Sending Note Off MIDI message on stop

I need some help from a MIDI guru. I'm sending MIDI to an external mono synth (a Future Retro XS). All is working well, except one infuriating problem.

I'm programming a busy MIDI pattern, but it seems that when I stop the transport in the middle of a note (which is almost always) Logic does not send a MIDI Note Off command to the synth. The synth then locks up and has to be turned off and on again. In addition, it seems I have to do a "Reset All MIDI Drivers" from the preferences as well.

As you can imagine, going to the preferences to reset every time I stop the track is not very good for workflow... Does anyone know how I can force Logic to send Note Offs when the transport stops?

I need some help from a MIDI guru. I'm sending MIDI to an external mono synth (a Future Retro XS). All is working well, except one infuriating problem.

 

I'm programming a busy MIDI pattern, but it seems that when I stop the transport in the middle of a note (which is almost always) Logic does not send a MIDI Note Off command to the synth. The synth then locks up and has to be turned off and on again. In addition, it seems I have to do a "Reset All MIDI Drivers" from the preferences as well.

 

As you can imagine, going to the preferences to reset every time I stop the track is not very good for workflow... Does anyone know how I can force Logic to send Note Offs when the transport stops?

You can click the MIDI monitor in the Transport, that should send an "all notes off" message, aka PANIC!

http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/usermanual/index.html#chapter=22%26section=5%26tasks=true

And doesn't your Synth have a PANIC button? Switching it on and off, is, ehrm, not real elegant, and almost any midi capable synth has a panic! (All Notes Off) button... also, the switching off is why you need to reset your MIDI drivers.

It may also be that you've disabled the appropriate reset message (All Notes Off) in the Preferences.

http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/usermanual/index.html#chapter=44%26section=5%26tasks=true

Interesting that the manual mentions:

LATCHED NOTES

Should notes ever become latched or stuck where they continue playing, you can turn the unit off andthen back on again, and playback should resume to normal.

Common causes for latched notes might be due to the XS not receiving a proper MIDI Note Off command, or the reception of too much MIDI data. It is always good practice to send only the MIDI data to the XS that it responds to for optimum MIDI timing.

You could probably program something in midipipe to trigger an "all notes off" command with the MIDI Stop message Logic sends whenever you stop the transport...when sending MIDI Clock.

Regards,

J.

when I stop the transport in the middle of a note (which is almost always) Logic does not send a MIDI Note Off command to the synth. The synth then locks up and has to be turned off and on again. In addition, it seems I have to do a "Reset All MIDI Drivers" from the preferences as well.

Something's wrong then. Probably a bad MIDI driver. Logic always sends note offs for active notes when stopping the transport.

How is the synth connected to your Mac?

Something's wrong then. Probably a bad MIDI driver. Logic always sends note offs for active notes when stopping the transport.

I thought it should. This makes the chief suspect my ageing (and quite cheap) Audio/MIDI interface. It's an Alesis iO|2. Although I have a Duet now, that doesn't send MIDI, so I'm still using the iO|2 for this. It might be time to buy a dedicated, reliable MIDI interface.