Hi Everyone,
I'm new to Sonar, but not to DAWs. Sonar seems very intuitive and "pleasant" to use compared to some.
 
I'm a percussionist, and my main midi controller and instrument is a Roland Handsonic HPD-15. This unit is a multi-timbrel synth as well as a percussion controller.
 
One great attraction of Sonar is its ability to load Instrument Definition files. This would greatly simplify my life since the HPD15 contains over 600 sounds, but the only .ins file I've found for it is not being recognized by the program. No matter what import path I use, including placing the file directly into Sonar's own "Cakewalk Content>Sonar Artist>Instruments" folder, Sonar says that "The file contains no instrument definitions", and it will not add the HPD-15 the to instruments list. The file also is not recognized by my Reaper DAW software, which claims to be able to read and use .ins files just as easily as its own proprietary Reabanks instrument def files. So I suspect there is a file structure problem somewhere...
 
But when I test the file using the application "InsFileChecker.exe", it comes up clean with no errors, and I can't visually see any textual errors or differences in its internal format from other .ins files that are accepted.
The text content was copied as straight text from this page: and pasted into Notepad++, then saved first as a .txt file and later renamed to HPD-15.ins, and alternately to HPD15.ins (in case the dash in the file name made a difference.) I have done this whole procedure twice to make sure I didn't include an extra space or something somewhere, but - same result.
 
So I'm hoping that someone here with more experience can see what's wrong with the file, and perhaps tell me how to correct it.
I don't see a way to attach the file itself in this forum, but it can be downloaded here:
 
Thanks in advance for the help!
 
edit: added [Solved] to the subject line - sc

I see that my URL's are being removed since I'm new here. So please email me for the file: musicbiz048-s (at) yahoo.com

Hi. I believe that you need 25 posts to insert picture or link. If you PM me the link (hover over my profile, and choose send Private Message) , I could try to post it. I might be of no other help, as I have not used this feature.
All the best.

This is the Roland Handsonic HPD-15 .ins file Shendai has trouble getting to work in SONAR. Maybe someone here has got this working, and could share.
All the best

Sonar only loads the MASTER.INS file. You will need to add the data for your controller to that. You should be able to go into Preferences -> Instruments and Import your INS data directly into the MASTER.INS. You can also edit these files in any text editor.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

Thanks for your input, Dan.
 
That is exactly where it's hanging up. I go into Edit > Preferences > Midi Instruments, and then click the "Define" link. This brings up the "Define Instruments and Names" box, where I click on "Import". In the resulting file browser window I locate the file: HPD-15.ins , highlight it, and click "Open". But the message returned is always "The file does not contain any instrument definitions".
 
Examining the file in Notebook shows nothing in the text or its format (as far as I can see) that is not found in other similar .ins files which do work. So it has become a mystery to me, and I'm hoping a new and more experienced set of eyes might pick up some error in the file's text or structure.
 
Thanks again for your help!
 
Steve

I think this file should import OK https://drive.google.com/...FV99Vq6VFhaMzBVN2h4MWs
The original was saved as Unicode instead of ANSI. There were a few special characters I swapped out after re-saving the file.
 
edit: found a few more special characters after original post, link updated with new file.

Yes! Thanks scook, that file loaded right in. Seems to be the "Unicode secret".
 
With that hurdle crossed, now I just have to move on to learning how to use it in tracks. But it's most helpful to have the working file!
 
Best Regards to everyone, and thanks again.
Steve

And extra thanks scook for modifying those special characters. A tech trick I probably couldn't have done myself.

That scook guy...sheesh, lol. I think he's a Cakewalk bot...
 
Regards,
Dan