Posted
A new update 2.0.4 is online now. Much has been fixed. Please report new issues, or problems that persist despite a fix, in this thread. For special topics like notation export, please continue posting in those threads. Thank you.
- Crash when library folder is dropped onto itself
- Crash while visible Matrix parameters are being configured
- Fixed a problem with opening audio racks under certain conditions
- Provide a download link to Sprike when first needed
- Wrench button should not be red when no sound is needed
- Show more information on progress during startup
- Crash when dropping a folder on track
- Library: Allow most parameters and custom CCs
- Graphics: Gap selection in progression was invisible on Windows
- Graphics: Minor improvements on Windows
- Keyboard Shortcuts: Reassigned default keys so avoid conflicts
- MIDI import dialog preview broken on Windows
- Notation Export: Full support for triplets and quintuplets
- Notation Export: Improved quantization of triplets and quintuplets
- Notation Export: Fixed note ties across measures
- Notation Export: Accidentals and enharmonic mismatches fixed
- Notation Export: Meter changes not exported with MusicXML
- Notation Export: Configure external editors to launch after export
- Notation Export: Keyboard shortcuts for export procedures
- Notation Export: Improved user interface
- Overhauled handling of note durations
- Quantize: Improved templates
- Quantize: Quantization should also quantize the lengths of symbols
- Improved handling of Rhythm and Step
- Improved conversion of Figure to Rhythm
- Improved menus for picking durations & lengths
- Grid Outlet: Ability to save to/extract from Figure/Output on right-click menu
- Fixed parsing note lengths with multiple dots
- Fixed issues with parameter menus
- Fixed editor toolbar's Show Grid
- Fixed error with dropping parameters from other windows
- Improved editor toolbar and option menu
- Improved visual separation of Figure symbols
- Removed static pre-quantization from MIDI file import (useless)
- Rename device menu item should be enabled also for private devices
- Delete options were disabled in Palette right-click menus
- Indication for minor seconds was missing from progression display
- Pasting Harmony didn't always refresh display in arrange view
- Global Rack's help browser did not show up when requested
- Increased size of resizing splitter on Structure page
- Fixed hang when deleting symbols from complete chord segment
- Fixed tooltips with Interpretation inspector
- Fixed crash when editing global scale selection preferences
- Fixed a nasty hang with MIDI file import
Tue, 2022-05-24 - 21:08 Permalink
What I don't mention, consider it confirmed.
Overhauled handling of note durations
Nice.
Improved menus for picking durations & lengths
Great. Is the dot character • not possible because of Unicode or other technical reasons? If that's the case, I would personally prefer something like " dotted", but that's subjective. I can't help reading "1/5 degrees" LOL. Which for me is just a laugh, for new users is confusion.
Quantize: Quantization should also quantize the lengths of symbols
There you go. Thank you.
Improved handling of Rhythm and Step
You left a "Testest" entry there.
Fixed editor toolbar's Show Grid
Didn't even notice the option before, is that what you mean by "fixed"? Now the Grid does actually look useful.
Anyway, I still find not ideal that when you click the other (original) grid numbers, the Grid parameter is simply destroyed. Because you may want to switch it on/off; you could make a less bright led when off. And to re-activate it, just click on it. Which I do realize is a standard "parameter button", but I suppose it's feasible.
Global Rack's help browser did not show up when requested
Yep, you added a functioning help button, but you left there the old button with that one icon with like a bug and a "stop" symbol over it. What the hell is that btw XD
Exporting will take me a while to review of course, and I'll post in the dedicated thread; for now I appreciate very much the new organization of the settings.
Update: done.
Fri, 2022-05-20 - 14:15 Permalink
These fixes are much appreciated, thanks!
> Show Grid
Nice. However, it seems only certain grids 0are actually shown. Is there a limit to the density that can be shown? For example, something exotic like 1/40* is shown, while the more standard 1/32 is not. Some higher desities are instead shown above the global track, but some -- like 1/32 -- not at all. Is this on purpose?
Correction: which grids are shown and which not depends on the time signature and is seemingly not consistent.
Fri, 2022-05-20 - 23:59 Permalink
I was "using" Synfire rather than just trying out small things and finding bugs, and I can say that the software is laggy with just three VSTs, and it crashes all the time, man...
I've sent some crash reports.
I've made a "sketch" and I wanted to export it to a DAW, but the MIDI export crashes despite the green status.
And the lag, I feel like I'm using an old PC... It's nothing insane, but it ruins the experience.
Sat, 2022-05-21 - 20:24 Permalink
Regarding lag: After a crash (unhandled exception), UI performance usually gets MUCH worse, especially if the crash happened inside a graphics transaction. If you continue to work it doesn't get better until you restart the program. This is more extreme on macOS, but also very noticeable on Windows.
Admittedly there are still open issues with extremely agile editing. For example, problems may arise if you start editing a file before it has finished opening (or switching tabs for that matter), or open the next file before another has finished closing. This is because Smalltalk is extremely parallel (great for many things, except UI) which makes transaction control and avoidance of deadlocks more complex than with other languages that run only two threads. Solving this takes time.
By the way, responsiveness of the UI has nothing to do with the number of VSTs. All audio runs in a separate process. I agree the UI could be more snappy, but there are limits to what you can do with a dynamic JIT-compiled language like Smalltalk (comparable to Java). We have plans in the drawer to eventually port to C++, but this years long project is not an option anytime soon.
That said, there are known inefficiencies in the UI that we can fine-tune to squeeze out a couple percent here and there that will certainly make a difference.
Sat, 2022-05-21 - 22:41 Permalink
Transport-Sync problem with Ableton Live 11:
By the way, the midi drone is loaded in Ableton Live 11 as an audio effect plugin! I know that Live 11 still doesn't support midi fx plugins (what a pity). So all my midi-fx plugins, which I use otherwise, load as a VST instrument. But midi-data over audio-fx plugins is weird, but it works. You can route the midi output from Synfire to another midi track through this midi drone and use it to control any VSTi plugin.
What does not work is the transport sync between Synfire and Ableton Live 11. Rewire is no longer supported by Live 11! (https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019095140-ReWire-in-Live-…)
When I try the midi sync using LoopBe I get the error that I have to have the transport module active in my DAW, even though "Enable ReWire Transport" is disabled in Synfire. See screenshots. Is this a bug in Synfire Pro 2.0.4 Build #2 or am I doing something wrong?
Sun, 2022-05-22 - 01:36 Permalink
Although rewire support is not enabled in live 11, I'm sure i read a fix for it somewhere that involves making a change to the live config file. Found it and posted the link but havent upgraded to 11 yet so cant test. Someone posted a link in the forums here on a thread i started about live and rewire and claimed it worked for them. Be interesting to hear if it does work in the current version of live.
&t
Sun, 2022-05-22 - 20:31 Permalink
I can confirm, the transport sync with ReWire in Synfire 2 works with the current Live version 11.1.5 if the hidden option EnableRewire is enabled in Live. Many thanks for the tip!
The question is just whether this will be possible in future Live versions, or whether Rewire will be disabled completely at some point. Maybe in Live 12, nobody knows.
Therefore, the transport sync via midi is still important for me. Since the error with the midi sync still exists with me I would like to know if this is due to my settings or if it is a SW problem.
Sat, 2022-05-28 - 17:44 Permalink
Yes, a lot better :-)
Some hints for improvement:
1. Drag & Drop of MIDI Files: is great, but only works, if MIDI is really stored as a file. Drag&Drop from Plugins does not work... (File not found error). Would be nice, if you could directly drop MIDI Files without storing them before.
2. Import of multiple MIDI Files from one folder: this also had issues in Synfire 1. It seems, that all properties you set, are only applied to the first imported file. All others are then imported with Defaults, which makes result useless in most cases (static drum parts are then imported as horizontal scale. Instruments and ranges are applied automatically, figures are transposed accordingly, even if you said do not,...).
3. Most of the Factories ignore play ranges (low, mid, upper) you choose. Only "Counterpoint Phrases" accept them for horizontal scales. all other play ranges, I tried, were ignored.
Sat, 2022-05-28 - 18:07 Permalink
ReWire is slowly being phased out. The current issue with enabling MIDI sync will be resolved soon. If Ableton Link will eventually support playhead positioning, we will consider that too.
From which plug-ins in particular does drag & drop not work? The MIDI data needs indeed to be passed as a (reference to) a file and most software does exactly that. I wonder which plug-in does not.
Batch import works with auto-defaults only because all files are usually very different. It may work where the files share the same number and ordering of tracks and the same instruments. Not sure how to verify that yet, but it may be an option to improve the feature. Importing many files with "Static Pitch Only" should work for drum patterns though.
Sat, 2022-05-28 - 20:28 Permalink
Hi, some ongoing issues with the Library App
- quantize doesn't work correctly, can pin it down, but the length algorithm is bugged, especially when th next note is quantised early and the first note is quantised late.
- articulations can't be set
- take cant be processed into figure after record
Sat, 2022-05-28 - 22:27 Permalink
Regarding MIDI Drag&Drop: Toontrack's EZKEYS, EZDrummer and EZBass do not work directly
Sun, 2022-05-29 - 00:32 Permalink
I am having to reset the audio/midi every few minutes. If I minimize SFP and work in Ableton when I come back the audio is no longer working. Also today I was using 2 drones and the wrench on the SFP Channel turned orange and I no longer had audio and was not able to assign anything.
Sun, 2022-05-29 - 10:34 Permalink
Hello,
unfortunately, 2.0.4 does not work for me.
I am on macOS 12 (latest patch) and the scanning of VSTs and AUs never ends (have 1000+ plug-ins * 2 formats) - even when waiting whole nights. When killing the Engine process sometimes I get into Cognitone and the MIDI config screen appears but I cannot edit anything and the software just hangs. I do have quite a lot of MIDI devices registered in macOS, perhaps that is the reason.
Thanks
Sun, 2022-05-29 - 17:48 Permalink
If I minimize SFP and work in Ableton when I come back the audio is no longer working.
This may be a limitation on Windows that doesn't allow multiple programs to use an audio device at the same time. Apparently Ableton claimed the device from Synfire and Synfire wasn't able to claim it back. This is not an issue on macOS, which allows any number of programs to use any number of devices at the same time.
What's more, this is difficult to reproduce because ... drum roll ... every audio interface comes with their own audio drivers that behave differently. Same for MIDI interface drivers. It's a real pain.
I'll check if there is a way to claim a device by force, other programs be damned. This is probably what the otheer programs are already doing, to the chagrin of Synfire ;-)
As a temporary workaround, please try to select a different audio device for Synfire.
the scanning of VSTs and AUs never ends
I know of users with 2,500 plug-ins. There is a hard timeout after 30 or so minutes. If it didn't complete or crash by that time, something else hung the whole procedure. Make sure you don't go into sleep mode during the scan. You can also run the scan from Engine.app without Synfire being involved.