I posted this here instead of the 'getting started' threads because this group seemed more active.
I'm fairly new to VST plugins, having been a mostly hardware guy in the past, and I'm having some annoying problems getting VSTs to work properly.
I use Sony Acid 6 Pro as my main DAW. My plugins are seen by Acid fine--you can see them load at launch. I can open a soft synth and play it. They won't record though. And if I open a 'drum machine' type plugin, it automatically starts playing the second I hit "record". I want be able to punch in the drums, automatically if possible, manually if necessary. I also want to record the audio from soft synths like Absynth while I do filter sweeps, etc. No luck!
The same thing happens if the instrument is one that is designed to 'run', like a rhythm phrase sampler.
I also have Reason 7 and have had similar problems with it.
I know this must be something with the midi setup. I have a new Soundblaster Z sound card installed (which I basically got for its headphone amp) and in all setups, I've selected the Creative ASIO driver for audio & midi. Should I be selecting something different, like the Windows midimapper?
I also have a brand new Arturia SparkLE (and the Spark EDM vst plug) and would like to record its midi output, but haven't had any luck getting that to work, either.
At one point, I stumbled on to something and was able to record midi info to a track in Acid. I could see the data in the track and it would play back. I saved that session, hoping to go back & figure out what I was doing right, but I can't figure it out.
I know these questions must be pretty simple to an experienced user, and I apologize. None of the documentation that came with anything has helped.
Can anyone offer any help?
Thanks!
Kentward
Using VST percussion
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- KVRAF
- 25053 posts since 20 Oct, 2007 from gonesville
There's a few things that need to be sorted here.
One, I'm not sure what you mean by you can play the synth but not record it: do you mean you can interact with the GUI of the synth but that isn't automatically recorded by Acid? (I don't know Acid at all.)
Another thing you said was 'record MIDI output' from a synth. The actual reason to 'record MIDI output' would be to drive another device, a synth or effect.
MIDI is a control code. I have a feeling you're thinking of the sound from the synth as MIDI. MIDI does not produce sound. (If you are actually wanting to record MIDI output from that plugin in Acid, I don't know. In that case you would tend to need a MIDI track as its target, with that, eg., Arturia Spark output as input to the track and armed to record. More typically the target for "MIDI to the outside world" from a soft instrument is another soft device directly, such as FX which can work with CC.)
Basically you're going to send MIDI to the soft instrument and it provides audio to the host (or in a standalone, to your sound card directly).
So, more typically the way you control a filter sweep is to send a control code, CC, that Absynth, eg., is set to receive.
However if you want to interact with it with the mouse, or a controller, and record live, so to speak, that's possible (though I cannot assure anything per Acid), but you have to route the instrument channel - where the audio comes back to the host - to a track [an audio track] that can be armed to record it.
For instance I always work with Reaktor Skanner (and generative things in it, which are producing sound with no input needed) interacting with the interface with a mouse. I record MIDI and during playback I massage the sound using its controls. (Many people would do it at the same time with a key controller and a CC controller, but I'd rather focus on it separately.) In this case, the instrument is write-enabled and the moves I make are recorded as automation lanes. Other instruments I write CC to control, or a mixture of CC and Host Automation. The latter is 'finer'.
I don't see any improvement coming from 'Windows MIDI mapper'. The thing that you have not mentioned is your MIDI controller(s).
One, I'm not sure what you mean by you can play the synth but not record it: do you mean you can interact with the GUI of the synth but that isn't automatically recorded by Acid? (I don't know Acid at all.)
Another thing you said was 'record MIDI output' from a synth. The actual reason to 'record MIDI output' would be to drive another device, a synth or effect.
MIDI is a control code. I have a feeling you're thinking of the sound from the synth as MIDI. MIDI does not produce sound. (If you are actually wanting to record MIDI output from that plugin in Acid, I don't know. In that case you would tend to need a MIDI track as its target, with that, eg., Arturia Spark output as input to the track and armed to record. More typically the target for "MIDI to the outside world" from a soft instrument is another soft device directly, such as FX which can work with CC.)
Basically you're going to send MIDI to the soft instrument and it provides audio to the host (or in a standalone, to your sound card directly).
So, more typically the way you control a filter sweep is to send a control code, CC, that Absynth, eg., is set to receive.
However if you want to interact with it with the mouse, or a controller, and record live, so to speak, that's possible (though I cannot assure anything per Acid), but you have to route the instrument channel - where the audio comes back to the host - to a track [an audio track] that can be armed to record it.
For instance I always work with Reaktor Skanner (and generative things in it, which are producing sound with no input needed) interacting with the interface with a mouse. I record MIDI and during playback I massage the sound using its controls. (Many people would do it at the same time with a key controller and a CC controller, but I'd rather focus on it separately.) In this case, the instrument is write-enabled and the moves I make are recorded as automation lanes. Other instruments I write CC to control, or a mixture of CC and Host Automation. The latter is 'finer'.
I don't see any improvement coming from 'Windows MIDI mapper'. The thing that you have not mentioned is your MIDI controller(s).
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- KVRer
- Topic Starter
- 2 posts since 30 Mar, 2015
I've been using midi since the protocol was invented, so, no, I'm not mistaking midi for audio.
My main midi controller is an Oxygen 25. i can play a soft synth with either the graphic keyboard or my controller. I can hear the audio fine. It just won't record.
When I say 'record midi output' I mean note information, etc. I've selected a 'target track' (midi), armed it to record, selected my controller as the source, and hit 'record'. No data records.
Essentially, the same thing with audio: arm the track, select source, etc., but no audio records.
Thanks anyway, but I'm afraid I may have to stumble on to someone who uses Acid...
My main midi controller is an Oxygen 25. i can play a soft synth with either the graphic keyboard or my controller. I can hear the audio fine. It just won't record.
When I say 'record midi output' I mean note information, etc. I've selected a 'target track' (midi), armed it to record, selected my controller as the source, and hit 'record'. No data records.
Essentially, the same thing with audio: arm the track, select source, etc., but no audio records.
Thanks anyway, but I'm afraid I may have to stumble on to someone who uses Acid...
