Adding an instrument track to your project

Adding instrument tracks to your project is easy and something you’ll find yourself doing often, so let’s explore some of the basics. For this exercise, we'll start with a blank project.

1.	On the File menu, click New.

2.	Select the Normal template, name the project, and click OK.

A new project opens.

3.	Click Insert >Soft-Synths.

A menu lists all available software synths that are installed on your computer.

4.	Click VST2 > DropZone.

The Insert Soft Synth Options dialog box appears.

5.	Select the following options:

Simple Instrument Track

Synth Property Page

Recall Assignable Controls

Ask This Every Time

A new track is inserted in your project. This track is a combination of the two types of tracks you have learned about in the previous tutorials. It holds MIDI data and accepts a MIDI input, but it outputs the sound of the synth, like an audio track would. The DropZone window may also open. If not, you can open it manually by double-clicking on the track icon.

A. Track header icon B. Track icon

 

Note: You can always launch a given software instrument's window by double-clicking its track icon.

Let's take a quick look at DropZone.

One of the first things you'll typically need to do is choose a sound. In DropZone and most other Cakewalk synths, a sound preset is referred to as a program.

1.	In DropZone's Program window, click default.

The Program Browser appears.

Note: It may take a minute the first time the Program Browser opens. This is because DropZone is building a list of all available sounds. Once the list has been built, the Program Browser will open faster the next time.

2.	Select a program by double-clicking its name. For this tutorial we'll use Acid Quinda from the Basses section.

DropZone loads the program and displays the program name.

3.	Click the keyboard image to hear what the program sounds like.

Note: Each soft synth uses a different method of choosing and auditioning sounds. This is often outlined in the synth's documentation. You can press the F1 key to open the online Help for a synth.

Now that we have inserted an instrument and selected one of its sounds we can make use of these sounds in our project. This is where you can get creative. You have the option of recording a performance that you play on a MIDI keyboard (also referred to as a controller) or manually entering notes and events to play out to the software synth. We'll explore each method in the following sections.

 

See:

Recording MIDI

Manually entering MIDI notes