Some VST's Only Playing when Track is Frozen

[Stephen Power]

Another puzzle (for me) guys, please...

Some plugins, such as the violin runs in the Vienna Synchron player and some others that have 'effects' rather than notes, will pay ONLY ONCE when loaded.

Moving the now marker back and playing again (or closing down Cakewalk and re-opening it) results in silence.

BUT, if I freeze the track, it will play all the time. 'Zero controllers when stopped' is not checked.

Any thoughts on how I can get them to play without freezing - and why it's happening? Thanks for your help.

[Promidi]

Are both “MIDI Event Chase on Play” and “Include Note Events” selected?

[Stephen Power]

12 hours ago, Promidi said:

Are both “MIDI Event Chase on Play” and “Include Note Events” selected?

Yes, they are both selected. I assume that's correct? I've had this issue with a few 'instruments' that play complex 'events' on one note (such as the violin runs I mentioned and vocal sounds.) Although I'm still a beginner with DAW's I'm guess that must be the root of the issue, somehow? 

Edited October 15, 2023 by Stephen Power

[Promidi]

Yes, that’s the setting I use. 

When I start playback after a note start but before its end, the chase function searches back to play that note.

For me, this works for VSTis as well as outboard gear.

Maybe some VSTis need time to initialise before playing a note

Are you using lot's of controllers? Are there some where many controllers are happening at the same time?

[Stephen Power]

7 minutes ago, Promidi said:

Are you using lot's of controllers? Are there some where many controllers are happening at the same time?

Thanks again. I'm only using one controller at a time, it's a recently added Impact Lx25+, but I've had a similar issue with another VSTi with the M-Audio Keystation mini 32. Only the LX25+ and a Yamaha piano are connected to Cakewalk (the latter is not usually switched on).

I do have output on all tracks set to 'all external midi'>omni.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Stephen Power

[Promidi]

51 minutes ago, Stephen Power said:

Thanks again. I'm only using one controller at a time,.......

.....I do have output on all tracks set to 'all external midi'>omni.

When I said controller, I actually meant the Continuous Controller MIDI Events (CCs) in the MIDI track that is being routed to your VSTis.

I use a single external MIDI playback device that is multitimbral.  Each part responds to its own MIDI channel.   Each MIDI track that is routed to this external MIDI playback device is set to a spefici MIDI channel.

Even when I am using VSTi synths, I still set each MIDI track that is routed to said VSTi to a specific MIDI channel - especially if the VSTi is multitimbral (like Sampletank or UVI Workstation for example).  I try to avoid using “none” and I definitely avoid using OMNI anywhere.

[Stephen Power]

18 minutes ago, Promidi said:

Even when I am using VSTi synths, I still set each MIDI track that is routed to said VSTi to a specific MIDI channel - especially if the VSTi is multitimbral (like Sampletank or UVI Workstation for example).  I try to avoid using “none” and I definitely avoid using OMNI anywhere.

Thanks again. I have to admit that what you're your suggesting (and I appreciate it's the right way to do it), is still something of a black art for me. I'm quietly convinced I'll never be able to understand and/or do it spontaneously. 

The closest I can get, at the moment is to understand that I should set input to the physical controller and I'm doing that now - and will only have one controller 'active' at a time, to avoid confusion.

What I have noticed today (when some VSTi's would not play with the controller) is that the Controller Surface settings had changed - not for the first time, I've reset it about 5 times now. I had set it correctly, but going back into the page showed different controller names (LX61) and different output setting.

Then, when I'd deleted the old one and added the correct one it now shows the correct setting twice! See photos.

Any thoughts on how to set this correctly and for good would be welcome. I will also make a new post for this issue.

[Promidi]

While I do not use my MIDI controller as a control surface, I have seen other posts that seem to indicate that any MIDI port that is use for your control surface should not be used as a MIDI track’s input MIDI port.  Some MIDI controllers even have two MIDI ports - one that can be used for a control surface and the other as a MIDI track’s input MIDI port.  I know my PCR-800 does.
 
You might want to go a head and post this question as a separate post.