I'm not experienced with the MIDI side of DAWs, so I should go ahead and embarrass myself!
I use Win 7/64 bit and Sonar X2 Producer, and play an Alesis 61 key keyboard into a virtual piano (Addictive Keys).
 
THe lowest "C" note sounds out the "C3" midi note. Is there an easy way to configure my keyboard or software
so that when I play the lowest "C", I'm hearing "C2" instead of "C3"? In other words, how can I play my
Alesis down an octave?
 
Thanks for any tips.
 

Not sure about the Alesis. My Keystation 49e has a couple buttons on the left side that adjust the octave up and down.

Q61 or QX61? You can download the manual for either one from www.alesis.com. Leadfoot is right, most keyboards have buttons for transpose up/down in the vicinity of the pitch bend or mod wheel. 
 
This picture (click to enlarge) shows the Q61 with its up/down octave buttons. With the QX61, the octave/transpose up/down buttons are the first buttons above the wheels. Press one of these buttons to shift the octave range up or down. To transpose, press both buttons simultaneously, then press either one of them to shift the notes up to 12 semitones either up or down.

Craig,
Thanks for the response. I'm such a fool. I downloaded the manual (should-a done that first) and
now its all clear. I'm so sorry.

Hey, no problem! It sure is convenient that many companies post manuals online, that's saved my butt more than once.
 
In fact...if you have an iPad, you might want to check out this article I wrote. It describes a way to consolidate all your documentation in one convenient place.