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Conundrum: what's going on ? ( iPad into Cakewalk )


scraf

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Hopefully someone with a better knowledge of cakewalk / midi  can explain this for me.

I have an iPad running Patterning 2 for drums via an iConnectivity Audio4+.

If I start/play Cakewalk with " Input Echo = On " for the drum track, the IPad reacts and I get to hear the drum track. I can then turn the " Input Echo " on and off and hear or not hear the drums.

However if I start/play Cakewalk with " Input Echo = Off " for the drum track, the IPad reacts but the drum stay muted when I click " Input Echo = On " for the drum track.

It's as if starting with " Input Echo = Off " is stopping Cakewalk recognizing the iPads " audio " feed.

This may well be all due to me not having the interface set up correctly, but should  it have something to do with the way Cakewalk functions, I'm all ears.

 

 

 

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Yep.

Testing out the various combinations will crash Cakewalk after a few tries as it goes.

It's no major drama, just interested as to why.

On a side note, interestingly enough the drum machine works even when the iPad is in sleep mode.

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, scraf said:

via an iConnectivity Audio4+

As I've never heard of this occurring with any external audio source connected via a conventional analog or digital input, I have to suspect it's something to do with the  way this interface is routing audio data. My first guess would be that it's not honoring Cakewalk's request to open the input port when the transport is running.

You might try enabling 'Always Open All Devices' in Audio preferences if it isn't already.  And check the iConnectivity documentation or online sources for relevant information.

Is Patterning 2 being driven by MIDI from Cakewalk, or is it playing an internal pattern and synced/slaved by MIDI to Cakewalk or...? 

Some clarification of the setup might help find a workaround if not a fix.

 

  

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The loop is programmed in Patterning on the iPad and is being synced by Midi from CakeWalk.

If I arm the drum track and record the " Input Echo " works as it should, and agreed, it will most likely have something to do with the way I am routing the Midi via the interface.

At least now I know my issue not standard protocol for CakeWalk, thanks.

 

 

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In general I try not to question the validity of a user's methodology when something isn't working as expected, but I am curious...  what's the use case for being able to toggle Input Echo on after the transport is running? I don't think I've ever had much occasion to do this myself, except maybe in the case that I just set up a new track and forgot to enable it, in which case I would probably be stopping and rewinding before enabling it anyway. 

Edited by David Baay
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User methodology is trying to get random synths etc., talking to one another using CakeWalk as the sync generator.

Had ( HAD ) been turning the Input Echo off on selected tracks to work on a sequence, was surprised when going to add a beat to it that CakeWalk wasn't recognizing the Patterning loops.

Had assumed that Input Echo wouldn't have affected the signal chain, just routed the sound, but many ways to skin the cat here.

 

 

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7 hours ago, MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) said:

Specifically, playing/recording while using a single usb keyboard channelizing midi data going to softsynths (1) by changing the sending channel on the keyboard and (2) by changing input echo tracks on the fly.

If I'm understanding the goal, I would  suggest you just set a unique Input channel on each track, and enable Input Echo on all of them. Each track will only echo  events arriving with the matching channel from the controller. 

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7 hours ago, scraf said:

Had assumed that Input Echo wouldn't have affected the signal chain, just routed the sound, but many ways to skin the cat here.

Okay. So it was more about being surprised that it didn't work than that you really need it to work. Normally it would, but, as you say, there other ways to to achieve the same end using mute/solo

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A few additional thoughts/clarifications: 

- My main point was that distinguishing by channels makes toggling input echos unnecessary. But if you're changing channels on the controller, there's no need to have a forced  Output channel to the synth; what's important is to restrict the Input channel, so that only one is recorded and echoed at a time (in the case of non-multi-timbral synths)

- If TTS-1 or any other multi-timbral synth is using all 16 channels of one port, the other synth tracks would need to use a different port in order not to end up being layered with a TTS-1 sound. Unfortunately, most controllers do not offer multiple output ports. At that point you do have to start disabling Input Echos or muting tracks.

- Most decent controllers can send on more than one channel at a time to address the need for layering  but not all make it easy to quickly select output channels from the front panel without going into menus, and many can only send on two channels at once.  

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25 minutes ago, MusicMan11712 (aka Dr. Steve) said:

my original reply was just to state that there are reasons why someone might want to toggle midi input on and off while the transport was running

Yes, toggling Input Echo  on MIDI tracks is a fairly common way to switch instruments during playback or live performance. But the OP was toggling Input Echo on audio tracks during playback, which is not so common, and is generally to be avoided because it requires making  a request to the driver to open/close the port, whereas using mute/solo is a software operation over which the DAW has complete control without depending on good behavior from the interface driver to get the desired result with the least latency, audio artifacts and potential system instability.

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100 % correct David, am now using various mute buttons along the chain, muting Patterning on the iPad if needed while recording, using the Cakewalk mute if just " jamming " or testing stuff,  or whatever - OP

 

 

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