[Bug or user error?] Pressing Stop 4 times changes settings on the A4

Hey everyone,

I am currently going crazy and would like your input.

I have the Hapax connected to my Analog Four via Midi Din (usually via a Midi router, but the problem persists even when plugged in directly) and am encountering a strange, but reproducible behavior.

When I press Stop the fourth time in a row on my Hapax it sends some kind of CC to the A4. There might be other, smaller effects but it definitely sets the frequency of F1 and F2 to 0.

Maybe some of the quirks with my other gear stem from this as well, as I experienced some really weird behavior recently.

I read the manual of both devices at least twice and I’m stumped. It just makes no sense to me why this would be happening.

Thank you for your input!

Hello,

The docs mentions

A fourth press will send all patterns midi Program Changes, if configured.

Have you tried reproducing:

  1. from a new hapax project (blank, not default template). Maybe your hapax projet has a PC value in your definition file / default automation, what not? From a blank project maybe try sending signals to your device without the definition file?
  2. while using another PC of your analog four? (I’m not familiar with Elektron presets / patterns). How is the device supposed to behave upon new PC input change?

Shot in the dark, hopefully it helps

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You can also leverage 2nd+live on hapax to monitor what Midi messages go out for each of your Stop Press if that can help

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Hey,

I very much appreciate your response, and you mentioned quite a few things i did not yet check for. I was able to verify that these problems do not occur when using a blank template.

I already tried the MIDI monitor but i am unable to see any of the signals sent when pressing the stop button, just the regular midi notes. (I do, however, am spotting MIDI data being received, although there should be none sent. Maybe the file is cursed?)

I’m not using any PC changes for the A4, i have checked everything including MSB and LSB.

I also tried the definition file (which I got from this forum) on a blank template and was unable to reproduce this behavior.

I was able, however, to reproduce the exact thing by muting and unmuting the track. When it is muted, stoping does not produce the error, but exactly on unmute, the changes occur. So it only happens on a singular track, and only if it is unmuted or after getting unmuted.

Might be a bug afterall. Could you check if you see any CC sent for pressing stop? though i would guess its just the standard midi for those functions (which are at CC 128 iirc)

I will try to do some more testing, thank you for your (continued) help!

Monitoring with 2nd+live:

  • From a Blank project, pressing Play then Stop. First stop stops the player, second stop sends Notes off to all channels. Third stop sends Sound off everywhere. Fourth stop won’t display info.
  • From a Default project (template), identical behavior
  • From an existing project filled with PCs and definition files. Funnily enough the third stop actually also sends, alongside the Sound Off messages, all the reset infos (CC default values and PC values). I’ll file a bug/eature request for this.

If you don’t see any of these check your Settings → Misc → Midi Monitoring → All messages

However Indeed on my side too I see no messages coming out when using Mute / Unmute features (whether while playing or stopped). Intuitively I’d say it’s expected since muting is an internal command to the hapax.

Some things I don’t understand fully from your message: you are able to reproduce by unmuting a track, but is that a track using a definition file? Does it contain any info on top of its definiton file? Or are you able to unmute/reset even from a blank project with only the midi channel setup?
Have you tried shooting from Hapax to another midi channel and catching it from the A4? Is A4 listening to all channels or only specific ones?

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You really have no idea how helpful you are to me, as I’m really bad at structuring the discovery process.

From more testing it seems that I made a mistake, as I now believe that indeed the Instrument Definition file might be to blame. Using a blank template and a blank track state there are no changes by pressing ā€˜stop’ 4 times, once the ID is loaded, however, the same thing occurs.

In this file the 8 encoders are assigned, two of them are F1 and F2 frequency respectively. It appears to jump to the value of the knobs, and both of them are turned to 0. As far as I can tell, the ID doesn’t have any default values, but maybe it just assumes 0 ā€˜Null’.

Why the Envelope Depth changes a little as well I do not know, as that is not part of the assigned knobs.

Just to be sure I am currently writing my very own Definition, this might take some time. I hope I can get rid of this behavior that way and that I can afterwards detail the solution in this thread if anyone ever finds themselve to having the same problem.

If I can buy you a coffee or something, let me know!

Cheers

If you’re using another person’s definition file you can duplicate that file then troubleshoot by removing chunks and loading them. For instance try removing all the section about ā€œAssigning the 8 knobsā€. Simply delete it from your file since it’s an optional section.
If you can still reproduce despite this section removed then it’s not from there.
And you can iterate with each section of the definition file until you find the culprit.