Please help me transfer my MIDI drum tracks from PC to MAC

[doc7string]

Hey guys I searched and couldn't find my answer. I just upped to DP 8 and bought a new imac 27", 3.4 Ghz, 1 TB fusion drive, 2 TB TIme Capsule, 32 GB Ram (hooray). Given that DP now runs on PC and mac and the fact that my MIDI drum tracks take me a long time to program, I would like to do the drum tracks on my lap top (PC) then trasfer the MIDI files to my mac and go from there (I get tired of living in the basement studio when Im programming drums, and this would free me from that constraint). Im either too much of a noob, or too stupid, but I cant figure out how to do it. Is there a simple answer? If this has been answered elsewhere please redirect me, and I apologize for not having found it. Thanks, Paul

[buzzsmith]

Hey guys I searched and couldn't find my answer. I just upped to DP 8 and bought a new imac 27", 3.4 Ghz, 1 TB fusion drive, 2 TB TIme Capsule, 32 GB Ram (hooray). Given that DP now runs on PC and mac and the fact that my MIDI drum tracks take me a long time to program, I would like to do the drum tracks on my lap top (PC) then trasfer the MIDI files to my mac and go from there (I get tired of living in the basement studio when Im programming drums, and this would free me from that constraint). Im either too much of a noob, or too stupid, but I cant figure out how to do it. Is there a simple answer? If this has been answered elsewhere please redirect me, and I apologize for not having found it. Thanks, Paul

It's been a really LONG day in the studio, so I may not be as sharp as others right now, but I'm thinking that you could save your drum tracks as MIDI files on the PC (you may have already), pop 'em on a thumb drive and when on the new Mac (congrats) drag them into a new DP sequence MIDI track and set to the correct tempo.

To me it sounds as simple as dragging a Stylus MIDI groove or a BFD groove to an appropriately assigned MIDI track.

There are probably other ways, but this comes to my foggy mind right now.

Hope it helps or gives you a starting point, at least!

Buzzy

[cuttime]

I think you'd find MIDI networking to be your ultimate solution. A bit of a challenge to set up at first, but very liberating in the long run. I really can't explain the whole setup here, but these articles might get you started:

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/mar07/a ... p_0307.htm

http://www.tobias-erichsen.de/software/rtpmidi.html

I might add that this can be done via WiFi over an Adhoc (computer to computer, bypassing a router) network with very little latency.

[Gravity Jim]

I don't understand why this is a problem. Can't you just save the drum part as a .mid file, put it on a CD and then put that CD in the Mac and load the fle in DP?

Or, since I think the iMac doesnt have a DVD drive, put it on an SCXD card. Or just e-mail the .mid file to yourself!

I haven't found basic file transfer (.doc or .docx files from Word, for example) between Windows and Macs to be a problem anymore.

[philbrown]

Or just e-mail the .mid file to yourself!

If there are any problems with this, try zipping the file, then emailing. Actually I don't think it's needed, but I've had other files that would get corrupted during transfer unless they were zipped first.

[williemyers]

not at all an answer to doc7string's dilemma, but it raises an interesting question/possibility; wonder if a DP8PC session file can be opened on DP8Mac? and/or v.v.?

[doc7string]

Thanks all for the great ideas. I will try them and get back to you on the results. Regarding cd rom I do have an external superdrive that I picked up with the new iMac so maybe that will be the answer. Will let you know. Thanks again, you guys always get me where I need to go 8')

[doc7string]

Just an update. Exported the file emailed to myself as an attachment and dragged into my drum track. Worked like a charm. Thanks for the great ideas.

[wvandyck]

Thanks all for the great ideas. I will try them and get back to you on the results. Regarding cd rom I do have an external superdrive that I picked up with the new iMac so maybe that will be the answer. Will let you know. Thanks again, you guys always get me where I need to go 8')

Good to hear that the email transfer worked for you.

But on the note of a hardware-mediated transfer, just use a USB thumb drive (or ext USB hd). No need to mess around with burning a CD.

Having said that, DVD's are still useful as another means of archiving media.

[Shooshie]

Thanks all for the great ideas. I will try them and get back to you on the results. Regarding cd rom I do have an external superdrive that I picked up with the new iMac so maybe that will be the answer. Will let you know. Thanks again, you guys always get me where I need to go 8')

Good to hear that the email transfer worked for you.

But on the note of a hardware-mediated transfer, just use a USB thumb drive (or ext USB hd). No need to mess around with burning a CD.

Having said that, DVD's are still useful as another means of archiving media.

Those little USB thumb drives are getting pretty useful. I bought everyone in my family a 32GB USB "drive" barely bigger than the USB plug itself. It has a clip that will hold it onto a keychain. I know that's nothing new, but I remember when a 1GB hard drive cost nearly $1000, and was about the size and weight of a college dictionary, with a fan that sounded like a jet about to take off. I've had a lot of these little PNY USB pocket drives, but 32 GB? I still find that amazing. Very handy little doodads.

Shooshie

[wvandyck]

Those little USB thumb drives are getting pretty useful. I bought everyone in my family a 32GB USB "drive" barely bigger than the USB plug itself. It has a clip that will hold it onto a keychain. I know that's nothing new, but I remember when a 1GB hard drive cost nearly $1000, and was about the size and weight of a college dictionary, with a fan that sounded like a jet about to take off. I've had a lot of these little PNY USB pocket drives, but 32 GB? I still find that amazing. Very handy little doodads.

Shooshie

Handy indeed.

Although the thought of not having an optical drive inside the Mac was unsettling, the external alternatives work well enough for reading and burning when needed.

While the parade of technological innovation continues to amaze...I still keep machines of yore close at hand: Tascam 102 & 424 mkll, a dual boot G4, etc. I've learned that while the latest gear makes for a smooth ride, situations arise when it's important to access ancient media.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

not at all an answer to doc7string's dilemma, but it raises an interesting question/possibility; wonder if a DP8PC session file can be opened on DP8Mac? and/or v.v.?

I see your question has gone unanswered...

With support for VST plug-ins and Rewire on both Mac and Windows, you can easily move DP projects from one platform to the other seamlessly, with no additional steps required. Just open the project and go.

From here:

http://www.motu.com/products/software/d ... 8-features