Control mapping on a Roland A-Pro500

[johnpeeee]

Hi,

Forgive me for a first world problem

I have the above controller keyboard and it’s set up how I want it to control Sonar the way I want BUT no matter what I do I cannot get Sonar to remember to load that control map at start up. It always resets the keyboard to control map 0.

I know it’s not the end of the world but it does drive me a little nuts.

Any ideas?

Thanks

John

[mettelus]

Quick question, are you using the A-PRO Editor for setting up the 500? It is more convenient to use that for mapping than inside a DAW (for most functions), and the default map (the keyboard will use) is either toggled in the keyboard itself or with the A-PRO Editor. Another aspect with them is they have two MIDI outputs, the first is generic MIDI controller stuff (keys, pitch, bend), while the other sends all of the control functions (knobs, sliders, buttons) from the keyboard to the DAW. Do you have both of the MIDI inputs enabled in Sonar preferences?

[johnpeeee]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

yes it’s all set up with the 2 different MIDI outputs etc.

when I power up the pc the A-Pro defaults to control map 19 which is the SONAR map which I have slightly tweaked with the editor software. As soon as I launch SONAR it changes the control map to 0. Ok it’s only a matter of turning a knob to get back to control map 19 but it’s an itch I can’t scratch.

[mettelus]

That is odd, I typically just use Control Map 1, but do not get carried away with anything inside the DAW. Do you have control surfaces assigned in Preferences->MIDI->Control Surfaces? The only other thing that comes to mind may be the File->Initialization File (since this happens on Sonar launch every time).

The A-Pro Editor actually syncs to the keyboard with MIDI, and while changing the control map doesn't appear to be assignable (I thought it was hardwired only), it may very well be included in any ACT data if you are using that as well. Both @azslow3 and @msmcleod may have better insight on this as they both understand Mackie Control and ACT far better than I do.

Edited Tuesday at 11:23 PM by mettelus

[azslow3]

I don't know if A-Pro source code is available (not in standard Cakewalk repository), so I can just guess. Most probably A-Pro surface plug-in switch the device to control map 0 during initialization. That make sense, to avoid support busy with questions like "I set up how I want it to control Sonar, but it doesn't work"   The plug-in is hard-coded to work with particular MIDI messages from all controls, when user change something that can break the logic.

If the source code is available (Mark probably knows), it is possible to avoid Control Map switch. Otherwise the only way is change corresponding byte(s) in the binary, but I can't found any MIDI protocol specification for A-Pro and I don't have the controller to find corresponding command (plug-in sends a bunch of CCs and SysEx at startup, I guess one of them is switching the Map).

[mettelus]

Thanks Alexey. I was curious about this still so started digging into the old forums (all posts with detail are 10-15 years old). This post ([UPDATED] Configuring Your A-Pro to Work With/Without ACT) seems to have the most detail of the ones I saw, with an interesting comment near the top on setting up a control map regarding this comment from above. 

On 10/14/2025 at 8:00 AM, johnpeeee said:

when I power up the pc the A-Pro defaults to control map 19 which is the SONAR map which I have slightly tweaked with the editor software.

The comment he made in that post was "Maps 1 thru 18 are fair game.  Sonar/ACT apparently uses map 19, so it might be best to avoid that one." He also made a comment (possibly in another post I cannot seem to find) that enabling ACT reset the control map to zero(??). The other two threads he made comments in are "Getting a Controller map for A-500" and "Anyone Use an A300/500/500 Pro as Sonar Control Surface?" in case the OP is interested, but my takeaway from those was to avoid using Controller Map 19 as that one seems to be reserved.

[johnpeeee]

Hi,

yes I’ve seen those posts from way back. To be clear the A-Pro works flawlessly as a controller. I’ve had it for several years and I’m pleased with it overall. I just thought I’d reach out and see if anyone had a solution to my little bug bear.

I had thought of configuring control map zero to the same as 19 but weirdly the Roland editor software shows maps 1 - 19 whereas the hardware shows 0 - 19 so that’s a non starter.

As an aside I have the control map set up in the A-Pro control surface plug in within SONAR but it doesn’t seem to load with the project. Once a project is open if I then open the plug in and load the preset the A-Pro loads map 19. It’s quicker to just turn the knob.

Thanks again for the replies

John

[Amberwolf]

Would it be possible to use a midi message filter (probably have to be in a secondary midi host wiht a virtual cable connecting the hardware port to it and then another vc to sonar), to filter out either all sysex, just at startup (manually bypass the filter afterwards), or to filter out the specific sysex that causes the change (once it's know which one that is). ?

[johnpeeee]

Hi,

thanks for the reply.

yeah possibly but way above my pay grade. 
 

cheers

John