Macros?

Hi. Which version of SONAR do you have, and what kind of Controller / MIDI keyboard do you use?
I believe I can do this with my Akai MPK 25, with some setup and tweaking. Should be doable, I think.
All the best.

I am not an expert by any means.
They connected through a MIDI interface, I guess? 
Are they recognized in SONAR's Preferences (P), MIDI, Devices?
Have you tried to set any of them up as a Control Surface in Preferences (P), MIDI, Control Surfaces?
I would also check http://www.azslow.com/index.php 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/You-can-integrate-your-Control-Surface-with-SONAR-as-deep-as-you-want-m3125708.aspx
 
 
 

Perhaps you could record the synth track.  Stop.  Then record the piano track?
This is multi-tracking software (among other things) after all...

KPerry
This may not work as I may not be totally understanding what you're trying to do but it makes things easier if not perfect.
 
1 - In Preferences\MIDI\Playback and Recording, tick "Always echo current MIDI track"
2 - Ensure that the VI tracks are set up as split MIDI/audio, not simple instrument tracks
3 - Put the MIDI tracks next to each other, and untick IM on both tracks
4 - Now, all you need to do is cursor up/down to toggle between which track is selected and hence which VI is playing back

I must have skipped your reply 
This would be the easiest way in my mind.
All the best.

Just checkin' in again. When I  tried to put in program changes in my track, the corresponding staff view did NOT follow the new track. This sound reasonable---though not what I had wished for--since changing to a new sound program in the track should not change the midi information. I could display the note notation for the 2 main tracks simultaneously, which is what I'll prob end up doing.
HOWEVER, this is still "running thru hoops." Thus, again, if anyone knows a way I can simply have Sonar record a few commands, such as changing from 1 track to another during a song, that would be nice. I would even be very appreciative if someone could relay that message to Cakewalk, so they could consider putting this feature in future upgrades. Thus, it would be a macro within Sonar, but not within a specific track. A macro macro, if you will.
Thanks for reading this.
LNovik

Hi,
Thanks for that reply, AZslow3. While I don’t understand it all, the gist, I believe, is that Macro programs are better at remembering keystrokes than random mouse clicking—such as when I highlight the number of a track different from the current one.
I guess you are saying that AutoHotKey is an external program I could purchase/download and work within Sonar to accomplish the task of remembering keystrokes. Correct?
How about AZ controller? Is that also an external program, or is it part of Sonar? Would that be as good as AutoHotKey?
Lastly, and perhaps most importantly—though perhaps you already touched on this in your last note and I just did not understand it---is there an alternate keyboard path to choosing different tracks within songs (rather than just mouse clicking the number of that track?) I have noted that when I use the “Up” arrow key, the track above the current track seems to be chosen. However, the number of the original track stays highlighted, and the music notation that I have enabled from the 1^st track does not switch to the notation for that new track.
Hope that’s not too many questions.
Thanks again.
LNovik

thanks. that sounds fairly simple. Echo (on and off) is something I've managed to stay away from. However, I just read up on it, and will try it soon. I"m not sure where in your example the 3rd track, the one that combines the date of track 1 and 2, came from. I realize I need it so I can see the music notation for both tracks, and I realize it has to be muted the whole time. I guess you are telling me to create a midi track and combine tracks 1 and 2 into it. Instead of this=assuming this is what I would have to do==I  could simply highlight tracks 1 and 2 and then R click to get my notation view. The notation for each track would appear.
LNovik

I use Sonar to provide backing tracks so I can play live along with those tracks using Sonar.  I use a DX7IIFD (with E! expansion) from the 80s.  Each DX7 preset can be set to transmit on any of the 16 midi channels.  So I have it set so DX7 button 1 is chan 1, button 2 is chan 2, and so on.  Then I just set up my VIs in Sonar to match those channels to select various sounds.  In addition, I send program changes to the DX7 which does automatic sound switching so I don't have to push the DX7 buttons.  The sounds automatically switch as I play away.  That's simple to do - I just set up a midi track to send midi program changes out the midi interface to the DX7 Midi in (which in turn selects the sound I want - kind of a circular thing). 
 
You can do this with any standard Midi keyboard that doesn't have the special DX7 functionality I mention above - if you add Midiox and Loopbe1 to the setup.  I use a 2nd standard Midi keyboard that only transmits on one particular channel.  For that, I have Midiox do program change translations (signal flow below).  Midiox will also allow you to do splits, controller conversions, and much more.  It took me quite a while to figure out how to do this but it works fine if you dig in.  I set this up months ago, and as long as I have Midiox & Loopbe1 running in the background, I never worry about it.  Midiox and loopbe1 (limit 2 virtual ports) are free.
 
Midi Kybd (transmits prog changes on chan1) --> Midiox (recognizes prog change and selects a data map which I setup to convert midi data to desired midi channel) --> LoopBe1 (2 virtual midi ports) --> Sonar (set to receive virtual midi port which can be set as midi input to any track).
 

I originally was hoping I could control Cakewalk VSTs directly with program changes but ultimately gave up.  A while ago, I did a test of all the VSTs and found only a couple respond to program changes - like TTS for instance - but not Rapture Pro or Zeta.  That's why I instead assign a VST track to a particular midi channel and control it externally with Midiox and LoopBe1 as described in my previous post.  Because that's the only way I could get it to work for live playing.  Since that works well, I'm ok with that now.  I'm just a little disappointed Cakewalk isn't more flexible with program changes.  I've come to the conclusion that live playing with midi program changes isn't Cakewalk's thing but I really like it otherwise.  
 
I also tried the mute method.  It's been a year ago or so.  There was something I didn't like about it but it did at least generally work.

When I get some time, I'll try these macro programs. Looks like it could be helpful, Craigr68. Thanks.
Re: the question by Mettelus: It's sort of responding to a question in another language, since I'm pretty deficient in music computer language. However, here is what I think I understand. My song has multiple tracks. During the song, I like to play a synth lead for some of the time, and piano for the rest of the time---alternating back and forth a couple of times. Though I have several hardware synths, both of the sounds in this song that I'm trying to play live are coming from the same (Kronos) synth. THus, the output of my synth is already set to the same output as both of these tracks--or, more specifically, I have set each of these 2 tracks to the output channel I always use on my synth. However, when I tried to click on 'echo on' on the track that wasn't highlighted at the moment (the highlighted track automatically has 'echo on' highlighted), this did not result in me being able to play the non-highlighted track from my synth (controller.)
Is that clear? Perhaps if I had highlighted both tracks using the control key as I clicked on each, this might have made them both responsive to my playing?
 
LNovik

I am confused the same as azslow3 on your setup. The reason is this... *if* you are using the Kronos for both sounds (via external audio out), then the easiest method is to route the audio out from the Kronos to a single *audio* track. SONAR could care less what goes in, and all switching would be on the Kronos (no "mousing" required). Play patch one, switch patches, play patch two. NO MIDI is even recorded/required by SONAR for this (but also limits any editing, since no MIDI). You would want to save those patches as user patches so they are right next to each other on the bank listing.
 
Now, *if* you are using the Kronos as a MIDI controller (*only* sending MIDI (key note) data to SONAR), the best method is to set up two soft synths with both having MIDI input from the Kronos (MIDI only, no external audio in). Set one to MIDI channel 1 (or whatever), and the other to MIDI channel 2 (or whatever + 1). Manually input echo both tracks, then shift the MIDI channel out on the Kronos between "patches" and SONAR will shift which soft synth plays/records. Piano is fairly generic, and the lead can be something similar (and even edited to be final if desired).
 
For "real time" play, one of the two methods above would be simplest. Although there are methods to record MIDI and drive the Kronos with it, you will introduce latency, and cause routing issues that would take a bit more to explain. Also, the "switching" aspect would get complex *only if* you wanted to record the MIDI and the audio output. As it seems the audio output is highest priority, I would use the first method above. If you then get into a recording situation, overdubbing (recording one track at a time) would give you the best and simplest editing options.