So GP has the promise of being such an awesome tool. I’m in a pro situation where I need a variety of sounds, some complex mapping and even some single key chords so I can play complex parts with my other hand. And I did it… but - I solo a lot on my Hammond B3 sound and about one in ten of my dramatic slides/gliassandos leaves a stuck note behind. I’ve tried different controllers from cheap to expensive, powered USB hubs, direct to PC connections, shorter cables, expensive cables: no luck. I have set up a panic button but sometimes on a loud stage I don’t notice it but my band often does. So I’m wondering if there’s a scripting fix.
Would it be possible to detect a smear of notes when they happen and set a timer to kill the stuck ones if they happen? GPScript is not my language but I have some experience with other computer coding from the day job. Any thoughts?
I had stuck notes for many years. Since I started to use Native Instruments Kontrol 61 mkII I had no problem anymore.
With Arturia, M-audio and Alesis controllers it was a nightmare.
It sounds like you’ve done a lot of trouble shooting to try and solve the stuck notes issue at it’s source… but I can tell you I never have this issue and I do a lot of percussive and palm slides in my playing and I would strongly suggest you continue to problem solve vs. try to add a script based solution because in the end it might not work 100% of the time and any amount of stuck notes is not going to sound musical.
FWIW… I am using an XK-5 as controller and routing all midi (between 4 and 8 simultanious channels) into GP via USB and either back to the XK-5 as the sound engine or to IK’s B3-X VST. I never get hung notes.
Thanks Brandon. I’m losing my mind with this problem and people are telling me to go back to hardware synths. That would be sad and a big waste of the time I’ve put into this.
I think your advice is sound. I’ll ditch my controllers, again, and try maybe the Native Instruments. Interesting use of the the XK-5 with the software synths as a hybrid. I have a Roland VR series keyboard but I was also trying to make my rig lighter. I’ll take your idea and give it a test.
Thanks all. BTW, if you don’t know what a stuck note is, huh? You must be either very lucky or don’t play soft synths
There is a misunderstanding, I know what a stuck note is.
With midi you send a note on and a note off.
A stuck note occurs when the note off is never sent.
But how should scripting decide that a note off is missing?
I think my use case with the XK-5 is pretty unique but it does illustrate just how much midi information I am pushing around.
Since the XK-5 supports multi-key contacts (simulating the 9 bus-bar contacts of a real hammond) it actually transmits 3 channels of information per manual. So the upper manual is 3 channels (1-3) and the lower is 3 channels (4-6) plus pedal channel (7).
Plus, I have mine setup to send another velocity curved channel per manual that in GP I use for non-organ sounds (8 & 9).
If my rig is using both manuals, this means I have 9 channels of midi being sent most all the time from the XK-5 to GP over USB, plus I am recieving 7 of those channels back on the XK-5 since it’s usually my tone generator. None of this midi information is being sent ‘locally’ to the XK-5, it all round-trips to GP and back again so that GP can be my gate keeper of what sounds I am playing with what keyboard.
That’s a lot of data and no hung notes. I typically palm slide on the lower manual while playing notes/chords on the upper but sometimes the opposite.
Maybe the XK-5 is a particularly good controller, maybe it’s that I have a great-short USB cable and I am not using any hubs, or that I have optimized like crazy my Xeon based windows laptop that has plenty of RAM and a large power supply. I don’t know.
Just reference poitns I hope might help as you figure it out.
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that you don’t try to use the keyboard controller(s) you have currently but @Furio seems to have had bad luck with some in the past. I’m not suggesting that you switch to the XK-5 either. It’s heavy, even with one manual! If you play a lot of organ like I do with a real Leslie speaker, then yeah I would consider it.
I think we’d just like to see you solve this with the hardware you have now.
I’m going to see if the controller is at fault but to your point, I don’t think it would matter (bear with me). I would look to make a script that detects note events that are all at once or close to all at once, like a glissando / slide, and in a short amount of time send an “all notes off” panic signal. Although it could in theory cause a small interruption in what is being played, I think it would be hard to notice and would kill stuck notes. Of course I have zero idea how to write such a script.
I’m going to see if another fix is possible but keep this idea in mind. Thanks for your interest!
This is very strange — but it has to be something on your system. While one can never guarantee that GP is not at fault, I think it’s fair to say that this kind of issue, if it was GP, would have been reported long ago — GP has been around a long time and I’m sure you’re not the only person who does hammond organ slides.
What version of GP are you using and what kind of audio interface are you using and with what driver?
A simple scriptlet counting up on a note on and down on a note off will quickly tell you if you are getting stuck (or missing) notes at the input. If it is a controller there may be missing note on’s, that you will never notice. If you want to be uber accurate, just keep a array of counters one per note.
The likelihood that it isn’t GP is I’m sure very high, but my issue is real so I’m pursuing all avenues. Oddly I get contradictory advice: some say go directly to the computer, others say use a powered hub. Trying both hasn’t given me a complete solution. Also purchasing controllers in the neighborhood of $1K or so that are also heavy defeats part of my reasons for using GP. That is, I wanted more sound flexibility but also a lighter rig and less expense. I could get more sound options and quality by buying higher cost synths but the budget jumps way up, and I like GP.
Now, just to clarify the slightly oversimplified redescription (sincerely, no offense intended pianopaul) of my script idea, I would look to detect multiple notes in quick succession with close intervals. Not a chord but certainly more than 10 notes as would be generated in an organ slide. These are in music like Santana which I’m currently reproducing in a “tribute” band. Data-wise, and in theory, this should look quite different than the normal data stream.
As for this being musically disruptive, I’m currently using a pad on my keyboard as a “panic button” that kills my stuck notes. Sections of songs where I’m holding long chords do not cause the stuck notes, just when I’m soloing and playing fast. Playing under those conditions, I can quickly hit the pad and keep going and I don’t hear really hear the interruption. I will continue this method but it would be nice if, short of fixing the issue with hardware, if technology (scripting) saved the day.
Anyway, I started this topic in hopes that it was interesting and/or that it sparked an idea for someone to point the way. I don’t want to get anyone’s back up, and I am a big GP fan, this is not to disparage the tool. This playing style is pushing the system pretty hard and with computers with the layers of software and GUI and everything else, I’m surprised that more people aren’t experiencing this with softsynths.
Enough said. Thanks again - nothing but good feelings to all.
