Hi All, very recently I purchased a Slim Phatty analog synth and have a couple of questions: First question… I had the SP connected via USB to my MACBOOK Pro, I use Ableton Live Suite 8.2, I was just creating a bassline so I had some midi notes in a clip (I was using a preset sound by the way just to test it); everything was sounding great so I let it loop for a little while… then I decided to just mess around with the filter knob while the bassline was playing just to hear what it sounds like, then I let go of the knob… the bassline keeps playing and all of the sudden I see that what I just played with the filter knob just got recorded into the SP so it just keeps doing what I just did on the filter knob… sort of like an" internal automation" for the movements of the filter knob I performed… how can I have it NOT do that? Looks like the damn thing is possessed!! Second question… I’m using Apogee DUET (USB bus powered) audio interface… when I connect the SP via usb and the audio out to the DUET via Macbook Pro and I REC enable the trac to be able to hear the sounds coming form my SP… I hear this NASTY static noise form that channel… I know this has to do with the USB bus… what can I do to get rid of the static noise? It almost makes the SP USB connectivity useless because so much noise is coming from it… Makes me want to just record it as audio and avoid that hassle altogether but then again I purchased this SP almost exclusively for its USB MIDI capabilities… any suggestions?
Its bound to be your computer–what have you got
No such problems with noise using USB on both Little Phatty 2 and Slim Phatty here
My system is imac 24" 2.8GHZ Apogee Duet
You might be right… I guess it is my computer as far as the USB static noise… Thanks!! What about my other question regarding the filter knob automation deal? Any thoughts on that? I read the manual entirely and I did not read anything about that “automation” problem I’m having…
Thanks for that response, I believe you are correct… it very well can be my Macbook pro and its crappy chinese made power supply. What about my other question regarding “the crazy filter knob automation ghost”??? Any thoughts on that?
Hi,
I’m not sure what is going on with your noise issue but the possession of your SP probably comes from the devil known as Ableton Live. I’m guessing that you still had recording enabled on your bass line track as it was looping and when you moved the filter knob the clip recorded the CC messages output from the SP. Then the loop repeated and sent the CC back to the SP, thus moving the filter. You can check if this is the case by looking at your bass line clip and pressing the button marked “e” to open the envelope menu. Select the CC corresponding to the SP filter cutoff (not sure which it is) and see if there is a pattern of CC messages recorded into the clip. FWI, you can use this function in Ableton to draw custom envelopes with CC values and then send them to the SP for crazy modulation.
Oops, forgot to tell you how to avoid this (and wrote FWI instead of FYI). After you record the bass clip be sure to disable recording on the track (make sure the red “armed” button at the bottom of the track stack is off). They play the clip in a loop (like you were) and fiddle with the filter and any other parameters on the SP to create real time modulation madness.
Thanks for your suggestions guys… I will try them out. I’m still wondering about the “Filter knob automation ghost” issue… any suggestions regarding this issue?
yes as long as Record is armed on the MIDI track it will also record any and all MIDI that is output by the Slim – for example, all your controller movements. This can be very useful for recording parameter tweaks, if that’s what you’re trying to do.
If you want the track to always record MIDI from your controller keyboard but never from the knobs on the Slim, you can also go to the I/O section of the MIDI track in Live and set it to receive MIDI IN from only your controller, as opposed to MIDI IN from “all” which is the default.
David Bulog: Thanks for your tip.. I believe the static noie is coming from my Macbook Pro after all… it is 5 years old now so I guess is time to buy a new computer anyway. I think I will just buy a new IMac with the Intel i7 and 8gb RAM… that should hold up pretty well.. best of all I would be able to take full advantage of the USB MIDI capabilities of the SP without the static noise it I’m currently dealing with Because it would be a desktop computer instead of a portable… laptops seem to have a problem with USB MIDI Static Noise on external hardware devices as I learned… You have really helped me figure out what I need to do!! Thanks dude!!!
Herrmann & Amos: Thanks for you tips.. Tried them and worked like a charm!! having the track REC enabled was the issue while modulating the synth… Thanks so much guys!
i’m having the same issue , macbook pro , ableton 8.2 & apogee one. Noise starts when i plug the usb to the slimphatty, & i’ve tried other usb cables too.
rawcoco, does it happy ANY time USB is plugged in, meaning, even when Live is not running?
if so, USB / ground loop issue… try a ground-lifting adapter on the computer power supply perhaps, not sure if this is strictly recommended but I’ve had results that way… if it only happens when Live is running, then try using Slim with Local Off (MIDI setup menu)…