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  4. VE Ensemble Pro is mixing up MIDI ports and MIDI channels

  • VE Ensemble Pro is mixing up MIDI ports and MIDI channels

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    In order to get VE Pro to work, I have to set the MIDI port to the same as the channel even though that port doesn't exist, what have I set wrong to cause this to happen? Here is what I have, Cubase on the main PC with two VE Pro servers set up, networked to 2nd PC (Win 7 64-bit) with one instance of VE Pro is for strings (5 parts) and the other is percussion (4 parts), so the strings are on MIDI Port 1, channels 1 to 5, and the percussion is on MIDI Port 2 channels 1 to 4, but channel 4 does not work on MIDI Port 2 (audio is OK) unless I set the fourth part to MIDI port 4 and channel 4, but MIDI port 4 doesn't exist, so somewhere along the line here, VE Pro is mixing up PORTS and CHANNELS, anyone have any ideas on whats wrong here, and it was all going so well.......
  • PaulP
    VSL Team
    PaulP

    Hello andyjh,

    You need to use VE PRO as a VST3 plug-in (with 3 "///") to utilize multiple MIDI ports.

    You can set the number of ports in the VE PRO Preferences.

    When you say that VE PRO is mixing up channels: When does that happen, exaxtly?

    Best,

    Paul

    Paul Kopf Product Manager VSL
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    I'm definately using the VST3 version. This has only happened as I have added more ports/channels, or it just hasn't happened until I got to Port 2 channel 4, everything was fine up until then. On my first instance of VE Pro, I successfully got five channels all OK, but on my second instance of VE Pro I got three channels working all OK, the first VI Pro instrument on Port 2 channel 1, the second on Port 2 channel 2, the third on Port 2 channel 3, but the fourth does not work on port 2 channel 4, but it does work on port 4 channel 4 (if I continue to a fifth instrument, that has the same problem - it has to go on port 5 channel 5 to work). But in cubase I only have 2 instances of VE server running, and only 2 ports are shown (I've got it set to 8 channels on each). So there is no Port 4 in Cubase, so how is the slave VE Pro seeing a port 4? I assume it could well be going wrong at the cubase "transmit" side of things
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    OK, I've been experimenting further, and have discovered that as long as the MIDI Port selection in VE Pro is set to ALL (Omni), everything does work, you just then cannot recognize which instance relates to which port, but it does work, and I assume that is how everyone is using it. But if I have two instances of VE Pro, both set to ALL (Omni) for the ports, how does Cubase (or whatever networked DAW) tell the difference between slaved instances? It does though, as it does work. So can someone explain to me what the purpose of the MIDI Port selector is in VE Pro, as it does not select ports, and if anyone can change their Port setting away from ALL and to select the specific port it should be, and confirm (or not) that the above problems (see my last post) I am having is "normal". It does work set to ALL, so I'll have to stay with that, but I cannot see how that is working, can anyone help please.... Thanks
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    I'll describe what I do and hopefully can post some images.

    I begin by setting up a metaframe, which is to say more than one instance in a VE Pro server (on a slave machine). I name the instances with a number that will correspond with the rack slot in Cubase, for simplicity's sake. To use a multitimbral plugin inside VE Pro, you use an omni reception in the 'parent' and distribute to individual channel assigns in the 'children'. This [a multitimbral instrument with more than one channel distro], is the only case in which you will need to use omni to receive and distribute midi channels.

    Here you see two midi tracks that I am sending to an instance of Kore 2 plugged into VE Pro frame #2, reflected by the '2' here which indicates slot 2 in the Cubase rack. Kore 2 is PORT 1, indicated in the pic as 'midi in 1'. In VE Pro Kore 2 receives omni [PORT 1-ALL] and distributes to channels channels 2 and 3. Here the instrument in midi channel 2 (PORT 1) is displayed. You see below that, BFD2 in PORT 2 (channel 10).
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    @andyjh said:

    if I have two instances of VE Pro, both set to ALL (Omni) for the ports, how does Cubase (or whatever networked DAW) tell the difference between slaved instances? It does though, as it does work. So can someone explain to me what the purpose of the MIDI Port selector is in VE Pro, as it does not select ports, and if anyone can change their Port setting away from ALL and to select the specific port it should be, and confirm (or not) that the above problems (see my last post) I am having is "normal".
    The ports work fine whatever the assignment.

    Cubase knows what instance its communicating with the same it knows one instance of any vsti from another, because it's in a different slot in the vsti rack. As I indicated, I call them 1, 2, 3, 4 on the VE Pro side and instantiate them accordingly. They are identifiable in the plugin window as such, and by whatever descriptive name I will have given to a preserved vi frame in a VE Pro metaframe or server instance. VE Pro uses the port that you need, there isn't a problem. Your problem shouldn't be a problem. If indeed Cubase fails to communicate with VE Pro corresponding to a given assignment, there is a problem with Cubase (or a problem with the network, etc). Sometimes Cubase does some inexplicable stuff and needs its preferences rebuilt.

    If you follow my description and images showing how to do it and emulate that, and you're convinced it doesn't work, I'd say trash your Cubase preferences which it will rebuild next launch. If there are things such as key commands you can't bear to lose, copy them and reinsert them (only not while it's launching) in the Cubase preferences folder.
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    Hmm.. OK this has just confused me even further, in your example you have both your Cubase tracks set to port 2 "2-viennaE..ro-MIDIin1" on channel 3 and "2-viennaE..ro-MIDI1" to channel 2. Cubase ignores the last value in the port setting (the midi channel) as the channel is taken from the track channel assigned, in your case 2 and 3, so we can agree that the MIDI channels are all OK. When I add VE Pro instances in Cubase it adds in the output routing "1-Vienna..." for the first instance, the second instance adds more outputs labelled "2-vienna...", the third "3-vienna" etc. So the first number refers to the port (the instances of VE Pro that it will go to), but I would have to set say in your example your "BFD2 1" part to PORT 10 channel 10 to get it to work, as you have it set to port 2 wouldn't work for me, I have to have the port the same as the channel or it doesn't work. Also, how did you get the port/channel display as "Kore2 6", I have never seen VE Pro display the setting like this, mine are always like the ones you have in your "Kore 2" part showing numbers not names, how did you get it display the words KORE2? I am using VI Pro which is not multitimbral, so maybe there are differences there.
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    @Another User said:

    how did you get the port/channel display as "Kore2 6", I have never seen VE Pro display the setting like this, mine are always like the ones you have in your "Kore 2" part showing numbers not names, how did you get it display the words KORE2? I am using VI Pro which is not multitimbral, so maybe there are differences there.

    That isn't a port/channel display. I enabled 5 audio inputs (microphone icon) in VE Pro for 5 channels in Kore 2 (numbered from 2-6 as there is no separate 'output 1', it is redundant to 'main Kore 2 output') to output to. 'Kore 2 output 6' is displayed. If you don't need mulitimbral anything you might want to ignore all that.

    The main point of confusion here:

    In that Cubase inspector image, there are three items:

    > Cubase vsti rack slot number 2 is indicated by "2-viennaE..." as 'viennaE...' populates that slot/instance, which can have up to 32 ports.

    > "MIDI1" indicates PORT 1 {and corresponds with 'midi in' in VE Pro}.

    > below that, midi channel assignments for that port; here 2 & 3. Cubase isn't ignoring any values.

    In VE Pro, the port number is indicated by "MIDI in 1-VE Pro Plugin MIDI In 1". To the right of that is your channel assignment. 16 per port.

    (or, 'omni' which gives you 16 channel selections inside a multimbral plugin)
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    OK, I've got it all OK now. I couldn't stop VE Pro (VST 3) producing 8 ports every instance (I can reduce these on the slave under VE Pro), but Cubase always produces 8 for each instance, so I have gone to VE Pro (VST2 version), that gives me just the one port I need (16 channel per instance is more than enough), and I have renamed the VST plug in as VE Pro.dll, which now gives a sensible readable entry in Cubase as "1-VE Pro - Midi In". (You can't rename VST3 plug ins, as the name is within the plug in, and doesn't take it from the file name like VST2's do). It's a shame you can't name your VST plug ins within Cubase, instead of 1-VE Pro, 2-VE Pro, 3-VE Pro etc it would be great to have VE-Strings, VE-Brass, VE-Percussion etc, but I've already suggested that to Steinberg, and they weren't interested, thanks for all your help.