I tried the "search" route first, but could not find the answer.

Is there a way to "lock" the MIDI port assignments in Sonar 7?

I powered up my notebook and Sonar 7(SE) last evening to rehearse for an upcoming concert. (I use the notebook and Sonar to play an audio track and make MIDI changes to my vocal harmonies, keyboard program changes and changes to our vocal effects.) During the first song, I noticed that the harmonies were missing. When I checked the MIDI OUT assignments, they had all been changed to different assignments.

After I changed the assignments on all of the songs for this concert, I went back to the songs for the last concert and they were all changed.

I'm careful to be certain that all of my hardware is powered up before booting the notebook.

It would definitely be nice if I could set my output ports and have them stay "locked" whether or not the hardware is "seen" by the computer during its boot up.

Thanks,

Doug

Gateway AMD Dual Core Notebook
Sonar 7SE
Echo Indigo IO Audio Card
M-Audio Midisport 4X4
TC Helicon Voiceworks
ART "FXT" Vocal Effects Module
Roland Sound Canvas Module

I respectfully re-submit this.

Thanks,

Doug

I'm having a related annoyance ATM, so I've been going through the usual places to see where Sonar gets/stores that info, but no luck, so a fat BUMP from me, too.

Sorry if this is dumb question.

Do you mean assign an instrument to a certain hardware midi port?

Correct ...... I assign my hardware (Midisport 4X4, Edirol PCR-800, ART FXT, Roland Sound Canvas and TC Helicons Voiceworks) in the MIDI Port setup screen. When I brought up my concert projects, all of my output assignments in the Track View had changed. (In a few instances, I noticed that EZDrummer was the instrument assigned and it wasn't even loaded into the Synth Rack! When I save the project as my Performance project, I have my bounced audio track and my MIDI control tracks. Every synth has been removed from the Synth Rack.

Doug

I believe he's talking about midi "routing I/O" assignments. It actually happens quite often that Sonar will lose those. I used to think it was just upon a new install or update but it's happened to me at other times as well. I have a master template that has all my most used softsynths along with a click track and multiple midi and audio tracks. I also have three outboard hardware sound generators (my controller, an Alesis QS8 and a Roland TD10 and a Korg Wavestation SR) that are set on different and various midi channels. What happens I think is that any time you make a change or add a new midi device in your Global settings you run the risk of having all your midi routing changed as well. While there may be a "quick fix" (and if there is, somone please clue me in to it) I generally just go back and change all my individual tracks back one at a time and then resave the template or project. It is a PITA ain't it?

Sure is! I have to check each of our "performance" projects before the concert (since I got burned by this "glitch" in the middle of a live song! Here I am singing my heart out and I notice that there are NO harmonies and NO changes in vocal effects. NOT acceptable ...... all of our backing voices had gone south!

DHS

This is a biggie for me, too! I've reported it before, and made sure it has nothing to do with turning on all my hardware first. It's a *huge* PITN! I've suggested using "placeholders" the way they do for missing synths or FX if SONAR can't detect the MIDI In/Out for whatever reason. To me, this would be far preferable to assigning them randomly.

-Susan

Anytime you add a new MIDI device to Windows MIDI table, Sonar reconfigures its internal MIDI table to match.

If you have only one MIDI device, then you will never notice. However, if you have a half dozen, and decide to change how they're addressed, Sonar will remap it's assignments, and all your MIDI projects will be out of wack.

This is another big annoyance that really hurts Sonar's image as a "professional" music program for audio and MIDI.

Common Cakewalk -- -- it ain't rocket science, only a lookup table! Add a table mapping MIDI device IDs, their names, and the port numbers you use to map them to a track. This table then gets saved with the project, and when you open the project and don't find those devices have the same port numbers, then notify the user and put up a dialog asking the user to map what you have in the file to what you have on the system.

What Sonar does now is act as if nothing changed, and as far as it knows, that may be true. However, it's dumb not to check that each MIDI track in the project is pointing to the correct midi device when you open a project. A real glaring deficiency in my opinion. A show stopper. Another little reason why pros don't take Sonar seriously. MIDI Device management -- such a basic feature, and in version 7 it still isn't properly done.

I wonder why we have to point out stuff like this to Cakewalk? Doesn't anyone up there actually use this product to make music with real equipment, or is it all a test bed to them?

This is a total PITA for me too.