Importing midi

I was using Samplitude ProX 3 all year and am jumping ship to return to Cakewalk. I have some unfinished projects that I want to finish. I exported a single midi track by soloing it in Samplitude. In Cakewalk, I imported it into a new project. I see midi data but there is no sound, though I do see the levels moving up and down. My guess is that I must assign an instrument to the midi track. How do I go about doing this? I right clicked on the imported midi track and inserted instrument track. That creates a new track and I can choose the instrument but the midi track knows nothing about this new instrument track.
 
What is the correct procedure on how to import a midi track and assign it the same sound it had originally?

Here's how I do routing: extend the grab bar to the right of the track name and pull it out so you can see  the various options. Then, under output, choose the synth you inserted. Then, in the next option, choose a channel. Actually, you don't need a channel in some synths, like Dimension Pro. But in most, like Aria or Play or Kontakt, you do. you also need to do some setting up on the synth, usually just the channel (Aria, Play), but sometimes the output as well (Kontakt).

I thought this guy did a great job of making an easy to follow tutorial on midi..
http://www.cactusmusic.ca/Sonarmidi.htm
 
 

Okay, try this...
Open a new project;
- Insert a virtual instrument from the Insert|Soft Synth Menu (in the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog, just choose Simple Instrument Track for the sake of simplicity); then
- Import desired MIDI clip/data from File|Import|MIDI.
 
That should do it.  If you don't hear any sound, then check your settings for your sound card/audio interface and your signal flow.
 
Let us know if you need further assistance.
 
Kind regards,
 
tecknot

I think I'm reading that you are not assigning a VST instrument to the imported midi tracks.
Midi makes no sound without an output to a VST or hardware synth. 
As said you should read a little about using MIDI first as I think you might not have grasped how it works yet. 
 
And there's no reason to export and import each track individually. 
You just save the original in from Samplitude as a Midi1 file and then OPEN that file with Cakewalk. All the tracks will be there. Midi files are universal and easily saved and opened in any DAW. 
 

Sock Monkey, I have been using midi since the late 80s and have a pretty good understanding of it. I understand that midi contains only data and no sound. I have used it extensively with external sound modules in the past. I see no option in Samplitude to save as a mid file. I only get one choice, which is VIP. I have saved many projects as midi files in the past with cakewalk, so I understand that. It seems my only option is to export the single tracks as mid files from Samplitude. So, there is nothing in your post that can help me but thanks anyway.
 
Chris R, I do have two midi outputs in my preferences because I need them for my two external sound modules. When I import a midi file, Output, it is set to midisport 4x4 Out A but I also have choices for midisport 4x4 Out B, New Drum Map and Drum Map Manager. In this case, I want to use a VST Instrument. I do not see anywhere to choose one. So, I see the midi data on my timeline. I see the levels moving up and down with the data so something is registering. I just need to assign an instrument to this. 
 
Since the instrument is an old Yamaha RX11, there is nothing standard about the key assignments. It isn't where the kick is a C and the snare is a D. It is completely random, which didn't cause an issue in Samplitude. 
 
Lastly, I just inserted an instrument track. I saw TTS-1 but chose the Yamaha RX11 I mentioned above. I created the track. The interface opened and I pressed a key and heard the sounds.  All good. So, now I have an instrument track with an assigned instrument that is audible. Wouldn't common sense dictate that I copy and paste the midi data from the imported track to this track would cause it to play? It doesn't. My output is set to my Audio Interface Master out. If I go to the drop down and choose selected track outputs, I get a choice of the two midi outputs and the RX11. No matter which I choose, I get nothing.
 
I have read all of the suggestions above but still cannot hear anything.  Has anyone tried doing what I am doing successfully? If not, I will simply start from scratch.

Thanks Cactus. I went to your site and I will read your tutorial. One question, where do I choose "simple instrument track"? I do not see that option in Cakewalk but I do recall seeing that in Samplitude. All I see in Advanced tab is Split Instrument.

trusso11783
Thanks Cactus. I went to your site and I will read your tutorial. One question, where do I choose "simple instrument track"?

I believe you are looking at the Instrument tab of the Add Track dialog (scroll down to the "to create instrument track" section) . By default this dialog creates an instrument track.
 
The "Insert Soft Synth Options" dialog in msg #14 above is used by other methods of adding soft synths to projects.

Cactus Music
Hate to put it this way , but it's real clear in the tutorial. I made the tutorial as it saves me time explaining long winded details  :) 
Here's the screen shot from my tutorial 

My post was written after your last post, which wasn't clear at all and said I need to add a midi data track and simple instrument. Nowhere did you mention "soft synth" which is yet another available option. I inserted an Instrument, not soft synth, based on your comment above so there was no mention of Simple Instrument. I had not looked at the tutorial yet, but I am lost on the very first steps of your tutorial. When I look at my Run For Your Life, it is different than your tutorial. Your first track is SI Drum Kit and mine is Standard Drum Kit (which is your 2nd track). I mentioned in a previous post that your track 10 is an instrument track and mine is a midi track, so nothing happens when i click the icon.  I don't want to skip all of the beginning steps because I will be lost even more than I am now. 
 
Your response seems to indicate that I am not able to understand simple instructions. Just so you know, I run the IT dept of an huge State run Medical school and have worked in IT for 24 years, am MS Certified, etc etc. so I am not someone who does not understand technical issues. Quite the opposite. But, this tutorial is confusing maybe because it is older or maybe this version of Cakewalk is different than Sonar. Either way, it is hard to follow if anything has changed because as soon as a step is different than what I see now, I will have to skip it and will most likely lead to further confusion later. 
 
 

Sorry my tutorial didn't work for you. I've had dozens of PM's from people thanking me and saying it was very helpfull. There is very good documentation on this from Cakewalk but most found it was not easy to follow either. Each person learns differently. I'm more than willing to improve it but your the first one who has pointed out any issues. And I'm not sure if anything I use in the tutorial has changed. I even used Home Studio to test some things. 
 
I will go look at the tutorial and see what's up.. 

Thanks for all of the responses. I am not knocking your tutorial. I am sure you put a lot of work into it. I think a few things have changed though. Take a look at the very first pages. It is probably no big deal if you know your way around cakewalk but if you are trying to figure it all out, any difference in a tutorial and what the user is using will throw them off.
 
I can easily insert a soft synth and choose simple instrument as I have done hundreds of times in Samplitude and Cakewalk back in the day. I was just in the wrong place and adding an Instrument instead of a Soft Synth.
 
So, I have no problems with new tracks or anything. My original question about importing or opening the mid file from Samplitude is still the issue. I just had an idea. I  created a new SoftSynth track and chose the Yamaha RX11 vsti. I then imported the midi file from Samplitude midi.  I copied the midi data to the soft synth track and still nothing. What confuses me is that I can play notes and record and it will play. Why does Cakewalk care if I record it now or if the info is copied in? The notes are the same? Now I see the problem. The RX11 kick drum is the A4 key but it is assigned to the C3 key. My guess is that the note information did not follow. I think I read somewhere in the this thread that one should not import a mid file but instead open it.  I think it will just be easier to re-record everything.

Just a few things before getting to what I believe is the problem.
 
Opening and importing MIDI files do the same thing when it comes to MIDI note and CC data. The recommendation for opening MIDI files instead of importing is to preserve all the MIDI data and automatically load TTS-1 so that the file is ready to play. Often is this is a useful starting point for working with MIDI files. The import process strips out tempo data instead relying on the existing project tempo map. The open process does not strip data from MIDI files.
 
Given, new data may be recorded and played back means basic synth routing is not the problem.
 
I think this is the problem - the MIDI files are GM but the drum synth is not. If the drum synth cannot be set to play GM files,  the usual solution in Cakewalk is a drum map. One of the functions of a drum map is translating MIDI notes input to the notes required for the synth. Cakewalk comes with quite a few drum maps but there is not one specifically for the RX11.  Maybe one of the other Yamaha maps will work. If not, you will need to create one if you plan on using GM files with the RX11.

I was curious, Monkeys often are, and so I downloaded this freebie to see < I have a thing for old drum machines and I played with a guy who used this one  a long time ago. Anyhow the VST is only 32 bit :(
and then something is weird about the install process. Once you un zip the file all you get is a text and a  dll. file,,, OK that is normal but it was huge?? this is not normal.. If you click on it you get the expected note pad showing a bunch of gobbly gook.  So I dropped the dll into my VST folder and Cakewalk found and added it to the list.. But then when I tryed to insert the VST it came up with error dialog box after error dialog box about missing things. Is this not a sample based VST? I would have expected an installer that ran, not a drag and drop. Anyhoo, seems like your typical freebie and like half of them arn't worth the bother. 
 
Anyhow I think the Cactus guy has the issue, You are trying to dump a midi track into a instrument track which don't work. 
Best to put that in a plain ol' midi track , insert the VST ( I guess you got it to work) and point the midi track at it. 
 
Hot Tip of the day:
I would try this to prove if this is a GM issue like mR steve is thinking
 
Insert the SI drums and point the midi file at that. 
 
Step by step for those whom are on drugs: 
Open a Blank basic project. 
-1 Insert the SI drums choosing Single synth output  open the GUI and make sure it makes sounds when you bash on things with the mouse. 
-2 Insert a blank midi track, check the output is pointed at the SI drums. 
-3 Drag and drop or import the midi data to the midi track. 
In my world this will play the midi file UNLESS the data is out of range of the synth
Open the PVR to check data ,,, open the Event list to look for controllers that might zero volume. .