Syncing SMF file with audio

[Thorste]

Arlo,
I emailed Rolf and he said playback is delayed a little when in background,
this is needed for the metronome click to be stable.

So for the next version he will change this functionality so the delay only happens when the metronome is enabled.

He also warned that trying to sync audio and MIDI without any real syncronization is bound to fail (sooner or later).

Wouldn't midi beat clock from SLM be considered a form of synchronization?

Thor

[Pongo]

This is another reason why using the Automation feature [exclusively] in SLM is a better option, IMHO.

Using the automation to:

Start playback of the recording
Send MIDI presets (at determined times during your song)
Scroll Lyrics (if desired)
Send CC data to toggle harmony on/off

Works great and is not dependent on synchronization with anything else, outside of SLM; it's a true `one stop shop'.
No need for MIDI beat clock at all.

[arlo]

I emailed Rolf and he said playback is delayed a little when in background,
this is needed for the metronome click to be stable.
So for the next version he will change this functionality so the delay only happens when the metronome is enabled.

Okay, that's nice.

He also warned that trying to sync audio and MIDI without any real syncronization is bound to fail (sooner or later).

Yes, that's why I was asking what kind of MIDI messages you are sending. But it sounds like you are sending too many messages to make an automation track practical. Technically, an automation track isn't any more synchronized than what you're doing now, but it reduces the chance for something to go wrong by keeping all the functionality inside one app.

Wouldn't midi beat clock from SLM be considered a form of synchronization?

Do you mean Sweet MIDI Player can follow Set List Maker's beat clock? That wouldn't really help because Set List Maker doesn't have any way to sync an audio recording with the beat clock.

I think the most reliable solution would be to use a sequencer like Logic or Ableton on a laptop and set up your audio recordings and your MIDI messages within the same projects there. I don't know if those programs have a way to truly sync the two, or if they are just generally more robust and low-level. Maybe there is something similar for iOS, but I don't know what it is.

That said, I'd wait for Rolf's update and see how that works. If you were only switching from one sound to another when moving from the verse to the chorus, for example, the level of accuracy you can expect should be fine. But changing the sound with every chord change requires much lower tolerances, as well as more effort to set everything up, so Pongo's suggestion of configuring your device to follow the audio track would actually be the best all around if that can work for you.