Reference Guide

180 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.
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 specified with the Track view
Options > On stop, Rewind to Now Marker command (or by pressing CTRL+W). For more
information, see “The Now time marker” on page 180.
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 the Track view Options menu.
See:“Displaying the Now time in large print” on page 182
“Note that SONAR ignores font styles and effects such as strikeout and underline. Other ways to set
the Now time” on page 182
The Now time marker
In the Track view, the Now time appears as a solid vertical line that follows playback. When you set
the Now time in the Track view, 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.
Figure 29. The Now Time marker
You can drag the Now Time marker during playback. When the mouse button is released, the
transport immediately jumps to the new location.
Note: The Time Ruler only obeys snap when Musical Time or Absolute Time is selected in
the Control Bar’s Snap module.
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.