also,..the drum grid....

diamonds are what is available for drum notes - no way to change that to rectangles unless you disassociate the track with drums and make the track non-drum map output. THEN you can right click on the note names at the left and choose the way the notes are displayed. to see duration and velocity on drum notes, click the icon appropriate for that parameter at the top of the PRV. hover your mouse over each of the icons and it will give you a message about what each one does.

you don't need an instrument definition for Session Drummer. ins defs are not specific to softsynths, they are specific to your keyboard - that's why it's not "supplied" with cakewalk - because it doesn't deal with SD2 specifically - it's for ALL softsynths but specifically for YOUR keyboard. if you have a keyboard (which you didn't mention) and you want SHS to map notes to the same keys as is on your keyboard, then you use an ins def for your specific keyboard. you can download ins defs for keyboards not found already in the templates with SHS, or you can create your own. to use instrument definitions, open the help file and go the search tab, and type in "Instrument Definition Tutorial" and work thru the tutorial.

insert sd2. clcik on the output (O) parameter for the midi track (it'll say session drummer 2), undernetah you should have 'new drum map' click on that and choose GM drums. now open PRV and it should look like what you want...

p.s. when I changed it, it was of course not using session drummer at that point...does that mean you have to continuously switch back and forth if you want to listen as you edit?..Each time I solve one problem I'm right on to the next...sigh...

well,..that seems not to be the case....when I select SD2 in my midi outputs,..it changes to the rectangle shapes of normal piano roll...when I click drum map and choose gm drums, its the way it should be,..with the triangles....is it doing something it's not supposed to?

hmmm...maybe my sonar 6 is possessed and wishes me pain...
but I'd bet that I'm to blame somehow...overlooking something...I'm not perfect....
I appreciate your help...I really do...
My chain of work goes...open file...go to midi track 1 or 2 doesn't matter which....click on that...click the insert drop down menu- click insert soft synth-click sd2... and I'm in...
Now I click on the midi output to select the sd2 as the outputs for the midi track....on the O icon in the lower part of the track mini console (left side in track view)..is that what you mean when you say..."whenever I use the SD2 thru a drum map and select my MIDI output as the drum map, it uses the triangle drum symbols"...???....am I missing a step,...or are we kosher?...I'm kinda thrown by the way it's worded...makes me think I'm skipping a step or going at it differently....but maybe not...maybe that's the only way to do it...
sorry if I'm a pain....it may be I've exausted all options or done something horribly stupid...quite possible....but it seems there should be an easy solution...
thanx for the help so far....some of the stuff I know I have to find out on my own....I'm trying..!!...just don't want to have to take forever to figger it out if it's just right there....ya know?....gets frustrating....I'm wishing they had some better type of online manual...I mean,...the forum is great, but I wish for more sometimes...but,...maybe thats just the nature of the software....
Muchos gracias senior beagle...p.s. do you work for cakewalk?...are you at liberty to tell?..just curious....

thanx...!!!

ok...I think the secret is in the drum map manager....have to set all of the outputs to sd2-2 (sd2-1 has no sound for some unknown)...and I finally have sound and triangles....(tho now I'm not even sure I'm hearing the right drums..I selected basic drum kit for the drum map mgr....now my midi file isn't lined up....when I drag it,..its all ****ed up.....)
still haven't really figured it out ..but getting closer I guess...wondering why sd2 doesn't automatically do that ....or at least have a preset for session drummer 2...so you don't have to go in and individually change every drum over...what a pain....the drum manager needs an overhaul in my opinion...very counter intuitive...

OK...finally got it to a state that is quasi functional....I have the diamonds and can hear the kit simultaneously....I won't even go into the hell that got me here....with drum map manager...could it be more f'ed up?.....so...yay!!...now I just need to figure out drum map mgr so I can have a map that coincides with sd2 a little better....includes all the drums....but not every gm drum known to man..(you know...how they have "skin flute" and "yapping chihuahua" drum notes...just to fill up the 128 notes?...)....I just want a kit with the basics,..a couple crashes, a few toms...etc....I'm down to one crash at this point...
I know it's a powerful program,...but it needs a simple drum mode...for us non-propellerheads that don't want to geek out on the puter for hours at a time...just crave to create music.....maybe for sonar hs 7...sigh...

This is what I read last night in Scott's book: to view the Drum Grid Pane, go to the right of the Piano Roll and find the Track Pane, click on the desired track you wish to view. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, but the instructions seem clear.
M

if you order it. amazon have it.

mcourter is reading from scott's book simply telling you how to select the track you're wanting to work on in the PRV - it's the same for any track - this is not really specific to the drum grid and doesn't change the way the drum grid looks in the PRV.

the regular piano notes relate to a drum sound, so C1 is kick, E1 snare etc...you can program sd2 from the PRV no problem. just the drum map gives you more options for inputting.

thanx mgh...thanks beagle,...for the screen shot!! ...I appreciate it...,...but when I hit that button it doesn't change it!!!...I swear....tried that...just went back and tried it again for good measure...have you tried that with session drummer as the soft synth?...for some reason it's not allowing it..I don't know if it's something I'm doing (not sure how or why???)or if its a real problem that should be addressed...if you work for cakewalk maybe you could make someone aware of it...really frustrating....I think I have to make a new drum map from scratch for it to work......I'll keep fiddlin away with it....

very weird....I appreciate the help!!...they should be paying you if they aren't...!!