Guitar Tracks VS-20 and Session Drummer 2, seeking noobkick

I am getting started with the VS-20 rig, and being a bass/rhythm guy, the canned backing tracks just won't do. I want to build beats. I am a total DAW noob. I have worked in studios back in pre-digital days and I'm a puter geek by trade, experienced ripping my vinyls to MP3,  but totally new to this home PC recording stuff.

I got the $10 Session Drummer 2 download and installed it on my new Windows 7 box, where Vs-20 is happily at work. But I can't figure out how to insert a soft synth at all. I saw some forum threads about doing that in Sonar, but those are not close enough to my Guitar Tracks software to get me a clue.

How can I insert the SD 2 soft synth into a new project to start building a drum loop?

 
@ Mark, I'm guessing Charlie has GT4 (it's more like a GT4Pro 'Lite' which ships with the V Studio-20) and not the more advanced GTPro4 - there's no option to insert a softsynth and subsequently no synth rack or PRV; as far as I can tell, you're stuck with the TTS-1 and the included samples.
 

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@ Charlie, if you want to use (the excellent) Session Drummer 2 you are going to have to upgrade from Guitar Tracks 4 to get full MIDI compatibility.
 
I see you've already contributed to THIS THREAD in the VS-20 forum where I try and help a couple of guys experiencing the same frustrations and problems as yourself.
 
My advice to you and anyone currently using GT4/VS-20 who wants great software and full MIDI editing capability would be to use the upgrade path and purchase SONAR Home Studio 7 - the offer Cakewalk are currently running allows an immediate free upgrade to their brand new SONAR X1 Essentials.
 
At the upgrade price of US$59 / UK£49 from GT4 this excellent package is an absolute no-brainer!
 
 
Steve

 
No problem Mark - I've done the same thing myself quite a few times!
 
As I haven't got GTPro4, I asked Willy at Cakewalk for a manual so I could help out a bit in here - turns out I've been advising GT4 users to look for features that the program doesn't have.
 
Until I got my VS-20, I didn't realise that it ships with plain old GT4 and not the 'Pro' version. GT4 is great for getting started but to really utilise MIDI to the full, you have to be able to edit it, and run it through any softsynth.
 
Using the VS-20 as a Control Surface for other Cakewalk sequencers should be no problem at all Mark. I use it in SONAR 8.5 Producer and my shiny new SONAR X1 Producer and it works like a dream.
 
Why I particular like it is because it works perfectly at a Control Surface even though I don't assign it as my soundcard. I currently have a Line 6 TonePort UX2 assigned as my soundcard, but I can record the COSM effects in the VS-20 into SONAR, as well as using all the buttons and sliders - that's pretty neat.
 
 
Steve
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

OK, as I am reading your response advising The $59 Sonar Home Studio upgrade, um well, in the flash header page ad atop the forum page, Cakewalk marketing is showing me a red banner that says to upgrade to GT Pro 4 for the same $59. What are the pros and cons of each deal?