Working with Articulation Maps in Cakewalk Sonar

August 25, 2026 01:18

About Articulation Maps

Articulation Maps provide an easier way to manage performance articulations for VST instruments and external MIDI devices. Instead of manually editing keyswitches or MIDI events, you can organize and apply articulations directly from the Piano Roll view.

Articulations can be controlled using keyswitches, note velocity, CC messages, or MIDI channel assignments, making Articulation Maps compatible with many virtual instruments and sample libraries. This lets you focus on recording first, then add or refine articulations later for a faster and more efficient workflow.

Getting Started

Using Articulation Maps

Articulations are displayed in the Articulations pane at the top of the Piano Roll View, where you can add and manage articulations separately from your MIDI notes.

To use an articulation map:

Open the Piano Roll View and display the Articulations pane.
Insert an articulation from the Articulations pane.
Add the desired articulation map to the current project.
Select an articulation group.
Choose the articulation you want to use and click OK.

The selected articulation is added to the Articulations pane and is automatically applied during playback.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 812.

Editing Articulations

Articulations can be edited directly in the Articulations pane, allowing you to refine your performance without modifying the underlying MIDI notes. You can move, resize, merge, and reassign articulations, as well as edit their properties using the Articulation Map Editor.

Common editing tasks include:

Move, resize, or merge articulation events.
Reassign an articulation within the same group or to a different group.
Edit an articulation's name, color, MIDI messages, and playback behavior.
Configure MIDI channel settings, generated MIDI events, and MIDI transforms using the Articulation Map Editor.

Negative Time Offsets BandLab Membership

MIDI Transform articulations now support Negative Time Offsets, allowing articulations to trigger before their timeline position. This helps compensate for virtual instrument or playback latency, ensuring articulations are heard at the intended musical moment.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 815.

Create and Manage Articulation Maps

Creating an Articulation Map

You can create custom articulation maps for your virtual instruments and sample libraries, allowing you to define keyswitches, controller messages, and MIDI transforms that match your instrument's articulation system. Once created, an articulation map can be reused across multiple projects.

Before creating a new map, check whether your instrument developer or community has already provided an articulation map. Cakewalk Sonar also supports importing compatible Cubase Expression Maps.

To create an articulation map:

Open the Articulation Map Editor from the Articulations pane.
Create a new Articulation Map and give it a descriptive name.
Create one or more Articulation Groups to organize related articulations.
Add articulations to each group and configure their names, colors, and durations.
Define the required Generated MIDI Events, MIDI Transforms, or both for each articulation.
Configure the MIDI event or transform settings as needed for your virtual instrument or sample library.
Save the articulation map to the project. Optionally, export it to your Articulation Maps library so it can be reused in future projects.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 820.

Modifying an Existing Articulation Map

You can modify existing articulation maps to update articulations, groups, generated MIDI events, or MIDI transforms to better suit your workflow or virtual instrument.

To modify an articulation map:

Open the Articulation Map Editor from the Articulations pane.
Import the articulation map into the current project if it is not already available.
Select the articulation map you want to edit.
Make the desired changes to articulation groups, articulations, generated MIDI events, or MIDI transforms.
Export the updated articulation map to save your changes. You can overwrite the existing map or save it as a new .artmap file.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 821.

Importing Articulation Maps

If the articulation map you want to use is not available in the Articulation Map Library, you can import it into Cakewalk Sonar. Imported maps are added to the global Articulation Maps library, making them available for future projects.

Cakewalk Sonar supports importing:

Cakewalk Articulation Maps (.artmap)
Cubase Expression Maps (.expressionmap)

To import an articulation map:

Open the Articulation Map Editor.
Click Import.
Choose Import File(s) to import one or more articulation map files, or Import Directory to import all supported maps from a folder.
Select the desired file or folder to add the maps to the Articulation Map Library.

Note

If an imported map has the same name as an existing map, it will overwrite the existing version.

Tip

Some virtual instruments use different MIDI base octaves. If the displayed note names do not match your instrument, refer to the MIDI note numbers or adjust the Base Octave for Pitches setting in Preferences.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 822.

Exporting Articulation Maps

You can export articulation maps from the current project to back them up, share them with other users, or make them available for use in future projects.

To export an articulation map:

Open the Articulation Map Editor.
Select one or more articulation maps from the Articulation Maps in Project section.
Click Export and save the map as an .artmap file.

Note

If you modify an existing articulation map, you must export it to the Articulation Maps library to make the updated version available in other projects.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 823.

Using Articulations in Your Project

Applying Articulations

Articulations are non-destructive and remain separate from the original MIDI data. If needed, you can permanently apply articulations to a track, converting them into standard MIDI events.

You can apply:

Selected articulations
All articulations within a group
All articulations in a track

After applying articulations, the generated MIDI events are written to the track and the articulation events are removed from the Articulations pane.

Note

Articulations are automatically converted to MIDI events when saving a project as a Standard MIDI File.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 823.

Live Articulations

Live Articulations allow active transform articulations to be applied while playing a MIDI controller in real time. These articulations are echoed during playback but are not recorded into the track.

Live Articulations can be enabled or disabled from:

The Track Properties Inspector.
The Live Articulations button in the Piano Roll View.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 825.

Extracting Keyswitch Articulations

If a MIDI track contains keyswitches stored as standard MIDI events, Cakewalk Sonar can extract those events and convert them into articulation events.

To extract keyswitch articulations:

Make sure the required articulation map has been added to the project.
In the Articulations pane, right-click and select Extract Keyswitch Articulations, then choose the desired articulation map.

Cakewalk Sonar will analyze the MIDI data, match supported keyswitch events, and convert them into articulation events where possible.

Note

Extraction supports articulations that use generated Note, Control Change, and Program Change MIDI events.

Reference

For detailed information and step-by-step instructions, refer to the Cakewalk Sonar Reference Guide, page 826.