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I need some help (SP1200/Pro Tools/MIDI related)

DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
edited January 2007 in Strut Central
OK, I have this nifty little beat I made on the SP. The best thing I've made entirely on the machine to date. What I would like to do is get the separated tracks into Pro Tools so that I can do a bit of panning and EQing, but something is up with my MIDI setup (either that, or I just have a wrong conception of how MIDI is used).My idea is that I want to use MIDI to sync up the recording start and stop points in Pro Tools with the starting and stopping of the SP's playback. I have an Mbox, so I can only take audio out of the rear channels 2 at a time instead of all 8 at once, but I figure if I sync everything up with MIDI, then I can just record 2 channels, then have both recording in Pro Tools and playback on the SP start at the exact same spot/time again while I record the next 2 channels, and so on down the line. But this isn't working at all.I did the Apple MIDI setup thing where you make the little icon for your machine, then draw in the connections between the machine and the MIDI interface (an M-audio USB Uno interface). I create a new Pro Tools session, create the audio tracks, set the SP to sync to MIDI, and create a MIDI track. When it comes time to select a destination for the MIDI track, the Pro Tools manual says there should be options available when you click on the destination selector in the mix window, but I don't get any options--it just says "none." And there is no MIDI sync between Pro Tools and the SP. My friend explained it to me that if I have it set up right, it should work out that as soon as I hit record in Pro Tools, it'll automatically start playback on the SP , but he was stumped as to why this wasn't working when I called him back last night. Does anybody have any suggestions? Am I just thinking that MIDI can do something it can't?

  Comments

  • MeepMeep 320 Posts
    seems a bit extravagant (and not sure about the SP's midi capabilities) for just recording separate tracks. Think it would be easier if you just muted the other parts and cut the beginnings off after recording (if it doesnt start on the 1 like a snare part just put one in the first part and mute it later if that makes sense)

    *edit* come to think of it, this doesnt work if the samples have any form of silence at the beginning (I'm used to cutting them like that on a PC). You could use the same sound at the start of every track (for instance a bar before the beat starts), sync those up and mute them later if that makes sense.
  • butterybiscuitsbutterybiscuits 300 Posts
    i don't mess with an SP or pro tools but the concept should remain the same. arm whatever (audio) tracks in PT to record, make sure PT has the m-audio box recognized in the preferences and the m-audio box midi out cable runs to the SP mini in, and make sure the SP has midi on (or receive midi or however it works)...the SP should act as your midi slave. when you hit play(record) on PT, that should trigger play on the SP, and the audio should start recording in sync. this will get you an audio track laid down, not a midi track. hope that helps somewhat?!
  • kentsnowkentsnow 18 Posts
    http://www.emulatorarchive.com/assets/PDF/SP1200%20User%20Manual.pdf

    Page 58

    Make sure the SP is on the right midi in channel and set as midi slave...Then as planned, record 2 channels individually four times for a total of 8 tracks all perfectly synced.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Sp1200 runs a very primitive form of midi, called Midi Clock. Most everything else runs Midi Time Code, or both. You should really take this to an audio gear forum but it is difficult as hell to sync current software with the SP. Having tried many times, I believe you have to run it through a box that speaks both Midi Time Code and Midi Clock, like an older sequencer or something. The two things are not going to talk to each other independently.
  • meshmesh 925 Posts
    yeah, it sounds like you need to tell PT to spit out midi beat clock, which you can do from the MIDI pull down menu.
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    Before I got my 2000XL synced up with Pro Tools, i used to record each individual part with a count off click before tracking each part of the beat, then I would just line up the clicks in pro tools, and your golden. I'm assuming that the SP1200 has a pre-roll count off metronome kinda thing. Hope that helps....
  • kentsnowkentsnow 18 Posts
    Yup, I did it under cubase and had to enable something called a midi clock or similar if I remember correctly. I did not have sync problems though. You should try the SP list on yahoogroups.
  • TheGoochTheGooch 541 Posts
    try this sp 1200 forum. Dedicated to everything SP.
    SP 1200 FORUM
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    Jebus bless this place.

    Thanks a bunch for all the input, folks. I'm gonna start trying these solutions out in a little bit--hopefully I can get one of 'em to work, though if worse comes to worse, I can just use Unheard's click trick.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,473 Posts
    yeah, it sounds like you need to tell PT to spit out midi beat clock, which you can do from the MIDI pull down menu.

    This is exactly what did it. Man, that shit was bugging me! Muchas gracias, all!

    (What's funny is that this beat may end up sounding better as a mono track coming straight out of the SP's master out than it will panned-and-EQed stereo track coming out of Pro Tools...but at least I know how to MIDI my parts into PT now, and knowing is half the battle!)
  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    How does one sinc an MPC2000 up with Pro Tools?
  • pjl2000xlpjl2000xl 1,795 Posts
    MPC2000XL

    1. You only need 1 cable to make this sync trick work. Start by plugging a MIDI cable from the MIDI OUT port of your DIGI001.
    2. Plug the other end into the MIDI IN port of your MPC. Either 1 or 2 is fine.
    3. Hit Shift+9 on your MPC, bringing up the MIDI/Sync page.
    4. On the left side is Sync In, set the (In:1) to correspond to the port you plugged in from step 2.
    5. Next, Mode should be set to MIDI Clock.
    6. Shift Early can be left at 0.

    Your MPC is now ready to receive MIDI sync commands from Pro Tools. Hit the MAIN SCREEN button to return to the main MPC window. If you don't, you won't hear your sequences when triggered. I don't know why, but if you leave it on the MIDI/Sync page, it screws things up.

    Pro Tools LE

    1. Click Setups>Peripherals menu, then click the Synchronization tab
    2. Set Device drop down to Generic MMC Reader
    3. Set Port to DIGIDESIGN DIGI001
    4. Minimum Sync Delay is set at 30, but this is irrelevant
    5. UNCHECK the "Enable Control of Pro Tools LE via MMC" checkbox (if it was checked)
    6. Click the Machine Control tab
    7. UNCHECK the ENABLE box (if it was checked)
    8. The other two tabs are not necessary in our example
    9. Click OK to exit the Peripherals dialog box.
    10. Using the Pro Tools transport window, click the Clock icon, (or use the menu Operations>Online, or hit CTRL J)
    11. The Clock icon now flashes.
    12. Click the MIDI menu, then click Change Tempo.
    13. Match Pro Tools tempo with your MPC sequence tempo. If your sequence is all MIDI notes or is a loop that can
    be tempo adjusted without gap or spacing problems, you can change the tempo right in Pro Tools, and it will change it on the MPC all in real-time. This is very slick!

    When you hit play (or rec+play) in Pro Tools, your MPC tempo should display (EXT) where the Tempo once was, but only during play. Also, you can use Pro Tools transport to FF or REW and it will move the time code display in the MPC.
  • WolfmeisterBWolfmeisterB 13 Posts
    You might want to do a little research on SMPTE. It's the oldest sync-protocol in the book, but both my SP and protools love it...
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