These tips are courtesy of the SONAR Power! book series by Scott R. Garrigus.

VIDEOS: Also check out the SONAR Power! video supplements by Scott R. Garrigus.

Power Tip #1: Changing Multiple Note Durations
Question: How would I change a group of notes from 8th notes to 16th notes in the staff view on the same track? I want to do this on several measures at one time. After selecting the group of notes, what tool do I use?

Answer: For this type of task, you need to use the Edit > Interpolate function as follows:
1. Select your MIDI data.
2. Choose Edit > Interpolate.
3. Click the None button.
4. Put a check mark next to the Note option.
5. Click OK.
6. Enter a value (the same value) for both the Duration Min and Max parameters. This value will depend on the current Ticks Per Quarter Note setting you're using for your Project, which can be found in the Project > Options > Clock dialog box. For example, if you're using 120 tpq, then you would use a value of 30 for Duration Min and Max because there are 120 ticks per quarter note, 60 ticks per eighth note, 30 ticks per sixteenth note, etc.
7. Click OK.

Power Tip #2: Changing Individual Groove Clip Pitch
Question: In Sonar, why is it that the groove clip pitch changing seems to affect all groove clip tracks - ie, if I have a groove clip at the start of track 1 and a groove clip at the start of track 2 and I insert markers to change the pitch, it affects both track 1 and track 2!

Answer: It's specifically made to work this way so that all your Groove clips will remain 'in tune' with one another. BUT you can change the pitch of individual clips and not have them affected by pitch markers if you'd like. Just do the following:
1. Right-click on a clip and choose Properties.
2. Click the Groove-Clips tab in the dialog box.
3. Turn off the Follow Project Pitch option.
4. Then change the pitch of the clip using the Pitch and Fine Pitch parameters.
5. Click OK.

Power Tip #3: Deleting Multiple Notes of a Specific Type
Question: Do you happen to know an easy way to delete one particular event en masse--say all the kick drum events--or a certain note of a certain duration--from an event list? The Interpolate feature seems to manage a search and replace function, but how about search and delete?

Answer: Use the Edit > Select > By Filter function to select the Events that you want to delete. Then use the Edit > Delete command to delete those Events. If you have a copy of one of my Sonar Power books, read the Advanced Data Selection section in Chapter 8 for details on using the Select By Filter function.

Power Tip #4: Slip-Stretching
Normally, when you adjust the length of an audio clip by dragging out the end, the length of the clip is changed, but the data in the clip is not affected. However, if you hold down the CTRL key while slip-editing the clip, this will slip-stretch the clip and change the length of the audio.

Power Tips #5: Clip Fx Tails
If you add effects with long decays (such as reverb) to clips using the Clip Fx bin, you'll notice that the effect gets cut off as soon as the clip ends. To prevent this from happening, drag the end of the clip out to allow the effect to continue sounding even though the audio portion of the clip may be finished.

Power Tip #6: Record a Beatscape Performance with your Mouse
If you want to use your mouse inside of the Beatscape interface to record a performance, you need to make sure that MIDI output is enabled. You can do this initially when you first add Beatscape to a project by activating the Enable MIDI Output option in the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog box. To activate the option for an instance of Beatscape that is already part of a project, choose Views > Synth Rack. In the Synth Rack view, right-click inside the Beatscape synth listing, just below the synth name, and choose Enable MIDI Output.

Power Tip #7: Removing Background Hum (Noise) from Audio
Question: My audio clip has some background hum. Can I remove it?

Answer: Yes, you should be able to remove it. This is more than likely caused by some electrical interference or a ground loop in your audio connections, so the frequency of the hum will by 60 Hz if you live in the USA or 50 Hz if you live outside the USA. Here's how to remove it:
1. Select your audio data.
2. Choose Process > Audio Effects > Cakewalk > Parametric EQ.
3. Select Band 1 and change its settings to the following: Band Type: Peak; Gain: -24; Center Freq: 60 (USA) or 50 (International); Q: 30.
4. Click Audition to hear if the hum is gone.
5. If the hum is gone, click OK and you're done. Otherwise, keep the first band as is and try setting up the three additional bands.
6. Select Band 2 and change its setting to the following: Band Type: Peak; Gain: -24; Center Freq: 120 (USA) or 100 (International); Q: 30.
7. Select Band 3 and change its settings to the following: Band Type: Peak; Gain: -24; Center Freq: 180 (USA) or 150 (International); Q: 30.
8. Select Band 4 and change its settings to the following: Band Type: Peak; Gain –24; Center Freq: 240 (USA) or 200 (International); Q: 30.
9. Click OK to apply the EQ.

[Note: The reason for these additional bands is that even though the hum is strongest at its fundamental frequency (60 Hz or 50 Hz), it can often be accompanied by additional harmonics. Reducing those harmonics can help remove the hum even more.]

Power Tip #8: Deleting Multiple Measures in Multiple Tracks
Question: As an example, I want to delete all measures in all tracks from measure 17 to 27, and I want to have that "hole" closed up… that is, measure 28 is now measure 17. Is there an easy way to do this?

Answer: Yes, do the following:
1. Choose Edit > Select > All (or press CTRL+A on your computer keyboard) to select all tracks.
2. Choose Edit > Select > By Time (or press SHIFT+9) to open the Select By Time dialog box.
3. Enter values for From and Thru. In this example, enter 17:01:000 for From and 28:01:000 for Thru. Click OK.
4. Choose Edit > Delete.
5. Make sure the Events In Tracks option is activated, and also activate the Delete Hole option.
6. Click OK.

Power Tip #9: Removing Vocal 'Pops' (Plosives)
Question: Sometimes when I make a vocal recording, I get "pops" when people say words like popcorn. How can I get rid of these?

Answer: The "pops" are called plosives and they occur because of the quick rush of are hitting the microphone. To prevent them from happening in the first place, you should use a windscreen placed in from of the mic. To get rid of them after they've been recorded, you can use the Sonitus Multiband Compressor included in SONAR as follows:
1. Select your audio data.
2. Choose Process > Audio Effects > Sontitus:fx > Multiband.
3. Click the Reset button.
4. Activate the Byp (bypass) buttons for Bands 2, 3, 4, and 5.
5. For Band 1, apply the following parameter settings: Threshold: -15; Ratio: 30; Gain: 0; Attack: 1; Release: 100.
6. Set the Low Frequency parameter to 604 Hz.
7. Click Audition to test your settings. Click Stop.
8. If you need more of the plosives removed, lower the Threshold of Band 1. Audition again and make adjustments until you get the sound you want.
9. Click OK.

Power Tip #10: Removing Vocal 'ssss' Sounds (Sibilants)
Question: While recording vocals, I sometimes get "ssss" sounds when people say words like sassy. How can I get rid of these?

Answer: The "ssss" sounds are called sibilants. You can try getting rid of them during recording by changing the singers position in regards to the microphone, but it's not always possible. To get rid of sibilants after they've been recorded, you can use the Sonitus Multiband Compressor included in SONAR as follows:
1. Select your audio data.
2. Choose Process > Audio Effects > Sonitus: fx > Multiband.
3. Click the Reset button.
4. Activate the Byp (bypass) buttons for Bands 1, 2, 3. and 5.
5. For Band 4, apply the following parameter settings: Threshold: -32; Ratio: 20; Gain: 2; Attack: 1; Release 100.
6. Set the High/Mid Frequency parameter to 5024 Hz and the High Frequency parameter to 5024 Hz.
7. Click Audition to test your settings. Click Stop.
8. If you need more of the sibilants removed, the lower the Threshold parameter of Band 4. Audition the sound again and make adjustments until you get the sound you want.
9. Click OK.

Power Tip #11: Clean up a Mix with the Channel Tools
The most common use for the Panner controls (in the Channel Tools) is for narrowing the image of a stereo track to make it fit better in the mix. For example, if you have a piano track that is throwing the mix out of balance because its sound is just too big, you can fix that by moving the Left/Right Angle sliders slightly toward the center and decreasing the distance of the Left/Right Width sliders from one another. This will constrain the track to a distinct space in the stereo field and open up more room in the mix for other tracks.

Power Tip #12: Compressing MIDI Velocities
If you find that your MIDI performances aren't quite as perfect as you'd like them to be, and the velocities of your notes are sometimes too soft or too loud, you can compress them using Cakewalk's Interpolate feature. Here's how:

1) Select your Track(s) in the Track View.
2) Choose Edit > Interpolate to open the Event Filter - Search dialog box.
3) Click None.
4) Put a check mark next to Note.
5) Click OK to open the Event Filter - Replace dialog box.
6) Enter the range of velocity values you would like to use in the Velocity Min and Max parameters.
7) Click OK. Cakewalk will then compress your velocity values to the range that you specified in the Velocity Min and Max parameters.

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