Want to apply distortion to midi track

Hi All,
 
I believe I have some workflow issues, rather it's more like I have no idea!!!
 
I have a few midi tracks I laid down, (Using Synth Insert Cakewalk TTS-1 as the midi source) and am able to play them back no issues - now want to apply some effects to some of these tracks - I want to firstly apply some distortion to the Bass track but when I see the list of MIDI FX, there're only appears a few FX I can choose from; arpeggiator, chord anal, midi event filter, echo delay, quantize, transpose and velocity...  I see in the Audio FX though many more are listed but unable to drag them across to the midi track but can drag them across and drop them in any audio track... 
 
Ok so fair enough, I copy Bass midi track to the Audio track, mute the Bass midi track and select the audio track with the copy of the midi notes taken from the Bass track. Click on play and nothing, no sound, not even the left/right led light meter is moving for the audio track - mater channel is configured to use ASIO4ALL V2, like I mentioned sound from Midi track is coming out but not from Audio track.  Check preferences and have from what I can tell is setup correctly to use the ASIO4ALL output.
 
I don't get it...
 
Can't I just throw in an audio fx and simply adjust the level of the effects I want to apply in midi track or are the midi tracks limited by only being able to use the midi fx? 
 
Man I'm lost...
 
Sonar X3d Studio w/ full version zeta+2

sooo now if I apply an effect to the cakewalk tts-1 track then this effect applies to all my midi tracks.  So now I insert new synth (TTS-1 2) and specify the percussion track to use for synth out - but now have a problem, percussion midi track doesn't play... now I'm really confused.

Good Morning -
It looks to me like you're mixing up several basic concepts:
MIDI - This is the notes and other commands, contained in a MIDI track, it's all data, no sound.
Audio = sound.  Comes from the synth when the synth follows the MIDI commands.
Audio FX are applied to the audio after it comes out of the synth - not applied to the MIDI.
Multi-timbral synths like the TTS-1 can put sound out on individual audio tracks if you set it up that way, (it sounds like you did not) so if you want to apply distortion to only the bass - you would add that FX to only the audio track associated with the bass sound.
There's all kinds of other routing to think about - but maybe this helps clear some things up.
 
Brian

so ok why is it when I import wav file to the audio track, I play it back and works fine.  So remove the audio from the audio track and copy/past midi track into audio - this appears to copy no problem, but no playback can be heard... what is the purpose then of being able to copy midi data to audio track?? This is where I get confused

JimmyBoy
so ok why is it when I import wav file to the audio track, I play it back and works fine.  So remove the audio from the audio track and copy/past midi track into audio - this appears to copy no problem, but no playback can be heard... what is the purpose then of being able to copy midi data to audio track?? This is where I get confused

As soon as you get comfortable with the differences in how midi and audio are used it will make more sense.
 
The biggest hurdle is understanding that a midi clip or performance is nothing more than a recording of a bunch of numbers, that will only create sound when they are played through a synthesizer of some sort. Audio clips are recordings of sound that are just being played back, like a tape recorder.
MIDI track output to synch input. Synch output to audio track. Audio track output to monitor master.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/19/midi_spec_1_is_30_happy_birthday_musical_instrument_digital_interface
 

sharke
Having said that, I would be interested to learn more about the "chord anal" effect you mention.

The return of One Direction...

It looks like (from your first four posts) you are doing a pretty good job figuring this out on your own.  TTS-1 is a Swiss army knife as far as synths go (multitimbral).  You can run 16 tracks (or keyboards) into it, each patched to a different instrument, and send the output to eight different output tracks.  It has a really low demand on your system and operates with minimal latency.  Wonderful tool to use while tracking.
 
When you insert TTS-1 use the "All synth audio output" option and you can send your bass to a separate output audio channel which you can then distort to your hearts content without affecting the other instruments.
 
I would suggest however, that you try a different approach of adding a synth instance for each MIDI track and use a few of the far better synths that come with X3.  Try inserting "dimension pro" and redirecting the MIDI track output to it.  There are tons of exceptional bass patches (programs) that you can load into dim pro that will knock your socks off.  Then, if you still need it, add distortion FX to the dim pro track.  If TTS-1  is a Swiss Army Knife, Dim Pro is a Samurai Sword.  It can only handle one thing at a time, but it really handles it.
 
Session Drummer 3 rocks for percussion.
 
Glen

There are several very useful tutorials in the reference manual.
Just open Sonar and press F1.