M1 - fast midi messages not working properly

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M1 - fast midi messages not working properly

Postby wheatleyb » 20 January 2021, 04:12

Hey everyone, I'm posting on here because I'm at a loss as to how to solve my problem. First off, I believe that my problem lies within my OS and the newest version of The Lighting Controller. I'll try to be brief but also thorough. I should point out that I have been using an older MacBook Pro running High Sierra, version 10.13.6 and have had zero problems. I recently purchased a new M1 MacBook Pro and I have imported my show successfully but some things simply aren't working as they should. For instance, the 3D View window was small but luckily I was able to get that problem taken care of by downloading a new 3DView version from a post here in the forum.

Moving on...

I play in a band and we use Ableton Live for click tracks, cues, etc. One of the biggest things we rely on Ableton for is it's ability to send MIDI signals to The Lighting Controller via Mac's built in IAC Driver. The way I do this is by creating a MIDI track in Ableton and having those MIDI notes trigger different scenes in ShowXpress as we play through each song. This method has tremendously improved my band's show and has made controlling our lighting an absolute breeze. I still have my old MacBook and it runs like a champ but my new MacBook, which is running Big Sur, version 11.1, is having some difficulties. I am 99% certain I have everything setup correctly in both Ableton and The Lighting Controller, but for some reason my buttons are only being triggered every now and then when using Ableton and my BPM in ShowXpress (which I have Ableton set via MIDI for each song) isn't changing at all. From what I can tell, everything else seems to be working as it should. I have literally went through every setting in both Ableton and ShowXpress with my old computer and my new one side by side to see if I can figure out if there is something in the settings that is potentially causing this mishap and have come up empty handed. Both computers seem to be setup exactly the same but with different OS versions and versions of ShowXpress.

If anyone can offer some help or assistance, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.
wheatleyb
 
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby support » 20 January 2021, 23:51

Please use the window "Midi logger" to compare the received midi messages, and tell us if you see some differences.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby wheatleyb » 21 January 2021, 04:55

Ok, so I've noticed some differences when running the exact same song from Ableton. Here is the screenshots from each computer. The white is from the older Mac and the black is from my new one.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby wheatleyb » 21 January 2021, 05:10

Ok, so it looks like I'm having some difficulties uploading the screenshots. My apologies. Here are the differences from my old computer to my new one.

Old MacBook:
Device : 0 - Channel : 0

New MacBook
Device : 1 - Channel : 1

I've double checked my buttons, Ableton Live, and my IAC Driver and they're all set the same on both machines.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby support » 21 January 2021, 23:17

Looks like a compatibility glitch with Rosetta.

Please use for instance "https://imgbb.com/" to post the links of your screenshots.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby support » 22 January 2021, 13:52

Please check also that both systems have exactly the same version of our software.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby wheatleyb » 23 January 2021, 15:23

Originally, I wasn't running the same version of TheLightingController on both computers but I went ahead and installed 9.2.24 on my old Mac and it worked perfectly. Both computers are now running 9.2.24 but the new one still isn't working as it should.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby wheatleyb » 24 January 2021, 00:38

Here's another piece of information that may help you figure out the problem. The good news is that my Ableton Live show IS indeed sending messages to ShowXpress and ShowXpress IS receiving them. I can get any button to turn on and I can get the tempo set. The problem lies within ShowXpress not being able to handle two or more midi messages at one time. Basically, I can get anything to work as long as there is a gap in time between each trigger. I can ONLY get ONE thing to be triggered at a time. I can't get the same button to turn on and off without there being a gap in the midi field. Hopefully my explanation makes sense.

I know it's hard to diagnose a problem like this over a forum but I do appreciate the help and hope you can figure out why I'm having this problem. Thanks again.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby support » 24 January 2021, 17:34

So if we right understand, when Ableton sends one "midi note on" message quickly followed by a "midi note off" message, the button in our software:
- switches on and off quickly with the old Mac (Intel)
- switches on and wait for some time and switches off, with the new Mac (Arm)

Could you please confirm that ?

And if yes, please tell us the programmed delay between the two midi messages in the Ableton software.
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Re: MIDI Button Triggering Not Working Properly with Big Sur

Postby wheatleyb » 25 January 2021, 05:35

I just checked the midi logger on both machines for the exact same scene in Ableton. On the old Mac you're right when you say there is a "NoteOn" message followed by a "NoteOff" message but the new Mac only shows the first midi in message as "NoteOn" and every message after that as "NoteOff".

I start almost every midi track in Ableton by sending a midi note (note 127) on every 1/4 note to set the tempo. I setup my grid to be in 1/4 notes, so because there was no gaps between each signal (on the new Mac), ShowXpress wasn't turning the buttons on and off. As soon left blank space between my midi notes, ShowXpress worked as it should.

Do you think this problem lies within the M1 chip in my new Mac? If so, do you think this is something that can be sorted out?
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