I am slowly getting out of ideas on how to phrase this inquiry, both in the search here and while using Google, hence my new topic: On my 64bit Win 8.1 notebook I experience an issue with certain midi notes not playing at all when using VST instruments (i.e. midi file loaded to instrument tracks) - not at the beginning, which is already discussed here, but later on, at certain parts of the track. I was able to find out that if I modify the velocity slightly, up or down, the note starts to play again. But it is so tedious to go through all midi tracks and listen for the silent notes, to modify their velocity… Would you have an idea what is causing it? I have never experienced this on my Win 7 32 bit PC with Cubase Studio 5.5 - there it would always work nicely: A song exported to MIDI from Finale, imported to Cubase Studio, Midi tracks automatically loaded to Instrument Tracks, I would just assign VST Instruments (Garritan, Vienna) - and it would play nicely. On my 64bit Win 8.1 notebook, where I was testing Cubase Elements 8, certain notes would not play as described above. Installed Cubase Studio 5.5 there to test it, and hear it happening as well. Could this be 64Bit related? (On my old Win 7 PC i have the 32 bit version of Cubase Studio). Win 8.1 Related? I am really lost here… Using Esi U24xl as my external usb soundcard (on both computers).
Is this happening on specific VSTi(s) or on all of them? This is what would happen on a sample based instrument that mapped different samples to different velocity ranges and one of the ranges either didn’t get a sample mapped to it or the mapped sample is messed up (zero length file, empty file, etc.). So does a sample based instrument like Halion Sonic SE behave different than a synth based instrument like Mystic? Do the notes that don’t play always have the same velocity, or is there a range of velocities that don’t play? Or are they randomly all over the place? Are there any pitch dependencies involved (e.g. velocity 68 plays fine on E3 but not on G4)?
I’d try creating a test midi part with a single pitched note repeating 128 or more times throughout the part. Then select all the notes and use the tools in the velocity lane to ramp the velocity from 0 on the first note to 127 on the last.
Until you sort it out you could use MIDI Modifiers in the Track Inspector, or the MIDI Logical Editor to shift notes into or out of specific velocity ranges - which would be easier than hunting them down one by one.
Thank you very much for your insights. After some more testing it looks like it is specific to my VST piano - even though it was working with any velocity on my old setup. An inquiry at the manufacturer’s support web did not bring much hope - that library, “known to create issues with DAWs”, is no longer supported… So I guess I either live with adjusting the velocities, or get a new VST piano…
Well that’s the perfect excuse to buy a shiny new piano VSTi.