How do I record midi from Cubase on ST to Logic Pro on Mac?

[MitchT]

I have a load of arrangements which I made in Cubase on the Atari ST and I want to transfer them to Logic Pro on the Mac. I know that I need to connect my USB midi interface to my Mac and the relevant midi plug to the midi out on the Atari ST. I also know that I need to click the 'sync' button in Logic Pro to make it the 'slave' and leave the sync button not lit up in Cubase to make it the master... but having done this it isn't working. When I click the 'record' button in Logic Pro it waits for a signal, as it should, but when I click the 'play' button in Cubase and the arrangement starts playing, I just end up with a block that's one bar long appearing in Logic pro and the vertical 'progress line' in Logic Pro doesn't move. Obviously I have the settings wrong but without screen-shots indicating what they should be I can't tell whether it's Logic, or Cubase, or both that need fixing. The Logic Pro manual hasn't helped and I don't have a manual for Cubase. Any ideas?

[Evil Jack]

Why not just export a midi file from Cubase transfer it across and import it into Logic?
Midi is midi.

[tribbles]

Evil Jack said:

Why not just export a midi file from Cubase transfer it across and import it into Logic?
Midi is midi.

That's what I did when I transferred from Cubase to Logic last year. Just exported all the music as a MIDI file (and also Reason files), and spent a bit of time tidying it up.

The only problem is that you'll lose all the sections, so if you've got repetitive bits done as repeating patterns, they'll end up as one large section (so a bit of cutting is required).

[Gylen]

Evil Jack said:

Why not just export a midi file from Cubase transfer it across and import it into Logic?
Midi is midi.

Thirded. Pain in the ass trying to record MIDI from one to other - just export the file, import it into Logic. You might need to reassign channels to modules etc. but it shouldn't take long...

[MitchT]

Evil Jack said:

Why not just export a midi file from Cubase transfer it across and import it into Logic?
Midi is midi.

If only it were that simple. I did this for one track. The process went as follows...

1: Save midi file to floppy disk on ST.
2: Take floppy disk to work and transfer file to PC which has a floppy drive - my Mac at home doesn't.
3: E-mail file home.
4: Open e-mail and transfer file to Mac.
5: Open file in Logic on Mac.

I was going to do this with all of my arrangements but the ST wouldn't export most of them because is said there wasn't enough memory. Whether it meant it needed more RAM to cpmplete the export process or that the floppy didn't have the capacity for the file I don't know, but I did try using a newly formatted floppy for each track, and it still said there wasn't enough memory, so I guess it's down to RAM.

If I set Logic recording it will record from the ST, and I can separate the tracks easily, but when I put it into sync mode to ensure that the Mac is being clocked by the ST is when the problems occur. I guess I'll just have to record the stuff across when the two aren't synced together and then crop the front of the block off and drag it so that the begining of the first event starts at zero.

[tribbles]

Hmm - USB floppy for the Mac? (if you were in my area, then I'd lend you one to try - however, you're quite a distance away).

[MitchT]

tribbles said:

Hmm - USB floppy for the Mac? (if you were in my area, then I'd lend you one to try - however, you're quite a distance away).

As I said though, the ST wouldn't export most of the tracks that I tried to save as midi files because of 'lack of memory', so I wouldn't be able to get them onto a floppy in the first place to put into a USB floppy drive attached to the Mac. It does look like the only option is that of recording from Atari to Mac via midi. It will work if the two machines aren't synced together - I simply have to start recording on the Mac and then hit 'play' on the ST - but I was hoping that I'd be able to make the more precise synced method work.

[Parrot of Doom]

Can you not record the MIDI file to an audio track (a DVD recorder would probably be best unless you have a DAT), in much the same way as SMPTE timecode is recorded - sample it on your MAC, and then use an online utility to convert it back to data?

Works perfectly well for timecode, I see no reason why MIDI wouldn't work the same way. The data will probably only be across 2 pins on the MIDI plug?

Edited by Parrot of Doom on Thursday 24th January 01:10

[MitchT]

Parrot of Doom said:

Can you not record the MIDI file to an audio track (a DVD recorder would probably be best unless you have a DAT), in much the same way as SMPTE timecode is recorded - sample it on your MAC, and then use an online utility to convert it back to data?

Works perfectly well for timecode, I see no reason why MIDI wouldn't work the same way. The data will probably only be across 2 pins on the MIDI plug?

Edited by Parrot of Doom on Thursday 24th January 01:10

I could do all that, but it would be a hell of a lot more work than simply setting the Mac to record and hitting 'play' on the ST and then dragging the block of data to the correct point once it had been recorded, before de-merging the channels/tracks. I think this is what I'll do. I just wanted to see if anyone could shed some light onto the issue of getting the Mac and the ST synced properly, but I can manage without.

[MitchT]

Well, after asking for advice on several forums and receiving many detailed replies, but still being unable to sync my Mac to my ST, I have finally found a crude but effective solution.

First:
Press 'play' in Cubase on the ST and 'record' in Logic Pro 8 on the Mac WITHOUT the machines synced together. This, at least, facilitates the transfer of all the midi sequence data from Cubase to Logic, even if the events do gradually become more and more out of time with the tempo as the sequence progresses towards the end (due to the two machines running at minutely different speeds).

Next:
Drag the block of midi data that's now in the track that I recorded to in Logic Pro 8 to the zero point.

Next:
Double-click the block so that I can select all the events inside it and drag the events so that the first event is at the exact point where it should be.

Next:
alt+drag the far end of the block to scale it, and all of the events inside it, so that each event falls exactly where it should on the grid.

Finally:
Breathe sigh of relief!

[inmarten]

I found your thread in a moment of dire need and it helped me sort out my problem, so Thanks!
Atari to Mac recording multiple midi tracks
I used to do it with STUDIO VISION
VISION had to ability to set up for MULTI CHANNEL Midi Recording

You can find a version of VISION (I think they call it Abandonware..)

http://www.archive.org/details/tucows_206378_Visio...
The best Midi program by far for the mac, but anyway

I used a version of Digital Performer (DP 4.5)
that lets you set up Multichannel Midi recording
so i then could

Sync the DP 4.5 on the MAC to the Atari by Midi Beat Clock

Created a new Midi track for each channel of the Atari (16 trks)

and then recorded All of the Atari midi tracks in one go

Comes back spot on Tempo wise
the I can EXPORT the midi file to use anywhere else

Thanks for the Inspiration to keep trying
Atari's rule anyway
all this new st, is well..st
Best!