Reference Guide

1229
Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in
External devices
• Sysx Low Byte First. Selecting this option tells SONAR that the significant data in the incoming
Sysx message is in the form of two bytes, with the low byte first. The Sysx Low Byte First option
has the following structure: F0 ? LO HI ? F7.
• Starts With. Fill in the string that your controller/surface sends in Sysx messages that precedes
the significant data.
• Ends With. Fill in the string that your controller/surface sends in Sysx messages that follows the
significant data.
• Sysx Trigger. Triggered targets (play, mute, solo, etc.) are enacted by using a Sysx trigger,
where the user simply types the entire Sysx message F0 ?? F7 that will trigger the action.
• Trigger Message. The exact Sysx message, in the form of F0 ? ? F7, for the Sysx Trigger
option.
MIDI Message Interpretation
A special interpretation of a MIDI message is commonly used in the following two cases:
• Literally/Toggle. The property page interprets almost all MIDI messages as either literal values
or toggle-type values, so most of the time this button is checked. A fader usually sends out a
stream of different messages that are different for each position of the fader. The values of these
messages are used “literally” to make timely changes in a continuous parameter such as Volume.
The other common interpretation of a MIDI message is that it is meant to “toggle” a control such
as a Mute button on and off. The property page interprets almost all MIDI messages as one of
these two types of message.
• Increment/Decrement. This option is valuable if you want to use a button or knob that can only
send two different values to control a continuous parameter, such as Pan or Volume (see
“Conserving knobs and buttons” on page 1224).
• Plus+. The value that causes the desired parameter to increase by 1.
• Minus-. The value that causes the desired parameter to decrease by 1.
• On/Off. This option is currently only used with the Forward >> and Rewind << shuttle actions.
You should only assign buttons to these functions if each button sends a different MIDI message
when it is released from the message it sends when it is pushed. The On field displays the value
the button sends when you push it, and the Off field displays the value the button sends when you
release it.
Note: The Sysx Single Byte, Sysx High Byte First, and Sysx Low Byte First options assume
that the Sysx message will be interpreted as a value to control continuous parameters such as
Volume, extracted from somewhere in the middle of the message. That is why those three
options are unavailable for “triggered” targets, like play, record, mute, solo, move 1 left, move 1
right, etc.