CAKEWALK sonar x3, Reference Manual

Page: 1323 / 2094

1323
External devices
SONAR can be controlled by a wide range of MIDI controllers and external MIDI devices. SONAR
also contains two generic controller/surface plug-ins (the ACT MIDI Controller plug-in, and the
Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in), which allow you to use almost any MIDI controller or controller/
surface with SONAR. You can also control certain external devices from SONAR by using
StudioWare or OPT (Open Plug-in Technology) panels.
SONAR allows you to control soft synths as well as effect plug-ins. Active Controller Technology
(
ACT ) allows you to control any plug-in that has focus, using the same widget mappings for each
instance of the same plug-in. You can also choose to lock a particular controller/surface to a
particular instance of a plug-in.
To keep track of your mappings, SONAR displays different-colored markers on each track and/or
bus to show you which controller/surface is currently controlling that particular module. These visual
markers on tracks and buses are called the
WAI display (Where Am I).
SONAR includes preset mappings for popular controllers/surfaces and MIDI controllers such as the
Roland A-PRO series. If SONAR does not currently include preset mappings for your controller/
surface, you can create mappings by using the built-in ACT MIDI Controller Plug-in or Cakewalk
Generic Surface Plug-in.
See:
“Roland A-PRO controllers” on page 1324
“Setting up control surfaces” on page 1326
“ACT MIDI Controller plug-in” on page 1330
“Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in” on page 1333
“The WAI display” on page 1344
“ACT” on page 1346
“OPT panels” on page 1348
“Working with StudioWare” on page 1349
Note: Some older plug-ins do not support ACT.