We hooked the MIDI from the laptop to the thru box, and into the Korg, the Elektron and the x0xb0x.  The TR-808 was slave synched via the DIN out on the x0xb0x.  All audio was going directly into the MOTU, coming out on different tracks in Ableton.  The rig was a thing of beauty… we were all set.  

We fired the boxes up and noticed the timing was really wonky. Fine, we attempted to adjust the MIDI pre-delay in Ableton to match what we were recording.  We saw something like 36ms of latency in the 808 kick (yikes!).  We pre-delayed the works by 36ms and fired it up again, only to find that the MachineDrum sounded like it was rushing.  I switched the x0x out for a MIDI->DIN sync box I got from europe… still the same issue.  The bottom line was that we could not get the Elektron to match the TR-808 no how, no way.  

After hours of toiling away trying to get this stuff to match and agonizing about the MIDI chain, we eventually gave up and didn’t record one single lick of music.  Disappointing is an understatement. I’m starting to really believe the rants of this MIDI sync guru over at innerclock systems.  And I’m so desperate to get these sync issues worked out that I’m going to get one of his $300 sync shifters.

Moreover, I think this is a prime example of a great problem that has yet to be solved.  Someone needs to design and build a box that takes one MIDI in and can individually shift 4 to 8 MIDI / DIN outputs.  

This whole MIDI sync mess needs to end, the solution needs to be dead simple and it needs to be something that can be done live so that everyone with old gear can have tightly locked tempo synched jam sessions.

Edit:
While looking at the Ableton forums, I found the following thread that explains everything:
http://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?t=87850&highlight=offset+midi

The gotcha here is that our sync was all working perfectly until we started running the audio through the computer. At that point, everything was 30ms off! Bad on Ableton for letting a bug like that slip.

As before, use the arrow keys to rotate the model.

We’re playing our debut live show at the Mezzanine along with many other very talented acts for a benefit show called Dusted this Saturday, August 8th in San Francisco. Tickets are 5 dollars all night. We’re rumored to go on at around 11pm.

More info at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108518209843&ref=share

Fans of Speedy J and Par Grindvik will absolutely love this record.

I’m really blown away by the quality of the Pirates Press pressing. The LP’s were mastered using Direct Metal Mastering, and though I’ve been told that it can affect the bass response, I can say that this record has some of the thickest bass of any in my crate while the lush mid and crisp high end response make the pressing stand out as if it was on 180g.

Audio Samples will be available shortly.

In which I irradiate your eardrums with some bass particles.

Download Link Here.

Tons of fun in the snow, make sure you check it out:

http://www.nexusnebula.com/

I think there’s a deal with boarding, get in contact with nexus to find out.

More info here

I spent a bit of time at the end of the process just mixing everything down to perfect the sound, then ran the whole thing through a limiter to boost the loudness.

Love,
Pauley Unsaturated