Reference Guide

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Controlling live MIDI playback—MIDI echo
Controlling playback
The Input Echo button
Each MIDI track has an Input Echo button, which controls whether the track will echo MIDI data or
not. The button has three states: On , Auto , and Off . When the button is on, the track
echoes MIDI data. In Auto mode, the track echoes MIDI data because the track is the current track.
When the button is off, the track does not echo any data, even if it is the current track. The Off
position on a current MIDI track is only available if you disable the Always Echo Current MIDI
Track option in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Playback and Recording. The Auto position becomes
unavailable with this setting.
There are several ways to turn Input Echoing on:
• Click a track’s Input Echo button so that it is on.
• Click a track to make the track the current track (if the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option
in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Playback and Recording is enabled). In this situation (which is
the default), if the track’s Input Echo button is not on, the button appears as to indicate that
this track echoes data because it is the current track.
•If the Always Echo Current MIDI Track option in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Playback and
Recording is disabled, make a track the current track, and click the track’s Input Echo button
.
Storing favorite configurations
If you want a track to respond to more than one port or channel, you must create a preset input
configuration. If you create some favorite configurations of MIDI input options, not only will they be
stored with the project you created them in, but you can save each one as a preset to load in any
MIDI track in any project you want. Clicking the drop-down arrow in a track’s Input field displays the
Inputs drop-down menu, which has the Manage Presets choice that allows you to create and store
your favorite combinations of MIDI input choices.
To play one synth at a time from one or more MIDI keyboards
• Since this is SONAR’s default behavior, simply use the UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW keys on
your computer keyboard to choose the current track (the current track is highlighted), and use the
Track Inspector or Console view to choose the synth you want to play by using the track’s
Output, Bank, Patch, and Channel fields. With the default behavior, all MIDI input from all ports
and channels is merged and sent through the current track. Notice that the track’s Input field says
Omni.
• If you’ve disabled the default behavior (see next procedure), you must make sure that the current
track’s Input Echo button is lit up (on) before you can play the synth that the track is patched to.
To disable the default MIDI echo detting
• If you want to turn off the automatic MIDI echoing of the current track, disable the Always Echo
Current MIDI Track in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Playback and Recording. If you then turn
off the current track’s Input Echo button and play your keyboard, SONAR will not produce
sound.