help needed : STS3000 won't play many samples at the same ti

[FlatEric]

Maybe I'm being a complete idiot and overlooking something really simple here, but I can't get multiple samples to play/trigger simultaneously.

I am playing a piano riff (over midi from Cubase) which is layered in the STS3000 i.e. it's triggering 3 piano sounds at the same time (three separate programs). These are all playing on Midi channel 1, with audio outs 1&2 to the BigMixer. All ok so far.

I then added a simple pad riff which is also layered (two instruments in STS3000, 2 separate programs). These play on midi channel 2, sharing audio outs 1&2 to the BigMixer.

This works fine until I add in a 2 bar drum break sample as well. This is on midi channel 10 and has audio outs 3&4 mapped to the BigMixer.

However, for some reason I can't get the drum break to play fully over 8 bars i.e. it's triggered via midi at start of bars 1, 3, 5 & 7 but it only plays for it's full 2 bar length in bars 1-2 and 5-7. In bars 3-5 and 7-8 it plays about half of the loop and then nothing until it's triggered again.

The piano and pad riffs play fine for the whole eight bars while the drum break is playing. There are no effects set on the BigMixer for any of the audio outs from the STS3000. All the programs have 32 polyphony set.

Oh, and in testing, I muted the piano programs one by one - it works fine with only one of the three playing i.e. one piano program, two pad programs and a drum break program. I then switched it around a bit - two piano, no pad and drums and it's fine so it looks like some kind of limit on the number of simultaneous programs you can run. Is this right?

Machine info : I'm running a P4 1.8ghz, Asus P4B266 mobo, 512mb RAM with Win98Lite, Pulsar II and Pulsar SRB cards (21 dsp) and 3.01 software.

Sorry it's a long ol' read, but I tried to get as much detail in there as possible

Cheers,

FlatEric

[mscream]

There is not only a individual max. polyphony setting for each slot, but also the overall polyphony setting for all voices of all slots together. You can find it in the LiveBar, it's the same as for all synth. The default is only 16 voices for the STS3000.

[FlatEric]

Thanks for the quick reply. Is the LiveBar part of the new SFP software?
I haven't upgraded to that yet - I'm still on Pulsar V3.01. Do you know where/how I should check/change the overall polyphony setting in that?

Maybe I'm getting polyphony and voices confused... I thought that the limit of 16 voices means that you can have up to 16 programs being triggered at the same time.... and polyphony was the number of notes on the keyboard which could be simultaneously triggered within each program?

Does this mean that you can reach the limit of 16 voices just by loading 4 simultaneously triggered programs which all contain at least four samples? That seems a bit lame.

[subhuman]

Nice to see mscream here!

There is global polyphony (the number of voices for the entire sampler), and a program level polyphony setting. The sampler is multitimbral, you can have many different sounds playing, each with their own individual polyphony setting (setting in the main program window next to each program in one of the pages), but the maximum number of voices for the device is limited to the number you set for the global polyphony (Device pulldown at the top in 3.01, or LiveBar in 3.1).

Hope that clarifies...?

<i>Does this mean that you can reach the limit of 16 voices just by loading 4 simultaneously triggered programs which all contain at least four samples? That seems a bit lame.</i>

Yes you will, each sample takes a voice. 2 voices needed for stereo. Just the way it works, here, and in hardware samplers.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: subhuman on 2002-05-15 09:23 ]</font>

[FlatEric]

Yeah, cheers, that's as clear as mud

Nah, seriously.... thanks, I understand what you mean now, but.............

I can't find anywhere where you can set the global polyphony I know, I know... call me a dumbass (or worse!) but I swear there's nothing which will let you change it (that I can find). Maybe I've been looking at the screen too long... time for a caffeine fix perhaps...

The bottom of the main window has the following options :
Program, Keygroups, Pool and Settings

I was expecting Program would be the one, but in the sub sections under the pull down, Midi is the only one which mentions polyphony, and when you make changes there you can see (in the Main window) that it's only changing the polyphony for each program.

I've been trying to find something in the manual explaining where it should be. The only thing I found out was just weird - for some reason I have both a STS3000e and STS3000 manual in the documentation, and the STS3000e manual clearly shows where global polyphony can be set - I can even see 'Voices' and '+' and '-' buttons in the screenshot. Unfortunately, I ain't got the STS3000e sampler, I've only got the STS3000 and on that there's nothing about polyphony on the preset screen.

Phhhherrr.... my head hurts.. has anyone else gone through this and come out of it a wiser person?

[Gregory]

In 3.01 when he said "top" he meant the top of the routing window not the sampler. When you click over the top bar in the routing window a graphic representation of your sampler (or other device) will show and you can set the overall polphony (and MIDI channel in devices other than the samplers).

[FlatEric]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
You've ended hours of frustration.

I can only get a maximum of 32 into the overall polyphony field so I guess that must be the max for the STS3000 but it's doubled my power straight away.

Going to sleep smiling tonight... (small minds are easily amused)