Sequencer synch question

Cubase
1

For the longest time I have been using the click countdown on my sequencer and then hitting record to record all the midi going from the sequencer to cubase. The problem with this, of course, is twofold: (1) the midi events are not perfectly lined up on the grid and (2) the tempo on cubase remains at 120.000. I have read the manual and I believe I know how to fix the tempo by setting up the time clock but this is my main question:

A long time ago I was in this guy’s music studio and when I hit play on my sequencer it sent a signal to make the DAW automatically begin recording upon receiving the signal. I believe in midi terms that would have made his DAW the “slave.” In the manual for Cubase 8 it states that you can’t make Cubase the slave. I was wondering how I can get cubase to start recording upon receiving the “go” signal from my sequencer, so that the tempo on cubase will match the tempo on my sequencer and also so the notes and beats will be as close to perfectly on the grid as I can get them.

If not, is there a way to make cubase send a signal to my sequencer when I hit record so the sequencer will start playing?

Either way, my stripped down question is: how do I get both my sequencer and cubase to start playing and recording at the exact same time?

Thank you in advance for your help.

2

Hi,

Transport > project Synchronization Setup is the window you are searching for.

If Cubase should be your master, make sure “Internal Timecode” is selected. If Cubase should be a slave, enable MIDI Timecode. If Cubase is master, enable the MIDI Timecode Destination - the MIDI port, where do you want to send the sync data from Cubase. Enable all 3 options: Follow Project Position, Send Start message and Send MIDI Clock in Stop Mode.

3

Thank you, Martin. I will try this. My sequencer is ancient - it’s an ensoniq eps from the 80s but it sure triggered the record response on the DAW the guy who was recording us in 1999 had. I now have multiple outputs on my ensoniq but back then I only had one so we had to record each part individually and when I hit play the DAW started recording and everything was synched perfectly in the recording.