I have solutions that work on individual clips for both the tape varispeed and the tape stop effects functions. Why two? The varispeed solution, which I'll cover now, is extremely precise but not continuously variable. The tape stop effect also does varispeed; it's not as precise, but is continuously variable. Either of these will work with any audio clip, including a clip that consists of an entire mix or other program material. So you don't have to bring your clips into Sound Forge or Reaper any more
 
Like true analog  tape variable speed, speeding up shortens duration and raises pitch, while slowing down lengthens duration and lowers pitch. The reason I'm doing the "precision" solution first is that the most common variable speed tape effect I did by far was speeding up the final mix by 1 or 2%, which of course also raised pitch by 1 or 2%. This technique easily accomplishes this function, as well as the "Chipmunk effect" and a bunch of other cool stuff. (I also have a solution for the "overdubbing the slightly out of tune instrument" problem. All of these techniques are improvements on the suggested workarounds I gave in the other thread.)
 
The speed change is up to four times faster or slower, and you will not hear digital artifacts. In other words, it’s just like using tape with the only limitation being that this particular solution trades off precision for not being continuously variable. Ready?
 
1. Open the clip in the Loop Construction window.
2. From the Clip drop-down menu, enable Stretch On/Off.
3. Move the Threshold slider all the way to the left (0%) so all the markers disappear. This is very important.
4. The two right-most fields adjust semitones and cents respectively. Do not enable the Pitch button! That will just confuse things. Cents will adjust +/-49 cents which should be enough. If not, for example if you need to make the pitch 70 cents sharp, set semitones to 1 and cents to -30. (For Chipmunk effects, set semitones to +12 .)
5. Render the clip, and it will reflect the pitch/speed changes you made.

Of course, if you wanted to do this to individual tracks, you could as long as the clips in the track are bounced together and all start at the beginning. But it makes a lot more sense to do the mix and then just process the whole thing. I'll cover how to do pitch changes for clips which can fit in with an existing song (e.g., background vocals that are pitched up or down compared to the song) but that will take a little longer to write up.

I watched your web seminar and was bold over by just how well you know Sonar. Here you do things with the tools provided in an unconventional way with seeming ease. How on earth do you figure all this out? I have read your column in SOS for many years and have a nice collection of printed material all authored by you. I know you know a lot about Sonar but it is something special to see you here coming up with solutions and great tips seemingly instantly. How the heck do you do it?   
 
Color me impressed. Not just here now but for a long time. You are a treasure to this forum!

Okay, and here's the solution for doing pitched-changed backing vocals while keeping the rest of the song at the same tempo and key.
 
This was a common technique with analog tape: Slow it down or speed it up, sing along, then return the speed to normal and the voice would be on pitch but have a different formant and character. Here’s how to do this with Sonar.
 
1. Create a premix of the song that starts at the beginning. Mute all other tracks.
2. Open the premix in the Loop Construction window.
3. Follow steps 2-4 in post #1 to “varispeed” the premix. This is equivalent to changing the tape recorder speed.
4. After adjusting the pitch, create a track and record the new clip while monitoring the premix.
5. If you started recording anyplace other than the beginning, slip edit the new clip to the beginning, bounce the clip to itself to add this extra length, then open the clip in the Loop Construction window.
6. Repeat step 3, but this time, adjust pitch equal and oppositely. For example if the premix was -36 cents, set cents for the new clip to +36.
7. Bounce the new clip to itself, and now it will be at the correct pitch and tempo but with a different formant and character. You may need to trim the end, as Sonar will still think this is a loop and repeat part of the beginning. You can now delete the premix.

It's late, so the Tape Stop solution and the "how to fix an out of tune instrument" ones will have to wait. However, the latter is basically just a variation of the technique in post #4.
 
G'night and happy varispeeding!

But Craig whilst I appreciate what you are trying to do, it is a "workaround" and not an easy solution with a button that does it in real time.  This is what I need (and I think everyone who has chimed in on my post want) for what  I am doing which is music concrete ala "found" sounds, sound maps and deconstructed soundscapes.  But thankyou for investigating this.
 
Ben

John
I know you know a lot about Sonar but it is something special to see you here coming up with solutions and great tips seemingly instantly. How the heck do you do it?   

 
Well, people wanted varispeed...you know the old saying, "give the people what they want."
 
The techniques I'm covering in this thread are much less "workarounds" than my initial efforts in the other thread, take fewer steps, and are "minimally invasive" to Sonar because they use the existing capabilities. I think when I'm done with these they'll take care of what most people need, so then the Bakers can concentrate on the other features planned for future versions. I think if people knew what those features were, they'd say "I can cope with Craig's solutions for varispeed...forget about the varispeed, now get back to working on those other features!!"

Before reading and trying all these steps, I'd like to know if the workarounds are available in Sonar X3......yes, I mean "Sonar X3"--the base version, which doesn't include Audio Snap.

BenMMusTech
But Craig whilst I appreciate what you are trying to do, it is a "workaround" and not an easy solution with a button that does it in real time.  This is what I need (and I think everyone who has chimed in on my post want) for what  I am doing which is music concrete ala "found" sounds, sound maps and deconstructed soundscapes.  But thankyou for investigating this.
 
Ben

Read the first paragraph in the first post: the "Tape Stop" variable speed effect is yet to come. And BTW it IS continuously variable, it IS real-time, you CAN control it with a knob, and it's also MIDI-controllable/programmable. It does up to +/-200% shifts but you can additionally shift that range within a 96 semitone "window," AND process it, AND put it through lo-fi effects. It won't go to a full zero, absolutely-no-sound stop - but you can mute it when it hits bottom and besides, drop anything down 8 or more octaves, and it's pretty damn slow.
 
Think of it as a dedicated plug-in built in to Sonar that can process files so you don't have to go to another program.
 
Patience. This isn't just about you, there have been several mentions of variable speed applications that are very popular and have nothing to do with sound design. I'll get to everybody eventually, but you're in line behind the person who wanted the ability to do the tape varispeed thing on mixes (that would be me, LOL) and the guy who wanted to do the ABBA background vocal tricks. Two down, two to go. Maybe three to go.

Jlien X
Before reading and trying all these steps, I'd like to know if the workarounds are available in Sonar X3......yes, I mean "Sonar X3"--the base version, which doesn't include Audio Snap.

I've only presented 12 steps total for the two tips in this thread. None of them mention AudioSnap. They rely on a novel use of the Loop Construction window, which according to the Sonar family comparison chart, all versions have.
 
You won't be able to do the tape stop in X3 base version, though.