Z3TA+2.1

Hi, Just picked up Z3TA+2.1. Love the sound of it. But a lot of the patches sound different, sometimes very different, when triggered by a midi clip as opposed to playing the same thing on a keyboard controller. I've used two programs (Sonar and FL Studio) and two different keyboard controllers and get the same results. I don't get it????? Can anyone help? Thanks

No I don't. But let me explain further. All I do is pick a note, say F4. Hold it for a measure. Then put an F4 in the piano roll and press play. And the sound is different. Some are not triggering the lfo because the sound from the midi clip is the same as the sound I get from the controller if I set the lfo amount set to zero. On other sounds the midi clip will cause things to pan but when played with the controller there's a filter effect instead of the panning. Like mod sources are different from the controller and the midi clip?

I'd say its happening to some degree on about 40% of the patches I've tried so far. Some are just a minor effect others are more severe. Try using the Z3TA+ classic content/Arps/Arp two. That one's really obvious cuz the midi clip doesn't seem to trigger the lfo. Thanks!

btw, i am far from a midi expert, so i know how frustrating these kinds of problems are.  The only reason i answered is sometimes two heads are better than one  and nobody else has bothered to step in yet.

Some of the patches respond to velocity by changing things like filter cut-offs, etc. instead of volume like you might expect. Try changing the velocity of your note in the PRV and see if that changes the sound.

It does the change the sound (not the velocity) but I can't tell how. Resonance maybe? I appreciate you trying to help! My brain's fried and I've gotta go work for a few hours. I'll try more later and post back if I find out more info. Its just curious if you can't replicate the problem with the same patch I was using it seems like something weird on my end. But I've got two different programs that exhibit the same behaviour? Thanks

Yes that makes sense. I guess what I don't get is what is the difference between playing a note on a controller and placing that same note in the piano roll and pressing play. Why would Z3TA respond differently??? I mean I get the fact that lots of modifications are possible through midi but shouldn't the midi clip by default just be an exact copy of what the controller played? Thanks for the help and patience guys!

Hopefully I'm not leading this discussion off the rails by bringing up velocity. But I was using a preset on the weekend that was programmed this way. I can't remember the name of it, but it had "(vel)" at the end of the name to indicate it was doing something special with velocity. I don't know how many presets are like this, but I doubt it's anywhere near 40% of them ... so it makes me wonder if you're running into something else.

Regarding your last question ... I'm assuming when you say "placing" a note, you're talking about drawing it in the PRV. If that's the case, when you draw a note, it will have the default velocity (which you can change). When you play the note, the velocity will depend on how hard you press the key.

Or, do you find that when you record a note and then play it back, it sounds different?

For me it comes out identical.  i have tried drawing in piano roll, playing live and recording while playing and everything is exact. can you export the midi file?  if so, i will import and see if it sounds any different

You lucky dawg :-) I've got a midi file but the forum won't let me upload the file.

Two of the things I check when I record with a keyboard are making sure i have automation write and read enabled on the midi track i am recording to.  The other one is a cakewalk option in preferences/project/midi try unchecking the following two options (from the help file)
Other Options
●
Zero Controllers When Play Stops. If you choose this option, SONAR sets the controller values of the pitch wheel, the sustain pedal, and the modulation wheel on all 16 MIDI channels to zero. It also sends a “zero all continuous controllers” MIDI message which turns off other continuous controllers on newer synthesizers. If you experience frequent stuck notes when playback stops, try checking this option.

●
Patch/Controller Searchback Before Play Starts. If you choose this option, SONAR finds and sends the most recent patch changes, wheel events, and pedal events before starting playback. This way, all settings are correct even if you start playback at an arbitrary point in the project.

critter0107


... I was just wondering if there was some information being transmit by the controller that's not being transmitted by the midi clip. ...

I think it's got to be related to this somehow. But it's strange that you're getting the same symptoms from 2 different keyboards.
 
Have you tried recording a few notes from one of the keyboards and checking the event view to see if there's anything else in there?
 

Thanks for taking a look at my file! You rock! It really helps to know that this isn't just a bug with the synth. Thanks

wish i could have figured it out.  It's definitely not the synth.  i managed to get the wonderful stuck note bug, but otherwise identical.

There are midi options that can be turned on or off in you soundcard or whatever you use to get midi into your computer.
Usually you can turn off aftertouch. Sometimes the input bit depth can be limited to 11 or you could can controller information sent to a separate midi chanel.
If you are experiencing the issuse in two different programs I can tell you it isn't the program that's at fault.