2011/12/28 23:47:02
patmc007
Ok, I've much experience in my bedroom studio with clipped signals and why not to do them.  So, in MC6, I'm keeping my eye on the meter.  I've laid a very basic drum track using the Cakewalk TTS-1 drum kit.  And no matter where I set my levels, the red lights at the top of the meter remain lit.  My hope is that I don't know yet how to read these meters.  Are steady red lights an indication of clipping?  Can somebody tell me how to read these lights properly?
 
Thanks!
2011/12/28 23:59:31
57Gregy
If it's in the MIDI tracks, ignore them. That's not really clipping; I think it's just a sign of MIDI activity.
Having level meters for the MIDI tracks kinda threw me a little. Seeing all that red made me nervous at first, but it's nothing. I'm trying to get used to it.
Now if it's in an audio track, or soft synth output track (which is also an audio track) that's an entirely different matter.
 
2011/12/29 08:14:37
Guitarhacker
It's been a long time since I have used TTS.... BUT... I believe if you open the TTS GUI there are level faders in the GUI. They can also be used to control levels coming out of TTS on a specific channel..... and they have the LED meter beside them too IIRC. 

+1 to Greg's comments. 


2011/12/29 08:50:44
Beagle
all MIDI tracks "hit the red peak" during recording and playback.  I don't know why it does that - it seems wrong to me. 
2011/12/29 11:10:46
57Gregy
it seems wrong to me.

 
Me, too.
All the years of audio recording... I see red and the panic button gets pushed.
But MIDI tracks themselves cannot clip. Is it in the MIDI track or soft synth track, Patrick?
2011/12/29 12:42:37
patmc007
So far I've only found it in the TTS-1 midi tracks.  I think the theory that this red light is simply an indication of an input signal is correct.  I too have been trained (albeit, self-trained) to panic at that red light, I'll have to retrain that thought.  I'll keep notice on soft synths as I proceed.  Anything I've recorded as an audio file has not yet been a problem.....so far!
2013/07/29 21:14:15
cparmerlee
I realize this is an old thread, but I am seeing this same thing, and I'm not sure that there was ever a really satisfactory answer above.
 
Until now, I have just set up "simple instrument" tracks (or used audio that was recorded on an external device and imported into SONAR).  Although the simple instrument tracks have MIDI, I believe the meters show only the rendered audio returned from the soft synth.  So I never saw this "clipping" before -- except when I was really clipping, of course.
 
The past few days, I have been working up the learning curve setting up routing for synths that can do multiple channels (TTS, Aria, Session Drummer, etc.)  And now that I have MIDI tracks separate from the synths, I am seeing those clipping indicators light up on the MIDI tracks, just as described above in this thread.  I don't hear any clipping and the audio tracks all look OK. 
 
But I don't really think it is acceptable (as a long-term thing) to say "just ignore them".  Clipping lights should not be showing if there is no real clipping.  I don't want to start another cycle of flame throwing, but it really would be nice to know if this has been accepted as a bug.  If not, I'd be happy to write up a bug report.
 
I am really wondering if those lights are actually intended to have a different meaning for MIDI tracks.  After all, the green "LEDs" don't ever max out, so it makes no sense for the "clipping" indicators to light up.
 
While on the subject, can I get some advice about using the MIDI tracks?  My intention is to have one audio track for each MIDI track (or possibly multiple audio tracks for one MIDI track in the case of drums.)  That being the case, it seems to me that I should plan to do all the volume, panning, and FX on the audio tracks.  In other words, I should set the MIDI fader at unity and dead center on the pan.  And I should not mess with any mixer settings inside the synth VSTs.  Is that what y'all would consider best practices?
2013/07/29 21:23:09
scook
Here is the explanation of the MIDI meters. The red portion is the activity indicator. The rest is the velocity meter.
2013/07/29 21:38:23
cparmerlee
scook
Here is the explanation of the MIDI meters. The red portion is the activity indicator. The rest is the velocity meter.

OK.  Thanks.  I SURELY wish they had made that blue -- or any color other than red.  What could they have been thinking?  Red lights at the top of the meter?  That always means danger, doesn't it?
 
Any thoughts about the best practices question in green above?
2013/07/29 21:44:05
scook
Never really bothered me. Context is important. MIDI data cannot clip. I would imagine there is an historical reason for they way they are. They have looked that way for years. Never pay much attention to the MIDI meters myself.
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