I’ve searched the forums and internet for the answer to this question but have found nothing that speaks to it specifically. I have some prerecorded material with orchestration, and I’m looking for the most efficient and least time-consuming way to chart out horn, string, piano/keys, and rhythm section parts. From what I’ve gleaned from the Staff view and notation capabilities in Sonar X2 Pro I’m limited to using only MIDI sourced information….okay, fine…..but if those parts were already recorded in MIDI is it possible to simply pull those individual MIDI tracks up in the Staff view and have them notated to the staff without having to go back and play each part?  I found the tutorial for staff setup, but beyond that, if it’s possible to accomplish the aforementioned, how do I go about it?
 
Thank you in advance for your assistance, suggestions, and guidance.
 
CJ

Hi Christopher. If the parts are on midi tracks (saved as a midi file or Sonar project), simply import the file into Sonar, select a midi track and choose staff view.
 
IMHO though Sonar does not excell when it comes to notation. Sibelius is my weapon of choice for that particular task.

Your question implies there are software that notate audio...are there really? I know there are audio-to-MIDI software, but their accuracy is variyng to say the least.
What ever MIDI you have recorded or imported in SONAR it's automatically visible both in staff view and piano roll. No importing is required, just open the project.

In addition to the native ability in Sonar to populate its Staff View from a midi track, there are also a few freeware programs out there that can do that as well, and are a bit more robust:
 
Finale makes a freeware notation from midi program: Notepad
 
Also, one called MuseScore is pretty good for free.
 
There are REALLY good commercial programs that do midi to notation with all kinds of well-done editing for any kind of scoring you need, such as Finale's flagship program, called Finale, and also the one mentioned in the earlier post.
 
I would suggest you start with looking at what is already available through Sonar's built-in staff view for existing midi tracks, and then if needing more, look to the freeware programs I list here, and if those also don't meet your needs, then you could evaluate the commercial ones, which are some of the best ones out there.
 
Bob Bone
 

Thanks guys....I'll try to plug away on this some more tonight...I appreciate the feedback.....