Ableton Forum

Hey Fellow Livers -

I am using Ableton Live with an Elektron Machinedrum for composition and live performance and am having some issues keeping everything nicely synced together when I use the internal sequencer in the Machinedrum.

I have tired several different configurations, along with several different midi interfaces, and nothing seems to keep everything synced together.

Here is the kit list.

Hardware/Software:
Ableton 8.04 running on
Intel MacMini / G4 Powerbook / MacBook Pro (It happens on all the different computers)
Electron Machinedrum MK1 (os 1.52f <- latest build)
MOTU 828MK2 (for audio, and tried for midi)
MOTU MIDI Express 128 (midi)
Maudio Midisport 2x2 (alternate midi box)

#1 - When using Ableton as the master clock to sync and control the start/stop of the Machinedrum (set to external clock/external control) everything stays in sync for a while, but, if left playing for over 20 min or so (livesets are up to an hour and a half) the Machinedrum drifts noticeably. I have also noticed that when turning knobs on the MD to tweak sounds causes the Machinedrum to drift out of sync after it has been playing for a while.

#2 - When I use the Machinedrum as the master clock and slave Ableton to it, things are a little more stable, but Ableton's sync still drifts and then recovers. You can hear it in the performance. It is kidna cool, but not what I want my sets to sound like. It is very noticeable when recording the Machinedrum into Ableton and then playing back the audio on a channel. The drift is insane. I can link to an example upon request.

I have been making music for a while, and am no stranger to Midi, and it seems to me that there is a serious issue with external hardware synching to Ableton, but, is it the Machinedrum or is Ableton Live?

If anyone has any insight into what is happening it would be greatly appreciated. I would really like to be able to use the Machinedrum live with some confidence and stability.

Thanks!

rj

Similar problems here:

Scenario1:
When Ableton is Master, Ableton and the MD run in sync but with an offset. Usually I would use
the Track Delay to make up that offset, but whatever value I choose in the Track Delay the offset is constant. As if the track delay isn't there. Same thing when I use an External Instrument Device..

Scenario2:
When the MD is Master, the offset is not as big as the other way around, but when looking at the tempofield, it shows that the tempo it computes out of the Sync-Information from MD varies with every beat from 112 to 123 (I am on 120bpm)

Well, on Windows, there were two different kinds of midi drivers. Remember that one of them caused horrible clocking problems (the other one just had some problems...). On OSX nowadays, so I can't really remember which one to use, but try and change (if indeed you are on Win).

Also, I always run the midi clock in "Pattern" mode for the Elektron boxes. With the latest MD update, the sync when using Live as clock (and adjusting the midi clock timing in midi settings) is pretty solid. Not 100%, but close. In the MD display, if I run live at 120bpm, it says 120bpm, with the occasional 120.1 or 119.9...