GM/Softsynth sync issues

[Perritochico]

Please help!
I've been using Cubase for a couple of years- I'm not particularly expert at it, but I can use it pretty much to my own satisfaction. My problem is that when I come to combine GM tracks and soft synth tracks, they seem to go out of sync with each other. For example, if I make two identical midi drum tracks, as long as both are General Midi, they'd obviously play exactly together, but as soon as I change one of them to a soft synth (groove agent, for example, but any soft synth has the same effect) they no longer play together. The GM track will always seem to lag behind the soft synth track. They appear exactly the same on the screen, but don't play at the same time. It's really annoying! It's nothing to do with any external hardware- I've only just acquired a midi keyboard, and up until recently I've just been using a mouse to input midi. If all tracks are GM, there's no problem, and if all tracks are soft synths there's no problem, it's only when the two are combined. Apologies if this is a simple thing to remedy- I don't know much about this sort of thing! Thanks very much.

 

[jazzmaster]

Gm?

Please help!
I've been using Cubase for a couple of years- I'm not particularly expert at it, but I can use it pretty much to my own satisfaction. My problem is that when I come to combine GM tracks and soft synth tracks, they seem to go out of sync with each other. For example, if I make two identical midi drum tracks, as long as both are General Midi, they'd obviously play exactly together, but as soon as I change one of them to a soft synth (groove agent, for example, but any soft synth has the same effect) they no longer play together. The GM track will always seem to lag behind the soft synth track. They appear exactly the same on the screen, but don't play at the same time. It's really annoying! It's nothing to do with any external hardware- I've only just acquired a midi keyboard, and up until recently I've just been using a mouse to input midi. If all tracks are GM, there's no problem, and if all tracks are soft synths there's no problem, it's only when the two are combined. Apologies if this is a simple thing to remedy- I don't know much about this sort of thing! Thanks very much.

If you mean by GM the microsoft wavetable midi set (standard windows synthesizer) it is normal..nothing to do with "GM" in fact.

The microsft synth is also a "softsynth" and used for normal "windows use". The thing is you don't see the interface of this softsynth, but it is running in the "background" in windows..AND it has terrible latency...hence the sync issues with your synths and plugins used "inside" cubase.

NEVER use the microsoft synth...

Put some kind of alternative VST on ALL tracks in cubase.

Hugo

 

[Perritochico]

I see- that explains why I couldn't do anything about it! The only reason I use the GM/windows synth stuff is that there's such a wide range of instruments- admittedly, most of them are pretty bad, but if I want, for example, a violin or a trumpet sound, I wouldn't know where to get hold of one other than the inbuilt windows synth/GM/whatever. If there's a better soft synth I could get hold of really cheaply, or even better, shareware-type-thing, that did the same thing and had the same range of instruments but sounded better, I'd stop using the windows synth immediately!

Thanks very much for your reply- apologies for being a bit amateurish with the whole thing- this is the first time I've posted on a forum!

And if you do happen to know of anywhere to get hold of such a synth as I mentioned above, I'd be most grateful.

Dan

 

[jazzmaster]

Free soundfont and soundfont player

I see- that explains why I couldn't do anything about it! The only reason I use the GM/windows synth stuff is that there's such a wide range of instruments- admittedly, most of them are pretty bad, but if I want, for example, a violin or a trumpet sound, I wouldn't know where to get hold of one other than the inbuilt windows synth/GM/whatever. If there's a better soft synth I could get hold of really cheaply, or even better, shareware-type-thing, that did the same thing and had the same range of instruments but sounded better, I'd stop using the windows synth immediately!

Thanks very much for your reply- apologies for being a bit amateurish with the whole thing- this is the first time I've posted on a forum!

And if you do happen to know of anywhere to get hold of such a synth as I mentioned above, I'd be most grateful.

Dan

You could use a free soundfont:

http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/

On the left of that page click on SGM180 and you will be on the soundfont download page. there click on download.

To play back the soundfont, you will need a free soundfont player VST:

http://www.rgcaudio.com/sfz.htm


Have fun,

Hugo