Is there a way to disable automatic MIDI messages like patch changes and CCs in Sonar?
I've been seeing this behavior with some soft synths:
1. Import a MIDI track with controller data before the first note.
2. In the Event Viewer, remove everything from the track that isn't a note (all CCs, etc).
3. Bounce to clips. Do I need to apply trimming?
4. Play the track, some of the controls are still sent even though they're not in the event list.
When you play the track back all the performance controllers seem to have been eliminated but some of the setup ones appear to be sticky (in some cases). I was working with an imported MIDI clip a couple days ago and adjusting the distortion level in a soft synth, I'd set the distortion level when the part was playing but as soon as the transport was stopped then restarted, the control was zeroed out by a MIDI message that wasn't visible in the Event Viewer. I recreated the MIDI clip on a new MIDI track and when played, the new MIDI track did not zero out the distortion level when restarting the transport. I've seen similar issues with patch changes at times. When it happens, the only solution seems to be to recreate the track from scratch.
Is it possible to get at the stuff Sonar sends automatically or remembers from the original clip and turn it off?
Maybe a CAL script?
Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
 
Summary:
When importing or reading a GM file and you have the GM setup block enabled (it's enabled by default) some of the general midi CCs are mapped to the MIDI channel controls (fader, panner, chorus, reverb, track, patch, etc) and removed from the event list. Additionally, the controls will be enabled. If you don't want to use them (if you're using soft synths), right click on the control and select Disable. Some synths map GM CCs to unexpected things. :)

I have never seen an automatic MIDI message!  But what I have seen on some MIDI song files are CC messages in one track controlling soft synths on another track.   Have you looked at other track's MIDI data?

Automatic is the wrong term. It is just playing back. A CC is a continuous controller that will control how a note is played. You can delete them with the Event List View. Filter out what ever you want to keep and delete whats left.
 
BTW A program change is not a CC its a program change. 

MarioD
I have never seen an automatic MIDI message!  But what I have seen on some MIDI song files are CC messages in one track controlling soft synths on another track.   Have you looked at other track's MIDI data?

All the tracks are muted and all controllers and patch changes are cleared out, only the track for that specific synth was not muted. You can see some of the stuff Sonar does behind the scenes when you save the project as MIDI, I want to be able to get at THAT stuff.

Try this: Insert the MIDI Event Filter plug-in in the MIDI track's FX bin, then check all the boxes notes. Report back on what happens.

John
Automatic is the wrong term. It is just playing back. A CC is a continuous controller that will control how a note is played. You can delete them with the Event List View. Filter out what ever you want to keep and delete whats left.
BTW A program change is not a CC its a program change. 

Nomenclature aside, I removed everything that wasn't a note in the Event List, there was literally nothing but notes in the track but the behavior persisted. This was verified by creating a new track and having it play correctly.

Volume/pan (and reverb/chorus if they're still there!) will be set by the track's controls unless you right click and disable them.
 
Program change will be sent by the bank/program widgets in the track view too unless you change them to None (or whatever the "do nothing" is...SONAR not in front of me).

TomHelvey
Nomenclature aside, I removed everything that wasn't a note in the Event List, there was literally nothing but notes in the track but the behavior persisted. This was verified by creating a new track and having it play correctly.

As a diagnostic procedure, will you please do as I suggested and report back. Also under View and Event Manager, make sure that everything is checked, including RPN, NRPN, and Sysex data.

Anderton
As a diagnostic procedure, will you please do as I suggested and report back. Also under View and Event Manager, make sure that everything is checked, including RPN, NRPN, and Sysex data.

Sorry for the delay, had to go to work.
Ok. Here is what I did.
1. New project.
2. Import the MIDI starting at measure 3. The MIDI file contains 16 tracks, it was the same file I used before.
3. Remove all the MIDI tracks except one.
4. In the Event View, remove everything that wasn't a note. Bounce to clips.
5. In the inspector, set the channel, bank, and patch to none. Zero out the reverb and chorus. Set the fader and pan pot to default and disable them.
6. Add an instance of Sylenth to the project. Init patch, SQ wave, 4 voices. Turn on the distortion.
7. Point the MIDI track at the Sylenth.
8. Play the track while adjusting the distortion amount, leave it at a value greater than zero.
9. Stop the transport (I have On stop, rewind to Now turned on).
10. Play the track again, as soon as you hit play, the distortion amount knob in Sylenth resets to zero.
11. Insert the MIDI Event Filter on the track, hit None, then enable only Notes, same result.
12. Disable Notes in the MIDI Event Filter, nothing plays but the distortion is still zeroed out when the track is played.
The MIDI event filter had no effect whatsoever on the control getting reset.
The Sylenth Distortion Amount control responds to CC 93. Even copying and pasting part of the clip to another track will result in the control getting reset on play. If you create a new track and enter the notes in the Piano Roll or Staff views things behave as expected. If you save the project as MIDI Format 1 and reimport it, the original channel assignment is remembered even though it was set to none before saving, but after reimporting, the imported clip no longer seems to zero out the distortion.
I have a small project file that demonstrates the problem, if you have Sylenth you could probably reproduce it.
Thanks!

Maybe "Zero Controllers When Play Stops" is enabled. This is a per-project setting found in Preferences > Project > MIDI