Correct way to sync external MIDI gear ?

[fatcode]

what is best to sync external MIDI synths ? MTC or Midi beat clock ?

Sorry for the newbie question but I've only used a Virus TDM and my external synths for some pads - I now need to sync the arpeggiator and LFO to MIDI tempo and I'm having a bit of trouble

Obviously I need to set MIDI ext on the synth - but what are the correct settings on Pro Tools and in OSX MIDI setup ?

[fatcode]

bump

[cwsand]

Have you read the Pro Tools Reference Guide? There's a whole chapter on sync.

[tdblanchard]

Originally Posted by cwsand

Have you read the Pro Tools Reference Guide? There's a whole chapter on sync.

Sometimes I hate it when people just write something along the lines of RTFM.
We've all been there and were desperate for the help when we needed it so why not give it up when you can??

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Enabling MIDI Machine Control in Pro Tools
Pro Tools as MMC Master
When Pro Tools is the Master, it sends MMC commands to the slave device and receives MTC information back from the slave device.
To slave an external device to Pro Tools using MIDI Machine Control:
1 Connect a MIDI Out port on your Pro Tools MIDI interface to an appropriate port on the slave device.
2 Connect the MTC out from the slave device to a MIDI In port on your Pro Tools MIDI Inter- face.
3 In Pro Tools, choose Setup > Peripherals and click the Synchronization tab.
4 Deselect Enable SYNC Peripheral if it is se- lected.
5 From the MTC Reader Port pop-up menu, se- lect the MIDI In port to which the slave device is connected (the source of MTC information from the slave device).
6 Click the Machine Control tab in the Peripher- als dialog.
7 In the MIDI Machine Control (Master) section, select Enable.
8 In the MIDI Machine Control (Master) section, select the MIDI Out port to which the slave de- vice is connected from the pop-up menu.
9 Set the MMC ID number for which this infor- mation will be sent in the “ID” field.

MMC commands contain an ID number to iden- tify which machine should respond to the MMC command. There are 128 MMC ID numbers, from 0–127. The default of ID #127 is a special setting that transmits to all 128 MMC IDs. With a setting of 127, Pro Tools will transmit MMC commands to all MMC IDs.

10 Set a pre-roll time for your MMC slave device. Pre-roll is needed to provide the device with suf- ficient time to lock to the timecode transmitted by Pro Tools. This value will vary depending on the external device. If the pre-roll time is insuf- ficient, the device may not be ready to lock until after the current timecode position has passed.
11 Click OK to close the Peripherals dialog.
12 In the Pro Tools Transport window, choose
Transport = MMC.

Pro Tools will now be able to control the se- lected device’s transport and act as the clock master.

13 To have the Pro Tools transport chase the playback location of the slave device, click the Online button in the Transport window.

...Pro Tools Reference Guide: Chapter 50: Working with Synchronization Page 1155

[lou77]

hmmm this is a great question. thanks for answering it.

I'm trying to finally bite the bullet and hook up midi to protools. I have a pyramid sequencer which says it can send midi clock to a daw. just hook up the USB.

all my (many) midi devices are hooked up to the pyramid, then the pyramid is hooked up to the PC by USB.

but then I learnt about the Midi Beat Clock where Protools sends the clock to the devices...

I'm trying to decide whats best? to have an external device control midi or the DAW.... logically you hit record then the daw says "ok follow my beat"... and that seems easy to set up.

But id like not to fall into some deep dark pit by getting this wrong, if anyone has advice i'd appreciate it.

[off the wall]

Originally Posted by fatcode

what is best to sync external MIDI synths ? MTC or Midi beat clock ?

Sorry for the newbie question but I've only used a Virus TDM and my external synths for some pads - I now need to sync the arpeggiator and LFO to MIDI tempo and I'm having a bit of trouble

Obviously I need to set MIDI ext on the synth - but what are the correct settings on Pro Tools and in OSX MIDI setup ?

Midi Beat Clock sends tempo info.

MTC sends time info (Hr:Min:sec:etc) A MIDI version of SMTP.