Support and discussion for all of Akai’s modern standalone MPCs including the MPC X / X SE, MPC Live 1, 2 & 3, MPC One / One+, MPC Key 37/61.
By rhbmcse Mon Apr 10, 2023 8:20 pm
As per the title. Got everything set up today and having a first play. I can trigger midi within the MPC from the MPK as it is recording my midi data into the various tracks. What I cannot get it to do is to sync the arp and note repeat on the MPK mini with the MPC live 2.

What I have done:
Set the MPK to EXT source by holding the ARP button and changing the source from INTERNAL to EXT.
When I set the clock source to INT the arpeggiator works just fine. As soon as I set it to EXT - no sound which suggests to me that it's not getting a clock source. Same is true of Note repeat (although I note this only seems to work on the pads and not on the keys, unless the note repeat is used on the MPC rather than the MPK)!!!

I have also set the SYNC settings within the MPC to both Time code and clock and tried various FPS settings, the MPK does not seem to want to listen for the time source from the MPC.

Can anybody point me in the right direction for getting these 2 devices to sync ? Not a problem I've had before!

Cheers.

Rob.
By jamos Tue Apr 11, 2023 12:09 pm
Do NOT use Time Code. This is not used for synchronizing sequencers, it is used for syncing to film. (That's an over-simplification, but essentially true. MTC was originally created because early Macs could not handle SMPTE.)

MIDI clock is tempo-based; MTC is a time-of-day clock.
By rhbmcse Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:10 pm
Thanks for that piece of advice - appreciated. However, the problem still remains. It doesn't matter what I set it to - they MPK will not play any notes once the time source has been set to EXT to sync with the MPC ! Annoying when I have an Access Virus TI2, Maschine, Komplete Kontrol S61, Minibrute, Casio CDP Piano all bolstered by Cubase, synced up nicely !
User avatar
By 83dude Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:11 pm
I‘ve successfully synced external arps to the MPC in a manner close to the one you described. The MPC needs to be playing for them to work, though. Couldn‘t say for MPK or similar…
By jamos Tue Apr 11, 2023 3:15 pm
Ditto to what 83dude said. After I sent my reply I tried it out (hadn't yet used the arpeggiator on the MPK) and yes, it does work, but the MPC needs to be playing, otherwise clock is not sent - a design failure on Akai's part. And also make sure that you are sending sync to the MPK, on the MIDI/Sync page.