MIDI Help (MPC One as Master)

Hey all. I am looking for a way to send a click to my drummer's monitors for live shows. I figured since there is only the one stereo out, I'd have to slave a midi device.

I have been trying to sync my Alesis SR-16 Drum machine to the MPC One and I'm having no luck.
The menus on the SR-16 are very simple, so I don't think the problem lies there.
There is a Midi Channel setting which I set to OMNI.
There is a Clock In setting which I set to ON.

The MIDI / SYNC menu on the MPC offers lots of settings, so it's probable that I'm getting something wrong.

Any help at all would be very appreciated. Thanks!

My settings:
Input Ports- all unselected
Output Ports- MPC- Sync, Remote- Sync
Enable Midi Ports When Discovered- unchecked
Midi Control Mode Output- MPC

Sync Receive- Off
Receive MMC- unchecked

Sync Send-
Send- MTC (I tried Midi Clock as well)
Send MMC- unchecked
Frame Rate- 30 drop
Start- 0 0 0 0

Midi Input;
Filter all botes off CC- unchecked
Program Change- Off

Do I maybe need to have SR-16 Midi Out to MPC Midi In connected as well for it to identify the device?

Got a little deeper in. Seems like I (might?) need a Midi Program in my sequence. I made one and set it to the SR-16 Midi Port (I renamed "Remote" to "SR-16" on the Midi/Sync Preferences page. Still doesn't work, but maybe I'm closer?

glomag01 wrote:Hey all. I am looking for a way to send a click to my drummer's monitors for live shows. I figured since there is only the one stereo out, I'd have to slave a midi device.

You should try out CLOCKstep:MULTI. It's a master clock with a feature specifically made for sending out an audio click. Very easy to setup the sound/feel of the click sequence. It can actually work as either the master clock source in your system or it can follow a clock signal, so there's some flexibility there in how you want to integrate it.

jmkmusicpedals wrote:

glomag01 wrote:Hey all. I am looking for a way to send a click to my drummer's monitors for live shows. I figured since there is only the one stereo out, I'd have to slave a midi device.

You should try out CLOCKstep:MULTI. It's a master clock with a feature specifically made for sending out an audio click. Very easy to setup the sound/feel of the click sequence. It can actually work as either the master clock source in your system or it can follow a clock signal, so there's some flexibility there in how you want to integrate it.

Thanks, but I am looking for a solution for the gear I already have. The Alesis can certainly do what I want it to do, I just can't get the MPC settings right.

There are two different ways to approach this. Do you want to program The Click pattern on the sr16, or do you want to program it on the mpc? The settings you will need for these two approaches are quite different. If you want the pattern to play on the sr16, you need to turn on midi clock on the sr16, as you have done, and then enable midi sync on the MPC midi out. Do not use the remote port! That is for some sort of network midi, I have never used it, and you won't be using it in this situation. With this approach, you don't need to worry about your midi channels at all.

Or, you could program The Click on the mpc, and not use any patterns on the sr16. In that case, you don't need to worry about synchronization at all, but you do need to use the correct midi channel, correct midi note, and you'll have to program it separately for each song. If you don't need a different click pattern on each song, the first approach is probably the better.

Oh, and one other thing, you definitely do not need to connect the SR16 midi out back to the mpc. There is no bi-directional communication involved in this, and it could form a meeting Loop which can be nasty. Best not to go there in your situation.

Please forgive the random capitalization, I'm using voice recognition and I don't feel like going back to edit this.

Oh, another thing I realized after I reread your message. You want to use midi clock, not MTC.

jamos wrote:Or, you could program The Click on the mpc, and not use any patterns on the sr16. In that case, you don't need to worry about synchronization at all, but you do need to use the correct midi channel, correct committee note, and you'll have to program it separately for each song. If you don't need a different click pattern on each song, the first approach is probably the better.

Ah, hadn't even thought of this. Thanks.
Still not able to get it to work though. I turned off sync settings in Midi/Snyc Prefs.
In output ports, I set MPC to "track" and set Remote to nothing.
Midi Control Output is MPC
Sync Send is Off.

But in the Midi track I created, I am not sure what settings I need. Currently I have:

Prgrm Ch: Off
Bank MSB: Off
Bank LSB: 0
Midi Port: MPC

Hitting pads on all banks and I get no sound from the Alesis.
When I play the pads of the Alesis I can hear the drum sounds.
I turned off the Midi Clock In on the Alesis and disconnected the Midi out that was going back to MPC Midi In.
Thoughts?
Thanks.

Sorry, I didn't mention that I am trying your second option- programming a click on the MPC to just control notes on the Alesis. I just also set the notes on the MPC to correspond to the correct midi note numbers on the Alesis. Still nothing.

Make sure you are using a MIDI program in the MPC, not a Drum program. Drum programs only trigger internal sounds, they do not send MIDI.

And you need to set the monitor setting, in the Track view, to Auto. I think. Maybe Merge. That setting always confuses me. And finally, make sure the track is not muted.

The MIDI monitor (I/O on the Menu screen) can show you what is being sent out -

Thanks so much for your notes. I am doing all of that. Midi Monitor says it is sending note on note off. See below for settings etc.
So maybe it is the SR-16 that has a problem...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mZCxMj ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mbQLs9 ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mb86mc ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mZap6n ... sp=sharing

Going to connect the Alesis SR-16 to another midi system to make sure it's working properly.

Thanks. It was the first thing I tried.
I checked the SR-16 on my friend's set up and his DAW controls it without any problem at all. So the SR-16 is set correctly and is working.

If someone can look at the images above of my Track settings and Midi/Sync settings and check them against yours, I'd really appreciate it. This is extremely frustrating.
Thanks all.

Lampdog wrote:Try different pads between c2-c8.

The first picture in your group tells us everything we need to know about the mpc. It is working and transmitting the proper data. C1 is very low, probably out of range for the sr16, but otherwise it is working. I suggest you take your sr16, connect its midi out to the mpc's midi in, and then monitor what the sr-16 is sending. That way you'll know what drum note you need to use on the mpc.

There is a setting in the Sr16 that disables MIDI input. Page two of the midi setup button, that's on page 43 of the manual.