2000XL and Logic Pro syncronisation tips?

Hi folks,

I'm trying to help this kid I know to sync his 2000XL and Logic Pro - he's dyslexic and i've never used an MPC before so we're struggling but he'll be made up if i can get it working for him.

He wants to use the MPC as the master clock which makes sense so he can keep its tight timing and feel but he wants to use logic to edit in after capturing MIDI and audio from the MPC and his Roland Fantom.

His ideal workflow is to knock in a beat from the mpc which will be captured to grid in Logic, then to overdub key parts from his Fantom and finally edit the whole lot up and mix it in Logic -sounds sensible to me.

I thought i'd be easy enough but i'm a cubase user and Logic is alien to me.

Can anyone give me some straight forward instructions how to slave Logic to the MPC?

cheers, Dan

not sure exactly what you are trying to do.. but I suggest you enable the midi input in the logic options.. I think I heard somewhere around these forums that logic can not be anything but the master? Dont quote me on that because I dont use that program either...

anyhow, in the midi menu on the XL, you should see your options for the output you have the cable attached to (A) and the channel.. might as well pick 1. Also you should see the MMC controls on the right side of that screen.. turn that on, that should allow you to use the transport keys as well.. at least it does in some other programs.

hope that helps a bit, oh by the way.... somewhere on the akaipro website I believe they have a guide for synchronizing the mpc to logic, they also have some for different DAWs, and for various mpc models... however the process is usually the same

oh thanks mate, he basically wants to use his mpc as a remote for the DAW as well as a midi drum pad and the master clock so once he's tapped his beats then overdubbed his keys he has all his midi and audio tracks captured and aligned to grid in logic.

I've suggested using Cubase as I know my way round that and think i might have more luck but he seems keen on logic for some reason - it looks like a right dogs dinner to me but i suppose its what you're used to!

Guesswerk wrote:Can anyone give me some straight forward instructions how to slave Logic to the MPC?

Just about to update my MPC Logic book to include Logic slave/MPC master. Ultimately, it's not difficult. In Logic:

Project Settings > Synchronisation > Sync Mode: MTC

IN your MPC:

Sync out: MTC

Make sure frame rates and tempos match.

That's basically it - there's other settings that may need to be tweaked, especially if he's already changed them from the default. But that's it in a nutshell.

Hiya,

Sounds too easy to be true! I think everyone on his street has had a bash at it by the sounds of things so settings could be way off on either logic or mpc or both.

Could just be because i've used nothing but Cubase for 15 years but logic seems like a proper rats nest to me, anything but logical!

cheers, dan

well good luck, oh... and please come back and post if what ever you tried worked or not.. that will help new guys on here because that style of question comes up quite regularly.