Reference Guide

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Creating Instrument Definitions

Instrument Definitions

Each patch may have a list of up to 128 names for notes. Usually, note names are labels for

percussion instruments. For example, the pitch C3 may really be “Kick Drum,” and D3 may be

“Snare.” Because a drum machine may provide different drum kits for each patch, SONAR lets you

specify a different list of note names for each patch. The Piano Roll and Event List views show you

these note names.

You can assign a note name list to each patch. You can also assign a default note name list to the

instrument, which is used for all patches for which you haven’t assigned a specific note name list.

Each patch can also be assigned a special Drum flag, which indicates that this patch contains drum

sounds. If you set this flag, the Piano Roll view will display drum notes as diamonds, and the Staff

view will use percussion notation.

There are several standard note name lists provided with SONAR:

To See the Assignment of Note Name Lists to Patches

1. Expand the instrument definition by clicking the + sign next to the instrument name.

2. Expand the Patch Names for Banks folder by clicking the + sign.

3. Continue expanding the tree by clicking the + sign, until the tree is fully expanded.

A. This is the name of a note name list B. The * indicates that this note name list is the default C. Bank

D. Instrument name E. Note name lists are defined for three different patches

Note name list Contents

0...127 The numbers 0 through 127

Diatonic The default MIDI note names (like C4, E5, and so on)

General MIDI Drums The default instrument names for the General MIDI drum patch

Table 167.