Table of Contents Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 About SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Music Composition and Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 Remixing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
MIDI Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 Starting SONAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 SONAR Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 SONAR File Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Opening a File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Views . . . . .
Tutorial 4—Editing MIDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .123 Transposing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124 Copying Clips with Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125 Editing Notes in the Piano Roll View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126 Slip-editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .128 Drawing MIDI Envelopes . . . . . . . . .
2 Controlling Playback. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167 The Now Time and How to Use It . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 The Now Time Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170 The Track View Now Time Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Displaying the Now Time in Large Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172 Other Ways to Set the Now Time . . . . . . . . . .
Synchronizing External Video Playback to Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231 Locating Missing Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231 The Find Missing Audio File Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231 Restoring Missing Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232 Managing Shared and External Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .233 3 Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using File Versioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286 Labeling Your Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 File Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289 4 Arranging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 Arranging Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing Tempos. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .348 Using the Tempo Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349 Using the Tempo Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .351 Using the Tempo View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .353 Undo, Redo, and the Undo History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .357 Slip-editing (Non-destructive Editing) . . . . . . .
How Groove Clips Work in SONAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Using Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 Creating and Editing Groove Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408 Editing Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412 Saving Groove Clips as Wave Files/ACIDized Wave Files . . . . . . 413 Using Pitch Markers in the Track View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing the Timing of a Recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .460 Quantizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .461 Fit Improvisation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .470 Snap to Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .472 Searching for Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .476 Event Filters .
The Drum Grid Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516 Grid Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 The Pattern Brush Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 517 How the Pattern Brush Tool Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 Creating Custom Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 9 Editing Audio. . . . . . . . . . .
Muting and Soloing Soft Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .564 Multi-port Soft Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .564 Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .565 Using the Assignable Controls Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .567 Automating Controls from the Synth Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .567 Displaying Synth Rack Automation . . . . . . . . . . . .
Waveform Preview for Buses and Synth Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 605 Freeze Tracks and Synths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 Using Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 611 Effects Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 How to Use Real-Time Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 612 Presets and Property Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Panning in Surround . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .672 Controlling Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .673 Automating Surround Panning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .679 Joystick Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .679 Surround Metering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .680 Bass Management . . . . . . . .
Layouts, Templates and Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721 Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 722 Floating Views and Dual Monitor Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 725 Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 726 Template Example: Three MIDI Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728 Key Bindings . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Single Note Editing from the TAB Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .767 Editing Chords or Groups of Notes from the TAB Staff . . . . . . . . .767 Editing Notes and Chords from the Fretboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .768 Working with Percussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .769 Setting Up a Percussion Track . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .770 Setting Up a Percussion Staff or Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using the System Exclusive View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811 Sending Sysx Banks at Startup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 812 Importing, Creating, and Dumping Sysx Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 More about Dump Request Macros. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 815 Editing Sysx Banks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 816 Sysx View Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Global Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .845 Per-project Audio Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .845 Imported Audio Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .847 Backing Up Projects with Digital Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .848 Deleting Unused Audio Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .850 20 Improving Audio Performance . . . . .
Controlling Different Tracks or Groups of Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 897 The Cakewalk Generic Surface Property Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 898 The WAI Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 904 ACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 906 OPT Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 908 Working with StudioWare. . . . . . . . .
MIDI Instrument? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .934 I Hear an Echo When I Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .935 Dropouts Happen in High Bit-depth or High Sample Rate Audio . . . . .936 Patching an Effect into SONAR Causes a Dropout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .936 I Can’t Open My Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .936 Audio Distorts at Greater than 16 Bits. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Default PRV Tool Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1003 Piano Roll View Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1006 Multiple Automation Controller Lanes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1007 Piano Roll Microscope Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1011 Note Event Colors Based on Velocity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1015 Hiding Events in Muted Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Allow Playback with No Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1047 Reduce GUI Updates to Improve Playback Performance. . . . . . . . . .1047 Real-time Bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1048 Modification to Track Export . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1050 64-bit timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1051 Sony Wave-64 Support . . . . . . . . . .
File-Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1083 File-Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1084 File-Save As. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1084 File-Info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1084 File-Project Audio Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1092 Edit-Bounce to Track(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093 Edit-Groove Clip Looping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093 Edit-Create V-Vocal Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1093 Edit-Clip Mute/Unmute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Process-Groove Quantize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Process-AudioSnap Pallette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Process-Interpolate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Process-Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1102 Process-Run CAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1103 Process-Retrograde .
Insert-Tempo Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1112 Insert-Time/Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1112 Insert-Marker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1113 Insert-Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1113 Insert-Audio Track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Go-Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120 Go-End. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1120 Go-Previous Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1121 Go-Next Measure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1121 Go-Previous Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tracks-Freeze-Unfreeze Synth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Tracks-Freeze-Quick Unfreeze Synth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Tracks-Freeze-Freeze Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Tracks-Clone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1128 Tracks-Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1129 Tracks-Wipe . . . . . . . . .
Options-Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1137 Options-Global Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1138 Options-Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1138 Options-Icons-Show Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1138 Options-Icons-Track View-Show Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Help-Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1144 Help-Tip of the Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1144 Help-Keyboard Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1144 Help-SONAR on the Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1161 Help-Register Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Envelope-Create Track Envelope-Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1167 Envelope-Create Track Envelope-Pan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168 Jump . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168 Linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168 Fast Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1168 Slow Curve. . . .
Full Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1173 Time Display Format-M:B:T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1173 Time Display Format-SMPTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1174 Time Display Format-Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1174 Time Display Format-None . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1174 Time Display Format-Font. . . .
Show All Tracks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1179 Track Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180 Record Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180 Playback Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1180 Output Bus Meters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Default Crossfade Curves-Slow Out - Slow In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1185 Default Crossfade Curves-Fast Out - Slow In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1185 Default Crossfade Curves-Slow Out - Fast In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1186 Default Crossfade Curves-Linear Out - Fast In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1186 Default Crossfade Curves-Linear Out - Slow In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1186 Default Crossfade Curves-Fast Out - Linear In. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sixteenth Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191 Sixteenth Note Triplet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191 32nd Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191 32nd Note Triplet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1191 64th Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1209 Audio Playback in Cakewalk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1210 Tracks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1212 Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1214 Track-by-Track Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1216 Audio Recording . .
Choose Track Type dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1259 Chromatic Tuner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1259 Clean Audio Folder dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1260 Clip Properties dialog—General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1261 Clip Properties dialog—Audio Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1263 Clip Properties dialog—Audio Files .
Export Audio dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1308 Export Color Set dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1312 Export MIDI Groove Clip dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1313 Export OMF dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1314 Expression Text Properties dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1315 Export Track Template .
Initialization File Settings dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1347 Input Quantize dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1348 Insert Pitch Change dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1349 Insert Series of Controllers dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1350 Insert Series of Tempos dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Open dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1372 Open Groove File dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1372 Paste dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1373 Patch Browser dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1375 Pattern Velocity dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scale Velocity dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1411 Search for Missing Audio dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1412 Select By Time dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1412 Select Fretboard Track dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1412 Set Timecode at Now Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1413 Slide dialog . . . . . . . . .
Track Volume dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1436 Transpose dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1436 Undo History dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1437 Unlink Clips dialog. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1438 Unpack Bundle dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Loop Construction view . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1489 Loop Explorer View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1494 Tree View Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1494 Contents List Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1495 Navigator View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1495 Play List View. . .
Getting Started If you want to get up and running quickly, see the following topics: Tutorials—A set of tutorials tailored to learning specific tasks in SONAR. If you are new to Cakewalk products, you may want to start at Tutorial 1.
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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.
individual parts or full scores. You can graphically draw tempo and volume changes, or add lyrics to display on-screen or to include with printed scores. Next topic: Remixing. 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. Next topic: Game Sound Development.
audio clip, commercial spot, jingle with voice-over—can be stored in a webcompatible format with a few simple mouse clicks. Next topic: Film and Video Scoring and Production. 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.
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. Next topic: MIDI. MIDI MIDI (short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is the way computers communicate with most sound cards, keyboards, and other electronic instruments.
• 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.
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.
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.
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: Type of digital input/ output...
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.
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.
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. A 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 Starting SONAR There are many different ways to start SONAR.
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 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.
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.
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.
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. See MIDI Devices dialog.
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.
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. 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.
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 (Producer Edition only), the Track pane, the Track/Bus Inspector, the Clips pane, and the Bus pane.
pressing i on your keyboard (see Track/Bus Inspector, 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: Key… What it does… Left/Right Arrow Moves the highlight to the next or previous control.
The Track view makes it easy to select tracks, clips, and ranges of time in a project.
Track/Bus Inspector for an Audio Track Track/Bus Inspector for a MIDI Track Most controls can be shown or hidden. A F B C G H D I E J 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.
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.
A B C D E H G F 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.
patterns using the Pattern Brush tool and play different drum modules from a single track. For more information, see Piano Roll View. 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.
A B C D E F G H 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. For more information, see Loop Construction view.
The Loop Explorer view : allows you to preview ACIDized files and other Wave files; and drag and drop them into your project. For more information, see Loop Explorer View. The Event List view : displays the events in a project individually, so that you can make changes at a very detailed level. For more information, see Event List View.
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. For more information, see Meter/Key View. Big Time To display the Now time in a large, resizable font that you can read more easily. For more information, see Big Time View. Markers To add, move, rename, or delete labels for parts of your project that make it easier to move from one point to another.
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 G F 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.
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 G Go to (center) the Now time, without zooming Hold down Z Arm the Zoom tool U Undo the current zoom F Fit tracks to window A Show all tracks Shift+F Fit project to window Shift+Double Click a clip Maximize track height Docking Views You can dock any view other than the Console view in the lower-right corner of the Track
A B C D 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.
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.
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.
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.
; Waves SSL EQ Stereo XRayExclude11=1397510483 XRayExclude12={E451379E-F7E1-4E82-98D9-BEB87AC45E90} 9.
• 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.
To do this… Do this… Create a new separator bar Right-click a Menu Item and select Insert Separator. The separator bar will appear above the Menu Item you right-clicked. 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.
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).
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.
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.” Next topic: Working on a Project. Working on a Project Much of your time in SONAR is spent recording and listening to your project as it develops.
Next topic: SONAR File Types. 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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
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.
Introduction Installing SONAR
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 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.
• 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, Digital Audio, and 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.
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.
A B 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 B C. A. Output menu B. Dropdown arrow to display menu C.
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.
B A 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! Next Step: Playing 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 H G B F E D C A. Play B.
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. This tutorial also shows how to convert soft synth tracks to audio tracks, and then export your project as a wave file.
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.
A F E D C B 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.
A B C D E 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.
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.
Changing the Tempo. 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.
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.
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.
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. See also: Dim Solo Mode 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.
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.
Next Step: Playing Music on a 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.
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.
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. Next Step: Recording a MIDI Track. 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.
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. Setting MIDI Inputs Let's make sure that SONAR is set up to receive MIDI data from your instrument. 1.
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 (see Changing the Tempo with the Tempo Ratio Buttons), to make your recording session easier. 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.
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). 4. In the Ch field, click the dropdown arrow to select a MIDI channel, and select an unused channel. 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.
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 track for recording and to disarm the previous track. See Loop Recording for a convenient way to record multiple takes. Next Step: Saving Your Work.
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 enables looping automatically. 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.
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.
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.
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 B A. Punch In B.
• 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.
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. Next Step: Open a New Project. Open a New Project Let’s open a new project for this tutorial. 1. Select File-New from the menu. 2.
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. Next Step: Checking the Input Levels. 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.
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.” Next Step: Recording Digital Audio. Recording Digital Audio It's time to record! 1.
4. Click Play . 5. Watch the track’s meter. If the level is not what you want, record your track again. Next Step: Recording Another Take. 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.
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 on Input Monitoring, see the online help topic “Input Monitoring.” Next Step: Loop and Punch-In Recording.
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: • Transposing • Copying Clips with Drag and Drop • Editing Notes in the Piano Roll View • Slip-editing • Drawing MIDI Envelopes • Converting MIDI to Audio First Step: Transposing. Transposing Here are two ways to transpose MIDI data in SONAR: • You can apply the Transpose command to selected data (see the procedure below).
Next Step: Copying Clips with Drag and Drop. 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.
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.
A C B 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.
beginning of a note with this icon, the other end of the note moves with 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. Next Step: Slip-editing. Slip-editing Now let’s take advantage of one of the most convenient features of SONAR: slip-editing.
4. Drag the end of the second clip to the left until just the “tail” or glissando of the data is hidden. 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! Next Step: Drawing MIDI Envelopes. Drawing MIDI Envelopes MIDI envelopes are lines and curves you can draw on MIDI data in the Clips pane.
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. 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 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.
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: 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.
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 First Step: Opening the Project. Opening the Project 1. In SONAR select File-Open from the menu. 2.
4. Right-click the track number and select Insert Audio Track from the pop-up menu. 5. Click the track number of the new track to select it. 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.
1. Click and drag the maracas clip to measure 18 (the Snap Grid is still set to Measure). 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 an existing clip, we can just accept the default setting. For more about the Drag and Drop Options dialog, see Drag and Drop Options dialog. 2. Click OK to accept the default settings.
A A. Drag to here 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. Next Step: Automatic Crossfades. 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.
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.
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.
A 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.
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.
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.
5. Click on the clip and drag it one measure to the left. Like this: 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. Next Step: Changing the Pitch of Groove Clips. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A B C 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 B 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.
Go back to Tutorials. 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.
Next Step: Automating an Individual Effect’s Settings. 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.
B A C 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. Next Step: Grouping Controls. Grouping Controls To assist in manipulating the controls, you can tie faders to one another.
Next Step: Automating Your Mix. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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 First Step: Inserting Cakewalk TTS-1 into a Project. 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 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. Next step: Playing MIDI Tracks through a Soft Synth 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.
You can also do a temporary conversion, called freezing. See Freeze Tracks and Synths 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.
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 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. First step: Create a New Project 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.
Go to the next step: Create a Drum Track 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.
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.
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.
To do this… Do this… Change the V Scale setting 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. When you are happy with the drum sounds you have mapped, you can mix down to an audio file. Tutorial 10—Cyclone Soft Synth This tutorial explains how to use Cyclone. You will learn how to open, play and edit loops as you create a short song.
6. For the purposes of this tutorial, select First Synth Output (Audio) in the Create These Tracks section, and Synth Property Page in the Open These Windows section. 7. Click OK. Cyclone and the Cyclone’s audio output track appear. Now let’s add some files. Next step: Adding Files to a Pad Group Adding Files to a Pad Group There are several ways to assign a file to a Pad Group. To Import Files to a Pad Group 1. Click the Load Files button in pad group 1. The Open dialog appears. 2.
Click the Preview button to listen to the song so far. Now let’s make some changes. Next step: Setting a Pad’s Volume and Pan Setting a Pad’s Volume and Pan Now let’s tweak some of the pad groups’ controls. To Change the Volume and Pan in a Pad Group 1. In pad group two, click on the Volume knob and drag your mouse down to lower the volume until the volume level indicator is vertical. 2. Repeat step 1 for the Volume knob in pad group 3. 3.
8. Use your mouse to move the Draw tool over the Notes pane in the Piano Roll view. 9. Enter a C5 note at the beginning. 10. Enter a D5 note at the fifth measure. 11. Enter a E5 note at the beginning. 12. Enter a F5 note at the beginning and fifth measure. 13. Drag the ends of the notes on C5 and E5 until their duration is eight measures. (If you have Auto Erase enabled, you have to disable it to drag out the duration of the note.
Next step: Editing Loops in the Loop Editor Editing Loops in the Loop Editor Each beat of a loop, as it appears in the Loop view or the Pad Editor can be replaced with a beat from another loop. To Replace Slices 1. Click the Load Files button in pad 5 and select MARACAS.WAV from the Tutorials folder. 2. In the Cyclone toolbar, click the Auto Preview button. 3. Select the maracas loop in the Loop Bin. The maracas loop appears in the Loop view. 4. Click the first slice of the maracas loop in the Loop view.
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.
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.
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.
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 2:01:000 420 4:02:000 9 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.
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). 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.
• Milliseconds (Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Milliseconds—example: 00:00:21:000) • Samples (example: 926100) 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...
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...
Command... Shortcut... What it does... 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 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).
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 A B C E F D 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.
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. To Add or Remove Time Ruler Formats Using the Plus/ Minus Buttons • Click the Plus button and select a Time Ruler format from the pop-up menu. • Click the Plus button and select a Time Ruler format you would like to add from the pop-up menu.
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.
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. See Initialization Files for more information. To Clear Stuck Notes • Choose Transport-Reset, or click on the Large Transport toolbar.
A B 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. 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...
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.
A B C D F G H L K E I 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.
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.
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.
. B A G B F C E D 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.
Status... What it means... 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.
unmute, solo or unsolo, arm or disarm, and toggle the input echo status of all tracks. A B C D E F A. Drag to reposition B. Mute C. Solo D. Arm E. Input echo or MIDI echo F. Solo Dim See: Silencing Tracks Soloing Tracks 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.
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.
• Select all tracks, and then use the Tracks-Solo command. 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.
• Speaker icon pointing left and right (as pictured above)—This choice means that you manually selected stereo for this track. 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.
Audio track header controls A B C D E F G H 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 B M L K J I H G F E D C 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.
Audio track FX bin, meter, and track scale A B C D 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.
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).
Parameter... What it means... 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. 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.
MIDI track header controls A C B D E F 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 L 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.
MIDI track FX bin and track scale A B A. Track scale B. MIDI FX bin Here is a summary table of the different MIDI 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. Track number A sequential track number used for reference Track name A name that you assign the track for easy reference.
Parameter... What it means... PRV Mode button When enabled, displays a track in Inline Piano Roll view mode. 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.
Parameter... What it means... 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 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.
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 Change the height of a track using splitter bars Move the cursor over the gap below a track until the cursor looks like this .
Control How to change the setting 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.
Control How to change the value 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 You can change numeric values in MIDI tracks as shown in the following table: To do this... Do this...
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 on the track inputs and the track Arm button, see Preparing to Record. 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.
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. A A 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.
setup requirements. For more information, see the online help topic Improving Audio Performance. 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.
use this feature, the name of the output will change to reflect the instrument you have chosen. 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) cannot be assigned to track and bus outputs.
settings, the patch of the highest-numbered track will be used for all the tracks. 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.
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 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.
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.” Note to Experts: SONAR processes the volume and pan settings by transmitting MIDI volume and pan events (controllers 7 and 10, respectively) when playback starts. If two or more MIDI tracks are set to the same output and channel but have different volume or pan settings, the settings for the highestnumbered track will prevail.
• (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.
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.
(such as Bb trumpet). For more information, see the online help topic “Music Notation for Non-concert-key Instruments.” 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. 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.
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+. 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 999 projects. Once you’ve created the list, you can play back the entire sequence automatically.
To do this… Do this… 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 , enter the 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 locatio
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 toolbar. Show or hide file name extensions and folder names (path) Click the button to enable or disable the display of folders. in the Play List view toolbar. button in the Play List view Video Playback, Import, and Export Video files play in the Video view in real time as your project plays.
The display in the Video view is synchronized with the Now time, giving you 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.
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 for more information. 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.
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 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.
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.
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. Note: The project’s video file is saved in the project by reference only, the actual video data remains in the original file.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
Controlling Playback Locating Missing Audio
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).
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.
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 per-project audio by unchecking the Store Project Audio in its Own Folder option.
4. Click OK. SONAR creates the new project file and displays it with the Track view open. 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 Set the Meter and Key Signature 1. Display the Views toolbar by choosing Views-Toolbars-View. 2. Click on the View toolbar to open the Meter/Key view. 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.
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: A B C D E F G H 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.
Your tempo and metronome settings are now ready. When you save the project file, the metronome and tempo settings will be saved as well. 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.
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. 6. Click OK. Your metronome settings will be saved with the project file. Setting the Audio Sampling Rate and Bit Depth Each 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.
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. To Set the Sampling Rate and Audio Driver Bit Depth for New Projects 1.
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). • 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.
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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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 • 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. Auto Arming You must arm tracks in order to record. To safeguard your data, there is no automatic arming of any tracks.
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 “Troubleshooting” for more information. See: Recording Specific Ports and Channels Input Quantizing Input quantizing allows you to automatically quantize MIDI input during recording.
To Turn Input Quantizing On or Off • 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.
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.
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).
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 special names and are stored in a separate directory on your hard disk.
5. Adjust the pitch if necessary and repeat for the rest of the pitches you need to tune. 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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. 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 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.
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.
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: • 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.
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.
• 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: A B C D E F G 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.
A B 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.
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.
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.
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.
A D B C 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 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.
• 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.
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 do this… Do this… 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 the Beat Advance or button. Move the insertion point back or forward by one measure. Click the Measure Backward button Use step pattern recording.
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.
Default setting or option… Default shortcut… 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 Beat advance Shift+NumPad Enter Measure backward Ctrl+NumPad 0 Measure advance Ctrl+NumPad Enter Auto Advance NumPad Period “.
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.
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: • There are several performers, each playing a different MIDI instrument.
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.
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.
Importing Audio CD Tracks Importing Material from Another SONAR Project Importing MIDI 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 .
• 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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. 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.
Label Description 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. Copyright Copyright information prints flush right, under the author name, in a Staff view printout. Keywords Put keywords describing the project here for future reference. Comments Free text comments. Type as much as you like.
2. Edit the information as desired. 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.
Statistic... What it means... 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.
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 (Non-destructive Editing) 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.
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.
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.
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.
Attribute… How it works… 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.
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.
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.
Command… Description… Shortcu t… 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.
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.
• 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 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.
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 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.
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).
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.
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.
MIDI and audio information. A B C 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.
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.
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 G Fit project to window Shift+F Fit tracks and buses to window F 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.
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.
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.
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.
Option… How it works… 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.
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). 3. Position the mouse over one of the selected clips. 4. Press and hold down the left mouse button.
Choose Edit-Cut to display the Cut dialog box 2. Choose the options you want and click OK. SONAR cuts the clips from the project and places them on the Windows clipboard. 3. Click in the Track pane to set the current track to be the one where clips should be pasted. 4. Set the Now time to be the time at which the clips should be pasted. 5. Choose Edit-Paste to display the Paste dialog box. 6. Choose the options you want and click OK. SONAR places the clips in their new location.
• 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.
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.
Working with Partial Clips Working with Linked 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.
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.
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.
Absolute time setting… Description… Samples A very small amount of time. For CDquality 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. To Nudge a Clip Using Keyboard Shortcuts 1. Select the clip you want to nudge. 2.
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. To Select a Portion of a Clip 1. Press and hold the Alt key. 2. Drag the mouse across part of a clip.
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. 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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 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.
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. 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 .
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 or press Delete. SONAR deletes the selected markers. You can use Undo if you make a mistake.
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.
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.
• 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.
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. Note: Combining a stereo and mono clip always produces a stereo clip.
Option… How it works… 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.
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.
• 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. A After the option is enabled, you can move clips on top of each other without creating new layers.
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 single-track, 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.
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.
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.
A 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.
See: Clip Muting with the Alternate Style 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.
2. Using the Mute tool, Alt-click inside the upper half of a clip in the muted area. Toggling a Clip’s Mute Status 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. See: Audition (Selection Playback) Isolating (Clip Soloing) Audition (Selection Playback) The Transport-Audition command plays back only selected clips and/or time ranges.
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.
E F G D C B H A 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.
• 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.
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.
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).
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.
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 Synchronizing Your Gear. To Change the Current Tempo in the Tempo Toolbar 1.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Tool… 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 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.
To Insert a Tempo Change 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, 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. Select the or the tool. 3.
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.
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 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. 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.
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: A B C 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.
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. 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.
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. . A A. Clip handle 4. Click and drag the clip handle until the unwanted information has been removed.
2. Click and drag the clip to the left or right as desired. 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. 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.
• 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. To Choose the Fade Type 1. Click the dropdown arrow located at the right of the fade tool 2.
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.
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. 4.
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. 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...
SONAR creates or edits the fade(s) according to the options you chose in the dialog.
Arranging Fades and Crossfades
AudioSnap The new 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.
You use AudioSnap directly in the Track view Clips pane. Audio stretching uses iZotope’s high-quality “Radius” algorithm. See: Enabling AudioSnap Transient Markers The Pool Aligning Clips to New Tempo Changes Aligning Project Tempo to a Clip Extract Timing Tutorial Quantizing Audio Clips Groove Quantize and Quantize to Pool Enabling AudioSnap AudioSnap commands only work with AudioSnap-enabled clips.
Icon style... Description… Orange on purple AudioSnap is enabled, and clip is included in the pool Arrow Auto Stretch/Follow Tempo is enabled Combinations of above A clip can have combinations of the above characteristics 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 (can be also be assigned to a key binding).
• 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 for more information.
side of this button. • 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.
• • 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.
2. In the AudioSnap palette, make sure that the Show Transients button is enabled. 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. See: Disabling and Enabling Markers.
See: Marker Appearance. 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...
Marker appearance... Description… 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 Square shape Promoted marker; a promoted marker is never disabled by the Sensitivity slider or the Threshold slider in the AudioSnap palette.
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. To Select Markers • To select a single marker, click it.
Command...
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.
To Hide or Show the Pool • In the palette, click the Show Pool button . 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.
an audio clip is not already synchronized to your current project tempo(s), the Auto Stretch option does no good. To Align Clips to New Tempo Changes 1. Select all the audio clips in your project (they must already be synchronized with the project tempo). You can select all audio clips by using the Edit-Select All command if there are only audio clips in your project, or you can select them individually by Ctrl-clicking each one. 2.
3. Next to the Extract Timing button is the Expected Pulse Duration menu. If your selected clip has a constant rhythm that conforms to a certain note duration, select that duration in the menu. 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.
Extract Timing Tutorial Let’s try out the Extract Timing command with one of our tutorial files: 1. Open a new project. Note: 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. 2. Use the File-Import Audio command, and navigate to the Tutorials folder in the folder where you installed SONAR. 3. Select the AudioSnap1.
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. 7.
The AudioSnap icon and transient markers appear on the clip, and the AudioSnap palette appears. 5. Let’s zoom in a little so we can see all the markers on the clip. 6. The first marker is already aligned with beat 1 of measure 1. Let’s align beat 2: click the Go to Next button in the AudioSnap palette three times to move the Now Time to the fourth transient in the clip: Fourth transient marker 7.
Quantizing Audio Clips The Process-Quantize and Process-Groove Quantize commands both work on AudioSnap-enabled audio clips. The AudioSnap palette has buttons to issue both commands. The Quantize dialog has a couple of AudioSnap options that are mutually exclusive: the AudioSnap Beats option, and the Audio Clip Start Times option.
5. In the Change section, choose either AudioSnap Beats (if you’re quantizing the beats within a clip), or Audio Clip Start Times (if you’re just lining up the beginnings of clips). 6. Set any of the fields in the Options section that you want. The Options section is described in the online help for the dialog, and also in the Quantizing section of the Editing MIDI Events and Controllers chapter in the online help. 7. Click OK.
8. Notice how the second and fourth kick drum markers don’t line up with the cymbal clip’s markers. Let’s quantize the kick part to a resolution of 8th notes, and see what we get: select only the kick drum clip, and in the AudioSnap palette, make sure the Quantize radio button is selected, and click the Quantize button. The Quantize dialog appears. 9. In the Duration field choose Eighth, make sure the AudioSnap Beats check box is enabled, and click OK.
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.
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.
4. Play the project, and listen to the timing. The bass part on beat 4 doesn’t quite sync up with the drums. 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. 6. Select the drum clip, and enable the Add Transients to the Pool button in the palette.
A B A. This transient is a little early B. This transient is a little late 7. We could manually drag the mis-aligned bass markers to align them with the drum markers, but since there are two of them (and actually, another one in beat 1), it’s faster to use the Quantize to Pool command. Select the bass clip, and then select the Quantize to Pool radio button in the palette. 8. In the Settings section, leave the Max Distance From Pool menu set to Quarter, then click the Quantize to Pool button.
12. Click the track number of the bass track to select the track, and use the Edit-Bounce to Tracks command to open the Bounce to Tracks dialog. 13. Fill out the fields the way you want (make sure 64-bit Engine check box is enabled), and click OK. A new bass clip appears on the track that you chose in the dialog. Listen to it, and compare it to the original, stretched bass clip.
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, which opens the AudioSnap Options dialog. 4. In the MIDI Extraction section, choose the MIDI note that you want the extracted rhythm to use. 5.
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.
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.
The Loop Construction view toolbar has tools for editing slicing markers and controls for previewing loops. See: Loop Construction Controls See also: Working with Loops Working with Groove Clips Loop Construction view 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.
number in the Beats in Clip field if you want to change the total number of beats in the clip. 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.
the Pitch (coarse) field, the clip is transposed down two semitones to D from the original pitch of E. 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.
Preview Loops Plays the current loop repeatedly. Use the Stop Preview control to stop playback. 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.
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. 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.
A B A. Audio Scale Ruler B. Clip There are three right-click display options in the Audio Scale Ruler: • 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.
Tool... 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. 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.
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.
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. To Create Repetitions of a Loop 1. Set the Snap value if you want the loop to repeat at precise time boundaries. 2.
the original tempo, original reference pitch, number of beats in the loop, and audio transient information. See: How Groove Clips Work in SONAR Using Groove Clips Creating and Editing Groove Clips Using Pitch Markers in the Track View 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 a 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 For more information on slicing markers, see Slicing Markers.
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 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 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.
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. 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.
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. For step-by-step information, see the following procedures, and also Exporting, and Importing MIDI Groove Clips.
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.
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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
Event Inspector Field… Valid Values… 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.
J A B I C D E F G H 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.
Track List Pane Working with Multiple Tracks in the Piano Roll View 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. See also: Drum Maps and the Drum Grid Pane 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.
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.
Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll 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.
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.
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.
• 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.
beats in the measure. The Snap to Grid menu determines how precisely you can place your notes in time.
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.
To do this… Do this… 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.
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.
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. Change the duration Drag the right edge of the note in either direction.
To do this… Do this… 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.
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 (see Selecting Notes for help).
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.
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 • 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.
A single controller event A B 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).
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.
To Insert a Series of Controllers 1. Choose Insert-Series of 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.
• 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.
• 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.
Track strip in PRV mode C D 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 E F G H I 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.
To draw and edit notes and controllers in the Inline Piano Roll view, see Adding and Editing Notes in the Piano Roll, and Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll. 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.
MIDI Scale in Notes mode A 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. 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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
• 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.
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.
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: • Type—choose the type of audio data you're stretching.
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.
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.
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. 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.
See: Quantizing Fit Improvisation 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.
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.
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.
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 out-of-window events. There are four options: Option... How it works... Do Not Change Notes outside the window are not changed.
3. Choose one of your own presets from the list, or enter the settings you want according to the table: 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.
3. Choose a groove file from the Groove File field. 4. Choose a groove pattern from the Groove Pattern field. 5.
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.
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.” 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
(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.
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.
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.
These capabilities can help you find problem spots or errors in a project or Action... Command...
A B A. Check to include this type of event B. Enter the range of values for the events you want Different types of events have different parameters, as shown in the table: 478 This event type... Has these parameters...
This event type... Has these parameters... 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.
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.
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.
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. Parameter... Search range... Replacement range... Effect...
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.
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.
Message... Parameter number MSB Controller... Parameter number LSB Controller... Data value MSB Controller... Data value LSB Controller... RPN 101 100 6 38 NRPN 99 98 6 38 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 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.
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.
Short name and display button... Type of event... Parameters...
Short name and display button... Type of event... Parameters... 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.
Short name and display button... Type of event... Parameters...
To do this... Do this... 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.
• 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 cha
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.
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: Character... Meaning...
This command... Does this... 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).
MIDI Effects Presets Quantizing Adding Echo/Delay Filtering Events Adding Arpeggio Analyzing Chords Changing Velocities with the Velocity Effect Transposing MIDI Notes with the Transpose MIDI Effect MIDI Effects Presets The MIDI effects dialogs support the use of presets. For information about presets, see Presets and Property Pages. Quantizing The Quantize command moves events to (or towards) an evenly-spaced timing grid.
Parameter/ Option... Meaning... 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. 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.
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.
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. Adding Arpeggio The Arpeggiator command applies an arpeggio to its input and plays it back in real time.
Parameter/Option... Meaning... 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.
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.
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.
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.
Parameter/ Option... Meaning... 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.
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.
See: Assigning a MIDI Track to a Drum Map Opening a Drum Map To Preview a Mapped Sound 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. See: The Drum Map Manager The Map Properties Dialog Saving a 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.
A B C D G F E 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.
• Out Note—The MIDI note value that plays on the destination sound 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.
See: The Drum Map Manager Creating and Editing a Drum Map See: The Drum Map Manager Working in the Drum Map Manager 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.
Working in the Drum Map Manager Creating and Editing a Drum Map 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.
Opening a Drum Map Displaying Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane Velocity Tails Editing Note Velocities To Change the Order of Mapped Notes in the Drum Map Pane 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. 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.
4. Select the tracks you want to view in the Drum Grid Editor and select Views-Piano Roll. The Piano Roll view appears with the selected track’s data appearing in the Drum Grid Editor. See: Assigning a MIDI Track to a Drum Map Opening a Drum Map Velocity Tails Editing Note Velocities To Change the Order of Mapped Notes in the Drum Map Pane 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.
Opening a Drum Map Displaying Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane Editing Note Velocities To Change the Order of Mapped Notes in the Drum Map Pane 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.
Displaying Tracks in the Drum Grid Pane Velocity Tails To Change the Order of Mapped Notes in the Drum Map Pane Previewing a Mapped Sound Use the following procedure to hear the drum sound you have mapped a note to. To Preview a Mapped Sound • In the Note Map pane, click on the name of the sound you want to hear.
Changing Mapped-note Settings 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.
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.
Event Inspector Toolbar Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll Velocity Tails Grid Lines 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.
Creating Custom Patterns 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.
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.
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. 3. In the Pattern Brush tool’s dropdown menu, select Use Pattern Polyphony. 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.
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
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.
See: Basic Acoustics Example—A Guitar String Waveforms Recording a Sound The Decibel Scale Audio Clips Managing Audio Data 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 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.
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.
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. See: Digital Audio Fundamentals 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.
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. 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.
See: Digital Audio Fundamentals 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.
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. See: Digital Audio Fundamentals The Decibel Scale In acoustics, the decibel (dB) scale is a scale for measuring the relative loudness of two sounds.
Digital Audio Fundamentals Audio Clips If you have read Digital Audio Fundamentals, 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.
See: Digital Audio Fundamentals 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.
To do this... Do this... Remove all selections Click in an empty area outside of any clip See: Editing Clip Properties Moving, Copying, Pasting and Deleting Audio Clips Splitting Audio Clips Bouncing to Clips Scrubbing Editing Clip Properties Audio clips have several properties that you can change: 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.
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.
The Audio Scale Ruler is located in the vertical splitter bar between the Clips pane and the Track pane. A B C 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: • 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.
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.
To do this... Do 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
• 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.
From 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.
passage of absolute silence, SONAR sends no signal to the digital output port; this results in cleaner audio playback. Remove Silence is great for 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.
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.
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.
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...
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.
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).
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.
Editing Audio Audio Effects (Audio Plug-ins)
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.
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.
Automating Controls from the Synth Rack To Remove A Soft Synth from a Track or Bus Freeze Tracks and Synths Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths Multi-port Soft Synths ReWire Instruments Playing a Stand-alone Synth Recording a Stand-alone Synth Synth Tracks Using a soft synth introduces a third kind of track to your project alongside audio and MIDI tracks.
For step by step instructions, see: Inserting Soft Synths Waveform Preview for Buses and Synth Tracks Tutorial 8—Using Soft Synths ReWire Instruments Freeze Tracks and Synths 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.
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. to 2.
• 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.
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.
• 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 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).
To do this... Do this... 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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Note: Always close your ReWire applications before closing SONAR or a SONAR project. See also: Mixing Down ReWire Instruments Automating ReWire Instruments ReWire Troubleshooting Guide 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.
Inserting a ReWire Instrument To Use Separate Synth Tracks for Each ReWire Device Mixing Down ReWire Instruments ReWire Troubleshooting Guide Inserting a ReWire Instrument ReWire Troubleshooting Guide The following lists some common issues when you use ReWire with SONAR: 576 • 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.
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.
See: Recording a Stand-alone Synth 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.
6. Click Adjust Volume For Recording, and make sure all boxes below 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 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
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.
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 B D C E I H G F 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.
A B F 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...
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.
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. See: Configuring the Console and Track Views Configuring the Console and Track Views The Console and Track view can be reconfigured in a variety of ways.
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. To Choose the Tracks that are Displayed Using the Track Manager 3.
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.
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.
To do this… Do this… 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 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 bu
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.
Signal Flow Soft Synth Hardware Audio clip Clip mute V-Vocal Clip fades Input meters (record) Clip envelopes/Clip Mute regions Clip FX bin Volume Phase/ Playback Meter (pre fader/pre Pre fader sends are affected by M-S buttons unless you change the LinkPFSend AUD.
You control the mixing and playback of an audio track as follows: 592 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) Remove an effect Select the effect and press Delete or right-click and select Delete.
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).
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.
See: Main Outs Signal Flow Stereo Buses 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...
To do this... Do this...
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.
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.
What the Meters Measure The following table summarizes what each kind of meter measures: Kind of meter... What it measures...
Track view toolbar Console view Vol button A B C 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.
segmented 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: Menu option... What it does... Horizontal Meters (Track view only) Choose this option to display the Track view meters horizontally instead of vertically.
Menu option... What it does... 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. 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.
A B A. segmented meter B. non-segmented meter 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. For more information, see Configure Colors dialog.
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.
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).
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.
A B A. Waveform Preview button in Track view B. Waveform Preview A A. Waveform Preview button in Bus Inspector 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.
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.
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.
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.
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). 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). You can also insert effects directly on clips (see Effects on Clips). For example, suppose you want to add a reverb effect to an audio track containing a recorded violin solo.
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. See: Effects Parameters How to Use Real-Time Effects Applying Audio Effects Applying MIDI Effects 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.
A B A. An FX bin in a track in the Track view B. An FX bin in a bus in the Track view A B A. An FX bin in a track in the Console view B.
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.
A A. Mono indicator A A. Stereo indicator A 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. A A. Stereo indicator in 64-bit mode See also Using the Per-track EQ.
A G B C F D E 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.
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.
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.
• Freezing a track or synth will also freeze the per-clip FX bins. 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.
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, slipedit 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.
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.
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. 3. Click OK to close the dialog.
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.
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.
A B C D E F G H I J S R Q T K L P O N M 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 • Edit mode—select the parameter you want to edit: pitch, time, formant, or dynamics.
• 626 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.
• 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. See: Playing Back V-Vocal Clips 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
clicking the graph, and choosing Views-Pitch from the context menu. See: Editing Dynamics 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. See: Context Menu Context Menu If you right-click the graph, the V-Vocal context menu appears.
• • 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.
Command... Shortcut...
Command... Shortcut... Show/hide waveform in Shift+W Pitch edit mode Go to/Center cursor G 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.
Console view Track or Bus Inspector A B C D E F G H I 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.
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 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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. 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.
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.
Strip selectors are located in the upper left corner of a track or bus number in the Track view, and are located in the upper left corner of a track or bus name in the Console view. Traditional track selection (selecting a track and all its recorded MIDI or audio data) is still performed by clicking the track number, but not in the upper left corner. A B C D E A. A track strip selector in the Track view B. A track selector in the Track view C. A bus strip selector in the Track view D.
• Ctrl-click strip selectors if they are not adjacent. • Click one strip selector, then shift-click another strip selector to select all tracks or buses that are between them. • Ctrl-click any strip selector that you want to de-select. • Double-click a strip selector to select all tracks or buses. To Remove all Controls from a Quick Group • Click a strip selector that is in or out of the group. Or • Right-click a control in the group, and choose Clear Group from the popup menu.
• Set the main volume levels with NRPN messages • Prevent SONAR from sending any controller messages to your MIDI device. • Record automation from an external controller If you set up remote control for a grouped control, the remote control works all controls in the group. The type of MIDI message used to work a control is selected in the Remote Control dialog box. The options are as follows: Message option... Message effect on buttons... Message effect on sliders and knobs...
To Set Up Remote Control for a Knob, Button, or Fader 1. Right-click on the control and choose Remote Control from the popup menu. 2. Choose the remote control type, as described in the table above. 3. Set the note or controller number if applicable. 4. Set the MIDI Channel field to the channel that your controller sends out. 5. Click OK. You can now work the control from your MIDI device.
Bouncing Tracks The Edit-Bounce to Track(s) command lets you combine one or more audio tracks into a submix. A submix can be a mono track, a stereo track or several mono tracks that contain the mixture of the original tracks, preserving the volume, pan, and effects for each track.
4. Choose Edit-Bounce to Track(s) to open the Bounce to Track(s) dialog. 5. Select the first destination track for the mixdown. 6. If you’ve saved a preset configuration for the Bounce to Tracks dialog, select it now in the Preset window. 7. In the Source Category field, select the source you want to use for your bounced track(s) from the following options: 650 • Tracks—choosing this option creates new separate tracks for each track you highlight in the Source Buses/Tracks field.
• Entire Mix—choosing this option bounces your entire mix down to a new mono track, stereo track, or two to eight new mono tracks (the Split Mono option), depending on whether the output is a stereo output or the Surround Main, and depending on what you choose in the Channel Format field. 8. Select a channel format: the kind of track(s) you want to create with your bounce. 9. Select source buses or tracks. 10. Select the kind of dithering you want for your bounce, or select None.
tracks to audio tracks. Once you have all the stereo wave files you want to include on your CD, you are ready to burn a CD. Use the Tools-Burn Audio CD command to burn your tracks to an audio CD. For step-by-step procedures: To Export Audio to Wave File Format Converting MIDI to Audio To Burn Audio Tracks to an Audio CD 1. Make sure the tracks you wish to burn to CD have been saved as 16bit, 44,100 Hz, stereo Wave (.wav) files. 2. Insert a blank CD-R disc in the destination drive. 3.
Format... Definition... Wave (surround files in Wave format are supported by SONAR Producer only) The standard digital audio format used under Windows for burning CDs, with a file extension of .WAV Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format (includes Windows Media Pro; surround files are supported by SONAR Producer only) Compressed digital audio for streaming over the Internet, with the file extension .WMA.
Format... Definition... Core Audio Format Core Audio Format is a new 64-bit audio format supported natively in Mac OS X, and is also used by QuickTime 7. Audio in Core Audio Format files can be uncompressed PCM or compressed (such as AAC). The file extension is .CAF. RAW Rarely used, a RAW file can contain audio in any codec but is usually used with PCM audio data. OMF The Open Media Format, created by AVID Technology, is designed to port a project to other applications or platforms.
8. In the Source Category field, select one of the following options: • Tracks—Choosing this option creates a separate file for each track that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Buses—Choosing this option creates a separate file for each bus that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Main Outputs—Choosing this option creates a separate file for each main output that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field.
Note: If you don’t check Track Automation. any initial volume and pan settings in an exported track are ignored and the track’s audio data will be exported at the level that exists in the track, with pan set to center. If you don’t check Clip Automation, any trim settings are ignored during export. If you don’t check Master Automation, any volume and balance settings at the main outs are ignored. 14.
7. Choose Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format from the Files of type dropdown list. 8. In the Source Category field, select one of the following options: • Tracks—choosing this option creates a separate file for each track that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Buses—choosing this option creates a separate file for each bus that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field.
Note 1: If you have patched a synth into a track or bus, make sure you check Track FX to include synths that are patched into tracks, and check Bus Returns to include synths that are patched into buses. Note 2: If you don’t check Track Automation. any initial volume and pan settings in an exported track are ignored and the track’s audio data will be exported at the level that exists in the track, with pan set to center. If you don’t check Clip Automation, any trim settings are ignored during export.
• Main Outputs—choosing this option creates a separate file for each main output that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Entire Mix—choosing this option creates one file for your entire mix. 9. In the Source Buses/Tracks field, choose the buses or tracks you want to use as a source to create your mix. If you chose Tracks in the Source Category field, only tracks will show up as choices in this field. 10.
16. Choose options and click OK. The audio is compacted and exported to a file or files with the extension .MP3. Exporting OMF Files OMF (Open Media Format) files are designed for cross-platform compatibility. For more information about the OMF format, see Importing OMF Projects.
rolled out numerous repetitions of the clip, SONAR exports a single clip that is the length of the original clip and all the repetitions, which is not a time-consuming operation. 7. Audio Format: ask your engineer what format the studio uses, Windows (RIFF Wave) or Mac (AIFC). 8. Click the Save button. 9. SONAR exports the project as an OMF file. In the Save as Type field, select the OMF version you want to save the project as. Version 1 is compatible with older applications.
SONAR Producer offers five kinds of dithering: • Rectangular—essentially white noise, no noise shaping. Advantages: least CPU-intensive, lowest signal-to-noise ratio, preferable to shaped dither when successive dithering can occur (e.g. bouncing, freezing). Disadvantages: suffers from intermodulation distortion, higher perceived loudness than Pow-r dither. • Triangular—higher level than rectangular, no noise shaping.
Surround Mixing SONAR Producer fully supports surround mixing (SONAR Studio can open surround projects created in Producer, converting them to stereo). SONAR (Producer) can create finished surround mixes in all popular surround formats, including Windows Media 9 Pro. You can use a joystick to control surround panning if you want. Note: it’s always advisable to know the required sampling rate and audio driver bit depth for the target medium that your surround project will be used in.
anywhere around the listener. Surround sound comes in many formats. The differences between the formats are in three areas: • The number of speakers—this varies from 3.2 all the way to 8.1. • The angles of the speakers. • The intended final coding format—this depends on the media the audio will be "stored" on: film, broadcast video or DVD, for example. The most common format is 5.1, which consists of five full-range channels and a low-frequency effects (LFE) channel (the “.1” in 5.
there are even different flavors of 5.1. The different flavors specify in which order the speakers are arranged, and the speaker angles. For example: Surround Format Speaker Order 5.1 SMPTE/ITU L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs 5.1 Music Alternative L, R, Ls, Rs, C, LFE 5.
The project’s surround format is based on one of the following Surround Format templates: 666 • 2.0 • 2.1 • LCR • LRC+LFE • LRS • LFS+LFE • Matrix UHJ • QUAD • 4.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • Quad+LFE • PanAmbio 4.1 • LCRS • Surround (SMPTE/ITU) • Surround Media • LCRS+LFE • 5.1 (Standard 3/2) • 5.1 (Film/Alternative) • 5.1 (Music/Alternative) • 5.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • 6.0 (Hexagon) • 6.0 (Film/Alternative) • 6.0 (Music/Alternative) • 6.1 (Film/Alternative) • 6.
• 7.1 (Film/Alternative) • 7.1 (Music/Alternative) • 7.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • 8.0 (Octagon) • 8.0 (Film/Alternative) • 8.0 (Music/Alternative) • 8.1 (Film/Alternative) • 8.1 (Music/Alternative) • 8.1 (SMPTE/ITU) 5.1 (SMPTE/ITU) is the default template. The Surround Format templates are hard-coded, and cannot be deleted. However, you can freely assign any enabled audio output port to any surround channel, and save the configuration as a preset. Surround settings are per project.
“Surround Main” controls which hardware outputs receive the signal that the track or bus sends to the “Surround Main.” SONAR saves the surround settings you choose on the Surround tab of the Project Options dialog with your project, including your downmixing parameters. If you have some particular settings you might use again, you can save a group of settings as a preset (except for downmixing parameters—you can change these, but they aren’t saved in presets).
channels. For example, if a project is set to 7.1, then the bus has 8 channels: 7 directional channels and one LFE channel. To Insert a Surround Bus 1. In the Bus Pane of the Track view or the Console view, right-click to display a popup menu of bus options. 2. Select Insert Surround Bus from the popup menu. Or • Use the Insert-Surround Bus menu command. See: Routing in Surround Routing in Surround Tracks can send output to a surround bus, the Surround Main, or a hardware output.
Signal Flow Result Track to hardware output No change Stereo bus to stereo bus No change Stereo bus to surround bus or the Surround Main Stereo left channel is routed to Left channel of surround format; stereo right channel is routed to Right channel of surround format. You can change the routing to other surround channels by using the surround panner on the stereo bus.
Downmixing Setting Options Center Downmix Level (dB) These options determine how much of the center is mixed to the left and right. Surround Downmix Level (dB) LFE Level (dB) • -3 dB—Maintains the same level of center channel sound when you listen in a typically reverberant room • -4.
5. If you want to export your stereo mix, use the File-Export Audio command. This command obeys your downmix settings. See: Panning in Surround Panning in Surround Unlike stereo panning which sends sound to left and right speakers, surround panning means sending sound to multiple speakers at points along a circle. When a track/bus/send is assigned to a surround bus, the Pan control turns into a multi-dimensional surround panner.
A A. Medium surround panner in Console view The small and large panners are always synchronized; the large panner simply provides increased resolution when you adjust the surround pan position. Note 1: Surround panning is not available for tracks/sends that are routed to non-surround buses. Note 2: If the track/bus/send is reassigned to a stereo bus, any surround automation will be orphaned, but will automatically reconnect if the track/ bus/send is later assigned back to a surround bus.
Large Surround Panner A C B A. Angle and focus marker B. Width markers C. Right speaker icon Medium Surround Panner The large surround panner has some sliders at the bottom that the medium surround panner doesn’t have, except for the LFE Send slider, which the medium panner has.
• Angle—this is the perceived angle of the sound source as it differs from the position directly in front of the listener. The scale is 0 to 180 degrees on the listener’s right, and 0 to -180 degrees on the listener’s left. 0 means the sound is coming from directly in front of the listener, and plus or minus 180 degrees means that the sound is coming from directly behind the listener.
except the LFE channel. To Open the Large Surround Panner • Right-click the small surround panner or the pan control in a track, and choose Open Surround Panner from the popup menu. Or • Select a track, and either use the Views-Surround Panner command, or click the Surround Panner button in the Views toolbar. Or • Double-click outside the Surround Panner circle. Or • Press Enter when the panner has focus.
To Change the Width • In the large surround panner, drag the Width slider. To Change the Front/Rear Balance • In the large surround panner, drag the FrntRrBl slider left to reduce front level, or right to reduce rear level. To Change the LFE Send Level • In either the large or small surround panner, drag the LFE slider. Note: double-clicking any surround panner control will reset the control to its default value, which for the LFE control is -INF.
Shortcut... Function... Alt+Shift+drag Constrains to angle at 100% focus Ctrl+Shift+drag Constrains to focus only Shift+click Sets panner point to the point that you click (large and medium panners only) Shift+drag controls (Angle, Width, etc.
See also: Automating Surround Panning Automating Surround Panning You can arm or disarm for automation all the controls in a surround panner by clicking any control in the surround panner (except LFE Solo), and choosing Write Enable from the popup menu. See: Surround Metering Joystick Support SONAR Producer allows you to use a joystick to control surround panning.
4. On the left side of the toolbar, choose Joystick Panner in the dropdown menu, and then click the Properties button the toolbar. that’s on the right side of 5. In the Joystick Panner dialog, select button 1 in the Buttons field, and then select Engage Pan Mode in the Button Actions field. 6. Now select Button 2, and select Engage Pan Nav Mode in the Button Actions field. 7.
however, surround meters display more channels. For example, a project in 5.1 would have a six-channel meter. A A. Six-channel meter Each pair of hardware outputs still uses a stereo meter, but you will see the meters on several pairs of outputs displaying levels, depending on how many surround channels your project uses.
What this means during mixing is that you would have to turn the analog gain to your subwoofer up 10 dB relative to the other 5 speakers, so that you hear the sound as it will be played back in home theater systems that use bass management, and you will get your levels set right in the mix. SONAR’s bass management system allows you to monitor how a surround project will sound with bass management, so you don’t have to change the gain to your subwoofer during mixing.
The SurroundBridge The SurroundBridge automatically loads enough instances of a plug-in to handle all your surround channels. For example, if you patch a stereo effect into a surround bus that uses 5.1 SMPTE/ITU panning, the SurroundBridge automatically assigns the Left and Right channels of the bus to instance 1 of the plug-in, assigns the Left Surround and Right Surround channels to instance 2, the Center channel to instance 3, and the LFE channel to instance 4.
See: Effect Presets The SurroundBridge Effect Presets You can use existing (non-surround) effects presets when you patch an effect to a surround bus—selecting a non-surround preset sets all of a plugin’s instances to the settings of the preset; selecting a surround preset sets each instance’s parameters individually, according to the information stored in the preset.
Effect Instances 1. In the property page of an effect that’s patched into a surround bus, click the Unlink Controls button so that it turns red. 2. Make some adjustments to the automatable parameters you want to unlink (non-automatable parameters are not linked together). You can select parameters on any tab. SONAR will automatically capture which controls you change and unlink them from the corresponding controls for the other surround channels. 3.
The parameters you unlinked appear in the Unlinked Controls field, with the instance number listed in the Plug-in # column of the Unlinked Controls field. Note: to relink all of an instance’s parameters, recheck its Controls Linked to Group checkbox. To Disable an Instance • On the SurroundBridge tab of the effect’s property page, uncheck the Enable checkbox of the plug-in you want to disable. The instance’s tab becomes greyed-out when you do this.
files in SONAR. Important: After installing the above AC3 codec, go to Control Panel and launch the "AC3 Filter" control panel applet. From there you can set up the default speaker output for this filter to 5.1 channels. Until you do this it will only stream in stereo. Also check the sample rate of the imported file. It’s recommended that you set your project sample rate to whatever the file uses before importing.
5. Choose the bus or buses in the Source Buses/Tracks field that you want to export your mix from. 6. Choose Multichannel in the Channel Format field. 7. Choose any other options you want such as Sample Rate and Bit Depth. 8. If you want to save the settings you created in the Export Audio dialog, type a name for them in the Preset window and then click the floppy disk icon that’s next to the window. 9. Click Export. SONAR exports your project in the file format you selected.
Automation Automation means to record the movement of a fader, knob, or other control so that the next time you play your project, that control moves automatically. SONAR allows you to graphically automate much more than just volume and pan controls—you can automate individual controls, faders, and knobs that control the main outs, individual tracks, buses, individual effects’ parameters (including some plug-in synths), and even individual clips.
Automating Effects Reassigning Envelopes The Envelope Editing and Node Editing Menus Quick Automation Guide The following table summarizes Console and Track view automation: What you can automate... Parameters you can automate... How you can automate them...
What you can automate... Parameters you can automate... How you can automate them... Groups of faders or other controls Whatever the faders or other controls in the group control Record fader movements Individual clips Gain and pan for audio clips, velocity for MIDI clips Draw envelopes in the Clips pane In addition, SONAR allows you to copy and paste envelopes between tracks.
enable or disable any automation data the project contains. • Enable/Disable Automation Recording—Click this button to globally turn on/off the ability to record automation. • Snapshot—Click this button to take a snapshot of all controls at a particular Now time. When you play back your project, when your project reaches the Now time where you took the snapshot, all controls snap to the positions they held when you took the snapshot.
Showing or Hiding Envelopes Deleting Envelopes Copying and Pasting Envelopes Snapshots Automating Individual Effects Parameters For step-by-step instructions, see: Recording Individual Fader or Knob Movements Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Using the Envelope Draw Tool Drawing Envelopes on Clips Showing or Hiding Envelopes Deleting Envelopes Copying and Pasting Envelopes Snapshots Automating Individual Effects Parameters Automation Read and Automation Write Buttons
The Automation Read button enables playback of automation envelopes for all automatable parameters in the track, bus, or plug-in that the button is on, and is a handy way to temporarily turn off envelopes for a particular track or bus while mixing. The Automation Write button replaces the old pre SONAR 6 “automation arm” property and enables all automatable parameters on a specific audio track, bus, or plug-in to be recorded.
Movements Recording automation for knobs and faders works in the Track view, the Console view, and Synth Rack. You can record automation during both playback and recording operations. To Record Individual Fader or Knob Movements 1. Do one of the following: • To write-enable an individual track or bus control, right-click the fader or control you want to automate and choose Automation Write Enable from the popup menu.
Using Control Groups Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Showing or Hiding Envelopes Deleting Envelopes Snapshots Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes You can create audio envelopes for both audio tracks and buses. Drawing an envelope for audio data overwrites any preexisting envelope for the same parameter that occurs at the same time in the same track or bus.
Note: An automated mute envelope changes the track’s mute status whenever the envelope crosses the middle of its value range. 3. Using either the Select or Envelope tools, move the cursor over the envelope until a vertical, double-ended arrow appears under it (notice that the name and current value of the envelope appear in a box next to the cursor), and right-click the envelope. If you use the Envelope tool, you can’t accidentally edit any other data besides the envelope. The Envelope Editing menu appears.
Make sure the Automation Read button is enabled, play the project and listen to the results. You can undo any step by using the Edit-Undo command (Ctrl+Z) directly after that step. You can drag the nodes in any direction you want. You can play back your project with or without the automation data by clicking the Enable Automation Playback button in the Automation toolbar. Note: When you add a “gain” envelope to a track in SONAR, you increase the track’s level post-effects, or after the effects processors.
Note 2: After you create an envelope, you can edit it by adding nodes and choosing shapes for the line segments that are between nodes (see the following procedure), but you can also edit by using the Envelope Draw tool to draw freehand or preset shapes. See Using the Envelope Draw Tool for more information. To Draw MIDI Envelopes in the Track View 1. Right-click in the Clips pane in the track you want to automate. The Clips pane popup menu appears. 2.
• In the Channel field, choose the MIDI channel that you want the envelope to send data on, and click OK. SONAR creates the envelope you chose. 4. Move the cursor over the envelope until a vertical, double-ended arrow appears under it, and right-click the envelope. The Envelope Editing menu appears. 5. Choose Add Node from the menu. A node (very small rectangle) appears on the envelope. Note: A shortcut to create a node is to double-click the envelope. 6.
Make sure the Automation Read button is enabled, play your track and listen to the results. You can undo any step by using the Edit-Undo command (Ctrl+Z) directly after that step. You can play back your project with or without the automation data by clicking the Enable Automation Playback button in the Automation toolbar. When you add multiple envelopes to a track, you can choose which envelopes you want to display. See Showing or Hiding Envelopes. You can also draw envelopes on audio tracks.
To Draw Freehand 1. Activate the envelope you want to edit (click it with the Envelope tool ). 2. Enable the Envelope Draw tool: click in the Track view toolbar. 3. Click the dropdown arrow on the side of the Envelope Draw tool, and select Freehand from the menu. 4. Click and hold the mouse button in the Clips pane at the place where you want to edit the envelope. Drag to the right or left to draw the desired shape, and release the mouse when you’re finished. To Draw a Preset Shape 1.
To Halve or Double the Shape Cycle Frequency • To halve the cycle frequency (for example, if snap resolution = quarter note, make each cycle a half note), hold down the Ctrl key while you draw. • To double the cycle frequency (for example, if snap resolution = quarter note, make each cycle an eighth note), hold down the Alt key while you draw.
Edit the envelope just as you would a track envelope, using the Select tool, the Envelope tool, and the Envelope Draw tool. See also: The Envelope Editing and Node Editing Menus Using the Envelope Draw Tool Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Showing or Hiding Envelopes Deleting Envelopes Snapshots Recording Individual Fader or Knob Movements Showing or Hiding Envelopes You can choose to show or hide any or all envelopes in a track or bus.
SONAR hides or displays the envelope. 4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 for each envelope that you want to show or hide. You can also hide, but not show, individual envelopes by right-clicking an envelope and choosing Hide Envelope from the Envelope Editing menu. See also: Using Control Groups Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes. Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Deleting Envelopes Recording Individual Fader or Knob Movements Deleting Envelopes To Delete a Single Envelope 1.
Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Drawing Envelopes on Clips Showing or Hiding Envelopes Copying and Pasting Envelopes Snapshots Copying and Pasting Envelopes You can copy and paste envelopes or parts of envelopes between tracks and clips. You cannot, however, copy and paste a clip envelope without also copying and pasting the audio or MIDI data that is in that clip.
2. Press Ctrl+V or use the Edit-Paste command. The Paste dialog box appears. 3. Choose a track and location to paste to, if you haven’t already. 4. Click OK. SONAR pastes the automation data and any other types of data you chose in the Copy dialog box into the track and location you selected.
See also: Recording Individual Fader or Knob Movements Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Drawing Envelopes on Clips Showing or Hiding Envelopes Copying and Pasting Envelopes Snapshots Envelope Mode and Offset Mode There are two modes which control how your volume faders, pan faders, bus send faders, and bus send pan faders behave during playback. The two modes are Envelope mode and Offset mode.
The following audio controls support both Envelope and Offset modes: Control Envelope Mode Range Offset Mode Range Volume -Infinity to +6dB, default is 0dB -Infinity to +6dB, default is 0dB Pan 100% L to 100% R, default is C 100% L to 100% R, default is C Bus Send Level -Infinity to +6dB, default is 0 dB -Infinity to +6dB, default is 0dB Bus Send Pan 100% L to 100% R, default is C 100% L to 100% R, default is C Bus Return Level -Infinity to +6dB, default is 0dB -Infinity to +6dB, default i
Control Envelope Mode Range Offset Mode Range Reverb 0 to 127, default is 0 -127 to 127, default is 100 To Open Non-SONAR Envelope Display on a Percentage Scale You can globally configure the placement of 0 dB for your envelopes in the Clips pane. The default placement in the Clips pane of 0 dB is roughly 1/3 from the top of the clip. You can change the position of 0 dB in all envelopes to the middle of the clip.
The Convert MIDI To Shapes dialog box appears. 3. In the Type field, select the type of controller you want to convert. 4. In the Value field, select the controller number of the controller you want to convert. For example, if you’re converting a volume envelope to a shape, select 7. 5. In the Channel field, select the channel of the controller you want to convert, and click OK. SONAR converts the Piano Roll view controller envelope you selected to a Track view shape that controls the same parameter.
• Enable the Automation Write button in the tracks and/or buses that you want to automate. This also write-enables all parameters of any automatable effects that are in the track or bus. You can click the Clear All Automation Write-Enabled button in the Automation toolbar first if you want to make sure that no hidden tracks or buses are write-enabled.
Each pair of nodes is only 2 milliseconds apart by default, so each pair looks like a single node, but if you drag the envelope segment between the two pairs up or down, you can see all four nodes. To Add Nodes at Selection 1. Make a time selection. 2. Right-click the desired envelope within the selected time range. The Envelope Editing menu appears. 3. Choose Add Nodes at Selection from the menu.
To Draw Envelopes for an Individual Effect’s Parameters 1. Patch an automatable effect into the track or bus where you want to use it, and close the effect’s dialog box when it appears. 2. Right-click in the Clips pane in the track (or bus) where you patched the effect. The Clips pane or Bus pane popup menu appears. 3. If you opened the Clips pane popup menu, choose Envelopes-Create Track Envelope-(name of the effect you patched).
Controller You can record automation data from an external controller or a MIDI keyboard. To Record Automation Data from an External Controller 1. In either the Track view or Console view, right-click the control or knob that you want to control externally, and choose Remote Control from the popup menu. The Remote Control dialog box appears. 2.
Copying and Pasting Envelopes Snapshots Reassigning Envelopes You can reassign an envelope to control a different parameter from the one it originally controlled. For example, you can reassign a volume envelope to control pan. To Reassign an Envelope 1. Move the cursor over the envelope until the cursor changes to a double-ended arrow, and right-click the envelope. The Envelope Editing menu appears. 2. Choose Assign Envelope-(name of the parameter you want the envelope to control).
Menu Option... What it Does... Jump (Envelope Editing menu only) This choice causes the envelope to make a ninety degree jump between two nodes. SONAR displays jumps with a dotted line, meaning that there is automation data at the nodes where the dotted line begins and ends, but not where the dotted line itself is. Linear (Envelope Editing menu only) This choice draws a straight line between two nodes.
Menu Option... What it Does... Assign Envelope(name of the parameter you want to control) This choice reassigns the envelope to control the parameter that you choose. Delete Envelope This choice deletes the envelope. Automation Read Enabled This choice enables automation playback for the envelope. Clear All This choice deletes everything from the envelope except the first node. Reset Node (Node Editing menu only) This choice resets the node to the parameter’s neutral value.
To Draw a Mute Envelope 1. In the Clips pane, right-click in the track you want to mute, and choose Envelopes-Create Track Envelope-Automated Mute from the Clips pane popup menu. An envelope appears at the bottom of the track. 2. Add nodes to the envelope and edit it so that the envelope is more than 50% of its maximum height wherever you want the track muted. To Record a Mute Button’s Movement 1. Right-click the Mute button you want to automate and choose Switch to Automated Mute from the popup menu. 2.
Automation The Envelope Editing and Node Editing Menus
Layouts, Templates and Key Bindings A layout is the current arrangement of all the views that pertain to a particular project. The layout of each project is stored automatically as part of every project file. In addition, you can save the current layout or load any saved layout and apply it to the current project. You might want to create a layout so you can easily arrange the views in a convenient size and position on the screen.
Layouts The layout of the views that are displayed for a project is stored automatically in the project file when you save the project. By default, the layout of all the views is restored when the file is opened. You can automatically arrange all open views so that they are all visible by using the Window-Tile in Rows command. In addition, you can save the current layout in a separate list—the global layout list. Once you have saved the layout in this list, you can apply it to any open project.
Option… Meaning… Close Old Windows Before Loading New Ones If checked, SONAR will close all the views of the current project before applying the layout. If you leave this option unchecked, existing views remain open and additional views are created according to the settings in the layout. When Opening a File, Load Its Layout If checked, the views of a project are automatically arranged according to the stored layout when the project file is opened.
To Load a Layout 1. Choose Views-Layouts to display the Window Layouts dialog box. 2. Choose the layout you want from the list. 3. Click Load. Views of the current project are arranged according to the layout settings. To Delete a Layout 1. Choose Views-Layouts to display the Window Layouts dialog box. 2. Choose the layout you want to delete from the list. 3. Click Delete. 4. Click OK to confirm that you want to delete the layout. The layout is removed from the list. 5.
4. Under Bindings, scroll through the Key field and select the key that you want to trigger the layout command with. 5. In the Function field, scroll down towards the end of the list, and under Global Layouts, click the name of the layout you want to assign to the key you selected. 6. When both the Key and the Function are highlighted in their respective fields. click the Bind button to bind them together. 7. Click OK.
A A. Piano Roll view icon 3. In the menu that appears, click Enable Floating. 4. Move the view wherever you want. Templates Template files make it easy to create new projects with certain predefined settings. To create a template file, create a new project file and arrange the project settings the way you want, then save the project as a template file. Template files have a file extension of .CWT. When you create a new project, you can use the template as the basis for the new project.
• MIDI data • MIDI In/Out/Thru settings • MIDI metronome settings • Selection start and end times • Record mode and punch-in times • Drum maps • Audio data • Automation The following parameters are saved globally and are not stored in template or project files: • Initialization file parameters • Big Time font settings • MIDI device settings • Instrument definitions • Autosave options • Key bindings • Color settings To Create a Template 1.
SONAR creates the new project and displays it in the Track view.
7. If you like, configure other parameters needed in your projects, such as auto-send Sysx banks, tempo settings, window positions, and comments. 8. Choose File-Save, and save the file as a template named MY3SYNTHS. Now, each time you want to start working on a new project, you can simply load your template and start recording. See also: Templates Key Bindings Key bindings let you associate SONAR commands with keys on both your MIDI keyboard and your computer keyboard.
press the C4 key by itself, the note plays normally. If you press the C4 key in combination with the lowest key on your keyboard (the key binding shift key), then it’s just as if you had chosen the Process-Quantize command from the menu.
6. Highlight the command you want to assign from the Function list. 7. Click Bind to bind the key combination to the command. SONAR places an asterisk next to the key(s) that you chose, and draws a line from the highlighted key(s) to the command that the key(s) will trigger. Any keys that are assigned to commands have asterisks next to them. Any commands that have keys assigned to them list the keys in the Computer column and/or the MIDI column. 8. Repeat steps 3 through 7 for all the keys you want to bind.
9. If you want to save these key bindings for other sessions, make sure that the Save Changes for Next Session checkbox is checked. 10. Click OK when you are done. SONAR assigns the key(s) you chose. To disable MIDI key bindings, uncheck the Enable box in the Key Bindings dialog. See also: Importing Key Bindings Exporting Key Bindings Importing Key Bindings SONAR can use key bindings from other sequencer applications.
4. Type a name for the key bindings. 5. Click Save. SONAR saves the key bindings, and adds the file extension .KBN to the filename.
Layouts, Templates and Key Bindings Key Bindings
Notation and Lyrics This section describes three SONAR views that are used to edit the music notation and lyrics of your project. • SONAR’s Staff view lets you work with your composition in a standard musical staff, guitar tablature and a virtual guitar fretboard. You can add, move, and delete notes with your mouse or with your computer keyboard. You can add chord names, guitar chord grids, expression marks, hairpin symbols, pedal marks, and lyrics.
save your file, whatever size the Staff view is will be the way it appears the next time you open the file. The Staff pane displays MIDI note events as musical notation. For some musicians, this may be the most familiar and comfortable view in which to work. The Staff pane provides many features that make it easy for you to compose, edit, and print music.
See: Staff Pane Layout The Fretboard Fretboard Popup Menu Opening the Staff View There are three ways to open the Staff view: • In the Track view, select the MIDI tracks you want to see, then click the Staff View button . • In the Track view, select the MIDI tracks you want to see, then choose Views-Staff. • Right-click on a track in the Clips pane and choose Views-Staff from the menu. You can always change the tracks that are displayed: click the Pick Tracks button and select the tracks you want.
Note: You can right-click in the Track List pane to access Snap to Scale commands. For more information on this feature, see Snap to Scale. Staff Pane Layout The Staff pane can display up to 24 staves of standard and percussion notation. When you open the Staff pane, SONAR automatically picks a clef for each track—bass or treble—by looking at the range of pitches in the track.
Menu command Result Interpolate Opens the Event Filter Search dialog box. See Process-Interpolate for more information. Length Opens the Length dialog box. See Stretching and Shrinking Events for more information. To Change the Staff Pane Layout 1. Click the Staff View Layout button dialog box. to open the Staff View Layout 2. Select a track from the list (if the track you want to edit is not in the list, click the Pick Tracks button in the Staff view toolbar and select it).
The Fretboard pane shows you this: The Fretboard stays in sync with the Now Time during playback and recording, and stays in sync with the scrub time during scrubbing. The color of each note on the Fretboard is the same as the color of the corresponding clip in the Track view. (See Arranging Clips for information about setting clip properties.) To turn the display of the Fretboard on or off, click .
Fretboard Popup Menu When you right-click the Fretboard in the Staff view, the Fretboard popup menu appears, giving you choices for note editing, Staff view layout, and Fretboard appearance. Menu command Result Select Changes your cursor to the Select tool. Draw Changes your cursor to the Draw tool. Erase Changes your cursor to the Erase tool. Scrub Changes your cursor to the Scrub tool. Layout Opens the Staff View Layout dialog box.
Menu command Result Maple Lo Fretboard appears in maple with low screen resolution. Basic Musical Editing The Staff view's tools let you edit a project by manipulating the elements of standard music notation. Using these tools, you can create and edit notes, pedal marks, expression marks, hairpins, and lyrics.
by the amount of the note duration you choose. Six buttons let you select a note duration ranging from a whole note to a 32nd note. Buttons to the right of the notehead buttons let you select dotted note or triplet modifiers. The Ctrl+Right Arrow/Ctrl+Left Arrow commands pages you through the track, sounding each note as the cursor passes over it. You can also page through the track by clicking the Play-Next button or the Play-Previous button that are in the Staff view toolbar.
7. To add a sharp or flat, right-click the note to open the Note Properties dialog box—in the Pitch field, use the + or - buttons to raise or lower the pitch, and click OK. You can type enharmonic spellings into the Pitch field, such as C#5, E”4. and Fx6. The double quotation mark produces a double flat, and the x produces a double sharp. SONAR places the new note in the staff. If desired, drag the note horizontally or vertically to a new time or pitch.
To do this... Do this... Add or remove symbols from the selection Press Ctrl and either click on the symbols or drag a rectangle around the events Select symbols in a time range Click and drag in the Time Ruler Select symbols between two markers Click between the markers Remove all selections Click in an empty area Note: tied notes must be selected together, since the series is really just a single MIDI note.
To Move Several Notes in the Staff View 1. Click the Select tool . 2. Select the notes to be moved. 3. Click one of the selected notes. 4. Drag the notes to a new time, pitch, or staff. SONAR moves the notes to the new location. To Copy One or More Notes in the Staff View 1. Click the Select tool . 2. Select the notes to be copied. 3. Press and hold the Ctrl key. 4. Drag the notes to a new time, pitch, or staff. SONAR inserts copies of the notes at the new location. To Erase Notes with the Eraser 1.
2. Click the Select tool . 3. While pressing Shift, click each of the notes you would like to change. 4. While continuing to press Shift, drag the notes along the strings. SONAR moves the notes you selected to the new pitches.Tip: you can also move the Now time pointer to the exact note by using the Step Play buttons. Auditioning Sometimes it is useful to listen to your music slowly, note-by-note, rather than at full speed.
Property... Meaning... Time The starting time of the note Pitch The note’s pitch Velocity The note’s velocity (0 to 127) Duration The note’s duration, in ticks or in beats and ticks Channel The MIDI channel on which the note is played To Edit a Note’s Properties 1. Right-click the note to open the Note Properties dialog box. 2. Edit the note’s properties, as described in the table. 3. Click OK. SONAR changes the note’s parameters and redraws the note if necessary.
Velocity With the Velocity filter you can set a minimum velocity allowed in the track. If a MIDI event has a lower velocity than the one you set, it is removed. Duration With the Duration filter you can set a minimum note duration for the track in either ticks or milliseconds. If a MIDI event has a shorter duration than the one you set, it is removed. To Use the Deglitch Filter 1. Select a track or a section of track. 2. Select Process-Deglitch from the menu. The Deglitch dialog box appears. 3.
4. Select the Triplet option . 5. Enter the first note at the desired location in the staff. SONAR inserts all three triplet notes at the same pitch. You can then drag the second and third notes to their correct pitch locations. Beaming of Rests The Staff view supports beaming of rests, a practice that is popular with rhythmically complex music. Beam lengths are extended to include rests that are integral parts of the beamed group of notes.
Option... Purpose... Fill Durations Visually rounds up note durations to the next beat or the next note, whichever comes first. Trim Durations Visually rounds down note durations if they extend a little way past the start of the next note. On the other hand, if you are entering notes into the Staff view with the Fill and Trim off Fill and Trim on mouse, Fill and Trim Durations may produce confusing results.
evoked—knowledge that only the composer possesses. For example, if a modulation is being prepared, then the new key signature has not yet been completely established, and the harmony has already begun to shift. In fact, there may not even be a scale in a diatonic sense: chromatic scales, for instance, are supposed to sharp on the way up and flat on the way down. Because no set of rules will suffice for all situations, the composer needs the ability to override any default choice.
Accidental... Character.. . Example.. Displays as... . Double flat “ C”5 Double sharp x Cx5 To Change a Note’s Enharmonic Spelling 1. Right-click the note to open the Note Properties dialog box. 2. In the Pitch textbox, type a new spelling for the note. 3. Click OK. SONAR displays the note with the new enharmonic spelling. You can change enharmonic spellings in other views, such as the Event List view, by similarly typing a new spelling wherever the note pitch is displayed as a text string.
To Display Notes on the Fretboard Using their MIDI Channels 1. Set your MIDI Guitar to transmit on 6 consecutive channels. This is often referred to as “MONO” mode. Refer to your MIDI Guitar device documentation for more information. 2. Select and Arm a track. 3. If you want the data from all 6 strings to be recorded to a single track, set the Input to OMNI. If you want each string on a separate track, you need to set up each individual track to record on the corresponding MIDI channel.
the score with the Draw tool. They can be selected, cut, copied, pasted, deleted, and dragged and dropped. With the exception of pedal marks, though, these symbols have no audible effect; they serve only to enhance and clarify the printed score. See: Adding Chord Symbols Adding Expression Marks Adding Hairpin Symbols Adding Pedal Marks Adding Chord Symbols The Staff view lets you enter chord symbols above the staff.
The Chord Properties dialog box also lets you draw guitar chord grids and manage the chord library. You can suppress the display of all guitar chord diagrams by deselecting the Show Chord Grids option in the Staff view's Layout dialog box. With this option disabled, only chord text appears. To Add a Chord Symbol 1. Click the Draw tool . 2. Select the Chord tool . 3. Position the pointer above the staff (the pointer changes to a pencil when you are in a legal position). 4. Click to place a chord symbol.
3. If desired, select a group from the list and/or create a guitar chord grid. 4. Click OK. The Staff view displays the chord with the new properties, moving it to a new time if necessary. To Add a Guitar Chord Grid 1. Right-click the chord symbol to open the Chord Properties dialog box. 2.
To do this… Do this… Insert a fret designation Click to the right of the grid and enter the number of the index finger fret in the Chord Fret Number dialog box Play the chord (Audition) Click Play Remove the chord grid Click Remove Grid 3. Click OK. The Staff view displays the chord with the new guitar chord grid. To Manage the Chord Library 1. Right-click the chord symbol to open the Chord Properties dialog box. 2.
Adding Expression Marks Expression marks tell a performer how to interpret the notes and durations on the page. They provide a necessary supplement to simple notation, in which notes have only pitch and duration, but no hint of how loudly, softly, or smoothly, they are to be played. Dynamic marks—from ppp (pianissimo) for “very, very softly” through fff (fortissimo) for “very, very forcefully”—allow notation to convey volume instructions.
To Edit an Expression Mark 1. Right-click the expression mark to open the Expression Text Properties dialog box. 2. Edit the time and text of the expression mark as desired. 3. Click OK. The Staff view displays the expression mark with the new text, including moving it to a new time if necessary. You can also use the Draw tool and click on an expression mark directly to change its text. Adding Hairpin Symbols Some musical phrases vary dynamically, increasing or decreasing in loudness for dramatic effect.
SONAR inserts a copy of the most recently added hairpin symbol, which you can edit as desired. To Edit a Hairpin Symbol 1. Right-click on the hairpin symbol you want to edit. The Hairpin Properties dialog appears. 2. Change any of the following parameters: • Time—The beginning time of the hairpin symbol • Crescendo or Diminuendo • Duration—Enter the number of beats followed by a colon (for example 4: for one measure in 4/4 time) or a PPQ number value.
You can suppress the display of all pedal marks by deselecting the Show Pedal Events option in the Staff view's Layout dialog box. To Add a Pedal Mark 1. Click the Draw tool 2. Select the Pedal tool . . 3. Position the pointer below the staff (the pointer changes to a pencil when you are in a legal position). 4. Click to place a pedal mark. SONAR inserts a pair of pedal symbols (a pedal down and a pedal up). You can click and drag either symbol to a new time. To Edit a Pedal Event 1.
Tablature Settings Changing Fretboard Texture and Orientation Quick TAB Regenerate TAB Entering Notes from the TAB Staff Single Note Editing from the TAB Staff Editing Chords or Groups of Notes from the TAB Staff Editing Notes and Chords from the Fretboard Tablature Settings Both the Staff View Layout dialog box and the Tablature Settings dialog box create tablature settings for a whole track at a time.
The red box in the fretboard display changes to reflect the settings in these two parameters. • MIDI Channel - This uses the event's MIDI channel to determine which string the note should be displayed on. When MIDI Channel is selected, the user chooses which series of MIDI Channels should be considered. This is useful for MIDI Guitarists that record parts in MONO mode, where each string transmits on a different MIDI channel. (Values: 1 - 11).
5. If you want to reverse the standard string orientation, in the Orientation field click Low String on Top (Mirror). 6. Click OK. The Fretboard changes to reflect your choices. Quick TAB SONAR quickly creates a tablature based on standard fingering patterns. After you try the quick version, you can customize the tablature to your liking. To Create a Quick TAB 1. Open a file that contains a MIDI guitar track. 2. In the Track view, select the track number of the track you want to display tablature for. 3.
The Regenerate TAB command gives you a third choice for displaying tablature MIDI channel. This uses the event's MIDI channel to determine which string the note should be displayed on. When MIDI Channel is selected, the user chooses which series of MIDI Channels should be considered. This is useful for MIDI Guitarists that record parts in MONO mode, where each string transmits on a different MIDI channel. To Regenerate TAB 1.
Time moves by the amount of the note duration you choose in the Staff toolbar. Single Note Editing from the TAB Staff SONAR enables you to edit single notes from the TAB staff in several ways: • With the Draw tool selected, drag fret numbers up or down. When you reach the desired fret number, release the mouse. • With the Draw tool selected, move a note to a different string by holding down the Alt key while you drag the fret number to a different line.
SONAR saves the track with the file extension .TXT. Editing Notes and Chords from the Fretboard You can transpose single notes or chords from the Fretboard. To Transpose Single Notes 1. Move the Now Time to the note you want to edit by pressing ShiftRight/Left Arrow. You may need to change the note duration by clicking one of the note icons in the Staff view toolbar. 2. Use the Select tool to drag the note left or right on the fretboard. To Transpose Chords 1.
5. If you are entering a chord, continue clicking notes at the same Now Time. To move ahead, press Shift-Right Arrow and click a new note duration, if desired. You can delete a note right after you enter it by pressing Ctrl+Z, or at any time by clicking the Eraser tool and clicking the note in the notation or TAB staffs. Cakewalk gives you several options to play and hear the notes in your track: • Scrubbing enables you to click each note in the Fretboard and hear it play.
Setting Up a Percussion Track Before you use the percussion capabilities of the Staff view, your percussion track should be set up correctly. This will allow you to hear the proper sounds when placing notes and during playback, and will allow you to see the correct percussion instrument names rather than generic note names in the Piano Roll view, Event List view, and Percussion Notation dialog box. To Set Up a Percussion Track 1.
By default, percussion staves are given SONAR’s default note bindings and notehead assignments. If you want to use your own notation, or if you want to set up the appearance of a percussion line, you need to use the Percussion Notation Key dialog box. In this dialog box, the percussion sounds and staff positions that are bound have an asterisk near their names. When you select a bound percussion sound, a line joins the sound to its staff position.
To do this… Do this… Set the notehead and articulation mark for a percussion sound Select the sound in the MIDI Note list, then select a Notehead Type and Articulation Symbol. (Only bound sounds can be assigned a notehead type and articulation symbol other than the default.) Control how unbound percussion sounds display In the Display As list, click the pitch that you want all unbound notes to display as.
Printing The Staff view provides printing support of standard musical notation in nine staff sizes. The Staff view prints general project information from the File Info dialog box (see Labeling Your Projects) at the beginning of the score, including the song's title (or file name), subtitle (dedication), playing instructions, author/composer, and copyright. In addition, SONAR identifies the tracks by number and name, and numbers each measure and each page.
Number.. . Trade names... Genre usage... 0 Commercial or Public Wire-bound manuscript 1 Giant or English Elementary band and orchestra books; instruction booklets 2 or 3 Regular, Common, or Ordinary Sheet music for concertos and classics 4 Peter Folios, works for organ, etc.
The Meter/Key View The Meter/Key view lets you enter meter and key changes at measure boundaries. Meter and key changes affect all tracks. See: What Is Meter? What Is Key? Opening the Meter/Key View Adding and Editing Meter/Key Changes Music Notation for Non-concert-key Instruments What Is Meter? The meter—also known as the time signature—describes how to divide time into rhythmic pulses. When you set the meter, you are specifying the number of beats per measure and the note value of each beat.
from 48 to 960 PPQ. If you are using a timebase of 120 PPQ and the project file is in 4/4 time, then a whole measure equals 480 ticks. See Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution for more information about the timebase. Usually the easiest approach to working with meter changes is to set all of them up before doing any recording. Use the Meter/Key view or the InsertMeter/Key Change command to add meter changes at the desired measures.
Opening the Meter/Key View To open the Meter/Key view, click or choose Views-Meter/Key. The Meter/Key view displays a list of meter/key changes in the project. There is always an entry for measure 1, because there must always be a meter and key signature for the project. The default meter is 4/4 and the default key is C. You can change these defaults by creating your own default template file. For more information, see Templates. Each meter/key change has the following properties: Property... Meaning...
3. Enter information about the new meter/key change. 4. Click OK. SONAR inserts the meter/key change into the project. The meter/key change will appear in the Staff view at the appropriate measure. To Delete a Meter/Key Change 1. Select the meter/key change to be deleted from the list. 2. Select additional meter/key changes by using Shift-click and Ctrl-click. 3. Click Delete . SONAR removes the meter/key change from the project. You cannot delete the first meter/key change from measure 1 of a project.
3. Edit the meter/key change properties. 4. Click OK. SONAR changes the properties of the meter/key change. Music Notation for Non-concert-key Instruments For historical reasons, certain musical instruments are traditionally notated in a transposed key rather than the actual key. For example, a normal (Bb) trumpet part is written in the key one whole step higher than the actual concert key, and an Eb alto sax part is written a major sixth higher.
can be printed as an orchestral score, with the proper different key signatures for each track. Note that this Key+ information is saved in SONAR .CWP files, but not in standard MIDI files. If you save a file as a MIDI file, the Key+ transposition will be applied to each note event, so that the file will sound the same, but the Key+ information will be lost. If you're reading in a MIDI file, you can easily set up the non-concert instrument tracks and then save the file as a normal project file.
generally they contain only a single word (or syllable of a word). As events, Lyrics can be edited in the Event List view (see The Event List View). See: Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Staff View Opening the Lyrics View Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Lyrics View Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Staff View The Staff view displays lyrics below their associated track. If the track is split into treble/bass staves, lyrics are aligned with notes in both staves, but are displayed below the treble staff.
6. Press Enter when you are done. SONAR displays the new lyrics below the staff. To Edit Lyrics 1. Click the Draw tool . 2. Click the word you want to change. 3. Edit the word as desired. 4. Press Enter. SONAR replaces the old word with the new one.
Adding and Editing Lyrics in the Lyrics View Lyrics appear in the Lyrics view as a stream of syllables, each one associated with a note in the track. In this context, a syllable is any continuous string of characters, without a hyphen. For example, “love,” “desire,” and “infatuation” are all syllables; each one would be associated with a single note. If you want to break a word into multiple syllables, you must hyphenate the word.
To Hyphenate the Lyrics 1. If you want, select a portion of the lyric text. If you do not select any text, all the lyrics will be hyphenated. 2. Click the Hyphenate button. SONAR hyphenates the lyrics.
Instrument Definitions Instrument definitions are a powerful feature of SONAR that makes it easier for you to find the banks, patches, and controllers of your MIDI instruments. An instrument definition is a file that contains the names of the banks, patches, note names, bank select method, and controllers of an instrument. Instrument definitions for many popular MIDI instruments are included with SONAR or are available on the Cakewalk web site (www.cakewalk.com).
Creating and Editing Patch Name and Other Lists Copying Name Lists Assigning the Bank Select Method Assigning Patch Names Assigning Note Names Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names Assigning Instruments SONAR lets you assign a MIDI instrument definition to each available MIDI output and channel. The assignments you make determine the MIDI bank names, patch names, note names, and controller names that you see during your SONAR session.
synth receiving on channels 11 through 16. In this case, you’d use three different instrument definitions for your one and only MIDI output. To Assign Instrument Definitions to MIDI Outputs and Channels 1. Choose Options-Instruments to display the Assign Instruments dialog box. 2. Select one or more MIDI outputs and channels from the Output/ Channel list (use Shift-click and Ctrl-click to select multiple outputs and channels). You can also drag through a bunch of channels to select them.
To Clear Instrument Assignments 1. Choose Options-Instruments to display the Assign Instruments dialog box. 2. Select the MIDI outputs and channels whose assignments you want to remove from the Output/Channel list. 3. Choose from the Uses Instrument list. A black line connects the two lists. 4. Click OK when you are done. You don’t really clear instrument assignments—you reassign them to use the default (General MIDI) instrument definition.
the Downloads section of the Cakewalk website (www.cakewalk.com). Simply download the files to your SONAR folder, unzip if necessary, and import the instrument definitions as described below. When you import an instrument definition, it is added to the master instrument definition file MASTER.INS. The contents of this file determines the list of instruments that appear in the Assign Instruments dialog box. To Import Instrument Definitions 1.
• Which RPN and NRPNs are available on the instrument? • Which Bank Select method does the instrument use? To collect this information, you need the MIDI documentation for your instrument. Here’s a general outline of the steps you must follow to create an instrument definition: • Create a new instrument in the Instrument tree. • Create any new name lists in the Names tree that are required for the instrument.
The Define Instruments and Names dialog box contains two trees: • The Instruments tree in the left half of the dialog box lists all defined instruments and their characteristics • The Names tree in the right half of the dialog box shows all the resources you use to define an instrument You expand or collapse the folders and lists in each tree by clicking on the + or – key shown to the left of each item.
To Create a New Instrument 1. In the Define Instruments and Names dialog box, right-click the word Instruments at the top of the Instrument tree, and choose Add Instrument from the popup menu. 2. Type a name for the new instrument and press Enter. The new instrument is provided with default settings for all of its characteristics.
2. If you don’t want to save the file in the folder that’s listed in the Save In field, navigate to the folder in which you do want to save the file. 3. Enter a file name and click Save. SONAR saves the file, with the filename extension .INS. Note: Exporting instrument definitions allows you to share them with other SONAR users.
To do this… Do this… Create a new name list Duplicate an existing Patch Names or other list by doing one of the following: expand the folder that contains the name list, highlight the name list and press the Ins (Insert) key; highlight the folder and press Shift-Insert; or right-click any folder or name list and choose Add Names List from the menu. Then type a name for the list and press Enter.
Copying Name Lists You can easily create new lists that are similar to other lists. For example, suppose you want to create a new patch name list called NewList that is almost identical to the General MIDI patch list, but with one or two small changes. Here’s how you proceed: • Create a new patch name list in the Patch Names folder of the Names tree called, for example, NewList. • Drag the new list onto the General MIDI list in the Names tree.
Method… Used for… Controller 0 only Instruments that only respond to Controller 0 bank select messages Controller 32 only Instruments that only respond to Controller 32 bank select messages Patch 100...127 Instruments that let you change banks by sending patch changes between 100 and 127 The bank select method you choose affects the bank numbers that you assign to each patch list, as described in the following section.
3. Drag the desired bank select method from the Names tree to the Instrument tree. See also: Creating and Editing Patch Name and Other Lists Copying Name Lists Assigning Patch Names Assigning Note Names Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names Assigning Patch Names A MIDI instrument can have up to 16,384 banks of 128 patches each. Patches can have names, like “Piano” for patch number 0, “Bass” for patch number 1, and so on.
B A C D A. There are three defined banks B. Instrument name C. The * indicates that this patch list is the default D. This is the name of a patch name list To Add a Bank or Change the Patch Names for a Bank 1. Drag a patch name list from the Names tree to the Patch Names for Banks folder of the instrument you’re editing in the Instrument tree. 2. Enter a bank number, or enter –1 to indicate that this list of patch names should be used as the default.
Assigning Note Names Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names Assigning Note Names Each patch may have a list of up to 128 names for notes. Usually, note names are labels for percussion instruments. For example, the pitch C3 may really be “Kick Drum,” and D3 may be “Snare.” Because a drum machine may provide different drum kits for each patch, SONAR lets you specify a different list of note names for each patch. The Piano Roll and Event List views show you these note names.
D C B A E A. This is the name of a note name list B. The * indicates that this note name list is the default C. Bank D. Instrument name E. Note name lists are defined for three different patches To Change the Note Names for a Patch 1. Drag a note name list from the Names tree onto the Note Names for Patches folder of the instrument and bank you’re editing in the Instruments tree. 2.
Creating and Editing Patch Name and Other Lists Copying Name Lists Assigning the Bank Select Method Assigning Patch Names Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names Assigning Controller, RPN, and NRPN Names SONAR lets each instrument have its own lists of controller names, RPN names, and NRPN names. There is always exactly one list of each type per instrument. To See the Controller, RPN, and NRPN Name Lists 1. Expand the instrument definition by clicking the + sign next to the instrument name.
Copying Name Lists Assigning the Bank Select Method Assigning Patch Names Assigning Note Names SONAR Flags in Instrument Definitions SONAR has several flags that you can use in instrument definition files for use with specific instrument definitions. UsesNotesAsControllers=n Some MIDI devices, certain mixers for example, use MIDI Note events instead of Continuous Controller events for automation.
when using a digital mixer as a MIDI control surface (and not using the generic control surface plug-in). Instrument Definition Tutorial The following tutorial takes you through the process of setting up an instrument definition for a Roland keyboard so that the bank and patch names, including any self-created sounds, read the same in SONAR as they do on the display screen of your keyboard instrument.
Where Do Instrument Definitions Come From? The patch names and other characteristics of each particular MIDI module are supplied by the manufacturer, and are contained in an instrument definition file, which is a text file written in a format SONAR can read. Many of these files come with SONAR, and many more are available at Cakewalk’s website, and also at lilchips.com. Instrument definition files have the extension .
Now let’s assign the XP-10 definition to some channels on a MIDI output: To Assign the Roland XP-10 Bank and Patch Names to a MIDI Output 1. Choose Options-Instruments to display the Assign Instruments dialog box. 2. Let’s assign all 16 MIDI channels on output 1 to use the XP-10 bank and patch names: • Drag through the first 16 items in the Port/Channel list to select them. • From the Uses Instrument list, click Roland XP-10. A black line connects the two lists. 3.
3. Scroll down to the Roland XP-10 Var #08 list and click its + sign to expand it. 4. Compare the names on the Var #08 list with the patch names of the Vari 1 instruments on the Roland’s display screen. You’ll see they are the same. 5.
To Check the Bank Numbers 1. Set up a MIDI track to record from your MIDI keyboard or module. 2. Click the Record button to start recording, and change banks on your keyboard. 3. Stop recording, and open the Event List view. 4. The bank change you recorded is displayed in the Event List view in this way: in the Data column you’ll see what kind of bank change method your keyboard uses (probably Normal), and in the column to the right of that data is the number of the bank you changed to.
Instrument Definitions Instrument Definition Tutorial
System Exclusive Data SONAR’s System Exclusive (Sysx) librarian provides you with 8192 banks in which to hold MIDI System Exclusive messages. A bank is a storage area plus some associated parameters such as a destination output and an optional description. Each bank can hold any number of messages; the amount of data it can hold is limited only by available memory. The banks are saved in the SONAR project file. Each bank can also be saved as a .SYX file.
What Is System Exclusive? System Exclusive data is MIDI’s way of letting each synthesizer manufacturer transmit private data about its products. A System Exclusive message has a manufacturer ID; the rest of the message is completely proprietary and varies for each manufacturer, even for each of its products. SONAR does not understand what this data means; it simply can hold onto it for you.
contain a single System Exclusive message up to 255 bytes long. You can view the message bytes in the Event List view. Sysx Data events can be recorded in real time. See Real-time Recording of System Exclusive Messages for more information. See: Using the System Exclusive View Transmitting Banks During Playback Real-time Recording of System Exclusive Messages Sysx Echo Sending Sysx Banks at Startup Sysx .
Editing Sysx Banks Sending Sysx Banks at Startup Real-time Recording of System Exclusive Messages Transmitting Banks During Playback Sysx View Buttons Sending Sysx Banks at Startup You can tell SONAR to send certain Sysx banks to your instrument(s) each time you open the project file that the banks are in. To Send Sysx Banks at Startup 1. In the Sysx view, select a bank that you want to send to an instrument when you open the current project. SONAR highlights the bank you select. 2.
Importing, Creating, and Dumping Sysx Banks There are several ways to get a sysx bank into SONAR: • You can import (load) an external .SYX file. • You can edit an empty bank to create a new bank from scratch. • You can dump a bank into SONAR from the synthesizer itself. To Import a Sysx Bank into a Project 1. In the Sysx view, select an empty bank to import the new bank into (unless you want to add to or overwrite an existing bank). 2. Click the Load Bank from File button . The Open dialog appears.
To Dump a Sysx Bank into SONAR 1. Choose Options-Global and click the MIDI tab, and make sure that the System Exclusive item is checked. If it isn’t, SONAR won’t receive System Exclusive messages. 2. In the Sysx view, select an empty bank to dump the new bank into (unless you want to add to or overwrite an existing bank). 3. Click the Receive Bank button keyboard). (or press c on your computer The Receive System Exclusive dialog appears, which contains a list of Dump Request Macros (DRMs).
independently. Your synthesizer manual should describe the factory-set number. When your instrument starts sending the bank, the Sysx Receive window counts the bytes as SONAR receives them. If the count stays at zero for more than a couple of seconds, something is wrong. The synthesizer may not be hooked up to the MIDI interface in both directions, or you may have answered a DRM prompt incorrectly. Click Cancel. If any data were received, you will see the number of bytes in the bank list. 6.
can be found in the instrument manual, or they can be obtained by contacting the manufacturer. Remember that a DRM must start with F0 and end with F7. Sometimes you will find that the byte size is different when you use a DRM, as opposed to initiating the dump from the instrument. It is possible the instrument is dumping some additional information when you initiate the dump from the instrument, but you should be able to use either method without any problems.
Sysx View Buttons Sysx View Buttons Here is a description of the buttons in the Sysx view. Send Send All Receive Name Auto Output Edit Bytes Clear Bank Load Bank and Save Bank Send Send transmits the current bank’s System Exclusive message. If nothing seems to happen, make sure you have correctly set the output. This button is disabled if the current bank is empty. The shortcut key is s. Send All Send All transmits all non-empty banks. The shortcut key is l.
Clear Bank This deletes the selected bank. The shortcut key is d. Name You may enter a description for a bank by clicking this button. Names are saved only in .CWP and .CWB files. The shortcut key is n. Auto The Auto option tells SONAR to transmit that bank every time it loads the project file. You might use this option for banks that contain System Exclusive messages that load a set of sounds for a synthesizer at or before the start of a project. Before transmitting, SONAR asks your permission.
Load Bank and Save Bank You can import banks from and save banks to files with the file extension .SYX. If you try to import to a bank that isn’t empty, SONAR asks if you want to append or replace. The Load and Save buttons work only with .SYX, not SONAR project files or MIDI files. You may also use this feature to copy a Sysx bank between two SONAR project files. Save the bank into a file, load the other SONAR project file, then load the bank again.
MIDI is a serial data transmission, meaning it can do only one thing at a time. If you try to upload a huge sampler dump during a fast drum solo, playback will noticeably lurch. MIDI must complete the System Exclusive message before it can resume playback. The Sysx meta-event is appropriate only for very short System Exclusive messages. The exact length depends on various factors, such as the speed of your computer but as a rule of thumb, 100 bytes is a likely maximum, and even that may often be too large.
the Output field of the track is set to the output that the MIDI instrument you want to send Sysx data to is on. See also: Sysx Echo Troubleshooting Sysx Echo You can configure SONAR to echo received System Exclusive messages to output devices. To Echo Sysx Messages 1. Choose Options-Global. 2. Select the MIDI tab. 3. Check the Echo System Exclusive option. 4. Click OK. SONAR echoes received Sysx data according to the echo settings on the MIDI Input tab of the Project Options dialog box.
SysxSendDelayMsecs=n This setting causes SONAR to delay n milliseconds if it encounters an F7 in a System Exclusive bank, but only if the line SysxDelayAfterF7=n is not zero. The line SysxDelayAfterF7=n enables a delay between Sysx messages, while the line SysxSendDelayMsecs=n sets the size of the delay. n = 60 Default value (in milliseconds) SysxDelayAfterF7=n This setting causes SONAR to delay Sysx transmission for a certain amount of time if it encounters an F7 in a System Exclusive bank.
data. Sysx Bank Names Don't Show When I Open a File Sysx bank names are only saved in .CWP and .CWB files (not in .MID files). SONAR Doesn't Include a DRM for My Instrument If there is no Dump Request Macro (DRM) for your instrument, you should select You start dump on instrument, then initiate the Sysx dump from the instrument. Once the bytes received count stops increasing, click Done to tell SONAR to stop receiving. The currently selected bank now holds the received Sysx data.
The line in TTSSEQ.INI that reads SysxDelayAfterF7=n enables SONAR to introduce a delay between each Sysx message so that the instrument has some time to respond to the message. Setting n to be 1 enables the delay. The line SysxSendDelayMsecs=n lets you control how many milliseconds the delay is, where n is the number of milliseconds that the delay lasts. Roland Equipment Some Roland equipment—notably, the GR-1 and GR-50 Guitar Synthesizers—have problems receiving Sysx packets in fast succession.
Synchronizing Your Gear Your computer is often used with other equipment: sound cards, MIDI equipment, and digital tape decks or other digital recording tools. All these devices can have their own built-in clocks or timing mechanisms. When several pieces of equipment are used together, it’s important that they operate in synchronization. For this to happen, all the equipment must rely on the same source of clock or timing information.
Clock source… Timing is determined by… SMPTE/MIDI Time Code (MTC) A time code signal (in SMPTE or some other format) recorded on some external medium or generated and sent by SONAR When you use either the internal or audio clock, SONAR can control other MIDI devices using MIDI Sync. In this case, SONAR is the “master” device and the other MIDI devices are the “slaves.” When MIDI Sync is the clock source, SONAR operates either in response to incoming MIDI messages or as the sender.
projects might be set up to use the internal clock; a second might use the Audio clock and MIDI Sync with SONAR as the master timing source; and another might use SMPTE/MTC Sync as the clock source. Many technical support requests concern synchronization problems, which are among the hardest to diagnose and duplicate over the phone. If you experience problems, before you call, perform as much experimentation and gather as much information as possible about what does and doesn’t work.
To Use the Audio Clock Source 1. Click on the Sync toolbar. OR Choose Options-Project, and click the Clock tab. 2. Check the Audio box. 3. Click OK. MIDI Synchronization MIDI Synchronization, or MIDI Sync, is usually used to synchronize SONAR with drum machines, stand-alone MIDI hardware sequencers, and sequencers built into MIDI keyboards. SONAR can slave to MIDI Sync, and can send MIDI Sync on multiple output ports.
When you start playback on the master MIDI device, for example, it sends a Start message to all slave devices, announcing that playback has started. If the slave devices are set up correctly, they receive the message and start playing back with the master device. When SONAR is set up as the master device, you can enable or disable these messages.
Tip: Make sure the Status bar is displayed when using MIDI Sync. Otherwise, you will not be able to see the MIDI Sync status messages. To display the Status bar, choose Options-Global and click the General tab. Then check the Show Status Bar box.
2. Click or source. on the Sync toolbar to use the Internal or Audio clock 3. Choose Options-Project, and click the Sync tab. 4. Check the Transmit MIDI Start/Continue/Stop/Clock box. 5. For most applications, check the Transmit MIDI Song Position Pointer box. 6. If you are using a drum machine to play patterns or loops, check the Use Start, Never Continue option and disable the Transmit MIDI Song Position Pointer option. 7.
to MIDI Sync. Most devices have a Clock option that should be set to External or MIDI. If SONAR does not respond to MIDI Sync as a slave device, verify that your external devices are configured correctly to transmit MIDI Sync. Remember that only one external device can be used as the master clock source. SMPTE/MIDI Time Code Synchronization SMPTE/MIDI Time Code Sync (SMPTE/MTC) is another method of synchronization that lets SONAR act as a master or slave to external devices.
Frame Rates Seven time code frame rates are supported in SONAR, which are normally used for the following types of applications: External Timecodes… Cakewalk Setting Description… 24 frames per second 24 FPS Used for theatrical film worldwide. Any film in North America or Japan uses this setting. 25 frames per second (EBU timecode) 25 FPS Used for PAL/SECAM video, video and some film in countries that use 50 Hz wall electricity.
For more information on frame rate time formats, see the documentation for your time code hardware. Refer to the documentation for your MIDI interface or external MIDI device for additional information about SMPTE/MTC. To Use SONAR as the Master MTC Generator 1. Configure the clocks on each external device that you want to synchronize to receive SMPTE/MTC. Make sure they’re connected to MIDI outputs from your computer or MIDI interface. 2.
• Ask first, then switch to clock source and start—this option prompts SONAR to alert you when it detects a SMPTE/MTC signal, asks if you want to sync to the incoming signal, and if you respond that you do, switches the clock source and starts to receive the signal. • Always switch the clock source and start—SONAR automatically switches to the clock source of the incoming signal and begins to receive the signal.
Note: If you want SONAR to switch its clock source to SMPTE/MTC automatically when SONAR receives a SMPTE/MTC signal, you can choose this option on the Timecode tab of the Global Options dialog.
2. Check the desired option from the Synchronization list. 3. Click OK. Audio playback under time code sync is handled according to the setting you chose. SMPTE/MTC Sync and Full Chase Lock When using SMPTE/MTC Sync with full chase lock, the first time you play any audio the pitch may fluctuate wildly for up to 30 seconds. Also, you may occasionally note the pitch of the audio sounding consistently high or low pitch.
analog source), these variations can cause noticeable changes in audio pitch, which can in turn cause audible audio distortion. Troubleshooting SMPTE/MTC Sync The most common problems with SMPTE/MTC Sync, and ways to correct or avoid them, are shown in the following table: 838 Problem… What to do… The tape is striped incorrectly Check the tape stripe using your time code generator and, if necessary, restripe the tape.
Problem… What to do… SONAR continues playing for up to one full second after the time code stops Some time code readers tolerate dropouts of up to one second, without affecting playback. When you stop the tape deck, it takes a full second for the reader to realize that this isn’t merely a dropout and to signal the end of the time code to SONAR. This does not indicate any problem with time code sync.
the equipment manufacturer for more information.) If your equipment behaves erratically with automated punch-in, don’t attempt to use it when those pieces of equipment are connected. SONAR instructs MMC devices to locate the current project position only when playback or recording is started. This prevents excessive wear on the motors and tape heads of the devices. To Configure MIDI Machine Control 1. Choose Options-Project, and click the Clock tab. 2. Select SMPTE/MTC as the clock source. 3.
Audio File Management Project files in SONAR do not contain the digital audio itself. A SONAR project file (.CWP) references the audio contained in the project, so care must be taken when backing up your digital audio projects. This section covers file management, including backing up your projects. See: Project Files and Bundle Files Audio Folders Backing Up Projects with Digital Audio Deleting Unused Audio Files The Project Files Dialog SONAR projects, extension .
How to use the Project Files Dialog The Project Files dialog has important information, including: 842 • Exactly which folders all of your audio files are saved in—know at a glance if you can backup your project by copying the audio folder and the .CWP file or if you need to do a Save As to round up files not in your project’s audio folder.
Project Files and Bundle Files SONAR project files contain various project settings, any MIDI data, and references which "point" to audio clip data. The audio data (and video data) itself is not saved in a project file. To save audio as well, save your project as a Bundle file (extension .CWB). Bundle files contain everything that a project file contains in addition to the digital audio. Bundle files are useful for backing up projects and for burning onto removable media, like a blank CD or DVD.
2. Choose a file with a .CWB extension. 3. Click Open If you have the Per-project Audio Folders option enabled in the Global Options dialog, the Unpack Bundle dialog appears. If this option is not enabled, the bundle file opens and all audio data is stored in the Global Audio Folder. 4. If you want to store the project in its own folder do the following in the Unpack Bundle dialog: • Enter a project filename in the Project Name field.
Global Audio Folders You can change the location of the Global Audio Folder. This may be necessary if, for example, your hard disk is full and you want to move all audio data storage to a different hard disk. We strongly recommend that you do not change the location of the Global Audio Folder unless absolutely necessary. If your original Global Audio Folder contains any audio files with the extension .
The Global Options dialog appears. 2. Select the Audio Data tab. 3. In the Per-Project Audio section, check or uncheck the Use Per-Project Audio Folders option. 4. Click OK to apply the change. If you enable the per-project audio folder option, the New Project File allows you to choose the directory where you want to store the new project and a subdirectory where you want to store the project’s audio data.
To Save an Existing Project Using Per-project Audio You may have older files that are not using per-project audio folders. If you want to save these files using a per-project audio folder, use the following procedure: 1. Make sure that per-project audio folders is enabled in the Global Options dialog. 2. Open the project whose audio you want to store using per-project audio. 3. Select File-Save As. The Save As dialog appears. 4. If you want, change the name of your project. 5.
1. Choose Options-Global and click the Audio Data tab. 2. Check the Always Copy Imported Audio Files option to create copies of all imported audio clips as a default. Or Uncheck Always Copy Imported Audio Files option to reference imported audio from its current location. Note: You can override this setting when importing audio by checking or unchecking the Copy Audio to Project Folder option in the Import Audio dialog. 3. Click OK when you are done.
Backup Method… Advantages … Consolidate Project Audio Allows you to create a complete backup of all project audio even if the audio is in multiple locations. Creates a new folder which you can move or delete without fear of losing the original audio files. If your project references audio from multiple folders, for example you have a library of loops that you share between several projects, you can gather all the audio for your project into a single folder using the Consolidate Project Audio command.
RW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, Zip or Jaz drive, another hard drive, network drive, etc.). You have now created a copy of your project. It is a good idea to open the project once you have backed it up to confirm that all audio loads properly. To Create a Backup Using the Consolidate Project Audio Command Use this procedure to backup a project that has multiple audio folders: 1. Open the project you want to backup. 2. Select Tools-Consolidate Project Audio. 3.
To Delete Unused Audio Files 1. Make sure all project files that contain audio are immediately accessible on a hard disk. 2. Choose Tools-Clean Audio Folder to display the Clean Audio Folder dialog box. 3. Click the Browse button to the right of the Audio Path field and navigate to the folder you want to search for unused audio files. 4. If you want to search all subfolders of the folder you chose in the Audio Path field, click the Recursive option. 5. Click the Find button.
Audio File Management Deleting Unused Audio Files
Improving Audio Performance Digital audio presents several challenges: it is large, using enormous amounts of disk space, especially at higher sampling rates and bit-depths, and it is CPU-intensive. Added to this mix is the wide variety of audio hardware available today. This section covers some common problems with recording and playback and how to configure your computer and audio hardware for optimum performance.
the Buffer Slider, which controls mixing latency. The Wave Profiler is unnecessary if you are using an ASIO driver. The DMA settings are used to ensure that a project that contains both MIDI and digital audio plays back in tight synchronization. If SONAR is not configured properly with your audio device’s DMA settings, MIDI and digital audio material may not play back correctly. Note to users of previous Cakewalk products: The DMA settings in versions of Cakewalk prior to SONAR 1.
Enabling and Disabling Audio Devices Your computer may have several installed devices like FAX modems and software synthesizers that Windows recognizes as sound cards containing audio drivers. You do not want to use these devices for audio input or output. If they are listed as audio drivers in the Audio Options dialog box, you need to disable them. To Enable or Disable an Audio Device 1. Choose Options-Audio to open the Audio Options dialog box and click the Drivers tab. 2.
While you must choose a playback timing master, you can route audio output through any number of devices at once. For example, suppose your computer has both a high-end audio card and a basic built-in sound card. You should choose the high-end sound card as the record and playback timing master. However, using the buses in the Console or Track views, you could create a headphone or monitor mix and route it through the builtin sound card. Sampling Rates SONAR supports all common sampling rates.
converts them to the project sampling rate). Bit Depths, and Float Resolution SONAR supports all common bit depths, including 64. SONAR’s 32-bit mixing provides full floating-point resolution for extended dynamic range, and precise audio processing. For maximum dynamic range and precision, you can also choose 64-bit mixing (Audio Options dialog-General tab-64-bit Double Precision Engine check box). SONAR can import, export, play back, and render 64-bit float files.
Bit Depths for Playback Bit Depths for Recording Bit Depths for Importing Audio Bit Depths for Exporting Audio Bit Depths for Rendering Audio Bit Depths for Playback Most sound cards can play audio at 16-bit or 24-bit resolution, with a few sound cards supporting 18-bit and 20-bit resolution. When your project contains files with different bit depths SONAR plays them at the bit depth that your sound card is currently set to.
• SONAR 4 does not play back projects that contain files with different bit depths (SONAR 5 and 6 do), so if you want to open a multiple bit depth project in SONAR 4, see the following procedure or a conversion procedure. To Rewrite Audio Files at Different Bit Depths 1. Use the Tools-Change Audio Format command to open the Change Audio Format dialog. 2. Choose a new bit depth in the New Bit Depth field. 3. If you’re changing to 16 bits, you can check or uncheck the Apply Dither checkbox.
Note: If you are playing back 32-bit or 64-bit audio at high sample rates (and high latency sizes), the disk I/O buffer size in the Advanced tab of the Audio Options dialog (Options-Audio command) may need to be increased to handle this extra disk streaming throughput. A too small disk I/ O buffer size can result in dropouts or clicks during audio playback of such content. If so try a higher I/O buffer size like 256 or 512. See Bit Depths, and Float Resolution for more information about 64-bit files.
2. On the Audio Data tab, under File Bit Depths, change the Render Bit Depth field to the desired number. 3. Click OK. Preparing Higher-quality Audio for CD Burning If your project uses a different sampling rate from 44,100, or contains files that are not 16-bit, use this procedure to prepare your project for CDburning: To Prepare Higher-quality Audio for CD Burning 1. Use the File-Export Audio command to open the Export Audio dialog.
Now you can burn your exported audio file to CD, using Cakewalk Pyro, or other software. SONAR Project File Compatibility Notes CWB files containing double precision 64-bit floating point files will not open in SONAR 5 or earlier versions.
digital audio, including how to get the more tracks of audio, more real-time effects, lower latency and how to fix audio dropouts. For more information see: Getting the Most Out of Your PC Mixing Latency Dropouts and Other Audio Problems Reduce GUI Updates to Improve Playback Performance Getting the Most Out of Your PC The maximum number of audio tracks you can expect to play on your computer depends on the audio sample rate, the speed of your hard disk, and the speed of your computer’s CPU.
Approach… How it works… Apply some audio effects offline If you are happy with your real-time effects, consider using the Process-Apply Audio Effects command to apply those effects offline. Then remove those effects from real-time use and free up lots of CPU power. Archive unused audio tracks Audio tracks that are muted continue to place a load on your processor. To lessen the burden and free up cycles to handle more audio, archive all unused audio tracks.
Approach… How it works… Disable the Display Clip Contents options Drawing the contents of audio clips in the Clips pane uses some CPU cycles. If you are using a slow machine, you may want to disable this feature. To do so, right-click in the Clips pane, choose View Options, and disable the Display Clip Contents option. Digital Audio Files and Storage Digital audio requires a large amount of disk storage.
Queue Buffers Status Bar/CPU Meter/Disk Meter Mixing Latency SONAR has a slider in the Audio Options dialog box, on the General tab, to set mixing latency. Mixing latency is the amount of time SONAR allocates to prepare a buffer full of audio data for playback. Lower latency settings add processing time because of the need to refill the smaller data buffers more often.
3. In the Playback and Recording section, select ASIO from the Driver Mode dropdown menu. 4. Restart SONAR. Queue Buffers SONAR allows you to set the number of queue buffers in the Audio Options dialog box, in the General tab. A higher number of queue buffers will take longer to fill, and therefore cause an increase in latency. A lower number of queue buffers decreases latency, but may cause “dropouts.” The default setting is 2.
• Sample rate and record bit depth—this field lists the project’s sample rate and the current recording bit depth • Disk Space—This field shows how many megabytes of disk space you have left on the hard drive where your wave data directory is. It also shows this amount of space as a percentage of that drive’s total space.
16-bits, try selecting the highest value possible in the Audio Driver Bit Depth setting, and work downward from there if you have to. (If your sound card’s maximum bit-depth is 20-bits and you specify an Audio Driver Bit Depth of 24 as advised above, audio data will still be sampled by your sound card in 20-bit samples, but each sample will automatically be padded with extra 0’s to produce a 24-bit sample, which will be stored at full 24-bit resolution in your project file.
data utilizes more CPU resources than working with 16-bit data. This means that for a given computer configuration, you will be able to record/play/process a smaller number of total simultaneous tracks, and use a smaller number of simultaneous real-time effects, in a 24-bit project than you would be able to in a 16-bit project. This is also true when working at higher sampling rates (i.e., a 24-bit/96khz project requires substantially more computing resources than a corresponding 16-bit/44.1khz project).
no audio data in the project), but this is a different matter and is not covered here. All of these audio problems are the result of audio information not being sent to or received from your sound card fast enough or reliably enough. During recording, the sound card sends incoming audio data to the sound card driver, which in turn sends audio data to SONAR to store on hard disk.
• Don't use any scheduled background tasks (e.g., tasks which are part of the Windows Plus package, or which you have scheduled yourself using the Windows Task Scheduler utility). • Discontinue use of any networking or communications applications on your computer. For example, don't run e-mail programs (like Microsoft Outlook), Web browsers, or AOL client software while you are running SONAR.
accept any default settings. • If you decline to use default settings (or if Wave Profiler can't find any for your sound card), Wave Profiler will analyze your sound card's capabilities by running some tests and automatically establish appropriate settings based on the test results. • If your sound card is listed at http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/ sound cardtips.html, read and follow any special card-specific operating instructions listed there. • Re-test audio recording/playback.
Try higher latency settings: • Select Options-Audio, and click the General tab. Move the Mixing Latency Buffer Size slider control to the right in small increments until you see the value to the right of the slider increase; close the dialog (click "OK") and re-test your project after each increment. • If problem(s) continue, move the slider control back to its original position, and try increasing the number in the Buffers in Playback Queue textbox.
discontiguous locations on your disk. Accessing these discontiguous chunks can consume extra processing time, which can lead to dropouts. Try defragmenting your project file: 1. Open the project file that has audio problems. 2. Save it as a Cakewalk Bundle (.CWB) file by selecting Save As from the File menu and selecting Cakewalk Bundle from the Save As Type drop down list and clicking the save button. 3. Close the project. 4.
flow of audio data to your sound card, thereby reducing the possibility of dropouts. To disable the hardware acceleration on your graphics card: Launch Control panel (Start-Settings-Control panel). Double-click the Display icon. Select the Settings tab. Click on the Advanced Properties button. Select the Performance tab. Move the slider for hardware acceleration one notch at a time toward ‘none’ and re-test your recording/playback after each such adjustment.
Optimization=1 (The default is 0; if necessary, edit the value to 1 and save the file. Restart Windows. • If you have a Matrox Millenium card: Open the SYSTEM.INI file in Notepad (or any text editor). In the section called [mga.drv], add the following line: Pcichipset=1 Edit the file as necessary, and save the file. Restart Windows.
other devices (such as a video card) that are assigned to the same IRQ, you should try moving your sound card to a different slot in your computer. Note that entries which say something like "IRQ Holder for PCI Steering" do not indicate conflicting devices, and can be ignored. • Select Options-Audio, click the Drivers tab, and make sure that only your sound card's input and output drivers are highlighted in both menus.
upgrade your computer hardware (see later items, below) or you can simplify your project’s content so it demands less processing power. If possible, try reducing the complexity of your project in any of the following ways: • Reduce the number of real-time effects used in your project. Instead of generating the effects in real-time (nondestructively) during playback, consider applying the effects offline (destructively), before beginning playback.
“compatibility mode” which can greatly slow data transfer to/from your hard disk and make it almost impossible to record/play audio in Cakewalk reliably. To do this, go to the Control Panel and double-click on the System icon. Click the Performance tab. At the top of the Performance screen read the entries across from File Systems and Virtual Memory. They both need to say "32-bit".
.INI File Picture Cache Options 3 new INI file variables that are used by picture cache generation and display: • In AUD.INI: In the [Aud] section: EnablePicCacheThreads=1 (default) This option creates extra background worker threads for the generation of wave pictures when you load a project. One worker thread is automatically created per CPU/core. Setting EnablePicCacheThreads=0 reverts back to only using a single thread for picture computation.
To Redraw Waveforms 1. Select the clips that you want to redraw. 2. Right-click a selected clip, and choose Clip Properties from the popup menu to open the Clip Properties dialog. 3. On the Audio Files tab, click the Recompute Picture(s) button. A dialog appears, asking if you want to recompute the pictures on the selected clips. 4. Click Yes.
External Devices SONAR can be controlled by a wide range of MIDI controllers and external MIDI devices. SONAR also contains two generic controller/surface plug-ins (the ACT MIDI Controller plug-in, and the Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in), which allow you to use almost any MIDI controller or controller/surface with SONAR. You can also control certain external devices from SONAR by using StudioWare or OPT (Open Plug-in Technology) panels. SONAR allows you to control soft synths as well as effect plug-ins.
Edirol PCR Controllers SONAR has a custom controller/surface plug-in that allow an Edirol PCR controller to control SONAR track, bus, and plug-in parameters (both effects and synths). This includes support for ACT (Active Controller Technology), which lets you use your controller to adjust plug-in parameters on whatever plug-in currently has focus. Using your Edirol PCR to control SONAR is as easy as: 1. Enabling the Edirol MIDI drivers in SONAR 2.
Edirol PCR model... PCR-1 Choose these input drivers... EDIROL PCR-1 MIDI In EDIROL PCR-1 1 EDIROL PCR-1 2* * See note, below. If you are using the generic drivers that come with the Windows XP operating system, the driver names for all PCR models will be: • USB Audio Device • USB Audio Device [2] • USB Audio Device [3]* 3. Click OK. To Connect an Edirol PCR to SONAR 1. Follow your controller/surface’s instructions for physically connecting your PCR to your computer. 2.
7. In the Controllers/Surfaces dialog, make sure that the WAI Display check boxes and the ACT Indicators check boxes are enabled, and click Close. To Load the Correct Edirol PCR Memory Preset 1. Press the Memory button on your Edirol PCR. 2. Use the INC and/or DEC buttons to enter “1”, which is the correct preset to control SONAR (only when you are using the default PCR factory presets). 3. Press the Enter button on your PCR.
that the MIDI Output driver or drivers that the controller/surface uses are enabled in the Outputs pane on the right side of the dialog. 4. Click OK. To Connect a Controller/Surface to SONAR 1. Follow your controller/surface’s instructions for physically connecting your controller/surface to your computer (you may need to close SONAR first). 2. In SONAR, use the Options-Controllers/Surfaces command to open the Controllers/Surfaces dialog. 3. Click the Add Controller/Surface button Surface Settings dialog.
(the WAI display, (see The WAI Display for more information) in SONAR’s interface. If you selected the ACT MIDI Controller plug-in or the Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in for your controller/surface, you can load a default set of mappings by opening the property page for either plug-in, and selecting the name of your controller/surface from the Presets window in the property page. See also: To Use ACT with the ACT MIDI Controller Plug-in To Disconnect a Controller/Surface from SONAR 1.
and Disconnecting if necessary), open the ACT MIDI Controller property page, and select a preset for your controller/surface (load the default mappings). To Open the ACT MIDI Controller Property Page 1. In the Controllers/Surfaces toolbar (Views-Toolbars-Controllers/ Surfaces command), make sure that ACT MIDI Controller appears in the dropdown menu. If you can’t find it in the dropdown menu, you need to add it in the Controllers/Surfaces dialog (see Connecting and Disconnecting if necessary). 2.
page. The Comments field will usually list the factory memory preset that your controller/surface must be using to use the ACT MIDI Controller plugin. Make sure that you have loaded the correct memory preset in your controller/surface’s memory. To Edit Default Mappings • On the Options tab, in the Rotaries, Sliders, or Buttons fields, choose the Bank of parameter mappings that you want to edit, then select a new parameter for that Bank.
Assigning Controls on Your Controller/Surface to Cells in the ACT MIDI Property Page Each cell or field on the Controllers tab of the ACT MIDI Controller property page lists the SONAR or plug-in parameter that is currently controlled by that cell. However, if your controller/surface does not have a preset, no knobs or sliders on your controller/surface will be assigned to that cell, or the knobs may be assigned in a pattern that you don’t prefer.
Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in The Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in supports both ACT and WAI. See The WAI Display, and ACT for more information. After you have connected your controller/surface (including loading the correct memory preset in your controller/surface’s memory), and selected the Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in in the Controllers/Surfaces dialog (see Connecting and Disconnecting if necessary), open the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page.
2. Find the name of your controller/surface. There may be several versions of presets for your controller/surface, if your controller/surface has multiple presets. 3. Click one of the versions. If there are no versions for your controller/ surface, see Assigning Faders and Knobs to Control SONAR Parameters. Try out the available presets for your controller/surface.
6. Move the control on your controller/surface that you want to use to control this parameter. 7. Click the Learn button in the dialog. The MIDI message that the control you moved sent out appears in the MIDI Message for the Current SONAR Parameter section. 8. You can edit how SONAR interprets this particular message if you want. See MIDI Message Interpretation for more information. 9.
is enabled, or that the Both check box is enabled. If the Both check box is enabled, your controller/surface is controlling both track parameters and plug-in parameters. 4. In SONAR, put the focus on the plug-in effect or synth -that you want to configure: either click its property page, or click its name in an FX bin. The name of the plug-in appears in the Context field in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page. 5. Enable the Learn button on the Controllers/Surfaces toolbar. 6.
MIDI messages the desired button sends out. That way, you can fill in the correct trigger values in the On and Off fields if the displayed values are incorrect.
Controlling Different Tracks or Groups of Tracks The Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in can control anywhere from 1-32 tracks simultaneously, as specified by whatever number you fill in the Number of Track Strips field in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page. There is always at least one track being controlled, referred to as the Base Track. The Number of Track Strips value refers to the base track plus ‘n’ number of additional tracks.
The property page reads the type of MIDI message and displays the characteristics in the appropriate fields. 4. Press the Tab key to accept the data. 5. Move the button or knob again and watch the display in the Controllers/ Surfaces toolbar to see if the current tracks shift by the appropriate number. Repeat this procedure, but use a different knob, and select Move 1 Left or Move Bank Left so that you can move the current track or bank to a lowernumbered one.
surface.
ACT Controls This section let's you assign buttons and knobs to control plug-ins. This section has the following controls: • Lock Context radio button—lets you assign a control on your controller/ surface to enable or disable the Lock Context check box. • Lock Context check box—when this check box is enabled, your controller/surface controls only the particular instance of the particular plug-in that had focus when you enabled this check box.
Message that is controlling the current parameter. • NRPN—With this button enabled and a NRPN number entered in the number field, SONAR moves the selected parameter whenever it receives this specific NRPN message from your controller/surface on the specified channel. • Trigger Value—For triggered actions (mute, solo, play, stop, etc.), specify the Controller, NRPN or RPN value that will trigger the current parameter.
bytes, with the low byte first. The Sysx Low Byte First option has the following structure: F0 ? LO HI ? F7. • Starts With—Fill in the string that your controller/surface sends in Sysx messages that precedes the significant data. • Ends With—Fill in the string that your controller/surface sends in Sysx messages that follows the significant data. • Sysx Trigger—Triggered targets (play, mute, solo, etc.
• On/Off—This option is currently only used with the Forward >> and Rewind << shuttle actions. You should only assign buttons to these functions if each button sends a different MIDI message when it is released from the message it sends when it is pushed. The On field displays the value the button sends when you push it, and the Off field displays the value the button sends when you release it. Global Parameters This section let's you assign buttons and knobs to control SONAR’s transport.
The WAI Display The WAI display (short for Where Am I) is a group of colored markers to show you which tracks and/or buses are currently being controlled by which controller/surface. Each controller/surface uses different colored markers. In the following picture controller/surface 1 (blue markers) is controlling tracks 2-5, and controller/surface 2 (red markers) is controlling tracks 7-14. You can drag the markers to different groups of tracks to change which tracks each controller/surface is controlling.
B A A. Red markers B. Blue markers The following table describes how you can use WAI markers: To do this... Do this… Change the group of tracks or buses that a controller/surface controls Drag the WAI markers from one group of tracks to another group, or from one group of buses to another group. Or Right-click in the WAI strip, and choose Move-[name of controller/ surface]-here from the popup menu.
To do this... Do this… Change the color of the WAI markers for a specific controller/ surface In the Controllers/Surfaces dialog (Options-Controllers/Surfaces command), in the WAI color column just to the right of the name of the controller/surface, choose a new color from the dropdown menu. See: ACT ACT Active Controller Technology (ACT) allows you to control whatever plug-in effect or soft synth currently has focus.
• Successfully connected your controller/surface to SONAR (if necessary, see Connecting and Disconnecting) • Opened the ACT MIDI Controller property page (if necessary, see To Open the ACT MIDI Controller Property Page) • Selected a preset from the ACT MIDI Controller property page Presets menu, either a factory preset for your controller/surface, or a self-created preset (if there is no preset, seeAssigning Controls on Your Controller/Surface to Cells in the ACT MIDI Property Page). 2.
5. Move the sliders/knobs on your controller/surface that you want to use to control the parameters with, in the same order that you clicked the parameters (you can reverse steps 4 and 5). 6. Disable the Learn button on the Controllers/Surfaces toolbar. 7. A dialog asks if you want to keep your assignments. Click Yes or No. Any assignments you keep are saved automatically as soon as you disable the Learn button. These assignments are global, so they are the same for every project.
SONAR includes a wide variety of StudioWare panels for popular MIDI devices, with new panels constantly under development here at Cakewalk, by equipment manufacturers, and by SONAR users. Check the Cakewalk web site (www.cakewalk.com) from time to time for new and updated StudioWare panels. StudioWare Panels SONAR comes with a variety of StudioWare panels. Some are designed to control a specific external MIDI device, while others are useful with a variety of devices.
Panel name... What it’s for...
knobs, buttons, and sliders on an external MIDI device. By moving the controls on the screen, you adjust the controls on the external MIDI device. If you want, you can also configure the StudioWare panel so that moving the controls on the external device adjusts the controls on your computer screen. Some StudioWare panels contain controls that perform other functions within SONAR, such as changing track parameters or running CAL programs.
General MIDI There are a variety of ways to adjust the values of buttons, sliders, and knobs: To change this… Do this… The status of a button Click on the button The value of a slider Click on the desired slider position to move the slider to that position, or drag the slider to the desired position The value of a knob Click along the outer edge of the knob to move the knob to that position, or drag the outer edge of the knob in a circular motion to set the desired position To change the value of
the mouse click. To adjust a knob or slider using the keyboard: • Press the - and + keys to decrease or increase the value of the selected control by the smallest amount • Press the [ and ] keys to decrease or increase the value of the selected control by steps of 10 Grouping Controls SONAR lets you create groups of StudioWare controls. When several controls are in a single group, you can move a single control and have the remaining controls in the group adjust automatically.
To Adjust a Single Control in a Group 1. Hold down the Shift key and drag the control to a new value. The range for the control is adjusted so that its current position corresponds with the current position of other controls in the group. Example: To Set Two Faders for a Crossfade 1. Move the two faders to their midpoint. 2. Click on the first fader, and then Ctrl-click on the second to create a group. 3. Move both faders to their highest position. 4. Shift-drag the second fader to its lowest position.
To set faders to move over different ranges of values, set them something like this: Fader... Starting value... Ending value... #1 0 127 #2 0 100 Recording Control Movements You can move the controls in a StudioWare panel while playing back a project to adjust the levels or other MIDI activity that the panel is designed to accommodate. In addition, you can record changes that you make to the controls in a panel so that these changes become a part of your project.
The first approach is useful, for example, when your project contains a variety of distinct sections and you want to make a sudden change in one or more settings between the sections. The latter approach is most useful when you want to create smooth transitions from one section to another. For example, you could slowly add modulation to a MIDI piano or move the faders on a digital mixing console. Once you record these changes, they will play back along with your project automatically.
button to make sure that automation parameters and changes made on the external MIDI device are displayed in the StudioWare panel. Turn this option off if you do not want to see these changes. If you are recording a snapshot while playback is in progress, you should probably disable Update. Otherwise, some of the controls may move as a result of previously recorded automation events, even while you are trying to position them correctly.
To Record a Snapshot While Playback Is in Progress 1. Make sure the button in the StudioWare toolbar is not pressed so that Update is disabled. 2. Change the Now time to a few bars or seconds before the time you wish to take the snapshot. 3. Start playback. 4. When you have reached the appropriate time, click on the Snapshot button. SONARHome Studio records a snapshot of the current control settings. To Record Control Changes in Real Time 1.
When you want to record the movements of controls within a panel, you must make sure that MIDI data from the control are directed to a MIDI track. StudioWare Panel Drawing Speed Some StudioWare panels use bitmap graphics to enhance their appearance. These graphics can slow down the speed with which a panel is displayed on some slower PCs. You can turn off these bitmap graphics by adding this line to the [WinCake] section of the CAKEWALK.INI file, as follows.
External Devices Working with StudioWare
Using Cal Cakewalk Application Language (CAL) is an event-processing language that you use to extend SONAR™ with custom editing commands. See: Running CAL Programs Sample CAL Files Running CAL Programs To interrupt a CAL program while it is running, press the Esc (Escape) key. Press OK to confirm that you want to interrupt the CAL program. As a rule, you shouldn’t interrupt a CAL program in this way unless you suspect it is stuck in an infinite loop. To Open a CAL Program 1.
SPLIT NOTE TO TRACKS.CAL SPLIT CHANNEL TO TRACKS.CAL RANDOM TIME.CAL THIN CONTROLLER DATA.CAL THIN CHANNEL AFTERTOUCH.CAL THIN PITCH WHEEL.CAL MAJOR CHORD.CAL, MINOR CHORD.CAL SPLIT NOTE TO TRACKS.CAL This program splits individual notes to separate tracks. It is useful if you have one drum track but want to split each drum to a separate track (for more flexible editing). SPLIT CHANNEL TO TRACKS.CAL This program splits a track by channel into 16 new tracks.
THIN CONTROLLER DATA.CAL This thins continuous Controller data. It prompts you for two numbers. • The number of the Controller that you want to thin. For example, MIDI assigns the Volume controller to number 7. • A thinning factor. For example, if you specify the number 3, the program deletes every third Controller event of the kind you’ve specified. This program never deletes Controllers with the values 0, 64, or 127, because the goal is to thin the data without destroying the fundamental shape of it.
Using Cal Sample CAL Files
Troubleshooting If you’re having a problem with SONAR, don’t panic. This chapter lists some common problems and how to solve them. If you don’t find an answer here, there are two other important places to look for help: • Check the ReadMe file that came with your software. It contains additional information that wasn’t available when this User’s Guide was printed. To view the Readme file, select Help-View README.RTF. • Visit our website at www.cakewalk.
Audio Distorts at Greater than 16 Bits No Sound from My Soft Synth My Pro Audio 9 Files Sound Louder/Softer When I Open Them in SONAR SONAR Can’t Find the Wavetable Synth or MPU401 I Get an Error Message When I Change a Project to 24-bit Audio Bouncing Tracks Takes a Long Time The GUI is not Smooth During Playback Audio dropouts or crash when playing back large files at maximum latency Symptom: after several seconds of playback the audio begins to cut out, although the transport appears to keep rolling.
Possible problem… What to do… Your sound card isn’t hooked up correctly. See if other programs play sound correctly through your speakers. A good program to try is the Media Player (Start-ProgramsAccessories-EntertainmentWindows Media Player). If other programs do not work, check your sound card documentation to make sure the card is properly installed and configured. You don’t have Bank and Patch settings in your MIDI track Check the Bank and Patch settings for each track.
Possible problem… What to do… Your MIDI driver is incorrect or outdated. Make sure that the driver you have installed is the correct driver for your hardware. Also try downloading and installing the latest driver release from your hardware manufacturer. Your MIDI driver is configured incorrectly. Make sure the driver’s IRQ and port address settings match the physical settings on the card. If none of these suggestions works, check our website for additional suggestions or contact technical support.
Possible problem… What to do… SONAR is not receiving MIDI data. Check the MIDI Input/Output Activity monitor on the Windows Status bar. Check to see if the left LED is flashing red. If not, then SONAR is not receiving MIDI data. Check you connections and try again. You have not set up SONAR to record. Make sure that 1) you have chosen an input for the track; 2) you have armed the track for recording; and 3) you have pressed the Record button, and not the Play button.
Possible problem… What to do… Your sound card isn’t hooked up correctly. Run the Microsoft Sound Recorder (Start-Programs-AccessoriesEntertainment-Sound Recorder). Open any wave file and see if it plays sound correctly through your speakers. If not, check your sound card documentation to make sure the card is properly installed and configured. The volume setting is turned down on your software mixer.
Possible problem… What to do… The track is not set up to receive audio input. Make sure that the input for the track you are recording (in the Track view) is set to an Audio input before recording. The software mixer is not set up properly. Double-click on the speaker icon in the Windows task bar to display the mixer. Choose Options-Properties, select Adjust Volume for Recording, and click OK. Make sure the appropriate Select boxes have checkmarks and the input volume is turned up.
synthesizer, you need to 1) check that your instrument is able to receive MIDI data on multiple channels, and 2) configure your instrument to play a different patch on each channel (this is called Multi Mode on many instruments). See the documentation for your instrument for more information. Another possibility is that you are playing back a GM (General MIDI)authored MIDI file on a non-GM compatible device. More Frequently Asked Questions.
1. Place your cursor over the splitter bar. It is located on the far right side of the Track view, just to the left of the vertical scroll bar. When you place the cursor over the splitter it changes to a double-headed arrow. 2. Click and drag the splitter bar to the left. You should be all set. More Frequently Asked Questions.
But There’s No Sound or Level SONAR has two modes that govern how fader levels function: Envelope Mode and Offset Mode. In Envelope Mode, any envelopes in the track or bus control the level, and ignore any movements you make to the fader. In Offset mode, any envelopes in the track or bus add their level to any level that the fader contributes. For example, the level you see in the Vol field of a track’s properties combines with the levels that any volume envelope in that track produces as the track plays.
7. Click on the instrument in the Uses Instrument list. 8. Click OK when you are done. If your manufacturer or instrument doesn’t appear, check our web site to see if an updated instrument definition is available. You can also create your own instrument definition. For more information on instrument definitions, see the online help topic: Instrument Definitions. More Frequently Asked Questions.
Dropouts Happen in High Bit-depth or High Sample Rate Audio If you are hearing consistent dropouts/clicks in your audio and if your project contains high bit depth (32/64 bit) or high sample rate audio (88.2K or higher), it may be indicative of a too small I/O buffer size. If so try a higher I/O buffer size like 256 or 512. If audio problems persist, reset to 128 and try a different remedy.
Safe Mode does the following: • Opens only the Track view. • Prompts you if you want to open the plug-ins saved with your project. Each plug-in gets a prompt, so you can open some and not open others. See: File Recovery Mode Audio Distorts at Greater than 16 Bits There are several settings in the Audio Options dialog box (Options-Audio command) you need to set before using audio formats greater than 16. See System Configuration. More Frequently Asked Questions.
Possible problem… What to do… Soft synth doesn’t sound when you play a MIDI controller. • Make sure that the Audio Engine button Transport toolbar is depressed. • Make sure that the MIDI track that has the focus lists the soft synth in its Output field. • If you patched the soft synth into an audio track, make sure that track is not muted. • If you patched the soft synth into a bus, make sure that at least one audio track is configured to send data to that bus.
SONAR Can’t Find the Wavetable Synth or MPU401 Follow this procedure: 1. Open the Audio Options dialog (Options-Audio command), and on the Advanced tab, check the Always Use MME Interface, Even When WDM Drivers Are Available option. 2. Click OK to close the dialog. 3. Close SONAR and reopen it. 4. Use the Options-MIDI Devices command to open the MIDI Devices dialog. 5. Highlight the Wavetable synth and/or the MPU401 (or whatever synth your sound card contains). 6. Click OK to close the dialog.
in the Audio Options dialog. You can set the bounce value to 100, or some value between 0 and 350 so that the bounce buffer will use a more efficient size for bouncing, which has different requirements from normal playback latency. For more information, see AUD.INI. More Frequently Asked Questions. The GUI is not Smooth During Playback If the GUI does not update smoothly during playback, press the Pause key to make sure you didn’t inadvertently put SONAR in CPU conservation mode.
Hardware Setup This appendix contains additional details on configuring your equipment for use with SONAR. See: Connect Your MIDI Equipment Set Up to Record Digital Audio Connect Your MIDI Equipment If you are using a MIDI interface (such as an MPU-401 or Sound Blaster MIDI option) with an external MIDI keyboard, you need to connect the equipment using MIDI cables. It is possible to connect your equipment in some rather complex ways that may cause problems.
If you are using a 15-pin joystick adapter cable that splits into two MIDI cables: • Connect the 15-pin jack to your computer’s joystick port. • Connect the In cable to your instrument’s MIDI Out jack. • Connect the Out cable to your instrument’s MIDI In jack. Here’s a checklist: Connect this... To this...
Each MIDI device should be set to a unique MIDI channel or range of channels to avoid note-doubling. Refer to the manuals for your MIDI devices for information on how to set their MIDI channels. Your MIDI interface may have a Thru jack as well as In and Out jacks. If your master keyboard lacks MIDI Thru, you can add more MIDI modules to your setup by connecting the MIDI interface’s Thru to the first module’s In. You can then chain subsequent modules onto the first module, as described earlier.
channel is being used by more than one of your MIDI devices. If no MIDI channel is assigned to duplicate devices and you hear doubling or only half as many notes as you should, see My Keyboard Doubles Every Note I Play. Set Up to Record Digital Audio In general, the inputs of sound cards take 1/8” stereo mini-jacks. Sound cards usually have two inputs—one for line level inputs and the other for microphones (at mic level). The line level input is stereo; the mic input could be either stereo or mono.
The 1/8” jack should be plugged into the sound card’s mic input, although plugging into the line input may also work. Electric Guitar Through Effects Rack You can also plug an electric guitar into an effects rack, then send the output of the rack to the sound card’s input, as shown in the following diagram: This diagram assumes that the output of the rack is at line level.
Home Stereo, CD Player, Radio Tuner, Preamp Output The output of a stereo component can be connected to the sound card’s line in, using a dual RCA to 1/8” stereo mini Y-adapter. Many portable cassette players come with this kind of adapter, or even with a single cable with all the necessary jacks.
Note: If your mixer has buses, use them! This helps to avoid feedback.
Hardware Setup Set Up to Record Digital Audio
Initialization Files Many Windows applications, as well as Windows itself, use files to store information about your preferences and configuration. Often applications store values to these files when you make selections in the program using menus or dialog boxes. However, you can also change these files directly. In some cases, there is no way to change the settings in the application, and changing the file directly is the only way.
Notepad. SONAR reads the settings in these files only when it first starts up. Therefore, if you change any settings while SONAR is running, you should exit and restart SONAR in order for the changes to take effect. See: Initialization File Format Variables in the [Options] Section Variables in the [MIDI Input Devices] Section Variables in the [MIDI Output Devices] Section Variables in AUD.INI CAKEWALK.INI TTSSEQ.INI AUD.INI Initialization File Format Initialization files all follow a common format.
See: CAKEWALK.INI TTSSEQ.INI AUD.INI CAKEWALK.INI Many of the items in CAKEWALK.INI are set using SONAR menus and dialog boxes. However, some items can be changed only by using the OptionsInitialization File command or by directly editing this file using the Windows Notepad. CAKEWALK.INI is divided into different sections. Unless otherwise noted below, all entries should appear in the section that starts with the line: [Wincake] For example, if you want to add the line PanicStrength=1 to CAKEWALK.
Initialization Files Initialization File Format
Variable... Type... JogPosTimer= (default=120) PauseOnJog=<0 or 1> (default=0; off) Default value... What it does… There are two variables that control the behavior of using a control surface jog wheel to change SONAR’s Now time: JogPosTimer is the period of the now time throttle. When a jog message comes in, SONAR sets the transport time immediately but will not set the transport time again for this length of time. During the time, SONAR just remembers the latest jog time received.
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… WavePreviewSampleFreq uency=<1-10> Integer 1 By default, waveform previews take a meter sample for each meter frame. The default interval between meter frames is 40 milliseconds. The ‘WavePreviewSampleFrequency’ CAKEWALK.INI variable lets you specify how frequently samples are taken. The value can be an integer between 1 and 10, and represents the number of frames to sample. It goes in the [Wincake] section of CAKEWALK.INI.
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… WavePreviewInputBuffers =<1-4> ) Integer 4 This variable allows control of the number of Waveform preview input buffers. The input buffers allow more efficient access to the recorded meter history on disk, and greatly speeds up performance access to previews while zooming and scrolling the clips view when waveform preview is active. You can control the actual number of history page buffers with this variable.
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… PanicStrength=<0 or 1> Boolean 0 (controller 123 only) The Panic/Reset button stops playback and turns off any stuck notes. There are two ways a MIDI note can be turned off: By a note-off message (n=1) or by MIDI controller number 123 (all notes off). By default, Panic uses controller 123 only (n=0).
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… VelocityAutoshrinkWidth=< 0 or 1> Boolean 0 If you set this to 1, solid velocity tails will become narrower by one pixel if the vertical zoom is such that notes are less than 5 pixels high. For example, with: [Wincake] VelocitySolidWidth=2 VelocityAutoshrinkWidth=1 you get bigger velocity tails (ala SONAR 4) when the notes are big enough to edit, but really thin velocities tails when the notes are too small to edit.
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… PRVUseForegroundColor= <0 or 1> Boolean 1 The Piano Roll view and Inline Piano Roll note event colors are based on the track color. By default, note events use a track’s foreground (data) color instead of the background (clip) color.
Variable... Type... Default value... What it does… PauseDuringSave=<0 or 1> f Boolean 0 By default, when saving a project file during playback, SONAR saves the file asynchronously while playback continues. While this is not a problem with most projects, complex projects under high CPU load conditions (particularly while running under low latency) may take longer to save than if the transport was not playing.
Variables in the [Options] Section Variable... Type. .. MfxLookAhead= SendResetsToSoftSynths=<0 or 1> Boolea n Default value... What it does… 960*4 Defines how much extra MIDI data is sent to MFX plug-ins, so that they have extra room to quantize events into the future. Lower values mean MFX plug-ins can work more "just in time." Example: MfxLookAhead=480. 0 This variable controls (globally) whether SONAR sends MIDI controller resets to DXi’s.
Variable... Type. .. Default value... What it does… SendLocalOn=<0 or 1> Boolea n 0 (disable) This line determines whether or not SONAR should send a Local Control ON message at exit. IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps=<0 or 1> Boolea n 0 (disable) This line determines whether or not SONAR ignores any MIDI time stamping that a MIDI driver does. If you’re experiencing increasing delays between the time you play a MIDI note on a controller and the time you hear SONAR echo it, setting this line to 1 may help.
Variable... Type. .. Default value... What it does… SysxSendPacketSize= Integer 1024 This line specifies the number of bytes between Sysx transmit delays. Sysx bytes are transmitted in packets, with a 1/18 second delay between each packet. Setting this value smaller will help slower MIDI devices (synthesizers, etc.) avoid overflowing their internal buffers.
AUD.INI The AUD.INI file can only be changed using the Windows Notepad.
Variables in AUD.INI Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… MeterFrameSizeMS=<10200> Integer 40 Meters in SONAR show peak (or RMS) values at a given instant in time. The actual peak value displayed by a meter is the highest peak recorded in an interval of time referred to as a "Meter Frame." The default size for a meter frame is 40 milliseconds, which is an accuracy of 25 FPS. The ‘MeterFrameSizeMS’ variable allows you to change the size of this interval. It goes in the [Wave] section.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… PictureDir= Path \Pictur e Cache This line specifies where to store the picture cache. FlushWriteBeforeRead=<1 or 0> Integer 0 The default setting causes SONAR to perform disk reads (for audio playback) before attempting any disk writes (for audio recording). Overriding this value by setting it to 1 causes SONAR to attempt disk writes first.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… Use24BitExtensible=<0 or 1> Boolean 0 This line goes in the section of the Aud.ini file under [name of your sound card (‘n’ in , ‘n’ out) ]. If you get an error message when you try to change the audio driver bit depth to 24, try setting this line to 1. Most USB audio devices that use WDM drivers need this line set to 1.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… GapDezipperUsec=<0-1000> Integer 500 The audio engine will now render a smooth fade in whenever audio playback is interrupted and there is a abrupt transition in gain. The purpose of doing this is to dezipper (smooth out) the gain transition due to the discontinuity. For example, if you click on the time ruler to jump to a new time location during playback, the engine will smoothly render the transition to the new gain level as a fade in.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… MixDezipperUsec=<0-1000> Integer 50 This variable is similar to GapDezipperUsec except that it controls how the mixer itself renders abrupt gain transitions due to envelopes in the project. This variable is expressed in microseconds per dB and controls the speed of the fade in to the new gain value (default = 50 microseconds). The normal legal value range for this variable is 0 to 1000 microseconds. This variable should be set in the [Wave] section.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… LinkPFSendMute=<0 or 1> Boolean 0 If this is set TRUE, pre fader sends on both tracks and buses are automatically muted when the track/bus is muted. Also if another track is soloed the pre fader sends on other tracks will be muted. This basically conforms to pre SONAR 4 behavior.
Variable... Type... Default Value... What it does… DefaultEqPosition=<0 or 1> (Producer Edition only) Boolean 0 The integrated channel EQ is pre FX bin by default, but you can change the position of any channel EQ by right-clicking the EQ plot and choosing the desired position from the context menu. The ‘DefaultEqPosition’ AUD.INI variable lets you specify the default EQ position for all new tracks/buses. This variable lives in the [Aud] section of AUD.
MIDI Files The Standard MIDI file format is a file interchange format defined by the MIDI Manufacturers Association (MMA). The purpose of the format is to allow for the exchange of MIDI data between different programs. Any program that can read and write MIDI files has a common language with which to talk to other MIDI software. The compact size of MIDI music files makes them particularly useful for delivering music online.
SONAR also lets you save and load files in the RIFF MIDI file format. This is a standard Resource Interchange File Format specification that encapsulates a Standard MIDI File of either format 0 or format 1. These files typically have an extension of .rmi. A disadvantage of MIDI files is that the way the file sounds on playback varies based upon the sound reproduction hardware you are using. The same project sounds very different on two different synthesizers or two different sound cards.
MIDI File Meta-event… How it is represented in SONAR… Meter and key signature Meter/key signature map entry Tempo Tempo change General text Track name General text in the conductor track of a Format 1 file Markers view markers Track name Track name Port number (format 1) Port assignments are maintained.
option (available through the Options-Project command, on the MIDI Out tab) whenever a MIDI file is loaded. • If a general MIDI file contains a copyright notice, the File Info window will be displayed automatically when the file is opened. Special Handling of GM, GS, and XG MIDI Files General MIDI compatibility of a song file is indicated by the presence of a special System Exclusive message at the beginning of the song.
• The MIDI file is a GM-compatible Standard MIDI Format 1 • All patches, banks and/or controllers are stored in one track • All related note events are stored in a different track When SONAR loads such a file, it may try to optimize the program changes, causing incorrect selection of synthesizer voices during playback (the GM, GS, and XG specifications all recommend the use of Standard MIDI Format 0 for distribution of music data, which would make this problem irrelevant).
MIDI Files
New Features in SONAR 7 SONAR 7 has many new features (some features are in SONAR Producer only). The following is a list and description of each new feature.
Note Hit Testing Improvements Velocity Audition Options V-Vocal Pitch-to-MIDI MIDI Activity Indicators New Instruments & Instrument Enhancements: Dimension LE Synth with Garritan Pocket Orchestra Rapture LE Synth DropZone Synth Z3TA+ Synth Rename Synths in the Synth Rack View Delete Synth Safeguards Reload Instrument Definitions Mixing, Bussing & Playback Enhancements: Sidechaining Sidechainable Sonitus Plug-ins Sidechainable Vintage Channel VC-64 Plug-in Audio I/O Assignment LP-64 EQ Plug-in LP-64 Multiban
64-bit timeline Sony Wave-64 Support New Audio File Formats Preview Bus Integrated Audio CD Ripping Cakewalk Publisher Burning Audio CDs Miscellaneous Updates: Revert Clip(s) to Original Time Stamp Import Audio / MIDI Files from Clips Pane File Recovery Mode Step Sequencer SONAR 7 introduces a new step sequencer that makes it easy to create and work with patterns. Many step sequencers use a Piano Roll grid-style interface.
To Edit an Existing Pattern To Open the Step Sequencer To Reorder a Row To Insert a Row To Delete a Row To Enable a Note To Disable a Note To Clear All Steps To Merge/Unmerge Notes To Edit A Note’s Velocity To Unlink Copied Step Sequencer Clips To Edit the Drum Map Properties of a Note To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) Step Sequencer Interface The Step Sequencer interface consists of three sections: 980 • Toolbar • Notes Pane • Controllers Pane New Features in SONAR 7 Step Sequ
A B C D E F G T U V H I J W K L M N O P Q R S A. Pattern Length (beats per measure and steps per beat) B. Fit to Quarters C. Transport and Position D. Monphonic/Polyphonic Mode toggle E. Articulation (hold) F. Swing G. Portamento H. Note name (click to audition pitch, double-click to edit Drum Map properties) I. Insert/Delete Row J. Event Type picker K. Show/hide Controllers pane L. Note number M. Mute and Solo N. Velocity Offset O. Velocity Scale P. Disabled Note Q.
• Steps per Beat—This setting specifies the number of steps per beat. The value range is 1-16 and the default value is 4 steps. Changes are undoable. Fit to Quarters—Fit to Quarters will force the pattern duration to fit the specified number of quarter notes.
enabled, a Controller 65 (Portamento) event is inserted at the start of the clip. Portamento only applies if your sound source (soft synth or external MIDI device) supports Portamento. Portamento Time—This knob adjusts the rate at which Portamento slides the pitch between two notes (the time it takes for the next note to reach its pitch). The value range is 0-127 and the default value is 0 (slowest rate). Insert Row—Click this button to insert a new row above the selected row. This command is undoable.
• Velocity Offset—Use this control to apply a velocity offset to a pitch. The value range is -127 to +127 and the default value is 0. • Velocity Scale—This control sets a level of compression or expansion for a pitch. The value range is 0.10 - 2.00 and the default value is 1.00 (no compression or expansion). A value below 1.00 is compression and a value above 1.00 is expansion. • Note Cells (steps)—Notes are enabled by left-clicking in a cell and disabled by right-clicking.
Key... Action...
Key... Action... Shift+Tab When focus is on the steps pane, move focus to the previous enabled note on the same row Alt+Left Shift the active row's steps by 1 step and wrap first step to the end Alt+Right Shift the active row's steps by 1 step and wrap the last step to the beginning Note: You can also use a mouse wheel to adjust the value of the control that has focus. When adjusting note velocities, hold down the Shift key for fine control.
A C B A. Note Name B. Notes C. Mute, Solo, Velocity Offset and Velocity Scale are separate for the drum map and step sequencer A change made in the Drum Map Manager dialog will affect the Step Sequencer and vice versa. Note: Mute, Solo, Velocity Offset and Velocity Scale are separate for the drum map and step sequencer. See: Using Drum Maps To Create a New Pattern 1. Click the MIDI track in which you want to create the new pattern. The MIDI track then becomes the active track.
To Edit an Existing Pattern Do one of the following: • Select the Step Sequencer clip that you wish to edit in the Step Sequencer and select Views-Step Sequencer. • Double-click the Step Sequencer clip. The Step Sequencer window appears. Note: A step sequencer clip can only be edited in the Step Sequencer view and not in any other MIDI editing views. To Open the Step Sequencer 1.
A A. Click here and drag up/down to reorder a row To Insert a Row Do one of the following: • Click the Insert Row button • Press the Insert key. . Or 1. Right-click in the blank space between two rows where you wish to insert a new row. A popup menu appears. 2. Select Insert Row from the popup menu. A new row is inserted. A A. Right-click here to show the popup menu To Delete a Row Do one of the following: • Click the Delete Row button • Press the Delete key. . Or 1.
2. Select Delete Row from the popup menu. The row is deleted. A A. Right-click here to show the popup menu To Enable a Note Do one of the following: • To enable a single note—click on the note that you wish to enable. • To enable multiple notes of the same pitch—click on the first note that you wish to enable and drag across all other notes you wish to enable. The note(s) is enabled. SONAR creates a new Step Sequencer clip when you enable the first note in an empty pattern. A A.
A A. Right-click a note to disable the step To Clear All Steps To clear all steps in the pattern: 1. Right-click in the blank space below any row. A popup menu appears. 2. Select Clear All from the popup menu. All steps are cleared. A A. Right-click here to show the popup menu To Merge/Unmerge Notes Do one of the following: • Merge two adjacent notes—Ctrl-click between the two notes. • Unmerge two adjacent notes—Ctrl+right-click between the two notes.
D A B B C A. Unmerged note B. Merged notes C. Ctrl-click here to merge notes D. Ctrl+rightclick here to unmerge notes To Edit A Note’s Velocity Do one of the following: • Double-click a note and enter the desired velocity value. • Click a note to give it focus and use a mouse wheel to adjust the velocity value. Hold down the Shift key for fine control. The note’s velocity value is shown inside the note cell (step).
2. Configure the drum map properties as desired. For more information, see The Map Properties Dialog. Clicking on another row in the Step Sequencer window will update the Map Properties to display information for the new row. A A. Double-click the note name to open the Map Properties dialog See: The Map Properties Dialog To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) You can convert any existing MIDI clip into a step sequencer clip: 1.
When converting a MIDI clip to a Step Sequencer clip, the resulting clip will essentially be a quantized version of the original clip. The start of the clips will be the same and the first notes will be the same. The only thing that will possibly be different is the length of the clip (due to quantizing) and the notes in it may be moved slightly so they fit into the steps.
Mouse Location Tool Action Default PRV Tool Assignments The PRV Tool Configuration Dialog You use the PRV Tool Configuration dialog to configure the Piano Roll tools. In order to assign a specific action to a Piano Roll tool, you must specify the following: • Piano Roll tool—specify “PRV Tool 1” ( “PRV Tool 3” ( ), “PRV Tool 2” ( ) or ). • Mouse button—specify the left, middle or right mouse button.
A C B D E F A. Tool B. Context C. Keys D. Mouse Button E. Mouse Location F. Tool Action See: Tool Mouse Button Keys Mouse Location Tool Action To Configure a Mouse Action Default PRV Tool Assignments Tool The Tool combobox lists the three Piano Roll tools: 996 • PRV Tool 1—This tool corresponds to the Select tool ( Roll toolbar. ) in the Piano • PRV Tool 2—This tool corresponds to the Draw tool ( Roll toolbar.
• PRV Tool 3—This tool corresponds to the Erase tool ( Roll toolbar. ) in the Piano See: To Edit Notes with the Draw Tool To Edit Notes with the Select Tool To Use the Erase Tool Mouse Button In previous versions of SONAR, only the left mouse button was used by the Piano Roll tools.
right of the Note Slip Start zone. • Note Pitch Adjust—click the center part of a Note event. • Note Slip End (right edge)—click the right edge of a Note event. • Note Velocity Adjust—click the top part of a Note event. • Nowhere—click anywhere outside a Note event or Controller event. A diagram displays the possible mouse locations in regards to Note events and Controller events: G A F BC D E A. Controller B. Note Slip Start C. Note Time Adjust D. Note Pitch Adjust E. Note Slip End F.
• Mixed grid—this refers to the Notes pane when both Note events and Controller events are displayed together (the Controllers pane is hidden). Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... No Action n/a n/a n/a Insert/Move Note/ Controller Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Move inserted Note/Controller horizontally and vertically Commit edit buffer. Paint Notes/ Controllers Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Insert additional events at mouse position.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Paint Controllers/ Velocities Linear Add Controller to edit buffer In note grid, paint existing velocities linearly from original mouse click point. In value grid, do same as Paint Notes/Controllers Linear. Commit edit buffer. Lasso Selection Begin lasso drag Continue lasso rectangle Select all events within lasso rectangle. Obey Ctrl/Shift as standard modifiers.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Sel and Move Notes/Controllers (Vert) Select any hit event. Obey Shift/ Ctrl as standard modifiers Move selected notes/Controllers vertically only Commit edit buffer Sel and Move Notes/Controllers (Time) Select any hit event. Obey Shift/ Ctrl as standard modifiers Move selected notes/Controllers in time only (horizontally) Commit edit buffer Note Slip Start Adjust n/a Adjust start time and duration of selected notes.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Event Mute Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Mute any hit event. Commit edit buffer n/a n/a Show context menu See MIDI Event Mute Context Menu To Configure a Mouse Action 1. Select Options-PRV Tool Configuration to open the PRV Tool Configuration dialog. The PRV Tool Configuration dialog appears. 2. In the Tools combobox, choose the Piano Roll tool you wish to assign (PRV Tool 1, PRV Tool 2 or PRV Tool 3). 3.
Default PRV Tool Assignments By default, SONAR 7’s PRV tools are configured to behave in similar fashion to the Draw, Select and Erase tools in SONAR 6. When using the default tool assignments, the Alt modifier key generally swaps the behavior of the Draw and Select tools, allowing you to perform most common edit operations without having to actually switch tools. Note: Some of the new tool actions, such as Note Split and Event Mute, are assigned by default to the middle mouse button.
PRV Tool 1 (Select 1004 ) Default Settings Location... Mouse Button...
PRV Tool 2 (Draw ) Default Settings Location... Mouse Button...
PRV Tool 3 (Erase ) Default Settings Location... Mouse Button... Key(s)... Action... Nowhere Left Erase Sweep Note Left Erase Sweep Controller Left Erase Sweep Piano Roll View Enhancements SONAR 7 introduces various enhancements to the Piano Roll view to improve workflow and efficiency.
MIDI Event Mute New Erase Tool Behavior Note Hit Testing Improvements Velocity Audition Options Multiple Automation Controller Lanes In previous versions of SONAR, velocities and controller events were always superimposed in the same pane in the Piano Roll view. This is often desirable, but there may be times when it is more convenient to see each controller type in its own lane.
To Create a New Lane. To Delete a Lane. To Assign an Event Type to a Lane. To Copy Events Between Lanes. To Move Events Between Lanes. Working with MIDI Data Lanes The Controller pane allows you to display and edit non-note MIDI data, such as velocity, modulation, pitch bend and continuous controllers (CCs), in multiple lanes at the bottom of the Piano Roll view.
2. Do one of the following: • Click the Plus button lane. • Press Shift+L. in the bottom left corner of any existing A new lane is inserted below the lane that was clicked (or below the active lane if you pressed Shift+L). SONAR will try to automatically assign the lane to any event type that exists in the track, provided the event type is not already assigned to another lane. To Delete a Lane To delete an existing lane, click the Minus button of the lane.
To Show/Hide Multiple Event Types in a Lane 1. Click the lane in which you wish to display multiple event types. The lane appears darker than other lanes to indicate that it is the active lane. 2. Click the small drop-down arrow in Show/Hide MIDI Event Type picker . The Show/Hide MIDI Event pop-up menu appears. 3. Select the event type you wish to show/hide in the lane. Visible event types appear checked and hidden event types appear unchecked.
A B A. Scale pane B. Right-click the lane in the scale pane To Move Events Between Lanes When you move events from one lane to another lane, the MIDI data is transformed to match the edit type in the target lane. 1. Select the event types you wish to move to another lane. See Selecting Controllers for more information. 2. In the Scale pane, right-click the lane you wish to move the selected events to. The lane context menu appears. 3. Click Move selected events to this lane.
When Microscope mode is enabled, a transparent rounded square centered on the mouse cursor shows a zoomed in region of the Piano Roll data underneath it: Only the work area under the mouse is zoomed in while the rest of the data retains its normal size.
To Enable/Disable Microscope Mode To enable/disable Microscope mode, do one of the following: • Click the Microscope Enable button in either the Piano Roll view toolbar or the inline Piano Roll toolbar in the Track view. • Choose Options-PRV Tool Configuration and toggle the Microscope checkbox. How Microscope Mode Works Position—The Microscope is always centered on the mouse position. Size—The size of the Microscope is configurable. The default diameter is 100 pixels.
To configure the Microscope mode settings, choose Options-PRV Tool Configuration to open the PRV Tool Configuration dialog. The following options are available: Microscope—Use this checkbox to enable/disable Microscope mode (enabled by default). Diagonal Size—Use this numeric entry box to specify the diameter size in pixels of the microscope. The valid range is 20-250 and the default value is 100.
Variable... Type.. . Default value... What it does… MicroscopeHZoomThreshold=<1. .20> Integer 8 By default, the Microscope mode begins horizontal magnification when a 32nd note is narrower than 8 pixels. This line lets you specify the horizontal zoom threshold (1-20 pixels). MicroscopeHZoomMax=<2.0 8.0> Integer 3.0 This line specifies the highest horizontal magnification that will result when using Microscope mode.
See: Clip Muting and Isolating (Clip Soloing) Adjust Velocity without Changing the Display Type In previous versions of SONAR, clicking on the Velocity section of a note event would automatically switch the current Edit Type to “Velocity” and also make velocity tails visible. This is normally not desirable since you may frequently want to adjust velocities while primarily working with a different edit type (Controllers, etc.).
3. When the mouse button is released, the Edit Type remains CC7 and velocity tails remain hidden. Select Controllers within Note Duration When editing MIDI data it is often necessary to align the timing of Controller events with that of Note events. For example, Sustain Pedal (CC64) events need to move along with the notes they are supposed to sustain, and Pitch Wheel events need to move along with the notes whose pitch they are supposed to modify.
Duration’ Click the Select Controllers within Note Duration button in either the Piano Roll view toolbar or the inline Piano Roll toolbar in the Track view. The toolbar button lights up when enabled. Note: the state of the Select Controllers within Note Duration mode is global and applies to both the Piano Roll view and inline Piano Roll. Show Velocity on Selected Notes (Optional) SONAR 7 introduces an option to show velocities for selected Note events.
Selection Sensitive Velocity Drawing To make it easier to edit the velocities of only certain Note events, SONAR 7 introduces new behavior that determines which Note events are eligible to be edited. If any Note events are selected, velocity painting will only affect those selected Note events. If no Note events are selected, then velocity painting will affect all Note events. Example 1. Painting velocity when some Note events are selected. Only those Note events are changed. Example 2.
Note/Controller Painting (freehand) Paint Notes/Controllers Free is one of the programmable mouse “Actions”, which can be assigned to any mouse button and key combination. For more information, see Flexible Piano Roll Tools. When you use the Paint Notes/Controllers Free action, events are painted from the mouse click position to the current mouse position.
When painting velocities in the Notes pane, existing velocities are updated as the mouse passes through Note events. When painting velocities in the Controllers pane, the behavior is the same as the Paint Notes/Controllers Free action. See: To Configure a Mouse Action Controller/Velocity Painting (linear) Paint Controllers/Velocities Linear is one of the programmable mouse “Actions”, which can be assigned to any mouse button and key combination. For more information, see Flexible Piano Roll Tools.
To Split a Note 1. In the Piano Roll view or inline Piano Roll, click the Select button enable the Select tool. to 2. Click the middle mouse button at the exact position you wish to split a Note event. The Note event is split into two separate Note events at the mouse position. Note: these instructions apply to the default mouse assignments and will not apply if you have re-assigned the Note Split mouse action to different settings (see Flexible Piano Roll Tools.
Note: these instructions apply to the default mouse assignments and will not apply if you have re-assigned the Note Glue mouse action to different settings (see Flexible Piano Roll Tools. If your mouse does not have a middle button, you may want to reassign Note Glue to another button. Drag-Quantize SONAR 7 now makes it very easy to quantize individual Note events (or other MIDI events) without having to use the Process-Quantize command.
• Move the mouse upward to move the selected events toward the quantize target times. • Move the mouse downward to move the selected events away from the quantize target times. As you drag the mouse up or down, a dynamic tooltip shows the current quantize strength (-100% to +100%). Note: these instructions apply to the default mouse assignments and will not apply if you have re-assigned the Drag Quantize mouse action to different settings (see Flexible Piano Roll Tools.
To Mute/Unmute Note/Controller Events 1. In the Piano Roll view or inline Piano Roll, click the Select button enable the Select tool. to 2. Hold down the Shift key and do one of the following: • To mute/unmute only a single Note or Controller event—click the middle mouse button on the Note/Controller event you want to mute/unmute and release the mouse button.
Note Hit Testing Improvements Note events are painted in chronological order. Note events that are later in time will be at a higher z-order (toward the top) than earlier Note events. As a result, the end time of a Note event may be obscured by a later Note event. Example 1. Two overlapping Note events. It is not clear where the first Note event ends. Example 2. The same two overlapping Note events shown as different pitches.
Example 3. In SONAR 7, the full duration of the earlier Note event is shown when hovering the mouse near the end of the Note event. Velocity Audition Options The Velocity Audition and Polyphonic Velocity Audition options have been moved to a more convenient location in the PRV Tool Configuration dialog. These two options were previously available in the Edit MIDI Event Type dropdown menu in the Piano Roll view and inline Piano Roll.
To Convert Pitch-to-MIDI Click the Pitch to MIDI button Clips pane. and drag onto a MIDI track in SONAR’s A MIDI representation of the post-correction V-Vocal audio data is copied to the MIDI track. See: Using V-Vocal MIDI Activity Indicators Each MIDI track displays a MIDI playback meter in the Track view and Console view. The MIDI meter consists of two sections: • MIDI Activity Indicator—The MIDI Activity Indicator lights up whenever a MIDI event is encountered in the track.
Pocket Orchestra This special version of the Dimension Pro synth features over 400 sound programs, ranging from real bass, organ and electric piano samples to cutting-edge synth sounds and rhythmic grooves. It also includes the special edition of the Garritan Pocket Orchestra, which has been programmed specifically for Dimension LE and features orchestral instrument libraries of unrivaled quality that include strings, brass, woodwinds, keyboards, and percussion sounds.
For more information, see the Rapture LE online help. DropZone Synth There’s no easier way to add your own style to a track. Just drag and drop a sample into DropZone, and make it part of your beat. It is the ideal synth for creating remixes or for building the perfect hook for your song. DropZone includes real instrument sounds, drums, vocals, REX-format loops and more. For more information, see the DropZone online help. Z3TA+ Synth Note: the Z3TA+ synth is only available in SONAR Producer Edition.
Whether you’re looking for lush, warm pads, slowly evolving atmospheres, searing leads or sparkling FM sounds, Z3TA+ delivers the goods, and includes hundreds of professional presets. For more information, see the Z3TA+ online help. Rename Synths in the Synth Rack View It is now possible to rename synth in the Synth Rack view. This is especially useful if you use many instances of a particular synth and you need to distinguish each instance.
Reload Instrument Definitions Users of MIDI librarian programs need the ability to update SONAR’s instrument definitions in real-time, without having to close and restart SONAR. When the Reset (Panic) button is pressed, SONAR now closes and reopens the instrument manager to reload settings from Master.ins and INSTRMAP.INI. Any changes made to patch names or other instrument definitions are reflected immediately.
Sidechaining Signal Flow Track 1 FX Bin Track 1 FX Output Sidechainable FX Bus Sidechain input Hardware Output Track 2 Output / Send Sum Bus Output / Send See also: Signal Flow To Assign a Track/Bus/Send Output to a Sidechain Input 1. Insert the sidechain-capable plug-in in a track or bus FX bin (see Adding Effects). The sidechain input is exposed in the list of available output destinations in all Track/Bus/Send Output controls (except for outputs that would result in a feedback loop). 2.
See: Real-time Bounce Sidechainable Sonitus Plug-ins Sidechainable Vintage Channel VC-64 Plug-in Signal Flow Bouncing Audio with Sidechain Plug-ins In order to render a sidechain input as part of a mix when bouncing audio, you must select all tracks that contribute to the sidechain input.
Sidechainable Vintage Channel VC-64 Plug-in Note: the Vintage Channel VC-64 plug-in is only available in SONAR Producer Edition. The Vintage Channel VC-64 plug-in now supports sidechaining (see Sidechaining). When an instance of Vintage Channel VC-64 is inserted in a project, you can assign audio track, bus and send outputs to its sidechain input. Each Compressor and EQ can be configured to listen to the sidechain input. The sidechain signal is always applied to the last input(s) of the VC-64.
C A B A. Sidechain Listen B. Enable/disable sidechaining for the current Compressor C. Enable/disable sidechaining for the current EQ For more information, see the Vintage Channel VC-64 online help. Audio I/O Assignment SONAR 7 makes it faster and more convenient to assign multiple audio input or output ports simultaneously. To Assign the Same Audio Input Port to Multiple Tracks 1. In the Track view, select the tracks whose audio input port you wish to assign. 2.
The audio input port is assigned to all selected audio tracks. To Assign Different Audio Input Ports to Multiple Tracks 1. In the Track view, select the tracks whose audio input port you wish to assign. 2. Click the small dropdown arrow in the first selected track’s Input control . The input port menu appears. 3. Choose Selected Track Input Series from the context menu. The Assign Series of Inputs dialog opens, which lets you choose the first input port in the series. 4.
Note: The Selected Track Outputs command is essentially a shortcut for the Tracks-Property-Outputs command. 4. Select the desired audio output port and click OK. The audio output port is assigned to all selected audio tracks. To Assign the Same Audio Output Port to All Stereo Buses 1. In the Track view, click the small dropdown arrow in any stereo bus’ Output control . The output port menu appears. Note: Surround buses are ignored. 2. Choose Set All Bus Outputs from the context menu.
For more information, see the LP-64 EQ online help. LP-64 Multiband Compressor Plug-in Note: the LP-64 Multiband Compressor plug-in is only available in SONAR Producer Edition. The LP-64 Multiband Compressor consists of four high-quality compressors, each operating on a single adjustable frequency band. Unlike typical limiters, the filters that split up the frequency bands in the LP-64 Multiband Compressor plug-in are of the Linear Phase variety.
External Insert Plug-in SONAR 7 includes a new plug-in called External Insert, which can be inserted in any audio FX bin. The purpose of this plug-in is to route audio to and from existing I/O ports in SONAR, allowing an external audio device to be effectively patched into any FX bin. This allows you to seamlessly incorporate your favorite outboard gear in a SONAR project.
Return Level—This is a +/- 24dB trim to the level that is passed from the external send. This parameter is automatable. Return VU Meter—This meter shows the signal level entering the external return. Return Port Picker—This control lets you choose any available hardware input. This is the port you that you should connect to the output(s) of your external gear.
J I K E F G H A B C D A. Send Stereo Mode (Left, Right, Mono) B. Send Level C. Send VU Meter D. Send Port E. Return Phase F. Return Level G. Return VU Meter H. Return Port I. Delay Measurement J. Send section K.
• Left Mute • Right Mute • Mono See: Automating Effects To Use an External Effect in a SONAR Project 1. Make sure your external gear is connected to your audio interface and turned on. The external gear’s audio input must be connected to one of your audio interface’s output ports and the external gear’s audio output must be connected to one of your audio interface’s input ports. 2. Right-click an FX bin and select External Insert from the popup menu. The External Insert property page appears. 3.
Loading a Project that uses the External Insert Plug-in When you load a project with the External Insert plug-in (or select a preset in the External Insert interface), SONAR checks to see if the exact same ports are assigned as when the project was saved. SONAR’s port assignments can change if you load the project on a different hardware configuration or change driver models.
The EQ settings are copied from the source track/bus to the target track/ bus. The target EQ will automatically be enabled if it was not already enabled. This command is undoable, so you can quickly and easily revert to a track/ bus’ previous EQ settings. Note: You can only copy settings from an EQ that is enabled. Before copy A After copy B C A. Hold down the Ctrl key and left-click in the source EQ plot B.
• Click the Dim Solo button in the Playback State toolbar. The button lights up when enabled. For more information, see The Playback State Toolbar. A A. Dim Solo enable/disable toggle • Assign Dim Solo Mode to a key binding and use the key binding to enable/disable Dim Solo mode. The Dim Solo Mode function is listed in the Global Bindings context. For more information, see Key Bindings. The Dim Solo enable/disable state is saved with each project.
Key Bindings Allow Playback with No Data SONAR is now able to start playback even if there is no data in a project. This is useful in various cases, such as: • If you need to trigger playback of external devices. • If you need to continue playback beyond the end of the project, for example, to allow MIDI notes and sustains to decay naturally and not end abruptly.
Like the Scroll Lock key, the Pause key now works as a special GUI throttle toggle key. When the Pause key is pressed, SONAR runs in a CPU conservation mode by reducing the frequency of GUI updates. For example, VU meter updates, Now position pointer and progress updates will appear to update less frequently. During CPU conservation mode, the UI is only updated once per second. This mode can also be helpful to conserve CPU while doing a real-time bounce (see Real-time Bounce).
When Fast Bounce is Disabled When Fast Bounce is disabled, the bounce is performed in real-time by actually playing back the project audibly in similar fashion to standard playback. In real-time bounce mode, all audio hardware inputs and outputs are active in order to allow I/O to external hardware inserts. If you manually stop playback during the bounce operation, SONAR will prompt you if you want to keep or cancel the bounce.
Bouncing/Freezing with Sidechain Plug-ins Sidechain inputs are not automatically included when you bounce a selection. If you want to bounce the output of a single track that contains a sidechain plug-in, the easiest solution is to also select all tracks that contribute to the plug-in’s sidechain input, and do a bounce with Fast Bounce disabled and the Source Category set to “Tracks”. Note: Freezing a track with sidechain inputs will not include the sidechain input.
New Behavior in SONAR 7 If the source category is Tracks when you bounce or export audio with no selection in SONAR 7, each wave file will be exactly the same duration as the original source track. Note: There is no change to the behavior when you export with a selection. In that case the selection is honored. 64-bit timeline SONAR 7 introduces a 64-bit timeline, which allows you to have very long project durations with high sample rates.
Wave file I/O in previous versions of SONAR was based on the RIFF file format, which references samples using a 32-bit timeline. As you can see, using a 32-bit timeline at large sample rates provides just a few hours worth of time before the 32-bit sample timeline limit is reached. While this might not be an issue for typical projects, it is a big problem for users who use SONAR for post production, video or even those who import Broadcast waves.
Sample Rate... Bit Depth... RIFF-Wave... Sony Wave-64... 192,000 Hz 32 23.3 minutes 1,667,999,862 days 192,000 Hz 64 11.65 minutes 833,999,931 days When Wave-64 Files are Created Wave-64 files are created behind the scenes automatically under the following usage scenarios: • When the number of samples recorded exceeds the file size limit of a 32-bit RIFF WAV file (approximately 2GB file size). • When you export, bounce or freeze tracks or clips and the resultant wave size exceeds 2GB.
loops). • File-Export-Audio CWP file persistence for 64-bit sample offsets The SONAR project file format now supports writing 64-bit sample offsets for regions and clips. When a project containing 64-bit sample times is detected, saving that project automatically rewrites it in this new format. Note: Projects that contain 64-bit sample times are incompatible with SONAR 6 and earlier. New Audio File Formats SONAR 7 can import and export several new audio formats.
format supported natively in Mac OS X, and is also used by QuickTime 7. Audio in Core Audio Format files can be uncompressed PCM or compressed (such as AAC). Note: 24-bit AIFF and Next/Sun files are imported as 32-bit floating point files. This is a lossless conversion. See Importing Audio CD Tracks. New Export Formats • Sony Wave64 (*.w64)—The Sony Wave64 file format is similar to the RIFF format, but is a true 64-bit file format designed to overcome the size limitations of the RIFF format.
Here is the master list of subformats now supported in SONAR 7: AIFF (Apple/SGI) (extension “aiff”) • Signed 8 bit PCM • Signed 16 bit PCM • Signed 24 bit PCM • Signed 32 bit PCM • Unsigned 8 bit PCM • 32 bit float • 64 bit float • U-Law • A-Law • IMA ADPCM • GSM 6.
• A-Law • IMA ADPCM • GSM 6.
RAW (Headerless audio file) (extension “raw”) • Signed 8 bit PCM • Signed 16 bit PCM • Signed 24 bit PCM • Signed 32 bit PCM • Unsigned 8 bit PCM • 32 bit float • 64 bit float • U-Law • A-Law SD2 (Sound Designer II) (extension “sd2”) • Signed 8 bit PCM • Signed 16 bit PCM • Signed 24 bit PCM W64 (Sony Wave-64) (extension “w64”) • Signed 16 bit PCM • Signed 24 bit PCM • Signed 32 bit PCM • Unsigned 8 bit PCM • 32 bit float • 64 bit float • U-Law • A-Law • IMA ADPCM •
• 32 bit float • 64 bit float • U-Law • A-Law • IMA ADPCM • Microsoft ADPCM • GSM 6.10 • 32kbs G721 ADPCM Preview Bus Files in the Import Audio dialog box may now be selected and previewed in any existing bus in SONAR. To Preview a File 1. Select the desired output bus in the Preview bus combo box 2. Click on the file in the file explorer pane 3. Click the Play button. 4. During playback, the Play button becomes a Stop button. Click Stop to stop playback.
The File-Import-Audio CD command supports CD Audio Track files (extension .cda). 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. See: Importing Audio CD Tracks Cakewalk Publisher You can use Publisher to create a customized streaming music player with a playlist of your music, upload the player to your personal or band's web site, and embed it in any other web site.
To Start Cakewalk Publisher There are three ways to start Cakewalk Publisher: • Click Tools-Cakewalk Publisher. • When exporting audio as an MP3 file, enable the “Add to Cakewalk Publisher” checkbox in the Export Audio dialog. • Click Start-Programs-Cakewalk-Publisher-Cakewalk Publisher. For more information about Cakewalk Publisher, see the Cakewalk Publisher online help and Add to Cakewalk Publisher.
Revert Clip(s) to Original Time Stamp All audio and MIDI clips in SONAR have a new Original Time property, which stores the original SMPTE time stamp associated with a clip. The Original Time clip property is based on absolute time, not tempo. This allows you to freely re-arrange clips and later revert them back to their original time. SONAR automatically assigns the Original Time property during import or immediately after record.
Pane It is now possible to import audio and MIDI files via the Clips pane context menu. Imported files are inserted at the Now time. To Import Audio/MIDI Files 1. In the Clips pane, right-click the track to which you want to import an audio or MIDI file. The Clips pane context menu appears. 2. Do one of the following: • Select Import Audio to import an audio file. • Select Import MIDI to import a MIDI file.
• Your hard drive might suffer data loss. • Windows delayed writes might fail leading to data corruption. • Many hard disks have a "write through cache" buffer for efficiency. Occasionally this write through buffer might not get flushed due to a driver error or system crash. In such cases data might not be flushed to your hard driver causing corrupt files (SONAR requests Windows to flush this buffer after a file save operation).
others. Important: if you choose to not open a plug-in, that plug-in is stripped out of the project, so resaving the file will cause a loss of any project specific settings for that plug-in. • Ignores various strict error checks that would normally prevent a file from loading (only applies when the original project fails to load normally). • Detects corrupt data and skips over "chunks" that are found to be invalid. E.g.
New Features in SONAR 7 File Recovery Mode
Cyclone Overview Using Cyclone Overview Click on the links below to learn more about Cyclone.
Trash button Play button Export Sound Bank Pad Stop button Auto Preview button Pad Group Import Sound Bank Volume knob Pan knob loops Sync button Loop button Key Map view tab Track handles selected pad Tracks Cyclone Toolbar Pad Groups Pad Inspector Loop View and Key Map View Pad Editor Slice Inspector Cyclone Toolbar The following graphic shows each of Cyclone’s toolbar buttons: 1068 Cyclone Overview
Import Sound Bank Export Sound Bank Preview Auto Preview Trash Stop The following table describes each of Cyclone’s buttons: Button... Description... Import Sound Bank Opens the Open dialog so you can load an existing Sound Bank. Export Sound Bank Opens the Save As dialog to save the current settings as a Sound Bank (.CYC). Trash Clears the contents of the project. Preview Plays the selected pads or slices. Stop Stops playback.
Volume Pan Pad Load Loop Sync Mute Solo A Pad Group in Cyclone has the following controls: Control... Description... Pad The trigger for playing a loop. Volume knob Adjusts the volume of the Pad Group. The volume value is displayed in the Pad Inspector. Pan knob Adjusts the pan of the Pad Group. The pan value is displayed in the Pad Inspector. File Load button Opens the Open dialog where you can navigate to the directory or directories where you store your files.
Select an audio output Click to enable tails for current track Click to force Cyclone to follow SONAR’s Pitch markers Click to toggle on/ off Latch mode In the Pad Inspector there are the following controls: Control… Description… Output You can select from one of 16 audio outputs or use the Mix Only setting to use the Master out. MIDI In You can set which MIDI channel the pad group responds to. Each pad group could have a unique MIDI Input channel.
Control… Description… Key Map—Low The lowest MIDI note value that triggers the pad group. Both the Low and High not values transpose the pitch of the loop if they are different from the Unity note value. The transposition is relative to the Unity note. The played pitch of the loop is not same as the MIDI note that triggers it unless the Unity note and the Pad Root note are the same. Key Map—High The highest MIDI note value that triggers the pad group.
Click to delete selected loop Click to load a loop Current Loop Loops Loop View and Key Map View The Loop view displays the content of the loop you have selected in the Loop bin. If the loop is an ACIDized loop, the loop’s transient markers separate the file’s slices. From the Loop view, you can drag a slice onto an event in the Pad Editor. Click to open the Key Map view Loop View Slices The Key Map view shares the same space in Cyclone as the Loop view.
Key Map Low Key Map High Curren t Loop Key Map View Unity note -- plays loop at the Pad Root pitch Key Map range appears in blue Pad Editor The Pad Editor displays up to 16 “tracks,” one for each pad in Cyclone. Each track has the same number as the pad it represents. Each track is made up of events. An event represents a slice of a ACIDized loop, or in the case of standard wave files, it represents the entire file.
• You can insert 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 synth you inserted. Then you can record MIDI data in the MIDI track to play the synth with. This method does not allow you to use multiple outputs. For step by step instructions, see Inserting Soft SynthsMulti-port Soft SynthsConverting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio.
2. Select the pad or pads you want to play by clicking on them. 3. Click the Preview button to play the selected pads. If the Loop button for that pad is depressed the loop plays indefinitely; you can stop it by clicking the Pad again. If the Loop button is not depressed, the loop stops when it reaches the end of its original length. You can stop it before then by clicking the Pad. You can also trigger the Pads with a MIDI controller, or with recorded MIDI data. To Play a Loop in Latch Mode 1.
2. In the Pad Inspector, click the Pitch Markers control. The Pitch Markers control appears green when enabled. To Assign MIDI Keys to a Pad 1. Click the Pad that you want to trigger. 2. Click the Keyboard button in the Loop view to display the Key Map view. The blue keys between the Pitch Range markers show what MIDI keys trigger the Pad. The yellow key is the Root Note, which triggers the loop at its original pitch. 3.
3. In the MIDI track’s Ch field, choose the number of the Cyclone Pad that you want to trigger with this MIDI track. Controlling Individual Pads—Volume, Pan, Mute, Solo, Sync, Looping, and Content Each Pad has the following controls: • Volume knob—turn to adjust. • Pan knob—turn to adjust. • Folder icon—click this to import a loop to an individual Pad. • Mute button—click this to mute or unmute the loop that’s assigned to an individual Pad.
Cyclone loads the loops and associated settings that make up the Sound Bank you loaded. To Clear the Contents of a Project • Click the Trash icon in the Cyclone toolbar. Cyclone deletes all loops from your project. Mixing Down Cyclone You mix down a Cyclone session the same ways you mix down any synth. For step-by-step instructions, see Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio. Loop Editing Clicking a loop in the Loop bin displays that loop in the Loop view.
To Set the Number of Divisions for a Slice You can set the number of divisions in each slice. This controls how exact the placement of your slices is within the Pad Editor. Each division represents a place where a slice can “snap to” or begin. 1. In the Pad Editor, click the down arrow next to the Snap field. 2.
Keyboard Shortcut… Description… Left and Right arrows Turn on Auto Preview, select a slice in the Loop view or Pad Editor, and use the left and right arrow keys to listen to individual beats. Undo and Redo You can undo any edit you make in Cyclone. If you decide, after you have used Undo, that you want the edit after all, you can Redo the edit. The number of edits you can Undo and Redo in Cyclone is unlimited. To Undo an Edit Press the Ctrl+Z keys. To Redo an Edit Press the Shift+Ctrl+Z keys.
Cyclone Using Cyclone
Menu Reference Use the Contents or Search tabs to find the menu command topic you are looking for. File-New The File-New command opens the New Project File dialog box where you choose a template for a new file. See New Project File dialog for more information. See also: To Create a New Project File File-Open The File-Open command opens the Open dialog box. Use the Open dialog to open an existing project. See Open dialog for more information.
File-Save The File-Save command saves the current project. If multiple projects are open, the project with the focus is saved. For more information, see Saving Your Work. File-Save As The File-Save As command opens the Save As dialog where you can save a project with the name, directory, and format you specify. The formats available are: • Normal—Also known as a Project file (extension .CWP) • Bundle—Contains all the audio and MIDI data (extension .
File-Project Audio Files The File-Project Audio Files command opens the Project Files dialog. For information, see Project Files dialog. File-Import-Audio The File-Import-Audio command lets you import digital audio information stored in wave file format into any track (or, for stereo, two tracks) of a project. The File-Import-Audio command supports the following digital audio file types: • Wave (extension .wav) • MPEG (extensions .MPEG, .MPG, .MP2, and .MP3) • Windows Media files (extension .
Importing Audio CD Tracks File-Import-Video File SONAR's File-Import-Video File command lets you include an AVI, MPEG, or QuickTime video in your project. This video is shown in real time as your project plays. The Video view displays the current 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 convenient random access to the video stream. This makes it easy to align music and digitized sound to the video.
file, or QuickTime file. The audio in your project is mixed down automatically and saved with the video in the new file. For more information about video files, see Video Playback, Import, and Export and Preparing Audio for Distribution. File-Export-MIDI Groove Clip The File-Export-MIDI Groove Clip command opens the Export MIDI Groove Clip dialog. You must first select a MIDI Groove Clip to make the command available. For more information, see Exporting, and Importing MIDI Groove Clips.
File-Send The File-Send command opens a blank e-mail message and attaches the current project. Note: If you send a project file (extension .CWP) and your project contains audio data, the audio data is not attached along with the project file. If you want to send a project that contains both MIDI and audio data, use the bundle file format (extension .CWB). For more information, see Saving Your Work.
Undo, Redo, and the Undo History Edit-Select-All The Edit-Select-All command selects everything in all open views. Any action affects all selected objects. See: Selecting and Editing Events Edit-Select-None The Edit-Select-None command cancels all selections, with the result that nothing is selected. See: Selecting and Editing Events Edit-Select-By Filter The Edit-Select-By Filter command lets you change a selection to keep only events with the criteria you specify.
Edit-Select-From = Now The Edit-Select-From = Now command lets you specify the Now time as the time from which a selection extends. The From and Thru times you select appear in the Select toolbar in the From and Thru fields. If you select a whole measure, the Thru time is the start of the next measure, which actually makes it a “to” time and not a “through” time. Edit-Select-Thru = Now The Edit-Select-Thru = Now command lets you specify the Now time as the time through which a selection extends.
with Selected Clips Clicking the dropdown arrow that’s on the right side of the Select tool button in the Track view toolbar pops up a menu to select track envelopes. When you enable this function, the menu option has a checkmark next to it. That means when you select a clip in the Clips pane, any track envelopes in that track get selected too. Edit-Cut The Edit-Cut command lets you remove from the project and put on the clipboard any selected objects.
Edit-Paste The Edit-Paste command lets you put the contents of the clipboard into any appropriate place in your project. You can specify what, where, and how to paste in the Paste dialog. To put data on the clipboard, see or Edit-Cut, Edit-Copy. See also: Moving and Copying Clips Importing Material from Another SONAR Project Importing MIDI Files Edit-Delete The Edit-Delete command removes selected objects from the project. It doesn't put them on the clipboard, so they can not be subsequently pasted.
Bouncing to Clips Edit-Bounce to Track(s) The Edit-Bounce to Tracks command lets you combine one or more audio tracks into a submix. For more information about the Edit-Bounce to Tracks command, see Bouncing Tracks. Edit-Groove Clip Looping The Edit-Groove-Clip Looping command enables a selected audio clip’s looping capabilities. When you enable these capabilities, you can make unlimited copies of the clip by dragging its start or end points to the left or right, respectively.
Edit-Split The Edit-Split command opens the Split Clips dialog, which allows you to split a selected clip into smaller clips. The command, which is also available from the Clips pane right-click menu, is greyed-out if no clips are selected. Edit-Apply Trimming Using the Edit-Apply Trimming command permanently deletes any data from a selected clip that is hidden by a slip editing edit. For step-by-step instructions, see To Permanently Delete Slip-edited Data.
For step-by-step instructions, see Converting MIDI Envelopes to Shapes. Process-Audio-Remove Silence The Process-Audio-Remove Silence command detects sections of audio that fall below a given loudness threshold, and replaces those sections with absolute silence. See also: Removing Silence Process-Audio-Gain The Process-Audio-Gain command can adjust stereo channels independently, switch channels, invert the phase of one or both channels, and produce any amount of possible gain or cut values.
Process-Audio-Fade/Envelope The Process-Audio-Fade/Envelope command lets you specify accurately the shape of a fade for a selection, clip, or track. You can specify one of the following curves, which the Fade/Envelope dialog displays for you: • Exponential Fade In • Exponential Fade Out • Inverse Exponential Fade In • Inverse Exponential Fade Out • Linear Fade In • Linear Fade Out Alternately you can manipulate any curve in the dialog box to look exactly as you want.
Process-Audio-Reverse The Process-Audio-Reverse command reverses audio data, making it play backwards. You may wish to do this to obtain unusual sounds for special effects. See also: Reversing Audio Data Process-Apply Audio Effects The Process-Apply Audio Effects command (which is greyed-out if you’re not currently using any audio effects) opens the Apply Audio Effects dialog box.
See: Applying MIDI Effects MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins) Process-Audio Fx The Process-Audio Fx-(name of effects vendor) commands display submenus of all audio effects available to you. See also: Applying Audio Effects Process-Audio Fx-Plug-in LayoutsManage Layouts The Process-Audio Fx-Plug-in Layouts-Manage Layouts command opens the Cakewalk Plug-in Manager. The Plug-in Manager dialog has its own help file, which appears when you click its Help button.
Process-Deglitch The Process-Deglitch command opens the Deglitch dialog. See also: To Use the Deglitch Filter Process-Slide The Process-Slide command opens the Slide dialog. You can move a selected track and/or its markers by a set amount of measures, ticks, seconds or frames. Positive numbers move the track to the right (forward) and negative numbers move the track to the left (backward).
of the Global Option dialog. You can assign a hotkey shortcut for this command. For more information, see Nudge. Process-Nudge-Right 2 The Process-Nudge-Right 2 command moves a selected clip to the right by any of three increments that you set in the Nudge 2section in the Nudge tab of the Global Option dialog. You can assign a hotkey shortcut for this command. For more information, see Nudge.
Process-Nudge-Down The Process-Nudge-Down command moves a selected clip down a track at a time in the Track view or a note down a pitch at a time in the Piano Roll view. For more information, see Nudge. Process-Nudge-Settings This command opens the Nudge tab of the Global Options dialog box where you can customize the three Nudge settings. For more information, see Nudge. Process-Quantize The Process-Quantize command opens the Quantize dialog.
Process-Groove Quantize The Process-Groove Quantize command opens the Groove Quantize dialog. This command adjusts the start time and duration of selected notes using a music piece as a pattern. In the Quantize dialog, you assign the groove pattern you want to use (extension .GRV), adjust the resolution of the grid (note size) and specify which track properties you want to allow the command to change.
its original length, while a value of 50 percent shrinks the selection to half its original length. This command offers the option to stretch audio clips along with the MIDI information. Sometimes you don't want to adjust the speed of your audio. 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).
Process-Transpose The Process-Transpose command transposes the pitches of note events up or down by a fixed number of half-steps. It does so by changing the MIDI key numbers of note events and by pitch-shifting audio clips. Simply enter the number of half-steps in the Amount field of the Transpose dialog box--a negative number to transpose down, a positive number to transpose up.
Process-Fade Selected Clips The Process-Fade Selected Clips command opens the Fade Selected Clips dialog, which allows you to create or edit fades on selected clips. For more information, see Fades and Crossfades. Process-Fit to Time 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.
To Fit Tempos to an Improvisation Views-Piano Roll Open the Piano Roll view with the Views-Piano Roll command, or by clicking the Piano Roll view button in the Views toolbar. The Piano Roll view displays all MIDI notes and events from one or more 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.
changes, wave files, lyrics, text strings, MCI commands, System Exclusive meta-events, and more. See: The Event List View Views-Staff Open the Staff view by using the Views-Staff command, or by clicking the Staff view button in the Views toolbar. The Staff view contains the Staff pane and the Fretboard. The Staff pane displays MIDI note events as musical notation, and the Fretboard displays MIDI notes as markers on a guitar fretboard.
Working with Lyrics Views-Loop Explorer Select Views-Loop Explorer to open the Explorer view. You can preview and import files using the Explorer view, without having to leave your work environment. For more information, see Loop Explorer View. See also: The Loop Explorer View Views-V-Vocal Editor Select Views-V-Vocal Editor to open the V-Vocal interface. V-Vocal is a vocal processor that corrects pitch, formants, timing, and can add vibrato.
See also: Preparing to Mix Views-Synth Rack Use the Views-Synth Rack command to open the Synth Rack. For more information, see Synth Rack View. Views-Video Open the Video view by using the Views-Video command, or by clicking the Video view button in the Views toolbar. The Video view lets you load digitized video files and play them back with your project. For more information on the Video view, see Video View.
Views-Tempo Open the Tempo view by using the Views-Tempo command or by clicking the Tempo view button in the Views toolbar. 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. For more information on the Tempo view, see Tempo View. See Using the Tempo Toolbar. Views-Meter/Key Open the Meter/Key view by using the Views-Meter Key command or by clicking the Meter/Key view button in the Views toolbar.
Views-Layouts The Views-Layouts command allows you to save and load layouts. SONAR stores the layout of all of a project’s views in the project file when you save the project. By default, SONAR restores the layout of all the views when you open the file. In addition, you can save the current layout in a separate list--the global layout list. Once you have saved the layout in this list, you can apply it to any open project. The global layout list can contain as many layouts as you want.
view. When docked in the Bus pane of the Track view, each view has a tab that allows you to display that view. Insert-Bank/Patch Change Use the Insert-Bank/Patch command to insert a patch change and/or a bank change. See: To Insert a Bank/Patch Change Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch) Insert-Meter/Key Change Use the Insert-Meter/Key Change command to insert a meter change and/ or a key change. See Adding and Editing Meter/Key Changes.
Insert-Marker Use the Insert-Marker command to insert a marker at a specified location. See: To Add a Marker Insert-Controllers Select Insert-Controllers from the menu to open the Insert Series of Controllers dialog. This command lets you change controller event values smoothly over a specified time range. See Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll.
For more information, see Track Folders. Insert-Insert from Track Template-More Track Templates The Insert From Track Template-More Track Templates command opens the Import Track Templates dialog. For more information about track templates, see Track Templates. Insert-Insert from Track TemplateImport Filter The Insert From Track Template-Import Filter command opens the Track Template Import Options dialog. For more information about track templates, see Track Templates.
Insert-Soft Synths The Insert-Soft Synths command displays a submenu of all installed soft synths. Clicking the name of one of the synths either displays the Insert Synth Options dialog, or inserts a synth into your project if you unchecked the dialog’s Ask This Every Time option previously. See: Inserting Soft Synths Insert-Rewire Device The Insert-Rewire Device command displays a submenu of all installed Rewire soft synths.
Transport-Record The Transport-Record command starts recording. See also: Preparing to Record Recording Music from a MIDI Instrument Recording Audio Transport-Rewind The Transport-Rewind command rewinds to the start of the project. See: Controlling Playback Transport-Stop The Transport-Stop command stops playback or recording.
Transport-Reset The Transport-Reset command stops all MIDI notes from playing and clears stuck notes. See: Handling Stuck Notes Transport-Step Record The Transport-Step Record command opens the Step Record dialog box. Step recording lets you specify step size and note duration so you can record things that are hard to play a step at a time.
Transport-Record Options The Transport-Record Options command specifies how SONAR records clips into tracks already holding other clips. The command also lets you specify whether to record takes in sequential tracks or stacked in a single track. Note: SONAR saves the recording options you choose with each project, so you can save a different recording mode with each of your projects.
Transport-Tempo Ratio 2 The Transport-Tempo Ratio 2 command changes the speed of playback. See: Using the Tempo Toolbar Transport-Tempo Ratio 3 The Transport-Tempo Ratio 3 command changes the speed of playback. See: Using the Tempo Toolbar Transport-Set Timecode at Now The Transport-Set Timecode at Now command opens the Set Timecode at Now Time dialog, which allows you to move the SMPTE time 00:00:00:00 to the current Now time.
To Change the Now Time Go-From The Go-From command sets the Now time to the From time. See: The Now Time and How to Use It Go-Thru The Go-Thru command sets the Now time to the From time. See: The Now Time and How to Use It Go-Beginning The Go-Beginning command sets the Now time to the beginning of the project. See: The Now Time and How to Use It Go-End The Go-End command sets the Now time to the end of the project.
Go-Previous Measure The Go-Previous Measure command sets the Now time to the beginning of the previous measure. See: The Now Time and How to Use It Go-Next Measure The Go-Next Measure command sets the Now time to the beginning of the next measure. See: The Now Time and How to Use It Go-Previous Marker The Go-Previous Marker command sets the Now time to the previous marker.
Go-Search The Go-Search command lets you find the next event (searching forward from the Now time) that meets criteria you specify in the Event Filter-Search dialog box (see Event Filter Select Some/Search/Replace dialog). For more information about the Go-Search command, see Searching for Events. Go-Search Next This command lets you find the next event using the criteria for your previous search command. For more information about the Go-Search Next command, see Searching for Events.
Tracks-Property-Inputs The Tracks-Property-Inputs command lets you specify input sources for all of your project’s tracks for recording purposes. For more information about the Tracks-Property-Inputs command, see Choosing an Input, and Changing Track Settings. Tracks-Property-Channel The Tracks-Property-Channel command specifies the MIDI channel through which the track plays its data.
For more information about the Tracks-Property-Time+ command, see Adjusting the Time Alignment of a MIDI Track (Time+). Tracks-Property-Bank The Tracks-Property-Bank command lets you choose the bank, or set of patch names, available for this track. For more information about the Tracks-Property-Bank command, see Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch). Tracks-Property-Patch The Tracks-Property-Patch command lets you choose the patch, or MIDI instrument sound, to use for playback.
Tracks-Property-Pan The Tracks-Property-Pan command lets you specify the stereo distribution of the output, ranging from 100% L (hard left) to 100% R (hard right), with a value of C indicating sound that is centered left-to-right. The Pan setting controls the initial pan of a track during playback. Every time you start playback, SONAR sets the pan to this initial level. For more information about the Tracks-Property-Pan command, see Adjusting Volume and Pan.
Tracks-Show Automated Mute The Tracks-Show Automated Mute command causes the Mute button on a selected track to show whether the track’s mute envelope (if any) is in the muted or unmuted position (the automated mute status). When the command is disabled, the track’s Mute button shows whether you have depressed the Mute button manually or not (the manual mute status).
Tracks-Arm for Recording The Tracks-Arm for Recording command arms or disarms all selected tracks for recording. For more information about the Tracks-Arm for Recording command, see Arming Tracks for Recording and Auto Arming. Tracks-Input Monitor/Echo Toggles on or off the Input Monitor or MIDI Echo for the selected track. Tracks-Freeze-Freeze Track This command freezes all selected tracks. For more information on the Freeze feature, see Freeze Tracks and Synths.
Tracks-Freeze-Freeze Synth This command freezes all selected synth tracks (both the MIDI track where the synth lives and the audio output track). For more information on the Freeze feature, see Freeze Tracks and Synths. Tracks-Freeze-Quick Freeze Synth This command is only available if you’ve already performed the Freeze Synth command and subsequently performed a Quick Unfreeze on it. This command returns to the same frozen state as the initial Freeze Synth command.
Tracks-Delete The Tracks-Delete command deletes one or more tracks entirely, including all its track properties and all its clips and events. SONAR does not put deleted information on the clipboard for later copying. For more information about the Tracks-Delete command, see Erasing Tracks. Tracks-Wipe The Tracks-Wipe command deletes track contents but leaves track properties intact. SONAR does not put wiped information on the clipboard for later copying.
Tracks-Layers-Show Layers The Tracks-Layers-Show Layers command displays any overlapping clips that a track contains in separate lanes in the track. For more information, see Take Management and Comping Takes. Tracks-Layers-Remove Empty Layers The Tracks-Layers-Remove Empty Layers command removes empty layers in a track. For more information, see Take Management and Comping Takes.
Draw/Erase The Tracks-Inline PRV-PRV Tool Select/Draw/Erase commands allow you to activate the Select tool, the Draw tool, or the Erase button in the Inline Piano Roll view toolbar. For more information about using the Inline Piano Roll view, see The Inline Piano Roll View. Tracks-Inline PRV-Fit Content The Tracks-Inline PRV-Fit Content command fits all displayed MIDI content in any tracks that are in PRV mode into the visible area of each Inline Piano Roll view.
Tracks-Inline PRV-Show/Hide Notes The Tracks-Inline PRV-Show/Hide Notes command hides or shows notes in all tracks that are in PRV mode (Inline Piano Roll mode). For more information about using the Inline Piano Roll view, see The Inline Piano Roll View. Tracks-Inline PRV-Display All Continuous Events The Tracks-Inline PRV-Display All Continuous Events command displays all continuous events in all tracks that are in PRV mode (Inline Piano Roll mode), regardless of the events’ previous show/hide conditions.
For more information, see Snap to Scale. Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Scale Manager The Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Scale Manager command opens the Scale Manager dialog. For more information, see Snap to Scale. Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Snap Settings The Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Snap Settings command opens the Snap Scale Settings dialog. For more information, see Snap to Scale.
For more information about the Tools-Burn Audio CD command, see Audio CD Burner dialog and the Cakewalk Publisher online help. Tools-Cakewalk Publisher Use the Tools-Cakewalk Publisher command to present and share your music online. Using 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.
Tools-Consolidate Project Audio The Tools-Consolidate Project Audio command copies all the audio used by the current project into a subfolder of the project’s audio folder. Use this command to create a backup of your project’s audio. For more information: Backing Up Projects with Digital Audio Tools-Clean Audio Folder Use the Tools-Clean Audio Folder command to delete digital audio files from an audio data directory that are no longer used by any of your projects.
Devices command opens the MIDI Devices dialog box, which lets you choose the MIDI outputs you want to use. For more information about setting up MIDI devices, see To Choose MIDI Devices and Setting Up Output Devices. Options-Instruments This command lets you choose one or more port/channel configurations and assign an instrument to it or them. SONAR lets you assign a MIDI instrument definition to each available MIDI port and channel.
Options-Audio The Options-Audio command opens the Audio Options dialog box (see below), which contains all the necessary controls to completely configure your audio setup. SONAR configures all of these options automatically, but allows you to customize them to a great degree. For more information about configuring your audio system, see System Configuration.
Options-Global Options The Options-Global command gives you access to many options you might want to set for all your projects, including settings that affect appearance, MIDI and audio functions, and auto-save.
Header This command hides or shows icons in the Track view in the headers of each track. Options-Icons-Track View-Show Custom in Header This command hides or shows custom icons in the Track view headers instead of the default icons. Options-Icons-Track View-Show in Strip This command hides or shows icons in the track strips of the Track view. Options-Icons-Track Inspector-Show Icons This command hides or shows icons in the Track Inspector.
Icons This command displays icons in the Console view in large format. Options-Icons-Console-Show Small Icons This command displays icons in the Console view in small format. Options-Icons-Synth Rack-Show Large Icons This command hides or shows icons in the Synth Rack in large format. Options-SoundFonts The Options-SoundFonts command lets you import SoundFont banks. SoundFont files contain data for patches. They are available from vendors and you can create them using the Vienna editor from Creative.
Options-Key Bindings Key bindings let you connect SONAR commands to keys on your MIDI or computer keyboard. This makes it easy for you to access specific features more quickly and efficiently. The Options-Key Bindings command opens the Key Bindings dialog box, which lets you specify which keys and key combinations to use for specific SONAR commands and files. For more information about the Options-Key Bindings command, see Key Bindings.
Options-Time Ruler Format-H:M:S:F The Options-Time Ruler Format-H:M:S:F: command, which is also available from the Clips pane popup menu, changes the unit of measurement in the time ruler to H:M:S:F units. Options-Time Ruler Format-Samples The Options-Time Ruler Format-Samples command, which is also available from the Clips pane popup menu, changes the unit of measurement in the time ruler to samples.
Options-ACT Learn The Options-ACT Learn command enables or disables the Learn button on the Controller/Surfaces toolbar. For more information, see: External Devices Controllers/Surfaces dialog Options-PRV Tool Configuration The Options-PRV Tool Configuration command opens the PRV Tool Configuration dialog, which allows you to customize the behavior of the Piano Roll tools. For more information, see PRV Tool Configuration dialog.
Help-Help Topics Use the Help-Help Topics command to open the entire help system. You can look for topics in the table of contents, in the index, and in the finder. Help-View README.RTF The Help-View README.RTF command tells you all about the current version of SONAR. Help-Quick Start The Help-Quick Start command gives you access to a number of ways to get started. For more information about the Help-Quick Start command, see SONAR Quick Start dialog.
Menu Commands Command Shortcut Edit-Select-All Ctrl+A Edit-Select-None Ctrl+Shift+A Edit-Cut Ctrl+X Edit-Copy Ctrl+C Edit-Paste Ctrl+V Edit-Groove Clip Looping Ctrl+L Edit-Clip Mute/Unmute Q Edit-Isolate Clip(s) in Layer Shift+1 Edit-Delete Delete key Insert-Marker F11 Transport-Play Spacebar Transport-Record R Transport-Rewind W Transport-Stop Spacebar Transport-Tempo Ratio 1 Ctrl+1 Transport-Tempo Ratio 2 Ctrl+2 Transport-Tempo Ratio 3 Ctrl+3 Go-Time F5 Go-From F7 G
Menu Commands Command Shortcut Go-Previous Marker Ctrl+Shift+PageUp Go-Next Marker Ctrl+Shift+PageDown Go-Search Next F3 Tools-Run CAL Ctrl+F1 Track View 1146 Command Shortcut Show/Hide Large Transport F4 Solo/un-solo current track / Help F1 Close Window Ctrl+F4 Insert track (same kind as current track; if no tracks exist, opens the Choose Track Type dialog box) Insert Open the Track Manager M Show/hide Bus pane Shift+B Toggle Envelope/Offset Mode O Select current track , (com
Track View Command Shortcut Show all tracks A Undo view change U Redo view change Shift+U Snap enable/disable N Open Snap dialog Shift+N Activate Zoom tool Z Fast Zoom In Ctrl+= Fast Zoom Out Ctrl+- Decrease track height Ctrl+Up arrow Increase track height Ctrl+Down arrow Zoom in horizontally Ctrl+Right arrow Zoom out horizontally Ctrl+Left arrow Zoom all tracks in vertically Ctrl+Down arrow Zoom all tracks out vertically Ctrl+Up arrow Zoom out on all audio waveforms Alt+Down
Track View 1148 Command Shortcut Increase current track height Ctrl+Shift+Down arrow Decrease current track height Ctrl+Shift+Up arrow Scale audio waveform in all audio tracks Alt+up/Down arrow Scale audio waveform in current audio track Ctrl+Alt+up/Down arrow Lasso zoom scale audio clip/ waveform Shift+Z (while selecting a clip) Scissors tool C Center Now time G Puts focus in Track pane Shift+Up arrow Puts focus in Bus pane Shift+Down arrow Scroll Track view up or down Page Up or Pag
Track View Command Shortcut Loop enable/disable selected clip Ctrl+L Split selected clips at Now time S Auto crossfade X Toggle on/off “sticky” Now Time (Now Time returns to Now Time Marker on stop) Ctrl+Spacebar Toggle display of the Track Inspector I Open/close current track folder Ctrl+F Mute tool on/off K Show/hide Navigator pane D Show/hide Video Thumbnail pane L Nudge left 1 NumPad 1 Nudge right 1 NumPad 3 Nudge left 2 NumPad 4 Nudge right 2 NumPad 6 Nudge left 3 NumPad 7
V-Vocal Editor Command Shortcut Open V-Vocal Editor Ctrl+Shift+V Create V-Vocal Clip Shift+V Note: All V-Vocal shortcuts in the Editor itself are listed in the V-Vocal help file. Piano Roll View Command Shortcut Select tool S Draw tool D Note: you can draw straight lines with the Draw tool by holding the Shift key down before and while you draw.
Piano Roll View Command Shortcut Open Snap dialog Shift+N Pick Track T Show/Hide Track Pane H Show/Hide the Controller pane C All Tracks A No Tracks K Invert Tracks V Insert new MIDI data lane Shift+L Show/Hide velocity tails in the Drum pane Y Show/Hide Grid lines I Show/Hide durations in the Drum pane O Zoom tool Z Scroll up/down Up or Down arrow keys Scroll left/right Left or Right arrow keys Zoom in vertically Ctrl+Down arrow Zoom out vertically Ctrl+Up arrow Undo Zoom
Step Sequencer View 1152 Command Shortcut Open the Step Sequencer View Alt+Shift+5 Insert a new row above the selected row Insert Delete the active row Delete Move focus to the previous control Left arrow Move focus to the next control Right arrow When there are multiple strips, move focus to the same control on the previous row Up arrow When there are multiple strips, move focus to the same control on the next row Down arrow When focus is on a control in the steps pane, move focus to the
Step Sequencer View Command Shortcut When focus is on the steps pane, move focus to the previous enabled note on the same row Shift+Tab Shift the active row's steps by 1 step and wrap first step to the end Alt+Left arrow Shift the active row's steps by 1 step and wrap the last step to the beginning Alt+Right arrow Staff View Command Shortcut Select tool S Draw tool D Erase tool E Scrub tool B Lyric Y Chord C Expression I Hairpin H Pedal A Snap enable/disable N Fill Durations F
Staff View Command Shortcut Quarter note 4 Eighth note 8 Sixteenth note 6 Thirty-second note 3 Dotted .
AudioSnap Command Shortcut AudioSnap Auto Stretch (Follow Tempo) Alt+F12 AudioSnap Insert Marker Ctrl+Alt+I AudioSnap Reset Selected Transient Marker(s) Ctrl+Alt+R AudioSnap Delete Inserted Marker Ctrl+Alt+Backspace AudioSnap Disable Marker Ctrl+Alt+D AudioSnap Promote Marker Ctrl+Alt+P AudioSnap Snap to Transients Ctrl+Alt+N AudioSnap Audition Beat Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar AudioSnap Show Palette Shift+A AudioSnap Show Transient Pool Ctrl+Alt+F12 AudioSnap Select All Markers Alt+Shift+A A
Event List View 1156 Command Shortcut Filter (hide) Note events N Filter Key Aftertouch events F Filter Controller events C Filter Patch Change events A Filter Channel Aftertouch Events F Filter Pitch Wheel events B Filter RPN events Z Filter NRPN events P Filter Sysx Bank events S Filter Sysx Data events Y Filter Text events X Filter Lyric events L Filter MCI Command events M Filter Audio events U Filter Shape events H Filter Expression events E Filter Hairpin events I
Event List View Command Shortcut Play single event Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar Pick Tracks T Console View Command Shortcut Move between controls Tab Delete an effect Delete Change values (small) + and - Change values (large) [ and ] Open Module manager M Toggle Envelope/Offset Mode O Loop Construction View Command Shortcut Save loop to wave file F Enable looping L Enable stretching T Follow project pitch P Preview loop Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar Stop preview Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar Select too
Loop Construction View Command Shortcut Default all markers M Enable Slice AutoPreview A Slice Auto-Preview Loop Shift+A Clip Properties C Move to Previous Slice PageUp Move to Next Slice PageDown Show/Hide Gain Envelope G Show/Hide Pan Envelope N Show/Hide Pitch Envelope K Loop Explorer View Command Shortcut Preview file Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar Stop preview Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar Synth Rack View 1158 Command Shortcut Close view Alt+F4 Move to next or previous synth Down Arrow or U
Synth Rack View Command Shortcut Increment or decrement current preset + or - Increment or decrement current preset by 10 ] or [ Navigate between synths Up/Down arrows Change preset for current soft synth + or - Insert A Rename synth F2 Properties P Open Insert Soft Synth Options dialog O Freeze F Unfreeze U Quick Unfreeze T Mute current soft synth M Solo current soft synth S All Views Command Shortcut Close Window Ctrl+F4 Next Window Ctrl+F6 Display the Track view Alt+0 (
All Views Command Shortcut Open the Loop Construction view Alt+2 Open the Console view Alt+3 Open the Event List view Alt+4 Open the Piano Roll view Alt+5 Open the Step Sequencer view Alt+Shift+5 Open the Video view Alt+6 Open the Staff view Alt+7 Open the Synth Rack view Alt+8 Open the Tempo view Alt+9 Surround Panner (large) 1160 Command Shortcut Constrains to angle Alt+drag Constrains to angle at 100% focus Alt+Shift+drag Constrains to focus only Ctrl+Shift+drag Sets panner
Surround Panner (large) Command Shortcut Move to surround panner in another track Ctrl+up/down Speaker mutes Ctrl+NumPad 0-9 Jump to speaker angle at 100% focus NumPad 0-9 n/a NumPad 0 Ls NumPad 1 Cs NumPad 2 Rs NumPad 3 Sl NumPad 4 n/a NumPad 5 Sr NumPad 6 L NumPad 7 C NumPad 8 R NumPad 9 Lc / Rc * Help-SONAR on the Web The Help-SONAR on the Web command opens your web browser to the SONAR Web page. This page has information about upgrades, patches and offers.
Help-Time Trial Activator The Help-Time Trial Activator command opens the Time Trial Activator dialog. If you have an evaluation version of SONAR and need to extend the evaluation period, this dialog allows you to enter the activation code that a Cakewalk representative can give you. Help-Cakewalk Problem Reporter The Cakewalk Problem Reporter is a tool that gathers general information about your computer and specific facts about the current open project file.
Set Start = Current This command, which you find by right-clicking a fader, button, or knob in the Track or Console views, lets you adjust the start value of a control. This command, together with the Set End = Current command, only functions when you use custom grouping. These two commands set the range that a grouped control moves through when the members of its group move through their starting and ending values.
For more information about adding tracks, see Changing Track Settings. Hide Module This command allows you to hide track and bus modules in the Console view. You find the command by right-clicking in the Console view in three different areas: • For track modules, right-click in the grey area above a track’s Phase button. • For buses, right-click in the grey area between the Send and Return knobs.
60 dB Range This command, which you find by right-clicking any audio meter in the Track view or Console view, changes the range that the meter measures to 60 dB. For more information about meters, see Metering. 42 dB Range This command, which you find by right-clicking any audio meter in the Track view or Console view, changes the range that the meter measures to 42 dB. For more information about meters, see Metering.
For more information about effects, see Audio Effects (Audio Plug-ins) and MIDI Effects (MIDI Plug-ins). View Options This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Clips pane, lets you set display options for the Clips pane. For more information about view options, see Displaying Clips, and To Display Clip Names and Contents.
Select All Siblings This command selects all clips that are linked to this clip. Unlink This command opens the Unlink Clips dialog. Select Punch Region This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Time Ruler, sets the selection start and end times to the Punch In and Punch Out times. For more information about punch recording, see Punch Recording. Snap Properties This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Time Ruler, lets you set snap options in the Snap to Grid dialog.
Envelope-Create Track Envelope-Pan This command creates a pan envelope in the track you have right-clicked in. After you have created an envelope, you can create nodes and edit them to create changes in pan as the track plays. For more information, see Quick Automation Guide. Jump This command causes an automation envelope to make a 90 degree “jump” when it reaches the next node.
Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Drag and Drop Options The Drag and Drop Options command opens the Drag and Drop Options dialog. Clip Properties This command opens the Clip Properties dialog. For more information, see Clip Properties dialog—General and Clip Properties dialog—Audio Stretching. Track Properties This command opens the Track Properties dialog. Layout The Layout command, accessed by right clicking in the Staff pane, opens the Staff View Layout dialog.
Note Length-Half This command, also available on the Staff view’s toolbar, changes selected notes to Half notes or creates new notes as Half notes. Note Length-Quarter This command, also available on the Staff view’s toolbar, changes selected notes to Quarter notes or creates new notes as Quarter notes. Note Length-Eighth This command, also available on the Staff view’s toolbar, changes selected notes to Eighth notes or creates new notes as Eighth notes.
Mirror Fretboard This command displays the Staff view’s fretboard with low strings at the top and high strings at the bottom. Rosewood Hi This command changes the fretboard to appear as if made of rosewood with high resolution. Rosewood Lo This command changes the fretboard to appear as if made of rosewood in low resolution. Ebony Hi This command changes the fretboard to appear as if made of ebony in high resolution.
Show Previous Track(s) This command displays the previous track or group of tracks. Show Next Track(s) This command displays the next track or group of tracks. Animate This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, enables or disables video playback. Disabling video playback frees your computer to process more audio data, if your project has too much data to process efficiently. For more information about video, see Video Playback, Import, and Export.
For more information about video, see Video Playback, Import, and Export. Stretch to Window This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, stretches the video to fill the Video view. For more information about video, see Video Playback, Import, and Export. Preserve Aspect Ratio This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, stretches the video as much as possible while preserving the original aspect ratio.
Time Display Format-SMPTE This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, changes the video view’s time display to SMPTE. For more information about video, see Video Playback, Import, and Export. Time Display Format-Frames This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, changes the video view’s time display to frame. For more information about video, see Video Playback, Import, and Export.
Video Properties This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Video view, opens the Video Properties dialog, where you can set the trim-in and trim-out times, and read the video file’s statistics. Add Node This command, which you find by right-clicking an envelope in the Track view, adds a node to the envelope that you clicked. For more information about envelopes, see Automation. Reset Node This command returns a node to its default value. For example a pan node would return to 0% C.
For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Patch Change This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all patch change events. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Channel Aftertouch This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all channel aftertouch events. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View.
For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Sysx Data This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all Sysx data. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Text This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all text events. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Lyric This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all lyric events.
For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Hairpin This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all hairpin events. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View. Chord This command, which you find by right-clicking in the Event List view, hides all chord events. For more information about the Event List view, see Event List View.
Enable Floating This command allows you to “float” a view (move it beyond the boundaries of SONAR. This is especially useful when using dual monitors. See: Floating Views Show Entire Project This command adjusts the vertical track heights to fit all tracks in your project in the Track view. For more information about displaying tracks, see Configuring the Console and Track Views. Zoom tool This command enables the Zoom tool feature. For more information about the Zoom tool feature, see Displaying Clips.
For more information about displaying tracks, see Configuring the Console and Track Views. Track Manager This command opens the Track Manager dialog. For more information about the Track Manager dialog, see Track Manager dialog. For more information about displaying tracks, see Configuring the Console and Track Views. Record Meters When selected with a checkmark record meters are displayed. When unchecked, record meters are not displayed.
Record Meter Options-Peak + RMS Available in the Playback Meter Options, Record Meter Options, and Mains Meter Options submenus, this command sets the meter to Peak + RMS. For more information about Peak + RMS meter display, see Metering. Record Meter Options-Show Labels This command toggles on/off the meter labels. Record Meter Options-Hold Peaks This command causes a meter to hold the most recent peak for a short time.
Playback Meter Options-Peak + RMS Available in the Playback Meter Options, Record Meter Options, and Mains Meter Options submenus, this command sets the meter to Peak + RMS. For more information about Peak + RMS meter display, see Metering. Playback Meter Options-Show Labels This command toggles on/off the meter labels. Playback Meter Options-Hold Peaks This command causes a meter to hold the most recent peak for a short time.
Output Bus Meter Options-Peak + RMS Available in the Playback Meter Options, Record Meter Options, and Mains Meter Options submenus, this command sets the meter to Peak + RMS. For more information about Peak + RMS meter display, see Metering. Output Bus Meter Options-Show Labels This command toggles on/off the meter labels. Output Bus Meter Options-Hold Peaks This command causes a meter to hold the most recent peak for a short time.
Output Bus Meter Options-Post Fader This command sets the meter to measure the volume level in the signal path after exiting the fader. Output Bus Meter Options-Pre Fader Post FX This command sets the meter to measure the volume level in the signal path after the effects bin and prior to the fader. Default Fade-In Curve-Linear This command sets as a default a linear, or steady fade-in curve when dragging the beginning of a clip. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades.
Default Fade-Out Curve-Fast Curve This command sets as a default a fast fade-out curve when dragging the end of a clip. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades. Default Fade-Out Curve-Slow Curve This command sets as a default a slow fade-out curve when dragging the end of a clip. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades.
Slow In This command sets as default a crossfade in which the first clip fades out fast and the second clip fades in slowly. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades. Default Crossfade Curves-Slow Out Fast In This command sets as default a crossfade in which the first clip fades out slowly and the second clip fades in fast. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades.
Default Crossfade Curves-Slow Out Linear In This command sets as default a crossfade in which the first clip fades out slowly and the second clip fades in at a steady rate. For more information about crossfades, see Fades and Crossfades. Percentage This command sets the Audio Scaling ruler to display the percentage of the waveform being shown. dB This command sets the Audio Scaling ruler to display the dB level of the waveform being shown.
Show only Selected Tracks Hides all tracks which are not selected. Hide Selected Tracks Hides all selected tracks. Show All Tracks and Buses Shows all tracks and buses in your project. Undo View Change Reverts the following parameters to their previous state: • Individual track sizes • Height factors • Scaling There are 16 levels of undo for this command. Redo View Change Negates the last Undo View Change command. Show All Envelopes Shows all track and clip envelopes in your project.
Show Pan Envelopes Shows all pan envelopes in your project. Show Bus Send Envelopes Shows all bus send envelopes in your project. Show Plug-in Envelopes Shows all effects envelopes in your project. Show Automated Mute Envelopes Shows all automated mute envelopes in your project. Show MIDI Envelopes Shows all MIDI envelopes in your project. Create Track Envelopes Using Linear Shapes This command, when checked, causes newly inserted envelopes to have a node at both the beginning and end of the track.
Use Pattern Velocities When the Use Pattern Velocities command is checked, the Pattern Brush creates notes using the actual velocity values saved in the current pattern file. For more information about pattern files and the Pattern Brush, see The Pattern Brush Tool. Use Pattern Polyphony When the Use Pattern Polyphony command is checked, the Pattern Brush creates notes using the actual pitch values saved in the current pattern file, regardless of where the mouse is in the Drum Grid pane.
Eighth Note An option in the Show/Hide Grid button, the Eighth Note option creates grid lines in the Drum Grid pane at eighth note intervals. Eighth Note Triplet An option in the Show/Hide Grid button, the Eighth Note option creates grid lines in the Drum Grid pane at eighth note triplet intervals (three lines per quarter note). Sixteenth Note An option in the Show/Hide Grid button, the Sixteenth Note option creates grid lines in the Drum Grid pane at sixteenth note intervals.
Follow Snap Resolution An option in the Show/Hide Grid button, the Follow Snap Resolution command sets the grid lines to match the current Snap to Grid setting. Show/Hide Inspector Toggles on or off the Track/Bus Inspector. The keyboard shortcut for this command is I. Vertical FX Bins Creates a vertical FX bin in the Track view. FX bins are vertical when this command is checked. Envelope Draw Tool-Freehand Mode Use the Envelope Draw tool in Freehand mode to edit envelopes by drawing freehand shapes.
Envelope Draw Tool-Saw Mode Use the Envelope Draw tool in Saw mode to edit envelopes by drawing triangle shapes. Envelope Draw Tool-Random Mode Use the Envelope Draw tool in Random mode to edit envelopes by drawing random shapes. Save As Track Template This command is available from the track context menu by right-clicking on a track. This command opens the Export Track Template dialog. Use this command to save a track template using the currently selected track as a template.
For more information about V-Vocal clips, see V-Vocal Clips. V-Vocal-V-Vocal Editor This command opens the V-Vocal interface. For more information about V-Vocal clips, see V-Vocal Clips. Pick Tracks Menu Use this menu to choose what tracks you want to display. Snap to Grid Click this button to turn Snap to Grid on or off. Use the dropdown menu that is next to it to set the Snap to Grid options. Select Tool Use this to select data. Erase Tool Use this to erase data.
See: To Unlink Copied Step Sequencer Clips Convert MIDI Clip(s) To Step Sequencer This command lets you convert any selected MIDI clip to a step sequncer clip. See: To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) Convert to Mono This command lets you convert any selected stereo audio clip(s) to mono. Open Clip Effects Bin This command opens the clip effects bin.
Menu Reference Open Clip Effects Bin
Beginner’s Guide to Cakewalk Software If you have little or no experience using music software to play and record music, this guide is for you. This guide explains the terms and concepts you need to know to use music software. You can get much more help in every Cakewalk program by using the Help menu, or by pressing F1 when you have any view or dialog box open. All Cakewalk programs have very basic tutorials in the Online Help that cover recording and playback.
To record, for example, an electric guitar into the computer, you plug one end of your guitar cable into your guitar, and plug the other end into the Line input of your sound card. Then you would click the Record button in your Cakewalk software, start playing your instrument, and then click the Stop button (or press the Spacebar). The Line input has a little icon next to it, which is very hard to recognize, so it usually helps to look at the documentation that came with your sound card or computer.
MIDI Audio Audio Hardware (Sound Cards) and Drivers MIDI Besides introducing MIDI in this section, we’ll explain the following MIDI topics: • MIDI Channels, Interfaces, Inputs, and Outputs • MIDI Drivers • MIDI Files, Projects, Tracks, and Clips • Controlling Which Sounds You Hear Short for Musical Instrument Digital Interface, MIDI is a system that lets an electronic instrument or computer control other instruments.
different programs. You can record MIDI music as slowly as you want, and then change the tempo in your software to play it back at any tempo you want. Audio files, however, can only play back at approximately the same tempo they were recorded at without drastically altering the sound quality. It’s easy to edit and transpose MIDI files, since they are so small and you’re just editing commands, not actual sound. MIDI files can be printed out as standard musical notation or lead sheets.
can be a stand-alone module connected to your computer’s parallel, serial, or USB port; an internal module installed in a slot inside your computer; or can be part of your sound card (the sound cards that come with most computers frequently use the joystick port as an input and output for MIDI data). Your computer sends MIDI messages to your MIDI interface, which then sends them on to your MIDI instruments. That’s how MIDI software plays MIDI instruments.
Standard MIDI cable—use this if your MIID interface has standard 5-pin input and output ports A B A. Connect one end to an OUT on your MIDI interface B. Connect the other end to an IN on your MIDI instrument MIDI instruments have inputs and outputs labeled MIDI IN and MIDI OUT. You connect a MIDI cable from one of your MIDI interface’s MIDI OUTs to a MIDI IN on an instrument. You also connect a MIDI cable from the MIDI OUT on one of your MIDI instruments to the MIDI IN on your MIDI interface.
MIDI instruments have a third port called a MIDI THRU port. This port passes through MIDI messages without changing them in any way. You can chain MIDI instruments together by connecting the MIDI THRU port on one MIDI instrument to the MIDI IN port on another instrument, with several instruments chained together that way.
highlight the names of all the outputs. The order of the outputs in the list determines what output numbers Cakewalk gives to each output. So even if an output on your interface has a label that says 1 or A, if it is not first in the list in the MIDI Devices dialog, it will not be labeled 1 in Cakewalk.
Because you stored the MIDI messages that are assigned to each sound on separate tracks, you can then control and edit the stored MIDI messages that go to one sound without changing the messages that are sent to other sounds.
Track 3 zoomed in to expose track property fields Track 3’s volume MIDI instrument that Track 3 is playing MIDI channel of Track 3 Patch name of Track 3 Transpose field In the above picture, we zoomed in far enough by dragging the Vertical Zoom fader (see previous picture) to expose the track property fields for each track.
Controlling Which Sounds You Hear Because each MIDI instrument can probably play many different sounds at the same time, you need a way to tell each instrument which tracks are meant for which sounds. You do this by assigning a MIDI channel to each track, and by assigning a specific sound, called a patch or program, to each track.
Output MIDI channel Output MIDI channel If your interface only has one output, and you chain several instruments to that output by using the MIDI THRU ports on the instruments, you can use the individual instruments’ own control panels to choose what MIDI channels they will respond to. That way, an instrument can ignore any notes or other messages that are meant for a different instrument on the chain.
Audio The audio format works by converting any sound that’s recorded into a long series of numbers, storing and usually editing the numbers, and then converting the numbers back into sound. When you record sound using this format, the microphone you use causes the voltage in its cable to change rapidly as the mic’s diaphragm vibrates. These rapid changes in voltage are measured and recorded by an analogto-digital converter, and these measurements make up what we call digital audio.
Audio MIDI Audio Playback in Cakewalk To use digital audio in Cakewalk, you first have to make sure that your sound card and its driver are properly installed. For information about sound card and driver installation, see your sound card’s documentation, and also Audio Hardware (Sound Cards) and Drivers. After you’ve successfully tested your sound card and driver, you should play back one of the sample files that came with your Cakewalk software.
Playback Troubleshooting Table Possible problem... What to do... The volume setting is turned down on your software mixer, or wave playback is muted. If your sound card only has one stereo output, your sound card probably responds to the Windows Mixer. If your sound card has more than one stereo output, it might not respond to the Windows Mixer—launch your sound card’s own mixer software if it has it, and make sure all volume settings are turned up and nothing is muted.
Possible problem... What to do... Your audio tracks are assigned to the wrong playback device. Check the playback device assignment for an audio track by clicking the track’s Output button or Out field. If the name of your sound card (the one you have connected to an amp and speakers) is not selected on the popup menu, select it. If it’s not listed, use the Options-Audio command to open the Audio Options dialog.
In the following picture, you can see the visual results of recording the first 3 notes of “Three Blind Mice” as audio in Track 1, and as MIDI in Track 2. Name of Track 1 Three Three Blind Blind Mice Mice Notice that the graph (or picture, Cakewalk stores these picture files in the Picture Cache folder in the Cakewalk Projects folder) of the audio data follows the natural decay in loudness of a sound after each note is struck.
Track-by-Track Playback Connecting an Instrument, Home Stereo, or Microphone to your Sound Card Choosing Inputs Audio Recording Audio Hardware (Sound Cards) and Drivers MIDI Clips A clip is a portion of the audio or MIDI data in a track that is bounded by a vertical line on each end of the clip. You can click a clip to select it—a selected clip becomes highlighted. After you select a clip, you can copy it, drag it to a new location, delete it, or use any command in the Edit menu to alter it.
Clips You can rearrange the sound in both audio and MIDI tracks by dragging and/or copying clips. The precision of the clips’ movement is governed by the Snap to Grid button , which you can configure by right-clicking it or by clicking the dropdown arrow that’s next to it. In the following picture, the clips in Track 1 have been moved around to reverse their order, so instead of the first three notes of Three Blind Mice, we now have Mice Blind Three.
Track-by-Track Playback You can change a track’s volume by dragging its volume fader (see picture below). You can silence a track by clicking its Mute button (any button you click lights up when it’s enabled). You can also silence all other tracks besides one if you click a track’s Solo button. You can click either of these buttons while a project is playing, and you can mute or solo as many tracks as you want.
Track status... What it means... Soloed Only those tracks that are designated as solo tracks are played; all others are muted. If a track is both muted and soloed, it does not play. Mute has precedence.
instruments such as electric guitars. The Mic input is calibrated to accept the input from microphones (however, you can usually get a better recorded sound by plugging a mic into a preamp or mixer with preamp, and plugging the preamp or mixer into the Line input). The S/PDIF input is the one to use for digital audio sources such as samplers and some CD players.
Type of sound card inputs... Cables and adapters needed... Inputs to plug into... 1/8 inch MIc and Line For most electric instruments: 1/4 inch balanced cable connected to 1/4 inch-to1/8 inch adapter. For mics that have an XLR plug on their cable: XLRto-1/4 inch adapter connected to 1/4 inch-to1/8 inch adapter. Plug instruments into the Line input; plug microphones into the Mic input. Alternatively, plug mics into preamps, and plug preamps into Line inputs.
To sound card microphone input (mono) 1/4” instrument cable 1/4” to 1/8” adapter The 1/8” plug should be plugged into the sound card’s Line input, although plugging into the Mic input will also work. If you use the Line input, make sure you have selected Line-In on the Windows Record Control dialog (Windows Mixer). If you use the Mic input, select Microphone. To open the Windows Mixer—double-click the Speaker icon that’s on your Windows taskbar to open the Play Control dialog.
Rack effects units Rack FX Rack FX Rack FX To sound card line input (stereo) Rack FX 1/4” instrument cable RCA to 1/8” adapter (stereo) 1/4” to RCA adapter (x2) This diagram assumes that the output of the rack is at line level (consult your rack’s documentation). If it is at pro level instead (+4 dB), and your sound card does not accept a +4 db input, you will need to attenuate (lower) the F/X rack’s signal. To do this, use a mixer between the rack’s output and the Y-adapter.
Microphone To sound card microphone input (mono) XLR to 1/4” microphone cable 1/4” to 1/8” adapter Home Stereo, CD Player, Radio Tuner, Preamp Output The output of a stereo component can be connected to the sound card’s Line input, using a dual RCA to 1/8” stereo mini Y-adapter. Many portable cassette players come with this kind of adapter, or even with a single cable with all the necessary plugs.
From sound card line output tto inputs #1 & 2 From Aux Bus #1 & 2 to sound card line input Stereo Amplifier Main mixer outs to power amp 1/4” instrument cable to input #3 Let’s trace the signal flow in the above picture: 1. Your pre-recorded tracks flow out of the sound card’s outputs into mixer inputs #1 and 2. 2. Both the pre-recorded tracks and the live guitar’s sound flow into the main mixer outs, where you can hear them (monitor them) through the stereo amplifier and speakers. 3.
6. If the guitar in the above picture had a stereo pickup and stereo cable, you could plug the left plug on the cable into input #3 and turn up bus send #1, and plug the right plug into input #4, and turn up bus send #2 on that input. You would then be sending a stereo signal from the guitar through buses #1 and #2 to the sound card’s line input. 7.
4. If you’re recording through the Line input, click the Select checkbox that’s at the bottom of the Line-In column, and make sure that the volume slider in that column is in the upper half of its range (if you’re recording through the Mic input, do the same actions in the Microphone column). Minimize the Windows Mixer window. 5.
Possible problem... Solution... You’re using an adapter that doesn’t quite fit the sound card input. Try moving the adapter in or out slightly, and make sure the cable is plugged all the way into it. If your sound card has multiple inputs and has its own mixer software, you probably don’t need to select inputs in the Windows Mixer.
Audio Hardware (Sound Cards) and Drivers Audio MIDI Audio Hardware (Sound Cards) and Drivers There are many different brands of sound cards on the market today. This section aims to help you get the best out of yours. See: Consumer and Professional Consumer and Professional There are many sound cards to choose from. Nearly every PC comes with one. Some are nationally known brands and others are proprietary sound cards that are made specifically for a single manufacturer.
quality, Cakewalk software is capable of 24-bit audio at a sampling rate of up to 96 KHz. • Internal—Consumer sound cards are installed in PCI slots (or ISA for older sound cards) on your PC’s motherboard. While professional sound cards are also frequently installed in PCI slots, some provide a “breakout box” which houses the analog to digital (A to D) and digital to analog (D to A) converters, keeping them away from the internal noise a PC generates (fans, hard drives, etc.).
Installation and Drivers WDM and MME IRQs Cakewalk and Audio Hardware Installation and Drivers When you install a sound card, you are installing both the hardware and software called a driver. The sound card driver is what allows your operating system and your sound card to communicate. This section is aimed at preventing problems when installing both your sound card and its driver. Installing a Sound Card Follow your sound card’s documentation for installing the sound card in your PC.
10. Click Finish. 11. In the Driver Set Up dialog, select the hardware settings that match what the multimedia device is physically set to, and click OK. 12. Click Yes to restart your computer. Installing a Driver on Windows 2000 and Windows XP You sound card should come with software, too. Some manufacturers provide a driver setup program that takes you through the driver installation. Always use the manufacturer’s software installation program if one is provided.
14. Click Finish. WDM and MME In most situations, the newer WDM (Windows Driver Model) sound card drivers that most sound card vendors are creating are a much better choice than the older MME (Multi-Media Extensions) drivers. If your sound card vendor has a WDM driver, it’s usually a good idea use it. The following table compares their characteristics: WDM… MME… Lower latency Usually higher latency Works with Windows 2000, ME, 98 SE, but not 98 Gold Works with Windows 98, and ME.
Checking IRQ Settings in Windows 98 and Windows Me If your computer is running Windows 98 or Windows Me, use this procedure: 1. Right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties from the menu that appears. The System Properties dialog appears. 2. Click the Device Manager tab. 3. In the Device Manager section, click on the Computer entry at the very top and click the Properties button. The Computer Properties dialog appears. 4.
not cause a conflict). If your sound card shares an IRQ with another device, and you are experiencing problems with your sound card, see IRQ Conflicts. IRQ Conflicts Newer motherboards often use something called ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) which controls IRQ settings, in effect overriding the motherboard IRQ settings. ACPI, just like Plug and Play, can sometimes lead to shared IRQs and problems with your sound card. Checking for ACPI on Your System: 1. Look at your IRQ settings.
• Use Cakewalk’s Wave Profiler anytime your install a new sound card—Wave Profiler determines the correct settings for your sound card. • Read the documentation for your sound card—You can save yourself a lot of time by learning about your hardware before you try to use it. Many sound cards have their own control panels which allow you to customize the card’s settings.
Dialog Reference Use the Contents tab, Index or Search tab to find the dialog you are looking for. About SONAR dialog When you use the Help-About SONAR command, the Cakewalk logo appears, with the version number of your Cakewalk product listed below it.
Apply MIDI Effects dialog When you select Apply MIDI Effects from the Process menu, the Apply MIDI Effects dialog box appears. This dialog box lets you select options for applying MIDI effects to selected MIDI data. You can choose to delete the effect from the patch point after it is applied, so that it will not be reapplied on playback. See also: Applying MIDI Effects Assign Instruments dialog The Options-Instruments command opens the Assign Instruments dialog box.
You might also want to split channels to different instruments if you have several instruments attached to a single MIDI output. For example, you might have a Roland synth receiving on MIDI channels 1-9, a Roland drum machine receiving on channel 10, and a basic GM-compatible synth receiving on channels 11 through 16. In this case, you'd use three different instrument definitions for your one and only MIDI output.
To Assign Instrument Definitions to MIDI Outputs and Channels To Clear Instrument Assignments To Create a New Instrument Assign Series of Inputs dialog The Selected Track Input Series command in the Track view Input control dropdown menu opens the Assign Series of Inputs dialog. Use this command to assign a series of consecutive mono input ports to the selected audio tracks. The First Input to Assign combobox lets you specify the audio input port that should be assigned to the first selected track.
comprise the sounds that will be written (burned) to an audio CD. Each track is contained on its own line. • Add Track—browse to your local file system and add a new track to the list. All Audio Tracks must be stereo .wav files with a sample rate of 44,100 Hz, and a bit depth of 16. New tracks will go at the end of the list but can be moved anywhere. After a track is added, its size is added to the Space Used field, and subtracted from the Space Available field.
Audio Meter Settings dialog SONAR’s meters are extremely adjustable. The Audio Meter Settings dialog allows you to adjust the rise and fall times of both the RMS and Peak Meters. These settings control meter ballistics globally for all types of meters in SONAR. The following is a description of each option: Refresh Rate (msec) This field determines how often the meters are updated. Valid values range from 25 msec (forty times per second) to 250 msec (four times per second).
• • Fall (msecec)—the time it takes for an RMS meter to register a 20dB fall in signal. Peak • Rise (msecec)—the time it takes for a Peak meter to register a 20dB rise in signal. • Fall (msecec)—the time it takes for a Peak meter to register a 20dB fall in signal.
• Dithering—choose between five available types of dithering. • Source Bus(es)—choose the bus or sound card driver you want to use to export your audio file. • Mix Enables—choose all the different audio components you want to include in your exported audio file. You usually include everything. If you include either Track FX or Bus FX, it’s a good idea to add an extra measure to the end of your project to contain any reverb tails that your effects produce.
Audio Driver Bit Depth Determines the number of bits per sample used for communicating with the audio hardware for playback. Your audio hardware must be capable of supporting the setting you supply here. In SONAR™, choose between 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24. In most cases, even if your hardware is "advertised" as being 18 or 20 bit, you will want to set this value to 24 for optimum performance.
• 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. Dim Solo Gain Dim Solo is a mode in which non-soloed audio tracks/buses are still audible but at a reduced level. The default gain reduction is -6dB, but can also be configured for -12dB and -18dB.
lower latency than the older MME type. Wave Profiler (MME and WDM drivers only) Wave Profiler attempts to detect the make and model of your sound card, which determine the card’s DMA (Direct Memory Access) settings. Once Wave Profiler identifies the card, it displays the results and asks whether you want to use the default settings for that card or to override them: If Wave Profiler has identified your card correctly, you may accept the default settings.
disk controller, or a disk controller that does not use DMA transfers, enabling caching may improve SONAR’s audio performance. Note: Changes to these settings only take effect when you restart SONAR. • I/O Buffer Size—This value determines the buffer characteristics for transfers to and from the disk. Changing this value does not affect audio latency, but will affect the disk throughput for audio tracks. The default setting is 128.
rendering (bouncing, freezing, and applying effects) on the Audio Data tab of the Global Options dialog (opens with Options-Global File-Export-Audio Pow-r types 2 and 3, lower perceived loudness than Rectangular or Triangular. Disadvantages: less noise shaping than Pow-r types 2 and 3, not recommended for operations where dither will be applied successively (e.g. bounce and freeze). • Pow-r 2—noise-shaped dither.
any effect with a “tail” (reverb, delay, etc.) to finish playing when playback is stopped. • Always Open All Devices—With this option checked, SONAR opens all enabled stereo pairs of audio outputs as soon as you press play or turn on the audio engine. Any pairs that don’t have any tracks feeding them stream silence, but are still ready for use. So if you then change a track's output assignment on the fly SONAR doesn’t have to reopen a device, which can cause gaps in playback.
In ASIO mode, the current active ASIO device (remember ASIO can only have one active at a time) reports its "Input Latency." You can't edit this value. This supposedly accounts for buffer size, A/D Conversion latency, etc. The checkbox allows you to use this reported value. It is checked by default. In any case, the amount entered into the Manual Offset field will be combined (added to) the reported value if you have it checked.
the dropdown arrow in this field. Consult your sound card’s documentation to choose the optimum setting. DMA Buffer Sizes These fields list the buffer characteristics for each sound card that the Wave Device profiler has come up with. In general, it is better not to change these settings without consulting SONAR technical support. For more information, see: Improving Audio Performance AudioSnap Options This dialog appears when you click the Options button in the AudioSnap Palette.
• Offline Rendering—this dropdown menu lets you choose the algorithm that is used when you export or freeze stretched audio. The choices in the dropdown menu are: • Groove clip—this choice works faster, using less processing power. • iZotope Radius Mix—this is better for clips containing polyphonic, stereo data. • iZotope Radius Solo—this is better for clips containing monophonic, solo instruments. • Percussion—this is the best choice for percussion sounds.
See also: Using the System Exclusive View AVI Encoder Options dialog Clicking the Encoding Options button in the Video dialog opens the AVI Encoder Options dialog. This dialog lists the AVI video and audio codecs (compression-decompression programs) that are currently installed on your computer.
• WMVideo Encoder DMO • WM9Video Encoder DMO Audio Codec 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 to No Compression. The following audio compression codecs have been found to be compatible (you may see different codecs installed on your system): • CCITT - A Law • CCITT - U Law • DSP Group TrueSpeech • PCM (this is the standard uncompressed format for wav files) • GSM 6.
over the configuration of the AVI file you are creating. The available parameters are Microsoft Direct Show settings. Bank Name dialog When you select a bank in the Sysx view and click the Name button, the Bank Name dialog box appears. This dialog box lets you specify the name of the bank you selected. A bank must contain some Sysx data before you can name it.
Bank: Select the Bank you want to use. Patch: Select the Patch you want to use. If you want to use the Patch Browser dialog, click the Patch Browser icon. See also: To Insert a Bank/Patch Change Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch) Bounce to Track(s) dialog Select Edit-Bounce to Track(s) to open the Bounce to Track(s) dialog box.
Destination Assign the track to which you want to mixdown. If you are creating more than one track of audio, the destination track must be the first of consecutive blank or unwanted tracks. Preset You can create a preset out of your bounce settings, in case you use the same settings regularly. When the dialog box is set the way you want it, type a name in the Preset window and click the floppy disk icon that’s next to it to save the preset.
Dithering Select from five available dithering types. • Rectangular • Triangular • Pow-r 1 • Pow-r 2 • Pow-r 3 For more information, see Dithering Mix Enables As default, each of the Mix Enables options is checked, meaning that your mixdown will sound the same as playback. You can check or uncheck each of the following settings to include or exclude them from the mix: • Track Mute/Solo—If you check this option, tracks that are currently muted are not mixed down.
real time. Uncheck this option if you are using a synth that only works in real time. This option is checked by default. • Audible Bounce—The Audible Bounce option is only available when in real-time bounce mode (when Fast Bounce is unchecked). When Audible Bounce is unchecked, no audio output will be heard during the bounce process. When in real-time bounce mode (Fast Bounce unchecked) and Audible Bounce is enabled, you can hear the output of the mixdown.
Chord Fret Number dialog When you right-click a chord symbol in the Staff view, the Chord Properties dialog box appears. If there is a grid in the dialog box and you click to the right of it, the Chord Fret Number dialog box appears. This dialog box lets you enter a fret number to label the fret where the index finger goes (Finger 1). Create your grid and finger positions first, then label the index finger fret.
See: Tuning an Instrument Clean Audio Folder dialog The Tools-Clean Audio Folder command opens the Clean Audio Folder dialog box. Use this command to delete digital audio files from an audio data folder that are no longer used by any of your projects. You should use this command from time to time to free up disk space. Important: Make sure that all of your important project (.CWP and .WRK) files are stored in your local hard disk(s) before using this command.
Find button Click this button to find all unused audio files and list them in the file window. Play button Click this button to play the audio file that is highlighted in the file window. Delete button Click this button to delete the audio file that is highlighted in the file window. Delete All button Click this button to delete all the audio files that are listed in the file window.
M:B:T Enable this button to display the clip’s Start and Length properties in M:B:T (Measure: Beat:Tick) format. Samples Enable this button to display the clip’s Start and Length properties in number of samples format. H:M:S:F Enable this button to display the clip’s Start and Length properties in H:M:S:F (Hour: Minute:Second:Frame) format. Seconds Enable this button to display the clip’s Start and Length properties in number of seconds format.
Clips Linked to this Clip This field tells you how many clips are linked to this clip. Foreground Color This field sets the waveform color of the selected clip, which you can change by clicking the Choose Color button, which opens the Color dialog box. Background Color This field sets the clip background color of the selected clip, which you can change by clicking the Choose Color button, which opens the Color dialog box.
The Groove Clips section of the Audio Stretching tab has the following options: • Enable Looping—checking the Enable Looping checkbox allows you to loop clips in the Track view by dragging the right side of a clip with your mouse. When Enable Looping is not checked, you are able to slip edit the clip. For more information about slip editing, see Applying Fades and Crossfades Offline.
• Fine Pitch (cents) [audio clips only]—the Fine Pitch (cents) 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 semitone. A Fine Pitch setting of “1” adjusts the pitch up one hundredth of a semitone. The Fine Pitch option can “fine tune” a slightly out of tune clip so that it is in pitch with the remaining clips in a project.
Algorithm... Description… Default This means the algorithm that is listed in the Online field of the AudioSnap Options dialog. Groove clip This choice works faster, using less processing power. Percussion This is the best choice for percussive sounds. • Offline Algorithm—choose the algorithm you want to use to stretch the clip: Algorithm... Description… Default This means the algorithm that is listed in the Offline Rendering field of the AudioSnap Options dialog.
Clip Properties dialog—Audio Files The Audio Files tab of the Clip Properties dialog lists: • The audio file(s) that make up the selected clip • The pathname(s) the files are stored under • The bit depth of the clip Recompute Picture(s) Click Recompute Picture(s) to redraw waveforms for individual clips that may have a corrupt waveform display. Clone Track(s) dialog The Tracks-Clone command opens the Clone dialog box. Use this command to copy a track or tracks to a new track or tracks.
See also: Copying Tracks Clip View Options dialog If you right-click in the Clips pane and choose View Options from the popup menu, the Clip View Options dialog box appears, which you use to control the appearance and behavior of the Clips pane. The Clip View Options dialog box has the following fields: Display Track Separators Enabling this option causes SONAR to display a horizontal line in the Clips pane between each track.
Show Audio Scale Check this option to display the Audio Scale Ruler in the splitter bar between the Clips pane and the Track pane. See Also: Displaying Clips Complete Registration dialog 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.
Country/Distributor Phone number Fax number Brazil/Roland Brasil Ltda. (55) 11 4615 5666 (55) 11 4615 5699 Canada/Thinkware Canada (888) 284-4659 (416) 842-3834 Denmark/Roland Scandinavia (+45) 3916 6200 (+45) 3916 6222 Eastern Europe (Slovakia, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland)/Roland East Europe Ltd.
Configure Colors dialog The Options-Colors command opens the Configure Colors dialog box, which allows you to choose colors for most items that SONAR displays. You can create lots of different color schemes and save each one as a Preset. After you create a color scheme that you like, type a name for it in the Presets window, and then click the floppy disk icon to save the preset. When you want to load the preset, just select it in the Presets window.
Brightness Slider This control increases or decreases the luminance of the selected color, making it either more bright or more dull in appearance. Hue Slider This control determines the color type, such as red, green or blue. Saturation Slider This control increases or decreases the vibrancy of the selected color. A lower saturation value will input more “grayness” to the color, making it appear more faded.
Screen element… Explanation… Window background Background color for the entire program window Window text Text color Rules in the Tempo view Vertical lines in the Tempo view used to mark time intervals Major Rules Major lines used to mark larger intervals of time Beat Rules Color of the Beat rule lines Grid Rules Color of the Grid rule lines Values Color of selected events and tempo changes in the Tempo view Drawing Colors used to show your drawing in the Piano Roll and Tempo views Erasing
Screen element… Explanation… Time Ruler Tick Marks Color of the Time Ruler beat and measure lines AudioSnap Pool Lines The color of the vertical lines in the Track view that show tranisient locations Musical Snap Pool Lines 1274 Clip Fades Color for the fade line and fade shading Clip Zero Amplitude Lines Color for the line that marks a silent volume level for a clip Snap Offset Markers Color of the Snap offset markers Clip Gain Envelope Color of the Gain envelopes in clips Clip Pan Envelope
Screen element… Explanation… Recording Waveform Previews Color of the waveform in a clip during preview while recording Bus Waveform Preview Color of the waveform that a bus’s or synth track’s output generates Waveform Preview (>= 0dB) Color of the waveform in a clip during preview while recording if the amplitude is greater than or equal to 0dB Frozen Track Background The background color of a frozen track in the Clips pane V-Vocal Clip Background The color of a V-Vocal clip.
Screen element… Explanation… Audio Tracks 4, 14, 24...Background Background color of all audio tracks that end in the number “4” (4, 14, 24, etc.) Audio Tracks 5, 15, 25...Foreground Foreground color of all audio tracks that end in the number “5” (5, 15, 25, etc.) Audio Tracks 5, 15, 25...Background Background color of all audio tracks that end in the number “5” (5, 15, 25, etc.) Audio Tracks 6, 16, 26...
Screen element… Explanation… Audio Tracks 10, 20, 30...Foreground Foreground color of all audio tracks that end in the number “0” (10, 20, 30, etc.) Audio Tracks 10, 20, 30...Background Background color of all audio tracks that end in the number “0” (10, 20, 30, etc.) MIDI Tracks 1, 11, 21...Foreground Foreground color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “1” (1, 11, 21, etc.) MIDI Tracks 1, 11, 21...Background Background color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “1” (1, 11, 21, etc.
Screen element… Explanation… MIDI Tracks 5, 15, 25...Background Background color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “5” (5, 15, 25, etc.) MIDI Tracks 6, 16, 26...Foreground. Foreground color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “6” (6, 16, 26, etc.) MIDI Tracks 6, 16, 26...Background Background color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “6” (6, 16, 26, etc.) MIDI Tracks 7, 17, 27...Foreground Foreground color of all MIDI tracks that end in the number “7” (7, 17, 27, etc.
Screen element… Explanation… Track View Active Outline Color of the border around the active pane in the Track view: if the Bus pane is active, it displays this color; if the Track pane is active, it displays this color. Track View Clips Pane Background Color of the Clips pane’s background.
Screen element… Explanation… Track View Header Warning Text Color of the text described above when the track’s level is in danger of clipping Peak Marker (< 0 dB) The color of the Peak Marker when amplitude peaks are less than 0dB Peak Marker (>= 0 dB) The color of the Peak Marker when amplitude peaks are greater than or equal to 0dB Peak Marker Text The color of the text on the Peak Marker Track view Header Track Number Color of the track number in the track header Track View Audio Track
Screen element… Explanation… Track View Track Folder Name Text Color of the text for track folders in the folder name field Track View Strip Background Background color outside the control fields in a track Track View Control Background Background color inside the control fields in a track Track View Control Text and Values Color of the text in Track view controls Track View Disabled Control Text Color of disabled controls in a track Track View Control Outline Color of the control outlines Tra
Screen element… Explanation… Track View Track Icons Background Sets the color surrounding a Track Icon in the Track view Track View Mute Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Surround Angle Envelope Color of automation envelope for surround angle Surround Focus Envelope Color of automation envelope for surround focus Surround LFE Send Control/ Envelope Color of automation envelope for LFE send control Surround Width Envelope Color of automation envelope for surro
Screen element… Explanation… Track View Bus Send Pan 1, 9 Control / Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Track View Bus Send Pan 2, 10 Control / Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Track View Bus Send Pan 3, 11 Control / Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Track View Bus Send Pan 4, 12 Control / Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Track View Bus Send Pan 5, 13 Control / Envelope Sets the
Screen element… Explanation… Bus Send Angle 8, 16 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Focus1, 9 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Focus 2, 10 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Focus 3, 11 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Focus 4, 12 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Focus 5, 13 Envelope Sets the co
Screen element… Explanation… Bus Send LFE 7, 15 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send LFE 8, 16 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Width 1, 9 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Width 2, 10 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Width 3, 11 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Width 4, 12 Envelope Sets the color of th
Screen element… Explanation… Bus Send Front/Rear Balance 6, 14 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Front/Rear Balance 7, 15 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Bus Send Front/Rear Balance 8, 16 Envelope Sets the color of this parameter’s automation envelope Event List Note Events Color of note events in the Event List view Event List KeyAft Events Color of key aftertouch events in the Event List view Event List Control Events
Screen element… Explanation… Navigator Background Color of background in Navigator pane and view Navigator Track Rectangle Color of the Navigator pane triangle that shows what the part of the Clips pane is currently displayed Toolbar Background * Color of the empty space surrounding toolbars (* means you have to restart the application to see the new color) Toolbar Background-In Views * Color of empty space surrounding toolbars in views Toolbar LCD Text * Color of numbers or text in variable fiel
Screen element… Explanation… Continuous Event 3 The color of the third type of continuous event entered into the Piano Roll or Inline Piano Roll view Continuous Event 4 The color of the fourth type of continuous event entered into the Piano Roll or Inline Piano Roll view Continuous Event 5 The color of the fifth type of continuous event entered into the Piano Roll or Inline Piano Roll view Continuous Event 6 The color of the sixth type of continuous event entered into the Piano Roll or Inline
Screen element… Explanation… Console View Slider Color of Console view fields controlled by sliders Console View Slider Background Color of border area of Console view fields controlled by sliders Console Dropdown Controls Color of dropdown menus in Console view Console View Strip Background Color of empty space in Console view Console View Blank Background Color of space between Track pane and Bus pane in Console view Console Strip Track Icons Background Color of space surrounding Track Icons
Screen element… Explanation… Console EQ Plot Grid Color of grid lines in per-channel EQ plot in Console view Console EQ Plot Graph Color of EQ curve in Console view’s per-channel EQ plot Synth Rack Text Color of text in the Synth Rack Synth Rack Parameter Background Background color around parameter controls in the Synth Rack Synth Rack Focus Border color around the space in the Synth Rack that has the focus Dialog Box Banner Text Color of the headings that separate different parts of a dialog
Screen Colors and Wallpaper Controller/Surface Settings dialog The Control Surface Settings dialog opens when you click the Add button in the Control Surfaces dialog. The Control Surface Settings dialog also opens when you select a control surface from the Connected Controllers/ Surfaces list in the Controller/Surfaces dialog, and then click the Property Page button that’s in the Control Surfaces dialog.
output drivers that each control surface uses to communicate with SONAR. You can click the dropdown arrow next to the name of each one to select a different driver. • ACT column—this column contains a check box for each enabled control surface that allows you to use ACT with each controller/surface. The property page for each controller/surface also has a checkbox to enable ACT, and this checkbox must also be enabled in order to use ACT.
See: Converting MIDI Envelopes to Shapes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Convert MIDI Clip(s) To Step Sequencer dialog The Convert MIDI Clip(s) to Step Sequencer Clips pane context menu command opens the Convert MIDI Clip(s) to Step Sequencer dialog. This command lets you convert any selected MIDI clip to a step sequncer clip. See: To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) Copy dialog The Edit-Copy command opens the Copy dialog box. which lets you put on the clipboard any selected objects.
Meter/Key Changes If you check this checkbox, SONAR copies all meter and key changes in the selected object. Markers If you check this checkbox, SONAR copies all markers in the selected object.
names at one time as you want by dragging through them, Shift-clicking them, or Ctrl-clicking them. For more information, see: Automating Effects Crossfade dialog The Process-Audio-Crossfade command lets you specify accurately the shape of a crossfade for a selection, clip, or track. This is a destructive edit—it permanently alters the data that you apply it to. To apply a nondestructive volume change to selected data, see Drawing Envelopes on Clips, and Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes.
Ctrl Surface Settings dialog The Ctrl Surface Settings dialog appears when you click the Property Page button in the Control Surfaces dialog. This dialog allows you to choose inputs and outputs for the selected control surface. The Ctrl Surface Settings dialog has the following fields: • Control Surface—This field lists the control surface you are choosing inputs and outputs for. • Input Port—Click the name of the input port you want to use.
Cut dialog The Edit-Cut command opens the Cut dialog box, which lets you remove from the project and put on the clipboard any selected objects. You can paste the contents of the clipboard elsewhere. See Paste dialog. The Cut dialog box has the following fields: Events in Tracks If you check this checkbox, SONAR removes every event in the selected object. Clip Automation If you check this checkbox, SONAR removes all clip automation in the selection.
Define Groove dialog When you use the Process-Groove Quantize command, the Groove Quantize dialog box appears, which contains the Define Button. Clicking the Define button opens the Define Groove dialog box. which you use to save new groove patterns. The Define Groove dialog box has the following fields: Groove Source This field lists the file that contains the currently loaded groove, along with the attributes.
To define an instrument, you drag resources from the Names tree to the appropriate branches on the Instruments tree. Each resource is colorcoded—for example, you can only drag a Names list to an Instrument tree branch of the same color. See also: Creating Instrument Definitions Assigning Instruments Importing Instrument Definitions Deglitch dialog The Process-Deglitch command opens the Deglitch dialog box. When recording MIDI guitar, even the best players occasionally play unintended notes.
The Delay dialog box has these fields: No Delay Click this option to cause the song to start immediately following the previous song. Wait for Key Press Click this option to cause the song to start only after you press a key on your computer. Wait for “N” Seconds Click this option to cause the song to start only after a period of seconds, the number of which you fill in this field.
option causes SONAR to move the following clips forward, but only as far as the nearest whole measure. For more information, see To Delete Clips. Delete dialog (with multiple selection) If you have both a track and an effect selected, the Delete dialog appears with the following options: Current Selection Check this box if you want to delete the current track or clip selection. Current Effect Check this box if you want to delete the selected effect.
data up to the next measure line, regardless of whether the new data fills the space up to the next measure. Ask This Every Time Choosing this option causes the Drag and Drop Options dialog box to open every time you drag some data. See also: Moving and Copying Clips Splitting and Combining Clips Drum Map Manager dialog In the Drum Map Manager dialog you can create and save drum maps for use with hardware or software samplers. You can customize drum maps to select specific sounds on any of your samplers.
• 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. Port/Channel Pairs 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.
Duration field, enter the actual duration of the note you want to enter in ticks. See also: Step Recording Edit Node dialog Open the Edit Node dialog by right-clicking on a node and selecting Properties from the menu that appears. Level The node’s value (% left or right pan, for example). Change the level by using the + or - keys to the left of the Level field or by clicking and dragging up or down. Time The node’s time location in the track.
Event Filter dialog If you want information about the Event Filter - Search dialog box, see Event Filter Select Some/Search/Replace dialog. See Also: Searching for Events Event Filters Selecting Events Event Filter Select Some/Search/ Replace dialog • Edit-Select-By Filter opens the Event Filter-Select Some dialog box. Use this command to select events of a specific nature that you specify in the dialog box. You can then edit all the events with any editing command.
Note Click the Note checkbox to search for notes of a specific type. You can specify pitch, velocity and duration data to narrow your search. Click any of the exc checkboxes to exclude data from your search. For example, if you click the exc checkbox under Key, you can exclude notes within the pitch range specified in the Min and Max fields. KeyAft Click KeyAft to include key aftertouch data in your selection.
“Special Events” Click any of the checkboxes in these fields to include instances of the following kinds of data in your selection (no ranges can be set for these events): • Audio–include audio data in your selection. • Shape—include shapes in your selection. • Text—include text boxes in the event list in your selection. • Expression—include expression marks in your selection. • SysxBank–include system exclusive bank events. • Lyric–include lyrics in your selection.
MIDI Check the different kinds of MIDI events you want to display. Special Check the different kinds of special events you want to display. Notation Check the different kinds of notation events you want to display. All/None buttons Click an All/None button under the column of event types that you want to display all of or none of. Clicking the button toggles the display between each extreme.
File name Enter a name for the file you are creating. Files of type Select from one of the following export formats: • Wave—The standard digital audio format used under Windows and for CD’s, with a file extension of .wav. • Broadcast Wave (time-stamped)—A wave file with the following embedded information: • Description—A brief description of the contents of the Broadcast wave. Limited to 256 characters. • Originator—The author of the Broadcast wave.
• Buses—This option creates a separate file or group of files (the Split Mono option in the Channel Format field) for each bus that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Main Outputs—This option creates a separate file or group of files (the Split Mono option in the Channel Format field) for each main out that you select in the Source Buses/Tracks field. • Entire Mix—This option creates a file or group of files (the Split Mono option in the Channel Format field) for your entire mix.
• Rectangular • Triangular • Pow-r 1 • Pow-r 2 • Pow-r 3 For more information see Dithering. Mix Enables As default, each of the Mix Enables options is checked, meaning that your mixdown will sound the same as playback. You can check or uncheck each of the following items to include or exclude them from your mix: • Track Mute/Solo—If you check this option, tracks that are currently muted are not mixed down.
Audible bounce is unchecked, no audio output will be heard during the bounce process. When in real-time bounce mode (Fast Bounce unchecked) and Audible bounce is enabled, you can hear the output of the mixdown. Note: Depending on the gainstages used in the project and the mixdown options selected–such as bouncing with source category assigned to Tracks, or with mute/solo or automation disabled in the bounce settings or while freezing tracks–the output may be louder or softer than during normal playback.
file and folder window This large window under the Save in field lists the files and folders that are inside the current folder. File name Type or select the filename you want to open. Save as type Select the type of file you want to open. Export Current Color Set Enable this checkbox if you want to export the current color arrangement as a color set file (.CLR). Export Color Preset Enable this checkbox if you want to export all the presets in the Presets menu as a color set file (.CLR).
Export OMF dialog Select File-Export-OMF to open the Export OMF dialog. This command lets you save and export your projects OMF files. The dialog box has the following fields: Save in Shows the folder to which you are exporting your project. Browse your available drives to choose a different directory. Below the Save in field is a list of the selected folder's contents. File name Enter a name for the file you are creating.
Expression Text Properties dialog In the Staff view, when you right-click on a text expression, such as a ff marking, the Expression Text Properties dialog box appears. This dialog box lets you edit the text and location of your expression text. See also: Adding Expression Marks Export Track Template The File-Export-Track Template and Save As Track Template commands open the Export Track Preset dialog. You must first select a track before the command becomes available.
• Inverse Exponential Fade Out • Linear Fade In • Linear Fade Out Fade graph—This graph shows a visual representation of the type of fade you choose in the Name field. The graph changes as you drag the line or curve in different directions. Reset button—Click this button to restore the graph to the shape of the fade that’s listed in the Name field. For step by step directions, see Fades and Crossfades.
File Info dialog The File-Info command opens the File Info dialog box. In the File Info dialog box, you can document the following information for your project: Title Your song’s title. Subtitle Your song’s subtitle. Instructions Specific instructions about for playing your song. Author The author of the song. Copyright Applicable copyright information. Keywords Put keywords describing the song here for future reference. Project Description Text Box Project description or other information.
Statistic... What it means... 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.
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.
• Event Times—Choose this option to change the starting and ending times of all events in the selection, leaving the tempo(s) unchanged. This option is not available if any selected data contains a Groove clip. • Stretch Audio—Choose this option to cause any audio data in the selection to stretch or shrink to fit the new end time. This option has no effect on Groove clips.
Description You can type a description of the track folder in this field, and edit the description later if you want. Freeze Options dialog The Freeze Options dialog has the following options: Fast Bounce When checked, SONAR bounces to tracks as fast as your computer will allow. If unchecked, bouncing to tracks happens in real time. Uncheck this option if you are using a synth that only works in real time. This option is checked by default.
the new file (range = -INF to 18.0dB). Note • New Left Channel-From Right slider—Drag the From Right slider to determine the amount of the original right channel that will be mixed to the new file (range = -INF to 18.0dB). • Invert left channel phase—Enable the Invert left-channel phase button if you want to reverse the phase of the new left-channel mix.
Show Status Bar Checking this option causes SONAR to show the Status bar, which displays whether any tracks are muted, soloed, or armed for recording or automation, and also contains the CPU and Disk meters. Show MIDI Activity on Windows Taskbar Check this option to display the MIDI Input/Output Activity icon on the Windows taskbar. Display All Times as SMPTE This option, when checked, forces all time displays to appear in SMPTE time regardless of the setting you have in the Time Ruler.
Allow MIDI Recording without an Armed Track By default, SONAR requires you to arm a track before recording. Ask before Sending System Exclusive (When Opening Projects) If you check this option and then open a project that contains sysx data, SONAR asks you before sending the sysx data.
Unload Synth On Disconnect (Releases Memory) When this option is checked you can freeze a soft synth or disconnect the synth in the Synth Rack view and free up the memory that the synth was using. With some synths this can be a lot of memory, especially with synths that use samples. Of course, if you remove the synth from your computer’s memory, reconnecting or unfreezing the synth will take the same amount of time that it did when you originally loaded the synth.
Enable Versioning of Project (.CWP) Files Checking this checkbox causes SONAR to save successive versions of a project with the date the project was saved in the file name. The most recent version has no date in the name. • Number of versions to keep—if you enable the versioning option, you can use this field to choose how many versions to keep. When the maximum number of files is reached, the oldest file is deleted.
Maintain current clock source and wait for time For more information, see: Synchronization Overview Global Options dialog—MIDI Using the Options-Global command opens the Global Options dialog box. Clicking the MIDI tab gives you access to options you might want to set for all your projects. The MIDI tab has the following sections: Record Use the fields in this section to choose what MIDI events you want to record.
If playback stops prematurely, you may try larger values (although you should also check the buffer options in Options-Audio, Advanced tab). If you are using MIDI effects, you may want to try smaller values—for example, 100 milliseconds. Doing so means that, if you change a property for a MIDI effect, there will be less delay before you hear the new value take effect.
Track Templates These files store your most commonly used track settings, including track type (MIDI or audio), effects and their settings, hardware input, bus send settings, and a variety of other track-related parameters. The default directory is the Track Templates folder located in the main SONAR application folder, but you can choose a different location. Track Icons These files store standard or customized icons.
Sysx Files (.SYX) When you create and save a .SYX file. The default directory for sysx files is the Sample Content folder located in the main SONAR application folder, but you can choose a different location. Play List (.SET) When you create and save a .SET file. The default directory for play list files is the Sample Content folder located in the main SONAR application folder, but you can choose a different location. Groove Quantize (.GRV) When you create and save a .GRV file.
Global Options dialog—Editing Using the Options-Global command and clicking the Editing tab gives you access to editing options you might want to set for all your projects.
Crossfade Audio clips upon overlap—Choosing this option tells SONAR to automatically smooth out any volume differences between overlapping audio clips, nondestructively. If you choose this option to drag clips, and then disable it to drag some other clips, the clips with the crossfades retain their crossfades. See Also: Moving and Copying Clips Fades and Crossfades Global Options dialog—Nudge There are three sets of Nudge settings. All are the same. The following is a description of the settings.
• Follow Snap Settings—Moves the clip or note by the current snap setting. For more information, see Nudge. Global Options dialog—Audio Data Using the Options-Global command and clicking the Audio Data tab gives you access to the following options. Global Audio Folder The Global Audio Folder is where audio files are stored for all projects when per-project audio is not turned on.
Many field recorders, such as the Edirol R-4, can add cue markers to the wave files that they record. If you import these wave files into SONAR, the markers appear as standard SONAR markers on the Time Ruler. Marker names are based on the imported file name, and are numbered sequentially, with a limit of 16 characters 1, 2, etc. File Bit Depths • Record Bit Depth—use this field to choose the bit depth that recorded audio data will use. You can change this at any time.
• Remove—to remove a folder from the to-be-scanned list, first select the folder, and then click the Remove button. • Folder defaults—click this button to open a dialog of folder options. These settings will set options for all the VST plug-ins in all the folders listed in the VST Scan Folders window.
When you enter a time in MBT format, the beat and tick value are optional. You can use a colon, period, space, or vertical bar to separate the parts of the Now time: You enter… The Now time is set to… 2 2:00:000 21 2:01:000 420 4:02:000 9:1 9:01:000 5.1.30 5:01:030 If you click in the time ruler while the snap grid is enabled, the Now time snaps to the nearest point in the grid.
Pattern. Clicking the disk icon saves the current group of settings under the name you type into the presets window. Choosing a setting from the window’s dropdown list applies it to the dialog box. Clicking the X icon deletes the current preset from the list. Groove File Use this field to choose what groove file you want to choose a groove pattern from. Groove files have the extension .GRV. Groove Pattern Use this field to choose the pattern you want to apply to the selected data.
Strength The values in the Strength section determine how closely SONAR changes the selected notes to match the groove’s values. The Strength section has these fields: • Time—Drag the slider in this field to set how closely SONAR moves the start time of the selected notes to the groove’s start times. • Duration—Drag the slider in this field to set how closely SONAR moves the durations of the selected notes to the groove’s durations.
This dialog lets you specify the relations of controls in a group, and edit the name and color of the group that is listed in the Group field. The dialog has the following fields: Group The name of the group that the control you right-clicked belongs to appears in the Group field, but you can choose another group from the dropdown menu, and edit its properties in the other fields. Create New Group button This button is just to the right of the Group field, and opens the Group Attributes dialog.
End Value number field This field is not active unless the group is a custom group. Edit the End Value of the control that is highlighted in the Name column by typing a new number into the End Value number field. Swap button Click the Swap button to exchange the Start Value with the End for the control that is highlighted in the Name column. Absolute button Click this radio button to cause the grouped controls to move in the same direction at the same speed. See Absolute.
• Duration—Type the length you want the hairpin to last. See also: Adding Hairpin Symbols Import Audio dialog The File-Import Audio command opens the Import Audio dialog. Use this command to import any of the following kinds of audio into your project: • Wave (extension .wav) • Apple AIFF (extensions .AIF and .AIFF) • MPEG (extensions .MPEG, .MPG, .MP2, and .MP3) • Windows Media (extensions .ASF, .WM, .WMA, .WMV) • Next/Sun (extensions .AU, .
• Import as Mono Tracks checkbox—if you check this option, SONAR imports stereo audio files to two separate tracks, instead of one stereo track. • Play button—click this button to play audio files that are selected. • Format tag, Attributes, File Length—when you select a file to import in the Import Audio dialog, these fields display the kind of audio file you have selected, the sample rate, bit depth, mono/stereo status, number of samples, and length in seconds of the selected file.
For more information, see: To Import a Track from an Audio CD Import Color Set dialog The Import Color Set dialog appears when you click the Import button in the Configure Colors dialog. This dialog has the following fields: Look in Select the directory in which SONAR stores the file that you want to open. file and folder window This large window under the Look in field lists the files and folders that are inside the current folder. File name Type or select the filename you want to open.
Import Instrument Definitions dialog When you use the Options-Instruments command, the Assign Instruments dialog box appears, which contains the Define button. Clicking this button opens the Define Instruments and Names dialog box, which contains the Import button. Clicking the Import button opens the Import Instruments Definitions dialog box, which lets you choose instrument definitions from the manufacturer of your instrument, and which has the following fields.
Files of Type Use this field to choose whether you want to display MIDI files or Project5 patterns. File Info For a selected MIDI file, this field lists the type of MIDI file, the number of tracks, and any MIDI Groove clip characteristics that the file contains, such as Follow Project Pitch, Number of Beats, etc. For Project5 patterns, this field does not display information. Play The Play button allows you to audition the selected MIDI file.
Option... What it means... Look in Use this field to find the folder that contains the video file you want to insert. File name Use this field to find the video file you want to insert. Clicking the name of the file in the window above this field causes it to appear in the File name field. Files of Type Use this field to select what type of video files to display. Note: If your system has a basic Windows installation with DirectShow installed, you may not be able to insert QuickTime video files.
To Load a Video File Into a Project To Delete the Video From the Project To Enable or Disable Video Playback To Set the Time Display Format Initialization File Settings dialog The Options-Initialization File command opens the Initialization File Settings dialog box, which allows you to store information about your preferences and configuration. You can edit these three initialization files, which are stored in the SONAR program folder: • CAKEWALK.INI • TTSSEQ.INI • AUD.
Value Type the number or value that you want to assign to the variable that is in the Option field. Set button Click this button to finish assigning the number in the Value field to the variable in the Option field. Delete button Click this button to delete the variable assignment that’s highlighted in the Variable list. See also: Initialization Files Initialization File Format Variables in the [MIDI Input Devices] Section Variables in the [MIDI Output Devices] Section Variables in AUD.INI CAKEWALK.
Resolution Set the note resolution in either standard note duration or tick value. The resolution determines the size note or time value that you want your MIDI data to conform to. Change • MIDI Event Start Times—Select this option if you want the start times of the MIDI events in the selected data to be quantized. • Note Durations—Select this option if you want the length of notes to be edited to fit into the size you chose in the Resolution field.
For more information, see: Creating and Editing Groove Clips Using Pitch Markers in the Track View Insert Series of Controllers dialog Select Insert-Series of Controllers from the menu to open the Insert Series of Controllers dialog box. This command lets you change controller event values smoothly over a specified time range.
Tempo Range • Begin–enter the tempo you want to start the tempo range at. • End– enter the tempo you want to end the tempo range at. • Step–enter a value in beats and clock ticks for how often you want SONAR to insert a tempo change into your tempo range. Time Range • From–enter the time location in your project where you want the tempo range to start. • Thru– enter the time location in your project where you want the tempo range to end.
you chose has. Each of the new tracks uses a different one of the synth’s outputs as an audio input. • All Synth Audio Outputs: Mono—if you check this option, two new mono synth tracks (one Left and one Right) appear for each stereo audio output that the synth you chose has. Each pair of new synth tracks uses a different one of the synth’s outputs as an audio input. • Synth Track Folder—if you check this option, new synth tracks and associated MIDI tracks appear in a track folder.
Inserting Soft Synths Software Synthesizers ReWire Instruments Insert Time/Measures dialog Select Insert-Time/Measures to open the Insert Time Measures dialog box. This dialog lets you insert the amount of time you specify at the point you indicate in the music. You can specify what events to slide over to make room for the new amount of time. At Time: The time at which you want to insert time, seconds, ticks or frames.
Insert Tracks dialog Using the Insert-Multiple Tracks command opens the Insert Tracks dialog, which allows you to insert multiple audio and/or MIDI tracks, and set some track properties. This dialog has the following fields: Audio • Track Count—set the number of audio tracks you want to insert. • Main Destination—set the main output that you want the new audio tracks to use.
Key Bindings dialog Key bindings let you associate SONAR commands with keys on your MIDI or computer keyboard. This makes it easy for you to access specific features more quickly and efficiently. The Options-Key Bindings command opens the Key Bindings dialog box, which lets you specify which keys and key combinations to use for specific SONAR commands.
combination. • Function—Use this window to choose a command to bind to a highlighted key in the Key window. • Bind Context—Use this window to choose in what context you want the key binding to work. • Locate Key—Clicking this button allows you to quickly scroll the Key window to the key or keys that you press on your computer keyboard. • Global Key Assignment—When you highlight an item in the Key window, this text line that’s below the Key window lists any command that the item is currently bound to.
Kind of Event dialog In the Event List view, double-clicking the name of any event that’s listed in the Kind column opens the Kind of Event dialog box. After you double-click the name of an event, you can change that event into another kind of event by choosing the new kind of event in the Kind of Event dialog box. See also: Event List View Length dialog The Process-Length command, which opens the Length dialog box, can be used to stretch or shrink MIDI and/or audio clips, and/or to move their start times.
events to shrink by a percentage. By “N” Percent Fill in the percentage number that you want the selected events to change by, which can be positive or negative. Stretch Audio Choose this option if you want duration of any selected audio to change. Type (disabled unless Stretch Audio is checked) This is a SONAR Producer feature only.
Stop at the End Time and Rewind to Start If you check this option, whenever you stop playback or the Now Time reaches the Loop End time, SONAR rewinds immediately to start of the loop (this option is off by default). Loop Continuously When playback reaches the end of the loop and rewinds to the start, playback continues automatically. See also: Looping Lyric Properties dialog In the Staff view, when you right-click on a word or syllable in the lyrics, the Lyric Properties dialog box opens.
Vel+ Sets a velocity offset to a mapped drum note. Values range from -127 through 127. Use the +/- keys to increase or decrease the value. Vel% Multiplies the velocity of the note by the percentage you enter. Values range from 10 to 200. Map Manager button Opens the Map Manager dialog. Out Port The output port to which the Out Note is sent. You can assign a note to any port selected in the MIDI Devices dialog. Also, any soft synths in your project show up as an option.
See also: Creating and Using Markers Markers dialog This dialog box lets you choose any marker. Closing the box and the associated Go dialog box moves the Now time to the specified marker. See also: Creating and Using Markers Measure Beat/Meter You can insert meter changes anywhere in the timeline. The Measure Beat/ Meter dialog box allows you to select the point on the Time Ruler where the meter change will occur.
Menu Items: This field lists all the items (commands, submenus and separator bars) within the menu you selected in the Menu field. This is the area where you can click-drag to reorder menu items, select items to hide or show, create submenus, and insert separator bars. Right-click menu items to see options in the context menu. Visibility section • Show button - click this button to Show selected menu item(s) currently hidden from view.
dialog You can create settings and a description for your Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format file in the Microsoft Audio Encode Options dialog box. Note: To create a surround encoded file you must export surround encoded buses. Title: Enter the title of the file. Author: Enter the name of the author responsible for creating the file. Rating: This field only relates to exporting video, which you can’t do from this dialog box. Copyright: Enter any copyright information for the file.
You can make up your own friendly names for the MIDI input and output devices listed in this dialog. The friendly name for a MIDI device is the name you will see in MIDI track input and output menus, if you enable the Use Friendly Names To Represent MIDI Devices checkbox at the bottom of this dialog. To make up a friendly name, double-click the name of a device in the Friendly Name column, type a new name, and press Enter.
MIDI Envelope dialog When you use the Envelopes-Create Track Envelope-MIDI command from the Clips pane right-click menu, the MIDI Envelope dialog appears. The MIDI Envelope dialog has the following fields: • Type—use this field to choose what kind of MIDI event you want to control with your envelope. • Value—use this field to choose the name of the controller you want to edit. • Channel—use this field to choose the MIDI channel that you want the envelope to send data on.
Use the MIDI Input Presets dialog to create and edit MIDI Input Presets, which are collections of specific MIDI input channels and/or MIDI input ports that you want to assign to one or more tracks. The MIDI Input Presets dialog has the following fields: Preset Window The first window in the dialog lists the currently selected preset for the active track.
Missing Plug-ins dialog This dialog appears if you open a project that references plug-ins that are not installed on your machine. If you save the project after you have opened it with missing plug-ins, all references to missing plug-ins are lost. To retain the missing plug-ins in your project, exit SONAR without saving, reinstall the missing plug-ins and then re-open the project.
minimizing the data encoded for higher frequency sounds. This can also improve the compression of the MP3 file, however in some cases the optimization of high frequency sounds may result in a loss of sound quality. • Mono—Create a Mono file • Stereo—By selecting Stereo mode, the encoder will create a Stereo MP3 file from a stereo project by treating the left and right channels as completely independent signals.
Encode ID3 Info Check this box to include ID3 information with your MP3 file. The following fields are where you enter ID3 information that is stored in your MP3 file and displayed in most applications that play MP3 files. • Track--The track number.
Audio Path Select a folder in which your project’s audio data is stored. This option is only available if you have Per-Project Audio Data option selected in the Global Option dialog. Template Select the template you want to use for your new project. Select a template from the list and click OK to create a new project.
volume of a selection so that the highest sample level reaches the level of the slider. • Percentage field—this field is linked to the Normalize Level slider. This field displays the percentage of possible normalization, from 0 to 100%. • dB field—like the Percentage field, this field is linked to the Normalize Level slider. Typing values into this field moves the slider, just as moving the slider changes the values in this field. The dB values range from -INF (silent) to 0 dB (loudest level).
Online Registration dialog The Online Registration dialog appears when you start SONAR. You have three options in this dialog: • Register Now—This option opens your default Internet browser on Cakewalk’s registration page. • Please Remind Me Later—This options closes the dialog. The dialog appears again, periodically, to prompt you to register. • Don’t Ask Me Again—This option closes the dialog permanently. Open dialog The File-Open command opens the Open dialog box.
• File Name—This field lists the name of the currently selected file from the folder that’s listed in the Look In field. • Groove File Directory—The Set Default button allows you to choose a default directory for storing groove files. The Go To Default button closes the Open Groove File dialog box—when you reopen it, it opens to the default directory.
Link to Original Clip(s) Checking the Link to Original Clip(s) checkbox creates a linked clip. Advanced button Clicking this button expands the Paste dialog box to include the following fields: Align to Measures This option is greyed out unless you choose at least two repetitions in the Repetitions field. Choosing this option tells SONAR to slide the old data up to the next measure line, regardless of whether the new data fills the space up to the next measure.
selection you are pasting, you can check this option to paste it to its new location. • Tempo Changes—If you check this checkbox, SONAR pastes all tempo changes from the copied data. • Meter/Key Changes—If you check this checkbox, SONAR pastes all meter and key changes from the copied data. • Markers—If you check this checkbox, SONAR pastes all markers from the copied data.
Patch column This column lists the patch number of each patch in the Name column. Sorting the lists—You can sort your patch names by name, bank, or patch number simply by clicking the appropriate column heading in the Patch Browser dialog box. See Also: To Choose Patches with the Patch Browser Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch) Pattern Velocity dialog Clicking the Pattern Brush dropdown arrow and choosing Velocity from the dropdown menu opens the Pattern Velocity dialog.
Percent Done dialog SONAR has done the indicated percent of the task you requested. Be patient. Percussion Notation Key dialog The Staff View Layout dialog box contains the Percussion Settings button, which opens the Percussion Notation Key dialog box. The Percussion Settings button is not available unless the track that is highlighted in the Staff View dialog box uses a percussion clef.
Articulation Symbol This field allows you to add an articulation symbol to every instance of the selected pitch. For instance, hi-hat patterns often have a + over the closed hi-hat note and a circle over the open note. Bind button Click this button to connect a selected MIDI note to a selected note in the Display As field. Unbind button Click this button to disconnect a selected MIDI note from a selected note in the Display As field.
All Prints the entire document. Pages Prints the range of pages you specify in the From and To boxes. Copies Specify the number of copies you want to print for the above page range. Collate Prints copies in page number order, instead of separated multiple copies of each page. Properties button Opens a dialog box that lets you specify whatever your printer allows.
Zoom Out The Zoom Out button zooms out the page display in the Print Preview dialog box. Close The Close button closes the Print Preview dialog box. Print Setup dialog The Print Setup dialog specifies the parameters of your print job, including the printer destination, the number of copies and properties. The following is a description of the Print Setup dialog: Printer This is the active printer and printer connection. Choose the Setup option to change the printer and printer connection.
Project File Name File name and location of the project file. Project Audio Folder The directory in which the project’s audio files are stored. This is the same as the next field, unless you’re using per-project audio folders. Global Audio Folder The default directory in which project audio files are stored. Total Project Size The combined size of the project’s audio data. Min/Max Bit Depth The lowest and highest bit depths of the audio files in the project.
Sorting Files You can quickly sort files by clicking on the column headers, for instance, to see all Missing audio files, click on the Status column header and the missing files appear at the top of the column. For more information, see: Locating Missing Audio Project Options dialog—Clock tab The Options-Projects command opens the Project Options dialog. The Clock tab controls synchronization and the number of subdivisions of the beat (parts per quarter note).
Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution Synchronizing Your Gear Project Options dialog—Metronome tab The Options-Projects command opens the Project Options dialog. The Metronome tab lets you set the following metronome options: General • Playback—Choosing this option cause the metronome to sound during playback. • Recording—Choosing this option cause the metronome to sound during recording. • Use Audio Metronome—Choosing this option causes the metronome to use audio.
Other Beats Choose a Key (a note) and a Velocity for the other metronome attacks in the measure. For more information, see: To Change Your Metronome Settings Project Options dialog—MIDI Out tab The Options-Projects command opens the Project Options dialog. The MIDI Out tab lets you configure MIDI Machine Control, and two global controller options.
MIDI Machine Control (MMC). Project Options dialog—Sync tab The Options-Projects command opens the Project Options dialog box. The Sync tab lets you configure MIDI Sync, and SMPTE/MTC (MIDI Time Code).
You can also turn this option on or off at the Sync toolbar. • Frame Rate—use this dropdown menu to choose the frame rate for your project (see Frame Rates, if necessary). • MTC Output Ports—check off the output ports that you want SONAR to send MTC out of. See also: MIDI Synchronization. Synchronizing Your Gear Project Options dialog—Surround tab The Surround tab in the Project Options dialog is where you set your surround options. Presets You can save your current settings as a preset.
• Surround (SMPTE/ITU) • Surround Media • LCRS+LFE • 5.1 (Standard 3/2) • 5.1 (Film/Alternative) • 5.1 (Music/Alternative) • 5.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • 6.0 (Hexagon) • 6.0 (Film/Alternative) • 6.0 (Music/Alternative) • 6.1 (Film/Alternative) • 6.1 (Music/Alternative) • 6.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • 7.0 (Heptagon) • 7.0 (Film/Alternative) • 7.0 (Music/Alternative) • 7.1 (Film/Alternative) • 7.1 (Music/Alternative) • 7.1 (SMPTE/ITU) • 8.0 (Octagon) • 8.0 (Film/Alternative) • 8.
Monitor with Bass Management When enabled, a combox lets you specify one of the following cutoff frequencies: • 80 (Dolby consumer/DVD) (default) • 116 (DTS) • 120 (Dolby pro/film) • 180 Downmixing • • 1388 Center Level—Center channel content is distributed equally into left and right channels of a 2-channel downmix with one of a choice of three levels. Each level is how much of center is mixed into both left and right.
competition with dialog, for instance, by heavy surround tracks in a mixdown situation. • • -INF—Necessary for cases where the surround levels are so high that they compete with the front channels too much in mixdown situations. LFE Level—Choose -INF or -12 dB. PRV Tool Configuration dialog When you use the Options-PRV Tool Configuration command, the PRV Tool Configuration dialog box appears. You use the PRV Tool Configuration dialog to configure the Piano Roll tools.
A C B D E F A. Tool B. Context C. Keys D. Mouse Button E. Mouse Location F. Tool Action See: Tool Mouse Button Keys Mouse Location Tool Action To Configure a Mouse Action Default PRV Tool Assignments Tool The Tool combobox lists the three Piano Roll tools: 1390 • PRV Tool 1—This tool corresponds to the Select tool ( Roll toolbar. ) in the Piano • PRV Tool 2—This tool corresponds to the Draw tool ( Roll toolbar.
• PRV Tool 3—This tool corresponds to the Erase tool ( Roll toolbar. ) in the Piano See: To Edit Notes with the Draw Tool To Edit Notes with the Select Tool To Use the Erase Tool Mouse Button In previous versions of SONAR, only the left mouse button was used by the Piano Roll tools.
right of the Note Slip Start zone. • Note Pitch Adjust—click the center part of a Note event. • Note Slip End (right edge)—click the right edge of a Note event. • Note Velocity Adjust—click the top part of a Note event. • Controller—click the handle (top part) of a Controller event. A diagram displays the possible mouse locations in regards to Note events and Controller events: G A F BC D E A. Controller B. Note Slip Start C. Note Time Adjust D. Note Pitch Adjust E. Note Slip End F.
• Mixed grid—this refers to the Notes pane when both Note events and Controller events are displayed together (the Controllers pane is hidden). Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... No Action n/a n/a n/a Insert/Move Note/ Controller Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Move inserted Note/Controller horizontally and vertically Commit edit buffer. Paint Notes/ Controllers Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Insert additional events at mouse position.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Paint Controllers/ Velocities Linear Add Controller to edit buffer In the note grid, paint existing velocities linearly from the original mouse click point. In the value grid, do the same as Paint Notes/Controllers Linear. Commit edit buffer. Lasso Selection Begin lasso drag Continue lasso rectangle Select all events within lasso rectangle. Obey Ctrl/Shift as standard modifiers.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Sel and Move Notes/Controllers (Vert) Select any hit event. Obey Shift/ Ctrl as standard modifiers Move selected notes/Controllers ivertically only Commit edit buffer Sel and Move Notes/Controllers (Time) Select any hit event. Obey Shift/ Ctrl as standard modifiers Move selected notes/Controllers in time only (horizontally) Commit edit buffer Note Slip Start Adjust n/a Adjust the start time and duration of selected notes.
Action... Mouse Down... Mouse Move... Mouse Up... Event Mute Add Note/Controller to edit buffer Mute any hit event. Commit edit buffer n/a n/a Show context menu See MIDI Event Mute Context Menu See: To Configure a Mouse Action Quantize dialog When you use the Process-Quantize command, the Quantize dialog box appears. Quantize has two different forms.
edited to fit into the size you chose in the Resolution field. • AudioSnap Beats—Select this option if you want AudioSnap transients to move. • Audio Clip Start Times—Select this option if you want the beginnings of audio clips to move. • Only Notes, Lyrics, and Audio—If you select this option, SONAR will not modify other events, like controllers. Options: • Strength—This value determines how closely SONAR moves the selected notes to the resolution value, or “grid.” See Strength.
See also: Changing the Timing of a Recording Drag-Quantize Fast Zoom Options The Fast Zoom feature allows you to use your mouse wheel to control Zoom functions. Zoom Factor Set the intensity of the zoom. Horizontal and vertical zoom intensity can be adjusted independent of one another using the spinners or by manual entry.
Creating and Editing Audio Envelopes Creating and Editing MIDI Envelopes Receive System Exclusive dialog In the Sysx view, clicking the Receive Bank button opens the Receive System Exclusive dialog box. Use this dialog box to tell a synthesizer to start sending system exclusive data—clicking the OK button in this dialog box opens the Sysx Receive dialog box and starts the transmission of Sysx data. This dialog box displays how many bytes have been received. When the number stops increasing, click Done.
activity to end. • Mute Previous Takes—Uncheck this option in Sound on Sound (Blend) mode if you want to hear previous takes during Auto Punch. Note: The Mute Previous Takes checkbox has no effect during loop recording. Loop Recording Choose one of the following loop recording options: • Store Takes in a Single Track—Choosing this option causes SONAR to merge every new take with the previous takes, unless you choose Overwrite mode, which mutes each take except the newest one.
The Regenerate Tablature dialog box has the following fields: Track This window displays the names of all selected tracks. Highlight the one you want to regenerate TAB for. Method Choose what TAB style you want SONAR to use, from these options: • Fixed—This style specifies where on the neck these notes should be played. When Fixed is selected the Finger span and Lowest fret fields are used together to define the “box” where the notes are displayed.
Number of Frets This value is determined in the Staff View Layout dialog box, and governs how many frets SONAR’s Fretboard can display. Skip Channel 10 (G50) This checkbox is greyed out unless you choose MIDI Channel in the Method field. If you use a MIDI converter like the G50, Channel 10 is reserved for percussion instruments, so if you use a MIDI guitar to transmit on six consecutive MIDI channels, check this checkbox to avoid using Channel 10 for your guitar.
your MIDI controller can send MIDI volume data from one of its faders or controls, and you set a fader in SONAR to respond to Controller #7, the selected fader in SONAR will move up or down as the value of Controller #7 that your MIDI controller sends rises or falls. • Wheel—With this button enabled, the selected control moves as the pitch wheel on your MIDI controller moves.
that follows the significant data. Note: If you set up remote control for a grouped control, the remote control works all controls in the group. For step by step instructions: To Set Up Remote Control for a Knob, Button, or Fader See also: Using Control Groups Remove DC Offset dialog The Process-Remove DC Offset command opens the Remove DC Options dialog, which allows you to remove audio artifacts cause by electrical mismatches between recording hardware and input instruments or devices.
Open Level (db) The value in this field is how loud the sound must get (the loudness threshold) before SONAR stops silencing the sound. The gate “officially” opens when loudness rises above this level, although it can open earlier because of the Attack Time (see below). Close Level (db) The value in this field is how soft the sound must get (the softness threshold) before SONAR starts silencing the sound.
Rename Existing Layout dialog The Views-Layouts command opens the Window Layouts dialog box, which contains the Rename button. Clicking the Rename button opens the Rename Existing Layout dialog box, which allows you to rename whatever layout is highlighted in the Global window. Rename Toolbar dialog Choosing the Rename command when you right-click a toolbar opens the Rename Toolbar dialog box, which allows you to rename whatever toolbar you right-clicked.
's Options, Audio, Advanced tab. Advanced users may want to manually adjust this Data directory location. 2. Automatically import any custom Instrument Definitions you used in your previous Cakewalk version. 3. Automatically import other custom settings you have made in various Cakewalk menus and INI files. Revert dialog The File-Revert command opens the Revert dialog box, which lets you open an earlier version of the current project. Click the version of the file that you want to open.
Save in Select the directory in which you want to store the file. File name Type or select the filename you want to open. Save as type Select the type of file you want to save your project as. If you are saving a project, you have the following options: • Normal—Saving as type Normal saves your MIDI data, all project settings, and references to your audio data, with the extension .CWP. SONAR saves no audio data in a .CWP file, only references to where the data is on the hard disk.
Go to Folder (Project saves only) The Go to folder dropdown lets you quickly go to the default save location for different types of projects. Copy all audio with project (Project saves only) When selected, this checkbox creates a copy of every audio file your project references, regardless of where they are located, and stores them in a folder called Audio Data. The Audio Data folder is created in the folder where you save your project.
selected file to its factory settings. • Restore Any Missing Scales—if you have deleted a factory-supplied scale and want to replace it with the original version, choose this option. • Restore All Factory Scales—if you want to restore all factory-supplied scales to factory settings, click this option. Scale Manager dialog The Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Scale Manager command opens the Scale Manager dialog box, which lets you create and edit scales to use with the Snap to Scale feature.
Scale Velocity dialog The Process-Scale Velocity command opens the Scale Velocity dialog box, which lets you edit MIDI clips to create crescendos (volume swells) and decrescendos on those instruments that respond to MIDI velocity. Most MIDI 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.
Search for Missing Audio dialog Open the Search for Missing Audio dialog by clicking the Search button in the Find Missing Audio dialog. The Search for Missing Audio dialog searches your entire computer for a file that has the same name as the missing file in your project. If the file is found, select it and click OK. If multiple copies of the same file name are found, you may select only one. If no files are found, manually search your Recycle Bin.
To select a track, click the track in the Pick Fretboard Track dialog and click OK. See Also: The Fretboard Set Timecode at Now Time The Transport-Set Timecode at Now command opens the Set Timecode at Now Time dialog box, which allows you to move the SMPTE time 00:00:00:00 to the current Now time. If you enter a value in the dialog, the SMPTE value that you enter is set to the current Now time.
See also: Shifting Events in Time Snap Scale Settings dialog The Snap Scale Settings dialog appears when you use the Tracks-Snap to Scale-Scales-Snap Settings command. Use this dialog to choose how you want SONAR to handle non-scale notes in the Piano Roll view when Snap to Scale is enabled. The dialog has the following fields: • 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.
• Slip-editing 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 view, or Staff view. You can also enable the grid in several different views, with different grid intervals in each one. In the Track view, the Snap to Grid dialog has separate tabs for the Clips pane and the Inline Piano Roll view. You can select multiple resolution units.
Landmarks In this section, you can choose the following kinds of data to snap to: • Events—an event is any MIDI or audio data. • Clips—this option sets the Snap to Grid to clip boundaries. • Markers • Audio Transients This option also applies to the Now Time and time selections in the Time Ruler.
The SONAR Quick Start dialog box has the following fields: Open a Project button Clicking this button is the same as using the File-Open command. The Open dialog box appears, displaying the contents of your SONAR project folder. Select the project you want to open, and click OK. Open a Recent Project button and dropdown menu Click the arrow at the end of the dropdown menu to display a list of projects you opened recently.
Sort by This field lets you choose what characteristic of the tracks you want to use to sort them by. Choose from these options: • Name—Choosing this option causes SONAR to sort the tracks in alphabetical order, either A to Z, or Z to A, depending on whether you choose Ascending or Descending in the Order field. • Muted—Choosing this option causes SONAR to put the muted tracks either first or last, depending on whether you choose Ascending or Descending in the Order field.
project. SoundFonts are banks of sounds produced by Creative Labs that you can load into SONAR or other SoundFont-compatible sequencers, and control by using MIDI program change commands. To use SoundFonts in SONAR, you must have three things: 1. A Creative Labs SoundFont-compatible soundcard installed, such as the AWE 32 or 64, or SB Live 2. The SoundFont Manager software and sounds 3.
Detach button Use this button to detach a highlighted .SF2 file from a project. Locations button Use this button to tell SONAR where to look for a base name .SF2 file, if there isn’t one in the project folder. This dialog box lets you type in one or more directories (multiple directories separated by semicolons). SoundFont Locations Enter a pathname or pathnames (separated by semicolons) in SoundFont Locations dialog.
Split When Silent For At Least “N” Measures Choosing this option separates the selected clip(s) and removes empty space whenever the clips contain empty space that lasts a certain number of measures, the number of which you specify in the “N” field. Use Nondestructive Cropping When Splitting MIDI Clips If you check this option, SONAR hides any MIDI data (such as note durations) that overlap the clip boundary, without deleting any data.
Chord Grids checkbox) • What fonts you want for any text, track names, or numbers in the Staff view (Set Font popup menu) Staff properties (clef, split point) In the Staff properties section of the Staff View Layout dialog box, you can select the type of clef you want to display in the Staff view.
For more information, see: Printing Step Record dialog The Transport-Step Record command opens the Step Record dialog box. Step recording lets you specify step size and note duration so you can record difficult passages a step at a time. Step Record always uses the Sound on Sound (blend) record mode, regardless of the current record mode. The Step Record dialog has an extra set of controls called Advanced mode that only appear when you click the Adv. button.
Navigation • Auto Advance—if this option is checked, the insertion point moves ahead automatically when you release a note. • Link to Now Time (Advanced mode only)—if this option is checked, the insertion point duplicates the Now Time. • Delete on Back Step—if this option is checked, a note or notes are deleted when you click the Step Backward button. • Offset (Advanced mode only)—you can enter a value in this field to enter notes at a constant distance away from the insertion point.
Step Size dialog When you use the Transport-Step Record command, the Step Record dialog box appears, which contains two Other buttons. Clicking the one on the Step Size side of the dialog box opens the Step Size dialog box. In the Step Size field, enter the size of the note you want to enter in ticks. See also: Step Recording SurroundBridge Plug-in Linker The SoundBridge Plugin Linker allows you to use stereo plugins in a surround bus that has more than two channels.
Enable—Acts as a bypass for that instance. Unlinked Parameters This field lists all the parameters that are unlinked. For more information about the SoundBridge Plugin Linker, see The SurroundBridge. Sysx Bank Name This dialog box lets you specify the name of the bank you want.
1st Channel selecting 2, 2 - 7, and so on. Checking the Skip Channel 10 (G50) • String Tuning—choose the instrument from the dropdown list and number of strings from the Number of Strings field. Customize any of the open string pitches by using the “+“ or “-“ buttons on the string number fields. Fretboard The Fretboard tab has these fields: • Texture—choose a texture from the dropdown list. • Orientation—If you want to reverse the standard string orientation, click Low String on Top (Mirror).
Basic Musical Editing Chords and Marks Tablature Tempo dialog The Insert-Tempo Change command opens the Tempo dialog box. In the Tempo dialog box you can set a new tempo at a specified point. Use the following fields to insert a tempo change: Tempo—Type a new tempo or use the Click here to tap tempo button to tap out a tempo. The Tempo field changes as the tapped tempo varies. Change the Most Recent Tempo—Applies the tempo changes in the Tempo field to the most recent tempo.
Toolbars dialog The Views-Toolbars command lets you select which toolbars are displayed and also the style of display for the toolbars. To display a toolbar, click the checkbox next to its name. If a toolbar ends up completely off the screen, you can move it back to the screen by enabling the Allow Wrap checkbox, and then clicking the Restore Down button in the application’s upper right corner.
Track Inputs dialog The Tracks-Property-Inputs command opens the Track Inputs dialog box. This command lets you specify inputs for all of your project’s tracks for recording and MIDI echoing purposes. Use these fields in the dialog box to choose inputs for your tracks: Track Column Use the Track column to choose which track or tracks you want to choose an input for. Click the name of a track to select it or Control-click to select several at once.
Amount Fill in the number of half-steps that you want SONAR to transpose the track. Positive numbers transpose the track up; negative numbers do the opposite. See also: Adjusting the Key/Transposing a Track (Key+) Track Manager dialog Clicking the Track Manager button or pressing m in the Track view or Console view opens the Track Manager dialog box. Use this dialog box to hide or display the various track modules and buses in the view that you opened it from.
MIDI Outputs Choose the MIDI output that you want this track’s data to be sent to. The MIDI Outputs field is grayed out if the selected track is an audio track. Audio Outputs Choose the audio output that you want this track’s data to be sent to. The Audio Outputs field is grayed out if the selected track is a MIDI track. See also: Setting Up Output Devices Track Pan dialog The Tracks-Property-Pan command opens the Track Pan dialog box. Use this command to set the pan for the highlighted track(s).
Choosing the Instrument Sound (Bank and Patch) To Choose Patches with the Patch Browser Importing Instrument Definitions Creating Instrument Definitions Track Properties dialog Right-clicking a track and choosing Track Properties from the popup menu opens the Track Properties dialog box. The Track Properties dialog box has the following fields: Input The Input for the track, used in recording Output This field lists the output device through which this track is played.
Background Color Click the Choose Color button in this section to change the background color of this track’s clips. Default Track Color When this check box is enabled, the track uses default background and foreground colors for this track’s clips. You can choose which set of default colors the track uses by selecting a different option in the dropdown menu next to the check box. Description This field provides a place that you can enter a text description of the track, for future reference.
General • Mute, Solo, and Arm states; Effects; Sends; Synths—check this box if you want to import these characteristics. Track Time+ dialog The Tracks-Property-Time+ command opens the Track Time+ dialog box, which allows you to set the amount that SONAR advances or delays the start time for all events in the highlighted track. The Track Time+ dialog box has only the following field: Amount This field adjusts the start time for an event in two ways.
Track Volume dialog The Tracks-Property-Volume command opens the Track Volume dialog box. This command lets you specify the starting volume level for the track, ranging from 0 (silent) to 127 (maximum volume). The Volume setting controls the initial volume of a track during playback. Every time you start playback, SONAR sets the volume to this initial level. In some projects you want the volume of a track to change while playback is in progress.
Amount The number in this field tells SONAR how many half-steps, up or down (depending on whether you enter a positive or negative number), to transpose the selected data, unless you check the Diatonic Math checkbox (see below). If you check Diatonic Math, the number in this field tells SONAR how many scale steps to transpose the selected data. Diatonic Math If you check this checkbox. SONAR transposes the selected data up or down, but only within the current key signature.
History list The History list displays a list of all the editing actions you did to this project, up to the number of actions in the Maximum Undo Steps field. 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.
Unpack Bundle dialog The Unpack Bundle dialog allows you specify the folder where you want to store the unpacked project and the folder where you want to store the project’s audio data. This dialog only appears if you have the Use perproject audio folders option selected in the Global Options dialog. Project Name Enter a file name for your project. The default name is the same as the bundle filename but with the .CWP extension. Location Select a folder in which your project file is saved.
defaults to 44,100. You can change the sample rate by choosing one of the sample rates listed in the dropdown menu. Bit Depth This field displays the bit depth that the imported audio uses if you’re using embedded media; if you’re using externally linked media, this field defaults to the Original menu option in the dropdown menu, which leaves the bit depth of the imported audio in its original depth. You can change the bit depth during import by choosing one of the listed options.
Important: If any of your projects appears in this dialog, do not proceed to delete any audio in the Clean Audio Folder dialog without first restoring these projects from a backup source such as a Bundle file (.cwb). If SONAR cannot read a project file, any audio associated with it will be listed in the Clean Audio Folder dialog. Video Export dialog SONAR can combine an inserted video file with the audio tracks you record in a project to form a new AVI, Windows Media Video, or QuickTime file.
• Clip—This field lists the name of the currently-loaded video file. • Start Time—If you don’t want the video to start playing until some later time in the audio project, fill in the time that you do want the video to start. For example, if you want the beginning of your video to start playing at measure 3 of your audio project, enter 3 in the Start Time field.
Video Playback, Import, and Export Widget Tab Manager The Widget Tab Manager dialog appears when you right-click a tab in the Track view, and choose Widget Tab Manager from the popup menu. Use the following fields to control which track or bus controls appear when you click a tab at the bottom of the Track pane: Tab Name Use this field to choose the tab that you want to configure, for all kinds of track and bus strips.
Window Layouts dialog SONAR stores the layout of all of a project’s views in the project file when you save the project. By default, SONAR restores the layout of all the views when you open the file. In addition, you can save the current layout in a separate list--the global layout list. Once you have saved the layout in this list, you can apply it to any open project. The global layout list can contain as many layouts as you want. Layouts in the list can be updated, renamed, and deleted.
Windows Media Format Encode Options dialog You can create settings and a description for your Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format file in the Microsoft Audio Encode Options dialog box. Note: To create a surround encoded file you must export surround encoded buses. Title: Enter the title of the file. Author: Enter the name of the author responsible for creating the file. Rating: This field only relates to exporting video, which you can’t do from this dialog box.
WMV Encoder Options dialog Clicking the Encoding Options button in the Video Export dialog after you’ve selected Windows Media Video in the Save As Type field opens the WMV Encoder Options dialog. This dialog has the following fields: 1446 • Profile—this field has a list of common WMV video file formats. Selecting a profile tells the WMV encoder what quality of file to produce. • Profile info—this field briefly explains the kind of video and audio file that the profile you selected will produce.
View Reference Track View Console View Loop Construction view Loop Explorer View Piano Roll View Step Sequencer View Event List View Staff View Big Time View Lyrics view Video View Tempo View Meter/Key View Markers View SYSX View Synth Rack View Navigator View Play List View Track View The Track view is always visible. It is the main window that you use to create, display, and work with a project. When you open a project file, the Track view is displayed for the project.
The Track view is divided into several sections: toolbars (at the top), the Navigator pane, the Video Thumbnails pane, the Track pane, 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 the them. A B I C H G F E D 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.
following table gives a description of each of the Track view toolbar controls: Control Name Description Insert new track(s) or bus(es) Click this button to choose from a variety of insertion options. You can insert a single audio or MIDI track, multiple tracks, a track folder, a track template, or a single stereo or surround (Producer Edition only) bus. Select tool Enables clip selection and editing, including slip editing and editing fades and crossfades.
Control 1450 Name Description Show/Hide Meters button Click to show or hide all meters in the Track view. Click the down arrow to display a menu with options for showing or hiding specific meter types. Set options for the display of each meter type in the appropriate submenu. For more about these options, see Changing the Meters’ Display. Split tool Enables you to split a clip into separate clips.
Control Name Description Show/Hide Navigator Click this button to show or hide the Navigator pane in the Track view. The keyboard shortcut for hiding or showing the Navigator pane is d. Show/Hide Video Click this button to toggle on or off the display of the Video Thumbnails track. The Video Thumbnails track can displayed even if there is no video in your project. You can also show or hide the this track by pressing on your keyboard.
Track Pane The Track pane lets you see and change the settings for each track. Selected tracks always appear in a different color. The controls for an individual track are grouped together to form that track’s track strip. To change the current track, move the highlight using the mouse or the keyboard as follows: Key… What it does… Arrow Up and Arrow Down. Moves the selection to the adjacent track.
Clips Pane The Clips pane shows the clips in your project on a timeline that helps you visualize how your project is organized. Clips contain markings that indicate their contents. The Clips pane lets you select, move, and copy clips from place to place to change the arrangement of music and sound in your project. The Track view makes it easy to select tracks, clips, and ranges of time in a project.
Each hardware out is represented by a main out. Each main out 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. See: Main Outs To Patch a Track Through a Bus 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.
Track/Bus Inspector for an Audio Track Track/Bus Inspector for a MIDI Track Most controls can be shown or hidden. A F B C G H D I E J 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.
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.
you clicked, and scrolls the Clips pane to that spot also. If you hold down the Ctrl key while you click, the Now time jumps to that spot.
The Piano Roll view displays all MIDI notes and events from one or more tracks in either the Drum Grid pane or the Notes pane. The Notes pane is a grid format that looks much like a player piano roll. The Drum Grid pane is also laid out in a grid, but the sound of these drum notes are determined by the settings in the Drum Map pane. In both the Drum Grid pane and the Notes pane, notes are displayed as horizontal bars.
Button... Draw tool Draw tool button in AutoErase mode Erase button Pattern Brush tool What it does... Enter, edit and move notes and controller events. Use the dropdown menu on the right side to enable AutoErase mode. When this mode is enabled, you can erase notes by clicking them or dragging through multiple notes. You can erase controller events by clicking each event. When this button is enabled, you can erase notes or controller events by clicking them.
Button... 32nd Note Set the note duration for new notes to 32nd notes Dotted Note Creates a dotted note of the note duration you have selected. Triplet Creates a triplet of the duration you have selected. Snap to Grid button Pick Tracks button When depressed, controls what size blocks of musical time you can select.
Button... Show/Hide Grid What it does... Hides or shows grid lines so you can see how your notes align with various subdivisions of the beat. Click the dropdown arrow to select a subdivision. Show Durations Changes the display of notes in the Drum Editor pane of the Piano Roll view to show graphically how long each note is, versus showing each note as an identical arrow shape. Zoom Tool Zooms to the area that you drag around.
Notes Pane In this pane you can add, edit, and delete notes for a track or tracks. You can also edit controllers in this pane if you choose to hide the Controller pane. See also: Editing Notes with the Draw Tool and the Select Tool Selecting Notes Displaying Notes and Controllers in the Inline Piano Roll View Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll Controller pane This pane displays controller events, which you can edit.
• Selecting the track you want to edit and using the Views-Piano Roll command To Open the Step Sequencer 1. Do one of the following: • To edit an existing pattern—Select the Step Sequencer clip that you wish to edit in the Step Sequencer. • To create a new pattern—Click the MIDI track in which you want to create the new pattern. The track then becomes the active track. Make sure that no MIDI clips are selected. 2. Do one of the following: • Select Views-Step Sequencer. • Press Alt+Shift+5.
To Disable a Note To Clear All Steps To Edit the Drum Map Properties of a Note To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) Step Sequencer Interface The Step Sequencer interface consists of three sections: • Toolbar • Notes Pane • Controllers Pane A B C D E F G T U V H I J W K L M N O P Q R S A. Pattern Length (beats per measure and steps per beat) B. Fit to Quarters C. Transport and Position D. Monphonic/Polyphonic Mode toggle E. Articulation (hold) F. Swing G. Portamento H.
Toolbar The Step Sequencer toolbar consists of the following controls: Pattern Length—The pattern length is determined by the following settings: • Beats per Measure—This setting specifies the number of beats per measure. The value range is 1-64 and the default value is 4 beats. Changes are undoable. • Steps per Beat—This setting specifies the number of steps per beat. The value range is 1-16 and the default value is 4 steps. Changes are undoable.
Articulation—The Articulation knob controls how long each note is held. The value range is 0-100% and the default value is 100% (hold each note for its full duration). Swing—The Swing knob controls the amount of swing that is applied to the sequence. The value range is 0-100% and the default value is 50% (no swing). A swing value of 50% (the default) means that the beats are spaced evenly.
Note: If the row’s pitch has not been mapped in the drum map, doubleclicking the note name will open the Drum Map Manager (see The Drum Map Manager), which allows you to create a new drum map. When the Drum Map Manger is closed, the new drum map is automatically assigned to the MIDI track. • Note Number—Use this control to specify the row’s input note. • Mute—This button mutes the row/note/pitch. • Solo—This button solos the row/note/pitch.
To open the Controllers pane, click the Open/Close Controllers Pane button in the Step Sequencer toolbar. For more information on working with controller events, see Adding and Editing Controllers in the Piano Roll. Keyboard Shortcuts You can use the keyboard to navigate around the Step Sequencer interface and adjust settings. A focus rectangle indicates the step/control that is selected. 1468 Key... Action...
Key... Action...
To Edit the Drum Map Properties of a Note To Convert a MIDI Clip(s) to a Step Sequencer Clip(s) Event List View Open the Event List view by: • Selecting one or more tracks and choosing Views-Event List • Selecting one or more tracks and clicking • Right-clicking a track in the Clips pane and choosing Views-Event List in the Views toolbar The Events List view hides or displays all the events in a project in a list.
Staff View Open the Staff view by any of three methods: • Use the Views-Staff command • Click the Staff View button • Select Staff from the Clips pane right-click popup menu in the Views toolbar The Staff view displays MIDI note events as musical notation. For some musicians, this may be the most familiar and comfortable view in which to work. The Staff view provides many features that make it possible for you to compose, edit, and print music.
Inserting Notes on the Staff To Audition with the Scrub Tool Moving, Copying, and Deleting Notes on the Staff Using Enharmonic Spellings Adding Expression Marks Adding Hairpin Symbols The Fretboard Tablature Working with Lyrics Beaming of Rests Setting Up a Percussion Staff or Line Staff View Keyboard Shortcuts The Staff View Toolbar The Staff view toolbar has all the controls you need to enter and edit notes and symbols, and control the display of your notation. Here’s what each button does: Button...
Button... What it does... Zoom In Zooms in by a fixed percentage, both horizontally and vertically Snap button When depressed, controls what size blocks of musical time you can select Snap value This field shows the current value of the Snap to Grid. When you click a note value in the Staff view toolbar, the Snap value copies that value, unless you override it by opening the Snap to Grid dialog and setting a value.
Button... What it does...
Button... What it does... Cursor Show’s the cursor’s current position in both project time and pitch level; the pitch level is listed in both letter and number formats position Synth Rack View The Synth Rack view lets you view, insert, delete, and configure your soft synths. You can also mute and solo 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 parameters.
Button... What it does... Insert Displays a menu of available synths and ReWire devices; choose one to insert into your project. Delete If you want to delete a soft synth from your project, click the name of the soft synth in the Synth Rack view and then click the Delete button. Note: Always close any Rewire applications in their own interfaces before deleting them from SONAR.
Button... What it does... Automation Track menu Lets you choose which track to display a synth’s automation data on. Preset menu Lets you choose preset sounds; click the left/right arrows to step through the menu. Mute button Lets you mute the synth, and all tracks associated with this instance of the synth. Solo button Lets you solo the synth, and all tracks associated with this instance of the synth.
Software Synthesizers Inserting Soft Synths Using the Assignable Controls Feature Multi-port Soft Synths Playing a Soft Synth Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio Muting and Soloing Soft Synth Tracks Converting Your Soft Synth Tracks to Audio Drawing Soft Synth Automation in the Clips Pane Playing a Stand-alone Synth ReWire Instruments Lyrics view Open the Lyrics view by any of three methods: • Using the Views-Lyrics command • Clicking the Lyrics View button • Using the Lyrics command from the C
Sound controls in the Console view are grouped in modules. There are four types of modules: Module… What it does… MIDI track Set the track's output, channel, bank, and patch; set the input source and monitor input levels; mute, solo, and arm the track; set channel volume, panning, chorus, and reverb levels. Audio track Set the track's output; set the input source and monitor input levels; mute, solo, and arm the track; set track volume and panning; apply realtime effects, send audio data to buses.
The Console view contains meters for recording, playback, and main output levels. You can hide or show any or all of these meters, and choose many different options for the units and format of the data the meters display. The controls and effects patch points all have tooltips associated with them. To see a description of a particular control or effect, simply rest the cursor over the item for a few seconds. Main out faders can be linked using the Link button .
Gain Band Q Frequency EQ enable EQ type Band select Audio track strip in Console view Trim control FX bin Aux bus Aux send enable Aux bus Automation read/ write Mono/Stereo, Phase invert, and Input Pan control Output Quick Group View Reference Console View Track name 1481
Click to scroll one strip at a time Customizing the Console View You can show or hide individual tracks or buses in the Console view by opening the Track Manger dialog (press m on your computer keyboard). This dialog works independently in the Console view and the Track view. The show/hide buttons in the lower left corner of the Console view have numerous options for customizing what you see in the Console view.
Button... Description... EQ Plot • Shows or hides the Plot for the built-in EQ in the Console view. • Right-click the button to change the plot resolution. • Right-click the plot itself to change the EQ to pre-FX or post-FX, or to open the EQ property page, to enable/ disable the EQ, or to turn off bands 5 and 6 of the EQ. The Reset Hidden EQ Parameters option appears if you enable bands 5 and 6 in the property page.
Routing and Mixing Digital Audio Using Real-Time Effects Using Control Groups Using Remote Control Automation Methods Applying Audio Effects Applying MIDI Effects For step by step instructions: To Choose the Tracks that are Displayed Using the Track Manager To Hide a Bus or Track Changing the Meters’ Display To Set the Snap-to Position of a Knob or Fader To Insert a New Track To Rename a Track or Bus Configuring the Console and Track Views Video View Open the Video view by using the Views-Video command or
trim times, and other options. Your project's video and digital audio data can be saved together in a new AVI file with Tools-Export Video to AVI. For more information, see Preparing Audio for Distribution. Note: The project's video file is saved in the project by reference only; the actual video data remains in the original file. Use these options in the Video File dialog box: Look in—Use this field to find the folder that contains the video file you want to insert.
Optimizing Video Performance Tempo View Open the Tempo view by using the Views-Tempo command, or by clicking the Tempo View button in the Views toolbar. The Tempo view shows the tempo of your project. You can use the mouse to draw tempo changes directly onto the graph. 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.
Tool... Name... What It’s for... Erase Eliminate tempo changes already in place for some portion of a project. Snap When the Snap button is depressed, any new tempo changes will only be entered as often as the duration value in the tempo view’s Snap to Grid dialog box (open by Rightclicking the Snap button). If you make a mistake using any of these tools, you can use 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.
For more information, see Using the Tempo View.
SYSX View Open the Sysx view by using the Views-Sysx command, or by clicking the Sysx view button in the Views toolbar. System Exclusive messages (Sysx) are commands that are unique to each brand or model of sound module. Consult the manual of each particular machine to find out what Sysx commands it responds to. The Sysx view gives you 256 Sysx Banks to hold System Exclusive messages. See Using the System Exclusive View.
The number of beats (quarter notes) in the clip. Enable Stretching Button The Enable Stretching button instructs SONAR to stretch or shrink the clip to fit the project’s tempo. The Beats in Clip and Original BPM parameters are used to make the change. Original BPM Field The tempo at which the clip was recorded. Follow Project Pitch Button The Follow Project Pitch option transposes the loop, if necessary, to the key of the project.
value entered into the Pitch (semitone) field adjusts the pitch from C. If you enter “-1” the pitch would be transposed down by one additional semitone to B. Another example: The clip pitch is E. The desired clip pitch is D. If the Follow Project Pitch option is not checked, and a value of “2” is entered in the Pitch (semitones) field, the clip is transposed down two semitones to D from the original pitch of E.
Erase Tool Use the Erase tool to delete markers in the Markers bar. Default All Markers Tool 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. Slices Resolution The Slice Resolution control sets the resolution for the creation of markers, or the “slicing” of the looped clip.
Show/Hide Gain Envelope Toggle on or off the display of a gain envelope. Show/Hide Pan Envelope Toggle on or off the display of a pan envelope. Show/Hide Pitch Envelope Toggle on or off the display of a pitch envelope. Slice Gain Control Change the gain setting for the selected slice. Slice Pan Control Change the pan setting for the selected slice. Slice Pitch Control Change the pitch setting for the selected slice.
Loop Explorer View You can open the Loop Explorer view in any of the following methods: • Select Views-Explorer from the menu. • Click the Explorer icon on the Views toolbar. The Explorer view allows you to locate, view and preview your sound files. The Explorer view toolbar has the following controls: Tool... Name... What It Does... Move Up Opens the folder one level above the active folder. Refresh Refreshes the active folder.
Contents List Pane The Contents List pane displays the folders and files contained in the active folder. 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.
A B E C D H F G 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. See To Create and Edit a Play List and To Play Files from the Play List View.
Angle and Focus marker. Their distance from each other and from the front of the circle shows the Width value (see definition below). You can also drag the Width markers to control Angle and Focus. • Speaker icons/squares—each surround channel is represented by a speaker icon in the large panner, and a white square in the small panner. The large panner also has a corresponding volume level in dB directly in front of each icon.
View Reference Surround Panner
Glossary aftertouch AIFF archive arm digital audio audio clip audio track audition automation bank broadcast wave bundle file Cakewalk Application Language (CAL) channel channel aftertouch (ChanAft) chord chord symbol clip clone controls crescendo crossfade controllers
dB decibel decrescendo DMA DRM (Dump Request Macro) duration echo effects (audio effects) envelopes event expression expression marks fade fade-in fade-out frame rate from time full-duplex global layout Groove clip groove pattern groove quantize group guitar chord grid hairpin symbol H:M:S:F input input monitoring inspector menu (same as context menu) instrument definitions 1500 Glossary
key aftertouch (KeyAft) key offset key signature kill latency layout linked clips live mode locked (SMPTE) time looping loops lyrics marker MBT MCI command (Media Control Interface command) meter MIDI mixdown MME MMC (MIDI Machine Code) MTC Sync mute normal template Now time NRPN offline offset overload PPQ pan Glossary 1501
patch pedal mark pitch bend pitch marker pitch wheel phase port project pitch property quantize record quantize resolution riff wave RMS RPN sampling rate scrub sensitivity (window) size slip editing shape SMPTE snapshot solo split point staff quantize strength quantize strength stripping submix 1502 Glossary
swing Sysx Sysx Bank take template tempo thru time ticks time timebase TPQ track transients vector velocity velocity offset volume WDM widget wipe xRPN aftertouch MIDI property controlling how much pressure is applied. See key aftertouch (KeyAft), channel aftertouch (ChanAft). AIFF Short for Audio Interchange File Format, the audio file format on the Macintosh platform. Files in this format have the extension .AIF or .AIFF. archive Silence and suppress the processing of a track.
arm Enable a track for recording. See Choosing an Input. audio clip Clip containing digital audio. audio track Track recorded digitally. audition Listen to audio effects to determine if they are acceptable. See Basic Audio Processing. automation Cakewalk snapshot or dynamic recording of the positions of all the controls through a portion of sound or music. See Quick Automation Guide. bank Up to 128 patches. Storage for sounds. bit depth Size of memory locations used to store particular kinds of data.
See Adding Chord Symbols. channel aftertouch (ChanAft) MIDI property regulating the pressure applied to all the notes of the instrument on the specified channel. chord symbol The c among the expression marks on the staff. Put one above the notes where you want to define a guitar chord grid. See Chords and Marks. clip Piece of sound and music. Your project consists of clips. You can link clips. clone A command that allows you to copy a track along with its properties, the clips or events or both.
decrescendo A fade out. A gradual decrease in volume. digital audio Music or sound recorded digitally, as on a compact disk, and not recorded by means of MIDI. DMA Direct Memory Access. DMA settings determine how your computer’s sound card communicates with Cakewalk. See The Wave Profiler for information about how to change DMA settings. DRM (Dump Request Macro) Utility for getting synthesizer data into a bank.
expression marks Dynamic markings and other musical instructions (like decrescendo, con amore, etc.) in the Staff view. See Adding Expression Marks. fade Gradual increase (crescendo) or decrease (decrescendo) in volume. See Fades and Crossfades and Automation. fade-in Gradual increase (crescendo) in volume. See Fades and Crossfades and Automation. fade-out Gradual decrease (decrescendo) in volume. See Fades and Crossfades and Automation. frame Smallest units for SMPTE synchronization.
Groove clip Audio clip that contains pitch and tempo information that allows SONAR to automatically adjust the pitch and tempo of the clip to that of the project you insert it into. groove pattern Piece of music used as a template for the groove quantize command. See To Use the Groove Quantize Command groove quantize Lets you lay a grid over your groove pattern, then adjust time, duration, and velocity of selected notes so they line up with the grid.
instrument definitions A file that contains information about banks, patches, controllers, and other features of an instrument. See Creating Instrument Definitions. key aftertouch (KeyAft) MIDI property regulating the pressure applied to an individual note. key offset The number of half-steps by which to transpose the track. A value of 12 raises the notes an octave. You can transpose all note in a track on playback by setting this value (Key+) in the Tracks pane.
loops Small pieces of audio data, suitable for being repeated back to back, such as a single drum beat or measure. live mode Temporary condition of a project with all automation turned off. You can toggle back and forth between live mode and regular mode by clicking the Live Mode button. lyrics Words to go along with music. See Working with Lyrics. marker Flag marking a specific time in the music. MBT Measure, Beat and Tick number. 9:04:0060 is the 60th tick of the fourth beat of the ninth measure.
MME Multi Media Extensions—the name of Windows’ built-in audio and multmedia software that was originally developed for Windows 3.0, and is still used by many sound card drivers. WDM drivers offer much better performance. MTC Sync MIDI Time Code sync. Messages are received in SMPTE/MTC format from an external MIDI device and generate MTC. See SMPTE. mute Set a track to be silent during play. normal template Project template for all projects. Now time The current time in a project.
PPQ. PPQ is adjustable on most sequencers, up to about 960 PPQ. PPQ’s of 96, 120. and 480 are common. pan Degree to which a sound or piece of music comes from the left or right speaker. patch Particular sound in an electronic device. Patches are stored in banks, in groups of 128. pedal mark Expression mark indicating when the player should hold down the pedal and release it. pitch bend Controller that changes the pitch of a MIDI note.
quantize Correct human imperfection in start and duration of selected notes so they line up with a specified time grid. quantize resolution Smallest note or number of ticks you want effective in a piece for quantizing purposes. quantize strength Measure of how much an adjustment should approach perfection. See To Use the Groove Quantize Command record Capture audio or MIDI sound in a reproducible fashion. riff wave The standard digital audio format used under Windows and for CD’s, with a file extension of .
size The number of events in a track, listed in the Size column of the Tracks window. This number changes every time you add or delete events to or from that track. slip editing Non-destructive editing process that allows the start and/or end time of an audio or MIDI clip to be trimmed by simply dragging the front or back end of the clip. shape An automation envelope created in the Track view or Console view. SMPTE Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
Sysx Cakewalk's System Exclusive library, which can store, record, and display for viewing or editing 256 banks, each holding any number of patches. See System Exclusive Data. Sysx Bank A Sysx bank is a storage area plus some associated parameters such as a destination output and an optional description. Each bank can hold any number of messages; the amount of data it can hold is limited only by available memory. The banks are saved in the Cakewalk song file. Each bank can also be saved as a .
timebase Same as PPQ. Timing resolution, measured in pulses (ticks) per quarter note. Determines how finely you can specify notes. See Setting the MIDI Timing Resolution. TPQ Same as timebase or PPQ. Short for Ticks Per Quarter note. track Cakewalk's representation of one or more lines of music with shared properties, for example, music played by one instrument. transients Peaks of loudness in an audio clip. Used to determine where the beats lie in audio clips.
xRPN RPN and NRPN.
Glossary
Index Symbols .clr .CWB files .CWP files .CWT files .cwx file extension .INIfiles ACT linking knob to cells in ACT MIDI prop page ACT Lock button ACT MIDI Controller Plug-in Active Controller Technology .MID files .SYX files saving a Groove clip as Acoustics , .
Archive 187, 1125 Archiving tracks Arm 248 Arm for Recording 1127 ASCII TAB exporting to saving as ASIO drivers enabling Assign Instruments dialog Audible Bounce Audigy card LFE channel Audio auditioning with scrub tool basic editing connecting instruments to sound card digital , distortion editing tutorial effects exporting , finding missing importing , metronome mixing playback troubleshooting plug-ins recording See Recording audio routing scrubbing under SMPTE/MTC Sync where it is stored Audio 243, 854,
quantizing to Pool and lffline rendering tutorial slip-stretching audio clips the Pool transient markers Audition RAW Sound Designer II Audio folders per-project Audio hardware Wave Profiler Audio loop defined Audio Options dalog Drivers tab Audio Options dialog Advanced tab Driver Profiles tab General tab Audio performance improving Audio processing playing backward removing silence See also Volume Audio recording tutorial Audio scaling Auditioning notes polyphonically Audtion Selection 1115 Auto arming
methods quick guide reassigning envelopes to other parameters recording automation from an external controller recording individual fader or knob movements resetting envelopes to default values shapes showing or hiding envelopes snapshots surround panning the envelope and node editing menus toolbar using Automation curves Automation Data , Automation Read and Write buttons Automation toolbar AVI files importing Backing up your work audio data bundle files using per-project audio folders Bank/Patch Change
Bus choosing a default bus for inserted tracks Bus pane docking views in Buses , , sending audio data to Cakewalk FX Stereo Reverb 497 Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in Cakewalk Publisher CAL programs – sample CD creating quality sampling rate CD Burning CD burning preparing audio with higher bit and/or sample rates preparing higher resolution audio for CD burning CD player , connecting to CD ripping Center material removing ChanAft event Change Audio Format 1135 Change audio format Change Audio Format dial
groove clips linked – MIDI definition moving – moving to a specific start time pasting as new pasting into existing performance effects of properties , renaming reversing notes in , revert to original time stamp selecting , selecting partial splitting splitting options trimming non-destructively Clips pane not visible Clock – sources Clone 299, 1128 Clone tracks dialog Cloning tracks Color screen – Color presets import and export Color set files importing and exporting Colors 84, 1138 Colors dialog Combinin
guitar through effects rack microphone Connecting a guitar and effects rack to your sound card Connecting a microphone to your sound card Connecting a mixer to your sound card Connecting an instrument or home stereo to your sound card Connecting guitar to sound card Console view adjusting knobs in automating controls in choosing inputs in keyboard shortcuts in linking controls in – modules mute and solo in overview Consolidate Project Audio 850, 1135 Contollers pane , Control event Control groups absolute
Converting bit depths Converting MIDI to audio Converting sample rates and bit depths Converting soft synth tracks to audio Copy dialog Copying tracks Copyright Count-in CPS (cycles per second) CPU conservation mode CPU meter , CPU performance CPU performance meter Create New Layer On Overlap Credits Crescendos – , creating using Process-Scale Velocity 459 Cropping overlapping clips Crossfade changing the curve types in curve types Crossfade 548 Crossfade dialog Crossfades applying offline automatic n
keyboard shortcuts in loading loops in Loop bin Loop view overview Pad Editor pad groups Pad Inspector Slice Inspector toolbar using Cyclone Soft Synth D D/A Data – sysx Data directory dB audio scaling by DC offset removing Decibel scale , Decrescendos creating using Process-Scale Velocity Velocity Default bus setting setting for inserted tracks Default pitch changing a project’s Define Groove dialog definition Deglitch dialog Deglitch filter , using Delay adding Delete 300, 1129 Delete dialog digital
Digital audio See Audio Digital distortion digital-to-analog converter Dim Solo Gain Dim Solo Mode adjust dim level enable Dimension LE Diminuendo Dirty flag in presets Disk cache meter Disk meter Disks caching compressed fragmented storage requirements Displacement Dithering during rewrite procedure DMA settings , Docking views Dotted lines Double Precision engine Doubled notes Downmixing , Drag and Drop 332 Drag-Quantize Drivers MIDI using ASIO Dropouts fixing DropZone Drum editing Drum Grid pane changi
editing note velocities in Drum machines Drum Map Manager opening working in Drum Map Manager 506, 1142 Drum maps assigning a MIDI track to creating editing opening saving the basics tutorial Dual monitor support Dump Request Macros (DRM) Duration Fill note , note property parameter time Duration dialog , E Echo adding eliminating during recording Echoing MIDI Edirol PCR controllers Edit-Apply Trimiming deleting slip-edited data using Edit-Apply Trimming 1094 Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) 1092 combining clips us
copying envelopes using importing tracks from other projects with keyboard shortcut Edit-Cut 300, 306, 315, 493, 705, 1091 keyboard shortcut Edit-Delete deleting clips using deleting measures using deleting time using keyboard shortcut Edit-Groove Clip Looping 1093 enabling Groove clip looping using Edit-History 357, 1088 Editing slip editing Editing audio tutorial Editing MIDI tutorial Edit-Paste 1092 arranging clips using importing tracks from a project using keyboard shortcut pasting envelopes using Edit
increasing number of MIDI mono/stereo/surround indicator presets real-time audio relinking surround parameters unlinking surround parameters Effects tail defined Effects with surround sound Electric Guitar connecting Enable Automation Playback button Encoding options End 173, 1120 keyboard shortcut Ensoniq instruments Envelope Display on a Percentage Scale Envelope Draw tool Envelope mode Envelope tool Envelopes copying and pasting deleting drawing audio envelopes in the Track view drawing envelopes on clip
searching for a Event Filter dialog Event filters , – selecting events using setting up Event inspector toolbar Event List toolbar Event List view , , keyboard shortcuts in multiple tracks in note names in opening Pitch parameter Event Parameters editing Event types filtering Events audio channel aftertouch controller defined editing , Key aftertouch MCIcmd – Metanote , out-of-window parameters , , patch patch change pitch wheel , searching a song for searching for selecting shifting in time shifting
stretching and shrinking transposing selected xRPN Export Audio dialog Export Broadcast Waves By Default Export OMF dialog Exporting , audio encoding options MP3s projects as OMF files Windows Media Format files Exporting key bindings Exporting MIDI Groove clips Exporting surround mixes Exporting video Expression event Expression marks , – editing External Insert bouncing using external effects in SONAR F Fade changing curve type of Fade type, choosing Fade/Envelope 547–549 Fade/Envelope dialog Fade-in,
opening File extensions .CAL 1103 .CWB 285 .CWP 59 .CWT 726 .INI 949 .MID 285 .
project RIFF MIDI sequencing, for playback song statistics , StudioWare SYSX.
From 173, 1120 keyboard shortcut Front/rear balance slider Full chase lock FX bin mono/stereo/surround indicator FX bins vertical display G Gain command Game sound General MIDI See GM Generic control surface property page Generic control surfaces assigning knobs and faders BaseTrack changing tracks conserving knobs and buttons Increment/Decrement learn Literally/Toggle On/Off saving and backing up presets , Trigger Value Generic controller/surface property page Generic controller/surfaces dialog explained
Auto-save and Versioning Editing tab Folders tab General tab MIDI tab Timecode tab GM , Go dialog Go menu Beginning 173, 1120 keyboard shortcut End 173, 1120 Endkeyboard shortcut From 173, 1120 keyboard shortcut Next Marker 330, 1121 Next Markerkeyboard shortcut Next Measure 174, 1121 Next Measurekeyboard shortcut Previous Marker 330, 1121 Previous Measure 174, 1121 Previous Measurekeyboard shortcut Search 477, 480, 1122 Search Nex 1122 Search Next 477 Search Nextkeyboard shortcut Thru 173, 1120 keyboard sh
tutorial using what they are working with Groove Pattern copying defining deleting saving Groove Quantize 461, 462 using Groove Quantize correcting a bad verse with Grooves See Groove Pattern Group chord property Group Manager 643 Grouping controls Quick Groups Grouping controls, faders, or knobs Grouping surround panner controls GS Guitar adding chord grid connecting effects rack to sound card connecting to sound card recording separate strings Guitar, electric – connecting H Hairpin event Hairpin symbols
Hide 1129 History 358 Home Stereo connecting to Horizontal meters , Hot-keys Console view Event List view Loop Construction view Loop Explorer view menu commands Piano Roll view , Staff view Synth Rack view Track view Hz I Icons for soft synths track icons Importing audio CD tracks audio files , from a Cakewalk project – music – preview bus Importing different sampling rates Importing key bindings Importing MIDI Groove clips Importing OMF Importing surround mixes Initialization File 949, 1141 Initializat
Input Input Echo button Input filtering Input levels checking Input Monitoring turning on or off for all tracks Input monitoring disabling eliminating echo from enabling Input Quantize dialog Input Quantizing Inputs choosing in Console view selecting setting source of Insert menu Audio Track 1113 Marker 1113 MIDI Track 1113 Series of Controllers 442, 1113 Series of Tempos 348, 352, 1114 Tempo Change 348 Tempo ChangeTempo Change 1112 Time Measures 1112 Time/Measures 453 Insert menuTempo Change 351 Insert New
Instrument Definition Tutorial Instrument Definitions flags Instrument definitions creating – exporting importing – name lists – reload saving Instrument sound choosing an parameter track settings wrong, on playback See also Instruments Instruments accessing all sounds on assigning, to outputs – bank assignments – defining – deleting non-concert key , – patch names for – problems recording from MIDI recording from MIDI Instruments 787, 1136 Interface picture and description Interleave indicator FX bins Inte
K k64-bit plug-in display Key adjusting – aftertouch signature – , Key Bindings 724, 1141 Key bindings creating using MIDI keyboard exporting importing Key Bindings dialog Key+ KeyAft event Keyboard connecting MIDI – connecting to computer Local Control setting notes doubling on parameters patches – recording accompaniments Keyboard shortcut Track Inspector Keyboard shortcuts Console view Event List view Loop Construction view Loop Explorer view menu commands Piano Roll view , Staff view Synth Rack view Tra
Large Transport Large Transport toolbar Latency Layering synths live playback Layers in tracks Layouts , , – creating deleting loading options renaming updating Lead sheets See Notation and Lyrics Length 456 Length dialog LFE channel on consumer-grade sound cardsr LFE Send level default value Linear Phase EQ Link button Linked clips creating unlinking Live MIDI playback controlling Load Bank Local Control Local On/Off Lock track height Locked clips and tempo change Locking clips Locking views Loop defin
Loop recording using Loop, moving a Loop/Auto Shuttle settings toolbar Loop/Auto Shuttle dialog Loopback recording adjustment Looping delays enabling loops for setting up – using punch-in while Loops ACIDized converting to Groove clips creating repetitions of dragging into project enabling looping of Groove clip tutorial previewing in Loop Explorer view working with LP-64 Linear Phase EQ LP-64 Multiband Compressor Lyric event Lyrics – hyphenating in Lyrics View in Staff View Lyrics view – – adding lyric
Mapped note changing the mapping of muting and soloing Marker 1113 inserting keyboard shortcut Marker dialog Markers , adding adding on the fly copying creating – deleting deleting from the Markers view editing jump to locking/unlocking moving pitch setting Now time with setting time range with snap-to grid using Markers module Markers view Marks expression – Masked the active track error message MBT (measure, beat and tick number) MBT time entering MCI (Media Control Interface) command , , , – MCI cm
Menus customizing Meter , – Meter ballistics Meter display changing in Console view Meter/Key changes , – view , Meter/Key Signature dialog Meter/Key view Metering changing the display of meters showing and hiding meters what the meters measure Meters changing color and segmentation option choosing colors for non-segmented meters configuring display of improving performance MIDI activity indicators MIDI velocity meters playback and record segmented Metronome audio changing settings setting for new project
as remote control assigning a channel bank selection beginner’s guide channel parameter channels , channels vs.
recording music from routing data RX setting up in and out devices software interfaces to synchronization synchronization status messages time code timing resolution See also Controllers MIDI clips definition MIDI controllers converting to shapes (track envelopes) MIDI data applying an event filter to applying echo/delay to applying the arpeggiator to quantizing MIDI data lanes , assign event type to copy events between lanes create a new lane delete a lane move events between lanes show/hide event types
MIDI File Formats SMF (standard MIDI files) MIDI files importing MIDI Groove clips creating repetitions enabling groove function exporting and importing in Loop Explorer view previewing in the Import MIDI dialog transposing using pitch markers MIDI In and Out devices driver changes MIDI input filtering MIDI input presets , creating and editing MIDI keyboard multiple performers on multiple tracks playing multiple tracks from MIDI meter activity indicator velocity meter MIDI notes editing using Note Inspector
Input Outputs Pan track name track number MIDI tracks definition Milliseconds MINOR CHORD.
rests Mute automating MIDI event mute Mute 186, 187 Mute 186, 1125 Mute button showing automated mute status Mute buttons, grouping Muting a soft synth Muting clips N Name, of a track Navigator pane Navigator view changing display of Clips pane using using New Global Layout dialog New track adding Next Marker 330, 1121 keyboard shortcut Next Measure 174, 1121 keyboard shortcut NoControllerReset Nodes adding to a selected envelope segment Non-destructive editing Normal template Normalize 542, 543 Normalize
Note names of patches – Note pane Note velocities editing in the Drum Grid pane Note velocity adjusting – changing with Velocity MIDI effect compressing displaying inverting Notes changing display of – changing timing of doubling drag-quantize drawing in Piano Roll view duration of editing – editing from the fretboard editing on the TAB staff editing velocity in Piano Roll view editing with the Draw tool , editing with the Select tool editing, in real time erasing glue notes together inserting inserting wit
transposing – using enharmonic spellings Now Time rewind on stop Now time , , – changing keyboard shortcuts large print NRPN (Non-Registered Parameter Number) , , assigning, to instruments event Nudge moving clips left or right moving clips up or down settings numeric peak values showing O Offset mode OMF exporting to importing project data discarded when saved as project data preserved in saving projects as OMF files exporting Open Plug-in Technology OPT panels Options menu Audio 243, 854, 1137 Color
SoundFonts 1140 Time Ruler Format-HMSF 1142 Time Ruler Format-MBT 1141 Time Ruler Format-Samples 1142 Original Time Out of memory error Outputs assigning tracks to MIDI setting Overlapping clips cropping to eliminate overlap Overload Overtones P Pan adjusting envelopes setting track settings Pane Pane, Staff Panning follow bus pan Follow Track Pan Panning in surround Panning laws changing Parameters effects events – , global pedal events template file – See also Events Partial clips selecting Patch , – ,
definition event names – numbers Patch Browser dialog Patch/Controller Searchback Before Play Starts Patches downloading Pattern Brush tool creating custom patterns for how it works painting a custom pattern with painting notes using Pattern Velocity dialog Pattern-based Step Recording Patterns importing from Project5 Peak Markers clearing from a track Pedal events editing parameters Pedal marks adding Percentage audio scaling by , Percussion channel ghost strokes line – staff – Percussion track setting up
inverting a track’s Piano Roll envelopes converting to Track view envelopes Piano Roll toolbar , Piano Roll tools configuring default assignments drag-quantize events glue notes together keyboard modifier keys mouse actions mouse locations/contexts mute events note/controller painting PRV Tool Configuration dialog split notes Piano Roll View inline version Piano Roll view , , , colorize notes by velocity Controllers pane , Drum Grid pane editing notes in using Note Inspector toolbar flexible Piano Roll to
audio definition Picture Cache Picture cache redrawing optimizing Picture Folder Pitch changing a MIDI note’s changing project’s with marker enabling Groove clips to follow fluctuating – note property selecting Pitch markers creating MIDI Groove clips and moving transposing Groove clips with using Pitch wheel events, thinning parameters Play 177, 1115 keyboard shortcut Play List , to play files from Play List view Playback – allow playback with no data audio drop-out during controlling , , , controlling u
Playback loop cancelling setting up Playback of V-Vocal clips Playback State toolbar playing Plot Plug-ins audio MIDI organizing in menus using presets Plug-ins and 96 kHz audio Polarity inverting a track’s Polyphonic auditioning of dragged notes Polyphonic note auditioning polyphony Port Address settings Ports assign different input ports to multiple audio tracks assign same input port to multiple audio tracks assign same output port to all buses assign same output port to multiple audio tracks assigning i
keyboard shortcut , Printing event list markers project information scores Process-Apply Audio Effects 1097 applying realtime audio effects using Process-Apply MIDI Effects 1097 apply realtime MIDI effects using Process-Audio-Apply Audio Effects apply multiple realtime effects using Process-Audio-Crossfade 1096 creating a destructive crossfade using Process-Audio-Fade/Envelope 1096 creating a destructive fade using Process-Audio-Normalize 543, 1095 Process-Audio-Remove Silence 546, 1095 Process-Audio-Revers
Process-Slide 1099 shifting MIDI events in time using Process-Transpose 1104 Program definition Project creating a definition of importing material from another information – inserting measures into – labeling – maximum duration opening , saving views Project 241, 243, 1137 Project Audio Files dialog Project file creating new Project Files dialog using Project information diplaying editing Project Options metronome MIDI out sync to SMPTE/MTC time base Project Options dialog Clock tab Metronome tab MIDI Out
saving, as MIDI files working on Property-Bank 205, 1124 Property-Channel 209, 1123 Property-Inputs 276, 1123 Property-Key+ 210, 1123 Property-Outputs 1122 Property-Pan 207, 1125 Property-Patch 205, 1124 Property-Time+ 211, 1123 Property-Vel+ 211, 1123 Property-Volume 207, 1124 Publisher Punch recording , looping using Q Quantize drag-quantize effect offset option synchronizing rhythm and solo tracks with using Window setting Quantize 460, 461, 749 Quantizing input quantizing on input Queue buffers Quick
connecting to , RANDOM TIME.
step – step-pattern StudioWare Controls – using confidence recording during volume Recording a soft synth Recording Digital Audio tutorial Recording fader movements Recording MIDI tutorial Recording modes Auto Punch Overwrite Sound on sound Recording Options create new layer on overlap Redo 357 Reject Loop Take 263, 266 Reject Loop Take 263, 1118 Relink surround effect Remote control Remove Silence Attack time Remove Silence 544 digital noise gate parameters Remove Silence dialog 1404 Rename Existing Layout
mixing down and bouncing ReWire instruments routing MIDI data to specific instruments to use separate audio tracks troubleshooting guide ReWire instruments Riff Wave files description of saving a Groove clip as RPN (Registered Parameter Numbers) event RPNs (Registered Parameter Numbers) , , assigning, to instruments Run Audio 1116 S Safe Mode Sample rate definition setting , Sample rates converting setting for new projects Sampling rate setting Sampling rates importing audio at different rates Sampling res
Scoring film and video Screen colors – Scrub tool , auditioning with Search 477, 480, 1122 Search Again Search Nex 477, 1122 Search Next keyboard shortcut Select All Siblings 331, 333 Select by Filter Select by Filter 477, 480–481 Select by Time 322 Select None 323 Selected Track Input Series Selected Track Inputs Selected Track Outputs Selection playback Sends inserting in a bus Sensitivity setting quantizing parameter Series of Controllers Series of Controllers inserting , Series of Tempos 351, 352 inse
Synth Rack view Track view Show Automated Mute Show layers Show numeric peak values Sidechaining assign track/bus/send to sidechain input bouncing audio with sidechain plug-ins freezing a sidechain input Signal flow diagram Silence – removing Silencing tracks – Slaving to SMPTE/MTC Slide 452 Slide dialog Slip editing to permanently delete slip-edited data using Slip-editing multiple clips SMPTE , SMPTE start times for clips SMPTE Synchronization frame rate SMPTE time adjusting SMPTE/MTC Sync – controlling a
Snapshots creating Soft synth MIDI output enabling and recording Soft synth property pages (interfaces) how to open Soft Synths MIDI output support multi-port tutorial Soft synths converting soft synth tracks to audio drawing automation in the Clips pane icons muting and soloing removing from a project soft synths recording output Software synthesizers and WDM drivers playing a soft synth recording a hardware-emulating synth removing from a track Solo , see also Dim Solo Mode Soloing a soft synth Soloing cl
Sound card built-in high-end Sound controls – SoundFont Banks dialog SoundFonts 1140 SP/DIF connecting to recording through Split , split notes SPLIT CHANNEL TO TRACKS.CAL SPLIT NOTE TO TRACKS.
beat counter , beats per measure , clear all steps clips Controllers pane , delete row , edit drum map properties Fit to Quarters , insert row , interface , keyboard shortcuts , monophonic/polyphonic mode Notes pane , open , patterns adjust length , , create edit portamento , position indicator rows , delete , insert reorder show/hide Controller pane steps disable , edit velocity enable merge/unmerge steps per beat , swing , toolbar , transport , working with drum maps Step Size dialog Stereo mode Sto
Strength, quantizing parameter , Striping Stuck note, stopping StudioWare editing automation data in the Piano Roll view with faders – recording a snapshot recording real-time control movements StudioWare Controls – grouping recording – setting See also StudioWare Panels StudioWare panels devices supported by , drawing speed MIDI data in See also StudioWare Controls; Widgets Surround effects Surround front/rear balance slider Surround Main Surround mix parameters saving as presets Surround mixes exporting
Synth Rack automation choosing a track to display on Synth Rack icons Synth Rack view , keyboard shortcuts in Synth Tracks Synthesizer patches – software with handshaking dump protocols Synths MIDI output support System Exclusive See Sysx System sounds turning off Sysx Dump Request Macros defined editing Sysx banks events importing, creating, and dumping sysx banks ini file settings Receive recording Sysx messages in real time sending sysx banks at startup Sysx echo Sysx view buttons to export a Sysx bank
naming output Receive Send Send All Sysx Data in Event list Sysx Data events Sysx view , , opening purpose of using – T TAB saving as ASCII text Tabbed views Tablature defining a style exporting as an ASCII text file generating Quick TAB regenerating saving as an ASCII text file settings Tabs configuring in the Track view Take management Taskbar indicators Templates , – creating – track templates Tempo , , changing correcting decreasing steadily drawing tempo changes editing a change erasing changes
inserting a change , inserting a series modifying the most recent change ratio setting for new project setting the – settings view – Tempo Change 348, 351 Tempo commands using Tempo dialog Tempo Ratio 1 keyboard shortcut Tempo Ratio 2 keyboard shortcut Tempo Ratio 3 keyboard shortcut Tempo view Text Text event THIN CHANNEL AFTERTOUCH.CAL THIN CONTROLLER DATA.CAL THIN PITCH WHEEL.
track view Time Display Format setting Time Measures 1112 Time offset (Time+) parameter , Time ranges selecting Time Ruler Loop Construction view setting to display HMSF setting to display MBT setting to display SMPTE Time Ruler Format-HMSF 1142 Time Ruler Format-MBT 1141 Time Ruler Format-Samples 1142 Time signature setting Time+ – , Time/Measures 453 Timebase , setting Timing aligning errors MIDI offset resolution Tips--24-bit Toolbars creating customizing docking and undocking hiding and showing r
focus layers locking height of number vs.
Track name , Track Name dialog Track number Track output Track outputs Track Outputs dialog Track Pan dialog Track pane changing values in resizing Track Patch dialog Track Properties Key+ output , Track See Tracks Track status , archive mute , normal , solo , Track templates Track Time dialog Track Vel+ dialog Track view – , adding effects in , bank settings in clips pane not visible in keyboard shortcuts in patch settings in Track view time display , Track View toolbar Track Volume dialog Track/Bus
assigning to outputs audio track definition bouncing changing the order of changing velocity of cloning copying copying or cloning correcting off-tempo defined deleting dragging to a new position editing properties of erasing increasing number of , inserting blank inserting single or multiple maximum number of audio MIDI definition mixing multi-lane muting , output devices of – parameters of – patch change in – percussion – recording in separate re-ordering – selecting several adjacent selecting single sett
sort by size sorting – synchronizing time alignment of track folders transposing – unarchiving unmuting viewing multiple in Piano Roll volume control of wiping See also Recording; Track Properties Transport Audition Selection 1115 Loop and Auto Shuttle 1117 Play 1115 Record Options 245, 1118 Reject Loop Take 263, 1118 Run Audio 1116 Stop Audio 1116 Update Patch Cache 1118 Transport menu Loop and Auto Shuttle 179 Play 177 Record 249, 255 Reset 177 Reset 1117 Rewind 177 Rewind 1116 keyboard shortcut Step Reco
keyboard shortcut Transport menuRecord 1116 keyboard shortcut Transport toolbar Large Transport, Large Transpose using MIDI Transpose effect Transpose 209, 451–452, 745 Transpose dialog Transposing – notes – parameter Trigger and freewheel Trim Durations Triplets Troubleshooting MIDI Sync playback problems problems playing MIDI files SMPTE/MTC Sync – Sysx , Sysx data , Tutorial Instrument Definition Tutorial 1 The Basics Tutorial 10 Cyclone soft synth Tutorial 2 Recording MIDI Tutorial 3 Recording Digital
Tutorial 8 Drum maps Tutorial 9 Using Soft Synths U Unarchiving tracks Undo Undo History Undo History dialog Unfreeze Uninstalling SONAR Unlink surround effect Update Patch Cache 1118 Updates USB audio 24 bit problems UsesNotesAsControllers V Vel+ Velocity , – , , adjusting note – compressing Ctrl-key editing data display editing in Controller pane inverting note – , , note property parameter , setting – See also Note velocity Velocity audition Velocity tails displaying in the Drum Grid pane Vertical
enabling playback of exporting inserting in a project setting start time setting trim time synchronizing external video to audio Video display format setting Video playback stuttering problem Video Playback, Import, and Export Video thumbnails Video view View options display clip names View-Layouts 1111 Views – allowing multiple instances of the same Console view docking in bus pane Event List floating , Fretboard Loop Construction Loop Explorer Lyrics , , Markers Meter/Key , , – Piano Roll view PianoRoll
changing audio data envelopes faders output recording setting track settings VST Configuration VST MIDI output VST plug-ins organizing in menus VST support integrated V-Vocal context menu Dynamics editing Formant editing Pitch editing pitch-to-MIDI Time editing undoing edits V-Vocal keyboard shortcuts W WAI Wallpaper – Wave Audio event Wave Device Profiler – errors Wave files , creating and exporting how to export , importing Wave Profiler using Wave Profiler button Waveform zooming in on Waveform prev
Waveforms – clipped redrawing to not display while recording Wheel event Widgets reordering in the Track view Window Sensitivity , Windows system sounds, turning off Windows Mixer using while recording Window-Tile in Rows 722 Wipe 300, 1129 World Wide Web authoring publishing audio on X XG X-Ray Windows Y Yamaha OPT panels Z Z3TA+ Zero Controllers When Play Stops Zero-crossings Zoom keyboard shortcuts Zoom Controls Zoom factor , audio scaling by Zooming configuring the display of tracks in the Track vi
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