Midi notes hanging

[FMajor]

Setup: Powerbook 15" 1.5GB RAM w/ external FW HD,OSX 10.4.8, M-Audio 1814, Pro Tools MPowered 7.3, MidiSport 2x2, Axiom 25, Motif ES6, Studio Electronics ATC-1, Reason 3.0


Problem: When sequencing midi in Pro Tools notes begin to get stuck/hang. It appears to only hang up the hardware units such as the Motif and ATC-1, Reason doesnt seem to hang up when Im using it via rewire. I find that it hangs more frequently once I get to about 2 or more midi channels of the Motif going in Pro Tools. This is pretty annoying Since I was really trying to give sequencing in Pro tools a chance over sequencing on the MPC. Is there something that Im overlooking in terms of the midi setup?

Keywords:
Midi
Hanging
Hang
Note
Freezing
Freeze
Stuck
Sticking

[FMajor]

I did alot of testing, and the problem seems to be related to the MIDI ports on the 1814, once I disconnected my main keyboard from the 1814, the problem went away. I guess I need to get a larger midi interface.

[bassntreble]

I'm not sure you need a larger midi interface, but maybe one that doesn't use the same connector (firewire) that's used to move audio back an forth. i would think that audio takes precedence over midi in this type of situation so maybe try a USB based midi interface.

[dmcrooks]

FMmajor, did you ever get this problem resolved? I recently started having the same problem, but only after I upgraded firmware on my 1814 and moved to PT 8.

Never had this problem before and am curious to see if you ever found a resolution.

[Nomad76]

This sounds like the problem I'm having. I just moved everything over to ProTools to use as my main sequencer, well i keep getting these hanging notes on my outboard midi intsruments.

I just went out and bought an M-audio Midisport 4X4 to attached all my synths to. The problem mainly occurs when I have midi going out to 2 or more at the same time. There are on different midi channels. I got these random note hangs holds with both midi tracks and instrument tracks.

Any suggestions?

[dmcrooks]

I wish I had a solution or even a hot trail to follow. However, at this point, I'm having to abandon controlling external devices via MIDI altogether as I can no longer make my setup work with PTMP 8.0.3.

For me, the number of tracks seems to be irrelevant. As a matter of fact, if I start a new, blank session and create a single MIDI track controlling a single keyboard, I get the problem by simply playing notes on the keyboard (i.e., not even in record or playback mode).

[dmcrooks]

In my case, the problem with external MIDI device notes randomly "hanging" or "sticking" seems to be related to the M-Audio MIDI interface.

After searching outside the DUC for a resolution to the issue, I noticed several other people having the same problems using different DAWs. The main thing they had in common was M-Audio interface used as a MIDI controller (here's just one of many examples).

The solution for me was to switch over to USB. As soon as I did, BAM!!! no more sticking notes.

I realize not everybody has an external device that's USB MIDI capable, so I still hope the issue is addressed (or at least acknowledged) by Avid, but I definitely wouldn't hold my breath.

As a side note, I never had any problems using the MIDI ports on my 1814 until I upgraded drivers in anticipation of PT 8. So, it seems likely to me that something changed in the way the 1814 handles MIDI info between upgrades. If I hadn't already wasted so much time trying to figure out the issue (with no help from Avid, BTW), I'd take the time to figure out exactly which firmware update caused the problem to start occurring.

If you decide to make the switch, be sure and unplug your 5 pin MIDI cables before you test the new setup unless you like the sound of never-ending device feedback :)

Good luck.


Keywords: MIDI note hang, stick, freeze, hold