Organ plays with no stops selected

I use Sonar X3 linked to Hauptwerk and the Hereford organ. I am working on setting up the registration for a MIDI file and manually tried a combination piston. Having confirmed that all was ok i did a General cancel but still the organ sounded. I tried the various emergency reset menu options and reset all voicing but to no avail. I tried closing the programs and restarting the PC but the piece still plays with no stops selected.

Any thoughts please?

[mdyde]

Hello Classic49,

Can I first just check that you (still) have the MIDI ports configured in Hauptwerk exactly as covered in the 'MIDI sequencing, the Hauptwerk AU/VST Link and applying real-time reverb' section of the main Hauptwerk user guide (pages 181-199 in the current v4.2.1 version), i.e. with:

- The Hauptwerk VST Link port selected in the *left-hand* 'Console MIDI IN' column on the MIDI IN ports tab, and:

- No other MIDI ports ticked in either column on the MIDI IN ports tab, and:

- No MIDI ports ticked at all on the MIDI OUT ports tab?

If so, do you also have the same issue with the St. Anne's sample set?

(Perhaps your Sonar project is sending a MIDI control change that you've auto-detected/mapped to the Hereford's virtual crescendo pedal, for example.)

Could it be that the Hereford Crescendo Pedal is confusing the issue?

Graham

In answer to Martin's questions:

1. I have ticks in the left hand column of MIDI Ports In - one for the VST link and one for the M-Track USB MIDI interface for my MIDI controller keyboard. Nothing is ticked in the right hand column or the MIDI Out ports.

2. I loaded the St Anne's Organ instead without selecting any stops and yet ended up with full organ playing. All Change Controls in the MIDI file have been disabled.

3. I have tried another Sonar Project which has worked in the past and that does the same, ie General Cancel closes the selected stops but still leaves audio being generated.

Graham - the Crescendo pedal only seems to control the volume of the audio.

The only time that I had that Problem,
was When My Crescendo pedal was slightly depressed before Starting Hauptwerk,
The result was one or more stops were locked on at startup that could not be Canceled ! ! !.

[mdyde]

Hello Classic49,

1. I have ticks in the left hand column of MIDI Ports In - one for the VST link and one for the M-Track USB MIDI interface for my MIDI controller keyboard. Nothing is ticked in the right hand column or the MIDI Out ports.

If you're using Sonar for any kind of MIDI playback/editing, then you need to make sure that the no real MIDI ports at all are ticked (enabled) on either of the 'MIDI IN ports' or 'MIDI OUT ports' screen tabs in Hauptwerk. Hence please first un-tick the entry for your M-Track USB MIDI Interface, so that the ports are configured *exactly* as I mentioned above:

Can I first just check that you (still) have the MIDI ports configured in Hauptwerk exactly as covered in the 'MIDI sequencing, the Hauptwerk AU/VST Link and applying real-time reverb' section of the main Hauptwerk user guide (pages 181-199 in the current v4.2.1 version), i.e. with:

- The Hauptwerk VST Link port selected in the *left-hand* 'Console MIDI IN' column on the MIDI IN ports tab, and:

- No other MIDI ports ticked in either column on the MIDI IN ports tab, and:

- No MIDI ports ticked at all on the MIDI OUT ports tab?

If you have a MIDI port (e.g. your M-Track's) enabled in both Hauptwerk and Sonar then you might get unexpected results. (The real MIDI ports need to be enabled in Sonar, but not Hauptwerk, and the HauptwerkVSTLink then routes the MIDI from Sonar to Hauptwerk.)

2. I loaded the St Anne's Organ instead without selecting any stops and yet ended up with full organ playing. All Change Controls in the MIDI file have been disabled.

3. I have tried another Sonar Project which has worked in the past and that does the same, ie General Cancel closes the selected stops but still leaves audio being generated.

Graham - the Crescendo pedal only seems to control the volume of the audio.

With St. Anne's loaded (since we all have that readily available), please double-check that:

- The crescendo is fully off. It's the right-hand expression pedal on the virtual console. Click on it and drag downwards with the mouse to make sure it's moved fully to the off position. You should be able to hear it add/remove stops as you drag it up/down.

- Also make sure that neither of the FF or PP pistons' virtual LEDs are lit on the virtual console (underneath the Great manual, towards the right-hand side), since they also add stops 'blindly' (without moving the virtual draw-knobs).

It seems that the problem is down to the fact that I misunderstood how the Crescendo pedal worked. With the pedal closed, I can open and close stops and get appropriate audio which stops when all knobs are closed. But then, if I open the crescendo, I get pipes sounding even though the knobs are closed. It appears that General Cancel only closes the draw-knobs and doesn't cancel the Crescendo stops. It looks as though I need to explore the settings in the Crescendo window now.

Thank you all for pointing me in the right direction and helping the learning process.

[mdyde]

Thanks for the update and glad to hear you've found the culprit.

Yes -- most (real and virtual) organ crescendos are 'blind', in that their registration adds to the registration drawn on the draw-knobs without moving them.