kennywtelejazz
I often work in a non linear fashion in a project …
I have things mapped out according to partial arrangements in my time line  ….
what that means is I may have different sections of the song that I am composing and experimenting with in my song project and if I was to play the song from start to finish in the time line there would be sections of silence and gaps ….

 
I often work that way myself.
 

when I have enough of those sections and I feel I'm ready to put the song together I will freeze all my tracks ,  
I will then lasso and copy and paste all my frozen sections into an arrangement as if I was using the Matrix View..

Check out the group command. That lets you turn the clips into a "block" - sort of "arrangement by Lego."

worstcaseontario
"ever use the Matrix view for songwriting?"
 No, because I have Ableton Live.
 I would love it if the matrix view in Sonar allowed the editting of MIDI clips in the cells. This would allow me to sell Live and use Sonar exlusively, which is something that I would like very much.

+1 for Ableton Live.
 
I have an EDP I use to use for looping and I liked using loopers to flesh out songs. I've tried matrix view, but it's pretty fussy. Audio clips have to be converted to groove clips, midi clips have to be adjusted to measures and so on. Ableton Live has a better workflow as a sketchpad. Having said that, once I'm ready to record I go back and record it in Sonar.

I'm ashamed to say that I have only used Matrix view once. It was after I broke my arm badly in a skateboarding accident and I couldn't play.
 
To tell the truth. I spend more time learning other tunes than writing my own.

Sometimes I use the Matrix as a good assistant to choose the right combination, but the limitation of just playing has made it less useful for me. I keep dragging and drooping, then editing, then do it again. it is a tiresome after some time.
 
I hope that Cakewalk pay attention to it and add the ability to record directly into it and also the ability to edit the cell (similar to Ableton Live). Some guys are using it in their live performance, so that should tell Cakewalk something.
 
I'm more of a Midi guy than Audio for composing, so I hope Sonar X4 will include improvements in Midi, Step Sequencer and the Matrix. 

gswitz
To tell the truth. I spend more time learning other tunes than writing my own.

...and, for me, that's one of the important elements to becoming a truly great songwriter.

I'm intrigued about using the Matrix view more.  I haven't used it enough even though it's beckoning to be used.
 
I get how it works and how it can allow for all kinds of creativity.
 
Conceptually I'm wondering how it would work if you're trying to provide some dynamic builds or swells in a song.  In other words, if you're trying to have a natural build to announce a chorus you can do that with natural playing and feeling, but when you're snapping stuff together with the Matrix it seems like the Matrix would not lend itself to that.
 
So, I was thinking if I were to try the Matrix view further and want to have some natural build areas in the song, I might snap things together in the Matrix first, then record those tracks as a performance. Then I'd go back into the regular track view and edit in sections where I would want to add some natural sounding builds. 
 
Or add anything else that would go on top of the structure anyway, like vocals or leads etc.
 
Just some thoughts on the topic.

As someone who dabbles in electronic music I would love to get to grips with the matrix. Unfortunately, te first couple of times I tried it, Sonar crashed so hard I had to do a power-off. Been afraid to try it again since! Maybe since I have a new rig with a fresh install I'll give it another go.

Anderton

kennywtelejazz
I often work in a non linear fashion in a project …
I have things mapped out according to partial arrangements in my time line  ….
what that means is I may have different sections of the song that I am composing and experimenting with in my song project and if I was to play the song from start to finish in the time line there would be sections of silence and gaps ….

 
I often work that way myself.
 

when I have enough of those sections and I feel I'm ready to put the song together I will freeze all my tracks ,  
I will then lasso and copy and paste all my frozen sections into an arrangement as if I was using the Matrix View..

Check out the group command. That lets you turn the clips into a "block" - sort of "arrangement by Lego."

thanks of the tip Craig , I will have to give that a try .
 
Kenny

Way back when this was the "Groove Matrix" in Project5, I experimented with using MIDI Learn, one-shots, and triggers to create Matrix "instruments".  It's loosely along the lines of Foley effect triggering, but with individual instrument samples mapped across the entire MIDI keyboard.  The P5 iteration was fairly buggy when you pushed it, so I abandoned the explorations.  I haven't used the Matrix since in Sonar.
 
But - as one example - I would load up some of the individual Dimension Pro samples (conveniently labeled with the MIDI note number), and map with MIDI Learn to the appropriate (or inappropriate) keyboard note.  Don't forget that MIDI CC and "positive" Pitch Bend are fair game for trigger control, too. Mix & match for guitar, piano, synth sounds, FX, etc., or stay conventional with one instrument's sample set.
 
There are some unusual, cool gated & overlapping sustained effects to be had with various trigger and loop settings.  "Quantizing" to a particular scale or remapping the keys are real possibilities.  Thanks for the discussion, Craig.  I may just have to revisit this Matrixsynth.

lawajava
Conceptually I'm wondering how it would work if you're trying to provide some dynamic builds or swells in a song.  In other words, if you're trying to have a natural build to announce a chorus you can do that with natural playing and feeling, but when you're snapping stuff together with the Matrix it seems like the Matrix would not lend itself to that.

 
Indeed, it does not (of course with the "at least if it does, I haven't found it" caveat).
 

So, I was thinking if I were to try the Matrix view further and want to have some natural build areas in the song, I might snap things together in the Matrix first, then record those tracks as a performance. Then I'd go back into the regular track view and edit in sections where I would want to add some natural sounding builds. 
 
Or add anything else that would go on top of the structure anyway, like vocals or leads etc.

You got it! The coolest thing about Matrix view is you can move between the linear track view and Matrix view easily. So, you can throw together (for example) a rhythm track by initiating loops at various times while what you're doing is being recorded in the linear tracks, then record overdubs on the linear tracks.
 
This is why I like it for songwriting. The Matrix View is like the Metronome of the Gods.
 
These days, I do a LOT of replacing parts. My priority is getting the song structure down as fast as possible, which often means using "placeholder" parts. Then when the song has an identity, I replace those parts with something better. The Matrix View helps in that respect.