hardware sync prob

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:38 am

hello

having prob getting my machinedrum in sync with ableton ,
im running a motu 828 mk2 usb , im running ableton(master)
at around 160 bpm but machinedrum(slave)
is chopping and changing from 158 / 161 bpm ,
not sounding to good in the mix like , any ideas

also if i run machinedrum as master ableton is the one that will go out of time , please help

cheeers

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:45 pm

Machinedrum is known for being an excellent master. Most software sequencers are not. Try it the other way around.

-M

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:12 pm

Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:Machinedrum is known for being an excellent master. Most software sequencers are not. Try it the other way around.

-M

have tried it that way , as i said in my first post

Lo-Fi Massahkah · Post by **Lo-Fi Massahkah** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:13 pm

mellytek wrote:
Lo-Fi Massahkah wrote:Machinedrum is known for being an excellent master. Most software sequencers are not. Try it the other way around.

-M

have tried it that way , as i said in my first post

Sorry.

Obviously didn't read that far. You have a decent midi interface? 'Cause with MD as master it should be smooth. That's my experience.

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 6:55 pm

I've also had excellent results running Live as a slave (to my Korg EMX). Not so good the other way around. If you have a set that is maxing out the CPU you will of course run into problems either way.

laird · Post by **laird** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 7:30 pm

obvious questions, but you do have Transmit MIDI Beat Clock enabled in your preferences?

Also, have you tried swapping out your MIDI cable for a new one.

Also, have you tried opening up an empty Session and try again... just to tule out the notion you hit "Set groove template" or something on a clip.

Also, how do you know they are out of sync? If they were out of sync, one would drift out of time... but you describe a warble in and out of time, which say to me: you have some weird Warp markers in Live, and the Machinedrum is syncing to the Beat Clock, rather than the warp markers. Again, listening to a simple machinedrum pattern versus Live's metronome may help isolate the problem.

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:32 am

laird wrote:obvious questions, but you do have Transmit MIDI Beat Clock enabled in your preferences?

Also, have you tried swapping out your MIDI cable for a new one.

Also, have you tried opening up an empty Session and try again... just to tule out the notion you hit "Set groove template" or something on a clip.

Also, how do you know they are out of sync? If they were out of sync, one would drift out of time... but you describe a warble in and out of time, which say to me: you have some weird Warp markers in Live, and the Machinedrum is syncing to the Beat Clock, rather than the warp markers. Again, listening to a simple machinedrum pattern versus Live's metronome may help isolate the problem.

i don't see Transmit MIDI Beat Clock in prefs , unless its differant name for what you mean , have put screen shot up

i have 2 old midi leads , could be the prob ?? will have new leads tomorow hopefully , have tried numurous projects now , all the same , some time the warble gets worse , can drop to 140 bpm then up to 160 and thats me writing at 150 at the moment its a 1 bpm under and over moving continuously

screen shot VVVVV

laird · Post by **laird** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:03 pm

Can you select a dropdown menu where it says "MIDI Timecode" and change that th "MIDI Beat Clock"

I know thats under "input" but I hope it affects the "output" as well.

Also, check the Machinedrum manual under sync and see if it repfers Midi Beat Clock or MTC. I've never used MTC, I assumed it was for syncing video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_beat_clock
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIDI_timecode

MIDI beat Clock has always been more than adequate for me.

laird · Post by **laird** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:07 pm

Also, MOTU has a nice little blurb
http://www.motu.com/techsupport/technot ... 6053528299
which suggests disconnecting MIDI cables and reconnecting them one at a time.

Perhaps you are getting a little clock feedback? Try unselecting Midi sync on the INPUT section of Live's MIDI preferences and see if that helps?

Bad MIDI leads can do weird stuff. Its always the first thing I check when I have a MIDI issue, as it can be the simplest & fastest to fix.

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 6:31 pm

nice 1 fella will check all that , will let you know how i get on

µtanorph · Post by **µtanorph** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:37 pm

hi, i had the same sync problem, but discovered that is was the additional effect-vst that was causing the delay on my audio-track.
i tought that ableton was able to delete this vst-delay
is that true?

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:43 pm

ok dropped midi time code to midi clock , still getting the same shite

fingers crossed its a dodgy midi lead but i am doubtful lol cheers guys

Michael-SW · Post by **Michael-SW** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:18 am

Try syncing from hardware now that you have changed to midi clock. That should work better.

(BTW, Live can't send midi time code so that setting doesnt affect output)

mellytek · Post by **mellytek** » Sat Oct 06, 2007 4:24 pm

ok have rigged up machinedrum with korg emx1 and still same problem , its nothing to do with ableton phewww im getting closer to the prob hehe , i got the machinedrum closer to its master bpm , but now machinedrum is running at 70 bpm , master is 160 wtf .........

laird · Post by **laird** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:34 pm

Sounds like your machinedrum isn't set up to be the slave.