Please help me sync two laptops with live on both!!

Share your favorite Ableton Live tips, tricks, and techniques.
lowmax
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Post by lowmax » Mon Jul 17, 2006 11:21 am

Ok, for getting the audio over lan the best solution i found till now is wormhole2 by plasq.com

Setting up is a breeze, and the quality so far is great....

It is a plug-in, you can download mac and win demo versions from here
http://plasq.com/downloads/

trknopnyc
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Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2005 9:10 am

AudioMidi + Network MIDI device

Post by trknopnyc » Sat Jul 22, 2006 5:05 am

To set up network midi via 10.4's built in network midi controls is extremely easy.
On all of the machines you want to add into the synchronized pool...

1: Open AudioMidi Setup (/Applications/Utilities/AudioMidi Setup.app)
2: Double-Click the Network Midi device icon
3: Click the "+" button below "My Sessions" to create a new session, I name them the machine name and a number so I know later who's talking to whom.
4: Enable the session(s) that you created.
5: On the machine you want to send from, pull down the top bar next to where it says live routings. pick the session you will want to use to control others. On the slave(s), pull down the bottom bar and setup a route from the network to the session (incoming).
6: Under "Who May Connect to Me" I always choose "Anyone" to make things easy
7: In the Directory Window... select the machine to start the session and click connect.

when you open Live at this point you'll see Midi devices with corresponding names that will route over the network. Latency can be adjusted but on a Gig-E network (Cat5e or Cat6 patch direct between Power/MacBooks etc..) you shouldn't see much of a delay, within operating ranges once you get the feel.

Now the next fun part...Enable AudioUnits and route the audio over the network using the AUNet set of plugins. I don't know if all of these are typically installed, but if not, they're part of the Apple Xcode developer tools that are free to download from Apple. I really don't have that much of a need to do all of this, but when I tested it out, performance was better by far over something like Jack without taxing CPU resources (being an AudioUnit and harnessing CoreAudio instead of Live).

gabster
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Post by gabster » Fri Dec 01, 2006 11:44 pm

Thanks, trknopnyc!!!

It works like a charm! Even via wireless there is VERY LITTLE lag! Tried a G4 and a MacPro.

Sorry to dig this post up from the old ages but what to do if:

1. I would like to add say two synths to the whole two laptops running Live equation? USB? MIDI cable via one of the interfaces connected to the laptops?

2. Can I sync another software (than Live) on the SLAVE or MASTER machine like say Reason or anything like that?

Many thanks!
GAbi.

Moosh
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Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 8:54 pm

Got it to lock up tightly...

Post by Moosh » Fri Dec 15, 2006 6:33 am

Thanks for the posts on this thread. I just "struggled" thru this and it turns out that I was overlooking something very easy...

my setup

macbook pro + audio kontrol 1 interface -- MASTER
toshiba PC + firewire 410 -- SLAVE

Set both to SYNC on
- on the master, find the audio kontrol, and turn SYNC on,
- on the slave, find the firewire 410, turn SYNC on
hit the EXT button on for the SLAVE

and the part I overlooked? The firewire 410 has a midi thru button -- make sure that's off...

And there you go!

Moosh
:P

nobbystylus
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Post by nobbystylus » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:39 am

we do it all spacebar hitting...

but... you should at least experment with going to Audio/Midi Setup.. enabling Network Midi, pluging a Cat 5, ethernet CROSSOVER cable between machines.. Network in and out!
http://www.myspace.com/wardclerk
http://www.myspace.com/bighairufreqs
LIVE 8.21/ Reaktor 5.51/VDMX/Quartz Composer

gabster
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Location: Arlington Heights, IL

Post by gabster » Sat Dec 16, 2006 8:28 pm

Hi Folks!

We are getting closer to total success with syncing our macs. We were able to sync the transport, the tempo etc.

However - we want now to sync the MIDI mapping so we can sync scene changes, etc. We both have controllers connected to our macs via usb and both of us are using a Firepod each.

That synced MIDI mapping is something we couldn't get a hold of yet. So if anyone has a suggestion or anything, please let us know.

THIS ALL IS ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!! Imagine the fun!

Gabi.

fatrabbit
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Post by fatrabbit » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:30 pm

stealth1 wrote:You could try using MiDI over LAN?

Thats worked better for me in the past, although I think the reason we did it that way was because my mate was running a PC and I was running a Mac.

Just a thought. Hope you sort it out.
Yeah OS X has MIDI over Ethernet built in.

You can do it over Airport wirelessly (works fine) or run a dedicated cable, which might be better for piece of mind (thing you can't see and all that!).

Tone Deft
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Post by Tone Deft » Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:27 pm

dudes, you're making all this waaaay too complicated.

1 midi cable
EXT button set on the slaved Live
SYNC out on the master Live
SYNC in on the slave Live

hit spacebar and go. I've done this literally dozens of times with various combinations of macs, PCs, Live 6, Live 5, sound cards, synths, mpcs...

for MIDI mapped control just enable REMOTE IN/OUT on the computers.

open the help box and hover over the midi remote/sync/track buttons, it's all there.

if things go awry, unset all the boxes and start simple, no need to close the preferences box, settings are enacted immediately.
In my life
Why do I smile
At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?
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gabster
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Post by gabster » Mon Dec 18, 2006 8:08 pm

Thanks all...

Any suggestions on how to use the Scene changes (or Midi Mapping for that matter) with MIDI over LAN?
What we want is the MASTER mapping to trigger the SLAVE - so when the master triggers say Scene #1, the SLAVE will follow, etc.

thanks!
Gabi.

Tone Deft
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Joined: Mon Oct 02, 2006 5:19 pm

Post by Tone Deft » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:18 pm

use a little imagination. how would you get an external keyboard to change scenes in Live? Do the same with the controlling copy of Live (hint: use REMOTE and midi assign).
In my life
Why do I smile
At people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?
-Moz

gabster
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Post by gabster » Mon Dec 18, 2006 9:23 pm

Tone Deft...

You have a point there - I'll give it a try ---

Thanks a ton!
GAbi.

gabster
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Post by gabster » Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:36 pm

Tone Deft...

Tried that too... didn't work :-(
I am sure I am missing something very small. Here are my MIDI Sync settings on my machines:

1. MASTER MIDI-Sync settings:
Image

2. SLAVE MIDI-Sync settings:
Image

Here is the device connection diagram I am using:

http://www.gabtone.com/gablog/images/MIDI_Diagram.pdf

Any ideas of what I am doing wrong or maybe I should try a different hardware connection and forget about the MIDI over LAN?
I simply want to sync the change of scenes on these machines (the Master would trigger the changes).
All else (Play, Stop, tempo is syncing perfectly).

Many THANKS!
GAbi.

twistandshout
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Post by twistandshout » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:15 am

How did you work this out?

gabster
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Location: Arlington Heights, IL

Post by gabster » Sat Jun 16, 2007 12:53 pm

Check my explanation in detail at www.gabtone.com/gablog (scroll down)

Gabi.

siddhu
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Post by siddhu » Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:01 pm

When synching two laptops, does the slave lose it's PDC?

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