Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Forum for boutique synths
Post Reply
vst_twc
Posts: 25
Joined: 19:56, 20 November 2017

Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by vst_twc »

I've seen some people mentioning how chain mode doesn't actually offer true 8-voice polyphony, that there is some voice stealing that occurs in some not-so-rare situations.

Can somebody explain to me what the issue is? Does it affect all boutiques with chain mode, like the SH-01a and the SE-02? I know it was an issue for the first wave of boutiques (JU-06, JP-08, JX-03).
apauw
Posts: 98
Joined: 08:27, 26 May 2015

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by apauw »

As an example, take the following tone in mind: staccato notes with long release.

Now press 6 keys, 4 notes will be played on the master, 2 on the slave, which still has 2 empty voices left.

Now release, the notes have a long release, and press again 6 keys. Since the master has no knowledge of what is played on the slave (as excessive notes are just spilled over), it will re-use all 4 of its internal voices again as they were released and available. This will cut those 4 notes off and replay new notes. The 2 extra new notes will be spilled over to the slave. If the slave is clever enough it will use the other empty voices for these new 2 notes, thus the other two on the slave will continue to sound. This last thing cannot happen on the master as all 4 voices were used anyway.
vst_twc
Posts: 25
Joined: 19:56, 20 November 2017

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by vst_twc »

Maybe I'm not really understanding this. What is the expected behavior? If you have 2 JUs in chain mode then you have 8 voices in total to work with. If you play 6 notes with long releases then 6 voices will be occupied until the notes release. If you play another 6 notes before the previous 6 have been released, then wouldn't you expect for some notes to be cut off.... unless you had 12 voices to work with (3 JUs)?
User avatar
cloudburst
Posts: 181
Joined: 20:00, 11 November 2015
Location: Northern Ireland
Contact:

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by cloudburst »

Comparing 8 voices vs 4+4 voices chained:
- there is a difference between the period a key is held and the period a voice is “in use”
- it is more difficult to determine which voice is not “in use” when voices are split between two synths by a MIDI interface.

CB
User avatar
tomatoKetchup
Posts: 61
Joined: 16:59, 22 November 2016
Location: Galway, Ireland
Contact:

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by tomatoKetchup »

A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...

Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
User avatar
cloudburst
Posts: 181
Joined: 20:00, 11 November 2015
Location: Northern Ireland
Contact:

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by cloudburst »

tomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...

Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOL

CB
raymond
Posts: 35
Joined: 00:09, 1 December 2015

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by raymond »

cloudburst wrote:
tomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...

Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOL

CB
If the second module wasn't on the same patch or not there at all, that defeats all polychaining solutions :)

I think that "every second note" solution is a great idea! A great variation of the "round robin" approach.

If you set the polychaining for 3 Boutiques (12 voice poly), then it would be every 2nd note to unit 2 and every 3rd note to unit 3.
User avatar
cloudburst
Posts: 181
Joined: 20:00, 11 November 2015
Location: Northern Ireland
Contact:

Re: Can anybody explain voice stealing while in chain mode?

Post by cloudburst »

raymond wrote:
cloudburst wrote:
tomatoKetchup wrote:A simple and easy solution against this issue would have been to program the Boutiques to send every second note to its chained module. Ex: note 1 played by A, note 2 sent to B, note 3 played by A, note 4 sent to B, etc...

Weird that Roland never thought of that. Where do they get their engineers from?
A bit unpredictable if the second module wasn't on the same patch, or wasn't there at all ... no? I probably missed some irony though. LOL

CB
If the second module wasn't on the same patch or not there at all, that defeats all polychaining solutions :)

I think that "every second note" solution is a great idea! A great variation of the "round robin" approach.

If you set the polychaining for 3 Boutiques (12 voice poly), then it would be every 2nd note to unit 2 and every 3rd note to unit 3.
How many times have you thought to yourself ...... “Is chain mode turned on?” ...... usually followed closely by ...... “Which buttons do I need to press to check and turn it off, aargh need to open the manual again” .....

CB
Post Reply