SONAR LE Documentation is based on the full version of SONAR. Some screenshots, folder paths, features and other references may differ from your installation.

Glossary

Aftertouch

AIFF

Archive

Arm

Audio clip

Audio track

Audition

Automation

Bank

Bit depth

Broadcast wave

Bundle file

Cakewalk Application Language (CAL)

Channel

Channel aftertouch (ChanAft)

Chord

Chord symbol

Clip

Clone

Controllers

Controls

Crescendo

Crossfade

dB

Decibel

Decrescendo

Digital audio

DMA

DRM (Dump Request Macro)

Duration

Echo

Effects (audio effects)

Envelopes

Event

Expression

Expression marks

Fade

Fade-in

Fade-out

Frame

Frame rate

From time

Full-duplex

Groove clip

Groove pattern

Groove quantize

Group

Guitar chord grid

H:M:S:F

Hairpin symbol

Input

Input monitoring

Inspector menu (same as context menu)

Instrument definitions

Key aftertouch (KeyAft)

Key offset

Key signature

Latency

Linked clips

Live mode

Locked (SMPTE) time

Looping

Loops

Lyrics

Marker

MBT

MCI command (Media Control Interface command)

Meter

Metronome

MIDI

Mixdown

MMC (MIDI Machine Control)

MME

MTC Sync

Mute

Normal template

Now time

NRPN

Offline

Offset

Overload

Pan

Patch

Pedal mark

Phase

Pitch bend

Pitch marker

Pitch wheel

Port

PPQ

Project pitch

Property

Quantize

Quantize resolution

Quantize strength

Record

RIFF wave

RMS

RPN

Ruler

Sampling rate

Screenset

Scrub

Sensitivity (window)

Shape

Size

Slip editing

SMPTE

Snapshot

Solo

Split point

Staff

Striping

Submix

Swing

Sysx

Sysx bank

Take

Template

Tempo

Thru time

Ticks

Time

Time offset

Time ruler

Timebase

TPQ

Track

Transients

Vector

Velocity

Volume

WASAPI

WDM

Widget

Wipe

xRPN

Aftertouch

MIDI property controlling how much pressure is applied after sending a Note On message. See Channel aftertouch (ChanAft) and Key aftertouch (KeyAft).

AIFF

Short for Audio Interchange File Format, the audio file format on the Macintosh platform. Files in this format have the extension .aif or .aiff.

Archive

Silence and suppress the processing of a track. Archived tracks are not loaded into RAM, so they can’t be unmuted in real time. Use the archive command to reduce the demand on your CPU. See Mute.

Arm

Enable a track for recording.

See Choosing an input.

Audio clip

A visual reference to a portion of, or an entire, recorded audio file. This is represented graphically as a wave form which can be edited and manipulated in a variety of manners.

Audio track

An audio track is a reference point for playing and recording a single digital audio file stored on your computer's hard drive. The inputs of the audio track are where you would like to record a signal from and the outputs are where you would like to send this signal to monitor.

Audition

Preview audio effects before applying them to a track.

See Basic audio processing.

Automation

Ability to change controllable parameters over the length of a track. This is achieved by referencing “snapshots” or “nodes” assigned to specific parameter values in relation to their position on the timeline and is achieved with envelopes.

See Quick automation guide.

Bank

A means of categorizing sounds. A “bank” can store up to 128 “patches”.

Bit depth

The amount of data allocated to reproducing a sound wave of digital audio file. Closely related to the dynamic range of the audio file. 1-bit typically represents 6dB of dynamic range when converting an analog signal to a digital signal. Thus, the greater the bit depth, the greater the dynamic range.

Broadcast wave

A wave file with the following embedded information: description, originator, origination date, origination time, and SMPTE time reference.

Bundle file

A single file that incorporates all project information and audio data. Bundle files are useful for creating backups of your work or for moving projects from on computer to another.

Cakewalk Application Language (CAL)

An event-processing language that extends Cakewalk with custom editing commands. Useful for applying quantization, humanization, or other instant changes to MIDI events.

See Running CAL programs.

Channel

Path through which MIDI transmits information. MIDI devices typically send data over 1 of 16 channels, or over all channels simultaneously (Omni).

Channel aftertouch (ChanAft)

MIDI property regulating the pressure applied to all the notes of the instrument on the specified channel.

Chord

Three or more notes played simultaneously. Typically represented by a single letter representing its root, numbers representing additional notes, and symbols representing its quality. On the guitar chord grid, the notes are shown on the neck of a guitar.

See Adding chord symbols.

Chord symbol

The c among the expression marks on the staff view. Put one above the notes where you want to define a guitar chord grid.

See Chords and marks.

Clip

A reference to a portion or entire audio or MIDI file stored on your computer. Clips can be edited, moved, linked, copied etc. as a means of creating your project.

Clone

A command that allows you to copy a track along with its properties. You can choose to copy the clips or events or both. You can choose the destination track for the copy.

Controllers

Pedals, knobs, and wheels on your electronic instrument that you can use to change the sound while you're playing.

See Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and automation data.

Controls

Sliders, faders, knobs, and buttons on the console or your on-line equivalent of Controllers.

See Mixing.

Crescendo

A passage of music during which the volume gradually increases.

Crossfade

One clip fading in while another fades out. You can create destructive or non-destructive crossfades. For more information, see Fades and crossfades.

dB

The abbreviation for Decibel.

See The decibel scale.

Decibel

A logarithmic unit used to measure loudness; abbreviated dB.

See The decibel scale.

Decrescendo

Also referred to as a diminuendo, is a passage of music during which the volume gradually decreases.

Digital audio

Music or sound recorded digitally, as on a compact disk as opposed to an analog signal recorded to tape.

DMA

Direct Memory Access. DMA settings determine how your computer’s sound card communicates with Cakewalk.

See The Wave Profiler for information about how to change DMA settings.

DRM (Dump Request Macro)

Utility for getting synthesizer data into a bank.

Duration

In SONAR’s Step Record dialog box, duration means the actual length of time that a note sounds, as opposed to the notated value of the note, which could be different. If you check the Follow Step Size option in the dialog box, the notated value and the duration are the same.

Echo

Enables real-time monitoring of the associated track's inputs through the outputs of your sound device.

Effects (audio effects)

Systematic changes you can make to parts or all of the music, like reverb, chorus, and delay.

See Audio effects (audio plug-ins) and Using real-time effects.

Envelopes

Reflects the changes in value for a specified parameter (volume, for example) over a period of time. Also refers to the graph of the change—same as vector.

See Automation.

Event

Note, MIDI action, or audio clip.

Expression

Chord symbol, text of any sort (like ff or con amore), hairpin, or pedal marks.

Expression marks

Dynamic markings and other musical instructions (like decrescendo, con amore, etc.) in the Staff view.

See Adding expression marks.

Fade

Gradual increase or decrease in volume.

See Fades and crossfades and Automation.

Fade-in

A gradual increase in volume from absolute silence.

See Fades and crossfades and Automation.

Fade-out

A gradual decrease in volume toward absolute silence.

See Fades and crossfades and Automation.

Frame

One of the many single photographic images in a motion picture or video. It is the smallest unit used for SMPTE synchronization.

See SMPTE/MIDI time code synchronization.

Frame rate

Indicates the number of frames displayed per second.

From time

The beginning of a selection. Set it in the Control Bar’s Select module.

See Now time.

Full-duplex

The ability to stream data in two directions simultaneously. Sound cards that support full-duplex allow for simultaneous recording and playback of audio.

See Recording audio.

Groove clip

Audio clip that contains pitch and tempo information that allows SONAR to automatically adjust the pitch and tempo of the clip to that of the project you insert it into.

Groove pattern

Piece of music used as a template for the groove quantize command.

See To use the Groove Quantize command.

Groove quantize

Lets you lay a grid over your groove pattern, then adjust time, duration, and velocity of selected notes so they line up with the grid.

See To use the Groove Quantize command.

Group

An entity consisting of multiple controls or buttons and specifying relationships between or among them.

Guitar chord grid

Displays chord symbols as well as the fingerings on the fret board of a guitar above the Staff View.

See Chords and marks

H:M:S:F

Short for Hours, Minutes, Seconds, and Frames, which is the time format used for SMPTE time.

Hairpin symbol

Crescendo or decrescendo mark.

See Chords and marks

Input

The selection for which channel of a device you want to receive signal from.

See Choosing an input.

Input monitoring

Hearing real-time playback of a track's input as it is being sent to, or recorded, in SONAR. You can enable input monitoring with a track’s Input Echo button.

Inspector menu (same as context menu)

Menu appropriate for a particular location or item. Display a context menu by right-clicking on the location or item.

Instrument definitions

A file that contains information necessary to communicate settings about banks, patches, controllers, and other features of an instrument.

See Creating instrument definitions.

Key aftertouch (KeyAft)

MIDI property regulating the pressure applied to an individual note.

Key offset

The number of half-steps by which to transpose the track. A value of 12 raises the notes an octave. You can transpose all note in a track on playback by setting this value (Key+) in the Track Inspector.

Key signature

Key of the piece, how many sharps or flats it has, and how the music displays in the various views.

Latency

Often referred to as “buffer size” is a measurement of the time it takes, in samples, for audio to travel from its source, through a sound card's drivers and converters, into SONAR, and back through the sound card to your speakers.

Linked clips

Clips so specified that any change made to one applies to all.

See Splitting and combining clips.

Live mode

Temporary condition of a project with all automation turned off. You can toggle back and forth between live mode and regular mode by clicking the Global Automation Playback button in the Control Bar’s Mix module.

Locked (SMPTE) time

Locks a marker to a specified time from the start of the music. Not affected by changes in tempo or time signature.

See Creating and using markers.

Looping

Repetition of a part of the whole piece of music.

Loops

Small pieces of audio data, suitable for being repeated back to back, such as a single drum beat or measure.

Lyrics

Words to go along with music.

See Working with lyrics.

Marker

Flag marking a specific time in the music.

MBT

Short for Measure, Beat and Tick number which is the time format used for beats.

9:04:0060 is the 60th tick of the fourth beat of the ninth measure.

MCI command (Media Control Interface command)

Special event in the Event List view that lets you control other multimedia hardware and software.

Meter

The meter, or time signature, divides time into rhythmic pulses. Specifies the number of beats per measure and the note value of each beat.

See Setting the Meter and Key signatures.

Metronome

A feature that plays a regularly recurring audible beat which aids in accurate performances. Can be observed in playback or recording. The rate is set by the tempo of the project.

See Tempo.

MIDI

Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The means by which computers communicate with most sound cards, keyboards, and other electronic instruments.

Note: MIDI data does not contain any audio data.

Mixdown

Combination of two or more audio tracks into a stereo submix. See Routing and mixing digital audio.

MMC (MIDI Machine Control)

A protocol that controls an MMC-equipped remote device through MIDI.

See the online Help topic MIDI Machine Control (MMC).

MME

Multi Media Extensions—the name of Windows’ built-in audio and multimedia software that was originally developed for Windows 3.0, and is still used by many sound card drivers. WDM drivers offer much better performance.

MTC Sync

MIDI Time Code sync. Messages are received in SMPTE/MTC format from an external MIDI device and generate MTC.

See SMPTE.

Mute

Silences a track to not be heard during playback or recording.

Normal template

A default project template which includes a predetermined amount of tracks and/or buses.

Now time

The current time in a project or where you are in the music. This is Represented by a vertical line which travels throughout the timeline.

See The Now time and how to use it

NRPN

Non-Registered Parameter Numbers.

See Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and automation data.

Offline

Not in real time. When you apply an effect to a track offline, you permanently alter the data in that track; then you play the track to hear the effect. When you add an effect to a track in real time, you start the track playing, and you add the effect while the track plays. The data in the track does not change, but the sound of it coming through the effect does.

Offset

Shift (time, key, velocity) by a specified number of units. For example, you could offset the start of a track by two measures.

Overload

Loss of audio information caused by the audio level exceeding 0 db.

Pan

Degree to which a sound or piece of music comes from the left or right speaker. This control is commonly used to adjust the level of a signal in different channels. In a stereo mix, the level is adjusted between the left and the right speakers.

Patch

Particular sound in an electronic device. Patches are stored in banks, in groups of 128.

Pedal mark

Expression mark indicating when the player should hold down the pedal and release it.

Phase

Frequency dependent time delay. All frequencies experience phase, but as a whole this is not noticeable as they are affected uniformly. If frequencies fall out of phase, however, they interfere with each other constructively or destructively. This can be measured by calculating the period length, as well as amplitude and magnitude values of a recorded wave form. If two frequencies fall 180 degrees out of phase, they will induce destructive interference and thus completely cancel each other out.

Pitch bend

Controller that changes the pitch of a MIDI note.

Pitch marker

A marker in the Time Ruler which transposes the root note pitch of all groove clips and ACIDized loops in a project.

Pitch wheel

Controller that changes the pitch of a MIDI note.

Port

Computer connector for sending or receiving data.

PPQ

Abbreviation for Parts per Quarter Note. MIDI sequencers divide each beat into fractions of a beat (called ticks) for timing and editing purposes. You can place events in precise timing locations, up to the sequencer’s current PPQ. PPQ is adjustable on most sequencers, up to about 960 PPQ. PPQ values of 96, 120. and 480 are common.

Project pitch

Also known as the default project pitch. The project pitch is the pitch that all groove clips and ACIDized loops in your project follow if there are no pitch markers in the project. You can set the project pitch with the Project > Set Default Groove Clip Pitch command.

Property

Any attribute or value belonging to an object. Often you can see these by right-clicking on the object. Track and clip properties can be set in the Inspector.

Quantize

Correct human imperfection in start and duration of selected notes so they line up with a specified time grid.

Quantize resolution

Used to set how precise (in notes or ticks) you want applying quantization to be.

Quantize strength

Measure of how close you want quantized notes to be in relation to the quantize resolution.

See To use the Groove Quantize command

Record

To capture audio to a digital audio file or store incoming MIDI data in a MIDI track.

RIFF wave

The standard digital audio format used under Windows and for CD’s, with a file extension of .wav.

RMS

Short for Root Mean Square. A method of measuring an average of the amplitudes that occur in a complete cycle of a frequency. RMS is a little over seventy per cent of peak level.

RPN

Registered Parameter Numbers.

See Controllers, RPNs, NRPNs, and automation data.

Ruler

Bar showing evenly-spaced measure intervals. It appears in the Track, Staff, and Piano Roll views.

Sampling rate

The number of samples per second a digital audio file is recorded at. A higher sampling rate typically increases the fidelity recordings, as it helps to avoid phase shifting and aliasing artifacts. A higher sampling rate will yield larger audio files and more hard drive space used.

Screenset

A snapshot of the current layout of various views and windows in a project, including which windows are open, their size, position, zoom level and whether they are docked or floating. You can create up to 10 screensets per project and freely switch between screensets at any time.

See Screensets.

Scrub

A tool used for previewing audio. The Scrub tool allows you to playback audio faster or slower as a useful auditioning tool.

Sensitivity (window)

Distance from a timing grid a note has to be to be unaffected, or affected less, by quantizing.

Shape

An automation envelope created in the Track view or Console view.

Size

The number of events in a track, listed in the Size column of the Tracks window. This number changes every time you add or delete events to or from that track.

Slip editing

Non-destructive editing process that allows the start and/or end time of an audio or MIDI clip to be trimmed by simply dragging the front or back end of the clip.

SMPTE

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. SMPTE format measures time in hours, minutes, seconds, and frames.

Snapshot

Collection of automation settings that become active at a specific time. When the Now Time reaches that time, all of those particular settings take effect.

Solo

Silences all tracks except for those that are soloed during playback and recording. Multiple tracks can be soloed at once.

Split point

In the Staff view, the point at which you split a track into treble and bass staves. Notes at or above the split point go into the treble staff, those below into the bass staff.

Staff

A set of horizontal lines developed for music notation.

Striping

Recording an analog time code signal onto a track.

Submix

A grouping of specific tracks with similar qualities and/or effects (such as a submix of guitars or vocals). Creating submixes, by sending groups of tracks to a group specific buses for example, allows for quick adjustments when it comes to mixing, such as muting or applying reverb to all the vocals.

See Routing and mixing digital audio.

Swing

Systematic uneven spacing of notes on a timing grid, to give music a swing feel.

Sysx

Short for System Exclusive, refers to MIDI messages that only a specific device can use and understand. Cakewalk's System Exclusive library, which can store, record, and display for viewing or editing 256 banks, each holding any number of patches.

See System exclusive data.

Sysx bank

A Sysx bank is a storage area plus some associated parameters such as a destination output and an optional description. Each bank can hold any number of messages; the amount of data it can hold is limited only by available memory. The banks are saved in the Cakewalk song file. Each bank can also be saved as a .syx file in the format used by the public domain MIDIEX utility.

Take

A single pass of recording a part or a song. Multiple “takes” are often used in the studio as a means of editing the best of each take for the final production.

Template

A file which stores specific project layouts, such as numbers of tracks and/or plug-in assignments, but does not store any audio or MIDI data. Useful for creating new projects which might require a similar layout.

See Templates and key bindings.

Tempo

The speed at which the project or selection of music is played at. Measured in rhythmic beats per minute.

See Metronome.

Thru time

Time up to which the music is to be played back or recorded. Set it in the Control Bar’s Select module.

Ticks

Subdivisions of quarter notes. MIDI projects often use a resolution of 480 parts per quarter note (PPQ); each part is also called a tick.

Time

In Cakewalk, Now time, from time, or thru time. When an event takes place in the music.

Time offset

Adjustment of all track events by a specified amount of time.

See Adjusting the time alignment of a MIDI track (Time+).

Time ruler

Bar showing evenly-spaced intervals. It appears in the Track, Staff, and Piano Roll views. You can use the Time Ruler to change the Now Time, make a time selection, and insert markers. For more about the Time Ruler, see The Time ruler.

Timebase

Same as PPQ. Timing resolution, measured in pulses (ticks) per quarter note. Determines how finely you can specify notes.

See Setting the MIDI timing resolution.

TPQ

Same as timebase or PPQ. Short for Ticks Per Quarter note.

Track

Cakewalk's representation of one or more lines of music with shared properties, for example, music played by one instrument.

Transients

Peaks of loudness in an audio clip. Used to determine where the beats lie in audio clips.

Vector

The graph of the change of a parameter’s value. In audio programs, some parameters can be changed by drawing vectors; means the same as drawing Envelopes.

Velocity

A measurement taken when recording MIDI note events of how fast a key is struck. A MIDI notes velocity will dictate how loud the note will sound during playback.

Volume

Loudness of a sound or piece of music.

WASAPI

WASAPI (short for Windows Audio Session Application Programming Interface) is a new driver model available in SONAR that allows it to communicate with the new audio features in Windows 7.

WDM

Windows Driver Model—low-latency audio driver that bypasses the operating system’s audio streaming software so that the driver can communicate directly with the sound card and the audio application.

Widget

A graphical element of a StudioWare panel (such as a knob or slider) that controls a parameter on a MIDI instrument or runs a CAL program.

Wipe

Deletes a track's clips and events, but leaves its properties. You can undo a wipe, but not paste it.

xRPN

RPN and NRPN.