Reference Guide

1196 Notation and lyrics
Basic musical editing
Changing the way notes are displayed
Unlike musical notation programs, SONAR uses the MIDI events themselves as the permanent
representation of the music; thus, the Staff view is only an interpretation of a MIDI performance.
MIDI notes do not always correspond exactly to notes on a staff. Whereas a staff defines precise
grid-like starting times and durations for notes, a MIDI note can start at any arbitrary time during the
project, and last for any length of time. If you record a performance from a MIDI keyboard, for
example, you’ll find that some notes may start slightly before the beat, and some a little after, and
that the notes end a little late or a little early. Although these slight imperfections are what gives a
performance its “human” quality, you don’t necessarily want to see all these imperfections notated
with excruciating precision.
The Staff view has two options you can select to affect the way MIDI notes are displayed on the staff:
Here’s what the Staff view looks like with and without these options:
Figure 369. Fill and Trim off
Figure 370. Fill and Trim on
On the other hand, if you are entering notes into the Staff view with the mouse, Fill Durations and
Trim Durations may produce confusing results. For example, with Fill Durations, an inserted
eighth note in 4/4 time would look like a quarter note until you insert another eighth note immediately
following it. It is recommended that you turn off the Fill Durations and Trim Durations options when
entering notes; these options are more appropriate for looking at notes you recorded via a
performance.
Option Purpose
Fill Durations Visually rounds up note durations to the next beat or the next note, whichever comes
first.
Trim Durations Visually rounds down note durations if they extend a little way past the start of the
next note.
Table 202.