Midi track seems a bit muted, tehn breaks through

[229Mick]

First time using a midi track, first time using a new inexpensive Alesis drum kit, and my buddy did the track so I don't know how he set it up, but I played through it and I can hear the drums and cymbals, but they sound muted and with no high highs, and then every now and then it seems to break through and I get full volume of the track. What it reminds me of is the kind of sound you get when you've got a dirty potentiometer, and at items you get a particularly strong signal and it overcomes the attenuation and plays loud and clear for a moment...

I've done recordings before, from mics, electric guitars plugged into a USB input box, and used 'instrument' tracks with a cheap midi keyboard I have, and haven't had any problems, but I've never done a midi track, and it's the first time he's using the drums and I just don't know as much as I'd like to about the ins and outs of the software.

Any idea what might be causing the problem or things to consider or check? 

[bitflipper]

Try this as an experiment: create a new, empty MIDI track, open the PRV and hand-plant some notes. Route that to your kit and see if the problem is still present. If it isn't, then something in the recorded MIDI track is setting a filter or volume in the instrument. If the problem is still there, then there's something weird going on in the drum brain itself, e.g. a bad connection between it and the sensors.

If it's something in the MIDI data, open it in the Event View. This will show you what's in there, including things like CC events that can change volume or tone in the instrument.

My money's on something weird going on with the drums themselves. The drummer in my band plays an electronic kit, and when he first got it there were a lot of problems with intermittent hits. If the sensor isn't properly telling the brain what the velocity is, or if the MIDI data stream is getting interrupted (e.g. a wonky cable or a too-long USB cable) you can get all kinds of weirdness.

[Lord Tim]

^^ Good advice.

MIDI is just data after all, so it won't really "sound" like anything, it just tells the thing it's routed to to play that data. I'd find it very unlikely if it's something like a weird CC event or anything like that, given that it's described like a dirty pot and not something consistent. The only thing I can think of, in this kind of case, is the pedal position of the hats in a e-Kit have CC messages, so they could be being routed to the wrong place, but it's pretty unlikely.

What is the MIDI track being sent to? The kit itself? Or is it going to drum plugin?

[Bristol_Jonesey]

Do the drums always sound muted at exactly the same place(s)

If so, I strongly suspect something in the data

Check the velocities

[229Mick]

Thanks everybody! I've finally spent some time trying to work through this and found a couple interesting things. First, if I create a new midi track and just kind of 'draw in the notes, (i don't know the terms sorry!) I do hear the piano notes at correct volume. Also, I confirmed that the parts where it 'breaks through' are not consistent in any way. I.e. I'll hear it break though while playing, jump back five seconds and it doesn't do it the second time it plays through. Also, the 'level' on the track shows the drum strikes at full volume (and less on the softer strikes etc)

I also tried opening the track in 'piano roll - multiple tracks' view, where it shows two rows, velocity and CC:4-Foot Controller. In velocity it has several bars that are short or long and it appears to me that represents the actual drum strikes and their 'velocity' (?). I have the output set to a drum map that was i the list.

The weird thing is if I hit play, it plays through and I hear it muted. If I put my  mouse on the bars themselves and click on it, I hear the drum strike associated with it, at the right volume and clearly. So it seems like the data in the track is intact and 'right', but for some reason I can't play it back or monitor it clearly / at full volume. 

Any ideas? Thanks again all!

[John Vere]

Perhaps this might explain a few things that might help 

 

[229Mick]

Thanks I watched that and got some good background info, but didn't see anything that applies to my specific situation?