Midi Timing Syn problems
 

Hello,

I have a question about Midi set up and timing. And forgive my ignorance.

I want to optimize my current set up. I realize this is an ongoing issue with many systems. I am getting pretty bad midi timing problems when I record my midi tracks to audio tracks. There are tons of beats that are off after I record the audio.

I write my parts in Pro Tools which feeds Giga Studio on a seperate PC. When I’m done writing, I record the output of the Giga (PC/Delta 1010) into Pro Tools. I check the notes in Grid Mode and most of the notes are slightly late in varying degrees. I can move the whole track at one point but then the rest (because of the variations) are all off (some ahead, some behind).

I’m fairly new to Midi timing protocols. I do not have any kind of sync set up between my Pro Tools rig and my samplers. Should I set up Word Clock or some other kind of sync to eliminate most of these issues? And how would I do it?

Pro Tools 6.1
HD 3
(1) 96 I/O
Mac G4 867 (700MB RAM)
OSX 10.20.46
Recording @ 96Khz

Midiman 2x2 Midi Interface

GigaStudio 96 v2.2
PC Pent 3 1 Ghz
Delta 1010 (Midi in, Audio out @ 48Khz)

Any tips are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Zunam

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

Try using a MIDI I/O which adds MTS (you'd have to upgrade your Pro Tools software to 6.7 I believe for MTS).

Rail

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

What about using soft synths like stylus, etc? Will MTS help cure that issue too?

JFK

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

You've got MIDI jitter. Midi isn't consistent because it isn't sample accurate. Your midi will be delayed.

You'll have to record about 2-4 measures of a beat, place the recorded audio under the midi track, then zoom way in to see how many samples off they each are. They won't be consistent either. Average the delay and go into your midi options and you can "scoot" your midi information backwards by that many samples (the average delay in milliseconds). Then when you send your midi info through and back into recording into Pro Tools, it should be a lot more precise.

It sounds like that's what you've done already. I don't know about the midi i/o, but I do know that Reason uses Digi's sample accuracy and there's no delay. As far as I know, only the click plug-in that comes with Pro Tools is "sample accurate" and you'll never get midi jitter on that. That's the extent to my midi knowledge, sorry I couldn't help much more.

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

I'm also under the impression that the sync problem is less in Reason and huge in forinstance Kontakt 2... How does one reduce this problem? Which player has the least problem with this issue? Will it get less if you have a separate HD for your Libraries?

Reason
Trilogy
Kontakt 2
Kompakt
Yellow Tools

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

Thanks everyone, for the tips. I can deal with the midi timing being slightly late, but when they are all late in varying degrees, it's impossible to get them to line up except by checking and moving them individually which is a nightmare. But I'll look into these ideas. Thanks.

Re: Midi Timing Syn problems
 

When you go to MIDI and Midi Beat Clock and if you have a track with Kontakt2 or Trilogy on it you can choose Enable Kontakt2/Trilogy... Then you go to SETUPS and Peripherals and Midi Machine Control (MMC) and enable and choose Kontakt 2... When you later on reopen the session these settings wont be recognized - why?

Is this a possible remmedy for the synch problems I've had in Kontakt 2?