Welcome, Jason.
Yes, you are missing something crucial.
You actually have several issues here, so I am going to break your post down and try to address some of them.
"Ideally, I would like to set up a chain as such: Arturia Controller > Tascam US-122L midi interface > Sonar X3 > PC Speakers"You really don't want to do this. If the sound is coming from your PC speakers, it is going through the built-in sound card, and you are defeating the purpose of having the US122L in the first place. Your speakers need to be connected to the audio output of the US122. If you are using ASIO drivers, the built-in sound card will not be available to Sonar.
You path should be more like:
Arturia controller>US122 MIDI IN>[Sonar]MIDI track>Softsynth>US122 Audio Out>Speakers
or
Arturia controller>USB MIDI IN>[Sonar]MIDI track>Softsynth>US122 Audio Out>Speakers
"I'm currently running a MIDI cord from the controller to the Tascam and the Tascam is connected via USB to my computer. Additionally, in order to power the controller, the controller is also connected to my PC via a separate USB." The MIDI cable may be redundant here. It's also possible that the MIDI port is disabled when using a USB connection. This is the case with my controller. The USB connection is quite capable of transmitting MIDI data as well as power. Do you have the option of using an external power supply with the Arturia?
In Sonar, Edit>Preferences>MIDI Devices, be sure the USB MIDI IN(this may show the Arturia by name)
and US122 MIDI IN are selected. You will need to select one of these as the input for your MIDI track associated with a soft synth.
Do you know how to insert a soft synth in your project?
"While I can hear the sounds from my controller using the above chain (although the PC may be using my internal sound card, not sure...), I can't get Sonar to record anything with this chain (there is no meter movement)." Your PC is probably using the internal sound card, especially if you can hear the sound through your PC speakers.
This path completely bypasses Sonar, which is why you don't see any meter movement.
Sonar does not record sound from your controller. It records MIDI data, which is sent to a soft synth, which in turn, produces sound. If everything is routed properly, you will see movement in the MIDI track meter and the meter in the associated synth audio track.
Some questions for you:
Have you done the tutorials?
Specifically, which version of Sonar do you have?
Also, to help us answer the inevitable questions that will pop up, please list your system specs in your signature.
You have some challenges ahead, but it's worth the effort.
post edited by RobertB - 2014/01/31 23:44:54