Solve common problems

I play the piano, but no notes appear

1. Check the physical connection and make sure the device is turned on.
2. Open Settings > Audio / MIDI and refresh the sources.
3. Enable the correct input.
4. In Instrument, check the input channel; try Omni (All Channels) to accept all of them.
5. Play again and watch the keyboard.

If the notes appear but don't make sound, continue with the next procedure.

I see the notes, but there's no sound

1. Make sure the Instrument source isn't set to Silent.
2. Select System Piano to test the output with a built-in sound.
3. Check the Master and Instrument volumes in Mixer.
4. If you're listening to the guide in Practice, also check its instrument and volume.
5. Check the output selected in Settings > Audio / MIDI.
6. If you're using reference audio, check its lane level.

If the built-in sound works and the plugin doesn't, the problem lies in the plugin's setup or loading.

The sound is late, drops out, or crackles

1. Open Settings > Audio / MIDI.
2. If there's lag, try a smaller buffer; if there are dropouts, try a larger one.
3. Compare with the built-in piano to tell whether it's the instrument or the output.
4. If you're using the Medussa sample instrument, check the interpolation quality and the RAM/STREAM mode.
5. Play a passage with chords and sustain again.

See Setting up audio to fine-tune the response.

The plugin doesn't appear or won't load

1. Make sure the Audio Unit version of the instrument is installed.
2. In the Instrument panel, refresh the list.
3. Select the plugin and wait for it to finish loading.
4. Read the message shown if it fails.
5. Use the built-in piano to keep working.

Some editions of Medussa run under macOS sandboxing restrictions and require Audio Units that are compatible with them. Not every installed plugin can load in that environment. Saving a session with a plugin doesn't install it on another computer.

I press REC and nothing records

1. Make sure you're in Visualizer or Editor; REC doesn't record in Practice.
2. If the button is blinking, it's armed: press Play or Space to start.
3. Check that MIDI notes are coming in.
4. Stop the take and review it in Editor.

Cmd+R starts recording right away. See MIDI recording.

I press Space and it jumps back to another spot

That's how Stop works: it returns to the point where you started playback. Use the Pause button if you want to keep the current position and continue from there.

The loop starts somewhere unexpected, or I can't change it

1. Check A and B.
2. Check Options > Always Start Inside Loop.
3. If a training is running, stop it before editing the range.
4. Set A/B again and play one test pass.

The training doesn't move forward

1. Check whether it's waiting for a count-off or for an action after the block.
2. Check how many repetitions are left.
3. If Advance on merit is on, check the required accuracy and the result of the pass.
4. Make sure the reference MIDI contains the part you're trying to play.
5. Adjust the tempo or tolerance, or turn off merit so every pass counts.

See Guided training to understand the indicators.

I can't find a practice session in the history

1. Check the category: free, blocks, or training.
2. Make sure a practice session was started and finished from its panel.
3. Check whether Don't save this session was turned on.
4. If the record was in a history file, load it from the corresponding submenu.

A background, audio, or samples are missing when I open a session

1. Check whether the original files were moved or deleted.
2. Check the Media folder next to the project.
3. Select the media again from its load control.
4. If it's an instrument, load its .asti file along with the samples it uses.
5. Save the session and check it again.

To move your work elsewhere, keep the project, media, and required instruments together. See Sessions.

Changing the tempo moves my performance

If you want to keep a free take while you build the tempo map, use SMPL before editing the tempo. In TICK, musical positions are kept and note timings change with the tempo. Undo the change if needed and follow Build a map after recording.

The reference audio drifts out of sync after editing bars

Inserting and deleting bars changes MIDI events; it does not cut or shift the reference audio file automatically. Check its position in the lane and adjust the alignment. Also check the loop and the practice ranges.

Export is disabled

1. Make sure there's a piece or recording with some length.
2. If you just recorded, stop the take and check that it appears in the editor.
3. For WAV, turn on Include Audio.
4. Check the export range.

The video has no sound, or includes the click

1. Open the export panel.
2. Check Include Audio.
3. Turn on the instrument or the audio track you need.
4. Turn off Metronome if it shouldn't be heard.
5. Check the levels and export a short section.

The vertical video cuts off notes, or the camera doesn't follow

1. Check the vertical or square format you chose.
2. Show the frame and look at its position over the visualizer.
3. If you expect automatic movement, turn on following.
4. If Use the camera track is on, its points control the movement; edit them or turn that option off.
5. Check the left/right/all activity preference.
6. Export a section with jumps in register.

See Camera and framing.

Transparency looks black

1. Make sure you chose a format with Alpha.
2. Import the video into an editor that can read that format.
3. Place it over a color or an image.
4. Check whether the background shows through the transparent areas.

A player that shows black doesn't by itself prove that the alpha channel was lost.

A layer doesn't appear in the video

Check the Visualizers switches in the export panel, under the label Only for this export. They can differ from the session's. Use Match Session to inherit those layers again. In an alpha export, the visualizer background never appears, and the Wood Border and Floor Image depend on their own switches; see Exporting.

Both hands show up in the same color

1. Open Settings > Scene > Main and check Tell the hands apart.
2. Make sure the piece has split hands: in the editor, left-hand notes are drawn in their own color.
3. If they all look the same, select them and mark them with L and R, or from Edit > Left Hand / Right Hand.
4. In Keys and Waterfall, check that the colors in the two columns are easy to tell apart.

What you play live always uses the right-hand colors: that isn't a bug.

Parts of the piece are missing after importing a MIDI file

If the file had more than two voices, Medussa asked which one was each hand, and the voices you didn't choose were not imported.

1. Import the file again.
2. In the dialog, check each voice's name, channel, and note count before choosing.
3. If you need to keep more than two parts, merge them in your DAW before bringing them in, or import them in batches.
4. With Cancel, the whole file comes in and everything is assigned to the right hand.

The waterfall ended up too large or too small

1. Press Cmd+0, or choose View > Reset Waterfall Zoom.
2. You can also use the Reset button in Settings > Scene > Waterfall, which also shows the current zoom.
3. If the menu item is grayed out, the waterfall is already at its natural size: what you're seeing is something else—check the visualizer's aspect ratio or the height of the visual area.

In the Editor, Cmd+0 fits the piano roll: they are two separate zooms, one per screen.

The audio track doesn't play, or plays cut off

1. Make sure M isn't on in the track header.
2. Check whether S is on in another track: solo mutes everything else.
3. Open the channel strip and look at the fader and the meter: with the fader all the way down, there's no level to measure.
4. Check the trim: if you dragged an edge inward, that part of the file no longer plays. Cmd+Z brings it back.
5. Check the fades: a very long fade-in makes the beginning sound very quiet.

The piano went silent and I don't know why

Most likely the audio track is soloed: the S button in its header mutes the instrument, guide and metronome. Click it again. Solo isn't saved with the session, so everything plays again when you reopen it.

The alpha video doesn't have the scene glow

That's expected: additive light can't travel inside a transparent video.

1. When exporting with alpha and Glow (HDR Bloom) turned on, choose Export two files.
2. Place "… - Glow.mp4" above the video in your editor.
3. Apply the Screen or Add blend mode to it.
4. If you prefer a single file, choose Export without glow and add the glow with an effect in your editor.

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