Logic Pro X 10.4.7
Aalto 1.9.2 (AU.64)
Mac mini OS X Catalina 10.15.1
Settings on Linnstrument
- MPE mode on
- Channel 1 common
- Channels 2 - 5 for Aalto’s 4 voices
- Pitch bend 12
- x, y & z settings as standard
The patch is a MPE modification of Aalto’s default patch.
- MPE mode
- PB 12
- 4 voices
The issue: unexpected pitch jump when playing notes after pitch bending. The fourth will give a double note (like if one of the voices had stopped at the beginning of the pitch bend and then decided to hurry up to the new note).
I have recorded a couple of examples:
https://soundcloud.com/tiantong/sets/pitch-bend-issues-in-mpe
Here Aalto has its 4 voices engaged.
If I change to 3 voices, the unexpected notes will come after three notes.
It doesn’t have to be the same note. Just play notes after a pitch bend and the issue will come.
I can’t tell if this is a new issue. I have experienced unstable pitch in MPE mode in the past but never have stopped to actually trace the problem. I mentioned once some issues on mono mode in MPE. I don't know if they are related.
I haven't been able to reproduce this issue on other MPE instruments so I asume this is an Aalto problem.
Thanks for the careful report, I will investigate.
Looking forward to hearing what you find out. I had just decided to focus all my attention on Aalto. No matter how many synths I try, I always end up here (where I started)
So, I asked in the Linnstrument forum and got a few tips from Roger.
Maybe you're sending on different per-note channels than Aalto is expecting? Or maybe you're using long releases, in which case it might be better to turn on "Reset on Release" as explained in the Panel Settings page, Per-Split Settings tab?
I can confirm that "Reset on Release" doesn't help.
Another tip:
I don’t believe Aalto uses an MPE common (main) channel, so you only need to select the per-note channels. I’m out of town now but you should be able to learn in the Aalto documentation how to assign the per-note channels. If you monitor the MIDI messages, you should be able to see which channel is not responding correctly, which will narrow down the problem.
So I've been trying every possible channel combination without luck. That is, MPE with midi channel one as common; MPE without common channel...
The only thing that helps is turning pitch bend off; oh, and pitch bend in non-mpe mode.
Something I noticed is that despite of having a max of 4 voices I can just keep on adding notes. I've played and recorded up to 10 notes at the same time - my experience with 4 voices polyphony is that as soon as you hit the 5th, the 1st is muted, and so on.
Honestly I don't have the time to keep on testing (I'd prefer to just play) and Roger says it is ok on its end. Nobody else has reported back so it must be me. If you find something, please let me know. Otherwise I am going to try something else.
Thanks for your time.
edit: it seems I’m not alone afterwards. I hear reports of others having issues after the last update. And sorry for the darky, heavy mood. It’s winter here, grey and windy and without light.
I got another email just yesterday about what seems to be the same problem. I'm sure it's not your problem but something I did to the plugins. I'm just not sure why it didn't come up here in my own testing with MPE—maybe something Linnstrument does differently from Soundplane. I'll investigate very soon.
Meanwhile it should be no problem to grab an earlier installer, like 1.8.5 and to use that version if you just want to play. Here's a link to that: https://madronalabs.com/media/aalto/Aalto1.8.5.pkg You may have to remove the newer plugin files manually so the older installer will run.
I don't know what is going on when you hear more than 4 notes. Aalto only has four voices in there, really. Maybe the internal delay is ringing out the sound of previous notes (?)
It's very grey here too.
Well, at least is not that I'm losing my mind.
I'm sorry to see there are problems with the new update.
Now that I know it's not me rambling about grey winters, I'm willing to keep on reporting (instead of "just play"), if you want. Just let me know. Everything to get Aalto up and running.
Regarding the 4 voices, I doubt it's the delay (audio) because I'm able to record the notes (MIDI) in Logic and Bitwig Studio. Did I just get a multitimbral Aalto?
I don't know what to say about the extra voices—since it doesn't seem to be bothering you I'll call it a holiday miracle, and spend my time on the MPE issue!
I got from another player a MIDI file demonstrating the problem, so I think we're good as far as reportage. Thanks.
I had to edit my entire post, because I know the problem, but somehow couldn't replicate it anymore. Which is good. But also very, very confusing.
I came across this as well. You need to send on more channels as voices! If I set Aalto to four voices and have the LinnStrument only send on 4 channels, you get voice stealing depending on the held notes. Its kind of logic. If you give it more channels, the roundrobin of channels and the voice allocation of Aalto plays together well.
This occurs on low voice counts only, or is less prominent the more voices you want to play...