Says it all. I tried audio palette and maybe its just over my head. I recorded an acoustic guitar on one track and a vocal on another--client couldn't cope with a metronome, but now would like to add drums with a metronome. I can't figure the audio palette out. I tried the different options of having the audio follow the project tempo map an having the project tempo map follow the audio. Anybody use this function and good at doing it? I can get lost when reading long complicated explanations-or miss the simplest things though I have been recording professionally for many years. I do appreciate the help.

1) The new Melodyne has auto tempo detection and in the newer versions of Sonar you can just drag an audio file to the Timeline which will automatically set the tempo based on the clip. I have no idea how well it works because I have not yet tried it.
 
2) The way I do it is manually by finding the downbeat of each measure in the music (or where ever necessary), setting the Now Time at that spot then Right Clicking on the Timeline and selecting "Insert Beat/Measure at Now". If the dialog that pops up isn't displaying the Beat/Measure I want I change it to the correct beat/measure. Do this for the whole song and it will create a Tempo Map based on your entries. You can view and edit this Tempo Map by opening the Tempo View (Views > Tempo).
 
Now the metronome will follow the music and your MIDI grid will be aligned with the song.
 
Cheers.
 
PS: The Audiosnap detection stuff is a little finicky and usually works best on transient heavy material such as drums. Vocals and guitar tracks aren't the greatest for that type of auto detection. Melodyne supposedly handles it much better though.

Hi
I've tried it and can't drag any clip to the timeline as Sonar would not allow me to do so. I'm on latest Sonar Platinum version. If anyone can help, I'd be grateful.
Txs!
Luc.

+1 for Beep's guidance.
Tempo mapping works a treat.
 
You have to use Melodyne 4 to do it though which crashes as a region effect for some although there may be light at the end of the tunnel now - be advised.

Have you installed Melodyne? Have you installed the most recent version of Melodyne?
 
1) Without Melodyne you don't have access to this feature
 
2) The older version of Melodyne that came with X3 and the first round of SPlat updates did not have this feature. Only the latest version allows this and only came out in the 6 months or so. I think the current version is Melodyne 4. I'm not sure how exactly it is updated from the previous version (I haven't done it yet) but you'll definitely have to download it from Celemony (through your Celemony account) and perhaps apply a reg code provided by Cakewalk in your store account. Others could provide more definitive info if this is indeed the problem.
 
Cheers.
 
Edit: Ah I see bitman beat me to it and provided some crucial info I was not aware of. That "crashing as a RegionFX" thing does not sound good because that's how you'd NORMALLY use it for pitch correction. I guess I will hold off on installing it myself until I find out what's up with that.
 
I also recall seeing threads stating Mel 4 overwrites Mel 3 (instead of allowing both versions to be used like other VSTs do when you upgrade). That's a shame.
 
Thanks, bitman.

not sure if you are right here, guys ?!?
 
tempo detection is build on ARA technology (developed by Celemony) that is now also included in the Sonar core
 
I never bothered to update to melodyne 4 since they charge you for it (so I still use melodyne editor 2 which I bought back in the X2 days) and tempo detection works fine ...

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
not sure if you are right here, guys ?!?
 
tempo detection is build on ARA technology (developed by Celemony) that is now also included in the Sonar core
 
 
I never bothered to update to melodyne 4 since they charge you for it (so I still use melodyne editor 2 which I bought back in the X2 days) and tempo detection works fine ...

Really? - I stand corrected. I thought that was a 4 thing.

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
not sure if you are right here, guys ?!?
 
tempo detection is build on ARA technology (developed by Celemony) that is now also included in the Sonar core
 
I never bothered to update to melodyne 4 since they charge you for it (so I still use melodyne editor 2 which I bought back in the X2 days) and tempo detection works fine ...

Hmm... I'll have to check that out when I update Sonar.
 
So you are saying with only Mel 2 installed you can drag a clip to the Timeline and it will automatically create a Tempo Map (in the more recent versions of Sonar that support this action)?
 
I thought Mel 4 was needed because of all the fancy new tempo detection/syncing stuff.
 
Of course that assumption was only based on what I've read here and in the eZine and admittedly I was paying super close attention because my membership had lapsed before this was all implemented.
 
Thanks.

Tempo information is available in all versions, but only is saved when exporting MIDI from Melodyne stand-alone. The new tempo mapping accesses this information, but even without it, you can open Melodyne stand-alone, export MIDI and then launch (NOT import) that MIDI file with SONAR. This will import the MIDI file tempo map. You can then import the audio file that map came from (and nudge as necessary). A bit clunky, but works for earlier versions of SONAR before tempo extraction was introduced.

+1 for Set measure/Beat At Now (use Shift+M and Tab-to-Transient if prefer working from the keyboard). Melodyne will tend to set double-time tempos and make other errors that can't be corrected with the bundled Essential version, and Audiosnap has issues with placing tempo changes off the beat.
 
And Set Measure/Beat lets you set only as many points as necessary to get acceptable alignment. If the performer has tight timing without a metronome, you might only need to set every 4-8 measures in. I would start with 8, and add more if necessary. Also, you can set any point you want, regardless of whether there's a transient there or whether it's on a beat.