[DONE] Disable master mode when syncing to DAW

[Simon]

This has been pointed out by allmyfriendsaresynths here: https://youtu.be/XCZqkSH9peI?t=582

Right now if you want your sequencers to start in time with the DAW, you need to:

1. Press play in your DAW
2. Within one bar press the play button on the Midronome
3. Then on the next bar everything will start

That's because by default the Midronome goes back to master mode when it is not receiving a clock from the DAW (i.e. when the transport is stopped in the DAW), so if you would press the play button before press playing in your DAW, your sequencers would start.

SO - I still think having the Midronome going back to master mode automatically is important if you were playing Live and say the computer crashes or something, then the show keeps running - that's the whole point of the device

But for studio users, I can add an option to disable this, so that the Midronome is "frozen" (not sending any clock) until it receives the sync signal from the DAW. This way you can:

1. Press the play button on the device, it will blink indicating it's ready but nothing will start playing
2. Press play on the DAW
3. After one bar the Midronome will start sending MIDI Clock (and other clocks) and start your sequencers at the same time

Does that make sense?

[n4Sphere]

yes make sense

[Dark Waves]

What you describe makes sense, regarding how the unit would function, and I agree that would be better for a DAW setup. However, maybe my limited experience is making some things difficult to comprehend. Why, for instance, would the Midronome not immediately catch the incoming clock from the DAW? True, in record mode, there may be a bar or two to count in before playing, but when playing back, the tracks begin immediately. So, then would sequencers taking clock from the Midronome be delayed one bar after audio in the DAW has already been playing?

[Simon]

The Midronome needs to know where the bar is, and what the tempo is.

• To know the tempo it needs at least 2 ticks (theoritically, in practice the code waits for one more), so 1/12th of a bar
• And to know where the bar is, it needs a new bar

When you press play, the device could know right away this is a new bar, but it would still needs to know the tempo and if it would wait one tick to get the tempo and start your sequencers, so if the Midronome wanted to do this the sequencers would be 1 tick late - not really cool for a device that is all about sync

That's why instead it waits a whole bar, and starts your sequencers exactly on time from the next bar.

But you can actually press play (in your DAW) just before the bar (exactly 3 ticks before), then the device will start sequencers from that bar, so you do not have to wait a whole bar to sync.

Does that clarify your thoughts?

[Dark Waves]

Hi,

Yes, that explains it very well. I'll have to play with the DAW to see if there's a convenient way to delay track starting after pressing play, but still outputting a clock signal. So far, in the songs I've made, all the tracks begin right at bar one (on a side note, as a non-musician, I haven't grasped why songs begin at one, not zero ). As I'm still fairly new to these things, and DAWs are quite complex, there's still a lot to learn.

Thanks.

[Simon]

Idea from Sofus: an option where the Midronome, on top of being disabled when not synced to the DAW, would send MIDI Start and MIDI Stop automatically when the DAW starts and when the DAW stops.

This way to record a sequencer all you need is to press play in the DAW, then the sequencer will start automatically after one bar, and stop when you press stop in the DAW.

[Simon]

NOTE: this is merged from another topic "Stop sending MIDI Clock", which is about the same subject. See the post titles to follow the conversation.

------

Hey guys

Currently the Midronome constantly sends MIDI Clock, regardless of the play/stop buttons
(they only send a MIDI Start or Stop message - but the clock is always running).

I thought this was the expected behavior of a clock, since all MIDI Clock does is "set the tempo", devices will not start without a MIDI Start message.

But I can imagine how this could be annoying, so this topic is about implementing a way that the Midronome only sends MIDI Clock when pressing "play" and will stop the clock when pressing the Play button again.

Note this is slightly similar to this topic: viewtopic.php?t=72

I remember @Reptil showing me a "stop button" that could basically stop the clock when needed.

Feel free to comment and give your opinions about the matter

Cheers
Simon

[beatbastelbaer]

Hi outthere,
this sounds somehow strange to me, because the main reason for me to pre-order this device was exactly the opposite, that the midronome is NOT doing this and sends clock signals all the time.
I am really annoyed of my other gear that exactly shows this behaviour, I want to decide by myself which sequencer / arp / drum machine is running or stopped.
starting / stopping all the gear together without a choice is for me completely useless.
So, if you want to implement this, - please please - as an option, but the "standard" should be as designed.

looking forward to have the M. in my hands ........
Frank

[Simon]

Hi Frank!

Nice to know your opinion on the matter
But yes I agree, I also prefer a constantly running clock (I mean at the end I did make the Midronome for myself, so yes my opinion matters ). So no worries if this is implemented, it will be an option

Cheers
Simon

[TheFloH]

Hey,
Sorry, my input is late. =D The question to Simon, if it is possible to interrupt the midi clock send comes from me. I had the honor to test a prototype live. I need the midi clock for the click and also synchronize my loop station. I had the problem that with an improvised loop, for which I don't need a concrete timing, a midi clock signal is sent anyway. The loop was therefore not completely free, or I would have to decide before for a tempo. Since the midronome was operated by my drummer, I could not spontaneously set the tempo myself. With my current solution with the Alesis SR-16 I can stop the signal and use the loop station freely. But maybe that's just my particular application. =) I would be grateful for a future update with the option ;-)I

Cheers
Flo

[Simon]

Idea from Sofus: an option where the Midronome, on top of being disabled when not synced to the DAW, would send MIDI Start and MIDI Stop automatically when the DAW starts and when the DAW stops.

This has been implemented in Firmware 2.0 - which will be released soon. See viewtopic.php?t=277

Disabling master mode when syncing to DAW has also been implemented as part of this feature: viewtopic.php?t=212

In this new "24PPQ Plus" mode, when not receiving any signal from the DAW, all clocks are stopped.