Kris Krieger

Thanks! Abandonware isn't a problem, given the primitive level I'm currently working - most of my software probably qualifies For the price, it's definitely worth a try!

Oh! That strikes me as odd - I'd think they'd come to an agreement of some sort, since it would benefit both to make them *both* more accessible to both beginners and more knowledgeable people. The current disjunct is IMO completely opaque. Meanwhile, THANK YOU also for the info about "Next." I apparently have it downloaded and installed <!>, but I thought it was only for use on smart phones. The website touts Sonar as "good for beginners" but I'm now thinking I need to look at "Next", and see whether it doesn't shed some light on Sonar, which to me is utterly opaque. I'll also take a look at the SynthFont VST, thank you for the suggestion! especially the "inexpensive" part -- I'm also looking at a few "bottom tier" keyboards. Obviously I'm so far from being a "Pro" that I'm not even in the same galaxy, Heh! but music was always a part of my life and I've been missing it recently. So onwards and, I hope , upwards!

Ah-HA!! Thank you, Promidi! I found that under "Insert"/"Soft Synth". I still have to "fiddle" (no pun intended, especially such an awful one, but what the heck.... ) with the things I've downloaded, but this is definitely a First Step in the right direction! Especially since it helps me to know what's being inserted, Heh! Old dogs can learn new tricks - it just takes us a little longer to get past all the other accumulated clutter, LOL!

Hello! I've been looking and trying and I can't find the answer on my own, very possibly because I lack the terminology. - Anyway, I downloaded and installed Sonar just a couple of weeks ago. I have some MIDI files I had made some years back using "MusicTime" (that was way back in 1997, Yikes!); I can load them into "Crescendo" (a free notation program) and get them to play, but they sound *horrible*. - Well, I can also load them into Sonar Free; and I did find out via the Forum that "MIDI tracks don't play any sounds" because they're only instructions. OK, I can understand that, and that there's some sub-program in Crescendo (and similar) which "translate" the Midi Channel/bank/patch/description/whatever into sounds (even though the sounds are awful). - Oh, in case it matters, my MIDI input is set to "Virtual Controller" because I don't have a USB keyboard/"input device"...I looked at a few "budget" ones but don't want to spend my fixed-income dollars on something that might not even work with the software and so on... - ANYhoooo.... so, what I can't seem to find is, How can I link/connect/match/insert/whatever those MIDI in Sonar? I have to assume that whatever the other programs are doing automatically, has to be done "manually" in Sonar because there are so many additional "sounds", and ESPECIALLY, better *quality* "sounds", available. But I can't for the life of me find out how to use the MIDI track to "talk to" an instrument/"sound"/"audio" track to "tell it what to do". - - As I mentioned, I'm a total beginner with the whole "DAW" thing, but I'd really like to get my older compositions to where they sound at least *passably* decent, and even work on some new ones.... - I took a screen shot of what I've got going with the MIDI file but it's pretty huge, so I'll only try to post it if it will clarify anything... - - Thank you all for your collective patience! ADDENDUM: I did find this https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013179/I-cannot-hear-MIDI-playback so now I can at least hear the MIDI playback, but I still hate the "tinny" sound and would love to have something like the "BBC Full ORchestra" sounds instead, so still trying to figure out how to get the MIDI *instructions* to play through a VST3 Instrument..... - Thanks again!