Hi,
 
Is it possible to play two vst synths with one midi track?
 
Regards,
B

No, but there are workarounds using virtual MIDI cables.
 
Google: two synths one midi track site:forum.cakewalk.com

This question comes up every now and then.
 
Another choice it so copy/paste the midi data from one track to another, and point a different synth to the 2nd track.
 
The above is how I layer in Sonar.
 
Bob Bone

I wish Cakewalk could explain to us WHY this is not build in natively...  Clearly there must be a reason.  I've used the virtual MIDI cables in the past and HOPED that by not this has bee sorted.

Can't you play two different synths if they're both assigned to the same MIDI channel?

Just having synths responding to the same channel doesn't address the need because every synth has its own virtual MIDI port, and SONAR is not set up to send MIDI to multiple ports. The conventional way to layer hardware synths in the real world is to daisy chain on the same port them using MIDI Thru, but most soft synths don't offer a Thru function.
 
I'm not sure why the Bakers haven't gotten around to allowing multiple output ports to be selected. But I suspect there's something about the underlying architecture of the MIDI "engine" that makes it non-trivial.
 
 

Surely it's simple just to "clone" the midi track and route it to another soft synth?
 

MarkieMark
Surely it's simple just to "clone" the midi track and route it to another soft synth?

That's what I do. Or use something multitimbral, like Kontakt.
 
I assume Sonar isn't set up for multiple MIDI outs is that would involve a whole duplicate set of outputs, channel assignment, patch selection, etc.

Yes, simple clone or copy the midi data to a new track and point it to a new synth. Repeat that as many times as you need. 
 
The midi data takes virtually no space compared to the synths and their samples.

The cloned clips will be linked, by default.  You can change that behavior by holding CTRL while dragging, except I think that clips created by Step Sequencer will always be linked, regardless (this is from memory, so please try it, rather than accept it as known fact).
 
Also from memory, there may be an option to control that default behavior, except for SS clips.
 
I routinely rely on linked clips when dragging to a new track to layer, as edits in any one of them will affect all of them, automatically, which means there is no extra time required, it just works.
 
The only time I am NOT such a fan is when I have created a clip in Step Sequencer, then drag it out and want to edit only selected clips within that array of linked clips.  I end up having to recreate the clips I want to edit, so that they are not part of the linked ones.  I have not tried unlinking just those clips - I will try that today, as one of the things I am doing will result in this situation.
 
Bob Bone