Roland VS and Reaper: That Syncing Feeling

Thanks for all the advice -- the VS forum helped as well. I think I've had success. I have the VS driving Reaper (which wasn't my ideal solution, but it'll do for now) and the VS is sending tempo information, which seems to keep the beats the same in Reaper. (My timeline is set up as measures and beats.) Every time I stopped the Roland, Reaper sent the cursor back to the start -- very frustrating. But I right clicked the play button and ticked the two boxes there talking about 'starting play with valid timecode' -- or something like that (sorry -- not near my studio right now) -- and it seems to be working fine now. Thanks very much!

If you want Reaper to be the master, let me know and I'll give you instructions for doing that. Which VS do you have anyway?

Thanks 

I'd love Reaper to be the Master. It's easier to dial into things that way. Do tell, if you get the chance. (Although, do you know why it is that sometimes if I want the cursor in Reaper to go bang on to one specific spot, and I use 'jump to', say Bar 13, first beat...13.1.00 -- when it jumps it doesn't go straight there -- it refuses to. It'll go to 13.1.04, or some location like that -- very frustrating!) I'm using a Roland VS 1880, which I love, now that it's taken me years and years to learn how to use it. I'd love to get a job writing manuals for Roland -- imagine all the human misery you'd be eliminating... Many thanks for all the help.

Hello mjmartin64, First, to answer your "jump to" question. My system is not having that problem. If I type a value in "jump to" and press enter, my cursor goes to exactly what I type everytime. Also, if I set markers and then press the corresponding number key, my cursor also goes straight to the exact position. However, I will say that I do recall experiencing that problem with my old computer when I first tried Reaper. But I also had cursor problems with other software too. When I got my new pc in 2007, all those kinds of problems magically disappeared. Now on to making your 1880 slave to Reaper. Insert a "SMPTE LTC/MTC Timecode Generator" on an empty track. Then right click on it and select "source properties." Change the "Send Audio LTC" to "Send Midi MTC." Then drag the generator out to the full length of your song. Then go to "Options > Preferences > Midi Devices." Under Midi Outputs, right click on the midi channel you want to send MTC thru. Select "enable." Then click on the I/O icon on the "SMPTE LTC/MTC Timecode Generator" track and under "MIDI Hardware Output" select the appropriate midi channel you want to send MTC on. Press the "EXT SYNC" button in the upper right hand corner of your 1880 and it should start flashing. Press PLAY on the 1880. The PLAY button should start flashing now. That's it. You're done. Now Reaper is the master and the 1880 is the slave. When you press play in Reaper at this point, the 1880 will follow along in perfect sync. If you fast forward or rewind in Reaper, the 1880 will chase the signal and then start playing again in perfect sync. It's important not to miss any steps here. If it doesn't work for you, slowly go over each step until you get it right. I just tested it with my 1880 and it worked perfectly. Good luck! :)

Hey -- -- Thanks! 

Funky beat -- I was just reviewing this life-saving thread which sorts me out everytime I forget how to sync my gear. I was astonished to see I failed to thank you for your detailed (and accurate) advice from months ago. Weird. Dunno where my head was at. This really was fantastic advice and really really timesaving for me. Thanks a lot!

No problem mjmartin. Glad it worked for ya. :)

Hey -- another Roland dude! 

Good to know there are other Roland dudes out there. I love/hate Roland...great gear, very steep learning curve. Don't mean to change the subject on this thread, but from one Roland guy to another, any advice on getting the low down on how to cope with getting reaper to talk to my Roland XP 50 keyboard? (I can't get Reaper midi tracks to talk to all the different voices in the keyboards midi 'performance' collection of patches) Sorry -- I know that's a big change in topic -- I'll repost elsewhere perhaps?