Changing track settings

Each track in a project contains MIDI or audio information and has a variety of settings (also called parameters) that determine how the track sounds. By changing these parameters, you can change the sound of your project. For audio tracks, you control parameters such as volume, stereo panning, and the output device that is used to produce the sound. For MIDI tracks, you control many additional parameters, including the type of instrument sound that is used to play the notes stored in the track. Both kinds of tracks contain an Automation Read button and an Automation Write button , which enable or disable automation playback and recording, respectively.

Note 1: You can control all sliders and knobs in the Console and Track views by clicking a control, then hover over it with the mouse and manipulate the mouse wheel. If you move the mouse cursor away from the slider or knob while using the mouse wheel, you will lose control of the slider or knob you are adjusting.

Note 2: You can show and hide controls in track and bus strips in the Track view, and even create presets for your favorite control layouts. For details, see Configuring Track view controls for more information.

Audio track parameters

The following figures show the various parameters in audio track strips. The figures are of an audio track that is located in the Track view, however most of these parameters can also be adjusted in the Console view and Track Inspector. Some parameters are only available in the Console view or Track Inspector.

Figure 47. Audio track

Figure 48. Audio track header controls

A. Track color B. Track number C. Header icon D. Track name E. Peak value F. Maximize/restore G. Meter

 

Note: MSR buttons may appear in the header bar if the Track pane is wide.

Figure 49. Audio track controls

A. Track number B. Track name C. Edit Filter D. Mute E. Automation Read F. Solo G. Automation Write H. Arm for recording I. Freeze J. Input echo K. Archive L. Peak level M. Expand/collapse track N. Track icon O. WAI display P. Track color Q. Expand/collapse Take Lanes R. Expand/collapse Automation Lanes S. Volume slider T. Input U. Output V. Pan slider W. Effects bin X. Meter

Figure 50. Audio track effects bin, meter, and track scale

A. Enable/disable plug-in B. Plug-in name C. Right-click to insert new plug-in

Here is a summary table of the different audio track parameters and how they are used.

Table 21.  

Parameter	What it means
Number	A sequential track number used for reference.
Name	A name that you assign the track for easy reference. Note that if you do not assign a name to a track, the default name is the track number. This track number will change if you change the order of your tracks.
Mute	When enabled, mutes the track.
Solo	When enabled, solos the track.
Arm	When enabled, arms the track for audio recording.
Input Echo	Turns input monitoring on or off.
Automation Read and Write buttons	Enable/disable automation playback and recording, respectively.
Peak value	Displays the Peak value, which is the amplitude of the latest audio peak in the track.
Expand/collapse Take Lanes	Hides or shows Take lanes.
Expand/collapse Automation Lanes	Hides or shows Automation lanes.
Expand/collapse	Expands the track to show more controls, or collapses the track to only show the header bar.
Edit Filter	Specify which data type the global tools should operate on.
Vol (volume)	The current volume level for the track, ranging from -INF (silent) to +6 dB (maximum volume).
Pan	The stereo distribution of the output, ranging from 100% left (hard left) to 100% right (hard right); a value of “C” indicates sound that is centered left-to-right. On stereo tracks, pan acts as balance.
Trim (volume trim) (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Volume Trim is a pre-fader control which allows the fine tuning of a single track’s volume. For example, let’s say you have four tracks, three tracks have their volume fader set to 0 dB while the fourth track’s fader is set to +10 dB. You want to group the faders and do a slow fade out, but the slightly higher level of the fourth track causes its volume to be higher in relation to the other tracks towards the end of the fade out. To balance the fader levels, reduce the fader level for the fourth track to 0 dB and raise the Volume Trim value for that track to +10 dB. The resulting volume levels for the project are the same, but now you can group the faders and perform a fade out with no track standing out disproportionately at the end of the fade out.
Input	The input source for the track, used in recording
Output	The output bus through which the track is played
Send Enable (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Activates a send module, which sends a copy of the track signal to a bus.
Send Level (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Controls volume of audio data sent by this send module.
Send Pan (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Adjusts the send pan setting.
Send Pre/Post switch (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Pre (pre-fader) means that the Send signal goes to the bus prior to the track’s volume fader; post means the Send signal goes to the bus after the volume fader.
Send destination (Track Inspector and Console view only)	Displays name of bus that the Send is sending data to.
Mono/Stereo (Track Inspector and Console view only)	A switch that determines whether a track’s signal enters an effect or chain of effects as mono or stereo, regardless of the nature of the track.
Phase In/Out (Track Inspector and Console view only)	A switch that inverts the phase of the track.
Effects bin	The patch point for a track’s plug-ins or soft synths.
Meters	The recording and playback levels are displayed in the Playback and Record meters.
WAI display (not available in SONAR LE)	Shows a color-coded bar if the track is being controlled by a control surface.
Track color	Opens the Track Color palette, where you can specify a custom color for each track.

For more information about audio track controls in the Track Inspector, see Audio track controls.

For more information about audio track controls in the Console view, see Audio track controls.

MIDI track parameters

The following pictures illustrate MIDI track parameters:

Figure 51. MIDI track header controls

A. Track color B. Track number C. Header icon D. Track name E. Maximize/restore F. Meter

 

Note: MSR buttons may appear in the header bar if the Track pane is wide.

Figure 52. MIDI track controls

A. Track number B. Track name C. Edit Filter D. Mute E. Automation Read F. Solo G. Automation Write H. Arm for recording I. Input echo J. Archive K. Expand/collapse track L. Track icon M. WAI display N. Track color O. Expand/collapse Take Lanes P. Expand/collapse Automation Lanes Q. Volume slider R. Input S. Channel T. Patch U. Velocity+ V. Output W. Bank X. Pan slider Y. Effects bin Z. Meter

Figure 53. MIDI track effects bin and track scale

A. Track scale B. MIDI effects bin

Here is a summary table of the different MIDI track parameters and how they are used:

Table 22.  

Parameter	What it means
Track number	A sequential track number used for reference
Track name	A name that you assign the track for easy reference. Note that if you do not assign a name to a track, the default name is the track number. This track number will change if you change the order of your tracks.
Mute	When enabled, mutes the track
Solo	When enabled, solos the track
Arm	When enabled, arms the track for MIDI recording.
Input Echo	Controls whether the track will echo MIDI data or not.
Automation Read and Write buttons	Enable/disable automation playback and recording, respectively
Expand/collapse Take Lanes	Hides or shows Take lanes.
Expand/collapse Automation Lanes	Hides or shows Automation lanes.
Expand/collapse	Expands the track to show more controls, or collapses the track to only show the header bar.
Edit Filter	Specify which data type the global tools should operate on.
Vol (volume)	The current volume level for the track, ranging from 0 (silent) to 127 (maximum volume).
Pan	The stereo distribution of the output, ranging from 100% left (hard left) to 100% right (hard right); a value of “C” indicates sound that is centered left-to-right.
Velocity trim (Track Inspector and Console view only)	The change in velocity (volume) that will be applied to notes in this track on playback; ranges from –127 to +127
Input	The input source for the track, used in recording
Output	The output device through which the track is played
Ch (channel) (Track Inspector and Console view only)	The MIDI channel through which the notes will be played
Bank (Track Inspector and Console view only)	The set of patch names available for the track
Patch (Track Inspector and Console view only)	The instrument sound that will be used for playback.
Time+ (Track Inspector only)	An offset applied to the start time of the events in the track
Key+ (Track Inspector only)	The number of steps by which the notes in the track are transposed on playback (e.g., 12 to transpose up one octave)
Chorus (Track Inspector only)	Adds MIDI chorus effect to the track
Reverb (Track Inspector only)	Adds MIDI reverb effect to the track
Snap to Scale scale type (Track Inspector only)	Displays current scale for Snap to Scale feature
Snap to Scale root note (Track Inspector only)	Displays root note of current Snap to Scale scale
Snap to Scale on/off (Track Inspector only)	Turns Snap to Scale feature on or off
WAI display (not available in SONAR LE)	Shows a color-coded bar if the track is being controlled by a control surface.
Track color	Opens the Track Color palette, where you can specify a custom color for each track.

For more information about MIDI track controls in the Track Inspector, see MIDI track and Instrument track controls.

For more information about MIDI track controls in the Console view, see MIDI track controls.

To change a track name

1.	Double-click on the current track name.

2.	Enter the new track name.

3.	Press ENTER.

The default track names (Track 1, Track 2, etc.) are not actually names, but placeholders until you name a track. If you reorder the tracks these placeholders change.

You can rearrange and resize the panes in the Track view as shown in the following table.

Table 23.  

To do this	Do this
Change the width of the Track pane and Bus pane	Drag the divider that separates the Track pane from the Clips panes to the left or right
Change the height of the Mains/Buses pane	Drag the divider that separates the Track and Clip panes from the Bus pane up or down

You can customize which tracks are displayed or not displayed, and enlarge or maximize individual tracks while other tracks remain minimized. You can also manually set the exact size of a track’s display. The following table shows how to customize the appearance of tracks in the Track pane.

Table 24.  

To do this	Do this
Hide or show a track	Open the Track Manager dialog box (press H), and check or uncheck a track’s check box in the dialog box.
Expand/collapse a track	Click the Expand/collapse button in the track
Change the height of a track using splitter bars	Move the cursor over the gap below a track until the cursor looks like this . Click and drag until the track is the size you want.
Lock or unlock the height of a track	Right-click an empty area in the track’s controls and choose Lock Height from the menu.

You can display subsets of the Track pane’s controls (the title bar controls are always displayed) by selecting a Control preset from the Track Control drop-down list above the track strips. To choose which controls are displayed in track strips, see Configuring the display of tracks in the Track view.

Changing track settings in the Track pane

You can change the values in the Track pane in a number of ways:

Table 25.  

Control	How to change the setting
Volume and Pan	Click on the control and move your cursor left or right to adjust values, or press ENTER and type a value.
Input and Output	Click on the black arrow on the right of the control and select a driver from the menu that appears, or double-click on the control and select a driver from the menu.
Buttons	Click to enable or disable

You can also edit Track properties in the Track Inspector. To show or hide the Inspector, select Views > Inspector or press the I key.

Figure 54. The Track Inspector

You can change the value of a track parameter for several tracks at once by using Quick Groups:

To adjust the same control in all tracks, hold down the CTRL key and adjust a control in a non-selected track.

To adjust the same control in all selected tracks of the same type, hold down the CTRL key and adjust a control in any selected channel strip.

For example, to assign a group of tracks to the same output, select the tracks you want to assign, then hold down the CTRL key and assign the Output control in any selected track. All selected tracks will be assigned to the same output.

All track parameters are saved with a SONAR project. However, if you export a project to a standard MIDI File, several of the parameters (Key+, Vel+, Time+, and Chan) are applied to the MIDI data as the file is being exported. Other parameters, including Input, Output, Mute, Solo, and Archive, are lost when you export the project to a MIDI file. The following sections contain more information about many of the parameters in the Track view. For more information about the track inputs and the track Arm button, see Preparing to record.