Dear hopefully pc experts Sonarusers ^^ I am struggling soo much with my PC instead of making music , cause i cant get sonar X1 studio to work with my other Software/Hardware. I feel like i´m too stupid for this programm ... I have a midikeyboard novation nocturn25 and Gutar Rig5 with the Guitar Rig 3 kontrollboard After hours and hours trying every possibility sonar X1 shows me as inputs and outputs and drivers , I am NOT able to : - use my midikeyboard to play keyboardparts or to trigger drumrythms .... - record a track of my guitar to a backing track I eventually managed that I ´m able to hear the backing track at least, but i can´t be productiv. At the moment I only wasted my money ... Is there anybody who can help me , PLEASE !

What are your precise system specs?  XP? Win7? Win8? 32-bit? 64-bit?

Sonar X1, X1c, X1d?  Producer Edition? Studio? Essentials?

Most of us - you will see at the bottom of this post, include our system specs in our forum profile's signature.  That helps people figure out what we are using for hardware/software and makes it much easier to help the person with the problem.

So, please, edit your forum profile, clicj the signature tab, add your specs, then make sure to check the box at the bottom that tells it to add your signature to all of your posts.

Can you please provide more detail as to how you have your midi and audio tracks configured?  I am looking for whether or not you are using 'simple instrument tracks' or a regular audio and midi track.

As a simple example, you need the following present and connected the correct way to be able to trigger midi sounds in Sonar that end up going through an audio track to your master buss and then through your audio interface to your speakers:

1.  You must have your audio interface drivers properly installed and working - seems like since you can hear your guitar backing tracks this is working

2.  You must have some sort of synth loaded into the synth rack, with a preset loaded.

3.  You could have a simple instrument track, but skip that for now.  You need a MIDI track that has its output set to go to the synth in the synth rack

4,  You need an audio track that has for its input the OUTPUT from the soft synth, and the audio output should be sent to some buss - the Master bus is the default so you do not need to change that for now. Later on, you will learn about using multiple buses and such - skip that for the moment.

5.  The Master bus must have its output going to your audio interface.

There are some basic tutorials in the Sonar documentation that it sounds like you did not read, and/or did not do.  These will get you up and running with a midi/audio example that work.

I hope any of the above helps, because I am hungry and done typing, 

Bob Bone

Have you worked through the Sonar tutorials at the start of the manual you got with X1? It sounds like most of what you are trying to do will be explained there.

However, first make sure you have installed the appropriate drivers for all your hardware (for example you need to go to Native Instruments website to get the latest drivers for your KontrolRig). You also need at the very least read, comprehend and follow the quick start guides for all your hardware as well. Then once everything is installed and set up go through the Sonar X1 Tutorials. You might also want to invest in the book X1 Power by Scott Garrigus which will explain more in depth concepts in simpler to understand terms than the X1 manual. 

There is a lot to know and learn but the resources are there. What you are currently asking the forum is far too broad of a question. Once you have gone through everything I have mentioned things should be clearer and then if there are still problems you will be able to express what they are to the forum a little better. Then the smart folks can help. 

Welcome to the forum.

It's good to follow up relatively quickly on questions you post to the forum. You got two guys here willing to help and asking for more details so they CAN help. 

Don't leave us hangin', brah.

  First : Thank you soo much for your offered help ! It makes me motivated to continue with this first so difficult task. I have the following Hardware/software : Windows 7 Home Premium 64 BIT, Dell XPS 8300 IntelR Core TM i7 2600 CPU @ 3,40 GHZ 3,40GHZ 12 GB RAM Soundblaster X-FI Xtreme Audio PCI Express Guitar Rig 5 ( Version 5.0.2) with Rig Kontrol 3 ,Driver Rig Kontrol 3 3.0.4 - Windows ,Novation Nocturn 25 Driver 1.3.128 Automap 4.6 I will follow your suggestions through the day to hopefully solve my problem or at least to understand it better ^^ Edit: I figured out that my Keyboard needed more updates , i can now hear some sounds with it , but i don´t understand how the buttons etc are set :P I don´t know why for example the stringsection has to be triggered with a very hard attack on the keyboard to be louder ... when i play a normal attack on the keyboard i almost do not hear the sound -.- I think it ´s because the keyboard is set to (cello)volume ? what do i have to do to make a normal volume standard only with a gentle push on the keys ? I still cannot play with my guitarrig in sonar x1 ... i once managed to record something but it was just a blur of what i was playing . Only overdriven **'_'** So far a little progress though ^^ P.S.: i edited my profile with the signature , but apparently too late to be published( i made the checkmark )

&nbs TEST of Signature

Okay, so the system specs look okay but I highly recommend getting a proper audio interface. That Sounblaster card is bound to cause some problems. What type of stuff are you looking to do with your music and what kind of money are you willing to spend on an interface? If you only need a couple of inputs/outputs you can pick up a simple interface for around $150 but if you want more input options it's best to spend a little more than that.

Also like I said open up your Sonar user manual and start working through the tutorials. It will help you get things set up properly. For your MIDI keyboard pay close attention to the MIDI set up section. 

Oh and what keyboard are you using? Sorry if I missed it in your details.

BTW if you want to have paragraphs in your forum posts you will either have to type in HTML manually or switch to a different browser. I am assuming you are using Firefox which does not work properly on this forum. Chrome or Opera work fine.

Just took a closer look at the Rig Kontrol. You should be able to get that running as an interface but obviously only for your guitar. What you will want to do is follow the installation instructions that came with it step by step. Do not deviate from those instructions. If you have already attempted to install it without following the instructions step by step uninstall the drivers and software then start over. Pick the USB port you want to use and stick to it because moving stuff like that around from port to port can cause problems. 

Once you have that done then read and follow the Sonar tutorial on setting up your audio interface. It's pretty easy. The general procedure is after you have properly installed the Kontrol Rig software THEN open Sonar (don't install that stuff while Sonar is open). Star a new project, then from the Edit menu at the top left of the Sonar window select Preferences. This will give you the Preferences dialog. Select Audio from the list on the left and then put checkmarks beside the inputs and ouputs of the Kontrol Rig. Then you have to set your track inputs in Sonar which is also explained in the tutorial. If you want more info on any of that stuff there are links in the tutorial to more in depth entries in the manual.

Cheers.

Thanks for staying with me ;) I am using the guitar Rig as interface cause i heard that it s a pretty good one. I do hear all my stuff like VLC player also via Guitar Rig . For the start i want to do basic Recordings with my guitar and bass. I want to either play/record to backing tracks or to write own stuff, for which i want to use my keyboard to write stringsections or drumlines. It ´s novation nocturn 25 only a small one ,but i´m no keyboardplayer ^^ Oh and a Microphone for singing ;) Maybe in the far far future i want to do harder stuff like orchestrated tries ... but than i don´t need more inputs cause I will use the plugins. I don´t expect any professional for Moneymaking out of that. But the smallbandstyle, i want to start with, should sound nearly professional, cause thats my main projects goal to achieve. I will de- and reinstall Guitar Rig tomorrow, but now i have to go to bed ... it´s midnight here in Germany ;) (so please don´t mind my grammar mistakes ;) ) Thanks so far