Hello,
I have Sonar X1 essential.  I am (trying to) import midi files from Finale and work with them in Sonar.   I am very new to DAW but very experienced in Finale.
 
1-when I import the midi file, only two of the three tracks seem to be audible
2-the sounds are totally different from what I have set up in Finale.  i.e. a theremin sounds like a clarinet, a warm synth like a grand piano
3-Sonar seems to have latched onto a Garritan library that came with Finale (shows up in Sonar) but I can't seem to change sounds like you can in their own "drop zone" nothing obvious at least.
 
Does anyone have any suggestions?  I would love answers or links to tutorials/videos etc. that deal with this.
 
Thank you!

  hmm... is it possible there is a note offset difference? I know for some synths and stuff you have to change the offset or the MIDI notes will play at a different octave thus sounding a different instrument on a multi timbral synth or none at all if the is not sound for those notes. I forget where you change that setting though. Perhaps Edit > Preferences > MIDI and then somewhere in one of the MIDI sub menus. 

Just a thought.

Have you inserted any synths in Sonar?

Which ones and which Midi tracks are they related to?

There may be program/bank changes in the beginning of each midi track.  You can view the midi events for each track and see what each track is trying to get loaded for sounds.

If you play the sounds through the Cakewalk TTS-1 synth, each mixer channel there is on a different midi channel and you can assign whatever sounds you like to each.

Or you could load other soft synths into the synth rack and assign different sounds there and adjust the midi channels on each midi track, if you wanted better sounds than what comes with the TTS-1.

Bob Bone

You'll just have to learn to route the midi tracks to whatever synths you want to use. If you use the Aria player, there's a setting in midi preferences you'll need to either check or uncheck about resetting something to 0. Sonar seems to always turn the volume of that synth down to 0 no matter how many times you put it back in the synth's settings.

One thing I always do when I transfer from Finale to Sonar is, I right click on the midi file and use the "open with" option then click on Sonar. It keeps all the data such as key signiture, tempo and other data as well.

Thank you--R clicking and 'open with' helped a great deal.  Three of four tracks (strings, piano, bass) now sound correct.  The percussion line (high hat only in midi) however, still sounds like a struck piano note.

How exactly do you route a midi track to a particular synth and how do you view the midi events?  Yes, I AM doing the tutorials and the user manual, but there is lots of reference to interfaces that I am not seeing.   I feel like this is probably right in front of my face and I'm not seeing it!

Again, thanks--three out of four tracks isn't bad.....

Check out the following video for some general information on working with soft synths in SONAR... the video focuses on the DreamStation synth, but the info also pertains to working with soft synths overall...

* Cakewalk SONAR - DreamStation Synth Demo
http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/video.asp?ID=9

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
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