THE MIDI QUICK START<\/strong><\/p>\n Normally you need to arm a MIDI track before you can record on it, but it\u2019s possible to defeat this so that recording starts on any<\/em> selected MIDI track as soon as you click on the transport\u2019s Record button. I realize the default setting is there to prevent accidental overwriting of MIDI tracks, but personally, I find not having to arm a track liberating\u2014it saves time and makes the recording process flow faster. To do this:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n TEMPLATE FILES<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s much easier to write when you have a friendly environment ready to go as soon as you boot up. Sonar allows saving files with a special extension, .CWT, which indicates that the file is a template. When you open Sonar and click on the \u201cCreate a New Project\u201d button, you\u2019ll see a list of available templates including \u201cNormal.\u201d This is a special template, because it\u2019s the default template that will load when you create a new project (assuming you don\u2019t select a different template).<\/p>\n Odds are you won\u2019t need most of the templates included in Sonar, but will gravitate to a few favorites or create your own. Here\u2019s how to create a slimmed-down, more efficient templates folder without eliminating the ones included in Sonar\u2014you might want to access them someday.<\/p>\n Next, create some custom template files to populate your new templates folder. Analyze the type of tasks you do, and what would be your ideal starting point for composition. Template files aren\u2019t just about storing and recalling a particular number of tracks; you can set up particular configurations of virtual instruments, clock and sync data if you\u2019re using Sonar with various pieces of hardware, metronome settings, MIDI and audio data, and more.<\/p>\n After creating the template, you need to save it a little differently compared to the way you\u2019d save a standard file. Go \u201cSave As\u2026,\u201d navigate to your templates folder, enter the file name, and under \u201cSave as Type,\u201d choose \u201cTemplate\u201d or simply type in the suffix .CWT (C<\/span>akew<\/span>alk T<\/span>emplate).<\/p>\n As to what a songwriting template should include, you\u2019ll pick up some ideas from the following sections.<\/p>\n KICKSTARTING A SONG WITH MIDI<\/strong><\/p>\n If you use MIDI, then having a virtual synth with a large number of sounds available is a good place to start. That way, whether you want to lay down a bass line, play some drums, or work on chords with a piano, you\u2019re covered. And if you don\u2019t use MIDI to kickstart the songwriting process, then consider changing your habits: If you start writing a song with MIDI tracks, it\u2019s much easier to experiment with different tempos and keys to find the right \u201cfeel\u201d and key than with digital audio.<\/p>\n For example, transposition is easy\u2014just select All notes with the focus on the MIDI track, then choose Process > Transpose. Specify the transposition amount (don\u2019t check Diatonic Math) and click OK. Alternately, with the MIDI track open you can Select All and shift-click-drag all the notes to a different key.<\/p>\n To simplify working with transposed parts, if I have a chord progression in mind I\u2019ll lay down a chord reference track using a pad with a sustained sound. For these chords, I play only the tonic, third (major or minor), and fifth. Once the track notes follow the song, I quantize all the note attacks, insert the AAS Strum Acoustic Session plug-in instrument that comes with Sonar Producer, and use the MIDI reference track to drive it. This isn\u2019t because I want strums (I turn down the track volume), but because Strum Session reads out the chord progression as the song plays.<\/p>\n Strum Acoustic Session will read out the chords at its input. In this example, the notes correspond to E at the 7th position.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n When I transpose to try a different key, I don\u2019t have to re-learn the song\u2014just follow the \u201cvirtual chord chart.\u201d You can also enter more complex chords, but for the purposes of blocking out the song, major and minor are usually sufficient.<\/p>\n And of course, another MIDI advantage is that if you end up with a \u201ckeeper\u201d part but want to change instruments, or edit a few notes you didn\u2019t like, you can edit MIDI data easily\u2026or replace a MIDI track with a \u201clive\u201d instrument.<\/p>\n MIDI \u201cINSTANT EDITING\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n I always not advise doing as little editing or mixing as possible when songwriting. The object is to capture creative ideas fast, not tweak things. Also remember that Sonar doesn\u2019t have to be linear. There have been many times when I\u2019ve come up with an idea for a chorus and recorded that first. Group the clips, and then you can move that section around when you start working on verses and such.<\/p>\n However with MIDI, you might want to do editing for quantization so you don\u2019t end up overdubbing against parts that are out of time. The simplest solution is to insert a MIDI plug-in and let it do the quantizing\u2014you can always go back and do \u201creal\u201d editing when it\u2019s time to start editing and mixing.<\/p>\n MIDI plug-ins can apply \u201cinstant editing\u201d so you can keep on being creative.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n THE MIDI WORKSTATION: YOUR SONGWRITING PALETTE<\/strong><\/p>\n A multi-timbral instrument can really help the process of getting ideas down fast. Native Instruments Kontakt, IK Multimedia SampleTank, MOTU MachFive, and so on are excellent choices but don\u2019t overlook Sonar\u2019s own overachieving TTS-1. It has some excellent sounds that in some cases, I prefer over similar sounds from far more expensive products. It also requires virtually no CPU power; this makes it easy to maintain low system latency, which can be important if you plan to play acoustic or electric instruments in real time through Sonar. However, the TTS-1 also deserves some props for having several other useful features.<\/p>\n The TTS-1 has several useful options. Clockwise from upper left: the System settings screen is where you can transpose the instrument and limit polyphony, an output assign screen (with an additional Options tab) takes advantage of the four outputs, and it\u2019s easy to assign controllers to the level faders for the 16 channels.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The GM2 set has more presets than a standard GM set. For example, there are seven acoustic pianos instead of the standard GM \u201cGrand Piano,\u201d \u201cBright Piano,\u201d and \u201cElectric Grand.\u201d The TTS-1 also has four outputs, just in case processing, such as a tempo-synced rhythmic delay, is vital to a particular sound (although generally, I\u2019d advise not concerning yourself with effects too much while songwriting\u2014you can always deal with the effects later).<\/p>\n Furthermore, you can set up control changes for the various volume faders; if you have a control surface, it\u2019s easy to throw together a quick mix without having to spend too much effort. There are other goodies: You can specify a polyphony limit to guarantee minimal CPU consumption, and a Master Key Shift control allows transposing the entire instrument (except for the drum channel, of course) if you decide to change key.<\/p>\n Also note that the TTS-1 is quite editable\u2014just click on the Edit button above each mixer \u201cchannel.\u201d I realize that mentioning editability may go against the premise that you want things to move rapidly while writing songs, but in this case, the editing options are quite simple: Filter, tone, envelope, vibrato, and the like.<\/p>\n You can edit several parameters for any given instrument, thus making it more suited for a particular musical context.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Thus, if you like an instrument but need, for example, a more percussive sound, it\u2019s easy to do. And remember, you\u2019re staying within one instrument, so everything you might want to adjust is only a few clicks away.<\/p>\n And I can\u2019t resist mentioning a couple other favorite features. If you click on the System button, select Option, then click on the Options tab, you can tick \u201cLight Load Mode\u201d which saves even more processing power (and also allows th TTS-1 to work with higher sample rates). If while you\u2019re there you also tick \u201cEnable Phrase Preview,\u201d then clicking on the note symbol at the bottom of each mixer channel plays a little riff so you can hear the sound\u2019s intended usage. For more details about these features and others, click on the Help button in the TTS-1 screen\u2019s lower right-hand corner.<\/p>\n The bottom line is that while the TTS-1 may not get the same amount of respect as its more expensive competitors, don\u2019t overlook its talents as a hard-working songwriting companion that delivers a lot and asks for little in return.<\/p>\n TO MIDI FILE, OR NOT TO MIDI FILE?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you have a workstation in your template, it might make sense to have some tracks with MIDI files for drums, bass lines, or whatever. But be careful, as you don\u2019t want to box yourself in. I suggest having only a few MIDI drum tracks\u2014for example, a four-on-the-floor kick with snare for dance music, and a typical rock pattern for rock music. Treat these more as a glorified metronome than a \u201creal\u201d drum part, or you might influence yourself to do what you\u2019ve done before\u2014and you don\u2019t want to fall into a rut.<\/p>\n For something more sophisticated, Addictive Drums and Session Drummer 3 (as well as many other drum instruments, like BFD) include MIDI beats you can drag into a project for something much more inspiring than a typical metronome CLICK-click-click-click.<\/p>\n Addictive Drums is loaded with beats to get your rhythmic juices percolating.<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n This, and the TTS-1 with a particular multi-timbral setup already loaded, can be a part of your songwriting template file.<\/p>\n TRACK TEMPLATES<\/strong><\/p>\n Track templates save huge amounts of time. For example, you may like particular EQ and compression settings on your vocals, but you may also like variations on these for different mics you use. Although you can include tracks with these settings in your songwriting template, if you add too many tracks to the template you don\u2019t use, the template will end up being cluttered and confusing\u2014the opposite of what you want.<\/p>\n A better strategy is to save track templates for your favorite sounds, and load one at a time, as needed, into your songwriting template. For example, you might want to start off with a lead vocal track template as you start getting lyric ideas together, then call up a different track template for harmony vocals. Or if you use an amp simulator, create a track template with it sitting in the effects bin so you\u2019re ready to rock. Speaking of which, one of my favorite track templates is a multiband distortion template.<\/p>\n This multiband distortion track template brings in an input channel, four buses, 11 effects, and all necessary routing.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Remember that a track template memorizes not just levels, but bus settings, hardware settings (input and output), track parameters and icons, name, etc. The best way to build up a collection of track templates is simply to create one when you come up with a track setup you like. To do this, in Track View or Console View right-click on a blank spot in a track or Console channel and select \u201cSave as Track Template.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of all, you aren\u2019t limited to saving a single track as a template; you can save a collection<\/em> of tracks, which can optionally be contained in a track folder. To save multiple tracks as a template:<\/p>\n To save a track folder of tracks as a template:<\/p>\n You can load a track template from either Track View or Console View. Right-click on a blank space in either view where a track would normally sit, and select \u201cInsert from Track Template.\u201d Here you can choose from one of the presets included with Sonar, or a track template you\u2019ve created yourself. Having a collection of these optimized for songwriting will save you much time.<\/p>\n OTHER TEMPLATE CONSIDERATIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n Be careful to strike a balance between having enough templates to make your life easier, but not so many as to confuse the issue. I tend to use templates as \u201cpoints of departure\u201d that can be modified with a few mouse clicks. For example, rather than save track templates with different amp sim settings, I\u2019ll create one amp sim template and recall a preset from within it.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to create fairly general templates that don\u2019t force you into a particular sound. One of the joys of making music is the occurrence of happy accidents where you might, for example, pull up the wrong synth preset and find it works perfectly in a song. Be careful that you create templates,<\/em> not formats<\/em>; there\u2019s a big difference. To leave plenty of space for your creativity to flourish, let templates take some<\/em> of the work out of getting a song off the ground\u2014but not all<\/em> of it.<\/p>\n SCREEN SETS<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019ve dedicated three screen sets to songwriting; these are optimized for tracking, the console, and using the browser.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n OF COURSE, THERE\u2019S MORE…<\/strong><\/p>\n Anything you can do to get creating faster is worth it. Optimize your computer so it boots fast\u2014turn off all the garbage that loads at startup, and consider putting your system on a solid-state drive. Also, even though much of my work is done solo, I have an interface with lots of inputs\u2014not because I\u2019m going to be playing several instruments at once, but because everything is patched in and ready to use simply by selecting its input in a track\u2019s Input field.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a guitar player change your strings after<\/em> the last session, not before<\/em> the one you\u2019re about to start. And while the automatic tuning available on some Gibson guitars may seem like overkill, I have to say it really helps the creative flow to just push a button, strum, and have the guitar tuned\u2014and there\u2019s a side benefit because if a track is a \u201ckeeper,\u201d then I know it\u2019s in tune and won\u2019t have to be redone.<\/p>\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/noelborthwick.com\/cakewalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/quickmidi.png\" "\\"quickmidi\\"")
<\/a>It\u2019s possible to record MIDI tracks without having to arm them first, which can be a real time-saver over the course of a song.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>Tracking: This exposes all the I\/O, input levels, and track waveforms.<\/em><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Console: Although you\u2019re not going to be mixing much when you\u2019re songwriting (that gets in the way of your creative flow, you can use this for quick level adjustments. Don\u2019t forget the D command for toggling between track view and the Multidock.<\/em><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/a>Browser: I use this for dragging in loops, instruments, plug-ins, FX chains (another time-saver), etc.<\/em><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n