Hello Everyone,
 
I think I'm going to get a "you can't do that" sort of reply (and it makes sense), but hopefully someone has a clever workaround :)

So I have a VST that has it's OWN sequencer (for example an 808/909 emulator), which I programmed a drum sequence in it's own 16-step sequencer (not cakewalk's, but inside the VST itself).   I trigger the start of the sequence by a "note-on" command at the beginning of my track.  It plays and everything is fine... BUT...
 
I want to sometimes start the song in the middle at certain spots... the drums don't play (and ofcourse not!  It's triggered with a note-on at the beginning of the track, which I am not triggering since I am starting somewhere later on).
 
I am not ready to bounce it to audio as I have a lot more drum-tweaking to do.   

Also,  I really don't want to use Sonar's Step Sequencer because I lose a lot of functionality in the VST itself that way.  You can program certain FX to only hit certain notes in the pattern.   If you use it in "host-mode" where Sonar sends the MIDI notes to play, that functionality is lost.
 
I think I'm going up a dead-end street, but if someone has any ideas, that would be GREATLY appreciated :)
 
-Adam

Does the VST have patterns? If so, can you trigger different patterns with different midi notes? If may be tedious but, if you could break the song in to patterns and trigger each separately that would at least give you several points throughout the song where the drums would "restart".

If this sounds crazy, keep in mind I'm fairly new to midi.

Mantofini
Does the VST have patterns? If so, can you trigger different patterns with different midi notes? If may be tedious but, if you could break the song in to patterns and trigger each separately that would at least give you several points throughout the song where the drums would "restart".

If this sounds crazy, keep in mind I'm fairly new to midi.

Hi Mantofini,
 
Thanks for the reply, unfortunately that won't work as they are 16 or 32 step patterns, and that means I can only setup a trigger once every measure or 2.   I want to be able to start the song ANYWHERE, you know, if I need to loop/punch record a part or something, I don't want to have to think where my trigger points are.

Thank you though!  I do get your drift!
 
-Adam

There is no solution working with MIDI, bounce or freeze the track if only temporarily.

Adam. There is only one other thing that crossed my mind. Some vsts, like geist have a mode where you can trigger patterns at any point. I think it's called a gated mode, or something.

For example, if you wanted to play the last three beats of a pattern, you would press the midi key on beat 2 and hold for the rest of the bar. If your VST has something like that, you could use a series of back to back quarter notes. That way you would retrigger ever beat. I would imagine one sustained note for the song wouldn't be enough because the VST wouldn't get the note on message in the middle of the bar.

Does that make sense?

Mantofini
Adam. There is only one other thing that crossed my mind. Some vsts, like geist have a mode where you can trigger patterns at any point. I think it's called a gated mode, or something.

For example, if you wanted to play the last three beats of a pattern, you would press the midi key on beat 2 and hold for the rest of the bar. If your VST has something like that, you could use a series of back to back quarter notes. That way you would retrigger ever beat. I would imagine one sustained note for the song wouldn't be enough because the VST wouldn't get the note on message in the middle of the bar.

Does that make sense?

Yea it does, but its a pain lol.
Thanks though!  Maybe I will just do temporary bounces to audio :(
 
 

Freeze is quick and has the added benefit of removing the synth from memory while frozen. Practically painless.

scook
Freeze is quick and has the added benefit of removing the synth from memory while frozen. Practically painless.

Scook, sounding like a plan.  :)   thx!

Sonar has a " fill every" function. The step sequencer does at least. I'm sure the PRV does as well though I can't remember. It shouldn't take much longer than entering a single note to fill a section with quarter notes if you use that function.

Mantofini
Sonar has a " fill every" function. The step sequencer does at least. I'm sure the PRV does as well though I can't remember. It shouldn't take much longer than entering a single note to fill a section with quarter notes if you use that function.

Still a pain, especially if I am changing patterns a lot.  I feel I will get more lost lol.   Thanks though!