Contact Wheat at (404) 636-2845 or wheat@mindspring.com
Copyright © Unpublished 1997 by Wheat Williams
All Rights Reserved
A common application in producing R&B, hip-hop,
dance music, and
music for television is that of sequencing MIDI musical
performances and
then synchronizing the MIDI sequencer playback with a
multi-track tape
recorder,
so that live musicians and singers can be
recorded to augment the MIDI
performance.
It's also a common question on
job interviews for engineers: "Do you
understand synchronization, and
can you get a MIDI sequencer in sync with
audio tape or video
tape?"
Much to my surprise, nobody has attempted such a
project in CARA up until
now.
This is a report about my
experiences synchronizing MIDI sequencer playback,
slaved to the time clock
of the Tascam DA-88. The work was done over Saturday,
July 19, and Sunday,
July 20, in Studio A.
Why this was done
I have a
composition I'm working on which starts out with twelve channels
of music
sequenced in a MIDI sequencer, involving playback on three
synthesizer
hardware modules, with a few program changes in the sequenced
tracks. This
MIDI recording project was completed by my friend Jeff Blanks
in his home
studio, and further edited and refined by the two of us working
together
in my home studio.
I wish to record this music, each
musical part to a separate audio track,
on the DA-88s, and then overdub
live drums, vocals, and electric guitar
to augment the sequenced
tracks.
The Ensoniq MR-61, the Roland Vintage Synth MVS1 rack
mount module, and
the Alesis QS6 were the sound sources. Of the three
synthesizers, two have
a pair of stereo outputs and one has four outputs
(two stereo pairs).
There are twelve separate musical parts in the
sequence, and I only have
four stereo pairs of outputs in the hardware. All
of the synthesizers are
multitimbral with internal digital effects
processors. While it is certainly
possible to play back all the music at
once using the sequencer, this results
in the necessity of having multiple
musical parts and sounds mixed together
at the instruments' outputs. In
addition, the majority of sounds and musical
parts for this project are to
be produced by one synth, the Ensoniq, with
the Roland and Alesis only
contributing a couple of parts.
In order to be able to construct a
flexible, complex and automated mix of
my project, I want to have each
musical "part" or track recorded
to a separate audio track (or
stereo pair of tracks) on the DA-88s. I have
a problem. I don't have enough
hardware outputs on my synthesizers to be
able to patch each hardware
output to an input on a DA-88 all at once.
I need to be able to
assign just two or three sounds (which may be stereo
pairs with stereo
reverb processing, or "dry" mono sounds) to
discrete hardware
outputs on the synths, and record those to tape. To record
additional
tracks from the sequencer to the tape, I need to rewind the tape,
rewind
the sequencer, and record additional tracks. I need the sequencer
to start
at precisely the same position on the audio tape as the
first
recording
pass, and I need the sequencer to continue to remain in
perfect sync with
the music already recorded to tape on the previous pass.
We would need to
repeat this process until all 12 tracks were recorded to
tape. To do this,
I need time-code synchronization.
Let's
assume for argument's sake that the first step is to configure the
hardware
outputs of the synths to output tracks 1-3 of the sequenced
music
only to discrete hardware outputs, which are then recorded to
tape.
The next step would be to configure the synths to output only tracks
4-6,
rewind the tape, and play back the sequencer while recording on the
DA-88
on tracks 4-6, and so on. Rinse, lather, repeat, repeat, repeat.
Without
synchronization, this would not be possible, as the timing
relationship
between tracks 1-3 on tape and tracks 4-6 on tape would drift
out of alignment
quite quickly.
How It Works; Issues with Our
Particular System
Synchronization requires 1) an
industry-standard clock signal and 2) a master
clock hardware device to
output this signal. All elements in the recording
and playback chain must
be capable of reading the clock signal and being
slaved to the master
clock. This master clock can be part of a recording
or playback device, or
it can be a stand-alone timecode generator.
In this case, with the
equipment that we have, we have two choices for a
clock signal: SMPTE and
MIDI Time Code (MTC). SMPTE is an analog (sound)
signal. MTC is merely a
digital encoding of SMPTE which is output as MIDI
data, through a regular
MIDI cable, and which can be read by any MIDI device
which specifically
supports MTC.
We have some complex options open to us: let's
narrow down the problem.
In our situation, we have four devices
which can be synchronized, as slave
or master clock. We need to evaluate
which element will be most suitable
to be the master clock. The devices
are:
- the Ensoniq MR-61, which is a multitimbral synthesizer keyboard with an internal MIDI sequencer and MIDI In and Out, and can send and receive MTC.
- The Macintosh, running Opcode Vision, a sequencer that can transmit and receive MTC. The Mac has two serial outs, the Modem port and the Printer port, and a MIDI interface can be attached to one or both ports. To do so, this requires nothing other than a simple, dumb MIDI interface, such as the Mark of the Unicorn or Opcode interfaces ($35) which take one MIDI In and three MIDI Outs and pass the data to the Mac via a Mac serial cable. In this fashion, MTC can be transmitted and received out of these ports.
In addition, there are many commercial Macintosh MIDI interfaces of varying price and complexity which take this idea a step further. These devices, such as the Opcode Studio 4 or 5, connect through both the Mac serial ports and provide, say, eight MIDI Ins, eight MIDI Outs, and a built-in box that generates and reads SMPTE audio as well as being able to receive SMPTE audio, convert it into MTC, and pass the MTC to the Mac through the two serial ports. In this fashion, a software sequencer such as Opcode Vision can work with either MTC or plain old SMPTE, since the interface converts audio SMPTE to MTC for the sequencer.
- The Yamaha 02R
- can transmit and receive MTC through its MIDI ports,
- can transmit and receive SMPTE as an audio signal, and
- has been configured with a special card for interfacing with the Tascam DA-88 in the digital domain and therefore can receive the Tascam's SMPTE/MTC through its digital connections
- The DA-88. The DA-88 has an optional Tascam SY-88 Synchronizer expansion board with ports on the back of the unit. This board:
- can transmit and receive SMPTE audio
- can transmit and receive SMPTE digitally to the 02R through the O2R's Tascam interface card
- can transmit and receive MTC through its MIDI ports
To begin with, which MIDI sequencer do we wish to use for sequence playback, the sequencer in the Ensoniq MR-61, or Opcode Vision in the Macintosh? For several reasons, I chose to use the much more powerful and flexible capabilities of Vision in the Mac, even though my talent, a keyboardist named Jeff Blanks, created a lot of the sequences on the MR-61's built-in sequencer. I took Jeff's sequencer files in Standard MIDI Format, saved them to a DOS-formatted floppy disk, put the floppy in my Macintosh, and imported the standard MIDI file into Vision, saving a new edited file in Vision format. As far as our project goes, we decided that the Ensoniq MR would function only as a multitimbral MIDI tone generator module, not as a sequencer or clock master.
So, do we want to work with SMPTE or MTC? If we use audio SMPTE, we will need to buy an expensive ($130 to $500) Macintosh MIDI interface with audio SMPTE read/write capability. But can't we get the job done with the equipment we already have?
Furthermore, after calling up and questioning the technical support people at Mark of the Unicorn and Opcode, I learned another factor. Seems that not all MTC generators are equal. Some are more reliable than others. It turns out that a sequencer on a personal computer, be it Mac or PC, makes a lousy, unstable master clock. It is better to have the Mac sequencer as a slave to some other clock master.
[Please note that if you use a fancy MIDI interface with SMPTE read/write capability connected to your Mac, then the Mac sequencer is *not* the master clock. The MIDI interface contains an independent, reliable and steady SMPTE generator hardware device, and this device then drives the computer and the MIDI sequencer. This is a very reliable option, but in our case using the DA-88 as a master clock was more practical.]
It turns out that the DA-88's SY sync card makes an excellent master clock. The tape transport of the DA-88 is rock-solid and completely reliable, and the SY sync card maintains perfect sync with the DA-88 tape through subcode recorded onto the tape (which, unlike audio SMPTE, does not require the use of any of the DA-88's eight tape channels). The SY card then outputs audio SMPTE, MTC through its MIDI Out port, or sends SMPTE to the 02R through its special digital interface.
With synchronization, the DA-88 has to send a signal to the Macintosh sequencer. The DA-88 is the clock master, and the Macintosh sequencer is the slave. It will adjust its playback speed according to the timecode it receives from the DA-88, keeping everything in perfect sync.
When CARA was wired, the DA-88 with SY-88 had been configured for synchronization with the Yamaha 02R. It needed additional configuration to make it output MTC through its MIDI port. This was accomplished, after reading the SY-88 manual, by flipping a single tiny DIP switch on the back panel of the unit. Since enabling MTC output does nothing to alter the behavior of the unit otherwise, Jonathan and I decided to leave the DIP switch in the up position. Any time anybody else needs synchronization, all they need to do is plug in a MIDI cable and go. The SY-88 owners' manual has now been photocopied and put in place.
So, the method became clear. The DA-88 would function as the master clock for the whole system. It would output MTC through a MIDI out cable which would be connected to a MIDI In on a simple, cheap 1-in, 3-out MIDI interface for the Macintosh. The Macintosh would run Opcode Vision, configured as a slave playback device, which would output MIDI data to the three synthesizer units, which would receive but not output MIDI data.
Setting it all up
Immediately, this choice of a setup required some compromises. When a Mac sequencer is receiving and Synching to MTC, it needs to receive the MTC data, and only the MTC data, on a single serial port. This port should not be used for any other MIDI data, because timing inconsistencies in playback can result. Therefore, one serial port, the printer port, would have to be dedicated to receiving MTC from the DA-88. The other port, the modem port, would be used for the MIDI output necessary to drive the sequencers. For these two interfaces, I used my cheap Opcode 1-in, 3-out interface connected to the printer port with a serial cable, and I connected Jeff's MOTU interface to the modem port and to the three synthesizers.
But guess what! Our Studio A Mac is a Performa 6300CD, which came with a factory-installed internal modem. This internal modem takes up the Modem serial port on the back of the Mac, which is covered over with a little plastic disc to prevent you from plugging anything into it.
Just so happens that our Studio M uses the same model of Mac, with the same problem. Jonathan needed both serial ports on that Mac, too, so he removed the internal modem card. Neither of these Macs are ever going to be used with an analog phone line for modem purposes, so it makes sense to remove them.
On Saturday, I likewise disassembled the Studio A Mac and removed its modem card, freeing up the Modem port for serial MIDI use. Don't worry; it wasn't difficult or dangerous. [Unfortunately, the very nice 28.8 K voice/fax/modem card which was removed is useless; very few models of Macs have internal modem card slots, and all of those come with modems, standard. There's no way to use the surplus modem card by itself, or convert it into an external modem.]
There's a problem we've created here, and I'll bet you can guess what it is. The Yamaha 02R depends upon the Macintosh's serial port to connect to the Mac and to use the 02R Project Manager librarian software. But the Mac only has two serial ports, and I needed both of them, one for MTC reception and the other for MIDI transmission.
A Comment about the 02R
For this application the sole intent was to record audio coming out of the synthesizers to the DA-88s. Therefore the 02R was only used to patch signals into the DA-88 inputs. No automation or saving of custom parameters were needed with the 02R, and the 02R Project Manager software on the Mac was not needed, either.
In fact, since both of the serial ports on the Macintosh were needed for sending and receiving MIDI and MIDI Time Code (MTC), the serial cable normally connecting the 02R to the Macintosh was unplugged during the entire weekend.
It may be possible to overcome this limitation in the future; this will be discussed below.
Working with the Sequencer
Vision is a very powerful sequencer which, along with MIDI data, can also record and play back digital audio into the Macintosh. But that's another project.
Vision handles all of its virtual input and output channels using Opcode's Open Music System (OMS). This is an industry standard system that works with all kinds of software products on both the PC and the Mac. [However, if you use Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU)'s Performer or other MOTU programs, you have to use an incompatible, competing system that MOTU puts out called FreeMIDI.]
OMS Setup Configuration
I won't explain all the details of installing and configuring OMS. For that you can read the OMS User's Manual in Studio M. I will make these observations, though.
Every time you use OMS, it has to be configured precisely in order to know which hardware and software devices will be communicating together through the Mac's two serial ports. OMS can do its own "auto-config" in which it polls the serial ports and automatically finds out which MIDI devices are hooked up. To be successfully recognized by OMS, every device needs to have its own MIDI In and MIDI Out hooked up to the MIDI chain. In practice, as with our system, this is impractical. We only had one MIDI port for synth use, and its cheap interface only had one MIDI In and three MIDI Outs. Furthermore, there are MIDI hardware devices out there that OMS cannot recognize. These items include the Tascam SY-88 card and the Ensoniq MR-61 synthesizer.
Therefore, before running Vision, I had to open up the OMS Setup application and create a custom Studio Setup file, which I saved to disk. Every other time that I come back to the Mac and use Vision, I need to make sure that OMS is configured to read my custom Studio Setup file, and "make it current" for Vision to use.
To
configure each device manually, as part of the Studio Setup file, I had
to
use OMS Setup to identify each new device, type in its name, and define
its
parameters. Particularly crucial are defining each device's MIDI ID
number
as well as its status as a clock or slave for MTC, and information
about
its multitimbrality. Refer to the screen shots below for
examples
concerning the MR-61 and the SY-88.
Each device has a MIDI ID number that the
user can set. For smooth MIDI
operation with a sequencer, especially with
regard to sending program change
messages or Sys/Ex data, each item in your
setup must have a unique MIDI
ID. Consult the owners' manual for each
device to find out how to get it
to display that unit's MIDI ID, and write
the numbers down. If any of the
devices use the same number, you have to
reset some of them to make each
one have a unique number. Then, in OMS
Setup, you have to click on each
defined device and type in its correct
MIDI ID.
Having saved and named your Studio Setup file, and made
it current, you
can proceed to Vision, which will be very happy that you
did so. In fact,
nothing will work right unless you
did.
Working with Vision
Vision has documentation
in its users manual about using it with SMPTE and/or
MTC synchronization.
I won't explain all that here, but I'll make
some
observations.
Working with Vision when it is configured as a
slave playback device is
tricky at first because the program does not
behave like you think it will.
Here are the
particulars.
First,
configure Vision to be a slave device by selecting Options:
Receive Sync
Mode: MIDI Time Code. Then select Options: Receive Sync
Device:
and selecting the name you have configured for the SY-88 card.
If the
proper devices are not live and hooked up to your Mac in addition
to being
correctly configured in OMS, then Vision may not display the name
of your
SY-88 in the sub-menu, and may not permit you to select it as the
source of
the MTC Sync. Don't worry: you can open up OMS Setup and reconfigure
things
while Vision is still open and running (that's called multitasking,
and OMS
does it for you).
In Vision's control bar, you have to select
"Timecode" and
"AutoPunch."
>From this point forward,
Vision will depend upon the running status of the
master DA-88 for
everything. If you push the "play" button in
Vision, nothing
will happen, because Vision will be waiting for you
to hit the Play
button on the DA-88 first. In other words, the
Vision
"transport
controls," play, stop, rewind, etc., don't
work. They merely respond
to the status of the play, stop and rewind
controls on the DA-88.
To accomplish this, Vision needs to know
the hours, minutes, seconds, and
frames (30 per second by default) of the
beginning of your song on your
DA-88's tape. Determine a starting point on
the tape for your recording
session, and then manually type this value into
the "Offset" field
in Vision. While you're at it, configure
Vision this way: go to Options:
Counter Display: and select Hr :
Min : Sec : Frame rather than
Bar · Beat · Unit. This
way, like magic, Vision will display
exactly the same information on tape
position as your DA-88's display, no
matter where you rewind or
fast-forward. Now you know that Vision and your
DA-88 are in perfect
sync.
You will probably need to edit your MIDI sequencer data
during a recording
session-for instance, to make musical decisions such as
altering a program
change to a different synth patch, or to change a
sound's hardware output
panning through that channel's MIDI Pan control.
This would involve moving
Vision forward or backward through the sequencer.
Obviously it would be
a tedious waste of time to have to do this by
endlessly shuttling your audio
tape around on the DA-88, so here's what you
do. In Vision, you can grab
the little menu on the Control Bar where it
says "Timecode" and
change it to "Internal." Then
Vision's connection with the DA-88
is broken, and you can play around with
things. However, all you have to
do to get Vision back in perfect sync with
the DA-88 is to grab the little
menu again and set it back to
"Timecode." The machines know how
to do the rest.
So,
the important question: Assuming everything's configured, and your
synth
hardware audio outs are bussed to the right location on the DA-88
input,
how do you record a track from sequencer playback to an audio track
on the
DA-88?
Select the correct starting point on the DA-88. To
start at the beginning
of your sequence, this point should be the same as
the "Offset"
value you typed into Vision's sequence window. Now,
roll your DA-88 back
five or ten seconds before this point to create some
pre-roll time. Back
at the Mac, make sure Vision is in Auto Punch, and hit
the triangular
"Continue"
button on the transport. Vision's
"Play button" will sit there
and blink, and nothing in Vision
will move. This is because Vision is
waiting for the tape to roll.
Enable the correct recording tracks on the DA-88, and put it in
record mode.
Vision will then start playing the sequencer back at exactly
the right time,
and keep things in sync with the DA-88 throughout the
length of the recording.
You can now shuttle around on the tape
all you want, and Vision will keep
pace. You can start and stop and punch
in in the middle of the song, and
Vision will keep up its playback. You're
on your way.
Observations and thoughts for the
future
All of these capabilities give the user a tremendous
amount of power and
flexibility, but with them come dizzying layers of
complexity due to all
those options.
Rehearse at
Home!
First and foremost among these complexities is the
difficulty of working
with multiple different models of synthesizers made
by different companies,
all of which have their own unique operating
systems and myriad control
settings that have to be set in a certain way to
make the whole system work.
This problem is one of the reasons that you
need a MIDI sequencer in the
first place. At home, set up all your MIDI
hardware and your sequencer exactly
as you would in the CARA studio. At
home, pretend you are in the studio.
Make sure the musicians/keyboardists
who sequenced the data are there with
you. Rehearse everything, and find
out ahead of time how to reset every
synth to the parameters that you will
need.
This pre-production MIDI rehearsal will take many
hours of scratching
your head and thumbing through owners manuals. But
if you do this in your
spare time at home, you won't have to spend all of a
studio recording session
reading manuals rather than recording music. This
is what sequencers are
for- to enable you to get all of your musical
performances down outside
the studio, before you get to the studio, because
studio time is precious,
rare, and expensive if you are out in the real
world.
Editing and Backing Up Data
If you've got a
Mac and modern synthesizers, you have the capability of
using a computer
editor/librarian program, such as MOTU Unisyn or Opcode
Galaxy, to edit all
the complex minute details of editing parameters for
each synth on your
computer while you are running a sequencer such as Vision.
While you're at
it, you can carry out the very necessary function of backing
up all your
synth patches and programming parameters to the hard disk of
your computer
through MIDI bulk dumps. I learned the need for this the hard
way when my
Alesis QS6 seized up during one of our rehearsal sessionsand
would not play
anything. I had to completely re-initialize the memory of
the QS, which
fixed the problem but also erased all my custom
sound
programming!
Synth Hardware Outputs and Signal
Processing
Back to the synth hardware. A particularly thorny
problem is how to get
unique synth patch sounds to come out of only one
output, or to sit in a
particular stereo-field location within a pair of
stereo outputs. Using
the multitimbral synths' built-in signal processing
effects, such as stereo
reverb and chorus, complicates things immensely
because of effects bus routing,
and the fact that sounds go into the bus
mono, but come out stereo due to
the application of stereo reverb,
etc.
It would obviously be easier to have all the sounds coming
from your synths
to be dry, with no effects. However, think about it and
you'll realize that
if you plan carefully, you can record sounds wet and
print their effects
to tape. This will give you the opportunity for much
more detail and richness
in your final mixdown, because every track can
have its own custom effect
if you like. Assuming that your synth module has
good quality internal effects
(and recent models do indeed), you might as
well take advantage of them.
But this is one more layer of
complexity.
Mixdown automation with MIDI before you
record
A modern sequencer like Vision contains mixdown
automation for your MIDI
channels. You can pan, mute, solo, fade up and
fade down channels of MIDI
data, and you can save your dynamic pan and
level moves as part of your
sequence. Figuring out how all this would
relate to tracking to audio a
few tracks at a time would once again add
another layer of complexity, but
that power is there as long as you have
modern synths that will respond
to program changes, continuous controllers,
and pan messages.
Remember, however, that fading down a channel
coming out of your MIDI synth
means that fade is going to tape; you are
committing yourself to something
that you can't undo with mixer console
automation. If your sound is coming
out of your synth hardware at a low
volume level, your signal-to-noise ratio
will get worse, and when you turn
up the audio track on tape playback, you'll
hear the noise floor of the
synth module. Modern synths are very clean,
but this could still be
noticeable.
I have not yet mentioned MIDI Machine Control
(MMC). Through
this protocol, you can actually run all your
mixer automation from one
location.
In theory, you could actually shuttle
your DA-88's transport from within
Vision, or from within the Automix
controls of the Yamaha 02R. But if you
have various hardware and software
elements with good user interfaces, this
kind of centralized control is
probably more trouble than it's worth.
An Important Note about
OMS and the Yamaha 02R
OMS on the Macintosh is accomplished by
a number of control panels and
extensions
which patch into the Macintosh
operating system. When OMS is configured
to use both the serial ports, it
holds onto them as long as OMS is running
or until you configure OMS to
give up one of the ports. I'm talking about
using the 02R Project Manager
software here. You can have OMS and Vision
run out of one port while you
configure OMS to ignore the other port so
that the 02R Project Manager can
use it. However, to use MTC Sync and send
out MIDI data, you need both
ports, and there's nothing left for the 02R
to use.
Expensive Mac
multiple port MIDI interfaces such as the Opcode Studio 4
can accept
multiple MIDI inputs and merge their data together to
be sent to the
Mac through a single port. It might be possible to use such
a device to get
MTC in and MIDI sequencer data out the same port, leaving
the other port
open for the 02R Project Manager and a serial cable hooked
up to the Yamaha
02R. I have not tested this; furthermore, I have been warned
by the
technical support people that I may suffer inaccuracies in timing
and
synchronization by sending MTC in and MIDI sequencer data out the same
port.
After any MIDI work that I do in Studio A, I'm going to leav
e OMS re-configured
for letting 02R Project Manager use the Printer Port
exclusively, and I'm
going to re-connect the cable to the 02R and confirm
that 02R Project Manager
is running correctly and able to communicate with
the 02R.
But What About Using the 02R's Powerful Automix
Automation and 02R Project
Manager Software on my MIDI
Project?
Exactly what I was thinking about. In my application,
you will remember,
I disabled the 02R Project Manager and did not attempt
any Automix automation
(which requires synchronization in and of itself)
because all I wanted to
do was to record every last bit of MIDI music to
audio tape first. After
this, I'm free to hook the Project Manager
back up, take the synthesizers
back home, and just mix audio, with all the
complex automated fader moves
I can dream up.
What's this I've
heard about using a MIDI sequencer for
virtual
tracks?
Let's say we only had one
DA-88 to use, with only eight tracks of
audio. We could take our twelve
tracks of sequencer synth music and play
them back in sync with the audio
tape and never print any of the
MIDI-generated music to tape tracks.
When we were ready to mix down our
song, we would have eight tracks of
humans on the audio DA-88, and twelve
"virtual" tracks of
sequenced data on the sequencer, which could
be played back in perfect
sync. The tape tracks and the synthesizer hardware
outputs could all be
bussed through a mixer with lots of channels and from
there straight to our
DAT for mix-down. We could automate the MIDI music
part, even with an
analog hardware mixer with no automation capabilities,
by using the
computer sequencer's panning and level controls.
This is another
very powerful application you can use if you can afford
your own MIDI
sequencer and mixer, but have limited tracks for audio recording.
The
disadvantage to this is that you need to have all of your synth
hardware
hooked up and running all the time that you will be recording or
mixing
your audio tracks.
That may not be the best way to work at
CARA with our plentiful tape tracks
and limited time access in Studio A.
However, if all your MIDI gear and
mixing gear is in your home studio where
you don't have to strike it and
re-assemble it frequently, this is an
excellent way to work. And many composers
with home studios have used the
virtual track method to produce a lot of
the music you've seen on TV and
bought in the record store!
What's in the
future?
Synchronization will always be required at some stage
or another regardless
of the hardware used, in applications for music and
video synchronization.
However, things keep getting cheaper in the computer
business. Pretty soon
we'll all be working with systems such as a Macintosh
with Pro Tools, in
which you can make your MIDI sequences and record and
edit your audio tracks
all within one computer box. No synchronization
needed, because you don't
have to get multiple machines to work together!
Furthermore, you will be able to take a client's high-resolution
video tape
and sample the video into your computer (at a lower resolution
with less
bandwidth) and then play back the synched video in a window in
your sequencing
program alongside of your audio tracks and MIDI sequence
tracks. You can
then record your audio and give it to your client, who can
have a video
house synchronize the audio back to the original
high-resolution video
tape-using
SMPTE.
The technology to do this
is already available, and many systems such as
Pro Tools, Opcode Studio
Vision Pro, and MOTU Digital Performer can do this
today. Realistically,
the hardware and software to do all this at a
professional
level would cost
you more than ten thousand dollars today. But in the future,
we'll all be
able to buy such a system at Guitar Center-or Wolf Camera-for
much
less.
Appendix:
It's more compatible than you think it is,
Or, "A Long Strange
Trip"
While we are on the
subject of MIDI sequencing and synth programming on
computer, let me point
out that while you do need to have your own computer
at home, you don't
necessarily need to have the same type of computer (Mac
or PC) or even the
same brands of sequencer software in order to do work
at home and then
bring it in to CARA. Programs such as Vision and Performer
are available
in both Mac and PC versions, and a file written in one can
be opened by
another version of the program on another platform. More to
the point, all
sequencers worth their salt have the capability of reading
and writing to
Standard MIDI Files, which can be taken on disk and imported
into any other
sequencing system.
As a practical example of this, the
sequences for the project I've been
telling you about had a very
interesting history. Jeff has recorded two
previous versions of the piece
we are now working on, and we wanted to do
it again, because now we have
the capability of such a nice digital studio
at CARA.
The music
was first composed about six years ago by Jeff, on an Alesis MMT-8
hardware
sequencer. He saved the Alesis files to floppy disk using an
Alesis
DataDisk hardware device.
In later years, he bought a Mac,
and translated the Alesis-format files
to Standard MIDI Files, which he
loaded onto the Data Disk's DOS-format
floppies. He put the floppies in his
Mac, and opened them up for work in
Master Tracks Pro for Macintosh. He
sold the Alesis hardware.
When I called him about doing our
project, Jeff saved the Master Tracks
Pro files as Standard MIDI Files, and
e-mailed them to me. I opened them
up in Opcode's Musicshop for the Mac,
which is a cheaper, "junior"
version of Vision which has no
synchronization capabilities. We rehearsed
everything at our homes.
At one point I had to send Jeff home to record some additional
synth lead
parts, so I took my Musicshop file, output it as a Standard MIDI
File, put
it on a DOS-formatted floppy disk in my Macintosh, and gave it to
Jeff.
He put the floppy disk into the disk drive of the on-board sequencer
in
his Ensoniq MR-61 keyboard, and recorded the parts there. They then
came
back to me on floppy disk, where I imported them to the Mac, converted
them
back to Musicshop, fixed a few things, converted them back to Standard
MIDI
Files, and brought them in to CARA for our project.
At
school, I opened up these files in Vision, which has sync capability.
With
just a little formatting, everything was running fine!
All Rights Reserved