Export Audio and MIDI files from the same Cycle Marker - different lengths. Why?

Cubase
1

Hi,

I have several audio tracks and one MIDI track in my project that serves as the base for a musical I’m doing. All the songs are laid out on the timeline with a corresponding Cycle Marker. The audio and MIDI tracks are going to be exported to Qlab and I use the MIDI track to send CC changes and MIDI Clock to my Kemper and to scroll pages on Forscore on my iPad. When I import the tracks to Qlab, the audio and MIDI files are different lengths and I cannot for the sake of me figure out why. I’ve tried two methods of exporting the MIDI files:

  1. Drag and drop. Dragging the MIDI events out of Cubase into Finder and then into Qlab.
  2. File - Export - MIDI File. I’ve selected a Cycle Marker, Locators to selection, then Export. Type 0, Export Locator Range.

I need these files to sync up so that things happen at the right time during the songs. Any ideas?

2

Update: When I open the MIDI file in VLC it shows the same length as in Qlab, so it seems that the issue is with the export. Why aren’t the audio and MIDI files the same tempo?

3

just a hunch - is the time base the same for both audio and midi?

4

Good call! The MIDI track was in linear mode. So I’ve changed it to musical and that alters the length when I export. However, it’s still not the same lengths (ie tempo) as the audio files. For example, in one of my songs the audio files and cycle markers are all 34 seconds long. The first MIDI files were 37 seconds long. When I activate musical mode on the MIDI track and use the File-Export-MIDI file function, the resulting MIDI file is 31 seconds long. I may be closer, but I’m still not close enough! Obviously, on a four minute song the difference is much bigger.