This content is for an older version of Synfire. The current version is more streamlined and advanced, but most of the functionality shown here still exist.
The term "MIDI Drone" means that the Drone does not host the VST instrument itself (what's the usual way to use the drones) but only receives MIDI data from Synfire which then can be routed to a VSTi, which is directly hosted at the DAW. This is an alternative to regular Drones in such cases in which a VSTi can not be hosted at the drone itself for any reason.
To do that in Cubase, use the following steps:
- In Cubase load the "VST Instrument" CognitoneDrone (picture Cubase_Loading_Drone.png). If you are asked, if you want to create a MIDI track for this "Instrument", you can select "No" because you do not need a separate track for the Drone.
- Create a new instrument track. Choose the desired VST instrument, for example Halion Sonic SE and load the desired sounds into the VST instrument.
- At the input of the track choose "1 - CognitoneDrone - Midi Out". The little loudspeaker symbol at the track inspector or the record button next to it must be switched on which means that the track will accept MIDI input data (see "Cubase_Track_Setting.png").
- In Synfire create an instrument, select the instrument tab at the inspector and make the settings shown in the picture "Synfire_Drone_Setup.png": Choose Type: "Private plugin", Port: "DAW2: Cubase01" (or similar), select "MIDI Drone" and make the desired instrument settings (channel, program, ...)
