About the use of the forum and technical support

[Francois2010]

Hi,

What are the criteria to be observed about the technical difficulties in using N3?

Should we first go to the Forum and, if no solutions can then go to technical support support@notionmusic.com?

That's what I tend to do.

For me, it is not clear.

Thank you

[pcartwright]

I think it depends on what kind of answer you want. The forum, naturally, is typically reviewed by users with some technical insight. Of course, Lubo and Kyle post to the forum now and then, but it's generally up to users to keep the forum moving. If you're looking for an answer from someone at Notion specifically then technical support is the way to go. If it's a question of functionality, then I suggest going through the manual thoroughly before posting to either the forum or tech support.

[Surfwhammy]

Hi,

What are the criteria to be observed about the technical difficulties in using N3?

Should we first go to the Forum and, if no solutions can then go to technical support support@notionmusic.com?

For me, it is not clear.

Thank you

I think it depends on the person and the nature of the "technical difficulties" . . .

For example, I have a degree in Computer Science and have been doing software development for decades, with my primary focus switching to the Mac several years ago, so now that I am reasonably proficient in OS X 10.6.5 as well as Xcode, the first thing I do when I encounter a problem is to make an effort to determine what caused the problem or at least to find a way to cause the problem to recur from a known starting point, based on the general rule that if a problem is repeatable, then it might be a "bug" in the software, although not always . . .

Along the way, I also try to identify a "workaround" for the problem, since the fact of the matter is that all software has problems at one time or another, so rather than trying to achieve the impossible, which is truly perfect software, finding a "workaround" or alternative way to accomplish the task makes more sense to me . . .

Switching to the theoretical side of Computer Science and Mathematics, there are several key bits of information that basically explain the same thing, where in the Computer Science universe it is called the "Halting Problem" and was defined and proved by Alan Turing over half a century ago, with the general idea being that there is a special type of program that will determine whether an algorithm is perfect . . .

This special program does one of two things . . .

(a) It runs forever, in which case it is unable to prove that the algorithm is perfect . . .

OR

(b) It stops or "halts", at which point this indicates that the algorithm is perfect . . .

The problem or perhaps more correctly "paradox" (a.k.a., "Entscheidungsproblem" or "decision problem" that was proposed by David Hilbert in 1928) is that it is impossible to write a special program that works for all algorithms, and this is a variation of Church's Theorem (Alonzo Church), as well as the Incompleteness Theorem (Kurt Gödel) . . .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halting_problem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church%27s_theorem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del#The_Incompleteness_Theorem

[NOTE: This aspect of computing and mathematics is covered in more detail, along with a bit of fascinating information about art, music, and so forth, in the book "Gödel, Escher, and Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" (Douglas Hofstadter, ISBN: 9780465026562), which is an interesting book . . . ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6del,_Escher,_Bach

[NOTE: If you are a bit more mathematically inclined, then Joseph Schillinger's System of Musical Composition (SoMC) is superb, and while the complete two-volume set (which is huge) is in print, it is a bit on the expensive side. One of the more curious aspects of SoMc is that it makes sense in one way or another regardless of your level of mathematical and musical expertise, since the basic concepts are easy to understand simply by studying the elaborate diagrams and various examples in musical notation. In a very real sense, the Schillinger System of Musical Composition is one of the best kept secrets in the known universe, and it is quite amazing with respect to its ability to provide insights. Historically, this system was taught at what now is the Berklee College of Music, and they have an online copy of Lawrence Berk's notes when he was a private student of Joseph Schillinger . . . ]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schillinger_System

http://www.berklee.edu/bt/122/connection.html

http://library.berklee.edu/archives_content/schillinger_house/index.html

And even if a software algorithm were perfect, there is the matter of hardware and the fact that something so simple as a momentary power surge or perhaps a stray neutrino or solar flare can cause an otherwise well-behaved software algorithm to act quite strangely, hence the simple flavor of this is that "stuff happens", so the most sensible and practical approach is to find a "workaround" . . .

But there are other possibilities for "technical difficulties", and based on conducting a lot of experiments and tests on Notion 3, as well as using Notion 3 for perhaps 1,000 hours over the past six months, a lot of "technical difficulties" are the direct consequences (a) of not reading the user manual and (b) of not understanding every nuance of music notation, which certainly is the case here in the sound isolation studio . . .

There also is the matter of VST and VSTi components, each of which essentially is a separate software program with its own unique behaviors, and there are differences in platforms (Mac, Windows) that affect the way everything works, so there are a lot of things happening . . .

As noted in some of my other posts to this FORUM, the only significant limitation I have encountered in Notion 3 is that it only supports 50 or perhaps 51 instruments at a time, but I found a "workaround" that is described in some of my other posts, so this is not a problem for me, and all things considered I think that 50 or perhaps 51 instruments is a reasonable upper limit, especially when they use a virtual festival of VSTi sample libraries, if only because on a 2.8-GHz 8-core Mac Pro with 8GB of memory (8x1GB) and 5TB of hard drives storage it can take several minutes for a Notion 3 project to load, as is the case with Digital Performer (MOTU) when the number of tracks and heavy duty plug-ins increases, which typically happens around 25 to 50 tracks, especially when there are a few instances of AmpliTube 3 (IK Multimedia) and Panorama 5 (Wave Arts), both of which are "hardware hogs" . . .

If you are using Notion 3 with digital audio workstation (DAW) software like Digital Performer or whatever, then there are additional considerations, including the way the operating system and DAW handle ReWire, if you are using ReWire to get the Notion 3 tracks into the DAW . . .

Summarizing, so far the only time I called Notion Music was to get some information about how to upgrade from Notion SLE for Miroslav Philharmonik to Notion 3, and I think I made a comment about something being a bit strange but having a "workaround" for it, which the technical support person checked and said that my "workaround" was fine . . .

And while I have no idea how Notion 3 behaves in Windows, I have run Notion 3 through probably as many strange and bizarre scenarios (if not more) as the software developers at Notion Music have on the Mac, and although I easily can "lock-up" Notion 3, I have a "workaround" for every strange and bizarre scenario I encountered, and this gives me a huge comfort level, since I can "break" or "lock-up" any software program that runs on the Mac or Windows . . .

On the Mac, Notion 3 is solid professional-level software that works extraordinarily well in a very reliable and stable way!

Notion 3 is a primary part of my digital universe, and it is the first thing I use when I begin working on a song, since I now use what I call a Notion 3 "basic rhythm section" instead of a set of tuning reference and "click" tracks in Digital Performer, which without going into too much detail makes it possible for me to use Notion 3 for elaborate VSTi orchestration but to use Digital Performer for real instruments and singing, where I can use either one at any time based on what I need to do at the moment, which for all practical purposes adds George Martin and an elaborate orchestra to the real instruments and singing of my pretend musical group, The Surf Whammys, for sure . . .

For sure!

Consider this quite silly DISCO and Heavy Metal song, "I'm Going Goo-Goo Over Ga-Ga" (The Surf Whammys), where all the instruments are done in Notion 3 and then recorded as soundbites in Digital Performer by controlling Notion 3 via ReWire, where currently there are approximately 60 different instruments, which is about 10 more instruments than a single Notion 3 project can handle on the Mac . . .

[NOTE: This is an MP3 file (290-kbps [VBR], 9.6MB, approximately 4 minutes and 30 seconds), and approximately half of the Notion 3 instruments actually are multiple copy "clones" that are panned to different locations, which is a stellar technique for making what I call "sparkles" move within the Spherical Sonic Landscape, one vector plane of which is my avatar for this FORUM, so there are not 60 or so different instruments. Instead, there are perhaps 20 instruments and another 40 or so "clones" that are panned to different locations and then put into motion by replacing notes with equal-valued rests to sequence the virtual motion from left-to-right and so forth and so on . . . ]

http://www.surfwhammys.com/Im-Going-Goo-Goo-Over-Ga-Ga-11-28-2010-2-DP7.mp3

There is a video showing each of the instruments for the first 50 instruments both in Notion 3 and in Digital Performer in one of my other posts to this FORUM, so you can see how everything looks and sounds when it is running in real-time on the Mac, which in terms of software complexity is virtually mind-boggling, because in addition to everything you see in the Notion 3 and Digital Performer visual interfaces, there is a virtual festival of VST and VSTi components and instruments running in the background, since in additon to the 50 VSTi components in the Notion 3 project, there are at least another 25 to 50 VST plug-ins for special effects, mixing, and mastering in Digital Performer, and there is all the ReWire stuff which also is running in the background, so while it might appear that there only are two programs running (Notion 3 and Digital Performer), the reality is that there probably are 100 programs running simultaneously, and all of them are very complex programs, since the VST and VSTi components and instruments do a lot of processing constantly, which must be done very quickly so that the resulting sounds are synchronized and played correctly in real-time . . .

And something else I discovered over the past week or so is that sometimes what can appear to be a problem in Notion 3 actually is caused directly by a specific VSTi instrument, where for example most of the Miroslav Philharmonik strings do not do glissandi correctly, but if you switch to the London Symphony Orchestra VSTi strings, then they do glissandi but with a pretty strange curve, which is more exponential than smoothly linear with a gentle acceleration, so what might appear to be a problem with one thing can be simply an odd behavior caused by another thing, which overall is the reason that I stress the importance of finding a "workaround" or alternative way to achieve a desired goal, since there is so much happening that the practical way to achieve desired goals is to focus on what actually works rather than what one might think should work . . .

So, if you think it is technical issue with the computer software or whatever, then call Notion Music technical support, although you can post questions here, as well . . .

My strategy is to try to solve computer software and hardware problems myself before calling technical support, since it helps to have as much information about a computer software or hardware problem before one calls technical support . . .

For problems involved with understanding music notation, I resort to reading the user manual and doing a bit of research in wikipedia to discover what the music notation is and what it is intended to do, since this is more of a music knowledge matter than a computer software and hardware matter . . .

As an example, while I have no difficulties playing a real drumkit, I had no idea how to do a snare drum "roll" in music notation, since I never learned music notation for percussion instruments, but just a few days ago I was watching a video on YouTube about using Notion 3, and I noticed that a snare drum "roll" was done by adding a "tremolo" mark to a note, and for this type of "technical difficulty", I suppose the best strategy is to do whatever works best for you (calling Notion 3 technical support, posting a question to the FORUM, learning more about music notation, or watching training videos) . . .

My general perspective is that you can post a question about anything involving Notion 3 in this FORUM, and someone probably will reply, perhaps with an helpful answer, which is fabulous . . .

Fabulous!

P. S. I also do a bit of Classical stuff, as can be seen and heard in this video of the early "sketch" of a song about swirling snow, really . . .

[NOTE: This is a Window Media Video (WMV) format video that is approximately 5MB and runs for 3 minutes and 45 seconds. It represents about 20 hours of work in Notion 3 here in the sound isolation studio, and nearly all the notes are quarter notes, since it is easier to get the harmony stuff done when the notes are simple and straightforward. Later, I start doing the rhythmic stuff, but it takes a while, so at present I am working on the "sketch". And for reference at present it takes me from 250 to 500 hours to do a song that is from 2.5 to 5 minutes long, which maps to 100 hours per minute, which I expect to improve to 50 hours per minute, sooner or later, since I am making a bit of progress transitioning from "play by ear" to using music notion without needing to make a lot of "by ear" adjustments. And if you study the music notation, it should not be so difficult to recognize that I used a few very simple techniques from the Schillinger System of Musical Composition (SoMC) to transform what was a one-minute "sketch" into a "sketch" that is 3 minutes and 30 seconds, most of which involved doing a bit of non-reversed mirroring with a bit of not exactly bilateral symmetry, which mostly is just a matter of copying, pasting, and making a few transformations, which almost is in the category of "stupid composing tricks", but it works . . . ]

http://www.surfwhammys.com/Swirly-12-7-2010-N3.wmv

Really!

[Admin]

Hi,

What are the criteria to be observed about the technical difficulties in using N3?

Should we first go to the Forum and, if no solutions can then go to technical support support@notionmusic.com?

That's what I tend to do.

For me, it is not clear.

Thank you

I think everyone is spot on with the responses.....

I'm delighted that our users handle trouble shooting on the forum! It's a testament to the type of folks you all are

I look at it this way...if you're looking for a solution to a very specific problem and need an answer asap technical support is probably your best bet. If you're looking to discuss workarounds and determine if the "issue" you've discovered is an issue unique to your set up or is something other users have discovered use the forum.

PLEASE remember (I think it's been mentioned) to use the search function and check your manual. MOST of the time an issue has already been discussed or there is a simple solution in the manual.

-Kyle