Wow, thanks so much everyone for the helpful responses! There's a lot to play with here, and to those of you who suggested it, you're right, I should spend more time with training videos and such. (It's just that... if I have time to sequester to the studio instead of attending to my real life, well, I ought to be doing real music, but that's my problem.)
 
SO relieved to hear other people have had trouble making the switch to X series from previous versions. Having troubles with things isn't nearly so bad if you know you're not alone in that.
 
One thing I think I'm going to do is frequently Bounce to Clip, and keep everything in a single clip until such time as I need to do things with it, then just split clips where I need to. Which begs the question: Can I have Sonar automatically combine everything in a track into one big clip? If not, is there a way to do away with the lanes entirely and just have layers in a single track like in the gool ol' days?
 
Can't wait to get home and try this stuff out...
 
To Sanderxpander: an example of my frustration might be that I have a section with a ritard in it, painstakingly created by drawing lines in the tempo view until it sounds natural (aside: Why can't we play it the way we want it to sound and then tell Sonar where to put the bar lines??). Cut to several days later. I've decided to insert a couple bars somewhere, so I select everything and slide it over to make room. But the tempo changes stay where they were (and the pedal markings, incidentally). If the tempo change is subtle enough, I might not notice until much later, when suddenly there's this strange tempo thing going on, and I go into the Tempo View and see my painstakingly created ritard. "Oh yeah! Where was that again? I moved things around..."
 
"I would just use the mouse and Bounce to Clip to create a proper clip that has your data. Double check your Move To and Move By settings and you should be fine."
Can I select a group of notes in PRV and then ssay "turn this selection into a clip" or do I have to do my clippage activity within Track View?

http://www.groove3.com/str/SONAR-X3-Explained.html
 
+
 
http://www.groove3.com/str/SONAR-X3-New-Features.html
 
Approx 5 hours 30 mins of video tutorials.
Never look back...

jkoseattle
Which begs the question: Can I have Sonar automatically combine everything in a track into one big clip?

Yes, in track view, can hold CTRL, select multiple clips, right click and "Bounce to clips." It seems from your work flow you are piecing on additional content, and this works great for keeping track of things.
 

jkoseattle
Can I select a group of notes in PRV and then say "turn this selection into a clip" or do I have to do my clippage activity within Track View?

 
I do not know how to do this in PRV, but someone may chime in here and give the definitive answer.
 
A few tips:
1) When watching tutorial videos, work "along with them" so you do as you watch; and in the interest of time, you may want to start with things specific to your work flow as it is "now."
2) Save projects at major stages (and with descriptive names), especially as you learn. That way if you make a mistake, you can simple close (without a save) and re-open your project. Ctrl-S (save current project) is a good practice before any major change in a project.
3) Do not be shy to ask in the forum. Many times as I was learning, I didn't even know what the feature I was looking for was; but with enough description, folks are more than happy to help point you in a good direction.
 
 

Just a caution on Crtl-s, it is a save not a save as, so if you intend to rename the project to something else (like v002 for version 2).  Don't hit crtl-s.  I haven't found the hotkey for save as but someone might educate us.

Select a group of notes in PRV, move focus to TV (e.g. click a track header in TV), then hit Num2 or Num8. This creates a new clip, although in another track.

Jlien X
Select a group of notes in PRV, move focus to TV (e.g. click a track header in TV), then hit Num2 or Num8. This creates a new clip, although in another track.

I learn something every time I read the forum. To quote Toby Keith, "I Love This Bar"......LOL

Yeah... and I was typing that I was actually thinking "God, I hope Jlien X chimes in, he would know this offhand, I bet." Thank you! (I learned something too!)

To the OP.
I've been an annual upgrader since about Cakewalk 7 so my learning curve has been gradual with only a small annual jump to keep up.

THEN X1 arrived; so many technical issues I couldn't even use it until the C patch and then right up to X2 I fought the new work flow and insisted that Sonar bend to my will. Man was I ticked off with Cakewalk. While my gripes were genuine with the X1 series my attitude really got in the way of making headway.

It wasn't until I let go of Sonar 8.5 and committed to learning how the Sonar X series does things that I started to progress. By the time X3 had come along, not only have I been able to make the best of it but I've done it at a time when the Cakewalk team seems to have become revitalised and everything seems pretty good with the Gibson acquisition, unlike the previous Roland days.

If you had the chops to do all those great things with previous versions of Sonar, then I'm sure in time you'll be able to do even more as you come to grips with the changes and improvements that X3 brings to the table. As all the previous posters have suggested there are ways to move forward as long as you take the time to learn Sonars way and not try to impose your old workflow and techniques.

Admittedly there's still a way to go with Sonars development but the Cakewalk team have really got their act together and X3 is by far the best Cakewalk offering in my nearly 20 years of association.

All the best with you endeavours.

jkoseattle
I have a section with a ritard in it, painstakingly created by drawing lines in the tempo view until it sounds natural (aside: Why can't we play it the way we want it to sound and then tell Sonar where to put the bar lines??).

Set Measure/Beat At Now (Shift+M in X3) does exactly this. I frequently record MIDI performances without a click and go back later to align the timeline to the performance using SMBAN. It's one of my favorite features.

brundlefly
 
Set Measure/Beat At Now (Shift+M in X3) does exactly this. I frequently record MIDI performances without a click and go back later to align the timeline to the performance using SMBAN. It's one of my favorite features.

Pretty cool! Just what I wanted, though it's not quite as useful as it could be. Still, in a pinch it will work great, thanks!
 
General question for all: Now that it's easier than in 8.5 to switch to the mini-PRV in TRack View, do people do that instead of PRV? I think I could get used to just doing everything in Track View and switch to the mini PRV mode to edit notes, but am I going to find there are things you still can't do in that mini PRV, or not as easily, as in the real PRV? I think the biggest hurdle for me is zooming and navigating to what I'm interested in editing quickly, and also I like that I can look at multiple tracks in the real PRV. Comments?