(musTh625) using software instruments in digital performer

Brief, outline posts for some important topics.

Software instruments operate like insert effects in Digital Performer (and other DAWs). They are an effect in a special type of track, an instrument track. Instrument tracks require a MIDI track set to send information to the software synth.

The basic setup:

• Go to the Project menu, Add Track | Add Instruments…. Don’t use the Add Instrument Track command. 
• In the resulting window, choose to add 1 instrument track, Absynth 5 Stereo, and at least 1 MIDI track assigned to instrument. I usually choose to put the tracks in a track folder for organization.

This will create your instrument track and a MIDI track assigned to send its output to the instrument track. When the MIDI track is record-enabled, it will echo incoming MIDI to the instrument track.

You can record MIDI data if you hit record on the transport.