Random NoteOff errors

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Anonymous user
Random NoteOff errors

I installed VirtualMidiSynth 1.12.1 earlier today on my Windows 7 SP1 (x64) machine, and every MIDI I have tried playing with it has had the same problem: notes randomly get stuck in the "on" position as the appropriate NoteOff command is somehow interrupted or ignored.  The notes that get stuck "on" are not consistent, either; if I play the same file twice in a row, different notes will get stuck "on" each time.  I've tried using both Windows Media Player and Anvil Studio to play the files, and the problem is present in both.  I tried downgrading back to Microsoft Wavetable GS Synth and it doesn't seem to have this problem.  Is there something I'm missing in the settings?

Posts: 1972
Joined: 25 Mar 2012 - 01:19
Re: Random NoteOff errors

This is one of those situations where developers grope in the dark looking for a fix.

Some suggestions that comes to mind:

  1. Ensure that all of your drivers are updated, especially the audio device and motherboad chipset ones.
  2. Temporarily disable all non-necessary tasks that are running on your system, like antivirus, updating tasks, scheduled actions and so on.
    A quick way could be restart in "safe-mode" (see here for details) and try again.
    If the issue disappears, then there's something causing VMS to loose events; you can try to disable autostarting services/programs one by one with msconfig (type msconfig into the search box of start menu).
Anonymous user
Re: Random NoteOff errors

Thanks for the quick reply.  I can vouch for my audio device drivers being up to date; I may need the assistance of the guy who helped me to build the computer to double check if the chipset drivers are up to date.  Haven't tried booting in safe mode yet, although I did try checking the performance using Task Manager, and it didn't seem to be taxing the CPU or memory unduly.

I don't know if this would make a difference, but it seems to be more prone to happen with MIDIs created using older versions of Anvil Studio (I used 2005.09.01 for a very long time as there were interface changes made in the next version after it that I didn't really like, and I never bothered to update it after that).  That said, again, it happens whether I'm playing the MIDIs with Anvil Studio or Windows Media Player.  I've also noticed, by listening to piano rather than orchestral MIDIs, that it drops NoteOn events occasionally as well (this is a bit more difficult to spot in orchestral MIDIs because of voices doubling each other).  It doesn't seem to be related to the density of the scoring or the rhythm, either; it could be just one instrument playing on its own that drops a NoteOff event, or one instrument in an entire orchestra, and it could be one note in a rapid scale or arpeggio, or a long, sustained note. (And, again, the NoteOn and NoteOff events that are dropped are not consistent; if I play the same MIDI twice in a row, the second time it will execute most, if not all, of the NoteOn and NoteOff events it dropped the first time, but it will also drop new ones it didn't drop the first time.)

Anyway, I'll try starting in Safe Mode and will report back if I can pinpoint whatever it is that is siphoning off the resources needed for VirtualMIDISynth to process the full set of NoteOn and NoteOff events.

Anonymous user
Re: Random NoteOff errors

Hey there! Sorry to resurrect this thread, but I am experiencing the exact same issue; namely with certain random notes being sustained when they should end.

For context, I'm using Coolsoft VirtualMidi Synth with the GOG release of Wing Commander Privateer to get improved General Midi sound. Originally, I was using BassMIDI Driver, but switched to Coolsoft because I preferred how it handles the option to check/uncheck different soundfonts in order to experiment and test them out.

I've already tried all of your previous recommendations from your original post, but the problem still persists; it may seem for a while like it may be gone, but then without fail eventually (and randomly) some note of the composition will drone on indefinitely until the the track is changed. All of the options in the program are set to default settings.

The caveat is that with BassMIDI Driver, this was not a problem at all. Furthermore, after installing Coolsoft, when I attempted to reinstall BassMIDI Driver after uninstalling Coolsoft, the BassMIDI Driver configuration utility crashes and refuses to run! Essentially, I'm now unable to go back to the first program for some reason, and am left with a buggy Coolsoft. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Posts: 1972
Joined: 25 Mar 2012 - 01:19
Re: Random NoteOff errors

VirtualMIDISynth should cleanup everything on uninstall, but sometimes things get wrong (often when another device is installed after it).

I've added FAQ entry (#12) to describe manual uninstall procedure:
http://coolsoft.altervista.org/en/virtualmidisynth/faq#faq12

Anonymous user
Re: Random NoteOff errors

Thanks for updating the FAQ, that's really useful info; I am now able to get BassMIDI working again.

It's unfortunate that VirtualMIDISynth has some playback bugs on my system, I still prefer it's interface over BassMIDIDriver.

Thanks for the assistance!

Posts: 1972
Joined: 25 Mar 2012 - 01:19
Re: Random NoteOff errors

Well, I wish you'll test VMS again when version 2.0 will be released.

It's actually in alpha stage and it has a lot more features and improvements.

If you like to test it, have a look here:
http://coolsoft.altervista.org/forum/thread/222