I'm currently trying to learn a song where I play a synth lead on 1 track, and then immediately switch to a piano track. Currently, after finishing the synth lead at the beginning, I have to quickly grab my mouse and then highlight the piano track. Then later in the song, I have to repeat the process. Are there macro's in Sonar that would enable me to switch tracks like this? I realize there are program changes insertions I could make, but I do want to keep each track intact, since I am reading music notation on these tracks. 
Thanks.
LNovik

Hi. Which version of SONAR do you have, and what kind of Controller / MIDI keyboard do you use?
I believe I can do this with my Akai MPK 25, with some setup and tweaking. Should be doable, I think.
All the best.

Thanks Zargg.
I have Sonar X3, and I have several MIDI keyboards--such as a Korg Kronos and a Yamaha Motif ES.
LNovik

I am not an expert by any means.
They connected through a MIDI interface, I guess? 
Are they recognized in SONAR's Preferences (P), MIDI, Devices?
Have you tried to set any of them up as a Control Surface in Preferences (P), MIDI, Control Surfaces?
I would also check http://www.azslow.com/index.php 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/You-can-integrate-your-Control-Surface-with-SONAR-as-deep-as-you-want-m3125708.aspx
 
 
 

This may not work as I may not be totally understanding what you're trying to do but it makes things easier if not perfect.
 
1 - In Preferences\MIDI\Playback and Recording, tick "Always echo current MIDI track"
2 - Ensure that the VI tracks are set up as split MIDI/audio, not simple instrument tracks
3 - Put the MIDI tracks next to each other, and untick IM on both tracks
4 - Now, all you need to do is cursor up/down to toggle between which track is selected and hence which VI is playing back

why so complicated?
 
why not put both instrument tracks on different MIDI channels and have input echo active for both.
 
then either change MIDI channels on the keyboard (if it is quick) ... or split the keyboard and send on channel one in upper have, channel two in lower half ... or stack 2 keyboards, each sending on a different channel

Rob[atSound-Rehab]
why so complicated?
 
why not put both instrument tracks on different MIDI channels and have input echo active for both.
 
then either change MIDI channels on the keyboard (if it is quick) ... or split the keyboard and send on channel one in upper have, channel two in lower half ... or stack 2 keyboards, each sending on a different channel

If channel switching is quick or half range is sufficient for both instruments that is definitively the best approach.
 
Under some conditions "complicated" solution can be more convenient to use. After splitting (a bit "unusual" to play, especially 2 hands piano...) and keeping settings dialog in MIDI switching mode (it does not take long till I hit wrong button(s) during switching), I have ended with control surface approach for my Kawai and normally use the left or middle pedal for switching focused track with auto-echo. When I want more the 2 instruments, extra controller with dedicated buttons defined does the trick (I guess Motif has assignable in DAW buttons which can be used for that).
 
Depending from situation, "more is less" and "less is more"

Perhaps you could record the synth track.  Stop.  Then record the piano track?
This is multi-tracking software (among other things) after all...

I'm guessing he's playing live. Ableton Live handles this pretty well with its instrument chain device. You can assign chain numbers or number ranges to every instrument in the rack and it will then play whenever the chain selector number (basically a knob you can map to a CC#) falls within the range.

Obviously Sonar is no Live (and vice versa), but just to give an idea how some DAWs handle this. Live also uses the "macro" terminology to indicate the 8 knobs that you can map for each instrument chain device, so I suppose that's where the OP got the idea. I don't think there's anything quite that elegant in Sonar. Maybe you can couple track selection to a screenset somehow? Other than that, if it's only two sounds, KPerry's solution seems pretty good.

KPerry
This may not work as I may not be totally understanding what you're trying to do but it makes things easier if not perfect.
 
1 - In Preferences\MIDI\Playback and Recording, tick "Always echo current MIDI track"
2 - Ensure that the VI tracks are set up as split MIDI/audio, not simple instrument tracks
3 - Put the MIDI tracks next to each other, and untick IM on both tracks
4 - Now, all you need to do is cursor up/down to toggle between which track is selected and hence which VI is playing back

I must have skipped your reply 
This would be the easiest way in my mind.
All the best.