Syncing Ableton with external midi gear?

agodi · Post by **agodi** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 1:32 am

I recently expanded my set up out of the box and branched out into the analog realm. However as im quite new to this area im experiencing the inevitable teething problems of a new set up.

I just got a jomox 09 and i've been having some problems trying to sync it with ableton. So far I've tried to use both ableton and the jomox as the master clock but niether has worked perfectly so far.

When ableton is set as the master clock the sequence played on the jomox is slightly staggered and jumpy.

When the jomox is set as the master clock the the sequence plays smoothly but is not in sync with whatever is played ableton and the bbm/tempo indicator in ableton seems to be jumping all over the place...
Can anyone help me out?

hydrogen · Post by **hydrogen** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:16 am

I don't think this is the 100% answer but you might look into this...
http://web.webhost4life.com/innerclock/ ... ge&name=16

what audio interface are you running?

agodi · Post by **agodi** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:35 am

I'm hoping its an error in my set up and keeping my fingers crossed that i can find a non-hardware solution, that sync lock is 370 EUR....ouch! However i do need to get myself a cv midi converter for my sh 101 so perhaps i could find something that will solve both issues... My audio interface at the moment is an Edirol FA-66

Torque · Post by **Torque** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:50 am

Allot of us here at Submerge have had problems with the clock signal from Ableton not being stable. If it was i'm sure more of us would use it. The best clock i've gotten from it is only when i took use it only for clock and not to play any midi to outside instruments at the same time. Most of us use pc's so it could be due to that, i don't know. What i do know is i don't have those issues with Sonar.

Rookas · Post by **Rookas** » Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:02 am

i had the same problem when ableton is set to external sync it jumps all over the place but looked like the bpm was still intact, but i im not really sure , when ableton is set to master clock looks like it was alright , is it only numbers jumping or the is really shifting all over the place ? i wassnt trying that much cause i only wanted to see if its working

agodi · Post by **agodi** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:14 am

Gave it another go today and just cant get it to sync right at all. I got it to almost sync for a while but it quickly drifted off course...

@Rookas
Yeah it sounds ok when ableton is set to external sync. The audio from the jomox comes out stable but the problem is that its not in sync with other tracks playing in ableton.

@Torque
I'm a pc user aswell, I hadnt concidered that as an issue but yeah maybe i'll need to change my DAW. Do you know if theres any midi issues with reaper?

I'm really hoping i can find some sort of a solution as all i can do at the moment is sample the jomox and then warp them into ableton...

mizzdirekt · Post by **mizzdirekt** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:59 am

There are quite a few things that could be going on. I know that while using my MOTU midi breakout box I can't use ableton midi channels in a certain configuration. I have to use the sync all port. If I use a direct port, like port 1, 2, 3, etc. I get midi clock overload. All my kit shoots to the highest midi clock possible and I lose all control of the set. I'm sure that's user error, but unsure why. It could be an automated parameter, or lfo that is f'in around with parameters that make it seem out of whack, or maybe it does knock it out of whack. Can you post a sample clip of the event? It's difficult to solve this kind of thing, when I don't know who or what I'm dealing with. If I had an audio sample I might be able to hear what's going on. Hope you get it worked out.

agodi · Post by **agodi** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 7:08 pm

Jomox as clock:

The first part of this clip is a kick drum thats been recorded and then warped into place. In the second part of the clip the kick drum is coming directly from the jomox with ableton set to external sync. The accompanying hat is beening played in abletons impulse.

http://www.mediafire.com/?zwtyfy32int

Ableton as clock

In this clip the clock is being sent by ableton to the jomox. As you can hear the kick is jumpy and isnt hitting in sync with the accompanying hat played in ableton.
http://www.mediafire.com/?jjjlyy3yzrv