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  #1  
Old 11-01-2021, 08:21 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

Hi.
Just recently I came back to work on a track of which I had recorded using virtual instruments, through my digital piano both a piano track (using XLN's Addictive Keys) and an orchestral string section (using VSL Epic Orchestra). Previous to this problem everything was working fine.
I would open an Instrument track, select a virtual instrument, arm the track and I would be able to play and record as normal.
I've spent many hours searching the internet for a fix but so far I've been unsuccessful.
What is confusing is it was working perfectly fine one day and then another day Pro Tools decided stop receiving a signal/MIDI from my digital piano.
If I run the virtual instruments I mentioned as stand alone programs separate of Pro Tools they work fine.

I am using a Zoom UAC 2 external sound card with a Yamaha p-45 digital piano. The Zoom UAC 2 is linked via a USB 3 cable and the Yamaha p-45 is USB 2.

What's baffling is I've used this setup and had little or no problems for a while now and the fact that the stand alone versions work perfectly does not really make much sense.

If anyone has any ideas to what is causing this problem and a fix I would be over the moon!

Thanks
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Old 11-01-2021, 10:13 AM
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The Weed The Weed is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

If it's what I think it is, it's a known issue where the Virtual Instrument's assignment is "forgotten" by Pro Tools. Lots of posts about that. If it is the case, reassign the Virtual Instrument.
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Old 11-03-2021, 03:39 PM
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albee1952 albee1952 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

And, did you make sure to turn off Power Management on all USB ports(aka USB Root Hub in Device Manager)?

Back to what The Weed is describing, if you are new to this stuff, you can go to(in Pro Tools) the View menu>MIX windows>and check the option to show "Instruments". That adds a row of boxes across the top of the MIX window where you can see(and edit) assignments on Instrument tracks
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Old 05-07-2022, 03:00 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

Hi Albee and The Weed, I just wanted to say thank you for the fast replies at the time and sorry for taking so long to reply. I had somehow fixed the problem and apologize for forgetting to reply with a description of the fix.
The same problem has made an appearance and I've opened a new thread/ post: https://duc.avid.com/showthread.php?t=420120

Will have a look at what you suggested and get back to you, many thanks, your help is hugely appreciated :)

Kind regards

Kab
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Old 05-07-2022, 04:30 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

Ok so I've tried turning off Power Management on all USB ports in Device Manager which unfortunately did not fix the problem.
I've tried searching for posts on "How to reassign the Virtual Instrument" but can't find any. Also tried looking through the Reference Guide and could not find anything.
Would it be possible if you could forward a link or explain if you have time how reassign a Virtual Instrument?
I've also uploaded a screenshot of my UI showing an instrument track with the Mini Grand VI active in both the editing and mix window just in case you may spot something that looks wrong.
Another thing. By clicking on the VI keyboard you can actually play the piano using your mouse. I think I mentioned it before but when using the digital piano with the stand alone versions of Addictive Keys and VSL there is no problem.

Thanks again for your help :)

Kind regards

Kab
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File Type: jpg ptwindows.jpg (24.7 KB, 0 views)
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Old 05-07-2022, 04:36 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

I've attached 2 images taken from the screenshot showing zoomed in versions of the inserts
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File Type: png editing window VI.png (14.6 KB, 0 views)
File Type: png mixing window VI.png (8.7 KB, 0 views)
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Old 05-07-2022, 07:04 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

I've asked moderators to merge these threads.

It appears you've excluded the leading cause of not getting MIDI notes from an external device to appear in a VI.

You also mentioned the thu preference settings, you normally don't need to do anything there. But since preferences get mentioned... make sure you try trashing prefs, just to be sure.

Another common issue is the wrong MIDI device selected in input, but the screenshots show you have "all" selected for MIDI input. I can't see anything wrong shown in any of the screen shots.

I am assuming you don't see any MIDI activity on the *MIDI meter* in the Instruments section of the mixer channel strip (not talking about the main audio meter on that channel strip) and along with no notes appearing on the track.

So I'm suspecting the problem is likely a MIDI one external to Pro Tools.

I don't think your Yamaha keyboard needs a MIDI driver to work, and I'd try uninstalling the driver and anything else from Yamaha. The "Emulated" indicates an old style pre-Windows DirectMusic thingy, I would hope (but have no real idea) it might goes away when you just reply on class compliance/no separate installed driver.

I would try:

Disconnect all MIDI devices, including any interfaces that have a MIDI section--except the MIDI keyboard you are trying to use.

Uninstall any Yamaha or other MIDI driver related software packages.

Reboot the PC

Make sure no other audio or MIDI apps or utilities are starting up and that you don't have any MIDI splitter or routing software, including stuff that might have been bundled with other software or hardware.

You can also install some MIDI monitoring software, like http://www.midiox.com. And see if the key presses are at least getting to the monitor, and you can double check what MIDI device they are coming in on... and make sure that device shows up in Pro Tools.

DUC is so pathetic with how it downsamples images, it's better to post screenshots on a third party image sharing service and post links to that here.

Last edited by Darryl Ramm; 05-08-2022 at 08:35 AM.
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Old 06-06-2022, 07:43 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

Hi Darryl thanks for the reply, and once again sorry its taken a while to get back. I've tried what you suggested:

"make sure you try trashing prefs, just to be sure." - What do you mean by trashing prefs? Does this mean having everything back to the default settings similar to reinstalling pro tools? Just to let you know I also tried a fresh reinstallation of Pro Tools which for some strange reason caused windows to do one of those system repairs before windows could load up again!

"I am assuming you don't see any MIDI activity on the *MIDI meter* in the Instruments section of the mixer channel strip (not talking about the main audio meter on that channel strip) and along with no notes appearing on the track." - No only when I manually use the mouse to press a key on the virtual instrument's graphic keyboard.

"I don't think your Yamaha keyboard needs a MIDI driver to work, and I'd try uninstalling the driver and anything else from Yamaha. The "Emulated" indicates an old style pre-Windows DirectMusic thingy, I would hope (but have no real idea) it might goes away when you just reply on class compliance/no separate installed driver - I've uninstalled the driver but this made no difference and the problem persists.

"I would try:

Disconnect all MIDI devices, including any interfaces that have a MIDI section--except the MIDI keyboard you are trying to use.

Uninstall any Yamaha or other MIDI driver related software packages.

Reboot the PC

Make sure no other audio or MIDI apps or utilities are starting up and that you don't have any MIDI splitter or routing software, including stuff that might have been bundled with other software or hardware."
I've tried disconnecting everything that is not required to help pro tools work. So at the moment I only have my mouse, keyboard, Ilok key, Steinberg key, External Sound Card and Digital piano connected via USB. The Yamaha driver had been uninstalled, tried rebooting, unfortunately after really hoping this might fix the problem it didn't.

"You can also install some MIDI monitoring software, like http://www.midiox.com. And see if the key presses are at least getting to the monitor, and you can double check what MIDI device they are coming in on... and make sure that device shows up in Pro Tools." - When loading MIDI-OX up, going into Options and clicking on Midi Devices you can see that the computer recognises the keyboard is connected, recognised as "Digital Piano". And when pressing the keys on the digital MIDI- OX is noting down what keys have been pressed. So there is a signal. I mean the thing is I have no problems using the stand alone programs with the digital piano...

Here's a screenshot of MIDI OX if this helps at all. https://ibb.co/r4dz6m7

Thanks again
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Old 06-06-2022, 04:02 PM
Darryl Ramm Darryl Ramm is online now
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

When you are replying can you try separating your replies from the questions/previous text it makes it much easier to reply to you.

Quote:
"make sure you try trashing prefs, just to be sure."
What do you mean by trashing prefs? Does this mean having everything back to the default settings similar to reinstalling pro tools?

Trashing prefs means removing the simple preferences files that Pro Tools relies on, that can frequently become corrupted. Trashing Prefs is the first thing you should be doing when troubleshooting problems. Should be second nature to do by hand or to use a utility to do it. Described under "Help Us Help You" up the top of each DUC web page, along with other general troubleshooting, which maybe should include more MIDI relevant stuff. Make sure you follow the instructions for your version of Pro Tools/operating system. Or for Windows I'd just purchase Trasher http://www.pro-tools-pc.us/category-s/1514.htm (the developer is on DUC).

Uninstalling and reinstalling Pro Tools does not trash prefs, and probably too many users leap to do that, there are many more effective things to try first, which are documented in standard troubleshooting steps. Who knows if trashing prefs here will help or not, I suspect not, but it should still be the first thing you try.

You can/should also just google terms here you don't know about, that will find a ton of stuff about trashing prefs.

Just to let you know I also tried a fresh reinstallation of Pro Tools which for some strange reason caused windows to do one of those system repairs before windows could load up again!

Quote:
"I am assuming you don't see any MIDI activity on the *MIDI meter* in the Instruments section of the mixer channel strip (not talking about the main audio meter on that channel strip) and along with no notes appearing on the track."
- No only when I manually use the mouse to press a key on the virtual instrument's graphic keyboard.

??? Be careful here I'm asking a critical question. When you show the instrument section in tracks do you see any MIDI activity in the MIDI activity meter in that section? Pressing a mouse key in the instrument GUI will *not* show activity there so you are not answering the question.

The problem is either MIDI events are not getting to the track/VI at all or the VI is not responding to them. And that's a key thing to determine now.

What happens when you click notes into Pro Tools using Window>MIDI Keyboard.

And just to confirm, the screenshots and your comment here and in the other thread I understand:
  • The MIDI keyboard you are using is enabled in Setup>MIDI>MIDI Enable
  • The instrument track is record enabled
  • MIDI Thru is checked
  • "all" is selected as MIDI input on the track.

Which are all the obvious finger problems, and so damn easy to slip up on one of them. But now knowing for sure that the track is getting MIDI/seeing MIDI activity in the is the final step on the MIDI side of things...

So at the moment I only have my mouse, keyboard, Ilok key, Steinberg key, External Sound Card and Digital piano connected via USB. The Yamaha driver had been uninstalled, tried rebooting, unfortunately after really hoping this might fix the problem it didn't.

Great.

When loading MIDI-OX up, going into Options and clicking on Midi Devices you can see that the computer recognises the keyboard is connected, recognised as "Digital Piano". And when pressing the keys on the digital MIDI- OX is noting down what keys have been pressed. So there is a signal. I mean the thing is I have no problems using the stand alone programs with the digital piano...

Great, I just wanted you to remove any other stuff, like standalone VIs, which yes confirm the basic keyboard works, but once everything else is removed you can use MIDI-OX to confirm the keyboard is working/MIDI events are gettin into RPo Tools.
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Old 07-28-2022, 02:45 AM
kabster1985 kabster1985 is offline
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Default Re: Digital keyboard / Midi randomly stopped working when using virtual instruments

Hi everyone, good news, I've finally found out what the problem was.

So with the release of the new Pro Tools packages I thought I would try the Pro Tools Ultimate trial hoping that the update from 11 to Ultimate would most probably sort out my midi issues.
It turned out that is was not the case and I was having the same problem with Pro Tools Ultimate not registering any midi signals whatsoever.
With this in mind, with both Pro Tools 11 and Pro Tools Ultimate having exactly the same problem I thought It must be a sound card or digital piano problem. At first I reinstalled the Yamaha midi keyboard driver for windows 10 which you can find on thier website (its called "um3141x64"), then I visited my soundcard manufacturer's website, download and reinstall everything available, which I did. This consisted of 3 downloads: 1, a Firmware update, 2, a driver update and 3, a Mix Effects Windows App that creates a virtual mixing desk on your windows desktop and allows you to edit the sound with various effects.
Now I remember installing the driver and most probably the Firmware when I built this PC and set everything up but I don't think I had installed the Mix Effects app which I do remember installing on my old system prior to this.
But another weird thing is I had actually got Pro Tools 11 working with Midi on this new build a while back so this whole thing is baffling me, and I don't think I had Mix Effects installed back then because I would have had no need to install it now...
Alternatively maybe my soundcard manufacturer updated the Firmware files and that has fixed the problem.

Anyway to cut a long story short it could have been either or any of these downloads that fixed the problem. Just make sure you are regularly jumping back to your sound card manufacturer's website and downloading and installing everything they have to offer, that's what sorted out my problem.

Another bizarre thing is all the standalone programs would work perfectly in windows without whatever fixed the problem with Pro Tools 11/ Ultimate, I could play along using the standalone Virtual Instruments on my digital keyboard with no problems.

Thanks for the help and support.
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