[Solved] Can I trigger TWO VSTi's with ONE track of MIDI?

Turn on the Input Echo for the second synth to play both live. Turn on record for both to record to both.

Most hardware synths do (midi through), but not all softsynths have the ability to pass through midi (midi echo or out). Sonar does not include any internal patch system that will allow more than one midi out from a midi track. The usual kludge is to copy the midi track and use the copy to run the second synth. It is also possible to use an external midi routing application like midi yoke or Maple virtual midi cable.

The Input Echo button is on every track.



(Pink and yellow)

Like I said earlier - turn on (yellow) the synths you also want to be controlled. Pink means that track is selected.
To record to all, enable record on each track - or record to one and ctrl+shift+drag the recorded midi to the other tracks.

Cool :-)

Well, I've installed LoopBe30 demo and it seems very daunting :-)  I cant figure out how to loop in in SONAR :-)

As I said, I have no experience with LoopBe30. I expect it works like other similar apps. See if this is helpful.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=1573767&mpage=1&print=true

Oh, Puffin, I didn't notice your last post until I posted just now, "...I changed over to the single port free version and got the message that I cant use the MIDI IN and OUT of LoopBe in the same application!!!!..."

I believe that error message is if you try to connect LoopBe's output to its own input.  I haven't tried routing things as shown on the link Slartabartfast posted - it's using Maple for the virtual cables, but theoretically it should work with LoopBe also --- ?

Randy B.

Puffin/Barend, maybe you can help ME out, because I don't get this thread.  In your original post, the statement "I want to layer different synths using either my live playing or a single track of MIDI" [emphasis mine] seemed to indicate that you would welcome solutions for either option.  Okay, so then perfectprint gave the live-playing solution immediately, complete with recording instructions, and even a helpful illustration.  So... why aren't you going that route?
 
As for the single midi track option, why is that a requirement for you?  What's wrong with copying the melody clip to your other synth's midi track, and hitting Play?
 
Maybe I'm not understanding something fundamental about your question.

Couldn't you copy the MIDI track to another track, and use a different VST for each?

What's wrong with copying the melody clip to your other synth's midi track, and hitting Play?

I do not have the OP's solution, but I do understand his question/problem, and I remain moderately pissed-off that Cakewalk has neglected to bring this kind of midi routing into Sonar and instead forces us to depend on the kindness of outside developers. LoopBE (currently the only virtual midi cable that I have been able to find that works in a 64-bit environment) has the absolutely worst documentation I have ever seen (at least in the free version). Anyone who does not know how to use it would not be able to figure it out from the chm file. To spend that much time developing a program and not bother to post a how-to is egregious. But I digress...The convenience of being able to edit a single midi track to control multiple synths without resorting to the vagaries of making all the copies into linked clips should be obvious.

On the other hand, the use of a single midi track to layer synths loses the considerable power of having a separately editable track for each synth. Since each synth has different responses to every control signal from velocity to cc's sending one data stream to each synth is unlikely to provide the optimum response from all the layered synths. It is certainly easier to move the control to a separate midi track than to try to program each synth to respond as you would like to the same data every other synth is receiving.

Okay, the more I re-read the original question, it does look like even the live playing is meant to be understood as involving one midi track, out to multiple synths.
 
If that's the case, it still would've been helpful if the person had reiterated that - explicitly - after perfectprint's first response made clear that the OP was being misunderstood.  That's all I'm sayin'.  Carry on. :)

slartabartfast
 
As I said, I have no experience with LoopBe30. I expect it works like other similar apps. See if this is helpful.
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=1573767&mpage=1&print=true
 
Puffin617
 
Can someone PLEASE help me...
I cant get this LoopBe to route 1 midi channel to 2 other midi synths like in the linked examples above...

 
You can achieve the routing described in b rock's thread using 1 LoopBe30 port in 64-bit Windows 7. I don't know if it is possible to use LoopBe1. To avoid MIDI feedback, you must assign different MIDI channels to the inport and outport sides of the LoopBe30 "cable". This is implied in b rock's description but not explicitly shown. Here is a picture of a working implementation of b rock's first example showing the explicit channel assignments:
 

 
The LoopBe30 port used in this example is named "1. Internal MIDI".
 
I hope this is helpful.
 
Don
 
EDIT: This example was created in Sonar 8 Producer Edition (x86) on Windows 7 Home Premium (x64). It also works in the 64-bit version of Sonar.

On the other hand, the use of a single midi track to layer synths loses the considerable power of having a separately editable track for each synth. Since each synth has different responses to every control signal from velocity to cc's sending one data stream to each synth is unlikely to provide the optimum response from all the layered synths.

+1

I layer Piano and E.P. all the time with hardware synths. They're daisy-chained on the same port so I can drive them with one track if I want, but I usually put them one two different channels and use two tracks so I can easily adjust the phase between them, and apply different velocity offsets.