Musikman
Yes thanks for that, that was the same video I had seen, it was using Melodyne.  Melodyne has similar functions to AutoTune in some ways, only Melodyne seems to have a lot more versatility to go beyond just vocal pitch correction.  I am scheduled to learn more about it soon, so I will start a new thread when I do. 
 
I added these 2 AD2 questions to my last post and didn't realize you were posting at the same time, so I moved it here:.....
 
1 - Using this AD2 track template, what is the best way to convert my MIDI drum clip (or track) done in AD2 over to audio? If I choose to either "freeze" or "bounce to clips/track", will I get only one audio clip/track mix, or a separate audio clip/track for every individual drum? Do I have the option to control and choose the result I want? EDIT: Tried and I can't use the bounce option because it's MIDI, and tried the Freeze option but it does process to audio for every individual drum track, so I have to figure a way if I only want one audio clip mix of all the drums. I can freeze all the tracks then bounce, but that seems to be an unnecessary extra step. Any thought on this?
 
2 - What happens if my drum track grows beyond the template, ie...if tracks 2-14 are all taken and I wanted to add in an additional single drum hit, say either to color the existing beat, or maybe add a second kick drum to beef it up a little, would I need to insert another instance of AD2 separately to do that, or is there another way? I know I can do it the old way with audio loops, but how would I do it within this template using AD2? Thanks
 

1. Just arm the tracks that you want to record, then hit record!  The MIDI track will trigger the kit pieces with every note event in the MIDI clip.  As the MIDI file plays back, the audio waveforms will be written into their respective audio tracks.
 
2. Never ran into that, but maybe I am just a minimalist.  You have 10 direct audio tracks to work with, plus the overhead and room mics that cover everything.  The stereo AD2 master has a AD2 based stereo mix that you may not need if you are mixing the tracks as audio in the DAW.  Same goes for the Bus track. 
 
If you look at the AD2 kit page, you will see 18 slots to work with.  Only 10 of those have direct outs.  Maybe you can get what you need using the overhead and room mics.
 
Otherwise you could build a monster drum kit with a 2nd instance of AD2!!! 
 
Have fun!

Be careful though, or you may end up with a drummer that sprouts 3 arms and 3 legs!
 

Lol, I used to work with a drummer that was so talented it sounded like he had 3 arms and legs sometimes!
 
Ok, I see, that worked, thanks! So it looks like if I just want to convert the entire beat from midi to audio using all the drums in the kit, a quick way would just be to turn on "record" in the stereo bus track (14), or the AD2 Master track (1).  Alternatively I can just do the same with any of the individual drum tracks to get separate audio for each. 

Musikman
 
Alternatively I can just do the same with any of the individual drum tracks to get separate audio for each. 

I believe the advantage to recording the audio separately for each piece is that you can record the kit dry, and then process each track as audio in Platinum using your favorite FX plugins on each track, as well as change levels and panning at any time down the road.  Like an engineer would do with a real drum kit!
 
So the easy way out is to mix the drums in AD2, then just send out the audio mix for recording as the AD2 stereo mix in a single stereo audio track in Sonar.  But you do lose the flexibility that way. 
 
Always great to have options! 

Take a look at this guy's drum dilemma!  If you read the suggestions that follow, you realize that it could be somewhat like unscrambling an egg ... much easier to separate from the start!
 
"We recently did a performance and the sound engineer combined the drum tracks (Kick, Snare, Toms, Overhead) into a single audio track.  I'd like to be able to use AD2 to attempt to separate the kit into their appropriate audio track using a combination of EQ and AD2. Is that even possible?  Unfortunately I can only work with what I have.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated."  http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3596108
 
 

Wow, I see what you mean! I'll be sure to note that for future reference, thanks! Even though I've mostly used loops in the past, I have kept any fills and single hits on separate tracks for better processing. Most of the loops I've used are separated into sections...ie...chorus, verse, bridge..etc...so they're not always using the full kit on all the loops. That leaves me a little open space to add drums as needed.
 

Just messing around with a beat here....maybe I'm just not used to working with AD2, but looking at the setup in the console view, it seems there are a lot of tracks controlling Volume. There are the individual drum tracks (2-11), the AD2 Master (Trk 1), the Overhead (Trk 12), the Room (Trk 13), the Stereo Bus (Trk 14), the MIDI (Trk 15), all of which are being routed to the Master A channel, and out to my USB Mixer Out.  When I hit play, the beat is coming in hot, clipping the outputs (Master Out and USB Mixer Out). So I guess my question is, with so many ways to balance and control the volume, if I turn all tracks down to 0, what's the best way to set up and stage the volume levels so it's not clipping, and/or over driving the outputs?  It seems when the beat is playing and I was getting clipping, I could lower it to completely off by using the Master Out or USB Mixer Out slider, but I know those should probably be left at unity gain. Using Track 1 (AD2 Master) wouldn't allow me to lower it completely off, it would only lower the volume a little, but still clipping the outputs. Same with Track 14 Stereo Bus. I guess what I'm asking in short, is which sliders do I reach for when a beat loads in hot like that? Thanks!

In general, if you wish to work with the individual AD2 outputs just mute the master and bus tracks.  Then you can work with the individual track outputs, the overhead, and room outputs, to mix the sound you want.
 
Else, reverse it and mute everything except the master or bus to get the drum mix produced from AD2.

Ok thanks that makes sense, simple! I can't mute the Output Master A when there are also other instruments going there, so I assume you mean to mute the AD2 Master (Trk 1) and ST Bus (Trk 14).

Yup!