Playing a soft synth

There are several ways to play a soft synth:

You can record MIDI data and use the soft synth as a playback device.

Note: WDM or ASIO drivers do not improve performance when you play back recorded MIDI data—the improvement comes only when you play a soft synth in real time from an external MIDI controller or keyboard.

You can play the soft synth in real time from a MIDI controller or keyboard. To avoid excessive latency, your sound card must be using a WDM or ASIO driver. Also, you must set mixing latency to the lowest achievable level (probably less than 10 msec.), which you do by adjusting the Buffer Size slider in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Driver Settings.

Some soft synths that use the DXi 2 format can send MIDI data, sometimes including MIDI notes, from their interfaces to SONAR. For example, some soft synths have MIDI keyboards built into their interfaces that you can click to send note on/off messages.

See Recording a soft synth’s MIDI output for more information.

To play a soft synth with recorded MIDI data

1.	Insert a soft synth into the project.

2.	In the MIDI track that sends its output to the soft synth, choose a MIDI channel.

3.	Open the soft synth’s interface (see Opening a soft synth’s property page).

4.	Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag its interface out of the way (the soft synth’s interface does not have to be open for the soft synth to sound).

5.	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.

6.	Record some MIDI data into the MIDI track.

When you play back the recorded MIDI data, you should hear the soft synth through your sound card’s outputs. If you don’t, make sure your data is in the right range; a bank, patch, and channel are selected; your monitor speakers or headphones are turned up; and that none of the relevant tracks are muted.

You can add effects to each of the synth tracks. You can also add MIDI effects to your soft synth MIDI tracks.

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, if necessary).

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.

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).

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.

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 lower-numbered option. SONAR does not delete the affected tracks.

Note: If you’re using a ReWire instrument and not a soft synth, always close the ReWire instrument’s interface before you delete the instrument from SONAR, or before you close SONAR.

See:

Playing a stand-alone synth

Converting your soft synth tracks to audio

Recording a stand-alone synth