What Is meter?

The meter—also known as the time signature—describes how to divide time into rhythmic pulses. When you set the meter, you are specifying the number of beats per measure and the note value of each beat. Common meters include:

2/4 (two beats per measure, quarter note gets a beat)

4/4 (four beats per measure, quarter note gets a beat)

3/4 (three beats per measure, quarter note gets a beat)

6/8 (six beats per measure, eighth note gets a beat)

The top number of a meter is the number of beats per measure, and can be from 1 through 99. The bottom number of a meter is the value of each beat; you can pick from a list of values ranging from a whole note to a thirty-second note.

The meter affects several things in Cakewalk:

Metronome accents

How measure, beat, and tick (MBT) times are calculated and displayed

How the Staff view is drawn

While Cakewalk in general allows meters to have up to 99 beats per measure, the Staff view cannot display such measures. You will receive an error message if you try to use the Staff view with meters exceeding its limit.

Internally, Cakewalk stores times as “raw” ticks or clock pulses. The timebase—the number of pulses per quarter note (PPQ)—is adjustable, from 48 to 960 PPQ. If you are using a timebase of 120 PPQ and the project file is in 4/4 time, then a whole measure equals 480 ticks. See Setting the MIDI timing resolution for more information about the timebase.

Usually the easiest approach to working with meter changes is to set all of them up before doing any recording. Use the Meter/Key view or the Project > Insert Meter/Key Change command to add meter changes at the desired measures.