Ardour 8 as a MIDI slave

Getting Stuff Done How do I .... ?
#1

So far I’ve managed to setup the MPC 2000XL as MIDI master for Ardour in Arch Linux using both MIDI Clock and MTC with MMC support on both modes. While set to MIDI Clock I can start/stop the playback (with MMC turned on in the MPC I can even toggle play from start) and record MIDI events with the pads with the velocity and pitch being recognized. On the other hand while set to MTC with MMC turned on (framerate set to 25fps on both the MPC and in Ardour as it seems to be the most accurate) I can do all of the above, but can also move the timeline around using the transport (or locate) buttons on the MPC with the limitation of the number of bars set in the MPC sequence. The only thing I can’t figure out is how to sync the tempo in Ardour to the MPCs tempo and if it’s even possible to do that yet, so any input on that regard would be greatly appreciated. One sort of problem I’ve also noticed was when I move the timeline around using the MPC it only syncs to every other bar no matter what time increments it gets moved which is not really that big a problem for me, but it looks kinda weird. Would love to hear from someone who has some experience controlling Ardour with the MPC 2000XL (or any old MIDI sampler).

Here’s a screenshot of my connections in qjackctl (ignore librewolf browser connection):

QjackCtl
QjackCtl2050×1295 340 KB

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#2

I have a similar question, about using MIDI messages to trigger tempo-changes in Ardour.

I use Renoise as a sequencer, with occasional tempo-changes. It’d be nice to be able to have Renoise tell Ardour to set the tempo to a new value at those same moments.

MIDI (beat) clock seems related but, if I understand correctly, it’s more about keeping clocks in sync than communicating the tempo itself, and MTC is a whole other beast again.

#3

  1. MTC has nothing to do with musical tempo. It describes video timecode, nothing more

  2. MIDI Clock conveys tempo information indirectly - there are 24 messages per quarter note. It cannot convey meter.

  3. Ardour can slave to MIDI clock if there is a single tempo marker in the project (which will basically be ignored).

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#4

Thanks for that confirmation, Paul.

I’ll make sure the MIDI clock is connected from Renoise to Ardour, and work from there.