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Old 02-27-2019, 10:08 AM   #1
chumbo
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Default MIDI Sync help. Reaper is a good Master, terrible Slave!

I've been struggling a lot to get Reaper to slave to any kind of MIDI sync (MTC, SPP).
And I know it's not an issue with my soundcard or MIDI cable because it works 'fine' in Ableton (just need to compensate for a few ms delay).

When Reaper is master, it's flawless and tight (and in fact, much better than Ableton)! But as slave, it just doesn't work at all....nothing!

Just so you don't have to ask, here's what I have done, which I assume is the correct way:

- Enabled my MIDI input
- Right-click the transport button and enable Sync, selecting my MIDI device from the drop-down menu and the correct sync method (SPP in this case, since that's what my drum machine receives and transmits).
- Hit Play in Reaper so it waits for the MIDI clock
- Hit Play on the drum machine (with same working setup as in Ableton)

And...nothing!?
Any ideas what could be wrong?

Last edited by chumbo; 02-27-2019 at 03:58 PM.
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Old 02-27-2019, 05:25 PM   #2
LugNut
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http://www.adam.fulara.com/software

Hi,
IMHO your title sums it up corectly.
Tho, there was a jsfx made by Adam futura or fulera that provided a better clock out. I'll take a look....

Last edited by LugNut; 02-27-2019 at 06:05 PM.
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Old 02-28-2019, 02:50 AM   #3
chumbo
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Thanks but that plugin appears to be to send Midi Clock/SPP to external devices. As I said, I had no problem with that part...i.e. my post's title: Reaper is a GOOD Master.

I'm looking to slave Reaper, that's the part that isn't working at all!

Anybody else?
I just don't understand if it's just my setup or if nobody is using Reaper as a slave?
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Old 02-28-2019, 03:26 AM   #4
domzy
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as i mentioned in your other post, reaper slaves ok to MTC (and LTC) for me if i give it a blank bar at the beginning to establish itself. I've never been able to get SPP to work though.
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Old 02-28-2019, 03:42 AM   #5
chumbo
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Damn, that's not good!
So as far as you know, nobody has ever successfully used Reaper as an SPP slave?? It's then an inherent problem with Reaper and not my (and your) setup?

I need the setup for live work, syncing with another musician. Everything needs to be instantaneous and tight.

Another cry for Ableton Link then! (or a Reaper fix for SPP)
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Old 02-28-2019, 04:01 AM   #6
domzy
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i've not seen or heard of anyone syncing reaper to SPP, but i'm not an expert. Google searches don't show anything positive either, unfortunately.
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Old 02-28-2019, 04:04 AM   #7
chumbo
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Damn! That's crazy??
Talk about an elephant in the room! That's not a bug, it's a major flaw in an essential DAW tool!
I'm off to Ableton Link then (the other musician uses Ableton so....)
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Old 08-29-2019, 08:29 AM   #8
MixR
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I, too have been trying in vain to synch Reaper via SPP. It is one of the biggest issues for me as I have several DAWs on the go which are synced via Network MIDI on macOS. My main DAW is Pro Tools which does not sync to anything useful for music and needs to be the master.

I have no problems synching Reason or hardware sequencers. They stay locked and loop for hours. I love Reaper's MIDI sequencing abilities and so it is a crying shame that it cannot be a synch slave as easily as pretty much any sequencer other than Pro Tools (one of the worst MIDI sequencers in the world today).

Edit: I can get Reaper to synch to Pro Tools but there are some issues: First of all Reaper takes half a bar to lock which makes looping impossible. Secondly, it goes weirdly out of synch and glitches further down the arrangement (same place every time). There are no tempo changes or anything fancy so I don't know what could be causing this.

However, the weird thing is that during the brief moment when Reaper is locked to Pro Tools it stays completely in synch and does not drift. There is a tiny offset which remains static - something I have not experienced with external drum machines or other DAWs (I use Reason and have tested Live).
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Last edited by MixR; 08-29-2019 at 04:18 PM.
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Old 02-11-2020, 07:10 PM   #9
gminorcoles
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I can get Reaper to wait for play, when I hit record in Reaper as a slave, and it starts to record, after a strangely long delay, but then when I hit stop in the master reaper does not stop. This is using MTC. Other transport doesn't work either.
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Old 02-12-2020, 01:40 AM   #10
chumbo
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Well...what can I say, read the subject of the thread!
It's become more of a statement than a cry for help, especially considering we've gone into a major change in v6 and this is still as before...really sad and unfortunate

I've since moved to Ableton using Link...it's amazing!! Solid, stupid easy to setup and latency is unnoticeable!
I still use Reaper, just not for live music (which why I was needing the syncing in Reaper).
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Old 02-12-2020, 09:23 AM   #11
gminorcoles
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Ableton is one of the DAWs for which I have a license and I just tried to use Ableton as my sync slave and even without Link or Rewire it worked pretty flawlessly. From installation to testing successfully took about 30 seconds of clicking.

Ableton follows the counter in the master DAW, and when I hit stop it stops, and when I hit the return to zero button it goes back to zero.

So I don't need reaper, I will use Ableton to record audio.
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Old 02-12-2020, 09:45 AM   #12
LugNut
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Hi,
This is my biggest issue with reaper. Sadly it will never be. And that is a crying shame.
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Old 02-12-2020, 02:39 PM   #13
chumbo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gminorcoles View Post
...I just tried to use Ableton as my sync slave and even without Link or Rewire it worked pretty flawlessly. From installation to testing successfully took about 30 seconds of clicking.
As states the subject of the thread, the issue is more with Reaper being slave (although, despite some success, I've had issues with it being a master as well but not as catastrophic as the reverse scenario). And Link can only be used between two installs of Ableton so had you even wanted to try it, you couldn't with Reaper.
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Old 12-26-2023, 01:59 PM   #14
keburmei
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Default That's a dealbreaker

I really like reaper but not being able to slave reaper from external midi clock is a brick wall for me. It's over to Ableton now. It's been fun!
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Old 12-28-2023, 07:23 AM   #15
LugNut
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Hi,

Its about the only thing in Reaper that IMHO still suks......sorry.
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Old 01-09-2024, 07:17 AM   #16
davewah
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Default Reaper as an MTC slave, almost

I have been working at this for a while and have had some success. The master is an Akai Force spitting out MTC. I tried the Akai Network Midi driver which is seen by the network card in my Windows 11 PC just fine. However Reaper does not seem to pick up any midi from here. This is the same for ProTools on my PC. So I am coming in via a standard 5 pin midi port. Reaper is following MTC from this port but there is a 2 beat lag. The metronome in Reaper starts counting on beat 3, although the 1 is in the right place when it does this. HOWEVER! the other half of the hardare synth setup takes sync from an ERM Multiclock which takes sync from an audio track inside Reaper which spits out an audio pulse (some form of SMPTE). This part of the system does sync but starts 2 beats late.

Here's the question....In ProTools I can set an offset in parts of a bar which fixes the above problem, but in Reaper it looks like I can only do this in whole bars. File/Project Settings/Project Settings Tab "Change Start Measure" But maybe there is somewhere else I can add an offset?

I am almost there if I can just get a 2 beat offset working, anyone got to this point before and have any solutions or ideas?

Just incase and for clarity the setup is; 2 players each with their own hardware setup. Player 1 has an Akai Force at the centre of his setup which will just not follow sync and work properly at the same time. Player 2 has some Elektron devices, some mono synths and some modular all taking sync from an ERM Multiclock. If the Force sends clock direct to the ERM everything works well, we can speed up and slow down it's great. But in this setup what we record into the DAW is not on the Grid and that is the issue, because it is a nightmare to edit and doing overdubs doesn't work.

Many thanks
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Old 01-09-2024, 07:30 AM   #17
chumbo
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Quote:
Originally Posted by davewah View Post
Here's the question....In ProTools I can set an offset in parts of a bar which fixes the above problem, but in Reaper it looks like I can only do this in whole bars. File/Project Settings/Project Settings Tab "Change Start Measure" But maybe there is somewhere else I can add an offset?
In Project Settings, have you tried this?
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Old 01-10-2024, 08:07 AM   #18
deseipel
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only way I've had it work was to use hardware that output MIDI Time code (MTC). I have a MOTU Micro Express that can output clock and that works. I'm going to try my Arturia Keystep next.

info: one of the key differences between an app (like virtualDJ) sending MIDI clock and my hardware device is that the hardware device sends MTC Quarter Frames. I wonder if that's they key to getting Reaper to be a MTC follower. Also of note: the hardware device is always sending Timing Clock messages, its only when I press Play on it that it begins sending Quarter Frames.

the software that is supposed to be the 'master' in virtualdj (just an example app) does not send MTC Quarter Frames.

I used MIDI OX to discover all of this.

Last edited by deseipel; 01-10-2024 at 08:21 AM.
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