Octatrack OS 1.40A: bug reports

Not sure what is your issue, but with OT, some synths, midi to cv common Notes Off issues can be related to this :

OT sends Notes On with velocity value 0. It doesn’t send Notes Off.
It’s a midi standard. All midi stuff should be able to receive both, but sometimes its only Notes Off.

(If it’s your case, a midi processor can change Notes On Vel 0 to Notes Off).

@sezare56 thanks for the reply.
When searching the forum if my issue popped up before I saw that other people had issues with that behaviour of the octatrack.
It may be related to my issue, but in my case the Problem is that muting and unmuting midi-track 2 has an effect on midi-track 3 even so they have different midi channels assigned.
midi track 2 -> midi channel 12
midi track 3 -> midi channel 13

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If you check what is really sent by OT with a software monitor like Midiox, it would help to deceipher this…
I didn’t use any midi to cv gear, except Analog Four.

I tried to check the midi signals from the “mpc midi monitor” but unfortunately it is not really usable and I do not have a midi interface to my computer yet - I guess I should by one now :wink:

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A lot of gear doesn’t, new and old. It was originally a hack to save some bandwidth (Noteon with a velocity of zero is slightly smaller than a real noteoff) and became widely used because it usually worked with most MIDI gear but it can definitely cause problems sometimes. I don’t know if it was ever actually officially adopted into the MIDI spec (it was definitely out of spec for 1.0 and I can’t find anything about it in 1.1), but I’ve used synths developed in the last couple years that won’t work with the OT (and some other sequencers and controllers) because of that. Usually it’s not an issue, though. When it is it’s mostly either old stuff that actually strictly adheres to the MIDI spec because it was the standard at the time, or recent stuff by small developers who strictly adhere to the MIDI spec because they don’t know that can be an issue in practice.

MIDI 1.0 spec pA-4:

Blockquote
If an instrument receives two or more Note On messages with the same key number and MIDI channel, it must make a determination of how to handle the additional Note Ons. It is up to the receiver as to whether the same voice or another voice will be sounded, or if the messages will be ignored. The transmitter, however, must send a corresponding Note Off message for every Note On sent. If the transmitter were to send only one Note Off message, and if the receiver in fact assigned the two Note On messages to different voices, then one note would linger. Since there is no harm or negative side effect in sending redundant Note Off messages this is the recommended practice.

The MIDI Specification says:

“A receiver must be capable of recognizing either method of turning off a note, and should treat them identically.”

Midi 1.0 specs. Page 42.
https://www.midi.org/specifications-old/item/the-midi-1-0-specification

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Missed that. I guess they taught us wrong in college.

At any rate, I have three pieces of gear right now that don’t recognize it.

Maybe the specs should imply both sending methods. :wink:

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When I studied music tech in the early 2000s we were specifically taught that it didn’t comply with the MIDI spec but was still best practice because it usually worked and saved bandwidth. By the editor of a very well known music tech magazine I won’t name here, no less. Add it to the very long list of “incorrect things I was taught in music school.”

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Me too around 1995. :wink:
Midi lessons with Atari’s!
Btw I think I didn’t know about Notes On Vel 0 as Notes Off before OT! :content:

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I’ve heard this multiple times from different kind of people (it’s pretty much circulating the internet and fits well with the ‘OT is odd thing’). I was pretty suprised when I found out, that midi indeed specifies both methods.

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By the time I graduated almost everything we were taught about digital audio best practices was completely wrong, because I graduated just as everything really started to move from 16 bit to 24 bit.

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Bug with PASTE AUDIO.
In Audio editor, recording buffer.
Select audio, Copy / Paste with Fn+Play, Fn+Stop.

The PASTE AUDIO function is stuck, even outside AED, everytime you press stop, it shows PASTE AUDIO.

(Workarounds : use Edit > Paste Selection, or hold Stop outside AED).

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Hi, just wanted to keep you posted since the midi interface arrived today and … the midi that is coming out of the octatrack looks as I would expect (except that I was playing c2 and not c1 notes).
So I am assuming this is a bug in the mpc. Why the rack is influenced as well? I dont know, my only explanation as of now is that it developed a personality.
@sezare56 many thanks for assisting!


17:09:46.294 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock
17:09:46.295 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note Off 13 C1 0
17:09:46.296 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note On 12 C1 127
17:09:46.297 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note On 13 C1 100
17:09:46.321 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock

17:09:46.946 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock
17:09:46.947 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note Off 12 C1 0
17:09:46.973 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock

17:09:48.903 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock
17:09:48.904 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note Off 13 C1 0
17:09:48.905 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note On 12 C1 127
17:09:48.906 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note On 13 C1 100
17:09:48.930 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock

17:09:49.554 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock
17:09:49.556 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Note Off 12 C1 0
17:09:49.582 From Scarlett 8i6 USB Clock

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Thanks @darenager and @AdamJay for plate reverb checks - I missed your replies before

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Hey all, I submitted a ticket for this already but when I try to use AMP + NO to reset the AMP setup page to default, it completely spazzes out for as long as I hold NO down, and when I release it randomly goes to another page.

It still resets the knobs, but there’s no way the rapidly flashing screen is intentional. Just seeing if I’m alone in this. I’ve tried reloading the OS and making a blank project… it still happens.

You sure about that?

Manufacturers can make up their own definitions.

Yes, I am sure. I guess midi is more a suggestion then a standard :wink:
I just double checked:
When I Program a C2 into the octatrack, my midi interface and the mpc report C1.
The Digitone Receives a C3.

Some manufactures will tell you that midi note 48 is C3; others will tell you that midi note 60 is C3

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Some manufacturers have 2 definitions! :content:

Octatrack, Machinedrum, Monomachine : Note 0 is C-1

From Analog Four : Note 0 is C0.

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