Send midi clock/transport/program change (and/or receive?)
The use case: I want to be able to sync an Elektron Digitone to Drambo, but not at the note level — Elektron’s hardware sequencer works really well and is nicely integrated with the synth engine.
Rather, I’d love to be able to make the Digitone start and stop when Drambo does, and change pattern on command, by programming PC events into the Drambo sequencer which trigger Digitone pattern switches. So I could change to e.g. “verse 2” pattern on Drambo and tell Digitone to switch to its own “verse 2” pattern at the same time. Maybe one way to do this would be via a “note to PC” module that translated notes to program change messages, if it’s too exotic for the sequencer itself to support.
Alternatively, if Drambo could receive these signals instead, you could do exactly the same in reverse. (Some people say that midi hardware clocks are more reliable so maybe that’s better? 🤷♀️)
Is anything like this planned? I think it’d be super useful for people with all kinds of hardware sequencers, grooveboxes etc., not just Elektron kit.
Apologies if something like this is possible already - I googled a bit but couldn’t find anything.
Thanks! Love the app btw — had it for a week and learning new stuff all the time.
Comments
I agree with master and slave MIDI clock support, that would help a lot with talking to hardware.
A rather powerful MIDI learn feature set (including MIDI-controlled pattern switching) is already in the works.
Its planned, however not on the top of the list.. as we have all of these functionalities in AU mode.
@giku so if you run it as an AU plugin, is there already a way to switch pattern in response to some signal from the host?
Yes, MIDI learn pattern and send corresponding MIDI message from host.
Nice, thanks.
Thanks!
Sounds like a good use case for BM3, the only iOS DAW that syncs to MIDI clock properly...
Bump bump.
Was midi clock output ever added? Now that Drambo can host AUv3, I rarely use Drambo as AUv3 in other hosts (which do support clock). I'm trying to integrate some external gear with Drambo, but not having any luck. (trying to slave a MF-105m + Matriarch)
Edit: Got it sorted with the Link to Midi app, but still eager for native support down the line :)
Both midi clock in/out is supported... check hamburger menu / settings
Also check appropriate transport sync menu to accommodate your preference.
Thanks man. I just come back here to say I just found this too. This is my first time integrating external sequencers with Drambo, so I thought the clock settings were under the metronome page :P
About pattern change, has it been implemented? Can Drambo send pc in any form? I too would like to integrate Digitone and send pc from Drambo to make it change patterns
Yes. Download the free Streambyter AUv3 MIDI processor, load it as a MIDI processor module and enter this code:
90 XX = C0 XX
80 XX = 80 +B
The first line translates a note # to a CC # and the second line blocks note off messages.
Hit "install rules" and notes from the track will be translated to PC messages: The higher the note, the higher the PC number.
Use the Midi => Channel Filter module in "Set" mode if you need to send MIDI on a different channel and use a MIDI Out module to send the program changes to your Digitone.
Does the Digitone switch presets while playing notes without audio dropouts?
Thank you, I'll check it out when I came back home!
So I have tested your solution but unfortunately it doesn't work - I don't know why but Digitone responds very well to program change from Ableton but nothing happens when it is send the way you described. Any ideas on what the issue might be? And can you confirm that it works with Digitone/Elektron? Their sequences respond to PC in strange ways sometimes.
Have you routed Drambo's MIDI out to the Digitone?
Yes, with the MIDI output module on the same channel (15) as set in Digitone to receive incoming PC
@Parglanda OK, let me check with my Digitakt...
looking forward to native PC message support within Drambo.
just talking out of my ...
PC messages may be filtered out due to Atom2 ‘integration’.
There was a discussion about PC handling in D during this beta cycle, but other things got prioritised. Imo even if not in this version, it shouldn’t be too far out.
yeah, I'm fairly certain it's on the ever growing to-do list 😊
Update @Parglanda
Thanks for helping us find a few MIDI bugs in Drambo.
As long as you're using the MIDI messages inside Drambo, it works but as soon as you send PC messages to the outside world, each PC message will be followed by an additional PC0 message which is wrong of course.
What works now is hosting Drambo in AUM, routing MIDI through Streambyter with my code from above and sending SB's output to your hardware using AUM's MIDI matrix.
Good to know, thank you for help! I hope it get sorted in some future update - as we all know Drambo is potentially the perfect brain of any setup:) But I refuse to use it in any way other than standalone as it's just too pleasant having everything in one place and easily mapping AUV3s. And nowadays more and more hardware has its own good sequencer so being able to send PC would came in handy. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
As a possible alternative, you could let Drambo stand-alone emit a selected CC#. Route that to StreamByter in Audiobus or MIDIFire, to convert the CC into a PC, and send that on to the synth. Might need a tiny bit of code, not just the remaps previously suggested. But should work ok.
I also thought about that, I'll have to try this in the future;)
Actually, I think
B0 20 XX = C0 X3 00
in StreamByter would convert the value from CC# 32 (decimal) on channel 1 to a PC message. The CC# must be coded in hex, and the channel number in the code is one less than the "MIDI Channel". This is untested.
@uncleDave Problem is that you can't explicitly trigger sending CC messages (yet). The CC generator would need a gate input which it doesn't have yet. Or did I forget something?
The CC generator sends a CC whenever the input changes, so it would work if you could S&H the input, so only desired changes are seen. However, you could use notes instead. I just tried this and it works as expected:
and
Drambo stand-alone sends the knob value to the Audiobus virtual port. No other Drambo setup is required for this. Audiobus receives from its "Virtual MIDI Bridge" and StreamByter converts it to PC using the rule I suggested. You'd need to direct the output to the correct hardware interface port.
If the Drambo model generates an integer corresponding to the desired PC number, you could just divide it by 127 and send it to the CC Generator. As long as the integer value changes in stepwise fashion, no in-between CCs should be sent.
The tedious steps between the Knob and CC Generator ensure that each CC is only sent once. Otherwise, the same CC value is sent several times as the knob is turned. @rs2000 , a while ago you suggested that this had been fixed, but I experienced it when setting up this example. I have the current Drambo update, 1.40.
Also, my main point was that users don't need to forego using Drambo stand-alone in order to use StreamByter to convert a note or CC message into PC. Virtual MIDI ports can link separate apps smoothly, as shown in my sample post above.