Minitaur / Pro Tools - MIDI Beat Clock?

[BezO]

Anyone have the Minitaur synced with Pro Tools? Care to give step-by-step instructions?

I have MIDI Beat Clock checked for the Minitaur in the Audio window of MIDI Set Up. And I have both Enable MIDI Beat Clock and the Minitaur selected in the MIDI Beat Clock window. What am I missing?

I can't get the LFO to sync. Actually, everything is playing back a jumbled mess until I deselect the Minitaur in the Beat Clock window. Sounds like a room full of 8-year old aspiring musicians jamming together.

[BezO]

I made some progress, I think.

Syncing the LFO should produce VCO & VCF mods in time with the tempo of a song, correct?

I have MIDI Beat Clock checked for the Minitaur in the Audio window of MIDI Set Up (Pro Tools), and MIDI Sync selected in the Editor. With just this, changing the clock division changes the LFO rate, but it's not in time with the tempo.

My understanding is that I also have to select the Minitaur in the Beat Clock Window (Pro Tools). This is what I do with other MIDI instruments, and it works fine. But doing this for the Minitaur seems to create mayhem... those 8 year olds jamming.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Stuka]

I see you're using a MOTU MIDI Express XT - same here!

If you're using the MIDI DIN connection on your Minitaur, you might be running in to some MIDI clock feedback "doubling" through your MOTU interface that could be contributing to the problem. By default, the MOTU relays MIDI clock to every connection, which could create a timing feedback loop...

Use MOTU Clockworks software to MUTE all the the REALTIME cable outputs, then UNMUTE only the one that is connected to your Minitaur.
Might help.

Randy

[BezO]

Thanks! This is kicking my ass!

Yeah, I'm using the MOTU Express XT. I was wondering if it was causing a problem as none of the instructions/tutorials I used mention a MIDI interface.

I am using the MIDI in, but I'm also using the USB for the editor. Now that you mention feedback & doubling, I can see this being a problem. I thought I tried disconnecting USB, but I'll try again just in case. Not sure what to do about the editor if this is the problem.

And I also have a drum machine and another synth synced. Basically, 3 out of 5 of my MIDI instruments are synced via Beat Clock. I assume I can't mute those outputs. Would muting just the unused channels help?

[Stuka]

I can't duplicate your setup, but for me the key was muting anything that could wind up sending the MIDI clock (REALTIME) signal back to the clock source.

You migh start by MUTING every cable port under REALTIME, then just UNMUTE one port at a time to figure out which ones you really need, and which ones could be causing feedback / clock doubling. Remember that you have cable INPUT and OUTPUT ports to contend with.

Keep in mind that if you're using the MOTU USB connection, you'll have I/O ports for all the MOTU cable connections AND a special MOTU "sync" port that shows up under your DAW (working from memory right now since I'm at work, so can't remember the exact name for the port).

I believe the "sync" port needs to be enabled to transfer MIDI clock from your DAW, while the cable connection port(s) need to be enabled to transfer the controller (note, mod wheel, etc.) commands to your synth.

Recommend that once you find a MOTU configuration that works for you, save it as a user preset, then back up the entire configuration file (using Clockworks) to wherever you back up your documents, projects, etc. ~

it would really suck to spend a lot of time tweaking a MOTU routing, then have it dump & have to recreate from scratch!!!

Randy

PS -

I haven't tinkered with this yet with my Minitaur, so I don't know if it is a factor or not~

The Little and Slim Phatty seem to have some "issues" dealing with clock sources other than MIDI clock.
MTC (MIDI tIme code) is definitely a culprit per Amos, but my experience with my Akai MPK seems to indicate that MMC (MIDI machine control) can be problematic, as well. Once I changed to using only MIDI clock on my MPK, and doing another factory reset on my SP, a LOT of seemingly unrelated issues seemed to go away.

In addition to the MOTU routing issues, it might be worth changing your DAW so it sends only MIDI clock as the sync source, and see if that has any impact on the LFO sync issues. I plan to experiment with that myself when I get some free "tinker time"...

[BezO]

Thanks again!

I didn't get any music time last night but I will try your suggestions ASAP.

When I got the MOTU, I didn't configure anything. I made the connections and ran with it. Coming from a Midiman that was not compatible with my new CPU, researching and finally finding something that worked, I never thought about the MIDI interface's configuration. I was so happy to be up and running, I up and ran.

[Stuka]

No problem - hope I could be of some help!

The MOTU interface is pretty cool & actually quite powerful, but as I found out it does take a bit of "studying" to get the most out of it.
You'll probably want to take a good look at the users manual (download from the MOTU web site if you don't have a copy), and pay special attention to the section that talks about the factory presets ~ there's a lot of filtering and routing going on behind the scenes with those presets that definitely is not obvious from just looking at the panel LEDS!!

Good luck with it!

Randy