Questions & Answers

My sustain pedal works when playing, but not when recording

+11 votes
9,444 views
asked Aug 15, 2016 in Studio One 3 by MarkyGoldstein (6,940 points)
edited Sep 3, 2016 by MarkyGoldstein
I have a problem with recording my sustain pedal. It works fine with playback (not during recording).

I can use the Midi monitor and the I can also view the Sustain Pedal (cc64) in the Automation lane.

When I play the piano without being in record mode, then everything is fine.

As soon as I got to record mode, and record, in the recorded Midi there is an additional cc64 value 0 after I press the sustain pedal (which puts it to 127, but just for some short time) - effectively killing my sustain.

I use a midi keyboard (Fatar VMK-188plus & Studiologic VFP 3/10 Sustain Pedal), but the playback is an VSTi instrument.

I tried various instruments. And it seems to split the VSTi's into two groups.

Strangely it only happens with some instruments such as Kontakt, Addictive Piano, Pianoteq, UVI Workstation, Rob Papen SubBoomBass

But not with Arturia Stage-73 V, Arturia Piano V, PreSonus Presence. These seem to be okay. (all Arturia instruments behave okay)

But it looks okay in Kontakt's internal Midi Monitor as well. So is it recording something coming back from Kontakt? (I read some remarks in forums that S1's Sustain Pedal support is automatisation based, but again I also don't fully understand this statement).

What's happening here? Is the recorded Midi processed somewhere? Or is there some kind of loop?

What can I do?

After researching and testing / trial, I suspect the problem on the S1 side of things. Unfortunately the Sustain Pedal is not even mentioned in the manual.

I loaded Kontakt into Cubase 8.5 and there is absolutely no problem there. Same for Digital Performer 9.1 and Reaper.

My analysis sees a difference between VST2 and VST3 (Arturia), and Presence seems to be it's own plugin format as well.

11 Answers

0 votes
answered Aug 16, 2016 by FinalSaga (5,640 points)
Hey Marky

I think in this case that there may be a filter on your external midi device

Check in :

Studio One > Options > External Devices tab

Select your External Device and Edit down below

There (below the midi channels) would be some filters

Be sure they are not checked

Hope this helps

Ch33rs

Saga
+1 vote
answered Aug 16, 2016 by MarkyGoldstein (6,940 points)
Yes, there is nothing filtered. This is unchecked.

I see the Midi coming into Kontakt - correctly. This is visible in Kontakt's Midi monitor. It seems there it is related to how Studio One deals with cc64 automatisation, but again I'm not sure what exactly is happening.
0 votes
answered Aug 17, 2016 by MarkyGoldstein (6,940 points)
This problem has been resolved by throwing away all settings and starting from a fresh install. Thanks!
0 votes
answered Aug 17, 2016 by niles (54,610 points)

MarkyGoldstein answer: Make sure you never learn external controls to Studio One's External Device maps when you want them to control MIDI continuous controllers (CC) on Instrument tracks. From the moment you mapped your external device’s controls to Studio One’s external device, all the MIDI data received from those controls will be routed directly to the Control Link (Automation) system. So the MIDI CC data will not reach the Instrument tracks and thus the instruments connected to those tracks.

0 votes
answered Sep 3, 2016 by MarkyGoldstein (6,940 points)
Unfortunately the problem returned after updating to S1 3.3
0 votes
answered Jul 22, 2017 by coopergray (140 points)

I have been having this issues for months since I got Studio One Prime. I found its easy to fix. Just record as normal, but instead right before you do, go and change your instruments display, and add a sustain pedal, it worked for me.

On my instrument labeled Piano & Strings i went to display on it, and added sustain pedal.

This is a easy fix

My specs for recording

HP PAVILION Dv7-3065dx Entertainment PC - Replacement Desktop (2009)

AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual Core Mobile MG Set, 2.4 gigahertz with burst up to 3.0 ghrz

4 gigabytes of RAM (failing)

256 mb of dedicated graphics

+1 vote
answered Aug 7, 2017 by daveplumb (1,500 points)
edited Aug 8, 2017 by daveplumb
Also having the same issue here, using Kontakt, keyscape, addictive keys, pianoteq, uni ravenscroft, Arturia  all replicated the error, Have tried 3 different sustain pedals across my Roland a-88, Novation 49sl, Novation Launchkey 49, Panorama P6 and Alesis v49 controllers, problem replicated again.... have tried checking the filters and they're all unchecked and also the above fixes of running an automation lane but still to no avail, problem repeats. Even removed all keyboard controllers and re-added them but still no joy......... this needs a fix asap as its crippling my production!! very piano based.

*UPDATE*

This problem only exists in 3rd party plugins.... if I use any of the presonus plugins it works perfectly. Theres obviously an internal bug here.
+3 votes
answered Aug 19, 2017 by thomasfeiner (310 points)

I also experience this.


My previous workaround involved shutting down all UAD plugins before recording with sustain pedal, but for some reason that doesn't work anymore. Currently all insert effects are turned off - and S1 still refuses to record the sustain pedal properly.  And you only notice this when playing back what you just recorded. During the recording session no problem can  be heard. But when playing it back and looking at the recorded midi data, the sustain pedal is cut off as soon as pressed. In general I'd say StudioOne has issues when it comes to properly playing back the sustain. Even when the controller has been recorded properly, I noticed that you have to start and stop a few times to make Studio One actually  play back the sustain pedal. At least in my setup.

Unless Presonus puts some effort on this we have a major deal breaker. There is no other midi compatible DAW around with such a fundamental limitation. Since sketching with midi piano is at the core of what I do, I simply cannot use the software for now. 

I contacted support about this and the response you get is "I have logged this with the Presonus development team in hopes that it might be addressed in a future build". Then the support ticket is marked "solved".

+2 votes
answered Nov 26, 2017 by johnwatson5 (290 points)

As others have stated: this affects 3rd party plugins used as instrument output and Studio One has a bug apparently they need to fix.  I'm personally filing a ticket for this issue.  When using a 3rd party instrument as your MIDI out directly for your instrument track, the sustain pedal doesn't record correctly and immediately shuts off (even while held).

Workaround:  If you instead make the built-in Presonus "multi-instrument" as your Instrument output and within that, select your desired 3rd party instrument, the sustain pedal records correctly.  This worked for me with my Kontakt plugins at least.multi-instrument workaround

0 votes
answered Jan 15, 2018 by danielmijes (240 points)
Having the same problem as described above.  Searched numerous threads, support forums and personal troubleshooting.  No one seems to have a definite answer.  Certainly feels like somehow the automation and sustain cc are crossing paths somewhere they are not supposed to.  

I'm ready to make a switch and really want Studio One to work because of all the great innovative features; however with a bug like this on so many 3rd party VSTs, this is a DEAL BREAKER!!!  They work fine in every other DAW!?!?  Also, this has a HUGE impact on music production and I hope it is corrected fast.  Only have 29 days left on the demo lol.  

p.s. -  MPE (Multidimensional Polyphonic Expression) support would be greatly appreciated for my Roli Seaboard :)

Studio One 3 Professional  (Demo)

Microsoft Surface Book, i7, 16GB Ram, SSD and dGPU
+2 votes
answered Jan 18, 2018 by peterfreund (200 points)
I'm having the same problem. I really wish this would get solved. I can use and hear the sustain pedal fine but after I record a track (piano) and I can see the sustain events being added to the track, during playback, the sustain events are just missing or else not working correctly at all.

Johnwatson5 says we can add sustain to the track, but I don't see how to do that and the picture he provided was too small to see detail.
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