Problems syncing Little Phatty's arpeggiator to MIDI clock

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joebuck
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Problems syncing Little Phatty's arpeggiator to MIDI clock

Post by joebuck » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:18 am

I have a LP and I'm syncing it to my MIDI clock in protools. I can get it to sync but I noticed that if I am making a chord change and don't hit the new chord exactly on the one of the beat, then the LP falls out of time. So say that the song starts in A and when I make a change to G and I didn't land exactly on the beat, then the whole pattern is off. Is there any way to adjust it? It's as if the linking to the clock resets each time you press a note. What I don't understand is that it's not reseting in time. If I clock my Jupiter 4 from an external source the external source just steps the clock along but it seems like on the LP this isn't the case. Are there any settings I can change?
Thanks in advance.[/i]

earsmack
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Post by earsmack » Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:44 am

I thought I read that a forthcoming LP OS will address timing issues but then I wasn't sure if this was something that was already released or not. Amos would probably be the best person to answer this - hopefully he will chime in because I'm interested in the answer as well.
Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition + LP Stage II + Sub37 + Model D reissue + CP-251 + VX-351

LeRoi
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Post by LeRoi » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:32 pm

I'd make sure you have beat clock enabled for the Little Phatty in Pro Tools first. Pro Tools has the uncanny knack for magically changing this setting all by itself, at least it does in my experience.

If you're on a Mac, go to: Settings>MIDI>MIDI Beat clock.

This is separate from AMS (or MIDI Studio) and resets itself in my system all the time. Sucks.

If this doesn't help, it may be a global setting on the Phatty that needs tweaking. I am without a Phatty at the moment, so I can't point you in the right direction there.

Amos
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Post by Amos » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:35 pm

Hi guys,

we decided early on that it would be more "musical" if the player could set the start point of the notes based on their own playing. That way you can play with the groove intuitively, even while the actual rate of the pattern is always in sync.

This can be cool but there are certainly a lot of times where you'd rather not have to worry about your own timing and would rather the notes always start exactly on the beat regardless of when you press the keys.

So, next firmware update we intend to make this a selectable option; choose the current mode (player determines the phase of the arp pattern) or what you're asking for (phase of the arp pattern is always exactly on the downbeat).

For now, just be aware that it isn't a bug or something random going on, it's the arp kicking in exactly when you play the first note.
One thing I do to get around this is always leave one note held down once I get it on the beat... move my fingers one at a time. As long as there's not a point when all notes are released, the phase of the pattern (where it playes relative to the downbeat) does not reset or change. It only resets this when you release all notes and play a new note - phase is reset to the start of the new note in this case.

Sorry for the inconvenience,

Amos

joebuck
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Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:18 pm

Post by joebuck » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:49 pm

LeRoi wrote:I'd make sure you have beat clock enabled for the Little Phatty in Pro Tools first. Pro Tools has the uncanny knack for magically changing this setting all by itself, at least it does in my experience.

If you're on a Mac, go to: Settings>MIDI>MIDI Beat clock.

This is separate from AMS (or MIDI Studio) and resets itself in my system all the time. Sucks.

If this doesn't help, it may be a global setting on the Phatty that needs tweaking. I am without a Phatty at the moment, so I can't point you in the right direction there.
Nah, it's exactly what Amos described. It makes it kind of goofy. I'll be waiting for the next OS I guess. Thanks

earsmack
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Post by earsmack » Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:58 pm

So it works like a delay effect - timing is correct but based on when you hit the note. That makes sense. Thanks Amos.

Any idea when that new firmware might be around? :-)
Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition + LP Stage II + Sub37 + Model D reissue + CP-251 + VX-351

joebuck
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Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:18 pm

Post by joebuck » Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:25 pm

zbq wrote:So it works like a delay effect - timing is correct but based on when you hit the note. That makes sense. Thanks Amos.

Any idea when that new firmware might be around? :-)
Not really a delay, more like out of sync. It's really tough to get it to sync properly. You really have to nail it dead on. It's a problem for me because I need it to be in time with a drum machine. It could be cool but not if you need it to sync to other stuff.

earsmack
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Post by earsmack » Fri Jan 30, 2009 3:07 pm

joebuck wrote:
zbq wrote:So it works like a delay effect - timing is correct but based on when you hit the note. That makes sense. Thanks Amos.

Any idea when that new firmware might be around? :-)
Not really a delay, more like out of sync. It's really tough to get it to sync properly. You really have to nail it dead on. It's a problem for me because I need it to be in time with a drum machine. It could be cool but not if you need it to sync to other stuff.
What I mean is this...if you have a digital (or analog) delay set for 500ms - whenever you play a note through that delay the echo will be 500ms after from the original note. Regardless of if you play the original note "on the beat" or not - the delay is 500ms later.
Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition + LP Stage II + Sub37 + Model D reissue + CP-251 + VX-351

joebuck
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2009 6:18 pm

Post by joebuck » Fri Jan 30, 2009 5:00 pm

zbq wrote:
joebuck wrote:
zbq wrote:So it works like a delay effect - timing is correct but based on when you hit the note. That makes sense. Thanks Amos.

Any idea when that new firmware might be around? :-)
Not really a delay, more like out of sync. It's really tough to get it to sync properly. You really have to nail it dead on. It's a problem for me because I need it to be in time with a drum machine. It could be cool but not if you need it to sync to other stuff.
What I mean is this...if you have a digital (or analog) delay set for 500ms - whenever you play a note through that delay the echo will be 500ms after from the original note. Regardless of if you play the original note "on the beat" or not - the delay is 500ms later.
Sorry, I misunderstood you. I got it now.

earsmack
Posts: 375
Joined: Tue Jun 13, 2006 7:37 am
Location: NC, USA

Post by earsmack » Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:06 pm

No worries, Joe. Looks like a fix is on the way anyway that will help meet your needs. Thanks for asking the question in the first place.
Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition + LP Stage II + Sub37 + Model D reissue + CP-251 + VX-351

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