grandMA2 timecode from your DJ set, plus BPM to a speed master

Step 1: Connect TimecodeLink to your DJ software

Set up the input you play on: Rekordbox, Serato (beta), Pioneer CDJ/XDJ, VirtualDJ (beta) or Denon (beta). Play a song and check that the timecode in TimecodeLink runs.

Step 2: Give each song its own hour

In the Track List panel, number your songs one hour apart: the first at 01:00:00:00, the next at 02:00:00:00. Align does the whole list at once; set its interval to 60 minutes. On the console, each hour becomes one timecode show.

Step 3: Turn on MTC output

Click OUTPUTS on the master row, switch on MTC Output and pick the MIDI Device that reaches the console:

• grandMA2 onPC on the same Windows PC: a virtual MIDI port. Create one in loopMIDI (free) and pick it here.
• A console, or onPC on another computer: a USB MIDI interface, cabled to the console's MIDI In or to the onPC computer's own MIDI interface.

Step 4: Bring MIDI timecode into a timecode slot

In a new show, the grandMA2 routes MIDI In to timecode slot 2 (and its SMPTE input to slot 1). To check or change that, open Setup → Network → MA Network Configuration, pick your station under Console or onPC, and look at the MIDI TC column.

On onPC, choose the MIDI port too: click the yellow ball at the top left of the Command screen, open Options…, and on the MIDI tab set MIDI In Device to the port from step 3.

Play a song. Slot 2 in the Timecode Slots pool now shows the running time.

Step 5: Create a timecode show per song (slot and offset)

Press Store and tap an empty object in the Timecode pool. Open the show in the Timecode Editor and tap the yellow ball in its title bar for the options:

• Slot: slot 2, the MIDI timecode slot.
• Offset: the song's hour, 1h for the song at 01:00:00:00.
• Length: a little longer than the song.
• Autostart: On.

The offset shifts the whole show by that hour, so an event 30 seconds into the show fires 30 seconds into the song. Autostart runs the show as soon as its timecode comes in. If you sometimes start a song from the middle, also turn on Status Call: the show then jumps straight to the cue it should be on. Repeat for every song, one hour further each time.

Step 6: Record your cues

Tap the song's show in the Timecode pool so it turns green, then tap the record button in the timecode encoder toolbar. Play the song in your DJ software and run your executors as the music goes. Because the show listens to slot 2, its clock only runs while the song plays. Tap stop when the song ends.

A Go press is stored as a Goto to that cue, so the same cue plays back every time. Fader moves are recorded too. Move or edit events in the Timecode Editor afterwards. The timecode follows your pitch fader, so the cues land on the same beats at any tempo.

Optional: BPM to a grandMA2 speed master

TimecodeLink can drive a speed master with the live BPM, so chases and effects run at the DJ's tempo between the timecoded cues. It types the commands into the console's command line over Telnet.

On the console, open Setup → Console → Global Settings and set Telnet to Login Enabled.

In TimecodeLink's master OUTPUTS, switch on Tempo (grandMA2):

• Host: the console's IP address, or 127.0.0.1 for onPC on the same PC.
• Port: 30000, the console's Telnet port.
• User and Password: a console user. Both are case sensitive. TimecodeLink starts with Administrator and admin.
• SpeedMaster: 3.1 for speed master 1.
• Send BPM: on. Send Tap adds a tap on every beat.

The BPM goes out as a whole number, as SpecialMaster 3.1 At 128, and a tap as Learn SpecialMaster 3.1. Assign speed master 1 to the chases and effects that should follow the music.

Using LTC instead of MTC

If the console has an LTC (SMPTE) input, you can send LTC instead: switch on LTC Output, pick the Audio Device and channel that's cabled to the console's LTC input, and set each timecode show's slot to 1, where a new show puts the SMPTE input. Steps 5 and 6 stay the same.