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Studio Help: Timing issue syncing MPC with Pro Tools

DjWilldernessDjWillderness 66 Posts
edited June 2011 in Strut Central
Has anyone on here figured out how to get their MPC sequences hitting right on time when synced to Pro Tools?

I line up acapellas in Pro Tools so they are right on the grid, totally on time with the click. I need my MPC pattens to fit in right on the grid, so that the rapping tightly follows the beat.

I have Pro Tools as the master and the MPC as the slave, midi running out from my digi 002 to Pro Tools. The MPC starts playing when I hit play on Pro Tools, but when I zoom in on the recorded audio I can see that what I recorded from the MPC is slightly off the grid.

Again, has anyone figured out how to get the timing between the MPC and Pro Tools really tight?

  Comments

  • tecatetecate 73 Posts
    Are you positive the BPM you have set in your Pro Tools project is the same what's coming out of the MPC?
  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    When I was making lots of beats and tracking them all out in pro tools, I definitely noticed this. Ended up turning off midi sync altogether, and just turning on the mpc's count in as i tracked it out. then id just line up the click at the beginning of each track..
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    I do this on a daily basis and while it does drift a but it usually isn't too bad. Here's my method:

    MTC
    Frame rate 30fps (in both session and mpc)

    Manually set bpm to match mpc in PT
  • AndreBretonAndreBreton 344 Posts
    I use midi beat clock. People say it changes the timing of the MPC but don't hear it. It's great. I press play in PT and the MPC plays in the PT grid. That way i can record midi in PT and it's all nicely synched before recording.

    I'm on a MPC3000 & MTC code always acted shady. Like I'd have to have a bank bar for the time to synch up, or it would just freak out.
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    That's funny because beat clock, from a tech standpoint is far less accurate iirc.
  • AndreBretonAndreBreton 344 Posts
    4YearGraduate said:
    That's funny because beat clock, from a tech standpoint is far less accurate iirc.

    Yeah, I know, but it's all i could get that sounds consistent. there;s a minimal lag but i adjust for it after recording.

    It just seems like in midi beat clocks, all pro tools does is triger the play button and slave the mpc tempo. It's not sequencing.

    Are you on a 3000 by chance? If you are having good results on a 3000 I may take another shot.
  • MurdockMurdock 542 Posts
    Unherd said:
    When I was making lots of beats and tracking them all out in pro tools, I definitely noticed this. Ended up turning off midi sync altogether, and just turning on the mpc's count in as i tracked it out. then id just line up the click at the beginning of each track..


    Nice
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    3000 since 94. In fact I would venture to say I know it better than almost anyone on the west coast. I worked with Bruce to get the original double card reader going in it (which was a bitch). That said, I am very very sensitive to the swing of the machine and what effects it and I had found MTC to be least intrusive to the very delicate balance ofthe feel my sequences. In a perfect world, I think SMPTE leaves the smallest "feel" footprint but it just is too many steps with PTLE or HD without a sync box.

    That said, at least we're not on an ASR, lol.
  • 4YearGraduate4YearGraduate 2,945 Posts
    3000 since 94. In fact I would venture to say I know it better than almost anyone on the west coast. I worked with Bruce to get the original double card reader going in it (which was a bitch). That said, I am very very sensitive to the swing of the machine and what effects it and I had found MTC to be least intrusive to the very delicate balance ofthe feel my sequences. In a perfect world, I think SMPTE leaves the smallest "feel" footprint but it just is too many steps with PTLE or HD without a sync box.

    That said, at least we're not on an ASR, lol.
  • AndreBretonAndreBreton 344 Posts
    4YearGraduate said:
    3000 since 94. In fact I would venture to say I know it better than almost anyone on the west coast. I worked with Bruce to get the original double card reader going in it (which was a bitch). That said, I am very very sensitive to the swing of the machine and what effects it and I had found MTC to be least intrusive to the very delicate balance ofthe feel my sequences. In a perfect world, I think SMPTE leaves the smallest "feel" footprint but it just is too many steps with PTLE or HD without a sync box.

    That said, at least we're not on an ASR, lol.

    That's encouraging. I'm going to take another shot at it.
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