Midi Stops Working on Play/Record

[nychthemerons]

I'm running into problems controlling external hardware and softsynths via midi with the BeatStep Pro.

When I turn on the BSP, everything seems to work fine. With my midi connections all set up, hitting the pads triggers notes (or drums) like you'd expect. The problem occurs when I hit play or record. At this point, the pads stop triggering sounds and the knobs no longer trigger notes in scales as you rotate them. Pre-recorded sequences are also affected -- essentially, they don't trigger any notes (though you can see the lights on the step pads cycling through the steps).

The problem seems to affect all my external gear and softsynths too, so I think that rules out any problem with those pieces of kit. The problem persists whether I connect the BSP 1) to an external piece of kit directly via midi, or 2) via USB into the computer, through Ableton Live 10 Standard to softsynths or back out my MOTU Midi Express 128 to the other gear. Strangely, in that case (USB into the computer), Midi Monitor still detects midi notes from the BSP.

Notably, the problem is intermittent, occuring about 90% of the time. Once in a while, everything seems to work fine, but I haven't detected any rhyme or reason to why sometimes it works but usually doesn't. Also: the CV functionality is working fine as for as I can tell.

I'm running firmware v2.0.1.0 and Midi Control Center v1.7.1.506 on a 2011 iMac running macOS 10.12.6. I am trying to avoid updating macOS because I am in the middle of a mixing project.

Thank you for any help you can provide!

[I grec]

Hi nychthemerons,

the knobs no longer trigger notes in scales as you rotate them

This is normal while the BSP is in Play or Record mode.

Strangely, in that case (USB into the computer), Midi Monitor still detects midi notes from the BSP.

Do you mean Midi Monitor detects MIDI notes but not the rest of your softwares?

Regards,
Y.

[nychthemerons]

Thanks for the reply. I did resolve the issue. But first, to respond:

the knobs no longer trigger notes in scales as you rotate them

This is normal while the BSP is in Play or Record mode.

That is true, but: In my case, once record or play is pressed, if I then press stop, the knobs no longer trigger notes in scales as they did before I pressed play/record in the first place. It's as though the pressing of play or record disrupts the functionality from that point forward, even if I then press stop. The only way to regain the functionality is to turn the power off and then back on. Which only works until I press play or record again...

Strangely, in that case (USB into the computer), Midi Monitor still detects midi notes from the BSP.

Do you mean Midi Monitor detects MIDI notes but not the rest of your softwares?

Yes.

Anyway, the solution:

Kudos to Arturia's technical support. I contacted Arturia, and they were able to provide a solution that worked -- namely to hard reset the BSP, downgrade the firmware to 1.4.0.20, hard reset again, upgrade firmware to 2.0.0.2, hard reset again, then upgrade firmware to 2.0.2.0 (the most recent firmware as of this post).

That seemed to do the trick. Thanks again!