MC6 - Cannot play more than one sound center instrument at a time - SOLVED

I've been using MC4 for a while, and I greatly enjoyed working with it. However, I was disappointed to learn that I could not install it on more than one computer at a time, so I recently went out and purchased the boxed version of MC6 to install on my laptop.

The installation went well, no errors or anything. I was looking forward to working with this new (to me, anyway, I know it's in MC5 as well) Sound Center soft synth right off the bat, but...

At the moment, I have two instances of Sound Center. The two have different instruments loaded is assigned to a separate track, and the tracks seem to be set up correctly - different channels, bank 0, correct patches, volume up, etc. When I play the song, however, only the first one plays. No strange sounds or dropped notes from track 2... just silence.

I checked similar topics for solutions and I figure it's one of three issues - I need to download an update, there's some setting I have set wrong or step I missed in the process of setting the file up due to being unfamiliar with the new interface... or my sound card isn't good enough. I'm using an Alienware M17x R3, which I figured would have high-end audio and video capabilities since it's a painfully-expensive gaming laptop. It seems I have both IDT and NVidia cards according to the Control Panel, although I don't know how to find out exactly which cards I have.
My driver mode is MME (32 bit) and my mixing latency is set to minimum, doesn't seem to help.

So, is there something I'm missing here, or will I just have to go out and buy an external sound card? Thanks in advance, and I apologize for bothering you all if the solution is something really simple and obvious.

I can set up multiple MIDI tracks with a CSC Synth inserted for each MIDI track.  Each MIDI track plays how the CSC Synth it is pointed to is patched.  This seems to me that I'm playing more than one CSC at a time.  Is this something like what you are trying to do or did I misunderstand your question?
 
Glen

gcolbert


I can set up multiple MIDI tracks with a CSC Synth inserted for each MIDI track. Each MIDI track plays how the CSC Synth it is pointed to is patched. This seems to me that I'm playing more than one CSC at a time. Is this something like what you are trying to do or did I misunderstand your question?

Glen

You nailed it right on the head! That's what I've been trying to get working.

OK.... first, you are allowed to install MC4 or any other MC product on more then one computer that you own.

I remember trying to install it on the laptop and it gave me a message saying that I could only use the license on one computer at a time... Then again, my memory could be off, it might've been different than I remember it. Oh well, too late now!
 

  Next..... Cakewalk Sound Center does not use the banks and patches. Open the CSC GUI by double clicking it or clicking it after inserting CSC into the FX bin of an audio track.

The GUI looks like a keyboard at the bottom with a list of type/subtype/and programs that are available to you in CSC. Select the proper type, and sub type then double click on the program sound in the 3rd column.



Let that sound load. Be sure the input and outputs are set up properly so it's receiving the proper midi data so it plays.

I loaded the instruments already through the method you outlined. However, I didn't set up the soft synths that way... I added them through Insert > Insert Soft Synths. Maybe that's it. At the moment I can't access my laptop, but I'll have to try that when I get the chance tomorrow. Also, I forgot to mention that in the CSC console, I cannot use the keyboard for the silent track. Some keys are grayed out, and the ones that aren't don't produce any sound. This might be fixed if I insert the synths properly, though. I'm not sure how the inputs and outputs are currently set up, I'll have to check that too. I don't recall seeing that option in the track properties sidebar, though. Does it only come with audio tracks or soft synths, I wonder, or did I just miss it? 
 
As for the banks and patches, I had a feeling it didn't use them but mentioned them anyway, just in case. I was actually kind of hoping there was a way to somehow insert multiple patches using the drop-down menu in the top left of the CSC console, seeing as I can save instruments to that, somehow. But another topic said I have to have one instance of CSC per track, so I suppose that's not possible. 

I'll try all of these things out tomorrow and edit this post with my results.

EDIT: Sorry, RobertB, I left this reply open for a while before posting it, so I didn't read your response until after that. I'll try changing the driver mode as well, and I'll see if I can figure out how to pair the synth and instrument tracks. At the moment, I just have simple instrument tracks. As for the keyboards, see my response to Guitarhacker above.

EDIT 2: Okay, I tried changing the driver mode, and apparently MC doesn't recognize my system's audio devices in the other modes, so I suppose I'll have to stick with MME for now. However, adding the synths as effects to audio tracks fixed it! ...for the most part. I can't hear loaded sounds on the console keyboard, and if I stop playing in the middle of a note and jump back to the beginning of the song, the note continues to play until it reaches the original point (easily fixed by clicking the "Reset MIDI and Audio" button, silly me!) Kind of annoying, but I'm guessing they're likely issues with the sound card/driver mode and I can deal with that until I decide to go out and purchase an external sound card or audio interface.

Thanks again for all the help, everyone! I really appreciate it!

You can add them as INSERT> SOFTSYNTH and it works too.

In the method I like to use.... I add a midi track and an audio track....it requires that I set up the routing of ins and outs properly. When you use INSERT SYNTH, cake does all the correct connections for you and you only see one track even though there are 2 tracks in use by the DAW. You must double click on the synth's name to get the GUI to open.

In some of my synths, I must change the synth midi channel in the GUI to the same channel I'm using in the tracks for it to sound properly.

Huh... I've been using the Insert>Soft Synth tracks wrong. I always thought they had to be their own track and then a separate track had the synth assigned as the output. But the track actually functions as two tracks, so I can just put MIDI data on the inserted track? *Tries it* well I'll be darned... And it looks like I can create paired tracks like Robert's in the Insert Soft Synth Options.

Also, I just realized that I've had my inputs and outputs set correctly all this time: I thought I/O were something else, but I just realized they're the drop-down menus above the channel, bank and patch ones. And on a similar note, I just figured out that I have to toggle the audio engine before I can test the keys when the song isn't playing. So, sorry about that!

Well, it seems like everything's working for now, so I'll go ahead and mark the topic as solved. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, you all have my gratitude!