Reference Guide

174
Controlling Playback
The Now time and how to use it
If you click in The Time ruler while the snap grid is enabled, the Now time will be snapped to the
nearest point in the grid. By setting the grid size to a whole note or quarter note, you can easily set
the Now time to a measure or beat boundary.
You can also use the buttons and the scroll bar in either the Transport toolbar or Large Transport
toolbar to adjust the time.
When playback or recording is stopped, the Now Time either remains at the point where the project
stopped or snaps back to the Now Time Marker. This behavior is controlled in the General tab of the
Global Options dialog. For more information, see The Now time marker.
MIDI note will continue to play If Now Time is moved
Changing the Now time while a MIDI note is sounding will cause SONAR to play the full duration of
the note. This behavior was introduced in SONAR 4.0.3, and is necessary as a result of addressing
various gapping issues when editing MIDI data during playback.
If you prefer a slight hiccup instead of hearing the full note duration, you can change the default
behavior with the Set Now Time with Full Restart option in Options > Global > General.
See:
Displaying the Now time in large print
Other ways to set the Now time
The Now time marker
In the Track view, the Now time appears as a black vertical line. When you set the Now time in the
Track view a green triangle called the Now time marker appears in the Time Ruler. This marker
represents the point at which the Now time will snap back to after you stop playback or recording.
You can drag the Now Time marker during playback. When the mouse button is released, the
transport immediately jumps to the new location.
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).
Note: The Time Ruler only obeys snap when Musical Time or Absolute Time is selected in
the Snap to Grid dialog.
Note: Moving a MIDI note event during playback is affected by this same issue.
Note: You can only drag the Now Time marker during playback, not while recording.