Still a noob at this recording/engineering thing.....so
 
1. I seem to have multiple copies of vsts scattered around. Any advice on how to clean up and keep em in one place?
2. How do you have all tracks end at the same time?
3. Without meters on my 2i2( it does have lights), how can I assure I send the same input levels between recording days?
4. I am recording guitars, vocals, and bass live, EZD2 for drums. Is there any reason  for me to learn to use Dimension Pro?  
    It seems to me synths are for kbd players, not guitar players......
 
The good news is, I am watching the Sonar 2015 Explained video, so I can at least get things done while getting up to speed.

Hi.
 
1: Other will be able to answer that much better than me (the same goes for the rest of my answers).
2: I for one, do not necessarily have all tracks end at the same time. It depends on the ending of the song. 
3:  I do try to keep the recordings at approx. -10dB (on the meter on your track). 
4: As a guitar player, I say yes to both Dim Pro and Rapture.  You can more or less find everything you would want to use (depending of style, of course) in most cases.  I use one or the other in almost everything I do.
Best of luck.

trim the ends of all your tracks in one command if you find a need too.

charlyg
Still a noob at this recording/engineering thing.....so
 1. I seem to have multiple copies of vsts scattered around. Any advice on how to clean up and keep em in one place?
2. How do you have all tracks end at the same time?
3. Without meters on my 2i2( it does have lights), how can I assure I send the same input levels between recording days?
4. I am recording guitars, vocals, and bass live, EZD2 for drums. Is there any reason  for me to learn to use Dimension Pro?  
    It seems to me synths are for kbd players, not guitar players......
 
The good news is, I am watching the Sonar 2015 Explained video, so I can at least get things done while getting up to speed.

The VSTs are actually installed in different places by design.
This can be from an installer, or user error.
I'd first ask if they were moved, or installed that way, and most importantly are they working as expected?
Some can be moved, others need to be reinstalled, but I wouldn't attempt to if your not sure which goes where etc.
 
You can hover your smart tool over the end of the track and a handle will appear that allows you to drag the track back to an end-point... but other settings may stretch or compress the audio... I don't rem the default setting.
The best thing you can do is get familiar with the software.
YouTube has some great video tutorials, and so does Cakewalk on their site.
 
-10 is a good safe point depending on the dynamics of the inst and player etc.
If your coming from analog to digital there is a bigger difference in metering and input levels.
One example is learning to rely more on the DAW levels and less on the hardwares meters.
It gives you a better standard across tracks, and the software meters are generally more sensitive and have a expandable scale allowing finer control.
Another big one is that with digital you have much more headroom and footroom before signal clip or degradation, allowing you to find a sweet-spot much lower than analog..... but the signal degrades faster at low levels.
 
The reason to learn the synths is up to you.
I'd say that if you have the time, and at least play around with stuff, it will at least give you a better grip on how everything works in this environment, and leaves doors open wider for what you might decide to do in the future.
But do at least play with your DAW just for the sake of playing with your DAW!
Learning shortcuts and the general feel of it now, will be a huge hand when it counts later.
 
I'm a guitarist by name, but I'll learn anything I can every chance I get. It all helps in the long run usually.
 
Hope that helps some.... Great luck to you, and welcome to the neighborhood.
 
 
 
 
 

1 In this its not as easy as it should be. If the plugin is just a dll with no install and its own directory for the main program like Waves all you have to do is move the dll to a directory you choose. In the other case it maybe best to reinstall and select the proper directory that you want when the install asks. Often an install will place its plugin in a default directory like Steinberg\VSTplugins.  You can try and move these to your choice as above and see if all goes well with a rescan. If it wont allow that you may need to add that directory to the scan path. 
 
This is no issue with Sonar but with the developers of VSTs. Fortunately Sonar supports multiple VST directories.
 
2 You can select all and slip edit the ends of them all. Works well.
 
3 Always have all record meters at unity when recording. In Sonar this is the only way to get an accurate reading of the incoming signal. If you are doing this the meters will show exactly what level is truly being recorded. You don't need meters on the hardware, though its helpful to have them.
 
4 A synth is a sound source as much as your guitar is. By not taking advantage of the broad selection of sounds Dim Pro offers you are loosing out on a lot of neat and useful sounds. This is true of all synths. You can trigger a sound in Dim Pro with a MIDI converter attached to your guitar. Or get a small MIDI keyboard.  
 
There is no limit to what MIDI can do when it comes to creating sounds for your songs. 
 
The only stupid question is the one not asked.

Well, I  understand everything now but the unity gain thing. If you mean zero db, that's too much for digital?
 
I have a Focusrite 2i2. the knob has a halo that is either green orange or red, but no way to tell what that level is. I think maybe i should turn on hold in Sonar and just adjust for a peak at ~ -6?
 
Or I could have no idea what I am saying................

I will add that you can use Melodyne to create midi tracks from your guitar recording. For example with a little editing and clean up in the piano roll view you can create a lot. I am fond of turning guitar runs into sax using Dimension. It is a multi step process, but it works nicely if you are not a keyboard guy.
 
cheers
 
amk

charlyg
Well, I  understand everything now but the unity gain thing. If you mean zero db, that's too much for digital?
 
I have a Focusrite 2i2. the knob has a halo that is either green orange or red, but no way to tell what that level is. I think maybe i should turn on hold in Sonar and just adjust for a peak at ~ -6?
 
Or I could have no idea what I am saying................

Unity is not 0 dB. It really means no gain or cut. In other words leave the fader at its default position. 

Yes unity is considered zero, and some times marked "u", but it's not always 0db actually... and graphic interpretation won't match from meter to meter.
Depending on input and monitoring .... acoustic, mics, or D/I, here's a basic safe practice to make good habits.
 
Start with the DAW track and monitor levels down and safe .. reset anything else on the DAW to start from scratch.
Bring the Focusrite level up and adjust it to stay in the green even during the loudest parts ... maybe toward the orange hits occasionally, but never touching red.
This is your hottest signal, and I would drop it a little more depending on what my ears said, but not higher.
 
Then bring up the input levels on the tracks, keeping it below unity or so.... just to check the signal flow.
Then raise the monitors to lower than your listening level.
If latency is good, and everything is getting signal, you try and keep the track levels at unity while you make adjustments through the system or to monitor level, or whatever you need before hitting record, and after.
 
Using a good strong signal at unity, means every other input will be closely matched no matter what it is, and stays that "line in the sand" until mastering, no matter if it's days or years before you come back.
However using a different DAW or board can cause issues, but any configuration you use that's not clipping will match good.
 
It also makes good habits to keep those surprise splosives out of speakers, and to help you be assure you are ready to record.
Too many times I've played my butt off, turned around and had an empty track stare back at me... being a musician that's the worst thing that can happen when your in the groove. lol
Making it a routine helps.
 

Never ever adjust the fader in Sonar when recording. It has no effect on the incoming signal but may give one a false reading if it is adjusted. It is only the hardware that has control of an incoming signal in Sonar. This is very important.