Reference Guide

272 Recording

Creating a new project

Setting the Metronome and Tempo settings

The metronome counts off each beat in a measure, so you can hear the tempo of your project. You

can choose to have the metronome sound during recording, during playback, both, or turned off.

When you start recording, SONAR can play any number of beats or measures of metronome clicks

before recording begins. This can help you “get in the groove” before you start performing. These

beats or measures are called the count-in. When you create a new project, you should set the

metronome to play during the count-in and while recording. If you are adding material to an existing

project, you might only need the metronome for the count-in. You can customize the metronome

sound to use audio or any note on a MIDI instrument. By default, SONAR uses a hi-hat cymbal

sound from a General MIDI drum kit for the MIDI metronome, but you can change this setting to

anything you like by changing the MIDI output, MIDI channel, and duration. You can also choose the

note and velocity (volume) to use for the first beat of each measure and for all other beats. The

metronome settings are stored separately with each project, so you can use different settings for

each one.

To enable or disable the metronome during playback or recording, click the Playback Metronome

on/off button or Record Metronome on/off button in the Control Bar’s Transport module.

Figure 73. The Transport module.

A. Metronome during record B. Metronome during playback C. Click to open metronome settings

To configure metronome settings, click the metronome icon in the Control Bar, right-click the

Playback Metronome on/off button or Record Metronome on/off button , or go to Edit >

Preferences > Project - Metronome.

To set the tempo and metronome for a new project

1. In the Control Bar’s Transport module, click the Playback Metronome on/off button and

Record Metronome on/off button .

2. Right-click the Playback Metronome on/off button or Record Metronome on/off button

to show metronome settings.

3. If you want to hear a count-in before recording begins, set the count-in to 1 or more. Select

either Measures or Beats for the count-in.

4. Select Use Audio Metronome or Use MIDI Metronome.

Note: If you are synchronized to an external clock source, you cannot use the count-in feature.

For more information, see “Synchronizing your gear” on page 1265.