Aria player keeps going to about 5% of its normal volume

I had some problems in the past with Aria - but it was mostly due to misunderstanding. I do know that Aria uses the mod wheel as a volume/expression control - they recommend not using CC 11 (expression) or CC 2 (breath) at the same time as things could get hairy.

The problems that I had were related to volume were having a CC 11 at the start of the midi I was using which would override the mod setting whenever I stopped. I also misunderstood the meaning of the 'zero controllers' setting in the project midi settings dialog. I learned a lot by examining the event list view and checking for codes which modify volume.
 
Another thing to check for is to make sure you don't have any automation which can modify things as well. In fact, having both automation and hard events in the event view can be a recipe for disaster - since both can modify the same parameters. (There is a way to take the midi controller events and import them into an automation lane...but that is another topic..)

I deleted all the controllers other than velocity and it still had this problem.  I gave up on that and switched over to Dimension Pro, which is working pretty well for the solo violin and cello lines I'm fiddling with (bad pun intended) -- and Dimension is not having any problem with that MIDI file.  I still think there is probably something in the MIDI that Aria doesn't like, but I can't mess with that right now, as this is for a funeral on a tight schedule.

Thing only thing left it could be is automation if there's no midi codes modify it, or some cross wired patch in from another track.......
 
Next time you're free and you run into this, gives us a shout - I'm sure if I looked over the midi/project I could get to the bottom of it..

The mod wheel seems to always reset to 0 for some reason on Aria (for me).  This will control your volume, so make sure to put in a mod wheel event at the start of the track, or simply open the player and make sure it is up when you playback
 

wizard71
Did you try freezing the synth? I say that because I had an instance where my ARIA would suddenly decide to play very loudly indeed, despite nothing being different. It would happen on the first or second playback for instance when other playbacks would be at the correct volume. Freezing the synth allowed me to guarantee the volume on playback.

I didn't freeze these tracks because I was in the process of editing the MIDI when the problem kept occurring.  If I had ever been able to finish editing, I am confident that freezing would have preserved the volume.  I freeze whenever I can because my system isn't very fast.

As another Aria user (GPO), the "Zero controllers" preference is the one.  When checked on, that pref will reset the modulation CC to "zero", which in Aria terms is no volume.   If you have a keyboard controller with a modulation wheel just push it forward and the Aria volume should return - in fact, you should be able to watch the value change in the Aria interface.  Once you have the values for each channel set, they should remain that way as long as the "Zero controllers" pref is unchecked.

I think my problem may be something different from that setting -- probably a more basic lack of knowledge about using controllers.  Today I got myself really hosed up on that same project, with the MIDI running into Dimension.  Everything was almost exactly the way I wanted it, but I wanted to put a decrecendo on the final French horn chord.  As I was already working on the MIDI velocities, I figured I could do the decrecendo by adding a controller for "volume".
 
That actually worked, but proved to be far too tedious to get a smooth curve.  I thought I would wipe out the volume values and just use fader automation on the WAV coming out of the synth.  I deleted that whole volume controller in the MIDI window (while the velocities remained as usual.)  As soon as I did that, the whole track went silent.  And now I couldn't see any of that volume information.  I had to create a new MIDI track and cut paste all the notes into that (without any volume information), and then it was fine again.
 
Obviously I made a wrong turn along the way.
 
Another related question.  That original MIDI file that caused my Aria problem seemed to have 4 different controllers (velocity, sustain pedal, and a couple of others.)  All I really wanted was velocities, and I needed to edit them to give it a more human feel.  But with 4 controllers in the piano roll view, the velocity bars are about 4 pixels high, and cannot effectively be edited.  I couldn't find any way to expand the velocity scale so I could edit that.  How do you guys handle that?