Dumb Question...Sorry.

electropoet · Post by **electropoet** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:16 pm

I apologize up front if this offends someone...but I'm getting confused. Please straighten me out. Is there any relationship between the audio clock a system uses and MIDI clock? Everyone talks about a particular soundcards clock like it has a huge determinant on the sound...and I can believe that it does...lessen the jitter, increase the accuracy. So, in audio, I guess you want the highest quality clock in the system to be the master. But again, does this have anything to do with MIDI. This is why I ask. I'm setting up a Live gig using ableton live...and everyone says that using 'Live' as the MIDI masterclock just isn't reliable. I can think of an obvious relationship between something like 'Live' and an MPC2000 in which the Akai would be the master which is a more traditional example that might work...but (now to my main point/question)...can something like a MOTU Micro express MIDI interface serve as the master? My intutions say no because (a) it can't set the tempo, and (b) it's not like a synth or sequencer where you tell it whether its a slave or master. Finally, in regards to this line of questioning, can an audio interface/audio clocking system be used to sort out MIDI timing...i.e. a MOTU soundcard.

Thanks, I know there's a lot there, and the answer might simply be 'NO'...but I'd appreciate getting this squared in my head.

Musca · Post by **Musca** » Wed Aug 23, 2006 10:33 pm

The audio clock is what synchronizes playback, recording and tranfering in small words. It has nothing directly to do with tempo, MIDI, or that stuff. It is critical so that the system mantains audio synchronised and doesn't produce errors. In a system where more than one device plays/records audio, all the divices must be on sync with the same clock. One would be the master and the others, slaves.
MIDI Clock stands for a positioning protocol for MIDI songs. Nothing to do with audio clock AKA Word Clock.

YouTube · Post by **James Steele** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:38 am

Please ask any question you want. Many of use are happy to find questions we actually KNOW the answer to.

UnicorNation is not elitist. All are welcome from total beginners to working professionals and everyone in between.

Also remember that old saying "the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask."

electropoet · Post by **electropoet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 5:58 am

Thanks guys.

Alright...understand the audio clock and MIDI are seperate entities.

Now...can a MIDI interface be the MIDI clock master? Or does ot have to be a sequencer where you can set the tempo and designate rather its master or slave.

What about an audio interface that has MIDI...like the ultralight. Obviously it can be the audio clock master....can it MIDI the MIDI clock master too?

Thanks.

Musca · Post by **Musca** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 6:11 am

in a interfase that features MIDI and Audio all together, although they are they are mounted in the same chasis they work separetly. We alredy know that Audio is locked to a clock. MIDI also has a clock for transmiting and reciving data, only in this case, the conection between to MIDI systems does not transmit clock signal, it is an ASYNCHRONIC conection, where each device has its own clock runin at the same speed. This is becuase MIDI data is "unpredictable" (the system does not know when you are going to play).
In the case of MIDI chains, the interfase is not the clock master of anything because as already said, there is no clock transmision. What can be a MIDI clock master is a sequencer, that "tells" other sequencers or samplers when and where to go. But the interfase is not responsable for anything of that.

electropoet · Post by **electropoet** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:29 am

Okay...got it. Thats what I thought. Thanks for clearing that up.

monkey man · Post by **monkey man** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:54 am

James Steele wrote:Also remember that old saying "the only dumb question is the one you didn't ask."

Gotta love it.

giles117 · Post by **giles117** » Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:43 am

Yeah, we jump at the easy questions. Its the hard ones that get us to playing the egbert routine with our systems....

eixb · Post by **eixb** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:15 am

http://www.tweakheadz.com/sync_mmc_mtc_smpte.htm

that's a quick rundown on smpte, mmc and mtc. it's certainly not all encompassing but it's better than i can do in this little box

eixb · Post by **eixb** » Fri Aug 25, 2006 8:22 am

eixb wrote:smpte, mmc and mtc

just realized that probably means nothing to you!

smpte is used to sync a device (or multiple devices) to video playback.
mmc is a MIDI message format used to control things that use timecode and receive play/pause/ff/rew type messages.
mtc is MIDI timecode, and essentially what smpte is once it's in MIDI format.
MIDI clock is used to sync a MIDI device to others, but it's done by downbeat and tempo typically to sync an arpeggiator, lfo, gate, sampler, etc. in time with the rest of the performance, even after pausing and resuming somewhere else.

this should be a little more helpful than my acronym babble.