I mistakenly posted some questions on the wrong forum.  They belong here.
 
My intention is to have one audio track for each MIDI track (or possibly multiple audio tracks for one MIDI track in the case of drums.)  That being the case, it seems to me that I should plan to do all the volume, panning, and FX on the audio tracks.  In other words, I should set the MIDI fader at unity and dead center on the pan.  And I should not mess with any mixer settings inside the synth VSTs.  Is that what y'all would consider best practices?
 
If I am going to keep all my original MIDI in the project (rather than bouncing to audio), is it best to put all the MIDI tracks in their own folder and then just collapse the folder so I never see the lights and never touch the MIDI again (unless going back to revise the source material.)?

I'll answer the drum thing but it would hold true for other soft synths (such as a multi in Kontakt).
 
Most folks will use one MIDI track for all the pieces in the Drum Kit. Then depending on the soft synth drums you are using you may be able to route each piece of kit to an audio track. Once routed you can apply anything that you can apply to a normal audio track (i.e. route to a bus, insert fX, ProChannel modules etc).
 
Depending on your drum synth you may also be able to handle the mix in the synth (Kontakt Studio Drummer and Abbey Road series have effects and a mixer built in).
 
Personnally I prefer the first method and I suspect most others do too.
 
HTH
 
Regards,

I sometimes have pan, reverb, and chorus commands in my MIDI tracks while I am arranging, but I remove them before recording and process everything on the audio track as you say.  I don't think the fader does anything to a MIDI track, but I could be wrong.
 
EXTERNAL SYNTHS:
I may have a mutli-timbral synth (like a Motif or something) coming into one audio track while I am arranging.  For example, I may have six or seven instruments coming into Sonar in stereo from one synth. Then, at some point when I am happy with the MIDI tracks, I do this:
1. Remove the effects and panning from the MIDI tracks (unless the synth has some unusually good digital effects and I am sure I don't need a dry version)
2. Clone the audio track several times.
3. Mute all but one MIDI track and one audio track and record the synth onto the audio track.  Once a track is recorded, I turn its input and echo off so it plays only the recorded audio and not the other MIDI tracks.
4. Now I mute, the MIDI track I already recorded, and repeate the process until I have recorded all the separate instruments to individual tracks.
5. After recording, be sure all the MIDI tracks are muted so they don't play anymore.
6.  Note that before recording, you may have to set the Controller 7 value appropriately in the MIDI track to get the audio at the right level.
 
SOFT SYNTHS:
I generally use pan and volume in the audio track; however, some soft synths have very good effects and I may use them.  For example, I use the reverb and EQ built into Synthogy's Ivory II.
 
I put all MIDI tracks in a MIDI folder, mute the foilder, and hide the folder after I am finished with them so they don't confuse me during the mix.

I use instrument channels for vsts so the midi and "audio" are on the same channel and that's where the levels and panning are done. It's all about what fits your workflow. Seems what you described would do fine if you like it. I tend to have all midi data for drums on one channel, but again its usually an instrument track.

you don't really need to set up 1 for 1 doing drums.
here youll see @ 0:45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjZS61Wg-XY
I have all midi tracks for each drum piece but I can still add effects into the bins almost like its an audio track.
 
(unless of course there is a reason you need them to be audio  ;)

konradh
I don't think the fader does anything to a MIDI track, but I could be wrong.
 

I believe it maps to MIDI volume.  However, there's no guarantee that a soft synth will react accordingly.  I too could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that MIDI volume was an early standard that's largely gone by the wayside.

dmbaer

konradh
I don't think the fader does anything to a MIDI track, but I could be wrong.
 

I believe it maps to MIDI volume.  However, there's no guarantee that a soft synth will react accordingly.  I too could be wrong, but I'm under the impression that MIDI volume was an early standard that's largely gone by the wayside.

I just did a test with TTS.  When I push the MIDI fader up, it gets louder.  If I pull the fader down to zero, there is no sound.  The velocity indicators (green lights) are unrelated to the fader -- they keep going regardless of the fader setting.


I haven't tried that with every synth I have, but it has worked that way ever time I tried it, hence my question about best practices.  It sounds like the best practice is to leave the MIDI fader at the default level (101?).

Regarding your workflow question

is it best to put all the MIDI tracks in their own folder and then just collapse the folder so I never see the lights and never touch the MIDI again (unless going back to revise the source material.)?

This is exactly what I do. I have one folder simply called "Midi Data" and it's right at the bottom of all my other (Audio) folders - Drums / Guitars / Keys / Vocals etc

I do tend to leave the midi alone... no panning of volume control in there..... But I'm pretty sure it can be done.... I know I have used the midi volume fader to raise the levels once or twice.
 
There is no problem with doing it that way, nor is there any problem with tweeking the controls in a synth or FX to get the desired result. What matters most is not how you get there but what it sounds like when you get to the final mix.
 
As far as best practices? Whatever you decide to do and how you decide to work, using whatever method and workflow that works best for you .... is what you should do. There are no hard and fast rules.... well not many. And rules are meant to be broken.
 
As far as what to do with midi tracks after the fact. I use midi tracks on occasion but once I have them right, I bounce them to audio and prefer to work on the final mix using all audio tracks where possible. So once the bounce is done, I drag the midi track and the synth track associated with it, to the bottom of the track view and archive it. That shuts the synth off. Then I hide the tracks...or perhaps I will even delete the synth track totally. If it's a piano, for example, I know I can pop it back in if I need it again. I do the same thing in the console view.... hide them or at the very least make them narrow.
 
When working with audio tracks I will do the same thing..... dragging them to the bottom of the track view if they are not active (muted) in the project. Doing this makes for a cleaner work space on the screen. I really don't like to hide tracks in both the console and track view because I tend to forget they are there..... so muting to the bottom works best. I will hide in the console view.
 
Hope this helps.

I like to leave the MIDI volume at 100 and pan center and then with individual outputs of the DRUM synth engine, mix to taste at the audio track output level.  Unless of course, you expect someone to listen to only your MIDI songs with their own sounds... at which point, it might make sense to mix and pan with MIDI.
 
Jim