Adding an instrument track to your project

Adding instrument tracks to your project is easy, so let’s explore some of the basics. For this exercise, we'll start with a new project.

1.	On the File menu, click New.

2.	Select the Normal template and click OK.

A new project opens.

Let’s go to the Screenset called Home. This will be the easiest way for us to add Cakewalk Sound Center to your project.

Cakewalk Sound Center is a type of virtual instrument, which are also called “soft synths”.

In the Browser, click the Synth tab (the last tab in the Browser). This is the Synth Rack, where you add and remove your software instruments. The Synth Rack has a number of features:

Figure 21. Synth Rack Browser

A. Insert Synth B. Delete Synth C. Insert Synth Options D. Show Synth Rack Browser E. Synth Settings menu F. Dock/undock G. Docking options H. Expand/collapse I. Synth Automation menu

To add Cakewalk Sound Center to your project

1.	Click on the Insert Synth button in the Synth Rack.

2.	Go to Insert Synths > Cakewalk Sound Center.

3.	If the Insert Synth Options dialog box appears, click OK.

Figure 22. Cakewalk Sound Center

To preview the sound, do one of the following:

Click the highlighted keys in Cakewalk Sound Center's keyboard, located at the bottom of the instrument.

Click the MIDI Pattern Preview button in Cakewalk Sound Center.

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

A. Track header icon B. Track icon

 

Note: You can always launch a given software instrument's window by double-clicking its track header icon. It is easy to confuse the track icon with the track header icon. The track header icon appears next to the track name. The track icon is next to the Mute button.

Let's take a quick look at Cakewalk Sound Center.

Figure 23. Cakewalk Sound Center

A. Program list B. Program controls C. Keyboard D. Master section E. Program information F. MIDI Pattern Preview

One of the first things you will typically need to do is choose a sound. In Cakewalk Sound Center and most other Cakewalk synths, a sound preset is referred to as a program. Programs in Cakewalk Sound Center are organized so they are easy to find by the type of sound they model. Let's take a quick look at Cakewalk Sound Center's sound organization scheme from left to right:

Type. The column on the far left, labeled Type, let's you decide what type or family of instrument sounds you would like to use such as Brass, Bass or Synth.

Subtype. The next column, labeled Subtype, allows you to pick a specific instrument from the selected type.

Program. This column allows you to pick a specific program or sound from the subtype.

For example, if you want to use the sound of an acoustic drum kit:

1.	Under Type, select Drums.

2.	Under Subtype, select Acoustic Drums.

3.	Under Program, double click one of the drum sounds you would like to use.

For now, let's pick a bass sound.

1.	In Cakewalk Sound Center's Program window, select Bass from the Type section.

2.	In the Subtype section, click Synth Bass.

3.	Under Program, double click Rock Bass.

Cakewalk Sound Center loads the program and displays the program name, instrument, factory and library that it came from.

To preview the sound, do one of the following:

Click the highlighted keys in Cakewalk Sound Center's keyboard, located at the bottom of the interface.

Click the MIDI Pattern Preview button in Cakewalk Sound Center.

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.

 

See:

Recording MIDI using a MIDI keyboard

Using MIDI loops