Strange Timing Issue

[64BARS]

Hello all, first post here.

I am having a strange issue in Reaper when recording audio from an external MIDI Drum Machine...

When I press record, the first moment of recording has lag, but then immediately corrects itself for the rest of the recording. So for example, the very first Hi Hats and Kick Drum hits have noticeable lag, but for the rest of the recording, are perfectly on time with no issue. I have made sure this isn't "perceived" lag from monitoring. When I look at the audio data, the first moment of recording has significant startup lag compared to the rest of the recording.

Does anyone know the cause for this or how to fix it? It is very annoying!

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[64BARS]

Anyone? Bump

[domzy]

Is the drum machine synced to reaper? If so, maybe have a empty bar at the start to give it time to establish itself.

[64BARS]

The drum machine is synced to reaper like this:

MacBook Pro > USB audio/MIDI interface > old MIDI thru box > drum machine

I’ve determined it is a MIDI problem by recording reapers click track into my microphone with no startup delay.

Perhaps the thru box is causing a signal stutter or something? The drum machine is receiving clock, start/stop... but stutters at the beginning of the recording. MIDI is just taking extra time to reach it. I’m not sure how to fix this.

[shanabit]

Originally Posted by 64BARS

The drum machine is synced to reaper like this:

MacBook Pro > USB audio/MIDI interface > old MIDI thru box > drum machine

I’ve determined it is a MIDI problem by recording reapers click track into my microphone with no startup delay.

Perhaps the thru box is causing a signal stutter or something? The drum machine is receiving clock, start/stop... but stutters at the beginning of the recording. MIDI is just taking extra time to reach it. I’m not sure how to fix this.

1. You should go from the MIDI OUT of your interface to the drum machine if possible and skip the thru box. Im assuming you are coming out the interface midi into the thru box midi IN?

2. On your DRUM MACHINE, enter a 1 bar empty pattern at the beginning of the song to allow the drum machine lockup time or just put an empty measure in Reaper before the start of your project

3. Start all your projects at bar 2 in Reaper

4. Set your audio buffer as low as you can when syncing midi to track the audio

[64BARS]

I got rid of the thru box. This made no difference. I ran a pre-roll. This made a big difference. Running empty bars also made a big difference. This will slow down workflow and is quite annoying though.

It seems that the record/start action is taking an extra moment to be processed. The strange part is that it then gets in time. It’s just that initial stutter. It’s a MIDI issue. I just don’t know to solve it. I suppose I’ll have to settle for these workarounds.

[64BARS]

I’m finding that I’m having this problem with just about all of my MIDI devices. The first notes either don’t play or stutter or are clearly delayed. This applies to all the external synths and drum machines I’ve tried with it. When I press play/record the first notes either don’t play or are badly delayed, then the rest of the recording is correctly synced.

What is this about?

Please help! This is terribly annoying