Posted
i keep coming back to HN as i think it's an ambitious and, if it worked consistently for me, useful program. i can only imagine the complexity of Synfire pro.
my repeated issue is that i can't get either songs or palettes to playback audio at the same time. at the moment i have what seems to be a very accurate midnam for my Fantom X loaded in. clicking the palette will play the fantom, the chords within the progression, when clicked, will play the fantom but when i press play, it's silent when it scrolls through the progression. it's either that or the song will play but then the chord palette is silent. i experience similar problems working through an IAC bus and vst's within ableton. i've read through the manual twice, watched the videos etc but still can't get this to work every time. often the audio midi settings are greyed out but when they aren't, adding the correct settings doesn't seem to matter.
i'm sure there is a logic to how the midi for the instruments, palettes and progressions should be set up but it just doesn't make sense to me. why are the audio midi settings greyed out most of the time? i should be able to access the settings for the instruments, palettes and song playback directly from the devices or pages that that they are on. can you point me to any information that might help.
thanks.
Do., 24.01.2013 - 17:42 Permalink
When the playback is silent, can you still see MIDI data leaving your Mac (or arriving at the Fantom)?
If yes, there may be a sound selection problem. The Fantom may not switch to the required sounds when they are needed.
If no, please check if Playback >> Instant Feedback is on for the palette.
For your information: The palette uses the global instruments as set up in the Audio & MIDI Setup window (in chords-only mode), or the instruments of the current Sketch (in real-time mode). Your song uses its own instruments. When you switch from palette to song and vice versa, HN2 sends program change messages to the Fantom to switch sounds. If program selection is not properly setup with the Fantom description, this may not work.
Also make sure only 1 device exists for the Fantom and is assigned to the port that is connected with your hardware. The song should use sounds only from the shared rack. Do not use the Fantom as a shared sound resource AND exclusively for a particular song at the same time ("private" use). HN2 should show a warning if you try so.
Which sounds does your song use?
Which sounds does the current Sketch use (if you play it on a palette)?
How are the global instruments assigned? A Screenshot of the global instruments tab and the ports tab would be helpful (Shift + Command + 4)
Do., 24.01.2013 - 19:49 Permalink
thanks for coming back to me Supertonic.
screengrabs attached. the fantom receives midi when i click the palette or chords within the progression but the song isn't outputting any midi. it doesn't matter which patch but i've been using 'so true' and some of the other piano ones but this is just for a scratch pad at the moment. i'd like to use HN for more serious work but haven't got there yet.
another question i've not been able to find an answer for is when i'm recording into the progression and clicking chords on the palette, if i double click the same chord, it will only add in the chord once for the entire period instead of the twice that i intended, can i switch this off so all the chord clicks are recorded?
Do., 24.01.2013 - 20:26 Permalink
Thanks for the pictures. Your global instruments are not setup correctly. You can press "Reset to Defaults" based on the Fantom sounds. Alternatively you can assign an individual sound per instrument.
The globals must work. They are used for palette playback, phrase preview, harmonizer, etc.
The song will not play any sound unless you populate a phrase for the instrument. You have a progression in section A, but there is no Figure for instrument 1.
Progressions do not play any sound in a song. They just guide the instruments. Each instrument needs a phrase to play something.
This is why you can not record two equal chords in a row. This would be "no change" and is therefore ignored. The rhythm and voicing you want the chords to play needs to be expressed in the Figure parameter of a phrase. A Figure is kind of an intelligent MIDI sequence that adapts to the progression automatically.
You can record phrases from your Fantom keyboard. Or pick them from a library.
Or you can pick a "Basis Sketch" from the top right menu, which will fill a number of instruments with a preset Sketch.