Strange MIDI messages?

[ZachSelindh]

Sorry for the imprecise post title, but I’m unsure how to distill my issue into one line.

I have a MIDI controllable pedal from a large manufacturer (who I won’t name here yet because they’ve been very helpful so far and seem to be attempting to address this issue on their end) that occasionally “locks up” and stops responding to PC messages and setting changes. What seems to trigger this issue is when I send too many PC messages in a small period of time. This is a problem for me because I use an array of IA Cycle/Set IA buttons to choose the MIDI PCs that are sent to this pedal on each preset. So as I’m cycling through the steps of each button, I run the risk of overloading this pedal.

The manufacturer says they’ve seen this “locked” state only once before, and in that case the user was also using a Mastermind PBC, though I can only speculate about their settings. This has led the manufacturer to suspect that whatever is causing this problem is endemic to the PBC.

I suppose what I’m asking, then, is if that makes any sense at all? MIDI information is MIDI information, regardless of the source, as far as I know. Though it seems too strange to be a coincidence that both users with this problem are using the PBC.

Anyone else ever experience anything like this, or have any insight into what could be behind the issue?

 

[rjmmusic]

I haven't heard of this happening, and certainly the PBC isn't going to do anything outside of the MIDI spec (if it does, it's a bug I'm unaware of). It can send tons of messages at the fastest speed MIDI allows, so that might expose issues in other devices if they can't keep up with it.

A computer with MIDI interface and MIDI monitor software would be the best thing to use if you have it. Ideally if this pedal of yours has a MIDI Thru port, you would connect the MIDI interface's input port so you could record the MIDI data coming out. Then, when the pedal locks up, you have a history of what was sent to it. Being able to see that would help determine if the PBC is doing something wrong or not.

 

[ZachSelindh]

Thanks for your insight, Ron!

This was actually one of the first things I tried; I used Morningstar’s MIDI monitor web app to confirm that no errant messages were coming through. With default filtering, only MIDI clock and PCs were logged. So I’m more likely to indict my effect pedal than the PBC on that evidence alone.

I think your point about “exposing issues if (other devices) can’t keep up with it” might end up being the problem. Definitely a shame, but hopefully the manufacturer is able to find the issue and fix it with a software update if possible.

 

[rjmmusic]

I think your point about “exposing issues if (other devices) can’t keep up with it” might end up being the problem. Definitely a shame, but hopefully the manufacturer is able to find the issue and fix it with a software update if possible.

I know this from experience. Years ago, when I was working on our first product, I was using a Ground Control Pro to test it. It also sent messages as fast as possible. I had quite a rough time getting our stuff to keep up with it - microprocessors were a lot slower back then!

 

[ZachSelindh]

That’s interesting to hear! I hope the problem can be solved with a software update, given that it sounds like hardware limitations are an element of the issue. Otherwise I'm not sure this pedal will stay on my board for much longer.