Hey guys,

I've been producing with software for a few yeasrs and I finally decided to take the plunge with gear. My intention is to use this gear with Ableton Live. This is a whole new world to me so I was looking for some suggestions on an ideal setup.

I currently have 2 Waldorf rack synth and an M-Audio Radium keyboard. I'm currently working my way through the manuals, but I was just looking for some tips on how to set this up most efficient.

This what I understand, please correct me if I'm wrong or if there's a better solution.

MIDI Cable connections:
-Keyboard connected to MIDI IN on my soundcard.
-MIDI Output from soundcard to Synth 1
-MIDI Through from Synth 1 to MIDI IN of Synth 2

MIDI Channel Questions:
-I assume I will want to set the clocks on both synths to be EXT so that it can sync with my software
-Will I set Synth 1 as "MIDI Channel 1" and set Synth 2 as "MIDI Channel 2" so that I can assign these channels from Live?

Is this the basic idea behind hooking up gear to software without a MIDI controller? Will this work? Is there a better configuration??

I'm open to suggestions... especially if someone has actually used gear with Live... I'm learning everything at the same time, so it's quite everwhelming right now... which is why I'm looking to you guys for some help.

Any advice, tips and tricks would be sooooo greatly appreciated

Thanks!

-=T=-

I love my micro Q so much... lol.. such an incredible sound doesnt even sound like a synth half the time, more like an alien life form. Good to see another user on the boards. So what Waldorfs do you have?

Well you shouldnt have any problems running them with Live. I'm using my Waldorf Micro-Q with Live 5 and it works a treat. Just set the output of the Live channel to the midi output of your soundcard/midi device.

You wont need to to set each synth to a midi channel as such. There should be a multi mode which allows up to 8 or 16 midi channels top be played back simultaneously. To get the most out of your racks, you'll need to set them up in that mode. You then assign the midi channel outputs (1-16) for each track in Live. Each channel transmittinf from Live should correspond with the channel listening on your synths.

Some Waldorf synths have dodgy midi timing, so you may need to adjust the midi sync delay in Live too. This really only works with Live 5 though, so if your using 4, then you might not be able to compensate if the midi timing starts to drift. Might not be a problem though... mine seems to work fine.

It gets a bit trickier if your using an on screen editor like mQedit in which case, you'll need to use something like midiyoke to get Live to pass the midi signal to the editor first and then through to the racks. Took me ages to figure it out, but finally found a connection that works. PM if you have any trouble with that side of things although if your not using an editor, you wont have a problem.

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Thanks so much for the response! This definetly cleared some things up! I had the priviledge of buying the MicroQ and the Microwave2 (another amazing sounding synth). I imagine this will be quite the learning process, but thanks for the midi clarification with the midi channels!

I'm actually using Live5 also... so it sounds like I'm on the right track

Currently building my studio in the basement as we speak, so once that's done I'll really be able to focus on getting things done!

Cheers!