problem with the Notes Chooser in the Step Sequencer

[Juno]

It seems that after using the Notes Chooser in the Step Sequencer you cannot use it again without having to restart Mixcraft, and not all settings are saved.

Steps:

1. make a new project with 1 instrument track. I left it with the default instrument: Acoustic Piano from Acoustica Instruments, but it did the same when i tried it with a VSTi
2. create a new clip, go to its sound tab, open the Step Sequencer
3. you should see something like this:
   

   

   step editor add notes.jpg (124.97 KiB) Viewed 5610 times

4. click the Add/Edit button, the Step Editor Notes Chooser opens:
   

   

   step editor add notes keyboard.jpg (41.63 KiB) Viewed 5610 times

5. select a range of notes and click OK; or change any other setting and click OK; or click 'cancel'; or click the red cross to close
6. open the Step Editor Notes Chooser once more. The problem manifests in 2 ways:
   • the buttons and menus no longer work at all (the red cross to close the window still works)
   • selecting a range of notes on the keyboard may or may not work, or it may not work at first and then suddenly respond. The response may be just one note, or a few, up to the full range that's allowed for the instrument.
   • regardless, you can't use OK so you cannot save anything you manage to do.
7. restarting Mixcraft seems to fix it, but as soon as you repeat it, the same thing happens.

Notes:

• at step 5, changing the value for the key "G" to some other value and OK to confirm and close, did not save.
• The same goes for the value "chromatic".
  By "not save" i mean that in step 6, it showed the old values again.
• Selecting a range of notes in step 5 and confirming by OK saves, and adds the notes as well. The Notes Chooser is still unusable after that.

If a log is needed, i got one.

[mick]

I've got 3 instrument tracks open:
Piano with notation view
Acoustica Studio Drums with step sequencer view
Flute with Piano roll view
I can switch instruments or views, I can click the little piano thingy and choose a different range so for instance go from c3 and c5 to full keyboard and cannot duplicate the problem. I think I read your post correctly (that's a first!) and so far everything appears to be working. Even the piano roll is working correctly in this setup. I'll try again and dutifully report back if I have anything else.

Edit:
When the step view is already open it does not respond to opening it again. I need to click "add/edit" before making any changes to the selected range, but first I have to click the "clear" tab then choose a new range and all is OK.

[Juno]

Hey Mick,

Thanks for trying. I'm not sure if you did the same - you seem to have a different setup. For instance, the piano roll is irrelevant here. And some things are unclear: "I can click the little piano thingy", "When the step view is already open it does not respond to opening it again" -->not sure what you mean.

If you follow my steps, what happens?

[mick]

Hi Juno, I'm gonna start again!
I followed all your instructions and cannot duplicate the problem.
If I open a 1 track project the step sequencer works OK.
I can change the instrument from Acoustica piano to anything else including vst (I used the Messiah synth)
I can click the add/edit tab and clear the selected range from the notes chooser keyboard (also known as a little piano thingy!) and select a new range and/or new instrument.
I can change from step sequencer view to notation or piano roll and back to step and have no problems, so while the piano roll is irrelevant it does indicate I can leave the step view and come back to it intact.
I can save the project, close Mixcraft, open Mixcraft and select the saved project under recent files and carry on from where i left off so the save is working too.
I've tried to break Mixcraft but cannot, everything appears to be working fine, anything I enter in the step view can be edited in the piano roll/the notation or back to step view and have no problems at all
I'm sure I followed your instructions but in any case cannot get Mixcraft to misbehave using any combination of commands.
I think some more opinions are needed on whether Mixcraft is broken or wait for Greg to say a word or 2.

[Mark Bliss]

I have to first admit right up front, I have no experience using this tool, primarily because I cant see the chooser keyboard well enough, and secondary reasons basically circling around personal preferences. I guess I just got used to entering notes other ways. (Maybe I just like the mental exercise of remembering the notes to flat for the blues scale, for example. Or maybe I am just a stubborn old fart. )
Bottom line anyway, I am unfamiliar with just how it should work.

But that said, experimenting with the thing to try and duplicate your problem Juno, I can't get it to "lock up" and malfunction as you describe. All controls work upon re-opening each time I try it.

However, as in your "notes" section, It does default back to "C-Chromatic" each time it is reopened. It would make sense to me that if I select "G-Blues", it should reopen set to "G-Blues" until I decide otherwise.
I am not sure if that is an intended function or an oversight, but I will make a suggestion to the developers that it would be nice if those settings stuck when saved.

Meanwhile, I'll keep trying to reproduce the remaining issue.

[Juno]

I followed all your instructions and cannot duplicate the problem.

Thanks Mick. Yeah, i wasn't sure if by the "piano thingie" you perhaps meant the piano roll on the track (from where it's possible to select ranges, too )
To be sure: i have no problem with the step editor itself, only with the Notes Chooser (but you have clearly used that too and cannot replicate it).
So, it seems this happens just here.

I've tried to break Mixcraft but cannot

Try a rock hit

I can't get it to "lock up" and malfunction as you describe

Thanks for trying, monsieur Blisque! It confirms what Mick's attempts already suggest: that it seems to happen just here.

I'll see if Greg has anything to say and/or make a ticket.

[Juno]

Found it. It happens when Aero is enabled. When it's disabled, it runs correctly.

[mick]

I'm on windows classic customised!

[Mark Bliss]

Found it. It happens when Aero is enabled. When it's disabled, it runs correctly.

Glad to hear you found it buddy! I have heard of Aero messing with interactive GUI functions, have to remember that one!

So back to the "note chooser" defaulting to C Chromatic. Thinking about it some more I think its one of those minor things that's a "toss up". On one hand I can see where having it default to whatever it was last set at would seem right. But on the other hand, if you are reopening it, it is to change something anyway.......

So I wonder what people who use it more might think?

BTW, just as when introduced, I still think it should be called something else. "Note and scale selector"?
I know, it fit on the button. But then we have a pop up balloon to point out the button exists.
Just strikes me as odd somehow. Hard for me to explain, and its just an aesthetic thing I think.

[mick]

Mark wrote: BTW, just as when introduced, I still think it should be called something else.

How about.... "The little piano thingy"

And my thoughts (IMHO) otherwise is that to default to C major is about right because if a project is saved it will recall to the last setting. just my 2 cents of course!

[Juno]

I'm on windows classic customised!

Thanks for helping, Mick! That confirms it; Classic has no Aero.

So back to the "note chooser" defaulting to C Chromatic.

And my thoughts (IMHO) otherwise is that to default to C major is about right

I suspect both your project keys are/were C? Because, it was defaulting to G in my case (my project key).

If you are reopening it, it is to change something anyway....... So I wonder what people who use it more might think?

I'm not among them. I wanted to use it just because it's there. But to me, it seems logical that it should remember that setting, because it's consistent with my expectations.

[Mark Bliss]

So back to the "note chooser" defaulting to C Chromatic.

And my thoughts (IMHO) otherwise is that to default to C major is about right

I suspect both your project keys are/were C? Because, it was defaulting to G in my case (my project key).

OK, well thats an interesting point, and so it led to more testing of course!

Results so far:
It appears to default to the key the project is opened with. As in a template or using the opening screen.

If you change the key of a project with a clip active , the "little keyboard thingie" still wants to play in the old key.

If you delete the clip, and create a new one, it now works in the new key.

Preliminary opinion: Basically it kind of works as expected. But if you were to pursue an (hmmm, unusual?) workflow, it could get weird. But that result in itself isn't that unusual.