Ableton External Sync Switch with Pioneer DJM 800 - Solved
Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 10:04 pm
Good Morning,
It is possible to sync with a Pioneer DJM 800 by following these steps:
DJM-800 & Ableton Live MIDI Clock Sync Guide
Written by DJ Pulse, Last Updated: August 15th, 2006
Ableton Live has quickly become a DJ’s favourite in the software industry and Pioneer’s DJM-800 is the perfect tool to accompany this innovative software. With 61 MIDI controls on the surface, it’s not hard to see why many software jocks also want this mixer.
This guide will help you set up Ableton Live for use with the DJM-800’s MIDI clock signal. We will assume that you already have your MIDI connection with the 800 working properly.
Open Live, then go to Options > Preferences. The Preferences window will open, select the MIDI/Sync tab.
You will probably already have Track and Remote turned on, enable Sync as well.
The MIDI Sync Delay is a variable delay for the amount of “lag” given to the clock when you first start it. I played around with mine and found my personal setting to be at -30ms. This will slow the clock by 30ms as it starts, then it will resume normal speed. If you go into the + numbers, the clock will speed up right as it stars. You may need to experiment to find your perfect delay setting.
Click the X to close the window (the settings are auto-saved).
You can now start up a track on your vinyl or CD and allow the DJM-800 to detect the BPM.
With the BPM mode in AUTO, the mixer will automatically detect the tempo of the current audio feed.
You may have noticed that the top MIDI indicator beside the EXT button is blinking. That is Live indicating that it’s receiving MIDI clock signal.
Start the external sync by pressing the EXT button. This will now lock the Tap and BPM fields on Live and the EXT button will light up.
To start the MIDI clock and start the Live counter (that funny “clock “ which counts 1-2-3-4), simply press the MIDI START/STOP button on the DJM-800 on the downbeat of your track. You will also notice MIDI appears in red in the display of the DJM-800, just above BPM. This lets you know you are in MIDI mode.
If you have a clip armed to play (by pressing the play arrow or its MIDI trigger), it will start immediately when you press the MIDI START/STOP.
I’ve found from playing around that the best way to synchronize it properly is as follows…
-When your “outside” source is playing, allow the DJM-800 to AUTO read the BPM.
-When you are ready to start synchronizing with Live, press the TAP button ONCE; this will lock the current tempo so it won’t jump around if the song from your outside source goes into a break.
-If the BPM of the track in Live isn’t quite up to speed, use the TAP button on the DJM-800 to manually bring it back in sync … OR ... adjust the outside source’s pitch temporarily.
-Sometimes Live is consistently ahead or behind, this could be due to the MIDI clock only sending a whole number for the BPM. I find it’s most often 0.1% to 0.3% behind the outside source – once you’ve started the Live clip, adjust your outside source if necessary.
Cheers,
Marc
It is possible to sync with a Pioneer DJM 800 by following these steps:
DJM-800 & Ableton Live MIDI Clock Sync Guide
Written by DJ Pulse, Last Updated: August 15th, 2006
Ableton Live has quickly become a DJ’s favourite in the software industry and Pioneer’s DJM-800 is the perfect tool to accompany this innovative software. With 61 MIDI controls on the surface, it’s not hard to see why many software jocks also want this mixer.
This guide will help you set up Ableton Live for use with the DJM-800’s MIDI clock signal. We will assume that you already have your MIDI connection with the 800 working properly.
Open Live, then go to Options > Preferences. The Preferences window will open, select the MIDI/Sync tab.
You will probably already have Track and Remote turned on, enable Sync as well.
The MIDI Sync Delay is a variable delay for the amount of “lag” given to the clock when you first start it. I played around with mine and found my personal setting to be at -30ms. This will slow the clock by 30ms as it starts, then it will resume normal speed. If you go into the + numbers, the clock will speed up right as it stars. You may need to experiment to find your perfect delay setting.
Click the X to close the window (the settings are auto-saved).
You can now start up a track on your vinyl or CD and allow the DJM-800 to detect the BPM.
With the BPM mode in AUTO, the mixer will automatically detect the tempo of the current audio feed.
You may have noticed that the top MIDI indicator beside the EXT button is blinking. That is Live indicating that it’s receiving MIDI clock signal.
Start the external sync by pressing the EXT button. This will now lock the Tap and BPM fields on Live and the EXT button will light up.
To start the MIDI clock and start the Live counter (that funny “clock “ which counts 1-2-3-4), simply press the MIDI START/STOP button on the DJM-800 on the downbeat of your track. You will also notice MIDI appears in red in the display of the DJM-800, just above BPM. This lets you know you are in MIDI mode.
If you have a clip armed to play (by pressing the play arrow or its MIDI trigger), it will start immediately when you press the MIDI START/STOP.
I’ve found from playing around that the best way to synchronize it properly is as follows…
-When your “outside” source is playing, allow the DJM-800 to AUTO read the BPM.
-When you are ready to start synchronizing with Live, press the TAP button ONCE; this will lock the current tempo so it won’t jump around if the song from your outside source goes into a break.
-If the BPM of the track in Live isn’t quite up to speed, use the TAP button on the DJM-800 to manually bring it back in sync … OR ... adjust the outside source’s pitch temporarily.
-Sometimes Live is consistently ahead or behind, this could be due to the MIDI clock only sending a whole number for the BPM. I find it’s most often 0.1% to 0.3% behind the outside source – once you’ve started the Live clip, adjust your outside source if necessary.
Cheers,
Marc