Isn't midi Merge Recording what we call Sound on Sound Recording?
 
If so, we've had this feature for years.
 
If not, I'd like to know exactly what it is.

My thoughts exactly Jonesy - starting to wonder what I am missing!
 

Bristol_Jonesey
Isn't midi Merge Recording what we call Sound on Sound Recording?
 
If so, we've had this feature for years.
 
If not, I'd like to know exactly what it is.

tenfoot
My thoughts exactly Jonesy - starting to wonder what I am missing!
 

I've come to realize just how foreign this basic function that all major and smaller DAWS feature, is to many people, that apparently have only used Sonar from the beginning of time it seems. Their has been quite a few threads on this matter, and this is certainly not my first mention.
 
To answer your question... lets use an example that should be familiar to anyone that has used hardware sequencers or drum machines. When you record a drum pattern in a drum machine, you basically record a looped pattern for a set number of measures. Some people record several sounds at once ( kick, snare, hat) and add more parts while recording in loop mode. These extra parts are added or merged to the same pattern as a single performance.
 
As I mentioned before, plenty of DAW's can also be set to record this way as an option. They feature record modes that can be set to replace notes, merge notes, or do midi takes. Sonar's sound on sound is essentially midi takes stacked on top of each other, but isn't a unified or single midi clip. Midi takes aren't my style. I'm pretty good at real-time drum programming and have no need to do takes. Drum programming is the main use of this feature for me.
 
You have to do a bounce to clips if you want these stacked clips to become a single midi clip. This is extra work for someone that doesn't have a need for midi takes. You also have to bounce to clips if you want to make midi groove clips, which is useful when you want to repeat a midi clip by dragging it to the desired number of repeats. A DAW should provide core tools that makes for a faster workflow.
 
 

mudgel
I'm able to record MIDI from my controller and make several choices with subsequent data recorded to the same track.

I can choose to replace existing data, record new data to a new track or record midi data to the same track leaving existing data in tact.

I don't think Cakewalk specifically call it MIdi merge but it certainly allows you to do so.

https://www.cakewalk.com/...help=Recording.10.html

Perhaps you lack familiarity with the software.

John
Is there some reason you posted a copy of Mikes post with no comment?

These questions have now been addressed in the previous reply #33.

I'm all for complaining about holes in Sonar's workflow, and I do it on a regular basis, but it never occurred to me that having to bounce these separate overlaid MIDI clips to a single clip would be a big problem for someone. You only have to do it once per final clip, right?
 
I have a MIDI issue that is sort of the opposite of that - if I edit MIDI in Piano Roll in a place that is near to an existing clip, it will often merge my new MIDI with the old clip, even though I wanted a new clip.
 
Either way, it doesn't make sense to me that the lack of a feature would stop me upgrading unless the newer version had that feature removed. Since that feature exists neither in the old or the new versions, it's out of consideration, and all that remains is, "do the new features, fixes, and content make it a worthwhile upgrade?" So, far, for Platinum, my answer is "yes, but barely". Out of all the new content and features, I barely have a use for any of it. I use FX Chains. I have started using Aux Tracks but they don't fit well into my workflow. And I used a couple of MIDI loops from Addictive Drums 2. That's literally all. So, although various fixes have been welcome, I don't feel I've got a great deal of new functionality, or seen old functionality fixed (eg. Drum Maps, Step Sequencer, Matrix View).

Kylotan
I'm all for complaining about holes in Sonar's workflow, and I do it on a regular basis, but it never occurred to me that having to bounce these separate overlaid MIDI clips to a single clip would be a big problem for someone. You only have to do it once per final clip, right?
 
I have a MIDI issue that is sort of the opposite of that - if I edit MIDI in Piano Roll in a place that is near to an existing clip, it will often merge my new MIDI with the old clip, even though I wanted a new clip.
 
Either way, it doesn't make sense to me that the lack of a feature would stop me upgrading unless the newer version had that feature removed. Since that feature exists neither in the old or the new versions, it's out of consideration, and all that remains is, "do the new features, fixes, and content make it a worthwhile upgrade?" So, far, for Platinum, my answer is "yes, but barely". Out of all the new content and features, I barely have a use for any of it. I use FX Chains. I have started using Aux Tracks but they don't fit well into my workflow. And I used a couple of MIDI loops from Addictive Drums 2. That's literally all. So, although various fixes have been welcome, I don't feel I've got a great deal of new functionality, or seen old functionality fixed (eg. Drum Maps, Step Sequencer, Matrix View).

It's quite simple... I don't have a need for most of these updates. They're not necessities, but-enhancements or bloat-depending on what's relevant to the user. If you're primarily recording audio with minimal midi parts, yeah...maybe it's not such a big deal to have to bounce to clips. However, if midi is your main means of creating music, this isn't a minor nuisance. If I have to constantly do something extra, that's not needed in another competing product, why would I continue to invest in such a product. Sonar is in competition with other companies DAW's, and if Sonar doesn't feature such a basic function that Cubase, Protools and other DAW's have... then how can Sonar truly be an up to date DAW, when the core still hasn't been updated from such a legacy feature!
 
To me- it's like refusing to update to an HDTV, but instead, keep using a clunky, space wasting, CRT-TV with a digital converter box and extra wires, just because! I guess it's no big deal to have to turn on 2 separate devices that one device would do!
 

I actually write lots of MIDI parts, and for some projects it is my main way of making music. I guess your problem doesn't bother me because it sounds exactly the same during playback whether I bounce the parts to a single clip or not. Maybe if every clip I made was built of layers like this, and if my workflow was entirely about creating groove clips in this fashionthen sure, that might get annoying. Personally I gave up on Groove Clips a long time ago when various quirks meant that it makes more sense for me to copy the clip several times rather than attempt to loop it.