Using Unity Session 3.1 with Metro SE Demo

[muser]

Hi everyone,

I decided to try the Metro SE Demo but haven't been able to figure out how to use Unity Session 3.1 as either a VST or Audio Unit instrument. I've followed the steps to automatically set up instruments, and I can record MIDI just fine, but I can't get any sound from Unity. I also can't get the bank and program names to show up; all I get is generic numbers. I think the main problem is I don't understand how Metro handles (busses) virtual instruments. I've read the forum posts and online manual, but am still at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I'm an Ableton Live 2.03 and Digital Performer 3.11 user (still waiting for DP4; kudos to Jeremy for getting to OSX so quickly), and am pretty well acquainted with using virtual instruments, but I'm feeling quite stupid at the moment
________
Powerbook 12"
256MB RAM
OS 10.2.5
Metro SE Demo 6.05
Unity Session 3.1

[Jerm]

We need more info. Did you install the plug-in and drag it to the effects window as an aux buss or a track insert? Did you then assign a track to unity?

[muser]

We need more info. Did you install the plug-in and drag it to the effects window as an aux buss or a track insert? Did you then assign a track to unity?

Thanks for replying so quickly Jerm. It's taken a while for me to reply because besides installing the plug-in, I hadn't tried any of the steps you mentioned. However, now that I have, I still can't get any sound out of Unity. This is what I did:
1) Opened effects window.
2) Opened the Plug-Ins window.
3) Dragged Unity (V2 Audio Unit) into the effects window, which made it load up and appear in the effects window allowing me to select patches.
4) Under the "Instruments" column of the Tracks window, "Port: Bitheadz: Unity" was automatically selected and I left it that way. Neither mute nor solo was selected. Track 1 was record-enabled. The levels meter detects MIDI input from my MIDI keyboard. But still no sound.

I'm sorry if I've missed something painfully obvious. When I dragged the Unity Plug-In to the effects window, I don't know if I did it as an aux buss or a track insert, and frankly I'm not sure what the difference is.

I had no idea that virtual instruments would belong in the Effects window, and that one wouldn't use the "Modify Intruments and Busses" menu, which seemed the intuitive path to me. This is still much simpler than Digital Performer's unnecessarily complicated bussing for virtual instruments, but doesn't seem to me to be at Logic's (from what I've heard; I've never used it) level of implementation where one merely has to instantiate the virtual instrument and it works straight away without complicated bussing.

[Jerm]

Ok. That is progress. I do not have unity (yet) so there may be something to do with unity that I am unaware of.

Before you drag, try this. Visit the digital audio setup dialog and select built-in as the audio device. Import an audio file and verify that it plays back ok. Note the audio file instrument assigned in the tracks window. Select that audio instrument in the effects window as the output for Unity. In the effects window the output should be listed in the title bar near the right of the screen.

Other things to note. Some devices require a bank, program change and/or volume controller before sound occurs.

You can use modify instruments and busses to assign instruments to VSTi's and Audiounit synths but you must instantiate the plug-in before a port will appear.

There is also a bug in 6.05 (fixed in 6.06 and later) that causes synth plug-ins to not play until either playback is commenced or a key is pressed on the vertical keyboard in the graphic editor. If you are trying just MIDI thru then this may be a solution.

Hope that helps.

[Scoot]

This may or may not help you out muser. I did exactly the same thing while playing with SampleTank Free and it didn't play either without a little extra step.

I'll do the steps while writing so you can follow the same way with Unity and see if it works.

- open metro
- do a command J to bring up the graphic editor (my preferred window to work in and to see whats happening) and command 9 and command 0 to bring up the plugins and effects window.
- drag the unity plugin across.
- at this stage sampletank needs an instrument selected so when everything else is set it should play it. I assume unity would need one to, so edit the plugin in the effects window to select a piano or does it just use the settings from the virtual keyboard in unity?
- look in the graphic editor. the unity plug should be selected as port (as my sampletank one has just come up)
- go to modify instruments and busses from the special menu
- add lets say 4 instruments on the unity popup and click ok
- go back to the graphic editor and change the PORT:Unity to Unity-1 port that should appear after the audio ports in the list.

My sampletank now plays from the keyboard on the left hand side of the graphic editor and hopefully your unity will too!

Sampletank's user window shows 16 midi channels which could be equivalent to 16 instruments added in the modify instruments and busses dialog box.

I seem to remember that in unity if you could hear sound coming from its onscreen keyboard then it would be able to be assigned to midi tracks in metro. I only got it to work with that keyboard window open and I couldn't work out why. Changing the instrument in the unity 'virtual' keyboard changed the one selected in Metro.

You're braver than me. I think Unity has way to many settings and I was not going to spend a long hot summer reading manuals!
I hope version 3 is more streamlined.

You can of course add to the aux bus but there's a step or two more there and if you can't get it to work in instruments it won't work in aux either


The whole port selection and setup is a great improvement in Met 6 over Met 5. Good one Jerm!

[muser]

Jerm, thanks for taking the time to follow my problem, and Scooterman, many thanks for taking the time to share your advice. You've both helped me narrow down the problem somewhat. The bottom line though is that after many hours banging my head at this, I still have no sound from Unity within Metro SE.

I've gone over every suggestion several times. This is what I did to make sure that my Audio MIDI Setup works:
-Even when there is no sound from Unity within Metro, I can use my external MIDI keyboard (hardware) to trigger sounds in Reason 2.01 as well as in Unity in standalone mode (running without Metro open).
-I can also trigger Unity's sounds when Metro is open and I open one of Unity's applications--Mixer, Keyboard or Player--(they all play sounds, but function differently). I can confirm that Unity doesn't receive MIDI from Metro because even though I can trigger Unity, which is running as a separate application outside Metro, when I record MIDI within Unity and play it back, there is no sound from Unity.
-I've tried all the option in the MIDI menu located on the lower righthand corner of the Transport.
-None of the keyboard keys on the lefthand side of the Graphical Editor trigger Unity.
-My best guess is that there is an interapplication MIDI problem here, at least when I can confirm that audio is working by successfully playing imported audio files.

However .....

I'm having problems with sound output from Metro in general. Jerm, I did that test you suggested, and imported a sound file to check the audio output. It's erratic, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, and I can't even begin to pinpoint a reason. This has been going on for days so I can't say it's my imagination anymore.

Once, an audio file played successfully but when I stopped it and played it again after about a minute, all of a sudden there was no sound. I pressed the metronome button to see if that would work. It did, for about half a minute, then it stopped working too.

I'm sorry to bring these problems up but I've really checked everything I can on my side.

It's entirely possible that the main problem lies with Unity because I've had many problems with previous incarnations of Unity 3, but I'll save those stories for some other time. However, I can't explain the sudden loss of audio. I use my 12" powerbook's built-in audio so there are no soundcard drivers to blame.

I apologize if this post is a little rambling, but it's 2:18am in Singapore and I'm a zombie. Thank you for all the help you've already given so far. At the very least, I understand how Metro works with MIDI and audio now so hopefully my problems are no longer related to my ignorance.

This shouldn't be this difficult. I'd have given up hours ago if it weren't for the fact that I'm dealing with Unity. I'm used to having to go crazy before I can get it to work. This is a new major release (3.1.0), and 3.0.0 wasn't usable until 3.0.5.

Now if only there was Rewire support, then I could try Reason with Metro, which usually works the first time with everything.

[Jerm]

I just installed a copy of unity session. It is rather complicated but I was able to get sound out in a matter of minutes. Granted I was using Metro SE 6.0.7 but I do not think that should matter.

I did not get sound with the unity coreMIDI port at first. I had to install an audiounit plug-in on a track to get sound. I then selected the bank from the unity edit window. Then I clicked on Metro's vertical keyboard in the graphic editor and it worked.

Did you check the master fader in the instruments window? Make sure it is all the way up.

[Scoot]

And there was me thinking it was a OSX problem.

[Jerm]

Interestingly, there seems to be a problem whereby the AudioUnit plug-in does not respond to pitchbend even though the VST plug-in does. Therefore I would recommend using the VST plug. There is an incompatibility with Metro and the Unity VST plug-in's presets which will be fixed in 6.07. In the meantime, sounds can be selected by either sending program changes or using the unity edit window.