Great video. I would love as much info on MIDI as possible. Would have loved to have an example of the external device setting the DAW tempo. Using DAW as MIDI sync is fairly straight forward, but having the external gear set MIDI synch is stumping me.
Great video on an often overlooked and overthought concept. The first project where midi was used for hardware sync that I worked on in a studio was back in 93/94 where there was a time code on a 2" real to real 24 track machine that controlled a Roland computer interface to run a PC program Cakewalk, midi only. Pre DAW and the computer monitor was a green "Matrix" looking thing. LOL! It was relatively simple to control a Prophet 2000 sampler, and my OG Wavestation clocking to an external computer. Last night my new Hydrasynth Deluxe was driving me crazy trying to sync it's ARP to the computer clock. Finally got it working but even working with this stuff for 30 years, it's so easy to get tripped up on midi terms like Omni, Local, External Divisions, Latency, Chaining and more. At least for me Chaining is a hardware fix. I have a multi 1 in 6 thru midi box so I can hook up hafl a dozen sound modules with relatively no latency.
My main gripe with synching external hardware to a DAW via MIDI Clock is that everything has switched over to USB. USB is great for software editing/updates and audio etc, but for MIDI it's absolute dogsh!t. The amount of jitter and timing issues are just one giant headache. I really wish someone would release an affordable (say £120) PCIe Midi only card that uses 3.5mm MIDI DIN I/Os along with maybe CV & USB. I feel this would solve a lot of problems. Back in the Atari/Amiga days you'd Clock your gear via MIDI and it would just work!
Ableton Live has a feature where it will AUTOMATICALLY sync up outboard gear as long as the gear supports the "Link" feature. Many don't know the DAW even has this feature. Turn on the "Help prompt on Hover over" feature in Ableton and mouse over the little box labeled "Link" in the upper left top corner to read on how the feature works. I can't speak about old timey synths but most modern gear supports LINK out of the box. You simply enable LINK on all devices and Ableton will sync everything up. It's kind of just that simple. 🙂 And PS, you have an SSL UF-8 propped up in the background on that shelf that could fall very easily. My stomach sank when I saw it precariously propped up that high like that.
How well does it work when syncing multiple pieces of hardware to your DAW? Any issues? Does the MioXM do the same thing just on a bigger scale? Would I be better with an ERM multiclock?
Hi ProdWoo. You can either daisy chain from one synth to the next via the MIDI Thru ports, or you can use a MIDI Thru box with one MIDI In, and two, four, or eight MIDI Thru ports: www.sweetwater.com/store/search?s=midi%2Bthru%2Bbox -_Daniel_
Does setting the hardware synth as clock source pose any problems? The more I use a mouse or keyboard, the less fun I have playing, so I'd prefer to focus on the hardware end. (I don't yet have a proper DAW/Midi controller).
Thank you for this, it helps a lot! My personal problem with this is that I need to click play in my DAW (Presonus studio one) to play on my synth. So I hit play and experiment with ideas on my synth but my damn playhead in my DAW just keeps going and going and if I need to record, I have to move the playhead back to the beginning of the timeline. Is there a way to have everything synced as you have shown but need not to click play in the DAW? Also, what if we have 3 synths? Do I use the midi out of the main synth to master the other synths? Any help from anyone is appreciated.
i have switched to external and sync settings - it definitely changes when i change tempo in ablewton. However, it is still ever so slightly off tempo. Please help? I'm using the Waldorf Blofeld synth
My problem is I have a few instruments that won't seem to sync up well with my midi clock from my DAW even though some of my instruments will sync. I don't get it.
Hi Roger. One of the DAWs would send MIDI Clock, like in the video. The other DAW would simply be set to receive MIDI Clock. Both types of settings are very likely found on the same parameter page. Thanks for watching! -_Daniel_
Hi Luke, that's one of the quirks of the particular multi-verse that we happen to exist in. There are other universes where things start from the end and go to the beginning, but I'm not sure I'd want to trade. -_Daniel_
Still have no clue what you're doing and more importantly why I need to know. There's nowhere that can explain this stuff to someone who hasn't messed with any new technology since the nineties. It's like trying to learn a different language. I'm completely lost and nobody seems to care. I'll just get bombarded by idiots calling me boomer because they don't know what a boomer actually is they just like hating on literally everyone. Because they are the good guys.
Hi Drew. As an actual boomer (1962), I feel your pain. Prior to MIDI (1983), the only way you could make two synthesizers stay locked together in time (arpeggiators and sequencers), was to have a Sync cable connected between them that sent pulses. This wasn't ideal as there was no way to rewind, fast forward, or skip to a different section of the song, and then have both synths end up in the same place. With MIDI, you can make one device (or DAW) supply the MIDI Clock, and then make all the other devices follow that MIDI Clock. If the devices also send/receive Song Position Pointer (SPP), you can actually jump to anywhere in the song (on the device sending MIDI Clock) and the connected devices will also jump to that position. -_Daniel_
there's 2 main information regarding electronic instruments: 1st audio (self explanatory) 2nd midi (notes played, tempo of the song...) midi is the musical data. Between devices they need to be in (midi) sync, so for example the drum machine and the synth plays at the same time when you press play. Think as Midi as someone telling to his bandmate when to do stuff. How hard has to hit the snare. How many times. At which tempo.
I must say anyone using Ableton is having a field day and then some. Everyone uses Ableton for a demo. You have 'DAWs' plural in the title of this video. Try doing it with Reason Studios, please
Now that your synth rig is in sync, explore Daniel’s free master class series, Synth Clips here 👉 bit.ly/3QiHSjj
You guys are too kind!!!
explaine in and out latency and havin to delay clocks to that time and midi channels - that time
Thank you for this! And for understanding that there will always be those of us who are new to all of this.
Great video. I would love as much info on MIDI as possible. Would have loved to have an example of the external device setting the DAW tempo. Using DAW as MIDI sync is fairly straight forward, but having the external gear set MIDI synch is stumping me.
Great video on an often overlooked and overthought concept. The first project where midi was used for hardware sync that I worked on in a studio was back in 93/94 where there was a time code on a 2" real to real 24 track machine that controlled a Roland computer interface to run a PC program Cakewalk, midi only. Pre DAW and the computer monitor was a green "Matrix" looking thing. LOL!
It was relatively simple to control a Prophet 2000 sampler, and my OG Wavestation clocking to an external computer. Last night my new Hydrasynth Deluxe was driving me crazy trying to sync it's ARP to the computer clock. Finally got it working but even working with this stuff for 30 years, it's so easy to get tripped up on midi terms like Omni, Local, External Divisions, Latency, Chaining and more. At least for me Chaining is a hardware fix. I have a multi 1 in 6 thru midi box so I can hook up hafl a dozen sound modules with relatively no latency.
Great video and musical jam near the end:)! Thank you!
OMG Thanks soooo much for the midiOx mention, what an amazingly useful software it is :D kudos!
Thank you! Excellent demonstration.
Thanks guys. Brand new to this stuff and this was SOOOOO HELPFUL! THANK YOU.
i like the :outro jam, ✌
My main gripe with synching external hardware to a DAW via MIDI Clock is that everything has switched over to USB. USB is great for software editing/updates and audio etc, but for MIDI it's absolute dogsh!t. The amount of jitter and timing issues are just one giant headache. I really wish someone would release an affordable (say £120) PCIe Midi only card that uses 3.5mm MIDI DIN I/Os along with maybe CV & USB. I feel this would solve a lot of problems. Back in the Atari/Amiga days you'd Clock your gear via MIDI and it would just work!
@4:15 Daniel it's the Einstein's time dilation! :-D
Ableton Live has a feature where it will AUTOMATICALLY sync up outboard gear as long as the gear supports the "Link" feature. Many don't know the DAW even has this feature.
Turn on the "Help prompt on Hover over" feature in Ableton and mouse over the little box labeled "Link" in the upper left top corner to read on how the feature works.
I can't speak about old timey synths but most modern gear supports LINK out of the box.
You simply enable LINK on all devices and Ableton will sync everything up. It's kind of just that simple. 🙂
And PS, you have an SSL UF-8 propped up in the background on that shelf that could fall very easily. My stomach sank when I saw it precariously propped up that high like that.
Do you know if that function will work with the virus ti2?
link is for star stop not that even says in the grey box
Image-Line should watch this video since FL Studio has the sloppiest external MIDI timing ever.
thank you! now I can keep a central clock ,in Ableton
How well does it work when syncing multiple pieces of hardware to your DAW? Any issues? Does the MioXM do the same thing just on a bigger scale? Would I be better with an ERM multiclock?
This is great, but what midi device(s) would I need to set up multiple synths that would sync to my DAW?
Hi ProdWoo. You can either daisy chain from one synth to the next via the MIDI Thru ports, or you can use a MIDI Thru box with one MIDI In, and two, four, or eight MIDI Thru ports:
www.sweetwater.com/store/search?s=midi%2Bthru%2Bbox
-_Daniel_
@@sweetwater Thanks so much! My interface doesn’t have midi, so what’s the best way to connect the thru box to my computer? What else is needed?
Does setting the hardware synth as clock source pose any problems? The more I use a mouse or keyboard, the less fun I have playing, so I'd prefer to focus on the hardware end. (I don't yet have a proper DAW/Midi controller).
Thank you for this, it helps a lot! My personal problem with this is that I need to click play in my DAW (Presonus studio one) to play on my synth. So I hit play and experiment with ideas on my synth but my damn playhead in my DAW just keeps going and going and if I need to record, I have to move the playhead back to the beginning of the timeline. Is there a way to have everything synced as you have shown but need not to click play in the DAW? Also, what if we have 3 synths? Do I use the midi out of the main synth to master the other synths? Any help from anyone is appreciated.
how could tempo of the hardware synths smoothly be notched with an external midi controller?
could you please tell me how to clock sync an akai mpc live with a maschine mk3 without the akai triggering the mk3?
Thanks!
i have switched to external and sync settings - it definitely changes when i change tempo in ablewton. However, it is still ever so slightly off tempo. Please help? I'm using the Waldorf Blofeld synth
want to sync my sc6000 with the korg esx 1 on serato, did everything, midi button is still inactive idk what to do.. :/
Buy all your equipment from Sweetwater, I do🔥🔥😎😎😉👍
why are u not explaining in and out latency and havin to delay clocks to that time ?????
My problem is I have a few instruments that won't seem to sync up well with my midi clock from my DAW even though some of my instruments will sync. I don't get it.
So I want to midi sync reason and an Elektron analog rytym Mk 2 and reason beat map grid will this make it possible to do that ????
Can you show us to synchronize 2 DAW's?
Hi Roger. One of the DAWs would send MIDI Clock, like in the video. The other DAW would simply be set to receive MIDI Clock. Both types of settings are very likely found on the same parameter page. Thanks for watching! -_Daniel_
Why songs have to start from beginning to end?
Hi Luke, that's one of the quirks of the particular multi-verse that we happen to exist in. There are other universes where things start from the end and go to the beginning, but I'm not sure I'd want to trade. -_Daniel_
@@sweetwater make sense every song or story has a beginning aka start and every song 🎵 aka story has an end.
Didn’t know John Goodman worked at sweetwater
⚜️x🤘🏻x⚜️
Why did he pick possibly the worst Wavestate preset for this demo 🤔
Still have no clue what you're doing and more importantly why I need to know. There's nowhere that can explain this stuff to someone who hasn't messed with any new technology since the nineties. It's like trying to learn a different language. I'm completely lost and nobody seems to care. I'll just get bombarded by idiots calling me boomer because they don't know what a boomer actually is they just like hating on literally everyone. Because they are the good guys.
Hi Drew. As an actual boomer (1962), I feel your pain. Prior to MIDI (1983), the only way you could make two synthesizers stay locked together in time (arpeggiators and sequencers), was to have a Sync cable connected between them that sent pulses. This wasn't ideal as there was no way to rewind, fast forward, or skip to a different section of the song, and then have both synths end up in the same place.
With MIDI, you can make one device (or DAW) supply the MIDI Clock, and then make all the other devices follow that MIDI Clock. If the devices also send/receive Song Position Pointer (SPP), you can actually jump to anywhere in the song (on the device sending MIDI Clock) and the connected devices will also jump to that position. -_Daniel_
there's 2 main information regarding electronic instruments: 1st audio (self explanatory) 2nd midi (notes played, tempo of the song...) midi is the musical data. Between devices they need to be in (midi) sync, so for example the drum machine and the synth plays at the same time when you press play.
Think as Midi as someone telling to his bandmate when to do stuff. How hard has to hit the snare. How many times. At which tempo.
I must say anyone using Ableton is having a field day and then some. Everyone uses Ableton for a demo. You have 'DAWs' plural in the title of this video. Try doing it with Reason Studios, please
I had no idea that Buster Bluth was into synths