Arranger Track Overview
The Arranger Track provides a non-destructive, non-linear workflow for structuring and editing songs. Instead of manually cutting, copying, and moving individual audio and MIDI clips across multiple tracks, you can define color-coded song sections (e.g., Intro, Verse, Chorus, Bridge) and manipulate entire regions of your project as single units.
Key benefits include:
- Non-Linear Experimentation: Test alternate song forms (AABA, ABAB, etc.) without altering underlying clip positions.
- Instant Reordering: Drag sections to swap, duplicate, or trim entire song blocks across all tracks simultaneously.
- Multi-Arrangement Management: Save unlimited arrangements within a single project file.
- Direct Export: Render multiple arrangement passes directly to audio files without destructively altering the main timeline.
Multiple Arranger Tracks
Cakewalk Sonar supports creating and using more than one Arranger track within a single project. This capability lets you organize, experiment with, and rearrange different song sections independently, using parallel tracks hierarchically for various structural or performance markings.
BandLab Membership
Multiple Arranger Track is exclusive to active BandLab Membership subscribers.
Key Capabilities & Rules
- Hierarchical Structural Mapping: Maintain separate Arranger tracks for high-level song forms (e.g., Verse/Chorus), detailed sub-sections, or performance cues without interference.
- Visibility Limit: You can add multiple Arranger tracks to a session, with up to 8 Arranger tracks visible simultaneously in the workspace.
- Track Independence: Section edits, moves, copies, and swaps performed on one Arranger track act independently and do not alter sections on other Arranger tracks.
-
Active Track Control: Only one Arranger track is active at a time. Use the
Only Show Active Arranger Trackmenu setting to declutter your display when focusing on a specific track layer. - Time Bases: Each Arranger track can be assigned its own time base independently—Musical (M:B:T stays constant during tempo shifts) or Absolute (SMPTE time stays constant, useful for video scoring).
Workspace & Interface Components
Arranger functionality is split across two primary workspace views:
Located directly above the Clips pane, the Arranger timeline displays color-coded section blocks across time. Toggle visibility using keyboard shortcut A.
Accessed via ALT+SHIFT+I or the Inspector pane header, the Arranger Inspector is divided into two operational areas:
- Sections List: Displays all timeline sections defined in the active project in chronological order.
- Arrangements List: Displays user-defined sequences where sections can be ordered, repeated, or omitted for non-linear preview and final rendering.
Defining & Editing Sections
- Manual Creation: Draw sections directly on the Arranger timeline, click Add Section in the Inspector, or drag section presets from the Media Browser.
- Marker Conversion: Convert existing timeline text markers into Arranger sections (or vice versa) using the Create Sections from Markers command.
- Track Event Selection: Clicking a section selects both the section envelope and underlying track events. Click again to deselect track events while retaining section selection.
- Excluding Tracks/Clips: Enable Arranger Exclude in the Track Properties Inspector to protect specific tracks from being affected when Arranger sections are reordered.
- Overlapping MIDI Event Threshold: Adjust the Arranger Section Event Overlap Threshold under the Track view MIDI menu to control whether MIDI notes overhanging section boundaries are included during section moves.
Section Types & Presets
Sections can be tagged with Section Types (e.g., Verse, Chorus, Solo, Outro) to assign consistent naming conventions, color schemes, and default measure lengths.
- Factory vs. Custom Types: Includes built-in standard tags, or you can create global custom user presets.
- Abbreviated Labels: Assigned section types display a 1–3 character abbreviation in the upper-right corner of the section block for fast visual identification.
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Global Storage: Custom user section presets are saved globally in
userArrangerSectionTypes.jsonin your user profile.
Creating, Previewing & Committing Arrangements
| Workflow Stage | Description | Key Shortcut / Action |
|---|---|---|
| Build Sequence | Drag sections from the Sections list or timeline into the Arrangements list. Sections can be repeated or omitted freely. | Drag & Drop |
| Preview | Auditions the active arrangement non-linearly. The transport play button displays an "A" icon during playback. | ALT+SPACEBAR |
| Commit to Project | Destructively renders the non-linear arrangement sequence onto the linear project timeline, permanently updating clip arrangements. |
Commit Arrangement button (Hold SHIFT to create linked clips)
|
Arranger Templates & Exporting
Arranger templates (.arr files) store pre-defined song structures (section order, types, names, colors, and durations). Managed globally via C:\Cakewalk Content\Sonar\Arranger Templates, they can be dropped onto new Arranger tracks or automatically mapped against existing project sections.
Arrangements can be rendered directly to audio files without committing them to the timeline:
- Open File > Export > Audio (or the Control Bar Export module).
- Set Source Category to Arrangements.
- Select your target arrangements from the Sources list and click Export.
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