I've been getting more deeply into using Sonar Platinum by converting some of my favorite MIDI files into Cakewalk Projects by adding VST instruments and FX on each MIDI track of General MIDI files. (Been using TTS-1 to do the playback on Gen MIDI files to date.)
 
I've now come to replacing the Gen MIDI drums track, which has all the percussion contained within a single track.
 
What's the preferred way to convert the Gen MIDI drum track to using VST drum sets?
1. Do I need to separate the percussion into separate tracks and switch each track from TTS-1 to a VST drum set? If so, is the Cakewalk CAL utility to automatically separate a single multiple drum track into separate tracks the way to go?
2. Or, Can I leave the Gen MIDI drum track alone and configure one of the Cakewalk VST drum options to correctly play back the drums/percussion using one of the drum maps provided by Sonar?
 

Hi.I do a lot of this work. I mostly have tracks I made myself but now I'm lazy and if I find a good download I'll use it. I make a lot of backing tracks for my solo act and a Duo I play in. I mostly want bass and drums. 
Like you I start with the TTS-1 which wil play the song the way it was composed. You need to OPEN the file to get the correct parameters. 
I then insert Addictive drums and the SI bass for starters and re assign those tracks. 
With addictive drums you can change it to play GM sounds- Go to the ? in uper right and / Maps. Or you can drag the "part" to the proper note value that AD uses. Tricky with the hI hat. 
And yes you often find percussion sounds missing so what I do is clone the channel 10 midi track so I have 2. 
I then highlight and delete parts so that one track contains only parts for the TTS-1 and the other the parts to be played by AD. 
SI Bass might require transposing +12. 
From there I might use better organs and piano etc. Lots of choices. 
 

Johnny (Cactus Music)... Thx for your comments.
 
To try what you suggest, I have gone ahead to load up the XLN Audio Addictive Drums that is available in Sonar Platinum. Also loaded the standard drum map that you download from XLN. If I just set the GM drum track to play the Addictive Drums VST, it does not sound like I am getting GM drum mapping correctly. I started trying to use the XLN provided drum map and some of the GM drum maps provided within Sonar. So I will try some hit and miss changes to see if I can simply use a better drumset to replace the TTS-1 GM drumset. 

Not sure what you are doing? I didn't have to download any maps,, the GM map is already there in the aforementioned location. 
And for me it certainly plays GM drums minus any percussion sounds that are not included with the kit you have to load. Did you download your 2 free kits?  
AD is complicated and takes time to wrap your head around how it works.  I have a long way o go myself even after a year.  

Johnny V...
 
I have been working my way through using Addictive Drums. I did use the embedded GM map option, and I am getting AD to play. Where I was having a problem was that AD was using a limited standard drum set, and the song I was working on was Santana's Black Magic Woman, which uses a Latin drumset with congas, bongos, etc. So I was getting snare rimshots where I was expecting a conga.
 
Now that I figured out the problem, I downloaded the Latin drums free kit and it's much closer to what the TTS-1 GM drumset was using. Needs a little more tweaking and I'll get it to sounding "right"!
 
That map download I referenced came from using the Cakewalk online docs for installing Addictive Drums, where the docs said to download this map so it shows up in the Sonar drum maps listing. So I went down that path, then reread your note and found the GM option you referenced. So all good.
 
Thanks again for your suggestions. 

Just FYI, the drum map that comes with SONAR will be for the standard AD2 mappings.  The drum map is just a 'pass-through' map that doesn't actually alter the note number assignments; it just gives you kit piece names when you're in the Drum Pane of the PRV. Most - if not all - of the included drum maps are set up that way.
 
If you want to use a drum map in SONAR that matches AD2 when AD2 is using its internal GM map so that you'll have GM drum names in the PRV Drum Pane, load a GM drum map.

brundlefly
If you want to use a drum map in SONAR that matches AD2 when AD2 is using its internal GM map so that you'll have GM drum names in the PRV Drum Pane, load a GM drum map.

Aha!  That would explain why I'm having a problem! So then I need to set AD2 to it's internal GM map option AND load one of the GM map options in Sonar on the drum part(s) as well. The problem with that approach seems to be that the "Output" selector for the drum track changes to the Drum Map choice, so while I am working on the track, I can't figure out how to bring up the VST popup for AD2, so I can monitor/adjust the drum parts. If I use the VST side panel or the extra track that gets created for the VST, the popup won't show the actual drum hits on each drum.
 
I may be doing something incorrectly or I may have to increase my knowledge of Sonar or AD2 from the docs to see if there is better way to monitor and adjust the drum sets from within AD2 as the MIDI is playing.
 

cfcboc
Now that I figured out the problem, I downloaded the Latin drums free kit and it's much closer to what the TTS-1 GM drumset was using. Needs a little more tweaking and I'll get it to sounding "right"!

Just curious....are you talking about the AD2 "Session Percussion" Adpak?  And when you say free, you mean the Adpaks included when purchasing/upgrading Splat?
Just want to make sure I'm not missing out on a freebie I didn't know about........
 
 

slyman
 Just curious....are you talking about the AD2 "Session Percussion" Adpak?  And when you say free, you mean the Adpaks included when purchasing/upgrading Splat?
Just want to make sure I'm not missing out on a freebie I didn't know about........
 

Yes... I was downloading the free Adpaks on AD2 that come with the purchase of Sonar Platinum, and one of the options was to add selected percussion instruments, so I selected congas, bongos, block, cowbell, etc. to provide additional options for latin tracks. I am specifically working on a couple Santana tunes, taking a GenMIDI file and substituting various VST's for GM sounds, and decided to use AD2 for the main drum kit based on the earlier recommendation from Johnny V at Cactus Music. Problem with most Santana tunes is the use of a wide variety of latin percussion, so as Cactus Music suggests, I'm using a combination of Cakewalk's TTS-1 GM set along with AD2.