Importing Instrument Definitions
When you install Cakewalk™ or Sonar™, a few common instrument definitions are already
set up for you and ready to use. We offer many instrument definitions
for the Yamaha PSR series of keyboards.
Each instrument definition is stored in a file you can edit with any text
editor. These files have the .ins name extention, such as PSR340.ins. The name
is not case-sensitive, so don't worry about mixing upper and lower case in the
filename.
When you import an instrument definition, it is added to the master instrument
definition file master.ins. The contents of master.ins
determines the list of instruments that appear in the Assign Instruments dialog box.
To Import Instrument Definitions...
- In Cakewalk or Sonar, choose the Options-Instruments menu to display the
Assign Instruments dialog box.
- Click Define to display the Define Instruments and Names dialog box.
- Click Import to display the Import Instrument Definitions dialog box.
- Navigate to the file that contains the PSR instrument
definition you downloaded from this web site, "PSR540.ins" for example. Click
Open. In the new panel, Cakewalk displays a list of all the instrument definitions in the file.
Usually for a PSR instrument there is just one.
- Chose one or more instruments from the list and click OK.
- Click the Close button to close the Define Instruments and Names dialog
box.

The instrument definitions you imported should now appear in the Assign Instruments
dialog box as an item in the Uses Instrument list (see example below).

Using Instrument Definitions
Now that you have installed and imported your PSR instrument definition,
it is time to put it to use in your Cakewalk project.
Changing the Patch in Cakewalk's Track View
Using your instrument definition with Cakewalk is easy
and powerful. Start out by opening the Track View of your song. You
can make patch changes for any track in the view either before or
during song play. Let's try it with the song playing.
- Right click on any column (except Bank and Patch) in
the track you wish to change.
- In the popup menu that opens, choose Track
Properties to open the Track Properties dialog box.

- Find the Patch setting. This setting indicates which patch, or instrument,
is used by this track.
- To change the patch, select a new patch from the drop-down list.
Or, better yet, click the yellow icon button to the right of the Patch
window. The Patch Browser dialog box pops up.
In the window titled "Show Patches Containing the Text" type in a word
or phrase.
For example, if you
wish to see a list of all piano instruments for your PSR, start typing in
"pian". That's as far as you need to go. You'll see the list reduced to just
the piano voices.
Highlight one by clicking on it.
Listen to the change in voice. You can experiment with different instrument
voices until you find the one you want.
- Now click OK. The Patch Browser dialog disappears.
Your selection appears
in the Patch pane of the Track Properties dialog box.
- Click OK to save your new instrument for the track patch.
Changing the Patch in Sonar
Using your instrument definition with Sonar is much
more powerful than before. With the improved user interface, the expanded track
properties pane shows the same choices for which previous versions required a dialog box.
Now the properties are embedded in the Track View window itself.
Thus, from the Track View, you can make patch changes directly either before or
during song play.
- Expand the track properties to expose the "Patch" button and click its
opener icon. In Sonar 6 this is the triangle on the right end of the button.

- When you click the opener, Sonar pops up the list of patch names available
in the Patch Bank selected.
In the example above, the patch bank is 8066-Motif ES Pre 3 and for the Yamaha Motif
that bank will fill the popup with four columns of patch names, or, in Motif parlance, "voices." In our
example above, I have chosen Big Brite from the brass category.