Reference Guide

879
Cakewalk Generic Surface Plug-in
External Devices
3. Next, in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page, in the Use ACT or Strip Params fields,
make sure that either the ACT Enable check box is enabled, or that the Both check box is
enabled. If the Both check box is enabled, your controller/surface is controlling both track
parameters and plug-in parameters.
4. In SONAR, put the focus on the plug-in effect or synth -that you want to configure: either click its
property page, or click its name in an FX bin.
The name of the plug-in appears in the Context field in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property
page.
5. Enable the Learn button on the Controllers/Surfaces toolbar.
6. In the property page of the plug-in that you want to control, click the parameters that you want to
control.
7. Move the sliders/knobs on your controller/surface that you want to use to control the parameters
with, in the same order that you clicked the parameters (you can reverse steps 6 and 7).
8. Disable the Learn button on the Controllers/Surfaces toolbar.
9. A dialog appears, asking if you want to keep your assignments. Click Yes or No.
As soon as you disable the Learn button, any plug-in mappings that you keep are saved globally,
and will be the same in every project for a particular plug-in. Now your controller/surface can control
whatever soft synth or effect currently has focus. If you want to control only a single instance of a
plug-in, regardless of which plug-in has focus, enable the Lock Context check box. For more
information about ACT, see “ACT” on page 888.
You can save Track parameter mappings and knob/radio button mappings in the Presets window
that is at the top of the Cakewalk Generic Surface property page.
Assigning Forward and Rewind Buttons
The Forward and Rewind assignments are special cases in the Cakewalk Generic Surface property
page. When you click select either of these parameters, notice that Literally/Toggle field becomes
greyed-out, and the On/Off fields become available. This is because the Forward and Rewind
commands both require two different MIDI messages to function: one MIDI message to turn the
operation on, and a different message to turn the operation off. This kind of operation is best
assigned to a button that sends out one MIDI message when you hold or push it down, and a
different MIDI message when you let the button up. The property page can usually fill in the On field
and the Off field correctly if you push the desired button a few times and then click the Learn button.
But it helps if you know exactly what MIDI messages the desired button sends out. That way, you
can fill in the correct trigger values in the On and Off fields if the displayed values are incorrect.
Conserving Knobs and Buttons
There are a few tricks you can use if you’re running out of buttons, or if your controller/surface only
has a couple of buttons on each strip, and you want to control more parameters on each track:
• Assign a two-way knob or button to control two different parameters. If a knob sends out
one MIDI message when it’s turned to the right and a different MIDI message when it’s turned to
the left, you could use it to control 2 toggle-type parameters, such as Solo and Arm. For example,
if a knob sends out NRPN # 5000 with a data value of 1 when you turn it to the right and a data