DON'T buy the ERM Multiclock, I thought I found an alternative... // Ableton Live Latency Tips

I struggle with recomending the ERM Multi Clock to most people because its super overkill for most hybrid studio setups. I wanted to find a cheaper option, and i came across the Hosa USM-422, I really wanted this USB to Midi adapter to work, but you'll end up seeing what trouble i ended up having..
THIS USB to midi adapter works - amzn.to/34weEau
USM-422 - amzn.to/3aqu6Zp
MultiClock - reverb.grsm.io/mlticlck
Model:Cycles - reverb.grsm.io/mlticlck
Headphones - bit.ly/rssnhdphn
Sample Packs - www.rickytinez.com/merch?cate...
Synth Merch - www.RickyTinez.com
00:00 The Goal
01:26 Who is the Multiclock NOT for
03:26 USB Latency Test
10:00 Fix Ableton Clock Latency
11:28 Hosa Usm-422 Review
19:50 ERM Multiclock Alternatives
20:46 Final Thoughts
21:47 Ableton Note Latency
24:00 Ableton Track Delay
25:09 Ableton External Instrument
30:05 The Wrap up
33:33 Model Cycles Techno Jam
// Let's Connect
Instagram - / ricky_tinez
My Music (Most is free!) - rickytinez.bandcamp.com/
Spotify - open.spotify.com/artist/43aZ5...
open.spotify.com/artist/2DvaN...
--What i use to get my music EVERYWHERE - distrokid.com/vip/rickytinez - (7% off if you use that link)
--Where i get most Samples - bit.ly/2EQK0im
// Everything I Film With
My Main Camera - amzn.to/3kpGhs6
My Lens - amzn.to/3kerS1z
My Mic - amzn.to/2WPiRQO
Free Video Editing Software - bit.ly/bmdr-rt
If i was stuck on an island i'd take this..
amzn.to/2VGs0gH
//Contact
EnriqueMMusic at gmail dot com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PRIVACY POLICY and FULL DISCLOSURE:
°Ricky Tinez is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
°If you purchase something from our affiliate links will get a small commission with no extra cost to you. This makes it possible for us to make more videos. Thank you!
°We DO NOT collect, store, use, or share any data about you.
#HybridStudio #ERMMulticlock #UsbtoMidi

[@RickyTinez]

@aqua1014 reminded me the "guitar guy" is @SeedtoSage, and the video is here! - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoWYnndoj8lqfJo&ab_channel=SeedtoStage Also another good option that i haven't tried yet, but have heard good things is this RK006 - www.retrokits.com/shop/rk006/

[@djwillselber7077]

the "guitar guy" @SeedtoSage fixed my sync troubles...!

[@ogy619]

rk006 is incredible for the price. midi/cv. great for dawless setups too. can switch between setups via app easily. its also tiny!

[@emmittsutton3561]

i know Im randomly asking but does any of you know of a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I was stupid lost the password. I love any tricks you can offer me.

[@landenfrancisco4481]

@Emmitt Sutton instablaster =)

[@DJDevlar]

Would love to hear how the RK006 compares with the ERM Multiclock. I have some other Retrokits products and have been happy.

[@BaileyHeredge]

Sums up music making perfectly. Trial, error and confusion.

[@SabziKooKoo]

100 percent this is so relatable

[@waspgaming9077]

Hey, while I don't own a multi clock, I believe you missed on major selling point of the multiclock: Normal usb to midi devices are pretty low priority in the computers internals, meaning that usb-packets with the midi out as destination might "get stuck" on the way and delayed, being transported irregularly. This leads to midi-jitter, an irregular midi-clock output from Ableton, where the precision of the clock is bad. The Multiclock fixes this by getting a clock-signal through a audio signal, which (as it is real time) is considered high-priority (along side with features like the external midi clock and shifting clocks, etc. )

[@findjonmoses]

This is the story of my musical career, spend one hour getting confused and fixing some some random shit..then I get it fixed and have no motivation left to make a tune. Rinse and repeat

[@SabziKooKoo]

Thank you for this comment. This is exactly my life

[@els1f]

Perfectly summarized lol

[@mpierry3]

Dude, so glad you didn’t edit out the frustration parts. Can’t even estimate how many hours I’ve spent trying to fix a software timing issue only to find it was one bad MIDI cable... Thanks for the well produced content. Keep up the good work (no matter how painful)!

[@oiartsun]

Seriously, how many times have we all been there, asking ourselves, "is it me? or is it the device? or is it something else?" and the time is just wasted, and you try and share the story of the experience with someone else but it's too much of a mundane, unvarnished reality. For some of us, though, it is relatable and kind of validating to see it in real time.

[@DesertNinjaX]

One of the worst things. Get in the mood, start getting everything up and running, something sh!ts itself and you spend the rest of the day getting out of the mood.

[@FLH3official]

I agree. It reminds me the afternoon I spent to try to simply sync an old yamaha "grove box", a RM1X, to my DAW. I spent hours doing nothing else than pluging unpluging, diving in the menus, tryin' to figure out how my midi interface matrix works, etc... A nightmare. And the RM1x is back on its shelf.

[@Atman_Rez]

Yes!! I spent past few days trying to get my beat step pro / neutron and pro 1 to record in time with Ableton. I’ll try some of this when I get home. Glad to see I am not the only one that has issues lol I was started to think it was just me 😎👍🏼

[@KevinSoriano]

-"what you doing honey" -"Just watching a guy having technical issues and killing it"

[@RickyTinez]

hahaha Thanks coming to the "tech-no work" set

[@jedgould5531]

More like being killed by it

[@TheTechnobear]

not quite - the E-RM multiclock (and similar) are (mainly) about jitter not latency.... the issue is USB MIDI is sent over a usb control protocol which is not designed to be high priority on general purpose operating systems. E-RM (etc) get around this by sending thier sync information as 'audio' , audio intefaces use isosynchronous transfers which are guaranteed/real time by the OS. an alternative to get around this would be send clock signals as CV, which is of course 'audio' however, I will say, often MIDI is enough... depends on your setup a bit how much jitter you will get, often its ok :) ... so I do still think this video is really useful... delay compenstation is a bit of 'fun' to setup ;)

[@TheTechnobear]

​@isaac anthony that depends how important your clock is to your hardware instruments e.g. if your using something with a sequencer (say an elektron) it could be problematic... but a wandering clock on an sync'd lfo isnt perhaps that noticable. of course, most importantly, it comes down to you.. how tight do you want/need it to be? some need it tight, some loose is fine - no right/wrong :)

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

I just stumbled upon this www.ableton.com/en/packs/cv-tools/ and I'm wondering if I could send CV from my TR-8S to Ableton to control stuff with this. I'm not very technical, so can any audio interface can do that? I have Scarlett 18i83rd Gen.

[@WillisZzz]

@isaac anthony my Scarlett 18i20 (1st Gen) has DC coupled outputs; I don't think it's that rare, is it? From what I understand MOTU interfaces, I think most of the RME stuff; it seems to me there's enough DC coupled options out there.

[@WillisZzz]

@isaac anthony oh, look at me sticking my foot right in my mouth: support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360010728220-Do-Focusrite-interfaces-have-DC-Coupled-outputs-

[@albertsikkema8217]

I had the same problem, couldn't afford a multiclock. So I build one myself, with an arduino, an audio input, midi input and midi-output. Used the plugin from the multiclock, synced the arduino to it, midiclock out: tightest midi-clock i've ever had out of Ableton. And done for less than 30 bucks.

[@Sieism]

This comment...dropping gems. Thank you.

[@PlayerClubbing]

Pic or didn't happened ;-)

[@albertsikkema8217]

@@PlayerClubbing It's just a boring little red box. No pics though.. :-) Code is available if interested.

[@mrmo3788]

@@albertsikkema8217 would be really interested in getting code and bom if there's one ! Let me know

[@ban5178]

I'd love to see the code for the arduino if you have it still?

[@LaSpatuleduFutur]

Beautiful 1st shot, Action, Suspens, Drama, Mystery....and a Dog. That's entertainment.

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

lolol

[@donlooney647]

Hi everyone. All USB2MIDI or soundcards with MIDI, basically every MIDI connection from PC/MAC has problems with jitter and no DAW can get rid off it. There is only one way and thats audio 2 midi like ERM Multiclock or Expert Sleepers USAMO etc. On windows its worse then on Mac I think. MIDI has no priority in the OS and you can nothing do about it. Maybe ARM Macs could handle this better. So the workaround is always an audio stream which gets the MIDI information because this stream is sample accurate. You can setup everything without audio2MIDI and it just works but if you connect maybe a keyboard or you change the hardware in the pc you have to do it again. Even software updates can destroy the latency.

[@unexpectedbowtie]

This.

[@MrJemabaris]

Sadly that's the way it is. Although you can get far enough for most needs with hardware latency compensation and midi latency compensation in Ableton. Also you can improve midi Latency of your system by closing all other apps and background processes, also turning of Wifi helped in my experience.

[@SabziKooKoo]

@don looney... is ERM audio to midi though?

[@donlooney647]

@@SabziKooKoo Yes

[@elevan2760]

Is the E-RM audio to midi the audio signal from the daw with the E-RM plugin on that channel?

[@egodeathbliss]

Yep, this is the story of the electronic musician's life. Trying to get things that don't quite work (or don't work at all) to actually work the way we want them to so we can then get on with the process of actually making music! Thanks for sharing your whole real life process with this. Doesn't make me feel any smarter, but does make me feel like less of an idiot when it comes to mastering this technology.

[@lars-fenin]

.. well said..

[@Eightball69]

This was like water torture. I go through stuff like this ALL the time and here I am watching someone else have a frustrating time with this stuff. 2020 is weird 🤪😜😂

[@fknfoolish]

This is a 3 video journey

[@ivybasement]

I use Overbridge to sync my Digitone over USB via the plugin. This is done with the Sync + Transport dropdown in OB enabled, NOT via sending Sync to the DN through Ableton’s MIDI settings. I think this is the distinction that allows OB to mimic the ERM Multiclock in its stability. The DN then feeds its stable clock to my Octatrack and other synths via a Midi Solutions THRU box. Rock solid and in sync from Bar 1! It’s great because sync continues to send to my other devices even when transport is stopped, which was not the case with the USB to MIDI adapter I used to run into the OT from Live. I laughed so hard at the troubleshooting part of this video because prior to this config, I’ve been in Ricky’s shoes SO MANY TIMES banging my head against the wall tangled up in MIDI cables trying to understand what was going wrong and why nothing was in sync, especially factoring audio latency into the situation. My revelations RE: External Instrument: To utilize the Ext Instrument latency comp advantages more easily, in my template set, I have one muted midi track with an Instrument Rack full of Ext Inst. listening to all my Overbridge tracks, *and* my interface inputs, which are connected to my OT and some other gear. The audio tracks I record everything to are grabbing audio from those Ext Inst devices, Pre/Post FX (not Post Mixer). There might be some caveats/edge cases to this as I need to confirm my other settings (I may have done a little light tweaking to the hardware latency settings in each Ext Inst instance), but with this configuration, I think no matter what monitoring settings are active on the audio tracks I record to, things are magically synced when I zoom into the grid. Between this and the DN clock, it’s made things so much better, and I don’t spend hours confused and struggling with tracks getting cut off on bar 1 or being late! MIDI is a hell of a drug!!!!!

[@bongworth]

This is a genius solution

[@lucasapa6732]

Did you use any track delay ??

[@HaraldBjork]

Does the track for one machine. But the thing is that different machine have different timings. This is where the Multiclock comes in handy. For example a TR-909 is way off in sync from a TR-808. With a Multiclock you adjust the timing individually.

[@Jbrunel510]

The guitar guy is Seed to Stage. He makes great videos as well! Thanks for the video Ricky, super helpful.

[@The7threst]

This video is so freaking recognizable when you dabble in music making and want to sync up multiple devices into your sequencer or DAW.

[@ModulatorX]

Haha, I'm only halfway through, but this is already one of my favorite episodes. It's refreshing to see you being just a normal person dealing with regular equipment issues...

[@peter_bomen]

I think where the multiclock really shines and what you don’t address, is the syncing of ableton live clock with an audio track, so the sync is always spot on. If you have clips playing in ableton together with hardware, the sync between both will have a will of its own... turn on live’s metronome and hardware metronome and try to make them spot on without a multiclock! The multiclock ended about 10 years of frustration for me :)

[@RickyTinez]

Oh I know. I’ve mentioned it a few times in past videos dedicated to just the multiclock. So I kind of glanced over at this time. But that is definitely the major plus about it. Not that it’s pretty good, but that it is dead on all the time haha.

[@peter_bomen]

indeed :) dead on all the time. Worth it’s weight in gold...

[@joshmo9797]

Hey guys idk what you mean by dead on i have it connected to analog rytm mk 2 and its just always inconsistent i may be doing something wrong but please its sometimes almost 1ms early or late randomly on a kick drum and thats making me angry…

[@neckofthewoods728]

No don’t listen to this! Get a side gig cutting lawns save the money for the Multiclock! I have owned two and hated myself for selling the first one! Your time is much more valuable than messing with these imposters! 😂

[@maracuder]

The Multiclock does not fix inbuilt MIDI latency and jitter of a particular external MIDI unit, nor Live' MIDI output latency and jitter, when used as a slave, nor does it compensate latency of incoming audio. So the problems tackled here would remain.

[@SEFFOfficial]

Sold mine, hated the thing

[@Atman_Rez]

This was such a relief to watch. Thanks for not editing out the parts where you were stumped. I spent the last few days trying to get some of my gear to play in time with Ableton. It’s not like I can kick ideas around with family, friends or coworkers. I tend to get blank stares when I talk about my Latency issues lol 😂

[@m.distefano84]

Totally understand

[@ryanlubinsky6341]

lol rather than getting frustrated trying to solve my own ableton hardware latency problems i just watched 35 min you getting frustrated trying to do the same thing. but i guess misery loves company.

[@ryanlubinsky6341]

i did learn something though. thanks

[@RickyTinez]

@@ryanlubinsky6341 haha! Glad to help a bit

[@Decoy303]

Share the Load

[@futurebeats898]

😂

[@SyncdAlien]

I so totally relate to everything about this. And thank you for showing the whole process of going around and around with settings in what you said was "boring" - just to find that nothing really worked. It's easy to edit out the frustration & show instant success, which would be misleading. Very instructive for people to see that it's not all "push button, receive music" there's sometimes a bit of work to get there! 👍 Liked!

[@andrew1550]

He could have said to fast forward to the conclusion to skip it.

[@corrosiveabuser]

Cheers Ricky, always great to see others having these kinds of issues. - 2 weeks ago, I returned to my pre-2015 DAWless setup, - an MPC60ii, ASQ-10, Mackie CR-1604vlz, various synthesizers, outboard and samplers, - now I just use my MacBook, Logic and Apogee as a stereo recorder, if and when I feel like recording the stereo outs from my mixer. DAWs and computers are great, don't get me wrong, but removing the laptop has left me feeling really refreshed from a sonic and sequencing perspective, and liberated technically. love to ALL, feel no hate

[@oulivier]

What a good idea to return to your gear in a freedom way. Have a good inspiration !

[@hINC]

I never really went the DAW route... Using real instruments is way more "real", who would have thought ;-D

[@tbonebeats6429]

This seems to be the best solution. Trying to sync your hardware to your daw is a headache.

[@PatchMonger]

I’ve been spending silly time trying to fix timing between ableton and hardware. Good to hear your thought process on this topic

[@duhtee7]

I like the editing and filming style, gets better every time!

[@specdj1983]

Expert Sleepers Usamo is the one for me, kind of the same as the multiclock audio to midi .

[@unexpectedbowtie]

I might be confused here, but the main benefit of the ERM is that you can use an audio stream via a plugin in your DAW which means that the clock is then rock-solid. They specifically say not to send out MIDI over USB, so it isn't just separating things out as you mentioned at the start. I had so much trouble synching up my Euro and other external bits of hardware to Logic's clock - not because of connections - but because the latency and jitter was so bad that it threw everything off with each other. I got the ERM and it has been perfect ever since. If not, I can tweak the individual components with the knobs.

[@aaronsaarela9883]

Glad to see I'm not the only one with these frustrating struggles. Thanks for not editing the 'WTH' moments out.

[@moonoovie]

I really love that you've included your hardware/software interfacing learning process, because I relate to it so hard. 👌👌👌

[@smacksalad]

Everyone, RETROKITS RK006! Just over £100 and it syncs everything! Get on it!

[@RickyTinez]

oh thats right! I've heard great things about this!

[@kletsgoo]

yeah! ultra-small, ultra-tight, two seperate inputs, ten individual outputs, per port filtering, clock dividers, ... can be standalone multiple usb host as well and can switch MIDI outputs to gate as well so you can trigger old skool stuff or pocket operators from your DAW 👍 www.retrokits.com/rk006/

[@smacksalad]

@@RickyTinez The only downside is that it needs little adaptors to kick out CV, but on the upside, at least they did something about needing a CV solution to go with it :)

[@mindstuff417]

I'm glad you posted this without preparation because this is exactly how it feels sometimes.

[@ipuketshirts]

Love the reality here. The "what in the world....?" moments are exactly what its like getting kit set up far too often. Having to break down and debug the most arcane issue in even the simplest setups. The combinations of possible erroneous connections from the software to the physical ports is the most hair pulling "chain of trust" that inevitably goes wrong at the peak of creativity. I feel far more sane watching this :) Feels like we need enterprise software level test management suites in our studios sometimes :) THANKS for this one.

[@BasslineDJs]

Very accurate, why have a multi-clock for single-chain devices when there are other options that will suffice. For us, the multi clock came into its full potential when used to control 2 x MC707s and 2 x TR8s machines in a live environment. Having that control is great so that you can lock in the timing. This way we could use each clock to drive a device and then chain a sub device off each unit (2 x TD3s and 2 x Korg Monologues). Everything is kept tight and we move between the two sets of kit, like we are mixing between decks. It allows us to load up new projects on the 707s (something you can't do without stopping the machine and waiting for it to load)

[@k-g-p]

Every tim i see your vids its like hanging out with an good old friend. I love this vibe! Thank you for this

[@colemangroove5314]

I know you predominantly focus on hardware but really appreciating these insights into Ableton as well. Love the wind turbine clip on the intro btw! Have a Merry Christmas everyone!! 🎄

[@gabrieljennings5492]

See, stuff like this is more educational and real for me than seeing somebody edit out all the troubleshooting Thanks for being so authentic with this

[@SURCOlive]

Love the video. Great to see the experts work through issues. Thanks as always for the content.

[@RajaSandhu]

That self talk is pretty much a universal language. 🎵 “Out.. to the Innn.”🎵

[@matthewy393]

This was so funny to watch, I literally have these problems every single time I turn my drum machines on

[@jenskuhnemann1241]

As far as I know the daw's are not able to generate tight clock signals. USB midi also generates latency as the informations has to be processed on the receiverside using some form of internal USB interface. There are other (cheap) options but you would have to get into programming microcontrollers for that. Alternatively get Pamelas new workout from ALM which does a stable midi clock as well. I did never experience midiclock from the DAW being stable. There are inconsistencies during play (record 64 bars and check the notes) and the offset isn't consistent either (different next time you start a new project). Just my experience with this. When sending notes the problem is way less (as you showed with the external instrument) but if you are relying on the hardware to sync to a sync signal (and e3specially with elektron stuff I would always use the internal sequencer die to parameter- and soundlocks) the problem is there.

[@mikerinehart]

Always interesting to see others troubleshoot issues. We're all in this together. Keep up the great work.

[@finngrim9763]

Thank you so much for this video dude. It helped me a lot actually. I've pretty much come to the point where I have just given up on proper sync inside of ableton live. This has cleared up a lot of my confusions. I always fiddled around with all kinds of latency compensation and never really got it to work properly lol. Really frustrating experience. So this video has helped since you clearly explained what technique you use for what kind of sync issues ..

[@jason1maze]

Great video Ricky!! I have a Multi Clock that I got to connect the octatrack with a bunch of other synths/sequencers. I love watching you try and conquer the beast that is latency in Live. I've had the Multi Clock for sometime now and it getting it was a revelation for me in my setup. It's really the only way I could get everything to sync properly but damn is it expensive. Thanks for this!!

[@ProfessorSaibertin]

Thanks for taking this topic apart and for the audio from the external instrument channel trick. I'll check this out.

[@davidbasnight6325]

thank you so much, the tip where you highlight the section to adjust the sync was priceless. Man that help me so much. you are the man

[@carlodemarchis]

The Ableton part is what I was trying to figure out this week with my new Marbles + lifeforms sv1b. Thanks Ricky.

[@rmbk009]

MAKE A DRUM MACHINE MASTER => SLAVE THE COMPUTER Have you tried that? you need to get the KENTON THRU-5 (1 x midi-in, 5 x midi out = 70€) and then: Drum Machine => Midi Thru-5 => to your computer AND all your other synths. you do start/play from the Drum Maschine and record in the computer. If you want to add a layer to what you recorded, everything would be on time. this is because drum Machines have a stable clock, Computers just don't. Greetings from Berlin!

[@pongthrob]

Hey Ricky I really enjoyed this vid because it shows - unedited - the frustration that most of us go through on a daily basis in real time. Nice. So I have a couple of points about MIDI timing that someone else pointed out regarding USB MIDI. I don't know if it's still around, but there used to be a small PC app that tested MIDI latency, MIDI Jitter, and average deviation. I don't recall what it was called, and it might not work on modern Windows versions. Anyway, long story short, on any MIDI port you'd connect the IN to the OUT and it measured the amount of time for signals to go out and back. It was super useful and verified that basically ALL USB MIDI connections suffered pretty badly. The most accurate MIDI ports were those based on a PCI/PCIe connection (either standalone or as part of a PCI/PCIe audio interface). The next most accurate were old-school serial/parallel ports, and then finally USB. At the time I had access to one of each of the above and did some comparative tests. The difference was not only obvious, it was audibly noticeable to my ears anyway. So, this had actually changed a bit when I retested a couple of years later. The *reason* the USB interfaces suffered so badly back then had entirely to do with a motherboard's USB controller chip. Long story short, the last few generations of USB controller chips overcame the deficiencies of previous ones by a *mile*, and the 2 or 3 that I tested all fell within a much tighter tolerance. For a few years I was a 'never use USB MIDI' snob, but I pretty much got over it once the controller chips improved. I imagine a PCIe (and probably Thunderbolt) MIDI port's timing is still superior but not to the same degree. When I was looking at the results I was getting early on, I realized that while a *nuisance*, MIDI Latency can always be compensated for. The ERM lets you do this and that's great. The *real* enemy is MIDI Jitter as there's no way I know of you can fix that. Again, I appreciated the vid with all its inherent frustration. :) thanks!

[@Jamslerr]

This 35 minutes sums up every time I think it's a good idea to go create in a daw. Frustration, confusion, hatred, get it to work finally. Then I am so burnt out on technical crap I shut the computer down & forget about making music.

[@just-John]

Thanks Ricky this is super useful for Ab-Live midi settings and tricks. Also a perfect example why I need a multi-clock.

[@Esben.music1]

thank you so much for this video. i didn't know that there is a drop down menu in the midi options to change the latency times. perfect, now my modular is on time.

[@uly1981]

In my experience the key to handle latency is (a) understand in detail what Ableton "magically" does for you given the combinations of all the different options given the different monitoring-states and (b) knowing your priorities (latency free live playing, having everything track in sync, live monitoring with plugins, etc) and optimising in that direction. Only if you're still not satisfied after that it's worth getting a dedicated hardware device IMHO - and you benefit from the knowledge you've accumulated on that path so far anyway. But it's a hot mess, especially when adding Overbridge as another puzzle piece. PS: track delay is evil and should be avoided when possible

[@reddenstudio]

Great video! Thanks for showing the messy stuff. I like to do all that syncing and trial and error creativity killer stuff the night before I need it. You can forget why you even stepped in the studio with issues like that. Then, after stepping away for a bit and returning to the studio, the creative session can begin effortlessly.

[@woxorz]

This is too good. Great tips for adjusting for latency. This sort of stuff happens to me all the time and I feel like way less of an idiot knowing it's not just me.

[@Further-South]

Thank you for tips. They are what I had searched before and couln't finded .

[@ModalSlom]

I don't feel some dumb now... I've been there many times. Thanks Ricky, you made my day.

[@n4Sphere]

hey ricky, i really thank you for this video. some months ago i bought my first synth and was not really able to sync proper. 1. i know my mistakes now. 2. i know how to fix my issue. 3. i will be happy using my synth now with sequences not just sampling the sounds. i learnt a lot from this video!

[@UnlykeMst]

Watching this gave me so many ideas as to why my Drum Brute time is always a little off. BLESSS

[@mudsh4rk]

For me the trouble is less the latency and motre the timing inconsistencies that are better or worse depending on OS version, interface, what software is running, but are always there and are more or less baked into the USBstandard. I ended up getting an Expert Sleepers Usamo a couple years ago and dedicating that to clock, with my old MOTU interface as a router in standalone mode and it works beautifully - the first time I've been able to get clock from a PC that's as tight as the internal clock in the Octatrack or MPC2000 or an Atari ST and I can't recommend it enough. If I could afford an ERM Multiclock I'd more likely put the money toward getting the smallest Eurorack case I could find and putting Expert Sleepers ES-40 and ESX-8MD modules in it instead, the whole MIDI-over-audio approach just works very, very well in my experience.

[@demnevanni]

holy god the trick around 7:20 and later is S-tier. Just got my BeatStep Pro to track my MS-20 dead on with the Ableton metronome. Thank you for these hybrid home studio techniques, they're so handy for juggling lots of different paradigms all at the same time.

[@_functionless]

I feel your pain ricky! when you said things were getting boring, it was actually the part that really grabbed my attention, as I am going through this a lot too. Appreciate you doing this. There is clearly a problem here and maybe the right product can really solve this. the erm just isn't a perfect solution due to its price.

[@avetisk]

Hey Ricky! Thanks for the latency tips, really needed some for Live 🙏 BTW, have you tried any MIDI Solutions products? Like the Quadra Thru. Or even MOTU’s MIDI Express? While they do not let you change latency individually, I think that they’re quite good MIDI hubs.

[@Code_Is_Poetry]

Thank you! That’s exactly the question I was asking in the comments when you did the video about ERM. If all your synths support midi over USB what do you gain with plain midi?

[@lostipod12]

Old guy here...in the '90s, getting your PC midi sequencer (I used Cubase VST 3.5) to send out reliable timing clock and notes to arrive on time to hardware synths through an old serial or USB MIDI interface (I had 2 MIDISPORT 8x8s) was tricky. Computers had all sorts of issues with prioritising stuff, dropping notes, stuff drifting, etc. because the technology was new-ish and not up to snuff unless you had top of the line hardware, like nice SCSI hard drives, lots of expensive RAM, etc. External clock devices (such as the ERM Multiclock, although we had other things back then) allowed computer sequencers to focus on firing MIDI notes and playing audio while it slaved to the timing signal. There were lots of people still using hardware sequencers, so it wasn't unheard of to have that act as the master clock. I had heard of people (although I never witnessed it personally) keeping older Atari ST computers around in their studios because the MIDI was apparently so reliable on it. Edit: as I watch your video and the wackiness that's happening with the Hosa USB 422 device, this kind of nonsense was a common occurrence with computer MIDI in the '90s. I can't believe they still haven't figured it out.

[@terrygray7465]

I know this video is 2 years old, but it helped so much. I'm still buying an ERM (I want to add gear), but I was able to replicate what you did near the end within Reaper - using a track to record MIDI only and routing that to a separate record track. I had to adjust the MIDI output timing by 10ms and my recordings are dead-on now. I tried using Reaper's "External Instrument" (ReaInsert plugin), but was constantly pinging to get updated delay compensation figures. The secret is not monitoring through your DAW. Thanks for the valuable info.

[@CMDR_Lani]

I thought it was very interesting to watch you figure it out. Also, your dog is pretty great. :)

[@richardpowell1923]

Man. Thanks for this. I found it so funny. Literally my night tonight was identical and I am still looking for answers. Hence I found your video. Brilliant!!!

[@yorkie_pudd]

This was helpful, thanks. I have all my midi going into a Iconnectivity Mio XL , which does a pretty decent job. It's not cheap, but it's pretty clever

[@goodboid]

This is me at my studio desk. Only I'd be cussing a bunch.

[@Aqua_1014]

Guitar guy is Seed to Stage, watch his stuff bc it's awesome!!

[@RickyTinez]

YES! THIS! thank you, thats him!

[@beatfoot666]

Ricky! Thanx so much for everything. I owe u so much bro. I was wondering lately since I’ve been doing tv recording- how do u record ur voice on the tutorial ? Is there a neck mic? A boom? What’s up?

[@jonathankessler4684]

Seems like a lav, it’s too consistent to be a boom in every room in his house and his car and basically everywhere else

[@NeilGuise]

Love this deep nuts a bolts troubleshooting. I feel like this is my life. Thanks!

[@luiscanela1321]

Old synths work very well with that Hosa cable! For example my nord modular! They have a pc in and pc out port in the back. Converting with midi to tRs I think was the problem in your process since you need booth somehow to make it work!

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Dont get exited - you cant HAVE one ! 🤣 You are as valueble to me as Loopop, Jay Hosking, etc. i just love the way you are being you ! You kill me Tricky Ricky ! - loads of hugs ´n merry christmess and a very new yeah !

[@MaikSchott]

Not so topic related but I like the look of your video! It has the perfect balance of enough background lighting and a modern look! Thanks for sharing this.

[@pmumble76]

Thanks for keeping the part where you are struggling with midi clock and note latency and the different strategies to handle it in Live.

[@JoshuaMadoff]

I've had success using the M-Audio USB to Midi cable. Works really well for all my drum machines and synths with ableton

[@biblecontroversy9854]

Trouble-shooting is a must! Good video with a thumbs up. Maybe in the near future you could make a video on your headphones? Kinda curious about those.

[@nicholaspollock3616]

Amazing video. Thanks

[@mod3l]

This video is exactly what building a studio and working in it looks like. At thee 5:25 part I can already see a speech cloud going like ''oh look it works on first try''.

[@djinfect672]

love when you teach us how to fix problems that we all rip our hair out trying to figure out lol thanks pal keepem coming!

[@ZabiNeinOhNein]

Cool Video ,i am in hist the situation ,wonder about the difference in syncprecision?between an additional Midiclock? and the obviously my Virus Synth and Mpcx exchange Midiclock between each other?But yeah its pricey .

[@distortimus7631]

This was one of the most useful videos Ricky my man, thank you🙏

[@lipo-exe8694]

Hey first of all i love your videos and thanks for many good information . Ive octatrack mk2 and ive problem when im syncing it with ableton . Got midi and audio latency :( can’t solve it with midi clock adjustment in ableton , what u will recommend me ? Buy midi clock ? Or got another alternative 🎚

[@dreadnot427]

I use this cable (Midi to usb) for an older drum machine with ableton 10. I have both Midi in and out connected and it seems to work fine. I am curious if the start and stop function on your sequencer is processed as in AND out function and because only the out cable is connected the start isn't initiating. I'll see what happens if I remove my other cable and report back tomorrow.

[@Reg-Edit]

Would be nice to see a full demonstration of you using ERM multi clock and synchronising your gear with your DAW? 🙏❤️ 🙏❤️

[@AlexisG73]

I have a older USB interface just like the Hosa and it only works right (with my MPC 3000) if I have both IN/OUT cables hooked up to the MIDI IN/OUTS on my MPC. With only the MIDI IN cable plugged in like in this video the MPC will NOT start the sequence. Love your videos man!

[@lilmarktube4773]

I use the expert sleepers usamo to sync MPC's to logic. Its cheap and super tight. Love the video's mate. Merry Christmas

[@thomasberner5282]

The Expert Sleepers USAMO is a smaller and cheeper alternative to the Multiclock, if you only need one channel. Generally it works the same way (a plugin sends a special signal via audio out to an external box) AND it fixes clock and MIDI note informations.

[@IvoSiem]

I use the Expert Sleepers USAMO. It takes a little time to make it work, but it works flawlessly once you have everything dialed in. Results may vary, of course.

[@grandmasterbeatz]

Loving the video! I laughed a few times when the clock was funky. Been there several times. Lol

[@merlinperlin]

Love the sweet kick loop in the end 🥴🥰

[@PatrickECleary]

This is SO COOL. Thanks for bringing us along on your "Boring" ride.

[@butohedits6735]

yoooo, thanks for the video! have you tried using an MPC ONE / LIVE as clock for synths / drum machines + ableton? heard good things, but would be sweet to have a video from you about that. much love

[@Guitarisalways]

Question: Is the ERM multi clock the best solution for midi jitter? Thank you in advance 😆❤️

[@rolandos_digitalis9536]

Hey Ricky, awesome video, this ist exactly my actual topic with Digitakt, Overbridge and Studio One, the Digitakt is the only device what ist connected over USB, the recorded tracks have always a lot of latency and not in the grid, in Studio one there is no compansation option like in Live...any tricks or recommendations for me?

[@kleinerSchneider]

I am pretty sure that the buffermemory of that cheap midi usb convert is way to smal to do midi start/stop and midi clock messages at the same time, which are way longer than midi notes. If you try a better midi box I’m confidant that this will work! Have you ever heard of the bome box? That could be a nice device to do a review about :)

[@justenbarks9090]

@ricky have you ever used the Emagic AMT/Unitor products. They're all super old but work like a dream with Apple devices. I've got three and never spent more than $100 for an 8x8 interface used. Slick deal. Does ERM do anything more than Unitor8?

[@toifel]

That brings back so many memories.. syncing gear over MIDI can be an absolute pain in the ass. Weirdest issue I've ever had was with the Tanzbär.. only got it to work by pure luck when I routed it through the BCR2000. Connecting directly to my interface's MIDI-OUT always had issues... took me about 6 months until I figured this out. Still absolutely no idea why it only works this way...

[@MusicianParadise]

Tanzbar receiving midi only on midi channel 3

[@toifel]

@@MusicianParadise That was obvious and worked just fine. I'm sending clock, notes and parameter control - it would only receive clock and notes when connected directly.

[@MusicianParadise]

@@toifel Tanzbar have two midi inputs N1 for the notes and N2 handles MIDI clock data exclusively. Probably something to do with that?

[@fts4life]

@RickyTinez at 4:30 you call out specifically "starting from the 1... because sometimes you gotta go back and fix that", but then never really inspected the first beat or came back to that? that's the issue that I'm dealing with, setting a negative MIDI Clock Sync Delay gets everything on the grid EXCEPT the first beat which still has the normal latency. How were you dealing with that? Warping the recording? I've got 5 machines all with their own sequencers being clocked from Ableton, all via USB MIDI but I just ordered the E-RM hoping to put all of this crap to bed once and for all, if it does that it'll be worth every penny.

[@chrismoore3530]

this is one of your best videos tbh, glad i came across it i have a feeling anyone watching this has experienced this nonsense troubleshooting