Message
Song Mode issues
2002-02-11 by erik_magrini@Baxter.com
This weekend was my first time delving into the depths of song mode on the XL-7, and (you guessed it) I ran into some problems/weirdness. Maybe someone can help me out here. I realized that my last two tunes were largely just MIDI sequences in Cubase controlling the XL-7, so I decided to see how well they sounded from just the XL-7. If nothing else, they would come in handy live if I wanted to take a break from spinning, I could just dial up a song and let 'er go. So I exported the MIDI files from Cubase and then used E-Loader to get them into the XL-7. Worked fine and when I was done, lo and behold my song played back fine. However it should be noted that it takes a LONG time for the song to become playable once you select it and press ENTER, loading it into memory takes the XL-7 ages apparently. I did however realize that the track mute buttons no longer applied in song mode. ;They were all lit up, even though I didn't have data on all 16 tracks, and turning them off didn't mute anything. Does Track Mute only work on Patterns? I tried saving the file as both a Type 0 and Type 1 files, no luck on either. I realize that the song track is separate from the regualr pattern tracks, but thought I would still be able to mute and unmute.
The second issue happened when I was playing back the second song I transferred into the XL-7. ;Once again it loaded fine, problems only occurred when I played it back. I was getting fairly obvious timing glitches, snares were way behind the beat, and all of the other typical signs you get that there's too much MIDI flow happening. We're only talking about 8-9 MIDI channels in all, and barely any controller info too, so I don't think it's a polyphony issue, I'm no where close to the limit yet on that account. Especially confusing as this tracks has much less data than the first song I did, which played back fine. So I went back to the original Cubase file, and thinned out what little CC info I had, made sure there was no hidden sysex or aftertouch info happening, deleted any hidden double notes, and re-imported it into the XL-7. No difference, still getting timing issues, and occasionally the Song would just stop playing, and I had to wait a few seconds before I could press play again and start it. Almost like it had to reload or something.
So, anyone know why Track Mute doesn't work in song mode, or seen the above timing/locking up issues?
rEalm