Subject:Getting MIDI tracks to play VSTis

Posted by: mosspa

Date:4/19/2006 3:30:09 PM

This may have been asked before, but I went back 500 or so topics and haven't found it. Anyway, I finally got ACID 6 installed this morning. I loaded an old ACID 4 project and decided I'd like to add a VSTi track to it. I managed to get the VSTi loaded in a mixer slot, and set all of the option parameters so that the VSTi could be heard through the mixer when played by my external MIDI keyboard. I then inserted a MIDI track and set the MIDI in to that track to come from the keyboard I am playing the VSTi with. I record armed the MIDI track, hit the transport record button, and proceeded to create a MIDI track. All of that worked flawlessly and was an intuitive process. I could see the MIDI track was there, and I even went in to look at it in the piano-roll editor. My difficulties arose when I tried to get the MIDI track to play the VSTi.

I had the ,pdf manual open and went through all of the steps. I selected the output of the MIDI track to be the VSTi. I unarmed the record on the MIDI track. This is where the manual stopped being helpful. In one place it says that if you double click on the little square on the mixer strip that has the number in it, you will be able to set attributes of that mixer strip. I never got this to work. I then searched throught the MIDI section of the manual and could find nothing of any use for the problem I am having. Same thing for the VSTi section.

I have been using both Sonar and Cubase, and I am pretty sure I know what I am trying to accomplish. What more should there be than just seting the output of the MIDI track to be the VSTi you want it to play? Clearly, I am missing something.

Moss

Subject:RE: Getting MIDI tracks to play VSTis

Reply by: randygo

Date:4/19/2006 4:00:56 PM

Yes, it is a little confusing. I would double-check the MIDI output channel.

However, it think there may be a few bugs lurking in there as well. Last night I recorded two MIDI clips on the same track. One played, and one didn't! I tried everything I could think of to get the one that wasn't playing to play, finally I just nudged the first note in the clip a bit and then suddenly the whole clip started working, Very weird.

I'm not sure if this problem is related to the same known issue with VSTis that require a host clock. Earlier in the session I was trying to use FL Studio as a VSTi. I knew it couldn't play patterns as a VSTi, due to the Acid bug, but I thought I could at least use its instruments. When I created a MIDI track for it a clicked on the track header I could play my keyboard and hear the expected instrument sound. However, as soon as I clicked in the timeline for the track the instrument would quit sounding. Clicking back on the track header the instrument would still not sound. Clicking on another the track and then reclicking on the track header let the instrument sound. But any timeline operation would silence it again. Frustrating.

Another thing I vaguely recall doing during another session was accidentally inserting FL Studio twice and getting some error message to the effect of "You can not run more than one instance" and then having Acid quickly crash on me. I can't say if this is a problem with FL Studio or Acid at this point. I'll have to try a repro and report the problem when I have the time.

Cheers,

Randy

Subject:RE: Getting MIDI tracks to play VSTis

Reply by: alltheseworlds

Date:5/20/2006 10:19:19 PM

I am also having this problem. Can't get Vanguard MIDI tracks to play. I can record them, edit them, play them with my MIDI keyboard - they just won;t play back.

On the other hand, StormDrum MIDI tracks work fine....

Subject:RE: Getting MIDI tracks to play VSTis

Reply by: miquel

Date:5/21/2006 12:00:03 AM

Here Vanguard can playback Midi Tracks.

Subject:RE: Getting MIDI tracks to play VSTis

Reply by: JohnnyRoy

Date:5/21/2006 6:22:56 AM

There are three things to check. Make sure that not only the MIDI Output is connected to the VSTi but that the Output MIDI Channel is set to the channel the VSTi is listening to. (The MIDI input channel does not affect playback)

So the checklist is:

1. VSTi MIDI channel is set properly
2. MIDI Track Output is assign to VSTi
3. MIDI Track Output MIDI Channel matches VSTi MIDI Channel in step 1.

If that doesn’t work you may have found a bug. :(

~jr