Hi all. New here to Sonar X1 Essential. Forgive me as I have been lazy and, ultimately, disappointed using Acid. Since last using Cakewalk (ver 8) I have been overwhelmed a bit with all the new stuff in Sonar.

Anyway, so to the questions...

1) In the SI-Electric Piano I have found one voice (probably more) that has radically different sounds based on the key velocity. When struck hard it has a hard overdriven metallic sound but when lightly played it has a soft mellotron like sound. Is there a way to force one or the other sound across the dynamic key range?

2) In Dimension (LE in my case) is there a way to preview the sounds like in the other synth GUI's? Is the pro version worth the upgrade price?

3) This is more for my general info but until recently I have been ignorant to the use of a keyboard to control the various parameters in Sonar (or even back to CW8). When all the various synth plugin GUIS's are so different and sounds are nested so deep (ie open a vst synth, pick a program, click it and another dropdown, then another dropdown, and another...) How will a keyboard program change command work with these? Or will they?

Thanks in advance!

1.  I don't usually use the SI instruments but I suppose it uses SFZ.  See brock's post about changing the file. 

2.  I don't use Dim LE and I don't understand the preview sounds questions.  You load the program to see what it sounds like.  For me, the ability to alter sounds in DimPro is worth the upgrade.  And all the extra patches you can tweak.

3.  don't know.  Are you talking about a musical keyboard or the pc's?

@

 I looked at one of the sfz files and that appears it will work. I will have to find the preset I saved, make the changes and test to know for sure but it's a start.

As to the samples, in TTS there is a button at the bottom of the mixing console that will play a short sample. In the SI-EP there is a browser bar on the left that will give a preview of the sound. I found these are also midi loops that can be imported into a project - if one is inclined. In one of the synths there is a button with a musical note on the right of the GUI that plays a sample of the sound. I don't think I have seen anything similar in Dimension though. Not really a big deal I guess but those samples save some time for me.

As to the control, I was referring to using the keyboard via the midi shift function to try to map to the various Sonar functions.

I guess I just need to dig more...

Thanks.

DrLumen


2) In Dimension (LE in my case) is there a way to preview the sounds like in the other synth GUI's? Is the pro version worth the upgrade price?

3) This is more for my general info but until recently I have been ignorant to the use of a keyboard to control the various parameters in Sonar (or even back to CW8). When all the various synth plugin GUIS's are so different and sounds are nested so deep (ie open a vst synth, pick a program, click it and another dropdown, then another dropdown, and another...) How will a keyboard program change command work with these? Or will they?

 
 
2) In Dimension just open the program browser and set it to the side of the instrument, double-click a program, play your instrument keyboard to preview the patch.  Use the up/down arrow keys and the enter key on your computer keyboard to quickly step through each program in Dimension.  Some patches load quickly, others take a little longer because they are larger, but in general this is a quick way to preview the Dimension sounds.

3) Dimension does not respond to MIDI program change.  Not sure about other synths like Rapture or SI.  Some other Cakewalk synths do respond to MIDI program change.  So it is a mixed bag--you'll have to experiment.

Too bad that Dimension does not respond to Midi program changes. Oh well, the dude abides...

DrLumen


Too bad that Dimension does not respond to Midi program changes. Oh well, the dude abides...

Very few sample players do. There is a technical limitation in as much as it takes some time to load the samples so, unlike pure synths, program changes cannot be instantanous.
 
I have not used program changes for a long time. I find it more convenient to have a seperate instance of a synth with its own track for each part. Try it, I think you will find its more versatile. Dim Pro is not that resource hungry so unless you have a particulrly low spec PC you should not run into too many resource issues. If you do you can freeze tracks.