MIDI problem: trumpet patch shrinks to nothing

[Priviamania]

Besides the piano sound of course, the brasses are what I love most about my PX-310. But trying them with Cakewalk Sonar 7, a shock: the instrument's all important trumpet sound is suddenly about 1/6 its normal volume! Going back to playing it manually, that sound works fine again. It simply won't sound forth normally with the MIDI. Sorry, I can't afford to replace the 310 with a later model. 

 

Yes, the other sounds work fine on and off MIDI. And yes the MIDI works fine with all my other keyboards -- been doing so for over 10 years.

 

Help! Please advise! Don't give me the silent treatment! I have a wonderful Windows 7 Toshiba laptop and use the incredible Roland UM1 MIDI interface, which has always worked flawlessly. 

[Jokeyman123]

 I don't have that model, I have the PX350 which is close to the same design.

 

There is no reason one sound should not be as loud as another definitely not right. You are playing from software-check your setting for volume, most midi software will have individual "levels" or "dynamics" or simply "volume"or some other word for loudness for each midi channel, can be set from 0 to 127 in software to control balance in a multitrack. I use Cakewalk which is actually Sonar in its older form I think and simply says "vol" for setting levels of midi loudness for each channel.

 

Many preset midi files have settings in the beginning or "header" of each channel that will set volume levels, rorgram and bank change messages and several other settings such as pan and insert effects that will reset at each song start, which must be "stripped out" if you want to use other settings, otherwise your new setting might over-written by what is already in that header information (just midi codes). If that isn't the problem, might be an internal software "glitch". It happens, even on my PX560. Try factory resetting if you haven't already.  Sorry if you know all this already, but just trying to help in case you don't.

 

[Joe Muscara]

Just a WAG here, but it's possible that the trumpet sound on your keyboard is more sensitive to velocity than other instruments. To test this, make sure the MIDI velocity being transmitted is a full 128 and see how the trumpet sounds.

[Brad Saucier]

Can you upload an audio clip so we can hear it?

[Priviamania]

On 11/24/2019 at 8:04 AM, Jokeyman123 said:

 There is no reason one sound should not be as loud as another definitely not right. You are playing from software-check your setting for volume, most midi software will have individual "levels" or "dynamics" or simply "volume"or some other word for loudness for each midi channel, can be set from 0 to 127 in software to control balance in a multitrack. I use Cakewalk which is actually Sonar in its older form I think and simply says "vol" for setting levels of midi loudness for each channel.

 

Thanks for the reply. All sounds are treated exactly the same in my MIDI work -- in one track. 

[Priviamania]

On 11/24/2019 at 8:44 AM, Joe Muscara said:

Just a WAG here, but it's possible that the trumpet sound on your keyboard is more sensitive to velocity than other instruments. To test this, make sure the MIDI velocity being transmitted is a full 128 and see how the trumpet sounds.

Thanks for the reply. Hard to imagine this being the case but I'll test it.