John Bowen Synth Design

chapolin wrote:On certain sounds I have some problem with the daw midi connected when I record and play: suddenly when I play on the solaris keyboard or withe the daw, i have too time the sound. It stop if I push the button "Arp on" two times or if I set "Legato" off in "Home" 1/4 as it is is mentioned above in this thread.

Anyone having some strange MIDI problems, please contact me to get v1.2.1 OS.

info@johnbowen.com

On certain sounds I have some problem with the daw midi connected when I record and play: suddenly when I play on the solaris keyboard or with the daw, i have too time the sound. It solve the problem if I push the button "Arp on" two times or if I set "Legato" off in "Home" 1/4 as it is is mentioned above in this thread.

I need to adjust my last post, because i made a mistake, I tested to plug the solaris on my sound card (multiface II) but not my others synthesizers. Indeed they are plugged on a midi interface plugged on the computer with a usb connection. So it can not disrupt my computer system. So I tried to plug an other keyboard in the multiface with midi connection and the same problem appear.

If I connect the solaris on the midi usb interface all work fine :

solaris out ---> in M4UXT ---> ardour4 = work fine
ardour4 ---> M4UXT out ---> solaris in = work fine

If I plug the solaris with the usb connection, all work fine also with ardour4.

Just for info I have an opposite problem.

I use midi sequences from my daw (ardour4) to the solaris midi connected (with a multiface II) and it work fine.

ardour out ---> solaris in = work fine

But when the solaris is connected midi out to the multiface midi in, I have problems and it disrupt latency, my system become unstable, so I have audio cliks (and xruns who are disturbances notifications in linux) when I record a midi sequence from playing on the solaris keyboard. The problem disappears with "MIDIctrl off".

I use a linux system with a kernel realtime. The settings to record are 96 KHz with a latency of 2.67 ms. For doing that the kernel rt allow to give a high level priority to the multiface irq but not to set the priority of midi or audio separately in the multiface or after in the system. So I think that something in the midi signal from the solaris give the problem. If I record the midi from another keyboard, it work fine and xruns appear only if I use, for exemple, a lot of greedy plugins resources of mastering in ardour.

This MIDI loop bug with Program Select has been fixed.

Cool. It's nice to have the confirmation...

Yes, this is a reported bug in the OS. I think it came from a misunderstanding - and should be a simple fix.

I ran into this with program change messages and Ableton. I used a MIDI scope and the thing that seemed amiss is that the Solaris seems to ALWAYS echo program change control messages. So, if you have a MIDI track in record or monitor mode and initiate a program change from either Ableton OR from the Solaris, the program change gets sent to the Solaris, echoed, and this repeats forever. (Unplug a MIDI cable to regain control of your Solaris.)

I'm not 100% sure... but I don't think the Solaris should ever ECHO a program change message. It should respond to program change messages it receives. And it should send program change messages when there's a program change initiated from the synth, and that's it. (O, and it should probably honor the LocalOff setting.)

The workaround I'm using is this: don't set program change messages in Ableton, and don't change programs while the Ableton MIDI track is in record enable mode.

I'm using Ableton Live 9, MIDI DIN ports (not USB MIDI), and the interface on an RME Fireface UFX.

That would make total sense with my experience of trying to use it with midi from the Cirklon. It sends out quite a lot of data regarding song position etc and note ons and offs are sometimes missed. A small buffer would certainly explain it! Seems the holiday buffer is larger than the midi buffer

Hmmmm, my guess is the MIDI buffer may not be large enough. We are waiting for the coder to return from a long vacation, so I hope to have some response on this topic soon.

I've now got similar problems. Whenever I send MIDI clock to the Solaris it causes stuck notes.

I'm using the 5 pin DIN ports recording and playing back through a MOTU MIDI Express XT from Logic Pro X. I've tried sending a clock signal from Logic and from a Sync Lock separately and both cause stuck notes. As soon as I stop sending MIDI clock everything returns to normal (after I clear the stuck notes).

Neil wrote:As John knows I've been battling this problem for sometime in conjunction with Cubase.
I've tried 5 pin midi & USB. The problem exists on both protocols - but for me is worse with USB.
I'm convinced this is all some kind of NRPN feedback loop.

I'm not sure of that, because i've midi problem with only midi in plug.

As John knows I've been battling this problem for sometime in conjunction with Cubase.
I've tried 5 pin midi & USB. The problem exists on both protocols - but for me is worse with USB.
I'm convinced this is all some kind of NRPN feedback loop.

Yes, thanks! This is MOST interesting!

I have done some more experiments :

My DAW is ableton live 9 : i have some problems with midi and Solaris as you can see before.

I try to reproduce the bug with Finale : no way, it seems ok.

Of course, ableton correctly drive all my others Synth : Korg Kronos, V-Synth, SY-77, Doepfer Modular interface, Tempest.

If i play the solaris thru the midi out of Korg Kronos : another type of bug, wich i haven't with my other gear.

I try to reproduce the bug with a master Keyboard ( CME UF 80 ) : no way, all seems OK.

So the midi's Solaris seems to uncorrectly interpret the midi flow only with some other materials : Live Ableton ( edirol UA101 midi interface, the same interface used by Finale ), Korg Kronos. And that only if Midi in is used, USB is OK with Live.