Posted
In order to remedy the paucity of HN's accompaniment styles I've tried to configure it to work with One Man Band using LoopBe1; in the process I seem to have completely buggered the settings. Despite following the website's guide to configuring MIDI output I couldn't get the programs to talk to one another, and now, after uninstalling LoopBe1 and then consulting the troubleshooting guide, I can't even get HN to play any sounds on its own.
I then decided I should uninstall and re-install HN; the program then unhelpfully recommended deactivating my installation without bothering to describe just I'm supposed to do so.
Mon, 2009-07-06 - 01:31 Permalink
I forgot to add that while trying to configure HN to work with the other program I may have caused a "short circuit" in the MIDI ports, which the website cautions against (without, however, saying what might happen if I did cause one); I'd hoped to correct any such problems by re-installing HN and LoopBe1.
Mon, 2009-07-06 - 13:46 Permalink
Hi,
you do not need to deactivate HN, if you want to reinstall on the same computer again. However, I dont think you need to reinstall HN and LoopBe1 anyway.
You should be able to restore the default routing in the Audio & MIDI Setup window without reinstalling. Check if you have a GM device enabled and its port number assigned to the one that is connected to your sound generator on the "Drivers" tab (Microsoft GM Synth or whatever you have installed else).
To avoid the short cirquit, make sure One Man Band receives MIDI on the LoopBe1 port, but does NOT send back the received events to HN (MIDI Through must be off for that software). The short cirquit can cause HN to run full of duplicate MIDI data and crash.
Also be sure you do not connect input and output of LoopBe at the same time.
Christian
Tue, 2009-07-07 - 07:32 Permalink
Thanks, but the sound still doesn't work. I'd actually tried all of that anyway, as well as trying every other setting under Drivers and Devices; I eventually resorted to uninstalling and re-installing HN as well, only to find that the program had saved whatever the settings were that screwed the MIDI in my first installation. Now the only way I can get HN to produce any sound at all is to hook it up to One Man Band using LoopBe1, which results in a horribly dissonant and distorted mess.
One of the toolbars says something about a "non-realtime playback of full progression," but I can find no mention of this in the documentation.
At this point I've given up on making HN work with the other program, and would be satisfied just to get the MIDI instruments working within HN itself without having to reinstall Vista.
Tue, 2009-07-07 - 11:09 Permalink
To have HN restore all default routings on startup, delete the file Routing.prefs in the "Program Files\Cognitone\Harmony Navigator\Config" directory. If that doesn't help, you could also try deleting Preferences.prefs as a second step. These files are not replaced upon a reinstall.
Make sure you have a GM capable device in the Devices directory. HN will then connect it with the built-in Microsoft Synth automatically on startup.
You certainly do not need to reinstall Vista or anything. The distorted mess you mention results from the fact that One Man Band can not provide the different sounds that HN requests for its accompaniment patterns. Probably all instruments (including drums) are rendered on the same sound.
The non-realtime playback status information has no influence on this. It just tells that the playback was rendered in one go rather than chord by chord. This usually results in a better quality.
BTW: What exactly did you want to do with One Man Band? Was it supposed to serve as a sound generator? Possibly an appropriate device description could make that work.
Thu, 2009-07-09 - 09:39 Permalink
I tried all of that; still no sound in HN. No sound in OMB, either, for that matter, though another program on my computer is playing MIDI as before.
OMB is supposed to work like the auto-accompaniment feature on an arranger keyboard. You play chords on a controller or specify a chord progression, and it realizes that harmony in whatever Yamaha PSR style you've loaded; my idea was to try using HN's MIDI output in place of a hardware controller.
Thu, 2009-07-09 - 12:40 Permalink
Which midi drivers are listed on your Drivers tab of the Audio & MIDI Setup window? Do you feel there is a driver missing at the Output side? The Microsoft GM Synth or some MPU interface should be listed in any case (they are built into Windows).
HN does not change any Windows settings. It is able to send midi directly to the built-in GM synth without loopback drivers and such. If that is not possible, something with your Windows settings must have changed.
Could it be your Windows multimedia mixer or soundcard tools? Please check the volume control in your taskbar and verify that the mixer does not mute/disable the synth's audio output.
Thu, 2009-07-09 - 20:29 Permalink
Thanks, it turns out it was the Windows mixer. I feel like an idiot. I must have muted HN while I was trying to get the two programs working together, with the idea that I would turn the volume back up once I'd gotten the MIDI path sorted out.
Thanks for bearing with me.