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Syncing Midi Clocks on Multiple Computers

Today I’d like to talk about syncing the Midi Clocks in Live so that you can play with a live band and have everyone on the same page. You must have a network between the computers, and an Ethernet network is recommended but not required.

There are two main ways of doing this on a Mac, but I will be illustrating the easiest and most efficient. If you have any other (better) ways of doing this on a Mac OR a PC, @reply AbletonTweets, and we might be interested in having you write the PC guide. We will credit you, of course.

Let’s assume that you are running OS X 10.4 and have Live installed already. The simplest way to get going is by using a built in application called Audio Midi Setup.

1. Go to Spotlight and type in Audio Midi Setup
2. When it loads, click the MIDI Devices tab at the top.
3. Double click Network and a screen will popup
4. Click the + under My Sessions and check the box next to “enabled”.
5. Type in something memorable for “Bonjour Name”

You will notice the latency will start to measure as soon as you complete the process on the other computer(s).

6. On your other machine, complete steps 1-3 and continue.
7. Under Directory, click on the name of the first computer and connect to it

Now, in Live go into your preferences on both computers and select Midi Sync from the tabs on the left. You will see two new midi ports called Input: Network (Session 1) and Output Network (Session 1). You should turn on track, sync and remote for these ins and outs, depending on your individual configuration and whoever has the computer that will be the “master”. On the slave computer, Click the EXT in the top left corner of Live and continue on. If you do not see this button, something has gone wrong.

Lucky you, you have synced your Midi Clocks! Now, turn on your metronome on on both, hit play and hear the syncitude.



@reply us with feedback, especially if something went wrong for you!