Midi Playback Out of Tune

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bilo06
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2013/11/09 12:32:33 (permalink)

Midi Playback Out of Tune

I'm experiencing an issue where midi playback goes out of tune.
It happens at a random time while playing back a midi track or when playing keyboard live.
Once it happens, it stays.
 
I can make it happen by touching the pitch bend wheel on my midi controller.
 
I can fix it by closing the project or document and re-opening it.
 
This happens within Sonar, Finale, and EZKeys stand-alone.
I wasn't sure where to post this but I figured there were a few people in this forum who can point me in the right direction.
Thanks!
 
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7 Replies Related Threads

    brundlefly
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2013/11/09 13:26:34 (permalink)
    Sounds like your pitch wheel position sensor or return-to-center/spring tension has gone bad. I think SONAR zeros controllers on launching a project, so that's probably why re-opening fixes it. Try disabling Input Echo on a recorded track and see if that cures it for playback.
     
    If that's the cause, you can put a MIDI FX on the track to block Wheel messages until you can get the controller fixed/replaced. You can also put a flatline automation envelope on the track at zero pitch. I do this to set Modulation on some instruments.
     
    Or possibly you can disable sending Wheel messages in the controller setup.

    SONAR Platinum x64, 2x MOTU 2408/PCIe-424  (24-bit, 48kHz)
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    #2
    joden
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2013/11/09 13:34:53 (permalink)
    I  suspect there may also be some rogue Pitch Wheel data left embedded in the MIDI tracks. Unless the receiving device gets a wheel 0 command, it holds the last one it receives...Go into Event List and using the filter, close out all events except WHEEL - I bet there are some wheel events that have not been zero'd.
    #3
    brundlefly
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2013/11/09 13:52:55 (permalink)
    Good point. If the controller is sending random wheel events, some of them may have been recorded.

    SONAR Platinum x64, 2x MOTU 2408/PCIe-424  (24-bit, 48kHz)
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    #4
    bilo06
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2013/11/09 19:07:27 (permalink)
    I did some troubleshooting and came to the conclusion that the problem is a faulty pitch bend wheel in the midi controller.
    I literally took the midi controller apart (M-Audio Keystation 88es) and unplugged the pitch wheel.
    I've been playing on the keyboard for about an hour now and have not had any more issues.
    I never use the wheels anyway.
    Now I'm inspired again. Life is good.
     
    #5
    Music Monster
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2018/01/30 14:56:45 (permalink)
     I have  the same midi-plays-out-of-tune issue but I am not using a keyboard. I composed  the music in Sonar piano scroll view, note by note .However it plays back 2 notes lower than where it is composed. If I do use the keyboard(which does not have a pitch wheel (yamaha PSR-290) I ca plat a "C" note on the keyboard and hear it thru the keyboard speakers, but the noter I hear thru sonar earphones is a "Bb" . Also, the midi playback is a half beat delayed /out of sync with the audio tracks. The drum track doesn't seem to be affected. (not sure about pitch, since the notes are drums, but the beat in in sync. 
    #6
    bvideo
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2018/01/30 15:20:16 (permalink)
    Music Monster
     I have  the same midi-plays-out-of-tune issue but I am not using a keyboard. I composed  the music in Sonar piano scroll view, note by note .However it plays back 2 notes lower than where it is composed. If I do use the keyboard(which does not have a pitch wheel (yamaha PSR-290) I ca plat a "C" note on the keyboard and hear it thru the keyboard speakers, but the noter I hear thru sonar earphones is a "Bb" . Also, the midi playback is a half beat delayed /out of sync with the audio tracks. The drum track doesn't seem to be affected. (not sure about pitch, since the notes are drums, but the beat in in sync. 


    The pitch syndrome is likely caused by the sound card running at a different rate from Sonar's config, say 44.1 as opposed to 48KHz. The delay/out of sync could be that you are using a sound card with a driver setting with a very large latency. (So what sound card are you using?) But it could also be caused by the use of delay-inducing plugins somewhere in the project. Test that conjecture by clicking the [PDC] button.

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    #7
    Music Monster
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    Re: Midi Playback Out of Tune 2018/02/27 01:45:21 (permalink)
    I was not using a keyboard, just composing in the piano scroll window.
    I don't use a sound card, it goes  input and output thru the Tascam US-200 interface .  You guys talked about controllers, pitch wheels and other geekish stuff, none of which applied to my situation. (I'm running in ASIO mode @41000  or whatever the norm is. )
    I eventually found the problem - windows 10 update update had changed the Tascam drivers to the windows version. It took awhile to find the drivers  since my device is no longer supported, ( did a google search when the tascam site washed out ) but eventually found the 2015 tascam driver, deleted the windows driver and installed the tascam one. That solved the midi out of tune problem and  another quirk - when X1 was open and i tried to play an mp3 or wave in windows media player, that also would be sped up and a couple of notes into the chipmunk range. So I would have to close out X1 to use the other app. Reinstalling the correct driver seems to have cured that as well.
    Phil
    #8
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