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PX350 - Odd MIDI input behavior


nicolarmarfi

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Hi all,

 

This is my first post here and I'm sorry if it's not in the right place!  I've just had some trouble with my new Casio digital piano that I need help fixing.

 

I purchased a Privia PX350 recently and enjoyed using it as a standalone instrument, but lately I've been trying to use it as a MIDI input device and I've encountered some bugs that make it unuseable for this purpose. 

 

The DAW I've been using is FL Studio 11, but since I've used other keyboards for this purpose before without issue it seems the Casio unfortunately is the source of the problem. I just can't pin down exactly what's causing it.

 

For starters, some keys on the keyboard will randomly start and stop playback in FL when pressed.  It happens very frequently - maybe every 3 or 4 keystrokes - and this alone makes it unplayable.  I know the keyboard is the source of the problem because playback is steady when I'm not touching it.

 

Furthermore, when two or more notes are pressed simultaneously, at least one of them will continue to be held down indefinitely even after I've let go. 

 

I've found few people with similar issues and the only solid suggestion I found for a fix was to turn off local control in the keyboard's function menu, but it did nothing for me.  I've installed the CASIO ccusbmid driver from the Casio website, but it also hasn't made a difference.  Another suggestion I heard was that perhaps the pedal is causing the stuck notes, but I've tried with the pedal unplugged and the same issues occur.  I'm using the same MIDI->USB cable that I used with my previous keyboards, and I swapped them in again to make sure the cable was working.  No issues with the old keyboards.

 

If anyone has any idea what's going on, I'd be thrilled to hear it.  I can't wait to use this thing to make some music but it's just not happening right now >:

 

EDIT: I tried uninstalling the Casio driver and going back to the generic USB MIDI2.0 driver that windows installs when I plug in the piano, and this fixed the constant starting and stopping problem I was having, but not the stuck notes.  After further testing it looks like exactly what's happening is that when multiple notes are pressed simultaneously, after releasing the chord, rather than stopping the bottom notes the keyboard triggers them again.  I've tested this in Finale as well and verified that it's doing the same thing there as it is in FL.

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Hello all. Welcome to my world.  I posted a few (grimace) things here about this a few eons ago. This sounds to me like the dirty little secret I had to find by grinding my knuckles on the sidewalk. Let's see if I remember my own post...it has something to do with the thumb drive I recall. Whether it is mounted or not. I experienced similar weirdnesses on my PX350 until I discovered that the thumb drive (not documented clearly but i think there was some short reference that made me think about the thumb drive) will somehow interfere with midi data in and out through the computer, whether you use its USB or DIN connectors seem to make no difference. Once i discovered this everything worked a treat. Also remember to turn local control off in your software or the PX350 because midi loops will louse things up on this too. I will try to find my post and get back here. And Joe and Scott are right-this ended up having nothing to do with drivers., DAW software or anything else but I had to find out the hard way as I remember it was a sightly maddening :blink::wacko::huh: problem.

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Here is one of my posts:

 

http://www.casiomusicforums.com/index.php?/topic/6967-px350-thumb-drive-usage/?hl=%2Bpx350+%2Bthumb+%2Bdrive

 

Compounding the problem is that it is not always clear whether the thumb drive is mounted or not. There is no visible indication. It is easy to see initially when it is first plugged in-it automatically mounts itself. Page 55 in the manual states "You will not be able to transfer data between the digital piano and a computer......etc." I had to interpret this to mean controller functions might not work, although this is not made clear.

 

Page 56 describes "storage mode" which must be switched on with the function button if exchanging song or other files from the PX350 to/from the computer. You can also "dismount' the drive while it is in the PX but I think I had to remove it entirely to stop it interfering with my midi connections.

 

Without having the PX350 in front of me, I forget whether the storage mode must be on to use the PX as a direct midi controller, but I don't think it needs to be. I remember the distinct "aha" moment I had though, when struggling to record my midi playing live to the computer sequencer, and having all kinds of weird problems until I jus removed the thumb drive. Try it, I'm pretty sure this is what I needed to do.

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Hi all,

I've tried turning off accompanist out like Scott suggested, and also removing the thumb drive.  At this point I've also tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling device drivers, restarting my PC, and testing in a different DAW.  Unfortunately the problem persists.

 

If this helps at all, I've noticed FL has a debug menu, and this is what it prints out when I press and release two keys simultaneously (in this case, C4 and E4):

 

When I depress the keys:

(generic controller): B0 58 4A Control Change:
Not handled Absolute: 58%
(generic controller): 90 30 3D Note On : C4
Handled (first chance) Absolute 48%
(generic controller): B0 58 1C Control change:
Not handled Absolute 22%
(generic controller): 90 34 35 Note On: E4
Handled (first chance) Absolute 42%

 

When I release them:
(generic controller): 80 34 40 Note Off: E4
Handled (first chance) Absolute 0%
(generic controller): 90 30 40 Note On : C4
Handled (first chance) Absolute 50%

 

I believe the "absolute" value refers to velocity, I'm not sure about the rest.  But it looks as though the keyboard is mistakenly sending out a second note-on command when I want to release the note rather than a note-off.  When played with local control on, it sounds fine coming out of the instrument itself.

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FWIW --

 

When you press down two keys, _two_ MIDI "note on" messages should happen - and nothing else!

 

My guess is that the "high-res" portions of the "note on" messages are being interpreted as something peculiar, by the software.

 

In Pianoteq, there's a menu setting for "hi-resolution MIDI", which stopped some problems I was having with my PX-350.

 

I'd contact the people who wrote your software, and ask if they can handle "high-resolution MIDI".

 

.      Charles 

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The "extra" data posted in your debug output from FL Studio is definitely high resolution MIDI data. To be clear, hi res MIDI is part of the current MIDI spec and is correct, but unfortunately some older devices and software used that controller number (CC#88) for other things prior to the specification approval. As software gets updated this problem will go away for software but older hardware devices that used CC#88 will usually be stuck (like my Nord Electro 2).

 

 

To get this working properly, you'll either need to tell FL Studio to ignore or filter CC#88, have it look for those control changes on another channel, or update/upgrade FL Studio to a version that meets the new MIDI spec.

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