Strange pitch change effect with Strad 2.01

[spitfire31]

Hi all,

The last couple of weeks, every time I visit this forum, I get a friendly reminder at the top of the page that I haven't posted in a while, and would I please consider doing that. Well, here goes:

Having just recently installed Strad v. 2 on my Mac G5, I'm starting to get the hang of the realtime controllers. Some practice is going to be needed, but I can already tell it's going to pay off. This is going to be fun for an old keyboard basher...:D

However.

There's something that sounds mighty strange to my untrained ears in the new 'lyrical' version 2.01. When I use my expression pedal (ctrl #11), I get strange pitch warblings, making the instrument sound (again, to my ears) like it was played by a beginner student with shaky hands.

OK, I discovered on p. 62 in the excellent manual that there is an intended pitch variation connected with the expression pedal, so it's probably something to do with that. But it does sound like it's gone haywire somehow, because even if I rock the pedal very slowly and very little, I get these abrupt pitch changes.:confused: And sometimes, the held note just switches off after some quiet back-and-forth rocking.

I checked my pedal output in MIDI Monitor (a Mac utility) and it goes quite smoothly from 1 to 126, jumping one discreet value here and there, like from 32 to 34, but generally seems OK.

If this is really the intended behaviour, I'm not quite hearing the benefit of it it as I perhaps ought to (there're no comparable artifacts in v.1.08) and would really appreciate some alternative keyswitches without this feature.

And on the subject of keyswitches, I noticed that while the instrument key range is marked in grey on the Kontakt player keyboard, the keyswitches are not indicated at all, at least not on the Mac version.

There, I've posted!

Best regards,

Joey

[Garritan]

Spitfire,

Someone else has reported this behavior. It seems to affect some Macs. Strange it happens only on the Lyrical Strad and not the Classic. We will look into this and see what the problems is.

If anyone else has experienced this, please let me know.

Best,

Gary

[spitfire31]

Gary,

Thanks for the fast feedback. And thanks for confirming that my ears haven' quite fallen off...;)

/Joey

[Giorgio Tommasini]

Spitfire,

Please email me giorgio.tommasini@tin.it.

We'll track and solve this bug :)

Giorgio

[vic_france]

Hi Gary and Giorgio,
I have this problem too. Like you say, it is just on the "Lyrical" violin. Happens in both Standalone and as plugin (VST/Cubase 4).

Mac "MDD" G4 dual 1 GHz | 1.75 GB RAM | Mac OS X 10.4.8

[Garritan]

To help us identify this problem, can you let us know which version of OSX you are using and what sequencer/version number you are using? And format: VST, RTAS or Audio units.

As soon as we identify the problem we'll provide a fix ASAP.

Thanks all,

Gary

[Uli Reuter]

To help us identify this problem, can you let us know which version of OSX you are using and what sequencer/version number you are using? And format: VST, RTAS or Audio units.

Hello

I just received and installed the Stradivari and found the same behaviour. Macos 10.4.7. Logic 7.2.1, Kontakt 2.1.1 but it's the same with the Kontakt player.

Besides: I felt somehow uncomfortable when reading about that new #11 feature (even if it works properly) because I think the small pitch shifts depend so much on the player... there are masters that play simply crystal clearly all the time. maybe that would be worth another knob on the gui so that one can adjust the strength of the effect.

on the other hand I haven't heard it how it is meant to be yet.
sorry about maybe funny english and
best wishes Ulrich

[Garritan]

Thanks Ulrich for the feedback. This will helps. We'll investigate. This only affects the Lyrical version. To hear how it is mean to be load the 1.08 Classical patch.

Gary Garritan

[Garritan]

Also, Can those MAc owners experiencing no problems let us know about your system and sequencers.

Thanks,

Gary

[Garritan]

Hi Gary,

Just got my copy today, and I'm having the same problem.

Logic Pro 7.2.2
Mac G5 DP 2.5 Ghz
OS 10.4.7

Works fine with 1.08.

Lee BlaskeThanks Lee,

So it seems. The PC is fine. 1.08 on a Mac is fine. Loading in the full version of Kontakt 2 is fine.

Version 2.01 in the Kontakt Player 2 on Mac OS X 10.4.7/8 is a problem.

This will help a great deal. Can other Mac users report?

Thanks

Gary

[Uli Reuter]

Loading in the full version of Kontakt 2 is fine.

I cannot confirm that - here it's the same with the Player and the full version (latest update)

greetings

Ulrich

[spitfire31]

Hi,

Sorry for having been AWOL...

I'm on a G5 2x2.3 GHz, 4.5 GB RAM, OS 10.4.8, Metric Halo MI/O 2882.

I get the CC#11 pitch squealing problem in all the 2.01 guises: Standalone Kontakt Player 2, loaded into Kontakt 2.11, as a VST in Tracktion 2 and as an AU in RAX 2. 1.08 is fine.

HTH.

Best,

Joey

[JamesIII]

Same problem over here too. It happens when I tried it as a stand-alone as well when I tried it in Logic Pro 7.2.2. I'm currently using a Dual 2.5 GHz G5 with three gig of ram and have the Strad loaded on my firewire 800 "sample library" hard drive. I'm running OS 10.4.8

James III

[Giorgio Tommasini]

Uli Reuter,

Just a question. Has your Mac a dual processor?

Giorgio

[Garritan]

Here is a new nki:

http://www.garritan.com/support/The_Stradivari_Violin_v.2.03_L_NoDeriv.nki

Try installing this nki and see if it solves the problem with the 2.01 instrument. If this link doesn't work for some reason email me and I'll attach the nki.

Thanks,

Gary Garritan

[Uli Reuter]

Here is a new nki:



Yes this works well here, thank you.

Giorgio, yes I have a 2*2GHz Machine.

best wishes

Uli

[Giorgio Tommasini]

To all Customers.

The Stradivari player, vers. 2.01, has a new feature mimicking the behaviour of the real instrument, namely, a transient pitch shift on rapid CC#11 changes.

This effect is very subtle, and corresponds to the natural tune sharpening occurring when a string is stretched, for example by an increase in bow pressure.

This has been obtained by linking the first derivative of CC#11 to a script-generated controller (CC#13), slightly affecting the pitch.

We discovered (through yor feedback) that on some Mac, (possibly with a dual processor), the CC#13-related code does not work properly, leading to wild pitch changes. As a temporary workaround, we created a new nki, where all CC#13-code has been deleted. This way, one gets rid of any pitch change related to CC#11. This basically means that the above feature has been disabled.

We therefore recommend to download and use the modified nki only in case you've got a Mac and are experiencing this malfunction. In the meanwhile, we'll look for a definitive solution which will restore full functionality to the instrument.

We may ask for your cooperation to track and solve the problem.

Thanks in advance,

Giorgio & Stefano

[JamesIII]

We may ask for your cooperation to track and solve the problem.

Thanks in advance,

Giorgio & Stefano

I'd be happy to help in any way I can. Thanks for the quick workaround.

cheers,
James G. Eakin III
Composer-In-Residence,
Turtle Creek Chorale
Assistant Director-Film Scoring program,
Aspen Music Festival & School
www.jameseakin.com

[vic_france]

Thanks Lee,

So it seems. The PC is fine. 1.08 on a Mac is fine. Loading in the full version of Kontakt 2 is fine.

Version 2.01 in the Kontakt Player 2 on Mac OS X 10.4.7/8 is a problem.

This will help a great deal. Can other Mac users report?...


Not here. Same problem whether loading 2.01 into the Kontakt Player or into the Full Kontakt 2.

(Btw, Giorgio contacted me by telephone.. he's definitely already on the case! :D .. and what a nice guy! :) )

[spitfire31]

What he [Vic] said... 2.01 in Kontakt 2.11 suffers from the same problem here.

Giorgio was kind enough to mail me the workaround .nki - mille grazie! :|: It works OK.

Good night!

//Joey

[Jerry W.]

Same Problem here.

(Kontakt 2.11. both standalone and in Tracktion 1.6 exhibit this problem. )

Strad 1.08 is fine.

Weird.

Glad to hear there is already a workaround.

Jerry

[theviolinist13]

I just read in the post that the bug only seems to affect Dual-Processor Macs. I have a PowerBook G4. I don't think the PowerBook has a dual-processor. I wonder if I would get the "Floating Pitch Syndrome"...just a hypothetical question.

[Jerry W.]

I just read in the post that the bug only seems to affect Dual-Processor Macs. I have a PowerBook G4. I don't think the PowerBook has a dual-processor. I wonder if I would get the "Floating Pitch Syndrome"...just a hypothetical question.

Unfortunately, It is NOT just a dual processor problem. I have both an iMac G4 and a Powerbook G4, neither of which have dual processors, but both of which exhibit the same pitch-floating problem.

There have been some nki files released to beta testers which have helped. But are temporary fixes. The problem is with NI's Mac version of the Kontakt Player 2, and NOT with the programming of the Strad.

Jerry

[Nick Harvey]

Same problem here.

Nick

[Crossingsound]

Have the same problem here, though Sometimes it doesn't happen. Experienced this both in Kontact Player 2 as well as Kontact 2. I am on pro tools, Mac OSX 10.4.6 Dual 2.0 G5

Expression sometimes triggers flat notes as heard in that sound clip...

[spitfire31]

The pitch problem seems to have been corrected in the latest (version 2.2) of Kontakt and Kontakt Player.)(~

/Joey