Reference Guide

1461
Audio
Beginner’s guide to Cakewalk software
5. In SONAR’s Track view, use the In field in a track you want to record in to select the input you’re
using—select either the Left input of your sound card to record in mono or the Stereo input to
record in stereo.
6. Arm the track for recording (click its R button so that it’s red), and play your instrument. You
should see the Record Meter at the bottom of the track’s property fields light up. If the meter
doesn’t move, see the table immediately following this procedure.
7. Adjust your instrument’s volume, and/or the volume slider in the Record Control dialog so that
the level in the Record meter almost reaches the red zone when you play your loudest notes.
8. Record some sound by pressing r to start recording, and pressing the SPACEBAR when you’re
finished. You can rewind by pressing w.
After you stop recording, you should see a picture of your audio data in the Clips pane of the track
you’re recording in. Don’t forget to disarm the track and save your project if you want to keep what
you recorded.
If you don’t see any movement in the track’s record meter when you play your instrument, try some
of the following:
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. To record through the analog inputs on your sound card, you
probably only need to set your sound card’s clock to internal, and in SONAR’s Track view, choose
the correct number of the inputs you’re connected to in the In field of the track you’re recording.
To record through the digital input (S/PDIF), see the following procedure.
Possible problem Solution
You have chosen a Right input of your sound card as
an input, but your instrument is plugged into a Left
input.
Click the armed track’s Input button and choose the
opposite input from the currently selected one. If that
doesn’t help, try selecting the Stereo input.
Your instrument is plugged into a different-numbered
input from the one you selected as an input.
Try choosing different-numbered Inputs until the meter
starts to move.
Your instrument is not turned up or its cable is bad. Turn up the instrument and try different cables.
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.
Table 253.