Ardour issue - reverting to wrong patch

[loxstep]

I know Ardour has a few glitches when it comes to midi. I looked through some old posts, and I couldn't find anyone with this particular issue. So I'm wondering if anyone here has experienced this, and if they know of a workaround.

I'm importing a midi file into Ardour, and using ZynAddSubFX as the instrument. I have a particular patch I want to use. So I view the instrument bank in Zyn and select the patch I want. Ardour starts playing back the midi in the patch of my choice. But a little while later, it reverts to another patch. Usually patch 1 of whatever bank I'm using.

I set a manual patch change in the beginning of my track, and that seems to have worked. (The patch stops changing)

1. Is this a bug that you've experienced, or just user error on my part?
2. If this is a bug, does anyone know of a better workaround then the one I'm using?

[x42]

Does it always change at the same position in time? If so, maybe the MIDI files includes another patch-change, or perhaps the midi-file has multiple channels and you only change the patch for one particular channel?

Also check CC, perhaps there's something else in the .mid that you've imported. ("A" utomation button in the track header -> Show existing automation).

One way to investigate is to load the "a-midi monitor" plugin (comes with recent Ardour) on the MIDI track, before zyn and check what data is actually sent to the instrument.

[loxstep]

One way to investigate is to load the "a-midi monitor" plugin (comes with recent Ardour) on the MIDI track, before zyn and check what data is actually sent to the instrument.

Your comment was very helpful. I'm still exploring new features in the most recent version of Ardour, and I hadn't learned about the midi monitor. Couldn't find a patch change, but this will be very useful in diagnosing future problems. Thank you!