CAKEWALK Cakewalk SONAR, User Manual

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To set these options, choose Options-Project and click the MIDI Out tab. If you have set up a playback
loop, enabling either of these options can cause an audible delay when the loop is restarted.
Controlling Live MIDI Playback—MIDI Echo
When you play your MIDI keyboard or controller, the sound that SONAR produces is determined by
what hardware or software synth SONAR sends the incoming MIDI data to after SONAR receives the
data. This is called MIDI echo. By default, SONAR sends the data to the MIDI output or software synth
listed in the Output field of the
current track . The current track is the one whose titlebar has the golden
color—press the up and down arrows on your computer keyboard and watch each track turn golden in
succession as you change different tracks into the current track (you can also click any of a track’s
controls to make it current).
However, you can echo MIDI data to much more than just the current track, or turn echoing off on the
current track if you want. With a single keyboard or controller, you can echo MIDI data to as many
MIDI tracks as you want, meaning that you can simultaneously play as many hardware and software
synths as you can hook up to your MIDI interface or run on your computer. You can also have multiple
performers on different controllers sending MIDI data to either the same synth or multiple synths.
Each SONAR track allows you to select what MIDI input ports and channels the track will respond to.
The Output field of the track determines what instrument will sound when the track receives the data.
Each track’s Input Echo button determines whether the track echoes MIDI data.
The Input Echo Button
Each MIDI track has an Input Echo button, which controls whether the track will echo MIDI data or
not. The button has three states: on
, dimmed , and off . When the button is on, the track
echoes MIDI data. When the button is dimmed, the track echoes MIDI data because the track is the
current track. When the button is off, the track does not echo any data, even if it is the current track.
The off position on a current MIDI track is only available if you disable the Always Echo Current MIDI
Track option in the General tab of the Global Options dialog (
Options-Global command). The dimmed
position becomes unavailable with this setting.
There are several ways to turn Input Echoing on:
• Click a track’s Input Echo button so that it is on.
• Click a track to make the track the current track (if the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option
on the General tab of the Global Options dialog is enabled). In this situation (which is the default),
if the track’s Input Echo button is not on, it appears dimmed, to show that this track echoes data
because it is the current track.
• If the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option on the General tab of the Global Options dialog is
disabled, make a track the current track, and use the
Track-Input Monitor/Echo command (or
click the track’s Input Echo button).
Storing Favorite Configurations
If you want a track to respond to more than one port or channel, you must create a preset input
configuration. If you create some favorite configurations of MIDI input options, not only will they be
stored with the project you created them in, but you can save each one as a preset to load in any MIDI
track in any project you want. Clicking the dropdown arrow in a track’s Input field displays the Inputs
Patch/Controller Searchback
Before Play Starts If this option is enabled, SONAR searches for and sends the most recent
patch change, wheel, and pedal events on each output and MIDI channel
before starting playback. This ensures that all these settings are correct,
even if you start playback at an arbitrary point in your project.