sus pedal with VST

[Dilly123]

Hi guys,

I'm having a problem with my sustain pedal when recording. I am using neo soul keys as a VST and it plays fine however, when I record, the sustain pedal gets a bit funky. For example, when I lift the pedal, it cuts off the sustain of notes that I was holding on the keyboard. It is recording sustain pedal data, but something is off. Its totally unplayable like this.

Also important to note: I am completely new to reason and DAWs in general, so if you have a solution, you may have to dumb it waaaay down for me

[NekujaK]

I reported a similar issue a few days ago: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7511075

One of the responses in that thread mentioned there's a problem with sustain pedals and the Radical Keys RE, which I did encounter, but I was also having problems with a VST instrument. My issue is slightly different than yours in that I could record an initial take using the sustain pedal with no problems, but on subsequent takes it went haywire. However, I can't reproduced it 100% of the time.

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a solution.

[Dilly123]

Wow, that is a bummer. I contacted neo soul keys and they said that they were aware of a lot of similar problems with VSTs in reason, and that there was nothing wrong on their end. Also said they might stop supporting reason bc its kind of a pain. I've done a little more digging and found many others with similar sus pedal issues that have gone unsolved. I like neo soul keys more than I like reason, so if I can't get it to work, I just threw away a bunch of money

[NekujaK]

Don't lose hope yet. The upcoming 10.3 update (or whatever they're going to call it) is specifically addressing VST performance issues, and my guess is it will also fix a lot of VST compatibility problems. So I'd wait a couple of months before completely giving up on Reason.

[Dilly123]

Is that really no way to fix this? I cannot wait months for an update and hope they sort it out. I gotta move on if there is no fix.

[hurricane]

Sounds like your sustain pedal's polarity is reversed. There are several ways to make it normal. See if it has a polarity switch and switch it to the other setting or:

To reverse polarity (on a pedal without a polarity switch), power OFF, depress the pedal, power ON, wait for it to 'boot'. Release the pedal.

or

Step 1: In keyboard power on status, connect the pedal to the keyboard and press it.
Step 2: Power off the keyboard with pressing the pedal.
Step 3: Power on the keyboard and release the pedal promptly.
Step 4: it reverses.

[Dilly123]

I don't think that's it. It functions fine standalone, and even in reason while just playing. It only starts to malfunction while recording and during playback after recording. It's recording the sustain pedal accurately, but here is what appears to be happening: When you lift the sustain pedal to dampen, it cuts of your sustained notes like it should, but it also cuts off the notes that are still depressed on the keyboard, which it shouldn't. See what I'm saying?

[Dilly123]

bump...

I have a hard time believing that there is no fix for this, help me out guys! I've heard the reason customer support is practically non-existent, any point in reaching out to them? I love how easy I can get great sounds out of reason, and its an absolute shame that it won't mesh with my neo soul keys.... oh the frustration

[NekujaK]

The problem you describe is not the same that I was encountering, so I can't offer any solutions. For that matter, there's no solution for my issue either, only workarounds.

I would definitely log a support ticket with the Props. They're generally slow to respond, but at least you get the issue in their system.

[Dilly123]

Hey guys,

I can't believe I'd didn't notice this before, but this is not just a vst issue. I gave up on recording with my neo soul keys and busted out the thor with the D50 mk IV. I have the exact same sus pedal problem, its cutting off notes that should still be sustaining. For shits, I switched the pedal polarity(making it unplayable) and recorded the track which yielded the same results. What the heck doods, this is such a dumb problem to have.

[NekujaK]

It's beginning to sound like the pedal could be the issue, so here are some troubleshooting steps to zero in on the problem:

- Disconnect the pedal
- Create a sequencer track with Thor and pick a lead patch
- Record a few bars of short staccato notes
- Add an automation lane to the Thor track by pulling down the little menu at the top of the sequencer and select Performance > Sustain Pedal
- Now draw in some points in the automation lane. The values should either be 0 (pedal up) or 127 (pedal down).
- Playback your clip.

If the sustains are working correctly as you drew them, then it strongly suggests the pedal itself might be the issue.

[jam-s]

Check that there are not two instances of your midi keyboard active in Reason.

[Dilly123]

hey guys,

Tried all that. Tried another sus pedal. still same. This is an important thing to consider: It plays fine until I hit record. I can open up any instrument or vst and the sus pedal works exactly how should. It also is recording sus pedal as it should with the correct values, but it is still cutting of notes when recording and during playback. How is this a problem? A DAW that doesn't let you record piano tracks with a functioning sustain pedal? I haven't messed with anything, factory settings. Unreal. Could it have anything to do with the fact that I have the cheap intro version?

[NekujaK]

I'm pretty much stumped. The part that confuses me most is that you say held notes get cut off during playback when the pedal is up (or MIDI sustain is 0). So if you draw a sustain automation of all 0, do all the notes get cut off during playback?

[MarkTarlton]

are you starting with a fresh reason file so you are 100% sure there isn't any automation written? I would triple check the automation lanes and make sure nothing weird is going on.

also I would try other DAW's and test.

you can also download the demo of Reason and test it out just to make sure it's not a bug in the limited version since most of us are using the full version of Reason.