Sonar's tuner is very handy for quick tuning touch-ups. Here it's monitoring a channel coming in to the ADAT interface of a MOTU 2408. This feeds Track 1, which is record-enabled. Note how the title bar shows the interface input being monitored, and also that the E string is perfectly in tune.

This month, there's news of another update to Sonar, plus tips on using its built-in tuner, changing the order in which track parameters appear, processing Groove Clips without having them revert to audio, getting more from the VSC soft synth and customising Sonar's appearance.

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Craig Anderton

The just-released 2.1 update to Sonar is now available from www.cakewalk.com, and is free to registered owners. It adds some welcome compatibility-oriented features and enhancements, but also squashes several bugs and speeds up operation.

OMF support was promised, and Sonar 2.1 both imports and exports OMF1 and OMF2 format files. Also, you can select whether Sonar reads or ignores Broadcast WAV file time-stamps (although it only recognises PCM, not MPEG-based, BWFs). It also recognises MMC messages. Slip-editing MIDI data now defaults to destructive mode, although you can choose the earlier, non-destructive method. The video window is resizeable and the frame rate is adjustable. And if you load a file and don't have all the required plug-ins, Sonar identifies the missing plug-ins as well as which tracks, busses, and mains used the plug-ins.

One of the least glamourous but most useful features is a 'safe mode' for opening files. I became acutely aware of the need for this when Sonar wouldn't properly load an older file because I had updated a plug-in used in the file, but the update had a bug. Hold

Sonar Tips     There's no need to document a session in a separate word processor document. Go File / Info, and you can enter all kinds of information about the project, as well as viewing file statistics. The Cakewalk Amp Sim effect is supposedly for guitars. But try cloning a drum track, applying the Amp Sim to the clone, choosing the British Crunch amp model, turning the Drive control way up, and adjusting the level to suit. Crunchy! You can add or delete a Toolbar by right-clicking on any Toolbar icon (not data-entry field or slider) or empty space in the Toolbar dock, then ticking or unticking the desired Toolbar from the pop-up menu. To find out a clip's length in samples, position the clip's beginning at the start of the sequence. Centre the screen on the ending edge of the clip, and zoom in all the way. Right click on the Time Ruler and go Time Ruler Format / Samples. Read the value above the end of the clip.

ing the Shift key during any open function causes Sonar to load a basic track layout, then prompt you before loading any DirectX, MFX or DXi plug-in. You can specify 'no' for naughty plug-ins, and carry on from there.

There's also a fix for the Waves 3.5/3.6 plug-ins, some of which deliver output asynchronously and can lead to extremely slow response in Sonar. A new parameter in the AUD.INI file allocates 'reserve buffers' for these types of plug-in.

There are numerous bug-fixes, as I was delighted to find out when I opened up a huge file I had been working on where moving pieces of Groove Clips was agonisingly slow. I don't know what they did, but the response is now instantaneous.

Time For A Tune-up

Sonar has a built-in tuner, which you can access by choosing Tuner from the Tools menu. To use it, check which track is being fed by the instrument you want to tune, then make it the active track. The tuner will then read the soundcard input to that track (identified in the tuner's title bar).

The help file says that you need to disarm all tracks prior to using the tuner, but I didn't find this to be true; the active track can be record-enabled and the tuner will work just fine. (I also noticed that other tracks can be record-enabled too. As long as the track you want to tune is the active track, everything seems to work out OK.) Although the track's meter will not register, the meter on the bottom of the tuner will advise you of the incoming signal strength. Note that the tuner likes a fairly strong signal.

The tuner shows the deviation in cents along the top, the note name, and arrows to indicate whether the note is sharp, flat, or on pitch. The lower meter indicates signal strength. OK, so a tuner isn't exactly the most ground-breaking concept, but it's one of those thoughtful little extras that helps save time.

Customising Audio Widgets

The parameters within a track — volume, pan, trim, effects, auxes, in, outs, and so on — can be changed from the standard layout. This is important because as Sonarians know, resizing the track means that the panel shows more or fewer parameters. Ideally

The upper track view results from the default widgets placement. The bottom view shows the same track with the modified widgets parameters. With the bottom version, decreasing the track height to the top three lines still allows the FX parameter and first aux buss to be easily visible.

, you want the parameters you use the most toward the top, so you can keep a small track 'window' yet see the parameters you need.

For example, in the default, the Vol/Pan/Trim 'trinity' are followed by the In and Out connections, then by FX, Auxes, Phase and Interleave (stereo/mono). I always wished for a way to move the In and Out parameters to the bottom, as once they're adjusted I don't really need to deal with them any further. However the FX parameter was something I did want toward the top, and ideally, the Out would be on the same line as the Phase and Interleave, while In — the parameter I adjust the least — would languish on the bottom.

The secret to doing this lies within the cakewalk.ini file, found within the Sonar 2 folder (typically the path on the C drive is Program Files / Cakewalk / Sonar 2). This can be edited with a text editor like Notepad. Add the following anywhere within the file:

[Audio Widgets]

W0=Volume

W1=Pan

W2=Trim

W3=Input

W4=Output

W5=FX

W6=Aux

W7=Phase

W8=Interleave

This is the default order. To change the order, simply renumber and rearrange the lines. Here's what I use:

[Audio Widgets]
W0=Volume
W1=Pan
W2=Trim

W3=FX

W4=Aux
W5=Output
W6=Phase
W7=Interleave

W8=Input

The names are not case-sensitive, but if any 'keys' are missing or otherwise incorrect, Sonar will revert to the defaults. Here's what I did for the Aux and Mains widgets:

[Aux Widgets]

W0=Send

Using the Process / Audio Effects path to select effects allows Groove Clips to retain the markers that enable time-stretching, even after processing.

W1=Return

W2=FX

W3=Output

[Mains Widgets]

W0=Volume

W1=Balance

W2=FX

W3=Output

W4=Interleave

Again, this allows the FX parameter to be more easily visible with reduced track heights. MIDI tracks can be similarly modified; here are the default widget parameters (which I didn't change):

[MIDI Widgets]

W0=Volume

W1=Pan

Any of VSC's 16 parts (which correspond to MIDI channels) can go to any of the four available audio outputs. If multiple parts feed multiple outputs, they'll be layered together, which is great for layering parts that you want to process with the same effects.

W2=Trim

W3=Input

W4=Output

W5=Channel

W6=Bank

W7=Patch

W8=Key

W9=Time

W10=FX

W11=Chorus

W12=Reverb

Incidentally, you can edit the cakewalk.ini file in the middle of a project, and these edits affect any subsequent tracks you add. But this is of limited use because next time you load the project, all tracks will simply grab the current cakewalk.ini settings.

A Groove Clip Tip

Sometimes when you apply an audio process within Sonar to a Groove Clip, it loses its grooviness and reverts back to ordinary audio, but sometimes it retains its Acidising markers (see screen shot on next page).

If you reach the effect by using the Process / Audio Effects path, choose the effect, and click on OK to apply the effect, the Groove Clip Acidising markers are retained. This has worked with the Cakewalk effects I've tried, as well as those from other manufacturers. However, if you insert an effect in the FX insert bin and then go Process / Apply Audio Effects, the Groove Clip reverts to a standard type. If you work a lot with Groove Clips, it's a good idea to get into the habit of using the Process / Audio Effects function.

There is a catch: auditioning the effect is more of an off-line process. The sequence needs to be stopped; calling up the effect then presents you with an Audition button (this won't be present if the sequence is playing when you call up the effect). Make your edits, hit Audition, and wait for Sonar to build a temp file. Don't like the results? Hit Stop, edit some more, audition, and wait. When it sounds the way you like, hit OK.

Fortunately, there's a faster workaround. Insert the effect in the FX bin, edit in real time to your heart's content, and when everything is just as you like, save the settings as a preset. Then go Process / Audio Effects, call up the effect and preset, then click on OK. Just don't forget to remove the effect from the FX bin when you're done, otherwise you'll hear the effect applied twice — once from the processing, and once from the real-time FX bin effect.

Exploiting Edirol VSC Automation

Don't dismiss the Edirol Virtual Sound Canvas soft synth just because it's included free with Sonar. Not only can it make some decent sounds without draining a lot of power, but it also handles basic automation functions. For example, you can tweak VSC faders and record the movements as automation data for volume, pan, expression, reverb send, chorus send and delay send. To do this, click on Setup in VSC's lower right corner and go to the Misc tab. Tick 'Record VSC Panel Operations'. Now arm VSC's corresponding MIDI control track for recording (not automation, just recording), go into Record, and move the faders around as desired. On playback, the faders will move to reflect the automation data.

VSC will respond to even more parameters using envelopes. Right-click on its MIDI track in the Clips View, and go Envelopes / Create Track Envelopes / MIDI. Click on the Value drop-down menu, and you'll see a list of automatable parameters. These include the ones that can be recorded from the front panel, but also several others, such as filter resonance, brightness, decay time, and so on.

In addition to automation, VSC can provide four discrete outputs if you specify All Synth Outputs in the Insert DXi Synth Options dialogue box that opens up when you insert a DXi synth. To assign channels (parts) to these outs, click on VSC's setup button, go to the Output Assign tab, and assign the desired part to the desired output. Each out will be represented by an audio track in the Track View.

A Clearer View

If you find Sonar's default Window backgrounds hard to look at for a long time, or even just plain dull, you can change them to suit. You can see the colors change as you adjust them. For example, open up a MIDI piano-roll view, then choose Options / Colors. Under Screen Element, select Window Background, and tick Use Specific Color rather than Follow System Color. Click on Choose Color, and use the standard Windows colour picker to select the colour of your choice.

While you're at it, here are some other screen elements you might want to modify. Don't go too nuts, because the default colours are fairly carefully chosen — for example, you don't want to choose a background colour that's the same as an envelope, thus obscuring the envelope. But the following are pretty safe:
Track view control border. This determines the trim colour around the various track parameters (such as volume, pan, FX bin, and so on). I'm partial to a dark purple/grey.
Track view background. This is the grey background behind all the clips in the Clips View. Making it a bit darker allows the clips to 'pop' a little more; I use a dark grey/blue.
Audio clip background. A very light robin's egg blue works well against the darker background.

Finally, for Wallpaper, tick Custom, and Sonar's background can change from the default Sonar logo to something more pertinent, like your studio's logo (or picture of your significant other). Of the desktop images included with Windows, Soap Bubbles.bmp is kind of fun.

 

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