FreeFlyBertl
I recommended using a digi mixer instead of a studio audio interface straight away because a fairly similar post recently started a pretty similar discussion (taking sonar to the stage and routing vox and guitars thru it as well) ... mixers are made for the road, audio interfaces probably not ... and once you start mixing vocals and the rest of the band you're out of options with an standard interfaces really quickly ... latency, FX, and other issues come into play and you're definitely better off with just a digi mixer than an audio interface that feeds a mixer ...

Yes, a mixer gives you much more flexibility than most straight-up audio interfaces, but it really comes down to what the OP needs. If the gig only calls for 2 tracks of playback and a click to the drummer, with everything else patched into the PA system, an interface would be fine. Either way though, the device's driver stability is the key (and of course, its road-worthiness).
 

FreeFlyBertl
We first used a single Sonar project, but then switched to "one song = one Sonar project + using Sonar playlist" because the single project approach required too many manual interactions on stage (start, stop, jump to marker ... all achieveable but still a little "too stressful") ... and since our sets change from gig to gig the playlist allows to rearrange on the fly.....

The disadvantage of using a single project like we do in Kicksville is that rearranging the set is a pain. I really really REALLY wish Sonar had ripple editing.... We have two versions of our show we can do: one is the full show, which is a continuous run from start to finish, using one project file. The other is for festival/opening type gigs when the setup time is reduced, we're not doing onstage audio/lighting/video, and the song order needs to change. For that, I have a stripped-down version of the master Sonar file that only has 2 tracks of playback and a click, and I just manually jump to the songs as we need. It's kind of sad when the stripped-down version of our show still has 32 inputs, but whattaya gonna do
 

FreeFlyBertl
The Kicksville setup is very impressive - we can all learn a lot from them !!!

Thanks! I'm always more than happy to share anything we've learned from using Sonar - everything Kicksville has ever recorded or done live has been done in Sonar (or Pro Audio back in the day), so we've certainly put it through its paces. I'm also the chief sound monkey at one of the largest performing arts centers in the US, so I'm lucky to be able to pull things I learn in that context into the Kicksville show and tech.
 
cheers

Sonar Platinum is the heart of our shows. We're currently doing an amazing version of Les Miserables. Sonar sends the time code to our lights and projections, and program changes to our digital mixing console. Sonar also hosts all the effect sends to our performers. It's pretty amazing to automate the verbs in a live setting. And yes we use the "Playlist" to do it.

I recommended using a digi mixer instead of a studio audio interface straight away because a fairly similar post recently started a pretty similar discussion (taking sonar to the stage and routing vox and guitars thru it as well) ... mixers are made for the road, audio interfaces probably not .
 
Well I sort of agree except even though I own a digital mixer, it's overkill for a solo act. I only use 3 channels so my 16 channel 01v is not appropriate. I use a Yamaha MG82cx or my new Mackie Mix 8. I have my eyes on the new smaller foot print digital mixer like the Xair XR 12 but they are slow in coming.  
So as I said, I agree that using an interface as a mixer is not something I would do. I like my little analog mixers because I need the controls in easy reach. The audio interface is for Audio/ midi output only. 
 
About the only advantage of a digital mixer would be that my effects are all in one place. But then you might still need a midi interface. It's not clear what the XR12 midi "out" port does. Hopefully it can drive a DMX box. 
My future plans are to eliminate as many patch cables and devices as possible. So Digital mixers and powered speakers are in my plans. As well as a new LED lighting rig that can be controlled via MIDI or ? . 
 
As i would not play any soft synths live it would be pure audio tracks with the MIDI tracks only for control of effects and lights. 
 
For audio output I only need 4 tracks. 
 
1/2 = Stereo mix drums and keyboards
3= Bass goes to a Fender Rumble bass amp ( this rocks! highly recommended) 
4= Audio track of organ synth to control my vocal harmony box. 
 
I plan on creating a new special project for each of my 100 - 150 songs I play. 
They all exist as standard projects already but I would  make new " live " versions with  all synths bounced to audio, the custom outputs and midi control tracks.
I have a laptop I just re built that is for DAW use only. I added an SSD and more RAM. 
 
Anyhow there must be a lot more folks who are using Sonar Live and it would be cool to hear form everyone. There's seems to be pro's and con's to the playlist. 
 
 

Thanks again everyone, this is some good stuff for me to consider. I will definitely be starting with a much more basic setup than most of you. Something like this...
 
Audio Tracks: SONAR on a laptop with an audio/Midi interface with maybe 8 analog outputs. All those outputs going into a snake on stage (just like any other signal from the stage). Then at the mixer simply mix the tracks from the laptop with the live instrument channels.
 
Lights: I'm not so sure how this will work, but I'm assumed one track on SONAR will send Midi messages to the interface, then out to the light controller, no? I wasn't thinking any time code would be needed, but I may be wrong.
 
Video: Not too sure of this exactly either, but my thought was a video track in SONAR will be sent to the external monitor output on the laptop, then to a projector or big screen of some type.
 
Am I on the right path?
 
Thanks!
Kimmie
 
 
 

Just a comment on your idea of 8 audio tracks. 
This is OK if you have a good FOH person who knows your sound and then you turn the job over to them, fine. 
But in my case I am mostly by myself so mixing is one more chore I don't need while performing. Also when I do play on bigger stages the sound people often screw up my balance even though I'm just 3 channels,,,, they get THAT wrong, so just think what they'd do with 8? 
 
As above, everyone is saying Test, test and test again. My mixes are perfect every night because I proof them over and over before I hit the stage. My newest trick of sending the bass to a bass amp is not because it needs separate control. It's because I'm finding having the Bass behind me like I'm used hearing it in a full band, makes me play better. It also eliminates me needing a Sub in most halls. 
 I also play in an acoustic duo so we use this trick and put the drum tracks in the monitors. The audience only hears the bass which is more appropriate for folk and bluegrass stuff. Because most of my bass tracks are actually me playing a real bass it is like cloning myself in the band. I'm using a left/ right split at this time as my playback is stereo wave files via Win Amp. There for the desire to advance to 4 tracks. 

Kimmie
Lights: I'm not so sure how this will work, but I'm assumed one track on SONAR will send Midi messages to the interface, then out to the light controller, no? I wasn't thinking any time code would be needed, but I may be wrong.

 
That will depend on how you program the lights. With most lighting software and/or consoles, it's really your choice whether you want to trigger cues with a controller/NRPN, note event, or SMPTE/MTC.
 

Kimmie
Video: Not too sure of this exactly either, but my thought was a video track in SONAR will be sent to the external monitor output on the laptop, then to a projector or big screen of some type.
 

My suggestion would be to have video playback hosted on a different computer, and triggered by MTC, SMPTE, or controller events. It's not that Sonar *can't* handle video playback, but I'd rather trust software designed for video: you'll have more control over the video output, and depending on which software you use, a lot more internal video capabilities. We use Vegas for video playback, but there are plenty of options out there (and some with way more fun live on-the-fly doodads, like Arkaos). Plus, as I mentioned in the earlier post, distributing the load means no one machine is working too hard.
 
cheers

Kimmie
Audio Tracks: SONAR on a laptop with an audio/Midi interface with maybe 8 analog outputs. All those outputs going into a snake on stage (just like any other signal from the stage). Then at the mixer simply mix the tracks from the laptop with the live instrument channels.

I wanted to address your audio question separately....  I guess the question you should ask yourself is, "Do I need 8 distinct channels of playback?" There may be good reasons why you do. You may also discover that a well-mixed 2-track submix might be fine.
 
For example, when Kicksville does the full show, we have three stereo playback tracks (percussion, instrumental stuff, and vocals) plus a click/cue track. They're sent from the computer to our onstage LS9, which handles the bulk of the mixing before signals are sent to FOH. Those playback tracks are split like that for a few reasons: 1, monitoring (so I can hear more perc if I need to for example); 2, processing (drums obviously get treated differently than vocals); 3, routing (vocal playback gets routed to the same bus as the live vocals).
 
For our smaller show, when we're playing without all the technical infrastructure, playback is just a stereo pair and a click. All the signals get patched into FOH, and it's off to the races. And yes, absolutely positively always bring your own engineer when working with playback combined with live instruments....

Hey Conrad, 
I really appreciate your thoughtful responses to these posts.  A couple of years ago when I was asking similar questions a majority of the answers were along the lines of, "Sonar was never designed to do this - get another tool".  Usually the recommendation was ableton live and Forte. Frankly that left me a little frustrated with the not just the product, but what I saw at the time as a kind of unwillingness to experiment and really push such a great tool to its full potential.  I was really feeling down about asking what seemed to be a universally known fact that sonar cannot and should not be trusted in a live situation.  
Your videos of Kicksville in action really showed me that it wasn't a dumb question to ask or impossible by any stretch of the imagination.  I had to be really creative though, because the limiting factors were: my system (only an athlon xII laptop @2.2 GHz - NO BACKUP), my gear (one controller keyboard - NO BACKUP), and frankly me.  
I have had matrix view working to trigger sound fx and synth patterns (much of the shows were "improvised") as well as about 8 soft synths per project I could play live.  
I'm doing more now thanks to folks like you who are doing it really reliably and in a BIG BIG way.  I'm integrating using arduino devices receiving midi data triggered via the matrix to control electronics and lights which is just total geek fun!  Video is typically handled on another machine running pure data and is also triggered via matrix.  
It really is a joy. 
I would agree with everybody else  - TEST TEST TEST.  At least once a day for a week before the show for at least as long as the show will last.  
The other thing that clinched the deal and made me take what seemed to be a huge leap of faith with sonar was my partner, who basically said "how long will it take to restart your computer?" I said "about a minute".  He said "takes me longer to change a guitar string - let's do it". 
 
To the OP, I stayed away from playlist because my partner would call next song on the fly so I had all the projects open then tabbed/window switched to the appropriate one. Figure out what you NEED and what you WANT.  Nail down what you need first and then build up.  Don't use very latent plugins.  If you have a backup daw get a usb switch so you don't have to unplug and re-plug the interface to the second machine.  Have a plan for things to go wrong.  We were doing dissonant electronica/industrial so we had a cd player with just screeching and squelching a'la nurse with wound to go if I needed to reset.    
 
I can't think of much else, but I can tell you that when it went right I was really quite happy with the result, and maybe the most important this was I learned more about sonar than any other time I had used it to that point. 
 
 

Cactus Music

About the only advantage of a digital mixer would be that my effects are all in one place. But then you might still need a midi interface. It's not clear what the XR12 midi "out" port does. Hopefully it can drive a DMX box.

My future plans are to eliminate as many patch cables and devices as possible. So Digital mixers and powered speakers are in my plans. As well as a new LED lighting rig that can be controlled via MIDI or ? .

As i would not play any soft synths live it would be pure audio tracks with the MIDI tracks only for control of effects and lights.
 

Oh yes, when it comes to MIDI implementation that may not be the strongest point of digital mixers. The X32 has only rudimentary MIDI implementation i.e. you can sent prg chg and patch chg to control light and FX, but you cannot send MIDI notes. So while the X32 is a 32 IN/OUT audio interface plus mixer it still means audio tracks only ... which is not a problem if you bounce soft synths, but is a problem if you have MIDI expander modules that get data from the DAW ...

Cactus Music

... the sound people often screw up my balance even though I'm just 3 channels,,,, they get THAT wrong, so just think what they'd do with 8?
 

This is off topic, but can anyone explain why acoustic guitar always needs to be that loud??? No matter where you go to listen to singer/songwriter kind of music, the voice is always lower than the schrumm schrumm schrumm