Reference Guide

1544 Beginner’s guide to Cakewalk software
MIDI
“Controlling which sounds you hear” on page 1547
“MIDI” on page 1541
“Audio” on page 1549
“Audio hardware (sound cards) and drivers” on page 1564
“MIDI channels, interfaces, inputs, and outputs” on page 1542
MIDI drivers
Your MIDI interface needs a driver to function. A driver is a small software program that controls
input and output for a peripheral device. To use a MIDI interface in SONAR, you need to make sure
that your interface’s driver is installed, and that you have told SONAR to use it. That way, SONAR
knows to use the driver and to list all of your interface’s inputs and outputs in the proper menus. If
your MIDI interface is part of your sound card, you probably installed its driver when you installed the
sound card. You can check this in SONAR in Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices. In the Outputs
list, see if the name of your MIDI interface is listed. It should be called something like SB Live MIDI
Out. Make sure it is highlighted. In the Inputs list, you should see something like SB Live MIDI In.
Make sure this is highlighted and click OK. If you don’t see the name of your interface listed, you
need to install its driver from the CD, floppy disk, or Web site that your interface’s documentation
recommends.
After you have installed the driver and restarted your computer, you need to tell SONAR to use this
particular driver. Go to Edit > Preferences > MIDI - Devices. In the Outputs list, make sure that the
name of your interface’s driver is highlighted. If it isn’t, click it to highlight it. If your interface has more
than one output, make sure you highlight the names of all the outputs. The order of the outputs in
the list determines what output numbers SONAR gives to each output. So even if an output on your
interface has a label that says 1 or A, if it is not first in the list in the Outputs list, it will not be labeled
1 in SONAR. You can change the order in the list by temporarily deselecting all the outputs except
the one you want to move to the top, and then clicking the Move Selected Devices To Top button
that’s at the bottom of the dialog box. Then make sure you reselect the other outputs you want to
use.
For more information, see:
“MIDI files, projects, tracks, and clips” on page 1545
“Controlling which sounds you hear” on page 1547
“MIDI” on page 1541
“Audio” on page 1549
“Audio hardware (sound cards) and drivers” on page 1564
“MIDI channels, interfaces, inputs, and outputs” on page 1542
“MIDI drivers” on page 1544