sync ableton to turntables with redsound?

4am · Post by **4am** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:08 pm

hi,
i'm planning to make some tests with a dj and want therefore to sync ableton live to the turntables. i can imagine that i'm not the only one who tries that.
i've seen two gears made by redsound

http://www.redsound.com/products/msync/index.htm

http://www.redsound.com/products/mbpm/index.htm

did anyone already try one of them? do you know any other options?
are they reliable?

any info is welcome

thx

a.m.

tokyojoe69 · Post by **tokyojoe69** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:08 pm

Thankyou to AdamJay for this post:

sync turntables to Ableton.

i dont really sync it, i match the beats. But if you are familiar with a Technics 1200 then you will find this to be one of the best methods.

these are step by step instructions, so follow closely if this is the route you want to take....

get yourself a midi controller with at least 1 slider. i personally use the UC33, it has 9 sliders, but you can use any controller so long as it has a slider. Doepfer Pocket Dial is a good one. the UC33 is only $189 though and has USB so it may be one of the cheapest options.

okay... now go into arranger view in Ableton Live. go into the main channel and go into Song Tempo. here you can set a minimum/maximum bpm value to control with a midi controller. lets say you are mixing records at around 130bpm or so. set the minimum to 137 and the max to 143.

now, download MidiYoke and MidiOX from midiox.com
MidiYoke is a driver for Virtual Midi inputs/outputs and MidiOX is a translator utility. Install them both.

In live, assign your midi controller as MidiYoke Ch.1
in MidiOX assign your midi devices as UC-33 or equivalent midi controller as the input, and MidiYoke Ch.1 as the output.. this will patch your controller into Live.
Now, while you are still in MidiOX, click on the Midi Data Mapping Transforms button (looks like a red note and a blue note with an arrow between them). Click insert. Change "when input channel matches:" event type to "CTRL", Assign Min CTRL # and Max CTRL # to the CTRL# of the slider you are using to control tempo. on the UC33 the default is CC#28 for the master slider. set Min amount to 0 and Max amount to 127
now, below it where it says "set output to" repeat all of the above numbers except the Min/Max amount. invert those. Min = 127, Max = 0.
Hit ok, Hit ok again. Minimize MidiOX but do not close it.

You just inverted one of your midi sliders, so now it operates like a Technics 1200 pitch control. bringing the slider toward you will increase BPM, pushing it away will decrease BPM.

Now, in Ableton click Midi (if the preferences window pops up, select Midi Yoke 1 as your midi remote control input), click on the BPM box in the top left of the Ableton window. then move the slider to assign it.

Now, when you slide the slider down it should go to 143bpm, when you slide it up it should go to 137bpm.

your computer will now act as a third turntable and you will rock many crowds and get many requests for autographs have fun with it.

Cheers Emil

djastroboy · Post by **djastroboy** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:24 pm

I love Redsound gear. I've been using the Infader mixer for years and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
I use the Federation Pro FX box for a while, about a year I guess.
I sold it cuz' I'm quitting the record players and the Federation was too
noisy for studio work. I probably could have gated out the noise. I dunno.
It was very good for it's purpose: effects synced to audio.
It definately tracked the bpms and spit out midi clocks too.

Clearscreen · Post by **Clearscreen** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:31 am

the redsound stuff works pretty well. i had a voyager, but i got a microsync recently, and its a fair bit easier and seems to track a bit better too.
the microbpm WON'T sync anything though - it's just a beat counter. the microsync outputs a midi sync clock for live to track to.
apparently the korg stuff (like this http://www.korg.com/gear/product_info.a ... egory_id=2 or i think also the older veresions - i'd check it right out before i bought one) will do it also, but i'm not sure if the resolutions high enough for accurate syncing. i tried out a pioneer efx500 at one point and it only output to a resolution of 0.1 bpm, which is fine for effects, but not really good enough to try and sync samples with. the redsound stuff goes to 0.01 apparently (i asked before i bought one). hope this helps you out

Tarekith · Post by **Tarekith** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:18 am

I use a micro sync as well, works fine 95% of the time. It's not something you just set and foget about it though, you do need to occasionally nudge a track faster or slower with it, just FYI. Join our group dedicated to DJing with Live, see my signature!

4am · Post by **4am** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 6:55 pm

the micro sync is not available in switzerland, it seems the production was discontinued two years ago... and it is sold out everywhere

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 7:29 pm

I've written a VST to help aid in this task as well. It's still in beta, though, so don't go selling all your redsound gear just yet.

Download BeatCounter-0.4 (370K, OSX & Win32)

Pretty simple plugin to use; just toss it on an empty track in live and set the input on the track to be a feed from your mixer. I'm working on adding a lowpass filter to this plugin, but until then, you'll get better results with it by prepending an eq4 to filter out everything > ~70Hz. Also, take a look at the non-gui parameters (I'm not much of a graphics designer, sorry ;] ) and "tune" them until the green light blinks on the beat.

Also, if you find any bugs or other weirdness, please pm me or email me so I can fix it and make it more accurate.

Deft · Post by **Deft** » Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:39 pm

I'd definitely pay for a decent software solution that could generate MIDI clock and nudge etc. from an audio input. Would be great.

Clearscreen · Post by **Clearscreen** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:18 am

I really hope you can get this to work Sqook!
i'd pay for a working solution too!

4am · Post by **4am** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:01 pm

i'll try it and let you know the results
thx

sqook · Post by **sqook** » Wed Apr 20, 2005 2:45 pm

Clearscreen wrote:I really hope you can get this to work Sqook!
i'd pay for a working solution too!

Well, I usually release my software either free of charge or under the GPL... of course, if you want to pay me, I certainly won't let my arm be bent..

sync ableton to turntables with redsound?

sync ableton to turntables with redsound?

.....