Chord parsing function not working

[Denkster]

Hi ronpietrantoni,

into Windows Task Manager and setting the affinity for the MTD process to just one processor seems to have eliminated my MIDI issues!

That is very interesting! Amazing!
Would you please enlighten me some more:

a post on the Yahoo discussion group

Can you post a link, please?

neither Geniesoft's Overture demo nor Gvox's own Master Tracks Pro have any MIDI problems with the same dual-core processors - for that reason alone I'm convinced that it's not a W7 driver issue, but something within MTD itself

Are you saying:

1. there is a difference in MIDI-handling, between MusicTime Deluxe (MTD) and MasterTracksPro (MTP),
2. they apparently approach the (dual-core) processors for MIDI in different way or method
3. the way MusicTime Deluxe (MTD) does approach (dual-core) processors via Windows7 drivers is not good.

If I understood you correctly, yours are very important observations!

Kind regards
Eveline

[ronpietrantoni]

into Windows Task Manager and setting the affinity for the MTD process to just one processor seems to have eliminated my MIDI issues!

That is very interesting! Amazing!
Would you please enlighten me some more:

I'm not gonna lie to you, Marge: it was mostly dumb luck! The Yahoo thread (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/gvox-users/) said something about changing the Process priority in Task Manager to High. Pursuing that led me to see what the rest of the drop-down menu had to offer; next below Set Priority is Set Affinity. Once I figured out what it was referring to, I thought, "Nah, that can't be it - someone else would have figured it out by now." <bg>

Are you saying:

1. there is a difference in MIDI-handling, between MusicTime Deluxe (MTD) and MasterTracksPro (MTP),
2. they apparently approach the (dual-core) processors for MIDI in different way or method
3. the way MusicTime Deluxe (MTD) does approach (dual-core) processors via Windows7 drivers is not good.

If I understood you correctly, yours are very important observations!

1. This is what I've been trying to tell John Miller. <smile> He suggested that the trouble was my M-Audio MIDISport 2x2 not having a W7 compliant driver. So I purchased a Cakewalk UM-3G - no change in MTD; MTP still worked.

2. It occurred to me that it might have been that MTP somehow installed with single-core affinity, but I just fired up my copy and checked: It has both my CPUs checked. I read somewhere (possibly another section of this forum; or maybe Matt e-mailed me about it) that 6.8.4 had a resolution issue - if I run the PPQ higher than 96 there are all sorts of nasty timing discrepancies. However, since I've created a starting template with that resolution, I've been able to use MTP just fine in a W7 environment: meter changes, accelerandos, ritards, the works (well, for the pop/rock/Gospel stuff I produce). Funny thing is, it was working before I got the beta of the M-Audio W7 driver!

3. In the sense that I could only get 3-4 notes on a page with step-entering before MTD would stop receiving MIDI intel until I shut down and restarted the program? Yeah, I think 'not good' qualifies. And it's not just W7. Earlier in this thread, I think it was, someone else mentioned hitting one note and getting a splattered chord - that was happening to me on an XPsp3 box which just so happened to also be a dual-core processor. Changed the affinity there and bam! the problem stopped. So setting the affinity fixed MIDI problems both on a 32-bit XP box and a 64-bit W7.

I think this goes back to the origin of this thread: the chord parsing problem and the 'glob of notes' problem are, in fact, the same symptom. You play something on a MIDI keyboard and MTD/Encore in a multi-core environment mistranslates it somehow.

[Meryl]

Thanks Ron. You are a genius! I did as you said and changed the affinity to 1 processor and set the prority to high and now Encore responds to my MIDI input without stopping.



Meryl

[Denkster]

Thanks Meryl, for confirming;
Thanks Ron, you are a genius.
This feels like a break through to me!

Tickets on Lighthouse that are probably related: #99, #529, #630, #635 and maybe also: #246, #337, #339, #375, #442.

kind regards
Eveline

[ronpietrantoni]

Thanks Ron, you are a genius.
This feels like a break through to me!

"It's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart."
- King Charles, from Pippin

[ronpietrantoni]

Doing a little cross-posting, as some Encore folk are having similar difficulties. The Windows Task Manager Affinity select only works as long as the program is open; you have to reassign the affinity (and priority) each time you open MTD. I'm researching a more permanent solution - please stand by.

[John Miller]

Doing a little cross-posting, as some Encore folk are having similar difficulties. The Windows Task Manager Affinity select only works as long as the program is open; you have to reassign the affinity (and priority) each time you open MTD. I'm researching a more permanent solution - please stand by.

There is also a user of Encore 5.0.2 running in Windows XP on a single core computer experiencing the same note cluster problem.
If you come across anything else that might be related I would greatly appreciate it if you would notifly me.
Thank you

[ronpietrantoni]

John, old bean - good to hear from you!

I won't be any help for single-core users; I only have one box that qualifies - my laptop. I have no intention of muddying it with MIDI, as it's purpose is solely for running my sheet music reading program. However, you should confirm that the other user is indeed using a single-core as a single-core. Jeanni, the one whose post on Yahoo got me thinking in this direction in the first place, is also a poster on the Encore side of this forum. While she has a single-core processor (a P4), it's being run with 'hyperthreading', which simulates dual-core - and apparently simulates the trouble, as well. <wry g>

I have (through way too much Internet research) found a way to run MusicTime Deluxe so that it loads with my Priority and Affinity preferences. It's worked repeatedly on my W7 box at home; after attending a memorial service, I will try the setup on my XP box at work. However, it's kinda complicated (at least to me) and, more importantly to the discussion at hand: it involves renaming the actual MusicTime Deluxe executable. John, will this get me into trouble? It seems fine on my end; if you tell me that no harm should come of that stunt, I'll post the directions for everyone else.

[Denkster]

Hi ronpietrantoni,
You can name the executable any name which is ending in .exe
I did that often, when testing several beta versions.
But leave it in its own folder.
Make a new shortcut to that renamed file.

kind regards
Eveline

[ronpietrantoni]

Well, sports fans... it doesn't work in XP. <frown> The short version of my stunt is to copy cmd.exe into the MusicTime Deluxe folder, create a shortcut on your desktop, then modifying the shortcut to run 'start /high /affinity 1 mtd4.exe', with 'mtd4.exe' what I renamed MusicTime Deluxe and '1' being processor #2. '0' is processor #1 and I read somewhere that there's some dedicated Windows processess that are set to run on the first core, so I figured I'd set MTD to the second, just to be safe. Takes a couple of extra seconds to load, but seems to work fine on W7 here at home. Problem is that XP doesn't appear to have the /affinity switch in it's start command prompts (although it did work to automatically set the priority to 'high').

It's all moot, as in the process of doing a vocal and then horn arrangement last night, I discovered what others here already have: the note cluster problem still exists in XP, even after resetting the affinity. I swear, I bounced in and out of step-entry a dozen times flawlessly the first time I tried it! Last night, though, in 'real life' (as it were) it was back. It may have taken longer to happen, but I don't think so.

Sorry, kids! (turning in my 'genius' card)

[John Miller]

Hi Ron,

I think all of this is great information as a jumping off point to fix the problem.

[djigoo]

Hi Ron,

I think all of this is great information as a jumping off point to fix the problem.

Jumping off point? This is a problem that has existed since the introduction of MTD4. Any "jumping off" should've been accomplished months ago.

I'm behind in every one of my projects because of the myriad bugs in the new version. I am proactively telling all my friends in the business, many of whom purchased MTD on my recommendation, to look elsewhere. It's obvious MTD users are second-class citizens at GVOX.

My search for a replacement program continues. Goodbye, GVOX. It's time I went with a professional software publisher.