Anyone use Sonar and MPC2000XL

Teacher · #1 07-13-2001

I'm trying to sync ir but don't know how....my boy has an mpc all the sequencing for beats are on there, he wants to record vocals ok but when i connect to my setup i don't know how to sync sonar and the mpc together so i have to record each track separately and EYE it to the measures, so it can be lined up bar for bar which is a real b*tch to do can someone help me?

TIA

kgbjamin · #2 07-13-2001

Hey Teacher,
Your son has a very good drum machine, anyway I've had moderate success syncing an mpc to sonar using the MPC as the master. To do this set the MPC up to send MTC in it's midi window. Of course you'll have to connect a Midi cable from the MPC's midi out A or B to your PC's midi interface. I think you'll also have to specify which midi port ("A" or "B") you want the MPC to send MTC from. In Sonar under the options tab (if I remember right, I'm @ work now) select global options then go to the midi tab. You should be able to select chase MTC, SMPTE or something close that here. I think I have sonar set to receive SMPTE. Close this window and go back to the Sonar transport push play or record and then hit play on the MPC.

I say I've had moderate success because I've experienced some latency and dropouts while recording with Sonar, but that's has little to do with MTC. I actually think Sonar synced up as the slave with the MPC pretty well. My directions may be a little vague so if you need some additional help post another question here and I'll respond when I get back to my studio.

Teacher · #3 07-13-2001

thanks next time he brings it i'ma try that.....i think the mpc is overrated i think my ASR-X is better wit sonar then it but that irrelevant

Teacher · #4 07-13-2001

how would i setup the track? put it as a midi track right? then record it to audio?

kgbjamin · #5 07-13-2001

If you need to record midi, then you can record the MTC bits from the MPC to a track via a PC midi interface or you can record the audio via your sound card's audio input to a track in Sonar. It mainly depends on what you'd like to record. You sould also be able to record both midi and audio to two seperate tracks simultaneously from the same device. For audio, insert an audio track and select (depending on your sound card), your sound cards audio input on the input tab in the track pane. For midi, insert a midi track in the track pane and select your midi interface input. If you just record midi you can utilize a Dxi synth to reproduce your sounds in sonar. Or you could have sonar send the recorded midi data to trigger an external sound module's sound (maybe your ASR-X) during playback. Depends on what your project requires. The tutorials for Sonar cover this pretty well.

As for the MPC vs ASR-x. I have both and the Akai MPC smokes the ASR for sequencing and controlling other devices. But the ASR-X does have a lot of decent sounds on it's eprom and you can mulipulate the hell out of a sample. They work pretty good together but I'd take the MPC (an industry standard) over an ASR-X any day of the week.