Reference Guide

Mixing

Mixing MIDI

Converting MIDI to audio

The following options cover three basic MIDI setups:

• If your MIDI tracks play back through a soft synth, use either the File > Export > Audio or the

Track view Tracks > Bounce to Track(s) commands (see the procedures in “To export your soft

synth tracks as Wave, MP3, or other type files” on page 790, and “To convert your soft synth

tracks to new audio tracks” on page 789).

• If your MIDI tracks play back through your sound card’s synthesizer, see the procedure below.

• If your MIDI tracks play back through external MIDI modules, simply connect their analog outputs

to the inputs on your sound card, and record to new audio tracks.

To convert a sound card’s synth tracks to a stereo audio track

1. Pick a destination audio track and set the Input field to Stereo-(name of your sound card).

2. Arm the destination track.

3. Mute or archive any tracks that you don’t want to record to the destination track.

4. If SONAR’s metronome is set to use any software synth to produce a click, disable the recording

metronome. To do so, click the Record Metronome button in the Control Bar’s Transport

module, or go to Edit > Preferences > Project - Metronome and clear the Recording check

box.

5. Open your sound card's mixer device. This is normally done by double-clicking the speaker icon

on the Windows taskbar, or by choosing Start > Programs > Accessories > Multimedia >

Volume Control > Options > Properties.

6. Open the sound card’s recording control window (the command is probably Options >

Properties > Adjust Volume For Recording) and make sure all boxes below Adjust Volume

For Recording are checked.

7. Click OK, and locate the slider marked MIDI, Synth, Mixed Input, or What You Hear. Check the

Select box at the bottom, then close the window.

8. In SONAR, click the Record button.

SONAR records all the MIDI tracks that are assigned to the sound card synth as a stereo audio

track.

After you finish recording, mute the MIDI tracks that you just recorded so you don’t hear them and

the new audio track at the same time.

Note: If you have more than one sound card installed, select the one that your synth uses as an

output.