Roland A-PRO controllers

SONAR has a custom controller/surface plug-in that allows a Roland A-PRO controller to control SONAR track, bus, and plug-in parameters (both effects and synths). This includes support for ACT (Active Controller Technology), which lets you use your controller to adjust plug-in parameters on whatever plug-in currently has focus.

Figure 359. The A-PRO control surface plug-in enables full control of all SONAR tracks, buses, plug-ins and other parameters from your A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller.

A. A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller B. Control surface plug-in C. SONAR

Using your Roland A-PRO to control SONAR is as easy as:

1.	Enabling the Roland MIDI drivers in SONAR.

2.	Choosing the correct Roland In Port in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Control Surfaces.

3.	Loading the correct memory preset in your Roland A-PRO.

Please refer to the A-PRO owner’s manual for detailed instructions on how to configure and connect the A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller to your computer.

Once you have made the necessary connections, you will need to configure your Cakewalk host program to recognize the A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller.

To enable the Roland A-PRO MIDI drivers

1.	Follow your A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller’s instructions for physically connecting the surface to your computer.

2.	Go to Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices.

3.	Select A-PRO 2 in both the Inputs and Outputs lists.

4.

Click OK.

To connect a Roland A-PRO to SONAR

1.	Follow your A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller’s instructions for physically connecting the surface to your computer.

2.	Go to Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Control Surfaces.

3.	Click the Add Controller/Surface button , which opens the Controller/Surface Settings dialog box.

4.	In the Controller/Surface field of the Controller/Surface Settings dialog box, select A-PRO.

5.	Assign both Input Port and Output Port to A-PRO 2.

Note: Port 2 is the Controls Port, which is the port used by the A-PRO controls (rotaries, sliders, buttons and pads).

6.	Click OK to close the Controller/Surface Settings dialog box.

7.	In the Preferences dialog box (MIDI - Control Surfaces page), make sure that the WAI Display check boxes and the ACT Indicators check boxes are enabled, and click OK.

8.	Make sure the ACT button on your A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller is pressed.

Figure 360. ACT button

When pressed, the ACT button launches the A-PRO control surface property page and allows your A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller to communicate with SONAR.

Important: The ACT button should always be enabled when you want to control SONAR.

When you open a project, the A-PRO MIDI keyboard controller responds and reflects the layout of the loaded project.

Now that your Roland A-PRO is connected, you can see which tracks and/or buses are being controlled by it by looking at the colored markings (the WAI display; see The WAI display for more information) in SONAR’s interface. Open the A-PRO property page by double-clicking the WAI display or by choosing A-PRO from the Utilities menu.

Once the Roland A-PRO property page is open, press F1 on your computer keyboard to open the Help file for the property page.

 

See:

The WAI display

ACT