Reference Guide

122 Tutorial 3 – Recording vocals and musical instruments
9. Select the output that you want the audio track to play through during playback. You will usually
choose 1 and 2, because these are most commonly the outputs that speakers or audio monitors
are connected to.Click the track's Record Enable button .
10. Click the Input Echo button if you want to hear the input during recording. Many sound cards
and audio interfaces have an option to do this automatically at the hardware level. If you can
already hear the input signal, simply move on to the next section.Getting ready to record
At this point, we need to check the input levels to make sure they are sufficient and not distorting.
Perform as you would if you were recording and watch the meter on the track respond to the sounds
you produce.
If the meter never even comes close to the maximum, increase the input level. If the meter even
occasionally reaches the maximum, decrease the input level.Input levels are usually adjusted via a
knob next to the input jack on the sound card, but features like this may vary slightly between
devices. So, if you have never recorded an instrument or microphone with your sound card, you may
want to read about doing so in the device's manual.The record meter shows the input level
Recording your performance
Now that everything is set up, let's record something!Go to Edit > Preferences > Project -
Metronome to access metronome settings. You can also right-click the Playback Metronome on/
off button or Record Metronome on/off button in the Control Bar’s Transport module to
access metronome settings.
11. Set the metronome for a 2 measure count-in.
• Click Use Audio Metronome, select the Recording check box and set Record Count-in to 2
Measures. For details about each metronome option, click Help.
12. Make sure the track has been record enabled by clicking the track’s Record Enable button. The
Record Enable button on the track should be lit in red like this: .Click the Record button in
the Control Bar’s Transport module, or press R on your computer keyboard.You'll hear two
Note: SONAR only allows recording to tracks that have been record enabled. This is necessary
since SONAR allows for multi-track recording. This tells SONAR what track you want your new
material recorded to. Otherwise, every track would be recorded to during every take.
Input may be too low Input is too loud