Feature request for Piano Roll: Waveform Composition Tools
https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform
I got the upgrade offer from Traction for Waveform, and I reviewed some videos. It sounds and looks promising but I have no intention to abandon Sonar (was only considering it when they were talking about Mac). I produce electronic music and frequently use arpeggiators. Check out the Composition Tools on the Waveform page. It is amazing how easy it is to input Chords and Baseline in to the piano roll. This must be part of Sonar Piano Roll. How come Sonar still has no way to input chords other than writing them note by note? When I enter chords, I have to enter individual notes for each chord. For 8 measures part, I have to enter 24 notes manually. Why is there no way to just assign chords by name (Am, G, F...)?
 
Also it would help if when note selected, all line was highlighting because it is too hard to align the note with the key- I never know where I am. It is better that C.D and E section has slightly different color than F-B section, but it would help if when I pres key on keyboard controller, the entire line would change color so I don't have to strain my eyes, trying to figure out where to insert the note. When I have to do it 24 times for 8 measures, it gets frustrating.
 
Also as shown in Waveform video, it would be nice if the bass note of each chord was selectable to copy it in to a new track to create a bassline.
https://www.tracktion.com/products/waveform
 
Thank you.

Yes, I totally agree! Sonar would benefit from some midi/chord/arranger stuff that is present in other DAWs. That Waveform thing was pretty cool. :)

Go to the Bakery and vote for the Chord track idea, it's the 3rd most popular right now:
 
Chord Track for Sonar Platinum
http://bakery.cakewalk.co...ack-for-Sonar-Platinum

There's some nice tools in the Pattern Generator kinda remind me of some of the tools in FLStudio.  

Especially when working with MIDI, there is a lot of room to enhance key, time signature, and chord changes - sort of a "building block mode" for rough composition. Locking out things that do not fall in key is a real nicety (especially when mouse errors are easy to come by), and that part of their "Melody" feature was pretty slick IMO. Audio is a different matter, but for MIDI, "core composition" should be a quick task.

I voted for it but what is it? It says, "chord track similar to the one in Cubase 7.5"- I don't know what it is in Cubase 7.5. I voted because something would be better than nothing but how would I add this post to voting? I think Waveform way is very convenient. Not that they should make it exactly the same but to implement something similar would be great. is there "add feature request" option? Edit: ok, I see there is a way to add reply. Will post it there.

I made the chord track request a couple of years ago, I still would like to see it implemented in Splat. In Cubase, you have a chord track, you select the chord you want and when you play your keyboard, any note you play on your keyboard  will be in the chord selected in the chord track. 
 
This is especially handy for those of us who play other instruments other than keyboards.  It can also be a great writing tool.  It works in audio as well as midi.  I still believe it would be a valuable addition to Splat and I still support the request.

+1
 
I grabbed the new Tracktion Waveform Basic recently, just for the new MIDI composition tools.  I think we need to look at this as something different from a "chord track" feature for Sonar.  This is different, and in some ways maybe more useful.
 
The choice for Waveform was made after also trying demos of Cubase Elements 9 (chord track, chord assistant, and circle of fifths), and FL Studio 12 Fruity (chord tools built into the PRV).   These were all $99 products that I was considering using just for their MIDI tools. 
 
Not looking to replace Sonar.  But I agree that it would be nice to have more MIDI creative tools like this bundled into Sonar!
 
So far very happy with Waveform.  It's hard not to get something going fairly quickly with this.  The MIDI tracks can be exported to Sonar as MIDI files.
 
As far as having an actual chord track at the project level, Cubase is the only program I tried that has this.  Sonar should definitely add this feature.  Waveform has a marker track that can be used to identify song sections or chord changes, but they are labels only and do not affect any pitches.  There is a project pitch that can be used as the default in the Pattern Generator.
 
In Waveform, the Pattern Generator lets you quickly build a track pattern type of either Arpeggio, Bassline, Chords, or Melody.  You pick the key that you want to work in, then select the chord progression using a roman numeral scale degrees system.  It offers popular prediction choices to be used for the next chord in the progression.
 
Or you can go your own way in the Waveform PRV using the Chord dropdown tool to insert chord shapes that you can copy or drag around to any root note as you wish.  Using keyboard shortcuts, you can invert chord up/down, and much more.  FL studio does something like this, but the other MIDI features in Waveform sold me!

As far as the Cubase chord track goes in Elements 9, I see that the advantages are:
 
The chord functions provide you with many possibilities for working with chords.
 
Chord Events:
1. Root note
2. Type
3. Tension
4. Bass note

The chord functions allow you to:
• Build chord progressions by adding chord events to the chord track.
• Convert chord events to MIDI.
• Use the chord track to control MIDI playback.
• Use the chord track voicing to change the pitches of your MIDI.
• Extract chord events from MIDI data to get an overview of the harmonic structure of a MIDI file.
• Record chord events with a MIDI keyboard.
 
> The Chord Assistant allows you to use a chord as a starting point to get suggestions for the next chord
 
> The Circle of Fifths mode of the Chord Assistant shows the chords in an interactive visualization of the circle of fifths.
 
> Voicings - determine how chord events are set up. They define the vertical spacing and order of the pitches in a chord, but also the instrumentation and genre of a musical piece.  For example, a C chord can be spread over a wide range of pitches, and a pianist will choose different notes than a guitarist. The pianist may also play completely different pitches for different musical genres.
• You can set up voicing for the entire chord track in the chord track Inspector.
• You can set up voicings for individual chord events on the Voicing pop-up menu on the
info line.  Voicing library allows you to select Guitar, Piano, or Basic as a voicing library.
 
> Scale Events - Scale events inform you which chord events fit in a specific sequence of notes that belong to
a specific root note.  Cubase automatically creates scale events for your chord events.
 
> Chord Editing - You can apply chord events from the chord track to notes in the MIDI editor.  Applies the chord events from the chord track to the selected notes in the MIDI editor. The chord event that is effective at the position of the first selected note is applied to the selected notes, which are then transposed. Only the basic chord type is applied. Tensions are not taken into account.
 
> Link Playback to Chord Track - the events of a MIDI loop are transposed to play back in context with the chord track. Note that you need a chord track with chord events for this. If this option is activated, and you insert a MIDI loop into the project, Follow Chord Track is automatically activated for the track.
 
> MIDI Editor - The note events get different colors depending on whether they match the current chord, scale, or both.
 
> Chord Pads - allow you to play with chords, and to change their voicings and tensions. In terms of harmonies and rhythms, they allow for a more playful and spontaneous approach to composition than the chord track functions.
You can:
• Perform with chords in realtime via a MIDI keyboard.
• Record your performance as MIDI events on a MIDI or instrument track or even on the
chord track.

It is interesting to note that in the past, Cakewalk was known for their MIDI implementation. The Protools had no MIDI tools and was more for the live instruments recording, while Cakewalk was the best MIDI sequencer. Now it sounds like all other DAW have better MIDI editing tools and Cakewalk is behind. The Piano roll as well as Staff view are white and empty. There is nothing there. Time to catch up, since we not going Mac any longer!

I'd like to see a better, more versatile velocity scaling tool in Sonar. It's my most-used piano roll tool in FL Studio.