Importing Cubase SX Tempo Track into Live
Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 4:38 pm
Hi.
I've recently finished some recordings in Cubase SX3 in which I used Cubase's tempo track a lot to modulate the tempo of the songs.
I'm now trying to prepare a live performance of these songs in Ableton and have realised I may be screwed!
The tempo changes are 'embedded' into most of the audio files of my music, which means I have to find a way to have Live follow the changes.
My first idea was to sync Live to Cubase via MIDI Clock. Live would then follow the instructions of the tempo track directly from Cubase. However, not only is MIDI Clock unreliable, but the CPU drain from having two programs open is horrendous, even though Cubase isn't doing much of anything. I can barely get a couple of plugins open in Ableton before the system starts shuddering, while if Live is the only program open, the same plugins work fine with the same tracks playing back.
So what I'm trying to do is somehow get Cubase's tempo track into Ableton. If I can do this, everything will be great! I can dump the tempo-specific audio directly into my tracks and have it in sync, and play over the top of it too.
The easiest way to do this would be to import Cubase's tempo track into Live. I can export the tempo track out of Cubase, but am pretty sure there's no way for me to use it in Live (unless someone knows any better?). So that doesn't seem like an option.
The other idea I had was to sync Live up to Cubase using ReWire. Then I could hit play in Cubase and have Live 'learn' the tempo track, record it as automation. But this doesn't seem to work either.
So I was wondering if anyone has any ideas, any tricky workarounds or suggestions. I'm at a loss, so any help is welcome.
I've recently finished some recordings in Cubase SX3 in which I used Cubase's tempo track a lot to modulate the tempo of the songs.
I'm now trying to prepare a live performance of these songs in Ableton and have realised I may be screwed!
The tempo changes are 'embedded' into most of the audio files of my music, which means I have to find a way to have Live follow the changes.
My first idea was to sync Live to Cubase via MIDI Clock. Live would then follow the instructions of the tempo track directly from Cubase. However, not only is MIDI Clock unreliable, but the CPU drain from having two programs open is horrendous, even though Cubase isn't doing much of anything. I can barely get a couple of plugins open in Ableton before the system starts shuddering, while if Live is the only program open, the same plugins work fine with the same tracks playing back.
So what I'm trying to do is somehow get Cubase's tempo track into Ableton. If I can do this, everything will be great! I can dump the tempo-specific audio directly into my tracks and have it in sync, and play over the top of it too.
The easiest way to do this would be to import Cubase's tempo track into Live. I can export the tempo track out of Cubase, but am pretty sure there's no way for me to use it in Live (unless someone knows any better?). So that doesn't seem like an option.
The other idea I had was to sync Live up to Cubase using ReWire. Then I could hit play in Cubase and have Live 'learn' the tempo track, record it as automation. But this doesn't seem to work either.
So I was wondering if anyone has any ideas, any tricky workarounds or suggestions. I'm at a loss, so any help is welcome.