Ableton Forum

Hello. This is actually my first post as all of my other questions have been answered by simply reading the instruction manual. (If only more people did that.)

Anyway, I have two computers linked together via midi. One, of course, is set to be the slave to receive the midi signal from the other. They are both macbook pro computers using external sound cards. My problem is that I am trying to keep the two computers synced for a live performance that will last about 3 hours, but they always slowly drift out of sync within 20-30 minutes. I have tried using different sound cards and different computers and still have the same problem. Has anyone else experienced this? Any solutions in mind?

Anyone? Please!!!

Hey discostew, cool tag by the way.

I love these problems, the first step in solving a large complex problem is to break it down into smaller chunks and use what I call "Zen Hacking" of which I will explain more later.

Start by giving as much detail as you can about your setup. Are you using live on both? What soundcard? Try grabbing the tempo on the master and changing it to see if the slave follows. Do they stop and start together?

Other things that seem appropriate to mention at this point are -

1) Midi timing works - if your computers are drifting out of time it is because they are not synced to midi. They are starting together and playing at the same tempo.

2) with two macbookpros you could use a cat5 cable (plain old network cable, crossover or not - doesn't matter with macs they work it out themselves) and setting up a network midi session.

When you get a chance, go to your profile and put in some details. The signature block is a great place to list your setup so others know what you're using.

Hi membrain,

Thanks for the info. To give you more details on my setup, I am syncing my and my friends computers so we can alternate mixing. I am running a macbook with an external m-audio soundcard and he is running a macbook pro with the same m-audio sound card.

From your description, it does sound like our computers are just starting at the same time and running the same tempo. The master/slave settings are allowing them to start and stop together, but they do drift apart over time. I'll give the LAN midi sync a try and see what results it produces.

Thanks again!!!