Mixcraft 9

[gmpolin]

I am using Several VST instruments that don't always "turn on" when I press Play on the Mixcraft transport bar. When this happens, I notice that the arrangement sounds "thin" and look across my monitor to see that the VSTs are still "asleep"...the message reads "Audio Engine inactive. Check your Audio device." All I have to do generally is to either just click on the VST window to wake it up, and that message disappears and it starts to follow. Or I press Stop on their transport bar and they they are ready to follow Mixcraft.

If this was just one particular VST instrument, I would think it was their problem. However, all the Toontrack products have this problem, even in their latest versions (EZKeys, EZ Drummer, and EZBass). My RealGuitar windows also have this problem. They don't display that message, but sometimes they just don't turn on when I press Play.

So is it possible that there is a setting that would make this work better? Has anyone found a workaround? I have looked over the settings of the instruments, and there doesn't appear to be anything applicable on their end.

This has been happening for some time. I am using Mixcraft Pro Studio 9, Build 3470, Windows 10 Pro.

Thanks for any help with this.
Glenn

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Have you contacted Toontrack about this issue?

https://www.toontrack.com/forums/topic/ ... io-device/

Greg

[gmpolin]

Greg,

Thanks for the reply. Toontrack isn't generally responsive, and as I said, it isn't just Toontrack, the RealGuitar instruments do the same thing. It happens more often with the RealGuitar products, and their tech support is very minimal. And I have never figured out the exact sequence of when it fails to wake up. Most of the time they work as expected. Thus I am hoping that you have heard something like this before and that there is a workaround relating to Mixcraft.

The link you highlighted isn't the same problem, although the error message is the same. My preliminary searches on the web show some instances in other DAWs where the Toontrack products don't work at all and give that same message, but not this random failure to wake.

In my current project, I have three Toontrack instances (bass, keys, and drummer) and two guitar instances, and it is happening far too often. If I bring all the windows forward and wake them before I start playing, there is no problem. But, for example, when I am editing in EZBass, I may finish up, go back to the Mixcraft main window, position the cursor and press Spacebar, and then I will notice the guitars aren't playing. If I bring the guitar windows forward, they start working. The problem occurs in the Toontrack products without the RealGuitars being used, and vice versa, so I don't mean to imply it is an interaction.

If anyone has any ideas, I would be grateful.

Glenn

[cactus-head]

Hi,

You have to have MIDI information (clips) on mixcraft tracks for VSTs to play. If you have built patterns and or riffs inside the vst itself and not dragged the MIDI to Mixcraft, when the VST loses focus it will stop playing back its own built in sequencer or may lose time.

When you are working within the VST and playback information inside it - you are fine. But if you are playing back a project, you should have MIDI information on the track(s) you want to playback.

For Realguitar, there is probably a keyswitch you need to have in a midi clip to playback a strum pattern or riff if you don't drag the pattern or riff to Mixcraft. That is how Ample Guitar works.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

You can actually just put a blank MIDI clip on a track to get a plugin like that to play audio. Double-click on a virtual instrument track, then drag it to the right as long as you want it without adding any notes.

Greg

[gmpolin]

Greg, thanks. Yes I do have the blank midi clip going all the way across the to the end of the project.

I have made the mistake of forgetting to extend the blank midi clip to the end of the project and wondering why the tracks were not playing but that is not the problem here. The blank midi clip is there and the tracks fail to play erratically and then resume playing once the window for the VST is active.

Glenn

[cactus-head]

Hi,

You can actually just put a blank MIDI clip on a track to get a plugin like that to play audio. Double-click on a virtual instrument track, then drag it to the right as long as you want it without adding any notes.

Greg

Hi Greg,

I noticed with some sequencers built into VSTs you actually have to have a MIDI note in the clip that runs the length of the playback. Instacomposer is a perfect example. Often sequencers that have their own built in transport or play button.

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

I guess I haven't run across any like that. The ones I've tried work with a blank clip. That would be easy to test in this case, of course.


Greg

[gmpolin]

Hi,

I guess I haven't run across any like that. The ones I've tried work with a blank clip. That would be easy to test in this case, of course.


Greg

Yes, the Toontrack and the RealGuitar just require the blank clip. And the blank clip must extend across all the bars where you want the VST to play. These VSTs do have their own transport buttons, but are supposed to follow the DAW when it is playing. When the DAW is not playing, they are "inactive"...you can edit and test them from inside the VST window using their transport controls. Then when the DAW starts playing, they are supposed to follow the DAW's transport controls. That is where the problem is, that they don't always follow the DAW's controls.

Glenn

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

Check for any "Sync with Host" options that are available, although if those were off, I guess it wouldn't play at all.

What many people do is just get the MIDI the way they want it inside the plugin, then drag and drop that onto the Mixcraft track.

Greg

[gmpolin]

Hi,

Check for any "Sync with Host" options that are available, although if those were off, I guess it wouldn't play at all.

What many people do is just get the MIDI the way they want it inside the plugin, then drag and drop that onto the Mixcraft track.

Greg

Yes, I will look again, but I didn't see any options. I just played with it some more; one way I got it to fail reliably is by clicking on a measure marker while playing without hitting stop first. That stops both RealGuitar instances; they don't follow to the new measure and they stop playing.

But they also fail under some other conditions I haven't worked out yet. I also discovered that when it doesn't work, it is enough to click on the Mixcraft track on the far left where all the controls are to get it to function again. You don't have to go into the VST window or click on the window. Clicking on the track is enough.

Watching the VST windows, I can see the cursor start to move to the correct bar when I press Play, and then it returns to its own internal position as if Mixcraft wasn't playing.

I may have to copy the Midi, as this is becoming a major nuisance. The failures are unpredictable and keep taking me out of flow! But I don't think Mixcraft has guitar instruments comparable to theirs.

Glenn

[Acoustica Greg]

Hi,

You might try it in Mixcraft 10 to see how it works there.


Greg

[gmpolin]

Hi,

You might try it in Mixcraft 10 to see how it works there.


Greg

It was just waiting to upgrade till some of the excitement died down! Letting all the pioneers find all the early bugs...

Glenn

[TrevsAudio]

[/quote] It was just waiting to upgrade till some of the excitement died down! Letting all the pioneers find all the early bugs...

Glenn
[/quote]

Nah, give it a go mate! Vastly superior to 9. Don't worry about the nitpickers.