TomHelvey
The fastest way to switch note durations is to hit T which brings up a toolbar with the note selector at the mouse cursor.

Yep, that helps, thank you Tom. At least that moves staff editing from "Grandma and her new smartphone" category into "Heck, just another 42 clicks and I am done!".

I had done some work with the Staff View but ultimately broke down and purchased Sibelius. It didn't seem like the Staff View was a priority, nor was going to be in the near future.
There is a program called Notion which handles scoring ($150). I used that until I grabbed Sibelius (by cross grading).
I would have preferred to keep it all in one app but I was seeing the writing on the wall. Otherwise, Sonar is a fantastic application!

michael diemer
Another way to change the value of note durations: Use the length feature under Processes. Figure out what percentage will give you the new value. For example, an eighth note is half as long as a quarter note. So increase the eighth notes by 150%. you can lasso as many eighth notes as you have, and then change them all instantly this way. Note: make sure you uncheck the "start times" box, or you will also change when all the notes start! just change the "duration" parameter. (See, staff view does have some uses).

Thanks, Michael, that one is helpful either. However, it seems rather as exploit to me :) Perhaps, there are other clever tricks? See guys, this is yet another indication that Staff View is poorly done.

rabeach
 
+1
it was easier to use 20 years ago. :-)

Speaking of which, Sonar is the only piece of software I've used that actually removed features and made things more difficult with each upgrade.  8.5 was good. Had the note icons and the number keys were bound to the note values too.  I was happy with it (relatively speaking) but it didn't support a specific framerate that a director was dead set on using.  So to prevent frame drift, I had to upgrade.  So I come to X2 and the note icons are gone and the default keybindings with them.  Now we have this clunky context menu.  So I finally get used to that, and the newest version now requires you to hold down the menu to make it show up.  The rest of Sonar moves forward, we get plug ins galore, new channel/bus/mixing whiz bangs, touch support (which I thought was absurd for a pro-oriented DAW, and would bet money that more people using the staff view than touch), and even the PRV gets some love.... but the staff view, nope.  I get that we are the minority.  I'm not expecting Cake to blow months and months of dev time on it (even though that would be awesome).  All I would like to see is that it keeps pace, even slightly, with the rest of the software.  Just small improvements each month would be huge.  First update, put the note icons back.  Second month, give the triplet problem some attention.  Third, maybe improve copy/paste within staff view.  Just smallish stuff like that.  Those small improvements would warrant my subscription alone, nevermind the 40,000 new drum and guitar kits and reverb plugins that I'll never use that get shoved through the dev cycle.  I don't want Sonar to be Finale, or Sibelius, or anything close to that.  I don't print from Sonar and if I needed to I would buy a program that's good at printing scores.  I want Sonar to be a polished environment for writing music with the staff view, and that means slick workflow and tight integration with the other features of the software, not every engraving marking under the sun.  Using the cake analogy, I've never seen a cake revert back into batter, but that's exactly what the staff view is doing, slowly but surely.  Maybe in the next update they'll take away key changes.  But at least we'll have a couple more drum kits, right?
 
/rant

dfp123
I had done some work with the Staff View but ultimately broke down and purchased Sibelius. It didn't seem like the Staff View was a priority, nor was going to be in the near future.
There is a program called Notion which handles scoring ($150). I used that until I grabbed Sibelius (by cross grading).
I would have preferred to keep it all in one app but I was seeing the writing on the wall. Otherwise, Sonar is a fantastic application!

Absolutely! Sibelius would do the job. However, it costs just about what I paid for Sonar X3 Producer, which is a bit high for me, especially considering that I don't need most of Sibelius functions...
 
I think we can definitely expect improved usability from Staff View. I know that this is not the priority - and that's fine! Just make this secondary feature a bit better. Especially, if it takes 20% of efforts to make this feature 80% better.

-vince-
which is a bit high for me, especially considering that I don't need most of Sibelius functions...

 I totally understand. That's why I mentioned Notion which is a lot cheaper ($150) and doesn't have all the functions of Sibelius. A while back they had a deal with Sonar customers, purchase for $79 (I think, my memory is very bad). It may not be the ideal solution, but it may be worth inquiring to see if you can get a deal?

Best of luck, this community is fantastic for help and information.

jfcomposer
 
 I'm not expecting Cake to blow months and months of dev time on it (even though that would be awesome).  All I would like to see is that it keeps pace, even slightly, with the rest of the software.

 

jfcomposer
I don't want Sonar to be Finale, or Sibelius, or anything close to that.  I don't print from Sonar and if I needed to I would buy a program that's good at printing scores.  I want Sonar to be a polished environment for writing music with the staff view, and that means slick workflow and tight integration with the other features of the software, not every engraving marking under the sun.  
 

+100500! Very, very right words, my signature comes here as well.
 
I think they (devs) do 2 mistakes:
- they live from release to release, instead of evolving from 2-3 versions back - just to keep the right momentum/direction. I suspect most of them don't know what mottos were there 1 season ago.
- they try to unify the UI, however, in reality, Sonar is a set of very different applications - and the concept of unified UI may be a wrong idea. Well, at least they could not do it right enough.

Finale NotePad 2012  8 staves, exports midi and it is free.

dfp123
I totally understand. That's why I mentioned Notion which is a lot cheaper ($150) and doesn't have all the functions of Sibelius. A while back they had a deal with Sonar customers, purchase for $79 (I think, my memory is very bad). It may not be the ideal solution, but it may be worth inquiring to see if you can get a deal?

 
Unfortunately, Notion is almost twice more expensive than Sibelius, at least in my country. Quite odd, yes...
Oh well, I think there may be online-based app or the like.
 

dfp123
Best of luck, this community is fantastic for help and information.

 
You guys are awesome indeed!