1. Double click a soft synth icon in the Mixing Console window. The Soft Synth Properties window is displayed.

2. Click the Edit Soft Synth button . The Soft Synth Chooser dialog is displayed.

3. Select the DLS soft synth or VST instrument you want to use, or select the ReWire Devices tab and choose a ReWire 2.0 device.

If the VST instrument you want to use isn’t displayed in the Soft Synth Chooser dialog, you can use the Plug-In Manager window to indicate where your plug-ins are installed and scan for plug-ins.

If the ReWire device application you want to use isn’t displayed in the Soft Synth Chooser dialog, you can use the Plug-In Manager window to re-enable the plug-in.

In the Plug-In Manager, navigate to the ReWire Devices > Ignored folder to view the ReWire devices you’ve excluded. Right-click a plug-in and choose Ignore from the shortcut menu to clear the check mark and re-enable the plug-in.

4. Click OK to return to the Soft Synth Properties window.

   If you selected a VST instrument, the VSTi synth is displayed in the Soft Synth Properties window, and you can adjust the controls as necessary. If you selected the DLS soft synth, you can click the Open DLS Voice Set button to choose a DLS voice set.

   If you selected a ReWire 2.0 device, the Soft Synth Properties window displays information about the synth’s MIDI ports. Click the Open ReWire Device button to start the device (some applications cannot be started by a ReWire mixer), or select the Lock MIDI Port Configuration button to lock MIDI ports so the software does not lose port assignments due to dynamic changes from ReWire devices.

By routing soft synths to busses, you can create subgroups or use the bus to apply a single set of plug-ins to the subgroup of soft synths.

1. Add busses to your project.

2. Click the Playback Device Selector button on the soft synth bus control or bus track and choose a bus from the menu.

3. The button is displayed as a when a bus is routed to the master bus.

4. The bus letter is displayed (, , and so on) when a bus is routed to another bus.

Each soft synth bus control in the Mixing Console window can accept input from MIDI tracks and external MIDI devices. You can use your favorite controller to play a DLS soft synth or VST instrument for recording MIDI.

For more information about using external MIDI controllers, click here.

1. Double click a soft synth icon in the Mixer window. The Soft Synth Properties window is displayed.

2. Click the External MIDI Input Port button and choose a port from the menu.

   If the port you want to use isn’t displayed, choose External MIDI Device Preferences from the menu. The MIDI tab in the Preferences dialog is displayed so you can select a port in the Make these devices available for MIDI input section of the dialog.

This step is necessary only if the Auto MIDI input routing check box on the MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog is not selected.

If you’re using a VSTi soft synth, select the Enable button on the Soft Synth Properties window to allow real-time MIDI playback.

Your external MIDI devices can be routed to multiple soft synth bus controls and MIDI thru devices. Soloing an external input prevents your device from playing through other soft synths and MIDI thru devices.

1. Double-click a soft synth icon in the Mixer window. The Soft Synth Properties window is displayed.

2. Click the Solo Listen to MIDI Input button .

   You can select the Solo Listen to MIDI Input button on additional soft synth bus controls to add them to the solo group.

This button is unavailable if the Auto MIDI input routing check box on the
MIDI tab of the Preferences dialog is selected.

The contents of the Soft Synth Properties window will vary depending on the type of soft synth bus.

• To learn more about editing DLS soft synth properties, click here.

• To learn more about editing VSTi soft synth properties, click here.

• To learn more about editing ReWire soft synth properties, click here.