stump the chump midi issue

[Greg Graves]

If I play the track containg previously recorded MIDI data, the keyboards work fine. 

If I depress a key on the controller while viewing the Piano Roll, the depressed key changes from white to gray ... which indicates (to me) that the controller is properly sending and CWbB is receiving.  However, the recipient MIDI software makes no sound.   This is happening on all my soft synths.

I've spent 2 hours trying to resolve issue via Preferences and the soft synths themselves, but to no avail.

I've been using this software for over 20 years and never had this problem, thus this post.

 

[Greg Graves]

If I hit Record, and mash keys on the controller, the MIDI data is updated, and the soft synth plays.  I guess the problem is that the soft synths receive data but don't output audio.

[OutrageProductions]

Echo input on the VSTi in question? 

[Amberwolf]

38 minutes ago, Greg Graves said:

If I play the track containg previously recorded MIDI data, the keyboards work fine. 

If I depress a key on the controller while viewing the Piano Roll, the depressed key changes from white to gray ... which indicates (to me) that the controller is properly sending and CWbB is receiving.  However, the recipient MIDI software makes no sound.   This is happening on all my soft synths.

36 minutes ago, Greg Graves said:

If I hit Record, and mash keys on the controller, the MIDI data is updated, and the soft synth plays.  I guess the problem is that the soft synths receive data but don't output audio.

You reference "keyboards", "recipient MIDI software", and "soft synths" separately, but it sounds as if you are using them all to refer to the same thing.  If this is not true, please explain what you mean by each one, specifically. (it might make a difference to the troubleshooting)

If they do all refer to the same thing, then it means that the soft synths *do* output audio, but only from clips/notes already on the track(s).  If that's not true, please explain the specifics.

If these are both true, then the only thing I can think of offhand is that input echo is not turned on for the tracks, or something has gone wrong and IE is not working.

Without IE, data will record to the track, and play from it, but it will not be passed directly from the input to the output for live playback of that input. 

 

Edited Wednesday at 09:35 PM by Amberwolf

[Greg Graves]

Ok, midi echo was off on all midi tracks.  I don't recall having to activate/deactivate midi echo in the past.  I recall that ONLY the soft-synth located on the selected track played, not all of them that had 'midi echo' enabled.   Seems like an extra step to deal with.

I get how to work this (now, thanks) but this seems to be some change in software (???). 

attached audio file is from my Two Worlds album from Five Foot Wall band.

[Greg Graves]

OH!  "Always echo selected MIDI track" in Preferences fixes that issue.  Don't know how that setting got changed..........

[OutrageProductions]

Glitches can occur in the Prefs for no known reason on occasion.

My favorite excuse is that the nutrinos that are constantly bombarding the planet can bob through your computer and change a bit in storage without warning. 😁

[Amberwolf]

4 hours ago, OutrageProductions said:

My favorite excuse is that the nutrinos that are constantly bombarding the planet can bob through your computer and change a bit in storage without warning. 😁

While the neutrinos probably don't do it, there is plenty of particulate radiation that does this sort of thing every day all over the world, from cosmic rays (fast protons, etc) that hit the atmosphere and release multiple further particles that shower down and scatter (some of which trigger lightning, etc).  

It's more and more of an issue as we make smaller and smaller circuits, especially memory devices, as it becomes easier and easier for a single tiny particle to have enough energy after it makes it thru all the solids to hit the silicon and either change the charge on a memory cell, or actualy damage it.   

[Sock Monkey]

I better put on my tinfoil hat! 

[Amberwolf]

It'll have to be a little thicker than that.

AFAICR, a large volume of water or liquid hydrogen would do a better job than metal shielding (don't recall why).

 

It's easier and cheaper and smaller to minimize the issue by using three systems, all of which always perform every operation the same way at the same time, with a "voting" (output matching) system that takes a minimum of two identical results to allow an output from the system.  It is virtually impossible for them all to get the *same* error, at the same time, from a radiation-induced event, so there should never be a fault from that. 

If there's enough radiation you could get errors in more than one of the three, causing the operation to have to be redone, and with enough events it could cause delays in system response...but a system without the triplication would just be crashing or otherwise erroring all the time instead, so.... 

 

I don't recall the statistics for radiation events at the surface of the planet, but it's pretty low.  Since most events pass right thru the matter they enter without hitting anything, the number of events that cause problems is even lower.    In areas with planetary magnetic field anomalies and degradation (south pacific for instance) it's higher by quite a bit, and can actually be a serious issue (IIRC some satellites have to shut down when passing thru the SPA area); it can be more of an issue in the north and south magnetic pole areas as well (for the same reason--particulate radiation is channelled via the field down to the surface, which is what causes the auroras).    

But...even at the lowest, it can still cause glitches in computer / etc operation.   

 

 

Another likely cause of glitches, that you cannot shield against or do anything about, is quantum effects, including quantum tunneling.  These also have more effect the smaller the components are; they are one reason that there is a limit to how small/compact we can make devices.