SOLVED!!! - Notes stopped on my midi songs

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Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

Hi, if I play Synthesia songs there are no problems but if I play a midi song made by me on a DAW (Cubase) something strange happens.
When I press the key the note sounds but ends immediately no matter how long I hold it down. If, on the other hand, I try to play a note at a time when there is no incoming note then it plays correctly for as long as I hold the key down.
What can it be?
ps: on the Synthesia owned by a friend of mine, my midi songs play correctly.
Thank you
Last edited by Giulimusico on 03-14-22 4:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

Nobody has some ideas?
Bavi_H
Posts: 116

Post by Bavi_H »

Hello. If I or someone else can recreate the issue, we might be able to find the cause. Could you provide any of the following information?
  • Are you using Synthesia's loop function?

    What keyboard are you using?

    In Settings, Music Input, which devices are enabled?

    In Settings, Music Output, which devices are enabled?

    What version of Synthesia are you using? (The version is shown in the bottom right corner of the main menu screen.)

    What operating system are you using Synthesia on?

    Can you share a small example MIDI file that has the issue?
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

Thank you Baci_H for your time.
So:
Are you using Synthesia's loop function? NO

What keyboard are you using? Arturia KeyLab 88 Essential

In Settings, Music Input, which devices are enabled? Arturia KeyLab 88 Essential

In Settings, Music Output, which devices are enabled? Built-in- MIDI Synthesizer

What version of Synthesia are you using? (The version is shown in the bottom right corner of the main menu screen.) 10.8.5687

What operating system are you using Synthesia on? From today Monterey but until yesterday Big Sure

Can you share a small example MIDI file that has the issue? How can? I don't now where the Synthesia midi songs are in my MAC. But just few of them are all right, as "London Bridge", "Amazing Grace", Chopsticks,
Bavi_H
Posts: 116

Post by Bavi_H »

Hello again Giulimusico. Thanks for the information.

In the first post, you said the problem only happens if you play a MIDI song you made yourself in a DAW (Cubase). I was hoping you could make a small MIDI file that has the problem and attach it to a post here.

If we can focus on a specific MIDI file and a specific note in the MIDI file that is having the issue, maybe I or someone else here can investigate it in more detail and figure out what is causing the problem.
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

I wrote this because I had not yet seen that the same thing happened on many songs supplied with the program.
But not all of them, however, and the songs I wrote in fact the problem does not occur. So it is not necessary to send my other songs, because it also happens on those provided with the problem.
I add that even if I record a piece directly with Synthesia the problem of the blocked notes remains
Bavi_H
Posts: 116

Post by Bavi_H »

Okay. Can you provide the name of a specific Syntheisa internal song and a specific note in that song that has the problem? If we compare a problem song and a working song, maybe we can find some pattern causing the problem.

By the way, if you want to see the MIDI files for Synthesia's internal songs, I don't have a Mac, but I believe you can do the following:
1. Go to your Applications folder.
2. Right-click on the Synthesia app and choose "Show Package Contents".
3. If you look around in there, you will find a music.zip file that contains MIDI files for all of Synthesia's internal songs. You can copy that file to another location to look at it. Be careful not to modify anything inside of the Synthesia app package contents as that might mess up Synthesia.

(On Windows, I can use 7-Zip to look inside the Synthesia.exe file and then look inside the MUSIC resource, which is a zip file that contains MIDI files for all of Synthesia's internal songs.)


Other notes:

I read through the Arturia KeyLab Essential manual, but so far, I don't see any settings that could cause a problem.

I think we should try to investigate differences between a problem song and a working song. But if we can't find any clues that way, here are some other ideas we might also try later:

A. Look over your Synthesia settings and have your friend look over their Synthesia settings. If you find one of the settings is different maybe that might be causing a problem?

B. Would you like to use MIDI Monitor (download) to see what data your Arturia KeyLab Essential 88 sends when you press a keyboard key? Maybe we might notice something that could be causing a problem in Synthesia.
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

Thank you so much for the answer.
I had also tried to delete the app, re-download it and install it but actually, by not physically installing anything, nothing has changed.I found the songs in the music.zip file, thanks (it's a strange system in fact, that is a program that reads files from a zip folder, though ...). I also don't think it's the keyboard's fault because it works great with Cubase or other stand alone programs.
The problem does NOT occur on songs like "London Bridge", "Amazing Grace", "alouette", "Chopsticks", "London bridge", while it occurs on ALL the notes of other songs like Fur Elise (both versions ), "We three Kings", "A la claire fontaine".
If we look by category, all those of the "Easier" category are ok, some of the cat. "Easiest", some of the "Easy", none of the "medium", none of the "Hard", none of the "Harder", some of the cat. "Classic, and none of the" Exercises ".
I also tried to compare with a friend of mine, who sent me all the screenshots of him, which works great.
I have tried MIDI monitor but the "Note ON" and "Note off" are sent correctly when I press the key and when I release it. So the keyboard shouldn't be the cause. It would appear that the program interprets an arbitrary "note off" before I have released the key again.
Thanks anyway for helping with an issue that is getting a little frustrating.
Nicholas
Posts: 13135

Post by Nicholas »

Giulimusico wrote: 02-28-22 6:39 amIt would appear that the program interprets an arbitrary "note off" before I have released the key again.
A good way to rule out whether your MIDI controller has anything to do with it would be to switch to the virtual (typing) keyboard and see if the same thing happens.

Do you have your KeyLab connected via USB or MIDI adapter? It's not usually as consistent as you're reporting, but low-quality USB-MIDI adapters have a nasty habit of generating spurious MIDI messages that could be causing this sort of thing.
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

I tried to change controller (a Micro Key Korg) and to play with the MAC keyboard but the problem is still the same.
At least we know it's not an input problem.
I'll never get out ...
Bavi_H
Posts: 116

Post by Bavi_H »

On the settings page for Built-in MIDI Synthesizer, if you go into the Key Lights setting page, what option is checked?

Can you ensure the Key Lights setting is Off and see if that resolves the issue?


More Information:

I found this example YouTube video (link starts at 7 minutes 15 seconds) which shows an example of what the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" settings page looks like for the Mac 10.6.5335 version of Synthesia. This video shows the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" set up with the Key Lights setting of "Finger-based channel". When the presenter plays his keyboard in the game mode, the notes are ended immediately after they begin.

The main topic of the video is about something else (setting up a script that converts Synthesia's MIDI output to work with the key lights of a specific keyboard brand), but I believe the output to the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" is unaffected by the rest of the configuration shown in the beginning of the video.

The Windows version of Synthesia uses BASSMIDI for the built-in synthesizer and the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" settings page has slightly different options than any of the other Music Output devices. In particular, there is no "Key Lights" setting available on the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" in the Windows version.

In the Mac version of Synthesia, it looks like the "Built-in MIDI Synthesizer" settings page has all the same settings available as any of the other Music Output devices.

For testing purposes on my Windows 8.1 computer, if I use another output device (like "Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth") and I change the "Key lights" setting to "Finger-based channel", then the following two songs behave as follows when I played them in the game mode of "Practice the Melody, Right Hand":

Alouette: the notes play correctly
Für Elise (Easy): the notes are ended immediately after they start

This suggests to me that the "Key lights" setting in the Mac version's "Built-in Synthesizer" settings is probably the cause of the problem.
Giulimusico
Posts: 9

Post by Giulimusico »

BINGOOOOO !!!
You are great!
I had never explored this part of options and frankly I have not yet understood what these key lights refer to (light of the keyboard?) but now I have finally solved it and I have to thank you very much for your kindness, availability and above all for not leaving me at the mercy of events.
Heartfelt thanks again.
Mauro
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