Stop the maddening MIDI monitor sound?

[iGirl]

I'm just evaluating DP8 and set something which has caused it to make a "plink" system sound every time a MIDI note up is input. No clue what happened. I've tried AudioMIDI/Studio, MIDI Monitor (which doesn't seem to do anything) - HELP!

[Tritonemusic]

I'm just evaluating DP8 and set something which has caused it to make a "plink" system sound every time a MIDI note up is input. No clue what happened. I've tried AudioMIDI/Studio, MIDI Monitor (which doesn't seem to do anything) - HELP!

I don't know what you mean by "MIDI note up." Note On, maybe?

Are you using Step Record, by any chance? There is a setting that will make the click sound every time you input a note. Is that what you're talking about?

[iGirl]

Not step record. The MIDI Note Up (note OFF) command was causing the sound/issue, but I was ultimately able to get rid of it by quitting DP and restarting. Weird though. (Note up/off, like it sounds, happens on a MIDI key release)

I'm only in the beginning of trying to configure things and do real time multi-channel MIDI recording. I finally just found the MIDI Monitor too - a hidden panel (used to be a pop up) which could only be seen by dragging the tracks widow away.

It's pretty complicated (more than I need) but I have some experience for using early versions so am muddling through so far.

[Tritonemusic]

...but I was ultimately able to get rid of it by quitting DP and restarting.

This is one of the first things you should do when encountering issues (just some advice for the future).

[Shooshie]

Not step record. The MIDI Note Up (note OFF) command was causing the sound/issue, but I was ultimately able to get rid of it by quitting DP and restarting. Weird though. (Note up/off, like it sounds, happens on a MIDI key release)

I'm only in the beginning of trying to configure things and do real time multi-channel MIDI recording. I finally just found the MIDI Monitor too - a hidden panel (used to be a pop up) which could only be seen by dragging the tracks widow away.

It's pretty complicated (more than I need) but I have some experience for using early versions so am muddling through so far.

Hi, iGirl. Welcome back to Performer, now Digital. Like you, I started long ago when things were very, very different. "Note Up" probably made more sense in 1985 than it does now, since we have lots of kinds of MIDI Controllers now, some of which have no "up." The word we all know now is "Note Off." The question is what on earth could have caused a system beep every time you sent a Note Off? The first thing that comes to mind is some kind of dialog box, something needing an answer, but I really can't think of anything that would be specifically looking for a MIDI Note Off command, if you say that Step Record was not involved.

But the fact that you were having trouble finding the MIDI Monitor tells me that it may have been open, hiding under some large windows. So... let me tell you how I handle windows, so that you might find it easier to get to something like that.

In OS X, at least in versions since about 10.4 or 10.5 (I don't remember when they implemented this) there are some controls that will momentarily reveal all your windows, spaced out evenly across the screen, or hide them, in the following ways:

• • Mission Control - reveals all currently open windows from all applications, including the Finder.
  • Application Windows - reveals all currently open windows in the application in which you're currently working. In this case, that would be Digital Performer.
  • Show Desktop - moves all the windows off-screen so that you can see your Mac's background picture and desktop. Any files sitting in the Finder, or hard drive icons, will be visible once you push all the windows out of the way.
  • There is one more called "Show Dashboard," but it's a whole different thing. This one drops in a layer of "widgets," little mini-apps that we used to call Desk Accessories, to show you things like weather, time, a Reversi game, or any of the thousands of little apps that people used to sell as widgets on the Apple site. (I don't know if that is still active or not)

Just using the Application Windows control will expose all the windows in DP, so that you can see if there is a hidden dialog, or a functionality window like Step Record open in the background, behind your big edit windows or the Consolidated Window. I hope you find it useful!

Shooshie

[Shooshie]

Extra Information:

So, where do you find all the Mission Control stuff so that you can use the keyboard commands that activate them? Go to the OS X System Preferences, which is probably in your Dock. (a little "gearbox" looking affair) Go to "Mission Control" in the first row of preferences. There you will see the currently-assigned key commands, and you can reassign them to whatever you want. They are normally assigned to F-Keys, which have dual uses on Mac keyboards. If those F-Keys do things like Change Volume, Change Brightness, Stop/Start/Rewind/Fast-Forward music or videos, then you may have to use the FN key to access the real Function Keys.

Is that making sense? Function keys (F-Keys) have dual uses. Use the fn key to access the secondary functions. So, what if you want the secondary functions to be the primary ones? You can change that in the System Preferences, under Keyboard. You may have to search for it. Mine is a Logitech Keyboard, so that option appears only in the Logitech prefs, under the Keyboard section. The Apple Keyboard's prefs probably appear in the Keyboard prefs.

Anyway, much ado about very little. I'm just trying to help you set up the Mission Control keys so that you can use them easily without having to hit that fn key first. Mission Control can be one of the most useful things you can use in OS X, and in DP.

I realize we're straying far afield from you original problem, but I'm gathering that you're a long-time musician who left Performer and the Mac, and who has recently returned. If that is true, then you're probably a little overwhelmed with all that has changed. It comes to you quickly, but you have to see it! So, here is a little video I uploaded a while back on using Mission Control with Digital Performer: Click the link and click the Full-Screen button in YouTube to see how I use it.

Again, that's a lot of talk just to show you a basic function in OS X, but I think once you try it, you'll see how easy and useful it is. You don't have to use it to the extent that I do in the video, but just getting your keyboard commands set up so that it's convenient and useful to you will help you a lot, I think.

Shooshie

[bayswater]

Long shot: I have Harpsichord samples that make a plink sound (the damper hitting the string) on MIDI Up / Note Off). Was there a sample of that sort loaded before DP restarted?

[iGirl]

Thanks so much Shooshie - plenty of good info. I did clarify note "up" to mean "note off" in my earlier follow up post. Different nomenclature from different boxes - yes the MMA would call it Note Off only, but as mentioned by Bayswater, this can also be programmed in some synths as a trigger to various kinds of events. Like triggering a sample of the sticky release of a rubber hammer from a Clavinet string for instance. That's a secondary sound the instruments makes - not very musical but intrinsic to the character of them.

To answer the long shot - nothing extra (sound, patch, sample, FX) was loaded, so I'm chalking it up to a glitch solved by quitting the program.

I made it all the way up to DP5, but at the time was still just tracking with sequencing locked to SMPTE on analog 16-24 track. At least there is some familiarity in DP - I've been looking at Logic a bit too but unfortunately one cannot try it out before buying, and the UI is completely foreign to me.

As far as different desktops, yes I've been doing that for years - my first sequencer was on an Apple IIe, I tend to have things like Lightroom, Photoshop, Freeway Pro, Pages, iMovie/Final Cut Pro iTunes, Safari, etc. each running on their own desktop at the same time. Obviously in DP one would quit as much stuff as possible. The magic trackpad is awesome for navigating all of it in microseconds.

[Shooshie]

As far as different desktops, yes I've been doing that for years - my first sequencer was on an Apple IIe, I tend to have things like Lightroom, Photoshop, Freeway Pro, Pages, iMovie/Final Cut Pro iTunes, Safari, etc. each running on their own desktop at the same time. Obviously in DP one would quit as much stuff as possible. The magic trackpad is awesome for navigating all of it in microseconds.

Ha! You're all up-to-date! Well, pardon my presumptions. I somehow got the feeling that you were returning after a long hiatus, and may not know how to reach hidden windows easily. Hey, it does happen; rarely.

I'm glad all is well, then.

Shoosh

[iGirl]

Thanks - well you were at least right in assuming I've been away from recording/production software for a long time...