OK - a friend of mine and I are collaborating on recording a version of a Dixie Dregs tune called Night Meets Light, using a combination of MIDI (bass, violin, keyboards, drums), and real guitar for the guitar tracks.
 
The issue I am having is that I needed the guitar player to record a scratch track for the beginning parts of the song, so I could analyze it and figure out the numerous time signature changes in it.  To give you an idea, there are something like 9 time signature changes in the first minute of the song.
 
So, the guitar player simply set the metronome to play 1/8 notes and played to that, not paying any attention to what the measures actually were.  He sent me the first recorded clip, which I then built a midi drum track for, with all of the needed time signature changes in place.  No problem so far.
 
Then the guitar player began continued recording, only this time he started new clips at various points in HIS timeline, which had none of my meter changes.  The net effect of this is that the now NUMEROUS clips he subsequently created do not line up to MY measures, and I do not know of a way to get all of these clips to copy in properly to MY project.
 
To sum it up, where each of his clips starts does not line up at all with MY timeline, and I do not know of any way to line them up that won't hurt my brain.
 
Any ideas?
 
Bob Bone
 

Are you talking about time signatures or tempo changes? If you are doing changes in the time signatures and he is doing tempo changes no wonder nothing lines up.  

Yeah - are you both playing to the same tempo, and do you agree on how the song goes? If so, then perhaps it doesn't matter.
Saving the clips as broadcast wave (?) might allow you to import his audio clips at the correct point in time.
 

Just a suggestion for this type of thing. See if you can't compose the scratches yourself using MIDI so that you have an accurate representation of the true timeline the way you intend complete with time-sig and tempo changes. Depending on the length of the song, you can do this fairly quickly and easily by just scribing the measures with their time signatures on paper (remember that stuff?). Map out the whole thing, and then do the same in Sonar. You can add simple bass guides via MIDI at each section--even if the bass just pedals one note in eight notes or whatever. Last, a scratch vocal-guide track really helps. You just record yourself counting backwards at each part change like this:  6-5-4-3-2-SOLO!  . You might find working this way is less painful than trying to extract the measures, sigs and tempos from someone's playing.

John
Are you talking about time signatures or tempo changes? If you are doing changes in the time signatures and he is doing tempo changes no wonder nothing lines up.  

Thanks for the replies, guys.
 
I am talking only about time signature changes.  He recorded his guitar scratch track in 3/4 throughout, using 1/8th note metronome beats.
 
I took his original clip, which ran from the song's intro through about the 1-minute mark, and I figured out the numerous time signature changes present in the song, then I inserted time signature changes into the project.  Since the meter base of the time signature never changes, keeping the metronome playing 1/8-notes works the same throughout either song.
 
The problem is that he recorded additional clips for the next sections of the song, and the measures do not line up anymore.
 
I tried playing around with pasting in his clips, and it seems that the only way I can line up things is to figure out HIS relative alignment between the end of one clip and the beginning of the next (he uses multiple tracks, and there is overlap), and then paste it into MY project based on relative positioning, rather than relying on measure placement.  
 
Thanks anyways, 
 
Bob Bone
 

For me to get all my clips copied from the guitar player's project lined up in my project, I need to be able to paste them into my new project at specific Now Times that are based on either SMPTE or Milliseconds, rather than on a time based on Measures.
 
I have reviewed the documentation, and I cannot figure out how to accomplish getting the Now Time set as desired.  
 
If I use the Go Dialog box, it indicates in the documentation that I can enter the time based on multiple formats, but it doesn't seem to work when I enter either SMPTE or Milliseconds.
 
The Paste Special dialog box also does not seem to like times entered in either SMPTE or Millisecond format.
 
The other methods for setting the Now Time, per the documentation, do not at all seem precise.
 
So, can someone please enlighten me as to how I can paste in an audio clip at SMPTE time of 00:01:14:09, or millisecond value of 3566670?
 
Bob Bone
 
 
 
 
 
 

I'm not quite sure I'm following the issue but would using the Clip Snap Offset function help? Just find a downbeat on the clips, insert the snap offset and now it'll snap to your timeline. You probably know that though.
 
Also are the clips physically changing length when you paste them in because of the timing info printed on the track? I'd imagine there would be a way to either import the tracks without that data, have your buddy export the clips without it or just bounce the clips yourself so they won't follow your tempo/timing changes.
 
It's early though so I'm probably completely missing the point.

Oh and I think you can manipulate the start/end times of clips in the Clip Inspector. There is a dialog in there that shows a selected clips start/end and I think you can just type in the point in the timeline you wnat it to start at. I'd imagine if you disable Groove Clipping the end time will move relative with the new start time. There is also the inspector module which might do what you want. Right click the Control Bar and select Inspector Module (I think that's what it's labeled). There is a video Scott did over on Digifreq on how to use it.
 
Edit: The first Inspector I refer to is the Inspector Pane where the PC and other stuff lives. The second inspector I mention is the Event Inspector Module a control bar module. Just didn't want to confuse. Cheers.
 
And here the vid... http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/video.asp?ID=7

robert_e_bone
 
 
The other methods for setting the Now Time, per the documentation, do not at all seem precise.
 

And I'm not sure why that's happening. You should be able to get that precise to the tick or even down to a single sample. Set your now time with Smart Grid disabled and the snap value set to what you need (like ticks or sample). Set the now time then TURN OFF snap in case the clip is following timing data of some sort then paste your clip. The start of the clip should be right at the now time.

Thanks - I'll start checking it out in a bit.  I have to do some stuff for the ex-wife first, and she knows Kung Fu.
 
Bob Bone