Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording

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Peter Lowe
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2017/03/14 04:55:53 (permalink)

Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording

Hi all,
I've just purchased Sonar Professional and have been slowly working through the features. While I'm a newbie with this version I have used other versions in the past (and in a recent tidy up found my original floppy disk for Cakewalk by Twelve Tone Systems :) ) so I'm not totally new to the technology.
 
Yesterday I tested MIDI recording for the first time with Sonar, as I've only been playing with audio recordings up until now. It was a brief single channel record which sounded fine as it recorded, but when I played it back it was overly sustained and just got worse over time. From the sound on playback I'm guessing all the sustain pedal down events recorded were sent to the keyboard, but none of the pedal up events were sent.
 
I looked in the MIDI event list and there were entries there for both Controller 64 127, and Controller 64 0, so it seemed like everything should be OK. I've checked the Controllers section on the keyboard and as far as I can see it is set to receive sustain events on all MIDI channels.
 
Can anyone suggest any hidden (or obvious to smarter people than me) settings on Sonar that could cause this?
 
My setup is: Sonar Professional (February 2017 version) running on Windows 10 64 bit, an ageing Ensoniq TS10 keyboard, and a Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 USB audio / MIDI interface joining the two together. I also have MIDI Through from the TS10 feeding into  MIDI In of a Boss DR880 drum machine, but can't see that being of any relevance.
 
Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks,
Pete.
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    promidi
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/14 06:09:57 (permalink)
    Maybe, for some reason, the Sustain up (CC64 0) events are not being registered.

    One thing to try is to increase your MIDI buffer.  Preferences | MIDI | Play back and recording and set the "Prepare using" to a higher value.  Mine is set to 1024

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    #2
    Peter Lowe
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/14 09:54:54 (permalink)
    Thanks Promidi. I bumped up the setting to 1024, but unfortunately it didn't make any difference.
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    promidi
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/14 12:07:41 (permalink)
    Are you using a VST synth as the sound source or the Ensoniq TS10?

    Windows 10 64bit fully patched, 16 gig ram . 
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    Internet always on.

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    ASIO mode. 24bit 48khz 256 samples 
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    Peter Lowe
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/14 21:17:45 (permalink)
    I'm playing back to the TS-10.
    Your question gave me an idea though and I tried playing the same recorded track back to the Windows GS MIDI engine, and it sounds fine. So it looks like the TS-10 is the problem, but I've been through every track and MIDI parameter I can find, and everything looks like its set to receive sustain controller messages - it's certainly receiving sustain on.
     
    It's not the end of the world as I'll probably record audio most of the time, but just frustrating me that I can't make it work as it should.
     
    Cheers,
    Pete.
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    xiwix
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/14 21:26:54 (permalink)
    Is Local off on the TS10? Does that make a difference?
     
    I'd tinker with local on/off and the midi echo settings.
     
    I love those Ensoniq TS boards.  I miss my TS12 regularly.
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    Peter Lowe
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/16 00:30:41 (permalink)
    I've tried playing with local off and echo, although I didn't expect them to fix the issue as the Sustain on is obviously getting through and working.
     
    Interestingly I changed the pedal assignment from Sustain to Sostenuto (Control Code 66) and made another recording which sounds right when played back.
     
    That leads me to be believe that all the software settings are fine, and for some reason the TS-10 is just not responding to CC64 Off.
     
    Maybe I should turn a negative into a positive and use it as justification to buy a new keyboard :)
     
    Cheers,
    Pete.
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    brundlefly
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/16 14:58:34 (permalink)
    Make sure you have Zero Controllers When Play Stops enabled in preferences. If not, CC64 can be left at 127 when you stop playback in the middle of a piece, and won't be reset until the next 'up' event arrives.
     
    Are you seeing this with more than one synth? There was a specific issue with CC64 and Synthology Ivory a while back, but that was fixed.

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    57Gregy
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    Re: Strange Sustain Behaviour in Midi Recording 2017/03/16 17:32:33 (permalink)
    Just for giggles, record a MIDI track with no pedal, then enter pedal events in the Staff view. Does the keyboard respond correctly?

    Greg 
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