Reference Guide

573
Inserting Soft Synths
Software Instruments
• If you want to open the soft synth’s interface from this dialog, check the Open These
Windows: Synth Property Page check box.
• If you opened this dialog from the Insert menu and want to open the Synth Rack view, check
the Open These Windows: Synth Rack View check box.
• If the synth you’re inserting can create or send MIDI data, and you want to record or redirect
this MIDI data, enable the Enable MIDI Output check box.
• Any automation data you create for this synth is displayed by default on the Synth track for this
synth. If you want to display this data on a different track, choose the track in the Display
Automation On menu.
• If you create some new knobs on the Synth Rack to control certain parameters on a particular
synth, you can display the same knobs every time you insert that synth by enabling the Recall
Assignable Controls check box.
• If you want to open this dialog every time you use the Insert > Soft Synths command, or click
the Insert button in the Synth Rack view and choose a synth from the pop-up menu, check the
Ask This Every Time option. If you always insert soft synths in the same way, you can
uncheck this option so you don’t have to deal with the dialog each time. To open the dialog
when the option is unchecked, click the Insert Soft Synth Options button in the Synth
Rack view toolbar.
5. Click OK to close the dialog and insert the synth.
SONAR adds the soft synth to the audio track Input and MIDI track Output menus, and creates any
new tracks that you requested. The new tracks already have the correct inputs and outputs patched.
Now you can record MIDI data in the soft synth MIDI tracks, and/or play the soft synth from a MIDI
keyboard or controller. See Playing a Soft Synth.
To Insert a Soft Synth in an FX Bin
1. In either the Track or Console view, right-click the FX bin of an unused audio track or bus.
The plug-in menu appears.
2. Under Soft Synths, choose the name of a soft synth.
Two things happen: the soft synth’s interface appears, and the soft synth’s name appears in the
track’s or bus’s FX bin, with a Bypass button next to the name.
3. Set the soft synth’s parameters (choose sounds, effects, etc.), and drag its interface out of the
way.
4. Click the Output field of a MIDI track to display the Output menu.
5. Select the name of the soft synth that you patched into the audio track or bus.
6. If the soft synth is multi-timbral, choose a MIDI channel for the MIDI track.
7. Also in the MIDI track, select a bank and patch.
Note: If you patch a soft synth into a bus that has no audio track assigned to it, the soft synth
does not sound. Always use a bus that has at least one audio track sending data to it.