Reference Guide

252 Recording
Creating a new project
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” on page 1915 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 insert changes in
the meter or key signature, use the Views > Meter/Key command to display the Meter/Key view, or
use the Project > Insert Meter/Key Change command. You can also click the Meter display in the
Control Bar’s Transport module.
If you are creating a new project that will contain only audio material (no MIDI material), you do not
need to set the meter and key signature.
The key signature controls how SONAR displays notes in the Staff view, the Event List view, and
elsewhere. The meter tells SONAR the number of beats per measure and the note value of each
beat. Common meters include:
• 2/4 (two beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)
• 4/4 (four beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)
• 3/4 (three beats per measure, each quarter note gets a beat)
• 6/8 (six beats per measure, each eighth note gets a beat)
The top number of a meter, the number of beats per measure, can be from 1 through 99. The bottom
number of a meter is the value of each beat. You can pick from a list of values ranging from a whole
note to a thirty-second note.
The meter determines the following:
• Where the metronome accents are placed
• How the Now time is displayed
• How the Staff view is drawn
• How grid lines are displayed in the Piano Roll viewTo Set the Meter and Key signature
1. Click the Views menu and choose Meter/Key.
2. Click to open the Meter/Key Signature dialog box.
The Meter/Key Signature dialog box appears.
Note: Groove clips do not follow your project's key. Groove clips follow the project pitch that is
specified in Project > Set Default Groove Clip Pitch, in addition to any pitch markers in the
Time Ruler. For more information, see “Working with Groove Clip audio” on page 659.