CAKEWALK sonar x3, Reference Manual

Page: 862 / 2094

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Software instruments
Playing a soft synth
To play a soft synth from a MIDI controller
1. Make sure your controller is set to local off.
2. Make sure that the Audio Engine button in the Control Bar’s Transport module is enabled.
3. Insert a soft synth into your project (see “Inserting soft synths” on page 853, if necessary).
4. In the MIDI track that sends its output to the soft synth, choose a MIDI channel.
5. Open the soft synth’s interface (see “Opening a soft synth’s property page” on page 859).
6. Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag its interface out of the
way.
7. If you want to save your soft synth settings, type a name in the Presets field, and click the Disk
icon that’s next to the Presets field.
8. Make sure that the MIDI track has the focus (its titlebar is lighter), and play your MIDI controller.
When you play your MIDI controller you should hear the soft synth through your sound card’s
outputs. If you don’t, make sure you’re playing in the right range; a bank, patch, and channel are
selected; your monitor speakers or headphones are turned up; your controller is attached to your
MIDI interface; and that none of the relevant tracks are muted.
To remove a soft synth from a track or bus
• If your soft synth is patched into the effects bin of an audio track or bus, right-click the name of the
soft synth, and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.
OR
• In the synth track that uses the soft synth as an input, choose another input for the track. If you
don’t select another soft synth as an input, the synth track becomes a regular audio track.
To remove a soft synth from a project
• If your soft synth is patched into the effects bin of an audio track or bus, right-click the name of the
soft synth, and choose Delete from the pop-up menu.
• If your soft synth is patched into the Input field of a synth track, go to the Synth Rack, click the
name of the soft synth to select it, and then click the Delete button. SONAR deletes the soft synth
strip from the Synth Rack and sets the inputs and MIDI outputs of all affected tracks to the next
Note: If you patch a soft synth into a bus that has no audio track assigned to it, the soft synth
does not sound. Always use a bus that has at least one audio track sending data to it.
Note: You can also open a soft synth’s interface by double-clicking its name where it appears in
a MIDI track’s Output menu or a synth track’s Input menu.