Clock sync setting saved for project
It’s great that the settings to accept clock from an external device is saved in the project but I’d like the sync to clock setting saved too. Because I’ll always use an external clock with this project and It’s annoying to have to remember to set this (or forget!) each time. Unless there is another way to get external midi clock into a track?
Comments
Which "sync to clock setting" do you mean?
External MIDI clock doesn't go into a track but it's rather a global setting and it applies to the whole project.
@rs2000 yes, the global setting is what I speak of. The "track" specific clock I speak of is the midi clock port/output looking like a clock. I just want the external clock source available from this port. I don't really need the whole project synced to the external clock because I'm not using drambo's sequencer.
Ah! Got it.
The track's clock symbol is in fact Drambo's internal time signal. It delivers a rising value (voltage, in analog speak) equivalent to the position in the currently playing pattern in that track. The longer the pattern, the higher the voltage will rise until it resets to zero at the beginning of the pattern.
Tell us what you're about to accomplish and we might be able to help you get there.
@rs2000 okay that clears that up: the clock symbol is always Drambo internal time so it becomes external clock only when drambo is synced to external.
I want to use CV clock for sequencing and triggering modules. I'm not using Drambo's sequencer. I just want a CV clock that is from my external device midi clock (hardware sequencer midi out through bluetooth) so that this modular CV sequencing plays in time with my hardware sequencer.
Which modules?
Gate and velocity sequencer, pulse divider. Just basic modular drum machine type stuff.
Oh, that's easy. The sequencers follow the time signal directly, i.e. the value of the time signal determines the sequencer position.
If you need a mixed setup in which some tracks sync to external MIDI clock and some don't, you can detach the sequencer modules from the track's time signal and generate your own.
Oh I think I get it! Use my hardware sequencer to send a series of regular notes which trigger a pulse in Drambo like a clock to send to the sequencer modules.
You could also build something like this using the Counter module. If you want to know more, it would help to know details about your setup and what exactly you want from Drambo ;)
I’m trying to learn the method of modular sequencing that uses a clock signal, clock dividers, and logic to create interesting rhythm generators. I’ve not used eurorack before so I’m not sure about the speed of a normal clock vs bpm. I’ve just read about PPQN and my experiments show that notes fired off from my sequencer in 64th divisions is not quite fast enough to create faster rhythms with dividers alone. Maybe I just need to use other modules as well like retriggers but Im not totally sure im on the same playing field as in eurorack with this sequencer notes as clock method?
I found that by using a synced LFO in prog mode I can turn a one trig per measure from my sequencer into any time division multiplier of gate signals. So that’s like a clock multiplier. And now I have ample speed to work with clock division it seems. I think I’m on my way but if you have a take on this ‘traditional’ style of modular sequencing in Drambo, I’d be glad to hear it :)
Well maybe I got too excited. The lfo beat sync is imperfect when using 1 gate per measure as a reset. A bit off every time the lfo resets.
A lot is possible! By classic modular sequencing you mean those 8-step sequencers with 8 knobs to adjust the pitch of each step?
Im thinking just clock division and logic as sequencer. But since I’ve run into this snag I think this brings me back: how to generate a time signal from a hardware sequencer? Time seems to be the only way in Drambo to get a clock rate higher than the incoming gate frequency. But I haven’t had much luck creating that nice time ramp I observe with the oscilloscope from Drambo time. I’ve tried the counter and gate counter module. But can I just send one note/gate per bar to reset the ramp? What’s the best way to do that?
Oh there are multiple ways to do that.
You can generate all kinds of ramp shapes with the Graphic Envelope or the Graphic Modulator.
Or use the Integrator module and feed it with a constant signal (or pulses if you want a stairstep ramp).
If you want to take pulses from an external analog sequencer, you could use just one pulse at the beginning of the pattern to trigger the Graphic Envelope.
What kind of signal can you get from your hardware sequencer?
It’s midi. So there’s no way to get the midi clock directly from the sequencer instead of syncing it to Drambo’s clock? I’ll try the graphic envelope.
Sure there is. Just enable it in settings. Sorry I'm still a little puzzled about what workflow or scenario you're after, first you said it's a clock signal, now it's MIDI clock.
Please do me a favor and tell me where you want to go, not what doesn't work 😉
Sorry for the confusion and my terminology is probably loose. I’d like to have a clock signal of any beat division that is based on my midi sequencer and to be independent of Drambo’s clock.
I could leave it at that but if the specific application helps then I’ll go on: I want to send some kind of timing signal from my hardware midi sequencer to Drambo so that I can work with clock divisions (pulses/gates) in Drambo to trigger drums in a generative/conditional way. I can send gates but not fast enough to get 32nd notes. For that I would expect a clock multiplier but I don’t see that in Drambo, just clock divider. The only way besides syncing Drambo’s clock to my midi clock (which I would have to set up each time i open Drambo) is to make my own time signal by triggering a graphic envelope to a clock generator module. But still, to get the right timing i have to set it “bar” and set Drambo’s bpm to the same as my sequencer. Both ways rest on Drambo’s time settings. Thanks for your continued effort to understand me and share your knowledge.
Thanks for providing some information about your envisioned scenario.
First of all, have you used this dialog yet? It lets you set different playback speeds for each track.
I would personally wish for non-straight meters like 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 6/4 and 7/4 but I might be the only one interested in mixing meters for drums and music in general.
Another way to control track playback speed freely is this:
Scale processes the track's time signal.
Would either of the Retrigger modules be of help? Retrigger takes gate signal and Retrig takes midi input. I was also thinking the Euclidean sequencer might be interesting.
@rs2000
"I would personally wish for non-straight meters like 2/3, 3/4, 5/6, 6/4 and 7/4 but I might be the only one interested in mixing meters for drums and music in general"
Not at all.
I spent years, when I first learnt how to play drums, playing odd time signatures.
I'm currently composing a piece with 5/4 arps and 4/4 pecussion loops with a triplet delay+BBD resonator.
I'm playing with the Arp module, stuff and delays to create interesting polyrhythms.
The piece that I've linked to is 7 bars of 3/4 and 1 bar of 4/4 which is one way of counting it.
I put it together for my improv band to practice along with.
https://on.soundcloud.com/MHVFHZAFSX6Dvxin9
I've yet to be able to put this timing into dRambo however I will attempt it soon enough. :)
@wailem forgive the intrusion however I do think it's in context in regards to odd time signatures etc.
@wailem
Try this to follow external clock/trigger.
The clock generator is being used here instead of an external audio source
however it should work with an external audio source.
I’ll try it with my modular rig later on.
@wailem
Try this one instead.
I’ve got this one working on my modular rig.
The external LFO from the Behringer Crave is set to square wave to create a pulse.
The hi pass filter removes the low end and it works as expected here.
You could try using a virtual MIDI port (like LoopBe1 on Windows or MIDI Network Setup on macOS), which automatically sends the clock to your DAW. Alternatively, check if your DAW has an option to save MIDI settings globally, which could make this easier.