Looping

Sometimes you want to listen to one portion of a project over and over, either so you can play along and rehearse or because you want to edit that section of the project while it is playing and hear the results as you make changes. Sonar has a playback looping feature that makes this simple.

Looping is defined in the Loop module in the Control Bar.

Figure 56. The Loop module.

A. Loop On/Off B. Set Loop Time to Select C. Loop Start Time D. Loop End Time

To set up a loop, you do three things:

Set the start time of the loop

Set the end time of the loop

Enable looping

From then on, Sonar will automatically jump back to the start of the loop when it reaches the end.

When looping is enabled, the loop times are indicated by special markers in the Time ruler.

A. Loop From B. Loop Thru

 

Note: The minimum project loop length is 1/128th note (30 ticks).

To move a loop in the Time ruler

1.	Click the yellow bar that connects the two loop markers

The cursor becomes a horizontal double-headed arrow.

2.	Drag the loop to the desired location in the Time ruler.

With the default option settings, Sonar will play the loop over and over again, continuously.

If you start playback before the loop start time, Sonar will play until the loop end time is reached, then jump back to the loop start time.

Note: If you stop playback while looping is enabled, the Now time jumps to the Now time marker. If you disable the On Stop, Rewind to Now Marker option in the Track view Options menu, the Now time stays wherever you stopped playback.

The Rewind command operates slightly differently when looping is in effect. The first time you rewind, the Now time is set to the start of the loop. If the Now time is already at the start of the loop, Rewind takes you to the beginning of the project. From then on, Rewind switches back and forth between the loop start time and the start of measure 1.

To set up a playback loop

Set the loop start and end times in one of the following ways:

Drag the mouse between two points in the Time Ruler of the Track view, Staff, or Piano Roll view to select a range of times, then click in the Control Bar’s Loop module to copy the selection time to the loop time.

Click between two markers in the Track, Staff, or Piano Roll view to select a range of times, then click in the Control Bar’s Loop module to copy the selection time to the loop time.

Type the loop start and end times directly into the Loop module.

Select a range of times, then right-click in the Time ruler and choose Loop > Set Loop Points.

Looping is automatically turned on when you use the Set Loop to Selection command.

 

Note: The minimum loop duration is an 1/8th note.

To cancel a playback loop

Click in the Control Bar’s Loop module, or press the L key, to disable looping.