Melodic imitation fails to accept MIDI input

[Michael]

Just downloaded trial version of EM6 (build 639PX). Had some initial difficulties getting MIDI input be recognized (mostly fixed by a system reboot). I'm still having a problem, though. When I play back the melody I hear the notes and get the blue lines (if the staff is displayed) but no grade appears and the sequence just starts over after a few seconds as though I hadn't played anything at all.

I get the same problem with microphone input: blue lines but no score.

Any help appreciated. My system specs are in my signature
Mike

[Quentin]

Hi Mike,
By default, EarMaster will jump to a next question if you answered the previous one correctly.
Could you please go tot the Exercise Settings menu and set "Auto New Question" to "Never" in order to make sure EarMaster is actually evaluating your answers? This will display the staff after each question and show the evaluation of your answer by the program.

[Michael]

Thanks, Quentin. My Auto Answer menu has 'Disable' rather than 'Never'. Selecting it seems to have no effect on the problem. The attached image shows an example question and response. This was NOT displayed at the end of my answer. To see it, I had to press Stop and Show Staff after playing the answer and, as you can see, there's no grade at the top even though I apparently played the correct pitches and durations.

My main interest is to train myself to rapidly recognize and play short tonal sequences so, for my purposes, the ideal behavior would be to move directly to the next sequence if I get it completely right and pause to display the staff and blue lines when I get something wrong. Is this possible? I tried changing the Auto Answer back to "If correct response", but it didn't make any difference.

I'm also still hearing the tonic being played simultaneously with the first note of my answer.

One more thing. Is it possible for me to customize the test sequences to an arbitrary list taken from tunes I'm working on?

Thanks!

[Quentin]

I just tested the exercise with a very similar setup as yours (Mac Mini running 10.9 with USB MIDI keyboard), and I get an evaluation as expected after each question.

I can see from your screenshot that you are in Customized Activity mode. Have you tested MIDI Input with the Std Course? Is the same problem occurring?

In order to see the evaluation only when you answer wrong, the "If correct answer" for Auto new question is indeed the right option.

It is possible to use melodies imported into EarMaster as Music XML files with sight-singing, melody imitation, melodic dictation, as well as their rhythmic counterparts. To do that, choose Customized Activity-->Melody Imitation (or any of the aforementioned activities) and, in the activity setup window, select "Melody database" instead of "Melodies generated by EarMaster". You will then be able to add excepts from ÉarMaster's built-in library of melodies (mostly Jazz standards), or import your own melodies from notation software via the Music XML format.

[Michael]

I just tried the Std Course. Same behavior as Customized (except that Std begins with no rhythm, so no possibility to display evaluation staff).

I also tried a different USB keyboard (a cheapo M-AUDIO KeyStudio ). Same behavior. So that eliminates both my P30 and the Turtle Beach midi adaptor as possible causes.

What other differences in our systems and/or EM6 configuration could account for the differences in our outcomes?

Thanks!

[Michael]

One more question. I'm getting toward the end of my 7-day evaluation period. I'd be happy to buy the software if we can get this problem worked out. Is there a way to get an extension to the trial period while we work on it?

[Quentin]

Hi Michael,
Please contact support@earmaster.com and get in touch with Niclas. We'll try to solve this with video conferencing, as I really can't see why it doesn't work on your Mac. There might be an option or a setting that I overlooked.

[Michael]

Just wanted to say thanks to for the awesome and (persistent!) tech support.

For anyone reading this thread, I had a video conference with Niclas and we determined the cause of my problem was a minor bug in EM6.1. You have to enable "Hear metronome while recording" in the Activity Menu. Otherwise you get the problem described in previous messages -- no grade and no auto-advance on correct answer.

It's working beautifully now, so I've purchased a license. Thanks, guys!

Mike