MultiGrid - Track volume control

Question

Hi SCC - I have an interesting challenge - when using the MultiGrid (totally love it!!) and when in the mixer mode for the VCS so I can see track volume and sends etc - If using the Motomix or the screen VCS, when I bring the volume fader below 0.5, the sound cuts out all together (is muted).

What am i doing wrong?  Thanks, Garth

http://kyma.symbolicsound.com/qa/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=2401754481058718157

Comments

Hi Garth, Could you please try copying your Multigrid and simplifying the copy down to the bare minimum that still displays this problem?  What you describe is certainly not what's expected, but we can't tell what might be going wrong with seeing it.  

Thanks!

---

OK - I found that is is caused by one of the patches so have just placed it in the grid and attached it to the original post - look forward to hearing your advice.  Thanks, Garth

---

We tried it out (had to substitute our own analysis files) but it seemed to work okay. Could you please use QuickTime Player to make a screen recording demonstrating the problem (make sure the DSP Status window output levels are visible)?

Thanks!

---

Hi SS - I thought I had this sorted but came back to make some refinements to the piece today and found I had the same issue.  I think I have nailed it down to an issue with the Motormix communication and have made a small video https://vimeo.com/149914080 password: motormix  I hope that helps.

---

Thanks for the clear video, Garth.  If you double-click Bass Level Capture, give it a level control, and play it outside the Multigrid, what is the behavior?  Do the mouse and Motormix controls still behave differently when you play a Sound on its own (outside the Multigrid)?  Thanks!

Answer 1

Fixed!  In Kyma 7.06 (check your Help menu for software updates).

Turns out it was because the track volume control and the track's mute button had the same label name, so your fader was acting like a switch and would turn off for values less than 0.5.  The labels were automatically generated (not your fault!)

We have disambiguated the names used by external MIDI controllers (like MotorMix) and OSC Devices so they will interact with the actual name of the EventValue (not necessarily the same as the label that appears in the VCS, since you have the option to change the widget labels to whatever you like).

Thanks for presenting such a clear example of this to help us finally track it down!

Comments

AWESOME!  thanks so much - that means I can now automate the grid so the percussionist can play the piece without my intervention.  BTW a recording of the premier is here https://soundcloud.com/garthpaine/glistening-edge-demo
Thanks for your patience and time!  have a wonderful 2016!

---

That initial hit is SO cool and unexpected!  It's clear from the recording that you moved your audience to tears (at least the youngest member of the audience;)

Beautiful the way you extend the timbre of the drums in such a seamless way — it doesn't sound like "electronics" so much as it sounds like an entirely new hybrid instrument.

Are you starting a new tradition of reading the program notes before the performance?  I think I prefer that to everyone trying to read in the dark.

BTW, thank you for mentioning Kyma in your program note! :)

---

Yes indeed - the father of that child made a point of coming to find me afterwards to apologize but also to say how rich the piece is and how it took him to different places.  Thanks for your very kind words. We should be preparing it for recording properly in the coming month as part of a CD of works by me for percussion and Kyma.  I too like to have the program notes shared beforehand. The above performance was in our contemporary music festival and the musicologists on faculty (in this case Sabine Feisst) do some background research and then introduce the work - I like that - it gives a handle to people to listen to the work - makes it more accessible.