MIDI volume wrong when Now time is changed

[Paul DeRocco]

In the latest Cakewalk, I have some volume control changes in a MIDI track which play fine. If I set the Now time somewhere in the middle of the song and start playing, though, it sets the volume to some default value, rather than looking backward for the last volume event, as the manual claims it does, or even just using the volume that was in effect when I stopped. There is no volume automation in the track's event list. Can anyone suggest what may be causing this to use the wrong value?

 

[Paul DeRocco]

Well that's strange. I have another track that begins with a Shape event, where the Data column says 0.80-0.80, the next column says Linear, and the time is way past the end of the song, and MIDI volume control changes work fine in that track, even when moving the Now time around.

I drew a similar horizontal line with a value of 101 in the automation lane in the malfunctioning track, and now it is working correctly. What is the relation of the Volume automation lane and explicit MIDI volume control change events? And what's the difference between a solid line in the automation lane and a dotted line? This is very confusing.

 

[Promidi]

In preferences | Project | MIDI > under "Other options" > "MIDI Event Chase on play" needs to be checked for the project to search back for controller events on playback.

Note: This is a per project setting.

[Paul DeRocco]

It is checked, and it does work correctly in some tracks. I added another track, which has a solid horizontal line in the volume automation lane like the working tracks, and it's exhibiting the bad behavior. I can't see any difference between the working and failing tracks in the Event List for those tracks. This seems like a bug, but I can't figure out how to make it fail, let alone make it work.

 

[Promidi]

As a test, I created a new project with a single track with just Rapture Pro, which I know responds to CC7 events.  I was able to get the search back (MIDI chase) to work correctly on this track.

With this track I created a simple 4 note sequence with a couple of different volume values for CC7 therein.  One of the CC7 events was before the notes started, another one was after (but before the end of the last note).  If I start playback after the start of the first note, the volume gets set correctly.  If I unchecked the "MIDI Event Chase on play", the volumes do not (which is expected)

Bottom line, it is working properly here.

[David Baay]

What is your MIDI Prepare Using Buffer value? New default is 50ms, I believe. If yours is much different from that, start there, and try values of half or twice that to see if there is any difference.

If there is no node defining the end of an automation envelope, it will show as a dotted line, and whatever value is set by the previous node will pertain indefinitely.

I'm not sure how Cakewalk handles conflicts between automation envelopes and controllers, but would guess it just switches momentarily to the controller level, and then back to the envelope level.

If you're not using  forced output channels on the MIDI tracks, make sure the controller channel is matching the notes.

 

[Paul DeRocco]

I'm using forced output channels, since everything is recorded on channel 1, so the Event List is all channel 1.

The buffer value changed nothing.

As far as I can tell, MIDI Event Chase on Play just doesn't work for me, at least for volume. I've attached a screencap of a short track. It starts with a Program Select on tick 0, an All Controllers Off on tick 1, and a bunch of controllers including volume on tick 2, and then the music starts on the fifth bar. There are no automation events. When I start playing from the beginning it plays correctly. If I start just before the notes, I get a loud volume, probably equal to the default automation volume of 101.

If I add an automation value of zero at the very beginning, it shows up in the Event List. When I start playing from the beginning it plays correctly. If I start just before the notes, I get the zero automation volume.

I tried an experiment with another control number, and didn't have a problem. It seems like Cakewalk really really really wants to have a volume automation lane, because even if you delete it, when you display the automation lane, it shows a dotted line with a default value of 101 for volume. And if you manually set that to zero, it sets it right back to 101 when you play.  That seems to override volume control changes when you manually set the Now time, even though there is no automation event to explain its presence.

I'm not sure what to do about this. When working on a sequence, I rarely start playing at the beginning, and the volumes are always wrong. I don't know what I'm doing differently from Promidi.

[Paul DeRocco]

I think ultimately that the explicit events and the automation fight with each other, rather than being added or multiplied in some coherent manner. My workaround is simply to turn off automation and pretend it doesn't exist. This means I have to do everything by drawing actual events, but given the available draw tools, that's not too terrible.