Sonar and Midi

[theprogfrog]

Hi everyone! You guys really helped me last time, so I am hoping you
can help me again! I really appreciate it!

I have done a lot of writing using Guitar Pro. I notate everything. It
seems easier to edit, and I did not have recording software for a long
time. Anyway, I have many songs written this way, and I want them to
go in Sonar for recording. The Guitar Pro midi sounds really cheesey.
I apply the soft synths, usually I use Groove Synth. Now it takes a
good bar for it to first register. However, when I go back and play
the track again so I can hear it from the beginning, it goes back to
whatever midi sound it was before the Groove Synth. It has all the
information on the left, with the Roland GS, the bank, and et, yet it
plays the old sound, not the Roland sound. How do I permanently change
a midi track to use the Groove Synth permanently? I really do not want
to redo everything in Piano Roll mode as it is so time consuming and I
already have everything notated with Guitar Pro.

Moreover, when it does work while listening to a track, a lot of times
it makes all the midi tracks have the same sound. For example, if I
change one midi track to a flute using Roland GS, all the tracks
become flutes. I am sure I am missing something or doing something
very stupid. Can you guys help me? Thanks so much in advance!!

 

[OzziePete]

Hi mate, I'm not very versed in the software you mention, but a few thoughts on your problems - maybe it is something simple to resolve.

1) Playing old sounds, maybe there's a menu within your software that has a MIDI Assign capability and it's currently set to default, playing the generic sounds (General MIDI). Maybe you have to go into the guts of the MIDI programs and manually load/instruct the software to use a particular sound - or line up your own instruments to be activated by the MIDI commands?

2) Sounds are robotic? It might be that you have to add accents to your piece of music, also maybe you are syncing to the exact point for each instrument, maybe add a bit of 'human touch' by syncing an instrument or two a fraction (and I mean FRACTION) slower to start the note?

I have deliberatley avoided trying to learn the MIDI side of things for many years, out of fear of a brain explosion. Can be incredibly frustrating. Most software these days have a pre loaded MIDI sync and set up for GM sounds. To get something else, you ahve to start getting into the MIDI program itself I have found.