First--is there an easy way to change noteheads on the tenor line staff for cross stickings w/o changing the sound?

Second--i have cakewalk homestudio 2002. I have no idea how to use it. i would like to utilize Sibelius, VDL, & kompakt with it to mix and record to mp3. can anyone tell me how to get started with it. i have messed around with it a little bit but with no luck at all yet. I don't even have a clue as to how to set it all up. thanks in advance for any help!!

Using Sibelius to playback VDrumline sounds will likely be a little different than using Cakewalk Home Studio. Since Cakewalk can actually host instances of Kompakt as a DXi plugin (I think), you can actually load Kompakt into a MIDI track (in cakewalk), open it, load instruments, then any midi on that track/channel, will play back the sounds. If you are working in the Sibelius environment, you'll likely have to have the sounds loaded into Kompakt in stand-alone mode, and then accessing Kompakt via virtual MIDI cables (maple virtual midi cable, or maple midi tools).

Here's what you should try. Write your music in Sibelius, then save the file as a MIDI file ('save as'). Then open Cakewalk, import that midi file, then load an instance of Kompakt as a DXI plugin. Load your VDrumline instruments into that instance of Kompakt, assign the channels in it and your midi tracks, and then you should be able to get the midi to playback correctly. From there, you can get mix volumes, edit velocities, add reverb, etc. Once it sounds the way you like, record the midi tracks to audio (in cakewalk), then bounce to disk as an audio file (.wav) which you can burn onto CD, or convert to MP3.

There should be a lot of documentation that came with Cakewalk to help you learn the ins and outs of that program. Personally, I don't know that program, but those basic concepts should be do-able.

good luck,
AB

Thanks Adam--I'm really busy this week--but i will try as soon as i get half a second. I'll let you know what happens.