E-Drum recording (MIDI) problem.
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Posted on Dec 18, 2007 11:58 am
Will_R
Member Since: Dec 18, 2007
Hey guys,
firstly, does anyone record any e-drums via midi?
Was recording today, using my Firepod and the drummers Roland TD-3 drum kit (well, kit based around the TD-3 unit).
I thought id worked all the bugs out of the system since our last recording session (got the PC setup with a hardware profile specially for recording etc).
Using Cubase SX 3 and EZ drummer for the drums.
When we are recoring, the drums are connected via the MIDI OUT of the Roland to the MIDI IN on the Firepod. A new track MIDI track is added in Cubase. EZ Drummer is added as a VST Instrument. EZ Drummer is selected as the output of the MIDI channel.
Recording can go on fine, but out of the blue, the computer will stop recording the MIDI track. It seems to be random in occurance, and there is no signs given other than the midi track stops showing hits being registered.
Ive asked around a few places before, and everyone said it was a hardware issue.
I really cant see how this is a hardware issue, because even though cubase will stop recording the MIDI track, the hits are still triggering EZ Drummer exactly as they were during the recording, and as EZ Drummer is tied soley as the VSTi output of the MIDI track, it says to me that the MIDI signal is still getting to the computer. And cubase is somehow freaking out and just blanking the recording.
To get the MIDI back, closing cubase and reopening it seems to work (until it happens again). Closing the file being used, and opening it again (keeping cubase open), worked once, but only once. Every time after that it was just not recording the drums, though they were still triggering EZ drummer.
Also, when the track cuts, it has a bass drum, hihat and snare (i think) hit occur simultaniously. Regardless of what the drummer does. Even if the kit isnt being touched, and we start recording a new MIDI track, and it has decided not to record properly, it'll have those simultanious hits, then nothing.
Anyone have any idea as you what could be causing this?
Cheers
-Will
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Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 18, 2007 08:20 pm Hey Will, welcome to HRC first off.
I guess I'm the resident midi geek so I'll try and work this through with ya.
There are a couple of possibilities as to what is happening. Although there could be other things causing it as well, we shall start with the usual.
I'm not very familiar with the Firepods midi capability so this is shooting from the hip. Some midi interfaces can get overloaded by too much data. This is a very rare thing to have happen though, but it is possible with the fact it is built into an audio interface that does have a few quirk's known to happen.
For this you can look into the Firepods midi options and see if there are any settings for midi data transfer speed or note limiting of any type. If there are limits set, turn them off or set them to a higher value.
Another thing is to double check and make certain you have the newest driver's installed for the Firepod as well.
The second thing is actually two things. EZ drummer may not accept the input data as fast as it is coming in, or has a note limit set as well that should be able to be set higher in a preference or option menu. Also, it is possible that a certain note combination coming from the TD-3 is sending a stop message to Cubase and telling it to stop recording. That is the most likely thing, but not the only thing.
If you can list the specs of your PC such as CPU speed and amount of RAM that will help a little as well.
The fact that you are getting those 3 note hits tells me there is a bit of a glitch that happens when this stops the recording so we have to look into system details to also help figure out what is going on.
Will_RMember
Since: Dec 18, 2007
Dec 18, 2007 11:40 pm Hi there, thanks for the welcome and reply!
The reason i didnt think it could be the firepod or edrum is because cubase still registers the hits and plays the sounds during play, it just seems to stop recording. I didnt think it could be an overloading problem either, just due to it happening sometimes for no reason (ie at the start of a new track, or just cutting out after the regular beat, of even if the drummer hasnt been playing.
Also, probably poorly stated by myself, im pretty sure it also happens with the standard cheesy drum sounds that come with cubase, not just EZdrummer.
Running:
Intel P4 3.2Ghz HT "Prescott Core" CPU
1024 Gb DDR400 ram, 512Mb per channel over 2 channels
Cubase and all drivers (and the recordings are saved to) a 74Gb WD Raptor HDD
Computer also has a 200Gb and 250Gb maxtor addition harddrives.
The problem happened with the original firepod firmware and drivers, and also with the current ones.
Ive got the PC setup so there is a hardware profile specifically for recording, with many background processes turned off etc. Didnt have it setup like that the last time i recorded. Helped ALOT when running VST plugins for the other tracks, just didnt seem to have any impact on the MIDI side of things :(
Cheers
- Will
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Dec 19, 2007 09:39 pm I'll dig around a little bit and see if I can find anything that might be causing a problem between the TD-3 and the Firepod.
Your system looks to be more than adequate to handle the task so I think we can rule that out for sure.
I'm guessing it has to be something happening between the Firepod and the TD-3 unit. Since it happens when nothing is being sent as far as note data from the TD-3 it may likely lie with the Firepod's midi interface portion.
Mar 20, 2008 08:10 am Registered just to respond to this...
I had a similiar problem, where the midi track in cubase was receiving my keyboard signals just fine, but when recording, the notes were long and only visible until the note off signal was received. Upon stopping record, all the notes appeared at the very beginning of the track, bunched up together .
Try this, In cubase go to:
DEVICES->DEVICE SETUP->WINDOWS MIDI
Check: Use System Timestamp
Hope it helps.
meestahp -AT- hotmail -DOT- com
Feb 23, 2009 04:40 pm meestahp you're an absolute Hero!
Jul 22, 2010 03:30 pm I've been having this problem for a while now, but wasn't able to find anyone else experiencing it too. I can't wait to get back to the studio to try this fix!
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Jul 23, 2010 03:11 pm Bravo for joining and fixing a problem on the first post :)
