If you were me, what would you do?

[andyr]

I'm running Logic Pro 7 on a G4 Powerbook, with a LaCie external HD (connected via USB) and a Presonus Firebox interface. A friend sent me 8 tracks of MIDI files, and I brought them into Logic, intending to record some audio to go with them, but I'm not getting very far, because after a couple of minutes, the MIDI files stop playing (the SPL still moves) and I get a high-pitched noise that won't go away until I quit Logic.

 

Someone suggested it was a MIDI loop, but sending a panic message by clicking in the MIDI box on the transport window doesn't help.

 

If I play the song using my built-in audio in-and-out, I don't have a problem.

 

If I open a new song, bring in the MIDI files, and have them play Audio Instruments, no problem.

 

If I open a new song, bring in the files and have them play GM sounds, then I have a problem.

 

Sometimes it happens on the first play of the song, sometimes I can go for half an hour or so, then it happens. That's why I thought I'd licked it. I played my new song with MIDI instruments for an hour and everything was great. The next morning, I tried it again, to make sure I wasn't dreaming, and it freaked out on me in the first 30 seconds.

 

When this whole thing started, I made sure I had the latest software updates on my Mac, and downloaded the most current Firebox driver.

 

When I used to work in GarageBand, it turned out that my LaCie Drive and Presonus didn't like sharing a FW buss. At least, that appears to have been the problem. When I hooked up the LaCie via USB, the intermittent crackling and stuttering that had been plaguing me for weeks went away.

 

Someone else suggested that adding another FW buss to my Mac might help with the problem I'm having now. Does this make sense to any of you? I'd do it if I thought it would help, but I don't really understand why it would.

 

So, if you were me, what would you do next?

 

Thanks...

[andyr]

Aw, come on - you guys are all smarter than me! or at least more experienced than I am with troubleshooting this program!

 

Andy

[Justin-Ch]

You say everything works ok if you are using plug-in instruments. I'd imagine these give much better sounds than a GM instrument, so apart from knowing that something wrong is happening & wanting to sort that out, is there a particular reason you want GM sounds?

 

The GM device that is making the high-pitched noise, is it the internal QuickTime synth or an external hardware one?

 

Have you tried starting a new song, recording your own midi tracks playing this GM device to see if the problem happens with those?

 

What did your friend record the midi files with?

 

Have you checked each midi file for extra data that might show up in Hyper Draw?

 

Maybe with each one in turn, open it in the Matrix window. Select all the notes & then paste those in a new empty midi region. Then delete the old one. This way you will just have the notes without any other data that might be causing problems.

[andyr]

You say everything works ok if you are using plug-in instruments. I'd imagine these give much better sounds than a GM instrument, so apart from knowing that something wrong is happening & wanting to sort that out, is there a particular reason you want GM sounds?

 

The MIDI files are orchestral instruments. I just threw some synths in there. I'm not actually sure how to replace them with my own orchestral sounds. And I do want to figure it out. I've gone ahead and started recording my audio to the synth backing tracks, figuring that once I make the MIDI stuff work in another song, I'll cut and paste my audio in..

 

The GM device that is making the high-pitched noise, is it the internal QuickTime synth or an external hardware one?

 

QT.

 

Have you tried starting a new song, recording your own midi tracks playing this GM device to see if the problem happens with those?

 

Not yet. I'll try it.

 

What did your friend record the midi files with?

 

Cubase.

 

Have you checked each midi file for extra data that might show up in Hyper Draw?

 

No, I will try that, too.

 

Maybe with each one in turn, open it in the Matrix window. Select all the notes & then paste those in a new empty midi region. Then delete the old one. This way you will just have the notes without any other data that might be causing problems.

 

I'll give that a try, as well. Thanks for your suggestions!

[andyr]

Maybe with each one in turn, open it in the Matrix window. Select all the notes & then paste those in a new empty midi region. Then delete the old one. This way you will just have the notes without any other data that might be causing problems.

 

 

I did this, and it worked! There must have been something in those files. I've been working for a couple of hours, with no MIDI problems. Fantastic!

 

Of course, now I have another question. I'm getting crackling noises when recording audio. Does this have something to do with the buffer settings of my audio driver? I adjusted them every way I could, and it didn't help. It's a little strange, because I've recorded audio before with no problems. I've been looking though my books, but haven't found anything about this. i'll look at past posts here and see what I can find, but in the meantime, if anyone has a suggestion, I'll take it.

 

I really appreciate this forum. I may not be able to offer much in the way of Logic help yet, but I will extend this offer to anyone here - if you want a dulcimer or kalimba track on a song - and who doesn't? and you want to send me a song to work on, I'll give it a go. Of course, you'll have to put up with my questions about Logic!

 

Thanks again!

[andyr]

Maybe with each one in turn, open it in the Matrix window. Select all the notes & then paste those in a new empty midi region. Then delete the old one. This way you will just have the notes without any other data that might be causing problems.

 

So, I did this, and my new song played fine for a couple of hours, but I was getting crackling noises while recording audio. Today I opened the new song, and the first thing I noticed was that my Apple loop track wasn't playing, although the MIDI tracks and crackling audio tracks were. I looked in the environment on my Audio layer, and the audio object for the loop was "blank" - just the track number was showing.

 

Still, I decided just to forge on and see if I could re-record those audio tracks (this is the last night I can borrow an amp I'm using.) I erased my bad audio tracks and started to record. I noticed that my CPU meter showed an awfully high level for Audio usage, which I thought was strange, since I didn't have any audio tracks playing (other than the "silent" loop) and I'm not using effects. I had set my input buffer low and my large buffer to "medium." Previously I had my input buffer set as high as possible and my other buffer to "large." Anyway, after a few minutes the same old thing happened - MIDI tracks stop playing, high-pitched noise, had to close the program to get rid of it. I painstakingly managed to record a couple of audio tracks, stopping and restarting the program every so often. Really fun. I'm not terribly satisfied with the sound I got, but at least there was no crackling, so I decided to quit while I was ahead.

 

Determined not to get frustrated, I decided to try something else that you suggested. I would create a different song with a bunch of MIDI tracks, to see if the same thing would happen. I opened my Autoload song - 8 MIDI tracks were already set up, and I tested the instrument sounds on each one, and they all worked. So I chose a loop for some percussion and threw it on a track. Came back to start recording my MIDI tracks and nothing worked - no sound, except for the loop.

 

Out of curiosity, i opened my original song back up and tried to play it. All I could hear was the audio tracks I recorded.

 

I'm open to any suggestions on how to proceed. I have next week off work, and I'll consider bringing my stuff up to LA, if someone thinks they can help me figure this out. I haven't found anyone here in San Diego with enough experience with Logic to help me. I'll pay someone a consultant fee if necessary, but I just want to get this behind me and get on with recording my music.