Sync NOTION3 with external device (MTC, midiclock, ..) ??

[Mez]

Hello,

I downloaded the demo-version of Notion3 yesterday. Very impressed with the sound library and the notation features etc.. I would buy this software in a heartbeat.

HOWEVER, the only thing that's keeping me from insta-buying this program is this:
I've been trying like crazy to simply sync Notion 3 with an external device (my workstation, a 24-track HD-recorder) which has been my setup for ages and I record a ton of real instruments.
All I want is Notion3 to start or stop when I press play or stop on my external HD multi-track recorder.

I've been doing simple MIDI-syncing like this for ages. All it should take is a MIDI-cable, one device to act the as MIDI-master and one as MIDI-slave and then some boxes to check (internal/external, midiclock, MTC etc) to make it all run together. If I'm not mistaken, this was the main reason they invented MIDI in the first place.

I'm not new to MIDI, my workstation has all the features as well (MTC, midiclock, synctr, SMPTE, and all the different frame rates, gapping and what not). I still have some pre-historic notation software (ENCORE 4.0) that you can fit on a single floppy disc that I can get to sync without any problem. How hard can it be, really?

Anyway, I've been browsing this forum and the internet looking for answers. I found this post viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1470 by pcartwright about MTC sync. I tried it but unfortunately I can't get it to work. Neither with Notion as the MIDI SLAVE or MASTER, but obviously I'd prefer the PC to act as MIDI-slave.

Has aynyone as ever succeeded to sync NOTION3 with an external device?
Or could someone from NOTION support confirm whether or not it is possible to sync Notion3 with an external device through a simple MIDI setup?

Again, I would buy this software in a heartbeat but if I can't get it to sync with an external device then it pretty much looks like a state of the art limousine standing inside a garage with no exit gate.

[Mez]

Okay, so I finally got NOTION3 to sync with my external multi-track recorder with NOTION acting as the MIDI-slave, so that a NOTION3 score starts playing when I press the play buttton of the multitrack recorder.

I got it to work with the NTempo feature. FWIW, my external workstation is a Roland Virtual Studio VS2400CD. I'll describe what I did, maybe someone else might find it useful or try something similar with another external device than the one that I use.

1) on my multi-track recorder I changed the "METRONOME OUT" parameters.
--> OFF - INTERNAL - MIDI. I set it to MIDI
--> REC only - Rec&Play --> I put it to Rec&Play
--> METRONOME MIDI CHANNEL: 10 (which is the default setting)
--> for the "Accent Note" and "Normal Note" I assigned C4
I chose C4 because according to the NOTION3 manual the MIDI Keyboard Defaults for "NTempo (perform)" are C4 D4 E4 F4 G4
So basically I'm letting my workstation perform what a MIDI-keyboard is supposed to do with the NTempo feature (at least to make the score start to run).

2) Back to NOTION:
- in the Setup screen I added an NTempo bar (which seems to appear as the top bar on the score by default)
- in EDIT-mode I put quarter notes into the NTempo bar to act as the metronome
- In File->Preferences I made the NTempo MIDI-channel match the one that I chose on my workstation for METRONOME MIDI CHANNEL (10)

When I did all this and then changed to PERFORM-mode I could make NOTION3 sync with my external workstation.
When I press PLAY on the workstation the NOTION score starts to play as well.
When I press STOP, however, it keeps running. That is: the time meter on the display in PERFORM-mode keeps running until you press NOTION's stop button, but on the score the cursor stops where I pressed the workstations STOP, as do the sounds. Which is not much of a problem, as long as I can get it to sync with my workstation as the MIDI-MASTER device.

Also, the rehearsal marks seem to function as locator points. So when I press a locator point on my workstation, say measure 15, and add a corresponding rehearsal mark on the NOTION score at measure 15 then playback starts together with the workstation at the same point, as long as I use this order:
- press the locator button on the workstation
- in PERFORM-mode (and stopped playback) jump to the same Rehearsal Mark
- press play on the workstation.

For some reason, changing the MIDI OUT Sync Generator (MTC, midiclock) on my workstation doesn't seem to influence the sync with NOTION. I can even switch it to OFF. Weird.

What I did have to adjust was the velocity of these click track pulses (adjustable as 'accent notes' and 'normal notes') that my workstation now sends out to Notion because it seemed to affect the velocity of the notes on the bars in playback. I ended up setting "Ntempo Dynamics" in Preferences to 'None' which didn't affect the syncing nor interfered with the velocity of the notes on the score.

Anyway, I got NOTION3 to sync with my external device. Which is cool cos I downloaded the demo only yesterday and as I mentioned in above post: it looks and sounds great. I'm most probably buying this.

[pcartwright]

Good info. Thanks for sharing.