MusicDevelopments

magnuzoid · Post by **magnuzoid** » Sun May 10, 2015 9:07 am

Ever since I bought RC in march I haven't been able to use the VST in Ableton 9.1 (and 9.2.4b ). It just freezes and I have to force quit :/
Anybody else tried this?

magnuzoid · Post by **magnuzoid** » Sun May 10, 2015 11:39 am

musicdevelopments wrote:Hello magnuzoid,

this should work. RC sends midi notes to the 'RapidComposer Virtual MIDI Output' port. I checked with a MIDI monitor on OS X 10.10. Please check the track settings: the instrument should be MIDI (e.g. "MIDI: GeneralMIDI"), and the Device should be 'RapidComposer Virtual MIDI Output'. Please let me know about the details of your configuration so that I can reproduce this on my system.

I've only seen your reply now! (thought it was default with notifs on this messageboard)
I did a clean install of 2.84 and now it loads up

dsan@mail.com · Post by **dsan@mail.com** » Sun May 10, 2015 12:55 pm

Soman wrote:Thank you, dsan for trying to help.
Well I get to the point where I have the cursor with the double end arrow (I do not have to hold the command key however but simply go to the right end of the timeline). But I did that before and as I already said, I can't stretch the timeline more than to bar 19, whereas the project position is bar 40.
And as you are just speaking of double clicking the box where it says time: If I do that, Rapidcomposer instantly freezes and I can't do anything anymore.
So still I have the problem and no solution.
Any other hints, please??

Soman, I think you misunderstand my instructions. By using the <CMD> key it adds another element of adjustment.

Yes, the method you employ will stretch the timeline; however, notice the width of the measures. By dragging that node from the right edge you are just making the timeline longer or shorter. This is not our goal.

By using the <CMD> key it squashes the width of the measures (or widens them depending on the direction you drag), allowing more measures to be shown in the space of the window (or fewer, but wider measures).

Now, with more measures being shown you can set your playback head at your desired point and then expand the width of the measures, again with <CMD> key, at that point.

Just try it and you will see what I mean.

HTH

Happy Musiking!
dsan

P.S. - You can also do this using the scroll bar at the bottom of the window; however, it works in reverse.

Press the <CMD> key and drag the scoll bar left and it shortens the timeline, making wider bars. Drag to the right and it lengthens the timeline, making more bars visible in the compositon window but making them more narrow.

Soman · Post by **Soman** » Sun May 10, 2015 7:23 pm

Thank you dsan, but pressing the command key or control key does not change the cursor on my system at all.
Edit: Ok, it works now. The cursor changes when I hold control or alt while clicking on the timeline. And now I can shrink or extend the timeline.

But the problem continues. I have projects which easily have 200 bars. And with your method, dsan, I could stretch the timeline to bar 140 maximum. This is not enough.
There must be a better way to do this.

Edit: Ok, with resizing and scrolling the scrollbar at the bottom 4 or 5 times I can now get to the bar I want to go to.
But still this is anything else but convenient...

dsan@mail.com · Post by **dsan@mail.com** » Mon May 11, 2015 7:31 pm

Glad to hear you are able to get some satisfaction in this issue Soman. I totally agree this is not the most convenient way to work, but consider this;

FWIW, I believe once before Attila had commented about large projects like this, stating that his original concept was not meant to create large works like this. He felt, at the time, that large projects were more easily managed in a full DAW. RC was never meant to take the place of a DAW, rather supplement and enhance the musical creation process.

I know for myself I work with much smaller projects, transferring my creations to a regular DAW as they become finished in RC. I doubt I have any project with more than 32 bars in a single file. I typically work in 8 bar increments.

I recognize there are some users that create large projects and prefer to work this way, however, I suggest you consider working with smaller projects and save each creation as a part of the whole, and then finish your work in a DAW which is designed for large projects.

I think you will much more enjoy working in RC this way. RC is meant as an extension to the DAW.

Hopefully Attila will see the need to add a simple way to get to a specific measure more easily and will implement this feature soon.

Happy Musiking!
dsan

Soman · Post by **Soman** » Mon May 11, 2015 11:47 pm

Thank you for your reply, dsan. Well, yes I am fully aware of this part of RC's underlying concept.

And I have to clarify that I am using RC inside a daw, not as standalone for such big projects. I am using it in Ableton Live and Logic Pro (with Blue Cat's Patchwork). And it's a great thing if you are in the middle of a song in your daw and need some new inspiration, and you have Rapidcomposer at hands helping you out.

Sure, I could start RC as standalone at bar 1 and generate an idea there and when I'm satisfied, drag it to the place in my daw where I want to have it. But wouldn't it be great to have the generated phrase just at that place before so you can hear it along with the drums and the other instruments in the context right away?

I am starting to think about just synchronizing RC with my daw's clock. Maybe that way I can work at bar 1 in RapidComposer and for example at bar 140 in my daw.

Maybe I also find an option for an offset so I only have to trim that offset to -140 bars and I can leave everything else as it is. I think there is a setting in RC dealing with an offset. I need to have to look. And if not, surely Attila can easily integrate such an offset.

snrsnd · Post by **snrsnd** » Tue May 12, 2015 5:50 pm

Renaming parts does not work correctly it seems. A name can be entered into respective text field, but name is not changed. Sometimes works for 1 part, not more. When trying repeated times, the applications becomes erratic, parts of the rename dialog tab remain visible (text field and the 2x +before/after icons), application freezes and has to be restarted. This is on Mac (Yosemite).
(also, button for sending bug report does nothing, so I am posting it here)

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Wed May 13, 2015 9:56 am

Soman wrote:I am having the following problem:

I have just tried Rapidcomposer vst on my Mac OS with Ableton Live. I have opened an existing project and I want to generate some melodies and basslines in the middle of the song. Now when I open the bridged RC program, I can see that the play position is synchronized. But the window only shows the first bar. So I can't get to see the playhead. Then I stretch the composition window. But I can only stretch it to bar 19 maximum. I still can't see the playhead, because in my Ableton project I'm at bar 40.
...

Hello,
there was a setting called "Enable Auto-Scrolling During Playback" which did not appear in the beta versions, sorry about that. I make sure this is added again in the next update.
When it is not enabled (by default) you can scroll the composition left or right with the scrollbar at the window bottom, regardless where the playback position is.
I fixed the 'time' entry on OS X in the latest beta version (uploaded today), so if you click on the bars.beats display, and enter '40', it will jump to bar 40.
I tried the new VST plug-in with Ableton on Mac and PC, and after fixing a minor issue, it worked well. Please make sure you use the latest version, now v2.9b13.

Thanks,
Attila

snrsnd · Post by **snrsnd** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:05 am

Well, there seems to be more issues with parts, not just names.

Adding a part can actually remove notes in all other parts.
I am working with a project that now has 4 parts (I gave up on naming them) and 4 channels. When adding the 4th part by duplicating the 3rd, notes in 1st channel (bassline) just got removed in every other phrase in ALL parts.

Also, my idea when duplicating parts was to "rapidly" adjust individal parts inside those parts, but just moving 1 phrase up or down inside a new parts, will remove notes form ALL phrases in ALL parts and basically mess up the whole thing.

(this is in RC as VST, did not try that in the standalone version yet).
Well, it is a major problem not being able to use parts.
I checked with manual and do not see that I do anything wrong. The magnets are not activated. This actually defeats the whole idea of using RC for now.

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:08 am

snrsnd wrote:Renaming parts does not work correctly it seems. A name can be entered into respective text field, but name is not changed. Sometimes works for 1 part, not more. When trying repeated times, the applications becomes erratic, parts of the rename dialog tab remain visible (text field and the 2x +before/after icons), application freezes and has to be restarted. This is on Mac (Yosemite).
(also, button for sending bug report does nothing, so I am posting it here)

Please download the latest beta version, I think the problem with text entry was already fixed. It is best to press 'return' after typing text.
I'll send an e-mail to everyone about how to access the beta versions. (The beta download link is the same as the download link that you received in e-mail, with 'beta' added at the end, so that it ends with '...beta.php'.)

I made a small change in the mailto: URL and I hope the 'Send Bug Report' button will work well on Yosemite. It worked well on earlier OS X versions (not sure about 10.9).

Thanks,
Attila

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:26 am

New beta version 2.9beta13 available with lots of new features!

2.9Beta13 improvements:

Ghost copies can be moved to other tracks. This opens new possibilities in the program when you apply variations to the copies, like 'Simplify Phrase', 'Extract Rhythm', 'Delay Notes', etc.
Dragging the piano keyboard vertically and zooming (Ctrl-drag) works in the Phrase Editor and Phrase Inspector preview
Zooming the piano keyboard works better, center key stays at the same position
It is possible to specify the length of the rhythm to allow rhythmic repetitions for longer phrases. E.g. for a melody phrase of 4 bars you can generate or edit a 1-bar rhythm pattern which will be repeated instead of having to create a 4-bar rhythm pattern
"Add To Clipboard" button added in the phrase editor
New variation: "Extract Rhythm"
1/32 and 1/64 added to Schillinger's Interference
Several bugs fixed when MIDI file was dropped to the phrase editor
Fixed 'MIDI' playback: playback position was jumping from beat to beat
Fixed phrase editor: empty beat at the beginning was removed
Fixed phrase editor: moving notes horizontally won't change the quality of the note
Fixed phrase editor: note mapping has an effect
[Win VST] All Cubase versions work well with the VST plug-in

musicdevelopments · Post by **musicdevelopments** » Wed May 13, 2015 10:57 am

snrsnd wrote:Well, there seems to be more issues with parts, not just names.

Adding a part can actually remove notes in all other parts.

This should not happen anymore because I removed the code that deleted or changed phrases during composition structural changes a few days ago, so I believe this will work well in the new beta version. I realize I always tell you to use the latest beta version, but this makes sense: an unusually long time passed since the last release in February, and since then lots of bug fixes, and dozens of new features were added to the program. And we are not done yet, so the official v2.9 release will be around early June... This is going to be a huge update.

Thanks,
Attila

snrsnd · Post by **snrsnd** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:12 pm

Ok, I am actually interested in trying beta, will try to locate the download, did not find it yesterday.

Now (after more hours using) I see that the problem with renaming is not a problem with parts, but with the text entry field:

It is a major issue!
I just tried to save a new phrase, but did not press "enter" after writing into text field, I pressed "save".
Now, this inactivated basically the whole plugin.
Nothing works and I did not render out the midi yet. Everything is stuck with the text entry field still visible and the lists/ dialogs cannot be closed, no button works anymore (buttons lit up when pressed, but they do nothing). This is after about 4 hours working, seems those 4 hours and the files are gone. This is my issue so far with "rapid" in Rapid Composer. RC is really great basically, but it is surprising how unstable it really is. It is not that cheap and should be somewhat more robust, users do press buttons in different order than dev maye imagines.

So this text field is a real, real danger (Yosemite and RC used as VST inside DAW and standalone).

snrsnd · Post by **snrsnd** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:23 pm

Sorry, but do not find any beta version to download, could you please indicate where to find it, thanks.

dsan@mail.com · Post by **dsan@mail.com** » Wed May 13, 2015 4:38 pm

musicdevelopments wrote: I'll send an e-mail to everyone about how to access the beta versions. (The beta download link is the same as the download link that you received in e-mail, with 'beta' added at the end, so that it ends with '...beta.php'.)

Thanks,
Attila

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