Best current way to track out projects to DAW? (Ableton)

Hi,

Trying to figure out how to track out various projects that have been sitting fo a while in the MPC, to finish them out in the DAW. I've seen quite a few tutorials ranging from 5 years ago up to a few months, but here are my remaining questions:
- Using controller mode and opening a project, how do you make Ableton set automatically to the project's BPM? I end up having to setup that BPM manually which is pretty dumb.
- Tried Ableton Link (pretty nice to sync stuff), but doesn't seem to allow tracking out like controller mode does, does it?
- So in today's standards and with the latest updates, what is the simplest/most effective way to do this? I could keep going by trial and error for a while but I'm sure some of you have this thing figured out perfectly, so I'd rather ask!

Gonna have to track out a good amount of projects so best if I do it the right way from the beginning.
Thanks for any help.

MIDI clock from the DAW to the MPC via DIN MIDI, arm however many tracks in the DAW, hit record and go.
All gear is still connected and played by the MPC, but the MPC sequencer is clocked to Cubase and locks to that.

Only time my MPC ever sees 'controller mode' is if I need to backup the hard drive or sync up my sample library with the 'master' one on my Mac.

Monotremata wrote:MIDI clock from the DAW to the MPC via DIN MIDI, arm however many tracks in the DAW, hit record and go.
All gear is still connected and played by the MPC, but the MPC sequencer is clocked to Cubase and locks to that.

Only time my MPC ever sees 'controller mode' is if I need to backup the hard drive or sync up my sample library with the 'master' one on my Mac.

Ok, thanks. Seems fine for all external gear connected to the audio interface, but what about everything recorded inside the MPC? The multitracking through USB looks like the way to go, no? The MPC X 8 outs (4 stereo) won't be enough for me, plus all my audio interface inputs are already taken by everything else around.

https://odysee.com/@MikeNizo808:9/SyncYourMPC:4

Found this video explaining several things about controller mode and this blue USB cable:
- Can only do stereo pairs, no mono
- No midi time code or clock information can pass through

Now the cherry on top, if MIDI din is used to sync and audio outs to track out instead, output 1 to 4 are lower quality with higher harmonic distortion than output 5 to 8 on the X

I can't believe how ret*rded this is.
Unreal.

Lampdog wrote:Bounced stems.

Yes it seems like the most solid option.
Ableton link to track out MIDI with external gear to audio interface, and bouncing stems + drag and copy/drop them form a card reader or something.
But what a mess…

After some consideration, the most practical way imo:
- Controller mode + plugin having all MPC internal outputs routed to a group of dedicated tracks in the DAW.
- Using mono utility tool to mono tracks that should stay in mono.
- Manually setting the BPM in the DAW
- External gear running via MPC and getting audio in the DAW via audio interface
- Setup song mode (or track mutes if only 1 sequence)
- Track everything live in 1 single pass.

Having to manually mono tracks if needed and set the BPM in the DAW seem like the least annoying solution for now.
Thanks for the replies.

i have my mpc and other gear connected to a mixer with 8 outs, i route everything to those 8 outs creating 8 mono stems (submixes). i sync ableton to the mpc via ableton link so i don't have to worry about tempo.the mpc sends midi to other gear (sp404 via usb, modular gear via din to a midi\cv interface... depending on the project i will use up to all the 6 outs of the mpc live. sometimes i set up the 8 stems as stereo couples, sometimes all mono, sometimes a mix like 1,2,3,4 mono, 5&6, 7&8 stereo. i have outboard effects on the 4 aux sends of the mixer and i also record the returns from effects so i can perform on them while tracking. having a good mixer is key for my workflow both for tracking\recording and for routing audio to\from computer, mpc, other samplers, effects etc... being able to quickly route , say, the main out of the mpc in the sp404 ins or the computer audio to the mpc for quick sampling of a movie dialogue or stuff like that is priceless for how i do stuff.

Use Ableton link for sync, forget midi clock. Ableton link has been a god send, so reliable.. The just solo tracks or pads and record them.

hyena wrote:i have my mpc and other gear connected to a mixer with 8 outs, i route everything to those 8 outs creating 8 mono stems (submixes). i sync ableton to the mpc via ableton link so i don't have to worry about tempo.the mpc sends midi to other gear (sp404 via usb, modular gear via din to a midi\cv interface... depending on the project i will use up to all the 6 outs of the mpc live. sometimes i set up the 8 stems as stereo couples, sometimes all mono, sometimes a mix like 1,2,3,4 mono, 5&6, 7&8 stereo. i have outboard effects on the 4 aux sends of the mixer and i also record the returns from effects so i can perform on them while tracking. having a good mixer is key for my workflow both for tracking\recording and for routing audio to\from computer, mpc, other samplers, effects etc... being able to quickly route , say, the main out of the mpc in the sp404 ins or the computer audio to the mpc for quick sampling of a movie dialogue or stuff like that is priceless for how i do stuff.

Seems like a pretty solid setup, only downside is the downgraded quality of some of the outputs, which is a pretty ridiculous choice AKAI made to save up a few bucks on components on said "pro hardware". But in my case I don't have free extra inputs, all 16 taken by synth, samplers and other stuff. So can't route those to the DAW without starting switching things around and I don't want that. The goal is to have everything setup and be able to record, compose and track out seamlessly.

colonyrecords wrote:Use Ableton link for sync, forget midi clock. Ableton link has been a god send, so reliable.. The just solo tracks or pads and record them.

Tried Ableton link and gotta say it is indeed very cool. But I don't have the free extra inputs in the audio interface to track them out. Actually I could Save/export the project as an ALS (Ablteton project) folder to get the audio and all the midi tracks, then track out all the other gear directly from Ableton. Got a MioXL to manage all the midi gear so routing is super smooth. Great piece of hardware to dodge midi headaches.

Midi in/out.
There must be few ms latency but there is a way to compensate inside of ableton.
Sincd I don’t use plugin instrument(inside mpc) a lot, I think it works best for me this way.
Mpc is doing most drum,perc, sometimes sample playback and other instruments are all done inside of ableton(vst, analog synth, piano, rhodes all done inside ableton.)

I use mpc at home just for sketch some ideas , and when i feel if it’s good one to be developed, I bring it with me to studio and work from sketch. This way is kind of few more steps than I’d want it to be(When I’m working with ableton, I mute most of mpc’s track but drum, perc, sample loop. )

Honestly I’m going to try push2 with ableton and if it’s faster than mpc live 2, I’m going to ditch mpc. But since I don’t have that much free time(dad of 2 kids lol), I feel I’m settled for now

daddy_Q wrote:I use mpc at home just for sketch some ideas , and when i feel if it’s good one to be developed, I bring it with me to studio and work from sketch.

Same here, MPC is perfect to start from scratch and get ideas laid out easily without getting lost in technicalities. But arrangement and mixing get quickly a pain in the ass so that's when the DAW has to come into play. Though some people do everything in the MPC and I respect that, but it's probably limited to some genres.