Working with Cakewalk Sonar templates

When creating a new Sonar project, chances are you probably use the same settings most of the time. To avoid repeating those same steps every time, you can create a template.

What is template?

A Cakewalk Sonar template is a file containing all the settings for a project. You can base a new project on a template so it will inherit it's properties. For example, you could create a template for a rock backing track so it would always include a drum track and a bass guitar track. You can also use a template to set different kinds of configurations or to work with a particular MIDI instrument.

Using Sonar's templates

Cakewalk Sonar comes with a variety of templates to choose from. You simply have to create a new project (File => New) and base it on a template from the dropdown list.

Those templates are stored in a folder defined in Sonar's configuration. To find out where they are stored, click on Options => Global... from the top menu and then select the Folders tab. You can suit this to your needs by changing this setting. Don't forget to move the existing template files to the new directory if you do so.

Creating your own templates

Basically you can save any project file (.cwp) as a template (.cwt). All the project's parameters will be kept in the template file. All you have to do create a new project, either blank or from an existing template. Then set all the needed parameters and click on File => Save as... Select Template from the Save as type... list box. Save the .cwt file in Sonar's template directory identified previously so the next time you create a project, it will appear in the available template list.