MIDI SYNC: THE HARDWARE

One of the most common questions I get asked is how to set up two computers to sync to each other. There’s a very short answer I often give to this question, but we’ll get into that later. For now, I’m gonna take you through the steps for setting up sync. The first thing to […]

MIDI SYNC: THE SOFTWARE

Now that you’re all cabled up, open up the MIDI/Sync tab of Live’s Preferences window on the Master computer. In the list of MIDI Ports, locate the Output that the MIDI cable is connected to, and turn on the Sync switch. If you’re using the MIDI output port on a control surface or keyboard, you […]

MIDI SYNC: THE TROUBLESHOOTING

If things don’t work properly with sync, the first thing you want to check out are the sync indicators. If you look closely, you’ll notice that these have appeared on both the Master computer…. ….and the Slave: The bottom square is the Sync Out indicator. On the Master computer, this should start blinking as soon […]

MIDI SYNC: THE SYNC

Once you’ve got sync going, you may need to spend some time adjusting the quality of the synchronization. It’s not uncommon for there to be a bit of lag, causing the Slave computer to be a bit behind the Master. Due to some of the wacky things that can happen with delay compensation, it’s even […]

MIDI SYNC: THE LOWDOWN

A few tips back, I mentioned that I sometimes give a really short answer to people who ask me how to set up MIDI sync with Live. It is this: “Don’t” Let me explain. There are two situations where sync is handy: in the studio and on stage. In the studio, MIDI sync is very […]

WE DON’T NEED NO STINKING MIDI SYNC

So. If MIDI sync isn’t going to do the trick, how do we work without it? Well, first off – it all depends on the context. The short drama I’m going to present right now can be easily adapted to some contexts but not as well to others…I leave it to you to digest and […]

MIDI SYNC: WHAT’S THAT OTHER STUFF?

A little more about the advanced options that appear when you unfold the Output or Input ports in the MIDI/Sync tab of Live’s Preferences screen. By default, the MIDI Clock Type for Output sync is set to Song mode: First off, the name of this parameter tells you an important piece of information: Live only […]