bitflipper
Driving two synths from one MIDI track is very common, and SONAR's (old) way of doing it is easier and more flexible than most DAWs.

How do you do this? I asked about this in the past and was basically told it was impossible without using 3rd party software to create extra MIDI inputs.

I copy and paste midi clips into new midi tracks that are associated with additional synths, and this is how I am able to have multiple synths play copies of the same midi data, giving me a layered sound.
 
I do this with distinct audio and midi tracks, not with simple instrument tracks.
 
Maybe someone has a better way of doing the above - it's what I found to work for me, so that's what I do.
 
Bob Bone
 
 

That's fine, if your performance is already finished. It doesn't let you hear the performance through both synths as you record, and it doesn't work well with recording overdubs or extras (which sometimes go into fresh clips, meaning you have to copy and paste them again). Bitflipper explicitly mentioned 2 synths from 1 MIDI track, so I am interested in seeing if that is possible.

recent history http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2940582

Understood - I actually CAN and DO hear the multiple synths playing, as all I have to do to accomplish that is to enable Input Echo On for the other layers, and they all sound together, even when either just playing or when recording.
 
Further, I can always arm each layer if I want to capture new data all in one shot.  Editing would still be done on one layer and the changes copied over to the other layers, but overall I am not troubled at all with the process.
 
Perhaps  a feature request to support more than one associated synth for a given midi clip or track would be a good thing to ask for.  I don't know what would be involved in implementing it, but it certainly would raise the bar by having such layering available as a powerful option to the midi processing that is already very good.
 
Bob Bone
 

I asked for it long ago, but it seems like most people are happy with the hacky workarounds, sadly.

Sounds like Bitflipper has a way of doing it. Any chance you could give us a brief setup procedure Bitflipper?
Andrew

I do this frequently with guitar parts and such.  Split the instrument, the drag or paste the MIDI into the second soft synth track, like djoni said.
 
TIP: If you hold Control, of course, you can drag copy (instead of moving the MIDI).  If you hold SHIFT and CONTROL, when you drag, the new copy will go to exactly the same time as the old one.  This makes it way easier to ensure they are in line time-wise.

Kylotan
That's fine, if your performance is already finished. It doesn't let you hear the performance through both synths as you record, and it doesn't work well with recording overdubs or extras (which sometimes go into fresh clips, meaning you have to copy and paste them again).

 
Sure it does. Just arm and enable input echo on both tracks to record/monitor both together. You only have to copy as linked clips if you want to edit them later and keep the edits in sync. In the grand scheme of how long it takes to manually edit MIDI tracks, making that linked copy is a pretty minimal burden.
 
I've been doing this for years with layered hardware synths. I used to daisy-chain them off of one port so I could use one track, but I prefer the flexibility of having independent control of MIDI volume, velocity offset, automation, etc that separate tracks offer.
 
 

Thanks for all this input - you guys are extremely helpful.
 
While we're here, is there a quick way to select all the events on one track, so you can ctrl-drag or cut and paste into another?
 
Andrew