OT: Need help with synth setup!!

I recently bought a E-mu Proteus 2 that I'm going to use during live shows and for recording but I can't get it to play with my drum machine. Basically does anyone know how to link the computer to the proteus and to a drum machine so all of them are in sync? I have many midi cables, the proteus has a midi in port, a midi out port, and a midi thru port. My drum machine is a ZOOM RhythmTrack ..234 and it has only a midi in port. The manual for the drum machine says to make sure the MIDI sequencer can send MIDI clock, start, stop, and continue signals.

I've tried hooking it to the midi out from my computer but when I play the MIDI on the computer nothing happens. So then I used my home studio to record the drum part and then the proteus part and I was going to try and mix them but for some reason they get off which means that 110 bpm on my drum machine is slightly different than 110 bpm my computer is playing which is odd.

Hopefully someone knows how to do this. I'm pretty sure some New Order fan would know how haha

Thanks! Alex

Alex, make sure your Zoom drum machine is set to receive the MIDI properly(MIDI in should be set to "on"). If it's set properly, then the issue may be with your sequencer's ability to send out MIDI clock. Also, if you're chaining it through your Proteus, you need to make sure that the clock data is able to pass through. I'm not real familiar with either of these devices so I can only give vauge starting points. Knowing which sequencer you're using might help shed some light on the issue.

I do have the Zoom MIDI in set to on when I do it, but nothing happens. I've been using Finale for MIDI music but want to try something else so if you have some suggestions I'll check them out. If I'm linking the Zoom from the Proteus should I use the MIDI thru port or the MIDI out port?

Thanks! Alex

Sounds like Finale isn't sending out MIDI clock. I haven't used Finale so I'm just guessing that there should be a MIDI menu somewhere from within the program that deal with playback setting and sync. You may have to tell it to send out MIDI sync and possibly to which MIDI port. If all seems to be set up properly, take your Proteus out of the chain and see if the drum machine will start hooked up directly. If it works then, but not with the Proteus in the chain, then the Proteus could be filtering out MIDI clock data. I'd hook the Zoom up using the Proteus' MIDI Thru otherwise. All this stuff works pretty much the same in theory (same protocol) but it's difficult to troubleshoot unless you've worked with this particular combination of gear and software. Best of luck with your troubles and hopefully this will help you look in the right direction.

Chris

Thanks a lot for the help! I have turned the send MIDI clock option on when using Finale and I just tried Cakewalk too but neither one has an effect on the drum machine. I'm gonna have to try something else because for some reason the drum machine isn't cooperating . Oh well!

Thanks again Alex

hmmm... next question. Can you play the drum machine's sounds from the sequencer? If it's set up to receive MIDI properly, there should be some way to play the sounds. Is there a MIDI data light on the thing anywhere so you can verify it's actually getting MIDI? I'm afraid I'm all out of ideas from this point.