Random sticking sustain

This is probably more about MIDI best practice than GP, but here goes. I’m using GP on a PC along with an Arturia Keylab mk ii controller and a Yamaha MODX workstation. All of it runs on MIDI channel 1. Everything runs perfectly at home, but today, the sustain pedal on the MODX kept randomly sticking and not releasing. This happened with two identical hardware sustain pedals (Boss FS5) and different cables. I had to hit the MIDI panic button in GP to release the sustain.

After getting home from rehearsal, I’ve done the following: 1. Set up the MODX alone with the offending sustain pedals and cables. Worked perfectly for about an hour, so hardware is off the table. 2. Next, I connected my mini PC and only the MODX (not the Arturia) to GP. Once again, no sustain sticking. Next, 3 I added the Arturia…and again no sustain sticking - with all the same hardware from this afternoon.

I’m stumped with a gig coming up on Friday. Humor me, but wondering if MIDI messages on CH1 from the Arturia are randomly meddling with the MODX (also on ch1). The MODX is only controlled by GP via a MIDI out block for program changes, so there’s nothing else to rule out from a software pov.

That leads me to wonder if I should move the MODX to CH2 so it won’t “see” any activity on CH1. It would be an easy change on the MODX and on all MIDI out blocks currently sending program changes to it on CH1.

Again, I think this may be MIDI cross talk on CH1, but am I missing something else that could be causing the sticking sustain? Not a fun rehearsal today.

TIA!

Can you look at the global MIDI monitor and see what’s coming in (or not coming in)?

Quick update on this situation. I think this was a MODX issue. Looking at the MIDI data for sustain, the MODX was throwing random numbers other than 0 and 127. Hypothesis is that these random signals were causing the stuck notes.

Long story short, the MODX has a sustain menu I wasn’t aware of. (Utility/Sound/sustain). In that menu you can choose from half damper or full switched sustain pedals. Mine was set to half damper and I think that setting was tossing the bad MIDI messages.

I changed to a switched pedal setting and got nothing but 0s and 127s. I think that may have done the trick - more testing and some other tweaks as I practice for Friday’s show. Huge thanks to DHJ for the troubleshooting help!!

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