Need help with file

[AccordianPlayer]

Hello,

I'm new to Mixcraft so all guidance and help is very much apprciated.

Can anyone help me with the problem I got with this file (see attached)? Everything seems to be okay, but when I play the file all except Track 4 (Saxophone Quartet) is working. As soon as I choose my instrument (Saxophone Quarter) it works, but when I want to start the track over is muted before I repeat the proccess of choosing the instrument again. Tried to reboot the program, save it as a new file, duplicate the track but the problem remains.

Might be a quick fix as I'm a novice with Mixcraft.

Looking forward to hear from you guys, and hopefully find a solution.

Thank you!

[Mark Bliss]

Hello and welcome!

OK, heres the deal:
I am assuming you didnt write the MIDI for this project right?
When you download MIDI projects, they often contain some rogue controls and commands. Cant ever say exactly why, cant say what the person who wrote it was thinking, or if its simply a mistake. But I can tell you it is common.

Specific to this project, yes, played from the start, track 4 has no sound.
Open the sound tab for track 4 and click on the drop down window for CC's as shown.
Note that you will see several of the options are darkened, indicating there is some kind of related program data for each:

Volume CC.png (72.13 KiB) Viewed 1853 times

Clicking on volume, And then examining closely, We see there is a data point at the start of that MIDI clip that sets the volume to zero:

Volume CC 2.png (36.61 KiB) Viewed 1853 times

You have two viable options for a quick solution.
One would be to clear the data and let the clip go to a default setting.
The other, simply drag the volume data point up:

Volume CC 3.png (44.42 KiB) Viewed 1853 times

And now track 4 plays.

A couple more things. One of the strange things you may experience is that if you fiddle with things, sometimes you get sound playing from some point of the track, but if you re-start from the beginning, that command resets it to zero.

Secondly, if you import MIDI that someone else programmed, it can be a good learning experience. It can also contain headaches like this.
I actually recommend this for educational purposes, and highly suggest using it as a foundation, and experimenting with altering it, and "making it your own" so to speak.

Note that a setting exists for stripping the file of those commands upon import.

Suggestion, start with nothing but velocity. Keep it simple at first, but don't be afraid to explore everything!

[Mark Bliss]

An unsolicited additional tip:

If you mix down with this madness going on:

Level 2.png (59.45 KiB) Viewed 1852 times

It will likely result in a pretty poor sounding track due to severe digital clipping.

Double click on your master fader, returning it to unity (zero)
Leave it there. It is not a playback volume fader....

Secondly, highlight/select all 12 of your tracks and pull down the faders while watching the master tracks meter until your peaks are in this range:

Level 1.png (56.82 KiB) Viewed 1852 times

Now you have "headroom" which gives you some "room to work". And mixdowns are less likely to sound like a broken speaker....

One can adjust for final mixdown, but this isnt the time to get into that....
Have fun, and let me know if you have any more Q's!

[mick]

Mark's suggestion regarding cc volume confirmed, track 4 works.

[jlouvar]

Thank you Mark... That was a good lesson.

[Mark Bliss]

By providing a good description and a copy of the project file, the OP laid the groundwork for relatively easy detective work.
I wish more people made it so easy....

[AccordianPlayer]

Thank you guys so much for a great and easy to understand feedback - it works! Made it really easy when adding the screenshots to follow.

[Mark Bliss]

No problem, always glad to help!

Let us know how you are getting on!