digital audio wave

Name, velocity (0-127), and number of
samples

Shape Events

Automation graph
segments made up of a
solid line between two
nodes

Change in values, kind of shape, and
length in MBT format.

Expression

Staff view expression
marking

Text of expression mark

Hairpin

Staff view dynamics
marking

Direction (crescendo or diminuendo)
and duration

Chord

Staff view chord
symbol

The name of the chord

Event List
Manager

Opens Event Manager
dialog box

Shows or hides various kinds of events

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

Note: Shape events cannot be edited,
only deleted.

503

Short name
and display
button...

Type of event...

Parameters...

Events Out of Slip
Edit Boundaries

Events that are outside
of slip-edited
boundaries

Note, audio, or controller data

Insert Event

Inserts a copy of
highlighted event—
double-click the event’s
Kind parameter to
change it to the kind of
event you want

Whatever the highlighted event’s
parameters are

Delete Event

Deletes the highlighted
event

Whatever the highlighted event’s
parameters are

Pick Tracks and
Show Next/
Previous Track

Left side of button
opens Pick Tracks
dialog; right side of
button opens Next
Track/Previous Track
dropdown menu

Allows you to pick what tracks the Event
List shows events for

Here are some notes about events and their parameters:

504

•

The Channel parameter in the Track view can force an event to play on
a different MIDI channel from the one shown in the event list.

•

Pedal marks entered in the Staff view are displayed in the Event List
view as controller events (64).

•

Many keyboards do not support key aftertouch and channel aftertouch.
Consult the User’s Guide for your keyboard for more information.

•

When you double-click the value of a patch event, SONAR displays the
Bank/Patch Change dialog box. For more information about bank and
patch changes, “To Insert a Bank/Patch Change” on page 112.

•

See Chapter , System Exclusive Data, for more information about
System Exclusive banks.

•

See Chapter , Editing Audio, for more information about audio clips.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

Selecting Events in the Event List View
The following table describes how to select events in the Event List view:

To do this...

Do this...

Select a single event

Click on the event.

Select multiple, contiguous
events

Select the first event, hold the Shift key down
and click the last event.

Select multiple, contiguous
events using the arrow keys

Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys while
pressing the up or down arrows.

Select multiple, non-contiguous
events

Select an event, hold the Ctrl key while
selecting additional events

Additional information about note events and MCIcmd events appears later
in this chapter.

Event List Display Filter
You can configure the Event List view to display different event types, as
described in the following table:

To do this...

Do this...

Hide events of a certain type

Select the event type in the toolbar, in the
Event List view popup menu, or in the Event
Manager. To display a type of event, deselect
it.

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505

To do this...

Do this...

Open the Event Manager

Choose Event Manager from the popup
menu, or click
.

Show or hide slip-edited events

As a default, if you slip edit the boundaries of a
clip, all events outside those boundaries are
hidden in the Event List view. If you want to
see these events, click this button
.
Note: You can not edit slip-edited material in
the Event List view.

Editing Events and Event Parameters
The Event List view lets you add, delete, or change events one by one. You
can also print the list of events or audition the events one at a time to see
how they sound.
You can change the parameters of any event by moving the rectangular
highlight to the cell you want to change and doing one of the following:
•

Type a new value and then press Enter

•

Press the - and + keys on the numeric keypad to decrease or increase
values by a small amount

•

Press the [ and ] keys to decrease or increase values by a larger
amount

•

Click and hold the mouse button, and then drag the mouse up or down
to change the value by a small amount

•

Click and hold both mouse buttons, and then drag the mouse up or
down to change the value by a larger amount

•

Double-click a cell, and then enter or choose a new value

If you change the time of an event, it may also change its position in the
event list. The Event List view follows that event to its new location.
If you try to change the event type (kind of event), SONAR lets you choose
the kind of event you want from a dialog box. When you change one kind of
MIDI event into another kind of MIDI event, SONAR preserves the
parameters as fully as possible.
Note: Shape events cannot be edited, only deleted.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

To Insert a New Event

1. Move the highlight (use the mouse or arrow keys) to the point at which
you want to insert an event.
2. Press Insert, or click
event.

. SONAR makes a copy of the highlighted

3. Change the event to the kind of event you need by double-clicking the
name of the event that’s listed in the Kind column. The Kind of Event
dialog box appears.
4. Choose what kind of event you want and click OK. SONAR changes the
highlighted event to the kind you chose.
5. Edit the event time and other parameter values as required.
If the Event List is initially empty, pressing the Insert key creates a default
note event.

To Delete an Event

1. Move the highlight (use the mouse or arrow keys) to the event you want
to delete.
2. Press Delete, or click

SONAR deletes the event.

To Delete Several Events

1. Select the events you want to delete by clicking, dragging, or Ctrl or
Shift-clicking in the first column of the Event List view.
2. Choose Edit-Cut.
SONAR deletes the selected events.

To Print the Event List

1. Choose File-Print Preview to display a preview of the printed event
listing.
2. Click the Zoom button (or just click the page) to zoom in and out, and
use the Page Up and Page Down keys to review the pages.
3. Click Print to print the event list, or click Close to close the Preview
window without printing.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

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507

To Play Events Step by Step

1. Using the keyboard, hold the Ctrl and Shift keys and press the
Spacebar to play the currently highlighted event. If the event is a note
event, it plays until you release the Spacebar.
2. When you release the Spacebar, the highlight moves to the next event.
3. Continue pressing the Spacebar to play events one by one.
4. To edit the last event you heard, release the Shift key.
The highlight moves back to the last event you heard, so you can make
changes. You can also audition a single event using the mouse. Ctrl-click
on an event to play the event. If the event is a note or Wave event, it plays
until you release the mouse button.

Additional Event Information
Note Events—There are three values parameters for note events:
•

A pitch, which represents the MIDI key number as a note and an
octave.

•

A velocity (0–127), which is how fast the key is struck. Some keyboards
don’t transmit or receive velocity messages.

•

A duration, which is how long the note lasts. This amount is shown in
beats:ticks format. (If the note lasts less then one beat, then only the
number of ticks is shown.)

Note names may also represent percussion instruments, and lists of such
note names are sometimes associated with a particular percussion patch.
The note C3, for example, may really be “kick drum.” If a patch is
associated with a percussion note name list, the name of the percussion
instrument appears in Event List view rather than a note and an octave from
the piano keyboard.
SONAR uses the following notation to display flats and sharps in this and
other views:

508

Character...

Meaning...

flat

sharp

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

The Event List View

Character...

Meaning...

double flat

double sharp

MCIcmd Events

Media Control Interface (MCI) commands are special events that let you
control other multimedia hardware and software (e.g., CD-ROM drives,
laserdiscs, sound cards, animations, video) during playback. MCI
commands are part of the multimedia extensions in Windows. MCIcmd
events have one parameter—the command line text of the MCI command.
Here are some examples:

This command...

Does this...

PLAY C:\TRAIN.WAV

Plays the Wave file TRAIN.WAV

PLAY C:\VIDEOS\VACATION.AVI

Plays the video file VACATION.AVI from the
VIDEOS folder

SET CDAUDIO TIME FORMAT
TMSF PLAY CDAUDIO 3

Plays a specific track from the CD drive

STOP CDAUDIO

Stops the CD from playing

While MCI commands can be used to play Wave files, these files are played
at their normal speed and are not necessarily synchronized with MIDI or
other audio data. By contrast, Wave audio clips are played in lock-step
synchronization with MIDI and other audio data.
For complete documentation of Windows MCI commands, search for MCI
on the Microsoft World Wide Web site (www.microsoft.com).

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

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509

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)
SONAR provides the ability to use plug-in MIDI effects. Using plug-in
effects is similar to using the MIDI processing commands off-line. The
overall procedure is as follows:
•

Select the MIDI data to be affected.

•

Choose the effect you want from the Process-MIDI Effects menu or
from the popup menu’s MIDI Effects menu.

•

Set effect parameters (or select a preset if you’ve made one for this
purpose).

•

Click Audition to preview the music with the effect applied.

•

Click OK to apply the effect to the selected MIDI data.

If you're not happy with the result, choose Edit-Undo before doing any
additional work.
MIDI effects can be applied to whole or partial clips. For example, you can
apply an echo to just one note.
MIDI effects can also be applied to MIDI tracks in real time (during
playback) in the Track and Console views. Unlike any of the processing
described so far, using effects in real time is non-destructive. This means
that the MIDI data itself is not modified.
Note: Offline effects may cause your MIDI events to grow in size. For
example, when you apply echo, the clip may need to grow to accommodate
the tail end of the echo.

MIDI Effects Presets
The MIDI effects dialogs support the use of presets. For information about
presets, see “Presets and Property Pages” on page 627.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

Quantizing
The Quantize command moves events to (or towards) an evenly-spaced
timing grid. The Quantize effect is similar to the Process-MIDI EffectsCakewalk FX-Quantize command. For more information, see “Other
Settings” on page 478.
The quantize effect parameters are as follows:

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

Start Times

Quantize event start times.

Durations

Quantize event durations.

Resolution

The spacing of the grid used for quantization.

Tuplet

Specify the resolution as a tuplet note, for example 5 notes
in the time of 4.

Strength (%)

The strength of the adjustments. 100% indicates perfect
quantization; otherwise, the command moves the notes
only part way towards the desired position.

Swing (%)

The distortion of timing used to produce a swing feel. A
value of 50% indicates a straight rendition; negative and
positive values produce distortion of the timing grid. For
more information about swing, see “Swing” on page 476.

Window (%)

The sensitivity of quantization. A value of 100% causes all
notes to be quantized. Lower values cause the effect not to
quantize notes that are far from the timing grid.

Offset (Ticks)

The offset of the quantization grid from the start of measure
boundaries. A value of 0 indicates perfect alignment.
Values less than 0 shift the grid points earlier; values
greater than 0 shift the grid later.

Randomize

Causes a random time offset to be added to or subtracted
from each new event time. You must also specify the
maximum offset, as a percentage of the quantization
resolution.

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MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

511

To Quantize MIDI Data

1. Select the data to be affected.
2. Choose Process-Quantize to open the Quantize dialog box.
3. Set the quantization parameters, as described in the table above.
4. Click OK.
SONAR applies the specified quantization to the selected data.

Adding Echo/Delay
The Echo Delay command creates a series of repeating echoes of each
note. The echo notes can decrease or increase in velocity, and can be
transposed from the original by regular intervals.
The parameters used to specify the echo/delay effect are as follows:

512

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

Decay (%)

The reduction in velocity with each echo. A value greater
than 100% indicates an increase in velocity.

No. Echoes

The number of echo notes for each original note. If the
velocity reaches 0 before the specified number of echoes,
the effect generates no more echo notes.

Delay

The delay between successive echo notes.

Delay Units

The units used to specify the delay. You may specify delay
in ticks, in milliseconds, or as a note duration.

Tap

The delay you specify by tapping the control with the
mouse.

Swing (%)

The distortion of timing used to produce a swing feel to the
echo. A value of 0% indicates a straight rendition; negative
and positive values produce distortion of the timing grid. For
more information about swing, see “Swing” on page 476.

Pitch (Steps)

The number of steps to transpose each echo note from the
previous. You can specify a Diatonic or Chromatic scale.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

To Apply Echo/Delay to MIDI Data
1. Select the data to be affected.

2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Echo Delay from the Process
menu or from the popup menu to open the Echo Delay dialog box.
3. Set the echo/delay parameters, as described in the table above.
4. Click OK.
SONAR applies the specified echo effect to the selected data.

Filtering Events
The Event Filter command lets you remove events from the MIDI data,
keeping or passing through only those events that you specify. The Event
Filter effect works almost identically to the event filter used by the EditSelect-By Filter command. For more information, see “Event Filters” on
page 492.

To Apply an Event Filter to MIDI Data
1. Select the data to be affected.
2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk-FX MIDI Event Filter from the
Process menu or from the popup menu to open the Event Filter dialog
box.
3. Set the event filter parameters.
4. Click OK.
SONAR applies the specified event filter to the selected data, removing all
those events that do not meet the filter criteria.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

513

Adding Arpeggio
The Arpeggiator command applies an arpeggio to its input and plays it
back in real time. You can make it arpeggiate with a swing feel, or straight
and staccato or legato, vary its speed and direction, and specify its range.
The parameters used to specify the arpeggiator effect are as follows:

514

Parameter/Option...

Meaning...

Swing (%)

The distortion of timing used to produce a swing feel.
A value of 0% indicates a straight rendition; negative
and positive values produce distortion of the timing
grid. For more information about swing, see “Swing”
on page 476.

Rate

The delay between successive notes.

Units

The units used to specify the delay. You may specify
delay in ticks, in milliseconds, or as a note duration.

Legato (%)

The smoothness of the notes of the arpeggio. 1
percent plays each notes and releases it instantly. 99
percent plays each note up to the start of the next
note.

Path

The direction of the arpeggio. Options are Up, Up
(arpeggios go up), Up, Down (arpeggios go up, then
down), Down, Down (arpeggios go down), Down, Up
(arpeggios go down, then up).

Play thru

The disposition of the notes you play to specify the
arpeggio. Checked plays the original notes.
Unchecked filters out the original notes.

Specify output range

The range over which the arpeggio plays. Checked
specifies that the arpeggiator repeats notes at each
octave over the entire specified range. Unchecked
specifies that the arpeggiator includes only the notes
you actually play.

Lowest note

The MIDI number of the lowest note of the arpeggio.
Numbers run from 0 to 127.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

Parameter/Option...

Meaning...

Span (Notes)

The number of half-steps in the range. Numbers run
from 12 to 127.

Use chord control

The chord you specify. Checked specifies that the
arpeggiator infers the chord from the notes played in
the range. It identifies the chord in the Chord
recognized box and uses it to play arpeggios for notes
outside the range.

Lowest note

The MIDI number of the lowest note the arpeggiator
uses for chord recognition (0 to 126).

Span (Notes)

The number of half-steps in the range. Numbers run
from 1 to 127.

Chord recognized

The chord the Arpeggiator recognizes and plays.

To Apply the Arpeggiator to MIDI Data
1. Select the data to be affected.

2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Arpeggiator from the Process
menu or from the popup menu to open the Arpeggiator dialog box.
3. Set the arpeggiator parameters, as described in the table above.
4. Click OK.
SONAR applies the specified arpeggio effect to the selected data.

Analyzing Chords
The Chord Analyzer command analyzes chords. You select the notes to be
analyzed in one of SONAR’s windows, then open the Chord analyzer and
press the Audition button. The chord appears on the MIDI display and the
staff, and its name with possible alternatives appears in the Chords
recognized box.
You can play the notes on your MIDI input device and have the Chord
Analyzer identify the chords in real time. You do not have to set to playback.
You can open the Chord Analyzer in the Track and Console views, press
Playback and have the Chord Analyzer identify the chords in real time
The Chord Analyzer has a single parameter:

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

515

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

Analysis window

The frequency with which the Chord Analyzer samples
the chord. Lower numbers (smaller intervals) are more
accurate, but require more computation.

To Analyze a Chord
1. Select the notes to be analyzed.
2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Chord Analyzer from the
Process menu or from the popup menu to open the Transpose dialog
box.
3. Click the Audition key.
SONAR displays the chord and its name.
To clear the display, press the Clear button.
Note: When analyzing chords you may see chords being displayed before
you hear them. You can reduce the amount of time these chords appear
ahead of playback. To do so, open the MIDI tab in the Global Options dialog
(Options-Global) and enter a lower value in the Prepare Using “N”
Milliseconds Buffer option. Excessively low values may cause glitches
during playback, so it is best to gradually reduce the value in this option
until the desired result is achieved.

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Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

Changing Velocities with the Velocity Effect
The Velocity effect lets you adjust velocities of MIDI notes. You can set
velocity values, set scale values, add specific or random offsets, create
smooth transitions, and limit the velocity range.
The velocity effect options are as follows:

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

Set all velocities to X

Sets all velocities to the specified value.

Change velocities by
X

Adds a specified increment to all velocities.

Scale velocities to X%
of their current value

Multiplies all velocities by a constant factor.

Change gradually
from X to Y

Creates a smooth velocity change across the selection.

Change gradually
from X% to Y%

Scales velocities by a gradually changing factor.

Limit range from X to
Y

Brings all velocities into the specified range.

Randomize by +/- X

Adds or subtracts a random offset from each velocity. You
must also specify the maximum offset. You can select this
option in addition to one of the previous options.

Tendency

The tendency of the random offset to be lower or higher,
on a scale from -10 to 10.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

517

To Change Note Velocities
1. Select the data to be affected.

2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Velocity from the Process menu
or from the popup menu to open the Velocity dialog box.
3. Select options as described in the table above.
4. Click OK.
SONAR changes note velocities according to the specified options.

Transposing MIDI Notes with the Transpose
MIDI Effect
The Process-MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Transpose command is a
flexible transposition feature. You can perform simple chromatic or diatonic
transpositions, transpose from one key to another, or define your own
custom transposition.
The transpose options are as follows:

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

Interval

Specifies chromatic transposition. Transposes notes by
the specified number of steps.

Diatonic

Specifies diatonic transposition. Transposes notes by the
specified number of scale steps within the specified scale.

Key/Scale

Specifies transposition from one scale and key to another.

Custom Map

Specifies custom transposition as defined by the map.

Offset

For Interval transposition, the number of steps for the
transposition.
For Diatonic Transposition, the number of scale degrees
for the transposition.
For Key/Scale transposition, a number of octaves added
to each note after transposition.

Key

518

For Diatonic transposition, the key in which the
transposition is made.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

Parameter/
Option...

Meaning...

From, To

For Key/Scale transposition, the starting and ending key
and scale.

Transposition Map

A table of pitch mappings for the specified transposition.
You can select to show the pitches as note names or as
note numbers. For Diatonic and Key/Scale transpositions,
pitches not in the starting (from) key are indented.
To Change a pitch mapping, click on a From pitch and
select a To pitch with the popup slider. If you change a
pitch mapping, the transposition type is automatically set
to Custom Map.

Constrain to Scale

For Diatonic and Key/Scale transpositions, forces all nonscale notes to be transposed to the nearest appropriate
scale tone.

To Transpose MIDI Data

1. Select the data to be affected.
2. Choose MIDI Effects-Cakewalk FX-Transpose from the Process
menu or from the popup menu to open the Transpose dialog box.
3. Set the transposition options as described in the table above.
4. Click OK.
SONAR transposes the selected data according to the options you
specified.

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

519

520

Editing MIDI Events and Controllers

MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane
There are several panes in the Piano Roll view designed for use with MIDI drum tracks:
the Note Map pane which lists the original pitch values and the mapped values for each
note, and the Drum Grid pane which displays your drum tracks (any track assigned to a
drum map) and where you can edit your drum tracks.

In This Chapter
The Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
Creating and Editing a Drum Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 522
Using Drum Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526
The Note Map Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 529
The Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
The Pattern Brush Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 532

The Basics
Drum maps are virtual MIDI ports that you create and edit. Drum maps give
you total control over all the MIDI drum sounds you have access to either in
the form of software (soft synths) or hardware (external MIDI sound
modules).
Drum maps in SONAR allow you to do the following:
•

Re-map note events, for example, map a General MIDI drum kit to a
non-General MIDI drum kit.

•

Create a custom drum kit from several MIDI devices (soft synths,
hardware synths) and play it from a single MIDI track if desired.

•

Use the Drum Grid Editor to show only the drum sounds you want to
see.

•

Sort drum sounds to suit your needs.

•

Mute and solo individual drum sounds

Creating and Editing a Drum Map
You can create a drum map by either modifying an existing drum map or by
creating a new drum map.

The Drum Map Manager
In the Drum Map Manager dialog you can create and save drum maps for
use with hardware or software synths and samplers. You can customize
drum maps to select specific sounds on any of your available sound
sources.

To Open the Drum Map Manager Dialog
You can open the Drum Map manager in one of the following ways:
•

Select Options-Drum Map Manager from the menu
Or

•

522

Click on the Output field of your MIDI drum track and select Drum Map
Manager

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Basics

A. New Drum Map button B. Delete Drum Map button C. Current Drum Map
D. Preset list E. Port/Channel pairs F. Rows G. Click to create a new row

Drum Maps Used in Current Project

This field displays all the currently available drum maps. click the New
button
to create a new drum map and Delete
to delete a drum
map. Select a drum map to display the drum mappings in the Drum Map
Manager. All drum maps in this field are saved with the current project.

Presets

Presets can be used to populate the fields in the Drum Map Manager. This
field is also used to save new drum maps by entering a name in the field
and clicking the save button.

Settings
The Settings section is where you map the following for each In Note
(source):
•

In Note—The source MIDI note value.

•

Out Note—The MIDI note value that plays on the destination sound

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Creating and Editing a Drum Map

523

source.
•

Name—The user-defined name for the row.

•

Chn—The channel on which the note is transmitted.

•

Out Port—The hardware output port or software virtual output port to
which you are sending the note.

•

Vel+—Apply a velocity offset setting to an individual mapped pitch.

•

V Scale—The V Scale value sets a level of compression or expansion.
A value below 100% is compression. A value above 100% is
expansion. The Vel+ setting allows for gain make-up.

Ports and Channels

This section lists each unique Port and Channel pairing. This allows you to
make quick global changes that Port and Channel pairing’s bank and patch
settings.

Working in the Drum Map Manager
The following table lists several ways of editing settings in the Drum Map
Manager.

524

To do this…

Do this…

Audition a row

Select the row and press Shift+Spacebar

Sort rows

Drag and drop a row to a new location

Select multiple rows

Click a row, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting
additional rows

Change the Output Port for all
rows with the same Channel/
Port

Press Ctrl+Shift while changing the port.

Undo an edit

Press the Undo button

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Creating and Editing a Drum Map

The Map Properties Dialog
The Map Properties dialog lets you change all the settings for an individual
mapped note in your drum map. The settings in the Map Properties dialog
are the same as a single row in the Drum Map Manager. If you want to edit
more than one drum note pitch mapping, click the Map Mgr button to open
the Drum Map Manager dialog.

To Open the Map Properties Dialog
•

Double-click on a row in the Note Map pane.
Or

•

Right-click on a row in the Note Map pane and select Map Properties
from the menu that appears.

Saving a Drum Map
Use the following procedure to save a new or modified drum map.
1. In the Drum Map Manager, enter a name for the new drum map in the
Preset field.
2. Click the Save button

Drum map presets are saved and available for all projects. Drum maps are
saved on a per-project basis.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Creating and Editing a Drum Map

525

Using Drum Maps
The following topics cover using drum-mapped tracks, including how to
display drum tracks in the Drum Grid pane and how to edit note velocities.

Assigning a MIDI Track to a Drum Map
Use the following procedure to assign a MIDI track to a drum map:

To Assign a MIDI Track to a Drum Map
1. Display the Track view if it is minimized.

2. In the track you want to assign to a drum map, click the Output
dropdown and select a drum map from the options in the menu that
appears.

Opening a Drum Map
Use the following procedure to open a drum map in the Drum pane:

To Open a Drum Map

1. In the Track view, assign the drum map you want to open to a MIDI
track. See “Assigning a MIDI Track to a Drum Map” on page 526.
2. Select the MIDI track you just assigned the drum map to and select
Views-Piano Roll.

To Open All Tracks Assigned to a Drum Map
1. Select a single track assigned to the drum map.

2. Hold down Ctrl+Shift while selecting Views-Piano Roll.

Displaying Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane
Use the following procedure to display a drum track or tracks in the Drum
Grid pane.

To Display Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane

1. Create a drum map if you have not already done so. See “Creating and
Editing a Drum Map” on page 522.
2. Change the focus to the Track view.
3. In the track(s) you want to view in the Drum Grid Editor, select a drum
map from the Output dropdown menu.
4. Select the tracks you want to view in the Drum Grid Editor and select
Views-Piano Roll.

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Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Using Drum Maps

The Piano Roll view appears with the selected track’s data appearing in the
Drum Grid Editor.

Velocity Tails
In the Drum Grid pane, you have the option of showing the velocity of each
note as a series of bars. The higher the bars, the higher the velocity value.

Notes with velocity showing

Notes without velocity showing

To Display Velocity Tails in the Drum Grid Pane
•

Click the Show/Hide Velocity Tails button
toolbar.

in the Piano Roll view

Or
•

Press the Y key.

Editing Note Velocities
In the Drum Map Editor you can display note velocities as a series of
horizontal bars behind the note. Click the Show/Hide Velocity Tails button
to display note velocities.

To Edit a Note Velocity in the Drum Grid Pane
1. Click the Draw tool button

2. Move your cursor over the velocity tail you want to edit until the cursor
changes to look like this:
3. Click and drag the velocity tail. Drag it up to increase the velocity. Drag
it down to decrease the velocity.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Using Drum Maps

527

To Edit Multiple Note Velocities in the Drum Grid Editor
When you edit multiple notes that have different initial velocities, the
velocities are adjusted on a relative basis, so if you reduce a velocity by
50%, all other selected notes have their velocities reduced by the same
percentage. For example: you select three notes. The first has a velocity of
100, the second a velocity of 50, and the third a velocity of 30. You click and
drag the velocity of the first note down to 50. The second note’s velocity
changes from 50 to 25 and the third note’s velocity changes from 30 to 15.
1. Select the notes you want to change the velocity of.
2. Click the Draw tool button

3. Move your cursor over one of the selected notes.
4. Hold down the Shift key.
5. Click and drag the velocity tail. Drag it up to increase the velocity. Drag
it down to decrease the velocity.

Previewing a Mapped Sound
Use the following procedure to hear the drum sound you have mapped a
note to.

To Preview a Mapped Sound
•

528

In the Note Map pane, click on the name of the sound you want to hear.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

Using Drum Maps

The Note Map Pane
The Note Map pane displays the current drum map. In the Note Map pane
each row represents a pitch. The Note In pitch is the recorded pitch. You
map the recorded pitch to whatever pitch you want using the Note Out pitch
setting. You can also change the name of the mapped note and mute or
solo the mapped note.

Changing Mapped-note Settings
You can change the following settings in the Note Map pane:
•

Mapped-note name

•

Note Out

•

Mute

•

Solo

To Change the Name Setting
The name of a mapped note in the Note Map pane is a user-assigned
variable. Make it descriptive for easy reference. To change the Name
setting, use the following procedure:
1. In the Note Map pane, double-click on the appropriate row.
The Map Properties dialog appears.
2. In the Map Properties dialog, enter a new name in the Name field and
press the Enter key.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Note Map Pane

529

To Change the Note Out Setting

The Note Out setting is the actual note you hear when the Note In value is
played. To change the Note Out setting, use the following procedure:
1. In the Note Map pane, double-click on the appropriate row.
The Map Properties dialog appears.
2. In the Map Properties dialog, enter a new value in the Note Out field
and press the Enter key, or use the +/- buttons to change the value and
press the Enter key.

To Change Multiple Note Out Settings
1. Open the Drum Map Manager.

2. In the Drum Map Manager, select a contiguous range of rows by
selecting the first in the range, and holding down the Shift key while
selecting the last in the range.
Or
Select a non-contiguous range by selecting one row and holding down
the Ctrl key while selecting additional rows.
3. Hold down both the Ctrl and Shift keys while selecting a new Output in
the Output column.

To Mute or Solo a Mapped Note

The Mute and Solo controls in the Note Map pane allow you to mute or solo
an individual mapped note. To mute or solo a mapped note, use the
following procedure:
•

In the Note Map pane, click the Mute
appropriate row.

or Solo

button in the

Or
•

Right-click on the row you want to mute or solo and select Mute or Solo
from the menu that appears.

To Display the Note In and Note Out Values By Their
Pitch Name

You have the option of showing the Note In and Note Out values by their
pitch names. To do so, use the following procedure:
•

530

Right-click on any row in the Note Map pane and select the Display
Pitch Names command from the menu that appears.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Note Map Pane

To Change the Order of Mapped Notes in the Drum Map
Pane
Use the following procedure to change the order of mapped notes in the
Note Map pane.

1. Move your cursor over the row you want to move in the Note Map pane.
2. When your cursor changes to look like this , click and drag the row to
the place you want it to be and release the mouse button.

The Drum Grid Pane
The Drum Grid pane is where you edit your drum tracks. The Drum Grid
pane is the top pane in the Piano Roll view and opens automatically when
you open a MIDI drum track.

Grid Lines
The Drum Grid pane is divided into a time grid. You can set the resolution of
the grid lines from 1/4 note to 1/64 note, or to follow the current snap grid
setting.
The Show/Hide Grid Lines combo button
toggles on and off the grid
lines in the Drum Grid pane and sets the grid line resolution.

To Turn on Grid Lines in the Drum Map Pane
•

Click the Show/Hide Grid Lines combo button
view toolbar.

in the Piano Roll

Or
•

Press the I key.

To Set the Drum Map Pane Grid Line Resolution
•

Click the down arrow on the Show/Hide Grid Lines combo button
and select an option from the menu that appears.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Drum Grid Pane

531

The Pattern Brush Tool
The Pattern Brush tool
, on the Piano Roll View toolbar, allows you to
insert multiple notes using your mouse, either following a pattern used in an
existing MIDI file or at the current note duration setting.

How the Pattern Brush Tool Works
When you select the Pattern Brush tool you can click and drag in the Drum
Grid pane (also works in the Note pane) to produce a series of notes. Which
notes appear in the Drum Grid depends on the settings you make in the
Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu. To open the Pattern Brush tool’s
dropdown menu, click the right side of the Pattern Brush tool.
The following table covers the options found in the Pattern Brush tool’s
dropdown menu:

532

Option…

Description…

Velocity

Select this option to open the Pattern Velocity
dialog. The value you enter in this dialog sets the
default velocity for all notes entered using the
Pattern Brush tool unless you select Use Pattern
Velocities.

Use Pattern Velocities

Select this option to use the note velocities used in
the custom pattern file you are using. If you are
using the Note Duration option, this option is not
available.

Use Pattern Polyphony

Select this option to use the pitch values from the
custom pattern file you are using. If you are using
the Note Duration option, this option is not
available. When using this option, the vertical
position of your mouse does not affect the note
pitches draw; that information is read from the
pattern.

Note Duration

This option uses the current note duration setting in
the Piano Roll View toolbar as the interval between
notes.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Pattern Brush Tool

To Paint Notes Using the Pattern Brush Tool
1. Open a track in the Drum Grid pane or the Note pane.

2. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select Note Duration.
3. In the Piano Roll View toolbar, select a note duration. This value is the
interval between notes when using the Pattern Brush tool.
4. Click the Pattern Brush tool

to select it.

Your cursor should appear like this

when in the Drum Grid pane.

5. Click where you want to begin placing notes and drag until you have
inserted all the notes you want.
6. Release the mouse button.
SONAR creates a series of notes, at equal intervals.

To Paint a Custom Pattern of Notes Using the Pattern
Brush Tool
1. Open a track in the Drum Grid pane.

2. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select the custom pattern
you want to use. If you need to create a custom pattern, see “Creating
Custom Patterns” on page 534.
3. Click the Pattern Brush tool

to select it.

Your cursor should appear like this when in the Drum Grid pane.
4. Click where you want to begin placing notes and drag until you have
inserted all the notes you want.
5. Release the mouse button.

To Use a Custom Pattern’s Note Velocities
1. Open a track in the Drum Grid pane.
2. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select the custom pattern
you want to use. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select Use
Pattern Velocities.
3. Click the Pattern Brush tool

to select it.

Your cursor should appear like this when in the Drum Grid pane.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Pattern Brush Tool

533

4. Click where you want to begin placing notes and drag until you have
inserted all the notes you want.
5. Release the mouse button.

To Use a Custom Pattern’s Pitch Values
1. Open a track in the Drum Grid pane.

2. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select the custom pattern
you want to use. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select
Use Pattern Polyphony.
3. Click the Pattern Brush tool

to select it.

Your cursor should appear like this when in the Drum Grid pane.
4. Click where you want to begin placing notes and drag until you have
inserted all the notes you want.
5. Release the mouse button.

Creating Custom Patterns
You can create custom patterns and use the Pattern Brush tool to quickly
paint them into the Drum Grid pane. Use the following procedure to create a
custom pattern.

To Create a Custom Pattern
1. Create a new file, or open an existing MIDI file or pattern file that you
want to edit.
2. Right-click in the Time Ruler where you want the pattern to start and
select Insert Marker from the menu that appears.
The Marker dialog appears.
3. Enter the name you want to use for the first pattern and click OK.
4. In a MIDI track, enter a pattern of notes.
5. If you want to create a second pattern, repeat steps 2 through 4.

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Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Pattern Brush Tool

6. Create as many patterns as you want, ending the last pattern with a
marker called “end”.
7. Save the file as a MIDI file (.MID) in the Pattern Brush Patterns folder in
the directory where you installed SONAR.
Note: You can change the default directory where SONAR looks for
patterns in the Folders tab of the Global Options dialog.
You may need to re-start SONAR to see the new patterns in the dropdown
menu next to the Pattern Brush. The name you gave the file appears with
an arrow next to it. Move your mouse over it to see a subdirectory which
contains each of the patterns you created.

Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Pattern Brush Tool

535

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Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane

The Pattern Brush Tool

Editing Audio
The Track view lets you edit and arrange audio clips. You can perform basic tasks such as
cut, copy, paste, and move; apply simple audio processing such as gain change, fades,
and equalization; and use sophisticated audio effects such as stereo chorus and reverb.
The Track view lets you see your audio clips on a timeline, arranged by track, to help you
visualize the organization of your project’s audio data.
Most audio processing commands and audio effects can be used from the Event List view
as well, by selecting one or more audio clips, then choosing the desired command from
the Process-Audio or Process-Audio Effects menu. Plug-in effects can also be applied
to audio data non-destructively, in real time, in both the Console and Track views. For
more information, see the online help topic “Mixing.”

In This Chapter
Digital Audio Fundamentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
Basic Audio Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545
Basic Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555
Advanced Audio Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
Applying Fades and Crossfades Offline. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 562
Audio Effects (Audio Plug-ins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 564

Digital Audio Fundamentals
Digital audio is a numeric representation of sound; it is sound stored as
numbers. In order to understand what the numbers mean, you need to start
with the basic principles of acoustics, the science of sound.

Basic Acoustics
Sound is produced when molecules in the air are disturbed by some type of
motion produced by a vibrating object. This object, which might be a guitar
string, human vocal cord, or a garbage can, is set into motion because
energy is applied to it. The guitar string is struck by a pick or finger, while
the garbage can is hit perhaps by a hammer, but the basic result is the
same: they both begin to vibrate. The rate and amount of vibration is critical
to our perception of the sound. If it is not fast enough or strong enough, we
won't hear it. But if the vibration occurs at least twenty times a second and
the molecules in the air are moved enough, then we will hear sound.

Example—A Guitar String
To understand the process better, let's take a closer look at a guitar string.
When a finger picks a guitar string, the entire string starts to move back and
forth at a certain rate. This rate is called the frequency of the vibration.
Because a single back and forth motion is called a cycle, we use a
measure of frequency called cycles per second, or cps. This measure is
also known as Hertz, abbreviated Hz. Often the frequency of vibration of an
object is very fast, so we can also express the frequency in thousands of
cycles per second, or kilohertz (abbreviated kHz).

The actual distance the string moves is called its displacement. This is
proportional to how hard the string is plucked. A greater displacement
results in a louder sound.
The displacement of the string changes as the string vibrates, as shown
here:

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Editing Audio

Digital Audio Fundamentals

The segment marked “A” represents the string as it is pulled back by the
pick; “B” shows it moving back towards its resting point, “C” represents the
string moving through the resting point and onward to its outer limit; then
“D” has it moving back towards the point of rest. This pattern repeats
continuously until the friction of the molecules in the air gradually slows the
string to a stop. As the string vibrates, it causes the molecules of air around
it to vibrate as well. The vibrations are passed along through the air as
sound waves. When the vibrations enter your ear, they make your eardrum
vibrate, and you hear a sound. Likewise, if the vibrating air hits a
microphone, it causes the microphone to vibrate and send out electrical
signals.
In order for us humans to hear the sound, the frequency of the vibration
must be at least 20 Hz. The highest frequency sound we can hear is
theoretically 20 kHz, but, in reality, it's probably closer to 15 or 17 kHz.
Other animals, and microphones, have different hearing ranges.
If the simple back-and-forth motion of the string was the only phenomenon
involved in creating a sound, then all stringed instruments would probably
sound much the same. We know this is not true, of course; the laws of
physics are not quite so simple. In fact, the string vibrates not only at its
entire length, but at one-half its length, one-third, one-fourth, one-fifth, and
so on. These additional vibrations (overtones) occur at a rate faster than
the rate of the original vibration (the fundamental frequency), but are
usually weaker in strength. Our ear doesn't hear each frequency of vibration
individually, however. If it if did, we would hear a multinote chord every time
a single string were played. Rather, all these vibrations are added together
to form a complex or composite sound that our ear perceives as a single
tone.

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

539

Fundamental
frequency (1f)
100% amplitude

2x fundamental (2f)
50% amplitude

3x fundamental (3f)
33% amplitude

4x fundamental (4f)
25% amplitude
5x fundamental (5f)
20% amplitude

This composite waveform still doesn't account for the uniqueness of the
sound of different instruments. For example, stringed instruments usually
have a resonator. In the case of the guitar, the resonator is the big block of
hollow wood to which the string is attached (the guitar body). This has a
major impact on the sound we perceive when a guitar is played because it
enhances or amplifies some of the vibrations produced by the string and
diminishes or attenuates others. The ultimate effect of all the vibrations
occurring simultaneously, being altered by the resonator, adds up to the
sound we know as guitar.

Waveforms
A sound wave can be represented in many different ways: as a
mathematical formula, as a series of numbers, or graphically as a
waveform. A waveform displays the size, or amplitude, of the vibration as
a function of time. For example, the waveform of the sound of the plucked
guitar string might look like this:

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Editing Audio

Digital Audio Fundamentals

The waveform of a trumpet blast might look like this:

And the waveform of a spoken word might look like this:

The three waveforms shown above are quite different from one another,
both in appearance and sound. Each has its own characteristic shape, or
envelope, and each has its own complex combination of frequency
components, which can change across the duration of the sound.

Editing Audio

Digital Audio Fundamentals

541

The center line of a waveform is the zero line; it corresponds to the rest
position (displacement of 0) of the original vibrating object. (A waveform for
perfect silence would be a horizontal line at zero.) Back and forth motions of
the vibrating object translate to upward (positive) and downward (negative)
excursions of waveform amplitude. For example, a close-up of a portion of
the guitar waveform might look like this:

The waveform crosses the zero line twice during each complete vibration.
These zero-crossings are important in digital audio processing; they are
good places to cut waveforms apart and splice them together. If waveforms
are cut or spliced at other locations, clicks and pops can occur. The
maximum amplitude of the waveform in each vibration is also important: it
determines the strength of the vibration, and thus the loudness of the
sound.

Recording a Sound
To record digital audio, your computer monitors the electrical signal
generated by a microphone (or some other electroacoustical device).
Because the signal is caused by a sound, the signal strength varies in direct
proportion to the sound’s waveform. The computer measures and saves the
strength of the electrical signal from the microphone, thus recording the
waveform.
There are two important aspects of this measuring process. First is the
sampling rate, the rate at which the computer saves measurements of the
signal strength. It is a known fact of physics that you must measure, or
sample, the signal at a rate at least twice that of the highest frequency you
wish to capture. For example, suppose you want to record a moderately
high note on a violin—say the A whose fundamental frequency is 440 Hz
and all overtones up to five times the fundamental. The highest frequency

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

you want to capture is 2,200 Hz, so you need to measure the electrical
signal from the microphone at least 4,400 times per second.
Since humans can hear frequencies well above 10 kHz, most sound cards
and digital recording systems are capable of sampling at much higher rates
than that. Typical sampling rates used by modern musicians and audio
engineers are 22 kHz, 44.1 kHz, and 48 kHz. The 44.1 kHz rate is called
CD-quality, since it is the rate used by audio compact discs.
The other important aspect of the measuring process is the sampling
resolution. The sampling resolution determines how accurately the
amplitude of each sample is measured. At present, the music industry has
settled on a system that provides 65,536 different values to assign to the
amplitude of a waveform at any given instant. Thus, each sample saved by
your computer requires 2 bytes (16 bits) to store, since it takes 2 bytes to
store a number from –32,768 to 32,767. The scaling of the electrical input
signal level to amplitude value is determined by your audio hardware and by
the position of your input level control.
What if the amplitude of the sampled signal gets too high, such that a 16-bit
number is not large enough to represent it? What typically happens is that
the signal is clipped, cut off at the maximum value.
Here is what a clipped waveform might look like:

Clipping is not usually desirable and may have unpleasant audible effects.
Sudden irregularities in the waveform of any type can cause clicks, pops,
and distortion of the original sound.

The Decibel Scale
In acoustics, the decibel (dB) scale is a scale for measuring the relative
loudness of two sounds. For example, environmental noise is often
measured as follows:
L = 20 log (p/p0)
where L is the sound pressure level (in dB), p is the sound pressure
amplitude, and p0 is a reference amplitude of 20 micropascals (less than
one billionth of atmospheric pressure). On this scale, a barely audible

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

543

sound (p = p0) has a sound pressure level of 0 dB, normal conversation (p
= 1,000*p0) is at a level of around 60 dB, and a jet engine at close range (p
= 1,000,000*p0) is at a level of around 120 dB.
Similar decibel scales are used in other branches of science and
engineering to measure electrical power levels and other signal levels,
always with respect to some reference level.
In SONAR, decibels are used in several places:
•

To indicate volume levels of audio tracks in the Track view and Console
view

•

To indicate the effects of filters and equalizers

The reference level (0 dB) usually corresponds to the current loudness of
the sound. A positive change in decibels makes the sound louder; a
negative change makes the sound quieter.

Audio Clips
If you have read from the beginning of the chapter, you should have a good
idea of what is contained in a SONAR audio clip. An audio clip contains a
long series of numbers, or samples, representing the fluctuating amplitude
of a waveform. Audio clips are typically quite large, hundreds of kilobytes to
many megabytes in size. By comparison, a MIDI event takes only a few
bytes to store.
The Track view lets you see your audio waveforms in great detail; you can
zoom in until you see the individual samples.
You should also now be aware of some things to watch out for when editing
your audio data. First, if you cut audio clips apart or splice them together,
you should do so at zero-crossings in the waveform (places where the
amplitude is zero), in order to avoid sudden changes in amplitude that may
cause clicks and pops. Second, you should beware of clipping. Clipping of
the audio waveform can occur if you record a signal at too high a record
level, or if you apply audio processing or effects that increase the waveform
amplitude too much. If you accidentally cause the waveform to clip, you
should undo the command and try again with different parameters.
Clipping can also occur in other situations, for example, if you try to play or
mix several loud audio tracks together, the aggregate signal strength may
at times exceed the clipping limit, and the output signal will be distorted. To
correct the problem, you can create a volume envelope to reduce the level
in loud audio clips or reduce the track volume in the Console or Track
views.

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Digital Audio Fundamentals

Managing Audio Data
Because of the great size of audio data, SONAR uses an intelligent scheme
for storing audio clips on disk to conserve disk space and minimize the time
it takes to load and save data. Audio data is not stored directly in your
project file, but rather in separate files in a special directory. For more
information, see “System Configuration” on page 858.
You can export your project in MP3, WMA, or Wave format. You can also
convert your project’s MIDI data to audio and export it to any of the above
formats. For more information, see “Preparing Audio for Distribution” on
page 665.

Basic Audio Editing
The Track view lets you perform basic editing tasks such as cut, copy,
paste, delete, drag-and-drop, split, and bounce. You can drag fade-ins and
fade-outs onto a clip using your mouse or you can set complex envelopes
on both clips and tracks. You can use envelopes to change settings for gain
(volume), pan, mute, bus send level and bus send pan. The Scrub tool lets
you audition portions of audio by dragging the mouse.
Use the Select tool to make selections.
Here is a summary of the ways in which you can select audio clips:

To do this...

Do this...

Select a single clip

Click the clip

Select several clips at once

Drag a rectangle around them

Select part of a clip

Press Alt and drag over a portion of the clip

Add clips to the selection

Press Shift and either click the clips or drag a
rectangle around the clips

Add or remove clips from the
selection

Press Ctrl and either click the clips or drag a
rectangle around the clips

Add or remove clips in a track
from the selection

Press Ctrl and click the track number

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Basic Audio Editing

545

To do this...

Do this...

Select clips in a time range

Drag in the Time Ruler

Select clips between two
markers

Click between the markers

Remove all selections

Click in an empty area outside of any clip

Editing Clip Properties
Audio clips have several properties that you can change:

546

Property...

Description...

Name

The name of a clip is used in the Track view and Event List
view. You can assign any name to help you remember the
contents of the clip.

Start

The start determines when the sample is played.

Length

The length indicates the size of the clip.

Snap Offset

A value that represents the number of samples into the clip
at which the clip snaps to.

Display Color

The clip’s color in the Track view.

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To Change an Audio Clip’s Name

1. Right-click the audio clip and choose Clip Properties.

2. Type a new name in the Name box.
3. Click OK.
The new clip name appears in the upper left corner of the clip.

To Change a Clip’s Start
1. Right-click an audio clip and choose Clip Properties.
2. Enter a new starting time in the Start field.
3. Click OK.
The Track view displays the clip at the new starting time.

Moving, Copying, Pasting and Deleting Audio
Clips
Clips can be cut, copied, pasted, and deleted with Edit menu commands, or
moved and copied with drag-and-drop techniques. For more information,
see “Arranging” on page 269.

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547

Audio Scaling
Audio scaling is the increase or decrease in the size (scale) of the
waveform in a track or bus. Audio scaling allows you to make detailed edits
by zooming in on the parts of the waveform closest to the zero crossing
(silence) while preserving the track or bus size. By showing just the quietest
parts of a clip, you can make very precise edits. You can also zoom out on
the waveform.
You can change the audio scale using keyboard shortcuts or the Audio
Scale Ruler.
The Audio Scale Ruler is located in the vertical splitter bar between the
Clips pane and the Track pane.
A

A. Track pane B. Clips pane C. Audio Scale Ruler

Note: the Audio Scale Ruler does not appear on multi-layered tracks.
There are three display options in the Audio Scale Ruler:
•

•

dB—shows audio scaling by dB. For example, if the highest dB in the
Audio Scaling Ruler reads -36, then only the parts of the waveform
which are 36 dB below 0 dB appear in the clip.

•

Zoom Factor—shows audio scaling by a factor. For example, if the
Zoom Factor reads 10, then the waveform is zoomed in by a factor of
10.

Note: The Audio Scale Ruler display reflects the type of audio clip directly
beneath it. If it is a stereo waveform, the Audio Scale Ruler appears in

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stereo (one for each channel). If it is a mono clip it appears in mono. Also,
the Audio Scale Ruler only displays numbers when it is above a certain
height. If you cannot see the Audio Scale Ruler, increase the size of your
track or bus.

To Change the Audio Scale Display Option
1. Right-click on the Audio Scale Ruler in any track.

A menu appears. The current display option is checked.
2. Select an option from the menu.

To Scale All Audio Tracks Together

To scale all audio tracks together, follow the instructions in the table below:

To do this...

Do this…

Increase the scale for all tracks

Press Alt+Up Arrow.
Or
Hold down the Ctrl key and click the Vertical
Zoom In button. When you hold down the Ctrl
key and position your cursor over the Vertical
Zoom In button, your cursor looks like this:

Decrease the scale for all tracks

Press Alt+Down Arrow.
Or
Hold down the Ctrl key and click the Vertical
Zoom Out button. When you hold down the Ctrl
key and position your cursor over the Vertical
Zoom Out button, your cursor looks like this:

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549

550

To do this...

Do this…

Increase/Decrease the scale for
all tracks using your mouse

Hold down the Ctrl key, click the Vertical Zoom
Fader and drag the fader up or down. When
you hold down the Ctrl key and position your
cursor over the Vertical Zoom fader, your
cursor looks like this:

Increase to maximum scale

Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and click the
Vertical Zoom In button. When you hold down
the Shift and Ctrl keys and position your cursor
over the Vertical Zoom In button, your cursor
looks like this:

Decrease to minimum scale

Hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and click the
Vertical Zoom Out button. When you hold
down the Shift and Ctrl keys and position your
cursor over the Vertical Zoom Out button, your
cursor looks like this:

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To Scale a Single Track or Bus

To scale a single audio track, follow the instructions in the table below:

To do this...

Do this…

Increase/decrease the scale of
individual stereo or mono tracks

There are several ways to increase or
decrease the size of an individual
track’s or bus’s waveform:
•

Press Ctrl+Alt+Up/Down arrows

•

Click and drag vertically in the track’s
Audio Scale Ruler.

When you click and drag in the Audio
Scale ruler of a track, your cursor looks
like this:

•

Restore a track to minimum scale

Select the Zoom tool, hold the Shift
key and drag around the clip you want
to zoom in on.

Double-click in the track’s Audio Scale
Ruler.

To Undo Audio Scaling
•

Press the U key.

To Scale a Single Track or Bus Using the Audio Scale
Ruler
•

In the track in which you want to change the audio scale, click in the
Audio Scale Ruler and drag. Drag up to increase the audio scaling.
Drag down to decrease the audio scaling.

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To Show or Hide the Audio Scale Ruler
1. Right-click in the Clips pane.

2. Select View Options from the menu that appears.
The Track View Options dialog appears.
3. In the Track View Options dialog, click the Show Audio Scale checkbox
and click OK.

Splitting Audio Clips
You can split long audio clips into shorter ones. This lets you extract and
rearrange individual sounds, adjust timing and alignment, and apply effects
selectively. Audio clips can be split using the Scissors tool in the Track view
or with the Split command.

To Split Clips with the Scissors Tool
1. If necessary, zoom-in in the Track view and use the Scrub tool to
determine where you want to make a split.
2. If you want the split to be made on a note or measure boundary, a
marker, or by an event, open the Snap to Grid dialog, make the
appropriate settings and click the Snap to Grid button to turn on the
Snap to Grid.
3. Click the Scissors tool button on the Track view toolbar.
4. Click once to make a single split, or to make two splits, click where you
want the first split, drag within a clip and release to make a second split.

To Split Clips with the Split Command
1. Select the clip you want to split.

2. Right-click the selected clip and select Split from the menu.
The Split Clips dialog appears.

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3. In the Split Clips dialog, select from the following options.

Option...

Description...

Split At Time

Specify the time at which you want to split the clip and
the time format.

Split Repeatedly

Specify the first measure at which you want to split the
clip in the Starting At Measure field and the intervals
at which you want to split the clip in the And Again
Every field.

Split At Each Marker

Creates a split in the clip at every marker.

Split When Silent For At
Least

Creates a split after each period of silence which
exceeds the number of measures specified.

SONAR splits the audio clip according to your specifications. Each new clip
has the same name as the original clip.
Note: A shortcut to split a selected clip is to move the Now time to where
you want to split it, and press s on your computer keyboard.

Bouncing to Clips
Individual audio clips in the same track can be combined into a single clip
with the Bounce to Clip(s) command.
Note 1: Like any clips, slip-edited clips can be combined with other clips
using the Bounce to Clip(s) command. When a slip-edited clip is combined
with another clip, any slip-edited data (audio clips or MIDI events that are
cropped from view) is overwritten.
Note 2: You control the bit depth of all rendering operations (bouncing,
freezing, applying effects) on the Audio Data tab of the Global Options
dialog (Options-Global command) in the Render Bit Depth field. The
default value of 32 is the best for most situations. See “Bit Depths for
Rendering Audio” on page 865 for more information.

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To Bounce to Clips

1. Select the clips to be combined in the Track view.
2. Choose Edit-Bounce to Clip(s).
The clips are combined into a single clip. Empty space between clips is
filled with silence in the new clip. All clip automation from the source clips is
applied to the new clip.

To Bounce Multiple Audio Clips to a New Track
1. Select the clips to be combined in the Track view.
2. Choose Edit-Bounce to Track(s).
The Bounce to Track(s) dialog appears.
3. Select the track you want to bounce to in the Destination field.
4. Select other options in the Mixdown Audio/Bounce to Track(s) dialog
and click OK.
The clips are combined into a single clip on the destination track. Empty
space between clips is filled with silence in the new clip.

Scrubbing
You can use the Scrub tool to locate or audition a particular sound or
passage as you drag the mouse. You can scrub a single audio track by
dragging over that track or all tracks by dragging in the Time Ruler.
Note: The Scrub tool is not affected by current Mute and Solo settings of a
track.

To Audition Audio with the Scrub Tool
1. Click the Scrub tool

2. Click and drag the pointer over an audio track.
Note: To bypass the current volume and pan settings when scrubbing, hold
down the ALT key. This will force scrubbing to play back at unity gain and
centered.
Tip: To hear the clips in all audio tracks, drag with the Scrub tool in the
horizontal ruler.

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Basic Audio Processing
Audio processing commands let you modify audio data according to some
rule or algorithm. The rule can be as simple as reversing the audio data or
boosting it by a certain factor, or as complex as performing a Fourier
analysis and selectively amplifying or attenuating sounds at certain
frequencies.
Audio processing commands can work on whole, partial and noncontiguous clips. For example, suppose you want to make certain words in
a vocal passage softer. You can create a volume envelope and use it to
lower the volume, non-destructively in just the section of the track
containing those words. You could also use the Process-Audio-Gain
command to lower the volume destructively.
You should listen to the results of your work after each audio processing
command. If you don’t like what you hear, you can use Edit-Undo to restore
your audio data to its previous state.
Many of the dialog boxes associated with SONAR’s audio processing and
effects commands have two important features: Audition and Presets.
The Audition button is used to audition the processed audio data. When you
click Audition, SONAR processes the first few seconds of your data, then
plays it repeatedly until you click Stop. This helps you to get an idea of
whether the settings in the dialog box are producing the desired effect.
The audition duration is three seconds by default. You can change this
value by choosing Options-Global, selecting the General tab and
changing Audition Commands for ( ) Seconds.

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555

Presets are a way to store dialog settings so that you can apply the exact
same processing or effect again in the future. The following table tells you
how to use presets in the effects dialog boxes.

To do this...

Do this...

Save the current settings as a preset

Enter a preset name and click the Save
button

Use a preset

Select the preset from the dropdown list

Delete a preset

Select the preset, then click the Delete
button

Many audio processing and effects presets are supplied with SONAR.

Using the Normalize and Gain Commands
SONAR provides several commands to boost or cut the volume of audio
data. The Process-Audio-Normalize command, and the Process-AudioGain commands are used to control the volume of selected audio data, in
decibels. For more information about the decibel scale, see “The Decibel
Scale” on page 543. The Normalize command “normalizes” the audio data:
it boosts the volume until the maximum amplitude is reached somewhere in
the data. By normalizing the data, you achieve the maximum possible
volume without distortion or clipping. The Gain command lets you edit the
volume, phase, and stereo interleave of selected audio data. You can also
use this command to remove center material from a clip (good for removing
vocals).
Like all the audio processing commands, these commands work by
modifying the waveform data. You can achieve volume changes nondestructively using automation. For more information, see the online help
topic “Automation.”

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When increasing or decreasing the volume of audio clips, you should
consider the following points:
•

Normalize raises the noise floor; that is, while it increases the volume
of the signal, it also boosts the noise it contains. (This is true when you
raise the volume by other means, too.)

•

Due to the nature and limitations of digital audio, the sum of all audio
signals played together cannot exceed the waveform amplitude limit.
Even though no individual clip is clipped, the combination may cause
distortion.

If the selection contains any loud signals, Normalize may not seem to have
any effect. This is because the volume increase is determined by the
loudest audio in the selection. If an audio clip contains segments that are
too quiet and others that are loud, you should probably split off the quiet
segments into separate clips and then normalize those.

To Normalize Audio Data
1. Select the audio data to be affected.
2. Choose Process-Audio-Normalize from the menu.
The Normalize dialog appears.
3. Drag the Normalize Level slider to the approximate level you think is
appropriate.
4. Click OK to process the selected audio.
Listen to the edited data. You can use the Edit-Undo command if you don’t
like the results, and then try a different setting in the Normalize dialog.

To Use the Gain Command
1. Select the audio data you want to edit.
2. Use the Process-Audio-Gain command to open the Gain dialog.
3. If you only want to change the overall volume of the selection, move the
New Left Channel-From Left slider and the New Right Channel-From
Right sliders by a similar amount. You can press the Audition button to
try out your edits.
4. If you want to switch the two channels, reverse all four sliders from their
present positions.
5. If you want to invert the left channel phase, click the Invert left-channel
phase button
. If you want to invert the right-channel phase, click the
Invert right-channel phase button in the New Right Channel section.

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6. If you want to remove center material (usually where the vocal track is),
set the New Left Channel-From Left slider and the New Right ChannelFrom Right slider to 100%, and set the New Left Channel-From Right
slider and the New Right Channel-From Left slider to -100% (negative
100%).
7. Press the Audition button if you want to audition your edits.
8. Click OK to process the selected audio.
Listen to the edited data in your mix. You can use the Edit-Undo command
if you don’t like the results, and then try different settings in the Gain dialog.

Reversing Audio Data
By reversing audio data, you can make it play backwards. You may wish to
do this to obtain unusual sounds for special effects.
The Reverse command does not reverse the musical position of audio
data. Use the Process-Retrograde command to invert the order of clips in
time.

To Reverse Audio Data

1. Select the audio data to be affected.
2. Choose Process-Audio-Reverse from the menu.
SONAR reverses the selected audio data.

Advanced Audio Processing
SONAR provides a number of advanced audio processing commands for
power users. Among these are commands to remove silent sections of
audio from the data and to apply fades, and crossfades.

Removing Silence
The Remove Silence command detects sections of audio that fall below a
given loudness threshold, and replaces those sections with absolute
silence. Remove Silence gives you the option of actually deleting the silent
sections from the selected audio clips, splitting long audio clips into a
greater number of shorter audio clips.
SONAR treats passages of absolute silence intelligently. It doesn’t store
stretches of silence on disk, and thereby conserves disk space. During a
passage of absolute silence, SONAR sends no signal to the digital output
port; this results in cleaner audio playback. Remove Silence is great for

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cleaning up your final audio mix, because it can mute all audio tracks in
which the live performers were “laying out.”
Using Remove Silence to split long audio clips into smaller ones opens a
variety of creative possibilities.
The parameters in the Remove Silence dialog box are used to specify
exactly what you mean by silence. More precisely, Remove Silence
employs what is called a digital noise gate. The gate is a type of filter, it
passes data through, or stops it from passing through, according to certain
criteria. Parameters in the dialog box specify the conditions under which the
gate is opened and under which it closes again.
The digital noise gate parameters are described in the following table.

Parameter...

Meaning...

Open Level (dB)

The loudness threshold for opening the noise gate. The gate
officially opens when loudness rises above this level,
although it can open earlier because of the Attack Time.

Close Level (dB)

The loudness threshold for closing the noise gate. The gate
officially closes when loudness falls below this level,
although it can stay open later because of the Release Time.

Attack Time (ms)

The value in this field is the interval of time after the volume
reaches the Open Level for the gate to fully open. Opening
the gate gradually produces a fade-in effect instead of an
instant on-off sound.

Hold Time (ms)

The minimum time for the gate to stay open. Hold Time is
useful when you’ve set high open and close levels, for
example, when your source signal is very loud. Noise gates
set this way tend to react to repeated percussive passages
(such as drum rolls) by repeatedly opening and closing; this
can sound unpleasant. By setting a hold time, you can
ensure that the gate stays open long enough during
percussive passages.

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Parameter...

Meaning...

Release Time (ms)

The amount of time after the Close Level is reached that the
gate actually closes. This lets the tail end of sounds pass
through without being clipped.

Look Ahead (ms)

The value in this field causes the gate to open slightly before
the sound reaches the Open Level so you don’t lose the
sound’s attack.

To Remove Silence

1. Select the audio data to be affected.
2. Choose Process-Audio-Remove Silence to open the Remove
Silence dialog box.

3. Set the digital noise gate parameters as described in the table above.
4. Check the Split Clips box to delete the silent sections of audio.
5. Click OK to remove silence from the selected data.
SONAR processes the audio as directed.

Removing DC Offset
Some models of audio hardware produce a DC offset while recording,
which is caused by electrical mismatches between the audio hardware and
the input device or instrument. Although imperceptible, DC offset may
cause problems in further stages of sound processing.
Note: An easy way to spot DC offset is to zoom in to a silent section of your
sound file. If the silent waveform matches the centerline in the waveform
display, your file does not contain DC offset.

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To Remove DC Offset From Existing Audio

1. Select the audio data and choose Process-Audio-Remove DC Offset.
This launches the Remove DC Offset dialog.
2. Choose from the following options, and click OK:
•

DC Offset Threshold (dB)—you can set a minimum dB threshold. If
the analyzed DC offset is below this value, no removal takes place.

•

Analyze Left Channel (dB) and Right Channel (dB)—this field
displays the DC offset separately for the left and right channels.
Press the Audition button to update the display.

•

Compute DC Offset from first 5 seconds only—to speed
processing, select the Compute DC offset from first 5 seconds only
checkbox. Only the first five seconds of a sound file will be
analyzed when measuring the DC offset. The only time that five
seconds is not sufficient is if a long fade-in or mute has been
applied at the beginning of the file.

To Remove DC Offset During Recording

1. Use the Process-Audio-Remove DC Offset command to open the
Remove DC Offset dialog.
2. In the DC Offset Threshold (dB) field, set a minimum dB threshold, and
click OK to close the dialog. If the analyzed DC offset is below this
value, no removal takes place.
3. Open the Audio Options dialog (Options-Audio command), and on the
Advanced tab, enable the Remove DC Offset During Recording
checkbox, and click OK.
This option filters out DC Offset according to the threshold value that you
set in the Remove DC Offset dialog.

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561

Applying Fades and Crossfades Offline
SONAR provides several commands for applying gradual volume changes
to audio data. The first command, Fade/Envelope, lets you fade-in or fadeout, and lets you choose an envelope, a curve that governs the rate of the
fade. The starting envelope can be linear (straight line), exponential, or
inverse exponential. You can change the shape of the envelope before
applying the fade.
The envelope in the Fade/Envelope dialog box is made of one or more
connected line segments (the linear curves are a single segment, the
exponential curves consist of nine segments each). Although the endpoints
of the curve are fixed, you can move the intermediate points, and create
new intermediate points, to change the shape of the curve.

To do this...

Do this...

Move a point

Click and drag it to a new location

Insert a new point

Click on the line between existing points

Remove a point

Drag it onto the next point

Restart from the original
curve

Click Reset

The second command, Crossfade, lets you create a smooth transition from
one audio clip to another, by fading two overlapping audio clips
simultaneously (one fades out, the other fades in). As with Fade/Envelope,
you can choose from three different starting curves and change the shape
of the curve.

To Apply a Fade to Audio Data
1. Select the audio data to be affected.

2. Choose Process-Audio-Fade/Envelope to open the Fade/Envelope
dialog box.
3. Select an envelope from the dropdown list.

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4. If desired, manipulate the curve as described in the table above.
5. Click OK.
SONAR applies the fade to the selected audio data.

To Crossfade Two Overlapping Clips

1. Select two overlapping audio clips. They need not be on the same
track, but they must overlap in time for the command to have any effect.
2. Choose Process-Audio-Crossfade to open the Crossfade dialog box.
3. Select an envelope from the dropdown list.

4. If desired, manipulate the curve as described in the table above. You
can manipulate only the curve pertaining to the first of the two

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563

overlapping clips; the second curve is automatically adjusted so that
the two curves constantly add up to 100%.
5. Click OK.
SONAR applies the two fades to the selected data.
See “Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing)” on page 338 for information on
non-destructive editing.

Audio Effects (Audio Plug-ins)
SONAR provides the ability to use plug-in audio effects. Some audio plug-in
effects are supplied with SONAR. Others can be purchased from third-party
software manufacturers, and appear automatically in SONAR’s menus
once they are installed on your system. If you need help when using a plugin, press the F1 key on your computer keyboard to open the plug-in’s help
file. Please note that third-party plug-ins may not have a help file.
This section describes the effects that are included with SONAR.
Using plug-in effects is similar to using the audio processing commands offline. The overall procedure is as follows:
•

In the Track view, right-click the FX bin and select an effect from the
popup menu.

•

Set effect parameters (or select a preset).

•

Listen to the track and adjust parameters based on what you hear.

You can add audio effects, like MIDI effects, to audio tracks in real time
(during playback) in the Console and Track views. Unlike some of the audio
processing discussed so far, using effects in real time is non-destructive.
This means that the audio clip data itself is not modified, and no new audio
files are created. See the online help topic “Mixing,” for more information
about real-time effects.
Note: Off-line effects may cause your audio clips to grow in length. For
example, when you apply reverb, your clip may need to lengthen to
accommodate the sound of the reverberation. The additional sound that an
effect produces from a clip is called an effects tail.

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Applying Audio Effects
From the Console and Track views you can destructively apply audio effects
for one or more tracks. When you are pleased with the audio effects you
have patched into a track, you can apply the effects to the track.
Destructively applying effects to a track saves resources, allowing you to
include additional tracks and/or effects.

To Apply Audio Effects
Add one or more audio effects to one or more tracks in either the Track view
or the Console view, and then:
1. In the Track view, select the tracks you want to be affected.
2. Select Process-Apply Audio Effects from the menu.
3. If desired, select the option to delete the effects after applying them.
4. Click OK.
If you do not delete the effects from each track after applying them, they
remain active.
Note: applying effects can be undone, but the effects are not then repatched in the FX bin.

Directly Applying Audio Effects
You can also directly apply an audio effect to an audio clip. Right-click the
clip and select an effect from the Process Effect menu. Set the effect
parameters, and click OK to start processing.

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Software Synthesizers
SONAR’s Synth Rack view (also referred to as just the Synth Rack) makes inserting a
soft synth or ReWire instrument a one-step process, and makes viewing and configuring
these instruments simple. In the Synth Rack you can insert and delete synths, create
control knobs to control and/or automate parameters, scroll through patches and presets,
mute, solo, freeze, and choose what track to display automation data on. You can easily
control all of your soft synths from one view.
SONAR also supports multi-port synths, which allow you to use different synth tracks
and effects for each patch or group of patches in a multi-timbral, multi-port synth.
SONAR now seamlessly integrates VST synths. The VST Configuration Wizard runs
automatically on startup, registering all your VST plug-ins. See “VST Configuration” on
page 632 for more information.

In This Chapter
Synth Rack View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 568
Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
ReWire Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Stand-alone Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589

Synth Rack View
Open the Synth Rack view with the Views-Synth Rack command. The
Synth Rack view lets you view, insert, delete, and configure your soft
synths. You can also mute, solo, and freeze any or all of them from this
view. Each time you insert a soft synth into your project, a new row appears
in the Synth Rack view with the name of the soft synth and its current
preset. You can select different presets from the view. You can insert as
many copies of the same soft synth as you like; each new copy appears in
a new row and has the same name, but has a higher number after the
name (ReWire soft synths can only have one copy open). The new highernumbered name also appears on the menus of synth track inputs and MIDI
track outputs.
One Row in the Synth Rack

F G H I

A. Connect/Disconnect synth button B. Synth icon C. Synth name D. Automation
track menu E. Patch menu F. Mute button G. Solo button H. Freeze/Unfreeze button
I. Quick Freeze/Quick Unfreeze button J. Show/Hide Assigned Controls button
K. Assign Controls button L. Write button M. Read button N. Automated knobs

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Synth Rack View

Synth Tracks
Using a soft synth introduces a third kind of track to your project alongside
audio and MIDI tracks. A synth track functions much like an audio track,
but with a few differences:
•

A synth track’s input is always a synth or a ReWire device, which
means you cannot record audio or enable input monitoring from another
source on that track.

•

A synth track can display a waveform preview of its output. When you
enable this display function by clicking the
button on the track strip,
the amplitude of a synth track's audio signal is graphed in real time as a
waveform.

•

Synth tracks are distinguished by the synth icon to the right of the track
number.

A. Synth icon

Inserting Soft Synths
In order to play a soft synth from a MIDI controller or with recorded MIDI
data, you need to have at least one synth track that lists the soft synth in its
Input field, and at least one MIDI track that lists the soft synth in its Output
field. The data from the MIDI track feeds the synth track and plays the soft
synth. If you’re playing the soft synth with a MIDI controller, the MIDI track
that’s feeding the synth track must have the focus (lighter color). You can
also patch the soft synth into an audio track’s FX bin instead of a synth
track’s Input field.
To add a soft synth to the audio and synth tracks’ Input menus (drop-downs)
and the MIDI tracks’ Output menus, you have to insert each soft synth that

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569

you want to use into each project. There are two basic ways to insert soft
synths in SONAR:
1. You can insert soft synths from the Synth Rack view or with the InsertSoft Synths command. If you use this method, you can choose to have
SONAR create the necessary synth and MIDI tracks, and patch them
together correctly. If you want to use multiple synth tracks to take
advantage of SONAR’s support for the multi-output soft synth format,
you need to create and patch additional MIDI tracks manually to feed
the additional synth tracks.
2. You can insert soft synths into FX bins of individual audio tracks. If you
use this method, you need to set a MIDI track’s Output field to the name
of the soft synth you inserted. Then you can record MIDI data in the
MIDI track to play the soft synth with.
The procedure for inserting multi-output and single-output soft synths is
basically the same. There are just more tracks possibly involved when you
insert a multi-output soft synth.
You can insert more than one copy (also called an instance) of the same
soft synth. Each new copy has the same name as the previous copy except
for having a higher number after the name. Every copy appears in a
separate row in the drop-down menus of synth and audio track inputs and
MIDI track outputs.

To Insert a Soft Synth from the Synth Rack View or
Menu

1. If you want to use the Synth Rack view, open the Synth Rack view with
the Views-Synth Rack command, and click the Insert button
display the popup menu of installed soft synths.

2. If you want to use the menu command, use the Insert-Soft Synths
command to display the popup menu of installed soft synths.
3. In the popup menu, click the name of the soft synth you want to insert.
The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog appears, unless you’ve previously
unchecked the Ask This Every Time checkbox that’s in the dialog. If you
have, SONAR inserts the soft synth according to the preferences you
set the last time you used the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog. If you
need to open the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog when it’s hidden,
click the Insert Soft Synth Options button
toolbar.

570

Software Synthesizers
Inserting Soft Synths

in the Synth Rack view

4. Choose options from the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog according to
the following:
•

If you want to create a MIDI track that uses the soft synth as an
output, check the Create These Tracks: MIDI Source checkbox.

•

If you want to create a single synth track that acts as an output for
Output 1 of the soft synth, check the Create These Tracks: First
Synth Audio Output checkbox.

•

If you want to create separate synth tracks for each of the soft
synth’s outputs, check the Create These Tracks: All Synth Audio
Outputs checkbox.

•

If you want to use existing MIDI and audio tracks to play the soft
synth, uncheck all of the Create These Tracks options. SONAR
adds the soft synth to the audio track input and MIDI track output
menus. You need to set an existing MIDI track’s Output field to the
soft synth, and set an existing audio track’s Input field to the soft
synth (the audio track will then become a synth track).

•

If you want to open the soft synth’s interface from this dialog, check
the Open These Windows: Synth Property Page checkbox.

•

If you opened this dialog from the Insert menu and want to open the
Synth Rack view, check the Open These Windows: Synth Rack
View checkbox.

•

If the synth you’re inserting can create or send MIDI data, and you
want to record or redirect this MIDI data, enable the Enable MIDI
Output checkbox.

•

Any automation data you create for this synth is displayed by
default on the Synth track for this synth. If you want to display this
data on a different track, choose the track in the Display Automation
On menu.

•

If you create some new knobs on the Synth Rack to control certain
parameters on a particular synth, you can display the same knobs
every time you insert that synth by enabling the Recall Assignable
Controls checkbox.

•

If you want to open this dialog every time you use the Insert-Soft
Synths command, or click the Insert button in the Synth Rack view
and choose a synth from the popup menu, check the Ask This
Every Time option. If you always insert soft synths in the same way,
you can uncheck this option so you don’t have to deal with the

Software Synthesizers
Inserting Soft Synths

571

dialog each time. To open the dialog when the option is unchecked,
click the Insert Soft Synth Options button
view toolbar.

in the Synth Rack

5. Click OK to close the dialog and insert the synth.
SONAR adds the soft synth to the audio track input and MIDI track output
menus, and creates any new tracks that you requested. The new tracks
already have the correct inputs and outputs patched. Now you can record
MIDI data in the soft synth MIDI tracks, and/or play the soft synth from a
MIDI keyboard or controller.

To Insert a Soft Synth in an FX Bin
1. In either the Track or Console view, right-click the FX bin of an unused
audio track or bus.
Note: If you patch a soft synth into a bus that has no audio track
assigned to it, the soft synth does not sound. Always use a bus that has
at least one audio track sending data to it.
The plug-in menu appears.
2. Under Soft Synths, choose the name of a soft synth.
Two things happen: the soft synth’s interface appears, and the soft
synth’s name appears in the track’s or bus’s FX bin, with a bypass
button next to the name.
3. Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag
its interface out of the way.
4. Click the Output field of a MIDI track to display the output menu.
5. Select the name of the soft synth that you patched into the audio track
or bus.
6. If the soft synth is multi-timbral, choose a MIDI channel for the MIDI
track.
7. Also in the MIDI track, select a bank and patch.
Now you can record some MIDI data into the MIDI track to play the soft
synth with. See “To Play a Soft Synth with Recorded MIDI Data” on page
575.
You can also play the soft synth in real-time from a MIDI controller. See “To
Play a Soft Synth from a MIDI Controller” on page 575.

572

Software Synthesizers
Inserting Soft Synths

Opening a Soft Synth’s Property Page
There are several different methods to open a soft synth’s property page
(interface):
•

When you insert the soft synth from the Insert menu or Synth Rack
view, check the Open These Windows: Synth Property Page checkbox
in the Insert soft synth Synth Options dialog.

•

Double-click the name of the soft synth in either a MIDI track’s Output
field or a synth track’s Input field.

•

Double-click the track icon of a MIDI track or the Synth track that the
synth uses. This works even when a track is minimized:
Double-click here

Minimized tracks

Or here

•

Double-click the row in the Synth Rack view that displays the soft synth.

•

Double-click the name of the soft synth in an FX bin.

•

Click one of the rows in the Synth Rack view to select it, and then click
the Properties button in the Synth Rack toolbar (or press c).

Synth Rack Icons
Each Synth Rack strip displays a synth icon so that you can easily tell one
synth from another when the rack contains multiple synths.
Icons have the same image format and file location as track icons, and use
the same commands to show or hide the icons. Synth Rack Icons are
enabled in SONAR by default, and the default icon for each synth is
track_icon_dxi_large.bmp. The Synth Rack only displays large format
icons, fixed at 48x48 pixels.
Use the following procedures to manage your synth icons:

Software Synthesizers
Opening a Soft Synth’s Property Page

573

To do this...

Do this...

To hide Synth Rack icons

Right-click an icon in the Synth Rack and
choose Show Synth Icons from the popup
menu.
Or
Use the Options-Icons-Synth Rack-Show
Large Icons command.

To show Synth Rack icons

Use the Options-Icons-Synth Rack-Show
Large Icons command.

To load a particular synth icon

Right-click the icon in the Synth Rack that you
want to change, and select Load Synth Icon
from the popup menu.

To reset a particular synth icon to
its original icon

Right-click the icon in the Synth Rack that you
want to reset, and select Reset Synth Icon
from the popup menu.

To open a synth’s property page

Double-click the synth’s icon in the Synth
Rack.

Playing a Soft Synth
There are several ways to play a soft synth:
•

You can record MIDI data and use the soft synth as a playback device.
Note: WDM or ASIO drivers do not improve performance when you
play back recorded MIDI data—the improvement comes only when you
play a soft synth in real time from an external MIDI controller or
keyboard.

574

•

You can play the soft synth in real time from a MIDI controller or
keyboard. To avoid excessive latency, your sound card must be using a
WDM or ASIO driver. Also, you must set mixing latency to the lowest
achievable level (probably less than 10 msec.), which you do by using
the Options-Audio command to open the Audio Options dialog box,
and dragging the Buffer Size slider on the General tab.

•

Some soft synths that use the DXi 2 format can send MIDI data,

Software Synthesizers
Playing a Soft Synth

sometimes including MIDI notes, from their interfaces to SONAR. For
example, some soft synths have MIDI keyboards built into their
interfaces that you can click to send note on/off messages.
See “Recording a Soft Synth’s MIDI Output” on page 582 for more
information.

To Play a Soft Synth with Recorded MIDI Data
1. Insert a soft synth into the project.

2. In the MIDI track that sends its output to the soft synth, choose a MIDI
channel.
3. Open the soft synth’s interface (if it’s not open already) by clicking the
Properties button in the Synth Rack view, or by double-clicking the
name of the soft synth if it’s patched into the FX bin of an audio track.
4. Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag
its interface out of the way (the soft synth’s interface does not have to
be open for the soft synth to sound).
5. If you want to save your soft synth settings, type a name in the Presets
field, and click the Disk icon that’s next to the Presets field.
6. Record some MIDI data into the MIDI track.
When you play back the recorded MIDI data, you should hear the soft synth
through your sound card’s outputs. If you don’t, make sure your data is in
the right range; a bank, patch, and channel are selected; your monitor
speakers or headphones are turned up; and that none of the relevant tracks
are muted.
You can add effects to each of the synth tracks. You can also add MIDI
effects to your soft synth MIDI tracks.

To Play a Soft Synth from a MIDI Controller
1. Make sure your controller is set to local off.
2. Make sure that the Audio Engine button
depressed.

in the Transport toolbar is

3. Insert a soft synth into your project (see “Inserting Soft Synths” on page
569, if necessary).
Note: If you patch a soft synth into a bus that has no audio track
assigned to it, the soft synth does not sound. Always use a bus that has
at least one audio track sending data to it.

Software Synthesizers
Playing a Soft Synth

575

4. In the MIDI track that sends its output to the soft synth, choose a MIDI
channel.
5. Open the soft synth’s interface (if it’s not open already) by clicking the
Properties button in the Synth Rack view, or by double-clicking the
name of the soft synth if it’s patched into the FX bin of an audio track.
Note: You can also open a soft synth’s interface by double-clicking its
name where it appears in a MIDI track’s Out menu or a synth track’s In
menu.
6. Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag
its interface out of the way.
7. If you want to save your soft synth settings, type a name in the Presets
field, and click the Disk icon that’s next to the Presets field.
8. Make sure that the MIDI track has the focus (its titlebar is lighter), and
play your MIDI controller.
When you play your MIDI controller you should hear the soft synth through
your sound card’s outputs. If you don’t, make sure you’re playing in the right
range; a bank, patch, and channel are selected; your monitor speakers or
headphones are turned up; your controller is attached to your MIDI
interface; and that none of the relevant tracks are muted.

To Remove A Soft Synth from a Track or Bus
•

If your soft synth is patched into the FX bin of an audio track or bus,
right-click the name of the soft synth, and choose Delete from the
popup menu.
OR

•

In the synth track that uses the soft synth as an input, choose another
input for the track. If you don’t select another soft synth as an input, the
synth track becomes a regular audio track.

To Remove a Soft Synth from a Project

576

•

If your soft synth is patched into the FX bin of an audio track or bus,
right-click the name of the soft synth, and choose Delete from the
popup menu.

•

If your soft synth is patched into the Input field of a synth track, go to the
Synth Rack view, click the name of the soft synth to select it, and then
click the Delete button. SONAR deletes the soft synth strip from the
Synth Rack view and sets the inputs and MIDI outputs of all affected
tracks to the next lower-numbered option. SONAR does not delete the
affected tracks.

Software Synthesizers
Playing a Soft Synth

Note: If you’re using a ReWire instrument and not a soft synth, always
close the ReWire instrument’s interface before you delete the
instrument from SONAR, or before you close SONAR.

Muting and Soloing Soft Synth Tracks
SONAR automatically places any synth and MIDI tracks that use soft synths
into a group that makes muting and soloing the tracks easy:
•

To mute or solo a MIDI track that is patched to a synth track, simply
mute or solo the MIDI track—SONAR automatically mutes or solos the
correct synth track. If another MIDI track uses the synth track as an
output, SONAR leaves the synth track unmuted.

•

To mute or solo all the MIDI tracks that are patched to a specific soft
synth, simply mute or solo the synth track that the MIDI tracks are
patched into.—SONAR automatically mutes or solos all the correct
MIDI tracks.
Or

•

Click the M or S buttons (mute and solo, respectively) next to the soft
synth’s name in the Synth Rack view. This mutes or solos all the tracks
associated with this instance of the soft synth.

You can use the mute and solo buttons in the Track view, Synth Rack view,
or Console view.

Multi-port Soft Synths
A multi-port soft synth allows you the option of using a different synth track
for every output that the soft synth has. This allows you to use different
plug-in effects for each sound (or in some cases, group of sounds) that a
soft synth produces. For example, if a soft synth can produce 16 sounds at
the same time, and has 4 outputs, you can send any of the 16 sounds out
through any of 4 different outputs, giving you a choice of 4 different plug-in
configurations for that soft synth. You would use 4 different synth tracks:
one for each output. If a soft synth can produce 8 sounds at the same time,
and has 8 outputs, you could use 8 synth tracks and 8 plug-in
configurations. If you need more plug-in configurations or just more sounds,
you can insert more copies of the same soft synth, using new synth tracks
for all of the new copy’s outputs. You can also send all the MIDI tracks out
the same output and synth track if you don’t need separate plug-ins for each
sound, or just want to use the soft synth’s internal effects.

Software Synthesizers
Muting and Soloing Soft Synth Tracks

577

The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog gives you the option of automatically
creating a separate synth track for each audio output that the soft synth
has, or creating just one synth track for Output 1 of that particular soft synth.
Each new copy (also called an instance) of a soft synth is considered to be
a separate instrument, and appears in a separate row in the Synth Rack
view, with a number after its name representing which copy it is.

Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to
Audio
Once your project sounds the way you want it to, it’s extremely easy to
convert your soft synth MIDI tracks to either new audio tracks, or Wave,
MP3, or other exported files.
You can also do a temporary conversion, called freezing. See “Freeze
Tracks and Synths” on page 619 for more information.

To Convert Your Soft Synth Tracks to New Audio
Tracks
1. Mute all tracks that you don’t want to convert.
2. Use the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command.
The Bounce to Track(s) dialog box appears.
3. In the Destination field, choose a new or pre-existing track to put the
new audio data on.
4. If you’ve saved presets from previous bounce operations, you can
choose a preset from the Preset field.
5. In the Source Category field, choose Tracks.
6. In the Channel Format field, choose mono if you want a mono track,
stereo if you want a stereo track, and split mono if you want to create
separate mono tracks.
7. In the Source/Buses field, choose the output bus(es) that the soft synth
tracks are using (usually the main outputs).
8. In the Mix Enables field, make sure all choices are selected.
9. Click OK.
SONAR creates new audio tracks from the outputs you selected. When
you’re through converting, don’t forget to mute your MIDI tracks so you
won’t hear them and the new audio track(s) at the same time.

578

Software Synthesizers
Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio

Note: you control the bit depth of all rendering operations (bouncing,
freezing, applying effects) on the Audio Data tab of the Global Options
dialog (Options-Global command) in the Render Bit Depth field. The
default value of 32 is the best for most situations. See “Bit Depths for
Rendering Audio” on page 865 for more information.

To Export Your Soft Synth Tracks as Wave, MP3, or
Other Type Files

1. Mute all tracks that you don’t want to export; make sure you don’t mute
the synth track or the audio track that the soft synth is patched into, or
the MIDI track(s) that you are using as a source.
2. Use the File-Export-Audio command.
The Export Audio dialog box appears.
3. In the Look in field, choose the location where you want the new,
exported file to be.
4. Type a file name in the File name field.
5. Choose the type of file, the format, and the bit depth of the new file
you’re creating—for MP3 use 16 bits.
6. In the Mix Enables field, make sure all choices are selected.
7. Click OK.
SONAR creates a new audio file of the type you specified. Find the file in
the folder you specified, and double-click it to listen to it.

Using the Assignable Controls Feature
You can create knobs on the Synth Rack to control any of a synth’s
automatable parameters (each knob learns what parameter to control when
you create the knob). This makes it easy to adjust the controls that you use
most often on a particular synth, and also lets you record automation from
the Synth Rack. After you create some control knobs, the next time you
insert the same synth, you can choose to display the same control knobs
that you used previously.
You can also group control knobs on the Synth Rack, and use Remote
Control to move the knobs.

Software Synthesizers
Using the Assignable Controls Feature

579

To Create Control Knobs on the Synth Rack

1. In the Synth Rack, open the property page (interface) of the synth that
you want to create knobs for.
2. In that synth’s strip of controls in the Synth Rack, click the Assign
Controls button to enable it.
3. While the Assign Controls button is enabled, click on each control in the
synth’s property page that you want to create a knob for.
4. When you’re finished clicking on controls, click the Assign Controls
button to disable it.
The Synth Rack displays knobs for the controls you selected, with the each
knob’s name displayed below each knob. Now you can adjust some of the
synth’s parameters by moving the appropriate knob in the Synth Rack.

To Hide or Show Control Knobs on the Synth Rack
•

In the Synth Rack, click the Show/Hide Assigned Controls button.

The Synth Rack displays knobs for the controls you selected, with the each
knob’s name displayed below each knob. Now you can adjust some of the
synth’s parameters by moving the appropriate knob in the Synth Rack.

Automating Controls from the Synth
Rack
Note: Your synth’s manufacturer determines which controls (if any) you can
automate. If your synth does not expose its controls to SONAR, you can not
automate the synth.
Once you create some control knobs on the Synth Rack, you can record
automation from them. Use the same procedure you would use to record
automation of any other SONAR knob or widget. See “Recording Individual
Fader or Knob Movements” on page 705 and “Displaying Synth Rack
Automation” on page 581 for more information
You can also draw and edit synth automation in the Clips pane. See
Drawing Soft Synth Automation in the Clips Pane“Drawing Soft Synth
Automation in the Clips Pane” on page 581 for more information.

580

Software Synthesizers
Automating Controls from the Synth Rack

Displaying Synth Rack Automation
You can choose what track you want a synth’s automation to appear in for
editing. Use the Automation Track menu in each strip of controls in the
Synth Rack to choose what track you want to display the synth’s automation
on. You can display the automation from several different synths on the
same track, or put a synth’s automation on a track that is completely
unrelated to the synth if you want.
See “Synth Rack View” on page 568 for a picture of the Synth Rack and all
its components.

Remote Control of the Synth Rack
Once you create some control knobs on the Synth Rack, you can assign
knobs or sliders on your MIDI controller to control the Synth Rack knobs.
See “Using Remote Control” on page 658 for more information.

Drawing Soft Synth Automation in the Clips
Pane
Some synths have controls that you can automate by drawing envelopes in
the Track view.

To Automate a Soft Synth’s Controls in the Clips Pane

1. In the Synth Rack, the Automation Track menu in a particular synth’s
control strip displays the track that this synth’s automation appears in.
Right-click in the Clips pane of this track, and choose EnvelopesCreate Track Envelope-Name of your synth from the popup menu.
The Synth Envelope dialog box appears.
2. Click the checkbox(es) of the parameter(s) you want to draw.
3. Choose a color (optional).
4. Click OK.
SONAR draws an envelope for the parameter that you chose. You can edit
the envelope to make the parameter behave as you want it to.

Software Synthesizers
Automating Controls from the Synth Rack

581

Soft Synth MIDI Output Support
Some soft synths produce MIDI output as well as audio output. You can
now record the MIDI output of both VST and DirectX instruments that have
this feature.

Recording a Soft Synth’s MIDI Output
SONAR allows you to record the MIDI output of a synth onto another MIDI
track in your project. This can be convenient if your synth creates
arpeggios, drum patterns, or other MIDI data that you wish to edit as a MIDI
clip.

To Enable MIDI Outputs on a Synth
•

When inserting a synth from the Insert menu or the Synth Rack, check
the Enable MIDI Output checkbox in the Insert Soft Synth Options
dialog box.
Or

•

Right-click a synth name in the Synth Rack to enable or disable Enable
MIDI Output from a popup menu.

The soft synth will now appear as an Input option on all MIDI tracks just like
any hardware inputs.

To Hear a Soft Synth’s MIDI Output Through Another
Track

1. Verify that Enable MIDI Output is enabled for the synth whose MIDI
output you wish to hear through another track.
2. On a new MIDI track in your project, set the Input to the synth whose
MIDI output you wish to hear.
3. Set the Output of that track to another synth or MIDI output used in your
project and enable Input Echo.
4. Play some MIDI data through the synth whose MIDI Output has been
enabled.
The MIDI data sent from that synth will be echoed through the Output of the
new MIDI track.

582

Software Synthesizers
Soft Synth MIDI Output Support

To Record a Soft Synth’s MIDI Output to a Track

1. Verify that Enable MIDI Output is enabled for the synth whose MIDI
output you wish to record.
2. On a new MIDI track in your project, set the Input to the synth whose
MIDI output you wish to record and arm the track.
3. Click the Record button to start recording.
4. If you’re recording live MIDI input through the synth, place track focus
on the synth’s MIDI track and begin playing your MIDI controller. If
you’re recording pre-existing MIDI data through the synth, record
through the duration of the pre-existing clips.
The MIDI Output of the synth will be recorded to the new MIDI track. You
can then edit the MIDI data and route it to a different MIDI output as you see
fit.
Note: Be careful to avoid creating a MIDI feedback loop. To prevent this,
make sure the Input of a soft synth’s MIDI track is not set to the same
synth’s Output.

ReWire
SONAR 6 can send MIDI events to any object in a ReWire client application
on as many MIDI channels as the client application makes available.

ReWire Instruments
ReWire is a technology for transferring audio data between software
applications in real time—the software equivalent of a multi-channel audio
cable. ReWire is built on the following cornerstones:
•

Real-time audio streaming between applications

•

Sample accurate synchronization

•

Common transport functionality

SONAR supports the ReWire 2.0 format, but with some differences.
SONAR interacts with ReWire applications in the following ways:
•

You can insert one instance of a ReWire application into each SONAR
project.

•

You can use as many MIDI channels and devices in each ReWire
application as that application makes available.

•

You can insert ReWire devices into SONAR projects from the Synth

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

583

Rack view or Insert menu, and you can tell SONAR to create the
necessary synth tracks and one MIDI track at that time. You can also
tell SONAR to open the ReWire application’s property page, because,
unlike synths, ReWire applications must have their property pages
(interfaces) open in order to function.

584

•

SONAR’s tempo, transport, and loop points are linked to the ReWire
application. Activating or changing any of these settings in the ReWire
application(s) changes the same setting in SONAR, and vice versa. If
you have several applications open and you make a change in one of
them, it may be necessary to put the focus on the other application(s) to
update their interfaces.

•

You cannot send patch or bank changes from SONAR to the ReWire
application. All other track property controls in SONAR control the
ReWire device, except the pan controls on MIDI tracks. The pan
controls on SONAR’s synth tracks control the ReWire device’s panning.

•

You can mix down or bounce ReWire tracks in SONAR the same way
you mix down or bounce synth tracks.

•

You can use SONAR’s automation functions on both synth and MIDI
tracks that the ReWire application uses.

•

Muting or soloing a synth track that a ReWire device uses automatically
mutes or solos the MIDI track that feeds that synth track. Muting or
soloing a MIDI track that a ReWire device uses will mute or solo the
corresponding synth track only if there is only one MIDI track feeding
that synth track.

•

You must always close your ReWire application(s) before you close
SONAR. Some ReWire applications prevent SONAR from closing
properly if the ReWire applications are still open.

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

Inserting a ReWire Instrument
After you install your ReWire applications and reboot your computer, the
names of the ReWire applications appear in SONAR’s Insert menu under
ReWire Devices, and also in the Synth Rack view’s Insert button popup
menu.

To Insert a ReWire Instrument
1. Open a SONAR project. Do not launch your ReWire application.
2. In the SONAR’s Synth Rack view, click the Insert button, and click
ReWire Devices to display the submenu of installed ReWire devices.
OR
Use the Insert-ReWire Devices command to display the submenu of
installed ReWire devices.
3. Click the name of the ReWire device you want to insert.
The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog appears.
4. Choose options from the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog according to
the following:
•

If you want to create a MIDI track that uses the ReWire Instrument
as an output, check the Create These Tracks: MIDI Source
checkbox.

•

If you want to create a single synth track that acts as an output for
Output 1 of the ReWire Instrument, check the Create These Tracks:
First Synth Audio Output checkbox.

•

If you want to create separate synth tracks for each of the ReWire
Instrument’s outputs, check the Create These Tracks: All Synth
Audio Outputs checkbox.

•

If you want to use existing MIDI and audio tracks to play the ReWire
Instrument, uncheck all of the Create These Tracks options.
SONAR adds the ReWire Instrument to the audio track input and
MIDI track output menus. You need to set an existing audio track’s
Input field to the ReWire Instrument, and set an existing MIDI
track’s Output field to the ReWire Instrument. The existing audio
track will then become a synth track.

•

If you want to open the ReWire Instrument’s interface from this
dialog, check the Open These Windows: Synth Property Page
checkbox (always check this option: ReWire Instruments do not
sound unless their property pages are open).

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

585

•

If you opened this dialog from the Insert menu and want to open the
Synth Rack view, check the Open These Windows: Synth Rack
View checkbox.

•

If you want to open this dialog every time you use the InsertReWire Instrument command, or click the Insert button in the
Synth Rack view and choose a ReWire instrument from the popup
menu, check the Ask This Every Time option. If you always insert
ReWire Instruments in the same way, you can uncheck this option
so you don’t have to deal with the dialog each time. To open the
dialog when the option is unchecked, click the Insert Soft Synth
Options button

in the Synth Rack view toolbar.

5. Click OK to close the dialog.
SONAR adds your ReWire devices to the audio and synth track Input
menus and the MIDI track Output and Channel menus, creates any
tracks you requested, adds the ReWire instrument to the Synth Rack
view, and opens the ReWire application’s interface.
6. In the MIDI track whose output is the ReWire synth track, click the dropdown arrow in the Channel field to display the names of the available
ReWire devices in your ReWire instrument.
7. Click the name of the device you want to use.
8. Make sure that the synth track you want to hear the ReWire instrument
through has the appropriate ReWire channel listed in its Input field.
Now you can record MIDI data in the MIDI track and hear it through the
synth track. If you want to use different synth tracks for each ReWire
device, see the following procedure.
Note: Always close your ReWire applications before closing a SONAR
project.

To Use Separate Synth Tracks for Each ReWire Device

1. Open SONAR, insert a ReWire instrument, and choose All Synth Audio
Outputs option in the Create These Tracks field of the Insert Soft Synth
Options dialog. Make sure you choose to open the Synth window, and
click OK.
SONAR inserts the ReWire instrument and creates multiple synth
tracks.
2. In your ReWire application, assign the devices you want to use to the
outputs or channels you want to use. For example, in Propellerheads

586

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

Reason, you use the back panel of the mixer to drag cables from a
device to the output channel you want to use for that instrument.
3. In SONAR, set the Output field of a MIDI track to the name of your
ReWire application, and set the Channel field to the name of the
ReWire device you want to play with this track.
4. Record some MIDI data in the track and play it. Find the synth track
whose Input field lists the output channel you patched your device
into—the playback meter lights up as you play the MIDI track that plays
your device.
Now you can use separate effects for each of your ReWire devices.
Note: Always close your ReWire applications before closing SONAR or a
SONAR project.

Routing MIDI Data to ReWire Instruments
Some ReWire applications can create large numbers of instruments. You
can send a track’s MIDI data to any of these instruments by selecting the
specific instrument in the MIDI channel menu of the relevant track.

To Send MIDI Data to a Specific ReWire Instrument

1. In the SONAR MIDI track that contains the recorded MIDI data you
want to send, make sure that the Output menu is set to the correct
ReWire device.
2. Then use the Ch menu in the same track to choose the instrument you
want to send to. This also works if you just want to use this track to play
your MIDI controller through a particular instrument in the ReWire
application.

Mixing Down ReWire Instruments
To either mix down or bounce ReWire instruments to new audio tracks, use
the same procedures as for synths.

Automating ReWire Instruments
You can automate audio and MIDI tracks that are patched to ReWire
instruments the same ways you can automate any of SONAR’s audio and
MIDI tracks.

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

587

ReWire Troubleshooting Guide
The following lists some common issues when you use ReWire with
SONAR:

588

•

SONAR Won’t Close Properly—Always close your ReWire
applications before closing SONAR or a SONAR project.

•

Rebirth Won’t Play After I Open Its Property Page—Make sure that
the Loop switch in Rebirth is enabled.

•

My ReWire Project Plays at a Different Tempo when Opened from
SONAR—When you open a ReWire project from SONAR, the ReWire
project assumes SONAR’s default tempo, which is 100. Change
SONAR’s tempo to match your ReWire project.

•

My MIDI Controller Works in SONAR or my ReWire Application,
but not Both—Choose different MIDI In ports for both SONAR and
your ReWire application. Do this in SONAR by using the Options-MIDI
Devices command, and highlighting the MIDI In port you want to use in
SONAR. If you only have one MIDI In port on your MIDI interface or
sound card, enable that input in either SONAR or your ReWire
application, and disable that input in the other application.

•

I Get a MIDI Input Error Message When I Open a ReWire
Application—If you only have one MIDI Input port on your MIDI
interface, you probably have that one reserved for SONAR, leaving
none for your ReWire application. If you would rather use your MIDI
controller in the ReWire application instead of SONAR, you can
deselect your MIDI input port in SONAR’s MIDI Devices dialog
(Options-MIDI Devices command), and then select that MIDI Input
from whatever menu your ReWire application has for that purpose. If
you have multiple inputs on your MIDI interface, simply select different
ones for SONAR and your ReWire application.

Software Synthesizers
ReWire

Stand-alone Synths
Some soft synths can be run independently of SONAR’ and do not need to
be inserted to the Synth Rack or an FX bin to use. After you install this kind
of synth and restart your computer, the name of the synth’s MIDI driver
appears in SONAR’s MIDI Devices dialog box under Outputs.

Playing a Stand-alone Synth
SONAR plays this kind of synth by seeing it as additional MIDI outputs in
both the MIDI Devices dialog box and in MIDI tracks’ output fields.

To Play a Stand-alone Synth
1. Use the Options-MIDI Devices command to open the MIDI Devices
dialog box.
2. In the Outputs field, make sure the name of your stand-alone synth’s
MIDI driver is highlighted, and click OK.
3. Click the Output field of an unused MIDI track to display the output
menu.
4. Select the name of the stand-alone synth’s MIDI driver.
5. If your stand-alone synth is multi-timbral, change the track’s MIDI
channel to the same one that the synth uses for the sound you want to
hear.
6. Select a bank and patch on your stand-alone synth, if you haven’t
already.
7. Record some MIDI data in the MIDI track, or play any MIDI controller
that’s an input for the MIDI track.
When you play your MIDI controller or play back the recorded MIDI data,
you should hear the stand-alone synth through your sound card’s outputs. If
you don’t, make sure you’re playing in the right range and that your monitor
speakers or headphones are turned up, and that none of the relevant tracks
are muted.

Software Synthesizers
Stand-alone Synths

589

Recording a Stand-alone Synth
There are several ways to record a stand-alone synth:
•

You can use the synth’s wave capture function, if it has one. See your
synth’s documentation for a procedure. Make a note of where the
resulting captured Wave file is stored, and then you can import the file
into SONAR by using the File-Import-Audio command.

•

You can connect your sound card’s outputs to your sound card’s inputs,
either internally or externally, depending on your sound card’s design.
After you do this, you need to arm an audio track in SONAR and select
one of your sound card’s wave drivers as an input. Start recording, and
make sure the MIDI track that is routed to the synth is playing back.

•

You can use your sound card’s wave capture or “what-you-hear” option,
if it has one. See the following procedure.

To Record A Stand-alone Synth with your Sound Card’s
Wave Capture Function
1. Pick a destination audio track and set the Input field to Stereo.

Note: If you have more than one sound card installed, select the one
that your stand-alone synth uses as an output.
2. Arm the destination track.
3. Mute or archive any tracks that you don’t want to record to the
destination track.
4. If SONAR’s metronome is set to use any software synth to produce a
click, disable the metronome during recording option in the Project
Options dialog box. To do this, select Options-Project to open the
Project Options dialog box, select the Metronome tab and uncheck
Recording in the General section.
5. Open your sound card's mixer device. This is normally done by doubleclicking the speaker icon on the Windows taskbar, or by choosing StartPrograms-Accessories- Multimedia-Volume Control-OptionsProperties.
Note: Some sound cards, such as the SoundBlaster Live, have their
own proprietary mixer. If yours has one, please use it instead.
6. Click Adjust Volume For Recording, and make sure all boxes below are
checked.

590

Software Synthesizers
Stand-alone Synths

7. Click OK, and locate the slider marked MIDI, Synth, Mixed Input, or
What You Hear. Check the Select box at the bottom, then close the
window.
8. In SONAR, click the Record button.
SONAR records all the MIDI tracks that are assigned to the stand-alone
synth as a stereo audio track.
After you finish recording, mute the MIDI tracks that you just recorded so
you don’t hear them and the new audio track at the same time.

Software Synthesizers
Stand-alone Synths

591

592

Software Synthesizers
Stand-alone Synths

Mixing
SONAR lets you mix your projects with tremendous control and flexibility. The extensive
bussing controls, support for DX and VST plug-ins, built-in EQ’s, automation, remote
control, metering, grouping, and freeze features let you design your own style of mixing,
with your own workflow. (Automation is covered in a separate chapter.)
After you finish mixing a project, you can export the project in a variety of audio file formats
to create a CD master or to publish your work on the Internet. You can choose to include
all real-time effects and control movements in the mixed-down tracks that you export (see
“Preparing Audio for Distribution” on page 665.

In this Chapter
Preparing to Mix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 594
Mixing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600
Signal Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603
Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
Freeze Tracks and Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 619
nUsing Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622
Organizing Plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631
V-Vocal Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 634
Using the Per-track EQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 648
Using Control Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652
Bouncing Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Preparing Audio for Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665

Preparing to Mix
The Console and Track views contain all the controls you need to mix your
project. To open the Console view click the Console view button
or
choose Views-Console. The Track view is always open.
Note: You can control all sliders and knobs in the Console and Track Views
by hovering over them with the mouse and manipulating the mouse wheel.
A

I
H

A. Audio module B. MIDI module C. MIDI velocity D. Bus out E. Main out F. Bus
pane G. Show/hide strip controls buttons H. Widen all strips I. Show/hide for tracks,
buses, mains

Note: The above view does not show EQ. It is pictured below.

594

Mixing

Preparing to Mix

E DC

A. Gain B. Band Q C. Band select D. EQ type select E. EQ enable F. Frequency

Sound controls in the Console view are grouped in modules. There are
several types of modules:

Module
type...

What you can do...

MIDI track

Set the track’s output, channel, bank, and patch; set the input;
mute, solo, and arm the track; set channel volume, panning,
chorus, and reverb levels; add real-time effects

Audio track

Set the track’s output (bus or Main out destination); choose an
input; monitor input levels; mute, solo, and arm the track; set
track volume and panning; add real-time effects; send audio
data to buses or main outs.

Synth track

Set the track’s output (bus or Main out destination); set the
input; mute and solo the track; set track volume and panning;
add real-time effects; send audio data to buses or main outs.

Bus

Receive input from one or more audio tracks, add real-time
effects, and send the results to a main out or another bus

Main outs

Monitor output levels using meters and control the stereo
volume of audio to an output on your audio interface. To adjust
both the left and right volume levels at the same time, use the
Link button
for that module.

One module’s name is always outlined with a white line. This corresponds
to the track with the focus. You can change the focus by clicking to the right
of the module’s volume fader.

Mixing

Preparing to Mix

595

You can adjust Console view controls in the following ways:
•

Click on the center of the knob and drag the mouse up or down to
adjust the knob

•

Click and drag a fader up or down

•

Double-click the center of the knob to return it to its snap-to position

Volume and pan faders also have snap-to positions; double-click a fader’s
knob to return the fader to its snap-to value.
The controls and effects patch points all have tool tips associated with
them. To see a description of a particular control or effect, simply rest the
cursor over the item for a few seconds.
There are four types of modules in the Track view:

Track
type...

What you can do...

MIDI track

Set the track’s output, channel, bank, and patch; set the input;
mute, solo, and arm the track; set channel volume, panning,
chorus, and reverb levels; add real-time effects.

Audio track

Set the track’s output; set the input and monitor input levels;
mute, solo, and arm the track; set track volume and panning; add
real-time effects; send audio data to buses or main outs.

Synth track

Set the track’s output; set the input; mute and solo the track;
enable a waveform preview; set track volume and panning; add
real-time effects; send audio data to buses or main outs.

Bus

Receive input from one or more audio tracks, add real-time
effects, and send the results to a main out or another bus.

For information on using the controls in the Track view, see “Changing
Track Settings” on page 96.
Volume, pan, bus send level and bus send pan also have snap-to positions;
double-click the control to return it to its snap-to value.
The controls and effects patch points all have tool tips associated with
them. To see a description of a particular control or effect, simply rest the
cursor over the item for a few seconds.

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Preparing to Mix

Configuring the Console and Track Views
The Console and Track view can be reconfigured in a variety of ways. You
can:
•

Choose the tracks that you want to see

•

Adjust the display of audio meters and clip indicators

•

Change the number of buses

•

Set control snap-to positions

•

Insert new tracks

•

Name tracks and buses

Note: the Console view has additional controls to configure its appearance.
See the online help topic “Console View” for more information.
Meters are helpful in determining the relative volumes of your audio tracks
and in detecting and preventing overload. By default, the Console view
displays output level meters in main out modules at all times, and displays
record level meters in individual tracks whenever they are armed and have
an audio input. The display of meters, however, can place a considerable
load on your computer. Showing only the peak indicators, or hiding the
meters entirely, can reduce the load on your computer. This may increase
the number of audio tracks and real-time effects you can play back at one
time.
In the Track view, there are several ways to configure which tracks are
displayed.

To Display All the Tracks in a Project
•

Click the Zoom tool’s
the Zoom tool menu.

down arrow and select Show All Tracks from

To Hide Selected Tracks

1. Select the tracks you want to hide.
2. Click the Zoom tool’s down arrow and select Hide Selected Tracks from
the Zoom tool menu.

To Display Only Selected Tracks
1. Select the tracks you want to display.

2. Click the Zoom tool’s down arrow and select Show Selected Tracks
from the Zoom tool menu.

Mixing

Preparing to Mix

597

To Choose the Tracks that are Displayed Using the
Track Manager

1. Click the down arrow next to the Zoom tool and select Track Manager
to open the Track Manager dialog box You can also press m when in
the Track or Console view to access this dialog box.
2. In the list, check those tracks you would like displayed in the view in
which you are working, and uncheck the rest. You can use Shift-click,
Control-click, or the quick select buttons to select multiple modules;
press the Spacebar to check or uncheck all the selected modules at
once. Please note that the track display selections you make in the
Track view do not affect those in the Console view and vice versa.
3. Click OK.

To Hide a Bus or Track
•

Right-click on the module and choose Hide Track or Hide Bus.

To Show or Hide Meters in the Track View
•

Click the Show/Hide Meters button
to display all meters or click on
the arrow to the right of the Show/Hide Meters button to display only the
meters you want to see or to customize the appearance of your meters.

Option…

What it does…

Record meters

Displays record meters for any armed track.

Playback meters

Displays playback meters.

Output bus meters

Displays meters in buses

For more information about metering options, see “Changing the Meters’
Display” on page 612.

598

Mixing

Preparing to Mix

To Change a Meter’s Range
•

Right-click on the meter and choose a new range.

To Add a Bus

1. Right-click in the Bus pane (to add a bus at the end of the current
buses) or over an existing bus (to add a bus before it).
2. Select Insert Stereo Bus or Insert Surround Bus from the menu that
appears.
A bus appears in the Bus pane.

To Delete a Bus
1. Right-click in the Bus pane over an existing bus.
2. Select Delete Bus from the menu that appears.
The bus is deleted from the Bus pane.
Note: If you have any track or bus routed through the bus you delete, the
signal will be rerouted to the deleted bus’s output.

To Create a Bus Send in a Track
1. Right-click in an empty part of the Track pane (Track view) or a track
module (Console view).
2. Select Insert Send for a list of buses available.
3. Select a bus from the list.

To Set the Snap-to Position of a Knob or Fader
1. Set the control to the desired position.

2. Right-click on the control and choose Value-Set Snap-To=Current.
From now on, the control returns to this position when double-clicked.

To Insert a New Track

1. Right-click in the Console view or on the header of a track in the Track
view.
2. Choose Insert Audio Track or Insert MIDI Track.
SONAR adds a new track to the project.

Mixing

Preparing to Mix

599

To Rename a Track or Bus

1. In the Console view, click on the module name. In the Track view
double-click on the Track name.
2. Type a new name.
3. Press Enter.
If you rename a track, the new name is copied to the Track view. If no name
has been assigned to a track, the Console view and Track view display the
track’s number.

To Link Left/Right Faders in a Console View Module

1. In the module whose faders you want to link, adjust the volume of each
fader to the appropriate level.
2. Click the Link button

Mixing MIDI
SONAR gives you many tools to control your MIDI mix. When your MIDI
tracks sound the way you want them to, there are several ways to convert
them to audio (see “Converting MIDI to Audio” on page 601).

Mixing a MIDI Track
You can control the mixing and playback of a MIDI track as follows:

600

To do this…

Do this…

Add a real-time MIDI
effect to the track

Right-click in the FX bin and select an effect from the
list (for more information, “Using Real-Time Effects”
later in the chapter)

Remove an effect

Select the effect and press Delete or right-click and
select Delete.

Select the output

Click the Output control and choose one from the list

Select the channel

Click the Channel button and choose one from the list

Select the bank

Click the Bank button and choose one from the list

Select the patch

Click the Patch button and choose one from the list

Mixing

Mixing MIDI

To do this…

Do this…

Set the Chorus level

Adjust the Chorus slider

Set the Reverb level

Adjust the Reverb slider

Mute the track

Click the Mute button

Solo the track

Click the Solo button

Arm the track for
recording

Click the Arm button

Set the Pan level

Adjust the Pan fader

Set the Volume level

Adjust the Volume fader

Select the input

Click the input button and choose one from the list

When moving the Volume fader, the Value box in the toolbar displays the
level from a scale of 0 (minimum) to 127 (maximum). When you move the
Pan slider, the Value box displays the pan value on a scale that ranges from
100% Left to 100% Right with center represented by a C.

Converting MIDI to Audio
The following options cover three basic MIDI setups:
•

If your MIDI tracks play back through a soft synth, use either the FileExport-Audio or Edit-Bounce to Track(s) commands (see the
procedures in “To Export Your Soft Synth Tracks as Wave, MP3, or
Other Type Files” on page 579, and “To Convert Your Soft Synth Tracks
to New Audio Tracks” on page 578).

•

If your MIDI tracks play back through your sound card’s synthesizer,
see the procedure below.

•

If your MIDI tracks play back through external MIDI modules, simply
connect their analog outputs to the inputs on your sound card, and
record to new audio tracks.

Mixing

Mixing MIDI

601

To Convert a Sound Card’s Synth Tracks to a Stereo
Audio Track

1. Pick a destination audio track and set the Input field to Stereo-(name of
your sound card).
Note: If you have more than one sound card installed, select the one
that your synth uses as an output.
2. Arm the destination track.
3. Mute or archive any tracks that you don’t want to record to the
destination track.
4. If SONAR’s metronome is set to use any software synth to produce a
click, disable the metronome during recording option in the Project
Options dialog box. To do this, select Options-Project to open the
Project Options dialog box, select the Metronome tab and uncheck
Recording in the General section.
5. Open your sound card's mixer device. This is normally done by doubleclicking the speaker icon on the Windows taskbar, or by choosing StartPrograms-Accessories- Multimedia-Volume Control-OptionsProperties.
6. Open the sound card’s recording control window (the command is
probably Options-Properties-Adjust Volume For Recording) and
make sure all boxes below Adjust Volume For Recording are
checked.
7. Click OK, and locate the slider marked MIDI, Synth, Mixed Input, or
What You Hear. Check the Select box at the bottom, then close the
window.
8. In SONAR, click the Record button.
SONAR records all the MIDI tracks that are assigned to the sound card
synth as a stereo audio track.
After you finish recording, mute the MIDI tracks that you just recorded so
you don’t hear them and the new audio track at the same time.

602

Mixing

Mixing MIDI

Signal Flow
Hardware input

Audio clip

Soft Synth input

Clip mute
V-Vocal
Clip fades
Input meters (record)
Clip envelopes/Clip Mute
regions
Clip FX bin

Volume Trim
Phase/Interleave

Playback Meter (pre fader/pre FX bin)

FX bin

(

Pre fader sends are affected by M-S buttons unless you
change the LinkPFSend AUD.INI option.
Send level
)

Volume fader

Send pan
Stereo pan or
Surround pan

Playback Meter
(post fader)

Surround or
Stereo Bus

Hardware out

Post
fader
send
Stereo bus

Surround bus

Input volume

Input pan

Pre
fader
send

Volume

Pre
fader
send

Pan
Post
fader
send

Playback meter (post fader)
Hardware Outputs

Mixing

Signal Flow

Post
fader
send

603

You control the mixing and playback of an audio track as follows:

604

To do this...

Do this...

Add a real-time audio
effect to the track

Right-click in the FX bin and select an effect from the list
(for more information, see “Using Real-Time Effects”
later in the chapter)

Remove an effect

Select the effect and press Delete or right-click and
select Delete.

Send audio data from
the track to a bus

Insert a send in the track controls by right-clicking in the
track controls and selecting Insert-Send-[name of bus
you want the data to go to]. Click the FX tab at the
bottom of the Track pane, and then click the track’s bus
enable button so that it turns green, and set the Bus
Send Level and Bus Send Pan (for more information,
see “Stereo Buses” on page 607”)

Mute the track

Click the Mute button

Solo the track

Click the Solo button

Arm the track for
recording

Click the Arm button

Set the Pan level

Adjust the Pan control

Set the Send Pan to be
the same as the bus that
the send feeds into

Right-click the Send Pan control and choose Follow
Track Pan from the popup menu. This setting is only
active when the send has the same interleave as the
bus that the send feeds into, and is set to "Post Fader."
If enabled, the Send Pan control no longer affects the
output.

Set the Volume level

Adjust the Volume fader

Select the output

Click the dropdown arrow in the Output field and
choose one from the list

Select the input

Click the dropdown arrow in the Input field and choose
one from the list

Mixing

Signal Flow

SONAR displays volume in dB (decibels). When adjusting the volume or
bus send level controls, a value of 0 dB indicates full signal strength;
positive values, up to 6 dB, indicate a signal gain; negative values indicate
an attenuated signal. When you move the Pan control, the Value box
displays the pan value on a scale that ranges from 100%L (hard left)
100%R (hard right).

Sidechaining Signal Flow
Track 1 FX Bin
Track 1
Output

Sidechainable FX
Sidechain input

Bus

Hardware
Output

Track 2
Output / Send

Sum

Bus
Output / Send

Mixing

Signal Flow

605

Routing and Mixing Digital Audio
Any audio track can be tapped, before or after the track volume control, and
sent to one or more buses. A bus can tap any number of audio tracks. Each
track’s data passes through the track’s send level knob on its way to the
bus. This is shown in the diagram below:

B
A

C
D

A. Pre-fader: output level to Bus 2 is not affected by the track’s volume fader B. This
track is routed to Aux 1 and Aux 2 C. Bus enable button: must be lit to send track
data to bus D. Post-fader: track’s volume fader controls output level to Bus 1

The audio in each bus is processed by the input gain and pan controls
(main output buses don’t have these controls), then processed by any realtime effects you have patched, sent through the bus output level and pan
controls, and then sent to the designated main out, in stereo. You can also

606

Mixing

Signal Flow

insert a send control on a bus, and send the bus signal to another bus, or
route the output of a bus to another bus.
At each main out, all audio data from audio tracks and buses that were
routed to that main are mixed together. Finally, the data passes through
each main’s master volume fader.

Stereo Buses
Buses are useful for mixing together different audio tracks (in stereo) and
applying effects to the mix. You can mix the tracks at different volume levels
by adjusting each track’s bus send level. Buses output to either other buses
or to a main out.
You control the bus as follows:

To do this...

Do this...

Send audio data from an audio
track to the bus

In an audio track, press the Bus Send Enable
button corresponding to the bus, or choose the
bus as an output for the track. If the track
doesn’t have a Send module, you can insert
one by right-clicking the track and choosing
Insert-Send-[name of bus you want the
data to go to].

Send audio data from a bus to
another bus

If the bus doesn’t have a Send module, you
can insert one by right-clicking the bus and
choosing Insert-Send-[name of bus you
want the data to go to]. Then click the Bus
Send Enable button so that it’s green, and
adjust the Bus Send Level and Bus Send Pan.

Set the level of the audio data
sent to the bus

In an audio track, set the Bus Send Level
corresponding to the bus, or volume fader if
the output is to the bus

Set the pan of the audio data sent
to the bus

Adjust the Bus Send Pan knob

Set the input level to the bus

Adjust the Input gain on the bus itself

Set the input panning to the bus

Adjust the Input pan on the bus itself

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607

To do this...

Do this...

Display the waveform of the audio
that’s flowing through the bus

Enable the bus’s Waveform Preview button

Add a real-time audio effect to the
bus

Right-click in the FX bin and select an effect
from the list (for more information, see “Using
Real-Time Effects” on page 622)

Remove an effect

Select the effect and press Delete, or rightclick and choose Delete

Set the output level

Adjust the Output volume

Set the output panning

Adjust the Pan setting

Set the Send Pan to be the same
as the bus that the bus feeds into

Right-click the Send Pan control and choose
Follow Bus Pan from the popup menu. This
setting is only active when the send has the
same interleave as the bus it feeds into, and is
set to "Post Fader." If enabled, the Send Pan
control no longer affects the output.

Select the output

Click the Output button and choose one from
the list

Surround Buses (Producer Edition Only)
Surround buses are useful for mixing and adding effects to create a
surround mix.

To Patch a Track Through a Bus
1. Open the Console view (Views-Console) or the Track view (ViewsTrack).
2. If you want to add effects to the bus, right-click in the FX bin of a bus (if
it is not in use already) and choose an effect from the effects popup
menu. (If you are working in the Track view, you may first need to
display the Bus pane by clicking the Show/Hide Bus Pane button
located at the bottom of the Track view.)
The name of the effect you have chosen appears in the bus FX bin.
3. Set the effect’s parameters and close it.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for any additional effects you want to use.

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5. In a track module that you want to patch through the bus, do the
following:
•

Drag the Bus Send Level control for the bus to the approximate
level you want.

•

Drag the Bus Send pan to the approximate setting you want.

•

Click the Bus Enable button for the appropriate bus.

6. Repeat step 5 for all the tracks you want to patch through the bus.
7. In the bus, adjust the Input Gain and Output volume controls to the
approximate level you want.
8. In the bus, drag the Input pan and Output pan controls to the
approximate positions you want.
9. Play your tracks and adjust the Send Level controls, the pan controls,
etc.

To Mute or Solo a Bus

Each bus has a Mute button and a Solo button. These controls act like the
Mute and Solo buttons in a track, but they affect all the signal routed
through the bus.
1. Open the Track view or the Console view.
2. Click the Mute or Solo button in the bus you want to mute or solo.

To Display the Audio Waveform of a Bus
•

Enable the bus’s Waveform Preview button
. This displays the
waveform of the audio that is flowing through the bus.

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609

Main Outs
Each enabled hardware channel has a main out channel strip in the
Console view. Main outs are the final destination for all of your audio in
SONAR. Main outs accept input from both tracks and buses.
Main outs contains a left channel and a right channel, but only one volume
fader. You control the left/right balance of each main out with the balance
slider.
Here’s what you can do in a main out module:

To do this...

Do this...

Set the output volume

Adjust the Volume control

Adjust the left/right
balance

Adjust the pan slider that’s on that output
module

Metering
The Console and Track views both have meters to measure playback level,
record level, bus output level, and main output level. The Track view also
has bus return meters. You can configure the meters differently in each
view, if you want.
The responsiveness of your record meters (which also measure input
monitoring) is dependent upon the latency setting in the Audio Options
dialog and the settings in the Audio Meter Settings dialog. With higher
latency settings the meters may appear sluggish.
There are three basic things you should know about meters:
•

What the meters measure

•

How to show or hide different kinds of meters

•

How to choose display options for each kind of meter

Note: Metering uses significant amounts of your computer’s processing
power, especially RMS metering. If you need to free up resources, turning
off metering where you don’t absolutely need it helps. Using peak metering
on tracks and peak plus RMS metering on the main out is a good option. To
disable all metering, turn off metering in both the Track view and Console
view.

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Metering

What the Meters Measure
The following table summarizes what each kind of meter measures:

Kind of meter...

What it measures...

Record

The level of the instrument listed as an input for the
track you are monitoring—the track must be armed to
enable the meter

Playback

A playback meter measures the playback level of any
pre-existing data in the track you are monitoring, either
before or after the track faders, depending on what
display options you choose

Main outs

The level of the signal output by each main out.

Buses

The level of the output signal the bus is sending back
from the effects.

Hiding and Showing Meters
The display and configuration of the meters in the Track view is
independent of the meters in the Console view, and vice versa. The Show/
Hide Meters button in the Track view toolbar hides or shows all the meters
of each kind in the Track view. The dropdown arrow on the Vol button in the
Console view displays the meter menu in the Console view. To show or hide
meters on individual tracks or buses, use the right-click popup menu that’s
available from the title bar of each track or bus.
Note: If you want to conserve the maximum amount of your CPU’s
resources, turn off all metering in both the Track and Console views.

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611

Track view toolbar

Console view Vol button

A. Show/Hide All Meters B. Meter Options menu C. Meter Options menu

To Show or Hide all Meters of a Certain Type
•

In the Console view, click the dropdown arrow on the Vol button, and
check or uncheck the kind of meters you want to show or hide.

•

In the Track view, click the arrow to the right of the Show/Hide Meters
button
and check or uncheck the kind of meters you want to show
or hide. To hide all meters, click the Show/Hide Meters button so that it
is not lit.

To Show or Hide Individual Meters on Tracks or Buses
•

Right-click the track or bus to display the popup menu, and check or
uncheck the appropriate show meter option.

Changing the Meters’ Display
You control the range and kind of units that the various meters display in the
Track and Console views. The display of meters in each of the two views is
independent of the display in the other view. In the Track view, you can
access all meter options from the Show/Hide All Meters button. In the
Console view, you can access all meter options from the dropdown arrow
on the Vol button.
You also have the option of using segmented or non-segmented meters in
the Track and Console views. The Audio Meter Settings dialog (OptionsAudio Meter Settings command) lets you choose segmented or nonsegmented meters for the Track and/or Console views. Meter colors are
also now customizable in the Configure Colors dialog—use the OptionsColors command, and choose VU LO Level, VU HI Level, or VU Tick
Marks.
The dropdown menus give you the following display options:

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Menu option...

What it does...

Horizontal Meters (Track
view only)

Choose this option to display the Track view meters
horizontally instead of vertically.

Vertical Meters (Track
view only)

Choose this option to display the Track view meters
vertically instead of horizontally.

Show Numeric Peak
Values (Track view only)

Choose this option to display peak values in each track
header next to the Input Echo button (see also “Peak
Markers” on page 616)

Show Track Peak
Markers (Track view
only)

See “Peak Markers” on page 616)

Show Bus Peak Markers
(Track view only)

See “Peak Markers” on page 616)

Reset All Meters

If a track clips, its meter shows a red clipping indicator.
Click this button to reset the clipping indicator to its nonclipping state.

Peak

Choosing this option causes the meter to display the
highest amplitude in the signal that occurs in a complete
cycle of a frequency.

RMS

Choosing this option causes the meter to display more of
an average of the amplitudes that occur in a complete
cycle of a frequency. RMS, or Root-Mean-Square, is a little
over seventy percent of peak level.

Peak + RMS

Choosing this option causes the meter to display both the
RMS and peak levels. The RMS level is displayed by the
solid bar on the left side of the meter, and the peak level is
displayed as a small line that follows the RMS level just to
the right of it.

Pre Fader/Post Fader
(This option is for
playback and bus
meters only)

Choose Pre Fader or Post Fader to measure the playback
level either before or after the track’s or bus’ volume fader.

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Menu option...

What it does...

Pre Fader/Post FX (This
option is for the buses
only)

Choose Pre Fader/Post FX to measure the bus volume
before the fader, but after any real-time effects.

-12 dB....-90 dB

Choosing one of these numbers sets the scale of the
meter to a certain range of dB. For example, choosing -90
dB sets the range of measurement of that meter to 90 dB.
Note: You can also change the scale of a meter by rightclicking the meter to display a popup menu and choosing a
new dB range.

Show Labels (Track
view only)

Clicking this option hides or shows the dB markings on the
meter. Hiding the markings shrinks the meter significantly,
saving space.

Hold Peaks

Choosing this option causes the meter to display a small
vertical line (the peak marker) that shows the peak level
and then decays until a new peak is reached.

Lock Peaks

Choosing this option causes the meter to lock the peak
marker at the highest level, until a higher level occurs.

Segmented and Non-segmented Meters
You can display meters as segmented (the default) or non-segmented
meters. Non-segmented meters have the advantage of taking up less room
in a track strip.

A. segmented meter B. non-segmented meter

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The Audio Meter Settings dialog (Options- Audio Meter Settings
command) lets you choose segmented or non-segmented meters for the
Track and/or Console views.
You can customize the colors of non-segmented meters in the Configure
Colors dialog—use the Options-Colors command, and choose VU LO
Level, VU HI Level, or VU Tick Marks.

Changing the Meters’ Performance
There are two major factors that determine the performance of meters in
SONAR. One is audio latency which you can adjust, within the limits of your
audio hardware drivers, in the General tab of the Audio Options dialog. The
second is the settings in the Audio Meter Settings dialog.
SONAR has configurable meter ballistics that allow you to adjust the rise
and fall times of both the RMS and Peak Meters. Out of the box, SONAR
ships with industry-standard settings that mimic meter ballistics for common
hardware consoles.
The following table covers how to adjust your meter settings to meet your
needs.

To do this...

Do this...

Increase or decrease meter
refresh rates

In the Audio Meter Settings dialog (select
Options-Audio Meter Settings to open), adjust
the Refresh rate field. Valid values are from 25 to
250 milliseconds.

Change the decay rate (the
amount of time the meter display
stays at its peak)

In the Audio Meter Settings dialog, adjust the
Decay Rate value. Valid values are from 1 to 150
milliseconds.

Increase or decrease the amount
of time the meter displays a peak
value

In the Audio Meter Settings dialog, adjust the
Hold Time value. Valid values are from 0 to 5000
milliseconds.

Adjust rise and fall times

In the Audio Meter Settings dialog, adjust the
Rise or Fall settings for RMS or Peak. Valid Rise
values are from 0 to 1000 milliseconds. Valid Fall
values are from 0 to 2500 milliseconds.

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Here are the default values for the various settings:
•

Refresh Rate = 40 msec

•

Peak Hold – Decay Rate = 50 msec

•

Peak Hold – Hold Time = 750 msec

•

RMS Rise = 300 msec

•

RMS Fall = 300 msec

•

Peak Rise = 0 msec

•

Peak Fall = 1000 msec

Peak Markers
Buses and audio tracks have a feature called Peak Markers. A Peak
Marker in each audio track or bus moves along in the Clips pane just behind
the Now Time cursor displaying the highest peak found during playback.
Peak Markers appear in two different colors: one color if the peak is below 0
dB, and a different color if the peak is above 0dB. By default, peaks below
0dB will be green, and peaks above 0dB will be red. Colors for both Peak
Markers and their text fields are configurable in the Configure Colors dialog
(Options-Colors command).
Peak marker

To Hide or Show Peak Markers Globally
•

Click the Meter Options dropdown arrow
in the Track view toolbar,
and choose Show Track Peak Markers and/or Show Bus Peak
Markers.

To Hide or Show Peak Markers on an Individual Track
or Bus
•

616

Right-click the track or bus, and choose Show Peak Marker from the
popup menu.

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Metering

To Jump to a Peak Marker
•

Right-click the numeric peak display in the track/bus header strip, and
choose Go To Peak from the context menu (see picture below). Doing
so will center the peak location and Now time in the Clips pane. This is
useful because a Peak Marker may be offscreen.

To Hide or Show the Numeric Peak Display
•

Click Show Numeric Peak Values in the Meter Options menu.

To Clear Peak Markers From a Track
•

Double-click the meter.

Waveform Preview for Buses and Synth
Tracks
You can choose to display a waveform for the audio output of a bus or synth
track. When you enable the display function, the amplitude of a bus’s or
synth track’s audio signal is graphed in real time as a waveform. The
waveform turns red wherever clipping is occurring. Waveform preview
allows you to visualize a mix and verify levels over the duration of a project,
easily detecting peaks and other level problems that may require attention.
You can choose to display Peak Markers if you want to (see “Peak Markers”
on page 616 for more information). If you change the volume of the audio
signal and replay the project, the waveform changes to reflect the new bus
or synth track volume.
Each bus or synth track has a Waveform Preview button, which allows you
to enable/disable waveforms display on an individual basis. By default,
each button is turned off.
You can change the color of the waveform preview by choosing a color for
Waveform Preview in the Configure Colors dialog (Options-Colors
command).

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617

To Enable/Disable Waveform Preview on a Bus or Synth
Track
•

For buses, find the desired bus in the Bus pane of the Track view, and
click the bus’s Waveform Preview button
. This button is also in the
Bus Inspector.

•

For synth tracks, find the desired synth track in the Track view, and click
the track’s Waveform Preview button
. This button is also in the
Track Inspector.
A

A. Waveform Preview button in Track view B. Waveform Preview

A. Waveform Preview button in Bus Inspector

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Waveform Preview for Buses and Synth Tracks

Freeze Tracks and Synths
The Freeze feature allows you to temporarily bounce your track, including
soft synths and effects, to reduce the amount of CPU power needed. The
Freeze feature also works for synths patched in the Synth Rack.
The following are the available commands for track freezing:
•

Freeze Track—bounces the audio in the track to a new audio clip or
clips, applies any effects, and disables the FX bin.

•

Unfreeze Track—discards the bounced audio, restores the original
audio to the way it was before the last freeze or quick freeze command,
and enables the FX bin.

•

Quick Unfreeze Track—hides and mutes the bounced audio, restores
the original audio to the way it was before the last freeze or quick freeze
command, and enables the FX bin. Bounced audio is retained,
however, and toggling between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze
should be instantaneous.

•

Quick Freeze Track—only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick
Freeze function redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio
instantaneously and disables the FX bin.

The following are the available commands for synth freezing:
•

Freeze Synth—audio from a soft synth is bounced and placed on the
synth’s track. Output from the synth is disabled, as is the FX bin on the
synth track.

•

Unfreeze Synth—discards bounced audio, enables the synth and track
FX bin. Bounced audio is discarded, and will be re-bounced if you
choose Freeze again.

•

Quick Unfreeze Synth—hides and mutes the bounced audio, enables
the synth and track FX bin. Bounced audio is retained, and toggling
between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

•

Quick Freeze Synth—only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick
Freeze function redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio
instantaneously, disables the synth, and any effects on the synth track.

Note 1: An Unfreeze or Quick Unfreeze command restores the audio on a
track to the way it was before the last Freeze or Quick Freeze command.
Any editing you do to a frozen track is discarded when you Unfreeze or
Quick Unfreeze the track.

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619

Note 2: You control the bit depth of all rendering operations (bouncing,
freezing, applying effects) on the Audio Data tab of the Global Options
dialog (Options-Global command) in the Render Bit Depth field. The
default value of 32 is the best for most situations. See “Bit Depths for
Rendering Audio” on page 865 for more information.

To Freeze a Track

1. Right-click on a track.
2. Select Freeze-Freeze Track from the menu that appears.
SONAR bounces the audio in the track to a new audio clip or clips, applies
any effects, and disables the FX bin.

To Unfreeze a Track
1. Right-click on a track.

2. Select Freeze-Unfreeze Track from the menu that appears.
SONAR discards the bounced audio, restores the original audio, and
enables the FX bin. Audio will be re-bounced if Freeze is chosen again.

To Do a Quick Unfreeze of a Track
1. Right-click on a frozen track.
2. Select Freeze-Quick Unfreeze Track from the menu that appears.
SONAR hides and mutes the bounced audio, restores the original audio,
and enables the FX bin. Bounced audio is retained, however, and toggling
between Quick Freeze and Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

To Quick Freeze a Track

1. Right-click on a track that you did a Quick Unfreeze on.
2. Select Freeze-Quick Freeze Track from the menu that appears.
Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze function redisplays
and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously

To Freeze a Soft Synth
•

Right-click a synth track or a synth’s MIDI track, and choose FreezeFreeze Synth from the menu that appears.
Or

•

In the Synth Rack view, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button

SONAR bounces the synth’s audio data to the synth track. SONAR
disables the synth’s output, and disables the FX bin on the synth track.

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Freeze Tracks and Synths

Note: If a soft synth has been inserted to an audio track’s FX bin, the
Freeze/Unfreeze button is not present in the Synth Rack view for that synth.
To freeze that synth, right-click the track or the synth’s MIDI track and
choose Freeze-Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

To Unfreeze a Synth
•

Right-click a synth MIDI or audio track, and choose Freeze-Unfreeze
Synth from the menu that appears.
Or

•

In the Synth Rack view, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button
, and
choose Freeze-Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

SONAR discards bounced audio, enables the synth and the synth audio
track’s FX bin. SONAR will be re-bounce the audio if you choose Freeze
again.

To Do a Quick Unfreeze of a Synth
•

Right-click a frozen synth MIDI or audio track, and choose FreezeQuick Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.
Or

•

In the Synth Rack view, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button
, and
choose Freeze-Quick Unfreeze Synth from the menu that appears.

SONAR hides and mutes the bounced audio, enables the synth and track
FX bin. Bounced audio is retained, and toggling between Quick Freeze and
Quick Unfreeze should be instantaneous.

To Quick Freeze a Synth
•

Right-click a quick unfrozen synth track or synth MIDI track, and choose
Freeze-Quick Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.
Or

•

In the Synth Rack view, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button
, and
choose Freeze-Quick Freeze Synth from the menu that appears.

Only available after a Quick Unfreeze, the Quick Freeze command
redisplays and unmutes the bounced audio instantaneously, disables the
synth, and any effects on the synth track.

To Set Freeze Options

1. Right-click an audio or synth track, and choose Freeze-Freeze Options
from the menu that appears.

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621

Or
1. In the Synth Rack view, click the Freeze/Unfreeze button
choose Freeze Options from the menu that appears.

, and

2. Choose options in the Freeze Options dialog. For help choosing
options, click the Help button in the dialog.
Tip: All Freeze commands are also available in the Track menu.

Using Real-Time Effects
In the Console view and Track view, you can use plug-in effects nondestructively, in real time (to apply effects offline, see “Applying Audio
Effects” on page 651). You can also hear your plug-in effects in real time on
any live instruments you are recording—just make sure Input Monitoring is
enabled (see “Input Monitoring” on page 235). You can also insert effects
directly on clips (see “Effects on Clips” on page 629).
For example, suppose you want to add a reverb effect to an audio track
containing a recorded violin solo. You could do it in two different ways:
•

Destructive—The digital audio data itself is modified. Although this may
be exactly what you want, it does limit your options. If you want to
modify the effect parameters slightly or to remove the effect and try a
different effect, you must use the Undo command, or revert to a saved
copy of the original data.

•

Non-destructive (real-time)—The digital audio data in your track is not
changed but simply altered on the fly during playback. This means you
can experiment with effects parameters, bypass effects, or remove
them entirely at any time. Since most effects require complex numeric
calculations, real-time effects processing puts a heavy load on your
computer’s CPU. If you use too many effects, the CPU will not be able
to keep up and playback will sound choppy and disconnected.

You can also apply real-time audio effects to a submix in a bus. For
example, rather than patching separate reverb effects in each of several
guitar tracks, you can mix the guitar tracks together in a bus and apply a
single reverb effect to the submix. This makes much more efficient use of
CPU time. Patching effects on a bus also opens up new creative
possibilities.
There are several reasons why you might want to apply effects offline
(destructively):

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•

If you want to apply more effects than your CPU can handle, applying
some of the effects offline will reduce CPU usage during playback.

•

If you want to apply effects to an individual audio clip, rather than the
whole track, it is simpler to do so using offline effects.

The File-Export-Audio command, allows you to apply real-time effects
when you export, so you do not need to apply your effects destructively or
use the Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command to prepare the tracks
beforehand. For information about exporting audio, see “Preparing Audio
for Distribution” on page 665.
All plug-in effects and soft synths have a Preset window you can use to
save and recall your favorite settings for those plug-ins.

Effects Parameters
Each effect in an effects patch point has its own independent set of
parameter values. For example, you can apply a short reverb in one track
and a long reverb in another track. The dialog boxes for real-time effects
contain the same parameters as the offline effects, though there are a few
differences:
•

You can adjust the parameters while playback is in progress, so there is
no need for an Audition button.

•

For Audio effects, because mixing is handled through the Track view or
Console view, there is no Mixing tab.

•

You do not need to click OK for the effect to be applied.

Refer to the sections “MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins)” on page 510 and “Audio
Effects (Audio Plug-ins)” on page 564 for descriptions of the effects and
their parameters.

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623

How to Use Real-Time Effects
You can patch effects into the tracks and buses in both the Track view and
Console view. After you patch one or more effects into an FX bin, you can
reorder the effects, delete them, or add new ones.

A. An FX bin in a track in the Track view B. An FX bin in a bus in the Track view

A. An FX bin in a track in the Console view B. An FX bin in a bus in the Console
view

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Here’s how to insert and configure effects:

To do this…

Do this…

Add a real-time effect to a
MIDI track, audio track,
synth track or bus.

Right-click in the FX bin of the track or bus you want to
add the effect to, and select an effect from the popup
menu.

Change the order in which
effects are used.

Drag an effect up or down in the FX bin.

Edit an effect’s
parameters.

Double-click on the effect to open the effect’s dialog
box.

Move an effect to a
different bin.

Drag the effect to another effects bin.

Copy an effect to a
different bin.

Hold down the Ctrl key and drag the effect to another
effects bin.

Delete an effect.

Right-click the name of the effect, and choose Delete
from the popup menu.

Send all keystrokes to a
plug-in that has focus

Enable the keystroke button
page

Use a preset.

See “Presets and Property Pages” on page 627 for more
information.

in the plug-in’s property

When you place an effect in an FX bin, an abbreviated name is used to
describe the effect. Sometimes the limited space makes it impossible to
identify the effect. If this occurs, simply rest the cursor over the effect for a
second or two, and a tooltip will pop up to display the full name of the effect.
Effects in FX bins display “ticks” that tell you whether the effect is outputting
a mono, stereo, or surround signal:

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625

A. Mono indicator

A. Stereo indicator

A. Surround indicator (in 5.1 mode)

You can change the tick color by using the Options-Colors command, and
choosing Track View Control Background (for the Track view), and Console
Drop-down Controls (for the Console view).
If you’re using the double-precision audio engine, plug-ins that can send
and receive 64-bit data display doubled ticks.

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A. Stereo indicator in 64-bit mode

Presets and Property Pages
Presets are a way to store property page settings so that you can recall the
exact same group of settings again in the future. Effects and soft synths use
presets, and so do some other functions you’ll find in certain dialogs.
You manage presets with the Presets window that appears at the top of a
plug-in property page, and the buttons next to the Presets window.
A B

A. Previous/Next button B. Save button C. The VST button preset controls appear
only on VST plug-ins D. Automation read and write buttons E. Send all keystrokes to
this plug-in button F. Delete button G. Presets menu displays the name of the current
preset

The Presets menu displays presets in the following order:
•

Most Recently Used presets—these appear at the top of the Presets
menu, up to 8 in number, and followed by a horizontal line to separate
this section from the next section of the menu.

•

VST factory presets—any VST factory presets appear below the Most
Recently Used section, and are also followed by a horizontal separator
line.

•

Cakewalk and user presets—these appear at the bottom of the Presets
menu.

The following table tells you how to use presets:

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627

To do this...

Do this...

Load a preset

Do either of the following:

Save the current settings
as a preset

•

Click the dropdown arrow on the right side of the Presets
menu, and click the name of the preset in the dropdown
menu.

•

Click the left or right side of the Prev/Next button to load the
previous or next preset in the menu. You can click the button
repeatedly to step through the menu.

If you’re using:
•

A VST factory preset—these can not be deleted or
overwritten (the Delete button appears greyed-out). If you
want to change one of these, double-click the name, enter a
new name, and click the Save button.

Note: VST presets can be stored by saving a .fxp file (see
below for instructions).
•

A Cakewalk or user preset—either save these under a new
name: double-click the name, enter a new name, and click
the Save button, or just click the Save button to overwrite
the preset with current values.

Delete a preset

VST factory presets can not be deleted. If you’re not using
a VST factory preset, simply display the preset name in
the Presets window, and then click the Delete button.

Load or save a .fxp file

Use the Load Preset or Save Preset commands,
respectively, in the VST button dropdown menu

Load or save a .fxb file

Use the Load Bank or Save Bank commands,
respectively, in the VST button dropdown menu

The Presets window also has a feature called Preset Dirty Flags. A Preset
Dirty Flag is an asterisk that appears next to the name of the preset. The
asterisk tells you that you changed and saved this particular preset in
another project, and the settings in the current project are different from the
saved version. If you re-save the preset in the current project with the
current settings, the asterisk disappears, but will reappear in the other
project, showing you that the displayed settings in that project are different
from the last saved version of the preset. If you want to get rid of the

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asterisk in all projects, save the preset in each project with the exact same
settings.
Plug-in property pages have a couple of other controls not related to
presets:
•

Automation read and write buttons—these buttons enable or disable
automation playback and recording for the plug-in’s parameters. See
the online help topic “Automation,” for more information.

•

Keystrokes button—enabling this button sends all keystrokes to a
particular instance of a plug-in when the plug-in’s property page has
focus.

Effects on Clips
Both audio and MIDI clips now contain full-featured FX bins. You can insert
real-time effects on clips, in both MIDI and audio tracks. Each clip that you
insert an effect on displays its own FX bin, that you can use to manage the
effects on that clip.
The characteristics of clip-based effects are:
•

Splitting a clip copies the effect(s) onto both clips.

•

You can copy or move clip-based effects from one clip to another, and
to or from the FX bin on a track.

•

A clip’s FX bin also appears on the General tab of the clip’s Clip
Properties dialog (to open: right-click the clip and choose Clip
Properties from the popup menu).
Note: you cannot drag effects to or from the Clip Properties dialog.

•

You can patch an effect onto multiple clips at the same time by first
selecting the clips.

•

Audio effects can be automated by using clip envelopes.

•

The Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) command follows clip boundaries—effects
tails are cut off, unless you slip-edit the end of the clip to leave space.

•

Freezing a track or synth will also freeze the per-clip FX bins.

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Using Real-Time Effects

629

To Insert an Effect on a Clip or Clips

1. If you want to insert an effect onto multiple clips, select the clips.
2. Right-clip a clip that you want to insert an effect onto.
The Clips pane context menu appears.
3. Choose Insert Effect-[Audio or MIDI]-[name of desired effect].
The FX icon appears on the clip(s) after you insert the effect (see picture,
below).
A

A. FX icon

To Open or Close the FX Bin on a Clip
•

To open a clip’s FX bin, click the FX icon, or right-click the FX icon and
select Open Clip Effects Bin from the popup menu.

•

To close a clip’s FX bin, click the X icon that’s in the upper left corner of
the clip’s FX bin, or click anywhere outside of the FX bin.

To Delete, Bypass, Move, Copy, or Re-order a Clip Effect

630

•

To delete an effect, right-click the effect name and choose Delete from
the popup menu.

•

To bypass or un-bypass all the effects on a clip, right-click in the clips’s
FX bin and choose Bypass Bin from the popup menu.

•

To enable or disable an individual effect, click the effect’s green on/off
switch.

•

To move an effect to another FX bin (on a track or a clip), drag the
name of the effect to the other FX bin.

•

To copy an effect to another FX bin (on a track or a clip), hold the Ctrl
key down, and then drag the name of the effect to the other FX bin.

•

To change the order of an effect in an FX bin, drag the name of the
effect up or down to the desired place in the effects chain.

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Using Real-Time Effects

To Apply Inserted Clip Effects

1. If you want to apply the inserted effects on more than one clip, select
them.
2. If you want to leave room at the end of any clips for effects tails, slip-edit
the ends of the clips to leave some empty space.
3. Use the Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) command.
After the progress bar disappears, the bounced clips appear with new
waveforms to reflect the effects processing. The inserted clip effects are
removed from the bounced clips automatically.

Organizing Plug-ins
Once you have more than a few plug-in effects and/or soft synths installed
on your computer, you might want to organize the way they appear in the
various plug-in and synth menus that you use. The Cakewalk Plug-in
Manager is a powerful tool to organize your plug-in menus. Open the Plugin Manager by using the Tools-Cakewalk Plug-in Manager command, and
display the Plug-in Manager’s help file by pressing F1.
Even if you don’t use the Plug-in Manager, SONAR now automatically
organizes all DX and VST plug-ins into a default plug-in menu layout called
Default – All Plug-ins. If you select the Plug-in Layouts-Manage Layouts
option from a plug-in menu, the Plug-in Manager opens and automatically
populates the Plug-in Layout area with the Default Layout, which produces
a solid starting point for customizing layouts.
VST plug-ins are organized in menus according to the file folder structure in
which they reside on your hard disk.

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Organizing Plug-ins

631

VST Configuration
SONAR automatically scans your VST folders for new plug-ins on startup,
registering any unscanned VST plug-ins so that they become available in
SONAR’s plug-in menus. You can turn off automatic scanning by using the
Options-Global command, and unchecking the Scan For VST Plug-ins On
Startup checkbox that is on the VST Plug-ins tab.
To configure your VST plug-ins manually, use either the VST Plug-ins tab of
the Global Options dialog, or the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager. You can use
the Global Options dialog to set general VST options, such as choosing
which folders to scan, but not specific options on individual plug-ins. Use
the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager to set options on individual plug-ins (use the
Tools-Cakewalk Plug-in Manager command to open the Plug-in
Manager). The following procedures explain how to use the VST Plug-ins
tab of the Global Options dialog. The Cakewalk Plug-in Manager has its
own help.

To Display the Global Options Dialog/VST Plug-ins Tab
•

Use the Options-Global command to open the Global Options dialog,
and click the VST Plug-ins tab.

To Add a Folder to Scan

1. On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, click the Add button to
open the Browse for Folder dialog.
2. Choose the folder you want to add, and click OK.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to add any additional folders you might want to
scan.
The new folders appear in the VST Scan Folder(s) list, along with any
folders that were already in the list.

To Remove a Folder from the VST Scan Folder(s) List
•

632

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
Folder(s) list, select the folder you want to remove, and click the
Remove button.

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VST Configuration

To Set Options for All Plug-ins in a Folder

1. On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
Folder(s) list, select the folder you want to set options for, then click the
Folder Defaults button.
2. In the dialog that appears, choose from the following options (options
that control properties for individual plug-ins are greyed-out: use the
Cakewalk Plug-in Manager to set those options):
•

Enable as plug-in—enable this option if you want to use the plugins in this folder as audio effects.

•

Configure as tempo-based effect—if the effects in this folder are
supposed to respond to tempo information (for example, a temposynced delay), and they are not responding, make sure this box is
checked.

•

Force stereo operation—if you need to use mono plug-ins in
situations that requires stereo, you can enable this option to run the
plug-ins in stereo mode. This option simply creates two identical
output streams from the plug-ins where only one existed.

•

Do not intercept NRPNs—SONAR uses NRPNs to run automation
of your VST plug-ins. However, some instruments have their own
implementation of this process, so checking this box passes the
NRPNs directly to the instrument, allowing it to manage its own
automation.

•

Max used inputs— This option controls the number of sidechain
inputs that are exposed by SONAR for the plug-in. The default
value is the maximum number of input channels that are exposed
by the plug-in. If the value is set to 2, SONAR will not display any
sidechainable inputs; if set to 4, SONAR will display 1
sidechainable input, etc.

3. Click OK to close the dialog.

To Turn Automatic Scanning On or Off
•

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
Options section, check or uncheck the Scan For VST Options On
Startup option. The next time you launch SONAR, your VST folders will
either be scanned or not, depending on the option you chose.

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VST Configuration

633

To Re-scan Failed Plug-ins
•

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
Options section, enable the Re-scan Failed Plug-ins option. The next
time you scan, any plug-ins that did not scan correctly during previous
scans will be re-scanned.

To Re-scan Existing Plug-ins
•

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
Options section, enable the Re-scan Existing Plug-ins option. The next
time you scan, any plug-ins that have already been scanned will be rescanned, and any new folder default options you have chosen will be
implemented.

To Run a Scan
•

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
section, click the Scan VST Folders button.

To Set All VST Plug-ins to Folder Defaults
•

On the Global Options dialog/VST Plug-ins tab, in the VST Scan
section, click the Reset All VST Plug-ins button. The next time you
scan, SONAR will set all plug-ins in your VST Scan folders to your
folder default settings.

V-Vocal Clips
V-Vocal is a vocal processor that integrates Roland’s VariPhrase
technology into SONAR Producer. Designed for monophonic sounds,
especially vocals, V-Vocal does pitch correction on notes and phrases, edits
formants, adds vibrato if you want, and can also correct timing.
Access V-Vocal by selecting audio data, and then inserting an instance of
V-Vocal. This creates a monophonic V-Vocal clip, which means that the
selected audio data is copied to create the V-Vocal clip, while the original
audio data is muted and left unchanged.
The following procedures explain how to manage V-Vocal clips. For
information about using V-Vocal, see “Using V-Vocal” on page 636.

To Create a V-Vocal Clip

1. Select the audio data you want to use.
2. Use the Edit-Create V-Vocal Region command, or right-click the clip
and choose V-Vocal-Create V-Vocal Clip from the Clips pane popup
menu.

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V-Vocal Clips

SONAR copies the selected audio data, inserts an instance of V-Vocal on
the copied data, and displays the new V-Vocal clip (the copied audio data
that contains an instance of V-Vocal) where the selected audio data was,
and opens the V-Vocal interface. The V-Vocal icon
appears on
the V-Vocal clip. The original audio data is muted. No track data is moved or
otherwise modified by creating a V-Vocal clip. You can drag the V-Vocal clip
away from the original audio data if you want.

To Open a V-Vocal Interface
•

If the V-Vocal interface of the clip you want to edit is not open, right-click
the V-Vocal clip and choose V-Vocal-V-Vocal Editor from the Clips
pane popup menu. You can also double-click the V-Vocal clip, or create
your own key binding to launch V-Vocal.

To Move, Edit, or Copy a V-Vocal Clip
•

Use standard editing commands (nudge, drag-and-drop, slip-edit, etc.)
to move, edit, or copy the clip. When you move a V-Vocal clip, the
original audio clip is revealed underneath it. You can unmute the
original clip by using the Mute tool. You can also or create your own key
binding to launch the V-Vocal editor.

Note: offline processing commands such as Process-Normalize and
Process-Gain do not work on a V-Vocal clip.

To Bypass or Unbypass a Single V-Vocal Clip
•

Right-click the V-Vocal clip and choose V-Vocal-Bypass/Unbypass
from the Clips pane popup menu.

When you bypass a V-Vocal clip, you hear the original audio data that
makes up the V-Vocal clip without hearing any V-Vocal processing. When
Bypass is enabled, the Bypass button in the V-Vocal interface appears red.

To Bypass or Unbypass All V-Vocal Clips in a Track
•

Right-click a V-Vocal clip and choose V-Vocal-Bypass All V-Vocal
Clips from the Clips pane popup menu.

To Delete a V-Vocal Clip
•

Select a V-Vocal clip (the orange clip with the V-Vocal icon, not the
original audio clip) and use the Edit-Delete command, or press Delete
on your keyboard.

Note: V-Vocal commands can also be accessed by clicking the V icon in the
V-Vocal clip
.

Mixing

V-Vocal Clips

635

Using V-Vocal
V-Vocal is a vocal processor that does pitch correction on notes and
phrases, corrects timing, edits formants and dynamics, and can add vibrato.
The following topics describe using the V-Vocal interface to process audio
data. For information about inserting and managing V-Vocal in SONAR, see
“V-Vocal Clips” on page 634.
Here’s a description of the interface:

I
J
S

R
Q
T

K
L

A. Bypass B. Mute C. Solo D. Rewind E. Play/Stop F. AutoScroll G. LoopMode
H. Undo/Redo I. Cent indicator J. Timeline K. Scroll L. Formant control
M. Information view N. Zoom O. Edit mode P. Pitch correction Q. Spread editing
area R. Select pitch correction key S. Tools T. Pitch to MIDI

Description of Interface Components

636

•

Edit mode—select the parameter you want to edit: pitch, time, formant,
or dynamics.

•

Zoom—continuous horizontal or vertical zooming by dragging the
center vertically or horizontally. If you drag the center while pressing the

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Using V-Vocal

Shift key, you can restrict the zoom direction to horizontal or vertical.
Zoom In or Out incrementally by clicking any of the four arrows. Doubleclicking the center shows the overall clip.
•

AutoScroll—the editing display scrolls when you turn on AutoScroll.

•

Formant control—the Pitch Follow knob increases or decreases the
formant according to pitch. The Shift knob increases or decreases the
formant for the entire phrase.

•

Pitch Correction
•

Keyboard and Scale buttons—assign the target notes with the
keyboard button; each key has a bypass button (B) located under
or over the key. The Scale button lets you assign the target notes
by scale: click the Scale button, click Maj or Min, and click a note on
the keyboard button to choose the root of the scale.

•

Note button—use this button to set the rate of pitch correction. This
function can adjust the pitch to the selected notes’ grids by
increasing or decreasing the pitch of the selected region.

•

Vibrato—set the depth of the vibrato. If you choose 100%, vibrato
depth is set to zero.

•

Sense—this is a sensitivity control for pitch correction for unstable
pitch areas such as portamento. Pitch correction gets stronger if
you increase the value.

•

Cent indicator—this indicator shows the pitch correction amount by
cents in realtime (+/- 100 cents).

•

Timeline—this gives a graphical display of the playback time in beats.

•

Select pitch correction key—set the target notes for the pitch correction.
Each time you click a note, the note’s color is changed to red, grey, or
blue in turn. Meaning of each color is as follows:
•

Blue: selected

•

Gray: not selected

•

Red: Bypassed

•

Arrow tool
—for selecting the editing region, and for increasing or
decreasing the pitch of the selected region.

•

Line tool
lines.

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—for drawing Pitch, Formant, and Dynamics with straight

Using V-Vocal

637

•

Pen tool

—for drawing Pitch, Formant, and Dynamics freehand.

•

Vibrato/LFO tool
selected region.

•

Eraser

•

Hand tool
—for scrolling the display. If you drag in the editing area
while pressing the Ctrl key, you can zoom.

•

Rectangle zoom
—for selecting an area to zoom in to. Drag a border
around the area you want to zoom to. Overall area is displayed by
double clicking.

—for adding and editing Vibrato or LFO at the

—for resetting the selected region to its initial value.

Playing Back V-Vocal Clips
You can play back V-Vocal clips by clicking the buttons at the top of the VVocal interface. Besides playing the V-Vocal clip, you can mute it, solo it,
loop it, and rewind it. Clicking in the time ruler at the top of the graph moves
the playback time.

To Play a V-Vocal Clip

638

•

To play a V-Vocal clip, click the play button in the V-Vocal interface, or
press the Spacebar.

•

To stop playback, press the Spacebar, or click the Stop button.

•

To mute the track that the V-Vocal clip is in, click the M button in the VVocal interface.

•

To Solo the track that the V-Vocal clip is in, click the S button in the VVocal interface.

•

To rewind the V-Vocal clip, click the rewind button in the V-Vocal
interface.

•

To loop the V-Vocal clip, click the loop mode button in the V-Vocal
interface.

•

To set the playback time for the V-Vocal clip, click in the timeline that’s
at the top of the graph.

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Using V-Vocal

Pitch Editing
Pitch editing requires that the Pitch button in the edit mode section is
enabled. Here’s a description of the interface in pitch editing mode:

•

The yellow line is the edited Pitch curve and this line is the actual
sounding pitch.

•

The red line is the original Pitch curve and this line cannot be edited.

•

The green dot is a Node. Nodes are automatically assigned to the start
and end of the edited region. You can select the specific region
between the nodes if you click the yellow line between the nodes.

•

The white horizontal line is called Center Pitch. Center Pitch is used as
a baseline for increasing or decreasing vibrato or for pitch correction.

To Change the Pitch of a Selected Region

1. Use the Arrow tool to select the part of the yellow line that you want to
transpose (make sure that the Pitch button in the edit mode section is
enabled).
The selected region turns blue to show that it is selected.
2. Drag the yellow line up or down.
Nodes appear automatically when you shift pitch.

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Using V-Vocal

639

Tips:
•

Ctrl-dragging snaps the pitch to the pitch correction grid. Shift dragging
moves the pitch by 100 cent increments.

•

You can also edit pitch by dragging a node up or down.

•

You can undo each edit you do by pressing Ctrl+Z. You can use this
command repeatedly to undo multiple edits.

About Pitch Correction
The key for making manipulated sound more natural is using the
parameters in the Pitch Correction section: Note, Vibrato and Sense.
Functions for each parameter are as follows:
•

Note—controls the ratio of pitch shifting to the nearest scale note. With
a value of 100, each section is completely shifting to the nearest scale
note.

•

Vibrato—as the value increases, the vibrato depth gets narrower. At a
value of 100, Vibrato is completely eliminated.

•

Sense—as the value increases, the range of affecting pitch correction
gets wider.

If you set all of above parameters to a value of 100, you will get a "robot
voice”-type sound.
Current default values are:
•

Note: 100

•

Vibrato: 50

•

Sense: 100

This setup is a bit too artificial. If you want to make the sound more natural,
we suggest the following setup:
•

Note: 70-100; be careful of intonation.

•

Vibrato: 0-20; try 0, if you'd like to keep the original.

•

Sense: 20-30; adjust to fit the data.

The above suggestion is just one example. Different types of audio might
require different settings.
In addition, try adjusting the Pitch Follow parameter in the Formant Control
section as follows:

640

•

Set the value close to 100 if you'd like to do subtle pitch correction.

•

Set close to 0 if you'd like drastic rephrasing.

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Using V-Vocal

To Draw Freehand Pitch Changes
1. Click the Pen tool.

2. Draw a shape on the graph.

To Draw Straight Line Pitch Changes
1. Click the Line tool.

2. Draw a line on the graph.

To Correct Pitch
1. Select the region you want to correct by using the Arrow tool.
2. Select the notes that you want the selected region to become by
clicking notes on the Keyboard button. The selected notes should be
light blue. The deselected notes are dark blue. When you click the
Correct button, the selected area conforms to the light blue notes on the
keyboard. You can also click the note names in the Select Pitch
Correction field to select notes. Note that light blue note names are
selected, grey note names are not selected, and red note names are
bypassed.
Note: to display different octaves, drag the vertical scroll bar that is at
the right side of the graph up or down.
3. Set the amount of pitch correction you want by adjusting the Note knob.
100 cents is equal to a half-step. Between 70 and 100 is a good place
to start.
4. If the selected region has any unstable pitch areas such as portamento,
you can adjust the Sense knob, which adjusts pitch correction
sensitivity. Pitch correction gets stronger if you increase the value. 30 is
a good starting point. If the selection has vibrato, try 0 to 30.
5. Click the Correct button. The pitch in the selected region moves to the
target pitches (the light blue notes on the keyboard).

To Conform Pitches to a Scale
1. Use the Arrow tool to select the region where you want to correct
pitches.
2. Click the Scale button so that it is enabled (light blue).
3. Click a Maj or Min button to select a major or minor scale, respectively.
4. Click a note on the Keyboard button to select the root note of the scale.
The notes of the scale you selected turn light blue on the Keyboard
button.

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Using V-Vocal

641

5. Click the Correct button.
The selected area conforms to the light blue notes on the keyboard.

To Restore Original Pitch
•

Use the Eraser tool to drag over a region. The region you drag over
returns to original pitch.

To Add Vibrato

1. Click the Vibrato/LFO tool.
2. Move the cursor to the place where you want the vibrato to start.
The cursor displays a vibrato icon when it is ready to add new vibrato:
.
3. Drag to the right for the length of the vibrato segment that you want to
add.

To Edit Vibrato

1. Move the Vibrato/LFO tool over the vibrato segment that you want to
edit.
The cursor displays a double-arrow icon when it is ready to edit vibrato:
.
2. Drag the vibrato segment vertically to edit amplitude, or horizontally to
edit frequency.
Tips:

642

•

Holding the Ctrl key down while you drag restricts vibrato editing to
amplitude only.

•

Holding the Shift key down while you drag restricts vibrato editing to
frequency only.

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Using V-Vocal

To Fade-in Vibrato

1. Move the Vibrato/LFO tool over the beginning of a vibrato segment.
The cursor displays a fade-in icon when it is ready to add a fade-in:

2. Drag the vibrato segment to the right for the length of the fade-in that
you want to add.

Editing Time
To edit timing with V-Vocal, the Time button in the edit mode section must
be enabled.

To Edit Time

1. Make sure the Time button is enabled.
2. Move the Arrow tool near the vertical center of the graph until the cursor
changes to the double arrow, and click at each point where you want to
preserve the original timing. A vertical green line appears at each point
that you click.
3. Now add new green lines between the existing ones.
4. Drag the new lines to the left or right to compress or expand each
region.
Tips:
•

Hold down the Ctrl key while you move lines to move all the following
lines by an equal amount.

•

To erase lines, drag a region with the eraser. Timing reverts to its
original condition in the areas where you erase lines.

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Using V-Vocal

643

Editing Formants
A rough definition of formants is that they are vowel sounds. To edit
formants with V-Vocal, the Formant button in the edit mode section must be
enabled.
Here’s a picture of the V-Vocal interface in formant mode:

The red line in the graph is the formant line. The red dots on the line are
nodes.

To Shift the Formant of a Region

1. Use the Arrow tool to select the region you want to shift.
2. Drag the red line in the region up or down.
When you drag the red line, nodes are automatically created at the start
and end of the selected region. You can drag the nodes to create different
shapes.
Tips:

644

•

Double-clicking the red line in a selected region adds nodes to the
place where you click, and also to the start and end of the selected
region.

•

You can do freehand editing with the Pen tool.

•

You can add an LFO to a selected region by dragging the red line up or
down with the Vibrato tool. Dragging left or right modifies the LFO
frequency.

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Using V-Vocal

•

You can reset segments of the red line by dragging with the Eraser.

•

You can increase or decrease the formant for the entire phrase by
adjusting the Shift knob.

•

To Link the Formant Line to the Pitch Line

To increase or decrease the formant relative to pitch, adjust the Pitch
Follow knob. You can view pitch at the same time as formants by rightclicking the graph, and choosing Views-Pitch from the context menu.

Editing Dynamics
The basic procedures for editing dynamics with V-Vocal are the same as for
formant editing, except that dynamics are represented by a yellow line, and
you must have the Dynamics button enabled in the edit mode section.

Context Menu
If you right-click the graph, the V-Vocal context menu appears.
The menu has the following commands:
•

Undo—use this command to undo your last editing action. You can use
this command repeatedly to undo a series of editing actions, starting
with the latest.

•

Redo—use this command to redo an editing action that was just
cancelled by an Undo command.

•

Select All—use this command to select the whole phrase. You can
deselect a selection by clicking away from the waveform.

•

View—use this command and the options in its submenu to hide or
show the phrase’s waveform (Wave option on submenu), the pitch
display (Pitch), the formant line (Formant), and the dynamics line
(Dynamics).

•

Group Node—deletes nodes in the selected region.

•

Pitch Detect Mode—method for redetecting center pitch (the white
horizontal line) of LFO or Vibrato. After you select the region you want
to redetect, choose from these options the following submenus.
•

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Standard 1—generally, you do not need to select this option,
because it is used to detect pitch as soon as you create a V-Vocal
clip. If you decide to use another method, but change your mind
and want to use this method, you can select this method to recreate
the original data.

Using V-Vocal

645

•

Standard 2—this is a general pitch detection setting that often
performs better on styles with deeper vibratos.

•

Deep Vibrato—special purpose pitch detection method for phrases
that contain very deep vibratos; this detection method tends to
create longer center pitches, but may detect multiple notes as a
single note.

•

Precision—special purpose pitch detection method for very high
resolution pitch detection of phrases; this detection method will
create more accurate center pitches for styles containing fast
variations of pitch. This method, however, may divide a single
vibrato section into multiple pitches.

LFO Pen Type—select the type of the waves of vibrato added by the
vibrato tool.

Keyboard Shortcuts
The following table lists the V-Vocal keyboard shortcuts:

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Command...

Shortcut...

Arrow tool

Line tool

L, or hold down Shift while using the Pen tool

Pen tool

Vibrato/LFO tool

Erase tool

Hand tool

Zoom tool

Undo zoom

Redo zoom

Shift+U

Zoom vertically

Ctrl+Up/Down arrow keys

Zoom horizontally

Ctrl+Left/Right arrow keys

Mixing

Using V-Vocal

Command...

Shortcut...

Fit entire region into
display

Shift+F

Fit content vertically

Pitch edit mode

Time edit mode

Formant edit mode

Dynamics edit mode

Cycle through all modes Shift+Left/Right arrow keys
Play/Stop

Spacebar

Rewind

Bypass

AutoScroll

Loop on/off

Undo

Ctrl+Z

Redo

Ctrl+Shift+Z

Cancel drag gesture

Esc

Select All

Ctrl+A

Select None

Ctrl+Shift+A

Return selection to
default settings

Delete

Solo track

Show/hide waveform in Shift+W
Pitch edit mode
Go to/Center cursor

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Using V-Vocal

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Command...

Shortcut...

Scroll up/down

Up/Down arrow keys; PageUp/PageDown

Scroll left/right

Left/Right arrow keys

Using the Per-track EQ
SONAR has a 4-band EQ patched into each audio track by default. You can
adjust these EQ’s in the Console view and the Track Inspector. You can
hide the EQ, hide its graph (plot), display only one band, or display all four
bands
Here’s a graphic of the EQ and its controls:

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Mixing

Using the Per-track EQ

Console view

Track or Bus Inspector

A
B
C

F
G

A. Plot B. Enable EQ C. Choose type of filter, band 4 D. Frequency, Gain, and Q
controls for band 3 E. Enable band 2 F. EQ Plot button G. EQ button H. Display
button I. Module options

Here’s how to use it:

To Show or Hide the EQ in all Audio Tracks
•

In the Console view, click the EQ button; in the Track or Bus Inspector,
click the Display button and click EQ.

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Using the Per-track EQ

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To Show Either One Band’s Controls or Four Band’s
Controls
•

In the Console view, right-click the EQ button and choose options; in
the Track or Bus Inspector, click the Module Options button, choose EQ
and Plot, and choose options.

To Enable or Disable the EQ in a Track or Bus
•

Click the EQ Enable button.

To Enable or Disable a Band
•

Click the Enable/Disable Band button that’s at the top of each band’s
controls.

To Choose the Filter Type for Each Band
•

Click the filter type menu, and choose a filter type.

To Set Frequency, Gain, and Q for Each Band
•

In the Track or Bus Inspector, in the band that you want to configure,
drag the frequency slider, gain slider, or Q slider, respectively, to the left
or right. In the Console view, rotate the buttons that correspond to each
parameter. There are tooltips for each control.

To Hide or Show the Plot (Graph)
•

In the Console view, click the Plot button. In the Inspector, click the
Display button, and click Plot.

To Change the Plot Resolution
•

In the Console view, right-click the Plot button and choose options. In
the Inspector, click the Module Options button, choose EQ and Plot,
and choose options.

To Open the EQ Interface
•

Double-click the Plot.

To Turn Off Bands 5 and 6
•

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If you are using bands 5 and/or 6, you can turn these bands off by rightclicking the Plot, and choosing Reset Hidden EQ Parameters.

Mixing

Using the Per-track EQ

Applying Audio Effects
You can destructively apply audio effects for one or more tracks. When you
are pleased with the audio effects you have patched into a track, you can
apply the effects to the track. Applying effects to a track saves resources,
allowing you to include additional tracks and/or effects
Note: When applied effects are undone, they are not re-patched in the FX
bin(s).

To Apply Multiple Audio Effects Offline
1. Add one or more audio effects to one or more tracks in either the Track
view or the Console view.
2. In the Track view, select the tracks or clips you want to be affected.
3. Select Process-Apply Audio Effects.
The Apply Audio Effects dialog appears.
4. If desired, select the option to delete the effects after applying them.
5. Click OK.
If you do not delete the effects after applying them, they remain active.

CPU Usage of Audio Effects
The number of real-time audio effects that your computer can handle
depends on the number of audio tracks in your project, the number and type
of effects you want to use, and the type and speed of your CPU. Certain
effects are more CPU-intensive than others, and enabling certain settings
(such as using equalization within the Stereo Reverb) increases CPU usage
for those effects.

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Applying Audio Effects

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Applying MIDI Effects
You can destructively apply the MIDI effects in a track’s patch point. This
makes it easy for you to experiment with MIDI effects before you commit to
them on a more permanent basis.

To Apply MIDI Effects Destructively
1. In the Track view, select the tracks or clips to be affected.
2. Select Process-Apply MIDI Effects.
3. If desired, select the option to delete the effects after applying them.
4. Click OK.
If you don’t delete effects after applying them, they continue to be active
during playback, even though they have already been applied.

Using Control Groups
SONAR lets you link faders, knobs, or buttons in the Track and Console
views into groups. Groups are collections of controls whose movements
are linked together. For example:
•

Two volume faders or controls can be grouped so that when you
increase or decrease the volume of one track, the volume of the other
track changes in exactly the same way.

•

Four mute buttons can be grouped so that when you click on the mute
button to mute track 1, tracks 1 and 2 are muted and tracks 3 and 4 are
un-muted.

The Console view and Track view identify controls, knobs and faders that
are grouped using a colored group indicator that is displayed on the
controls in each group. The controls in group A are displayed with a red
indicator, the controls in group B with a green indicator, and so on. Controls,
faders and knobs can be grouped together.
When you group buttons together, the way they work is based on their
position when you create the group:

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•

Buttons that are in the same position when grouped will turn on and off
together at all times.

•

Buttons that are in opposite positions when grouped will always remain
in opposite positions.

Mixing

Applying MIDI Effects

When you group buttons with knobs or faders, the button turns on/off when
the knob or fader reaches its halfway point.
You have several additional options. There are three general types of
groups: absolute, relative, and custom. Here’s how they work.

Absolute

The range of motion in all controls in the group is identical. When you move
one control in the group, all other controls in the group move the same
amount in the same direction. The controls do not necessarily need to start
at the same level.

Relative

The range of motion for controls in the group is not the same. All controls in
the group have the same value at one point—the lowest level for send,
return, and volume levels, and zero for pan controls.

Custom
Sometimes you want to define a more complex relationship between the
controls in a group. For example:
•

You want two controls two operate in reverse—when one fader drops,
the other increases (cross fade).

•

You want two volume faders grouped so that they are locked together at
maximum level, but drop at different rates.

•

You want two faders to be locked together with the same range of
motion, but a third fader grouped with them to have a different range of
motion.

Custom groups let you set the range of motion for each control in the group
by entering a starting and ending value. As any one control in the group is
moved from its starting position to its ending position, the other controls in
the group exercise their full range of motion.
When you have defined a custom group, you can adjust the starting and
ending position of each control using the Group Settings dialog box or using
popup menus on the controls in the group.
Note: By default, the relative gain between grouped controls that affect gain
is preserved. If you prefer the relative position of the controls to be
preserved regardless of the relative gain, there is a checkbox in the Group
Properties dialog that will toggle between these two behaviors.

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Using Control Groups

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To Add a Control to a Group
1. Right-click on the control.

2. Choose a group from the Group submenu.
SONAR adds the control to the group. Controls, knobs and faders are
highlighted with the group’s color indicator.

To Remove a Control from Its Group
1. Right-click on the control.

2. Choose Remove From Group from the menu.
SONAR removes the control from the group and displays the control with
the neutral color indicator.

To Remove All Controls from a Group
•

Right-click a control in the group, and choose Clear Group from the
popup menu.

To Override a Control’s Grouping
•

Hold down the Ctrl key while moving the control.

The control remains part of the group and functions as such once the Ctrl
key is lifted.

To Set the Group Type to Relative or Absolute

1. Right-click on any control in the group and choose Group Manager to
display the Group Manager dialog.

2. Choose Absolute or Relative as the group type and click OK.
SONAR uses the type to determine the range of motion for the group’s
controls.

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Mixing

Using Control Groups

To Create a Custom Group

1. Right-click on any control in the group and choose Group Manager to
display the Group Manager dialog.
2. Choose Custom as the group type. The starting and ending values for
each control are displayed.
3. To change the starting or ending value for a control, click on the control
in the list and enter new values in the Start and End box.
4. To swap the starting and ending value, click the Swap button.
5. Click Close when you are done.
SONAR uses the type to determine the range of motion for the group’s
controls.

To Adjust the Start Value of a Control
1. Set the control to the desired starting value.
2. Right-click on the control.
3. Choose Set Start = Current.
SONAR sets the start value of the control.
The Set Start = Current and Set End = Current commands set the range
of motion that a grouped control moves through as the other members of
the group move through their starting and ending values. You don’t have to
designate a group as a custom group to create a custom group—just group
some controls and set their starting and ending values.

To Adjust the End Value of a Control
1. Set the control to the desired ending value.
2. Right click on the control.
3. Choose Set End = Current.
SONAR sets the end value of the control.
The Set Start = Current and Set End = Current commands set the range
of motion that a grouped control moves through as the other members of
the group move through their starting and ending values. You don’t have to
designate a group as a custom group to create a custom group—just group
some controls and set their starting and ending values.

Mixing

Using Control Groups

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Quick Groups
You can create a temporary group (a Quick Group) of track or bus con